Free This Week

In addition to couponing (see post below) I have been trying to keep my eyes open for free samples that I could sign up for, and coupons and events where we could get things for free. Here is a picture of the things I have received this past week. 3 Giant Zip Lock bags I got in the mail, Orville R. Natural popcorn and coupon book, Cream of Wheat and coupon, 4 ct. Kotex sample, a Little People DVD from the Little People anniversary party at Toys R Us last weekend, a wooden Thomas the Train brand train ($12 value) that we also picked up in the same visit Toys R Us with a coupon, and two magazine subscriptions that I also got for free.

My Two Most Recent Target Trips

I have been really into couponing lately and it has been so fun to see how much money we can save. Target has been one of the stores I have been focusing on lately and I have found some pretty good deals. The first 3 pictures are from a trip a couple weeks ago and the last is from my trip this week.

Here is everything I got on my first trip and my total was $19 something.

Just to give you an idea of how it broke down the items in the pic above totaled $12.69. The babies love the puffs and they are a great diaper bag snack and they were on sale for 3 for $5. The sippies are the ones that we are using with them and we only had one for each of them. I was excited to find them 2 for $5. The spoons are also a favorite and were $2.69.

So, I was able to get everything else (the items that I used the coupons on) in the pic above for $7 something. So fun! The wipes alone were originally $15. The Cheetos were a treat for Conrad who was at home watching the babies and came to about 30 cents each.....not our normal Trader Joe's fare.

This is the pic of my great deals from my trip last wed. This stuff came to $1.22. The soaps were free with a $3 of 3 J&J coupon. The Aveeno was on clearance (only 15% off) for $2.54. I had 2 $2 off coupons so I got them both for $1.08. I had 2 target internet printable coupons for $1 off Motts and also had 2 manufacturer coupons for 55 cents. I think apple sauces came to about 7 cents each.

Lately

-Conrad was changing Mila's diaper in their play area and she was crying because she had a bad diaper rash. Nolan noticed how sad she was and took the binky out of his mouth (that he had recently stolen from her) and put it in her mouth and then held her hand to try and make her feel better.

-Nolan and Mila have figured out how to get out of their fenced in play area.They have multiple different strategies they can use depending on how I set it up. I need to figure out a new strategy to keep them in so I can get stuff done while they play.........without coming back to find them playing in Wyatt's water.

-We are currently in the process of transitioning from formula to organic whole milk. Cheaper, but not as much cheaper as you might think. (At the time of actual post they are fully on milk.)

-We will also be transitioning from bottles to just sippy cups. This transition will likely take longer than the switch to regular milk.

-Nolan still wakes up wanting a bottle about 3 or 4 some mornings and we have decided to put a stop to that. Because he is much more stubborn than Mila with his eating habbits, we have justified this by saying he likely is hungry at night. Lately, we have not made him a bottle if he wakes. We just bring up a sippy of water and rock him for a minute if he is really out of sorts and put him back to bed. It takes a little longer, but seems to be working for the most part (except the first night when we were up for 1 hour and 45 minutes).

-I am still trying to figure out my health issues I have struggled with since the babies were born.

-We are trying to decorate and organize our house bit by bit. It is starting to look more like we want it to. This is more important to me now that I spend so much time at home.

-Mila has been using walking as her main mode of transportation for almost a week. She still definitely has the new walker wobble, but is so cute. Nolan can take about 6 steps in a row, but prefers to crawl most of the time. (At the time of post Nolan is walking a lot more and he is doing great.....video to come).

-We found a small plastic climber with a slide on Craigslist for a good deal and the babies love it. It was 45 minutes past bedtime when they first got to play with it, but Nolan was determined to crawl up the slide. He was exhausted but tried over and over to get up it even with slippery shoes and only his sweaty hands as traction. Today I found him standing up on the top platform quite proud of himself. I need to figure out how to get the huge thing in and out of their area by myself so that they can have fun with it during the day and I can also take it out when I need to work on something.