Coupon Crazy

With a family that has been sick for 2 straight months and medical bills mounting, I've been determined to find ways to save money & also prepare for a future that includes a new sweet baby!

This weekend while my two very sick guys healed & I played nurse, I did just that: deal hunted.

Project 1: Bedding for the Big Boy Room
It just so happens I love expensive things BUT the best thing is I won't buy expensive things.
So while I LOVE a specific Serena & Lily bedding set, I absolutely refuse to spend $150 on a single comforter that will get spilled or puked on.
While I had to compromise on the ultimate look, I was able to find an adorable quilt at Marshalls after weeks of looking for only $30.

Project 2: Begin to store up Diapers
Through AmazonMom & some coupon codes, I was able to start setting us up to receive boxes of diapers to prepare for the new ones arrival. Instead of having all of the expenses hit us at once, we want to start preparing for the budget adjustments now.I was able to get 1 box of Newborn Pampers Swaddlers for $13.15 (free because we had a gift card however from an earlier purchase on LivingSocial.com) & 1 box of Size 1 Pampers Swaddlers for $19.96.
In addition, I signed up for Parents Magazine (which is the place to get the 20% Amazon coupons).
I got the 1 Year Subscription to the magazine for $3.56 by subscribing through magazinedealsnow.com & applying an additional code MPS10.
The savings I'll get from the $3.56 investment will be well worth it!

Project 3: Scour my favorite Money Saving Blogs
I ended up setting myself up with a new email address just so I could sign up for new coupons and deals and my personal email wouldn't get flooded. (I got this idea from my cousin when we were Flea'ing!)Over the weekend I was able to get a free Toddler Snack Kit from BeechNut, get a free stick of Secret Deodorant, get a buy 1 get 1 free at Chipotle, get 2 free Nivea Chapsticks, & stock up on the husband's face wash--2 8oz bottles of Clean & Clear for a total of $6.50 (regular price for one is $6.99).

Ultimately our thoughts in this house are, the more we can prepare now, the better off we will be in August. In general we like to keep back ups of our usual needs like detergents, paper towels, shampoo & conditioner, etc. so in case we ever ran into a job loss or financial stress there would be some essentials we wouldn't need to worry about right away.

What ways do YOU save?
What are YOUR favorite saving blogs or tips?!

15 weeks & Counting

Who knew that being pregnant with another lil' one could be so different from the first time!
Aside from the physical symptoms, the biggest difference is how little time there is to sit, refuel, or even think about a nursery, a name, or the little hopes.
When I'm not tied to my desk, I'm struggling just to find time to love on the two men in my life let alone figure out how to call a friend, stay up late enough to watch a show, or grocery shop. UNREAL how exhausted I am.

Um--also, incredibly unreal how much faster I have shown this time around!
At 15 weeks now, I am definitely all belly'd up!
If the Dr. hadn't told me I've gained the same amount of weight I had at the same time my last pregnancy, I'd be thinking I was in serious trouble!
It hasn't stopped me from wanting to post a sign on my shirt that says, "KNOCKED UP" buuut oh well!

So we talk to the midge about him becoming a big brother and ask for his opinion on the little things like, "What do you want to name the baby?" (to which we get no real answer) & the hus' favorite question is, "Do you want a white baby like mommy or a brown baby like daddy?" (to which he always says, "white baby!" and we laugh)
{*I should probably mention for any new readers that I'm a blond (usually) & blue eyed Norwegian while my husband is straight up Portuguese and our first babe was a total shock of bright blond, blue eyes, and fair skin just like Mama.}And life just keeps moving forward
(despite the fact that I feel like this pregnancy is surprisingly taking forever after spending 2 weeks at 14 weeks when my due date was bumped up---lame!!--but I truly think they're wrong. Guess I do have to keep on their time line however.)

So, all is just movin' along over here.
How are YOU doing?!

A Wordy Update!

A LOT has been going on in the past month or so...both challenges & blessings.

And here I am, a little lost in where to start because I haven't heard my own voice in so long
but I'll make this attempt to start somewhere!
About a month ago now my little man got a pretty intense cold and it turned into just the start of a series of illnesses.
It seems to have come to an end about a week ago after a trip to the Dr. & then a request we go to the ER for blood work & X rays.
For weeks the Dr's had been telling me, "He doesn't have symptoms now" and I would leave $20 poorer and feeling frustrated-- THIS ISN'T MY KID! I don't care if you say he's ok right now!
To make a very long story short, he ended up with a hip infection that limited his ability to walk and PRAISE GOD there was no bacteria. I couldn't handle another bout with sepsis in my life!

During that same time of illness, I was visited with a very dark moment in my life.
I had been working my butt off and essentially discovered I was letting it kill me.
I had a come to Jesus moment and fell apart and through my dear, dear friend & my mom, I heard Him calling me home & I decided to fight for my life.
I reclaimed my servant's heart and redirected my attention.
It seems I've spent months in this fight.
Something feels different now.


So there we were with a sick midget and a broken hearted but refound me and we got some news, work life was going to look different for my husband- his hours were being cut.
Faith or Fight moment.
We chose faith.
Ok, Lord-fearless we say, let this moment be yours.
He gave us this time for my husband to:
a) be a stay at home dad
b) keep our son from daycare and allow his immunity to rebuild
c) look at me one afternoon and say, "I really want this for you"
meaning, he wants me to be a stay at home mom, too.
He gave us this time for me to:
a) Come to Him and Choose Him...daily
b) Make room for Him in my heart
c) To challenge who I say He is - If I believe He can move mountains and work miracles, why do I limit Him with my doubt?
This unchosen moment has actually been one I wouldn't take away.

And in & amongst ALL of this is the greatest blessing of all....
We are expecting a little cherub this August!
Just days to making it exactly 1 year since my most challenging loss, we were given a new life to love.
The emotions I have had with that are a different post in itself but above all
I am so thankful.
SO very THANK FULL.

To close it out for the moment, I heard Rick Warren say something on a sermon I relistened to today: If the devil can't make you bad he'll make you busy.
All of a sudden, the past several weeks and how they have slowed us down felt like an unbelievable blessing to see all the things I was filling my life with that were not of Him or for Him.
He's at work in it all!

I L ? ? E You

In high school I had a boyfriend who would send me notes on graph paper and in each one there would be one written portion that was the same:

"I L ? ? E You"

This "relationship" didn't last long.
Two weeks into the graph paper note love/like affair, he decided my endeavor to Australia that upcoming Summer would leave him too lonely for three weeks & I decided that this clearly wasn't worth it.
As I lay awake thinking about what God's been telling me to move on in my life in the last 72 hours, I remembered this toying two week relationship that existed over a decade ago.

It became clear to me as I pictured those old hand written notes that my God will never make me question how he feels about me. He doesn't fill the Bible with doubt, confusion, and strings. He's not asking me to earn his love or fulfill Him. He's not saying if I stray, I can't come home.

He is like NO Human Relationship on this Earth.

He says,
I LOVE You.
No questions & no games.
He loves me!
He loves You!

How To Make Vanilla Extract

I've been holding off on this post for awhile since this was our Christmas gift to our Family this year: 30 bottles of home made vanilla extract!
We really wanted to do something for everyone and with a limited budget, we wanted what we did to be home made and usable.
This fit the ticket at about $6.00 per bottle.

You'll be able to find tons of "how to make vanilla" resources online but I thought, why not add one more? ;)

Supplies

Cooking Shears (or clean scissors)
Funnel
Vanilla Beans
Vodka (Costco: Sky Vodka is $20 per bottle. I needed 2)
Glass Bottles with Lids

Step 1:

-Cut each vanilla been in half
-Cut each half down the middle to tip of stem leaving about 1/2 to 1 inch at the end
*make sure each bean is left connected at one end

Step 2:

-Divide the split vanilla beans amongst the bottles
(I put 4 half, split beans in each bottle)
-Pour the vodka over the split beans through the funnel
-Seal & Shake
-Store in a cool, dry place
*Allow extract to cultivate for 2 months taking the bottles out to shake them a couple of times during their fermenting process.

And so you've done it!

In 2 months, you'll go from this:

To this:If you want to know some alternative uses for vanilla, check this out, too!

And one last little tip:
Have your labels printed through a professional printer and on water-resistant paper to prevent the drips from usage ruining the look of your gift!Enjoy!

Parenthood

"You know, when you have kids, if you have kids, there's something you should know--very confusing thing they don't tell you. You see so much of yourself in them. You see your ironic take on the world. You see your smile, your walk, your sense of humor, whatever--and you think they're you but they're not you and they shouldn't have all of your baggage and your fear and your insecurity and your life experience because that's not fair--they have their own." ~Parenthood

This quote from the show Parenthood's episode, "Meet The New Boss," struck me. It also stuck with me through a few conversations this week and a few stolen moments to look within.

I have a beautiful "baby" boy. He came into my life two and half years ago and changed how I saw the world and what I did in it. Everything my husband and I work so hard for became about him. What could we give him? And I don't mean what toys, clothes, or material items could we fill his closet with, I mean, what opportunities could we afford him? How could we pave a road for him that would take the best of where we had been and improve upon the worst of what we'd walked and give that to him?
As his mother, it haunts me in both beautiful and breaking ways.

I grew up in a house of three and while I may have two siblings, you would never know we were raised in the same home--ever.
My life experiences included getting my first job at 16, buying my own car, taking out loans for school (even though my mom & step dad helped so much), working through college, renting a room in my parents home when I graduated from college.
Their life experiences included getting their first jobs in their twenties, being given car(s), having college paid for, living rent free.
I know this sounds like whining but what it is is an acknowledgment of gratitude that I was taught to stand on my own but it also became a marker for: I will do things differently.

My husband and I grew up in two different worlds.
While I was not given everything, I was exposed to a lot. I had opportunities that he didn't.
In our five years of marriage we have shaken out the good and bad of both of our roots and while I still may believe College is a must and he considers it to be an option amongst many for our son, our desire is to give our son a foot up in this world.
Our dream is that he won't enter marriage with an unbelievable amount of debt from chasing dreams, independence, and miseducation. Our dream is he will be set up for success.

I watched the show this week and I heard the quote above and I froze a bit and I heard myself think,
"I am trying to correct what went wrong and hand him the best of what my life has been so far and he's only two."

I talked with a co-worker this week and our kids came up and she admitted, "I can't afford more than two," and I thought, "Can I even afford my one? Can I afford the dreams I have for him?" --the dreams that are really about me.

I watched Oprah this week and the "Octamom" episode and I went from judging her to criticizing myself. Providing for your children is just NOT easy. We parents love like mad and dream big but I know that what I need right now is a step back because I'm missing something.

I'm working my @$$ off in the name of provision and I'm gridlocked: I don't know how to give more and I don't know how to give less. My truest of all hopes is that I, every day, will learn a little more about how to keep my baggage, my fear, my insecurity, and my anxiety far from imposing it on him. He deserves his road and I should be his number one fan and encourager handing him the tools along the way.

{In}Fallible

Here's the thing about parents,

they're human.
Why does it suck so much to realize this?

Perhaps because we grow believing they are infallible, or because their love defines us, or because their belief in us can make us.
Whatever the reason is, growing up means learning more truths than we want to.
Not only do we learn that Santa is just a myth and the Easter bunny would actually be a terrifying thing to run into, but we learn that our parents aren't perfect. They don't just teach us things we want to be, but they also teach us the things we don't want to be.When I first got married five years ago, you couldn't convince me the way I was raised and the truths I held were anything but the right way.
I battled within my marriage to establish what my traditions were as our traditions.
I had beliefs that how I grew up was normal and correct.
I wanted to repeat most of it.

Two years later, both my husband and I started to let our walls down: maybe our parents didn't have it all right. Maybe there was some crazy in there we wanted to abandon and we lay awake asking each other, what was the good we wanted to take with us?
And now--after the years of my childhood traditions have all but disintegrated and I've walked through the traditions that were my husbands, we face each other and admit:
It sorta sucks to grow up.

More and more we realize, ain't nobody else really done gone an' matter except for the three of us at the end of the day: Me, the man, and the babe.
No one should come between us, no one should be allowed to break our dreams, no one can rob us of any joy unless we hand it over, and we can't change a thing about who our families are. We can take what we like, discard what we don't, and add a little bit of our own.

Sigh.
I think the only truly hard pill to swallow about it all is knowing...
one day, my son will also look at what was his parents best and say,
"It's not the best for me."
Because that's truth and it's right and good and factual.
We should always want a little more, try a little bit harder, and do a little bit better than those that came before us.