My new hobby!

And it just happens to be something that Rob loves as well!!!!Bonus!

I am a beginning coupon-er! Yep- I collect online printable coupons as well as any coupons I can find on boxes, in the newspapers, in mail, etc.... If it can be used to save money, I am all over it. This all started about a month ago after talking with my sister in law Carolyn who is a stay at home mother of 2 and avid coupon-er. She made me realize that I could contribute to our finances by being an even more frugal and aware grocery store shopper. And then she showed me her amazingly impressive 3 ring coupon binder....... I was sold. SOLD!

Here is a picture of my coupon collection so far.

So off to Wal-mart I went to buy my baseball card pocket organizers for the coupons and a 3 ring binder to house my new obsession, and overnight it had about 10 pages full of coupons. Since then I travel with my coupon binder and bring it into every store with me. One lady complimented my "smart shopping" and "very cool organization system" and told me I made her feel like a "bad" shopper. All I could do was smile and say thanks as my bill dwindled down as the Target check out lady scanned 35 dollars worth of coupons... and I only spent $40 on that trip! I know.... amazing! Plus I got Huggies and Pampers diapers for about 12 cents each and when you can find them for under 20 cents a piece you stock up people... and HOLY stock up did I do :)

So, I thought I'd give credit where credit is due by naming my three favorite frugal mom blogs that have helped me locate all the awesome deals and printable coupons on the internet with ease. Thanks Frugal Moms and thanks to Amy's blog for helping me come across some of these sites!!

Baby Cheapskate
Money Saving Mom
Mrs Buys More and Mr Saves Alot
Coupon Mom


And don't worry- we have an Excel spreadsheet to calculate savings! Right now we are getting our groceries at 71% of cost... my goal is to get it down to 65%. The fact that we buy so many fresh veggies and meat makes it hard to save much more..... but I think I can do it! :)

My favorite deals yet:

$0... also known as FREE!!! I didn't even have to pay tax :)

All under $9.... yep- 6 boxes of cereal (the BIG boxes) and 4 lean cuisines... $8.44!

I think we have enough cereal to last us until summer.... good thing they don't expire til next December!! :) Now all we need is more cupboard space.... that hutch would be really handy right about now :)

Much Love and Coupon Clipping,
Jenny

Random pics from the last week or so...

Love,
Anna

Look how much I've grown month by month!

Mommy and Daddy can't believe how fast I am growing and how much I have changed! I LOVE being 4 months old!

Love,
Anna

LIFE is good..

LIFE is good.... almost TOO good!

Rock Chalk Jayhawk #1 again!

Love,
Anna

Rocky Rock

I love sitting in my big girl chair in my play room. I can make the chair rock a little bit when I lean forward and back. I love sitting in the chair while playing with all my musical and light up toys. Mommy and daddy just started letting me play with the loud music making and brightly lite toys this week and WOW DO I LOVE THEM!! Not only are they fun to look at, but they help me concentrate when I am trying to sit and they make tummy time a little easier..... But, I still pretty much HATE tummy time!



Love,
Anna

SITTIN' on the dock by the bay...

Well, not really..... but I AM STARTING to sit like a BIG GIRL!!!

This week I have gotten really good at sitting like a tripod, using my arms to help me sit up. Before this I always looked like a folded taco when trying to sit :)



Here is my first head bump....



AND Today I actually sat like a big girl for an extended period of time!!!! It happened when BOTH mommy and daddy were with me so we got to all share in the moment! I wouldn't say that I can sit on my own YET but it won't be long til I can!



I LOVE sitting up like a big girl :)

Love,
Anna

SO heavy!

This is how I usually nap in my swing now that my head has gotten SOOOOO heavy! Mom always tries to put my head back on the pillow but it wakes me up..... she doesn't do that anymore- I wonder why?!?!?!

Love,
Anna

Deal of the Day!

Groupon is an awesome website!!!! I LOVE the deals and these are deals all around KC (or the area in which you live!) Click below to check it out!

Groupon

Gotta love a deal on a car wash to get all the winter grime off :)

Thanks to my sister in law Megan!

Much Love,
Jenny

If I were a fish.... I'd be a suckerfish!

Everyone knows of my "LOVE" for Rob's 5 foot tall by 7 foot wide fish tank that sits in my dining room. It sits in the EXACT location of the hutch I have dreamed about having in my first real home. Well much to my liking, the hutch is a dream and the fish tank is a reality...........

Rob has very creatively introduced Anna to the tank; calling the dying and decaying fish in it her fish. And for some reason, she seems to really like it (I think she likes the bubbles). Well, the angel fish has a cloudy eye (he's probably dying) and the two suckerfish are about 12 inches long and the only thing they add to the tank are strings of long poop. Can you feel my love for the thing?

Well, after 1 and a half years of hinting for the removal of the fish tank from my dining room.... it remains. I continue to sit at the table with my back to it while I eat my meals because the fish are ugly and at times they make me gag. Against all wishes, I have a feeling it will remain in that spot (we don't even know how and where we would move it- and no one bought it off craigs list) until the day we sell this house.

So... I have reached the point of acceptance because there really is no other option. So with acceptance comes the beautification process (Remember Rome wasn't built in one day) which occurred yesterday afternoon/evening.....

3:45: "Rob let's go get Anna some fish to make this thing somewhat less disgusting."
5:00: In Petsmart we select a new baby suckerfish, 3 guppies and 3 silver dollar fish
5:15: I read a pamphlet which says angel fish are semi aggressive and they like to eat little fish. Well- crap- we bought little fish!
5:45: We release suckerfish into the tank- he attaches to the wall immediately to feast on the eons of algae buildup..... he survives the transition. I find this guy the cutest even though he grows up to be so ugly.... pretty in the cradle, ugly at the table much!!!
5:50: We release the silver dollar fish.... silver dollar fish #3 looks very ill and hides in a corner for a long time
5:51: The angelfish becomes curious.....
5:55: We release the guppies into the tank... they scurry to the top
5:56: We realize that our angel fish is aggressive and starts to chase all the new fish around the tank... we have a bully..... we name him DARK ANGEL.
6:00: Red guppy 1 and 2 get stuck in the filter...... Rob starts sweating....
6:15: We eat dinner while watching all this happen. I swear to you the angel fish was going to eat the little guys.
6:20: One of the guppies gets out of the filter on it's own... a couple minutes later Rob saves the other one.
6:30: We feed all the fish- they were HUNGRY!
7:00: The sick silver dollar starts to look better
Between 7 and bedtime, Rob would walk by the fish tank, admiring his new addition, and think.... my wife rocks!
9:00: We go up to bed and take a look at the tank. All the new fish are hiding. GREAT, I think.... it looks exactly the same as it did before Petsmart....And I feel a rush of hopelessness come over me.
9 am: I wake to find all the new fish healthy and swimming around (apparently Rob had to save guppy #1 and #2 from the filter again)...... still doesn't look that much better. We'll probably run back and fill it with more fish soon! I guess I probably should admit that I kind of have a soft spot for the silver dollar fish; but they would look SO MUCH BETTER IN MY BASEMENT :)

Anyone need a 7 foot 80 plus gallon fish tank???????

......if I were a fish I'd be a sucker fish......I can't wait until I finally get my dining room hutch!

Much Love,
Jenny

4 months old

Another Update on Me!

At 4 Months Old I am.....

REALLY loving to suck two of my fingers- pointer and middle- or anyone's finger I can get in my mouth! I still do not like pacifiers.

I am beginning to drool more.

I love to hold onto mommy's necklace when she's holding me.

I laugh with NO sound! I have started to giggle a couple of times out loud.

I smile with my WHOLE mouth! It's one big wide open smile!!!

I have outgrown my 3-6 month footed sleepers and are now in 6-9 month ones. My 3-6 months clothes still fit but not my sleepers- I am a very long girl!

I can sit like a folded taco for a couple of seconds.

I ALWAYS want to be sitting up- no laying down for me :)

I LOVE my fish tank, shopping, watching Peanut; still love my swing, TV and books.

During the day I nap after being awake every 2-3 hours. This usually gives me 3 naps. My favorite place to nap is my swing (I sleep very long there) and don't like napping in my bed.

Happy 4 months old to me!

Love,
Anna

A little 4 month birthday song....

If you enjoy listening to an old lady trying to sing well but hitting all the wrong notes to the classic happy birthday song, you'll LOVE this!




Love,
Anna

Haiti

A week after the worst natural disaster in my lifetime, I just wanted to share how much I love my parents. I LOVE you mom and dad. Thank you for making me feel so loved and safe and for taking care of me.

Love,
Anna

FEED JAKE

Is my family the ONLY one who have heard the song FEED JAKE??? Rob thinks I'm crazy!

Let me know if you've heard this great song! (click here) It's legendary!

Much Love,
Jenny

My Nicknames

......Anna. Anna Colleen. A-Colleen. Little Girl. Anna Banana. AnnaBelle. Tooter McScooter. Burpee McSlurpee. Sister. Kiddo. Sugerplum. Beautiful. Princess. Babycakes......

WOW- that's a lot to remember! I wonder if I will suffer from identity confusion....

Love,
Anna

Belly Giggle!

I did my first deep belly giggle yesterday!

I was on mommy's knee and she was bouncing me and singing "This is how the cowgirls ride....." and I busted out laughing. I was having SOOOO much fun! My three short belly giggles also made mommy laugh REALLY hard! Laughing is so much fun :)

Love,
Anna

So TIRED!

Last night I was SOOOO tired from waking up for the past week around 3 am to eat, that I slept almost 10 hours straight! Mommy and Daddy are so proud of me; mommy even played with me for over an hour after I woke up before putting me down for my first nap of the day! I hope I sleep like this again tonight :)

Love,
Anna

My Future is SO Bright.....

.... that I HAVE to wear shades!!!



Love,
Anna

Check Out These Cheeks!

My mom made me post this. SOOOOO embarrassing!

Love,
Anna

Weaning

So let the weaning process begin!

Our little girl is almost 4 months old now and the "fourth trimester" of trying to help Anna "make a peaceful transition from womb to world" is coming to an end. As successful as following advice on the fourth trimester has been to us, it is time to let the little lady start to live in our world the way we do. She is growing up (tear)!

The 5 things, from the fourth trimester, we eventually need to wean her of.

1. Sucking
Anna was never found of pacifiers (it appears that she likes her two fingers much better) so weaning her of her pacifier is done. As for weaning her off the boob, that will come sometime before she is one year old- we are still undecided on when.

2. Swinging
Anna loves the swing. It will be a sad day when she out grows it. Her feet are already beginning to go off the end of the swing, so the weaning will begin when she is too big. I am going to begin placing her in her pack and play instead of the swing for her afternoon naps.
I think vibrations fall in this category and this is where I think we are going to have the most trouble. She loves her vibrating pack and play (it puts her to sleep on her own) and I get to be the mean one who will begin to take it away during nap time...... I hope she is weaned of this by the time I start subbing in Mid-Feb. I predict this will be the most challenging wean for us!

3. Side or stomach position
WEANED! Daddy used to hold her on her side to calm her down- that ended long ago because she was just TOO big!

4. Swaddling
Anna still LOVES the swaddle! She is still being swaddled in two blankets- one light one and one heavy one- to keep her warm in the winter. Once she is weaned of this, she will move into a sleep sack.
I started the weaning process last night. I swaddled everything but her left arm. She did GREAT! So, this morning I swaddled everything but BOTH arms and she has been asleep nearly an hour! IS this going to be easier than expected???? This is another thing I hope she is weaned from by Mid-Feb.




5. Shushing sounds
We started this weaning about a month ago when we decreased the volume of the "rain storm" or SoundSpa, as Bed Bath and Beyond likes to call it, in our bedroom. We are going to continue to decrease the sound each night. I can't imagine a quiet bedroom again! We hope she is weaned of this on by Mid-Feb as well.

So.... happy weaning to Rob and me!

Much Love,
Jenny

Ignoring My Children: Night 1

So the first night (of many to come I'm sure) of ignoring my children is through. You might be wondering, how did it go? Did I stick to my guns and not let Peanut come to the bed? Did I let my heart crumble while the little girl cried herself back to sleep? This is how the night unraveled.....

Peanut decided not to come to the top stair and bark when we were getting ready for bed. So, Rob and I decided to let him stay downstairs..... and he did not make a peep until he heard me feeding Anna at 7 am this morning. SUCCESS!!!!

As for Anna, she woke up for the third night in a row (that makes the last 5 out of 6 nights) around 3 am. She started with soft coos and babbles. Having our decision made up that we were not going to get her out of the pack and play, I hit the vibrate button on her bed to help her settle back down (I am probably not supposed to do that either!!) Tens minutes of feeling like the WORST mom ever, she stops her babbling. SUCCESS! I am the BEST mom ever!!!

That is until about 5 minutes later she begins to cry her "I"m starving over here" cry. After exchanging a couple hazy 3 am consulting sentences with the husband, she was in my arms and nursing within minutes. And I must say that she really WAS hungry! She pretty much drained one side (which is about 6 oz when I pump) and ate a little off the other. So during this feeding time I started to wonder if babies experience growth spurts at 16 weeks (she has been textbook about when her growth spurts occur) and sure enough, after a 3 am research session on the internet, I find that it is her time to have a growth spurt.

So growth spurt or not, I gave in on the first night of ignoring my child. We'll see how the next couple of nights go. We should almost be through this growth spurt- fingers (and toes) crossed!

Much Love and Good Night,
Jenny

Oh and everyone- thank you for all the advice!

We had FUN with Picasa today!

Anna and I had so much fun today doing a photo shoot with blankets and using picasa photo editor- free from google. I am trying to see all that picasa has before updating my photo editing software to Photo Shop 8 that I got for Christmas (when I get the time to upload it; it will get done soon!)

Enjoy the fun pictures that I took and edited of the baby girl today!

Much Love,
Jenny

ExerSaucer!

HOLY AMAZING! I LOVE my exersaucer!!! Mommy thought I was too little to use it, but during our play date with Cooper, Cooper's mommy said Cooper started using it around my age. So the next day we tried out the exersacuer and it is one of my new favorite toys!!! I love to spin the clear barrel of monkeys on it around and around and love the flip book (even though I get REALLY frustrated with turning the pages that mommy needs to help me). Even though only one foot barely touches the ground, I can move around in it a couple of inches to each side! I am getting to be such a big girl like Cooper!

Love,
Anna

Play Date with Cooper Jones

I had another play date with Cooper Jones and we had so much fun! Cooper is a really cool guy- he does the coolest things like play in his exersaucer, play with his feet and roll around like a rolly polly! He also had TONS of things to say out loud to everyone! He is a really good friend who shows me what I will be able to do in a couple of weeks- he is exactly 6 weeks older then me and so smart! I just love being around Cooper- even if he sucks my fingers!!!!!

Love,
Anna

My Two Kids...

Anna has always been a great sleeper.... ALWAYS!!! Well that has been true up until the past couple of days. She has started to wake up around 4 am every morning wanting to eat, and since I am a good mother, I feed her. Then she goes back to sleep on her own which is very nice. But then she begins her eating routine of every 3 hours from there. And this really puts a nitch in my old first dual feeding and pumping session at 7 am- it's just way too early and cold to pump at 4! And that is a problem because I need that pumped milk for when I start subbing.....

I guess if it was just Anna and the feeding issue I was dealing with, I wouldn't be complaining because I have always been able to fall asleep really fast. But that's where my other child comes into play.....

Peanut. Peanut has also always been a great sleeper, a great dog, etc.... until last week when he had his seizure. Since then, he has developed a fear of jumping onto and off of our bed and a fear of the upstairs hallway (he pretty much walks up to the top of the stairs and won't go any farther) and has insisted of sleeping in our bed with us. The vet has suggested me using treats to help him "trust" the hallway again and that is going okay. And oh yeah- he also has ALWAYS been petrified of farts- yes farts! So when Anna wakes up, I get out of bed allowing Peanut the opportunity to take over my side faster then I can pick up Anna and get her back into my bed to feed. I usually slide him over just enough for me to fit on the bed, but lately when I slide him over he gets mad and RIGHT when I start feeding Anna he wants me to get him off the bed. TOUGH. And then sometimes during feedings, in between feedings, when she's back in the pack and play the little girl starts with her farts and that is when he loses it! So if the farting is bad (he can stay with us if it's not too loud), I have to get back up, carry him from my bed to the stairs because god forbid he walk down that hallway.... and then I head back to sleep.... or try to... Peanut usually wants back in our room so the bark starts again to let me know that he is now ready to be carried from the steps back to our bed and he cuddles up RIGHT next to my side JUST IN CASE a fart gets him... sometimes I think I should fart REALLY loud so that he becomes scared of me- but then that would be just mean and he's been through A LOT lately.

So, needless to say, that is how I have spent my 4 o'clock hour the last couple of days. My sister in law told me to overfeed her at night(which I feel like I already do) and not to feed her at 4 to see what she does (she said she might be developing a habit of that feeding and we don't want that to happen- our book on her first year says the same thing- you're brilliant Carolyn!!!) and my friend Ashley's son did the same thing at this age so she started feeding him rice cereal at 4 months (we might start that in 9 days when she turns 4 months). We will first try what Carolyn and the book suggested and if that doesn't work, onto what Ashley did. As for Peanut, maybe we can ignore the barking at night as we head up to bed and try to have him sleep downstairs- I don't think the couches fart, but who knows! At least I'm not working or I'd look and feel like a zombie...

Much Love and WOW the patience you need as a mother is amazing,
Jenny

My Buddy

Peanut is the BEST brother in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD!







Love,
Anna

How the BabyBjorn Saved My Sanity....

This is the story of how the Baby Bjorn saved my sanity....

Who: Jenny Stilley
What: Can't clean my home
Where: My Home
When: This afternoon
Why: I have a baby who for some reason today won't take a nap longer than 30 minutes because she wants to be HELD by her mom who would usually hold her but is suffering from Cabin Fever in a DIRTY, DIRTY home.

So, you get the gist- 30 minutes here spent dusting, 30 minutes here spent cleaning one room.... lada lada lada.....

Normally, I would be okay with cleaning one room a day, but with Christmas take down, we had one too many garland needles and WAY TOO many dust balls on our hardwood floors to keep ignoring...... AND add the fact that I have been inside my home for working on 150 hours straight I was beginning to feel dirty. Even after taking my shower today I felt dirty. Only one solution..... CLEAN..... But.... Anna.... doesn't..... want..... me.... to.

And then..... a lightbulb went off in my head... BABYBJORN!!! So I strapped all 13 1/2 pounds (we weighed her last night) of Anna in and away we went dusting, 409ing the kitchen, washing dishes, moping AND vacuuming! 1 hour later, daddy was home to take over and the house is almost completely clean (except for mopping that is happening tomorrow morning.)

Thanks to you Baby Bjorn for saving my sanity and, in the end, cleaning my home. I owe you.....





Much Love,
Jenny

Aunt Anne is BRILLIANT!

So, we all know I have problems with keeping on my socks. Well, Aunt Anne found the solution at Hallmark! I have been wearing these things called sockons for the past week and my socks haven't moved an inch! They are made by a lady in the United Kingdom (mommy says that's far away) and are super comfy. They also look cute! Daddy calls them my arch supporters and mommy gets confused and sometimes she calls them my athletic supporter (after she says it she always giggles to herself!!!!) Thanks Aunt Anne!

Love,
Anna

My Rattle

I LOVE my rattle and am so excited that I can finally shake it for a long time!

Love,
Anna

Bubbles

Love,
Anna