I recently couponing. I have always enjoyed a good bargain, but have no problem paying full price. Sounds insane but when I need something I need it then. Seeing as the house we live in is packed to the brim with "stuff" I don't really have a need for more "stuff". Conquering chaos post will come later so stay tuned for that big adventure.
Yesterday I went through the weekly circular, picked out the items I had to have, such as toilet paper, paper towels, etc. Then I shifted through my box o coupons. Pulled the coupons that coordinated with the needed items on my list, totalled my expected savings and put my list and coupons in a nice little Dora the Explorer zip lock bag courtesy of "meme the great".
Here is my list:
Beechnut baby food-10 for $5.00-$1.00 coupon=$4.00
Huggies little swimmers diapers-$7.49-$6.00 coupon=$1.49
Merita Bread-BOGO (no coupon)
General Mills cereal-BOGO +$1.50 coupon
Gain detergent-$3.99-.50 coupon
Jif peanut butter-BOGO (no coupon)
Gillette fusion razor-$8.99-$6.00 coupon
Bounty paper towels & Charmin toilet paper (12 roll packs) $15.99 for both and receive
napkins, kleenex, ziploc bags for free + .25 coupon+.50 coupon
Uncle bens ready rice-3 for $5.00-$1.50 coupon
I'm estimated by total to be somewhere in the $20.00-$30.00 range.
Stayed tuned to see how the first big attempt at couponing goes! Who knows if I succeed you might see me on TLC oneday. LOL!
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Monday, July 18, 2011
Growing up
(AK on her birthday)
This past Friday, my biggest girl turned 3. 3! people. I know that when the life span of most the ladies in my family is in the 90's, three doesn't seem very big, but to a woman who vividly remembers every moment (well all the moments I was awake) of her childbirth, three seems insane. Jeff asked if we should go ahead and get a car for her since she would be turning 16 soon? Ha! Time has flown by. Which is understandable when you have three kids in three years.
Friday we celebrated right from the start of the day at 6:30 a.m. She woke up to her parents singing her happy birthday like fools. If 18 Kristen could talk to me now she would probably say, "what is wrong with you lady". "Leave the kid alone". Then she got to get her first official birthday gift, which was a aqua kidcraft pretend kitchen. She loved it!
My mother, sister, Mary-Ross, and I took her to the Galleria and let her ride the merry-go-round, then she headed to the American Cookie Co. to have a sugar cookie, topped off with some chick-fil-a. The next adventure was the train that rides around the mall. She loves that train so much. Her yaya thought it would be a good a idea to let her go to build-a-bear and build her very first bear. She was more concerned about the computers over in the corner where you register your bear rather than the actual building of the bear. Finally she picked out a panda bear. She stuffed it and then proceeded to accessorize this bear with purses, sunglasses, beds, shoes, and everything else. Her panda bear was not complete without a bear as well. She named her bear "allie" and then we dragged ourselves to the checkout line.
I believe these people at build-a-bear go as slow as possible so the children continue to walk around the store and find stuff then whine and complain in the line until they are certain that they will be going home with the needed item. Ashlyn Kay happened to find a poodle which was dressed in a University of Alabama outfit, she had on shoes and roller skates, and lease and collar around her neck. This allowed AK to dragged this poor poodle all over the store. Now her mind was not focused on her once loved panda bear allie but on this poor poodle. After having a fit and much explanation I told a lie to the child on her birthday and we escaped with our panda and no poodle. Whew! Close call.
The following day she had a pool party. It was so much fun and great weather. She thought everyone was her cousin. Great day!
Now after the making of cake pops, push up pop cupcakes, chocolate/sprinkled covered pretzels I have officially retired from the bakery business. For the twins birthday I am having someone make the smash cakes and cupcakes. No more baking for this lady!
Birthdays are a big deal to me and go completely over the top but I want each and every birthday to be a the best day of her life. Life should be a celebration so that is exactly what I intend to do each and every year. Blow it out!
Now she is three and its hard to say. What is even harder to say is that in a short three weeks I will have two 1 year olds to add to the bunch. Off to plan the monkey's party!
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Fireworks go Boom!
July has been a busy month and its only day 9. We started off the month with a visit to the river in Gadsden, Alabama. Ashlyn Kay was invited to a birthday party at the scenic pool so this was our next stop for the day. Everyone had a wonderful time. Blake found her love for all things peach and Jeff proved he can still do a double flip off the high dive. First adventure for the month proved to be a plus!
On the 4th of July we again loaded the trusty silver bullet with our 3 large bags packed full of only God knows what inside of them and ventured out to Lay Lake. My bestie Shena invited us to join in on their family day. Ashlyn Kay has decided she wants to be a river rat. She swam all over that lake. Palmer would like to join in with her. We had to keep a close eye on Miss P because she would kick herself in her little float away from everyone and try to escape. The first boat ride for the twins was a success and AK says tubing makes her feel like baby Jaguar. Not positive how the tubing and baby jaguar are related but hey she had a good time so I guess it doesn't matter much.
Tuesday was Clampets go to The Ridge on Lake Martin. My mother, my sister, Mary-Ross, Ashlyn Kay, Palmer, Blake and myself all loaded the bullet again with what seemed like the full stock of buy buy baby and drove the hour trip to The Ridge. We visited with the Bradley's from Ohio and had so much fun. My grandparents joined us for dinner at their house. It was a fantastic time of good food and good friends. Kudos to Amanda for her banana/chocolate chip cupcakes!
The next adventure which if you lost count we are now on day #8 of the month, was a trip to Wetumpka for my grandfathers 75th birthday. BBQ chicken, baked beans, corn, and a yummy snickers DQ birthday cake made it a wonderful day. At the end the grand kids and great grand kids took a picture with papa to commemorate the day. It was one man, 3 grand daughters, and 4 great grand daughters. That is alot of women!
After 8 days of traveling, water, fireworks, and good times mama needed a break. A babysitter was hired and Jeff & I headed to dinner and a movie. Yay for adults!
Even though this month has just begun we have much more fun to come. Ashlyn Kay will be turning 3 on friday the 15th. I just can not believe this time three years ago and I was walking like a woman on fire to get her to drop like a fly out of my belly. We will be celebrating the birthday with a pool party and lots of cake. Jeff and I bought her a kitchen and my parents/grandparents bought her a Dora the Explorer Jeep Wrangler Power Wheels. I am expecting a moment of total mindless jumping and screaming when she sees these two items. I can't wait! Pictures will be posted.
The twins just turned 11 months old. This also is mind blowing to me. This week last year I was having one of my many trips to the hospital for a overnight stay or two due to contractions. We were preparing and packing for our unknown journey to Ohio. So glad to be on this side now. I took some pictures of the twins today with their 10 month circles on and will take a couple in a about three weeks of them with their 11 month circles on. I don't feel like their faces change much but their need for speed sure does. At one point today, Blake climbed onto the seat AK's pottery barn anywhere chair, onto the back, and threw one leg onto the end table. All this before we could make it across the room to stop her. She was aiming for a DVD so she could again play it like a tambourine. OMword! I say NO maam a lot these days. They are hilarious though. Dancing, babbling, and crawling, standing, and climbing. Loving it!
On the 4th of July we again loaded the trusty silver bullet with our 3 large bags packed full of only God knows what inside of them and ventured out to Lay Lake. My bestie Shena invited us to join in on their family day. Ashlyn Kay has decided she wants to be a river rat. She swam all over that lake. Palmer would like to join in with her. We had to keep a close eye on Miss P because she would kick herself in her little float away from everyone and try to escape. The first boat ride for the twins was a success and AK says tubing makes her feel like baby Jaguar. Not positive how the tubing and baby jaguar are related but hey she had a good time so I guess it doesn't matter much.
Tuesday was Clampets go to The Ridge on Lake Martin. My mother, my sister, Mary-Ross, Ashlyn Kay, Palmer, Blake and myself all loaded the bullet again with what seemed like the full stock of buy buy baby and drove the hour trip to The Ridge. We visited with the Bradley's from Ohio and had so much fun. My grandparents joined us for dinner at their house. It was a fantastic time of good food and good friends. Kudos to Amanda for her banana/chocolate chip cupcakes!
The next adventure which if you lost count we are now on day #8 of the month, was a trip to Wetumpka for my grandfathers 75th birthday. BBQ chicken, baked beans, corn, and a yummy snickers DQ birthday cake made it a wonderful day. At the end the grand kids and great grand kids took a picture with papa to commemorate the day. It was one man, 3 grand daughters, and 4 great grand daughters. That is alot of women!
After 8 days of traveling, water, fireworks, and good times mama needed a break. A babysitter was hired and Jeff & I headed to dinner and a movie. Yay for adults!
Even though this month has just begun we have much more fun to come. Ashlyn Kay will be turning 3 on friday the 15th. I just can not believe this time three years ago and I was walking like a woman on fire to get her to drop like a fly out of my belly. We will be celebrating the birthday with a pool party and lots of cake. Jeff and I bought her a kitchen and my parents/grandparents bought her a Dora the Explorer Jeep Wrangler Power Wheels. I am expecting a moment of total mindless jumping and screaming when she sees these two items. I can't wait! Pictures will be posted.
The twins just turned 11 months old. This also is mind blowing to me. This week last year I was having one of my many trips to the hospital for a overnight stay or two due to contractions. We were preparing and packing for our unknown journey to Ohio. So glad to be on this side now. I took some pictures of the twins today with their 10 month circles on and will take a couple in a about three weeks of them with their 11 month circles on. I don't feel like their faces change much but their need for speed sure does. At one point today, Blake climbed onto the seat AK's pottery barn anywhere chair, onto the back, and threw one leg onto the end table. All this before we could make it across the room to stop her. She was aiming for a DVD so she could again play it like a tambourine. OMword! I say NO maam a lot these days. They are hilarious though. Dancing, babbling, and crawling, standing, and climbing. Loving it!
Monday, June 27, 2011
A mothers heart
Before you have a child you hear people saying and displaying love for their children. You try and imagine the strongness of that love for a child. Once you have children of your own you realize that were so far off from the exactly how much love you need and have for a human being and life you helped create. The parts of their adorable bodies that resemble you are a constant reminder they are yours and how forever they will always be yours. You see your personality in them (which sometimes is a good thing or a bad thing-lol). When they smile at you it literally makes your heart experience a feeling of immediate euphoria and joy. I wish that someone could bottle up a childs smile so that one day when you are having a down day you can open it and it releases this amazing joy that is better than any drug.
After being on a short vacation from all my girls I realized just how much I do miss them and enjoy their tiny moments everyday. I also received some news while I was out of town. Some friends of Jeff and I who were in our old sunday school class a two small children. One of which is Jacob. He is AK's age and they have been in the nursery together since they were born. The Dubois family is absolutely precious and we enjoy them so much as well as Jacob. They were so supportive of us while we are living in Ohio and prayed for our family. This weekend their son went to a routine well visit and was sent for further testing for possible leukemia. He was diagnosed and is now at childrens hospital here in Birmingham. He is having testing today to determine the specific type of cancer and stage. He will also be receiving his port today for chemotherapy. I am asking everyone to add them to their daily prayer list. He is a sweet 3 year old little boy is about to be changed forever. His parents will experience a strength like they never have before with help from prayers and The Lord.
Here is a link to his his FB page that has been created.
www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Prayers-for-Jacob-Dubois/138737579538207
After being on a short vacation from all my girls I realized just how much I do miss them and enjoy their tiny moments everyday. I also received some news while I was out of town. Some friends of Jeff and I who were in our old sunday school class a two small children. One of which is Jacob. He is AK's age and they have been in the nursery together since they were born. The Dubois family is absolutely precious and we enjoy them so much as well as Jacob. They were so supportive of us while we are living in Ohio and prayed for our family. This weekend their son went to a routine well visit and was sent for further testing for possible leukemia. He was diagnosed and is now at childrens hospital here in Birmingham. He is having testing today to determine the specific type of cancer and stage. He will also be receiving his port today for chemotherapy. I am asking everyone to add them to their daily prayer list. He is a sweet 3 year old little boy is about to be changed forever. His parents will experience a strength like they never have before with help from prayers and The Lord.
Here is a link to his his FB page that has been created.
www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Prayers-for-Jacob-Dubois/138737579538207
Sunday, June 12, 2011
9 down...3 to go
9 months has come and passed us by with a quickness here at the Moran household. On Thursday Blake and Palmer met another milestone. 10 months! Everyone that sees the girls keeps telling me how big they have gotten. I believe them. I remember with Ashlyn Kay that first year crept by slowly. I couldn't wait for her to roll over, sit up, crawl, walk, talk, and everything in between. It seemed to come and go slowly. After her first year I felt like it had truly been A...WHOLE...YEAR. I am not getting that feeling with the twins. We started so late with them and each and everyday blows past me and something new has happened. It is truly amazing to be able to sit (well actually stand because I never sit) and watch how a child grows and how wondrous God's creations are. It is mind blowing to even try to comprehend.
So here is what we can do:
1. Crawl....FAST!. P still army crawls but man can she move. Blake gets up on her hands and knees, crawls for a bit, then gets mad and lays down, pitches a fit, then goes and does it all over again.
2. Pull up on knees.
3. Move from a crawling position to a sitting position and visa versa without busting of the face on tile or wood flooring.
4. Devourer fingers foods such as puffs and their favs right now are Baby Mum Mums
5. B can hold her own bottle when forced and P well that is a different story. She obviously feels like she is too special to do that. She is the princess.
6. Palmer says Mama
7. We are weaning Blake off of her Neocate on to Soy formula. Praise the Lord for that!
Her AFP this month was 78.1 which is down from 112. So thankful for this drop in numbers.
We are going to be taking our first vacation together this upcoming thursday to Orange Beach. This vacation is with Jeff's family. I have decided that it must be documented for comedic purposes. So I am going to take pictures start to finish of our vacation. My friend says she is going to put the pics to video and place music from National Lampoon. Probably fitting if I am guessing. It is going to be so much fun with 3 grandparents, 6 parents, and 7 kids ranging from 10yr-10 months. Caribe Resort be AWARE!
So here is what we can do:
1. Crawl....FAST!. P still army crawls but man can she move. Blake gets up on her hands and knees, crawls for a bit, then gets mad and lays down, pitches a fit, then goes and does it all over again.
2. Pull up on knees.
3. Move from a crawling position to a sitting position and visa versa without busting of the face on tile or wood flooring.
4. Devourer fingers foods such as puffs and their favs right now are Baby Mum Mums
5. B can hold her own bottle when forced and P well that is a different story. She obviously feels like she is too special to do that. She is the princess.
6. Palmer says Mama
7. We are weaning Blake off of her Neocate on to Soy formula. Praise the Lord for that!
Her AFP this month was 78.1 which is down from 112. So thankful for this drop in numbers.
We are going to be taking our first vacation together this upcoming thursday to Orange Beach. This vacation is with Jeff's family. I have decided that it must be documented for comedic purposes. So I am going to take pictures start to finish of our vacation. My friend says she is going to put the pics to video and place music from National Lampoon. Probably fitting if I am guessing. It is going to be so much fun with 3 grandparents, 6 parents, and 7 kids ranging from 10yr-10 months. Caribe Resort be AWARE!
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Good Tuesday people. Its been a wonderful day here in the Moran house. Started it out with the twins wanting to take a early nap. Yay for mommy getting to enjoy her vanilla creamer with a touch of coffee (love it sweet) & nutella slathered all over toasted wheat bread and a little of the Today show. Normally the twins are bouncing in their seats and AK has taken over the tube with Dora or Peppa Pig, but since Ashlyn Kay actually chose to take a little vacation to "tumpka" as she calls it with her Meme the Great & Papa this weekend I had the house (sort of) to myself.
Then a sweet friend of mine has a set of almost 13 year old twin girls who are out for summer. So I asked them to come over and help out with the girls so I can get stuff done around the house. The big twins played, fed, changed, bathed, entertained again the little twins. All while I cleaned the whole house at one time and not over a period of a week I would like to add, organized a little, and relaxed with some young girls. So obviously if this wasn't the best day ever already then surgeon here in Birmingham's nurse called and gave us Blake's numbers.
December her AFP was 103, March it was 112, and in June it is now down to 78.1. So this is amazing! We haven't heard from Dr. Lim yet but he normally calls a day or so after they fax the results from here to his office. We are so relieved. I was worried about it. We are just so close to our 1 year mark with no major hiccups and I am just ready to start counting down the years for her as a SCT survivor. As usual God has proven to me and reminded me that worrying is his job and not mine. I need to focus my worry into prayer and allow him to work. I love how I have to continue to write this. Ha. You think I would get it by now. I guess I am my daddy's daughter....stubborn as a mule. Love you daddy!
On another note. I took Blake to a chiropractor this week. Yes, yes I know some people think chiropractors are vodoo doctors but here in the Moran household we love them. I fully believe in modern medicine and love it but if there are alternative routes I like to explore those as well. Jeff & I have been concerned with the alignment of Blake's spine and felt a chiropractor would be the least invasive doctor to check her out and watch it. Dr. Jenni Goodman did a scan on her spine to evaluate the autonomic nerves that are damaged and being compressed by her vertebrae. The majority were in the lower portion of her spine which is expected since the tumor was at the base of her spine. She did some adjusting and will continue to adjust her weekly for a while to place the vertebrae back in to alignment and take the pressure off of those nerves to allow for regeneration. Since a lot of her nerves from the tumor to her sacrum were cut she has a large amount of damage. This is the reason why SCT babies have bowel issues. Dr. Goodman is trying to allow these nerves which sometimes give her potty issues to be more open. I'm not saying this will be the cure for the world but if it doesn' t harm my child and only works towards improvement, then why the heck not adjust away. She also put her and Palmer on probiotics to help put back good bacteria in to their immune system.
Things are great here and blessings are many!
Then a sweet friend of mine has a set of almost 13 year old twin girls who are out for summer. So I asked them to come over and help out with the girls so I can get stuff done around the house. The big twins played, fed, changed, bathed, entertained again the little twins. All while I cleaned the whole house at one time and not over a period of a week I would like to add, organized a little, and relaxed with some young girls. So obviously if this wasn't the best day ever already then surgeon here in Birmingham's nurse called and gave us Blake's numbers.
December her AFP was 103, March it was 112, and in June it is now down to 78.1. So this is amazing! We haven't heard from Dr. Lim yet but he normally calls a day or so after they fax the results from here to his office. We are so relieved. I was worried about it. We are just so close to our 1 year mark with no major hiccups and I am just ready to start counting down the years for her as a SCT survivor. As usual God has proven to me and reminded me that worrying is his job and not mine. I need to focus my worry into prayer and allow him to work. I love how I have to continue to write this. Ha. You think I would get it by now. I guess I am my daddy's daughter....stubborn as a mule. Love you daddy!
On another note. I took Blake to a chiropractor this week. Yes, yes I know some people think chiropractors are vodoo doctors but here in the Moran household we love them. I fully believe in modern medicine and love it but if there are alternative routes I like to explore those as well. Jeff & I have been concerned with the alignment of Blake's spine and felt a chiropractor would be the least invasive doctor to check her out and watch it. Dr. Jenni Goodman did a scan on her spine to evaluate the autonomic nerves that are damaged and being compressed by her vertebrae. The majority were in the lower portion of her spine which is expected since the tumor was at the base of her spine. She did some adjusting and will continue to adjust her weekly for a while to place the vertebrae back in to alignment and take the pressure off of those nerves to allow for regeneration. Since a lot of her nerves from the tumor to her sacrum were cut she has a large amount of damage. This is the reason why SCT babies have bowel issues. Dr. Goodman is trying to allow these nerves which sometimes give her potty issues to be more open. I'm not saying this will be the cure for the world but if it doesn' t harm my child and only works towards improvement, then why the heck not adjust away. She also put her and Palmer on probiotics to help put back good bacteria in to their immune system.
Things are great here and blessings are many!
Thursday, June 2, 2011
June has officially arrived! I love the summer. I love the sun, pool time, beach time, and lake time. Shorts and tanks make me oh so happy. The summer is also a birthday extravaganza in my family. We just added our first May birthday, this goes to MR. (mary-ross). June brings my mother & ME! July brings AK & my Papa. Then August we will celebrate my Meme & my tiny girls (Palmer & Blake). A lot of cake to be eaten ahead that is for sure. This year June brings another important day. Blake has another AFP check this month. In December we were so pleased with the AFP level. It was 103, down from a count of thousands. March we were hoping for 70's and her count was 112. I was concerned, but was reassured by the surgeons that this was no big deal and we will recheck in June as planned. So here we are in June.
Today Blake had a 6 month (post surgery) follow up with the surgeon here in Birmingham. I also have had some lingering concerns/issues I was anxious to talk to a surgeon about. I actually was looking forward to this appointment. Dr. Harmon started off by checking her tumor site. He felt her wounds which are now scarred over looked well. We talked about potty issues which we will continue to monitor until she is fully potty trained. She is having a slight issue but nothing totally unmanageable or concerning right now. Now that Blake sits up on her own we are so happy, but have a concern because she has a slight lean forward while sitting instead of sitting up straight like most babies. She does this to compensate for the uneven bottom she has. Jeff & I are concerned that she will do this forever and her spine will grow with a curve and she could create scoliosis. The surgeon said that was out of his range of expertise and is referring her to a ortho doc to keep a watch on this. So that made me happy. :)
Then we got to the AFP concerns. I asked what our next game plan was or would be for a increase or decrease or stay the same. If her number drops (say 50 points) then that is great and everything continues on as normal with quarterly rechecks and the 1 year MRI in Cincy. If her number increases (say 50 points) then he wants to have a MRI done and see if there is anything on the images. Then obviously asses from there. If the number stays the same then he said he would have to scratch his head and think that one over. So still not sure about that. He went ahead and had the lab draw the AFP today. I should have a call from his nurse on Tuesday with her results. He was also going to call Lim to update him on the current plan of action.
So now as usual we sit and wait...anxiously wait for those numbers that I look forward to and dread hearing all at the same time every three months. He reassured me that this is a part of having a SCT baby and that its part of the game as unfair as that is. Bluh is what I want to say!
As usual I intend to continue my daily prayers for her numbers to show what we need them too. We are so close to a major milestone marker with no hiccups. I think being in the NICU was easier because you expected problems and when they didn't happen you were so relieved and surprised. Now that we have two bouncing happy baby girls it just shakes me to think something might happen. I will continue to trust in the Lord that he does have a plan and his plan does not include harm to her.
Today Blake had a 6 month (post surgery) follow up with the surgeon here in Birmingham. I also have had some lingering concerns/issues I was anxious to talk to a surgeon about. I actually was looking forward to this appointment. Dr. Harmon started off by checking her tumor site. He felt her wounds which are now scarred over looked well. We talked about potty issues which we will continue to monitor until she is fully potty trained. She is having a slight issue but nothing totally unmanageable or concerning right now. Now that Blake sits up on her own we are so happy, but have a concern because she has a slight lean forward while sitting instead of sitting up straight like most babies. She does this to compensate for the uneven bottom she has. Jeff & I are concerned that she will do this forever and her spine will grow with a curve and she could create scoliosis. The surgeon said that was out of his range of expertise and is referring her to a ortho doc to keep a watch on this. So that made me happy. :)
Then we got to the AFP concerns. I asked what our next game plan was or would be for a increase or decrease or stay the same. If her number drops (say 50 points) then that is great and everything continues on as normal with quarterly rechecks and the 1 year MRI in Cincy. If her number increases (say 50 points) then he wants to have a MRI done and see if there is anything on the images. Then obviously asses from there. If the number stays the same then he said he would have to scratch his head and think that one over. So still not sure about that. He went ahead and had the lab draw the AFP today. I should have a call from his nurse on Tuesday with her results. He was also going to call Lim to update him on the current plan of action.
So now as usual we sit and wait...anxiously wait for those numbers that I look forward to and dread hearing all at the same time every three months. He reassured me that this is a part of having a SCT baby and that its part of the game as unfair as that is. Bluh is what I want to say!
As usual I intend to continue my daily prayers for her numbers to show what we need them too. We are so close to a major milestone marker with no hiccups. I think being in the NICU was easier because you expected problems and when they didn't happen you were so relieved and surprised. Now that we have two bouncing happy baby girls it just shakes me to think something might happen. I will continue to trust in the Lord that he does have a plan and his plan does not include harm to her.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)