A new hobby

Recently I have been very intersted in coupon clipping. I used to think it was a waste of time...I mean it was only $.50 off or so! But wow I didnt realize how it all adds up. It is so much fun to me now. Its almost like playing a video game and constantly trying to beat your highest score. I get excited each Monday when I head off to the grocery store to see if I can save more than I did the last week. I am still not that great at it and still really learning the best way to do it but I enjoy it. I usually only save about $40-50 but this week I saved $76! I know to some that is nothing because they always save more than they spend but to me that was pretty good! It helped though that Publix had an amazing sale this week and all the items were things that I use often.
Here are some of the websites I use and tips I have learned from others:
http://www.iheartpublix.com/
http://www.southernsavers.com/
http://www.coupons.com

*I use the coupons out of the Sunday paper and the flyers they have at the grocery store
*At Publix you do not have to literally Buy one to get one free...if you only get one, its just 50% off. I know at Winndixie you have to get 2 to get the deal.
*A lot of stores will take other stores coupons. (Winndixie often gives you a $10 off of $50 or more coupon and some stores will take those.)

Do you have any tips or website you have found helpful? How do you organize your coupons because I havent found a good way to do that yet?
Happy Saving! :)

Our Busy Week

We stayed pretty busy last week. Monday I had my 6 week postpardum checkup and everything was good there. Tuesday morning I took Anna Riley to the doctor about her possible reflux. I took her to Berry on Thursday to see PawPaw and Granny and eat lunch with them.

And Friday was super busy. We went to Daddys office to see everyone there then lunch with him and then off to the school where I used to teach to see everyone and then Granna (my Mom) and Aunt Diane stopped by that afternoon.


Then Saturday we took AR to have her picture made with the Easter bunny at Peterbrooke which she slept through and then headed to Berry for a Hailey's 2nd birthday party. This was Anna Rileys first party to attend! :)

Sunday we took her to church for the first time. She did great!! We kept her in the sanctuary with us and she was awake the whole time and did so good!

I took AR to the doctor today because we think she has a bit of reflux unfortunately. Dr. Roberts wanted her to come in to make sure she was gaining enough. Haha that was a definite YES! She has no problem in that area weighing a whopping 11 lbs. 12 oz! While in the waiting area there were 2 other babies, one was 7 weeks also and oh how tiny! The other was 4 months and AR was about his size! haha...I have a healthy eater which I am not complaining about at all! :) Dr. Roberts suggested that we give her either the formula with rice starch in it or put some cereal in her bottle. If this doesnt work we will then try the Zantac. I am glad she wanted to try another approach before just medicating. I think too many doctors just write prescriptions these days! Hopefully this will work.

Here is just a random picture I thought was so cute!

Our Weekend in Pictures--Fairhope Arts and Crafs Festival

What a wonderful weekend! We headed down to Fairhope on Thursday for the Arts and Crafts Festival. This was our 3rd time to make it down for this and we love it each year! It is so much fun! This year was even better because we got to bring along Anna Riley. I think she enjoyed her first trip to Fairhope!!

Our little leprechaun

Just a few pictures from the past few weeks

Sleep Training has begun...

Well first let me start out by saying AR is now officially in her room! YAY! We started last week slowly transitioning her to her crib in her room. Last night we left her in there all night (Riley didnt even bring her to me when he left.) I felt it was time to start "sleep training" and get her used to falling asleep on her own. I had read Baby Wise which is a very controversial book about parent direct feeding and sticking to a schedule. It also talks about you setting the nap times each day rather than the child. We have chosen to still feed her on demand rather than just every 3 hours (which usually is pretty close to that anyway). I am using more the E.A.S.Y method which is Eat, Activity, Sleep, You time and to me its basically the same but you dont stress out about the clock as much. It is just getting her on a routine that is the same everyday. I have started putting her down for a nap in her crib (while she is still awake). Yes, sometimes she cries and other times she just lays there until she falls asleep. Yesterday was the first day I did this all day and I have to say it worked well. I am not a fan of crying it out but I do feel that it is better if a child can learn to soothe herself and fall asleep on her own. Usually she will cry for 5 minutes max and then she is either asleep or she just lays there. If she cries longer it is usually because she is still hungry or needs a diaper change. If we have to soothe her we just go in there and do the "shh--pat" for a few mintues but try not to pick her up (which is hard!). I am also trying to not use the pacy as a way to get her to sleep. If she needs it then I give it to her but I am trying not to use it as a prop. We have been doing a night time routine for a while...bath, bottle, book, song, bed. However, we would rock her for sometimes an hour trying to get her asleep. Last night we just layed her down after we did the nightly routine and she was asleep within 30 minutes. She had received the Soothe and Glow seahourse from her little cousins at Christmas and we started using it and she loved it! I know its not always going to be this easy but its the consistency that I am working toward. My goal of sleep training right now is not for her to sleep the whole night...although that will be great when the time comes. It is more about getting her to know that nightime is sleeptime and how to fall asleep without us. I feel that when this is established, sleeping through the night will come (hopefully!) :)

Just have to let you know

Anna Riley smiled for the first time today! A real, on purpose smile! :) I just love it!

1 month (yesterday)

Wow... I cant believe that a month has already flown by! It has been a wonderful month being a new Mommy!! We have adjusted well to our new life and we are loving every minute of it!! Now I cant imagine life without her. Here are some things about Anna Riley...

*She is in between sizes...she has outgrown the newborn sleepers and is wearing 0-3 months in those and in some clothes but still wears some newborn clothes. She is now wearing size 1 diapers.

*I dont know how much she weighs now but I am guessing over 9 lbs. (she weighed 8 lbs. 12 oz. 2 weeks ago)

* She is still fairly petite. She has long, skinny fingers and toes and long legs. Riley says she is starting to get a round belly though.

*I think she favors both of us but mostly Riley. She has lots of her daddys features. Her hair is still brown but it is lighting up a little bit and ever once in a while you can see red tents. I really dont think it will ever turn red like mine but possibly an auburn color. Her eyes seem to be brown...its hard to tell though.

* She eats every 2-3 hours during the day and usually every 3-4 hours and night.

* She is getting more on a schedule (on most days)-- we usually get up for good around 8:00 or 8:30 and she is up for about an hour and 1/2 and she takes a nap and then is up for a while and takes another nap in the afternoon (and sometimes I join her for this one! :) and then usually one in the evening around 6 or so. She had been sleeping so much so it is nice to see her awake more (during the day that is!)

*She sleeps pretty well at night. She has her off nights though! (like the past couple of nights!)Sometimes she doesnt like to go back to sleep but for the most part she does pretty good. I hope to have her in her crib full time in a few weeks. She does not really like to be swaddled and so I have stopped even trying. She also likes to have a light on and goes to sleep most nights listening to Willie Nelson (I bet you cant guess who started that...I put on Mozart and Daddy puts on Willie but hey she likes it so whatever works!)

*She does not usually cry much. When she is hungry she grunts really loud and every once in a while you hear a snort or two!

*She has the hiccups and sneezes a lot...it is so cute when she sneezes because she is very dramatic! haha

* She is so much more alert now and is constantly looking around. She is also grabbing things more such as my hair, shirt, her blanket, etc.

*I love when she 'smiles'...I know it is just a reflex but it is so cute. And Wednesday three different times I said "Smile for Momma" and she did! Haha... what a coincidence!

* She loves to stretch and we call it her "wake up routine" because she will stretch for at least 15 minutes. She also makes lots of funny faces. I feel like we are constantly laughing at her!