Even my husband was proud....

Today was a great shopping day. My incredible husband stayed home with the girls while they napped so I could go on a 1 1/2 hr. shopping trip. I printed coupons last night, researched blogs, outlined my trips, clipped coupons this morning and bought the Chicago Tribune... I was ready!

I made it to 3 different stores: Kroger, Walgreens and (of course!) CVS. I spent a total of $10.27 out of pocket at ALL 3 STORES. Here is was $10.27 bought me:



Walgreens:
Glade Fabric and Air spray
Glade Fabric and Air spray
Cherry Coke Zero (not pictured)

Spent:$1.96 Saved $8.00

Kroger

4 Betty Crocker Cookie mixes
4 Betty Crocker tubs of Frosting
1 3 pack Irish spring soap
1 box of Cheez-its (no coupon for these... but my husband loves them and they were a part of the Mega 10 deal)

Spent: $6.43 Saved $17.67


CVS

Colgate Total toothpaste (online coupon)
Infant Advil (1.00 off online coupon- get $5.79 ECB back)
2 covergirl, trueblend foundations (on sale B1G1, coupon for B1G1 in today's paper = FREE!)
1 covergirl, trueblend powder (same as above)
1 covergirl, trueblend concealer (same as above)
2 pert plus (on sale B1G1, had $3.00 in coupons from today's paper)
1 2 pack extreme energy 6-hour shots (I don't promote these, but they were $4.99, w/ $4.99 ECB back)

Spent: $4.67 (minus $2.79 ECB gained, spent $1.88) Saved: $52.74
(I used a $9.99 ECB, but got back $12.78 in ECBs... if you are new to CVSing, check out moneysavingmom.com, you can learn all the ins and outs of CVS!
Overall:
Total spent: $10.27 Total Saved: $78.41


A new coupon secret, buy the Chicago Tribune. It has 3 xs the coupons as the Herald and Review. Seriously, if you have not gotten it today- go to Walgreens (the only place I know of that carries it in town), and buy one for $2.50. Go crazy- buy 2! Then you can use your pert plus coupons (2-$2.00 coupons) and covergirl (b1 g1) at CVS and immediately get your money back b/c you will get all of your stuff for FREE!

Cheesecake and Pellegrino

If you are lucky enough to live near a Cheesecake Factory, you will want to save room for some Cheesecake on July 30th. July 30th is National Cheesecake Day. To commemorate this and their 30th anniversary, The cheesecake Factory will be offering slices of over 30 different varieties of cheesecake for $1.50 on that day. If you need an excuse to eat 2 slices, eat one for me (White Chocolate Raspberry, please!) because we are about 2 1/2 hours away from the closest restaurant.



Thanks to a mishap of my sister and a friend in my small group (yeah, Katie!), I have found a new favorite drink. It's not just an "anytime" drink. It is definitely for the times when the girls are napping at the same time or when they are in bed for the night.
Pellegrino with ice, lime and sugar. Sigh. It makes a great summer drink. My husband makes fun of me b/c he says it is just expensive Sprite/7-up. Maybe so... but to me- it is my special drink! It's great to sip on it while reading, chatting w/a friend or sitting outside. Since I am such a stickler lately for saving $$$, I haven't bought any Pellegrino. Imagine my surprise when I went to Kroger yesterday and found 2 6-packs on sale for 1/2 off b/c someone ripped the packaging. Sigh... pellegrino is my new friend.

Wal-Mart and my girls

So today was an extremely busy morning at the Anderson house. I got up early, around 7 :15 to go walking with a friend (shout out to Bobbi Jo), then came home to get ready for the day. My wonderful husband got both girls ready and then we were off to take him to work. On the way to work, we stopped by Kroger so I could pick up a movie ($1 movie rental, moviecube.com) and something small for lunch. I was so disappointed b/c the moviecube was not working... anyway. Dropped Chadwick off at work, then went to my mom's so Addie could play w/ her cousin, Ella. While they played, I made peanut butter cookies for my friend who is really having a rough time with her back during her pregnancy. Then I took the girls home and made Chicken quesadilla's for lunch for myself, the girls and my sister and cousin (who were going to watch Addie and Sophie for me that afternoon). Busy, busy busy!

I made it to wal-mart tonight and finally picked up some deals I had been working on. My total before coupons was $27.00. After coupons, drumroll please.. $12.40. Not too shabby! I had a coupon for almost everything I bought. I also price matched a couple of really great deals- If you live in Decatur, Cubs has Duncan Hines brownie mixes on sale for $1.00, if you go to this link you can get a coupon for $1.00 of 2 duncan hines brownie mixes. Making the mixes $.50 each. Also, cubs has totinos on sale for $1.00 also- there is a $.35 coupon online as well (same website, I believe). Wal-mart price matched these deals, so I didn't have to go to cubs as well. A few other things I picked up were: Bertolli pasta sauce (in the pouch), 2 bags of frozen organic veggies, 1 box of blue bunny rocket pops, 1 jar of dry roasted planters peanuts, 3 packs of Kool-aid, 1 pack of HP paper, 4 tubes of biscuits, 1 jar of pizza sauce, 1 box of Honey Bunches of Oats caramel granola, the 4 boxes of brownie mix and 2 boxes of totino pizza rolls. Not too bad for around $12!

Our Sophie Grace turned 5 months old today. Time is really going way TOO FAST! She is so big, she can sit in her bumbo now, hold onto toys, roll over, laugh, eat rice cereal. She really is not a newborn anymore. Our oldest is going to turn 2 in less than a month. That thought scares me! Each day Addie is learning new words and remembering more and more of what we teach her. I love my girls, I love my husband and our simple (yet sometimes busy!) life.

Free Playtex BPA free bottle

For those of you that have babies and those of you that don't... click on this link to get a free Playtex BPA free bottle. I did it and recieved mine in less than 2 weeks! It is a playtex drop-in system bottle that comes with everything (liners, nipple, cover etc.) you need for a bottle. We use the drop-in system and love it.

Even if you don't have a baby, get a free one for a baby-shower gift or to give to someone who has a baby :<)

Coupons, Real or Fake?

Tomorrow morning Good Morning America will be having a segment on coupons. They are talking about the increase in fake coupons. I am sure if you miss the segment on t.v., you can check out their website to see what they have to say. I have just gotten into the "couponing" thing and I am always worried about printing coupons online. I always want to make sure it's a coupon that can be used legally. Anyway, this may be a good segment to check out!

Free Date Night

Free Date Night! Well... kind of. Subway is having a promotion right now for the movie Get Smart. If you go on their website, there is a game to play to win prizes. You can play up to 3 times a day (depending on how many secret codes you find). The first time I played, I won a free movie pass. The pass is good for any movie (up to $12) at your local theatre. Chadwick got on and played and he won a pass also! We have also won about 20 bags of free chips from Subway. It seems like we always win something. It is worth a try!

You can log in with as many e-mail addresses as you have. Also, to get free codes for extra plays, click on the "rules and regulations" link at the bottom, scroll through and you will see a big "HERE" underlined. Click on that and they will send you free codes to get your 3 plays for the day! There are lots of prizes: movie tickets, free chips, $5 subway card, a vespa (motorized bike), free movie, etc.

The contest goes through August 10th.

I don't often play these, but I don't often win something either!

Transition from one to two... independence day

Addie was 18 mo. when Sophie Grace was born. It seems like such a long time ago and it's hard at time to remember what life was like with just 1 child around. Before having Sophie, I had all the fears that a typical mom would have. "Can we handle 2 kids? Will I love Sophie as much as Addie? How will this transition affect Addison?"

In order to prepare Addison for her coming sister, I read all the articles I could get my hands on as well as books about how to transition your toddler to becoming a sister/brother. One tip I read that has been THE MOST helpful is to start teaching your toddler BEFORE the new baby comes to be more independent. This was a little hard for me because Addison was still my "baby." I didn't think that I needed to start teaching her to be independent, I thought that would eventually just happen. Here are some ways I worked w/ Addie:

1. While working in the kitchen or elsewhere in the house, I would start letting Addie (around 14 mo. or so) play in her room by herself. I was always definitely within hearing distance of her room and I made sure it was babyproofed before letting her play by herself. I would go in and play with her, show her some puzzles/books etc. and then leave the room to let her play by herself. This may take some time for you to establish, but start with 5 minutes at a time and work your way up to about 20 min. or so.

2. Another BIG step was to start letting Addie walk beside me and follow me instead of ALWAYS carrying her. When the new little baby comes you won't be able to carry both at the same time. Especially when you have a car seat in one arm- man are those heavy! So when we would go to church out to the store, I started teaching Addie to walk out our front door behind me, walk down the steps on her own and walk to the side of the car where her carseat is by herself. Then whenever we got where we were going, it was important to teach her to hold my hand and walk with me in parking lots/etc. This is so beneficial and will allow you to become more independent if you do not have a spouse with you. Trust me, this is something you must TEACH before the new baby arrives.

I know you are probably thinking, "I don't need to/want to teach my child to be independent yet- they are only 1, he/she is still a baby!"

Trust me... when the new little one comes along... you will be thinking to yourself, "When did they (your toddler) grow up so fast!?" Your new little one is now the "baby" and you realize you have a little toddler on your hands now!

Watch for more posts on transitioning from 1 to 2... next up, how disciplining is LOVING your child.