Shopping and Dumpster diving

We are packing up the house! This sounded easy, til we started working on it. And I should know this, because i have moved so many times. Between August 2001 moving to Pullman and my house now, I have moved 6 times!! After we move this time (Number 7) hopefully we will not move again for a very very long time! At least 10 years.


Collecting boxes is never easy, and they are so expensive to buy. We decided to do a family "dumpster diving" adventure. Our first cardboard bin had one box. Lame. So we went to another. Jackpot!! Someone had flattened a TON of home depot moving boxes, so Ryan dug them all out! When he couldn't reach some, he moved the Escape closer, stood on it, and got even more. Nice! I wasn't much help, because I got distracted by the shiny newspaper recycle bin....hello coupons! I found albertson doublers right on top. And a bunch more smart source/ red plum inserts. Laugh all you want, but I save hundreds per month by my Krazy Couponing.

After swimming in the cardboard and newspaper bins, we went swimming at the gym. Except when we got there, the outdoor pool where we like to swim (It's outdoor in the summer, but covered the rest of the year...we don't really swim outdoors this time of year) was closed. So we thought the hot tub sounded awesome, but the front desk informed us the daycare is closed on sundays. What?! So instead, we went back to dive for more coupons.

I did get some good deals this weekend!

Walgreen's: 3 8x10 photos from Walgreens and snapfish totally free!

Target: 2 gillette fusion razors....48 cents each (normally $7 each)

Rite Aid: Contact solution, tampax pearl, 2 old spice deodorants and gum...roughly $1.50

Albertsons: Made out like a bandit....but can't remember the exact deals...but 2 gallons Milk, 2 bags of reduced fat cheese, 4 boxes cereal, 4 boxes lean pockets, 2 jumbo bags pampers swaddlers, jumbo pack electrasol dishwasher tabs for $17, and got $3 back to use later, then I got 4 more boxes cereal, 2 more bags cheese, 4 boxes mac and cheese for under $2.

Luckily in the tri-cities, all the stores are clumped together, so I don't waste gas. My Albertsons gas rewards are up to 30 cents per gallon....time to fill the Expedition!

So I added up that the 10 minutes of coupon searching saved me at least $18 just yesterday, and will go much much farther later.

Just some cute pictures:)

Casey never stays put in his crib these days. We wiggles and kicks his way all over the place. He never is facing the same direction either! He is still a good sleeper, we usually get from 8:30pm to 6am, although that ranges from 5-7! Because Casey is moving so much, we took out the bumper in the crib, and his blankets. He usually sleeps in really warm pajamas (which we have been calling his jammie-jams, after watching The Office!) In this picture, we had put him down for a nap, in just a short sleeve onesie and socks, so we swaddled him up in a warm blankie. He was laying on his back the opposite direction when I put him down. I had to get a picture, because this is exactly how I sleep at night! On my side, wrapped and snugged with a fleece blanket! This was the first time we have seen Casey sleeping on his side. Such a sweet guy! After he woke up, Casey and his Mommy and Daddy had fun playing. Casey LOVES his jujmperoo and is getting wild in there! He really likes an audience, and will get mad if you leave him alone. He is quite the ham. If you leave the room, he will get upset after a few minutes, when you come back to talk to him, he starts to laugh and bounce like crazy! Last night, in his exersaucer, we saw that he is really getting good at making the toys work. There is a rolly thing, that when you make it roll, has lots of things inside that move and make noise. Casey was so fascinated, and you could watch him think about it, and purposely roll it and watch. Such a smarty! Later, as I was holding him and making him fly over to "get Daddy", he started rooting and doing his pirhana on Ryan's nose. He was so funny....both of them actually! I really love when the 3 of us play, and Casey is just cracking up. He is such a happy little guy and I love his laugh. I love our little family!

Casey and I went to a wedding a few weeks ago, on the first day of spring. A friend from work got married, and Ryan was working, so I took Casey as my date. He was looking pretty good in his khakis and polo shirt. I was hoping he would sleep through the ceremony, but he woke up right as it was starting. He was really good...just distracting, because he is so stinkin cute with his smiles and giggles....and everyone was checking him out..."Hey everybody....come and see how good I look!"

Easter

Casey and I traveled to the west side for Easter, since Ryan was working. I left Friday morning, checked the pass conditions, bare and wet....no problem! My brother called me about 20 minutes later, to let me know a storm was moving in....and travel in the passes was not advised. We decided to keep going, as I was thinking I could beat the worst of the storm. It was a complete blizzard before I hit Yakima. Casey was great and slept a lot. There was lots of stop and go, and many accidents. We took it slow, and stopped in Ellensburg to gas up, go potty and call Matt for a pass update. We kept going, East bound passes were closed, due to accidents, but we were trucking along at about 25mph. I stopped in North Bend after making it over the pass. I fed Casey and hit Carters at the factory outlet mall. We headed off again, and finally made it to my parents home!! I have seen way worse in the passes, after going to school at WSU, but never with a baby! It was pretty sad to arrive without Tobie. I always bring Tobie with me, to his second home, and it was hard to get there without him. I thought a lot about him on the way over there. I sure miss him a lot.


That night, my parents, brothers and sisters and nephews all gathered for pizza and games! Shauna and Noah brought this crazy hilarious game called Things. We had a good time! It was also fun to see how big all the babies had gotten. Casey is definitely catching up to his cousins, who are 3 months older than him.

On Saturday, my Mom and I went shopping at Target and Ben Franklin. I LOVE talking scrapbooking with my Mom, and shopping for baby clothes and fun stuff. We had to hurry home for the big Easter egg hunt! The neighbor who lives behind my parents has a 5 acre farm, and he invited all his friends and family for an Easter egg hunt. We took all the kids over, Cooper did a great job looking for eggs!

Casey and I collected just a few eggs, so Mommy could have some chocolate....

My Dad is an amazing chef. You are missing out if you have never eaten with my family. He has been a chef in restaurants, owned restaurants, and is a district manager in the restaurant business.....so he knows his food!!! He prepared an Easter fiesta! We had enchiladas, carne asada, guacamole (Dad's is the BEST) and margaritas. We were so stuffed.

My Grandparents also came up for the day, and we did another Easter egg hunt for Cooper outside.

For some reason, putting bunny ears on babies is so entertaining and creates a great photo opp. Getting them to all hold still, look in one direction and smile is simply not possible. We couldn't convince Cooper to join in either. At 2, Coop is pretty independent!

Casey got a fun Easter basket from Gramma and Grandpa, and more goodies from his cousins.

Here are the Moms and babies! These pics will never get old as the babies get bigger. It's so much fun to go through this with my sisters!

Sunday, we (my parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters and nephews!!) went to the quarterchute cafe for brunch, before I headed back home. The drive was much less snowy on the way home.

When Ryan got home from work, we celebrated Casey's first Easter as a family! Casey got another Easter basket and goodies. Mom and Dad seemed to have eaten all his candy:)

4 month check up

We knew Casey is a big kid...and his stats show it! Casey weighs 17.3 pounds (97th percentile) and 26.5 inches (98th percentile). His head circumference is only on the 40th percentile. I assure you, it's all brain in there:)


Casey got a clean bill of health, is meeting all his milestones like a champ, and was a trooper with his 2 vaccines. He didn't even flinch at the first one, but definitely cried during the second one....the nurse warned us that one would sting. Poor guy. He is at home with Daddy today. We are excited the house is being shown tonight, and we are having an open house Sunday! Let's sell this house!

Rolling rolling rolling

Casey rolled over this morning for the first time! Such a big guy. He rolled from his tummy to his back. He is also moving all over his crib at night. We took out the sleep positioner, since he was moving around that too. This morning he was up against the left hand side of the crib, vertical! Silly boy. He is like the dogs, chasing things in his dreams. After daylight savings, he was waking up at 4:45 am for 2 nights, but luckily this only lasted 2 nights, and he was back to 6:30 or so. This morning he was up and playing at 5:15, when Ryan gets up for work, but I let him play while I tried to wake up, til almost 6.


A few weekends ago, we headed to Portland for a work meeting of mine. Since my job was paying mileage and a hotel, we made it a mini family trip. Casey slept the whole ride there! We left early Friday morning, my meeting was 10-2. Ryan and Casey had a boys day and picked me up afterwards. We checked into the hotel, played around for a little while with Casey, then headed to Clackamas to the Claim Jumper for dinner. So good. The manager came and talked to us a lot, his baby was born the same day as Casey! But that is his 4th! We left very very full, with a healthy supply of root beer barrels. We headed to the mall and did some shopping. It was fun to just walk around and walk off about 1/100 of the calories we had just eaten. We went to Macy's furniture and looked at what we liked for our new house (crossing fingers it will all fall into place soon). Neither of us are really big shoppers, so we didn't stay too long. We were too lazy to set up the pack and play, so Casey just slept between us in the king bed! He woke up once at midnight to eat, which is weird for him, but went back to sleep. He kicked his Daddy all night, but I slept just fine! We headed home in the morning, again Casey slept the whole way. Ryan was in a hurry, he went paintballing as soon as we got home.


Tomorrow is Casey's 4 month appointment, can't wait to see what a moose he is. He is so tall, his 6 month one piece outfits are almost up to his knees! Can't wait for Easter, to see how big he is next to his cousins!! Casey and I are spending Easter weekend with my family, then Casey and I will be home to celebrate Easter with Daddy, when he gets off work.

Big kid

Casey is growing like crazy. Today, he almost rolled all the way over. He hates tummy time, so we don't do it as often as we should.

Casey's new love is his exersaucer!! Than you Grandma Susie!! He loves to be standing up, so it is perfect for him, although he can't be in too long, he is still getting his strength in there. Casey discovered that he can touch his 2 hands together, and that 2 fists in your mouth is more exciting than one. Today he also reached up, patted my face and laughed hysterically when I nibbled his fingers.

Casey still wakes up happy, smiling and laughing. He is still sleeping through the night too! He is just a happy go lucky guy. Casey went to his first agility practice, and we will go again sunday. McKenzie and I are starting a new agility class! Actually 2....a weaving class and a class to hopefully get us ready to compete.

I took Casey to work with me yesterday, as our babysitter was sick. He was a good baby. I didn't get much done, but that was more due to the fact my computer had a virus and IT spent hours fixing it! There seems to be some sickness at work, I hope we manage to avoid it.

I never seem to be on the right computer to upload pictures, but chances are, you have seen them on facebook already.

Extreme couponing

Yes, extreme couponing....it's basically a sport that I excel in.

Last week, I purchased 2 covergirl mascaras, 2 gillette body washes and 2 gillette deoderants. I paid 75 cents out of pocket, and will get a $2 single rebate check.

Another trip last week- 2 jumbo packs pampers swaddlers, 1 crossaction power toothbrush and a box of nyquil for $5.50

2 weeks ago I got 18 boxes of Ronzoni Healthy harvest/smart taste pasta. These don't expire for 2 years so we are stocked! They were all Albertson deals:)

Mail is always fun to check because of the freebies. The last week or so, we have gotten aveeno shampoo/conditioner, free notebook and mousepad from shutterfly, several free magazines (Working Mom, Boating, Country Living, Maxim), coupons fot got2be haircare, free coupon for digiornio pizza, free bottle of excedrin, free pamper diaper. We usually get something everyday.

We are definitely saving a lot of money! If you buy diapers at costco, you pay 20-25 cents per diaper, but I dont ever buy unless I only pay 10-15 cents each. Sometimes I can get even cheaper!