Playhouse Disney . . . here we come!

I'm so excited. Luke started watching playhouse Disney around his first birthday. His cousins have long been huge Disney fans, but Luke is just to the age where he's getting really excited about certain characters. Prior to him turning two, naps were pretty un-flexible (is that an actual word) and taking him to sit through a performance . . . did NOT sound like fun at all. This year however, Mickey is THE MOUSE!!! Everything is Mickey. So, when I found this post on Frugal Living, I had to jump at the chance to go see the characters live and in person. So on January 30th Playhouse Disney will have the Baker's sitting in their audience with one VERY happy little two year old!

Well . . . POOP!

Yes, this is a blog about poop. Why? Because Baby #1 is beginning to recognize his bodily functions. Last week he peed on the potty on two different occasions before his bathtime. Today, I was getting ready for the day at my bathroom sink, and I turn to look in the closet, and he's in there . . . grunting. Great. "No, no, no!" Do you need to go poop? Low and behold he didn't go in his diaper. (This is a HUGE first). So, I set him on the toilet and he proceeds to do his business. I was completely shocked. First of all, I always catch him after the fact. Secondly, just a few months ago, this is the same child who was scarred to death of sitting on the toilet, or even on a child's toilet ring on top of the toilet. Now, he sits up there proud as can be. And, I must say, I praised him ALL day long for his accomplishment. We called Daddy at work, Grandma Jean & Auntie Shell to tell them all the good news. And boy, did he beam whenever we told someone about his success. Because of that, we had to take a picture. And no. There's nothing showing in the picture people. That would be gross. Very gross.

BTW - Baby #2 decided to poo while playing in her saucer, and it went up her back. Absolutely gross. And no. There is no picture of that. UGH. The title is very appropriate.

4 Months

Baby #2 turned four months on the 3rd. Okay, I'm a little late in posting this. I was being frugal people. Buying diapers. See previous posts. Anyhow, thought I would share a picture or two of her. She's growing up so fast. So here's a question for ya. How come belly fat doesn't shrink as quickly as babies grow??? Hmmmmm??? One of life's little mysteries.

Pampers . . . Pampers Everywhere!

It's official. I enjoy couponing. It's my new hobby. And now that I've got sort of a system figured out. . . it's fun. Really fun. Like today. I bought $30 worth of Pampers and got $20 in coupons back. I paid $10 out of pocket and did it again. And again. And again. And again. In the past I have often gone to Babies R Us to get the biggest pack possible. I didn't realize I was paying .40 cents a diaper. Today I paid .10 cents a diaper. Thats a savings of 75% - it's ALOT! This isn't all I have, it's just what I bought TODAY. And that picture of coupons. I still have all that to spend. Yay!

SIDE NOTE: If I'm buying this many diapers, then guess what I do all day. And to think that I wonder at the end of each day what I've accomplished. Some days I just need to check the garbage to remind myself. Oh yes. If anyone ask what I do for a living? I'm in the importing and exporting business. I import food (into the babies) and (they) export (the food) into the diapers. Oh boy. I crack myself up.

2009 Savings

I have decided to track (to the best of my ability) our spending and savings for household & grocery items during 2009. I am still somewhat new to couponing and I'm excited to see how much I can save for my family during the upcoming year. With two babies in diapers and one on formula, our expenses will certainly be higher this year. However, the new year has just begun and the savings has started already. This evening I bought 6 jumbo packs of pampers, 2 packages of pork chops, 7 boxes of hot pockets, 6 boxes of lean cuisines & 2 boxes of Electrosol dishwashing tablets for $44.84 and saved . . . get this $42.00. Not too bad for diapers, however, I think we can do better, because I'm still learning. Stay tuned . . .

Marley & Me or is that Summer & I ?

Marley & Me

On New Years day one of my brothers, sister, Baker and I all went to see a movie. We had all the intentions of seeing Jim Carrey's new movie Yesman however, when coordinating 6 people (my dad & stepmom too - they were the babysitters) and everyone is a little bit late, it adds up. Let's just say, the movie was in one of the smallest auditoriums and even the front row was occupied. No one was going to share their "saved" seats with us I might add. So, we exchanged our tickets and decided to see Marley & Me. It was good and wholesome, but better viewed as a rental in my opinion. Anyhow, getting to the point. OH yes. It was a story that reminded me of my life. And Baker I know was thinking the same thing. Probably right along the time Aniston has two small boys and is a stay at home mom. She puts the kids down for a nap and flops onto her own bed with the dog Marley. Marley hears the garbage truck and jumps up, starts barking and wakes up the sleeping babies and nap time is thus concluded. Enter Wilson, and Aniston loses it. "GET THAT DOG OUT OF HERE!" The kids haven't napped in two weeks and the dog needs a new home! Now, any of you who have read my blog would know that I could have made a fortune turning in a script of my life and having a movie named Summer and I made for the big screen. The real reason for this post. Baker and I were driving home from church today, and we were looking at all the snow still on the rooftops of some of the houses in one section of town, and I mentioned moving there so we could still have snow. He mentioned living in a more prominent (pricey) area. I chuckled,"right" I thought. I mentioned after seeing Marley and Me that we should move to a place with a big yard for our dogs and the kids. I told him, "after seeing that movie I was ready to move." He said, "me too!" But, we still have time he concluded. We can wait. The babies are small, and by the time they are ready to run and stretch their legs, maybe we will be too. Next house. Hopefully that doesn't mean there will be another dog too.

OH MY GOODNESS!

I was just talking to Nat (baby #2). And low and behold, I saw two white outlines of teeth under the bottom gums. AH! This was after I commented to Baker on how big she was getting. We no longer have a little infant baby. We have a big baby girl who has recently found her tongue and loves to "talk" too!

Sound Mind, Sound Mom Book Club for '09

If you are setting some goals for 2009, I would highly encourage you to read more. I love to read and have decided that I'm going to give this book club a try in '09. If you would like to join, take a look at the book list . . . it's a great one! I just ordered the first two books on the list and added a third that I want to read on my own The Millionaire Next Door. We will see if this mommy of two babies can get her reading done in 2009! Anyone want to join me?

One of These Things Doesn't Belong

I know most people are packing up their Christmas decor, but I had to publish this a little late rather than never. You see, there's a twist to the traditional manger scene here at our house this Christmas season. According to a two year old . . . this is how it looks. Apparently Dusty (from Handy Manny's tools) joined the crowd this year.

PS - It's been this way for a week!

Being a Crazy Coupon Lady . . .

sure has benefits! When I attended a recent class taught by the ladies over at Frugal Living Online, I was told to set goals of why I'm couponing. Don't just do it because. Be purposeful with my savings. So, I definately took that to heart and came up with several reasons why it would be okay for me to be the lady in line at the grocery store who pulls out her huge wad of coupons. So here are a few of my reasons in no particular order.

1. To be resourceful with what I've been given.


2. To cut my previously generous grocery/eating out budget in half.


3. To pay cash for our Christmas gifts.


4. To save for our upcoming Disneyland vacation in '09.


5. To eliminate our credit card debt.

I'm so excited to say that we were successful with our goal of paying cash for all our Christmas gifts this year. There is a huge relief that we did not add to our debt with Christmas, and that come January we just keep chippin' away at our cc instead of watching the balance go up. Another goal that I'm seeing progress towards is goal #2. I have cut our food budget by $220 a month with coupons. In order to pay for Christmas I still pulled out the original amount I would have spent on groceries (I use cash for our groceries/dining out) and kept a portion of that money in an envelope for Christmas. This is what I will continue to do in order to save for our vacation next fall. However, there have been some recent developments with Baby #2 where she is currently on soy formula. Buying formula will most definately increase our food budget. I did manage to do a formula/coupon swap with someone off craigslist and received $30 in formula coupons! Another noteworthy thing to mention is that I am now including toiletries and dog food in this new food budget also. I had never previously figured that into my grocery money seeing as how things like toilet paper and razor blades aren't edible. But! We are still saving money each month and I include food for two dogs and our toilet paper, paper towels, razor blades etc. So, I encourage you, if you need to make some changes in your budget for 2009 . . . you just might look into becoming a crazy coupon lady too!