Thanksgiving Week

Yes, this is a little late...

Wednesday, we headed to Noah's hometown for Thanksgiving.  We were able to spend the rest of the weekend with a big chunk of his family!

Thursday, we loaded up for Uriah (yes, Uriah), Alabama...if you haven't heard of it, you're not the only one.  It's tiny!  We hadn't seen Noah's dad's side of the family for a long time.  We stuffed our faces and got to see a lot of Noah's cousins, aunts/uncles, and family I hadn't even met before...and we've been dating 6 years!

This is everyone that was there...a lot of kiddos!

It's three hours away from Noah's hometown, so between 6 hours on the road and several hours there, that was the full day.

Friday morning, for some reason completely unknown to me, I was wide awake at 4:30, even after that full day before.  Noah headed out to a few Black Friday sales with his dad, but I've mentioned it before and I'll say it again - as cheap frugal as I am, I don't do in-store Black Friday.  Like ever.  I just hate it - a good deal isn't worth fighting a million people and watching people acting like fools to me.

But since I was up so early, I figured I'd try a few online deals!  I put a few here that I got here - Babies R Us was my favorite...I got several things off the registry for at least half off!  We ventured out to the stores a little later in the day, and didn't go to the crazy ones.  We still found a few deals!

Saturday was a little bizarre for us.  Noah lives in a town very close to Hattiesburg, Mississippi, which is where the University of Southern Mississippi is.  Noah's dad had tickets to the suite at their football game Saturday, which you just don't pass up!  But it was during the Alabama/Auburn game.  So we sat in the suite at USM and watched the Alabama game.  I'm sure the other people there thought we were a little obnoxious, because I'll admit, I wasn't paying a dab of attention to the USM game. :)  Their suites are very nice though...we had a good time!

A few minutes after this picture was taken, the grandparents got to feel Emma Ramey kick for the first time! :)

So it was a busy week, but a fun one.  Now I need a break from my break! :)

24 (and a half) Weeks

We've been out of town since Wednesday for Thanksgiving, so I'm just now getting to put up my bump post for the week!

Size of Baby: According to Baby Center, she's just over a pound and almost a foot long (about the size of an ear of corn).

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I didn't weigh myself this week either, but I'm fairly confident that Thanksgiving added a pound or two. :)

Maternity Clothes: Pants are definitely required...I can wear pajama pants around the house still, but maternity pants only in public.  I might have a few shirts that I could still wear, but I've been wearing all maternity this week!

Gender: It's a GIRL!  Emma Ramey

Belly Button In/Out: Still in, but definitely stretching.

Stretch Marks: None, thank goodness!  I need to start using lotion like everybody tells me, I haven't done that yet

Movement: She has her bursts of energy throughout the day, especially first thing in the morning and later in the evening.  I'm still suspicious that she's active during the middle of the night.  I might go a few hours during the day without feeling her...I'm thinking she has her days and nights mixed up!

Sleep: I didn't take my pregnancy pillow with me this week, and I could tell...I was sore without it and I tried to roll over on my belly in the night.

What I miss: Nothing!

What I am looking forward to: Our 4D ultrasound is next Tuesday!

Cravings/Aversions: I've been really wanting water this week.

Symptoms: Developing a waddle, especially if I've been on my feet all day.  Some shortness of breath (in the mornings), almost like she's up in my ribs during the night maybe?  A little more tired than normal too. 

Best Moment This Week: Seeing a lot of the family, and letting the grandparents feel her kick!

Had to Share These...

I love Black Friday...but I don't do the stores.  EVER.  It's just not worth it to me.  I enjoy it right from my warm cozy house in my pajamas, thankyouverymuch.

I usually put these on Twitter, but in honor of Black Friday, I thought I would share a couple of good deals I've found!

-Groupon has $20 at Old Navy for $10...click here to see.

-Living Social has $20 at Office Max for $10.  Click here to see.

-Ebates has double cash back at a TON of stores today!  I got 2.5% cash back at Babies R Us and 10% cash back at Kohl's this morning for doing nothing more than clicking through ebates.com.  And I noticed a few days ago where you get a $10 gift card bonus when you sign up right now too.  I know I bragged about this site a few days ago, but I love it. :)  Click here to see.

-I used Shoprunner for the first time today...it's great!  I've had it for a few months, but haven't used it until today.  It's a little bit of an investment (Living Social has it for $30 today, it's normally $79), but if you do a lot of online shopping, it might be worth it...you get free 2-day shipping from a ton of sites, like Babies R Us, drugstore.com, Pet Smart, and a ton of others.  Click here to see.

-There are SO many Black Friday deals online.  I literally got everything I was wanting today from my computer this morning, without fighting crowds or driving everywhere.  Before you go, check the website.  And use retailmenot.com to see if you can save even more.  For example, I checked it before one of my purchases and saved 20% extra AND got free shipping!

-Half Off Depot is one of my favorite places to get half off gift certificates to restaurants.  It isn't in every area, but it's worth checking to see if some of your local restaurants are on here!  They have a code today where you save 20% off of the half off prices - it's Holiday20.  Click here to see.

Happy shopping everyone!

Read about my links here.

Thankful

 

I don't think I even need to list what I'm thankful for this year.  I'm a very lucky (blessed) girl. :)

But I know that there can be two sides to Thanksgiving...you can be incredibly thankful for what you have, but you can also be reminded of what you might not have.  This past Sunday at church, we listened to a sermon on how we can have so many things, but if one thing is terribly wrong in life, you can feel like there is nothing to be thankful for.

I know that feeling.  Last year, I was so blessed to have an amazing husband, wonderful job, great family...but the one thing I wanted more than anything else in this world was missing.  It was the most selfish, empty feeling I have ever felt in my life.

So instead of just listing everything I'm thankful for this year, I wanted to let each one of you that find yourself in this position (whether it's because of a baby or something else) know that you've been in my thoughts all day.  I know what a difficult time of the year this can be.  Just know that your day of true Thanksgiving is coming...and I'm praying for that to be very soon for each one of you tonight.

Christmas Shopping (and Link-Up!)

I thought since Black Friday is upon us, I would share my top 8 rules to Christmas shopping!  Why 8? Because I couldn't think of any more than that. ;)

1. Shop for Christmas year round!  I usually start seriously looking for Christmas presents during the summer, but I am always on the lookout for something that would work as a Christmas present.

2.  When I shop, it is usually online.  It's just easier to me...I don't have to fight crowds to shop, it's delivered to my door (usually for free...keep reading), and it's usually cheaper!  Two things that I ALWAYS, ALWAYS use before I shop online: ebates and retailmenot.com. 

Ebates is a site that allows you to click through to the website you're shopping from and save money on that purchase.  For example, if I wanted to shop at walmart.com right now, I'd go to ebates, type in WalMart, click the link on the WalMart page, and automatically get 4% from that purchase put into my ebates account!  It's the easiest way to save money on an online purchase I've found.  (And I just got an email saying that they're doing double cash back for a lot of stores for Black Friday, so it's a good time to check them out!) Most every shopping website you can imagine is on there...if it isn't, I always check Shop at Home too (it's the same kind of website as ebates).

Retailmenot.com is kind of like a database of coupon codes for, once again, pretty much every website you can imagine.  I usually find that if there is a discount code for a website, it's there!  You could google to see if there's a code, but I've found that it's usually on Retail Me Not.

I check these two sites every single time I shop online...and I've saved hundreds doing that!

3.  Check discount sites often to see if they have something you could give as a present.

We've recently found several sites that we love for discount items.  1 Sale a Day, Woot, and Grouponicus are a few we've found recently that have great deals on big name items.  We also got several gifts from deals on Groupon, Living Social, and Plum District...once again, we looked year-round for deals and just bought the deals as we saw them.

Since we've recently learned how expensive kids can be :), I've been learning how to shop for them too!  My absolute favorite site for shopping for kids is Totsy.  Of all the discount sites for kids, this one usually has the best selection (both toys and clothes) and is usually cheaper than other sites.  I also love Zulily too.  Between these two sites, I've pretty much gotten all of the children in our family taken care of for Christmas!

The trick to discount sites is that you have to check them daily.  Sounds like a pain, but just make it part of your daily routine...it maybe takes 10 minutes, and you'll save a ton of money (not just on Christmas shopping!).

4.  Follow companies on Facebook and Twitter if you're looking for a good deal.  They often put up discounts and coupons that at least help with the cost...if you're buying it anyway, you might as well!

5.  If you must shop in a store, always check the store's website before you go.  Many times they'll have a coupon for x amount off of your purchase or will have a sale on a certain item.  I rarely shop in stores now, but I always do this (and usually find a discount) if I am!

6.  There's (not necessarily) anything wrong with making a Christmas present!  I'm not talking making cheap stuff, but there are a ton of projects out there that even I can make. :)  Pinterest has opened my eyes to do-it-yourself projects that are actually really cute and functional! You can especially make neighbor, post-man, teacher, etc. presents...just ask yourself, "would I want this if someone gave it to me?"

7.  Especially for Christmas decorations, wrapping paper, etc., shop after Christmas!  Every year, I stock up on wrapping paper the week after Christmas and save a ton.

8.  Save up for Christmas shopping with online points-earning sites like Swagbucks and Mypoints!  I love both of these - you do random tasks and searches online to earn points towards gift cards.  I usually make $20-30 a month off of these!  There are also apps for your smartphone like Checkpoints and Shopkick that are great for saving for gift cards too!  If you'll follow those links I gave, you'll get a opening account bonus too. :) I've heard of people completely doing their Christmas shopping on Amazon from all of the gift cards they've saved through these kinds of sites.  They're not scams, I promise! :)

***And this isn't necessarily Christmas related, but I thought this might help some...Carter's online is having a 50% off sale right now, and you can use the code RTMNCARTERS for 20% extra off of that.  But first, go to ebates, put in carters.com, click the link from that site, and get 2.5% cash back!  Time to stock up! :) ***

Read about my links here.

Ok, I'm out of ideas...I want to hear your's too!  Link up and show everybody what works for you when you're Christmas shopping!

Christmas-ifying

We've had an incredibly low-key weekend.  Besides leaving the house to go to the grocery store once and to church, we've stayed around here!  We watched football all day yesterday (what a CRAZY day...people around here are a little excited about it!).  I'm also knocking out some projects for the nursery...I feel like I've gotten a lot done!

I'm off all week this next week, so the plan was for me to just take care of the Christmas decorations for the first part of the week.  Friday night, Noah had other plans!  We got out all of the decorations from the attic and he helped out, which looking back, was probably something I needed...I've got this huge burst of energy right now, but I can only do so much by myself!

So we got everything up Friday night!  Here's the tree...I'm going to save the rest for a whole Christmas decoration post.

(Please excuse the un-hung pictures...a certain little girl's nursery caused us to move a few things around, and these ended up in the living room somehow. :))

So, I figured, if I had all of my Christmas decorations up, I might as well decorate the blog too!  I finished it this afternoon, and I love the way it turned out!  (And if you need a blog design, I've got a sale going on the blog...check it out!).

I'm going to do a post about holiday shopping Tuesday...would anybody want to do a link-up?  We'd just be talking about the best places to shop and the best ways to save money.  Just comment if you'd like to participate, and I'll make it a link-up if enough people want to!

23 Weeks

Size of Baby: According to Baby Center, she's about the size of a mango...a little over a pound and about 11 inches long!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Honestly didn't weigh myself this week...last time I checked I was up about 6 or 7 pounds.

Maternity Clothes: Pants are a must...Bella Band or the rubber band trick is required if I don't wear maternity pants.  Shirts are slowly becoming necessary too.  If they were loose fitting before pregnancy I can probably still get away with them, but a lot aren't fitting!  I'm finally getting to test out some of my winter maternity shirts this week and I love them!

Gender: It's a GIRL!  Emma Ramey

Belly Button In/Out: Still In, but let's put it this way...I'm seeing parts of my belly button I've never seen before. :)

Stretch Marks: None, thank goodness!  I need to start using lotion like everybody tells me, I haven't done that yet

Movement: All the time! I've been feeling it more during the day this week, even though she is still more active at night

Sleep: Not bad, but the pregnancy pillow is a must.  I roll over on my stomach without it!

What I miss: Nothing!

What I am looking forward to: Having a WHOLE week off next week to get some details of the nursery knocked out!

Cravings/Aversions: Still fruit mostly, but I'm game for anything now

Symptoms: I've been sick a few times this week, early in the morning...I think it's from taking my vitamin too late at night though.  Besides that, not much of anything!

Best Moment This Week: Going to our child birth class last Saturday and getting some of the nursery finished!

Leslie - Step AWAY from the computer

So I have a few new online obsessions...

First are these precious sites that have cute clothes at like half off.

Zulily has Petit Ami (which I am officially OBSESSED with) for up to half off today, and Totsy is starting a Vive La Fete sale at 8pm tonight!  I am a smocked dress addict, so I'm trying to buy this now while I can get a good deal on it.

The trick to these is to check every day...just get in the habit of it.  Sometimes they have nothing, and sometimes they have a bunch of great sales...it just depends!

Ok, and I was that girl that SWORE off Pinterest.  I didn't get it, and didn't understand why it was so addicting.

Until I tried it.

It is a TIME SUCK.  Seriously, how did I not understand this sooner?  I have gotten SO many cute ideas over the past few days, and it's gotten me out of my cooking rut!

I got a few cute ideas for Miss Emma Ramey's nursery, including...

Source: etsy.com via Leslie on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Leslie on Pinterest

Source: shanty-2-chic.com via Leslie on Pinterest

And I think I can manage making these myself!

And the recipes on there are UNBELIEVABLE.  I made loaded potato soup this weekend...here's the link...

Source: mamalovesfood.com via Leslie on Pinterest

and here's the final product...

SO good.

I also got all Betty Crocker and made homemade Bisquick.  Honestly, it wasn't a huge savings over just buying the box, but I was proud of myself!

Here's the link...

Source: fakeitfrugal.blogspot.com via Leslie on Pinterest

and here's the final product...

(Just be warned though...beagles with black fur might not want to stand in your way when you're making this one...)

 

I've got pretty much all of my meals planned out for a few weeks because of Pinterest.  And they've got good DIY tips for your home, projects, sewing, you name it, it's there.  SO much fun!

Now I've just got to peel myself away from the computer. :)

Christmas Card Winner!

Just put the numbers through random.org (adding 1 for an email entry that couldn't comment) for the Christmas card giveaway, and I got...

That would be Stephanie!  Congratulations Stephanie, I'm going to pass your information along to Tiny Prints!

22 Weeks

(I had already put on pajama pants before I realized I needed to take the picture, and I'm too lazy to change back out.  So excuse the wardrobe.  And I added a couple of sections this week!)

Size of Baby: According to Baby Center, she's the length of a spaghetti squash at 11 inches.  She's almost a pound!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: As far as I can tell, I'm up about 5 pounds.

Maternity Clothes: Pants are a must...Bella Band or the rubber band trick is required if I don't wear maternity pants.  Shirts are slowly becoming necessary too.  If they were loose fitting before pregnancy I can probably still get away with them, but a lot aren't fitting!

Gender: It's a GIRL!  Emma Ramey...and a few people have asked, yes, we are planning on doing a double name.  I'm not going to be obsessive about it, but we'd like for it to stick.

Belly Button In/Out: Definitely still in, but I'm starting to see some stretching.

Stretch Marks: No stretch marks, but of ALL things I have a tiny vericose vein on my belly!  How weird is that?  I thought it was a bruise for a couple of weeks, but got to looking closely this weekend and realized what it was.  I've never heard of that!

Movement: Yes, bigtime!  She's most active in the evening and at night, but I'll occasionally feel a kick during the day.  And Noah FINALLY got to feel her for the first time Sunday!  It was a cool moment.  Then, a few hours later, I saw my belly move for the first time.  She's really stepped up her game this week! :)

Sleep: Not bad, but the pregnancy pillow is a must.  I roll over on my stomach without it!

What I miss: Nothing!

What I am looking forward to: Working on the nursery and going to our first class this weekend!

Cravings/Aversions: Really back to normal this week.  I haven't been as hungry at night for some reason.  And I get full a lot easier, but also get hungry a lot easier.

Symptoms: Not much of anything.  Round ligament pain if I move funny, a little bit of a waddle starting, but that's about it!  Sometimes all I have to remind me I'm pregnant is the big (and moving) belly!

Best Moment This Week: Noah getting to feel her kick!

Weekly Wisdom: I got nothing this week, honestly.  :)

Don't forget to enter my Tiny Prints giveaway...it ends tonight at 8!

Fun Giveaway!

I just got an email from Tiny Prints that I thought y'all might like! :)

They are giving away 50 FREE Christmas or holiday cards to one of my readers!  To enter, all you have to do is head on over to their Christmas card site and tell me which one you would pick if you won.  Here are my picks...and let me tell you, it was hard to narrow it down with such cute designs! :)

They also have a fun promotion tomorrow...they will be giving away free personalized greeting cards from Santa.  How cute!  Here are the two you can choose from...

You can head to their Facebook page for info on that.

And don't forget, if you want to feature Tiny Prints' cards this year (and get some super cute free cards in the process), click here!

Ok, now go check out their Christmas cards and let me know your favorite.  Please leave your favorite card and your email address in the comments.  I'll pick a winner with random.org at 8:00 (central time) on Thursday!

21 Weeks

Holy Moly.  I NEVER realize how much I've grown until I look at these pictures!

Size of Baby: According to The Bump, a banana...10.5 inches (from head to toe) and 12.7 ounces!  They didn't measure her size for some reason at the ultrasound this week, so I guess I'm just sticking to that for now.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Officially up 3 pounds from pre-pregnancy, according to my doctor's office.  I have a feeling that's about to start increasing quickly though...the appetite is definitely back! :)

Maternity Clothes: Pants pretty much all the time.  If I wear regular pants, I have to wear the Bella Band with them...it hurts to keep them buttoned for too long!  And I'm wearing a mix of maternity and non-maternity shirts now.

Gender: It's a GIRL!  Emma Ramey

Movement: She's moving a lot!  Nighttime is the busiest, and I feel a few in the mornings too.  She's still being stubborn for her daddy though.  He hasn't been able to feel any yet.

Sleep: Not terrible, thanks to the pregnancy pillow!  I am waking up a few more times to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night though.

What I miss: Nothing!

What I am looking forward to: Getting the rest of the nursery together, and Noah feeling these kicks!

Cravings/Aversions: The monster appetite has definitely hit.  I want to eat all the time!  Still loving fruit and Sprite, as usual.

Symptoms: A little bit of soreness (doctor says is all normal), using the bathroom more often this week, CRAZY dreams, huge appetite!

Best Moment This Week: Seeing this sweet girl on the ultrasound again...and hearing that we are officially checked off in every department of the anatomy scan!

Weekly Wisdom: Ultrasounds will NEVER get old. :)

(Almost) Wordless (Almost) Wednesday

We had another great appointment today!  I got to have another ultrasound because they didn't get all of the pictures they needed to last time.  So here are new pictures of our sweet girl!

(Sorry these aren't great...they're pictures of pictures.)

 

Arms up by her face, just like they were last time. :)

 

Sweet little profile!