CCCCCCCold!!!

This is for all my Andalusia friends who THINK it is cold there.....




This was taken on my phone camera in my car on the way to work...



When I passed a bank this morning it said the temp was 3 degrees...UUUGGGGHHHH!!!!! I absolutely, positively HATE cold weather...MISERABLE! So, when you go outside today in your nice 30-40 degree weather (I USED to think that was freezing!) just think, it could be worse!! LOL This is ONE reason I am ready to move back home!! :)

New Hobby!!

So, I have begun a new hobby this month! I don't usually make New Year's Resolutions, but I did this year!! While I was home with Emmie, I caught an Oprah show with the lady from couponmom.com on there. If you have never visited her website, you should because you are missing out on some AMAZING, FREE advice, coupons and all other sorts of goodies! I have started using her money saving tips and started using coupons. Now, normally I am fairly frugal when it comes to shopping, especially grocery shopping. I absolutely hate going to the grocery store because it seems like every time I go, the bill gets larger and larger and the amount of groceries get smaller. I know a lot of you won't be able to get some of these insanely ridiculous deals like I do because you don't have certain stores in your area, BUT you can still get some great deals and strategies fore saving lots of money! I go to Kroger (a grocery store) and CVS and Walgreens all the time. I won't bore you with the details of all my endeavours the last couple of weeks, but I will tell you, I have saved an average of over 75% with ALL my groceries and drugstore purchases AND I have even MADE money on some!! I have walked out of stores with tons of FREE stuff! Yes, FREE...and not silly things, but actual products I buy normally.
Here is just one example:
I went to Kroger last night and this is what I got
4-4 pak Cottonelle Toilet Paper - PAID $0.50 for ALL 4 (two boxes were FREE)
3-boxes Lean Pockets - PAID $1.75 for ALL 3
3-boxes Hamburger Helper - PAID $1.25 for ALL 3
2-boxes Rice-A-Roni pasta - BOTH boxes FREE
Total out of pocket was $3.32 for everything!!!
That's just one example, I have already in a few weeks, gotten 5 tubes of toothpaste FREE, 8 Garnier shampoos and conditioners FREE, 4 boxes of 100 count packets Splenda FREE, etc....the list goes on!!

It's crazy the amount of money I have been WASTING over the years by not using coupons!! So, anyway, I encourage you guys to look at this website (www.couponmom.com) and search the Internet for some great money saving coupons/deals, I know I appreciate the money saved in this economy!! If you have any questions or want to know more details, email me and I'll tell you how I am doing some of it, and it is all legal...LOL I told Paul last night, I felt like I might get arrested because I am walking out of the store with so much stuff for FREE!! So, now my new hobby is coupon-ing...Emily says that it isn't a hobby, but it is to me!!

I don't care for posts too much without SOME sort of picture(s) to look at, so I thought I would put some cute pics of Emmie this morning before going to daycare...she got another one of these cute hats from Grandmother at Christmas, SOOOO cute!!




It's TOO early for pictures, Momma!!

Did I forget something??!!

Okay, I hate to admit this, but I hope you mommies (and even others) can relate to this at least on some level!! So, I have realized being a new and first time mommy brings about many new challenges. I have always taken pride in my ability to have a great memory. I can remember the smallest detail of almost anything, I can even recall most of my high school friends' phone numbers!! But, I am finding now that I seem to forget a lot more since Emmie was conceived! When I was pregnant, I swear, sometimes I would even forget some of my client's names when I would see them (which is SOOOO unusual for me)!! It would take me a minute to remember it!

Paul works a 4 a.m. - 1 p.m. schedule at work and so he isn't there in the mornings to help get us off (but is nice because he picks Emmie up from daycare by 1:30 at the latest). So, with Emmie starting daycare last week, I am still trying to get in the groove of the morning rush of getting myself ready and her ready and feed and our lunches packed (which I normally have forgotten to un-freeze hers and that takes a while!), walk the dogs, etc. I like to work a 7-4 schedule at work so I can miss the rush hour traffic here, which now puts me getting up super early...at the latest is 5 a.m.! I am starting to think I may have to get up even earlier...YIKES!!
Well, this morning was even more of a rush, as my stepdaughter was with us for the first time since Christmas break AND for the first time I've had to get her, Emmie and myself ready and off to school, etc. She had gymnastics class last night right after school until 7:15 and when she got home she had a horrible headach and had to go straight to bed because it was so bad! She had a good amount of homework to do and didn't get to do it because of the headach. So, this morning was very, very stressful trying to get her up at 5 to get dressed, fed AND homework, feeding Emmie, getting her ready for daycare and her bag packed and getting myself ready, all to walk out the door by 6:20!! Obviously we ran a little late this morning and (the whole point of this long blog...:) I got to work and realized a couple of things. One, I forgot my homemade chocolate chip cookies I wanted so bad to have after lunch beacuse I did so good last night and didn't eat any thinking I would save those calories for the daytime instead of late at night before going to bed, and two (the BIG one..) I THINK I forgot to brush my teeth!!!! I have never!!! As much as I don't want anyone to know that, I couldn't help but laugh at myself when I got to work and drank my coffe and thought...hmmmm did I brush my teeth? I seriously don't know if I did or didn't, that's what is so sad, I can't remember!! So, hopefully Emily (if you read this today, don't get to close LOL :) and eveeryone else will not get to close today and I can sort of hide from everyone today!!
Anyway, I hope I am not the only one who has done something like this!!!

Emmie's 4 Month Check-Up

Emmie had her 4 month check up on Friday and I wanted to give an update. She weighs exactly 11 lbs (7%), 23.5 in (25%) long and her head circumference is 15 in (8%). The % next to each one is what percentile range she is in for her age group. As you can see, her weight and head are still fairly small, but her height is great! The doctor said she looks like she may be above average on her height considering she is still so small but so long! The doctor was extremely pleased with her development and said she was actually right along where she should be (which is 2 months ahead of her adjusted age!!) So, she is doing great and is just perfect!! She does have ONE flaw, but it isn't anything to be concerned about. She has a slight pigment variation on her stomach from where the skin pigment didn't develop all the way when she was in utero, but it is barely noticeable and isn't too large. The doctor said when she is older we may send her to a pediatric dermatologist, but it wasn't anything that would affect her health. He said Paul may appreciate it when she gets older, as Emmie may not want to wear a two piece bathing suit!! LOL I said if that was the ONLY thing wrong with her, after all she went through, I was 100% happy with that! As far as her developmental skills she has learned, she is chewing on her hands and has been for a few weeks (now I know why babies always have to wear bibs even when they aren't eating)!! She looks around when you walk into a room and talk to her, she is rolling over from her front to her back, she is starting to reach for toys and watch them when you move them in front of her.....and she is beginning to get a little 'TUDE!! This morning I put her in her car seat and she decided she didn't want to go in it, so she kicked her legs out straight in the car seat and pushed and "locked" herself into position so I couldn't bend her to strap her in!! AND she gave me an attitude about it the whole time!!! It will never be the same again, I'm afraid!! LOL

THEN, after all the fussing at momma, this is what she did.......

She THINKS she's funny!

Here is a little video I got of her flipping over, she still isn't even worried about flipping from back to front, she doesn't like being on her tummy and loves playing on her back, so she has yet to even try flipping from back to tummy yet!!

You can't argue with this!!

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celeb - Collage - Morph
I KNEW it!! Emmie looks more like me!! Paul gets jealous when people say that, but here is the scientific proof (thanks Shonna for sharing), and YES, I do think this IS scientific proof :) LOL

Emmie Pictures

I had Nikki take Emmie's 3 Month Pictures and wanted to share them with everyone. As always, Nikki did an AMAZING job with them and I just LOVE them all, but here are a few of my favorites!! I have a slideshow on the side that you can click to view them all also! Hope you all had a Happy New Year!!