I finally tried it!

So I have been hearing for many months now that if you take the time to clip coupons, become a member of the Grocery Game and check out some other sites you can save BIG at the grocery store. I also heard that you would need to go to multiple stores - that part I was not interested in -getting out with a 6 month old for one shopping trip is hard enough.

Well, I finally caved and tried it out. I have been clipping coupons for about a month now. We buy the Sunday paper and I go through and clip what I think we could use, even things I think we wont use. This week I joined the Grocery Game and got my list to Kroger. I have heard Kroger is one of the best places because of the Kroger Plus Card and they double and triple some coupons.

So my goal was to buy 2 weeks worth of groceries, which includes enough for me to cook 6 meals and have leftovers. I headed out this morning with my list and 22 coupons to see what I could save.

I bought:
-milk
-4 12 packs of soda
-4 Lean Cusines
-3 Stoufers Meals
-Soy Sauce
-Dry Sherry
-Dark Sesame Oil
-Rotel
-Turkey lunch meat
-2 lbs of boneless skinless chicken
-3 cans of chicken broth
-2 cans of black beans
-corn
-onion
-ginger
-avacado
-whole wheat and flour tortillas
-Smart Start cereal
-Frosted Mini Wheats
-Shredded Cheese
-Doritos
-Tortilla Chips
-2 cans of Pringles
-coffee
-coffee creamer
-frozen sugar snap peas
-brocolli and cheese
-2 potatoes
-Cinnamon Rolls
-2 Cresent Rolls
-Skinny Cow Ice Cream bars
-Laughing Cow Cheese
-2 Deli Creations sandwiches
-2 Uncle Bens Long Grain Rice
-Rice Cakes
-Eggo Waffles
-Baked Cheetos
-Secert Deodorant
-2 Jumbo packs of Pampers
-Formula
-6 Yoplait Yogurts
-Downy
-Gillette Body Wash
- Crest
-Cascade
-Grapes
-4 Reeses Eggs
-red bell pepper
-2 things of popcorn
-2 packs of gum
-vitamin water
-zucchini
-ragu
-Jergens lotion
-softsoap
-strawberries
-whole wheat pasta
-spaghetti
-Pantene Shampoo and Conditioner
- 3 other things that I cant remember or read on the recipet :)

Before coupons and savings - 270.34
After - 201.52

So I saved close to 70 bucks just by taking the time and I only went to one store. 200 dollars might still seem like a lot to some but I bought diapers and formula which are huge costs and this was my very first time! So I am so excited and cant believe I didnt do this sooner! Nate is happy that I am saving money but thinks I am going crazy. It is an addiction! I cant wait to see how much money I can save in a couple of weeks!

Swagbucks...I think it really does work!

So I just signed up for a swagbucks account because I have been hearing you can redeem points for giftcards, good giftcards like Target, Gap, Southwest Airlines, etc!

So the deal is you sign up and then use swagbucks.com as your search engine. It is powered by Google. You dont get bucks every time you search but get them every so often and then you can redeem your bucks for gift cards!! I think everyone should sign up because what can it hurt!

Here is a link to sign up and try it out!

http://swagbucks.com/?cmd=sb-register&rb=433643

Let me know what you think!

Fun Times With Friends!

We have had so much fun with friends this month!

At the beginning of the month we went to the Mavs game with our friends Step and Jon Gilbert. They both got Aggie rings for Christmas from Mom and Dad G so we went to celebrate and dunk! They live in Houston and we wished they lived closer...we love hanging out with them.

Steph and Jon with their Aggie rings!

All the Aggies!

Next, two of my college roommates and their husbands came to visit. I love these girls so much and miss seeing them! They also live in Houston so we dont get to see each other all that often. They came to meet Pierson and we had a wonderful weekend. While they were here Matt, Emily, and Tobin came over for some fun too! It is so fun to get together with old friends!

Tobin "playing" Guitar Hero.

The Girls - Jana, Me, Lindsay, Emily

Picture with Pierson before they left!

And one of Pierson just because he is so stinkin cute! First bitter biscut! He loved it!

5 months

Pierson was 5 months old on Monday! He is becoming such a joy and is so much fun these days. Nate and I cant imagine life without him. He has grown up so much this last month.

- He started solids about a week ago and it is going pretty well. He wasnt too excited about them at first but he is sure loving his sweet potatoes and was not a big fan of bananas, which is fine with me, the smell of those things makes me gag.


- He has started noticing Bentley and she has become a huge distraction, espically when eating. He will stop everything to watch her and reaches for her when she is close by. Today he started laughing at her when she yawned and laughs everytime I say, "No, Bentley, No", which is very often. :)

- We bought him one of those jumpers that hangs from a door frame and he loves it! He would sit in there for hours if I would let him.

- He is rolling from his stomach to his back all the time but hasnt quite mastered from his back to his stomach. He rolls over on to his side to reach for toys but doesnt want to go all the way. I dont know if he will ever voluntarily roll to his stomach...he hates being on his stomach.

- He sat in his stoller, like a big boy, without his carseat for the first time and I am not sure he knew what to think about it...he was SO quiet.

- He talks ALL the time and has learned how to yell this past week. He can be very loud.

- He tried to mimic me for the first time the other day. It was precious and so cute!

-He can now sit up on his own for a few seconds at a time and loves to play with the remote.

- And last but not least, he is sleeping through the night MOST nights and when I say sleeping through the night I mean not eating at night - going to bed at 7:45 - 8 and waking and eating between 7 and 7:30!! We are still getting up once or twice to give him his paci but that is nothing! I want to give a shout out to my friend Katie who gave me some great advice!

Just hanging out in the tub.

He loves to sleep like this.

In other news, he will hopefully be getting his helmet in the next month or so and he started physical therapy a couple of weeks ago and it is going well. He will probably be in PT for about 5 to 6 months, so we have a ways to go. I am looking forward to getting the helmet - I cant wait to see my boy with a cute round head! :)

What was I thinking?

So I cant quite remember when it was that I blogged about being tired and not sleeping well because I was pregnant...HA! I think back now and if I only new how great that sleep was! So Pierson was sleeping well (never all the way through the night but close) but he has digressed. He has decided he is not into staying up past 7:30 at night so that means he is waking up between 2 and 4 these days. That is to eat, the other 2 times is because he wants his paci back. Really? Will I be waking up in the middle of the night until I take his paci away? I remember talking with my good friend Katie about how she had not slept through the night for 7 months (last month or so of pregnancy and since her daughter was born), well I am getting close to 6, 6 months! That is amazing to me, in college I would crash without sleep, I mean get sick, not be able to function. Now, you would never know I only slept a combined 4 hours last night (the dog was sick too - it is a zoo around here). Nate is the same way - to work he goes and you would never know.

I often think about the wonderful glorious hours of sleep I used to get and know that it will be back one day - just about the time we decide we are ready for another kid! :)

4 months

Our little man is now 4 months old. Crazy! He is more fun everyday and watching him learn is so precious. Here are the new things he is doing at 4 months.

- He weighed in at 15lbs 14 oz and is 25 inches long (only 1 1/2 inches longer than his daddy when he was born).

- He loves to stand on your lap and look around. He can almost hold all of his body weight.

- He rolled over from his tummy to his back for the first time on Friday, February 6th. I screamed for joy! I think it scared him at first and then he smiled back - I think he knew he had done something amazing! He has only done it a couple more time but we are working on that tummy time!


- Everything is always in his mouth including his hands. Instead of sucking his fingers and toys he now chomps on them. ALL THE TIME!


- He talks constantly when awake and he is very polite. When having a conversation he will wait until you are done talking before he responds.


- He is now reaching for toys and transfering them between his hands. This may not sound like such a big deal but it was a question on his development chart at the doctors office so I thought I would include it! :)


I guess that is about it for new things - he is just doing more of what he did in month 3 and always has a smile. He has started going to bed between 7:30 and 8 so he is back up eating at night since he is going down so early. I am trying to decide when to start solids - I have no idea what I am doing so I may wait for a bit.


Last but not least - Pierson will most likely be getting a helmet at 5 months old. This has been a tough decision because I feel like parents who have children in helmets are looked down upon as if they have done something wrong. Pierson was very cramped in the womb and his right neck muscle is VERY tight (medical term is torticollis) so when he was born and still to this day he prefers his right side, which means when he sleeps he is ALWAYS on the back right of his head. This has caused a flat spot and he is going to need a helmet to correct it. He will also be in physical therapy for a while. He will probably be in the helmet for 3 months or so and he will have to wear it for 23 hours a day. Nate and I are sad but know it is what is best for him. Here is a little boy in a helmet and he is pretty cute!





Some pics of the little man...



Sleeping on TP

No more tummy time mommy!

His look

Reading with Daddy.

Blowing bubbles

Looking cute!

Poor Thing

Well I guess since I am in the business of blogging about all of Pierson's firsts I must add first cold/sickness! I noticed yesterday that the little man was starting to get a runny nose and just started praying it wouldnt amount to anything. Well, he was up for a lot of the night last night and has a full blown cold - snotty, cough, sneezing. I just feel so bad for him and oh how I wish I could teach him to blow his nose, he sounds so horrible and he has a melt down just about every time I put saline in his nose and use the bulb. He is having a really difficult time staying alseep because everytime he sneezes or coughs he wakes himself up so naps are few and far between. What makes it even better is that I am getting a cold too. Lovely. I feel more and more like a mom everyday! :)