finally got it!

Finally did a good job at the grocery store!!! Here's what I got:

• 2 packs scones
• Onion buns
• Lactaid milk
• Eggs
• 2 qts Tropicana OJ
• 5 Stoufers frozen lunch meals
• 2 jars Classico spaghetti sauce
• 2 packs Hillshire Farms sausage
• 2 packs Oscar Meyer bacon
• 3 lbs chicken breasts
• 1 lb ground beef
• 2.5 lbs apples
• 1 lb bananas
• 1 lb broccoli
• 2.5 lbs oranges
• 1 red bell pepper

Total spent: $57.05

Total saved: $42.26!!! woohoo!!! :)

sweet deals

So, here are my big deals for the week (have only made it to Target so far...)

Keebler Crackers - 4 boxes for $0.87 each
Toy Story 1 and 2 DVD/BluRay combo - $15.90 (SHOULD have gotten them for $3.98, but I recycled last weeks Toys-R-Us ad, so I couldn't get the AWESOME deal...)
Oscar Meyer Lunchables - $0.34 each
Betty Crocker AuGratin Potatoes - $0.49 each
Olay Quench Lotion (24 oz) - FREE!

It's a TON of work, but I think I am fully organized now so it should be easier from here on out... and hopefully I'll get better at saving on groceries!!! I'm still challenged there...

pictures

I promised pictures last week and am finally delivering...

...ready to go shopping...
...cutie patootie in her hat...

...laying on the floor with jake...

...spagetti-o's lunch...

...the new truck...

So Proud!

Just a real quick post because I am so proud of my girl tonight (and every night). I was changing her diaper for bed and singing the itsy bitsy spider and guys - my 16 MONTH OLD knows the MOVES for the Itsy Bitsy Spider!!!! That girl has the whole thing down from the spider climbing up to the sun coming out... It's amazing... :)

And tonight I taught her to stay "stinky butt butt". I bet her teachers are going to LOVE that one! She kept saying "daddy stinky butt butt" while I was changing her poopy diaper... it was quite hilarious. She has also learned to point and shake her hand and say "that's a bad dog!" which really sounds more like "that buck duck" but we say "bad dog" so I THINK that's what she's trying to say! :)

And finally - we got a new truck tonight. It's a 2009 Chevy Silverado. Pretty nice. Belle LOVES the bed of it. I put her in it while we were trying to finish things up at the dealership so she wouldn't run out in the parking lot, then she wouldn't come back out. She's so silly. I'll post pics tomorrow...

Coupon-ing

I have taken to couponing lately, thanks to some inspiration from Amy. This weekend was the first real weekend of serious coupon-ing... Here is what I got:

Rite Aid

• 4-6pks Coke
• 3 bags Reese's PB Cups
• 2 bags Hersey's Kisses
• 1 bag Cadburry chocolate eggs
• 1 Sinus buster ($12.99 - only NON sale/Non coupon item)
• 1 Johnson & Johson baby lotion
• 2 Visine eye drops

Total Spent: $26.75

Total Saved: $38.81

CVS

• 1 box Rice Chex Cereal
• 1 box Kelloggs Smart Start cereal
• 2 pks femine products

Total Spent: $4.33

Total Saved: $7.73

Giant (haven't mastered this store yet)

• 1 loaf Pepperridge Farms bread
• 2 qts Lactaid milk
• 1 gal milk
• 1 gal Tropicana OJ
• 2 pks Bertoilli frozen meals
• 2 Ristorante frozen pizzas
• 2 jars Classico pasta sauce
• 3 lbs steak
• 2 pks Oscar Meyer hot dogs
• 1 honey dew melon

Total Spent: $59.25

Total Saved: $16.84 (and I found out when I got home that the guy didn't use 4 of my coupons!!!)

Well, this is just a start... I am really hoping to keep this up and start saving a ton!!! I really want to buy a house and found the perfect one this weekend, but it was a bit out of our price range, so we are saving, saving, saving to try to get more of a down payment so that if we find another place, we'll have the money for a down payment which will make it more possible. :)

Spring!!!

It feels like spring has arrived!!!! 60's today and tomorrow and maybe even Thursday... Here are some pictures of our little spring flower from today!

Can't get over those baby blues!!!

And to build on yesterday's message - this morning while getting ready for daycare - Belle also howed me where her eyes and nose were!!! :)

So smart!!!!

My little Belle is just getting so smart!!! I can't believe how much she is learning right now! Saturday, she figured out where her belly button is at and she shows you everytime you ask. And sometimes, she can't find it, because it's hidden under a diaper and clothing, but she just keeps digging and searching for it until she finds it and she is so proud when she finds it to show you!

Yesterday, she and I went for a walk around the block and she kept pointing at the trees and saying "tree". She gathered a couple pine cones to eat - I mean - to show to Daddy. She LOVED being outside! I'm so glad it's getting nicer out so we can go out and play!

Tonight, while getting her PJ's on, I asked her where her belly button was and she promptly showed me. Then I asked where her head was and she patted the sides of her head. Then I asked where her feet where and she started kicking them on the changing table. Then I asked where her hands where and she started clapping them!!! She is amazing! She is so proud when she can answer you and she is just so smiley when doing stuff. I LOVE LOVE LOVE watching her grow up and learn new stuff!!!

She has also been eating on her own for a while now and I've just recently been able to give her our glass plates without having her throw them on the floor... but she loves lick them clean when she really likes what she's having!

Random

...little updates...

Congrats to my cousin Fawn and her husband Ben on the birth of their daughter, Aubrie Eve Westervelt today!!! I can't wait to meet her!

Belle was sick last week. I picked her up from daycare Tuesday and she was very whiney and upset and while I was talking to my friend, she puked all over the floor. Then, as I was walking over to get some paper towel to clean it up, she puked all over me. That was the first time she has actually been sick (aside from colds, ear infections, thrush, etc.) - okay - so the first time she has puked all over the place since she was a baby spitting up from formula! So, we got home and I tried to give her some soup and crackers to try to calm her little belly... and BLAH! all over... The poor little girl was not feeling well, but luckily she only threw up one more time and had one serious blowout that ended in a 1am hose down in the bathtub which completely broke my heart because she was so tired and not feeling well and was just shaking and crying in the bath, but we got through it and we had a lot of snuggle time! So, clearly, she stayed home from daycare on Wednesday, and was feeling better. She slept most of the day, but didn't eat much at all. Thursday, I was going to send her back to daycare, but when I got her up in the morning, she was shaking so bad from being so hungry and dehydrated (pedialite is great, but only if you can get them to drink it!) So I kept her home for another day and had plenty of snuggle time and she at the WHOLE DAY!!! A lot!!! So, she was back to daycare Friday and back to her normal, silly little self!

And now - Nick has whatever she had....... so he stayed home today and got lots of rest. I really hope I don't get it!

Work is killing me... I am having the hardest time focusing the past week - and being home with my baby girl for a couple days really didn't help. All it did was make me really just want to be home with her all the time... I am just going to keep hoping for that lotto - $112M tomorrow night... COME ON LUCKY NUMBERS!!!!! :)