Bargain: Free books

(Okay, it is still 2009, but this sounded like a great deal so I wanted to share.)

Want to try some new books (or give them as gifts)? Sign up here for 3 free books:
http://read-it-forward.crownpublishing.com/

Bargain: Free items at Harris Teeter

This week, Harris Teeter is doing Super Doubles (doubling up to 1.98), so a $1.50 coupon = $3.00. There are tons of clipped coupons that make items free, but I've listed below the printable coupons (for those of you that don't clip).

I went yesterday and lucked out with tons of free items. Here are some of the best printable deals, if you want to make a trip.

* Weight Watchers Snack Cakes, Cookies or Muffins $1.99
Print $1 coupon, doubles to $2 = item will be free http://print.coupons.com/couponweb/index.aspx?pid=13903&nid=10&zid=xh20&cid=0&bid=1018300001

*Coffee-Mate Creamer 16 oz $2
Print $1 coupon, doubles to $2 = item will be free http://www.coffee-mate.com/Coupons.aspx

*Ore Ida Easy Fries $1.45
Print $1.50/2 coupon, doubles to $3 = buy 2 and items will be free http://offers.oreida.com/Coupon/

*Wholly Guacomole $1.99 (in produce section)
Print $1 coupon, doubles to $2 = item will be free http://coupons2.smartsource.com/smartsource/index.jsp?Link=QR7W6QB5B2VPW

*Lip Smackers $1.99
Print $1 coupon, doubles to $2 = item will be free http://bricks.coupons.com/Start.asp?tqnm=qlhxcgd74341699&bt=wi&o=58456&c=BB&p=g64DoRuH

*Lance crackers $2.00
Print $1 coupon, doubles to $2 = item will be free http://coupons.smartsource.com/Web/index.aspx?Link=GLPAHOLHDARLS

*Contessa seafood on sale for $2.50-$4 Print $1.50 coupon, doubles to $3 = items will be $1.00-$3 if you buy two http://www.contessa.com/promotions/

Enjoy!

2010 - Let's save some money!

Everyone knows I love a bargain! Yes, I can afford full priced groceries and kid's clothes...but why should I pay full price when I don't have to? I'm always hunting for free/almost free items, online coupon codes and freebies. With 2010 around the corner and the economy in its current state, I wanted to use the new year to share the best deals and also start tracking my grocery spending to show everyone that you can still find good deals. Although we don't have a budget, I'm curious to see how much we really do spend on food and hopefully inspire others to find good deals.

My goal is to start saving even more money to afford our dream kitchen renovation!

Below are some of my favorite sites to get you started. Look for shopping tips to start in 2010!

www.retailmenot.com
www.southernsavers.com
www.hotcouponworld.com
www.forthemommas.com

Early December (Part 2)

After the Baptism, we headed up to Chapel Hill for another scan. Fortunately, Grandma and Grandpa were still with us and took Katie back to Virginia so we could concentrate on Emily and her appointments. We received an early Christmas gift when we found out that Emily's tumor shrunk from about 4.2cm to 2cm in diameter! We are due back to Chapel Hill in January for another visit and scan.

From Chapel Hill, we headed up to Virginia for a week long visit. We stayed with Grandma and Grandpa...it was quiet a full house! Katie stayed busy playing with everyone.

Katie watched the Rockettes and practiced their moves. Maybe she'll try out one day!

We ended our visit with Grandpa's holiday party. It is always a great time and has so many fun activities for kids - Santa, sugar plum fairies, toy soldiers on stilts, arts and crafts, family photos and much more! Katie was thrilled to see Santa, until she actually got there. We got a few Santa pictures, but no smiles. At least she wasn't screaming like some other kids!

She loved the crafts...decorating ornaments, making jewelry, and candy cane decorating.

We can't wait for Christmas with Uncle Mikey, Grandma and Grandpa. Now that Katie is starting to understand the holiday, it makes it so much more special. She loves Christmas music, lights that are "booootiful" and Santa's HO HO HO.

Time to start thinking about those fun New Years' resolutions...hmmm....

Early December (Part 1)

We've had a busy December already, so I'll attempt to chronicle everything here BEFORE Christmas arrives. We'll see how I do...

We started off December by going to the the Town Center's holiday parade and tree lighting. Katie was overjoyed to see Santa ride in at the end of the parade and even got a hot pink glow stick necklace.Uncle Ken came for a visit and Katie had lots of fun bossing him around. Here he is "babysitting" Katie while we did things around the house. Nice job, Uncle Ken.

On December 5th, we celebrated Emily's Baptism. So many family and friends attended, it was wonderful. I wish they could all be around more often.

Of course, Emily looked like a little princess. The Christening gown is the same one I wore 29 years ago! Katie also wore it for her Baptism and I hope their kids wear it too!

Miss Katie was also looking snazzy in her new outfit from Gma. She did some posing for the camera because she knew she was too cute.

Lots more to share, but this post is getting long. I will continue with Part 2 later this week!

"Uhhh Peekaboo"

Katie had so much fun with her Uncle Mikey last week!

Emily at 2 months

Miss Emily turned 2 months old last week and has been starting to show lots more personality. She did great at her 2 month checkup and they said everything looks perfect (from the outside). She is starting to track with her eyes, lift her head more and show signs of wanting to roll over. She weighed 10 pounds, 6 ounces (22 percentile) and 22 inches long (17th percentile). She is our petite one, but that is OK!

She has started to smile and the best part is this little grunt/chuckle she does when we are acting goofy. She thinks it is pretty funny when Daddy does piggy noises or when we make cooing sounds. Katie is still being a great big sister and rubs Emily's head when she cries or tells her it will be ok.

We also had a nice Thanksgiving. Just the four of us. I probably spent too much time cooking and made too much, but oh well. We took the traditional photo of "baby in a roasting pan". Our little 10 pound turkey thought it was pretty fun. The last picture is of Katie in the roasting pan 2 years ago!

We are preparing for Emily's upcoming Baptism and then will be headed to Chapel Hill for more testing before we decide to 1) wait longer or 2) get the surgery. Please pray for her and let's hope that the tumor has shrunk or disappeared all together! Miracles can happen!

Look-alike Meter

Some of Emily's sounds

First trip to the dentist

They say that kids should go to the dentist after their first couple teeth have appeared. Well ,life gets in the way sometimes...oh well. Today, Katie went on her first dentist visit. Of course, it wasn't without tears but they were super gentle and kid friendly. The dentist told her how they were going to use a tiny mirror to look at her teeth while singing the ABCs, then they would put magic fairy dust on her teeth (fluoride) while singing 'twinkle twinkle'. It all sounded good to Katie, until the procedure began. They had me hold her so she wouldn't be intimidated by the big chair, so it really was as comfortable as could be. The second the dentist entered her mouth, the tears started to flow...but they really made it as fast as possible. As soon as they stopped, she stopped crying and just hung on to me while they went over the results...


Katie's teeth looked very good and she had no cavities. They said they see a lot of cavities in smaller kids because of bad brushing, sweets, etc. Luckily, Katie doesn't really like sweets and only gets a few ounces of juice a day. They did say her teeth looked a little more crowded than they would like, which sometimes means that her adult teeth will come in close together...but they said the braces discussion is still a far way off.

Grandma and Grandpa - you pay for braces, right? ;)

Overall, it wasn't an awful experience and they don't need to see her back for another year. The trip ended with a new green turtle toothbrush and a choice of prizes, but she was still "recovering" from the ordeal and so I picked a pink turtle for her. Since then, she's been carrying the turtle everywhere and had to call Grandma to tell her that her teeth were pretty.  

Neuroblastoma

I thought I'd post a little bit about Emily's health issues, since I haven't done so yet. I don't really like to talk about it and just want all the procedures to be over so I can have a healthy baby. I was torn about posting and keeping this blog upbeat and happy, but it is a pretty big part of our lives and so I thought I'd share.

I'm not sure there is anything worse than having something wrong with your child and not being able to "fix it". Our time spent in the NICU and our frequent visits to Chapel Hill's Children and Cancer hospitals have been extremely trying and makes you realize that 1) you should be thankful for every minute with your child and 2) there are parents and children in worse positions than you and it is awful.

About 6 months into my pregnancy, an ultrasound tech saw something small above Emily's kidney. From that point on, I was monitored weekly by a specialist that checked Emily's growth and the mass. After she was born, they confirmed that the mass was of significant size - about 4 cm. Fortunately, everything else has been great...good eating, breathing, etc. She was transported to Children's hospital for a few days and since then, we make monthly trips. Her case has been assigned to an pediatric oncologist and a pediatric surgeon. We love her oncologist and the entire Pediatric Cancer center...they are great people that have REALLY tough jobs.

In November, Emily went through an MIBG (radioactive dye that is inserted and scanned through a gamma machine), an MRI and a CT scan. The MIBG is used to identify cancers and unfortunately the adrenal mass did come up on the scan, leading the doctors to diagnose the mass as a neuroblastoma. Here is what I know about neuroblastomas, so far:

-Form of cancer found in children, which attacks nerve cells and forms a cancerous tumor
-Usually occurs in the adrenal gland (above/attached to the kidney)
-About 650 cases in the US per year
-Treatment options are surgery, radiation, chemo and clinical trial (Emily's mass is too big to be included in our doctor's clinical trial)
-4 stages (stage 1 is a tumor that can be completely removed with a cure rate of over 90%, up to stage 4 which occurs when the cancer has spread to areas like bone marrow and other organs with a cure rate of 50-80%)
The cure rate is much better when the neuroblastoma is detected before age 1, which makes me SO thankful to that one ultrasound tech who noticed something strange on my ultrasound. Neuroblastomas are the only form that can regress on their own, however Emily's is a little bigger than they normally see. On the other hand, it shrunk slightly last time, which gives us hope. We are due back to Chapel Hill in a few weeks, where she will be scanned again. If it has shrunk significantly, we can wait longer to see what happens. If it has stayed the same, they are suggesting surgery. Either way, it is our decision to make and I'm not sure how we are going to do it. Part of me just wants the tumor out, but that means surgery that has its own risks and they may need to remove her kidney in the process. I don't want her to lose a kidney, so it is a difficult decision to make.

I see these parents in the cancer center, sitting with their kids getting chemo and I wonder how they do it every day...both the kids and the parents. It is hard to think of something being wrong every time you look at your baby. I pray that in a year, Emily will be waddling around the house and we can look back and laugh about it all because she will be tumor and cancer free.

Emily's big debut

Grandma requested some Emily videos now that she is alert and starting to coo/smile. Of course, Katie couldn't miss out on the action...so you will hear her narrating most of the time and coming in for kisses. In the second video, Katie said she wants to tell Emily about food and all I could make out was "french fries, chicken nuggets"...listen for it.

New rug dance

Everytime we get a new rug, Katie has to break it in with her dancing. Today was no exception...

Eagles dance

How come I'm the only TRUE Philadelphian and the only one without an Eagles shirt? I used to have one (thanks Dad) but I think it has made its way into hubby's drawer.

The best part of Halloween (for Katie)

Some think that the best part of Halloween is the candy (I sure do), but Katie thinks that it is running to the door when trick or treaters arrive. Of course, the better video was taken sideways...but I thought I'd share it anyway.

Happy Halloween!

Katie had a very festive Halloween this year! It started with a Fall party at school (on Friday). Parents were invited, so I took in some pumpkin face cookies and joined the party. Katie loved having me there and kept telling me to sit next to her so she could hug me. Other kids started hugging me too (I think they just wished their mommies were there)...it was lovely considering their hands were covered with orange cupcake frosting and cheese puffs.

Saturday was the big trick or treating day! She headed out around 6:30 and went out with Daddy for awhile, then with Mommy. It was a balmy 80 muggy degrees...not fun for toting around a toddler that didn't want to walk on her own. Here is a video of her getting ready for the trip around the block. Note the speech: Trick or treat, I'm a butterfly. Give candy....please.

She was so proud of her speech, but did not say it to a SINGLE person. Instead, Daddy and I had to say trick or treat and thank you...at EVERY house. On the way home, she told us she was shy. HAHAH YEAH RIGHT!

She was out for about an hour and accumulated about half a bag of candy. She was very proud and kept asking us to try different pieces. I think we've opened about 10 kinds for her now...she licks them and then throws them in the trash. I even tried giving her fruity candy, since she loves fruit..."Mommy, no likey...put in the trash." We don't know what is wrong with her, but Andrew and I should gain about 5 pounds each from having to eat all her candy for her :)

Little peanut did not think much of Halloween. She stayed downstairs and went to the door with me a few times, but slept through most of it. I didn't dress her up, as she was pretty tired...but here are a few Halloween pictures for posterity.

One more video to upload later...stay tuned :)

Sisterly love

Katie may not like receiving less attention from us, but at least she adores her new sister!

Some recent Katie comments:
"Emily, don't cry, mommy/daddy will be right back."
After Emily cries "Oh, I go check her"
"I want to hug her/kiss her/hold her"
"Mommy, fix her head!" (when Emily's newborn neck makes her head flop to one side)

Having a sister is like having a best friend you can't get rid of. You know whatever you do, they'll still be there. ~Amy Li

Bargain: 50% off select magazines

Amazon is offering 50% off select magazines with the checkout code: OCTMAG50

Take a look here and you may find one you like! They have Smart Money, Forbes, Good Housekeeping, Dwell, House Beautiful, Popular Science and a few others.

Bargain: Nursing Cover

Go to www.uddercovers.com and get a free nursing cover. Type in"1free" and you just pay the $8.95 shipping.

They are normally $32. Even if you're not a mom this makes a great gift.

Thanks to Heather for forwarding this deal!

Emily's birth story

It is strange to think that 2 years ago, I was writing Katie's birth story and now it is time to do a write up on Emily's big day! Fortunately, this time around, the story is less traumatizing and much less painful.

Sept 25th - 5am
Of course, I'm up early to make sure everything was in order. Grandma arrived a couple days ago to be on Katie duty and accompany me to the hospital for the big day. We all got up, got Katie ready for school and headed to the hospital.
Sept 25th - 11am
I was told to get there early because I needed extra fluids before surgery(due to low blood pressure). Instead, I spent extra time in the waiting room because they were out of triage rooms. I eventually got into a triage room where I received my IV and was prepped for surgery. The nurse came in to tell me that she had another patient that was starting to push, so I could be delayed anywhere from 30 min to 2 hours.

The Final Belly picture:

Sept 25th - 11:30am
My doctor came into my room to tell me that the other woman wasn't pushing very well and she doesn't want to make me wait, so she's going to deliver me first. What luck...that never happens! So, within minutes, I'm up and walking to the OR. Kisses to Mom, Mom Mom and hubby while they take me back to give me the spinal.
Sept 25th - 12pm
The OR temp feels to be set around 40 degrees. I'm sitting on the table shaking like crazy...I'm not sure if it was the temperature or the fact that a needle was being inserted in my spine. Either way, the nurses were amazing and huddled around me with warm blankets. As soon as the spinal block was inserted, I was told to lay straight down so that it could start to work. Within about 10 minutes, I couldn't move my legs and concentrated on taking deep breaths (spinals and epidurals numb your chest as well and make you think you are not breathing because you can't feel your lungs). Hubby was brought into the room and things got under way.
The surgery took a little longer than expected due to pretty bad scar tissue. She said it could be due to the way my body heals or because last time was an emergency deliver. Either way, she said I need to think twice about having a 3rd child as it could be pretty damaging. It was depressing news, but we will stick with the happy story. Unfortunately, the scar tissue required them to use a vacuum and forceps to deliver me.

Sept 25th - 12:48pm
Emily Grace is born! She was just perfect, although I didn't get to see her immediately. Andrew went to cut the cord and she was brought to me all clean and shiny! They let me hold her for about 10 minutes and then she was taken to the nursery.

I'm so happy to have my two beautiful girls!

More to come later...

6 more hours until I meet my baby!

Today is the day...my newest baby girl arrives! If all goes as planned, she will be here by noon and I will get to hold her by early afternoon. I can't wait!

I saw this quote on another blog today and had to steal it. It made me think of being a mother and how all I care about is EG (for those that don't know her name yet) being healthy and safe. I haven't even really thought about going through surgery, any risks or recovery. I have complained about hoping that my surgery time doesn't get bumped, so I guess I'm a little selfish there. Anyway...something to think about today, while I'm offline for a while...

May you learn from a child today and try not to teach the

world a lesson bathed in selfish ambitions.

Tea party

Katie's birthday "tea party" with Daddy

Read the next post for her birthday recap

Birthday weekend recap

Katie's birthday is not until Wednesday, but we decided to use this weekend to celebrate (since she won't be in school and I'm not in labor yet). I started off Katie's birthday by assembling the Elmo cupcakes. The final result was decent, although I knew she wouldn't eat them (I was right)...but oh well.She received gifts throughout the day, starting with a kitchen and a tea party set...it was quite a hit!

...she also got her first soccer ball...

...and lots of great clothes from Gma and Uncle Ken! She really loved all the birthday cards, too.

As you can see, she was a little overwhelmed with the singing and Elmo cupcakes. "Mommy, why would I want to eat my best friend, Elmo?". I guess I can't blame her!

Happy Birthday baby girl!

7 more days!

I've been crazy with the posts lately, but expect that to drop off in about...6 days. Next Friday at this exact time, I should be meeting our new baby girl! (Let's all hope that my surgery doesn't get bumped from the scheduled time slot)

This weekend, we plan to celebrate Katie's birthday...which probably means some funny videos. We will definitely record tomorrow morning when she gets the first glimpse of her new kitchen (includes a fridge, microwave, oven, sink, cabinets, etc). It should be very interesting and I'm sure she won't want to break away from it.

Later tomorrow, we are headed to "Safety Day" where they will check baby's new car seat install and also have police and fire fighters there to greet kids with activities. Katie loves fire trucks, so hopefully she has a good time!

And...in 5 more days, Katie will get to see her Grandma! We haven't told her yet, but know she will be sooo excited! Need to start making the Elmo cupcakes soon...should be interesting. If they are decent, I'll post a picture later.

Bargains: Harris Teeter & Kohls

There are some good deals to be had this week.

#1 - Harris Teeter is tripling coupons. Lots of free items, if you clip coupons.

#2 - Kohls has 10-20-30% off this week. Use the 30% off code online, along with free shipping. I got lots of great kid clothes, a halloween costume and wall letters for the nursery.

Happy shopping!

Story time with Miss Katie

I'm a grown up

Here is Katie "walking the dog", in my slippers. She was doing it perfectly before we turned the camera on, then the dog wouldn't cooperate...but I guess that's what makes it so funny.

Bargain: Free song download

Everyone knows I love a bargain...I should probably start listing some of my better deals here, so that everyone can share in the fun. Here is my first one:

Amazon is giving away 1 million free songs. I know there are tons of ways to get a song, but it is fast and easy if you already have an Amazon account. Just downloaded one in about 5 seconds.

Click here to get yours!

Enjoy!

Three and a half more weeks (I hope)

Children's museum

We went to the Children's museum on Saturday and Katie had a blast. They have quite a few different areas - pirate ship, an art room, train sets, a science room, a doctor/dentist area, sound stage, and my favorite...a pretend grocery store and restaurant.

Here are a couple videos:

In other news - exactly 1 month from now we will be a family of four (whether she comes naturally or I go for my scheduled c-section). WOW!

The Hole

This is what we do when Katie has been naughty.

Just kidding!

Dance part-ay!

Kiddie update

So much going on...but here is a little recap.

• Finished my last MBA course before maternity leave. I didn't want to risk another 6 week course, since it would be too close to my due date. So, I'm not officially 50% done...8 classes down, 8 more to go.
• Katie is doing great in her big girl bed...no issues at all. If only potty training were this easy (we're still not making any progress there and I don't want to push her). Hopefully Grandma or Mom Mom will have better luck and can train her for me.
• Last appointment at the maternal-fetal medicine specialist didn't go so well. The mass above baby's kidney has grown in size and changed shape, so they are now seeing me every week for testing. They have a pediatric surgeon and pediatric radiologist on call for after the birth, in case anything needs to be done. We'd probably go to Chapel Hill for the surgery, but hopefully it won't come to that. They are going to discuss if I should just deliver in Chapel Hill, but I haven't heard an answer on that yet. It was a sad appointment, but at least hubby was there too and helped me think of questions. I go back on Tuesday and am hoping for better news, although I don't think the mass will shrink at this point. Keep praying!
• I am 90% sure we've picked a name, but don't want to announce it yet because I'm letting it sink in. Stay tuned.
• Katie has been having a great time at the pool and we may be taking her to the beach this weekend. She's already told us she won't go in the water, which is probably good since the hurricane is passing by NC on Saturday and waves/undertow are supposed to be bad. Check out my little pip!

Thoughts and prayers

A lot of people already know this, but I thought I'd share online for those that I don't talk to as often. Last week, a spot was found on baby's right kidney while I was getting a routine ultrasound at my OB's. The next day, I was sent to a Maternal Fetal Medicine specialist that confirmed there is a small mass above baby's kidney (below the adrenal gland...as far as we can tell). We have been in a little bit of shock, since we assumed that everything has been and would be perfectly fine with our baby's health...and hopefully it will be, in the end.

The mass is measuring about 1x1.5 cm and all the findings are being passed onto a pediatric surgeon, as well as the hospital so they can be prepared. The silver lining is that all her organs are functioning perfectly (heart, brain, etc) and I have great amniotic fluid (which would not happen if her kidneys were not functioning). We are trying not to worry and will take it day by day after she's born. We are hoping it will go away before she's born (unlikely now that I'm getting close to delivery) or that it will be a benign issue that can be left alone.

Either way, all thoughts and prayers are much appreciated. I will keep everyone posted as I continue to be monitored by the specialist...next appointment is in about 10 days.

As you can see, she's already being a drama queen before she is even born (notice the hand across the forehead...so dramatic!)

31 weeks - 2 months to go

I thought it was time for another Baby #2 update, since I know my Dad loves to hear about the baby's size. Baby is...

-18 inches long and will gain another inch in the next week

-around 3.5-4 pounds

-able to hear distinct sounds

-practicing opening and closing her eyes and breathing


I've started to get sore over the past two days and may have to break out the Tylenol soon. I feel like I'm walking around on "tree stumps" (as my mom would say) because my legs feel like swollen blobs. Breathing is starting to get difficult as my lungs lose space, so I can't really take a deep breath like I would like to! Sleeping is not fun and I get up every few hours, usually to go to the bathroom and to attempt to find a position that is somewhat comfortable.


I will leave out some of the less glamorous details but...let the complaining beginning!

Beach bum

Katie is starting to adjust to the hot weather (as we all are) and was very excited for her first beach visit. She's gone before, but wasn't yet walking and didn't really enjoy sitting in the mushy sand. This time, she still wasn't thrilled with the crashing waves, but loved that there were thousands of shells for her to collect.

She is very methodical in everything she does and the shell collection was no different. She picked only certain ones and then had to "put them away" back in the ocean. Once we get things more organized, we'll pack up the beach umbrella and go for a longer visit. Below are some pictures of our little beach bum.

"Here Daddy, you hold this one"

"Hmm..this one is no good...back it goes!"

"That was tiring, carry me home." (Mommy wishes someone would carry her too!)