Crazy Coupons Round 2

Ok so my Walgreens visit was so exciting that I had to give Target a whirl this afternoon. Guess how much these items cost me?

$0.69.........I'm serious! 

Crazy Coupons Round 1

Ok so the grocery store has always been a nightmare for me. I always spend too much and most of the time don't even get everything I need. HB is always frustrated with me and it seems to be this issue that never goes away nor do I know what to do about it. When Puddin was a baby I heard a woman speak at some function about using coupons and I was blown away by the savings she accumulated as well as how many things she ended up getting free. With us getting ready to move into the house soon our budget is about to get really tight! HB and I have even considered me teaching preschool a couple days a week or watching kids to make some extra money. A friend of mine told me about a friend of hers or cut her grocery bill more than half by using coupons. After saving up coupons the last couple of weeks and reading other mother's blogs online, today was my first day to give it a try! I had to change my mind set from buying what I need that week to buying what is on sale and stocking up on it! So Walgreens was my first store. Check out how I did!!!!

2 packages of Huggies newborn diapers

1 package of Huggies Little Swimmers

2 45ct Dixie paper plates

1 ramen noodle (I had to use this as a filler)

5 cans of Hunts Tomato Sauce

4 Women's Dove deodorants

1 Mens Degree deodorant

1 Lg bottle of Contact solution

1 Goody headband

1 Goody barrette pack

Total before any coupons or sale: $105.09

Grand Total: $35.35

Plus a $3 register reward to use on my next purchase!

This is so exciting to me, I feel like I have had an adrenaline rush all morning! I can't wait to find out how to save at Albertsons and Target! This is my first go round so I'm hoping to learn more, save more, and bless my family by saving money!

P.S. These newborn diapers are not for me ;) They are a gift!

Calling me out of Comfort!

Last Monday I received an email from the director of our MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group. Every year the last meeting of the year is called Tea and Testimony. (which I'm not sure why since we don't serve tea :) It's a time where a few of the moms share what MOPS has meant to them or what God has been doing in their lives the last year. My first year in MOPS was the year that Hub's and I had such breakthrough in our marriage and in our personal relationships with Christ. I was ask to speak about what an amazing work God had done in our marriage and I was happy to do so. This year I was asked to speak again but not on something I ever wanted to talk about publicly. I was asked to talk about the journey I have been on with Collin. I told our director that I didn't feel like I was ready to do that because I still have a hard time with it most of the time. She said she understood but thought it would be great if I would share. I put it off and didn't really give her an answer. I got really distracted last week with a bunch of stuff going on so I had pushed it to the back of my mind. As much as I tried to ignore the request that had been made God did not. I felt like he was really calling me to speak. More for myself than for anyone else. I have had so much anxiety over other people's reactions to Collin's hands. It it something that I have never felt before but it has been really difficult for me and the thought of publicly bringing attention to Collin's syndrome was frightening to me.  I knew that God was telling me this was the first step in overcoming this anxiety but I would have preferred to sit at my table and hear everyone else speak. Most of the women within my own table didn't even know about Collin's hands. I was obedient to what the Lord had told me and through tears, fear, and anxiety I told my story about Collin's birth! It's really long so it won't offend me if you don't want to read it. I just wanted it to be on the blog so as people who don't know about Collin read they might have a better understanding to what the journey has been like for me!

            At the end of MOPS last year I was 9 months pregnant with my second son Collin. I had been having a completely healthy normal pregnancy and we were excited for baby number 2. With Carter I had to have a C-section and it was not the best experience. I was so drugged that I don’t even remember seeing him so it felt as if everyone else got to see him first. This go round our doctor was confident that I would be able to attempt a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean). We prayed that everything would work out so that I would be able to have the delivery I so hoped for. Around 33 weeks we found out that Collin was transverse (meaning laying sideways). At the following appointments Collin continued to shock our Dr with all his turning so late on in the pregnancy. He went form transverse, to breech, to head down, to breech again within weeks. I was so disappointed because I knew that this would mean we would have to do another c-section. My girlfriends and I continued to pray that Collin would turn head down by delivery.

         Mother’s day weekend I began having contractions. It was hard for me to believe that is was really labor because it was still 2 1/2 weeks before my due date, After 2 days of having on and off contractions things finally picked up and we went to the hospital at 2am. On the drive there I was sure that I would have to have a c-section and I was not very happy about it. The nurse came in to check me and said “Mam, I think we have a head down here.” After doing an ultrasound to confirm it, sure enough Collin had turned again and he was head down and ready to go. We were so grateful for this answered prayer.  After 20 hours of labor it was finally time to push. My epidural had worn off but through the pain I was still so excited to hold my sweet baby boy.

         With only a few pushes there he was laying on my chest. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I felt his warm breath against my skin. It was precious, sweet, and will always be etched on my heart. Within seconds they took him to the isolate to clean him up. My husband and I shared a moment of grins, kisses, and tears and we soaked in the joy of bringing our son into the world. Several minutes went by and I started to notice all the nurses migrate to Collin's side. I just assumed this was the norm since I had never had a vaginal delivery before. My OB finished up with me and he too joined the others at Collin's side.

         I waited anxiously for him to be placed in my arms. My OB was holding Collin and began to walk toward me with a blank stare that looked like a mixture of sadness and shock. Not how you would expect your Dr. to look as he brings you your brand new baby. He began to tell me that something was wrong with Collin's hands. Everything that came out of his mouth from that point forward sounded like a foreign language. At one point I cut him off mid sentence and said “Would you please just give me my baby!” That was the first time I saw Collin's hands. I felt like someone shattered my heart like a piece of glass and all the oxygen was being sucked from my lungs. I remember asking the DR. “Is this permanent?” I was in such shock that I couldn’t begin to process what had just happened!

         Collin was born with Amniotic Band Syndrome. What the heck is that, right? That is exactly what I thought! ABS is when the lining of the amniotic sack ruptures causing fibrous strands to float around the baby. Collin's hands got tangled within those strands causing 2 fingers to be underdeveloped and scarring on the other fingers and his wrist from the ABS. In English, it is as if rubber bands get tied around the limbs and digits.

         I laid there in shock and devastation. I remember holding Collin as close to me as possible and sobbing uncontrollably as a room full of nurses and doctors became the spectators of my grief. You never expect something to be wrong with your child. And if there is something, you expect them to find it before they are born. Those moments were not so sweet as I tried to some how comprehend what they had told us. I instantly went into Mama Bear or protective mode. I didn't want anyone to see or know. Not because I was embarrassed, but because I didn't want him to be gawked at. I wanted his birth to be a time of celebration not a Q&A panel or an opportunity to check out his hands. I wanted everyone to see his precious face. So we waited to announce his arrival to all the family and friends that had been waiting in the waiting room. And we just took a few moments to grieve for our precious baby's hands that were permanently deformed. I don't know that a heart can ever hurt as much as when it aches for your child. My heart hurt so bad that night as I thought about my baby's hands. I grieved for those missing parts, I grieved knowing some little kid would one day make fun of him, I grieve for all the "well meaning" responses/stares he would receive, I grieve for the thought that Collin would have to struggle for one second, and as a Mother, it broke my heart.

         I heard the lullaby go off in the hall signally that Collin had been born. I knew we had friends and family in the waiting room anxious to meet him. Before I knew it my room had filled with our friends and family. My face was covered with mascara, I was exhausted, and in shock. I simply said “There is something wrong with Collin's hands and we are not going to make a deal of it!”

         After everyone left that night sadness overwhelmed me. I felt like I had been dropped off on a strange planet. I was scared, confused, and felt the quilt of having a child with a physical difference. I had a nursery nurse bring Collin in to feed and she said, “Did you see his hands? Are they going to amputate his finger?” I remember starring at her in utter disbelief. Of course I have seen them, he is my baby. The insensitivity fueled all my emotions. The days to follow weren’t any better as we planned Collin's appointment to Scottish Rites Children’s Hospital and dealt with trying to explain to everyone that came to visit us what had happened. I was sad, extra sensitive, angry, confused, and really pissy for the next couple weeks. I was mad because I wanted to enjoy my newborn not plan his trip to a childrens hospital in Dallas and spend my energy trying to come to grips with what had happened.  

         But as my head began to clear from the fog and the hormones ;) , I began to realize that God had not left me alone in that delivery room. He had not abandoned me, he had not forgot about my child in the womb, he had saved my son’s life. God promises in John 1:5 As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.

         ABS is fatal is great percentage of babies that are affected by it because they can get these bands tangled around there heads or stomach. Many children loose legs and arms. Others it caused clubfeet or cleft pallete. Remember those summersaults Collin was doing the last weeks of my pregnancy? God gave me an image of his hands twisting and turning Collin out of the bands the last weeks of my pregnancy to untangle him from the bands that could have killed him. Our pediatrician also informed us that had I carried Collin to my due date not only would she have been out of town but most likely Collin would have lost his left hand due to the bands being so restricted on his wrist. Weeks before, I had picked Psalm 139:14 to be painted over Collin's  bed. It says I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. I picked this before I knew what was in store for Collin, but God knew. These things were not coincidence. These things were the hand of God. I could not see all of this in the midst of my tragedy and heartache but God’s hand was moving even when I didn’t see it.

         I’m not quite sure how God is going to get the glory through our journey with Collin but I believe he will. In John 9 chapter 1 Jesus is talking about a blind man. The disciples asked Jesus “Rabbi”, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.

         I still have really hard days dealing with it all. I remember filling out his baby book and seeing a place for his hand prints. I just closed the book and fell to pieces. That day was hard but now Collin's sweet hand prints are in his baby book and it doesn’t make me quite so sad. The hardest part has been the anxiety I feel over other people’s reactions and comments. I am seeking the Lord in all these situations. Like when the checker at HEB shouts “OMG what happened to his hands?” and continues to say poor thing he won’t be able to play an instrument”I wanted to scream “he is missing part of his fingers just like you are obviously missing part of your brian!”  (I didn’t say that and I am aware that that isn’t a very Christlike response, that’s just how I felt!) and then the nosy mother/daughter duo behind me who peak their heads around to see for themselves. I rush to my car just in time to fall apart in the front seat before anyone sees me! These days are the hard days and I am trusting in the Lord to equip me to handle these situations in a way that brings him glory and teaches Collin that it IS ok. And I will have new struggles to deal with as we prepare for Collin's surgeries this fall and more in the years to come. I don’t’ really know how to prepare emotionally to hand my one year old over for surgery. This is another on of those hard things that I will have to walk out.

        

I have struggled with quilt, with anxiety, with fear, with sadness, and I am not out of the trenches yet. And for a season I think I didn’t talk about with the Lord because I didn’t want him to tell me how to deal with it. I wanted to deal with it however I wanted too. But he can’t receive glory if I handle it my own way. I have to vulnerable and let him teach me his ways so that he can be glorified.  I am trusting God that his glory is going to be revealed through this. I know that God is God and God is good no matter what our personal tragedies are. He is still good! Pslam 136:1 says Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever. 

Collin's !st Haircut

Collom got his first haircut last week. Here is the before!

(Don't know why all these pictures are so blurry? Still too cute not to post!)

My childhood best friend is a hairstylist so she was perfect to give Collin his first trim. His hair was so fine we could barely hold onto it. 

Scissors + Wiggly Baby = Nervous Mommy

We had to finish up with him in my lap because he was getting to feisty! 

And the after...... with his sucker for being such a good boy!

Birthday Party/ Part 2

The birthday boy enjoying his lunch!

All of our friends.....

The Babies....

Collin and sweet Brooke!

with Mommy and Daddy

He is becoming quite the Daddy's boy...

The cute bear cupcakes!

Close up of the "beary" yummy cupcakes!

His own bear cake! Just his size...

Daddy helping him dig in..

Yum... Yum...

look at that face....

opening presents before he had his melt down....

Collin's friend Will who was busy trying to grab him with the grabber ;)

And we ended the day with a picture with Nana and Grandpa!

It was a wonderful first birthday and a lot of fun to plan. Who knew a Teddy Bear Picnic would be so fun and so cute. I love birthday parties!

Birthday Party/ Part 1

Collin's 1st Birthday Party

Teddy Bear Picnic

I love birthdays and love planning them but this year Collin's birthday happen to fall the same week we were closing on our house. I was frazzled trying to come up with ideas and plan and make things so my sweet friend Lesley offered to help me out since we have a kindred spirit about our kids birthday parties ;).

These are the invitations Lesley made for the party. I helped put them together but they were her idea and I think she should receive the credit. I think they turned out super cute!

The wreath I made for the front door.

(It's kinda hard to read but the teddy bear is holding a sign that says "Happy Birthday")

The highchair all ready for some cake eating action!

His party hat to match all the festivities!

His "1" bib that I made for the big day!

The pennants in the front yard made by Lesley! ;)

The big kid party favors. Gummy Bears with a sticker that said "Thank you for making Collin's birthday so beary special"

(the babies got chocolate teddy grahams)

The sack lunches for each of the kiddos. Girls had a bear on their lunch sack with a bow and boys had a a bear with a bow tie!

LUNCH!

Teddy bear shaped sandwich, honey teddy grahams, and fruit!

Presents under the tree and picnic blanket ready for lunch!

The adults food table, sandwiches, fruit, and chips!

His first year picture banner~ 1-6 months

6-12 months

Well there is a sneak peak at all the birthday party decorations.... come back to see birthday party/ part 2!

Birthday Dinner for Cupcake

We went to Mr. Gatti's for last night for Collin's birthday dinner. We normally take Carter to Chuck e Cheese for his Birthday dinner but I can't stand there food so we went to Gatti's instead. Collin loved his birthday dinner, pizza is one of his favorites.

Down to the crust, I think he ate 2 whole pieces of pizza!

"Collin" got to eat his first cupcake and he loved it, if you can't tell!

While brother ran around and played Collin rode this car over and over and over! He loved it and kept this cheesy grin the entire time!

Then he got a turn in the race car. Doesn't he look like a pro?

It was a fun night and we are looking forward to his birthday party this weekend!

Happy Birthday Collin!

Collin,

This time last year I was in labor, anxiously awaiting your arrival. I went into labor on Mother's Day and your were the perfect gift. Holding you those first few moments when you were only seconds old are etched in my heart. To be the first one to hold you, to feel you breath blowing on my chest, my heart grew a special place for you that day. In the midst of business and chaos, I never knew a sweet baby could bring so much joy. Your radiant smile and piercing blue eyes are unforgettable. This year has gone by so fast, I wish babies came with pause buttons. You are the life of the party, the light in a dim room. Your smile and laughter are contagious. I truly have never seen a baby as happy as you. I can just say the word "Funny" and you begin to laugh. I probably "baby" you more than I should. Maybe because with Carter I learned how fast your children do grow or maybe because you aren't walking or talking yet. ;) You seem more baby like than I remember Carter being at this age and that is fine with me. I love snuggling with you after nap time when your not quite awake. I love to play pick a boo and patty cake and watch you try to imitate me. I love  being your Mommy and I feel honored that God entrusted you to me. 

I love you sweet boy, Happy Birthday!

Love Always and Forever,

Mommy

Appraisal Day!

We anxiously awaited our appraisal on Thursday morning and God went above and beyond provision. The weeks leading up to the appraisal we had several friends offer people they knew who were appraisers but unfortunately it wasn't any help because you don't get to choose your appraiser. I received a phone call from the appraiser on Wednesday and thought the name sounded familiar. Sure enough it was one of the appraisers a dear friend had said she knew.  He was wonderful and saw the true value of our home. First Prayer Request Answered! He came on Thursday morning and after checking out the house reassured me that we would be approved for an FHA loan. Second Prayer Request Answered! Friday morning I received a phone call from the mortgage company informing me that the house had appraised for $130,000! Third Prayer Request Answered! This was $15,000 over what we needed it to appraise for which was very exciting. If it will appraise for that right now when the house isn't even finished yet, it's exciting to think about what it will appraise for when everything is done. Thank you so much for all our prayer warriors for covering my family and our new home in your prayers. God is so faithful! It feels like 100 pounds have been lifted off our shoulders. We won't be losing momentum though, we still need to finish this thing so we can move in! We are hoping to be done within 4-6 weeks. Thursday is our closing day and then we will be official home owners! 

A little note I left for the appraiser on our chalkboard on the kitchen pantry door!

The Week of the Appraisal!

The house is going to get appraised this week either on Thursday or Friday. The original goal was to be completely done with the house by this point but now the goal is to just get as much done as possible before the appraisers arrive. It won't be possible to finish the house entirely by the end of this week but we are making some serious progress. We need the house to appraise for $114,195 in order for us to finish out things with the bank and close on the house on May 13. Even though the house won't be done by then, having the bank and deadlines out of our hair will relieve so much pressure. We are praying for a wonderful appraiser who sees the true value of our home and all of its potential as we work to wrap up all the loose ends. We are also praying that the house would approve for us to take a FHA loan rather than conventional because the interest rate is lower therefore our monthly payments would be less. And last we are praying that even after we close that we would be able to finish up the last projects quickly so that we can move into our new home. It has been a long year and move in day can't get here soon enough. So today I ask that you would be praying for us this week as we approach our appraisal date.

So, what is done? Lets take a look:

Remember This?

Now its yellow! Envision black shutters, new porch railing, window boxes with red geraniums, a white porch swing, new landscaping...... Oh the possibilities!

And this? Looks like it is out of a horror film!

So much better!

Remember this hideous garage?

We tore it down and now have doubled the size of our back yard and have the perfect slab for a patio and place to ride all the kids scooters and bikes.

Does this kitchen make you want to cook? 

?

How about now?

The pantry door has chalkboard panels.... so excited about that! The old pantry became a built in fridge!

Wanna play in here?

What about in here?

(This wall was supposed to say "Play, Laugh, Grow" like the fisher price slogan but my sweet cousin misjudged the space so we had to pick a smaller word, oh well it works! Don't you love how Collin's walker is already in the "playroom"? )

Stay tuned for more updates to come, and please continue to pray for us this week!