Sunday Night Couponing

While I was grocery shopping today, I thought .. "Oooh! I am going to buy a Sunday paper and look at the ads!!" So I came home, put everything away, and then went through the coupon section. First I clipped all the manufacturers coupons for items that Lucas and I ALREADY buy. I think this is important. He is pretty brand loyal, and I respect that. But I figure, why not save some dough here and there on stuff we're going to buy anyway? Then I looked through all the store ads. Bo-ring. And lastly, I looked through the Walgreens ad. I found so many things on sale at Walgreens that I had JUST clipped manufacturer coupons for, so I thought.. "this is perfect"! (I'm sure they do that on purpose... ??)

So I decided to go to Walgreens. I've heard that Sundays at Walgreens are a mad house and sometimes everything in the ads is sold out. But I thought, "Well, I live in Kirkwood.. these people probably don't clip coupons anyway" So I decided to go.

I bought ONLY items that were on sale and/or I had a coupon for AND that I would have bought anyway. I think that's key as far as my couponing is concerned.

So, Melissa and Crystal, I think you might be a little disappointed in me. I didn't get out of there under $12 or anything like you guys always do... I was a little dissappointed at myself for that. But here's what I got:



6-pack Viva paper towels (my fav and the only ones I buy)
2 Nivea Lotions
2 Crest toothpastes
1 Crest ProHealth (Lucas' mouthwash)
28-count Always Infinity
2 5-pack disposable razors

Total that I spent: $31.57
Less Registry Rewards that I can use on my next purchase: $5
Grand Total: $26.57

Now, I know this seems like it's a lot still. But According to my receipt I saved $22.23. If I add everything up pre-coupons and sale, my total would have been almost $55 before tax... and remember - I WOULD HAVE BOUGHT ALL THIS ANYWAY - so all in all, I'd say it was a pretty successful trip.

Now let's talk about the actual act of checking out. UUUGGggghhhhh. Ok, I was nice enough to let a lady who walked up right behind me go ahead of me, and I explained that I had some coupons to use. But then, I kid you not, as soon as she scanned my first item, there were AT LEAST 7 people piled up behind me. Mortification does not begin to describe it. All these people are like, "Look at this pregnant lady. She is so selfish because she just has to hold up the whole line so she can save 40 cents on her post-baby overnight maxi pads." I just pretended they weren't there and stared straight ahead at the cashier, who was very nice and helpful, albeit a little slow. I think next time I will go as late as I can stay up, to lessen the likelihood of other shoppers.

So anyway, that's my first couponing story. And I'm real glad that I won't have to buy razors for awhile.. :)

July 2011

Our big Fourth of July plans consisted of a cookout at my dad's. Grammie pulled out the kiddie pool and our nieces, Bailey and Riley, had a blast splashing and romping around.



Here is sweet Riley. :)



Dad and Lucas in deep conversation - Lucas, you look a little bored, though???



I had to include this one of Riley falling out of the pool. LOL



Bailey working it for the camera. Poor girl is so shy....

The next weekend, on 7-9-11, Lucas was a groomsman in Frank and Amanda's wedding. Sorry for the pretty bad pics here... I was sitting kind of far back, and of course, no flash photography = mediocre pictures. But you can still see here how handsome Lucas was in his tux!





We had a great time last weekend with some of my best friends - Amy, Barb and Crystal!! Crystal was in town from Dallas, continuing our yearly tradition of making a point to see one another. (Minus the two years she was on her mish) :) We had brunch, saw Harry Potter, went to SLAM and just had a great time reminiscing! (22 week belly seen below)





And the 5 of us before the movie. Lucas loves my friends from high school, and they love him.. isn't that the way it should be??? :) :)

And last but not least, at our doctor appointment today, we were able to witness some more sisterly love, Baby B kicking Baby A in the head. How adorable. ;)

Easy Breakfast Casserole

Here's an easy recipe for a delicious breakfast, brunch, or even dinner idea. We served this at our house on Saturday, and after it was all gone everyone said, "I want that recipe!" But it was too late to take a picture... :( So I stole the one below from Google Images. I hope you enjoy!

1 tube pork sausage*
6 slices of bread or 1/2 baguette (stale is better)
6 eggs
3 cups milk
dash of ground mustard
salt and pepper
1/2 package to entire package of sharp finely shredded cheddar

Fry your sausage. Then mix it with all other ingredients in a large bowl. (tear the bread into smaller chunks) Pour mixture into 9x13 pan. Bake at 375 for 45 minutes or until top is nice and brown.

*Lucas suggests bacon

Nursery Update

Since the bustle of baby preparation began, Jamie has been the far more frequent blogger in our house. Just kidding...she's been the only blogger in our house! Anyway, I thought that it would be nice if I participated in the blog too, since it's not just her initials up there...

Our babies' room is shaping up quite nicely (mostly thanks to Jamie), but I have picked out a few key things that I'm really pretty proud of. Here are nursery shots #1 and #2:

We bought the chair from Ashley Furniture from a nice lady who was super excited that we were having twins. It's already super soft and comfortable, but we're still working on breaking it in.

Repeat info here: I'm sooooo glad all that painting is done! It seemed like I would never stop painting. I was seeing that blue in my sleep.



After our crib saga, we finally have both of them; one is set up, and one is safely stored in the basement.


One of my favorite things in the nursery is the paintings. They were designed and painted just for us by Jeff Kapfer, a local artist who paints colorful birds.

In other news, we scrapped our other dresser because we decided it was too small. By 'scrapped' I mean moved it into our bedroom until we figure out what to do with it. We bought a new one this weekend with 6 drawers that is longer, and will hold more junk (no full picture - it's not that exciting - half of it is good enough).


Next up is the rug - one of the things that I picked!!! I think I did a really nice job. I really like the circles made of circles.



















AND while we're on things that I picked, the fabric for the crib skirts:
Jamie is going to make them ... get on that, honey.



















My crafty wifey has been pretty busy making things, including this mobile. It was really an effort to balance, but she did it! The key is to balance from the bottom up.
























That, my friends, is the nursery update! Stay tuned for finishing touches.
I might even blog again soon...whoa!

Drum Roll Please....

It's two GIRLS!!! :) :)



At our 20 week ultrasound, we ruled out any major developmental defects! ...We've got 4 arms, 4 legs, 4 hands, 4 feet, and all the right organs in the right places. What a blessing!! These girls are doing such a good job growing!! We are very proud! And, they're acting like twins already! - they both had their arms in the same position, up over their faces in the 'profile shots'. We'll have to go back and get a better look at their sweet faces, because for now they were just a bit overwhelmed with all the poking and measuring in our 90 min appointment.

Afterwards, we went to go pick out little outfits... but everything was very picked over. However, we did find these and we couldn't resist:



One of these kitties is a ballerina and the other is blowing bubbles!!

After our appointment this morning, we had a wonderful afternoon with Lucas' newly married cousin, Ashley, and her husband, Chris, new to St. Louis from Pittsburgh. We drove around Clayton and U City looking at potential apartments because Chris was admitted into Wash U's Engineering graduate program! We'll love having them in St. Louis for at least the next 3 years!! After a little tour by car, we went to the St. Louis Zoo and saw the penguins. It was 100° so our visit didn't last long. And then we had a delicious dinner at Dewey's!!