Yay for clothes!

The good news is that our bag was found. The bad news is that it's not going to be delivered to us until sometime after midnight tonight, so I'm sleeping in tomorrow dang it!

I swear DC is cursed! LOL!!!!! Anyhow, not getting into that silly discussion here tonight, it's too late. We just don't have good luck here.

We're having a good time and it's really been great to spend time with our niece who recently turned 1. I don't have a nickname for her yet because I don't know her personality as well. Since we don't live near her, we aren't involved in her day to day life and we haven't even seen her since she was 4 months old.

Long story short, she's cute & just as busy as a 1 year old should be.

First pictures tonight are of the boys on the plane. Little Man is a seasoned pro (although it's been a while this time) but it was Peanut's first flight. He did so well and as I mentioned earlier he slept most of the flight on top of Hubby's tray. Gosh that was cute! I'll be sure to get a picture of it on the way home.

On a side note real quick, the thing Little Man is 'wearing' is the C.A.R.E.S. Restraint and we LOVE it!

I can't tell you how many ooohs & ahhhs we got today over Peanut sitting in the stroller like this:

Our niece (insert clever nickname here) thought Peanut was pretty cool. He reciprocated.

She's into EVERYTHING, lol. Including Peanut's carrier. :)

Okay I'm getting mad that I haven't heard from the courier service that is bringing our suitcase back to us yet. Grrr....

I cannot wait to get that dumb suitcase back. The more I thought about what was in it today the more upset & angry I got about it. At least Little Man will have his fleece Thomas blanket back for tomorrow night.

Time to go lay down and get some rest anyway.

I do NOT heart flying!

Well, we made it to Baltimore...but our clothes didn't.

On our way to the airport (we left the house at 3:45am) I realized neither of us had picked up Little Man's shoes. Thankfully Wallyworld is open 24 hours and I stopped in and bought the only pair in his size! Little did we know that was a sign at how our day would go.

The flight went smoothly and both boys did really well. Peanut slept on Hubby's tray for most of the flight (since he was by the window). We even got compliments from the people in front of us afterwards that our boys did so well & they didn't even realize there were kids behind them. That always makes a parent smile.


HOWEVER...Just beware that Southwest has decided to start charging $25 for EACH leg for a gate checked stroller. The lady was kind enough to waive it for us this morning and agreed it was a stupid policy. Yeah, like 2 of us are going to be able to carry all of our carry on items AND 2 kids. WHATEVER. Talk about taking advantage of people. BTW: Our carry ons consist of apnea monitor, laptop, portable DVD player, diaper bag & another diaper bag used for other toys and blankets. Then add on 2 car seat bags, a small suitcase, and a large suitcase. Believe it or not, we carried ALL of that by ourselves.

Of all the bags for the airline to lose, they lost our big one which had ALL of our clothes in it. Needless to say we are NOT happy and even more turned off than ever before on flying.

Okay, gotta go buy some clothes. I'll add some pictures of the boys on the plane later on. I've also got one of Peanut sitting in the stroller instead of the carrier. I can't begin to tell you how many people oohed and ahhhed about that, lol.

Okay...off to buy clothing for a family of four. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

I Heart Walgreens

Yes it's true, I love a great deal and today Walgreens is where it was at!

3 Transactions

Transaction #1

3 Garnier Shampoo used $2/1 MQ (found at DG) & $1 Aug IVC
3 Garnier Conditioner used $2/1 MQ (found at DG) & $1 Aug IVC
1 Chemistry hair Care used $1 MQ (from the Beauty adviser) & $3 Aug IVC

Total OOP: $7.50
Rebate Earned: $17.99 + 10% = $19.79
Profit after rebates: $12.29

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Transaction 2



Garnier Shampoo/Conditioner used $2/1 MQ (found at DG) & $1 Aug IVC
1 Chemistry Conditioner used $1 MQ (from the Beauty adviser) & $3 Aug IVC
2 Glade Plug in's used 1 BOGO MQ
2 Plug in Refills used $1 Sept IVC & $1 MQ & BOGO MQ

I also used a $5 RR

Total OOP: 10.06
Total Rebates: $21.99 + 10% = $24.19
Profit After Rebates: $14.13

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Transaction 3 - It's a doozy. I was trying to get to $40 so I could use the $10 off $40 coupon we got in the email yesterday. I honestly cannot tell you every coupon I used because at this point I'm just not sure. However, almost every single item had a coupon, lol.

Here's what I was paid to haul away.

I know it's a bit hard to see so here is what's on the table.

4 Dawn
2 Peter Pan Peanut Butter
4 Kraft Mac n Cheese
3 Garnier Shampoo
3 Garnier Conditioner
1 Chemistry Shampoo
1 Spray n Shout
3 Glade Fabric Refreshers
2 John Frieda Shampoo
2 John Frieda Conditioner
2 Bic Soleil Razor Cartridge Refills
6 Trident Xtra Care Gum
4 Glade Plug Ins
1 Cupcakes Doll
2 Cars Die cast Car (one not pictured)
1 Nivea Mens Body Wash
1 Crest Pro Health Toothpaste
1 Snickers Bar
1 Revlon Nail Polish
1 Finesse Shampoo
1 Finesse Conditioner


Total OOP: $34.93
Savings: $116.53
RR earned: $9.00
Rebates: $37.53 (which includes the 10% bonus)


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Totals for the day

Total Merchandise: $230
Total OOP: $52.49
Total Coupon Savings: $177.51
Total Rebates Earned: $90.33
Profit after Rebates: $37.84

Not a bad haul and now I don't need shampoo for like 5 years, LOL!

Peanut is FOUR months old!

Life is especially chaotic right now. We don't mind, it's just that things are crazy busy. We're going out of town this weekend and I haven't even started to think about what needs to be done to make that happen.

Honestly, we've probably lost our minds and if we haven't, we most certainly will by the time we get to the airport in Baltimore on Sat morning. I started talking to a friend tonight about some of the things we needed to get done, dig out etc for the trip and it got overwhelming awful quick. Sickening really. We had the very stark realization of just what a royal pain in the ass Saturday is going to be. We've got 2 car seats that have to go as checked baggage and an apnea monitor we have to take through security along with items for formula, etc. Oh Joy. You know the really fun part about the car seat bags? You can't pack them until you're already at the airport!!!!!!!! Let's not forget that the flight leaves at 7:15 AM and we live an hour & a half away from the airport. Can you feel my enthusiasm? I have a feeling the whole time we're there we're just going to be dreading the flight home, LOL!!!!

Seriously though, we're really glad we're going to get to spend some time with family we haven't seen in quite some time. Hubby's lil bro has a daughter that just turned one & a cousin who has a son who recently turned 1. I smell good times in store for Little Man. :)

And now that I'm done venting, here is the real reason for this post tonight (even though it's technically morning.) Peanut is four months old today! WOW time flies!!!!!

I took some horrible pictures of the boys today but a couple of them are really funny. It started out with my bright idea to take them outside for pictures since it was such a beautiful day. Apparently it was too beautiful & bright and neither appreciated it. After all of like 2 or 3 pictures it was time to take them inside and try again, although much to my disappointment.

How funny is this that BOTH of them are covering their faces?

Peanut looked just a wee bit pissed at me as well, lol.

So inside we went to try for a few more.

Little Man was okay with laying NEXT to Peanut, but only for a few seconds.

Maybe Peanut was sad that Little Man left? LOL.

As this series of pictures shows, Little Man was NOT okay with Peanut being ON him. Although I did get a smile out of him eventually.

After dinner there was one last (failed) attempt at getting a few pictures.

This picture makes me laugh SO hard -- Peanut started leaning so Little Man had to too.

And one last picture of Little Man...just because.

No other major news to report on Peanut right now, he's just growing like a weed and spitting up like a champ. We've gone back to thickening his formula very heavily and that has helped the projectile vomiting a lot.

He has his 4 mo check up after we get back from DC & that should be fun to find out how much he weighs and how long he's gotten.

Olympic Gymnastics 2008

My love for gymnastics began very early; especially women's gymnastics. I can remember watching the Olympics as a child and watching the ladies try to stick their landings and do the best they could. That said, the Beijing Olympics have been a big fat BUST in the gymnastics department.

I don't know if it's just the new scoring system or what but I was hugely disappointed. I would like to know how a gal that lands on her KNEES on a vault is even worthy of a medal? I get the whole idea behind the degree of difficulty but that appears to be rewarding people for attempting to do things they can't do instead of rewarding the grace & perfection of a routine that is solid.

As I watched the team finals I thought to myself, "I'm not sure I've ever seen SO MANY mistakes from a team that actually won a medal." Just disappointing.

And how about those Chinese girls? Yes...I said girls. I don't necessarily 100% agree with the 16 year old age limit but if you're going to have rules, you should really at least enforce them.

Little Guy, Big Cry

Normally I don't like the saying t-shirts & onesies. In my opinion it typically reflects the parents and not so much the child. However, while clothing shopping this weekend I ran across a onesie I couldn't pass up. Esp since it was on the clearance rack (at Osh Kosh) and right now I just need some onesies to put the Peanut in. You guessed it, it says, "Little Guy Big Cry." So very true.

Saturday night he slept through the night for the first time and man that was nice! He slept from 10pm - 7am. Of course there was no repeat last night. No, I think he was up something like 6-8 times. Yay us, NOT. LOL.

kix

Little Man & his Kix

Little Man & the Kix

We have been working very hard with Little Man & his spoon feeding lately. We finally got around to feeding him some cereal (Kix) with milk in it and he didn't like the sogginess of it all. He did however find it INCREDIBLY amusing whenever the Kix would roll off of his spoon. He also thought it was more than hilarious to try to just dump it on the tray. He's flashing me a really great chessy smirk for this picture.

The yellow bowl he's dipping into doesn't have any milk in it and I'm sorry I was laughing too hard to keep the camera still for the whole thing.

And so I present to you this video for your entertainment. :)

One of THOSE days!

Remember how I said Peanut typically has at least one bad day/night a week? Today was it!!! Actually, when Little Man woke up from his nap whining I knew it was a definite bust, lol. It figures that on the only day of the year that hubby has to work late I've got both of them whining and crying along with a major migraine. Oh well, life goes on...we all made it out alive, hahahahaha!!!!!

While Little Man decided to be cute and sit in Peanut's bumbo I snapped a couple of shots of Little Man raising cain. Whew!

This picture just doesn't do his tantrum justice.

This one gives a little better idea.

Let's not have another one of these days for a while please.

Update on the boys

So much talk and emphasis has been put on what Little Man can't do lately that I feel it's important to point out that there is still plenty that he CAN do.

In life it always seems easier (& sometimes more important) to focus on the negative things but I think it's important to always remember the positive.

Obviously Little Man has things that need working on so that's typically the topic of conversation. However, cognitively Little Man is right where he should be and that's fantastic news. It's incredibly easy to forget that because he struggles to communicate his needs, wants & thoughts.

He has his speech & occupational evals in 2 weeks and sees the neuro in 4. We're on the waiting list for physical therapy right now and next month he should be having his assessment through the school district. Fall is going to be busy, busy, busy.

And so for your viewing pleasure the posting directly under this one is Little Man talking to me.
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Peanut is doing really well. We still have at least one REALLY bad night/day a week but things are improving. We honestly don't think they'll take him off the apnea monitor until he's 6 months old but a glorious day that will be! LOL. I started putting him in 3-6 month clothing this weekend which made me a bit sad while happy at the same time obviously.
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I don't have much in the way of pictures from last Friday at Pump-it-up but it was a LOT of fun. I think we were too busy playing to take pictures, lol. The kids also had a blast at chuck-e-cheese. Speaking of pictures, I just looked on my computer to see what I had to share and I think I'm missing pictures! I'll have to look on the laptop later.

He Speaks! (Video)

The Savings Continue

The last post was getting long so I'm breaking it up.

Kellogg's had their $10 MIR form come out on Sun so many places are putting Kellogg's products on sale this week. Kroger's Mega Deal, which ended Tues, produced a few great transactions for me including 10 boxes of Nutrigrain bars that were CHEAP. Not bad and at the rate with which Little Man goes through them I can never actually have too many, lol.

So tonight at Walgreens I did their Kellogg's deal. I bought 4 boxes of cereal, 4 boxes of pop tarts & 2 boxes of cheez-it crackers. I also bought a small handful of school supplies & some of the Glade scented oil candle refills along with one Glade candle.

My receipt says I spent $18.95 OOP and saved $30.11. I also got 2 $5 RR (coupons to spend on your next order) and a $10 MIR to complete along with $4.40 in WAGS rebates coming to me.

So after all the rebates I will have profited $5.45 from this transaction. I'm happy with that.
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I screwed up at CVS in a major way tonight. Hubby & the cashier had a good giggle at my expense. However, when I came home and did the math I didn't do nearly as poorly as I thought. Now if CVS would just stock the products they advertise we wouldn't be having this discussion at all. :)

I got about $70 worth of stuff (toothpastes & toothbrushes, detergents, dish soaps, make-up and other goodies) and paid almost $20 on gift card. I left with $6 and some change in my pocket along with $12 in ECBs and a $1.50 MIR. That's basically a break even there. I got the gift cards by transferring prescriptions. Last week there was a coupon in our flyers here for a $30 GC when you transfer a prescription. I transferred 3 so I made a profit of $60 on that.
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Tomorrow is going to be LOTS of fun. We aren't going to be here for Diva's birthday party since we're leaving town that day. So instead we're taking the kids to Pump It Up again and after that we'll take them to Chuck-E-Cheese to celebrate her fourth birthday. Oh I'm sure we'll have lots of pics tomorrow...if I remember to charge my camera battery tonight.............

I still Coupon

After being teased I took down the couple of blogs that dealt with my coupon obsession. However, a few folks have asked why and so I am here to tell you my obsession with couponing has not died.

Instead I will be proud that I am keeping our money in the bank instead of spending it. (Who am I kidding? You haven't seen our medical bills, lol.) I digress....I will happily allow the manufacturers to pay my grocery bills and you can too.

I have figured out the formula game. If you live in Texas and you buy your infant formula, my suggestion is HEB. I do use the Enfamil $5 formula checks for the Gentlease but if you aren't picky you can get the HEB brand for next to nothing all day long. And let's face it, most of the formula is the same because it's regulated. I'm stocking up on the HEB brand for when Peanut is a little bit older. I don't believe for a second that he'll need the Gentlease for his entire first year.

How does it work? It goes something like this.

Buy a can of HEB brand formula = $7.99 At the end of the transaction you'll receive a coupon for either $10 off the big can or a FREE small can.

Every single time you buy a can and use one of those coupons, it spits out the OTHER coupon. I've been doing this for 2 months. I'm probably going to cry the first time it doesn't work, lol.

I will also spit out coupons for Carnation Good Start Formula.

Tonight I bought 4 cans of formula: 1 Good Start, 1 Enfamil Gentlease, 1 Small can HEB, 1 Large Can HEB and paid just under $20 for all 4. I saved $30.

Names I'll never forget

Jennifer Ertman & Elizabeth Pena

Fox News Story

More details of what happened to them but with a warning: it's not for the weak.

I remember this story all too well. The girls went to my HS (which I was to start that fall) so it's not like I knew them (even though I had friends that did). However, their bodies were found VERY close to someplace I would often times ride my bike at. I very much remember them planting the tree at the HS in their honor that fall.

I think we all have that moment that we must realize we aren't invincible and this was it for me. We all watch the news growing up and hear about the bad things that happen but the younger you are the less likely you are to be capable of grasping the reality of those things. This was just one of those moments in my life where reality set in. The brutality the girls endured and death. Gruesome reality that hit close to home.

My heart goes out to the families.

STOOPID Insurance Co

You read that right, I cannot stand them. There is just too much to go wrong from the point of service to billing and it always gives me a headache. I have an appeal with the ins co from my stay in the hospital with Peanut that I have now sent in TWICE and they have lost twice. So I will send it in again.

She assured me she would make sure she gets a copy of the fax so that she can personally handle it. My response, "Yeah, not to be rude but that's what the last lady said too."

I also told her I would start faxing it every single day if they don't "get it." She said, "that would be excessive." My response, "And you don't think me having to waste 45 minutes of my time every single time I have to call you to check on it and having it 'not received' twice already with no hope in sight isn't excessive?"

I've had nothing but headaches this year with them. Little Man had to go to the doctor twice in April and they somehow managed to bill that as an NP (bigger co-pay) instead of the Pediatrician. The ins co kept telling me that it was the office's fault even though they were admitting the office was using the exact same billing codes they have ALWAYS used. Fantastic. That has since been sorted out and it was their fault, not the doc's office. Took like 6 phone calls between the two places though. They have also managed to screw up the billing for Peanut's 2 well child visits so far. We're battin' 0 for 2 right now. (Which I did finally get to the bottom of today and should soon be billed correctly.)

Which brings me to today. I took Peanut in today for shots ONLY. As in, no need to see the doctor but for some reason I had to wait in the line of people waiting for the doctor. His appt was for 10:30 and we finally got the shots right about noon. Freakin' A-HOLES! lol. That is probably their way to deter us from using our alternate shot schedule. I personally refuse to load up my infant on all the CRAP in those shots at one time. He will get the most important ones first and only the brands with the least offensive ingredients. No more than 2 shots or 3 diseases at any one time. I could rant about vaccines for a long time but will spare you.

I can only imagine what kind of mess the billing for SHOTS ONLY is going to look like. I know they are covered at 100% but I'm sure the ins co will find a way to say otherwise and make me pull my hair out until it gets sorted out.

The great news in all of this mess is that Peanut weighs 12lbs 8ozs. He's gained 2 lbs in the past 5 weeks. WOOHOO! That's fantastic! Size wise he's going to catch right up it appears. There are some things that a 3 mo old should be able to do that he cannot yet do and there are plenty of others that he can. I'm so thankful that he's doing so well and hopefully we will be rid of that apnea monitor soon.

Next I must tell you that Edouard is a bust. It's barely even rained here although we should continue to get more this afternoon/evening/night. I'm disappointed it didn't make landfall where they thought it would last night.

And lastly, since you've stuck with me though my venting, here are a couple of really cute pictures.

Happy Peanut (which is starting to happen more often at least)

Peanut in Little Man's sunglasses. Too Cute.

Little Man after getting his sunglasses back. (When is this kid NOT happy? lol)

Bring it on EDOUARD!!!

hehehe, I couldn't resist. I absolutely LOVE this kind of weather and I live far enough inland & high enough up that damage and/or flooding is not an issue for us. We didn't live here for hurricane Rita (which spared most of the area after all) but were around for TS Allison. That was a doozy with the flooding and lost one car in that storm. I don't think this one is going to be bad but we desperately need the rain. I guess in the morning I'll have to double check that it's even coming anywhere near here and go pick up the few items that could become flying projectiles from the yard. So if I'm not online tomorrow, I probably just don't have power, lol. As of tonight's 10pm (CST) update we're right in line for the eye. WOOHOO!