Adventures In Poop

Baby Joie

2008-05-20T21:53:00.002-04:00

My friend Mary had her baby girl today, and I wanted to share her beautiful picture with you all. Joie Graciana was born around 3 pm today. She weighs 7lbs 7oz and is 20 inches long. I don't know about the rest of you, but I love a new baby! The cute little family (they actually have 3 other kids! just not in the picture)
The King got to go see baby Joie today. I am severely jealous. But I am not feeling well, and neither is the Princess. So we will have to wait!
Congrats to Mary and Willie! We love you guys!

Attention Babywearers:

2008-05-10T08:18:00.003-04:00

And those who think they might like to be a babywearer:
There is a fabulous contest going on here to win an Ergo baby carrier. For those of you who don't know, the Ergo is Fabulous. I definitely want one! So I am going to go enter!
Thanks Tara, for telling me about this!

Bored

2008-05-07T21:30:00.002-04:00

You may have noticed that it has been over a week since I have last posted. And I'll tell you why...I am bored. When I started blogging, I was enthusiastic. Now, not so much. I think I just need a break. So I am doing just that. Taking a break. I don't know how long of a break, but I will be back eventually. If I could figure out how to make money doing this (like so many people do)...then I would definitely stick to it. But alas, I am doing it for myself solely. So a break it is!

Baby Backpacks

2008-04-30T07:53:00.003-04:00

At a playgroup last Friday, my friend Tara and I were demonstrating a back carry to a new babywearer. I had another friend snap a picture so we can share with you.
The Princess has only been on my back a few times, but she loves it. In fact, out of the 4 or 5 times she has been on my back, twice she has fallen asleep there!
And speaking of babywearing, check out this great AP blog!

My, What A Lovely Hat!

2008-04-29T19:44:00.002-04:00

Yes, this is the King. Yes, he is wearing a diaper (a pink Blueberry stuffable all-in-one) on his head. No, I do not know why he looks angry.

And the Winners Are...

2008-04-28T11:19:00.002-04:00

The giveaways are over. Sadness, I know.

But happiness awaits two fabulous people...

The winner of the lovey is (drumroll please)

Michelle!

And the winner of the burp cloth set is

Michelle!

Yep, two different Michelles.

A HUGE thank you to Ingrid from WHIM-Z WEAR for supplying these FABULOUS prizes!!! You are indeed fabulous, and we love your line. Can't wait to see what is coming in the future!

Spring!

2008-04-23T20:27:00.002-04:00

There are lots of Wordless Wednesday Pictures at 5 Minutes For Mom.

Everybody's Doin' It!

2008-04-22T20:25:00.005-04:00

Now tell me that you sang that crazy song in elementary school.

Everybody's doin' it, doin' it, doin' it
Pickin' their nose and chewin' it, chewin' it, chewin' it
Thinkin' it's funny, but it'snot (it's not but squished together to sound like it's snot)
It's a hot, snot sundae with a booger on top!

Didn't everybody have a cool uncle who taught them fun songs like that? And how to dip french fries in shakes and frosties, which I still do by the way. (Hi Uncle Mike!)

I used to think that that song was hilarious, but I could never figure out why kids actually do pick their noses and eat it. There is a little girl at church who will hide under a table when she is picking her nose and eating it. She knows that is something she shouldn't be doing, and yet she still does it.

Does it taste good? Are the children hungry? I just can't figure out what the deal is. What is the big attraction to boogers?

And it seems like they start picking their noses and eating it earlier and earlier.

A few nights ago, I was nursing the Princess. She unlatched for a few seconds. Long enough to wipe a booger on my n!pple. Then she proceeded to try to latch back on! Yikes!! I caught her just in time, before she ate her booger.

Yummy!

Whim-Z! You KNOW You Want One!

2008-04-21T23:17:00.001-04:00

This Contest is over. Thanks to all who played. And a special thanks to Ingrid from WHIM-Z WEAR!!

It is time for the Fabulous Spring Bloggy Giveaway Carnival! I had such a great time this winter, and I am geared up and ready for the spring addition!

My giveaway this spring comes from Whim-Z-WEAR! She has the cutest burp cloths, lovies, and bibs! The items are embroidered with your little one's name. You need to check out her gallery, everything is adorable!

The Princess has a set of burp cloths and a bunny loveie. The lovie is so soft and cuddly. The Princess sleeps with her everynight. The burp cloths are very thick and absorbant. Great to toss in the diaper bag. They get the job done, but are cute in the process.

WHIM-Z-WEAR is giving away a set of burp cloths to one winner AND a lovie (a frog or a bunny) to another winner!

Here's what you need to do: Go to WHIM-Z-WEAR, look around for a bit, drool a little over the cutie stuff, then come back and leave a comment telling me what you would love from her site. For a second shot at winning you can post about my giveaway. Make sure you link to my blog and to WHIM-Z-WEAR! Come back and let me know that you linked up and I'll enter you again.

My giveaway will end Saturday night at midnight. I will randomly pick the winners and announce those winners on Monday. Make sure you leave an e-mail address so I can contact you!

Have fun, and make sure to check out WHIM-Z-WEAR!

Shipping to U.S. only!

Spring Has Sprung!

2008-04-18T07:53:00.000-04:00

Finally!

It is beautiful, sunny, warm.

I want to be outside playing, maybe another trip to the zoo.

I want to put on short sleeves and capris, gouchos.

I guess that means I'll have to shave my legs!

Happy Birthday Bub!

2008-04-17T07:39:00.003-04:00

Today is my little brother's 10th birthday!!!!

Happy Birthday Bub!

I love you!

I tried to upload a great picture of my little brother, but my computer skills are failing me today!

Free Money!

2008-04-16T12:59:00.003-04:00

I am so excited about this post. Let me tell you...

I have been seeing this RME thing for a while, and I just kind of passed it up. It didn't seem like something that was real. But then I started seeing people excepting RME as a form of payment.

So yesterday I was reading on someone's blog (don't remember where) that yesterday was the last day to get 25$ when you sign up for RME. I rushed to the website to sign up. After I did, NOTHING appeared in my account. No money. I was sad. It didn't work for me.

But then I saw the fine print "it may take up to 24 hours for your money to appear in your account." Or something to that effect. Sure enough, a few hours later I recieved an e-mail saying I had 25$ in my RME account.

Free money really Works for Me!!

It will work even more for me (and you too) if you click on my button in this post. If you sign up for RME through my button, I will get an additional 10$ and YOU will get 25$ in your RME account! They extended the deadline to May 15th!!!!!

What are you waiting for??? Click the button! Get Free Money!!! Then go to Rocks in My Dryer for more great Works For Me Wednesday tips!

I Just Don't Feel Like It!

2008-04-15T08:05:00.002-04:00

I am tired, sleep-deprived, and a little cranky.

I have a daughter who is clingy, wants to nurse all the time, and a little cranky.

I do not feel like blogging.

I just don't feel like it!

So, I'm not gonna do it!

Oops, I guess I just did.

Super Savings-Not at Walgreens!

2008-04-12T09:40:00.002-04:00

It's that time again! Super Savings Saturday. Let me tell you a little about this week. I'm not sure I would use "Super Savings" to describe it.

First off, I spent a little too much at resale stores this week. Granted, I saved more than if I had bought new, but I didn't need to buy anything.

Secondly, I didn't go to CVS or Kroger this week. CVS's sales didn't excite me too much, and Kroger's were basically a repeat of last week. Though they were Fabulous sales, I had already used most of my coupons for what was on sale. Anyway, because I have been shopping like crazy for the past few months, we are pretty stocked up on everything, so we didn't really need much.

We did need to buy fresh produce. So I went to a local grocery store that has a huge produce section. The prices are pretty high though. Their organics were wonderful, and I bought a couple of things for the Princess to try. I also checked out their fairly large natural section. I got a couple of things to try, and some stuff that I use pretty regulary. I can't think of anything spectacular, so there must not have been anything spectacular. I left the store with only 2 bags of groceries. I had spent the same amount that I usually do at Kroger. But at Kroger I bring home 8 or 9 bags of groceries.

What I would really like to ~~complain~~ tell you about is my trip to Walgreens.

I don't generally shop at Walgreens. I think it is complicated. With the Easy Saver coupons, store coupons, Register Rewards, and Rebates it is a bit much for me. I figure that I do pretty well at CVS, so I don't really need to shop Walgreens anyway. But...

I went on Friday to take advantage of the 5$/20$ coupon. I needed a new filter for my Pur Water Filter, so I thought I would stack that with the ES coupon and a 1$ off manufacturer's coupon. I also grabbed a few things so I would have enough items to match my number of coupons. I was all set at the check out when...

My coupons wouldn't work. First it said my 5/20 coupon and the ES coupon were the same thing. ("It" being the register) Then the cashier rescanned the Pur filter to make my coupons go through. When he went to void it off, the register froze.

So they sent me to another register, another cashier. This one went to scan my coupons, and they didn't work again. She told me that I couldn't use all my coupons and the 5/20 coupons because I wasn't really spending 20$. That was extremely frustrating. I have done it before, so I know it is possible. But I ended up not buying the filter and leaving a bit angry.

So there was no 9$ replacement filter for me. And I have resolved to keep my business to CVS. I know there are many of you out there who do fabulously at Walgreens. My hat is off to you. Can you please tell me how? Then go check out the real deals this week at Money Saving Mom.

Please Pray!

2008-04-11T08:16:00.002-04:00

Please, please, PLEASE pray for my friend Martha Marie.

I can't even imagine what she and her family are going through. I want to help, but the only thing I can do is pray. And ask you to do the same!

The Princess and the Computer

2008-04-10T21:48:00.002-04:00

The Princess loves to watch television. This is not something we encourage, but occasionally she will turn to watch the tube while she is playing in our living room. I know it is the lights, movement and sounds that she is drawn to. We have never sat her in front of the television to entertain her, and we don't plan to in the near future.

In fact, the King and I are trying to cut back on the amount of television that we watch. Especially when the Princess is awake because she likes to watch it so much.

Recently my in-laws bought us a web cam. We have enjoyed having the cam and talking to my in-laws on Skype. A few days ago we even got to talk to my brother and sister-in-law on Skype. I saw my niece for the first time via web cam.

My MIL and FIL got the web cams partially so they can keep up with their 3 grandchildren who live in 3 different states (all different states than them). So we dutifully put the Princess in front of the cam and let her talk to Grandpa and Grandma, but...

SHE HATES IT! She cries every time we put in front of it. It's almost like she is scared of it. I don't understand it!

Then tonight I had the Princess on my lap and was watching a video off of YouTube. It was a cute little girl singing. The Princess would look at the computer, look at me and stick her lip out. She kept doing this over and over. Her little lip was quivering and she looked so sad! Finally she burst into tears. Again, I don't understand it!

How is the computer so different from the TV? They are both boxes that sounds and lights and movement come from. Why does she love one and hate the other? I am perplexed!

Happy Birthday Little Dipper!

2008-04-09T22:04:00.001-04:00

My Fabulous Baby Sister turns SIXTEEN today!
First of all, that is crazy! It makes me feel OLD!
Second of all, let me tell you how Fabulous my baby sister is. Baby Sis has a beautiful heart. She is loving and kind. Baby Sis is also funny and fun to be around. She can act silly and be serious. She is very trendy and always looks adorable (jealousy here!)! Basically she is Fabulously beautiful on the inside and the out!
Happy Birthday Little Dipper! I love you very much!

One Awesome Momma

2008-04-08T06:43:00.001-04:00

I have to apologize for the quality of these pictures. We were pretty far away, but you can still get the idea.

We went to the zoo this Saturday after waiting a whole week in dreary, rainy, gross, yucky weather. Thankfully Saturday was a beautiful, sunny, warm day.

While we were there, we spent about 45 minutes watching the gorillas. They are magnificent creatures. And beautiful too. I was captivated by this Momma. She sat and cuddled her Baby. It was beautiful to watch. I was hoping she would feed him while we were there, but she didn't. She just held him and cuddled him.

The "men" of the group sat on the other side of the exhibit away from the Momma and the Baby.

(Actually, I think one of these gorillas is a pregnant Momma, but I'm no animal expert so...)

This guy is the silverback male. He is the leader of the pack at our zoo. Isn't he HUGE?!!
Well, Mr. Silverback Male started making trouble. He would bite the other gorillas and chase them. It was quite entertaining to watch. But Momma didn't like it. She packed up her baby and moved to the other end of the exhibit.
Every time Siverback would go to the same end Momma and Baby were on, she threw Baby on her back and went to the other end.

Momma really did her best to stay away from Silverback. It was impressive.

I loved watching Momma with her Baby. I could have stood there watching her all day long.

And just because my Baby is cute!...

Sunday, Sunday

2008-04-07T05:53:00.002-04:00

At the moment the song Monday, Monday is going through my head. But I keep singing it Sunday, Sunday. I realize it's the wrong day, but...

I love my Sundays. They tend to be busy for us, but I enjoy it. Most weeks. Yesterday was a great Sunday. I think they get better towards spring. Sundays just seem like the perfect day to spend the afternoon at the park or go for a walk or grill out after church. Spring-like activities, you know.

So here is a run-down of yesterday, a pretty typical Sunday for me.

I got up, got myself and Princess ready and went to church. We go to church every Sunday, no exceptions. (Maybe once a year we don't go, if we are on vacation. But even then we usually go with family or find a church to go to.) It is our time to worship God in His house and fellowship with our church family.

Yesterday the King's sermon was based on kid's questions about the Bible. The kids were in the "Big Church" for the sermon, so he basically spoke to them. He asked them questions, and they got to answer. It was very entertaining. One question he asked was, who wrote the Bible? A five year old answered, the illustrator! Very funny!

A friend of mine came to our church for the first time yesterday, so after service, we went to lunch together. We go out to lunch a lot on Sundays. Probably too much. But it seems like such a good time to get together with people from church. We often talk about the sermon and things going on in our church. My friend and I talked about our church a little bit, and also about our kids and parenting. It was a nice, relaxing lunch. Until the Princess started to have a meltdown. It was getting to be naptime, and she was ready to leave!

So we went home and had a nice, long nap. While the Princess napped, I played on the internet. My obsession this week (it changes often) was Etsy. They have the cutest stuff on there. I didn't buy anything. I never have, I just like to look.

After naptime the Princess and I took a walk. It was a beautiful day. Warm and sunny. The perfect weather I think. I put a hat on the Princess, and her sunglasses, and we were off. The Princess actually rode in the stroller. She does not do this often, and when she does, it's not for long. But we made it all around our block (about a 20 minute walk) with out a peep out of her. The Princess loves to be outside! I think that helped.

I would have liked to walk longer, but it was time for our church's evening service. We have been discussing outreach to our community, and we decided on a few things to do this year. I am excited to start a few of these ministries!

After church we stood outside and talked to people for a while. We do this often in the sprind. The weather is so nice, you just want to be outside all the the time! Then it was bedtime. For the Princess. After I got her down, I put a load of diapers in the wash and went to bed myself.

It really was a nice Sunday! I only hope the rest of the week is just as nice!

SSS: Fabulous Deals

2008-04-05T07:11:00.007-04:00

Welcome to another addition of Super Savings Saturday. Today's Fabulous Savings are brought to you by...Kroger. Yes, my dear favorite Kroger was so kind to me this week. Here is my stash! I paid $44.35

For a total savings of 62%

My favorite deal of the day: The yogurt. The YoBaby yogurt was reduced to $.99, I think because it was expiring. Then I had a $1/1 coupon. The funny thing is, Princess doesn't eat yogurt yet. I wanted to introduce it this week, but couldn't find organic whole fat plain yogurt! The YoBaby is mixed with berries and cereal, and we just aren't there yet. So I have been eating the YoBaby. It's good. Probably the full fat isn't that great for me, but... The other thing is, it was reduced because of the expiration I believe. But I bought it Wednesday, and it doesn't expire until Monday. I can eat one yogurt each day, and it still won't be bad! And I eat one yogurt everyday anyway!

I also had some great CVS deals, although my trip there was stressful. I went on Monday to use up my 5/15 coupons, and nothing was working for me. I found some clearanced items that I thought would work for ECB deals, but they wouldn't ring up that way. So I ended up returning things. Then other ECB deals that should have gone through, didn't. So I went away frustrated, but it will not deter me from going again. I did have a picture of my stash from CVS, but I deleted it before uploading to my computer! How silly!

Also, as I was going through CVS, the nice manager there asked my how I was doing and if I needed help. Then a few minutes later, he came up to me and handed me a handful of samples and coupons! Just because I was there! It was fabulous!! And the coupons were for things that were on ECB deals this week! Yay! One more reason I love CVS!

Now go to Money Saving Mom and see all the other fabulous deals this week.

Congrats! and a Giveaway

2008-04-04T07:36:00.003-04:00

Emily over at Mommin' It Up just had a baby boy! Congrats Emily and family!!!

To celebrate they are having a giveaway. They are giving away a 30$ gift certificate to Carabella's. You just have to check out the website and then leave a comment on their blog saying what you want from Carabella's. And let me say, Carabella's has adorable stuff! I really want this in pink! How about you? Tell me what you would get.

Also you can get a discount until Sunday. Jenny tells you how.

Now, leave me a comment and let me know you stopped by, and then go see the girls at Mommin' It Up. While you are there, check out the cutie pictures of Emily's new baby boy!

TEETHING STINKS!!!

2008-04-03T07:11:00.000-04:00

And that's really all I have to say about that!

WFMW: Storage Baskets

2008-04-02T07:41:00.001-04:00

I have baskets all over my house. I love them. I have baskets that hold blankets. I have baskets that hold magazines. I have baskets that hold remote controls. I have baskets that hold mail. I like to be organized (mostly), and organization might as well be pretty.

The Princess's nursery has the same basket organization system. Some baskets I bought and use "as is," but some I bought and painted to match her room.

This is the bottom of the Princess's changing table. The white basket on the upper left held disposable diapers when I was using them. Now I still have a couple in there, but extra inserts and doublers go there too. The middle orange basket hold lotions and stuff like that. The white basket on the right holds her wipes. That pink thing in the upper right hand corner is her spray for her wipes.

On the bottom shelf is the baskets that hold her diapers and her burp rags.

I organize her closet the same way.

There is a basket for bows, shoes, socks, hats, and miscellaneous items.

Here is the basket for shoes.

I used stickers to label the basket. This is also a basket that I painted. It would not have matched otherwise!

I love the collapsable laundry baskets for blankets and stuffed animals.

We also use baskets for toys

and books. These are board books on the bottom of the Princess's bookshelf, so she can reach them.

I also use pretty baskets in my living room to store the Princess's toys. While I want our home to be her home, I also want my home to look pretty and not like a toy room. I think my basket method accomplishes this.

My basket method really works for me. Go to Rocks in my Dryer for more tips!

My Fabulous Birthday Presents!

2008-04-01T21:25:00.001-04:00

These are actual presents that I got for my birthday, not poop!

The King knows that I love to go to the zoo. So he got me a membership to the zoo! Fabulous! I think the Princess will enjoy the zoo this summer too! I can't wait to go!

He also got me flowers! Isn't he a nice Hubby? I love him lots!

Here I am sporting another Fabulous gift curtesy of my dad and stepmom. My new Kangaroo Korner sling. I love it! The Princess loves it! We are babywearing in style! (FYI, the spots are from where I spilled water on myself. I'm not too graceful! Also, it is very difficult to take a flattering picture of yourself!) Dad and Reese also got me a gift card to DSW. Yay! Shoes for me. And Reese sent me some bedding. I'm thinking a bedroom makeover is in our future!

My MIL, Kari, spoiled me when she was here last weekend. She bought portraits of the Princess and then loaded me up with frames from IKEA so that I can decorate my home with my baby! Fabulous!

I got some other things from others as well. I am extremely blessed! Thank you Thank you! I love being spoiled on this one day (stretched out usually) every year. Happy Birthday to me!!!!

My Big, GIGANTIC Birthday Present

2008-03-31T08:48:00.004-04:00

You may think by the title of this post, that you are going to read about some fabulous present I got for my birthday. But nope! It is, in fact, a poop story! The fabulous birthday present post should be tomorrow.

The Princess has been pretty regular with her poops. Generally twice in the morning, once around noon, sometimes one in late afternoon, and one in the evening around 6. (Yes Princess Poops A Lot actually does poop a lot!) Well, lately her poops have been more sporadic. I have heard this can happen when the babies start solids, and the Princess has been eating solids more regularly now.

Last week, on my birthday to be exact (Tuesday), the Princess didn't poop ALL DAY! I was curious, but not too concerned. I know that constipation can't be proven until the baby actually poops and it is hard. So I was just waiting to see what would happen.

Oh, and you know what happened!

As we were getting ready for bed, the King and I were discussing the lack of poop for the day. I had just put the Princess's diaper on for the night, (A huge 4 layered dipe that makes her look like Humpty Dumpty!) when we heard it! Oh, I knew what it was, and I knew it was going to be bad!

I think the Princess had saved up all her poop for that one moment. IT WAS HUMONGUS!!!!!! Filled the entire diaper! I can not even describe to you how huge it was! Just know that it was BIG!

And I truly think the Princess smiled. She knew she had saved that gigantic poop for my birthday. "Happy Birthday Momma!" Thanks Princess!

Meijer Super Savings

2008-03-29T23:54:00.005-04:00

Generally I am a Kroger shopper. There are three basic reasons for this. 1. It is closest to my house, and closest to CVS. I do my shopping in one day, and I'm not a fan of driving all over the city. 2. I am familiar with Kroger. It's not too big, but has all the things I need, and I know where they are in the store. 3. I think it is pretty well priced. It can be more expensive than, say, Walmart. But with sales and coupons, I have learned to shop Kroger fairly well. I have actually eliminated my Walmart shopping, which is good, because I always bought way too many things that I didn't need there.

With that being said, I decided to branch out a little this week. To see if I could work my coupon magic elsewhere. Kroger's sales weren't that great, at least not on anything that I needed or had coupons for. And Meijer had this fabulous 10/10$ sale going on. And when you bought 10 items for 10$ you got an 11th item free. A lot of the items on sale, I either needed or had great coupons for. I bought all this: And this:
for only $48.22. With a total savings of 52%. It was an incredibly long trip. And I ended up circling the store about 4 times. I also found myself feeding the Princess in the cereal isle (not many places to nurse in a grocery store), but I guess it was worth the adventure. I was irritated because they were out of the 10/10$ crest, and I had coupons that would have made 4 free for me and added an additional free item to my purchase, but life can't be perfect! Ha!

I am particularly excited about the bread and the ground turkey. No, they weren't free, but $1 for 100% whole wheat bread and ground turkey is great! These are things I buy every week at twice the price. I would have bought more, but I wanted to keep my total under $50.

The cereal wasn't in the 10/10$ deal, but Meijer had 2/4$ and 2/5$ deals on cereal that I combined with coupons making the cereal $1 or $1.50 per box.

My Meijer trip was pretty good, but I am hoping for some great Kroger sales this week. I would prefer to shop there.

I hope you go check out Money Saving Mom. There are always fabulous links to many bloggers and their Super Savings.

Finally!

2008-03-28T13:40:00.002-04:00

It has been a very busy week. Not anything in particular. Just small bits of craziness at the castle and at church. To add to all the craziness, we have had an on-going struggle with the phone company in getting internet at the castle. I don't know why it would take over three weeks to get internet hook-up, but apparently it does.

Finally! We got it hooked up this afternoon! I am so excited. This should make it easy to do my work (which is really what I should be doing now) at home instead of at the church. I also should be able to blog more consistantly. This is a great bonus to me!

However, it does appear that I will have to be on my toes with the Princess. Already she has scooted her bare-bottomed self over to me and is playing with the velcro wrap closure thing on the computer cord. When I said that she needs to stop playing with it, she looked up at me and smiled. I think she knows she was doing something wrong. I moved her back, but she is making her way over to the computer again already. We may have to figure something out here. After today, I am going to try to limit my computer and internet time to when the Princess is napping.

Well, I now have to take the cord away from her again!

WFMW: Resale Shops!

2008-03-26T10:33:00.003-04:00

I love a bargain. I think most of you know that. Most everyone who knows me, knows that. And one of the greatest places to find a bargain is at a resale shop. Now I like your usual thrift stores, but a resale shop has some better quality stuff (generally). Because they "buy" your old things, they can pick and choose their merchandise. The cost may be a bit higher, but the resale shops I frequent often have sales and incentives.

Some examples: My favorite resale shop (a children's resale shop) often has an additional 25% off of certain items. Like shoes and toys. They will also "clearance" out seasonal items and when their racks are too full. Just yesterday I bought a few dresses for the Princess for 4$ each. And they were an additional 25% off, making them 3$ each!! And since they were in very good condition and name brands, I thought that was a great deal.

The incentives at my favorite resale shop are fun for me too. They have punch cards. They punch a business sized card every time you spend 10$. When you get 10 punches, you receive 10$ off your purchase. Even if your purchase is only 10$! I love it.

Plus you can sell your old clothing, toys, and big items (strollers, high chairs, etc). Yesterday I got 45$ for some of the Princess's clothes. She will never wear them again (babies grow so fast), and I don't have the room to store them for a possible Princess #2. So my storage wins, my pocketbook wins, and I win.

That's why resale shops really Work for Me! For more great ideas, head to Rocks in My Dryer!

Who's Weird?

2008-03-24T09:40:00.001-04:00

I go to Library Babies (I'm not sure that's what it's really called, but that's what I call it) every week with the Princess. We both love going. Two librarians switch off, every other week. One is pretty good. And the other is AWESOME! We sing songs, do finger plays, read books, and watch the librarians with puppets. I really think the Princess likes watching the other kids. And I like talking to the other moms.

The first week we went (about a month ago), I sat down beside a nice looking lady and her baby girl. I figured the baby was closest to the Princess in age, most of the other kids were toddlers. The mom and I exchanged casual hellos and went on to sing and play with our babies. Then the mom got up to change her baby's diaper. And she pulled out of her diaper bag...CLOTH DIAPERS!! I was shocked. Even though I have a few new friends who cloth diaper, I have never seen anyone out and about who uses cloth. I got really excited and started talking to this mom about it.

Then two weeks later, I walked into the conference room at the library with the Princess in a sling, like usual. A lady playing with her toddler daughter looked up at me and said rather shocked, you're wearing your baby! It was kind of a question, but mostly a shocked statement. She went on to say that she had never seen anyone else wearing their baby out and about. I commented that I had not either. I get stopped a lot and asked about it, but I never see anyone else wearing a baby. This lady and I ended up talking about being AP parents and babywearing. It was fun to see someone in my community having similar parenting styles that I have.

I tell you these library stories to share another story that happened at the Pediatrician's office. Now, this is not a place that I enjoy going. These people are supposed to know what they are talking about, and every time I go there, I have to remind myself that they see the Princess for 15 minutes every couple of months. I am the Princess's momma, and I live with her. While they know a lot medically, they may not be the best people to tell me how to raise my baby.

At our last visit, I was led into the office and told to undress the Princess to her diaper. I knew they were going to weigh her, so I checked to see if her diaper was wet. It was, so I proceeded to change her. I had a wipe out, and was getting ready to spray it, when the nurse walked in. She looked at me quizzically and said, that's different! Very sarcastically.

Well I don't have to tell you that I am getting very annoyed with being called weird and looked at like I have a third eye because of my parenting choices. So I decided to turn the tables. I looked at her like she had a third eye and said (a bit too sarcastically, I realized later), it's a cloth diaper! It wasn't really all that bad, what I said. It was just my tone. I said cloth diaper like other people say weird to me. Like they are the ones who are weird for not knowing what a cloth diaper is or not using them (I honestly do not think people are weird for not using cloth. I realize it is a commitment that some people are not willing to make).

At LLL last month, another mom was talking about this very thing. She was saying how "normal" has changed for her family. They used to think that breastfeeding into toddler-hood was weird, and co-sleeping was weird, and baby-wearing was weird, and cloth diapering was weird. And now all of that is normal for them. If they see someone formula feeding or talk to someone who doesn't co-sleep, they think those people are weird.

The King and I had a long discussion about this over the course of about three days. We need to stop thinking of things as normal and weird. We need to accept that people are different. We choose different parenting styles because we are different. And we need to quit judging others because they don't do things the same way that we do. Our definition of "normal" needs to change. We are all normal. And we are all weird. And we are all different. And we are all doing the best we can at a job that is, quite possibly, the hardest one we have ever been given.

CVS Loves Me

2008-03-22T08:36:00.003-04:00

At least I love CVS! This is my haul from this week. I spent an hour and a half in the store (including a feeding of the Princess in a massage chair in the waiting area of the pharmacy), ended up with a total of seven transactions (8 if you count my pharmacy purchase-with a $30 gift card coupon!)

Total: $203.43
In Seven Transactions paid a total of:
$38.14 in ECBs
$4.34 oop (with a gift card though!)
I have $32.94 in ECBs for next time!!
And CVS sent me a new 4/20 coupon in my e-mail!

My Kroger savings this week: 47%

For more Super Savings go to Money Saving Mom. You will love it! I promise!

My Mother-In-Law

2008-03-20T09:41:00.002-04:00

My mother-in-law is coming today. In fact, she is probably en route right now.

This little piece of information is probably enough to send most women screaming to their therapists to up their meds. But thankfully, I have been blessed. I have an amazing mother-in-law. She is a great mom to my husband, and a wonderful grandma to the Princess. Those two things are enough in my book. But she goes a step further.

She likes me! And I like her.

The castle is freshly cleaned, of course. But even if it wasn't, that would be okay with my mother-in-law. She would probably just offer, non judgementally, to help me out. And that would be okay with me. It would have been a bonding time for the two of us.

The castle was not clean last night! We were at church preparing for our huge Easter Egg Hunt this Saturday. The King was on the phone with his mom, and I could only hear his side of the conversation. He was giving her directions. I thought she was on her way early! But she just wanted to be prepared for today. So we went home and cleaned the castle. Together!

I will not be posting again until Monday (I may post my Super Savings on Saturday. I did good this week!). I am going to take the weekend to enjoy Easter with my family. I hope you can do the same!

Paper!

2008-03-19T10:09:00.002-04:00

If you read my blog at all over the past few weeks, you know that my little Princess is not so into toys. But she loves office supplies and paper products. So this is what works for me this Wednesday. Paper!

Any kind really. Kleenex, napkins, actual pieces of paper, newspaper. This list goes on.

It keeps the Princess occupied and helps with her fine motor skills as she learns to tear it apart.

See, it even worked at her well baby visit!

For more Works for Me Wednesday tips, head to Rocks in My Dryer!

The Kleenex Box

2008-03-17T08:50:00.002-04:00

Remember how I said I should stop spending money on toys? Well, the Princess proved that point once again.

The other night we were going out to eat for a work meeting, and the Princess would not stop fussing. In general, the Princess is not a fussy baby, so I set out to find out what was wrong. I finally ended up giving her an empty Kleenex box, and that calmed her down instantly.

Then it was time to leave for our meeting. When I went to strap the Princess into the car seat, I had to take the box out of her hands. She SCREAMED! She wanted that box something fierce! I finally gave it back to her after wrestling with the car seat straps. We had to take the Kleenex box into the restaurant with us! She was all about that thing!

Two things of note: That is my beautiful, new van in the background of the picture. I really need to take pictures of it to share with you all. And, as I type this, the Princess is playing with a pen. Seriously, I should just buy office supplies and paper products.

Super Savings!

2008-03-15T18:58:00.003-04:00

No fanfare this week, just the facts:
CVS
Transaction #1
2 Dove (yum!) @ 2/6
2 Fructis products
2 bags MMs (mmmmmm)
2 colgate toothpastes
total: $31.12
-5/15
-B1G1 dove q
-1 off fructis x2
-1/2 colgate
-1 mms
paid $5 in ECBs
2.48 and 1.74 on giftcards
got back
11.98 in ECBs
Transaction #2
2 colgate
Irish Spring 3 pack
Irish Spring Deoderant
Irish Spring BodyWash
Total: 17.75
-5/15
-50/1 colgate
-75/1 colgate
-30/1 Irish Spring
-50/1 Irish Spring
Paid
9.70 in ECBS
.13 on gift card
got back
9.98 in ECBs
Transaction #3
5 Life Fitness Patches
2 Nivea Shave Gels
Total: 15.93
-5/15
-2/1 Nivea x2
-3 off Life Fitness Product CRT (just found it while searching for my ECBs!!!)
Paid
$7 in ECBs
2.31 on giftcard
Got back
12.00 ECBs

Walgreens!!!!

Go Jane Makeup!!!!

All this for 1.96

and I forgot one coupon, so it could have been less!

Kroger was pretty good this week too. I didn't get too much, because we didn't need much. But I stocked up on great coupon items like the general mills cereal deal.

Plus I got some freebies (no picture!)

6 more boxes of Chocolate Honey Bunches of Oats

Excedrin Migraine

2 bottles of Franks Red Hot

10 Pria 110 bars

My savings at Kroger was 70%

That, my friends is fabulous!!!!!

More great deals at Money Saving Mom!

Don't You Love It When...

2008-03-14T19:10:00.001-04:00

You are walking through Kroger, happily grocery shopping, Baby loaded in to the sling, sleeping peacefully, your coupons in the front of the cart, saving you lots of money, the cart loaded with food, diaper bag, 16 boxes of Free Chocolate Honey Bunches of Oats (not really 16, but a lot), cloth bags to take Free Chocolate Honey Bunches of Oats home in, a blanket to throw over Baby when you go outside, and every lady stops you to coo and laugh and TOUCH THE BABY'S HAND, and the occaisonal man asks you how old your little boy is, and you get to the check out, talking to the cashier about how long it takes you to shop and how much you save with your mountains of coupons, and you look down and realize...

YOUR NURSING BRA HAS BEEN UNSNAPPED AND IS BUNCHED DOWN ON YOUR B**B AND IT MAKES YOU LOOK LIKE YOU HAVE A THIRD N!PPLE!!!

And you wonder to yourself how long it has been like that? and how many stores you have been to since you last nursed Baby? and if the older gentleman who asked about your baby really was interested in the baby or just wanted to get a look at your third n!pple? and, oh my, was my shirt pulled up too?

Don't you just love it when that happens???

My Perspective

2008-03-13T00:07:00.004-04:00

So the other night, after the Princess, the King and I had done our nighttime routine together, and the Princess was flip-flopping away with my rubber n!pple, and she was still awake after about 45 minutes, I...was...FRUSTRATED.

I mean, wanted to scream, clenching my fists, grinding my teeth, toes wiggling, frustrated.

It was one of those nights that I was extremely tired and still had about 4 things left on my to-do list before I could sit down and relax with the King for about 3 minutes before I fell asleep. And the Princess was not cooperating. At all.

As I laid there frustrated and going over and over and over my to-do list, I happened to look down at my beautiful daughter. She looked so peaceful (during the nursing half of her flip-flops) and serene. Like this:

The thought came to my mind that this is not going to last forever. Before I know it, she will not want to nurse during the day. Before I know it, she will not need me to nurse her to sleep. Before I know it, she will be walking and talking. Before I know it, she will be telling me all about her friends and their problems. Before I know it, she will be grown up and moving away.

And my perspective changed. Instead of being frustrated with the flip-flops and the loooooooong nursing session, I cherished it. It was a beautiful moment, and I won't have too many of those beautiful, precious moments left.
Then after another 45 minutes, and the Princess still wasn't asleep, my perspective changed back! :)

Works For Me Wednesday: Burt's Baby Bee

2008-03-12T09:48:00.002-04:00

As I have been talking about bedtime at the castle this week (there is one more post to go on this subject), I thought I would make my WFMW post fit in with the topic. I said on Monday, that we give the Princess a massage every night before bed. When we do, we use Burt's Bees, specifically Baby Bee Buttermilk Lotion. In fact, we use a lot of their products.

There are many reasons that I love the Burt's Bees products.

1. I know what I am reading on the ingredients list.

2. They are a trusted company with a great track record (from what I hear).

3. Their products smell yummy (unlike some of the natural lotions and other products).

4. The lotion is creamy and the perfect consistancy for a baby massage.

5. The cream is wonderful for healing dry skin and making it soft.

6. The Princess's skin feels so soft and smooth after I apply the lotion and for a long time afterwards.

7. My skin feels smooth and soft after I apply the lotion to the baby.

8. It's not too sticky (I have issues with sticky lotion).

9. The price is not too terrible (considering the cost of other natural lotions and products), and I can sometimes find it on sale or clearance. If you have never tried Burt's Bees, I suggest you go getcha some! (I'm just bragging on the product, I don't work for them or anything!)

And if you want to find some other great ideas head to Rocks in My Dryer for more WFMW!

My Super Duper Rubber N!pple

2008-03-11T00:07:00.003-04:00

(I am spelling n!pple this way because of the weirdos out there. I figure if p*rn is a word we need to mispell, then n!pple is too.)

Yesterday, I posted about our nighttime routine. This is something that we have been doing since the Princess was about 4 weeks old. We all three love this time, and I think my favorite part of it is nursing the Princess to sleep. It is a beautiful experience to lie there and watch my baby drift off to sleep, knowing that I am her source of nourishment, nurture and comfort.

Until recently!

Let me explain to you what has happened in the last few weeks.

We lie down together on our sides facing each other. It is easier to do this. The Princess wakes up easily, and this way, I don't have to move her. I can just slip away after she falls asleep.

In the past, the Princess would nurse vigorously at first, and then slow down as she fell asleep. Sometimes it took her only a few minutes to fall asleep. Sometimes it would take up to a half an hour of nursing.

Lately it's been taking a lot longer. And here's why: The Princess has found a new ritual before falling asleep. She will nurse vigorously for a few minutes. Then fall backwards on to her back to take a "break." Then she will lean back up to nurse again. And she repeats this many, many times until she is too tired to try anymore.

Yes, in itself, this ritual is a little irritating. Usually by this time of night, I am exhausted and want to get some sleep myself. And her ritual is prolonging this for me. But is is obnoxious for another reason: She won't let go!

When the Princess flops on to her back, she is still latched on. She takes my n!pple with her! Apparently she thinks it is rubber and can stretch that far. To complicate matters further, the Princess has developed a "twiddling" habit at night (only, thankfully). While nursing to sleep, she reaches up and plays (pinches rather) with my other n!pple! So while one is being stretched (literally) to its limits, the other is getting pinched.

I realize that this is a phase, and we are implementing some ideas to break these habits of hers. But still, I wonder if my n!pples will ever be the same!

The Princess Sleeps

2008-03-10T09:07:00.002-04:00

Last night, as I was putting the Princess to bed, I was thinking about how precious our routine is. And also, how quickly it may change.

Some nights, the Princess gets a bath. I wash her. Make sure all her parts are clean. And then we play. The Princess has fun, little sea creature squirt toys, and, of course, a rubber ducky. She systematically picks up each toy, examines it thoroughly, twists it around in her hand, bangs it on the side of the tub, and then drops it out of the tub. The Princess does this with each toy, taking a break in between to splash heartily.

After wrapping her up in the cute hooded towels that we recieved for baby shower presents, we go into the nursery. There I have already laid out her diaper, jamies, lotion, and put her music on. We listen to soft lullaby music each night. The CD varies. Right now we have in A Daddy's Lullaby. I turn on her side lamp instead of the bright, overhead light, to create a soft, quiet mood.

The Princess and I get on the floor on a blanket, and I dry her off. Then I massage her tiny, precious body, rubbing in the natural moisterizers to soften her skin. This calms her down. I can see that the Princess anticipates the massage, and she relaxes as I massage her.

Then it is PJ time. Generally this is not the Princess's favorite part. She does not enjoy her hands messed with, so it is hard for me to put her clothes on. But I go as fast as I can, and we get through it.

After PJ's are on, Daddy reads Princess a story. It is a beautiful time for them together. They sit for a while and talk softly. The King reads one or two books, and always a story from the Bible. Then they pray together. There is nothing more special than a Daddy praying with and for his daughter. There is no doubting his love for her. I love to watch them from the doorway, but I usually use this time to get myself ready for bed.

The end of our evenings ends with nursing the Princess to sleep.
I will have more on this time of our night tomorrow.

Lots of Super Savings!

2008-03-08T10:15:00.011-05:00

Ah, my favorite day of the week. The one where I get to show off all my Super Savings! And there are a lot today.

First off, I started at CVS. (Jenny at Mommin' It Up calls it FREE VS! I love that!)

My first transaction was on Saturday, the first of the month. It was a little wacky because it was March's new monthly deals, but still last weeks sales. I just wanted to get the monthly deals because my CVS runs out of things VERY quickly. I ended up getting:

4 CVS Vitamin Cs (these were B1G1 and I thought I might get ECBs for all 4)

4 Lypsyls (one is not pictured because it immediately went into my diaper bag. I love chapstick or lipgloss of any kind.)

Total was $17.92
I had that exactly in ECBs.
I paid nothing opp.
I got back $11.94 ECBs

Wait, you say, that's not enough. And you would be correct. The Vit. C ECBs didn't print because of the wacky day. The manager gave me a gift card for the ECB amount on 2. So I evened out, plus I now have a gift card to work with instead of 24 or 67 cents on my debit every time I go.

I went again on Sunday.
First transaction:
5 Excedrins @4.49
1 Colgate
1 Crest Pro Health

Coupons used:
5$/15$
4 -2$ off Excedrin
-$3 off Excedrin
(I had a colgate coupon and forgot it!)
Total: 13.70
paid 11.96 in ECBs
and 1.72 from my gift card
got back:
2.99 ECBs
10$ gift card because my Excedrin ECBs didn't print
3.71 refund for Crest Pro Health (apparently if you bought your 2 in February, you can't get them in March)

Second transaction:
4 bags Hershey's Eggs @ 2/3$
4 bags Kisses @$.99
Divine cookies @1.99 (not pictured because I bought them for a church fellowship that night)
Rees's Egg (filler) @ $.69
3 Johnson's Buddies @ $.99

Coupons:
5/15
3 -$1.50/3 Hersheys (although, I just realized I only bought 8. I wonder if it scanned.)
3 -$1 off Buddies
paid 2.99 in ECBs
$.15 oop from Crest refund
got back $5 ECBs

Third transaction
3 candy bags @ $.77
2 Nutritioniste products @ 5.99

Coupons
5/15
-$3/2 Garnier products
Paid:
$5 ECBs
$1.42 on gift card

I also transfered a prescription and got a $30 gift card!

Total at CVS (-prescription): 100.97!!!!!
I started with 17.92 in ECBs
I paid NOTHING oop, and ended up with $5 ECBs and a $10 gift card, $2 something left on another gift card, and $3 cash. Plus I have the $30 gift card from the scrip. Yay! Great CVS week for me.

Kroger was okay this week too. Overall, I spend more than I had planned, BUT I had to get a few things that weren't really great sales. And we needed meat. I used a lot of coupons on many items that I bought. I also found some great deals that I will share with you.Cookie dough was 2/4. I had 2 1$/2 coupons making them $1.50 each. I thought this was decent to put in my freezer to make when I forget about church fellowship dinners (which I often do).
Gold Star Chili Seasoning on sale for $.80 -$.50q=$.30
Frozen items $1.67 each -(2)1$ off= $.67 each

Cheetos (the King was WAY excited) 3/5$ Plus B3G1= 4/5$ -1.50q=4/$3.50

Hot dog buns (on my list anyway) clearance to $.59 -$.50q=$.09 (it was a store coupon so they didn't double it)
The picture above is what I call my FREE picture. Why? Because everything in it was FREE!!!!
Choc. Honey Bunches of oats 3 @ 1.99 -(3)2$ off q=FREE
Flat Earth Chips $2.99-freeq=FREE
Diet Pepsi Max (I'll use for church fellowship) 1 @ 10/10 -freeq=FREE
Franks Hot Sauce 2 @ $.99 -(2)$.50 offq doubled=FREE
Sour Cream 1 @ 10/10 -$.50 offq doubled =FREE
Suave Deoderant 1 @ 10/10 -.50 off q doubled=FREE
Peter Pan 1 @ 10/10 -$.50 q doubled =FREE
Campbell's Soup at Hand 3 @ 10/10 -$2 offq -$.50/2 doubled=FREE

My total at Kroger was $117.95
My total sale savings was 39.00
My total coupon savings was 22.29 +3.68 doubled coupons
I paid 52.98
For a total saving of 55%

When I was checking out, the cashier and I were talking about all my coupons. She asked me how long it took me to shop with the coupons. When I told her two hours (I go slow, take my time, and enjoy myself), she was shocked and a little disgusted, I think. When I showed her my receipt at the end, she understood. With saving over $60, I feel like I made $30 an hour. I truly think that is worth my time!

Later in the week I went to DEALs, a dollar store in town. They had some stuff clearanced.
Cereal
Pancake Mix
4 bags of Hershey Kisses

All for 3.50!

Then I went to my local children't resale shop and found cloth diaper inserts for $.49 each. I know the owner, and she ended up giving me an additional discount. I got 9 inserts for $3.75!

Well, it was a great week for me.

Check out the great deals everyone else got at Money Saving Mom!

Ultimate Blog Party 2008! Welcome To My Party!!!!

2008-03-07T17:11:00.014-05:00

Hey! Glad you made it to the Castle. Oh, you're new here. Well, come on in! Take a look around.

Let me say, I've never been much of a party-er. Maybe the occaisonal birthday party. So, this is new to me. I hope you have some fun!

Grab something to eat. Would you like something to drink?

Let me take a minute to introduce myself: I am Jenn, the Queen. First and foremost, I am a Christian. I love God with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength. I seek to serve Christ daily and honor and glorify Him in all I say and do, even while changing dirty diapers.
I am 27 (28 on the 25th. Did anyone bring presents?) I live with the King and Princess Poops Alot in the Castle in a Land Far, Far Away (that is Southwest Ohio). I consider myself a Quasi-Stay-At-Home Mom (meaning I work very part time, and when I work, the Princess stays with me.). I love to scrapbook, go to yard sales, read, bargain shop, and blog. We are a quasi-green, quasi-crunchy family. I am trying to be a little more green and a little more crunchy everyday!

You want to know about the name? Sure, it came from a conversation I had with my sister. She is 25 and has a 5 1/2 month old, a two year old, and two dogs (a hubby too). We were sharing poop stories (once again) and laughing about our adventures. One of us said something about writing a book and calling it Adventures in Poop. Well, no book. But my blog got the name.

No, not every post is about poop. Although many are. (You can check out the diaper pail if you want. It is a little bit stinky, but very funny! Go on. It's over there -----> in my sidebar.) I also post about other things that interest me: Breastfeeding, babywearing, cloth diapers, ec, baby signs, saving money, stories of the Princess, and other related parenting stuff. This is Princess Poops Alot. She is 6 months old, and my inspiration for this blog. As you can tell from her name, she poops. Alot! I thought, in honor of this bloggin' party and my 50th post (WooHoo!), I would tell a new Adventures In Poop story.

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, the Princess was enjoying some play time in the living room. As often happens at the castle, the Princess had a bare bottom while she played. The Queen took a moment to move something to another room, and when she had returned, found a two foot long streak of poop coming from behind the Princess. The Princess had pooped with such force that it sprayed that far.

Knowing that such things happen in a diaper free castle, the Queen quickly wiped the royal bottom and cleaned up the royal mess. She took the dirty blanket and cloth diapers up to the royal diaper pail.

When the Queen returned, she found another streak of poop two feet behind the Princess. The Princess had struck again! This time, on the carpet!

The End

Wow! That one is really stinky! Would you mind tossing it in the Diaper Pail for me? Thanks!

Hey! If you have a poop story, drop me an e-mail at adventuresinpoop @ live . com (remember to remove the spaces.). I would love to publish your story here, or link to your blog.

Oh, before you go, remember to let me know that you stopped by. Tell me the focus of your blog, and I'll try to come visit.

I'm really glad you came to my party! Come back to the castle soon!

It's a Gas!

2008-03-06T10:58:00.002-05:00

Welcome to another episode of Adventures in Poop.

In this episode we find the Princess on the royal changing table. The Queen is changing the royal dirty diaper. Since the Princess has recently pooped, the Queen is not afraid of getting pooped on. She leans in closer to clean the Princess's girl parts. With the Queen's face very close to the royal botton, the Princess passes the royal gas. Very loudly, and a little bit wet! I guess that says it all.

The End

Backwards WFMW: Baby Sign for Breastfeeding

2008-03-05T12:20:00.003-05:00

Using Baby Signs is a great way for your baby to be able to communicate with you before the baby can speak. I was introduced to Baby Signs while working at a daycare center. I had a high need baby in my care, and Baby Signs helped that baby a lot. After learning a few Baby Signs, that high need baby settled down and was a lot less fussy.

I have been excited to start using Baby Signs with the Princess. We have begun using signs for "more," "eat," "drink," and others. While the Princess isn't doing the signs, I know that her exposure to the signs now will help her to communicate with me very soon.

Here is my question: What sign should I use for breastfeeding?

The usual sign people use is the sign for "milk." This involves squeezing your hand like you are milking a cow. I have three problems with this sign. 1. I am not, nor will I ever be, a cow. 2. Have you seen Meet the Fockers? The Princess recently dove into the cleavage of a well-endowed acquantaince. I really don't want her signing "milk" to someone else. 3. I would like to use the sign for "milk" when she has milk (Momma, rice, or cow) in a cup.

Does anyone have a suggestion? Please help!

For more Backwards Works for Me Wednesday head to Rocks in My Dryer.

On Being Entertaining

2008-03-04T14:27:00.000-05:00

I call myself a stay at home mom, but truly I am a quasi stay at home mom. What do I mean by that? I am so glad you asked.

I work for the King part time. And when I do this work for the King, I bring the Princess with me. She is only ever cared for by myself or the King.

I really like this setup. We have toys and lots of fun stuff for the Princess to do while I work. I often wear her while I work. This keeps her happy and my hands free.

However, there are many times when I have to entertain the Princess to keep her happy. And of course, I have to be very creative to entertain her.

On my list of entertaining things: Giving the Princess scraps of paper. Taking a big piece of paper and waving it towards her face (she loves the breeze). Giving her Sharpies to play with. Blowing on her face. Singing.

Now when I say singing, I don't mean the regular kind. You know, the kind where you sing The Wheels on the Bus, or Jesus Loves Me. I mean the kind where you make up obnoxious lyrics and put them to any tune you can think of.

Some of our favorites include:

I'm typing on the computer, typing away (sung to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle), and I wish I was done working (sung in a random tune that generally ends up squeaking at the end).

All in all, it's a great concert. It keeps the Princess entertained, and I can type and get my work done while singing (or screaching, whichever!).

I think that I have become quite adept at being entertaining!

Would You Like Some Tea?

2008-03-02T10:40:00.000-05:00

I ran across this Doodle by Lee, in my blog hopping. It is so correct, I can not help but laugh!

Doodle by Lee. The code for this doodle and other doodles you can use on your blog can be found at Doodles.

6 Months and A Labor Story

2008-03-01T09:49:00.008-05:00

The Princess is 6 months old today!!! She is getting so big, and she is so beautiful! I am blessed every day to be her Momma. I can not thank God enough for this amazing miracle of a gift He has entrusted to me.

In honor of the Princess's 6 month "birthday," I thought I would post our labor and birth story. It is long, but it is good!

The Beginning

Our Birth Story really started in January in Orlando. I was about 8 or 9 weeks pregnant and very excited. A fellow pastor’s wife had recently had a baby, and I asked her about her birth experience. She told me that she had had a home water birth. While I thought the idea was interesting, I also thought she was a little crazy. *Sorry Jess!* However, her story sent me on a journey to find out how I wanted to have my baby.

I got on the internet and did a lot of reading. The idea of water birth was very intriguing to me. I really felt that that was the best option for our birth experience. That sent me on another journey for a midwife. I finally found a midwife that I thought would be ideal for us who did homebirths. However, the King and I were still a little nervous about a homebirth. We decided that we would hire a doula to help us to have a natural, non-intervention birth in a hospital.

And another search was on. This time we were searching for a doula. I talked to a wonderful woman named E She was so nice to me on the phone and I felt very comfortable talking to her. We met E and her doula partner H, and we knew that they were right for us.

Not only did I find my doula, but they directed me to FB Childbirth Center. FB is the only Childbirth Center in a hospital in Ohio where you can have a water birth. We toured the facility, and found a great group of providers that delivered there.

The King and I also took a childbirth class with H to prepare to have a natural, non-intervention birth.

Labor Begins

On Thursday, August 30th around 2pm I lost my mucus plug. I wasn’t really sure what that meant. I heard you lost it anywhere from a half an hour to ten days before you went into labor. But I knew that I was getting closer to having the baby. The King and I decided to go to the mall to walk. At the mall I had a few contractions. Around seven that evening, at home, I noticed my contractions a lot more. I thought that I should start timing them. The contractions were about 4 minutes apart, kind of intense, but not very long. We called H to let her know that we were in labor and would probably need her services soon.

Water is very relaxing, and I was getting pretty uncomfortable, so I got in the shower around eleven or so. Not long after that I decided to have H come and help me out. It was great having her here. H made a nest of pillows for me, and I rested all night. I had read about women sleeping in between contractions, and I thought there was no possible way. But I did it! I slept in between contractions! And it was great! I got to relax all night and prepare for the next day. My back was hurting and H put a heating pad on my back. It felt great in between contractions, but when I was having one, the heating pad felt way too hot on my back.

Because H was there, the King got to sleep a little too. (Although I don’t think he did really). H stayed up and kept track of my contractions. She said they were 4 minutes apart all night and about 1 minute long. We really thought we would have a baby soon. In the middle of the night we called the birth center and the midwife on call to let them know that I was in labor and would probably be in soon.(I remember thinking about 8:30 Thursday night that I couldn’t believe what I had gotten myself into. The contractions were really intense, and it went through my head that there was no way that I could go through this labor without drugs. My attitude completely changed toward early morning. I knew that I could do it, and I was really excited about having this baby naturally.)

Friday morning changed a bit however. When I woke up and got ready for the day, my contractions had slowed to about every 10-15 minutes. the King and I went for a little walk and we were deciding what to do for the day. I had one contraction that really hurt in my hip. I thought it was weird, but didn’t think it would make much of a difference. That contraction ended up changing my whole labor. The rest of the labor I had a lot of pain in my left hip. The pain in my hip really hurt more than the contractions themselves-clear through when I was transitioning.

My midwife called late in the morning and wanted us to come in to the office to be checked out. I really did not want to go because the drive was so long (the office and the birth center are an hour away from our house). But we decided to go in anyway (L, the midwife was very convincing). H went home to spend time with her family. She was going to join us later when we decided what we were going to do.

The office visit was fine. L had us do a non-stress test to check out the baby. The baby was great! Everything looked fine. L checked me and I was 4 cm dilated and 100% effaced. We were excited about the progress. L told us to get some rest because we were having a baby soon. We knew that we needed to get some rest, but did not want to drive the hour back home and another hour back. So we decided to get a hotel room near the birth center. We took a good, long nap and really got a chance to relax. I was still contracting regularly, but they were still about 15 minutes apart.

Around 4 pm, we decided to call H to have her come meet us. Because of a family situation, H was not able to come right away. E came to help us out for a few hours. H and E both kept apologizing that they switched in the middle of labor, but I thought we were privileged to be able to labor with both of them.

The hotel had a pool, so I decided to get in. I spent about an hour in the pool. It was very nice and relaxing, but my contractions were still not getting any closer together. At one point, while I was in the pool, a pool attendant noticed how large I was. She smiled at me and made some comment like, you must be due soon. I smiled and said yes, but inside was thinking, I wonder what you would say if you knew I was laboring in your pool.

We went to eat dinner and just did our best to relax. Dinner was mexican. I loved the restaurant, and I ate a lot considering I was in labor. When we were leaving the restaurant, I had a contraction and leaned against a booth. A lady walked in a rushed over to ask if I was okay. I remember thinking it was really nice of her, and E just grinned at the lady and said I was fine.

I don’t remember anything significant during the night, except that E and H switched again. So H was back with us.

Saturday brought more contractions, more frequently. Yea! They started about 6 minutes apart and then moved to about 4. We got breakfast and decided to call the provider on call. My providers are a group with two midwives (L and M) and an OB (Dr. G). Dr. G happened to be on call, and we let him know that we would be in to the birth center in a few hours. (It turned out to be such a blessing that Dr. G was on call. If one of the midwives was on call, a Doctor we didn’t know would have had to do the C-section.) We had planned on taking our time checking out of the hotel and taking a walk before going in. But then my contractions got more intense and increased to about 2 or 3 minutes apart. We decided about 10:30 am to go in to the birth center.

At The Birthing Center

When we arrived and got checked in, the nurse checked me and I was about 6 cm dilated. I was a little disappointed that the last 24 hours of labor had only progressed me 2 cm. But I had to be glad that I was progressing. All I wanted to do was get in the tub to labor. My contractions were really intense at that point and I think I yelled at the nurse to fill the tub with water. They had to put an antibiotic I V in because I was strep B positive, and they wanted me to wait. But I was bad and got in the tub anyway.

That turned out to be a really bad choice. When they had checked the baby’s heartbeat, it was high. It got even higher when I was in the tub. So even though I loved the tub, I got out. Very reluctantly! I had a fever and they thought this was the reason the baby’s heart rate was high. They thought my fever was because I was dehydrated. They hydrated me and that did not help my fever or the baby’s heart rate.

Dr. G came and checked me. I was 8 cm. The baby’s heartbeat was still very high. Dr. G said we had to do something to get the baby to progress, so we decided to break my water. When Dr. G broke my water there was meconium in the water. I went into transition almost immediately. The contractions were right on top of each other and the most intense that I can imagine. I said to H that I knew why women ask for epidurals at that point. However, it would have been completely manageable if it wasn’t for the pain in my hip.

Dr. G came back 2 hours later to check me. I was still only 8 cm. and the baby’s heart rate was getting higher (at one point it was over 200). Dr. G said that we really had to do something to get the baby out. He suggested that we move to labor and delivery and get pitocin. I definitely did not want pitocin without an epidural. I had heard too many horror stories about pitocin. So Dr. G said we could just do the epidural and see if it settled me down and the baby too. So we moved to labor and delivery and got the epidural. The best part was that the pain in my hip went away!

After Dr. G checked me again, I still had not progressed. The baby’s heart rate was getting higher. We were told we really had to do a C-section. I just started to cry at that point. I don’t think I was that upset about the C-section, I was just scared. I knew at that point that I couldn’t take care of my baby anymore. The only thing I could do was pray. And have the King pray. It really was a scary time. But they prepped me for surgery and a half an hour later our precious baby was born.

Awesome Daddy!

I have to say that I have the best husband in the world. And our little girl has the best daddy in the world. I know that through the labor and delivery, the King had to be scared. But if he was, he did not show it. He was so supportive through the whole 45 hours and did everything I asked of him. When I was getting prepped for surgery, he was calling people asking them to start prayer chains for me and the baby. And when he was finally able to come in to the OR he stood right beside me and held my hand. Then he did the strangest thing. He asked if he could watch. That’s right. The King watched my entire C-section. He watched me get cut open. He watched them pull the baby out. He watched them sew me up. It was very cool that he did that. A few days later I asked Dr. G if he had many dads watch C-sections. He said “Only the weird ones!”

The King and I had a deal that if something were to happen to the baby, he would leave me and stay with the baby. We ended up needing that deal. When they pulled the Princess out of me, I heard them ask if the dad was going to cut the cord. Dr. G said no! And I knew something was wrong. They kept talking about the resuscitation team. And they would not let the King go with the baby. The Princess was not breathing when she was born. When they did get her breathing, she was breathing too fast and her heart rate was very high. They finally had the King go back with her. He has an amazing story when he first met her. He should be the one to tell it though.

God’s Peace

God totally gave me peace through this time. As I think back on the situation, I am amazed that I did not come off that table, epidural and all. Even though I knew that something was wrong with my baby, I felt totally at peace. I just knew that she was going to be okay. I had to place her in God’s hands. And I know that I continually have to place her in God’s hands.

Our Little Trooper

It turned out that the Princess's blood sugar level dropped when she was born. This happens a lot with big babies, I hear. She ended up needing an IV with fluids. And then they had to put a feeding tube in her nose to get her blood sugar up. She was great though. And she fought hard to get her sugar up. Only 11 hours after she was born, she was able to leave the transitional nursery and come stay with us in our room.

Ironies

1. Ironically, the reason we went to FB was for the tub and the water birth. I was only in the tub for a half an hour.

2. This was hardest for me. One of the reasons that I wanted a natural child birth in the birth center was so the baby would not leave us. She would stay with us in the room. But because of all that happened with her, she did not come to our room until 11 hours after she was born. I did not even get to hold her or see her until 2 hours after she was born.

Things We Learned

1. Having a doula was a major help to us in labor. Had we not had a doula, we would have gone to the hospital way too early. And had we been in the hospital on Friday morning when my contractions slowed down, I would have been put on pitocin to speed up my labor. This was something we really wanted to avoid.

2. It is so important to have a provider that you trust. I felt so comfortable with Dr. G. And even though I know now that I didn’t really have a choice about the C-section, I felt like he was giving me a choice. I think that if I didn’t trust him in his abilities, I would have felt like I was being bossed around. I trusted him in his decisions. I knew that he wanted me to have the birth experience that I wanted. But more importantly he wanted me and my baby to be safe.

3. Things aren’t always what you expect them to be. Of course the C-section was not in our plan, but little things too. I thought I would want to hear music when I was in labor. But when they put the music on, I wanted it to be quiet. I thought I would really enjoy massage and counter-pressure in labor, but during a contraction I did not want to be touched. And these are just a few examples.

Our Praises

We just have to take a moment and praise the Lord. Most importantly for our beautiful baby girl. She is a miracle that God has blessed us with, and we are more blessed each day with her life. It truly is a miracle that she is here with us. Through the fertility trials, high miscarriage risks, and her scary birth experience, she is a miracle baby and we praise God for her life. We continue to give her to God. She is in His hands.

Our second praise is for the amazing way that God made our bodies to carry, birth, and sustain babies. Through preparing for a natural childbirth, we found out some amazing things about the human body and pregnancy, labor and birth. God has given women this incredible strength to go through labor and give birth, not to mention carrying the child through pregnancy. I can’t say enough about it without giving an anatomy lesson, but praise God for life and how he gives it.

At the opposite end of that is the technology that he has given us. Praise God for the people he made smart enough to develop C-sections, epidurals, IVs and feeding tubes. Praise God for medicines and doctors. The Princess may not be here had it not been for some of those things. Praise God that she is!

Even though it turned out that we did not have the birth experience that we expected, we have a beautiful baby girl. I love our birth story with all its crazy twists and turns. And I am excited to share it. Through 45 hours of labor and a C-section, the Princess is the reason we did any of it. And I would do it all again just for her. I truly do praise God for being with us throughout labor and delivery. And most of all, I praise God for the Princess's life!

The Princess was born on Saturday, September 1, 2007 at 4:04 pm. She was 23 inches long and weighed 10 pounds 4 ounces.

WFMW: My Version Of BabyLegs

2008-02-27T10:22:00.003-05:00

We practice (sometimes) EC at the castle. I really like it, and I think the Princess does too. But that means that we go Diaper Free fairly often. In these cold winter months, I like to keep the Princess's legs warm with she is diaper free. Enter BabyLegs.

BabyLegs are these adorable leg warmers for babies. They go up to the thigh and keep tiny legs warm in the winter. But they are expensive! And you know me, I don't like expensive.

Target has expanded their baby department and is now selling wonderful things like Hotslings. The other day I was exploring my local Target and found a cheaper brand of BabyLegs (still made by BabyLegs). Yay for Target for appealing to the crunchier parents! But even at Target prices...too expensive for the Queen.

I found a wonderful clearance on Etsy of a BabyLeg type product. I almost went that route. But I chose not to.

And this is why...

A few weeks ago at LLL, a lady was putting what I thought was BabyLegs on her baby. I asked about them. After all, she may have the inside scoop on where to find them cheap. She kind of smiled and said no. She bought socks and cut the toes off!

Ingenious idea, if you ask me! So that is what I did. I went to WalMart. I found socks for $1 each. I cut the toes off, and now, after spending a mere $5, I have 5 pairs of "BabyLegs" for Princess!
Cute, huh?

So, that is what works for me this week!

Head to Rocks in My Dryer for more great ideas!

*update*

Apparently I should have given a bit more info. I used adult socks. I cut off the toe part. The cut off toe part goes up to the thigh. So, the sock goes on backwards. If the sock has a heel, it fits right over the baby's knee. I do not hem them. I guess you could, but my aren't that great and my machine is buried in my family room. I hope that helps sewing abilities!

Poop Stories-Not For the Weak!

2008-02-26T14:17:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago at church, a couple of friends of mine were chatting quietly and then burst out laughing. I, being the nosey Queen that I am, asked what was so funny. One friend (we'll call her Sarah, because, well, that's her name) said, it's a poop story, you don't want to know.

I don't want to hear a poop story?? You bet I do! I love poop stories.

So she told me. And I burst out laughing! Because it is Hi-La-Rious! You will love it, too. Thankfully she said I could share it here with you!

Sarah's husband, (Daddy, for this story) was home with their two girls, Older Girl (OG) age 5, and Younger Girl (YG) age 2. OG was getting ready to take a bath, so she had stripped down to nothing. YG, not wanting to be outdown, had also stripped down. The two girls were playing nicely together in the dining room. Daddy was in the kitchen putting away groceries (how nice is this Daddy? Taking care of the girls by himself and putting away groceries!). Not wanting the girls to get into the groceries, the Daddy put the baby gate up between the dining room and the kitchen. He could still see the girls while he was working.

Before long YG was standing at the gate. She was holding something out to her Daddy. Daddy went over to see what gift his young darling had brought him. Daddy took the gift from her hand with out looking at it.

The gift? You guessed it! A turd!!

Daddy stood for a moment in shock. Then his mind went through the options of what to do with this precious gift. Should he put it in a plastic bag and then in the garbage? No, that would still stink. Should he throw it out in the yard with the dog poop? No.

Then Daddy realized, I'm standing here with a turd in my hand! It's a turd! Go flush it down the toilet!

My friend Sarah, then shared the story about her OG and Daddy.

When OG was very tiny, Daddy decided that he should take on the resposibility of a poopy diaper change. Being the creative Daddy that he is, he thought he would put the tiny baby on the changing table facing him instead of sideways. When he pulled the diaper off, the OG sprayed a big, runny poop all over Daddy.

Did anyone else see that coming? This Daddy gets it good!

My other friend, also named Sarah (why do my friends all have the same name?), is OG and YG's aunt. She chimed in that OG once put poop on her face.

What?

Apparently OG, at around age two, was being changed by Aunt Sarah. OG reached around to her behind and put poop on her hand, then proceeded to put poop on Aunt Sarah's face. This is extrememly funny because Aunt Sarah is a major germaphobe!

Aunt Sarah had a story of her own. This Sarah has two boys, OB age 3 and YB age 1. When YB was a tiny baby, Sarah and her family were out and about, running errands and the like. It was soon time to change the tiny baby's diaper. The ingenious Mommy decided to change the tiny baby on her lap (I have done this more than once myself). With the diaper off, the tiny baby sprayed a huge poop all over the family's brand new van door. The OB kept saying, Bubby pooped all over the van Mommy. Again, this friend is extrememly germaphobic. Sarah said she found dried, crusted poop all over her van for months!

Sadly there were no poop stories about OB, but maybe in the future. There is still time for him!

How To Be A Good Wife

2008-02-25T15:57:00.004-05:00

My friend Jess had this linked on her blog, and I thought I would disect this article.

This is How To Be a Good Wife, the Reality Version (italics are the origional)

HOW TO BE A GOOD WIFE
Home Economics High School Text Book, 1954

Have dinner ready. Plan ahead, even the night before, to have a delicious meal, on time. This is a way of letting him know that you have been thinking about him and are concerned about his needs. Most men are hungry when they come home and the prospect of a good meal are part of the warm welcome needed.

When Hubby walks through the door and asks, What's for dinner?, answer, I don't know. What are you making? Think about planning ahead. But then don't get to the grocery store because the baby is sick, and don't prepare anything the night before because the baby's diaper explodes, more than once! Don't even think about having dinner at a set time. When you have a set dinner time, your Hubby will call and have to work late or the baby will have yet another explosion of the diaper. If you have called ahead for pizza, this will let Hubby know that you were starving, and concerned that if you did not eat immediately, you will rip his head off over nothing. Most men are hungry when they come home, but women are hungry too. So is the baby, and the dog.

Prepare yourself. Take 15 minutes to rest so that you'll be refreshed when he arrives. Touch up your makeup, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh-looking. He has just been with a lot of work-weary people. Be a little gay and a little more interesting. His boring day may need a lift.

Prepare yourself. Glance in the mirror. Realize you are wearing maternity pants and your Hubby's old, stained T-shirt that is further stained with spit-up, breastmilk, and second-hand banans. Make-up? If you had time to put make-up on in the morning or do your hair, your mascara is now at your cheeks and your hair is matted from laying down with the baby (exhaustion does set in, you know). Be a little nagging and "huff" alot. He may have had a boring day, but he needs to know all about the baby's diaper explosion, as well as every coo that the baby made. Keep talking until you Hubby retreats to another room. Follow him and complain that you have not had another adult to talk to in a week, and he needs to listen to you!

Clear away the clutter. Make one last trip through the main part of the home just before your husband arrives, gather up schoolbooks, toys, paper, etc. Then run a dust cloth over the tables. Your husband will feel he has reached a haven of rest and order, and it will give you a lift, too.

While putting yet another load of laundry in the washer, glance around at the mess in the floor. Step on a block and try not to scream for fear of waking the baby. Look at the pile of clean laundy in the floor that still needs to be folded. Sigh, and think I'll do it tomorrow. When Hubby arrives at home and asks what you have done all day, reply curtly that you have sat on the couch, watched soaps and ate bon-bons.

Prepare the children. Take a few minutes to wash the children's hands and faces (if they are small), comb their hair, and if necessary change their clothes. They are little treasures and he would like to see them playing the part.
Prepare the children. Look at their beautiful faces covered in banana and whatever was for lunch and breakfast. Realize that they are children and they will get a bath later tonight. Besides, you are too tired from all the laundry, spit-up and bon-bon eating.

Minimize all noise. At the time of his arrival, eliminate all noise of the washer, dryer, dishwasher, or vacuum. Try to encourage the children to be quiet. Be happy to see him. Greet him with a warm smile and be glad he is home.

Have the washer, dryer, dishwasher, and vacuum going at the same time. Make sure the children are screaming when Hubby comes home. If not, he might not think they are at home. Begin complaining as soon as Hubby walks in, then send him out for a gallon of milk.

Some don'ts: Don't greet him with problems or complaints. Don't complain if he is late for dinner. Count this as minor compared with what he might have gone through that day. Make him comfortable. Have him lean back in a comfortable chair or suggest he lie down in the bedroom. Have a cool or warm drink ready for him. Arrange his pillow and offer to take off his shoes. Speak in a low, soft, soothing and pleasant voice. Allow him to relax and unwind.

Some don'ts: Don't forget to greet Hubby with problems or complaints. Don't forget to complain if he is late. This is major. He didn't do much today, and you had to do six loads of laundry, vacuum, coral children and deal with at least on diaper explosion. When Hubby comes home, had off the vacuum and make yourself comfortable. Lean back in a comfortable chair or lie down in the bedroom. Make sure Hubby watches the childen while he gets you a cool or warm drink. Have Hubby arrange your pillow and nag him if he does not speak in a low, soft, soothing and pleasant voice. You need to relax and unwind.

Listen to him. You may have a dozen things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first.

Talk a lot. Don't let him talk first, and make sure you tell him the dozen things you need to tell him as soon as he arrives home.

Make the evening his. Never complain if he does not take you out to dinner or to other places of entertainment. Instead, try to understand his world of strain and pressure, his need to be home and relax.

Make the evening yours. Always complain. About everything. Help Hubby try to understand your world of strain and pressure, your need to be anywhere but home and relax.

The Goal: Try to make your home a place of peace and order where your husband can renew himself in body and spirit.

The Goal: Survival! Making it through another day without harm to your body or spirit.

On reading the original of this, the King said, all you have to do is greet me naked and nothing else would matter. I think that says it all!

Ultimate Blog Party 2008

2008-02-23T17:10:00.001-05:00

Something new for me! And it sounds so fun! I'm excited!

Random Deals

2008-02-23T13:46:00.005-05:00

As always, I like to join in the fun at Money Saving Mom for Super Savings Saturday. Sadly I do not have great pictures, but you can get the idea.

I killed at Walgreens with the Jane Makeup. In fact, I probably went a little overboard. But I am thinking with all my sisters and sisters-in-law, I can probably pass on the wealth. I love giving gifts.

CVS was kind of a bust for me this week. I did work a few deals. They had a deal of buy 30$ in certain products, get 15$ ECBs. This would have been great for diapers (Huggies were in the deal, and I have tons of Huggies coupons (I am passing them on to some friends.).), but I cloth diaper. I did use the deal to stock up on toilet paper (Cottonelle), but my coupons weren't that great. Also the monthly ECB items are out of stock at my CVS, and they have been for a while. I am hoping they will restock this week!

I did go back another time and get FREE Sunsilk conditioner and a hair serum. I also got the Move Free vitamins. They were B1G1 free, and I had 2 coupons for $5 off. The vitamins are normally 31.99 each, but I got them both for just over $20! This might seem frivolous, but the King has arthritis, and it might help him out.

Speaking of arthritis...I have great coupons for Joint Juice, but I can't find it anywhere. Does anyone know where I can find it? It was supposed to be on sale at Target this week, but I went to two different Targets and...nope! Maybe they are just at Super Target? Anyone?

Kroger sent me some coupons this week! They were supposed to be targeted for my shopping needs, but there were a lot of coupons for things I never buy. However, they did send me a coupon for produce, which I do buy. A lot! So my Kroger trip was just produce and some dairy this week. I am pretty stocked up on everything!

I am hoping next week will be a good sale week. I love the challenge of couponing. I have heard a little about the Coupon Game or the Grocery Game. I am interested in seeing if that is worth the investment. Does anyone use this (these?) site(s)?

Check out Money Saving Mom for more great deals!

Adventures in Poop!

2008-02-22T13:55:00.003-05:00

I like to call this addition, "Finally Daddy Gets It!" Here goes...

Once upon a time in a land far, far away, the King and the Princess were having some much loved Daddy/Daughter time.

The Princess had taken a good nap for the King, and upon her waking, the King changed her royal wet diaper like a good King should.

While playing a few minutes later, the King noticed the Princess make her lovely sound that she makes while dirtying the royal diaper. Not particularly wanting to change another diaper so close to the last one, the King decided to check if the Princess had, in fact, pooped or just "cut."

(Now I have to interject the story to ask, how do you check for a poopy diaper? I know how I would have done it!)

The King put his finger in the back of the diaper to look down the back. He did, in fact, put his finger in a giant glob of royal poop!

The End

I just have to say...Glad it wasn't me this time!

Schlumpadinka!

2008-02-21T21:52:00.003-05:00

Well, we have the crud at our house. The Princess is officially sick for the very first time. It started out with congestion, added a runny nose, then turned into a green, snotty nose (I know you're excited about the details.)! After the green stuff appeared, I made a phone call to the pediatrician. Although I'm not one to jump the gun on things, I was a little concerned that it might be an ear infection. Didn't want my Princess to suffer through one of those.

Thankfully she does not have an ear infection, and it was not in her chest. She just has a cold.

During our visit to the pediatrician, the Princess got weighed. I love finding out her weight, and as we did not have a 5 month appointment, I'm glad we got to find out at 5 1/2. Are you ready? 23 pounds and 8 ounces!

Oh yes! For those of you who do not personally know the Princess, you now know the truth: She's a biggin'!

So speaking of having the crud at our house...Yesterday's Oprah was shlumpadinka make-overs. Oprah's definition of a shlumpadinka is a woman who dresses like she has given up.

Today I am wearing: Maternity pants and the King's t-shirt!

Shlumpadinka, anyone?

Does This Tell You How Much I Clean My House?

2008-02-19T15:53:00.001-05:00

Monday was cleaning day at the castle. The King and I got up and began working, picking up, dusting, and the like. The Princess was playing on a blanket in the floor, happy and content.

The King decided it was time to vacuum. The Princes is rolling a lot, and she gets off the blanket a lot. The King wanted the floor to be freshly vacuumed for the Princess to roll on (I was not about to argue).

When the King began to vacuum, the Princess began to scream! It scared her!

Apparently, I need to vacuum more so the Princess will be used to the sound (well, other reasons too!)!

Blogging Blues

2008-02-18T11:35:00.000-05:00

Okay, I have a huge confession to make: I love to blog! I really do! I think about it during the day. I blog in my head. It has become a hobby for me. But I have some issues about blogging.

I'm not very good at it.

Maybe the writing stuff is okay, but the computer, technical stuff has me baffled. I am often browsing other people's blogs and they have such pretty wonderful things on there, and I have a moment of jealousy. It's true. I am jealous of other people's blogs.

They have these pretty templates, cute heading pictures, adorable buttons, and they do amazing things. The most amazing to me is when they cross out words. I think that is so cool, but I cannot for the life of me figure it out.

My little sister had to show me how to get pictures from the web to put in posts. I knew how to get pictures from the computer, but only because the King showed me a long time ago.

Olivia taught me how to link in a post via a comment. It was actually easy to do, but I could not figure out how to do it! How lame is that?

The other thing I love, and would like to try is to have a song playing on my blog. But I guess that will have to wait.

The whole point of my sob story here is that I have to figure out how to use this crazy computer. I may even have to learn to type in code and use the "Edit Html" tab on blogger instead of the easy "Compose" tab. I think I may have to take a class or something. Yikes!

Or, I may just have to live with my blog like it is.

And that, my friends, is the end of my whining!

CVS and Kroger Deals

2008-02-16T10:43:00.006-05:00

My CVS trip this week was pretty good considering the deals weren't that great. I got all of this and only had to "pay" $2 in ECBs (meaning I paid a certain amount of ECBs (can't remember how much exactly) and got back $2 less than what I gave them.) and $.94 oop! I think that is pretty good!My Kroger trip was amazing this week. Remember my goal was to save as much as I have to pay, at least a 50% savings. My savings this week was...

*Drumroll Please!*

58%

58% with coupons and store savings. I won't bore you with all the details (mostly because I can't remember everthing and I can't find my receipt (it's burried in my coupon box!)), but I will tell you the best part...

Free Chicken!!!

Oh, yes you read that right!

Tyson Chicken was on sale this week for $1.88 per pound, and I had 2 coupons for $3 off of 2 packages (thanks mom). I got 4 packages of the chicken that is cut really skinny (I think they call them tenders) and were priced at about $1.50 each (a little less than a pound each.). So I got almost 4 pounds of chicken for FREE! I also bought a Pur Water Filter. We have been wanting one of those, especially since the Princess is eating foods now. I had a $5 off coupon (not a super great deal, but...), and I got a free water bottle! Something else I have been wanting (not a fan of the plastics, you know!). The water bottle is of this variety.

Not exactly, but you get the idea!

Oh, my new Pur Water Bottle, how I love thee. Let me count the ways!

For more Super Savings Saturday deals you gotta go to Money Saving Mom!

"Your Cries Are Different"

2008-02-15T00:13:00.000-05:00

This was an actual conversation I had with my mom.

We were talking about how my sister and I always thought my mom had spies. She always knew what we did. We could never get away with anything growing up. She also said that she knew when my sister and I were pregnant before we even told her.

Mom: It was funny that you and your sister thought I had spies. I never had spies.

Me: You had to have. You knew everything about us. If you didn't have spies, how did you know.

Mom: You told on yourselves. Me: What do you mean?

Mom: I just knew you both so well, I could tell by your tone of voice or how you acted. I knew when something was off. So I usually guessed. It was the way I asked too. I didn't ask if you did something, I just said that you did. And then you would want to know how I knew. You told on yourself.

Me: So you really knew I was pregnant. How? I didn't talk to you much before I told you.

Mom: That was part of it. I could just tell by your voice. You sounded different.

Me: That's kind of the way it is with me and the Princess. I know when she is hungry or tired. I know when she just wants to be held or played with. Her cries sound different. Is it kind of like that?

Mom: Yep, I know your voice and how you are. And even now, your cries are different.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2008-02-14T21:04:00.004-05:00

And for a special Valentine's Day Poop Story, go here!

Why Do I Spend Money On Toys??

2008-02-13T14:16:00.002-05:00

This evening during Bible study, the Princess and I sat down on her blanket in the fellowship hall to play quietly with toys. This is what we do every Wednesday and Sunday evening during our church's Bible study time. It works out well for us. The Princess can play quietly while I participate in the Bible study, and we are generally out of the view of the other participants (the Princess is super cute and, therefore, very distracting!).

Tonight, on her blanket, we had a lovey (small blanket with an animal head), a book and a taggie book. Generally we have additional toys, but I just cleared out the diaper bag because we shared toys at a play date this afternoon (I'm all for sharing toys, but not germs!). Even though the toys were few this evening, I thought we had plenty for the hour Bible study.

Apparently not, because here is what the Princess ended up playing with:
My pen
My paper that was intended for notes
My cup that origionally had water in it
A pacifier holder
My hand sanitizer (it was closed securely, she couldn't get into it)

This is not unusual either. At the castle, the Princess often plays with paper, pens, and cups. She plays with the sanitizer and her spray for her wipes. The Princess is a big fan of our cell phones and the remote control for the TV. My personal favorite is the coupons. When I cut coupons, I hand her a scrap. She will sit for a good 20 minutes and play with that scrap "coupon."

We often use this technique in restaurants as well. After the Princess is bored with her toys, I will hand her spoons, straws and (this past weekend at PF Chang's) chopsticks.

Which brings me to my origional question: Why do I spend so much money on toys?

I could, in fact, just buy spoons!

Personality Painting

2008-02-12T12:28:00.001-05:00

Click here to create your own painting.

My Personality in a Painting

What do you think?

*update*
Here is the King's painting

Click here to create your own painting.

Have You Fed Your Dog Today?

2008-02-11T14:18:00.000-05:00

As a new mom, I have been trying to figure out how to get things done. The Princess is 5 months old now, and for 5 months my house has been a mess, there are no groceries in my pantry or refrigerator, and I have yet to take a shower (this is not entirely true, but now at 1 pm as I write, I am still in pjs and not showered!).

I find that I like to spend my time on the floor playing with the Princess. And when I am not playing with her, I am feeding her or changing a poopy diaper (shocking, I know).

There are often times when I have a lot planned for the day, and I am excited about getting things done. But then all of a sudden it is 5 pm, nothing on my list is accomplished, I am not even dressed for the day, and when the King says, "What's for dinner?" the only response I have is "What are you making?"

I really know it's been a rough day when I go to bed at night and think to myself, did I feed the royal hound today? Sadly, the answer is sometimes no. My life just seems hectic, and I forget to feed the poor dog (she does get feed on a regular basis, please don't turn me in for animal cruelty!).

These are the times I wonder, how can I get so little accomplished when all I do is play on the floor all day?

But I know that soon the Princess will be grown, and I will look back on the times we have together. I won't remember that the house wasn't clean. I won't remember that I didn't look my best.

I will remember playing on the floor with my Princess, blowing raspberries on her belly, playing with her tiny toes, and listening to her tiny little laugh.

Before I go play with my Princess again, I just need to ask you,

Have you fed your dog today?

CVS Deals & WalMart Clearance

2008-02-09T15:21:00.000-05:00

I am getting better at this CVS Shopping. This week I did pretty well if I do say so myself.
I broke up my shopping into two transactions. The first transaction I got:
Softsoap Body Wash
Palmolive Dish Soap
Triaminic
Theraflu
SpeedStick Deoderant
Colgate Toothpaste
2 Bags of Peanut Butter M&Ms YUMMY!!!!

total before sales $33.12

Coupons I used:
4$/20$ from an e-mail sign-up (glad I saved it!)
1$/2 M&Ms
$2 off Theraflu
$1.50 off Triaminic
$.25 off Palmolive
$.75 off Colgate
$1 off SpeedStick
$1 off SoftSoap

I used $17 in ECBs (had to throw in a candy bar to use them all. I would have owed $.81 oop beforethe candy bar and ended up owing $.44 after. Go figure!)
Paid $.44 oop!

Got $22 ECBs back!!

Second Transaction:

2 Excedrins

2 Nature's Bounty Vitamin C (BOGO)

3 Eyeshadows

$44.93 before sales

Coupons I used:

4$/20$ from e-mail sign-up

$3 off Excedrin

$2 off Excedrin

2 $2 off Natures Bounty

I paid $22 in ECBs

And $1.19 oop! (had to throw in a candy bar again!)

Got $26.47 ECBs back!!

Then I went back a few days later (When I went to first time, they were out of the Fructis Shampoo for the ECB deal.).

I got:

Fructis Shampoo

2 Boost Smoothies

I used a $1 off coupon for the Shampoo

Paid $5.00 in ECBs (It came to 4.99 so I took the 1 penny loss) and paid NOTHING out of pocket.

Then I got $5.99 back in ECBs!!!

A couple days later I got on Money Saving Mom and saw the Dove deal, so I went back AGAIN. I got 2 bags of Dove chocolates and one more Boost (so I didn't waste ECBs). After the two internet Dove coupons (I didn't have the paper insert one), I paid $3.99 in ECBs, nothing oop, and got $3 in ECBs back. I'll pay a dollar for chocolates! Gladly!!

I think I am starting to get a hang of this CVS thing! Maybe next week I'll try to go just once!

To make a great week even better, I went to WalMart to fill a prescription, walked around while I was waiting, and came across a GREAT baby clearance sale. $1.00 for each item!! I ended up spending $9.50 and got all this for Princess for next year!

Head over to Money Saving Mom for more Super Savings!

Adventures In Poop 5-The Sling Incident

2008-02-08T14:18:00.000-05:00

Once upon a time, a land far, far away, the Princess awoke ready for a new day. The day was Sunday, and the Princess wanted to go to church to worship God. The Queen and King wanted the Princess to look beautiful at church, so the Queen took lots of time getting the Princess ready.

The Queen put a pretty dress on the Princess with a matching onsie, tights, and bloomers. The Queen then put the Princess in her sling, and off they went to church.

After arriving at church the Queen needed to finish some things up in the office. While sitting at the computer, the Queen heard the royal poop sound. She knew it was a bad one because of the stink!

The Queen went into the King's office to change the royal diaper. The King looked up from his desk and said, There's something on your sling.

Indeed, the royal poop had gone through a onsie, tights, bloomers, dress, and a sling.

When the queen looked in the royal diaper bag, all she had was a sweat suit for the Princess to wear.

And no socks!

The End

What Was She Thinking???

2008-02-07T14:18:00.003-05:00

This is an actual conversation I had with a Lady I Know. Nope, it's not the lady you're thinking of.

Lady I Know: Do you ever do studies for money?
Me: Sometimes. I used to do them a lot, but now that I am breastfeeding, I can't. They won't let me bring the Princess.
LIK: What about the diaper studies? Did you sign up for those? Free diapers!
Me: No, actually I cloth diaper.
LIK: (with grimmacing look on her face) Oh, I cloth diapered mt first baby (implying that I would give up.).
Me: (smile, pretend I care)
LIK: I just signed up my 7 year old for a study.
Me: (again, smile, pretend I care)
LIK: It pays $300!
Me: That's a lot of money!
LIK: Yeah, all you have to do is give your 1st, 2nd or 3rd grader dietary supplements!
Me: (shocked, pretending not to be horrified!)
LIK: It's (insert name of company), they're good.

I walked away from the situation at that point. I am sure the Lady I Know did not want my opinion on the matter. But I am going to share it here with you.

What was she thinking!! First off, I don't really want to give my child anything that I don't know what it is. I'm not too keen on giving the Princess anything that isn't natural.

Secondly, the reason it is a study, is to study the effects on people. Meaning, they don't know.

Why would she do that to her child?!?!?
FYI: the studies I do are marketing studies, the kind where stores want to know what display sells better, or what packaging is more attractive.

He's A Girl!

2008-02-05T14:57:00.000-05:00

Some people often call the Princess a boy. To be honest, it doesn't bother me all that much. I realize that with babies her age, it is hard to tell. If the Princess is not in all pink or frilly, it can me difficult to know that she is a girl.

Apparently I wasn't always so easy going on the gender issue. When I was little, I was very girly. But my little sister was not (she is now though). I was 2 1/2 when she was born, and a very defensive big sister.

My mom would often dress me in overalls and pigtails, and no one ever doubted that I was a girl. My mom would dress my sister in a pink frilly dress with a bow, and a stranger would call her a boy.

My response?

He's not a boy, he's a girl!!

My response for my Princesss is not the same however. I usually just smile politely and say she alot.

A man in our church calls the Princess it. That bothers me a lot.

Oh, it is so precious.

It's asleep again.

I think to myself, it has a name. Her name is Princess.

But you don't even have to use her name. (This is especially useful when you don't know the gender of the baby.)

Your little one is adorable.

What's your little one's name?

Just not it. It is a thing. My Princess is not an it. She is a baby, a human being, a person!

It always seems to be elderly people who do this. The older people at church, the grocery store, CVS. If the baby is not an it, then the baby is a boy.

The King and I often go to the Nursing Home to visit elderly people we know. We have taken the Princess a few times. It seems to cheer up the people to see a baby.

Recently I was talking with an elderly lady at a Nursing Home, and she kept refering to the Princess as he. I didn't mind, I just kept saying she alot, but kept smiling and talking to this lady. Finally she asked me, is it a girl or a boy? I responded that the Princess was, in fact, a girl. The lady smiled at me and said, I think he looks like a boy so I am going to call him a boy.

What do you say to that?

Just yesterday at CVS, a lady said to me, your little boy is so cute!

I thought to myself, yes, she is cute, but she's a girl. Doesn't the purple outfit with flowers give it away.

Obviously not!

Most of the time it doesn't bother me when people call the Princess a boy.

Sometimes I want to scream,

He's not a boy, He's a GIRL!!!

I Love Couponing!

2008-02-02T16:35:00.001-05:00

Well it's Super Savings Saturday at Money Saving Mom, and I thought I would join in on the fun.

To be honest, this is a bitter sweet post for me. I am a CVS newbie, and CVS was a bust for me again this week. I need to learn to be better at this. I probably would have done okay with stacking coupons, but after reading Crystal's take on this, I realized it's probably not the best thing to do. So I got three things at CVS, paid 5$ in ECB's, $1.43 oop, and got a measley 1$ ECB back. I may try again tonight at a different CVS, or maybe I'll just wait until next week.

That was the bitter part. The sweet part: My Kroger trip today. I got $118.07 worth of groceries and only paid $67.04. Now this may not seem great, but when I started couponing, I said my goal was to be saving more than I spent, and at 43% today, I am getting closer. I saved $16.40 in coupons and $32.23 in store savings for a total savings of $51.03. I'm pretty proud of myself!

I won't bore you with the details, but I will share some highlights!

These were probably the best. The Dove Conditioner was clearanced to $2.21, and I had a $2 off coupon: $.21!!!!

The Kids L'Oreal shampoo was clearanced to $1.61, I had a $1 off coupon: $.61!!!!

Clorox Green Works was 2/5$. I had 2 $1 off coupons making them 2/3$ or $1.50 each!Post and Quaker cereals were $1.99. I had a $1 off 2 Post cereals making them $1.50 each, and I had a $1 off Cinamon Life, $1!!!! So 3 boxes of cereal for $4. Not too terrible.The Simple Harvest were on sale 2/5$. I had 3 $1 off coupons. Making them $1.50 each!The Oregon Chai I had no coupons for, but they were clearanced to $2, and I loooooove them. Treat for me!!

The Dole Parfaits were on sale 3/5$ or $1.67 each. I had two $.50 coupons which Kroger doubles to $1. $.67 each!!

The Rice a Roni were on sale for $1.07. I had 2 $.50 off coupons, again, Kroger doubles to $1. $.07 per box.

I think I am begining to get a hang of this couponing thing!

A Creative Grandpa-A Poop Story

2008-02-01T11:11:00.000-05:00

A man I know relayed this story that I thought was ingenious, and very funny. We will call the man Mike because, well, that's his name. I'm sure you don't know him!

Mike's wife and daughter had gone shopping, leaving the young, diapered granddaughter with grandpa. Mike and little girl were having a fun day together when little girl had a rather large poop. In Mike's words from head to toe.

Not wanting to deal with the situation, Mike called his wife and daughter to find out how long they'd be. Sadly for Mike, they were still a half an hour from home. Mike knew he could not let little girl sit in the poop for that long.

Mike thought about the situation and the best way to deal with it. He finally sat the little girl in the bath tub and used the detatchable sprayer to wash her off.

Mike is probably not the first person to come up with this cleaning method, but I was pretty impressed.

Do you have a poop story to share. I would love to publish it here or link up to your blog. Please e-mail me at adventures in poop (at) live *dot* com.

Adventures In Babywearing

2008-01-31T01:45:00.000-05:00

I received this comment from a former post.

Just found your blog and had a question...what is your favorite sling or wrap for babywearing? I was unable to wear my first baby for medical reasons (hers) but am due in april and trying to decide on a few slings....

First, let me say CONGRATS!! I love new babies, and pregnancy is a fun time of life (even when it's horrible!)!

Second, let me say that I am by no means an expert in the area of baby wearing. I am a proud, baby wearing momma, but I am a newbie.

During my pregnancy, I was so focused on the pregnancy and birth, that I forgot about all the "after birth" stuff. Breastfeeding was really the only thing I was prepared for.

Thankfully I found a couple of people who were in the "know" about things I was interested in: cloth diapering, baby wearing, AP (although I didn't realize I was interested in that until after the fact, but that's another post.), stuff like that (thanks Olivia!!!!!!).

Baby wearing, for me, began with a Snuggli that I borrowed from a friend. I didn't realize that there were so many options out there. I thought there was the Snuggli, the Baby Bjorn, and the Ultimate Baby Wrap. Basically the ones they sell at Babies R Us.

So my first purchase was the Ultimate Baby Wrap. I liked it a ton better than the Snuggli. The Princess was snug to me, and I felt more secure with her. However, the Princess is a beast, and her weight quickly make the stretchy material, well, stretch. And then she would sag. Not very comfy. I would have to readjust often. Not very practical, either.

My sister (is the Evil Step-Sister a good cyber name for her?) has a Moby Wrap. And it seems to keep my nephew in place more than the Ultimate. I have heard that the Sleepy Wrap is evenbetter than a Moby, but I have not seen one of these in person, so I can't say for sure.

After the Ultimate I found a Ring Sling (I say "found" because I am cheap, and I bought all of my slings and wraps at a resale shop). I LOVE my Ring Sling. The Princess loves it too. It's bright blue, and when I get it out, she gets really excited. I can wear her different ways in the Ring Sling, and she is pretty secure.

I also found a New Native Carrier. I LOVE it too. I only really carry the Princess one way in the NN, but it is convienient for me. I don't have to mess with loops or wrapping. I just throw it on, and we are ready to go!

Now, I just go back and forth between the NN and the Ring Sling. I would really like to get a Beco. But top on my wish list is a Kangaroo Korner sling! I keep searching ebay and the resale shops. Hey, my birthday is coming up! That would be a great gift for me! Hint! Hint!

Like I said, I am no expert. I never wore the Princess as a newborn, so I don't know what to suggest there.

There are people out there who can help you too. My LeLeche League is pretty much all babywearers. The ladies sometimes bring slings and wraps, and let newbies try them out. There are baby wearing support groups too. If you can try them out first, I think it helps. It is overwhelming, because there is so much out there.

Okay, my baby wearing friends, help me out here! What is your favorite wrap or sling? I have a poll posted on the side of my blog. Make sure you comment too. We want to hear from you!

Here are some links that may help you out!

http://www.adventuresinbabywearing.com/

This is a blog of a baby wearer. She often posts tips on how to wear your baby. She also does reviews of slings and wraps. This is where I heard about the sleepy wrap. And yes I stole my post title from her blog title.

http://www.kangarookorner.com/

Kangaroo Korner has a page (many pages really) that shows how to wear a baby in different slings and wraps. I used that a lot when I first started.

http://www.wearsthebaby.com/

http://www.thebabywearer.com/

There's many, many more. Google wraps or slings! There's tons out there. I hope this helps.

Baby wearers, remember to vote on the poll and comment too!

Works For Me Wednesday-Zippered Cloth Bag

2008-01-30T10:56:00.000-05:00

I love cloth bags for shopping. It is something easy (cheap too depending on where you buy them) that makes me feel like I am helping the environment. I bought about 10 at WalMart, and I keep them in this really cute bag that my dad and stepmom bought me for Christmas. The grocery store usually will take off $.05 for each bag that I use. I figure, eventually they will pay for themselves!

The problem I kept running into, was forgetting a bag when I was just "running" somewhere. I had this whole bag full of bags at home, and I was wasting plastic ones at Walgreens or CVS or where-ever.

Enter Target. I love the place, and now they gave me one more reason to love it!

They sell a zippered cloth bag for $.99!!! It is just a cloth bag that folds up to about the size of a wallet (I was showing mine off at church, and someone thought it was my glasses case.) and then zips up. I can easily throw it in the diaper bag, (I actually keep it there) and always have it on hand when I am "running in" somewhere.

Oh, my Target zippered cloth bag, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways!

Head over to Rocks in my Dryer for more Works for me Wednesday!

Bloggy Giveaway Carnival

2008-01-27T19:56:00.000-05:00

So there is this Bloggy Giveaway Carnival over at Rocks in My Dryer. And since I am totally in to this blogging thing, I thought I would join up. Remember I'm new here in Blogdom, I'm trying to make friends!

Today I am giving away a set of six handmade Thank You cards. They come with envelopes, and will be a cute touch to those thank you notes we all hate writing (am I the only one who still has Christmas thank yous to write?). Because they are handmade, the cards may not be exactly the same, but they are similar.

If you want to win, just leave a comment and tell me something you are thankful for. Make sure you leave me an e-mail or blog address so I can reach you if you win. I will only ship to the U.S., but bloggers and non-bloggers alike can win! I will randomly pick a winner sometime after noon (EST)on Sunday, February 3rd.

Have fun!

And for hundreds more giveaways, check out the Carnival!

It's A Vicious Cycle

2008-01-27T17:38:00.000-05:00

The Princess went to her first concert last night! Nope! Not The Wiggles! Not any kid-type concert at all actually.

Yep! We took our 4 1/2 month old baby princess to see Skillet. Well, not solely Skillet. We actually took a couple of teens to
Winter Jam 2008!!

It was fun! Very different for me. I am a concert lover. I like to get crazy and jump around and scream (not too pretty for someone closing in on 30), but I couldn't really do that wearing the Princess. Plus it was LOOOOOUUUUUUD! (Someone please tell me when I got this old!) I honestly was concerned about the Princess's ears, so we walked around the vendors most of the time.

All considering, it was a great time. We saw

Barlow Girl

and

Mercy Me.

Which, to me, is a good day!

As I already said, it was different for me being at a concert with the Princess. And a big majority of that was the process of getting the Princess fed. It turns out that the venue where Winter Jam was held, was not very breastfeeding friendly. Basically there were no chairs!

Sure there were chairs in the arena where the concert was being held. But there were three problems feeding her in there. 1. I restate: It was LOOOOOOUUUUUUD! 2. and squished! 3. and lots of teenage boys (as the concert was geared for teenagers) including the two with us. Now, while I generally have no issue breastfeeding in public, the idea of my breast being the first one that some teenage boy sees is not fun for me. It scares me quite honestly.

So the Princess and I were in search of a bathroom. One for women, girls, of the female gender. We found plenty, and while they had baby changing stations (thankfully), there was no place to sit. So we stood.

Thankfully I am a proud, baby wearing momma, and I had the Princess in the sling. Unfortunately I have not yet mastered the art of breastfeeding in the sling. Last night, it was trial by fire. That was the only option we had.

And it worked out pretty good. The first time around, we were the only ones in the bathroom. It was difficult to figure out sling feeding, but since we had our privacy, I did not mind, and we took our time.

The second time around, I picked the busiest bathroom in the place. By that time we were pros! And we found a quiet corner in the bathroom.

But I found myself turning around or pulling the sling up, when anyone was around. I didn't want to embarass anyone. Especially some teen girls. And then it hit me.

It's not! At all! And I shouldn't be ashamed or embarrassed or worried about offending someone. It occurred to me that the reason people are embarrassed is because of exactly what I was doing, hiding. It is not common or "normal" to breastfeed in public. Therefore others are offended or embarrassed. So we hide it. See the cycle?

Then this morning in church, I realized I had done it again. The King had asked me to find a picture of a baby eating for an illustration. So I found this cutey little baby. Notice: drinking from a bottle. Why would I pick a baby drinking from a bottle, when the baby illustration he used was of our own baby, who never drinks from a bottle? I'm glad you asked.

The reason: I was afraid of offending or embarrassing someone with a picture like this:Or this gorgeous picture.Again, why would someone be embarrassed or offended? Because they don't see it. It's not common or "normal." And therefore we hide it! Are you seeing the cycle? Please tell me you are.

Of course the question becomes, what are we going to do to change the cycle?

A Loooooong CVS Story

2008-01-26T11:44:00.001-05:00

I have been very excited to shop at CVS this week. I did not get to go last week (few deals, no time), and this week I had a plan!
On Sunday I clipped my coupons as usual, and through the week I have been looking through the add and formulating my plan. I had it to where I would buy 75$ worth of stuff and spend about 13$ and get roughly 45$ in ECBs back.
CVS apparently did not like my plan!
Last night I headed out, stopped at Walgreens first (more about that later), and then hit my local CVS. My deal plan involved buying 20 SoyJoys, but my CVS was OUT! I even asked, which is not something I usually do.
So I started racking my brain. My thought process went something like this, "No SoyJoys! Where is another CVS? They have to have them at another store. There's one over on...nope that's a Walgreens. Wait, there's one in...nope! Walgreens." I could not think of a single CVS! I ended up calling the King, who got out the phone book and directed me to a couple other CVSs.
The second CVS I hit, OUT! The third? OUT! Buy this time I was irritated. I had the Princess with me, so I had been lugging her in and out of CVSs, and I was tired. So I stood in that last CVS and formulated a new plan with the stuff they had. But when I went looking for the stuff I needed (read wanted) to buy, it wasn't on sale like at the other CVS. So I gave up.
I went home and told the King that I needed to go this morning. And I did. I took my new plan and went to my local CVS, again. Guess what?
Yep! They had the SoyJoys. So it was back to my origional plan. It still didn't work out right, but here's what I ended up getting. 7 bags of Doritos (the King looooooves these, I have to hide them!)
I origionally only had 4 but they rang up lower than I thought, and I had to buy more to make
the 20$ worth of stuff for the Pepsi offer
6 Gatorades (have to hide these too!)
7 packages of Duracell batteries (which I needed badly)
I searched for coupons for these but couldn't find them, but then there were some for 50 cents
off on the package. Yay!
1 Benefiber
1 Purell
I bought this because my total wasn't at 75$ like I needed it to be, but then I didn't get the
ECB for it, so I'm not to excited about that!
20 SoyJoys

This came out to $111.33 before sale prices.
It rang up at 79 something.
I used
15/75
10/50
5/30
4/20
3/15
2/10 coupons
also Soy Joy coupons and the Duracell coupons
I used 11$ in ECBs (all I had)
And I paid 17$ out of pocket (more than I had wanted, but after all the trouble I went to...)
Then I got 32$ in ECBs back!!!

But I am way excited about the makeup I bought at Walgreens. They were buy one get one free. And I got 2$ off coupons from the internet. I made two trips. The first, I bought 4 things of makeup and paid about $1.50!

Then today I went in and bought 8 things. The lady who checked me out said, "You know its buy one get one?" Yep!!! It rang up at -$.32!! I thought I would have to throw in a candy bar or something, but nope!!! They gave me the change!!

Go to Money Saving Mom and check out more Super Savings Saturday deals!

The Onsie Saga Continued

2008-01-25T10:02:00.000-05:00

So yesterday I was getting the Princess dressed. And I always have a hard time picking out her clothes. I want her to look darling, but still be comfortable. She is only 4 1/2 months after all, and I haul her around everywhere. A mini skirt and tights with a cute little sweater does fit into the "darling" category (and we do have a couple of outfits like that), but when we are just hanging around the house or the office, not too comfy.

Finally I picked out a pair of jeans and a fleece sweatshirt. Very warm on a very cold January day, pretty comfortable (Thats what I would wear to be comfortable), and super cute. But of course I needed a onsie to go on underneath the sweatshirt. A cold belly is not so good, you know.

The fleece sweatshirt is purple, and the Princess looks gorgeous in purple. So I went searching for a purple onsie to match. (I have major issues with matching!) The Princess has one that is a light purple, not quite a lavender, that has dark purple, sparkly hearts on it. Perfect!

While putting on the onsie, I realized, not so perfect. This particular onsie is a turtle neck. I thought to myself, if what I think might happen happens, this is not going to be pretty. But I took the risk.

Don't know what I'm refering to? Read The Thing About Onsies.

Guess what? It happened. And it was not pretty. Thankfully my friend Jess commented on the other post and left a great tip. And I used it! Thanks Jess.

My other friend Jess also left a comment to the effect of "your kid must poop alot." Yes, my friend Jess (and blogdom), the Princess does poop alot. Thus the name Princess Poops Alot!

Let me take a moment to share with you about my friends named Jess. Both are great women, wonderful mothers, Pastor's wives (yay!), and just all around good friends. One friend Jess I've known since college, know pretty well, and lives far away. The other friend Jess I met only a couple of years ago, would like to know better, and live (somewhat) close by. The friends Jess do not know each other. (I get rabbit trails from the King. He's good at them!)

Works For Me Wednesday

2008-01-22T15:05:00.001-05:00

Rocks in my Dryer has Works For Me Wednesday. I love reading the many things that work for other people, and thought I would add to the list today.

This week I am visiting my mom in Indiana. The Princess and I packed up and headed north, while the King is south on a mission trip.

When I first traveled with the Princess, I put a lot of tiny baby clothes in a duffel bag and immediately lost track of the outfits that I painstakingly put together. There are so many parts to a baby's outfit, and they get lost very easily. The outfit itself can be from 1-3 pieces. Then you have a onsie, socks, shoes, a hat or bow, and sometimes a sweater or sweatshirt.

Thankfully my friend Martha Marie shared with me her baby packing tip when she and her family came to visit a while ago. She puts the baby's complete outfit in a ziplock bag. Each outfit has its own bag. Then she puts the little bags in her suitcase. This really accomplishes two things at once. One, it keeps outfits together, and keeps the little, tiny pieces from getting lost in the suitcase. Two, it makes it easier to have a family member or friend be able to dress the baby. Just grab a bag, no need to match or fiddle with a bow.

This tip from Martha Marie has really worked for me. I don't always put the shoes in the bag with the outfit, because some shoes will go with more than one outfit. I also put pajamas in one bag, burp rags, wash cloths, and so on. This really works for me!

Head over to Rocks in My Dryer for more great tips!

The Thing About Onsies

2008-01-21T09:43:00.000-05:00

I love onsies! I think they are great! Here are a few things I love about them.

1. In the winter they cover the baby's belly and keep it warm.

2. In the summer the baby can just wear a onsie and keep cool.

3. We have lots of cute onesies.

-a pink camo onsie

-a pink onsie with zebras on it

-one that says "my daddy is a rock star"

-and many, many more

4. They come in a rainbow of colors so they can match any outfit.

Here is what I do not love about onsies:

When the Princess poops up her back (see here to learn more), it is impossible to get the onsie off.

There are only two ways to get a poopy onsie off a baby. And neither are fun.

1. Take the onsie off over the baby's head. This would be the usual way to take off a onsie. Unsnap the bottom and then take off like a t-shirt. The problem with taking a poopy onesie off this way is the poop goes over the baby's head with the onesie. Yuck!

2. Take the onesie off over the baby's bottom. This is my prefered way to take off a poopy diaper, but it still poses a couple of problems. The first problem being, you are still dragging poop everywhere. And usually it goes everywhere. The Princess is famous for putting her foot in the poop part of a poopy onsie! The second problem is actually getting the onsie off this way. The neck hole is not generally made to go over a baby's belly and diaper (or naked, poopy bottom).

Has anyone else had this dilema? Please tell me I am not alone!

It Has A Mind Of It's Own

2008-01-18T16:43:00.000-05:00

So yesterday the Princess was playing in her exersaucer when she made a royal poop. Now you would think that because the Princess was sitting down the poop would stay in the bottom portion of the royal diaper. That's what I would think. I was taught in gradeschool that because of the gravitational pull of the earth, things on the earth go down.

Apparently poop is not subject to the law of gravity!

The royal poop went up the back of her diaper, but luckily stopped before exiting the diaper (This is not always the case.).

As I was changing the royal poopy diaper, I contemplated the poop and the various places it ends up.

Usually when wearing a disposible diaper, the royal poop ends up up. Up the back of the Princess. I am not sure how poop defies the law of gravity, but it almost always does.

When wearing a cloth diaper, the royal poop somehow ends up down the leg. (I think this is user error on the part of the Queen. I need to play with the tightness around the legs a bit.) Even though this is messy, it makes more sense to me. Poop should go down.

Often the poop goes up the front as well. This can be a little tricky, especially with a girl. We don't like poop in the "girl parts."

On one occaision I found poop on the back of the Princess's hip. I'm not exactly sure how it got there, but there it was. She must have twirled in her diaper or something.

The most outrageous poop place to date: During one royal diaper change there was poop in the crease of her hip. You know where her leg moves. Now this might not sound so strange, it's close to where the poop would gather in the diaper. What made it so outrageous was that there was NO OTHER POOP ANYWHERE IN THE DIAPER! I cannot wrap my mind around how the poop traveled from her poop puter outer to her hip without getting anywhere else in her diaper.

I guess it just goes to show you that poop has a mind of it's own! It can go anywhere it wants!

Addicted to...What?

2008-01-16T14:18:00.000-05:00

Addictions are a touchy subject for most people! Most people know someone who is struggling with an addiction. These are very sad situations, and please understand that I am not making light of these very serious addictions in this post.

The King and I were just discussing a person we know who may or may not have an addiction. This discussion brought to my mind the various addictions one may have.

There are, of course, the serious addictions that I spoke of. Drugs. Alcohol. P*rn*graphy. Cigarettes. Gambling. And I am sure a plethora more that I know little or nothing about.

Then there are the "good" addictions. Maybe "good" isn't the right word here. "Harmless?" Still not sure. Can any addiction be harmless, really? If something is overtaking your life, is it "good," "harmless."

Take my addictions, for example. I have one very intense addiction that has been an addiction since at least high school.

"My name is Jenn and I am addicted to chapstick!"

It's true. I have a problem. My mom said before my wedding that I should design my bouquet so that I could have a tube of chapstick in it. I did not do this, of course. But I did carry a small purse with me that day that had some in it.

Now, is this addiction to chapstick "good"? I would not think so. I get antsy if I don't have chapstick with me. My lips start to hurt after a couple of hours if I don't use it. (I will say, I think this is just in my head. On Oprah yesterday the makers of Carmex said there is nothing in their brand that is chemically addictive. I would assume this is the same for all brands.) So no, my addiction to chapstick is not "good."

Is it harmless? For this I would say, yes. It does not interfere with my role as a mother, wife. It does not interfere with my job or my day to day life.

However, my other addiction does at times.

"My name is Jenn, and I am addicted to blogging."

This is a new one. But I can spend hours on the internet looking at blogs and linking from blog to blog. It is fun! I like it alot. I feel like I have a small window into others' lives. And I have "met" a lot of people who have the same interests as I do.

However, like I said, I can do this for hours. It can interfere with my role as a mother, and a wife. And it can interfere with job and my day to day life. So this addiction is, for me, not harmless. (I am putting limits on my blogging time now. Step One!)

The King has an addiction of his own. This is a new one as well.

On Friday, a church member sent out an e-mail about a current presidential candidate. The e-mail said the information in it was true and you could verify it on Snopes.com. Well, the King wanted to verify the information, and that led to a new addiction.

The King is addicted to Snopes!

Addicted to..What???

Snopes is a website that verifies or denies information, urban legends, myths, and the like. The King took a whole day and played on there. He now knows a lot of information, urban legends, myths and the like.

And the info on the candidate?

False!

Baby Dreams

2008-01-15T11:17:00.000-05:00

Baby dreams are so cute!

You know when the baby is not quite asleep and smiles in her sleep and her eyes dart around. You know she is dreaming. And you know that the dream is wonderful and beautiful. She must be dreaming of angels or (my sister says) of Heaven. Or maybe lollipops, rainbows, and fairies. In all reality, she is probably dreaming of great, big, giant, milk-laden, boobs. Whatever she is dreaming of, you know that it is wonderful, and you watch her and smile.

This is often the case at our castle. The Princess is a big dreamer, and I love to watch her. It truly does make me smile.

But not last night! The poor girl was having a nightmare. It had to have been. She was definitely asleep, but she was crying. A poor little wimper. I thought at first that she was just waking up, but it kept going on. And on and on and on. I couldn't stand to watch her dream like that.

I had to pick her up. Even after I did, the crying did not stop. It took her about 10 minutes to get out of that state. It was very sad. But slowly the crying turned into a little wimper. And slowly the wimper stopped. And very soon the Princess was snoring, and back into peaceful sleep.

I hope the nightmare does not come back. I much prefer the dreams!

I'd Lose My Head...

2008-01-12T13:00:00.000-05:00

Many of you are aware that I lose things. A lot! I am often found wandering around our house uttering the phrase, "Where did I put my...?" Keys, Sunglasses, Glasses, Cell Phone (I call to find that one). These are all things I, uh, misplace from time to time.

Once I lost my glasses. Like truly lost them. The King found them four months later buried in a crevice in our couch. They had survived 2 moves and had lived in garage storage for 6 weeks.

Lately I have been losing bigger things. The biggest so far: My coat! I have no idea where it is. I think I left it at my mom's at Thanksgiving, but it doesn't seem to be there. It is not in my house, my car, anywhere. The only place left to look is at my aunt's house, but I don't remember wearing it there.

The worst thing is now I am not only losing my stuff, I have moved on to losing the Princess's things as well. I know for sure I have lost her beautiful white winter coat. I am sad because when I find it, it will be spring AND she'll be too big for it. Also a favorite toy is missing. And I can't even remember the last time we had it so I can begin a thorough search.

The most recent thing I have lost is, in my mind, the most random. This morning I realized I was missing the changing pad for the diaper bag. Now where could it be?

More importantly, where will I change all the poopy diapers?

A Great Poop Story

2008-01-11T11:09:00.000-05:00

I was reading Mommin' It Up (a great blog that I love) this morning, and Jenny posted a great poop story about her son. You've got to read it here!

The Princess and The Gloworm

2008-01-11T10:54:00.000-05:00

In our family, the Gloworm has always been a special toy. I had one when I was little. My sister had one. We always loved them.

Shortly after my niece was born, I got her a gloworm. My niece loved hers too. (Although I hear she now uses it as a weapon against my nephew.)

So, given the family history, I was very excited when the Princess unwrapped a gloworm from her Grandma and Grandpa for Christmas. We let her play with it right away, pushing the belly and watching it light up and sing to us. Then the fussing began.

From the Princess, not the gloworm. She did not seem to like our favorite toy. I thought I would try again. And I did. And again, and again. But it seems that the family favorite toy is not a favorite for the Princess. Maybe someday she will make peace with the gloworm. I intend to keep trying.

The Queen Goes to CVS

2008-01-10T15:52:00.000-05:00

I have been visiting this blog, Money Saving Mom. This woman is brilliant. She must spend all day looking for deals. She has this amazing way of shopping. Her budget for the week is 35$!!!! She shops alot at CVS for free and even gets them to pay her in CVS money. Incredible if you ask me.

For a while I have been reading Money Saving Mom for motivation, and finally I plunged in. We don't get the paper delivered, so I went out and bought a paper. And I clipped coupons.

And clipped

And clipped

And clipped

And it was totally worth it!

Since it was my first time, I had to pay some money. But let me tell you what I did.

I got all this, over $40 worth of stuff, for only $9.23. That right there is over 75% off the original price (and the $40 was after the sale prices too). Then I got $11 back in Extra Care Bucks, which is basically CVS money. I am super excited about this! Now next time I go, I can use my Extra Care Bucks and not spend money out of pocket. How about that?!

You should go. Check out Money Saving Mom, she'll tell you how to do it. But be careful. It's addicting!

If you do go, let me know about your deals!

Adventures In Poop 4

2008-01-10T15:47:00.000-05:00

Today the Queen had some work to do, so the Princess spent some Daddy time with the King. Upon her return, the Queen was told the King had to change a royal diaper that was "weird." "How weird?" the Queen wondered. "Kind of hard, solid. See for yourself." The royal diaper was saved and sitting on a nearby table.

So with the Princess in one hand, the Queen carefully opened the royal diaper to check out the "weird" royal poop.

Normal!

"You Have Something Hanging FromYour Butt!"

2008-01-09T11:03:00.000-05:00

I have a pair of jeans that my dad gave me one Christmas. They actually fit me, even with the extra skin and baby weight that I have yet to get rid of. These jeans are really cute, and they have sequins on the back pockets. Very sassy! Well, it is not uncommon for me to get stuck to things in these pants. I often find a piece of string or a fuzzy stuck to the sequins.

Today I took the Princess into the King's office to change the royal poopy diaper. The King kind of smirked and said, "You have something hanging from your butt!" I backed up closer to the King and asked him to remove the "something, "but he said no, it was too funny.

I looked behind me to see what string or fuzzy was too funny to remove. It was an ENTIRE baby blanket. Apparently I snagged the blanket and dragged it into the office with me from my butt! The King was right. It was too funny!

Adventures In Poop 3

2008-01-08T11:39:00.000-05:00

In this episode of Adventures In Poop, we find ourselves at the royal changing table. The Princess has just finished filling the royal diaper (a whole 5 minutes after getting a new one!), and the Queen was ready to change it. Unknown to the Queen, the royal poop had gone all the way up the Princess's back (the Princess was in a disposable diaper, the cloth ones don't do that). The Queen found the poop up the back by sticking her hand in it! While cleaning up the royal poop, the Princess peed on the Queen!

THE END

2 Adventures In Poop Stories

2008-01-08T11:28:00.000-05:00

These are 2 Adventures In Poop stories that I first posted on my family blog. This is how I came up with the title to this blog. Enjoy!

Adventures in Poop

Starring Princess Poops Alot

A long time ago (actually early this morning) in a land far, far away (actually in a pack and play in our bedroom), the Princess awoke from her beauty sleep. Even though the night was not over, the Princess was very happy to be awake and thought that the King and Queen should be awake too. The Princess cooed and made lots of happy noises until the Queen was awake (the King stayed asleep through this entire story). Suddenly the Princess made a noise unlike any other. It was loud and reminded the Queen of the noises the King makes.The Princess continued to make these scary and also funny noises for quite a while. Finally the Princess was finished filling her royal diaper. And the Queen got up from the bed to change her. Unfortunately the Queen made a frightful discovery. The Princess had leaked through her royal PJ's. So the Queen had to change not only a diaper, but pajamas and sheets too.
Chapter Two
The Princess repeated the first chapter later in the morning. But this time it was on the King and Queen's bed. So the Queen had to change those sheets too. But the King was awake in Chapter two and got to change the royal diaper and the royal PJs this time!
THE END

Adventures In Poop 2

Princess:1 Queen:0

Welcome to another episode of Adventures in Poop
In this episode we find our Princess early in the morning, awake and lying in bed with the King and Queen. The Queen decided to change the royal diaper because is was soaked with royal pee from the night before. At this time of the morning the Queen was quite tired. Partially because of the hour, partially because the Princess did not sleep well. Because the Queen was so tired, she was moving a bit too slow. The Queen took off the wet royal diaper and was just ready to put on a clean diaper, when the princess decided to poop. The royal poop went all over the royal pjs and a little bit on the Queen. The royal pjs were the kind that only snap up one leg. The royal poop went down the leg that had no snaps. The Queen was very excited about this (sarcasm here) because it was so easy to clean up (more sarcasm!). Thankfully the King was able to help clean up the royal mess. And the Kingdom went back to its normal day.
THE END

What Day Is It???

2008-01-07T21:16:00.000-05:00

Oh yeah, it is Monday, January 7th. And today it was 67 degrees outside. But tomorrow the cold front is supposed to come through, so back to winter again.

Baby Kisses

2008-01-06T16:44:00.000-05:00

Aren't baby kisses the best? The Princess doesn't actually know that she is kissing me. She just opens her mouth wide and sucks on my chin or cheek or arm or whatever body part she is closest to. Of course this kissing leaves behind a lovely saliva mess. Who knew babies would be so slobery! Oh well, it's just sugar water, I guess.
Back to the kisses from my Princess!

The Adventure Begins!

2008-01-06T15:29:00.000-05:00

Actually, the adventure began 4 months ago when Princess Poops Alot was born. The poop hasn't stopped since. Thankfully, there has been so much more than poop. We have adventures with natural childbirth, breastfeeding, baby wearing, attatchment parenting, a HUGE cloth diapering decision, and so much more. Not to mention the adventure in parenting and the love that we have for the Princess. Join us on the adventure. We love to share!