Busy Body

 

Max is certainly taking after his brother! He is mobile and EVERYWHERE! Now E crawled very early and Max took his time, but once Max got it...that was the end of it! He's crawling on his hands and knees and can get around the house really fast. I've forgotten what it's like to baby proof. The floors have to be super clean and all little pieces have to be thrown out or put away. Every door in this house is closed, especially the bathrooms. He loves to go in there and dump out the trash cans and pull up to look inside the tub. Yes, he's pulling up to stand too! He's tried taking a few steps while holding on to the ottoman, but he hasn't really cruised anywhere yet. Only a matter of time. E started walking at the end of 10 months and was running by 11 months and after that life got really crazy. I have a feeling I will be experiencing deja vu here pretty soon. The nice thing is that E LOVES to play with Max and crawl along side him and help him out when he needs it. He's also a great tattle tale right now so I know exactly what Max is doing at all times. I love having another set of eyes that can help me out while I'm unloading the groceries or put in some wash. Life with boys is never boring! I let Max play around in the newspaper while I clip coupons on Sunday and he loves pulling the paper all apart and crawling in it. Then E likes to cover him up. That's why there is crumpled out paper in all over the place in this picture.

Mystery Coupons

My husband came home a while ago with a mysterious bag of coupons that were laying on his desk at work. I just started cracking up when he handed them to me. I guess word gets around about the couponing. So I'd like to thank the mysterious coupon clipper that sent those home with Ry. They were very handy and I will take any mysterious coupons that you'd like to send our way.

Drugstore Deals

I've had quite a few requests about showing more couponing stuff and some "how-to" information. So there will be more about couponing soon, but for now let me show you the deals that I got this morning from CVS and Walgreens.

CVS

So here is the breakdown of what I got
1 Snickers $1.50 (Used Free coupon from Chocolate relief)
2 Schick Quattros $15.98 (Used 2 $4 coupons) Received $6 in Extra Care Bucks (ECB)
1 Crest Pro Health $2.99 (Used .50 coupon) Received $2 in ECBs
1 Aveeno Conditioner $6.50 (Used $2 coupon) Received $10 ECBS (you had to spend $20 to get the ECBs and I had bought $15 of Aveeno last week and this promotion carried over to this week so I only had to spend $5 more dollars to get the ECBs)
2 John Friedas Hair Care $9.98 (Used $6 in coupons)
1 Purex 3 in 1 6.99 (Used $2 coupon) Received $2 in ECBs
3 Father's Day cards 7.97
My total was 51.91

I had a $10 off a $50 purchase that printed out from my receipt last week that I used
Then I had $18 worth of coupons
Then I had $22 worth of CVS coupons and ECBs
Total 2.57
But it gets even better!!! I got a coupon a few weeks ago for a $25 gift card if I transferred a prescription to CVS. Well, it just so happened that they adjusted my dosage for my thyroid medication so I transferred that over to CVS and got a gift card. So I used that last week and today and paid $0.
So summary:
Paid $0
Gift card balance $15.30
ECBs for next week $20

*The Purex looks pretty cool. It's basically a dryer sheet type thing that goes in your wash, releases detergent and you keep it in with the clothes when you switch them over to the dryer and then it will release the softener and dry sheet action. It will be a fun thing to try out especially since they're safe for high efficiency front loaders!

Walgreens

There wasn't too much at Walgreen this week that I needed to get, but I had a $5 Register Reward that expired today so I had to get over there and get something with it so this is what I did.
2 Rimmel Nail Polish .87/each on clearance (used $1 coupon)
Cover Girl Nail polish 2.19 on clearance (used $1 coupon)
2 Dry Idea deodorant 3.79/each (used $2 coupon)
1 Right Guard deodorant 2.19 (used $1 coupon)
Walgreens Safety Pop .99
2 pkgs hamburger buns .99/each
Altoids .50 on clearance

My total was 17.15
I had $5 in coupons
Walgreens had an in store coupon for the deodorants to make them .99, but if you use your manufacturer coupons first and then scan the in store coupon then it will deduct even more for your total so it ended up taking off 7.60 off my order which gave me an overage of .83!
Then I used my $5 register reward
Summary
Paid 0.24

I love it when I can just use the spare change I have in my wallet!
If you have any questions or want a certain thing explained in a future coupon post, just let me know and I'll be sure to mention it.

Winner!

I haven't entered many giveaways in the past year, but for some reason I have 2 in the past week! I won a $100 gift certificate to Chase's Treasures and a Shade shirt. I just got my shirt in the mail and this is what I got.

I wore it the other day and E asked me why I splattered milk all over myself...nice.

Here is what I picked out from Chase's:
The Black and White ABC will have E's name in bright letters for his room and the Animal Alphabet will be going in Max's nursery. I'll be checking my doorstep all week!

SC Girls' Vegas Trip

Hop on over to Carly's blog for more pictures and check out my side bar under "California friends" for their updates as they come in.

We moved away from Santa Clara almost 3 years ago and it was quite a tough move for us since we were leaving the greatest friends ever! We were always doing something whether it was family game nights, BBQs, parties, pool days, Girls Night Out, birthdays, visiting new babies, you name it. None of us had family around so we ended up becoming family to each other and helping each other out through everything. I have missed these girls way too much and I've seen some of them here and there throughout the pass 3 years. Well, thankfully Becky and Michelle coordinated a fun filled weekend for all of us to get back together in Las Vegas! We couldn't get everyone there (we missed you!), but we did at least get 10 of us together. It was so awesome to see everyone! I missed them!!!

I left Friday evening and got to ride in first class! Somehow with Ry's frequent flyer miles, they gave me those seats. I had no idea what to do with myself! I had hot towels, a meal, hot chocolate chip cookies, leather seats, tons of leg room. I felt so pampered! When I got to Vegas I met up with Jess after she got off her flight and then whole posse came to the airport to pick us up. I could hear the cat calls and hollering all the way across the parking garage so I knew that this weekend would be a whirlwind of laughs. We got to stay at Becky's in law's house while they are away on their mission in Ghana so we had very nice accommodations. Seriously, this is the picture of the house. Isn't the sky gorgeous?!

We had some hot tub fun and then played some "Truth or Dare or Talent" (don't ask me how that started, but it was hilarious) and this picture captures that moment perfectly.
I haven't laughed so hard in a very long time. We didn't end up going to bed until 3 am which is 5 am Dallas time and I had even gone to boot camp that morning at 5 am so I had been up 24 hours so needless to say, I was completely delirious which makes everything even more funny.

Saturday we just got up when we wanted to and went out for a little walk/jog around the neighborhood which was probably quite a site to see since we're a bunch of moms walking around retirement neighborhood. So we got a little exercise and then hit the outlets for some retail exercise. Always fun! Then that night we got all dolled up and hit the Vegas strip. I don't know if any of you have seen the movie, "Serendipity" but the restaurant featured in the movie is in NYC and just recently opened another restaurant in Vegas so we decided to try it out.


They are known for their frozen hot chocolate so we couldn't leave there without at least trying it out. It was so delicious!

After dinner we wanted to go see the water show at the Bellagio and on our way their we had this person hand us a bunch of tickets and an invitation to go to Pete Wentz's(from the group Fall Out Boy) 30th birthday. Some of us couldn't pass up the chance to go so we headed over there to see what it was all about. Well, we got their right about the time it was supposed to start so we waited, and waited, and waited and got tired of waiting so we met the rest of the group down by the water show.


Well, we headed back to the car and forgot where we parked for awhile so we had to use the panic button to try to find it. I love the look on Michelle's face.

We found the car and piled in so we could get home for some more girl talk sessions.

Sunday morning Becky made us a delectable spread of crepes for us to enjoy. Yummy!!!
We all got ready and headed out to church. After church is was just a great relaxing day. We got to lay in the sun, I organized my coupons, we put all our pictures of a CD for everyone to take home, and we all had Sunday dinner together before some of us had to leave. I was so sad to see out trip come to an end. BOOOO!!! I am glad to know that I'll be seeing some of you when I come up to Utah next month! Hooray!!! The party just can't stop can it?! We said our good byes and then started packing up our stuff and cleaning since we had to leave early in the morning. The rest of the group left early the next morning and my flight didn't leave until the afternoon so Michelle took me over to her house to hang out until my flight. It was so nice to see Deloy and the kids. I hadn't seen Markie since he was 6 months old! Wow!

I had a great flight home and came off the plane to a homemade sign that said "Welcome Home Mom" and my hubby and two boys happy to see me. You can't get any better than that! I love it that Ry made this happen for me and really made it easy for me to go. He took great care of the boys and they told me about all the adventures that they had while I was gone. They went to Oklahoma and hiked on some trails and even got to see a buffalo. Sounds like quite a fun time! The best part when I got home is when Ry told me, "Man, your job is hard and I didn't even do the laundry!" I just started smiling. I guess it's a good thing for moms to get away for a short time so everyone can appreciate each other a little more. I missed Ry and the boys so much while I was gone and I just appreciate him making this such a great experience for me. Also a huge shout out to my mom for watching the boys for me all day on Monday! I couldn't have gone without you, Mom!

Thanks Becky for everything you did for us this weekend and thank you girls for such an awesome time! Who wants to come to Dallas?!

I'm Back!

...in many ways...blogging, Vegas, girls' trips, everything! There is so much to catch up on...pictures to come.

3 1/2 years!

Ethan is officially 3 1/2 now! Sometimes I wonder if he's 3 1/2 going on 35 with the things that come out of his mouth sometimes! Right now he's into doing a lot of things. We just had our first pool day at Nanny's the other day and he's already trying to swim on his own so we're starting this summer off right. You'll be finding us at the pool all the time!

E's still loves golf! He took a golf class through the local parks and rec and he goes out with his dad here and there. Ry even took him to the Byron Nelson golf tournament last weekend and I think he really enjoyed watching the pros. I think he even had one of the guys throw a ball to him!

He's loving having friends over or going over to friends' houses these days. One of my friends in the ward watches him for me when I have activity days and I switch with her on the days I don't so he gets very excited for Wednesdays for his buddy to come over or to go to his buddy's house. I came in the other day from boot camp and he was dressed and ready to go with his shoes on at 6:30 am and told me, "I'm ready to go play." It was a very long time until 3:30 rolled around. Geez! He still loves to ask people if he can come play at their house. I'm trying to teach him that it's not polite to invite yourself over, but it's not quite getting through to him.


E's working on "earning" things these days. We've started doing chores around the house everyday and he gets pennies in his jar for doing them. He's learned how to make his bed, put his clothes away, clean his toy room, help mom bring in groceries, put away things, and help mom with whatever she needs. It's been a slow process and he's really tried my patience but he's started to actually be REALLY helpful these days. He loves putting pennies in his jar and he loves to "earn" all sorts of fun prizes. Right now he's also working on sitting in Primary. He's all over the place in opening exercises so we're really trying to get him to sit with his class and listen to his teacher. It's funny because he tells everyone in Primary that he's trying to "earn" pennies, but somehow he forgets when he wants to get up and walk around.

I can't believe the difference when I think back to what we were doing last summer. It seems like he was grown and matured so much in the past few months! To think that last summer we were phasing out of diapers and working on potty training just boggles my mind! I feel like that was ages ago, not last summer! Time flies when you're having fun!

8 Months!

During my blogging hiatus Max turned 8 months and there have been lots of fun things going on with him. We've entered into the world of mobility! Max has started army crawling last week and he can also rock back and forth on his hands and knees. He also does this funny thing that we like to call the "penguin" where he gets up on his hands and knees and then attempts to crawl and just ends up on his tummy with his arms at his side and kicks his legs. He looks like one of those penguins that is trying to slide across the ice. I'll have to get it on tape, it cracks me up all the time.

Max also has started cutting his first set of chompers! The first one has already broken through and the second one his creeping up there, but not quite in yet. He's been a little bit more tempermental these days, but that's to be expected.

We're also branching out in the food arena. He's trying all sorts of new foods like mango, eggs, watermelon, teething biscuits, and cheerios. I have to pick up some baby yogurt for him sometime so he'll be trying that soon. He's also learned how to drink though a straw so anytime he sees someone with a straw he usually begs for a sip so watch out!

Struggle

I'm still struggling over this blog thing. I'm debating whether or not to go private. Until then, no posts.

Blogging Blues, I Need Advice

I've been thinking a lot about my blog and my blogging style...or lack thereof. I just haven't been blogging like I used to. Well, I came across a post on one of the blogs that I read and I could totally relate to her post. She talked about how lately she feels like she's lost her voice on her blog because she knows that everyone reads her blog. I know you're probably like, duh, your blog is posted on the Internet...every one's going to read it. It makes total sense in my head, but it's hard to explain. When a lot of people read your blog, it leads to some major problems...People get offended if they're not invited to an outing, people get offended if you don't include your outing with them on your blog, people pass judgements about what you're doing/not doing as a mom, people think you're braggin if you write about something you're celebrating or accomplished, they think you're negetive if you write about "true life" occurences, and quite frankly people are just nosy. I feel like I don't write blog posts or omit things in my posts because I know certain people are reading my blog and I don't want to offend them, come across as bragging or negative and then be judged unfairly. I have seen a lot of negative anonymous comments lately on other people's blogs and I'm can't believe how mean people can be. I have to admit that I do roll my eyes at some things people say on their blogs, but obviously everyone has a right to their own opinion and I appreciate their blogs and I enjoy reading them.

I've considered going private so I can regulate who I want to read my blog, but I really think private blogs are annoying. I never read them (sorry if you have a private blog). It takes too much effort to look up the blog, log in, and just find out that it hasn't been updated. I enjoy my bloglines account and its instant updates. Plus, I've come across some amazing moms and friends through blogs and had they been private or my blog been private then we would have never connected. So I guess that's where I'm at right now. I just wish I felt the same way about my blog like I used to. I used to post pretty much whatever was on my mind or whatever was in my heart at the time. I just feel like I'm writing my blog for other people and not myself.

It's such a catch 22. I love connecting with friends, family and new people and I also love that people take the time to stop by and catch a glimpse of our life. And what blogger doesn't love comments?! But I don't love certain people reading my blog, or people taking things the wrong way, or being judgemental. I have no way to regulate that. What's a girl to do? Any advice?

I Can't Even Think of a Title...

I put E's bike helmet and Ry's raquetball goggles on Max the other day when we were playing in the playroom the other day. I was laughing hysterically and Max thought it was pretty funny too.

Jungle Gym

I feel like Max's personal jungle gym these days. He always wants "mama" but he's also so wiggly. He basically just wants me to sit in the middle of the floor, surrounded by toys and then crawl all over me all day long. He's starting to crawl, but he can only crawl backwards. He gets frustrated about that so he mostly just cries until I carry him where he needs to go or hand him what he wants. I remember E being a very very wiggly boy and Max is definitely following the same amount of "activity" as E did. No rest for the weary.

The Stockpile and Monthly Results

I keep joking around that someone is going to have to post my picture at CVS and Walgreens and tell the clerks to not sell anything to me. I've been couponing for a couple months now and I'm definitely getting better and better at it and it's now taking less time. We're pretty much packed to the max with anything and everything. I've run out of room on all my shelves in the laundry room, my "drug store" under the bathroom sink is completely stocked, and we have "diaper depot" under Max's crib. Mind you that this is only the shelves in the back laundry room, this isn't even my pantry!




So yesterday I pulled out ALL of my receipts from the month of April to truly see how I'm doing on this coupon thing and if it really makes a difference. Well, to tell you the truth, I got a pit in my stomach when I saw how many receipts that I had. I was already trying to justify in my head why I had spent so much. "It's for food storage"..."I'm getting extra stuff, but saving at the same time"...yada yada yada. How am I going to explain this to Ry? Well, I had a huge relief when the tally was complete. I was $15 under our grocery budget, but had bought formula, diapers, and all personal care items with that grocery budget! And here's the kicker...I have saved $593.64 this month!!!! Holy cow! Basically I've tripled the amount of groceries, baby care, and personal items that we buy with my grocery budget alone! Now that I'm totally stocked we're going to be able to save even more since we don't have to buy pretty much anything and when I do get something it's only when it's a super deal or free. I was totally relieved and didn't have to justify anything at all. This past month has been a lot of fun since we get to try a lot of different and new products for a fraction of the price or for free. I've even been able to make free baby food for Max since apples are free this week at Target! I think I love this way too much!

Some Side Bar Love

I realized how far behind I am in updating my side bar. Ashley isn't even up yet. So if you're not on my side bar, please don't be offended. I'm just behind. Leave a comment and let me know.

Weekend in San Diego

I still can't believe that I was able to head out to San Diego this past weekend. My husband is awesome! He took the kids to do lots of fun things like the children's museum and to play ball at the church. They loved it and Ry did so well in keeping the house in order. I do think he got a small taste of what motherhood was like though.

I got into San Diego on Friday afternoon and Ash picked me up from the airport. I haven't seen her in at least 4 years and the minute I got in the car it was like no time had passed. I love that! I finally got to meet little Miss Lila too. She is so cute and by the end of the trip we were great buddies.

I also know Ash's husband, Byron, since he was in our ward freshman year and I was their third wheel every now and then. I have to post this picture since it's the only one that I have of all of us. Byron and Ashley are on the far left and I'm the one in the blue.

Byron works in the evenings so he came home so he could watch Lila so we could go out. Thanks Byron! The first night we went out for Thai food. Ash's first time having Thai food was with my family during our freshman year so we decided to go to a highly recommended restaurant there in San Diego. It was delicious! They had all my favorites!

The next morning we had quite a funny experience. You know how I mentioned in my previous post that Ash and I would unintentionally dress alike. Well, that is exactly what happened. I walk out of the bathroom and Byron tells me that Ash and I will be twins today. I didn't think much of it until Ash came out of her room! We both had on the same colored shirt, same colored jeans, and black flip flops. Who does this?!
We headed out to the San Diego temple since I've always wanted to go there. I swear I took this picture with my own camera! Doesn't it look like a postcard? The weather was beautiful that day!

Then we headed down to La Jolla so I could go see the beach and the seals that hang out there. I guess the tide was really low so there were only a few seals out that day, but we still got to see some. It was so refreshing to stick my toes in the sand and feel the ocean breeze, sounds corny...but it's so true!
The lumps out on that rock are seals.

After La Jolla, we picked up Byron and Lila so we could go get some lunch. Byron saw a restaurant on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives on Food Network that was in the area so we headed over there. You could tell there was something good there since the line was out the door and down the street.
We got ours to go and ate it out by the beach. Hodads makes the best burgers ever! I can see why they featured it on TV. If you're ever in San Diego, go there! And just so you know Hodads is slang for a surfing "poser"...I'm sure you were wondering. After Hodads we went home to put Lila down for a nap and Byron had to go to work. It was so nice to be able to relax, I think we were all a little tired. Byron came back from work again that night so we could take a trip to the mall. A must! I was very excited to find out that they had an H&M there! Heaven! So we did a little shopping and grabbed some dessert and called it a night.

Sunday we went to church. Can I say flashback?! Their ward building was set up exactly like Santa Clara's! It really made me miss SC! Such great times! Church was great and I even figured out how to get Lila to sleep so I got to hold her during Relief Society. She is so cute! I kept telling her that I would be the best mother-in-law ever so she needs to marry one of my boys. Maybe she could meet Max during her freshman year of college and they could get married when he got home from his mission, just like her parents did. Haha!


This trip was so much fun! I wish I could have stayed longer, but I missed my kids so bad and I'm sure they were missing me. I wish I could have just brought Ash and Lila home with me! It was so great to getaway to a new place, but to be with old friends. Thank you so much for having me Bryon and Ashley! Come to Texas soon!

Howdy Partner!

E loves playing cowboy these days. He is always wearing his cowboy hat and riding his stick horse. It cracks me up. The other day we decided to dress Max up like a cowboy so they could play together. I don't think Max quite enjoyed being a cowboy as much as E does. Oh well. Look at E's face...so typical for him. I find him making all these hilarious faces all the time.

As for a little update on what we've been up to...Max is currently teething. It's not too bad, but he is pretty sad. We're trying all the normal comfort measures and just waiting for them to pop through. He really loves having cold watermelon in his little "munch bag" after dinner so that gives a little relief.

E hasn't been into too much mischief lately. His new thing is telling every single person he meets that he wants to go over to their house. It happens at church, the store, friends' houses, all the time. One day we were at the store and this elderly gentleman came up to us to say that my children were really good mannered and then E pops out with..."Next time I'm coming over to your house!" It usually makes people laugh, but we've had to start talking about "stranger" stuff and what's appropriate. Not so easy with a kid like E since he loves to talk to anything that moves. He definitely did NOT get that gene from me!

As for me, I'm enjoying my week off of boot camp. I found out last Friday that I won the biggest loser again so I get to take $25 off my next camp. I figured I'll keep going to boot camp as long as the biggest loser coupons are coming. Something must be working which is kind of interesting considering some results that I got back from some blood work that I had done. I found out that I have an under active thyroid which can be very common after pregnancy. So that explains the some of my tireness and the reason why I don't lose baby weight very quickly. So my doctor put me on some thyroid medication and I'll have my levels drawn again in 6-8 weeks. So we'll see how that goes. Well, I'm headed to San Diego today and I'm very very excited! I'll be back Sunday night, pictures to come!

Spontaneous

...is not a word that I really have in my daily vocabulary. Actually, I kind of cringe when I hear it. I work better with a plan. That's just my personality. Even though I'm a stickler for a plan/routine, there are times when being spontaneous can be a good thing. Yesterday Ry called me up and surprised me with a free airline ticket that HAD to be used by Monday. I was like, "Say WHAT?!" What in the world am I going to do? After a few phone calls...I can now say I'm headed to San Diego (by myself) for the weekend to visit Ashley!!!


(She's the O, I'm the Y)
Ash and I met our freshman year at BYU. We lived on the same floor and quickly became inseparable. We were like two peas in a pod. I swear there were so many times that I would walk into Chem 101 and we'd be wearing the same exact outfit just by chance. We had so much fun and were always up to something. During our freshman year, BYU gave us a week off for the Winter Olympics so we high tailed it to LA (where she's from) to hang out in the sun. We even ended up going with a bunch of friends to Price is Right while we were down there.



We haven't seen each other since Ry and I moved to Santa Clara back in 2004. It's been so long! I'm so excited to go! I don't even know what to do with myself! I haven't traveled by myself in over 4 years! What am I going to do?! My husband is so awesome! Thanks for making this happen, Ry!

Engaged!

As I was writing my last post, I was able to look through all my old wedding photos and came across this little cutie, my younger brother (I can't say little because he is a lot taller than me). Well, he gave me a call last night to tell me that he got engaged! Hooray! I'm so excited! I just love his fiancee, Crystal! I'm so happy that she's going to be my sister-in-law! Can't wait until August 15th! Congrats you guys!

6 Years Ago

I'm a day late, but I really wanted these pictures on here so there was a slight delay. This is where I was 6 years ago...





You never know what life will be like after that day. I just find myself constantly thinking that I am so glad that we found each other. Our personalities compliment each other so well and we do so much for each other. I couldn't imagaine making it through life with anyone else, I don't know what I'd do without him! Happy Anniversary!

7 Months!

 

I can't even believe that Max is already 7 months this week! It's crazy! We are now heading into the life of mobility! Max rolls just about everywhere and is starting to crawl a tiny bit. He only crawls backwards or in circles, but I have a feeling that he'll be moving on to bigger and better things soon. For a moment I thought that Max wouldn't be super active like E, but all those thoughts are out the window now. He's just as vocal, loud, wiggly, busy, and active as his older brother! The minute you put him in the exersaucer he is riding it like a horse AND he talks VERY loud to his other baby friends in Sunday School.

 

He is so happy all the time and is pretty good about just going with the flow. He hasn't gotten any teeth yet, but I think he might have something brewing soon. Most people say he looks just like his brother and I'd have to agree. E loves it when people say it too...and if they don't, then he tells them.

 

He's got more dark hair coming in so I think he might be a brunette, but who knows once summer rolls around. Max loves riding in the front part of the grocery cart now that he can sit up so well. He's an angel at the store since he can look around at all the things going on around him (especially E running around doing something). Max is such a cute baby! I know I'm partial because I'm his mother, but he seriously looks like a little Gerber baby. He has this perfect milky skin, big blue eyes, chubby little cheeks, and a little swoop of hair. Another Elmer heart breaker!