Couponing

So along with family updates, I am also going to be posting about my new obsession...couponing. After watching TLC's Extreme Couponing, I became very interested in how these people were saving that much money on essentials. I have been doing research, reading blogs, books, magazine articles; anything that had to do with couponing and helping me learn how to do it.

Since Dave got out of the military, we lost the opportunity to shop at the Commissary that was tax free and had some great deals. I realized how much money we were saving just shopping there. Since I have wanted to put ourselves on a tighter budget to get ourselves out of debt, I thought this could also help.

I have only shopped about 3 times, but those 3 times have made me instantly addicted. It's such a rush to get a bunch of stuff for more than 50% off, FREE and/or making money buying the products. Who would have thought how easy it is to save money just by paying attention to the weekly ads and paring specials with coupons.

Now I am never going to go to "extremes" like the show because every time I see the "stockpiles" those people have, I think how truly crazy they are. I just want to "stockpile" the essentials I know my family needs and will use. I will not buy things just because it's a great deal like some of those people on the show do. I am just trying to be a money saving mom.

So I have begun a small stockpile. I subscribed to the Sunday paper for the coupons. I clip and file my coupons into a binder. I check the weekly drugstores for their deals than match my clipped coupons to the deals. I have shopped at Walgreens, Rite Aid and Giant Eagle. I just recently started Rite Aid so I can't say which I like more yet. So far I like Rite Aid because you can buy more than one product to receive more than one +UP Rewards. Walgreens are limited to one Register Reward per transaction so you have to do multiple transactions if you want to stockpile. Rite Aid allows at least 2 for their rewards. These are coupons good for future purchases which makes saving even better!! Stores will be another post though because I can go on for hours.

I really am looking forward to continuing this adventure and blogging about my savings. I will begin to post pictures of my purchases along with the total savings. So stay tuned for Brittny's 'Krazy' Coupon Adventures! :)

Cameron Micheal

I wanted to write a post about the birth of our second son, Cameron Micheal, if not more for myself so when I finally do start scrapbooking (yea right ;) than I have something to look back on.

My due date came and went and Cameron still didn't feel like joining us. This kind of scares me because both boys seem to be on their own terms already...not sure how Dave and I are going to handle these two together! I was 2cm dilated and my doc scraped me to try to speed up the process. When the doctor did that with DJ, I went into labor the next day. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case with Cameron. I thought I was feeling contractions, but they wouldn't last. So I kept going another week with no signs. Than the morning of March 3rd, I woke up with more contractions, but again they weren't anything to be worried about since they seemed to stop after resting. After playing with DJ in the morning, when we put him down for his nap, Dave and I decided to try to nap ourselves. We actually got a great 2 hour nap, but than were woken up to my water breaking! I knew instantly that's what happened because it truly felt like a rush of water coming out of me. Really disgusting when you think about it, but that's the truth. It almost felt like Cameron kicked inside and decided he was ready to be born and broke my water :)

Luckily my mom was in since she was going to be there to help us with DJ while in the hospital, so we left her with DJ to bring Cameron into this world. We had to drive about 30 minutes to get to the Navy hospital on Camp Pendleton. Instantly my contractions started getting more intense and A LOT closer. I did not have this intensity with DJ since my water never broke by itself. When we finally got to the hospital, of course there was a wait to be checked to make sure I was in labor. Are you serious?? The nurse who took us into the room was not very nice or helpful which made matters worse. Dave was great trying to keep me calm though. He truly is my rock. She put us on monitors and told me to lay down while they watched us to track our contractions. While I was laying on my back, I got the most painful contractions, I couldn't keep laying the way she wanted me to. So I sat up which eased the pain. The nurse came rushing in saying you have to lay down like I said because you're affecting the baby. I think I might have started crying at that point with the pain and thinking of Cameron that I couldn't handle it anymore. A doctor finally came in and as soon as she looked at me she knew I was in labor and needed a room right away. She checked me and said I was 8cm. Looking back at it now, that nurse was a complete b**** for putting me through that.

We were rushed into a room to change and be hooked up to monitors. My contractions were only getting worse so the anesthesiologist was there within in seconds of getting changed to give me the epidural. She was wonderful and instantly started the drugs as I like to call it!! She joked around that she might have to deliver the baby being that I'm 8cm. As soon as she was done saying that, I felt the urge to start pushing. The nurses and everyone in the room said to just push. I didn't understand since again none of this happened with DJ where I couldn't feel anything and the nurses had to tell me when to push. So I just decided to push.

Than I stopped because I realized that the "drugs" weren't fully working and I could feel mostly everything. I looked at Dave and again, being my rock, he asked if there was anything we could do. When the nurses said no, he gave me a quick pep talk and I just pushed with all my might. I pushed through the pain just so I could get Cameron in my arms to stop the pain. After pushing about 20 minutes, Cameron Micheal was born at 6pm March 3, 2011!!



When the doctor finally saw Cameron, he started saying "Wow, that's at least a 9 pound baby!" I thought he was joking because I just assumed he would be about average like DJ. I actually gained a lot less than I did with DJ. He ended up weighing 9.13. I could not believe it! I was carrying around an almost 10 pound baby for 9+ months. No wonder I could feel everything too ;) He measured 21 inches in length. I have to say I fell in love all over again when I finally held him for the first time.



The birth of your child is one of those things that you cannot begin to explain the joy it brings. There's just a happiness that comes over you that you can't describe. I truly felt complete when we became a family of 4!!



Here's a picture of DJ meeting Cameron for the first time. My mom and brother were able to visit since it was early enough before his bedtime. As you can see, DJ was immediately interested in Cameron and he loves his little brother so much already!!


Cameron started eating and sleeping well right off the bat. He was cleared after only a day in the hospital so we were able to go home, which I was so happy to be in our own home and bed. It was a little bit of an adjustment having a newborn again, but we managed to make it through those first couple of hard weeks without killing one another!

Finally an Update

I have been dying to blog for the past couple of months but there have been some major changes that just haven't allowed me to. I am going to have to blog another time about everything in more detail. I just wanted to let anyone who still reads this know that we are still alive and doing well! :) Our second son, Cameron Micheal was born March 4, 2011. He was a VERY healthy boy weighing at 9 pounds, 13 ounces and 21 inches long. The labor was really quick this time meaning he was born within the 2 hours since my arrival at the hospital. Crazy quick how it went. After a month of having Cameron, we find out that Dave is not getting picked up for a different job in the Navy so he is being asked to get out. We then began the whirlwind of trying to figure out what to do. We decided to move back to Pittsburgh where both our families are so we can have the help. Luckily, the military was moving us so we didn't have to do anything. My mom flew out to help me fly the boys back home. We left about a week and a half before Dave was done with work. Once he got back, we found a new place and took about 2 weeks to clean, paint and get the place ready to be moved in. After all of our stuff was delivered it took about another week before we were officially in. There are still some boxes that we need to go through, but most of the place is all done. It's a small place but works perfectly for our little family at the moment. The rent is really cheap which will help us save money so when we want to buy a house we should have a decent amount. I found a job working in a preschool with ages 2 and 1/2 to 3 years old. The nice thing is that the ratio is 1-6. Out in California the ratio for that age group is 1-12 so I'm going to feel like this is easy to handle 6 kids. I'm really looking forward to going back to work so I can meet some new friends and have that adult interaction. Dave thinks he found a sales job that he started today, but he was waiting to officially decide until after a few days of doing it. Kind of weird, but he's going to be working in a cemetery selling plots and headstones to people who need it. I guess it's pretty good money if you are a good seller. We'll see. So that's about it for now since I'm trying to finish this while the two boys are asleep. We are all doing great now that we've adjusted being back on the east coast. I will definitely make a point to write more often, especially for my west coast friend, Jodi, who I think is the only one who actually reads this!! So Jodi....keep looking for more updates and I will try to post pictures next time.

Airplane

Sitting on the airplane flying back to Pittsburgh with both boys. DJ is in my moms arms and I have Cameron. The best thing I brought today was the baby bjorn. I would not have made it onto the airplane and through the flight having to hold him the whole time. It has given me a chance to eat, sleep and blog while Cameron sleeps. If you ever have to travel on a plane with a young infant, don't forget your baby carrier. Best invention ever!!!

Not a Good Start

So I haven't been doing a good job with one of my resolutions to get back to blogging. I'm not really sure why I haven't written anything since my last post. I have a lot of time now that I'm off work, but just can't seem to get myself to sit down in front of the computer to write anything. I guess I want to spend as much time as a family of three before we become 4 and have no time on my hands for anything.

Anyways, I will be 40 weeks tomorrow and still don't seem to be ready to deliver. Not that I mind because D.J. went 41 weeks and is absolutely fine. That also means that we've had a little more time to spend with D.J. by himself. If I don't deliver by March 7th I will be induced. I have an appointment Tuesday so I'm hoping I will be a little further along than last week. I am also going to have the doctor scrape my cervix. They did that with D.J. and I went into labor 2 days later, so I'm hoping that will start the process. I will update whatever happens when it happens, as long as I get a chance ;)

We got some very interesting news this past week. Dave had been submarine disqualified due to his asthma so he needed to switch jobs in the Navy. He put in for three jobs that he would like to continue to stay in the Navy for. He had been told that he was definitely going to get the one so we weren't too worried. Well it turns out whoever told him that was wrong. He was denied all three jobs because there is no openings for him being E6. If he didn't become E6, than he would have been fine. Go figure...he works his ass off to promote and it hurts him in the end. Pretty much he is being forced out of the Navy. Usually it's within a month that we would have to leave. Luckily, where he works now is going to help us out and delay the process as long as they can since we are expecting a new baby any day. We are thinking his date will be May 15th but we still aren't 100% sure the exact date yet.

I have such mixed feelings about all of this. I know that we will be fine because we are going to move back to Pittsburgh where we can live in a reasonable priced home, have good jobs and have both sides of family to help and be with. I will definitely miss living in San Diego with all of the friends I have made. I keep thinking how nice it would have been if Dave could have just done 10 more years and been able to retire with full benefits for the rest of our lives. But I'm VERY happy we won't have to go through deployments anymore now that we have a family. I have been through 2 by myself and those were tough, but I can't imagine what it would have been like with 2 kids. So now I'm starting the process of making sure my PA certification is current and looking for teaching jobs there. I am looking forward to the chance to get back into the classroom. I haven't been able to find any teaching positions out here, so I'm hoping to have more luck back home. I'm also hoping just knowing a lot more people in the field will help.

So that's about it for now. We are going to try to take full advantage of living in San Diego for the last few months that we have. And hopefully within the week we will have another baby boy joining our family!!

New Year's Resolutions

So I normally don't make resolutions cause can't think of any or know I just won't stick to them. But for some reason this year I am motivated to work on a few things. Not sure if it has to do with me turning 30 or that I'm a mom now but I have a few resolutions for 2011.

So here's my list:
1. Post on this blog at least once a week
2. Work on losing this baby weight for good after Cameron is born in February. This is most likely our last child and I want to go back to feeling good when I put on clothes. And of course be a hot mama!!! :)
3. Cook dinner every night which will help me with number 2 and 4. I get very lazy sometimes after work and it's so easy to go out or order food. The problem with that is that I can't regulate what's in that food for myself and even worse for D.J. Now that he is eating complete people food I want to provide him with the best complete meals that I can. Cooking will also help us save money which leads me to my next one.
4. Paying down some of our debt. Dave and I aren't too bad with this but we have our share. Two car payments and 2 major, high interest credit cards is what I'd really like to work on paying off. This leads me to another resolution.
5. Find a job that I feel is more of a career than a job. I am turning 30 in May and still don't feel like I know what I want to do or am able to do use my education in my jobs that I've had. I want to be able to feel like what I do has a purpose rather than just doing it cause we need the paycheck. I have worked hourly for the last 3 jobs and am going to find something that has a great starting salary with great benefits. This will help me big time with the previous resolution.

So that's about it for this year. Do you think I can do it?? These are all very important to me so I'm hoping I can. When I complete something major in any of these resolutions I will be sure to update it here. That will definitely keep me motivated so I can brag about my progress! :). I guess I also have to post when things don't go as planned either so I can work on getting back on track. So stay tuned for how I do in 2011!!!

Trying a new app

Since getting my iPhone about 6 months ago has made life a whole lot easier. For example, I just found this application that will allow me to add posts to my blog!!! I am so excited since I never seem to have time to spend on the computer but always have my phone on me and can find a little bit of time here and there to write from my phone. And with my new years resolution to write more this could be a perfect way to keep that. So this is my trial post to see how it works and what it really looks like from the computer. Thank you iPhone!!!