Mommin' It Up!

May 31, 2008

CVS, You Complete Me!

Dear CVS,
You complete me. I think you are my retail soulmate. Seriously, you had me at “ExtraCare Pays You Back.” I heart you. I really, really, do. Even though you really hurt me a couple of months ago when you stopped printing CRTs (coupons at the bottom of my receipt) for me, I STILL love you. Although the lack of CRTs at the bottom of my receipt does sting, it eases the pain every week when you send me fabulous coupons on Thursdays. Like this week, the Ellin Lavar coupon and the Viactiv coupon really helped me score some sweet deals. And then there’s the fact that you let me pay, not with real, actual dollars, but with ExtraCare Bucks – well CVS, that gets me EVERY TIME!! You know I can’t stay mad at you! We go together like shampoo & condtioner. Which I now have about a year’s supply of.
So, CVS, keep those email coupons comin’. Don’t go breakin’ my heart.

xoxo,
Jenny
P.S. See you tomorrow. Or maybe tonight.

Ok, I just had to get that out of my system. Here’s what I got at CVS this week!! First up: we went in for peanut butter and found a MASSIVE 90% off clearance bin at my favorite CVS! They had Glade Scented Oil Candle refill packs for 32 cents!! Yay!! We also scored an Airborne day & night pack for $1.29, and a calculator for 15 cents! Woot! Here’s how it broke down:

Seven jars of Skippy at $1.50 each: $10.50 (3 ECB back when you buy $10 worth)
Revlon nail polish $3.99 (3 ECBs back)
Four GSOC refills at 32 cents each: $1.28
Airborne: $1.29
Calculator: 15 cents
Total= $17.21
I used a CVS $5/$15 coupon and $11.48 in ECBs and paid 87 cents cash and got back 6 ECBs! I was thrilled with all the peanut butter and great clearance stuff!

The next transaction was courtesy of one of those great email coupons CVS sent me: $4 off Viactiv flavor glides. These are a May monthly ECB deal, you get 3 back when you buy one. I also bought some Playskool cups to finish up the Playskool deal (buy $20 get 5 ECBs) which I had started earlier in the week.

One Viactiv at $8.99
One pack Playskool wash & toss cups $3.59
One Playskool insulated cup $3.99
total $16.57
I used a CVS $5/$15 coupon and a $2 off CVS brand coupon (my cashier rounded me up! So nice! I was going to get some playskool wipes also which would have made it $10 but they were all out.)
I also used the $4 off Viactiv CVS coupon and a $2 off Viactiv manufacturer’s coupon
I paid with $3 ECbs and 75 cents cash and got back 8 ECBs! Yippee!!

My best transaction of the week was this one, thanks to that $5/2 Ellin Lavar hair care products coupon CVS emailed me! Ellin Lavar is also a May montly ECB deal – buy one, get 2 ECB. So here’s what I got!

One Ellin Lavar shampoo and one conditioner at 2/$10
Two Sobe Life waters $2
Two Excedrins $1.99 each
total $15.98
I used: CVS $5/$15 coupon
CVS $5/2 Ellin Lavar coupon
Two $2 off Excedrin coupons (adjusted to $1.99)
One B1G1 Free Sobe coupon
One $1/2 Sobe Walgreens coupon (my CVS accepts competitor’s q’s)

Total = $0
I paid 35 cents tax and got back 5 ECBS! 4 for the Ellin Lavar, and 1 for the Sobe. WOOHOOO!! Didn’t use any ECBs, got back FIVE!

Then, because I had more coupons, I went back and did the exact same transaction later. I loves makin’ CVS money!!

That’s all for me this week, I won’t bore you with the details of how I used ECBs to buy milk and Mountain Dew. 🙂

For more amazing CVSers, visit CVS Superstars at the Centsible Sawyer! And for more coupn-crazy moms, check out Super Savings Saturday at Money Saving Mom!

May 30, 2008

Mommy, I thought your big belly was going to go away when the baby was born.

Yeah, that’s what I heard from Kate the other day. Then she went on to theorize that “all the milk” must be stored in my stomach, thus causing the extra flab.

If only.

Sam’s eight weeks old and I’m still holding on to about 13 pounds of “baby” weight. I think what I’m actually harboring would more aptly be called “McDonald’s cheeseburger weight,” but the former sounds better.

Two weeks ago, I started Weight Watchers. The first week was great – I lost five pounds. Today was my weigh in, and this week I only lost one. Better than nothing, but barely. I don’t know if I can really say that I’m doing WW, because I haven’t actually joined. I joined up last August, and about two weeks later I found out I was pregnant. After innocently asking the Weight Watchers message board people if I could use WW as a way to limit pregnancy weight gain, I was told all kinds of nice things like “Ask your OB if that’s ok – that should be a red flag to her signaling your eating disorder,” so I gave that plan up. Anyway, I’ve just been using the materials I got from that short stint to count points this time around.

So… I need some advice! Have any of you done WW while nursing? I am loving the extra points, but I am wondering if I would be more successful if I only added five extra instead of 10. Because I want to lose weight faster. (I know, I know, it’s better to lose it slowly… but I don’t want to!) Also, anyone have an opinion on continuing to do it myself, or on going to meetings vs. the online program? Any exercise programs that you swear by? I am all ears! Or all stomach, as the case may be. Because apparently I was not all baby!

May 29, 2008

Shot through the heart

Pardon the Bon Jovi reference, but that’s exactly how Kate’s latest you-should-turn-in-your-mom-card comment made me feel!

Kate’s been going through a difficult stage lately… I don’t know if it’s her age, the new baby, or a full moon, but she’s been whiny, attitude-y, and even a little defiant the past couple of weeks. Fortunately, she’s been saving this behavior for Mom and Dad – her sitter and teachers look at us like we’re nuts when we ask if they’ve seen the same things too.

On Memorial Day, we went to the park, and the entire time we were there, it was “Kate, stop that!” “Kate, listen!” etc. When we left, we spent a few minutes in the car telling her that Daddy wasn’t just trying to be a buzz-kill when he told her not to reach under the rusty chain link fence to get the tennis ball, but that it was to keep her safe. After that speech, we stopped to get gas (a $64 fill-up for our Camry, I might add) and while Andy was outside the car, Kate was quiet and contemplative. And then I heard a sad little voice.

“Mommy, am I really that bad?”

(The sound you hear is my heart shattering into pieces). It was so pitiful. I immediately told her how good she is, even when her behavior is not, yada yada yada. But I don’t know how much of it she took to heart, especially since we had been getting after her all day.

The thing is, she is a really good kid. She’s polite, friendly and sweet (ok she is all of these things most of the time), but at the same time, she needs to listen, follow directions and use a nice tone of voice. And lose the frickin’ attitude.

Her comment, though, makes me wonder if we are too hard on her. If we look at this smart, extremely verbal kid and forget that she just turned four.

The experts say to pick your battles, but how do I decide which ones to pick? How do I determine what is normal four-year-old behavior that will subside and what I need to put a stop to? Right now, I don’t think we are finding the right balance.

We’ve amped up our efforts at positive reinforcement and make sure to tell Kate what a great kid she is… because really, the last thing I want her to think is that she’s “bad.”