29 weeks!

Baby Knies and I had a doctor's appointment today. We are 29 weeks along, so only 11 weeks left! I am definitely getting bigger by the minute. I've gained a total of 13 lbs, which is probably a little on the low side, but the doctor said I should gain about a pound a week,. If so, I will be right on target! We have to start going every two weeks now, so we are nearing the finish line!

The baby is moving a lot even though there is not as much room. He likes to kick and punch me as soon as I lay down to go to sleep at night! Just when I'm worn out and ready for sleep, he starts movin' and groovin' and it makes it very hard to sleep, but it's worth it!

I am getting more and more excited to see our little guy. We have a crib and we are starting to get the furniture rearranged. It feels like things are finally coming together! We are doing a blue sports theme - imagine that!

The Bump at 29 weeks!

More Couponing Success!

Okay so I was so excited about my success with couponing yesterday, but I'm still no coupon champ like the women who post the other blogs. So I started looking into it more - seeing what they buy and coupons they use, etc.
Yesterday I bought some Nabisco 100 calorie snacks at Target for a pretty good deal - $0.79 when the original price is $2.79. I was so excited to get one of my favorite snacks at such a deal, especially since there are only 6 packs in the box for that price. I bought the snacks for our beach trip, but got a little hungry last night, so I ate a few packs.
Today, I decided to go back to Target, the Super Target this time since we were meeting some friends for dinner close by. I printed off another Target coupon and another manufacturer coupons and expected to pay the same $0.79 as yesterday. Adam was with me, so he got to see why I was so excited yesterday. This Target had the same snacks on sale for $2.04, down from $2.79! I got so excited and started laughing. Adam asked what was so funny and I told him that I would be getting my box of snacks for $0.04! 4 cents! He couldn't believe it.
Then we went to the travel/trial size toiletries section so he could get some toothpaste for the trip and they had travel sized Right Guard deodorant for $0.97 each. I pulled out a Right Guard coupon that I knew was going to expire tomorrow and read the details. It was for $1 off 2 deodorants - any size! So we got one free and a few cents knocked off the other!
Getting excited over buying a box of cookies for 4 cents and a travel sized deodorant for 94 cents may seem a little silly to most people, but it dawned on me how these women go into Kroger or Target and get $100 worth of groceries/toiletries for $15 to $20. Most of these coupon women only allow themselves to spend a certain amount of money a week on groceries/toiletries and/or only a certain amount of money at a particular store each week. So, these coupon women would have stocked up on the cookies and the travel sized deodorants! They would have gone to Target with 25 Target coupons and 25 manufacturer coupons for the cookies and bought 25 boxes and would have spent only $1 on all 25 boxes! Sounds like a good deal to me, especially since I love those cookies. They would do the same with the deodorant. I had two other coupons for the same deodorant so they would have bought several and used all three coupons.
I've also learned that these women stockpile non-perishable items. Some have only a 3-6 months supply, while others keep a 1 -2 year supply. One woman posted a picture of her stockpile. Basically she turned her garage into a pantry - the whole garage. She said the reason behind this, especially now with economic uncertainty, is that if her husband lost his job, she could still feed her family without spending money, except for perishable items, for years if she had to!
Also, some women will buy items that they get for free or next to nothing (like my cookies)in bulk and donate them to their church's food pantry or local shelters. That would be especially nice in Knoxville, because there is never a shortage of homeless in Knoxville and travel sized deodorants could come in handy with the rising temperatures!
So I am hoping to get better at couponing to benefit those less fortunate than myself and to benefit my cookie cravings!

Couponing

I have used coupons in the past at the grocery store, but was never very serious about it. I figured, why not save a few cents on products that I use! Recently, a classmate of Adam's posted on her blog about all her coupon usage and savings. I was amazed! While reading her blog, I checked out some other coupon bloggers that she referenced. I was completely blown away by the amount of money these women save and how much stuff they get free!
I know a lot of people say that it takes too much time to clip coupons or hunt them down on the internet from the manufacturer; however, these women do all the work for you - everything except cutting out the coupons! They even match up the weekly sales at the grocery store with coupons that are available.
I decided to give couponing a try in preparation for our beach trip on Saturday, so we got mostly drinks and snacks!
To follow suit with rest of the Coupon Clippers, I will give a break down of the deals I got and post a lovely picture!
If you receive Atlanta-based coupons and grocery flyers then check out savingyourcents.blogspot.com and www.couponmommie.com.

Target Shopping Trip:
1 - Sunny Cranberry Trail Mix @ $2.79 with $0.50 Target web coupon

1- Monster Trail Mix @ $3.99 with $0.50 Target web coupon

2 - Pringles @ $0.54 each with $1 manufacturer coupon and 2 $0.50 Target web coupons

1 - 100 cal snack packs @ $0.70 with $1 manufacturer coupon and $1 Target web coupn

2 - Kashi snack bars @ $2.54 each with manufacturer coupon

1 - Skintimate Shave Gel @ $1.49 with manufacturer coupon ( it should have been $0.49 because I had a $1 Target web coupon, but the cashier must have missed it - darn him!)

1 - Colgate Wisps 4 pack @ $1.49 with $0.50 Target web coupon

Total Spent (less tax): $16.67
Total Savings: $6.25*

* some items were marked down this week at Target, but the sales ticket does not reflect the in-store discount.


Kroger Shopping Trip:

1 - Glamour Magazine @ $2.49 with $1 Ecoupon and $0.50 manufacturer coupon (Kroger may have doubled one of these coupons as well, so it was probably less than $2.49)

3 - Sobe Energy drinks @ $1 each (Kroger's 10 for $10 deal which saves $0.49 on each)

1 - Powerade @ $1 (10 for $10)

2 - Sobe Lifewater @ $0.50 each after Kroger 10 for $10 which saves $0.49 each plus Buy One get One FREE manf. coupon

6 - Smartwaters @ $1 each (10 for $10, which saves $0.89 each)

5 - Gatorades @ $1 each (10 for $10, which saves $0.08 each)

2 - Oscar Mayer Bacon @ $3 each with Kroger special 2 for $7, which saves $1.49 each and $1 manf coupon

1 - Dial Hand Soap @ $0.45 with Kroger 10 for $10, which saves $0.63 and $0.55 manf coupon

1 - Electrasol Dishwasher Detergent @ $2.99 with Kroger card, which saves $0.39

3 - Suave Shampoos @ $1.08 each with Kroger 3 for $5 which saves a total of $0.50

Total Spent (less tax): $31.18 (again, this is probably a few cents high since Kroger doubled some of my coupons but didn't specify which ones because total with tax was $32.10.)

Total Savings: $20.54 with Kroger Plus Card and Coupons according to my receipt.

So all in all, I think I was successful for my first time!
Most Target stores will accept a Target web coupon and a manufacturer's coupon for a single item. My Target cashier was quite impressed with my couponing and said he would try it himself!
Kroger will let you 'stack' coupons, which is where you can have multiple manufacturer's coupons for a single item, but it depends on which cashier you have. My Kroger cashier today kinda snaked me on the Suave Shampoos - I would have been able to get all 3 for free with all the Suave coupons I had. Kroger does double some manufacturer coupons though.

Check out the other blogs I mentioned, these women are coupon pros!

30-Day Challenge!

The past two weeks for me have been far from boring. Not that I consider my life typically boring, but there has definitely been some excitement (good and bad) in the past few weeks. It seems like I've hardly stopped long enough to catch my breath. So I'm sure you're wondering what all the fuss is about.

Last week, I spent 4 out of the 5 work days in a doctor's office - and not for me or Baby Knies. Mom and Dad both went to their GP last Monday - still the same doctor and with appointments about 30 minutes apart. Luckily, although my parents are divorced and have been for some years now, they still get along quite well - it makes the waiting room a little more pleasant! Mom had a cold and Dad had an eye infection. Tuesday, Dad was sent to the Opthamologist because his eye condition seemed pretty serious. Basically he was diagnosed with Herpes Simplex Keratitis - sounds incredibly gross, and it kind of is. They believe he has Herpes in his eye -not the STD, but the cold sore type. He was having a lot of trouble seeing out of it. Wednesday, I took Mom to get her CT Scan of the thoracic region of her spine, since she has been having a lot of back trouble. Then finally, Friday, Dad went back to the Opthamologist for a follow up. So basically nothing that seemed too crazy happened last week, but it was not a worry-free week.

Then this week, it seemed like I was going to be in the same routine. Dad had another follow up with the Opthamologist, where he found out that he has some scarring of the cornea from the herpes virus, which is causing the blindness/blurriness and it may be permanent! Not good news at all! Then on Wednesday, I went with Mom to her appointment with the Neruosurgeon. Bad news there too. Mom's vertebra is crushed in her thoracic region and she has to have surgery on April 28th. Now, the good news about Mom is that her problem is fixable, and she will be in the best hands in Knoxville! Her surgeon refers patients to Adam's Physical Therapy clinic so he knows the doctors and their nurses, knows their work, and knows she will be fine! This is actually the same group of doctors that did both of Dad's back surgeries years ago, so we have complete faith in them. I'm sure by now we have provided some new cars, boats, or house payments with all the business we are giving them from my family! I'm beginning to think that Baby Knies needs to be a Neurosurgeon!

Last night, I called Adam at work after finding out the news about Mom and told him that I didn't feel like cooking dinner and wanted to just go out to eat and to get some fresh air. I needed to breathe! When we got home, I decided to catch up on my daily devotional , since I had missed the last few days of reading. I read the story of the mustard seed and some in Matthew and some in a couple of different books of the Bible. It felt comforting to read some passages that seemed to fall right into place with what was going on with my life and my family. However, it never ceases to amaze me that God puts certain people and certain texts in my path to help guide me along the way. Little did I know that the mustard seed would crop up again today.

Today we found out that one of Adam's close friends could have a serious disorder, and his mother-in-law mentioned Matthew 17:20 - all you have to have is faith the size of a mustard seed to move a mountain! We were devastated by the news but took comfort in the fact that God is definitely working in mysterious ways!

So now onto what the title of this blog is all about! Also, yesterday, while waiting for Adam to come home, I came across a friend of a friend's blog, entitled One Month to Live. I was immediately intriged and decided to check it out. The blog was about a book by the same title. It is a Christian inspirational book about the fact that if we were given thirty days to live, how would our prespective change about how we use our time each day, and how to stop living for "someday" and to start making today matter! The purpose is after thirty days, you see how your life has changed, so each day brings a new challenge. There are a few homework assignments, and one of today's assignments was to tell someone you are reading this book and to mark their calendar for thirty days from now. So, put a big red circle around May 15th!
Again, as corny as it may sound, I think God put this friend of a friend's blog in my path. After all the news I've received in the past week, I know life is not to be taken for granted. That rings true even more because I'm carrying and developing a little life within me right now!

I have to admit that I do consider myself a religious person. I do pray and I do read and study the Bible (although not as much as I'd like), and I do attend church (also, not as much as I'd like). With that being said, I'm tattling on myself because Adam and I have not attended a church very regularly since we got married, I think partly because he is Catholic and I am Presbyterian. Not that we have disagreements about each other's denominations, but we are both so used to what we grew up with that I don't think either one of us feels completely at home in the other one's church. And that makes it all too easy to hit the snooze button on Sunday morning and catch a few extra winks instead of going to church. Saturday night I asked Adam which church he wanted to go to for Easter. He said it didn't matter to him, but he didn't want to be one of those people who JUST goes to church on Christmas and Easter. I totally agreed with him, but said that there is no better day to start going back to church on a regular basis than Easter! We want to raise Baby Knies in a church, no matter if it's Catholic or Presbyterian, so there is no time like the present; no better day than today!

I think everyone could benefit from the 30-Day Challenge. Go pick up the book One Month to Live: Thirty Days to a No-Regrets Life by Kerry and Chris Shook, then let me know what day to mark my calendar for you!

Baby Knies Pictures

I realized that I forgot to post pictures of our little man! I've been very impressed with the clarity of the ultrasound photos. It makes it all the more real that he will be here in 17 weeks!

Baby Knies in 4D!

Baby Knies's profile picture!

Oh BOY!

That's right! Adam and I are having a baby Boy - imagine that! We are very excited!We couldn't sleep the night before the ultrasound. Both our families are crawling with boys, so why break tradition! Adam said that Knies Boys have Knies Boys, and my family is mostly boys as well. On Mom's side of the family I am the only girl out of 8 grandchildren, and now there are 2 great-grandchild, both boys!
We are still trying to decide on a name. I knew that since we had a girl name already picked out that Baby Knies would be a boy - it's never that easy! We have been on babynames.com almost every day going through every letter of the alphabet and looking at all the meanings and origins of the boy names. It's a little nerve-racking naming your baby before you've even met him and then hoping the name suits him!
Friday we went for our ultrasound. It is so amazing what they can do with today's technology. We got a DVD of the entire ultrasound. Baby Boy was moving the entire time. Someone told Adam that I should drink a little caffeine before the ultrasound to get the baby moving so they could be sure to find out the sex. I had a few sips of Pepsi and then I chewed four Sour Razzles, and apparently that was enough to keep him moving for an hour! The ultrasound tech immediately found his little boy parts and then Baby Knies immediately started to explore his little boy parts! People keep asking me if I'm certain that the baby's a boy, and I now have no doubt! Also, the tech checked for blood vessels in his boy parts and everything seems to be well! It truly is amazing to see the tiny heart pumping and arms and legs moving. He has long legs, compared to the rest of his body. I assume he will be tall like Adam! The tech checked different parts of his brain, kidneys, bladdar, stomach, spine, all four chambers of the heart. Everything was normal, which is such a relief!
Baby Knies is weighing in at 12 ounces, and about 6 1/2 to 7 inches long now, so he's about the size of a can of soda! The doctor said that he is average size. I gained some weight this month too. I gained 4 lbs. The doctor said that I was skinny before I was pregnant, skinny when I got pregnant and skinny while I am pregnant. The Doctor's Orders: "If you see a hippopotamus, eat it!" He also said that he would be glad if I gained 10 lbs in April! I think my eyes bulged. It's still hard to imagine gaining weight, even if I am pregnant!
We go back to the doctor's office for our next our 24-week check up in May.

Roosters Don't Come with Snooze Buttons!

Mom and I traveled to North Carolina to see my grandparents this weekend! Thanks to the Garmin GPS system, we found a new quicker route that cut thirty minutes off our travel time! Whoo hoo! As mentioned before in a previous post, my grandparents live on what is almost a small farm, where they raise tons of vegetables, fruit, chickens, and one annoying rooster! The rooster's name is Tarzan because when my cousins where little they thought the rooster's crowing sounded like Tarzan! Every animal at my grandparent's house has to have a name, so Tarzan it was!
Mom and Tarzan have a bad history! Tarzan used to sit outside on the porch banister outside the window of the room we used to stay in when we went to my grandparent's house and crow every morning. One morning Mom finally had enough crowing and took an umbrella and knocked Tarzan's legs out from under him, so he fell off the banister. He stopped crowing and didn't sit outside that window anymore.
During this visit, Mom and I slept in a different room. Adam and I have slept in this room before and NEVER heard Tarzan crowing, but Tarzan decided to seek revenge for Mom's malicious act with the umbrella! Every morning, he started crowing at dawn and didn't stop for hours. He would crow until almost 10 am! What rooster does that?
Having a rooster crowing all morning is worse than having an alarm clock that won't turn off and there is NO snooze button on a rooster!