DEALS

man. so my new year's resolution to get back into hardcore couponing is still in action. and with sajo jumping on board, it's even more fun. she's gotten to be a pro in record time and keeps me motivated! [and finds half my deals for me:-)]

check out this sweetness. today shopping i saved a little over $65 in coupons. here's a bunch of stuff that was completely free or made me money.

travel section! shop it! some coupons don't exclude travel size, and makes them frizzy free. that box of wipes was a random coupon from a friend[thanks becca!]. boy do we go through those! what is fun, is like i had a coupon for $2.50 off 2 dove hair care products. the dove things i bought were $.97, so that means i got $.56 toward my normal purchase.[i had 3 of those, score] they were paying me to take them. bahahahah. my fave.

my mom gives me her coupons[thanks!] from the paper, i get my own, and sometimes there are extras laying around at work. then printables...so i can end up with 4 or 5 of the same coupon, so when i get a deal i get it several times. like this ALL was on sale for $3.97, i had 3 $2 coupons, then a good one for the snuggle sheets too. 32 loads for like $.06 a load. HOLLEr.

[on that note. i do like 3 loads a day to stay on top of it. my waterbill has actually gone up over $15 a month since leo was born. the boy barfs on everything!!]

so how are sandy and i pulling off this madness? i will show you my new obsession. am i embarassed to pull this bad boy out at walmart? uh, no, b/c i'm saving massive amounts of money by being able to see all my coupons so fast:-)

don't give me that crap that "off brand is cheaper than using coupons anyway" b/c you are WRONG! you just have to find sales and use your coupons then.

it's like a drug, really.

enough of that. you probably read this b/c you care more about seeing my cute little offspring.

so there ya go:-)

happy valentine's day

nothin' but pictures

don't forget hearts for hannah day tomorrow!! come back and post if you do anything.

ways to help

this is a heavier post than usual, but sometimes life is just heavy.

in december, a sweet girl that used to attend MDO with rex lost the battle to cancer. i had her in class this past summer. obivously, a very sad story. one that hit very close to home, having a child the same age. the family has been so inspiring along the journey. i have followed since she got sick. they have been so graceful. if you want to check out her site, it is HERE

this coming monday would have been hannah's 5th birthday. her mom has found a way to help cope with the pain that's going to accompany that day, by declaring it
"hearts for hannah" day. here's how it works. on monday[or sometime around], do something special for someone else. big or small.

pay for their food in line at the drive thru
give blood[hannah had to have many transfusions in those months, and made me more aware of the need. i plan to give on friday]
send an anonymous gift...
anything you want. get creative.

then post it here, or on her caringbridge site. her mom wants to print all these out and put them on hearts to make a scrapbook type thing for her other child, caleb, 2. she wants him to know how much hannah impacted the world:-)

see? amazing family.

so DO IT!!! i will post what we decide to do as well.




ALSO,
some dear friends in our church sadly lost their baby to SIDS this week. unspeakably sad. and also very close to home. kara and i were pregnant together, and had leo and noble only 2 weeks apart. i just get sick sometimes looking at my sweet leo, knowing that's what kara should be getting to do.

all i want to do is help somehow. i know some sweet and generous people post and read this, so i wanted to note that an account has been set up for the Coles at Liberty bank accepting donations. i'm sure to cover funeral costs and whatever they need.
if you feel led whatsoever to do so, i just wanted to provide the info.



hey, if you want to participate in "hearts for hannah" day, you could simply donate some money to adam and kara.


look for ways to bless others.
count your own blessings.
life is short.

"fear not, for I am with you. Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand"

isaiah 41:10

sleeping cuteness, deals, grins and twinkies

these are out of order but i'm too lazy to move them anyone else dislike how you have to move pictures in blogger, or am i missing some easier way???



sunday at walgreens: i'll spare you the confusing details, but i got 2 packs of diapers[worth $9 each], 6 2 liters[on sale 3/$4], a peanut butter and a jelly, all for $9.98 plus tax. don't even ask me how. it was confusing.
i heart being stocked on diapers. it really stinks to realize you just used the last one. that won't happen for a LONG time over here. i bet in this house right now i've got well over 1000 diapers between gus and leo. [*i just counted out of curiousity, and we have about 850. ha]




some sleep pictures. gus's sleep has been so craptastic lately, that i wouldn't risk taking pictures if he was asleep.

this kid could not be more into super heroes, bad guys, powers, and fighting.

getting some more frequent smiles from tiniest boy! i honestly think the zantac is helping a little already. he just seems happier and is sleeping better. though he doesn't love the medicine. why flavor baby medicine PEPPERMINT? and why put on the warnings "do not drive or operate heavy machinery"? really?

my "babies". HA. gus almost looks superimposed on this picture, he's so big.

twinkies.

people always ask who i think leo looks more like. and this is why i say REX all the way.

life with 3, 2 months stats, 1 playdate

i admit i had a few days earlier this week that i wondered if i could cut it with 3 kids. long lines with 3 kids are hard. shopping with 3 kids allows no room for food. no sleep with 3 kids just sucks!!

just when i was giving up hope of ever sleeping again, gus and leo cut me some slack last night and i feel so great. not getting my hopes up too high, but hopefully we'll see more nights like that in our near future...

[we're big swaddlers, and i just ordered some of these blankets off ebay and i can't wait! he can bust out of most of ours, and if he doesn't do that he barfs on them]

we had leo's 2 month check up yesterday. he's finally gaining weight at an acceptable rate to his dr. almost an ounce a day! he's weighing in at 9lb 10oz

good boy! though i'm always a little sad when they hit double digits, never to return. newbornness is so short. sadness.

i talked the dr. into giving him some zantac, so we'll see if that makes him a little less fussy.

i always get a kick out of comparing milestones. the 2 month stats for all were

rex 8lbs 10 oz

gus 9 lbs 15oz

leo 9lbs 10oz

will be fun to see who is the biggest when they are all done growing:-) my current vote is gus. look at that hoss!

breakfast was particulary cute/funny this morning. this is just so "boy" and i love it.

see the cheerio on his booty?


we had a playdate this morning with a buddy of gus's, ben. they are some cute little boys!! nice to get some chat time with another mom of 3 little ones about the same age as ours. thanks for having us becca!

just a goofy picture waiting on the dr at leo's appt....what a cheese

thanks for reading!

SNOW

so we've had a ridiculous amount of snow! we are going on like our 7th snow day or something.



we went to sandy's today to play in their sweet snow fort/slide. this thing was amazing!

this is what leo was doing inside:-)

i was burping leo this morning and he feel asleep...i sorta slid him off my shoulder so i could get up and he stayed asleep in this cute ball:-)

he's cuddly like that:-) i think he's the cudliest so far.

some kid quotes

rex, "i feel sick." me, "how sick?" rex, "like, 20 miles or something..."

??? goob

gus, 30 times a day, "mamam i brusha TEEEEE?" [can i brush my teeth?]

some more goofing around