Grateful Secret Sister Saturday - Dedication Post =)

So this past month..my birth board has started a Secret Sister program. I think it's a great idea to bond with someone and it's a complete secret until we reveal ourselves in December. =) I am so blessed to have such a wonderful, sweet, caring, and giving SS! I love her random emails and getting to know her. I have my own SS that I stalk and I love doing that too! But I thought this would be such a great post to share for everyone. Sorry if I embarrass you SS! LOL

I am so thankful to be able to converse with someone who I have no idea about. I love the suspense of a "Secret Sister" even though I figured out your postmark of being in Canada! That makes it even MORE special and that much more exciting! Seriously, I love that I have someone from far far away that I can get to know. Especially in another country! =) I love hearing about the things that go on somewhere else that I have never seen or been to in my life. Although, I would love to go see Canada one day! Or live there because I'm just adventurous like that lol =)

Yesterday I received a package from my wonderful Secret Sister. I love all the things that she was kind enough to give me and my LO. Thank you again!

xoxo

Day 1: YourSelf -- 30 Day Photo Challenge

I haven't been in the mood to take pictures of myself during my Post-Postpartum stages. But I have to do it sooner or later!

30 Day Photo Challenge!

•  Looking through my Pinterest account (which BTW is addictive)...I came by this:

 

I am going to start this. I think it would be so much fun. Considering I like to take pictures just for fun! Well, mostly of Abby!

Day 1 will start TOMORROW!

Happy 5 Months Abigail!

Hey you! Now you guys can comment on my blog as a guest or  without having to log in! :)

I can't believe my baby girl is 5 months today. I wish she would stay little forever. =( I'm kind of sad because I wish I could relive her newborn age all over again. Don't get me wrong. I love her growing up so much. But being a mother is the best thing in the world. Especially to her! I can't imagine neglecting her and putting myself first. I don't know how some people can do that. I have been through it with a narcissistic mother and I don't know how "she" can not feel the guilt inside of her everyday. But I know that things happen for a reason. My daughter's here for me and I will not be like "her". I love my daughter to death!

So far her milestones are:

• Yelling in my ear every morning at 8am! (Everyone knows I am NOT a morning person. I always wake up at NOON everyday. Yes call me lazy. But I love her wake up calls then we'll eventually go back to sleep until noon. So its a win-win situation =P)
• Rolling over! I can't believe she's learning to roll over. First it was struggling with tummy time and picking her head up. Now it's rolling! 
• Laughing her heart out! 
• Starting to cling to mommy. I had a friend come over yesterday and the whole time she was holding Abby. She would STARE me down just to make sure I wouldn't go anyway lol!
• Grabbing things more. She's not really an expert at grabbing things with her hand. But loves to kick. Now she's starting to take her toys when I hand it to her
• Teething! She's been teething since 2-3months. She drools her little butt off like crazy!
• Being the BEST baby she can be!

I love watching her grow up. One night, listening to "In my daughters eyes" by Martina McBride..I had a moment. I went through ALL of her pictures from newborn stage to 5 months old. It brought tears to my eyes. I never knew how much I could love someone so much until now.

In my daughter's eyes, I am a hero.
I am strong an' wise,
And I know no fear.
But the truth is plain to see:
She was sent to rescue me,
...This miracle God gave to me,
Gives me strength when I am weak.
I find reason to believe, in my daughter's eyes.
I realise what life is all about.
It's hangin' on when your heart has had enough;
It's givin' more when you feel like givin' up.

Happy 5 Months my sweet baby girl! Mommy loves you so much!

Sunday Funday Couponing Trip! Spent: $3.09 Saved: $23.67!! & Lots of Updates on Abby!

Happy Sunday! It's been a while! I haven't been in the mood to post. I also missed posting my couponing trips last Sunday. But today was great. I went with Nancy and we did some major damage. I think I did pretty awesome! She did too! I didn't see much of anything I wanted this week but I had to burn my register rewards at Walgreens. So decided to get the Huggies Diapers Slip-Ons. I think it will be great when Abby starts to crawl, etc.

Here is my trip from Today:

TOTAL OOP (out of pocket): $3.09. Total SAVED: $23.67!! & I left with $3.50 in RR's for Walgreens; and $2 ECBS for CVS for next time! I also have my $10ECBS from my last weeks deal at CVS! 

I bought a pack of 216 ct Huggies Wipes (My fav.), Huggies Slip-Ons, Carmex Lip Balm, St Josephs Aspirin, and Always Liners (CVS Coupon Machine spit out one for FREE!), and 2 pocket prong folders as fillers.

I loved Today! I also went to Kroger and used my FREE Kroger coupons a friend gave to me because she doesn't use it. So I got a 24pack of water, 1lb of bacon, 1bag of Ruffles Chips, 1 Digornio for 1 all for FREE! I saved $15 bucks that trip!
I am loving this week! Here is last weeks trip!

Last Sunday's Trip...was AWESOME! I spent $7 OOP for ALL OF THIS! Including the Bounty Paper Towels, 4 Puffs boxes, Drinks, cereal, cans, peanuts, prunes, chips, 2 toothbrushes, and Palmolive! I left with a $10 dollar gas card AND $10 Extra Care bucks for next use! SO exciting! I built a great ECB pile so I was able to use it. My total before coupons was $70 bucks and total after coupons $35 bucks then after ECBS it came down to $7 bucks! The cashier told me GREAT JOB!

I usually run into bad cashiers sometimes but lately..doing my trips..I've been getting COMPLIMENTS from them. Today at Kroger's the cashier told me "Not bad, good job!". LOL!

Anyway, there has been LOTS going on with Abigail. Her eczema has been a huge pain for me and her. I feel so bad. I hate having her scratch, itch, and get frustrated. I have spent hundreds of dollars on so many great creams, natural creams, etc. The only thing that works is putting 3 types of creams/ointments and lotions on her. So our routine is 3 creams about 2 times a day. I cant bathe her in anything which sucks but I think I remember that bathing her in Johnson and Johnson Natural Wash did not make her break out. So I might resort back to that. I've tried so many creams. A couple of days ago I spent 30 bucks on a wash and Eucerin cream. And it did NOT work. I've heard great things about Coconut Oil so I had to order that and hope it works. I stopped solids, resorted to bathing her every 2-3 days and I just hate it. I wish I could find a solution.

On a brighter note, Abby CAN NOW ROLL OVER! I put her in her Pack and Play and noticed her always trying to lean to her side. She rolled then rolled back in place and kept rolling back to tummy. After about 5 minutes I decided it wasn't a FLUKE and wanted to record it. She slowed down! Typical! Whenever I try to get a picture she stops doing it lol! But I did get a couple!

This video was from yesterday. Sorry its NOT viewable at all due to the dark nature of it lol. I just HAD to get it because she was laughing/giggling so hard when her daddy was messing with her!

Here are recent pictures of Abby :)

Her looking a mess! Abby has on her HazelWood Necklace I ordered from Eco Baby Buys  per the suggestion from Nancy! I'm hoping it works. The first day her redness from her Eczema calmed down a bit so I'm hoping it helps more and more each day!

After I fixed her back up. Her eczema was under control yesterday but today it's dry and red. This is a LONG battle.

Last night before bed. Sorry for my child's monster hair. I couldn't find her brush! LOL!

I found a GREAT solution to stop her from scratching the sides of her legs. She loves to do that! My S/O and I HATED putting pants on her because it was a PITA to get off when changing diapers. Well I had mommy brain for a couple of weeks I guess...I have a BUNCH of Baby Leg's AND Leg Warmers (Same as Baby Legs just generic version from Target). DUH! I can just put it on her and diaper changes are THAT much easier. I have 6 pairs so I don't know why I didn't use it. I guess because its so HOT here in Texas and anything with layers right now isn't my favorite.
I haven't updated for a while so sorry if my blog is a bit long. I need to update often. I love it!

Tonight for dinner..I'm cooking Lasagna! It's currently in the oven right now. What's for dinner tonight for any of you guys? I would love new suggestions/recipes.

Playdate & Coupon Binder = FUN!

Yesterday, Abigail and Mommy had a fun play date with Arianna and her Aunt Nancy (thechrancyfamily - go to her blog spot!). We very much enjoyed it and can't wait to do it again! It was their first time meeting and they seemed to love each others company.

Here a couple of pictures. I stole some from you if you don't mind Nance!

Love at first site!

She is fascinated with Abby's hairbow! Lol

Pose for the camera!

Another strike a pose picture!

"Ahhhh Choo!" & then she smiles! LOL! So cute!

 

 

I'm so glad they had so much fun and we did too. I think they can do some damage when Abby gets more mobile like Arianna is! Yikes! LOL!

Here are a couple more different recent pictures:

At the park..on the swing for the first time. She got a bath that day don't worry LOL

Smiling for momma!

I bought her Baby Mum Mum's and was skeptical she wouldn't like it. WEll, she LOVED it and ate all of it!! I was surprised!!

I cant believe my baby is growing up too fast. Soon she'll be able to sit up, crawl, stand, walk, and then it'll be her 1st Birthday! I'm going to cuddle with her as much as I can while she's still little.

Anyway, I caved in and decided to do a coupon binder. I had a binder sitting in the back but I really love my folder method but decided why not try it. Well I need more baseball card holders and I am exhausted from trying to fit the big coupons in the freakin' slots! Ugh! Now I want to shoot myself for doing this but I think I'll be happy with the end results. I need a bigger binder though. I have a 1" right now. Maybe 2" would do fine. Here is my almost complete coupon binder!

 

I am like 75% done with my binder. I still need to finish up putting the rest of my coupons in the slots but I don't think I'll have enough AND I think I may need another binder. Ehh! It also makes it heavier in my tote bag and more noticable! LOL! Even though I shouldn't and dont care but my folder method was lighter, easier, and less noticable. BUT harder to find things and I had to like lick my finger every 2 seconds to flip through small coupons stuck together. So Im hoping this makes a huge impression on me and I'll keep it for good. I'm going to test it out when I go couponing on Sunday with Nancy! I cant wait!!

Happy Friday everyone!! Abigail's asleep and Momma's having some wine. Waiting for her crock pot dinner to finish up. (Thanks Nance for your crock pot suggestion!) And we're making it a movie night!

Sunday Trip

I try to make my trips on Sunday while everyone is still asleep. It's kind of hard to do it on the weekdays. Well this week it is. I have other plans this whole week so I can't really go to the stores. Sometimes it's hard going with Abigail so I try to leave her with her daddy. I went today and tried to go early because I know the "crazy couponers" usually go around 10am-11am. I swear it's so crazy. I mean I love couponing but I am NOT an extreme couponer. I get deals for stuff I use. Sometimes, people get them just because its free or cheap. I hate that. They clear shelves. I only need 1 or 2 for my family! Maybe 4 MAX! I mean geezus. Anyway, I went to buy water since we go through those like crazy and toliet paper and paper towels. I swear I go through paper towels like NOTHING! I hate it because it costs so much. I kind of messed up on my trip because I could've saved $10 bucks and I'm trying my best not to get mad about it because you win some and you lose some. Anyway, it was still an awesome trip! Here's my trip. :-)

Spent $23.75 OOP Saved $58.70!! Left with 4 CVS ECBS and 3 Walgreens RR's AND left with a $10 gas card!!! So its like I spent $6.75 on everything!! Not too bad!!
4 Packs of Nestle Water
1 Scott Paper Towels
1 Scott Toliet Paper
2 Cottonelle Wipes
5 Fuze's
1 Free Bottle of CVS body wash
2 Healthy Choice Meals
1 Trash Can
2 Toliet Cleaner Solution (I have tried everything, even expensive toliet cleaner and it's funny the CHEAP one works best.)
1 Carefree Panty Liner (FREE)
1 CVS Bandaids (FREE)
2 G-Fit Post Workout Drinks
2 Teryiaki Beef Jerky Bags
1 box Pampers Baby Dry
1 Mango Scented Revlon Nail Polish
1 3pack bath sponges
1 Hersey's Caramello candy bar
2 Wine Glasses (for my wine tonight lol)

I swear I'm NOT a hoarder! It looks like it! But no it's stuff we needed. Okay, maybe I hoard diapers and wipes. And I guess water on here but still! LOL! I spent a bit high OOP this week and last week. Ehh, not my best but I saved over 50%! Some savings is always better than none anyway. For instance I went grocery shopping yesterday. Spent $93 bucks and saved $39. I'm not good at the grocery game yet. But it's pretty hard. Because the coupons that come out are nothing but junk food. I only buy meats, maybe sides, and veggies, fruits. Stuff that's not junk. I'll buy junk but try not to. I only buy it for my S/O because he drives for a living and he has to have snacks in his car or he'll spend it on fast food and sodas. Yuck! Or expensive restaurant food. LOL I'm cheap so I usually get mad. Poor S/O!

Today's just another relaxing day. Sunday's are always relaxing. =)