Couponing

On the subject of savvy. I don't think I have ever posted about my couponing fetish. This started probably about 4 or 5 months ago. As if I couldn't get any stranger or more of a "mom." I am totally addicted to couponing. Who can blame you when you can get free stuff??

I usually save at least 50% if not more on my grocery bill and end up with a few free items every week. Some examples of free stuff I've gotten: cream cheese, tissues, eye make-up, hot cocoa... etc etc. And I never pay more than 5.50 - 6.50 for huggies/pampers. It pays to do this! It just takes a little bit of time but for the most part these sites walk you through it and match up the coupons to the sales for you. My favorite is www.southernsavers.com. And in the past few months I have been doing all my shopping at Publix when I used to be an avid Kroger shopper. If you use publix coupons and stack them with manufacturer coupons. You can save a lot!! And they take competitor coupons too! Is there such a thing as a mom geek? Because I think I am falling into that category. Oh well, if it helps me be able to stay home with my kids and be a good steward of our money then so be it! These sites even helped me get great deals on customized Christmas gifts. I only had to pay shipping on photo mugs, collage photos/posters, desk calendar etc.

Here are some of the sites I use:
www.southernsavers.com
www.iheartpublix.com
www.dealseekingmom.com
www.moneysavingmom.com

Give it a try!

I survived!

I know my posts have been so few and far between lately. But now that I am getting a little break throughout the week. I hope to have more time for it.

Chad has started to have days off. YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY! I was spoiled last week. He had two days off and got off early for New Year Eve and New Years Day. I didn't know what to do with myself! Taking care of two kids alone is no easy task. But we made it! I didn't know if I would be able to handle it but with the help of a few key people I could vent to. I survived and my kids did too :)

Corben is just blossoming lately and he seems to be getting less and less frustrated and fussy. Which I am very excited about. Devlin is a sweet butterball. More than once Chad has asked me if we should put him on a diet. No! It'll all come off when he starts moving around. But for now I just love those cute chubby rolls! He is so happy and it's just magical to see him laugh at something Corben is doing and Corben getting so excited that he can make his baby brother happy. Those moments are what make the rough times totally worth it.

On the subject of rough... Corben was sick this past Saturday. After napping in my arms he woke up and vomited all over himself and me. LOVELY! So I quickly gathered all the yucky clothes and got Corben in a bath. While everything was in the wash I realized I hadn't put his blanket in with everything. So I put it in and washed it all again. A few minutes later I realize.... my phone was in my jeans... I washed my phone.... twice.

We still have Chad's old phone so I'm going to see if I can get that one reactivated. Well I have a great "mom" story under my belt!

Merry, Merry Christmas

Ahhh... Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby are singing my favorite Christmas carols, the tree is glowing, and there is snow on the ground... (ahem, not here... but up north). It's Christmas! I love Christmas. Everything about it just puts you in a good mood. Christmas has been different for me this year. Good different.

I want to preface this post a little... I debated on writing my thoughts and feelings down because it might seem like I'm "trying" to be a good Christian by saying some of these things. I know a lot of this stuff is said all the time with no real conviction behind it but I started this blog to be honest with myself and transparent to my friends so with that said... I'll continue.

For the past month Chad has been asking about my Christmas list. What do I want for Christmas? It has to be something fun and not a practical thing. Okay... I can do this. So I tried to come up with something. I kept trying and kept trying. Maybe I haven't been window shopping enough lately?? I didn't have the slightest clue as to what I wanted for Christmas. I kept racking my brain for weeks. I came up with a pathetic little list. Nothing special... just stuff. I found myself thinking about it again this past Thursday. What do I want? What do I want? I was listening to a local Christian radio while running some errands and they started talking about a baby in the hospital that needs a heart.

As they talked about needing a miracle, I started to think about my boys. Both beautiful, healthy, happy kids. Uneventful pregnancies, wonderful births, and no issues. These overwhelming feelings of thankfulness came over me. My mind ran through all of the memories in the past few years and how lucky we are to have the things that we have. God gave me a present that day. My heart and head wrapped around the fact that we are so blessed.

I realized that I was content and I was treating that as a bad thing. I was trying to force myself to want something. I really didn't want anything. I was content. I think in today's society, that is a miracle in itself!!!!

So this Christmas I want to give. That's what I want.

Finding another pediatrician

I was dreading this part of moving. We had finally found a pediatrician we absolutely loved in North Augusta and then I was going to have to start all over again. I had a lot of thought and prayer behind my first interview with a doctor here.

I asked some of the ladies at MOPS (Moms of Preschoolers) for some suggestions and the one with the most recommendations was Dr. Slade. So I did some research and read his bio on the practice's website. He's a christian and actually went to MCG. Okay, I'm interested. The practice even has after hours care where the doctor's rotate during the evenings. How nice. Because your kid never gets sick when it's convenient - hence Thanksgiving this year. Corben got sick a few days before Thanksgiving and then by Thanksgiving day - I had a sore throat, Chad had flu symptoms and the baby had a cough. LOVELY! Luckily my stuff was just minor so I could take care of everybody else. It wasn't exactly the Thanksgiving we imagined but we still had a lot to be thankful for.

Back to the pediatrician - I set up an interview with him this past Thursday. I was nervous. I consider myself a pretty weird mom. Back home I didn't feel so weird because I had other mom friends that had similar philosophies. But I know we aren't the norm so it makes me feel like a little bit of a freak but oh well. If being a vaccine skeptic, natural remedy peddler, breastfeeding, baby-wearing, cloth diapering, anal about how much processed food my kid has, pro-organic, anti-daycare, mom makes me a freak... I think I'm okay with that. I think. A lot of it has to do with loving my kids and then the other half is my need to be an over-achiever. If I'm going to do something I'm not going to do it half way - especially if it comes to my kids. I do give myself a break though... I don't start twitching when thinking about giving Corben Chicken nuggets from a fast food place. LOL! I've toned down a lot, I promise!

Anyway back to the pediatrician... again! I mainly just wanted to get a feel for him as a person and his medical philosophy. I want someone that is practical, laid back, respects my role as the parent, is an educator as well as a doctor, doesn't over-medicate or "medicate the parents," and won't treat me like I have three heads if I want to go about things in a different way. I want an environment that encourages open conversation. We started off with the general conversation about moving to Macon and then he asked if I had any questions. I shared with him about our previous doctor and the not-so-great experience we had with our first. And basically wanted to know his experience and medical philosophy on alternate vaccine schedules, breastfed babies, natural remedies etc etc. His responses were very positive. Of course he is totally behind vaccines but wasn't condescending about it at all. He gave his son all the vaccines on the normal schedule, etc. But he followed that with, in the end the parent has to be comfortable with the decisions. Bingo! That's where I am right now in my decision about vaccinating. I don't feel comfortable doing the normal schedule. Something deep down just doesn't feel right, so I can't do it. If something happened and I went against my gut instinct I could never forgive myself. He was very nice and laid back and even cracked a few jokes. And he kept talking about how cute Devlin was. It's always a plus when a pediatrician loves kids :). He said that this was not a practice that medicated the parent and that there are a lot of things that will go away on their own without antibiotics etc. He talked a lot about working as a team and that in the end the parents are with the kids all the time so they will have to make the final decision on what is best.

So my conclusion... I like him. That's exactly what I want in a pediatrician. Someone working along side of me to make sure my kid is as healthy as possible. I'm so glad I didn't have to do multiple interviews. God's looking out for me, once again!

aahh Baby it's cold outside!

I love Christmas and all the cold weather that comes with it. Some snow would be nice too but living in the south, you never know if you'll see it. I remember when we lived up in PA. My brother and I went nuts when there was only two inches of snow on the ground. We were making snowmen and having snowball fights. Everybody thought we were crazy but two inches was a lot to us!

I can't believe it's December already! I feel like I have accomplished a lot lately. I've been working a good bit, which is nice to make some extra money for Christmas and all the birthdays we have in December. It's Chad's birthday, then Corben's, and then Chad's mom's is Christmas Day. Could December get any busier?

I have to admit there are still boxes lurking around. With the holiday's coming up and all the family that is planning to come and visit, I have a renewed drive to get the house looking nice. It's just hard to get motivated when you are in an apartment. I keep telling myself it will only be for a little while longer. We have started to look at houses in the area. Just leisurely. We probably won't do anything until close to our lease being up but it's good to go ahead and start looking. I can't wait to know I'm going to be in one spot for a while!

I miss everybody in Augusta very much and am hoping that maybe we could come for a few days around Christmas. I'd love to be able to catch up with people if I can!

I'm in love!

I talked Chad into letting me order a Milkies Milk Saver! It came in the mail yesterday and I could not wait to use it. My friend Sara sent me the link to their site months ago and I could not get over how ingenious it is.

It collects your milk while you nurse on the other side. So no more wasted milk! It so disappointing to fill up disposable nursing pads when you could be storing that precious liquid!!

I am just so impressed with how easy it is. Who has time to plug yourself up to a pump? I've gotten about an ounce to 2 ounces when I use it. So I could get about a bottle a day potentially. And it's virtually no effort! If you want to know more about it, check out their site - www.mymilkies.com.

Had to share! When I have more time (haha!) I'll get my birth story up. But until then, it will probably just be short random thoughts and rants from all the craziness of moving etc.

HELLO BABY

It's been a while since I've posted. Most of you know that baby Devlin arrived the afternoon after my last post. Woo hoo! I was so excited to be going into labor! Labor was about 4 hours and I was very happy with my experience with the midwife. I was up laughing and talking not long after labor. The combination of hormones and all that weight gone probably had me doing more before my body was really ready.

The transition has been very smooth. It's like he came out a 2 month old! He latched on perfectly from the start and he has good head control to somewhat be able to do it himself. He is eating like a champ and we don't have any issues with jaundice. He's been such a great baby so far. He loves to sleep and eat and that's about it! God has really answered my prayers. I was concerned about how I could handle the transition with the impending move in a few weeks. Corben loves him already and wants to see everything I'm doing that involves the baby. I didn't sleep for the first few days but I think I've given up on that from now on-- if we have more kids. The adrenaline from natural birth is so strong, I can't sleep the first night.

He's still a little off on his days/nights but it's starting to work itself out and I'm getting 2 to 3 hours stints of sleep at a time. Well I'm going to take advantage of nap time and rest a little before it's time to feed baby again. I'm sure I'll post the official "birth story" soon.