Mommin' It Up!

March 8, 2008

I Heart CVS More than EVER!

Welcome to Super Savings Saturday, live from BLIZZARDLAND, USA! This is what I saw out my front door this morning, MARCH 8th:

Thank goodness I got to CVS about 487 times this week BEFORE the blizzard hit! This was a fabulous money-makin’ week at CVS. I went there many, many, many, MANY times. TOO many!! But I started the week out with about 40 ECBs and I ended it with almost 100 ECBs! Yeee-haaaa! And of course I “bought” a lot of great stuff! I won’t show you every transaction because there is a ridiculous amount of them, but here are a couple of my favorites:

***Disclaimer for Emily and Jill: the Glade Scented Oil Candles in this picture were purchases to be used as giveaway at the coupon class I am helping to facilitate at my MOPS group. SO THERE!***

If you can’t see, there are five 12-packs of Mountain Dew (one is Diet), two Glade Scented Oil Candles, (yeah baby! You get ECBs for them ALL MONTH!!), 1 Venus Embrace razor (LOVE these!), two Oral B toothbrushes, four LypSyl lip balms (also LOVE these!), one small & 1 large Tresemme hairspray (I am still working that deal!), and one Kit Kat, for a filler. I got all this stuff in three separate transactions! I used the CVS $5/$15 purchase coupon on each transaction. I also used:
Mountain Dew coupon, buy four 12-packs, get one free Diet
Glade SOC B1G Free coupon (and yes I do have so many more of these to use!)
$4 off Venus Embrace coupon
$2 Venus Embrace CVS coupon
$2 off Tresemme CVS coupon (used twice in different transactions)
$2 off of two Oral B toothbrush coupons

I paid $5.86 out of pocket for all this and used 19 ECB. I got back $31.94 in ECB! $9.98 for the toothbrushes which were free after ECB (and are ALL MONTH! Limit is 2.), $11.97 for the LypSyl (also free after ECB all month), $4 for the candles, and $6 for the Embrace razor! The Tresemme counted towards a 5 ECB that I got later in the week when I bought one more hairspray! YAY!

Ok, now here is my sermonette on why YOU SHOULD START CVSing if you can!! Last Saturday my BFF Luanne, who has two teenage daughters, and her family were over at my house. I went upstairs and got three cans of hairspray for them because I had waaaaay more than I can use and Lu and her girls use alot of it on their FABULOUS hair. When I came down with the hairspray, Luanne’s hubby Daniel (aka DSto) said, “Uh…did you know we were out of hairspray?” I just laughed. I had no idea! “No I didn’t,” I said, “but God did!” “Yeah, I was supposed to get some at the store but I forgot!” he confessed. So, my CVSing saved Daniel and also saved the girls’ hairstyles. SHEW! Seriously, with CVSing you can provide for your own family and give to others. It is awesome! A few cans of hairspray may not seem like a big deal, but it is when you need it and you don’t have to make a special trip out to get it or PAY REAL MONEY FOR IT! Here is another picture I wanted to share, of things we needed this week for our household but bought at CVS with ECBs instead of real money. They weren’t on sale or on ECB deals, we just NEEDED them.

This includes 1 gallon of milk (I actually bought 2.5 gallons this week at CVS – I buy all my milk there with ECBs!), 1 bottle of Drano (can you say bathroom sink clogged during 4-year-old’s birthday party? I can!), a bottle of prune juice (I wil not go there), and all the plates, napkins, cups, & a tablecloth for Emily’s baby shower (which we’ve had to postpone thanks to this darn MARCH BLIZZARD we’ve got going on here! GRR!) I also got Swiffer wet refills, which WERE on ECB, that I really needed, and 4 bottles of Tide laundry detergent, which were on sale! All of this was paid for with ECBs and a dollar or two OOP on each transaction. Woo hoo! Had I used real, actual dollars on this stuff it would have been a very over-budget week!

Allright, enough preaching about CVS, I also got a great deal at Kroger this week, I’ll keep this short since I’ve rambled, but here it is:

We didn’t need much this week thanks to my earlier stockpiling trips so I just went in for a few things. All this wonderful stuff cost me a GRAND TOTAL of $10.93!!! Can you believe that?? My total before coupons was $28.57! The three boxes of Honey Bunches of Oats, Propel, Saltines, and Suave deodorant were all FREE-99 with coupons. The Toaster Strudel were part of a promotion, if you bought three you got a coupon for $2 off your next order. They were $1.99 and I had three 50-cent-off coupons, which Kroger doubled. So I paid $2.97, got 3 Toaster Strudel and my $2 off coupon, and then went back and bought the other stuff!! The Propel and Saltines were free because of Kroger coupons that had printed last time I was there. I used the self-checkout and the person before me didn’t take their coupons so I got a whole bunch! Now I will always look at the self-checkouts when I go in!!

Allright I hope I have inspired you to go get your COUPON ON! For more Super Savings Saturday inspiration check out Money Saving Mom!

March 7, 2008March 7, 2008

I’m Packing My Emergency Baby Delivery Kit!

Free Countdown Generator

A mere seven days stand between Emily & me & IKEA. It’s hard to believe! I’ve been mentally preparing myself for our assault on this glorious multi-level furnishings store and I felt geared up to go – UNTIL Emily called me with some news last night.

The crazy, exciting, terrifying, madhouse Moms Market sale we attend twice a year is the next day. At 9 a.m. Which means we have to get there by 7:30. Or camp out all night. Although I am really excited about this sale (the bargains to be had there are AMAZING!!!), I am also gettting a little panicky about the whole shopping weekend. Because you see, I am pretty sure that Emily’s going to succumb to shopping exhaustion at one of these venues and just go into labor. I mean she will be 36 weeks! Which means that I am going to have to deliver her baby. Because trust me, there are going to be no Good Samaritans to help us out! MAYBE at IKEA but I doubt it. Definitely not at the Mom’s Market. These people are rabid, no-holds-barred, teeth-baring Bargain Shopping Mamas, and they are not gonna stop shopping even to help one of their own bring new life into the world. They’ll just yell “Get out of the way!” as they leap over her to get to the 2T clothes.

So to prepare myself for this possibly emergency shopping-induced delivery, I have gone to – where else? Google! -for help on this matter. I found the following guide on About.com. I think I am just gonna print it out and take it with me on our shopping trip!

1. Try to stay calm and reassure the mother. HA HA HA HA! Oh good one, good one About.com! Funny!

2. Wash your hands well with soap and water. Wear sterile rubber gloves, if possible. Ok, so pack some Purell and go to CVS to buy rubber gloves, got it.

3. Select a large, flat surface, such as a bed or table, as a birthing area. Provide good lighting and keep the area warm. Cover the area with a clean sheet or towels. In this case, I really hope Em gives birth at IKEA. LOTS of sheets & towels around and, heck I may even be able to commandeer a bed! At the Moms Market…eh…not so much!

4. Have the mother remove any uncomfortable clothing. Since all maternity clothing is uncomfotale, you are going to be buck naked, Em. Are you cool with that? Support the mother’s head and back with pillows, and have the mother lie on her side. At the time of delivery, she should lie on her back with her knees bent and spread apart. If possible, place a folded towel or blanket under the mother’s right hip to keep her from lying flat on her back. Ahh! That’s too many instructions in one step! We’re screwed!

5. Have the mother take deep, slow breaths, particularly during contractions. Em I’m counting on you to remember how to breathe on this one.

6. When the baby’s head shows during each contraction, tell the mother to push. Have her take a deep breath, hold it, and push for a count of 10. Then she should exhale and repeat this breathing for the duration of each contraction. The mother should NOT push between contractions. Wait, where’s the part where I give her an epidural? ‘Cause I don’t think either of us can do this without one!

7. Place your hand against the area below the vaginal opening and apply gentle pressure during each contraction. This pressure will prevent the baby from coming too fast. Your other hand, placed gently against the vaginal opening over the baby’s head, will help control how quickly the baby’s head comes out of the vaginal opening. Uhhh…what??

8. As the baby’s head is delivered, support it with your hands. The baby will naturally turn to one side. As soon as the head is out, have the mother stop pushing so that the baby’s mouth and nose can be cleaned. Wow, it’s out already? Dang that was easy! Maybe I should become a midwife!

9. Clean the baby’s mouth and nose, preferrably with a suction bulb. Use a clean towel if no suction bulb is available.
If the umbilical cord is wrapped around the infant’s neck during delivery, work your forefinger between the cord and the baby’s neck. Gently but quickly slip the cord over the baby’s head. DO NOT CUT THE CORD! If it will not slip easily over the baby’s head, don’t worry about it. Instead, continue with the delivery. Suction bulb, check, the rest….AHHHHHHH!! That’s it Emily, you need to go get your cervix sewn shut before we go shopping!

10. Once the head is delivered, the rest of the baby’s body generally comes out quickly. With your hands on either side of the baby’s head, gently guide it downwards while the mother pushes (the top shoulder should emerge). Guide the baby upwards and support its head and shoulders as the rest of the baby emerges. QUICKLY NOTE THE GENDER AND THEN REFUSE TO TELL EMILY. If the baby’s shoulder seems stuck, tell the mother to push hard. DO NOT PULL ON THE BABY. Press down on the mother’s abdomen in the area just above the mother’s pubic hair. You can also try lifting the mother’s legs back toward her chest, keeping her knees bent and apart. All I have to say is, this baby better pop out of your slip-n-slide birth canal like Kate did.

11. Once delivered, the baby should be held with its head down, feet higher than the head, so that fluids can drain. Hold the baby at about the same height as the vaginal opening. After the baby starts to cry, suction or wipe the baby’s nose and mouth again with a clean cloth. The baby may be blue, but will turn pink within minutes, if breathing well. I thought it was blue for boy and pink for girl…how else am I supposed to finally find out this kid’s gender??

Ok, I am going to summarize the rest for you: Mucus, placenta, mucus, blood, cut, tie, knot, bleeding, Jenny passes out, Emily finishes the job herself, IKEA gives us both a $500 gift certificate, we get to appear on Oprah, and we all live happily ever after! Woohoo! I can’t wait!

March 6, 2008March 6, 2008

It’s a….. lizard!

Kate has a little trouble understanding one fact of anatomy… that her ribs are on the inside of her body… no matter what I tell her, she is convinced that her “ribs” are, well, on the surface.

Last night at a local restaurant, we were talking about whether Kate is going to have a brother or a sister (I can feel Jenny’s blood pressure rising right now), and she pointed all around my belly and said “There’s a brother right there, there, there, and there… there’s a sister, there’s a sister…” etc. So I said “What, am I having a litter or something?”

“Yes!! A lizard!! You’re having a lizard!” she said excitedly, as she went back to prodding my stomach, this time pointing out where all the lizards were located.

Then she pointed a little, uh, higher. “And that’s where the baby is,” she proclaimed to everyone in earshot. “Right there, where your ribs got bigger.”