Worried

So, all of a sudden, nursing has become a stress for me. Kalaya is up to 5 teeth now, with more on the way and has started biting. And it HURTS. I am so frustrated, because she still likes to nurse and so do I. I am hoping to nurse her as long as she wants, preferably at least until she's two. I don't think she's ready to wean, because she's not refusing. She is still wanting to nurse, she just gets distracted and pulls off without opening her mouth and HOLY CRAP IT HURTS. I feel bad, because I get frustrated about it. I usually put her down for a minute, so that I can collect myself, because I don't want to take out the anger on her at all. I have just been getting my finger in her mouth as fast as possible to get her off. I am stumped, I have no idea what to do!!!

Coupon Shopping: First Attempt

Sooooo, my first coupon shopping trip felt pretty successful! Here's what I did:

1. Decided on Safeway and Albertson's, since both are very close to our house. Fred Meyer is nearby too, but I hadn't had a chance to grab their weekly ad. Plus, I have club cards for both of those stores and Fred Meyer's "rewards" card doesn't mean anything. Other than gas.

2. I looked through the Safeway and Albertson's ads to get an idea of what was on sale. I then planned my meals for the next two weeks. I'm sure you want to know what they are, so here goes:

Mon Penne a la Betse (new recipe, shrimp was on sale, as was tomato sauce and the pasta I buy)
Tues Fresh Pesto over whole wheat pasta (already had pine nuts and spaghetti. Hmm, pasta 2 days in a row....delicious!)
Wed (out to Sweet Tomatoes with Heather, with a coupon of course, while Nelson worked late)
Thurs Cauliflower (on sale) Soup (stock was on sale too!)
Fri Shredded Chicken Tacos in the slow cooker (chicken on sale, had a coupon for taco shells!!)
Sat leftovers
Sun Turkey Chili (ground turkey, pepper jack, beans & Fritos all on sale. Oh, and Rotell too!) PLUS, I had coupons on top of that!)
Mon Baked Lemon Pasta (lemons on sale!) with spinach salads
Tues Turkey dogs wrapped in crescent rolls (both on sale!) with steamed veggies (coupon!)
Wed Turkey Burgers (turkey on sale, already have buns & cheese) with roast potatoes and veggies (both on sale)
Thurs Eggplant Parmesan (organic tomato sauce on sale, splurged a little for eggplant)
Fri (out) Probably to cheesecake factory, we have a gift card from Christmas. Mmmm....
Sat leftovers

3. Okay, I got a bit ahead of myself, because I just get so excited!! So, after planning my meals, I made my initial grocery list, including other things we need like toiletries, paper products, you know what I mean.

4. I looked through my coupon websites, uploaded coupons to my card online (or printed them out) and cut coupons for any matches for sale items or anything else I need. I also took note of other things on sale that I wanted to stock up on.

5. I made my final grocery list. It was 2 columns with a box at the bottom. 1 column for Safeway, 1 for Albertson's. The box is labeled "If on sale at either store". This was a list of things I didn't necessarily need this week, but had a good coupon for and would buy if they were on sale too. (as indicated, duh.)

6. I highlighted the sale items and starred the coupon items, so I'd remember in the store. (I tried to make this idiot proof, because, well....not that I am, just, I wanted it to be easy!!)

7. I have a fancy coupon sorter thingy (from Office Max for 5 bucks) and sorted the coupons for each store, plus the if-on-sale coupons. I included my club cards in each section so I wouldn't have to scramble for those in my wallet. Because, remember, I grocery shop with a baby attached to me! : )

8. Off to the stores I went!!!

The result?? Safeway receipt: "Total Savings Value $48.30 Albertson's receipt: $52.30

That's a grand total of $100.70 in savings!!! It was a purely amazing (2) moments.

Almost orgasmic.

But not quite.

So, I'm still new at this, but I hope it's only the beginning of things to come!! I may try Fred Meyer at some point. I would be more encouraged if they improved their rewards card. It seems like a lot of work (wow, 8 steps!!), but it went really fast. And, it will only get faster with practice. It maybe took me 2 hours of work total, spread out over a few days. And, remember, this was my first attempt. So, it took longer than it will. And it was worth every second!!

(Now, if only I could go back in time and teach this to myself several months/years ago. All that wasted money!!!)

8 Months

Everyone tried to warn me when I was pregnant and I swear I listened, but no one mentioned that no matter how hard you try, life speeds up when you have a baby!! I promise, I am cherishing, enjoying, treasuring every moment, but it is going too fast!! There are times when I look at her (usually more than once per day...) and I get choked up, I can't believe she's already 8 months old. Where has the time gone?? How did I live without her for 26 years??? Nelson and I don't remember what life was like before. What the heck did we do with our time?? It's like every day, she turns a little more into an actual person and a little less like a baby. (Please explain to me why children are babies for such a short time and teenagers for so long!) She'll do seemingly simple things, but it something she's never done before! Like last night, she and I were in the tub together and she just started splashing like crazy!! She's been interested in the water, but it was like it suddenly dawned on her how to play and she kept doing it and she loved it!

Private blog, so here's a naked baby! She loooooves taking showers!

Kalaya really is changing before our very eyes. She has become so interested in EVERYTHING. Those arms are a foot longer than we think they are. Her vision must be crystal clear because she is drawn to everything and everybody. (Enjoy it while you can sweetie, good eyes do NOT run in your family) She likes to grab and explore everything. She has a LOT of new toys from Christmas and her current favorite game is see-how-many-toys-I-can-grab-at-once. Her hands only hold about 1 each, but sometimes she wraps others in her arms. She often has one in each hand and another in front of her, so what does she do? She opens her mouth and leans toward the 3rd. It doesn't usually work, but you have to give her credit for problem solving! :) Her favorite toys are probably her stacking cups, her squishy blocks and her stacking rings. She still loves her jumper too. She likes her, sigh, cell phone (that we did NOT get her) but I only bring that out occasionally. I'm thinking of taking the batteries out too. I am just not a fan of light up, noise making, plastic cheap toys. It's not because the noises bother me or anything. (although I can only take so much) It's just that they can be way too stimulating. I also think that they don't really do anything to promote using imagination or creativity. I prefer simple toys that encourage these parts of development. There's a (limited) time and place for the others. Of course, Kalaya's favorite new form of amusement is Pippy! I swear, she's going to follow in her mother's footsteps and her first word will be 'dog'.

She (and I!) still love our baby sling!

Kalaya has started rolling from back to front! She really took her time with it, but she's doing it so easily now that I think she was able to sooner than she showed it. It won't be long before she's mobile, so we're starting to think about some baby proofing. We're going to get a guard rail (usually for a toddler bed) for our bed soon, just to keep it extra safe. We've lowered the mattress to the floor too. Yup, co-sleeping still happening at this house! Now that she's over her cold, she's sleeping well again and I finally feel rested again!! There was about a 3 week span where she still was getting stuffed up at night and waking frequently. We're back to once or twice between 10pm and 6:30am, with nursing back to sleep until usually around 9:30am. It's wonderful!!

Playing with Daddy in Alabama, daddies are the best!!

New Year, New Budget

I am writing this down, so that I try to STICK TO IT. As many people right now are, we are on a budget. Big time. Especially now that I am at home with Kalaya and only have my small income from being the youth minister at our church. The "problem" is that we like to eat healthy. That didn't come out right. I'll start over.

This year, I am determined to learn how to use coupons and save money, especially at the grocery store. This is the one area I tend to splurge. In a sense. I try not to buy cheap, processed food. I try to stay away from big brand names and anything that isn't organic. That being said, it gets pretty spendy. I love Trader Joe's and we shop there often. But, I feel like I'm missing out on savings. They do not have coupons. Their prices are decent, but I feel like I could do better.

In the past, I've tried to save money on food as much as I can, while still eating healthy and avoiding processed foods. I love to cook. Food is amazing. There will not be diets at this house. Ever. My only form of "dieting" is to eat more healthy foods and not buy unhealthy crap. (by the way, Santa did not get this message and filled my stocking with candy. Luckily, I tend to stretch that candy out until Easter most years, only eating a little bit at a time. Or, I send it to work with Nelson and it disappears) ANYWAY, back to my new goal. Since I started living on my own/got married and started being in charge of food preparation for a household, I've tried different things to keep costs down. In the beginning, that meant buying store brands only. That was about it. (Hey, give me a break, I was new at it!) I actually managed to only spend about $100 a month on groceries. And I ate like CRAP. My pantry and cupboards were always crammed full with processed, easy-to-cook junk that was cheap. I shopped at the beginning of the month one time and it lasted until the next month. I ate somewhat healthy the first 2 weeks, but then the fresh food got eaten, or, more likely, spoiled and got thrown away. I bought (and ate) a lot of things like Totino's Pizzas, those 5 lb ground beef logs (not in one go obviously), Hamburger Helper, Pasta and Rice-a-Roni, jarred pasta sauces, canned soups and things like store brand ravioli. ICK ICK ICK Not to mention chips, crackers, cookies, etc. The goal of eating was to fill up. Not to nourish. I look back at those couple of years and the more shallow side of me thinks of all that FAT and all those CALORIES. I also think back to all that I did when I shopped was make a random list and buy whatever I thought looked good.

Then I got married and started working full time, almost an hour away. The exciting this was, I had my own kitchen and 2 good incomes to shop with at the grocery store. I started spending time with healthy eaters, who introduced me to organics and healthier foods. But, I was dead tired. By the time I got home from my commute to my hungry husband, we did whatever was quickest and easiest, which usually meant drive-thru. I got optimistic that year and asked for some cookbooks for Christmas. I tried a few recipes. We ended up throwing away a lot of food, because I didn't take the time to prepare the things I bought. I was trying to eat healthier, but I thought that meant things like Lean Cuisine and low fat items. I was going to Curves that year and my mentality about food was more about eating enough to get by, but not too much that I'd gain weight.

Enter living on a teeny budget. We moved to Indiana while Nelson was in grad school and I taught half-day preschool. We lived on $1300 per month. Total. I started planning my meals each week and making lists accordingly. I didn't have an exact budget, but I spent about the same each time. I started buying a lot of organics, because no one wanted them in Indiana and they were actually on sale a LOT. I had more time to cook, because I was working half time. I started trying out new recipes on a regular basis and got more comfortable in the kitchen.

Last year we lived with my parents for half the year and then on our own again. We were back in Oregon and had a higher income. We were at the mercy of my parents for food until December, which was fine, but I didn't have a ton of control over what we ate. I did introduce my dad to some new ideas about food though! (not that he stuck with too many of them....he is a meat and potatoes kind of man!) And, the main thing that happened was that I was pregnant! Being pregnant totally changed my outlook on food. Suddenly it wasn't about counting calories, it was about making sure I was eating enough! (although for awhile it was only about finding something that actually tasted good!) I've pretty much kept this mentality about food, with breast feeding, but I think I will stick with it in the future. I think of eating more as, "Oh, I have to make sure I get enough healthy food today!" rather than, "Oh no, I can't eat any of this today..." It's more optimistic and more fun! I've realized that I can eat lots of healthy foods and still feel good about myself, rather than stressing over eating too many calories. I like to pig out, so I just make sure I have healthy things in the house to binge on, rather than junk food. I try to make sure there's always things like fresh spinach, hummus, cut up veggies, fresh fruit, yogurt, salsa, whole wheat tortillas, etc in the house. Of course, there are definitely times when there's no subbing for things like ice cream, Doritos, and other crap like that. And I eat it, it tastes good and I feel okay about it! But, usually they're not in the house, so I can't have them anyway! And, I've noticed that the less I eat those things, the less I crave them! In fact, things like fast food (other than occasional Burgerville), beef, and highly processed things (like Kraft singles, YECH!) make my stomach upset and I don't want them any more. Haven't been to Taco Bell in months!!! My mind sometimes still thinks I miss that stuff, but my tummy reminds me it doesn't!

SO, with all that being said, here are my goals for food and groceries:
*Keep planning meals ahead, but look at grocery store ads to plan around what is on sale
*Coupons, coupons, coupons!! (the main focus of my goals right now)
*Continue to make meals that don't focus around meat as a "main course"
*Buy things on sale as much as possible
*Have an amount in mind that I want to spend at the grocery store and stay within $10 of that amount
*Don't grocery shop when I'm hungry!!!
*Continue trying new recipes, especially ones that feature veggies as the main ingredient
*Buy organic as much as possible, but only if reasonably priced
*Keep taking walks every day that last at least an hour, if not more
*Fit in Yoga or Pilates 2-3 times per week (small goal to start)

I'm starting this process for my shopping trip this weekend. I'm working on my lists (meal and grocery) right now, using Coupon Mom (amaaaazing!!! watch her videos, she is my new hero!), as well as other sites. I've been debating about which stores to shop at. Initially I was thinking Win-Co, but I've been asking other moms and they say that it's not worth it, because yes it's cheaper, but the quality it lower. I'm not willing to sacrifice quality too much. We've been shopping at Fred Meyer this year, but their "rewards" card is a joke. They don't change prices for it at all. I'm going to try Safeway, which I never thought I'd do, because they always seem so expensive. On closer examination, I think I just have let them take advantage of me. I'm going to use my club card religiously. Did you know you can upload coupons to your club card online so you don't have to clip them??? And they stay on there until you use them and you can check to see which ones you have! It's pretty great. So, Safeway is the first stop for my experiment. I am excited to see how it goes! I was pretty motivated by my friend's post about how she is doing the same thing!! Hopefully I'm not getting my hopes up too much!!!

More Christmas Pictures

Sitting in front of Oma and Grandpa's tree on Christmas Eve

Trying to open a present

Family Christmas picture 2009

I love her entire Christmas outfit; I got everything for under 10 bucks, shoes, tights, bow, and dress at "Once Upon a Child", such a great consignment store!

Summary of the last month

So, yeah, December was insane, so I didn't take time to blog! Here's a recap of what has been happening in the Sigrah house: (if I can remember everything!)

*Kalaya is rapidly approaching 8 months! She weighed 17 lbs 8 oz last week at her doctor visit. (more about that later) She sits up for very long periods of time and loves to play with toys. She has had a variety of solid foods including rice cereal, oats/barley cereal, apples, pears, peas, carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, and avocado. She still isn't too crazy about them, although it totally depends on the day and the hour. She will chow on cereal, but not always vegetables and even less often on fruits. We discovered that she usually prefers it in a jar (of course she does, after all the time I take to make it!), but she only gets jarred when we aren't at home. I'm not too worried about it, since she's obviously not lacking calories, and breast milk is still best! She is still a great nurser and only has 1 or 2 solid meals a day. Sometimes, none at all. It doesn't seem to affect her either way. She usually wakes up once to nurse at night, and quickly falls back asleep. She's had some stretches of 7 hours straight sleeping, which technically mean she's sleeping through the night!
*We took Kalaya to meet Santa Claus! We may have traumatized her. From the second we put her on his knee, until we picked her up, she bawled. We have a very classic first Santa picture, which I haven't had a chance to scan. Just picture a giant open mouth in a cute Christmas dress and Santa hat!
*Christmas was wonderful this year, but very hectic! Which made it go by super fast and I can't believe our first Christmas as a family is over already! Ready for everything we did???
12/23 Nelson got of work at 5, came home, we drove to Salem. Stayed the night at Theo's (Nelson's brother) place. Made a stop at Nelson's dad's house.
12/24 Got up and went to get Nelson's mom for brunch. Then went to Nelson's aunt's house to say hi. Back to Grandma's house for Christmas with her. Then back to Papamatu's house for Christmas with them. Then drove back to Portland to be at the Christmas Eve service by 4:00. Then to Mom and Dad's for Christmas dinner and Christmas with them. Then drove back to Washington to spend the night.
12/25 Christmas morning as a family, but fairly rushed. Mom and Dad picked us up at 10, dropped off their dog. Drove to the airport, flew to Atlanta. Got picked up, drove another 45 min, spent the evening with Aunt, Uncle and 6 cousins. Stayed the night at another house.
12/26 Got up, drove to Alabama to see Ma Ma, Pa Pa, Uncle Colin, cousin/niece Allie, Michelle, Uncle Roy and Aunt Diane. (that's 20 family members together folks!) We were in Alabama until the 31st. We drove back to Georgia on the 31st.
1/1 Flew back to Portland, drove back to Washington, home again!

*Did I mention that on top of all of these things, my baby was totally sick??? That being said, she did absolutely amazing! She had a very bad cold. She had a fever on the 21st, but it went away quickly. But, her cough and stuffy nose kept getting worse. We had to suction her all the time and she kept gagging as she coughed stuff up. Night times were really long, she couldn't breathe through her nose for very long without being cleared out. She lost her voice and was a sick little girl. We ended up going to the doctor, but it wasn't anything that could be treated with antibiotics, so we just rode it out. She's doing much, much better now. It was actually almost less stressful that she was sick though, because both of her cousins (20 months and 14 months) were sick and I would have been so germ paranoid with toys and exposure. This way they were all full of germs and I didn't worry about it.

*The trip was wonderful! The plane rides went really smoothly. We has direct flights both ways, which helped a lot. Kalaya mostly nursed and slept. When she was awake, she just sat on laps and played with her new toys from Santa. It was nice to have grandparents on the flights with us. In all our car travel, she pretty much just slept too. Having a sick baby leads to good napping! She usually is a 45 min power napper, but we've had to wake her up after 3 hours lately!! We got to see so much family. We flew out for Ma Ma and Pa Pa's (my mom's parents) 60th wedding anniversary, which was the day after Christmas. Almost all of their children, grandchildren and all great-grandchildren were there. It was great to see everyone!

3 Cousins: Allie Mae, Kalaya and Emma, sportin' new Braves t-shirts

Most of the grand kids, all great grand kids and some random guy in a pink sweatshirt

Ma Ma and Pa Pa with their great-grand daughters

Kalaya at the hotel, in her Fortress of Solitude

3 babies in a tub!!

Opening presents with mommy in Alabama

Plane ride on Christmas Day

Christmas morning in her new chair from Ma Ma and Pa Pa with all her loot!!
(don't' mind Mommy's legs, she's not quite ready for that chair alone!)