Happy Day!

Nearly four years ago (within the hour of me posting this), this special little guy entered our lives.

Happy 4th Birthday Preston!

Where Does The Time Go?

Has it really been over a month since I last posted? Bad, bad blogger. My apologies to anybody who still actually reads this thing.

Let's see, since there's been so much going on I'll have to update you with some highlights:

• We found out that we are expecting another little boy. I shall remain Queen of My Castle. The Lone Bearer of Estrogen. The One with the Most Shoes. Preston is just thrilled to have a little brother to play with, and we are too.
  

• We have been re-doing the hubby's office. We moved him into the guest bedroom, which means the daybed for guests needed to go. We decided to go ahead and move Preston out of the toddler bed and into the day bed. He looks so tiny in that twin size bed but as you can see he loves it. We still need to get him a comforter, the vintage Sesame Street sheets I've been hanging onto all these years finally came in handy. The old office will become the baby's nursery, so we'll be painting in there soon.

• Speaking of painting. We painted the new office (the old guest room) and Preston got to help. It's kind of a blue/gray color depending on the light of the day. I think we're happy with it.
  
  
  

• We've also been shopping quite a bit at our new favorite store. Thanks to my sister and her husband for putting up with us as we bought some bulky furniture for the office that wouldn't fit in our own car. They were life savers! And thanks to my friend Micki who helped us put it all together. I always knew having a friend who is a former Marine would come in handy someday.

• We've also since upgraded our internet, got rid of our landline, and found a new home for that old monster of a desk that we used to have. I still feel sorry for the guy who bought it from us. Especially after he told us that he was going to put it in his upstairs office. I hope he doesn't send us the chiropractor bill.
  




• Between visits to my OB (everything's great!) I've been to the dentist to get some long overdue dental work done. It's not been fun, but necessary. Take care of your teeth people!

We've also been getting ready for a certain little boy to turn four this week. I'll be posting more about his birthday party and events later on. Hopefully that things have calmed down a bit I'll be posting more.

Baby's First Photos

I had my first OB appointment on July 3rd and was fortunate enough to also get a sneak peek at the baby. Here a few ultrasound pics from Baby's first portrait session. Sorry I'm a little late posting these as we were having scanner issues. So, here's your first peek at Baby #2. And no Mom, we don't know if it is a boy or girl yet.

Here is baby waving for the camera.

Skeletor Baby

Baby had flipped all the way over by the end of the session.

Baby was very active and when the sonographer (is that the correct term?) first started the ultrasound the baby had his/her hand behind his/her head. Ironically, this is how we often saw Preston when we would have ultrasounds with him. Even after he was born he would put one hand behind his head when sleeping, and even still today when he's exhausted we'll find him like that. Too cute!

The appointment went well. My blood pressure was good (thank goodness!) and I'm right on target to deliver by c-section on December 27. This date may change as the doctor allows a 7 day window prior to due date, and with the holidays we might try to have the baby home by Christmas. My only issue at the doctor's office was when they tried to take blood. Apparently I have very deep veins and when the nurse couldn't find one, she went to find one in my hand. Well she found one alright, and she blew the vein while trying to get blood. I ended up with a nasty and painful bruise on my hand for several days aftwards. She felt really bad and ended up calling in another nurse who found a vein in my arm right away.

I have another OB appointment this week and we'll be having another ultrasound. Since I'll be almost 20 weeks we should be able to find out the sex... that is if the baby cooperates. We'll be taking Preston with us as he's all excited about finding out if he'll have a baby brother or sister. If you ask him what he thinks it will be, he'll tell you "I don't know, only the doctor knows." Preston's never been one for suppositions. Stick to the facts, man.

Cute or Creepy?

See that little widget on the left hand column? The one that says "Countdown To Baby!"? Well I added it a while back because I had seen it on other blogs and thought it was kind of a cute way to keep everybody informed on how the baby was doing. When I installed it, I played around with the due dates just to see how accurate the development of the baby in the virutal womb was. Sorry to disappoint but you won't be seeing much change in virtual baby. It pretty much looks the same now as it will at nine months. So even though my belly will be full with baby and there won't be much wiggle room, virtual baby will still look as though it resides in the world's largest uterus. Uhm... ok.



So what do you think of virtual baby over there? Cute or creepy? Keep it or lose it? I want to hear from you, you're the ones that have to look at it.

Frugal Friday: I love CVS!

At the beginning of the year I was probably hitting CVS a few times a week. With internet coupons, the Sunday inserts, and the tips I was getting from A Full Cup, I would walk out of CVS with several bags and usually just pay only a dollar or so. It was such a rush... almost like stealing. Not that I've stolen before, but that's what I imagine it felt like.



Well recently CVS has cut down on their coupons so some of the really good deals are few and far between, but if you do your homework there are still plenty of deals to be had. For instance it may not look like much, but I got all this below without paying a dime. Check it out:

2 Boxes Colgate Toothpaste - $2.79 (buy one get one free)

$.75 off manufacturer coupon

$.75 off manufacturer coupon

$1.00 off CVS coupon (receipt coupon)

Total for 2 boxes of toothpaste: $.29

CVS Panty Liners - $.89

Extra Care Bucks: $.99

Total : -$.10 (They paid me to take it out of the store!)

2 Sodas - $1.39 each = $2.78

Extra Care Bucks: $1.00

Total for 2 Sodas: $1.78 ($.89 each)

Benefiber Chewables - $11.69 each = $23.38

$5.00 Manufacturer Coupon

$5.00 Manufacturer Coupon

Extra Care Bucks (when you spend $20): $10

Total for 2 Benefiber: $3.38

Total Cost of Purchase (prior to coupons and ECB): $29.84

Extra Care Buck from pervious purchase: $.50

Total Cost of Purchase (with discounts): $4.85

Total paid out of pocket: $0.00

So how was my total $0.00? I had a prescription filled at CVS and they gave me a $30 gift card that I used for this purchase. Still $4.85 for all that (especially the Benefiber) is a great deal. I only purchased the sodas as I needed extra items to equal all my coupons I was using. When shopping at CVS make sure the total items you are purchasing are equal to or greater than the coupons/Extra Care Bucks you are using. This is important. It doesn't matter how many coupons you use per item (I used 3 coupons for 2 boxes of toothpaste) but I had to have other items in my cart to balance it out.

It does take some time clipping coupons and scouring the ads to find the best deals, but with the help of A Full Cup and My Frugal Friend they have made the work that much easier. Go check out their sites for some more awesome frugal tips!

Swim Class

Preston finished his swim class the week of July 4th and so I have a few more pictures to share with you. While he didn't make great strides in the area of swimming, he did learn a few basic principles and seems to be very comfortable with putting his face in the water. On the last day of class, Preston's teacher handed out "report cards" indicating whether each of the goals had been met. Here is what Preston accomplished:

• Jump into deep water, swim 5 feet, turn around and swim back to the wall with a float belt




• Know pool and class rules




• Float on back 20 seconds with a float belt




• Select and put on a PFD (Personal Floatation Device)




• Perform a reaching assist




• Participated in age appropriate water sports and games to reinforce skills and encourage fun in the water (uhm, he was all about fun in the water)




• Participated in discussion on core values of caring, honesty, respect, and responsibility

Although Preston didn't advance to the next level class, he still had a lot of fun.

Learning about those "core values" and water safety

Picking out his PFD. I think it weighs more than him.

"Yup, this thing is heavy."

It might be hard to tell, but here Preston is utilizing his "life saving" skills and rescuing his "drowning" teacher with a swim noodle.

And we do it all with a smile on our face. That's a Happy Chap!

And for your viewing pleasure a video of swim class. I just discovered (aka remembered) that there is a video feature on my camera so I thought I'd test it out. The quality is not all that great, but you get the idea.

Preston reminds me more of a cat being forced to swim with all that wiggling but hey, at least he's having a good time, right?

Bear Necessities

This little bear has been causing some big troubles around this house lately. First a little backstory. This bear first came into our lives when I was pregnant with Preston. A friend from my Lifegroup gave me the bear in a gift basket that she gave to me at my baby shower. Unfortunately, I don't even remember her name anymore, which drove Preston crazy as he was always asking who gave him the bear. (I finally just said that mommy and daddy gave it to him, and he seemed satisfied with that answer.) Probably about the time that Preston was around a year old we started encouraging Preston to sleep with the bear. It really wasn't until he was about two and half or three that he really embraced bear and he began to be a permanent fixture, especially at bedtime. We knew that Preston had fully accepted the bear as his own when he finally gave him a name - Bear. Yes, just Bear.



Now Bear did not always look like he does now. At one time he wore a really cute pale blue rabbit suit. Don't ask me why, it seemed to be some sort of pajamas or something. I think the species confusion bothered Preston and one day he just decided that Bear no longer needed to be a bear in a rabbit suit. Or perhaps he just prefers him naked.



In the last six months or so, Bear's role has changed somewhat. Where once Bear was only a consideration at bedtime, now I find Preston playing in his room with Bear, talking to him, or even insisting we take him on car rides. Bear has graduated from snuggly thing to playmate, Preston and he are rarely separated. Which leads me to the issue at hand.


It all started Sunday when Preston was getting ready for quiet time (aka naptime) and Bear was nowhere to be found. Generally, Bear can be found quite easily on the floor of the living room (although he is the same color as the carpet which has proven to be a challenge). However, on this day even after a full-on search by all parties, Bear was officially lost. Now we knew he was in the house, but he wasn't in any of his usual hiding places. Quiet time continued as planned, but Preston was none too happy about it. However, I had issues of my own. That evening Preston was going to his Nana's to spend the night and I knew that if Bear did not show up to go to Nana's, Nana was going to have a long night ahead of her. Quiet time is one thing, but bedtime without Bear could be... well a bear. Fortunately, on a whim I thought to look in a wicker basket sitting in the dining room and there Bear was. Nana's sanity is saved.

Tuesday Bear is missing again. And again it is just before quiet time. I am starting to get the feeling that maybe Bear is trying to tell us something. After searching all the usual places and the wicker basket, I call off the hunt and proceed to lecture a three year old about the benefits of keeping better track of your toys. (Yeah, that oughta work.) Several hours later, Phillip comes home from work and immediately finds Bear in our bedroom. Bedtime crisis averted once again. Or so we think.

However, that very same night just a couple of hours after Bear has been found, he's missing again. Maybe I should have had the talk with him? The search party is tired and fed up so we retreat. Bear must spend the night alone. Serves him right for sneaking off again.


Wednesday morning - no Bear.







Wednesday afternoon - no Bear.







Wednesday evening - no Bear.






Another bedtime and Bear is still missing. How long can a bear survive in these elements?


Thursday morning, it's a new day and determination sets in. We start the search again. If Bear is still alive out there, we'll find him. Our search does not take long as I catch a glimpse of something furry and brown in the distance. Could it be? Yes it is! Nestled among the blocks of Preston's marble run is the one and only Bear. Looking no worse for wear, Preston and Bear are reunited once again. It is now Thursday afternoon and my only hope is that he hasn't run off again. Bears (and boys) can be so mischeivous, but gosh if they aren't so cute!