My aspirations as a frugal homemaker

I know there are many schools of thought and variations on what is "right" to do as a stay at home mom. There is everything from those who think you should do nothing all day but carry your baby around, cloth diaper, make everything homemade, etc. to those who think you should sit on the couch and throw bologna at your children to keep them fed and occupied. Now, everyone is entitled to their own opinoin obviously, and everyone must do what is right for their own family. I'm not judging either of the aforementioned types of mommas, or anyone in between, this post is simply about what I want for our family, and my role in that.

Today I was reading a post over at Birth Dynamics about time management for the homemaker, and it really spoke to me. I kind of took a break from cooking, etc. the last few months of my pregnancy due to modified bedrest and having 3 small children plus a move. I got everything packed, and kept things moderately tidy, but we can always do better right? In the past my home has been a bit, uh, cluttered..so as I was packing for the move I started purging things we no longer need or use as a family. Definitely gave Freecycle a workout!

Anyway, the post over at Birth Dynamics talks about assigning different days of the week to certain chores in order to manage your home effectively. I have been lacking in that area, I have goals, just have never been 100% at reaching them. This post spoke about menu prep, etc. for their home of 9 (7 children, her and her husband). Now, we are 3 children short on their number, but the tips and experiences she used can be applied in any household. While many of us have no need to quadruple a cookie recipe on a weekly basis, just doing some of the prep for meals later in the week can save anyone time and money.

I plan on taking her post and applying it to our family. I have forever resisted menu planning, I don't know why exactly since I hate the "what's for dinners" at 430 pm, but I've realized that in order to give my children nutritious and yummy meals (and use my love of cooking), I need to plan ahead better. I've started this week off a bit better, by at least thinking a day ahead. I'm hoping tomorrow to go through recipe books, find out Bobby's work schedule (since he's been mobilized it's really wacky), and plan some nice summer meals! Wish me luck!

Getting back on the frugal bandwagon...Walgreen's deals this week

Alright everyone, I promised myself that as soon as the baby was born I'd get myself back on the frugal bandwagon hunting down the deals. I'm not back into it full swing yet, we're still in unpacking, adjusting to new baby, etc. etc. mode in this house! BUT, Walgreen's has been running some excellent deals the last couple of weeks, and I don't want you to miss out on this weeks!

I believe Walgreen's is trying to start competing with the CVS ExtraCare Bucks program with their Register Rewards. They work like this...you buy Item X for say $2, and out prints a Catalina coupon for $2 off your next order. That gets you started on what is known as a chain. You take that $2 Catalina coupon and go buy another of Item X and use the coupon to pay for it, and you get another $2 coupon. I'll use this weeks deals as a better example.

Both of these are in the ad:

1) 6 pack of regular Boost energy drinks are on sale for $5.99 a piece. You buy one (make sure you don't get Boost Plus or any of those, just regular), and out prints a Catalina for $6 off your next order. You may notice the penny difference...you have two choices, add a small item to your order and the penny gets applied there, OR the cashier can adjust the coupon to $5.99.

2) Walgreens brand 20 ct. Acetaminophen Liqui-gels are $1.99. Buy one and you get a Catalina for $2, same deal as above with the penny difference.

3) This deal is NOT in their ad, but is working nationwide, through 6/30. Glucerna cereal is $4.49 a box, buy one, get a coupon for $4.59. Work the chain as above.

Now, I'm one to work the pennies as much as possible, so what I've been doing is this: Get one Boost, one acetaminophen, one Glucerna cereal and one small cheap item (this week I've been doing packets of ramen as my kids and husband love it, and they're $0.29/each). I live in Indiana and the tax rate is 6%, so after applying the Catalina coupons from previous transactions I end up paying $0.53 for each transaction I do.

We live 30 minutes from Walgreens in either direction now, but where we used to live there are 4 in a very small radius. I had all 4 boys with me yesterday when I went, so I only went to one, but the cashiers are SO nice, and the store wasn't busy, so I did 6 seperate transactions. I'm trying to get brave and try the Boost as I tend to forget to eat during the day, but if I don't these will all be donated to a local cancer center or the like. The acetaminophen will definitely get used with 4 young children in the house! LOL! And my father is loving the Glucerna cereal!

So there you have it, Walgreen's deals this week! Please note: I've just included the plain ole' regular prices on things, assuming you have no other coupons. There ARE $2 Boost coupons out there, which will allow for an overage situation. If I can remember I'll write an indepth post about coupon overage and how to make it work for you. Also, in the following weeks that I do this I will do my best to also include other aspects of Walgreen's deals, like their Free After Rebate items, etc.

The Birth Part One

OK everyone, here goes...this will be a bit long, so sit back, relax, grab a cup of coffee and enjoy!

As you know from previous posts, this pregnancy has been a bit of a rollercoaster ride, from the complete joy of finding out we were pregnant, to the early complications, and on and on. The last 2 months of it were amazingly easy, although I obviously reached the "I don't wanna be pregnant anymore" stage around week 33 lol. At week 32 my doctor had me start coming in for weekly non-stress tests and biophysical profiles because Wyatt didn't think moving much was a fun thing to do. Well, his weight checks always came back well above average, so I was totally bracing myself for a 7-8 pound baby. We affectionately nicknamed him "Sumo Baby", because of my other children, my largest was 6.5 lbs at full term. My doctor scheduled my csection for 38 weeks and 1 day to make sure his lungs were mature and all that jazz.

A little bit of back story here....during my csection with Mattie (my now second youngest son), I had a panic attack. I don't know what exactly caused it, but my thoughts NOW are that I was just in a really bad place emotionally, I was stressed out, his father was nowhere around, and I was scared to death. Well, I was afraid going into this one that I would have another panic attack so I had discussed that with my doctor beforehand.

The night before the section, we dropped the kids off with some very excellent friends of ours who were going to keep them while I was in the hospital since my parents were at a seminar for my dad's job. The place where the seminar was being held happened to be Caeser's Indiana, which is about 10 miles from where we used to live (oh ya, we moved 3 weeks ago, but that's a whole 'nother post), and close to the hospital where I delivered. So we went and met my parents for dinner and a little gambling before we headed off to the hotel to relax for awhile until I had to be at the hospital in the morning. We of course were so excited and anxious we got NO sleep and ended up talking and just being together all night. That was one of the best parts, just remembering how much I love my husband and he loves me, and talking about this life we were getting ready to bring into the world.

I had to be at the hospital at 6am for pre-op stuff, so we got up at 5, got ready and headed over. They got all the paperwork done, IV in, all that jazz, and started giving me fluids. At 7:15 the anesthesiologist came in and she was so great. I had concerns about the type of medication given to me in my spinal due to reactions before of itching and major shaking. We agreed to go with a very low dose of medicine and if I needed more, then we would adjust, hoping that would prevent as severe a reaction as last time. They don't allow husbands in the OR while they are doing the spinal and cathetar, which was one of my major concerns (my husband is my rock, I draw so much strength from him even just being near me and supporting me). The anes. first had to fast pump a second bag of fluids into me. WOW-the saline was SO cold I felt like my arm was going to pop off! LOL! The nurse I had was really great, she talked to me throughout the spinal and made sure to keep my mind off the fact that Bobby wasn't in there yet. They let me know I'd be able to wear my glasses during the surgery so I could see the baby right away. That was new to me as I've been unable to do that during my other surgeries.

Another thing they didn't do which was cool, was to strap my arms down. Now you other csection mommas probably know that that is standard procedure so you don't manage to put your hands under the drape and contaminate the sterile surgical area. They told me as long as I didn't try to put my hands down there they wouldn't strap me down. It was SO nice to be able to touch my husband and move how I wanted to (within reason of course). I was teasing my doctor about cutting off the "c-section flap" as I've affectionately (ha ha) named the flap of skin on my lower belly that won't go away, and he said, well sure, we can do that! Well color me happy, the man gave me a mini tummy tuck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Once they had Wyatt out, they didn't hold him up for me to see right away...he had taken an extra second to cry (the most beautiful sound in the world as all you mommas know!), and when he finally did, he "gurgled" a bit, so they had to check him out carefully. It's really common for csection babies to have liquid in their lungs which can be a complication. He was fine, and within a few minutes the nurses brought him over for me to see.

According to my last ultrasound he was almost 7 lbs. (that was a week prior to my csection) so I fully expected him to be 7.5 pounds, but when they said he was only 6 lbs. 11 oz. I was surprised! He is still my biggest baby, but oh so tiny! After they cleaned him up, they handed him to Bobby and it was SO awesome watching that daddy/son love for the first time. Wyatt is Bobby's first child, and he was just overwhelmed with all the emotions he felt right away.

So there you have it, the birth of our gorgeous boy...Wyatt Reed Mosier.

he's here!

Welcome to the world Wyatt Reed Mosier!

Born: June 13th, 2007 8:00am on the dot

Stats: 6 lbs. 11 oz. 19.5 inches long

Head full of dark blonde hair, and contrary to what the ultrasound said, he has MY nose, not DH's! LOL! I will post a longer post about the birth itself, etc. in the next few days, we just got home from the hospital and while I feel great, I am quite tired, as is he. He is a beautiful addition to our family and he has already made himself right at home in our hearts.