Bargain Shopper High

I've always been a bargain shopper. I get it from my mom. Until the past couple of weeks, I've been really good at shopping for clothes, shoes, house stuff, and the other typical things you find on sales and clearance racks. BUT, now I've entered the world of couponing and "CVSing" (yes, that's a word!). Not to mention the deals to be had at Walgreens, Walmart, and Target. It's sad just how excited I am about my recent "deals." Mark's excited too...don't let him tell you any different!



Last week's CVS trip: Fiber One cereal, Fiber One granola bars, Nature Valley granola bars (hidden), Aveeno shave gel, 2 tubes of Colgate Total, 2 Arm & Hammer laundry detergent.

Total OOP (out of pocket): $13.06 (inc. tax)
ECBs for next time: $7

(for those unfamiliar with the wonderful world of CVS, ECBs are "Extra Care Bucks" that are given for purchasing certain products and can be used like cash on future CVS purchases.)


*****Why do I seem to be the only one who has trouble formatting these things? Please excuse the craziness.)**********


This week's Walgreens trip: 2 boxes Lucky Charms, 1 box Cinnamon Toast Crunch, 8 bars of Dove soap, 1 tube of Colgate, 1 tub (ha!) of Axe hair goo.

Total OOP: $14.09 - $6.99 online rebate (net cost: $7.08)
This week's CVS trip (#1): Pantene conditioner, shampoo, hairspray, 1 Dry Idea deodorant, 2 Sure deodorants, 1 Irish Spring body wash, 1 tube Colgate.

Total OOP: $3.21
ECBs: $7
Here'sa bonus picture of us on our trip to Cancun the end of February. We had a blast, but I've never been so ready to get back home!


More updates to come...seriously.

This is how we roll.

If you want to get motivated to get out and run (ahem...Daddy Judd), buy a super expensive jogging stroller and new shoes. That will do it.

I'm an overachiever!

These pictures are actually from this year!

My handsome men

I know I'm a little behind the times, but Guitar Hero is my new favorite thing! I didn't think it was something I would even be a little bit interested in. The only video games I like are Tetris and Pac Man (even though they both stress me out!) My sister introduced me to Guitar Hero when I visited them, and Mark and I both got hooked. They brought it here when they came to visit during January, and we had to fight mom for our turn! I don't know what she's doing sitting down. We both know you have to stand up and bump your hip to the side everytime you strum!

Christmas in February

As you might have guessed, Reed was definitely the star of the show this Christmas. I was really impressed with my Santa self control. Since he was so into wrapping paper, bows, and boxes this year, next year I foresee myself getting a little more carried away with the toys. He traveled really, really well, especially considering our crazy trip. We left here Christmas Eve morning for my family's in north Alabama, stayed there Wed. and Thur., went to Mark's family near Tupelo to stay Friday night and part of the day Saturday, then on to Starkville to stay another night to visit friends there and in Columbus then back home. How's that for a long whirlwind trip, and an annoyingly long run on sentence?






Four generation picture



Daddy and Reed




This was after a looong day of driving. And yes, that's either spit up or drool on my shoulder. I'm thinking drool. I'm kicking myself for not taking a good Christmas picture of the 3 of us. This is definitely not us at our best!



Hmmm...an empty box

Loving the crinkly wrapping paper

Little baby. Big presents.

I'm in no way wishing him to get older, but next Christmas is going to be so much fun!

Over and out...

The Cutest Baby Ever

in case you have time to look through a couple hundred pictures of the cutest baby ever...

Reed's 6 month picture proofs are online at www.tracimasseyphotography.com - client login - burleson - password photos

December 2008...just one (month) behind.

You know. I would be much more up to date if I didn't have to fight with blogger about my picture placement. Seriously, this just isn't as user-friendly as I need it to be! Okay. Here we go with December highlights.

The cutests baby in the world taking a bath. He's definitely outgrown his baby tub, but as you can tell, I'm a little slow at getting things done!

We (well, Mark still had to work) had a wonderful snow day mid-December. The Y was closed, and we stayed home all day! I think we got 5 inches or so.

Reed got his first taste of "real" food at 5 months. He couldn't decide if he liked it or not. We ended up switching from rice cereal to oatmeal. Personal reasons...he doesn't like for me to talk about it.

Here's a just-because-he's-the-cutest-baby-ever picture for you.

You've got to wonder what babies (and dogs) think about having a tree with bright lights on it move inside the house for a few weeks. I have a feeling that we're going to have to fence it off next year!

Up next...

Christmas card attempts...

After searching everywhere for reindeer antlers for Doc (not moose antlers-which were everywhere!) with no luck. We decided to settle for the elf hat. He does have a large head, but it's apparently not human-shaped. He wasn't a fan of the bobby pins attaching it to his ears, but in the spirit of Christmas, he humored us.

Reed sitting up alone would have helped!

Next attempt...

The cute Santa-baby under the tree. The not sitting alone thing got us again!

(How sneaky!)

So, we went with what he could do. By this attempt he had spit up on the Santa suit, so we were down to just the hat. (Sorry for the small pictures...it's not worth fighting blogger to make them bigger now!)

So there you have it. Stay tuned for Christmas!

November 2008...yes, I know it's January

Reed had his first experience with MSU football. Well, he got close. We went to Starkville for the State vs. Arkansas game, but it turned out to be a crazy cold, windy day. Mark, Perry, and some others went to the game, but Reed and I didn't brave the weather. Here's little man hanging out with Uncle Perry.

Since we live so far from our families, we spent Thanksgiving day with our friends here. The Staffords and Hills were so sweet to let us be part of their families for the day. Here's Reed's first Thanksgiving picture.

Since Mark is "Dr. Chicken," he was in charge of carving the bird!

It's pretty overwhelming just how much we have to be thankful for right now.

Here's Reed doing his best to roll over. He had a few days where he would just get stuck halfway there. That bottom arm just kept getting in the way. It's so crazy that this is the same boy that was inside my belly a few short months ago, and now he's rolling over!

So cute of him...too bad my iron was in the background!

We're working on him being smart like his daddy.

Don't know what happened with this whomped up picture arrangement. My family visited us after Thanksgiving! We love having them here! Here's Reed with Grandma, Aunt Brea, and Uncle Tyler.

Stay tuned for more updates...