Biting the Bullet at Costco

This month we are on a tight budget...it's after the holidays, we spent more than we should have, and oh, THIS BABY IS GOING THROUGH DIAPERS LIKE THEY ARE GOING OUT OF STYLE.

Her hat is cute, so that makes it okay, right? I digress...cute baby post coming soon, promise.

Our weather here in Indiana has been ridiculously cold. Cold enough that this do anything attitude new mom has kept Holly indoors as much as possible. I asked my husband to swing through Costco and pick up stuff from their coupon book that we actually needed. $100 later we were set. $100?!?! Here's why it works out for us:

This ring is only the size of Vermont

A 3 pack of Olay Body Wash (70 oz worth) was $9.99 with the coupon. To put that in perspective 1 bottle of Warm Vanilla Sugar shower gel from Bath and Body Works is $9.50 for 10 oz.

Yeah, I'd rather pay .14 per ounce than .95 an ounce. If the Bath and Body Works Shower Gel came in a 70 oz bottle it'd cost $66.50. So I saved myself $50. Really - I don't need to use fancy shower gel, I smell like baby all the time anyway. I would just smell like vanilla coated baby. What's the point?

My husband uses Gillette 3 Blade Ultra Grip razors. A 10 ct pack from Walmart is 6.97. He was able to get the same razors at Costco. A 52 ct pack cost him 16.37 which works out to .31 per razor over .69 at Walmart. Add that up and it's a savings of $20.

Here's my favorite savings of all: bottled water. You're thinking, wait - if you want to save money, don't buy bottled water, drink tap. I don't drink bottled water at home. A case of bottled water lasts us 2 months or so. I use them when we travel and since having Holly, I need to stay hydrated for her as well as me.

So here we go: at Target a 24 bottle case of Ice Mountain Water is "on sale" for 3.99. Which is .16 a bottle. Way ahead already if you usually just buy a bottle on the go for 1.29 at the gas station (guilty). Costco offers 35 bottles per case for $4.85 before the coupon - which is .13 a bottle. Not a huge deal but with the coupon it's $2.85 for 35 bottles of water which make each bottle now .07. I can justify having quality water I can trust for .07.

I usually freak out when I see our bill at Costco. Then I remember we're only going once a month or less than that! I also enjoy waking up and my husband having razors, I have soap, and there's no unnecessary trips to the store which usually leads me to spending more money and buying things not on the list.

I don't work for Costco, and I really do love Target. The savings that I get at Costco are really helping us get by. The $100 we just spent is going to save us $100 if not more. So thanks Costco....(and to my grandma who bought us our Costco membership as a wedding present!)

Sinking Feeling

Fall is the perfect time to bust out the roasting pans for awesome roasted vegetables. I found sweet potatoes and butternut squash finally in season and decided to make them for dinner the other night.

Butternut squash is a tricky vegetable. It's hard to peel, hard to cut, and really delicious. This squash makes you work for it. Now we'll start with the peeling. I tried to do it like Giada showed me. She cuts off the ends, then again in half so she can take her knife and just cut the skin off. Massive fail because my knives need sharpened. So I busted out my peeler and got to work. Not easy, but it got the job done. The sweet potatoes were much easier. The result was awesome, and I couldn't have been happier with the meal.

After dinner I was trying to clean up and realized that peels had clogged our garbage disposal. On a side note: Patrick HATES garbage disposals. If he had a list of things he hated passionately, it'd go like this - 1. Black Eyed Peas with Fergie, 2. Dirt 3. Garbage Disposals. If we ever get to build a house, he won't put in a garbage disposal.

So since the sink was clogged I left dishes all over my counter tops to be cleaned later. We ran some errands and picked up liquid plumber and hope that it'll break up the clog and I'll be good to go. No such luck - the next morning it's still clogged. Ick. Instead of calling a plumber, I emailed my dad for help. I remembered all the times my dad was under the sink after my mom tried to put potato skins down the drain. SEE!!! I GET THIS NATURALLY. THIS IS NOT MY FAULT. Of course I get the lecture - "this is why you always put newspaper in the sink when you peel vegetables" but he said he'd stop by and fix it.

My dad fixed it in about 3 minutes. He's so great. Thanks dad, if you still read my blog.

I let the pan that I roasted the veggies in soak overnight - this morning I cleaned it. I figured anything crusted on would be soft enough that it would go right through the drain. WRONG. I clogged it again. But I really thought it was ridiculous that something so soft and small could clog the sink.

Patrick was not pleased (obviously) and it was too late in the morning for him to fix it. I walked away from the sink hoping that I wouldn't turn into the Hulk and throw the sink out the window. Later in the morning I go back over to see if the water was still standing in the sink and saw that the reason the sink wasn't draining this morning: THE STOPPER WAS IN THE BOTTOM OF THE SINK. *sigh* I blame it on the infant who just learned to roll over. Next week she'll want to go to a Miley Cyrus concert.

I'm Totally That Mom

I hate you already and I'm only 1 week old.

Our munchkin is almost 2 months old now. I don't remember life before her - it's a little hazy, but life is hazy in general right now. She's fantastic, funny, happy, and all around perfect. I have no problem passing her off to my family members when we're all together. It's not that I don't love her, it's that I want to share her with everyone. But I'm totally THAT Mom.

• I took her to Irish Fest when she was 12 days old.
• I took her to a college football tailgate when she was one month old.
• I breastfed her in the middle of Starbucks.
• I changed her diaper (twice!) in the middle of Starbucks. *Starbucks should put a diaper changing station in the bathroom. Maybe not in urban areas, but in suburbia it would really help me out.
• I take her to lunch with my friends.
• I have no problem leaving her with any of her grandparents and going to a movie.
• I dressed her up like a hotdog for Halloween.
• I let her cry for a few minutes before I pick her up.

This doesn't look cute, I look stupid! I can't even EAT candy!

I'm totally that mom ... the mom who believes that my life doesn't stop because I had a baby. That mud and dirt are toys. Imagination trumps video games any day. Sesame Street is better than Barney. Camping is more fun than staying in hotels. We'll go to Disney World when she's too heavy to carry, potty trained, can tell me if she's hungry, tired, hurt, or happy, when she's old enough to remember how magical it really is.

I love her more than anything in the world. I can't imagine how she experiences every day, but mine starts with her smiling and squirming when we get her out of her crib. I can't stand the thought of something ever happening to her, and I'm so lucky that she's healthy.

So I'm just like every other mom I know. I love my kid. We're figuring it out. There's no perfect system. I'm going to make mistakes, but I'm also going to do my best to raise her with a sense of humor, love, and compassion. I'm totally that mom.