In other Ellie news, we also started solids this weekend. Her doctor suggested we delay solids until 6 months because of being premature, small, and having reflux. I've been giving her rice cereal (up until yesterday), and she seems to enjoy the experience. So far she's not really swallowing a lot of it, but she does occasionally! She's doing as well as I can expect with it...it's so fun to feed her something on a spoon, I just like the change from bottle feedings and formula (that stuff is so gross). I think the cereal gives her bad gas, though...she's been stinking up our house quite frequently since starting cereal.
Other than that, not much is going on in my life. I'm still tutoring, which is going well, except that I wish I could do better hours...I just can't find the right balance yet. It seems like I either tutor really late at night, or really early in the morning, both of which interrupt my sleep. I don't know about you, but I need my sleep. I'm one of those people who isn't a morning or a night person...if I could, I would just sleep 24/7. There's probably something wrong with me....
I also start babysitting next week. I'm nervous about it, since it will be such a huge adjustment for everyone involved, but I've been praying that it will be a smooth transition and everything will work out well. God has His hand in it, and I know that things will get easier with time.
My mom is coming up to visit today, which I'm really looking forward to. I haven't seen her in a while, so it will be nice to hang out for a while today. I really hope Ellie will be feeling better. Plus, she's already started going through stranger anxiety. She'll be fine and smiling one minute, and then if someone other than me or Billy gets too close to her, she'll stick out that bottom lip, pout for a second, and then just have a meltdown. It's so sad, and I don't know what to do about it. I know I need to be sensitive to her anxiety, because she's a baby and she can't understand social norms yet, but at the same time I get embarrassed when it happens. I think the general public expects all babies to be sweet and happy, so they just get right up in their faces and start talking in a weird voice...that would probably scare me, too. It does bother me a little when she does it to family, but I guess she doesn't know the difference between family members and strangers yet, since Billy and I are the only people she's with consistently. One thing I absolutely love and could never get tired of is that she adores Billy. He's like her knight in shining armor...he walks through the door, and she lights up and gives him a huge grin, then buries her face in my shoulder like she's being all bashful. She laughs so easily at him (I don't blame her, I do too!) and she can't take her eyes off him. It's the sweetest thing in the world, and I love it!
As far as my grocery shopping this week, I did almost all of it on Sunday afternoon so I could get it out of the way. I think that will have to be my new norm, since I'll be babysitting from now until the end of May and won't have time during the day to go grocery shopping (with two babies...can you imagine?!). I shopped at Kroger, CVS, Walgreens, and Petsmart on Sunday, then went to Target on Monday. I got a few really good deals, and stayed under my $50 weekly budget (including diapers, dog food, paper towels, cleaning supplies....who would have thought?!).
Pictured below is my Sunday shopping trip. I spent $34.09 on everything pictured.
At Kroger, I got paper towels for $5.99 (used $1 coupon), the Simply Juices for $1.68 each ($1 off coupons for each), BBQ sauce for 69 cents, and Gatorade for 69 cents each. I used the $3 off coupon from last week's event, plus got another one to use next week. I spent a total of $24.70 at Kroger. We didn't need a whole lot this week, because we've had random things going on this month and haven't stuck to the meal calendar. In a way, it's a blessing, because then I have everything I need to make dinner, and I don't necessarily need to go to the store. We've got a freezer full of meat, plus lots of canned goods in the cabinets, so we've got enough food to last for at least 2 weeks without going to the store. Anyway, that's why I didn't spend much at Kroger this week.
At Walgreens, I bought a jumbo pack of Pampers diapers, which were on sale for $8.99. I used $3 in coupons, so I paid $6.44 out of pocket (includes tax) and got $2 back in Register Rewards.
At CVS, I bought another jumbo pack of Pampers diapers, which were on sale for the same price as Walgreens. I used a $1 coupon, bringing the price down to $7.99. I had $7.58 in ExtraCare Bucks from last week, so I ended up only paying $2.70 (also purchased a Sunday paper). I also got $2 back in ECBs!
I also went to Petsmart this week...I never usually go there, but they had a sale on the 5 lb bags of Science Diet Light Dog Food for $5, and there was a $5 coupon in an old Sunday ad, so I ended up paying just the tax for the dog food....25 cents!
On Monday, I went out to Target while Ellie was napping (and Billy graciously stayed home with her). I didn't take a picture (I was exhausted and just wanted to clean up and go to bed), so use your imagination! I bought dish soap for 69 cents, 2 3-packs of Dentyne gum for 4 cents each, ibuprofen for free, pantiliners for 14 cents, pasta for 79 cents each, and shredded cheese for $1.44 each. Total spent was $7.18. I got all of the coupon matchups from Money Saving Mom.
My total this week came to $41.27, and I saved $43.08. I'm so thankful for the learning experience couponing has been for me so far. God has taught me so much about being frugal....this time last year, I was spending $100 a week on groceries...so awful. I'm so glad that there are opportunities like couponing, which ends up saving us so much money...and I'm also very thankful for all those other frugal shoppers out there...I feel like we have our own little community and culture going on.
I wanted to write a short thing about a devotional book I'm reading right now, but I'll have to save that for another day. It's 7:15 am, and I need to eat breakfast, shower, and get ready to care for my little one!
-Kristen
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