Walgreens for $4.23!

1 - Charmin 6 Big Rolls- In ad Q making it $3.49 (-$1 MQ)
2 - Reynold's Foil - In ad Q making it $.89 (-$1 MQ reduced to $.89)
1 - Fiber Choice - clearance for $5.29 (-$3 IVC & $2 MQ)
1 - Orajel Training Toothpaste - Clearance for $1.79 (-$.55 MQ)
1 - 6pk Kids Toothbrushes $2
2 - Glade Scented Oil Refills (2/$5) ($1 ea MIR)
2 - Glade Lasting Impressions Warmers (Free Warmer WYB Refill up to $7.99) ($3 ea MIR)
1 - Excedrin $1.99 (-$1 MQ) ($1 RR)
1 - Revlon Lip Gloss $9.99 (-$2 MQ) ($9.99 MIR)

I used a $6 RR & $10.xx on GC making my OOP $4.23. If you're doing the math and it doesn't add up it's because the cashier made a mistake of $2 in my favor and I don't really know where the tax went with that. I didn't realize what had happened until it was too late. (one of the hazards of shopping with a 3yo)

I also got a $1 RR & will get $17.99 back in WAGS MIR along with a 10% bonus.

Thanks to ZM for alerting me to the Warmer Q. I didn't even think about that being a warmer! LOL! That's a better deal at $1 each than the BOGO Q's you can print from the Glade site.

And on another note: I LOVE these toothbrushes. They have the little suction thingies on the bottom so they just stick to the sink. They are the PERFECT size for Little Man and they are CHEAP, lol. The heads seem to be a tad bigger than the name brand kiddie toothbrushes which is great.

It's Rodeo Time, Houston!

It's getting close anyway. The further away you live, the earlier you are likely to be reminded that the Rodeo is near.

As we rounded the corner to head home we realized something was going on because people were lined up on the street. Hubby & I discussed this and quickly came to the conclusion that it must be a parade. But wait...what kind of parade this time of year?!

Then it hit me! The Salt Grass Trail Riders come from Cat Spring...perhaps it's them?!

Sure enough we actually had to take a detour back to the house, grabbed the camera and headed down to the end of the street to watch the trail riders go by. As soon as I turned on the camera I realized there was no memory card in it! ACK!

It was more important that the boys get to see the horses, people, wagons, etc. So unfortunately no pictures. It was a REALLY long group, too.

This is also a reminder that I will NOT go to Houston on Friday.

You think gridlock sucks? Try getting stuck behind one of the trail rides. Horses definitely don't move as fast as cars, even in heavy traffic, lol. They utilize major roads & intersections as they descend on Memorial Park in Houston, awaiting the Rodeo Parade in Houston on Sat morning.

It's a unique tradition and it's just really cool to see everyone dressed up and driving horse drawn wagons/carriage, etc. Especially through a city, lol. When I was a teenager my older brother participated in one of the rides. What a neat experience.

The Salt Grass Trail Ride is the oldest, started back in 1952.
You can read more on the trail rides here.

The longest one is 386 miles. Can you imagine 386 miles on a horse?!?!

He Loves Swords

Peanut loves his big brother's swords.

Unfortunately for Peanut, Big Brother doesn't like it when he has them, lol.

Aren't they cute though? I've just been so eager to get pictures of them like this, sitting next to each other! FINALLY!!!!

Hopefully in the next week or two I'll have pictures of Peanut crawling. He's doing so well and loves to pull himself to get what he's after. And make no mistake, he WILL get to it, lol.

He just doesn't like being on his knees so that is what the PT from ECI is working on with him.

Weekend Shopping

We have company coming in tonight so we were trying to get some shopping done so we don't have to bother much next week.

Sorry, no pictures it had to be brought home and put away quickly.

First Up:
Kroger - 5 Transactions (not at one time)

12 - Gatorade
12 - Fruit Roll Ups ($.50/2 MQ) dbl x6
9 - Fruit Stickerz Snacks ($.50/1 MQ) dbl x9
4 - Fruit Snacks (Gummies) ($.50/2 MQ) dbl x2
5 - Beechnut Stage 3 Baby Food jars ($1/5 MQ)
4 - Glade Oil Candle Refills (Close out) ($1/1 MQ)
4 - Pillsbury Grands Biscuits ($.25/1) x2 trpl & ($.35/2 MQ) trpl & ($.50/1 cellfire)
3 - 1lb pkgs Ground Beef (Mgr Special)
2 - Pledge Duster Refills (Close out) ($1/1 MQ)
2 - Totinos Pizza Rolls ($.35/1 MQ) Trpl
2 - Betty Crocker Supreme Brownie Mix ($1/2MQ) ($.75/? cellfire)
2 - Pkgs Huggies Supreme Diapers (Cellfire - $1) (Shortcuts $1.50) (2x $1.50/1 MQ)
2 - Glade Candles (closeout) ($1.50/2 MQ)
2 - Hershey Bars (because it was LATE when we finished, lol)
1 - Huggies Pull Ups ($2/1 MQ) ($2/1 Cellfire)
1 - Garlic Bread ($.40/1 MQ) dbl
1 - Garlic Toast ($.40/1 MQ) dbl
1 - Yoplait Dora Smoothie thingie ($.50/1 MQ) dbl
1 - Quaker Snacks (raincheck) ($.50/1 MQ) dbl
1 - Chef Boyardee (no Q's left but used it as a filler since it's still a good price)
1 - Kroger hamburger buns
1 - Kroger hot dog Buns
1 - Grillin' Beans (yuuuuuuuum)
1 - Kroger hash browns
1 - Gallon 2% Milk
1 - Valentine's Ballon (for the Little Man who was behaving so well WAY past his bedtime!)

Total OOP: $72.15
Total Saved: $107.87 & Have $7 worth of OYNO coupons
I also don't need another fruit snack for at least a year...maybe more ;)

Randall's
5 - Various Coke 12 Packs
3 - Betty Crocker Cookie Mix
1 - BC Cake Mix
1 - BC Frosting
1 - Light Bulb

Put $17.02 on GC
Saved: $19.38


Walgreens
3 - Bounty paper Towels
1 - Fusion gamer Razor
1 - Windex

Total OOP: $8.94 on GC
Saved: $12.09 & received $6 RR, $1 MIR & MIR on the Windex

CVS
1 - Benefiber ($3/1 CRT) ($2/1 MQ)
1 - Swiffer Wet Refills ($.50/1 MQ)
1 - Glade Spray ($1/1 CRT)
1 - Starbursts
1 - Energy Shot drink thingies

I used $12.58 in ECBs & paid $.55 OOP.
Total Saved (incl ECBs used) $24.30
Received $9.99 in ECBs for later. ($2 for a survey, $3 benefiber & $4.99 Energy Drinks)

Super Baby

Last week we had to start dragging out Little Man's 12 mo clothing for Peanut. I can't believe we're already there!! So the first thing we had to do was put this baby in the Superman jammies that once belonged to his brother. And so I present to you....SUPERBABY! lol.

On a sidenote: Yesterday we had to run some errands and Hubby finished getting the boys dressed while I saw to it that the diaper bag was ready to go (including Little Man's dinner). It wasn't until a couple of hours later that I realized what he'd done. He put Little Man in Peanut's 12 mo shorts and Peanut in Little Man's 18 mo shorts. CRAZY to think how close in size these 2 boys really are considering they are 2 1/2 years apart in age.

Insurance Saga

So the drama continues. We talked to the insurance company to find out if Apraxia is covered. The answer is yes. However, apraxia is a little more complicated than just being 'apraxia'.

They are going to change billing codes and see if that works. If not we'll have to start the appeals process. So frustrating. In the mean time he's continuing the speech. I can only hope that by the time this is sorted out I'm not going to be scrambling to figure out how to pay for all of this so far out of pocket. OMG that thought is going to make me cry! LOL.

It made me feel good that his ST was beside herself and went on a rant in the office about the denial letter. Oh it was ridiculous. I believe it said, "While speech therapy may be beneficial, your benefit plan specifically excludes speech therapy that is not restorative in nature."

She said that if they are going to nit-pick in that manner we will fight that his birth trauma was a head injury therefore we are restoring what he would have had without the injury.

That's his head several hours after he was born. Nobody could believe just how big, bad & ugly that bruise & cut were. It took for what seemed like forever for that thing to go away. We both truly believe - to this day - this is the root of Little Man's problems. Say what you will, but if that bruise had appeared on my son's head AFTER he was born, he'd of been taken from my care immediately so I don't really see how the consequences of the injury would be any different.

BTW: Why don't insurance companies understand that by dealing with developmental problems they are going to save more money in the long run?

5*5*5

I was tagged by Jamie to post my 5th picture in my 5th picture folder and then tag 5 other people.

I have NO idea what you are about to see. Hmmm.....

Oh Look! It's Little Man on his first Easter, inspecting his easter eggs. Awwww....

I'm supposed to tag 5 others, but that's going to have to wait for now.

Totally Frustrated

ARGH! I am so frustrated right now.

Due to Hubby's company being bought out (in 2007) we had no choice but to pick a new insurance plan for this year. We think to ourselves, no big deal. Just research which one is going to be the most cost effective that still supplies the needed benefits.

That came to a screeching halt last night when we checked the mail to find a letter denying Little Man's Speech therapy. According to the letter the insurance only covers speech that is "restorative in nature." WTF? Are you kidding me? So my child should just never talk because it never developed in the first place? We cannot afford to pay for the whole thing out of our pockets so I don't know what we're going to do.

And so begins round 1 of us vs. the ins company.

It didn't help that in that same pile of mail was the bill from Peanut's stay in Dec. That one was just over 4 times more than we were expecting it to be. I guess the game they play is that the hospital only offers private rooms but insurance won't cover a private room so the insured ends up eating the cost of the room. ARGH!

That was my "happy Monday."

He Sits

Speak To Me

Below is a video I took of Little Man a few days ago. After I ask him where he goes potty his answer is, "I go pee pee, poo poo on the big potty." Listen carefully & you'll realize that's what he's saying even though it sounds like, "hee hee hoo hoo ih hah-hee"

The word "Ah-Hee" means yes & no, we did not actually name our son Abbey, that's just what Little Man calls him. I really don't get that, the two are not even close in sounds. But then again, neither are 'Yes' & 'Ah-hee' so who knows?! lol.

Enjoy!

Speak To Me

His New Bike

It's time to retire the tricycle. Little Man is finally big/tall enough that it's become dangerous from the toppling standpoint. So today he got his very first bike! We put him on a 12" bike and it was just too small. He could have ridden it but in 6 months time he'd of been too big again so we went with a 14".

He's not terribly fond of the bike because we actually expect him to pedal. He's been working hard on that skill in physical therapy but the bike is so much different than the tricycle. With his trike the pedals would move whether he did or not so long as you were pushing it. Of course that isn't so on a bike. He likes it but he just honestly has so much trouble with the peddaling. New task for the PT on Tuesday. :)

Of course there are always pictures!

Can you believe we were able to escape the store without the Thomas the Tank bicycle? LOL.