Croup.

Luke has it. Again. I'm pretty sure this runny nose/fever stuff has been brought on by another round of teething. He has a few incisors that look ready to come in as well as a lower molar. We'll see what the next few weeks bring. He never would go down for his second nap yesterday so we had the crankiest boy ever last evening. We put him down early, and then he got up early this morning. He's taking a nap now (thankfully) so hopefully it'll be a long one and not his only one today.

Luke was supposed to be laying still to get a new diaper on this morning. But he didn't. And I let him because it was too cute and I wanted a picture! He likes to brush his teeth like Kyle and will even spit into the sink.

Doesn't he have the cutest buns you've ever seen!

And here is Luke yesterday reading in his chair.

New tooth!

Luke got another molar yesterday. That makes 10 teeth.

Ponca City and a Talkin' Fool

Well, I had a great Valentines/Birthday. It all happened the same weekend so extra big fun for me! I didn't even try to get a babysitter on Valentines Day so I got one for Friday the 20th. Here's a picture of the beautiful flowers Kyle got me for V-day. Lily's are my favorite flower and tulips are my second favorite. He did good. We went to the Melting Pot and ate WAY too much, but it was SO good.

Monday after we got back from Ponca City I got my birthday present from Kyle. New slippers modeled here by Luke. My old ones had holes in the them so they were much needed. I like them better than my last pair (that I picked out). These stay on my feet. Kyle is also going to watch Luke all day some Saturday here coming up and I get to have a Luke free girls day doing whatever we want. I'm already dreaming.

Saturday morning we went to Ponca City and came back Sunday evening. It was a nice trip. Even better to see mom and dad and Pappaw and Grandma Key on my birthday. And Marjorie the day before. This is a picture of one of the cutest things he did while we were there. Love it! He also took many walks with Grandpa. He does a good job of walking and holding your hand (when required). He walked all the way around Pappaw and Great-Grandma Key's long block and then 3 blocks down to the park, 1 block over and then the 3 blocks home. And his little legs are still attached! I was really suprised that he walked all that way by himself and didn't want carried at all. Luke also loved watching the trains go by. We're pretty sure Solomon is in for a treat with that as well. While there, Luke pulled out all the stops and said like a bazillion new words. He now can say:

Car, sock, shoe, tractor, apple, duck, roar like a lion, dog, cat, "butt" for button, book, mama, daddy, "side" for outside....mom might remember more. He sure was experimenting. We're currently working on saying Solomon and "Mama pretty". We'll see if he can master it before Solomons much anticipated arrival on March 7.

Points

Question/Favor...

Does anyone buy Pampers but not use their Gifts to Grow Rewards codes? If so, I'd love you forever if you'd let me know if you don't mind sharing them with me.

Also....Anyone not using their My Coke Rewards points (found on the inside of Coke product boxes and inside the lid of the 2-liter bottles) mind sharing those as well?

I can get Coupons for these things....and you KNOW how I love the coupons!

Hip Hip Hooray! It's a DOUBLE Gymboree Day!

Here's a better picture of Luke hanging on the Monkey Bars.

We went to Gymboree AGAIN tonight. We had a make up from when Luke was sick and we needed to get it in before our month was over. Kyle came with us tonight to see what it was like.

We got home at 7:45 which is when we normally start his bedtime routine. Kyle brought him in from the car and set him down and he fussed at little bit. I thought he didn't want to be put down yet so I held out my arms to him to pick him up. He ran right around me and straight to the refrigerator and started yanking on it. He wanted his milk and bedtime snack and to go to bed. We let him.

Hip Hip Hooray! It's a Gymboree Day!

Luke has been having lots of fun during his visits to Gymboree. We only have 2 more times left to go. We'll miss it! Maybe the weather will be more consistantly warm and we can have more outside playtime.

Luke enjoys bouncing on the trampoline.

Climbing up this took all this muscles. It required lots of grunting.

Walking on the "Low" uneven bridge.

His favoite. Hanging from the monkey bars. He wasn't even scared to fall on the mats below.

The theme at Gymboree today was "High and Low". They had a high and low "balance beem" for them to walk on. Luke would hang onto my hand so tight and take tiny steps across the high one. It was cute. He isn't a big fan of parachute time...kinda scary for him. But, he LOVES to get his Jimbo (the puppet they use there) stamp on his hands and tummy. He had on a onsie but remembered from last time he got a stamp on his tummy and he kept trying to pull up his shirt so he could get one again, so I finally pulled his pants down and undid his shirt so he has 2! peek-a-boo Jimbo's on his tummy. They entertain him while getting a diaper change. We're going back tonight to do a make up and Kyle wants to get a better picture of him on the monkey bars, so be watching for that!

Also, Luke got his first 1 year molar yesterday!! Woot Woot! His upper right. 1 painful tooth down, 3 more to go. Not looking forward to it. This morning Kyle and I decided that there should be a Tooth Fairy that gives prizes when you get a new tooth (it takes more work than losing one, sometimes!) so I'm now the official New Tooth Fairy. The prize is a kiss. Let me know if I owe you one.

Well.

Turns out, I'm about the only one who loves my deal finding posts, so I'm compromising. I'm still posting my deals--I mean they're just too exciting to not share! but I'll be sure to include at least one Luke story to make it worth your time, my 3 avid readers. But the good part is at the end--so there!
The following I got at Walmart with coupons for free: Jet Dry (5.97 value), Can of DelMonte diced tomatoes, 2 liter Diet Dr. Pepper, and Windex. The following I got at CVS. I paid 2.97 out of pocket and got 8.97 in extra bucks. 2-6hr energy drinks, 2 boxes granola bars, 2 small boxes Wheat Thins, 2 Toothpastes, 1 razor, 4 toothbrushes, 1 conditioner and 2 infant tylenol's. Luke's recent croup, cold and then brush with death--I mean teething, greatly deminished our supply.

Luke said his first word a few weeks ago: Car. Since then he's added book and apple. He can also roar like a lion. I'll try to catch him on video and post it. It's so cute. And he loves to play Ring Around the Rosie. Sometimes it's hard for him to fall down and he really has to work at it, but you can see he was successful in this attemp. We're looking forward to visits from my mom and dad (well, really they're visiting my Pappaw and Grandma Key in Ponca City, but I think it counts!) and from Michael, Audra and baby Girl, and Solomon. Can't wait to see you all!

Notable Quotable

Tonight at 8:34pm while getting Luke ready for bed.

"Luke, it's not too late to put you in time out."
--Kyle

Rachel's Couponing Tips (especially for Michael)

This post is going to stink if you don't care about how I get all my free stuff.

Keep in mind, that I am a complete amateur, and I really am not very good at the whole couponing thing. First I'll list my tips, and then some things that I've done to make things easier for me. Also, it really helps to live near a CVS. That's where I'm finding my best deals. Walgreens has some good 'uns, but it's no CVS.

1. Clip every coupon from the Sunday paper ect. and save them in an organized fashion. (All You magazine usually has a ton of coupons and is many times worth buying just for the Qpons)

I keep my Coupons in a make up bag I found at Target. I used the small size envelopes and taped index cards vertically in them to make my category holders. I have the following categories: Baby, Bags, Baking, Bread, Canned goods, Cereal-Post, Cereal-Kellogs, Cereal-General Mills, Cereal-Other, Cleaning-Laundry, Cleaning-Kitchen, Cleaning-Misc., Condiments, Dairy, Frozen, Hygiene-Feminine Care, Hygiene-Body Wash/Lotion, Hygiene-Hair Care, Hygiene-Make Up/Face Care, Hygiene-Oral, Hygiene- Razors/Deoderant, Meat, Medicine/Supplements, Mexican, Refrigerated, Seasoning/Spices, Pasta/Rice, Paper Products, Snacks, Miscellaneous, CVS, Resturaunt, Target, Walgreens, Other

It's a lot of categories, I know, but it helps to not get a bazillion coupons in one slot. It makes it much easier to find this way. I didn't used to have all these categories, but found I needed more as time went on and I accumulated a larger coupon stash.

2. Be lazy.

I have a Google Reader account. It is invaluable to me. There are tons of great bloggers out there who are willing to do all the hard work for you. I subscribe to many blogs and follow them on Reader. Reader tells you when there is a new post to any of your subscribed blogs. Many posts I'm not interested in, as they may be telling me about deals at stores that I don't have access to. (Boy do I wish we had a Publix grocery store around here!). Here are the "frugal" blogs I follow: http://babycheapskate.blogspot.com/ http://budgethelpers.blogspot.com/ http://www.couponcravings.com/ http://www.kingdomfirstmom.com/ http://www.moneysavingmom.com/ http://thecentsiblesawyer.blogspot.com/ http://thecentsiblesawyer.blogspot.com/ http://www.swaggrabber.com/blog1.php http://www.5dollardinners.com/

The women who write these blogs keep track of practically every coupon available and match them up with sales, deals, other offers etc. I let THEM tell me what will be free at CVS after Extra Bucks and coupons with sales etc. They also will have LOTS of links for Internet Printable coupons, that you can print right from home. If you're a mom of a baby, the babycheapskate blog tells me every week where the best prices on diapers are. She'll also let me know if it's a stockup opportunity (really great price per diaper). Since following that blog, I haven't bought diapers for more than the stockup opportunity price. It's great.

3. Set your limits

I say set your limits because couponing and deal finding takes time. I could make a full time job out of it! Seriously. There are many more deals to be had out there that I don't particiapte in because I only want to spend a certain amount of time going to the grocery store etc. Many of the excellent Frugal people recommend that you grocery shop at at least 2 stores. I don't do this. I don't want to be running all over the country side. I want to go one place and be done with it. So that's what I do. Could I save more money the other way? Sure. But I'm lazy. Also, when I clip coupons I only clip the ones if they meet my Yes criteria...if this product were free because I had a coupon, would I get it?

4. Don't be brand loyal.

If you really want to save the big, bucks, you can't be brand loyal. I used to be brand loyal in almost everything I bought. Now I'm brand loyal for Shampoo (since I color my hair to get rid of the grays, I need a sulfate free shampoo...usually pretty pricey). I'm not brand loyal for toothpaste, conditioner, body wash, deoderant, make up, moisturizures etc. I'm brand loyal to Bartilla pasta though. Love that stuff!

5. How I plan my trips

Throughout the week, by following blogs, I keep a spread sheet of things that are Free This Week at CVS, Walgreens, Target and Walmart. CVS alwasy has the most, followed by Walgreens, Walmart and then Target. If it's a good week and there are quite a few free things to be had, I'll make a run. If not, then I skip. I usually won't make a run if I'm only going to get 1 thing for free. There are a lot of other good deals to be had, and I do use other coupons, mostly for my regular grocery shopping etc. Once I decide to go, I usually spend about 20 minutes comparing the deals to the coupons I have etc. and decide where I'm going to go, if anywhere, besides CVS. I like to have my plan and my coupons organized before I go, becuase that makes the actual shopping trip so much easier.

Note on Walgreens:

Make sure you get the Walgreens EasySaver catalogue that comes out every month. Every month there are a few items that are completely free after rebate and others that can be free after rebate and coupons etc. You can submit your receits for rebate via the mail or internet. I like the internet, of course, because it's faster. Always choose to get your rebate in the form of a Walgreens gift card (and they can add it onto an exsisting one so you don't end up with 900 of them). When you put it on the gift card, you get a 10% bonus, covering the tax you paid on the item, plus a little profit. So really, they're paying YOU to take products out of their store.

What to do with extras? There is always a local food pantry or mission willing to take your extras. I took mom 6 bottles of Excedrin (can't take...upsets my tummy) that I got for free. I can't use them, but she can. Let me know if you have any other questions!