Jaime's Journal

Jason and I have learned to be wise spenders now that we're on a tight budget. Here is what I've learned about saving money on diapers:

I never pay more than half price for diapers, and I almost always buy name-brand (usually Huggies). The smaller packs of Huggies retail for $11.99 around here; if I can't get them for $6 or less, I usually pass. I do this by combining coupons, sales, and rebates. I've found the best deals at Walgreens and Rite Aid. Here are a few examples:

1) Last March, Walgreens had a deal where, if you spent $25 or more on Huggies, you got $10 back in Register Rewards. They were on sale for $10 a pack. There was also a great internet coupon that was $5 off each package. I could only print 3 per computer, but I asked everyone I could think of to print some for me. I'd go in, buy 3 packs, use 3 coupons, pay $15 out of pocket and get $10 back in Register Rewards. I ended up getting three packs for $5.

2) Rite Aid has a deal going on now where if you buy 5 packs of Huggies, you get a voucher for a free pack. Plus, they're on sale right now, and I have manufacturer coupons, and there's currently a $3 rebate. In addition, Rite Aid frequently has $5 off $25 coupons that you can print out and use... see the next point. Today I bought a pack for $10, minus a $2 coupon and a $3 rebate -- $5 total. I bought another pack for $10, minus a $3 coupon and a $5-off-purchase coupon -- $2 total.

3) Even when Huggies weren't on sale at Rite Aid, I scored free or almost-free diapers using the $5 off $25 coupon. I noticed there were lots of free-after-rebate items available, so I bought $25 worth and used my $5 off $25 coupon. Then, I bought a pack of diapers and some more free-after-rebate items and used another $5 off $25 coupon. I had a couple coupons to use on the free-after-rebate coupons, too. The money I saved in coupons covered the diapers, and the rest of my out-of-pocket expenses I got back in my rebate check.

4) At both Walgreens and Rite Aid, you can match up their coupons with manufacturer coupons. Walgreens recently had a Back-to-School Savings booklet full of coupons, including a $2 off Huggies wipes coupon. They're normally $3, so that's a great deal -- even sweeter when I added a $.50 manufacturer's coupon. I ended up paying 50 cents for a box of wipes!

Of course, the sales don't always run this great, but I've been able to stock up during the sales, and that lasts me through the dry periods. There are several money-saving blogs and sites I visit regularly to stay tuned in to upcoming sales: MoneySavingMom.com and DealSeekingMom.com, who post general sales at grocery and drug stores, and BabyCheapskate.com , who points out that in the last two years in their entirety, there have only been four weeks where neither Pampers nor Huggies were on sale - and that's only counting the small packs!

Special thanks to Pam Stone for teaching me to coupon well. :)

Today marks our ninth anniversary. :) It's a fun time, especially with my brother's upcoming wedding -- that takes us back! It's also our first anniversary after Addison's birth (last year we went to dinner and then started our baby registry!)

Jason and I started dating when we were 19, so my entire adult life has basically been with him. It's hard to imagine walking this road without him. He's definitely made my life richer. Having Addison around has added a new level of love to our relationship since I get to see him as a doting father. Addie and I are both blessed to have him in our lives, family, and hearts.

Happy anniversary, Jason! "You are my best friend, you are where my heart is."


This pic was before we were dating. For orientation week, our group had flag-patterned shorts. I used extra fabric to make an Indians logo on my shirt, and Jason wanted one too. Oh, and despite appearances, Jason did not have a high-top fade. It's just shadows and a cruddy crop job. :) We started dating a few months later.


This pic was shortly after we were dating. It's one of my favorites, because we were still in that giddy new-relationship stage -- can you tell? :)

I figured I should blog about this day so I don't forget it. Jason's out of town on a Workcamp trip with the youth, so Addison and I have been getting more than our normal share of one-on-one time. Today we headed out to the Canal Fest, an annual festival in the neighboring cities of Tonawanda and North Tonawanda.

I thought it'd be good to go during the day because it was less crowded. That was true to a point; I scored a nice free parking spot on a neighboring street. But the midway of the festival was crammed with people. Addison had a great time. She kept making "oooh" sounds. I think the crowds, people, noises, lights, and prizes were very exciting for her.

After we cleared the midway section, we took a walk over the bridge to the Long Homestead (a historical home built on the canal). Outside were two men in period garb; one was DeWitt Clinton, former mayor/senator/governor of New York, and I forget the other guy because I am not a historian like my brothers, but he had a cool military costume on. :) DeWitt's little girl came out too, who was also in period dress and had a doll with her. She told me the doll was named Grilled Cheese, because the person who made it for her always made her grilled cheese sandwiches. I got Addison's picture taken with this eclectic bunch: military general, 1800s politician, little girl, Grilled Cheese, and my baby.

We walked around by the creek (actually, it might've been the canal; the canal and Ellicott Creek are both very close to each other and I can never remember which is which.) Then I pulled out a blanket and Addison and I sat on the grass, watching the boats. Actually, I watched the boats while she picked a piece of grass and put it in her mouth. Then I watched her more closely. :) There is nothing like a sweet little baby to help one stop and smell the roses... or eat the grass as the case may be. She probably spent about 15 minutes carefully plucking individual blades, studying them in her hands, and then trying to put them in her mouth.

That's the day. She's asleep now, but it was so nice to have that time with her.

My daughter is seven months old! That is so crazy to me. :) Here is a glimpse into her life these days:

She is growing into the name "Addie". (Some people have been calling her that for awhile, but she is just seeming like an Addie to me lately.)

She just rolled over from back to stomach a couple days ago. It's not a huge deal, though, because she has been able but unwilling for a long time. She has all the muscle coordination and strength, and will often roll over 175 degrees to grab a toy... but she has no use for tummy time, so she immediately goes back to face-up. I was trying to show our friends James and Korey how she will do that, and that was the moment she decided to debut her first back-to-front roll. She only stayed on her tummy for about 10 seconds before rolling back over, though.

I am wondering if she will crawl at all, or just go to walking.

She has started her assisted walking stage. If she's held by the hands or under the arms, she will high-step her way across the room. It's super cute.

Still no teeth!

I think this is my favorite stage so far. She's very funny and interactive.
Happy 7 months, Addison!!

One amazing dad. One adoring little girl. One blessed family. Happy Father's Day, J. We love you!

Addison loves to sneeze. She thinks it's a great time. She has never been sick, so up until now, most of her sneezes are just nose-ticklers.

For the past three days, she has been sneezing lots of clear mucus. She also hasn't been sleeping well and has had a few fussy bouts here and there. She's felt a little warm to me, but has no fever and no other symptoms. She's happy and active and normal (except for what I listed above).

Her sneezes are killing me, though. She is pretty funny... I hear an "ah-choo" and then glance over to see my sweet little girl, her face covered in snot, grinning ear-to-ear because her sneeze was so fun. I've got to jump into action before she rubs her hands across her face. Although she doesn't spit up much anymore, I've taken to arming myself with burp cloths once again. If I'm holding her, right after the grin she wipes her face on my shoulder. Ni-i-i-i-ce.

I'm really hoping it's teething -- I'd love to see her with a cute little tooth. :)

(God bless you, pumpkin!)

Jason and I had a fun little craft time the other night. Addison has this really sweet bedroom set for her room, but we've never put the diaper stacker to much use. She has a fascination with greeting cards right now (especially ones with faces on them), so I've been trying to find a good way to display them. So, I decided to turn the diaper stacker into a memo board. I wanted to do this while spending as little money as possible, and I ended up spending about $3.50 total.

Here's what I used:
Ribbon (two nine-foot rolls) on clearance at Walmart -- 75 cents each
Bulletin board tacks (Heavy-duty staples would've worked better, but I didn't have any)
Furniture tacks -- around $2 at Walmart
Packing tape
Cardboard (I cut up a box)
Quilt batting (I took apart an old quilt a friend had given me in a bunch of hand-me-downs)
Scissors

Here's how I did it:
I decided to keep the top rectangle of the diaper stacker in tact (it's so pretty, and I could use it for hanging as well). I decided to make the memo board octagon-shaped, so I drew the shape I wanted on the side of a box and cut it out. I used a sturdy box, but the cardboard was thin, so I cut a second layer out and taped them together.


I laid the cardboard down on the batting and tacked it down.

(I was going to use a double layer of batting, pictured above, but after tacking it on I thought it was too thick. I undid it and re-tacked with only a single layer of batting.)

Next, I cut the bottom off the diaper stacker, and then cut the sides (except for the top front panel).

The next step I *should've* done was sewed up the slit between the two halves. We ended up doing that later.

Next, I tacked the fabric down just as I'd done with the batting. Then I covered the back with a layer of packing tape. (I really like packing tape... but more importantly, if a tack pops out, I'd like it to be stuck to the tape instead of laying on the ground where Addison may eat it or step on it.)

After that, I stretched the ribbon and tacked it to the back as well. Then, I added another layer of packing tape.


Then, I added the furniture tacks as a finishing touch.

If I were giving it as a gift, I'd probably cover the back with something pretty... but for my purposes, I don't mind the jagged fabric or the cardboard/tape. :) Now we just need to hang it up and add Addison's cards!

We are on an extremely tight budget these days. Most of the time, I don't mind at all; I like coupon-clipping and bargain-hunting. I have learned a lot from some very wise people about how to get the most out of our money. We actually don't feel like we're missing much.

One major finance-drainer is diapers. Our daughter flies through them. We have been blessed by the fact that Addison does fine with lots of different kinds, and we've experimented with lots of different brands. Walgreens had an awesome deal on Huggies a couple months ago, and when I used coupons too, it was a downright amazing deal. I hit every Walgreens in Western New York (OK, not really, but it felt like it) and we are still using them. Huggies brand diapers also seem to go on sale more often and give more coupons than Pampers, and I especially like the gathered band in the backs -- it has saved Addison's outfits from destruction a number of times.

Now I am excited about Huggies' new Pure and Natural line of diapers. Despite the money-saving benefits and earth-friendliness of cloth diapers, I have always known that they are not for me... and I feel like these new diapers are a good compromise. They're made of renewable materials and organic cotton. There are some great coupons for them right now ($3 off ones at coupons.com). And the sample I ordered came today, and they are so. stinking. cute.

I am *really* hoping I win a pack from one of my favorite bargain sites, www.bargainbriana.com. :)

Here is what has been keeping us busy:

Addison. Of course. She's almost 5 months old. The time is passing way too quickly, but she is a really fun and fascinating kid. Her favorite things lately are her toes, people, going places, and the bunny card Grandma Janet sent her for Easter. She makes the weirdest noises. When she gets tired or bored, she likes to scream. A little embarrassing in public. She also continues to grunt, but it has evolved as she's grown. Lately, she really enjoys taking as deep of a breath as she can, and then letting out a looooong, nasal grunt. Repeatedly. It actually drives me nuts. She also has this funny little noise that sounds like a T-Rex... sort-of a shriek/sigh/grunt. She uses it when she needs something, like when she's trying to fall asleep and her pacifier falls out, or she's in the swing and the batteries stop. She is able to roll from tummy to back, but after doing it several times about a month ago, she hasn't done it since. She's very close to rolling from back to tummy, too. She has recently learned to arch her back. She can almost pop herself out of her Bumbo seat doing this, and she does it when she's on her back and wants to look at something overhead.

Zach came up for spring break. We had a great time. He was wonderful. Keeping up with two kids and their personal agendas is tough work, though!

I recently went through training for a work-from-home part-time job I'm starting. It's helping people with disabilities get services they need -- similar to what I was doing before. I'll be an independent contractor. It will involve lots of Excel worksheets and a couple meetings a month that can work around Jason's schedule. I'm pretty excited about it and I'm now waiting for my first case. (I'll only carry one case at first; six is considered full-time. So it's not even a half-time job.)

Some of our youth are getting confirmed this weekend. We are so excited. :) :) Lots of celebrating! (Since our church baptizes babies at infancy, confirmation is the time when people confirm the vows that were made at their baptism.)

There are other little things happening around here -- life has suddenly gotten busy. But it's a good busy. :)

I recently found a great website for families called Kaboom.org. It is a site dedicated to playgrounds -- the creation of them and the cataloging of them. They have a playground search where people can find and rate playgrounds they visit.

They are currently having a 100,000 Playgrounds in 100 Days initiative. Julianne Hough will donate $1 to playground building for each newly added playground. Right now they only have 40 listed, with 92 days to go, so they need some help!

Lately, the question in the title of this post has come up a couple times. I think it's one of those questions that has the potential to cause offense, but I've never felt particularly defensive about being a stay-at-home mom (although I've only been one for a few months!). The people who've asked seem genuinely curious, and both times the question has caught me totally off guard... because I didn't have an answer.

When Addison first got home, I was recovering from a C-section and she was eating round the clock. I didn't do much but rest, pace the house with our screaming newborn, and watch some TV. Of course, I got better (and rather quickly -- honestly, the C-section was not nearly as awful as I'd expected), and Addison chilled out a lot.

One thing I am learning about parenting is that it makes me want to be a better person. Now, I watch very little TV -- definitely less than before I was a parent. Part of that is because I don't have the time. Part of it is because I don't want her becoming a little couch potato, or increase her chances of autism, ADHD, or asthma. And part of it is that I just want to spend time interacting with her.

Anyway, back to the question. If we are not sitting around eating bon-bons and watching soap operas, what are we doing? About 1/4 of my day is spent feeding Addison and changing her diapers. There are all the normal things that I'd be doing if I were working full time, like laundry, dishes, laundry, vacuuming, and laundry. What I've realized is that they take twice as long to do with a baby.

There is the fun and all-important interaction time with Addison -- talking with her, doing tummy time, cheering her on as she rolls over, giving her toys to grasp, etc. I love having that time with her during the day.

Staying home has had a big impact on our finances. In case you don't know, there is not a ton of money to be made in education, social work or church work... so Jason and I have had to tighten our belts a lot with one less income and one more person in our household. We are blessed to have very wise friends in this area who have mentored us and equipped us. We are able to do so much more with what we have now -- it is another way that parenting has made us better. Some of the ways we save money include going out to eat less, slashing our grocery bill, and looking for drug store deals and freebies.

Going out to eat less means making more home-cooked meals... which is healthy (yay!) and time consuming. I spend some time searching for recipes online and planning out what we'll be eating each week. (The meals also take twice as long to make as they would without a baby, and they produce more pots, pans, and dishes to wash.) Slashing our grocery bill means coupon-clipping, meal-planning, and buying different items from different stores. I use these sites frequently: Bargain Briana, Money Saving Mom, and Hot Coupon World.

Aside from those things, Addison and I have joined a MOPS group (Mothers of Pre-Schoolers) which meets every other week. I'm involved in my awesome church's Haiti ministry and working on some new women's events.

When I have free time, I am usually keeping up with the outside world through Facebook, baking something simple and yummy, or reading (right now my friend Lisa's turned me on to Anne Lamott). And I'm trying to make sure to carve time out for my physical health by using the treadmill, and my spiritual growth by personal prayer/bible reading time.

Sooo... that is what I do all day. In some ways I am less busy than before, but in some ways I am more busy. I guess it's just a different kind of busy.

This past week was full of some exciting "firsts" in Addison's life.

She got to meet her Uncle Bob for the first time, who lives in Florida.
She got to use her new activity center (still not quite tall enough for it) that Aunt Judi bought.
She got to go for her first walk outside yesterday! YAY for both of us! Spring is coming!
And last night she slept alone in her room. We put her car seat in her crib and let her sleep there. We'll eventually phase out the car seat. She did wonderfully... she actually woke up cooing this morning. I think she liked seeing her mobile. And I did OK too. ;)

People say that Addison looks like me. I don't see it. Not even in my baby pics. She's way cuter.

Jason and I often joke with each other about the trite little sayings we've heard all the time, first as expectant parents, and now as new ones. For example, "Sleep while you can!" was trumpeted at us throughout the pregnancy, replaced by "Sleep when the baby sleeps!" after she was born. Today, the one that stands in my mind is "A baby changes everything" -- and I'm not talking about the Faith Hill song.

Today's Ash Wednesday. It's humbling to have someone put ashes on your forehead. They're dirty. They itch after awhile. And the message given is, "You're dust." Even with our church's lovely addition of "...always in the arms of Jesus," it is a sobering message.

Having a new baby on Ash Wednesday changes everything. I wondered this morning if they put ashes on babies' heads, too. I've decided I don't want them to, just because her skin is so tender and sensitive.

It is an interesting contrast, though. Our sweet little pink-hued girl is so fresh and new and life-filled. In some ways it's easy for me to be humbled, and to remember that I'm dust (especially as a new parent... soooo humbling!). But it is so hard as a parent to think that Addison, too, will someday return to dust. Right now, it breaks my heart just to think about the first time someone says something mean to her or intentionally hurts her. I am *so* not ready to wrestle with the concept of her mortality.

At the same time... I love that this whole season points to Easter. As much as I love that Jesus died for my sins, I love him even more for dying for Addison's sins. I love knowing that she's a child of God, and that no amount of dust or dirt or sin will separate her from God. I love knowing that she continues to be always in the arms of Jesus.

I forgot these!

*She has the ability to raise each eyebrow independently, and she uses that ability a lot.

*She snores. Cute little baby snore. I hope she outgrows it because it won't be as cute later, I think.

*She grunts, a lot. Again -- cute now, but I hope she outgrows it.

*She loves being walked around the house so she can see her favorite things. They currently include: a tall green floor lamp, decorative plates on the wall, a cross decoration from Christmas that we've left up because she likes it, and just about any light, whether it's on or off.

A few things I love about Addison:

*She wakes up with a smile for us, even if she is fussy.

*When she gets excited, she makes fists and tucks her thumb between her first two fingers. Sometimes she points her index fingers like a very tiny disco girl.

*She loves to be swaddled and given a pacifier when it's time to sleep. When she's all bundled up and pacified, she likes to look into my eyes and coo.

*She is soothed by having her forehead stroked.

*She is fascinated with Jason and stares at him almost non-stop when he's nearby.

*She absolutely loves the changing table of the pack-and-play. It always puts her in a fantastic mood.

*She likes to stretch, and then leaves one of her arms up in the air like a student asking a question.

ADDISON:
Addison smiles all the time now. Unfortunately, she is still fascinated with the camera so it's nearly impossible to get a good smiling pic. Most of the time she looks serious, and sometimes she looks downright grumpy.

She still sleeps in her swing. On occasion she is OK with sleeping in her carseat. The doctor suggested starting to put her to sleep in her crib at night. It also seems like a good time for her to sleep in her pack and play during the day. We're starting with her pack and play. Yesterday she did pretty well, although she kicked herself free of her swaddling blanket. She only fussed a little. Today, she hates it, and in addition to kicking out of her blanket, she also cries until I put her in her swing, where she immediately falls asleep.

She is sleeping a lot at night. Jason takes the 11 or 12ish feeding, so I can go to sleep around 9 or 9:30, and not wake up until 4 or 5. Sleep is a glorious thing.

She's a happy little baby with a fun personality. This is such a relief to me, after the first two tear-filled weeks. :)

JASON:
Jason continues to be the most fabulous dad. Addison is fascinated with him and stares at him a lot. They spend lots of time together. Jason also continues to be a fabulous husband, including the latest adventure of fixing my car (for those of you who don't click through, let me just say that it involved fur.)

ME:
I continue to adjust to live as a SAHM (that's stay-at-home-mom). I love all the time with Addison. I sometimes get stir-crazy, but if it's snowing I'm not stir-crazy enough to leave the house. I'm checking out some options for part-time work that fits around Jason's schedule, and waiting for the weather to break. :)

We are blessed. Life is good!