34 1/2 week sonogram pictures and 2 NEW deals!! (One new deal added...)

I'm gonna try to keep it short and sweet! I had a sonogram on Tuesday to see how big baby is at this point. I'm 34 1/2 weeks, but baby was measuring 36 1/2 weeks and about 6 lbs. 8 oz!! I understand, though, that the sonogram machines can be off, so that's what I'm hoping for! My doctor did say that baby is growing very quickly and is large, so I'll have either a non-stress test or a sonogram each week until baby is born. Here are some pictures! Enjoy!! P.S. Jeff guesses that I'll go about another 3 weeks! I LOVE his optimism! :-)

Side profile of baby's face with LOTS of hair!!

Look really carefully... can you see lips, nose and chin??

Little baby feet!!

NEW DEALS!!!!

I did a couple of deals yesterday at Target and Office Max that just made my day!!! I'm so excited to share them!

This was at Office Max... before coupons, sales, and deals, my total came to just over $35... I PAID 99 CENTS!!! The Expo markers were B1G1 for 1 cent and I had coupons to stack with them... the Sharpies were 1 cent each with a coupon.... and I received a $10 reward card in the mail just for signing up for a MaxPerks card for teachers!! Very cool!

Here is my Target deal for the week!! I bought...

10 packages of Sharpie Highlighters

2 packages of stickers

2 Healthy Choice meals

2 packages of Poptarts

1 clear nail polish

1 L'Oreal kids shampoo

Before coupons my total came to around $30....after coupons, I spent $4.27!!! Whew... I'm heading to Walgreens this morning to see what I can find!! We'll see how it goes!!

UPDATE: Walgreens shopping trip!

I ran to Walgreens this morning... total before coupons and such: $42 and some change... Here's what I got!

1 bottle Dawn dish soap

4 bottles Pert Plus shampoo

2 cans Pringles

2 tubes Crest

2 Oral B toothbrushes

2 72ct. Huggies wipes

3 Sure Men's AP/Deo

1 L'Oreal lipstick

1 bottle aspirin

Total after coupons and RR's: $16, plus I got a $5 RR, so really only $11!! WooHoo!!

Now it's naptime! :-)

CVS and Target Deals!!

Wednesday I posted about the great financial adventure that Jeff and I have been on since January as well as my new found love for couponing and "doin' deals!" So here are my CVS and Target deals for this week!!

It's not a ton of stuff, but it was sure cheap!!

Target:

Old Spice Men's Deodorant-clearance for $1.89-minus $1 coupon= $.89

Mechanical Pencils-$1.24 each x 6=$7.44-minus 3 $1/2 Target coupons-minus 2 $1/2 Bic coupons-minus 2 $.50/1 coupon=$1.44/6= $.24 EACH!! WooHoo!!

CVS:

Palmolive-sale $.88-minus $.25 coupon=$.63

Herbal Essence shampoo-sale $2.99-$1 coupon=$1.99

Dry Idea deodorant-sale $2.99 each-minus $2 coupon each=$.99 EACH!

So at CVS I spent $4.60, BUT I got $3 Extra Care Bucks back, so I really only spent $1.60!!

A Financial Adventure and A Walgreens Deal!

So I decided to take a break from baby-blogging and share some of the financial adventure that my husband, Jeff, and I have been on since January. In January, Jeff and I decided to take the Financial Peace University class offered by Dave Ramsey. It's a 13 week intensive financial class based on Biblical standards and old-fashioned common sense. We both learned a TON and have put many ideas into practice. First and foremost, we decided that we want to be free of debt as is indicated in the Bible. Proverbs 22:7 says "The rich rule over the poor and the borrower is servant to the lender." We didn't want to be enslaved to someone else! So, here are some of the practices that we have put into place to achieve our goal of being free from debt!

1: Cut up all credit cards and purposed to never use credit again...

2. Bi-weekly budget, completed TOGETHER, spending each dollar that we earn before we get it! This has been a fantastic time to learn about each others desires and financial goals. We've been able to discuss financial needs and save for things that we want!

3. Cash envelope system for groceries, clothes, entertainment, garage sales, gifts, prescriptions, and gas. I was not very excited about moving to a cash system, but now I feel the freedom that it provides and LOVE IT!! I wouldn't want to go back to the way it was before!

4. Bi-weekly cash allowance...in our budget, Jeff and I agree on a certain amount of cash for each person to have and spend/save at their leisure. In the past, it's been only $10 per 2 weeks, which is a very small amount, but we are super dedicated to paying off debt and each dollar that we give ourselves is another dollar NOT paying off debt! Recently, we have upped it to $20, but it may not stay that way...

These changes have enabled us to save like we have never saved before! Here are some of our successes:

1. Paid 0ff-Terminix-$1500

2. Paid off-my car-$2500

3. Paid off-Jeff's car-$9000

So, since January 2009, we have paid off $13,000 in debt!! We are very excited and are now working on paying off our 2nd mortgage. We have a goal to pay it off in 1 year (by July of 2010)!

I've posted all this, not only to encourage those of you who are also working to become debt free, but also to share my adventure in couponing and "dealing"!!

My mom got me started on clipping coupons, stacking coupons with sales, getting great deals on groceries and household items. I feel like this is me doing my part to help our family be good stewards of the money that the Lord has given to us. A deal I did today was at Walgreens... here is a picture of what I got and what I spent! I will say, if you are interested in couponing and making great deals, go to http://www.moneysavingmom.com/. She is fantastic and is a Christian that I trust!

On this trip to Walgreens, I got:

Charmin-$2.49

Quilten Northern-$2.89

Lady Speed Stick-$1.25 for 2 ($.75 each)

Loreal lipstick-$1.29

Jane eyeliner-$.87

Crest toothpaste-$1.50

Oral B toothbrush-$1.75

TOTAL: $12.04, BUT I got a $2.00 registar reward to use on my next purchase at Walgreens, so I really only spent $10.04!!

I love getting good deals!! It takes some time, but it's totally worth it! I'm planning to go to CVS tomorrow and get some more good deals, so I'll post them when I'm finished!

Nursery Update

I really should be cleaning, but wanted to post an update on the nursery! My mom worked soooo hard to get it together. It started out as a blue room. Blue as in the color of painter's tape blue, with a gray city scape and red fire engines at the bottom. Kinda cute, but not for a nursery!

Of course it had to be Kilzed and there were many holes in the walls from mole screws, so there was quite a bit of taping, mudding, and sanding. Many hours and two coats of paint later, it looks like a whole new room! Jeff and I put the crib together without getting frustrated at each other! We got the crib at a garage sale, the bedding set at a garage sale, and my mom found the changing table at a garage sale and refinished it with help from my grandma and dad. My mother in law bought the bassinet at a garage sale, also, so this room has been done very inexpensively! Now I need to put up curtains and put something on the walls... not sure what yet, but I've got 7 weeks, right?? :-) Enjoy the pictures!

In need of some creative juices!!

Okay, so I got a really cute nursery set at a garage sale last weekend... it has a bunch of border paper in it, but I'm NOT putting up a border!! SO..... I really want to do something creative/artsy with the border paper... and that's where I need your help! I'm absolutely not creative or artsy... in fact my 1st graders have a hard time telling what I draw on the whiteboard! I'm not really sure what I want... but it has to be non-permanent... Below are two samples of the border paper... PLEASE help me!! Thank you!! :-)

Sono pics, FINALLY!!

So I FINALLY got my new printer/copier/scanner hooked up and now I can scan sonogram pictures!! I'm so excited! These are from 21 weeks, and I'm 24 1/2 weeks now, so they are a little old, but precious none-the-less! :-) Enjoy!

It's a little crooked, but hopefully you can see the head and spine!!

Baby is yawning! It was so precious to see as my mom and I watched the sono... baby kept yawning and stretching out it's arm and fingers!Here's a footprint! Can you see the little toes?? :-)

Here is baby's arm and tiny fingers! So cute!!!

Mama's belly pictures soon to come!

IT'S A......!!!!

Baby!!!!!! Okay, so that was a little mean... :-) Lots of people have been asking if we're having a boy or a girl, and I just wanted to jot a note to say that we're not going to find out! While this wasn't my husband's feelings, he graciously agreed that we could not find out and let it be a surprise!

I'm 5 months, 3 weeks and feeling great! The end of school has made me a more tired than I was a week or so ago, but there are just so many things to get done!!

Thank you to everyone who gave me advice on baby "stuff"...

I had a lovely "soon-to-be" Mother's Day on Sunday... After church, Jeff and I spent some time shopping together... not buying much, but just hanging out! Then he took me out for lunch and home for a nap! What more could a pregnant lady want! :-) It was wonderful to spend the day with him... I love him dearly! He's going to be such a great daddy!!

TTFN! :-)