Natalya's observation

Natalya wanted an apple, so she got one out of the drawer and I cut off part of the bottom because it had some black spots and I wanted to make sure it wasn't rotten. After doing so, the bottom was flat and the stem part was kind of a black spot in the middle of the juicy white apple fruit.
I hand her the apple, then...

N: Mommy?
Me: Yes Natalya
N: There's a weed in my apple.
Me: What?
N: There's a weed in my apple. See. Right here. [points to stem]
Me *chuckling*: no honey, that's the stem end. It's not a weed.
N: oh. okay.

A new pic of me

Please forgive me... I had to do this myself since I am disconnecting the cable modem tomorrow and I wanted to get a pic up before that. :) So, this is ... rough. But you can at least see the big ol' belly. :)



Luckily I have not gained any weight in the last 9 weeks. Maybe a pound, I have been between 172/173 since 25 weeks. Seeing as I started out 30 pounds heavier than when I got pg with N, that is a blessing b/c I gained nearly 50lb with her. At this rate I will weigh less full-term with Z than I did with N. That would be weird.

Also, Doug and I have agreed that I am not as big now as I was when I had M. She was a big baby, and I know I was bigger with her at 31 weeks than I am now. I do think I am carrying Z more side-to-side b/c I seem wider than I did with the girls, and I have these bulges on the sides I've neer had before, but I am definitely not sticking out in the front as much...actually, I am not sticking out as much as I was with N either. Strange.

For comparison...
Me at 35 weeks with Natalya


Me at about 29 weeks with Margaret

Natalya is too smart for me.

Friday, Grandma came to visit and I was telling her "Mamu gave Natalya some money for her purse so the next time we go to the 'you know where' she can ride on the 'c-a-r-o-u-s-e-l'" and I spelled carousel out. Natalya looked at Grandma and said, "you know Grandma, the carousel!

Today Natalya spelled CAT all by herself. Mommy, This is a C. Cat starts with C. Then I asked her what the nest letter was, we sounded it out and she said "a" then did the same with "t".

And just now, she saw a little icon that said " I *heart* U" (the shape of a heart) and she said, "Mommy! That says "I heart U!" I told her that sometimes the heart means "love" and she said, "I love you!"

Man. I'm in trouble.

And... my Walgreens haul

1 Pantene Beautiful Lengths shampoo
1 Pantene Beautiful Lengths conditioner
1 Pantene hairspray
2 Garnier Fructis shampoos
2 Garnier Fructis Conditioners
2 Garnier Fructis hairsprays
9 Colgate Maxfresh toothpastes
1 Colgate Maxfresh toothbrush
2 Glade Candles (wanted more, but they were out of them)
2 Softsoaps

Total oop: 19.04 (including our ridiculous 9.25% sales tax)
Total saved: 69.11

Mail-in-rebates coming back to me: $17
Total after rebates: $2.04

CVS this week

Here's my CVS haul for the week

1 Aleve Cold and Sinus 10 ct
4 Glade Air Fresheners
4 Purex laundry detergents
1 Dove deodorant
2 Revlon nail polishes
4 twin packs schick disposable razors
2 Covergirl Wetslicks Amazement lip gloss (these are soooo yummy!!)
1 Covergirl eyeshadow
2 Ragu spaghetti sauce
1 Skippy pnut butter
4 XL Hershey bars
1 Excedrin Extra Strength 20 ct
1 Dimetap Cough and Chest Congestion

for the grand total of $13.81; Saved $85.98 and I have $5.99 ecb's for next week.

I got thrown off by them not having enough spaghetti sauce for my scenario, then by the new cashier who was telling me something about one of my coupons that didn't make sense, and I added the candy bars b/c, well, I'm pregnant and they had ECB's! And I added the dimetapp b/c it was on clearance and I had a coupon...so, if I hadn't made my mistake and added those items, I would've only spent about $7. (only about a buck including my ecb's) oh well. Still not bad.

The email I got today tells me that my little one is piling on the weight and chubby rolls at 33 weeks, and we got to see some of those rolls today on u/s. :) We also got to see him sucking and swallowing, watching his tongue motions and watching him breathing. He again had his face pressed into my placenta so no 3d pics for doug yet. Hopefully next week he will decide to show his face a little better.
Everything looks great! Mavis (my midwife) and I talked about plans as we get further along, and she said we could think about stripping my membranes at 38/39/40 weeks to help things move a little faster since we would like for him to not stay in too long b/c of my clotting disorder...and because I do NOT want to be induced. SO that will probably be the plan.
Z and I are still discussing his arrival, and how he needs to vacate earlier than originally planned. I think he's listening.

Meanwhile, the shower is planned for next Saturday and hopefully all our family and friends will be able to make it. We are thrilled to be able to celebrate his arrival and his life. :)

More thriftiness

Wal-Mart is having a nationwide annual clearance. Savings abound in different departments and every store is different but word on the street is that after a few weeks now, the housewares/furnitures, etc departments are on their final markdowns of 90-95% off, I know positively that lots of people have gotten kids bedding sets for several dollars. Get super cheap sheets, furniture etc!!

Love cloth diapering like me? Go check out An Ordinary Life blog and enter to win a $50 FB gift certificate. :) http://www.aordinarylife.com/2008/09/maternity-week-getting-ready-for-baby.html

What being thrifty has taught me.

Since I've gotten on the thrifty/ coupon-clipping wagon, there's a few things I have discovered.
1) Never, EVER pay full price for toothpaste, toothbrushes, cereal, shampoo, conditioner or granola/protein bars.
2) Every store has a deal somewhere, you just have to look. They want to get you in the door with the deal, then hope you spend lots of money on the other full-priced items.

CVS haul for today

Pretty decent- not too great, but I didn't have any ECBs to roll over this week.
Total out of pocket this week: $6.19, Total saved: $24.55, And I have $5.99 ECBs to use for next week

2 packs 22-count Carefree pantiliners
2 bags Chex mix
4 packs Schick disposable razors
2 Right Guard Extreme Invisible Gel for Men
1 L'Oreal Skin Genesis Cleanser
1 CVS toothbrush

32 weeks and counting

Today I am at 32 weeks. I can't believe I've only got two months to go! We had our typical appointment today. Natalya and Doug were along for the ride and got to see the baby on ultrasound. No 3D today b/c he had his face buried in my uterus, so you wouldn't have seen much but an ear maybe. He is measuring right on- everyhting measuring 32+ weeks and belly and head measuring 33+ weeks (normal she says). And the crazy thing? She pointed out that you could see his hair floating around in the fluid! She said, wow, he's got a lot of hair! (and still two months to go!)
He weighs in at 4lb 7oz (give or take, these are not very accurate), so gaining steadily. Everything still looks good, so we're thrilled to pieces!

Tonight we went to see Disney on ice - Worlds of Fantasy, and natalya had a blast. She loved watching the skaters and really enjoyed the Lion King and Fairies segments. We had great seats and had gotten them 50% off b/c it was opening night too! Can't beat that!

I love it when they pay you to shop there. :)

I went and did a few of my shopping trips today and hit Walgreens and Target.

Walgreens
3 tylenol pm 20-count
3 Robitussin DM Cough
2 Oust
2 Duracell 9v
3 small bags m&ms

Total before coupons and deals: $48.94
Total out of pocket (including .0925% tax): $5.46
and I earned $10 in register rewards (money to be used toward another purchase), so...grand Total: -$4.64

Target
3 Kashi granola bars
1 Kashi cereal
3 5-packs 70 count college-ruled spiral bound notebooks
2 10-packs pens
1 5-pack scotch tape
1 travel sized bottle Renu eye drops for contacts

Total out of pocket: $11.65 (including tax)
and I earned a $5 Target gift card (special this week, buy 4 kashi items and get a $5 gc)

So today I spent $17.11, and I got a $5 Target gift card and $10 rr's to use at walgreens

I had my 31-week appointment today, and the ultrasound was so awesome. Amanda went with me (she had never seen an u/s before) and was really excited about it, so the tech was showing her all his fingers, toes, etc. She had the doppler on the bottom of his foot and right as she said, there's one foot, he reared back and kicked the doppler, which bounced off my tummy. It was so funny!

Then she did some 3D stuff!! She let me have a few pics, and we got to watch him moving around, swallowing, etc, in 3D. It was really, really cool. And Doug was extremely upset that he missed it.



The tech kept saying that everything looked wonderful. Heart looks perfect, brain, etc and so on. YAY!

We love that everything is looking right on target! He is now head-down again, and probably will stay that way, so that's good. The u/s pics are really cool- unfortunately he was smushed against my cervix, so it only shows like half his face. But they're still really neat. :)

CVS deal for the week

I did my CVS shopping today- changed around my original scenarios for some other deals, but they didn't have a few of the things so I had to re-work all my numbers on the fly and made a few rookie mistakes. I think I could have saved an additional $9.90, but I still did pretty good. :)

Here's what I got for $16.34 (saved $130):


(not pictured, one Dawn Hand Renewal and one 24-count tylenol extra-strength)

3 Dawn orange antibacterials
3 Dawn Hand Renewals
3 Pantene shampoos
2 Pantene conditioners
2 Pantene hairsprays
2 twin packs Off Family-care
4 packs Skittles
2 Colgate Total Advanced
1 Cascade
2 Covergirl Outlast Lip Color
2 24-count Tylenol Extra Strength
4 twin-packs Schick disposable razors
2 Covergirl Wetslicks Amazemint

My son has the hiccups. A LOT.

I guess when I was pregnant with Natalya I never realized what this feeling is. But ever since last week, when I had the epiphany that the weird rythmic thumping I am feeling is him having the hiccups, I have noticed it a lot more often. I guess it makes sense since he is now swallowing more frequently, but it's weird. And a little annoying. But at least it is a reasurrance. :)

Doug adds that it feels like a heartbeat. except in my very lower pelvis.

It is the weirdest feeling!

CVS Bargains

So I am trying this CVS thing out. :) Last week I did alright for my first week's attempt, I think I spent $15 and saved $48

This is my plan for this week...assuming they have everything I want by the time I get there (the last day of the sale, Thursday)

Transaction 1:
dawn dish soap .99
dawn dish soap .99
colgate 2.99
colgate 2.99
Covergirl WetSlicks Amazemint 5.99
Covergirl WetSlicks Amazemint 5.99
Pringles .88
- - -
Total: 20.82 +tax

Coupons to use:
$4 off $20 purchase
dawn dish soap .50
dawn dish soap .50
colgate 1.50
colgate 1.50
covergirl $1 any
Cover Girl Lip Product B1G1F (-5.99)
Pringles .30
$5 ECB (from last week's purchases)
- - -
Total coupon discount: -$20.29

Total Out of Pocket: 53 cents +tax

And, Earned: $9.99 ECB


Transaction 2:
pantene shampoo $3.33
pantene shampoo $3.33
pantene hairspray $3.33
Children’s Advil $5.79
Pringles .88
- - -
Purchase Total: 16.66 +tax

Use: $2/10
pantene manufacturer coupon style prod free w/shampoo $3.33
Children’s Advil coupon $1
Pringles .30
$9.99 ECB
- - -
Coupon total -$16.62

Total out of pocket for purchase: 4 cents +tax

Earned: $7.79 ECB

Transaction 3:
Playskool wipes $2.99
Playskool wipes $2.99
Cascade $3.49
Tylenol $4.99
Tylenol $4.99
- - -
Purcahse Total: 19.45 +tax

Use: $2/10
Playskool coupon $2
Playskool coupon $2
Cascade $.25
Tylenol B1G1 (-$4.99)
Tylenol coupon $1
$7.79 ECB
- - -
Coupon total for purchase: -$20.03

Total out of pocket: -58 cents +tax


Total Out of pocket for all three purchases: $-.01 +tax