Snapfish Deal

New Coupon code for Snapfish. Take $10 off any order with code WOW10OFF. I just got a $10 photo notebook free (they are $9.99) plus $2.99 shipping! Great deal!

Also, Old Navy has their Maternity and Baby sale on! Make sure to check it out.

We just went to the Jacksonville Zoo today! Lots of fun. But the best part is we got more then 50% off by buying tickets on Groupon. Make sure to sign up for the groupon for your city - GREAT bargains. Just have to look and see what daily deal they are offering - eventually something you want will come around!!

Diaper Deals

Jake has been getting closer and closer to walking! He's up to 4-5 steps at once. Only a matter of time now... we are both excited and scared!!

Amazon.com has coupons for certain Pampers Diapers. When you sign up for subscribe and save (which you can unsubscribe before your next shipment) you save 30% (limited time only) and you can stack it with a 20% off coupon from Parents August and September issues (orange coupon in the magazine - postcard size). I just got 108 night time diapers for only $16!

August is World Breastfeeding Month and BabiesRUs is offering great deals on Breastfeeding items. I'm not breastfeeding anymore, but here were a few of my favorite items when I did!!

1. Medela Milk Freezing Storage Set - who wants to wash containers to pump into continuously? With these you have 12 containers to go through... and you can attach a nipple directly to them if you want. $14.99 usually - only $11.99.
2. Sensible Lines Milk Trays - freeze an ounce of milk in each little ice-cube-like tray, then put in a freezer bag and only use defrost as much as you need, when you need it! The guessing game of how much to put in the freezer bags was always frustrating for me (although I did both). $22 on Amazon, $18.39 at BabiesRUs now.
3. Nursing covers - nice if you are breastfeeding in public a lot, although a blanket would work too. $15.99 and really cute designs.

And I would always suggest to have an extra set of pump parts (valves and breast Shields) so you don't have to wash between each pumping! Try to borrow a pump, but if you can't I'd suggest looking in consignment shops for lightly used pumps or keep an eye out for good deals!

Travel Tuesday: Passports and Car Seats

Last week, I booked my trip to Germany! The whole family is going - including Jake. The more I think about it, the more apprehensive I get... we are bringing a 15 month old on an 8 hr flight! How are we going to lug his car seat, stroller diaper bag - and him - through the airport along with all of our carry on stuff! Oh boy, this should be interesting...

In lieu of my newest dilemma, I decided to dedicate today's blog to Travel Tuesday - traveling with a toddler.

Any age child needs a passport to travel internationally. Thankfully, the cost of passport fee is smaller for a child ;) The fun part though - is getting the passport picture taken! If Jake was a little guy, it certainly would've been easier. But since he is into EVERYTHING, he refused to sit still, look at the camera or anything else we asked him to do. Here are a few tips, we learned from our two times trying to get his pictures taken:

1. Bring more than one adult. One person can hold him while other one tries to get his attention toward the camera.
2. Bring a toy he loves or something that usually grabs his attention. Hold it behind the camera to get him to look that way.
3. Know the passport picture requirements. It seems that Walgreens didn't know the accurate picture requirements (looking at camera, no shadow, certain size, etc) because we had to re-take them at the passport center.

And I did some research to figure out how to transport all the baby gear - stroller, car seat, diaper bag, etc. I knew about the Travelmate, but didn't want to pay that much (approx $80). I stumbled across these car seat straps. For $14.99, they claim to strap your car seat to your carry on luggage - and the baby can sit in it! The reviews are pretty high (mostly 5 stars), and the low ones sound like people who were traveling along (thank God I'm not...). I'll let you all know how it works once I try it, but my hopes are high!

Sales, Sales, Sales

Big sales this week!!

• Children's Place - additonal 50% off on select items (priced as marked)
• Semi-Annual Sale at Crazy 8
• Semi-Annual Sale at Gymboree

And a few freebies!!

• Free 8x10 collage at Walgreens. Use code GOBIG8X10 thru June19 on Walgreens.com. Make sure to choose pick up at store and you don't even have to pay shipping!!
• Dove Therapy Shampoo & Conditioner - leave Costco number blank
• Bulls Eye BBQ Sauce Samples

So I'm the worst blogger ever...

Okay so I start a blog and then don't post anything for four months... oops... Sorry guys! (I know you were so dissapointed). :) Anyways, I'll do my best to start posting regularly again! At least once a month!!

So what's new? Lot's going on in the "thrifty" world! Here's a couple things to keep your mailbox full:

• Friend Shutterfly on Facebook and get a free 5x7 photobook on Shutterfly. You have to fill out a survey and then can claim your code (make sure to copy it down). You have till June 30 to redeem it (2.99 shipping).


• Walmart has some samples out right now: Cottonelle, Playtex Gentle Glide, Crest 3D White


• 3 Free 5x7 Folded Cards on Shutterfly with coupon code CARDS4DAD - but you have to login and go to your account (at the top right), then click on "Enter Special Offer Code."

I also found this cool site - www.thesoftlanding.com - their clearance section has some really cool stuff - and some favorites for cheap (Avent Bottles for $4.50). I haven't bought anything from them yet, but plan to soon :)

And, of course, an update on the Jakester! He's changed so much since February!! He's crawling and getting into everything!! He's eating big boy food and absolutely loves it. Yesterday, he ate an entire banana - for dessert! He's been saying Dada for a few weeks now - but no Mama yet!!

BOGO is Great!!!

Each week Publix offers a variety of Buy One, Get one Free deals. They offer really great items with a wide assortment to choose from. Get even better deals by using a coupon with your purchase (or better yet two - that's right you can use a coupon on the free item). This week they had Texas Toast BOGO ($.50 coupons at coupons.com) and Earth's Best Stage 2 ($1 off/10 coupons at earthsbest.com). Happy shopping!

The deals go live every Thursday on their site - www.publix.com/bogo.

Baby Food Friday

Today was an interesting day. We had our appt with the neurologist - which I'm just planning to ignore until I get a second opinion from my new pediatrician next Friday...

But, on a much better note, I tried my hand at making my own baby food today. I've made avocado twice before successfully - although today's batch had to get thrown out. Very strange, but avocado looked fine when I scooped it out but turned black while I was pureeing it...

But I made sweet potato, pear and green beans today - all for the first time. I must say, I'm not sure that the pears were worth it - but the rest certainly were. Two sweet potatoes made a ton of food (at least 12 servings) and they were so easy I was able to puree them in my magic bullet. The green beans were a bit more difficult! I tried the food processor first (no luck), then the blender (this only works if you use a lot of green beans - can't do a small portion). But it worked out great in the end!! The pear was super easy too (just steam and throw in the magic bullet) but one pear only made 2 servings (one jar of baby food). Considering the organic pear cost me $0.88 - and the jars of Earth's Best baby food only cost me $0.33 on sale (actually less because I used a coupon). But pears are on the EWG's dirty dozen list so you really should use organic - so I'll probably be making only a limited amount of this food...

For those of you who are interested in making your own food too, here are a few resources:

My favorite Web site for info, recipes and more - www.wholesomebabyfood.com

Looking for something to store your food: try babycubes, or freeze them in ice cube trays (which are 1 oz for ea cube) and put them in plastic bags.

I also love the Nuby Storage containers - you can freeze and microwave them. I also use them for sending cereal to the babysitters!

Hoping it snows tonight!! Fingers crossed :)

The New Year is Off to a Great Start

First day back at work in 2010 and I think we got a great deal to go through! Fingers crossed till all the proposals are signed, but things are looking good!! It was tough leaving little Jake again though - after being home with him for 4 days. But he loves daycare - he loves watching all the other kids and things are going much better with him and the sitters.

A Few Deals for Today:
New York & Company (only my favorite store ever) is having a 70% off sale.

Picaboo is offering a buy one book, get one free deal, until January 31. Code JANBGF - I LOVE their photobooks. They give you a ton of layout choices. I'm already working on Jacob's first year album...


And finally, why didn't I see this article about 6 mos ago. Of course, I read about it right when I'm about to stop nursing. But still good to keep on hand for the next kiddie - Convert a regular bra to a nursing bra

New Year's Resolutions

Somewhat sad, yet somewhat happy that the holidays are over. Will be nice to return to our routine and not have to drive all over the state. But I must say, it was great to see all our family and friends over the last month!!

For the record - my New Year's resolutions for 2010. Let's see if I can actually follow through on them all :)

1. To loose 10-20 lbs (the additional baby fat)
2. To cut down on my cussing (in particular around Jake)
3. To be a better godmother to Mya
4. To not forget quite as many birthdays this year...

Best of luck to all of you with your resolutions!!

Made some avocado baby food for Jacob today. 2 avocados made 8 servings (although he only eats about an ounce to an ounce and a half per serving). The magic bullet purees it perfectly! Hopefully it's this easy to make the other kinds of baby food too!!

Big week coming up - Jake has his neurosurgeon appt. We'll finally find out if (more like when) he has to start wearing a helmet! Not to worry, I'll post pictures!!

A few new coupon codes for ordering pictures online:
1. Shutterfly - 75 free prints, PRINTS2010 (valid until Jan 6)
2. Snapfish - 50 prints for 50 cents, NewYear50 (valid until Jan 7)

As the long weekend comes to an end...

Getting ready for a new work week! Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving holiday - we sure did! Now I'm getting everything ready for next week - preparing bottles for pumping, laying out Jakes clothes for the week, making lunches, etc.

Tomorrow is cyber-monday! Make sure to check out your favorite online stores for any deals. I know Sears, Target, JC Penny's are having big sales. As is Amazon - make sure to check out their CyberMonday specials. They've been having great deals all week long - yesterday I got 3 DVDs for Jimmy at 70% off. You can also sign up for a one month trial of Amazon Prime and receive free two day shipping on anything you spend (no minimum purchase). I just signed up yesterday and it is AWESOME!! Just make sure to "Manage Your Prime Membership" and turn off the automatic upgrade. Thanks to Thrifty Florida Mama for the heads up!!

As promised, here are some of the baby clubs that I'm signed up for. I've actually signed up for several others (Winn-Dixie and Sav-a-lot) but these are the only ones I've actually received anything from. Sign up and save!

• Enfamil Family Beginnings - They send samples, formula checks, coupons, and more!
• Similac Strong Moms - They send a sample of their Advance and their Soy formula, formula checks, and lots of cute tips and milestone info as the months progress!
• Publix Baby Club - They send a bunch of great coupons (that can be stacked with manufacterer's coupons), an informational book, and quarterly newsletters with coupons. But sign up early - it takes months to get your first mailing.
• Beechnut - Sign up for their e-newsletter for coupons in your email. Plus, I just signed up for the parent pack (sign up by going to contact us). I haven't received it yet, but it should have some great coupons!
• Earth's Best - Get coupons in their monthly newsletter, and you can print several of their coupons.
• Gerber/Nestle - They send an array of awesome coupons! They send based on the stage of your baby - right now they've been sending coupons for bottles, pacifiers, and nursing pads, then they move up to baby food, etc. I haven't gotten any in a while, but they really are great coupons!

Well off to another week!

Babies, Babies, Babies...

This post is in honor of Baby Mia who was born yesterday (Thanksgiving) at 10p.m. She is 8 lbs, 15 oz, 22 inches, a full head of hair and as beautiful as it gets! Congrats to Elizabeth & Manny!! It seems everyone is having babies right now - I can think of 10 friends that are expecting!! So here are a few things that I wished I would've known about before I had baby Jake. :)

1. Stocking up on diapers - Most people who know me saw the insane amount of diapers that I stocked up on. I would wait till diapers were on sale and then use coupons. I paid on average $7-$8 per jumbo pack - and I had a TON of them. I bought in every size and brand (in case of allergies, etc), but only got one or two of the newborns in case I had a big baby. Here's a GREAT resource if you want to buy diapers ahead - http://www.babycheapskate.com/ (do a search for the article "using growth charts to predict diaper needs")

2. Baby Clothes - I had them all sorted in the closet from newborn, 0-3 mos, 3-6 mos, etc. What I didn't realize is that some brands are smaller than others. So when I moved Jake up to the 3-6 mos clothes several of them were WAY too small. Now I hold the clothes up to each other and sort them in order of actual size rather than what their labels claim.

3. Sign up for the baby programs EARLY! I'll try to post a list of the various baby programs you can sign up for by end of the weekend, just a few to mention www.gerber.com/register, https://similac.com/signup-similac, and www.publix.com/babyclub. Sign up as early as you can for these clubs. For some it takes a while to get the coupons. The Publix Baby Club coupons didn't get to me until Jake was already 3 mos old - and I signed up when I was like 7 mos preggo! The others, like Similac and Gerber/Nestle will send you coupons while you are pregnant too - that you can use when you see great deals (some times you can get the ready made formula for next-to-nothing when you use those coupons) then you can have a few kinds on hand to try out on baby when he/she's born.



Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!! Ours was great! We had my cousins, mom & bro visiting as well as Stephen and Jimmy's mom & her husband. It was lots of fun! Jimmy deep fried the turkey - and caught it on fire - but it turned out delic anyways!!

Also, just an update on my Black Friday shopping experience. It ended about as quickly as it began! I couldn't go to any of the really good sales (Walmart/Target/etc) because Jimmy had to be at work from 5 am - noon, which is when most of them occurred. So instead I decided to try out the ToysRUs/BabiesRUs experience - as they had a few items I was interested in. I was SOOO naive in the whole ordeal. They opened at midnight, so at 12:15 I pull into the parking lot. The entire shopping center was packed with cars. So I'm looking around - no TJ Maxx is closed, no HH Gregg is closed, all the other stores looked closed. But then I realize there is a HUGE line outside of Ross. So I think to myself, "WOW Ross must have some great deals tomorrow..." NO actually the line for ToysRUS was just that long. It went about 10 stores down... They were at max capacity and would only let in as many people as had just left. So after about 30 minutes, I decided that no deal was worth that wait... Next time, if there is a deal I REALLY want, I'll be prepared (chair, coffee, etc). On a side note though, I went back at 4 pm today and still got all the deals I wanted (even the ones that ended at 1 pm rang up as the discounted prices). So I still feel like it was a success - and a definite eye opener!!

Jake's Meltdown

So last night we were so excited to go to Halifax Uncorked - a food & wine festival. There were 12 different restaurants from around Daytona offering samplings. BUT we made it in the door for all of 20 seconds before Jake had a complete meltdown. It was just too much - too many people, too loud, not to mention the Jazz music playing in the background. He was screaming in a high pitch voice that I've only really heard when he got his shots. We tried to calm him down but he wanted no part of it. So, we turned around and went back home. But even when we got back home, he continued screaming for about 2 hours before finally calming back down. I felt so bad! I had no idea it would be so traumatizing for him.

We are going to try to go back today - but don't worry Jake - you'll be going to a babysitter!