Bye, Bye Pacifier

David gave up his pacifier today and I'm so excited about it. I kept telling him "when you turn 2" but he made it through the day at daycare without using it so we decided that it was time to get rid of them.  He's doing really well and made it through bedtime without it. I'm so proud of our little boy!

Quick Jaunt to Target

So my plan for Target this morning was to pick up about 8 items and walk out paying less than a buck. Unfortunately the Annapolis Target was either out of the items or the specific items I wanted were not on price cut. So boooo to you Annapolis Target, I will be visiting the Easton Target this weekend. Anyway, I couldn't waste the trip so I did pick up Sally Hansen Hard as Nails bottle and some Target brand Ibuprofen. Total before coupons was $3.04 and walked out paying $0.06. Great savings percentage but really not a big enough transaction and I was disappointed *sigh*

Hopefully the Easton Target is a better trip :)

WMZQFest and Jiffy Lube Live

I'll never go back. Let me start off by saying that this is the only concert I am going to this year and I have been looking forward to seeing Jason Aldean and Eric Church since they announced it. But honestly, the no tailgating rule at Jiffy Lube Live is ridiculous and almost ruined my day. I understand cracking down on the amount of drinking and shenanigans in the parking lot but seriously, within 5 minutes of our bus parking 2 cops on horses and 2 on bicycles converged on the bus. They told us to get off and stood there while one by one we left the bus making sure that no one had any alcohol. Then told us that it was time to head into the venue. Seriously? The driver just turned the bus off.  Not only that but this concert was the most on road drinking I have seen. Every car we passed on the road had people drinking.

The music was great though. Eric Church was incredible - absolutely loved him! And of course Jason Aldean was amazing too. I think he played 14 songs or something ridiculous like that and every song that I loved which made all the BS with the venue worth it. I definitely fell asleep on the way home which, according to Dan, cemented my status as "old lady" :)

2nd Couponing Trip

What all started as "We need trash bags" has turned into a couponing trip to Walgreens! I don't mind the excuse and feel pretty good about my purchase. They had run out of Gillette body wash which completely screwed up my plan so having to swap the bodywash I wanted with the Old Spice (which I didn't have a coupon for) it cost me a few dollars to revamp my plan. *sigh*  I'm hoping once I get a little more experience I'll get better at thinking on the fly. Here is what I bought:





I had to break this trip into 3 transactions in order to maximize the Register Rewards which is why the body wash screwed me up so much! It was my first transaction and everything else relied on the $3 Reward that they gave me.

Transaction #1
(3) Scotch Tape
(2) Gillette Bodywash
(1) Old Spice Bodywash

oop: $3.94
RR: $3.00

Transaction #2
(1) Snickers
(2) Colgate Iso Action Toothpaste
Used $3 RR from Transaction #1

oop: $1.78
RR: $4.00

Transaction #3
(1) Snickers
(3) Scotch Tape
(1) Glad Force Flex Trash Bags
Used $4 RR from Transaction #2

oop: $1.94

Total Before Coupons: $50.24
Total OOP: $7.66

Total savings was $42.58 or 85%.

Woohoo!

This weekend we are headed to WMZQ Fest!!! I'm so excited to go and hang out with Dan for the entire day. It is down in Virginia at Nissan Pavilion or whatever they call it now a days which is forever away. Chase suggested taking the "party" bus and for $33 per person you really can't beat it. One you don't have to drive, two you don't have to pay for gas, and three we can drink or sleep or do whatever we want to and from the concert.
Anyway, I'm mostly excited to see Jason Alden because well...he's awesome. But the rest of the lineup is great too so it will be a really fun and exciting day.
Switch subject...
My little family has been sick this week and as I'm typing this Dan is in a NyQuil induced coma lol. It all started with David Monday night. He woke up at 10 pm and was talking to himself for a good 15 minutes before I went in to check on him. The poor boy was burning up. Took him to the doctor the next morning and was told it was a virus and an obviously nasty one. Even after tylenol his temperature had only dropped to 102.1 and that was an armpit temp. He bounced back in 48 hours but those couple of days were tough on him.  Dan has been trying to fight it off all week but is definitely feeling the effects. I'm praying he feels better by Saturday so he can enjoy the concert.
I am planning a couponing trip to Walgreens tmw so if I make it I will update with how I did. Otherwise, have a great weekend!!!

Day 1

I was really excited to head out for Day 1 of saving money and I'm pretty proud of my savings. Now I keep stating to myself that this could get addictive and I need to stay strong - only buy things that I could  WILL actually use. I do not want to stuff toilet paper rolls under my son's bed because I have run out of room to store shit in my house. Anyway, to my day 1 bounty...

Pictured is 2 Zantac Boxes, 1 Nail Polish and a Bottle of Calcium Vitamins

Total prior to coupons: $23.37
Actual Spend: $0.93

That puts my day 1 savings at $22.44 or 96%.

Not bad but it could have been much better. Seems like I couldn't find all of the sales which was frustrating but still got good deals none-the-less.

...and Breathe

This past weekend was Kelly & Rob's wedding and as much as I enjoyed being part of the festivities I am very happy to get back to my normal life. Routine has never been as important to me as it is now. David & I are much happier this way and well...when David's happy we are all happy.  The past week has been rough on the little man. Dan has had to pick him up from daycare and I've been gone in the evenings; I think I only saw him for 15 minutes between Friday & Saturday. He wasn't happy about the change and had no problem telling Dan how miserable he was.  Our treat for Mother's Day and getting back into our nicely scheduled life was laying on the couch napping with each other. I loved snuggling and I'm sure he enjoyed his Mommy time.  This morning was the first time in a while I saw the happy David we know and love.

On another note - I picked up some Capri Sun Roaring Waters for daycare.  Ever since we switched to this daycare David has had issues with dirty diapers.  I think it is the amount of juice that he gets and I understand it is hard to tell him no when the other kids can have juice boxes. So I'm really hoping that with these we can get his belly back to where it needs to be.  He's so excited to have a "box" that I don't think he cares what's in it!

David's vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds everyday. It is so funny to hear him use words for the first time - they always catch us off guard. Saturday, I stubbed my two and let out a good, loud s**t and without missing a beat David repeated it back to me and kept on with his business.  Oops, such a bad Mommy! But I learned my lesson!

2nd Birthday

I am seriously tore up about David's 2nd birthday. It's surprising because his 1st birthday didn't phase me much - I was more excited about it than upset. But now as his 2nd birthday is creeping up on me I'm realizing that the time is not going to slow down. He's talking, running, comprehending, making decisions...in a few years he will begin school. The time has passed too quickly and even though we savor almost (some of the stubbornness I could do without) every moment it still feels like a haze.

Pity party over :) So the birthday invitations should be here on Wed. and since they are postcards the smallest number I could get was 100. What am I going to do with 100 birthday invitations lol!!!!  I can't complain since they only cost me $20 but I don't want to waste them. Maybe I can find something creative to use them for.

Tomorrow David gets his forehead fixed and then Friday the wedding festivities begin!!!  Cannot wait for Kelly's wedding, it is going to be such a great time. Just hoping I don't fall off my shoes walking down the aisle!

Have a great Monday everyone!