This Week's Spent & Saved

I went to all 4 stores this week - Publix yesterday and then CVS, Walgreens, and Kroger today. Not too bad of a week! I think now that I seem to have this down, I need to set a weekly budget and really try to stick within that amount. I am also excited because I think we are getting to the point, especially once the baby comes, where we really only have to get the "needs items".

Total Spent: $75.61

Total Saved: $81.00 (51.7%)

Maternity Photos

Thanks to Lindsey for some amazing pictures!! These were taken at 32 weeks (thank goodness - I cannot imagine having these type of pictures done now) and I love them. It is so hard to pick a favorite! In fact, it is so hard, I am going to include more than one here :) Enjoy!!

Final Baby Shower

This past weekend, I had my last (but not least) baby shower. It was held at Martha's at Belle Meade Plantation. It was really nice to have a smaller, more intimate group so that we could really visit. I had a great time and, once again, got some more items that will definitely come in handy when Katie makes her debut. We all visited for a little while, ate lunch, opened gifts, and then we were able to visit even more. Here are a few pictures from the shower....

Family picture - this is me with my aunts, cousin, stepmom, and grandmother...all on my Dad's side of the family. What wonderful hostesses!!

Gift opening time!!!

Me with Brad's mom, cousin, and 2nd cousin! So glad they all were able to make it!


Me with Tanja & Petra...so good to be able to sit and visit with them! Hard to believe we have been friends so long...almost 20 years!!

Me with Beth Osteen...I miss seeing her at FRA, but we still keep in touch!

Week 33 and 34 Belly Pictures

So, I am playing catch up with belly pictures. Here is the 33 week belly picture. Brad was out of town and I was at my mom's house, so she got to be the photographer. She wanted me to stand with the pretty flowers to know that it is Spring. It also happened to be St. Patrick's Day - and I was sporting my green shirt! I think that actually be the last time I wear that shirt until after baby comes. During this week, I started having more Braxton-Hicks contractions - not painful, but definitely not the most comfortable either!


This is my 34 weeks picture. I think my belly looks a little awkward in this picture, but trust me, it is definitely growing!! I had gone to PF Chang's with Lauren and Leslie Ann - what a great time! As I mentioned in a previous post, my blood pressure was slightly elevated this week, so I am doing my best to prop my feet up. It is also quite the challenge balancing working from home and getting other things done (i.e. the nursery) while trying to relax as much as possible.

Safety First!

I just uploaded a bunch of pictures, so I am likely going to do several posts today - so you are in for a treat!!

A couple weekends ago, we went to Babies R Us and bought our carseat because I wanted to have that in my car just in case! I know that is the one thing you have to have in order to take your baby home from the hospital, so it is very important! Brad read through the instruction booklet and learned all about it. Because he was on the floor, Sadie was able to help him out too :) Once we took all the tags off and learned about it, we then put it in my car. Here are some pictures of the process....

"Dad, I think I am too big for this seat!!"

The carseat before we installed it

The finished product...now I just need to work on the nursery and pack the hospital bag!

This Week's Deals

Kroger:

spent - $56.04

saved - $31.46

*had a lot of needs items

Publix:

spent - $47.97

saved - $32.39

Walgreens:

spent - $5.85

saved - $30.66

*had to have 2 transactions...and in the first, they owed me 98 cents!

CVS:

spent - $17.90

saved - $20.96

*have $7 ECB for next time!

TOTAL:

spent - $127.76

saved - $115.47 (47.5%)

"I Hate Coupons!"

Yes - I actually brought the checker at Walgreens to the point of saying this..."I hate coupons." I did my shopping at Publix and Walgreens earlier today and both were quite successful. This was the best I had done at Walgreens (even better than the diaper deal a couple weeks ago)! I actually had so many coupons that they had to break it down into two transactions - and in the first one, they owed me 98 cents!! That's right, they had to open the cash register drawer and give me 98 cents. Then in the second one, they rang up one of my items one too many times, so I had to do a return. I will do a more detailed post later explaining my "spent" and "saved", but I thought that situation was too good not to get its own post.

On a different note, I am now 34 weeks. Holy moly. I had a doctor's appointment this morning and asked at what point they would let me continue if I were to go into labor - she said now. WHOA! The only concern at this appointment was my blood pressure was a little high - it was 122/84. She suggested that I try my best to relax as much as possible and stay off my feet to see if that helps. I now start weekly appointments - always on Mondays. Next week she will start to check and see if I am dilated at all - can you believe I am already this close to being finished?! Wow. Just a few more weeks.

Bittersweet...

I just finished packing up my desk - my last day working at Tennessee Disability Pathfinder. I was going through files on my computer and came across the picture that I used when I first started working here as my "professional picture" - here it is...

I definitely look different now - my hair isn't curly anymore (which most people are happy about - including me) and I am much skinnier - though I have to say, I think I have a pretty good reason for that right now. My first day of work was October 2, 2006 - seems just like yesterday. I have learned so much and really enjoyed working with these great ladies on a daily basis. I keep telling them they are going to keep seeing me, so not to worry :) Next week, I will start a new, part-time position: "Sibling Project Coordinator". I will coordinate activities surrounding TABS, or Tennessee Adult Brothers and Sisters, as well as help out with SibSaturdays still. I will ultimately be working 8 hours a week from my house, with the occasional trip onto campus for meetings and such. I am such a lucky, lucky girl. While I will most definitely miss all the great people I worked with on a daily basis, I am looking forward to having more time on my hands to prepare for Katie's arrival, sleep, and prepare for the upcoming TABS Conference.

"Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future."

-John F. Kennedy

Another Baby Shower

So, I was waiting to do a post about my big baby shower because I wanted to be able to post pictures, which my friend Kara had. She came over last night and I copied pictures to my laptop, so I am able to do this post now! Like I think I mentioned earlier, it was the most beautiful setting with good food and great company. We got a lot of good items that I know will be used with and for Katie! Brad and I (and Katie) are so blessed to be so loved by so many people. Here are some pictures of the shower (the weather could not have been better)....

The spread of food...absolutely amazing....

The adorable diaper cake that Kara made!

Half of the gifts...so fun to open them all!!

My grandmother brought this picture of me when I was a baby...see the resemblance?? :)


The hostesses and me....Kara, Cat, me, Ashley, and Katherine - they did a superb job and I am so lucky to be able to call them my friends!

Weekly CVS & Publix Shopping, Etc!

I went ahead and did some shopping at CVS and Publix today - mainly because we needed milk (and it's on sale at Publix)! I probably would have done Walgreens too, but nothing there really interested me. Here is the breakdown of my shopping...

CVS: 3/15/09

(1) Huggies 216-count wipes

(1) Huggies 184-count wipes

(3) Johnson & Johnson Softlotion (for me)

(1) Colgate Max White toothpaste

(2) Neutrogena T-Gel shampoo

used $7.99 in ECB

used $15 in manufacturer's coupons

Spent: $27.53

Saved: $33.29

*I have $6.99 in ECB for next time!

Publix: 3/15/09

(2) Barilla pastas (BOGO)

(2) Bertolli pasta sauces (BOGO)

(3) Crest toothpastes

(2) Pringles Fat-Free chips

(1) Thomas English muffins (BOGO)

(1) Publix milk

(1) Publix tortilla chips (penny item)

Spent: $14.75

Saved: $17.62

So far this week, I have achieved my goal - saving more than I spend! I made my menu for the week last night, so we will be saving the food items that I bought today for the next week more than likely. I may get a few things at Kroger this week - not sure. Also, we are well stocked on most of the toiletries we use for quite some time. I have a feeling I will be very happy about that after Katie is born!

On a different note, I just wanted to comment on the fact that my brother had wrist fusion surgery this past Friday and all went as planned. He did really well, and now it is just a matter of his wrist healing. He does have a blue cast that goes from his hand all the way up to his shoulder, so hopefully time will pass quickly for him and he will get that cast off before we know it! Thanks to those of you that kept the family in your thoughts and prayers!

Work Baby Shower

I am going to wait to write about my baby shower this past weekend until I have some pictures to post :) That will come soon!! Instead, I will go on and write about my work baby shower. It was wonderful - a great time to visit with everyone outside of the typical "work environment". It also let my mom and mom-in-law meet a lot of the ladies I work with. The food was great - everyone pitched in and brought a dish. And the decorations were so cute too!! Here are some pictures...

Meghan and me - hooray for fellow sibs! I had food in my mouth, so my smile looks a bit odd!

Here is the food table with some of the decorations - they did a clothesline with onesies on it!
Here is me with my gifts after I opened them - baby gear is just so little and cute! Thanks to everyone for everything you did.

Here is me with my mom and Brad's mom (in that order)...doesn't my belly look enormous there?! I am about 32.5 weeks here. And clearly my hormones are nuts - I was comfortable in sleeveless when it was like 40 degrees outside!

People have also been asking about the nursery and for pictures of it. It is hard to get a good idea about what it will look like, especially since we don't have anything hanging on the walls yet. I did go on and take one last night - it is obvious that I have some organization to do in that room from the showers I have had so far, but I wanted to capture the feel of the room right now - full of baby items!! The picture is taken from the doorway towards that back corner of the room. We still have to hang up the letters over the crib and the quilt over the dresser, as well as the valance on the window. Hopefully we will get that done this weekend and I will get a true feel for the room! I will definitely take some more pictures as it comes together more completely. Here it is for now though....

32 Weeks & Today's Shopping Ventures

Today marks 32 weeks and I had a doctor's appointment. All looks to be going just like it should according to what my doctor said. I don't really have anything left to do for her - we have a pediatrician picked out and have gone to Breastfeeding Class & Childbirth Education Class. When we were at today's appointment, Brad asked if she could tell what position the baby is in and she felt around and said it felt like the baby had moved into "head down" position. Making progress!! I have noticed my ankles have started swelling a bit - she said to just prop my feet up as much as possible. I also scheduled future appointments through the end of April...exciting and overwhelming!! Hard to think that I could have a baby around the time of one of those later scheduled appointments!!

I took today off work as a sick day since I had an appointment, and it was such a great day. It was sunny and 75 degrees - wonderful weather! I hung out at my mom's for a bit and then we went and had a picnic at the park and walked on the walking path. I finally got some sun since it was so nice today! Yay! My mom informed me that it looked like my belly is sitting lower...eek! I hope Katie realizes she needs to keep baking in there! From there, I went to do my Walgreens shopping and then had a prenatal massage. After that, I went to Publix to do this week's shopping there. (see below for the grand totals and pictures)

I also wanted to say a HUGE thank you to Kara, Cat, Ashley, and Katherine - my baby shower this past weekend was perfect. Wonderful food, beautiful setting, fun games, and great company. We are so blessed to have so many people that care about us and Baby Katie - we really stocked up! Once I get some of the pictures from Kara I will do a post about that shower.

Here are a few pictures - the first of me and Brad Saturday night. We don't have a whole lot of pictures of the two of us while I have been pregnant. I definitely look the part here!!


This is a picture of me from this evening (sorry I look rough - I had been outside & had a massage!)...so, here I am at 32 weeks!

This is a picture of my purchase from Publix this evening. I finally accomplished my goal - saving more than I spend!! Here are the grand totals from Publix:

Spent: $45.44
Saved: $55.72

And here is a picture of my great accomplishment at Walgreens. They have a great Huggies deal this week - and I had THREE $5 off one pack coupons - YAY! They actually had to do two separate transactions so that I could use all of my coupons and register rewards and save like I had planned! Here are my grand totals from Walgreens:

Spent: $19.24

Saved: $41.97

*$10 in RR for next shopping trip

Sadie & Katie

This morning I woke up at around 4:15, which was just ridiculous. The initial thoughts running through my head involved coupons and whether I could use a Publix "Buy 1 Huggies diaper, get 1 Huggies wipes free" coupon at Kroger mixed with a $5 Huggies diaper coupon, Huggies wipes coupon, and then an e-coupon via my Kroger Plus Card. Absolutely absurd. I then rolled over thinking a position change would allow me to go back to sleep. Well, Katie had other plans. I guess my position change woke her up and she proceeded to roll around, kick, punch, and hiccup. This woke me up even further as I was trying to be able to tell what limbs were doing what movement, where the hiccups were coming from (to try to tell if she had turned yet or not), etc. So I just layed there and about a minute later, Sadie came up and layed right up next to my belly (like if she could have layed ON it, she would have). Katie was still moving around like crazy, and every time she would punch/kick, Sadie could feel it and would lift her head and look at me. After this happened about 5 or 6 times, Sadie finally had had enough and got up and moved back to the foot of the bed. I literally laughed out loud. A baby that is in my belly was disturbing the dog's sleep pattern!!!

My brain kept working overtime, so I just went on and got out of bed at 5:15 - I arrived to work at 6:30. This means that I will be making an early departure this afternoon - weekend here I come!!!!

Sidenote: I talked to Brad when he was on his way into the office this morning and he informed me that night before last, just after I had fallen asleep, Sadie was snoozing as well and was snoring like a chainsaw. That crazy, crazy dog....she has no idea that her wonderful life is about to be turned upside down....

Walgreens Deals, Etc.

Today I went ahead and did my weekly Walgreens shopping. I went over "the list" from The Grocery Game and cut all my coupons out last night. I think it was a rather successful mission, though I am convinced I do my best work at CVS still. I know some of the items are a bit odd - for instance, I was told it was nice to have those Cottonelle wipes and the Thermacare heat wraps when I am in the hospital having this baby, so I decided it was best to purchase them on sale and with coupons! All of the baby swings take batteries, so I needed to stock up on those too. I ended up getting the toothbrush and toothpaste for free. The Tide detergent is "Tide Free" so it is safe to use with the baby items. We also needed the cream of chicken soup for some cooking we are planning on doing. I have those Febreeze Noticeables and needed a refill, so I ended up getting that one for $2.99 when they typically cost upwards of $5 or more each. Somehow, I had not bought any lotion for me in all these deals, so I decided it was time to get some (and of course it was on sale and I had a coupon!).

Total Spent: $39.79

Total Saved: $33.35

*I have $6.50 in Register Rewards for next time I shop there!!

I did do Publix this week as well and spent something like $17 and saved roughly $14 - not too bad!

I was looking at what is on sale at Kroger this week, and I don't believe I will be going there this week. The only thing that really jumped out at me was Toaster Strudels, and I am not sure it is worth it to go just for a box of those (even though I think I could get the box for something like $0.28). Hopefully the deals will be better there next week!!

31 Weeks Picture & Update

Here is the latest and greatest of the growing belly! It is really hard to believe that I am 31 weeks - I know I say that each week, but it really is hard to believe! Everything is seeming much more real now - we went to Childbirth Education Class this past weekend at Baptist Hospital, which is where I will be having this little one. We learned all about pain management options, labor, delivery, post-partum care, baby care, toured the hospital areas, and practiced breathing and pushing. It definitely made everything seem much more realistic!! I went and worked out this evening and walked the fastest I have yet this pregnancy - a whopping 3.0 miles an hour!! :) And that was at a 3% incline - what a great way to start the week. This upcoming weekend is my first of three baby showers this month. Exciting!!

Early Start: CVS

I went ahead and did my CVS shopping today because I had some coupons that expired today. They were having a sale on Johnson & Johnson baby products and then I got some deals on the rest of the items too. I did have to buy that battery-powered back massager (which was $9.99) for childbirth education class, so really, my typical total would have been $28.46 with the same amount of savings. YAY for frugal shopping!

Total Spent: $38.46

Total Saved: $51.70

*$8 in ECB for next time