Keeping me on my toes!

I am sure you can imagine two babies is quite an adjustment but the more mobile&stronger they become, the more I am reminded of this!

Kaleb is crawling around, Jakob is scooting and can pretty much get what he wants at this point. Kaleb is trying to pull up on EVERYTHING which is great but I wish I could just nail everything to the floor so he doesn't keep falling and hitting his head : /

When Gavin was this age, it was very different. He was the only one so I had plenty of time to focus obsessively over him and his antics. Entirely different with Jakob and Kaleb :-P I have an almost 3 year old and a 32 year old to keep up, hehe

I am in the kitchen this morning cleaning up after breakfast. J&K are in the morning playing and Gavin is sitting at table STILL eating his breakfast. I hear Gavin "Mommy....Kaleb going to fall down and hurt head! MOMMY!!!!" While yelling at me that Kaleb is going to fall down, Gavin runs over to morning room to help his brothers (melt my heart!) and is looking at me like "Where were you?! I TOLD you Kaleb was going to fall and hit his head. This is what I found..... (yes I took time to take a picture once I figured everyone was ok.)

Kaleb had crawled over to sit behind this toy while Jakob was playing with it. Kaleb, of course, must have whatever Jakob is playing with. Seriously he will go out of his way, stop what he is playing and go over to take from Jakob :-P So Kaleb had his hands on top of this trying to pull up while Jakob was pulling it the opposite directions towards himself so Kaleb couldn't take it.

Now see, this is a scenario I would not think of going from one baby (gavin) to two babies! This is an entirely different world when it comes to keeping things safe and trying to decrease the amount of bumps and bruises :-P

Lesson learned...this toy will go in office with other toys I have learned are not good for two babies to play with at the same time *sigh* I am 100% positive I have many more lessons coming my way :-P

But seriously, could Gavin have been any cuter running to help his brothers?!?! He is such a good big brother!!!

Couponing....I saved 49% last night!

So it has been 6 weeks since I've started REALLY couponing. I did it before but really only for the products I knew I would use and I saved a little but nothing like now, I have learned so much with the help of some friends! I am so glad "Extreme Couponing" gave some motivation to get started again. In the past 6 weeks, I have saved us almost $800!!!!! And being that I have FOUR boys to feed...I figure the earlier I start learning to save more money the better!!! I remember when my two brothers were younger, they ate everything in sight :-D

Last week I saved 50% on a trip to Wal- Mart. And last night, I saved 49% at Safeway! My beautiful receipt showing me the fabulous savings!!

Did you see my TOTAL savings?!?! $174.02!!! :::patting myself on the back:: I will admit I got a little tingly feeling when the cashier told me my savings LOL I can see how those crazy people on Extreme Couponing get so addicted...it is like a challenge and it's fun to save money or even get useful items for free. I still spent $175 but I think saving 49% is pretty darn good! And this wasn't buying 100 boxes of pain medicine either lol I bought meats, produce, breads, baby things, etc.

So to get myself organized, I ordered a really cute coupon organizer from etsy.com that I can attach to the handle of grocery cart, super useful when I have the kids with me! And it fits perfectly in my purse or diaper bag!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/57554887/coupon-organizer-budget-organizer-holder This Etsy seller was super great to work with! I have even ordered a couple more for birthday presents!

I am learning that grocery stores seem to follow the Sunday paper inserts...so usually whatever coupons are in the Sunday paper can be doubled because they will usually be on sale in the stores. Safeway has a great feature for club card members that allows you to add coupons to your club card online....these deals are not advertised in the store, at least not where I have seen. I would imagine other stores do this as well. You can see these savings on my receipt above...the 'J4U Coupons,' I saved $73.38 by adding to my club card! Not to mention when I print this out, it serves as my grocery list as well!

So subscribed the Sunday paper for the coupons, if there are really good ones in there then I will buy a couple more. Also my mother in law and sister in law share their coupons with me.
And of course the online coupons. It uses a lot of printing coupons but if I really need a particular coupon I will print it. After signing up on a few coupon websites I started getting a lot of trash email, so ended up creating a seperate account that has worked out great!

I used to shop by what I WANTED for dinner that week...regardless of whether I had coupons or it was on sale. The past few weeks I have been letting the sales dictate what I make for dinner. I have quite a 'stock pile' (no not a stockpile like you see on the EC show!!!!) but enough to make dinners for a couple weeks if I needed.

And the bathroom, paper products, soaps, cleaning supplies,etc.....I used to buy certain brands now I buy whatever I have a coupon for. While there are still some products we won't bend on like deoderants, my shampoo ( I am particular about my shampoo :-P) and a few other things. There are SO many BOGO coupons for this stuff, it is crazy! So I figured why not :-)

This site is great! http://www.coupsfortroops.com/
If you find you have coupons that you don't use, you can donate them to the troops! I didn't know but overseas commissaries will honor our coupons up to SIX months after the expiration dates! I bet they get some great deals in the commissaries, I remember shopping there with my grandmother when I was younger :-)

Here are some of my favorite websites I have found or friends have shared with me that I like to check whether they are blogs or coupon sites! Enjoy:-)

http://www.couponing101.com/category/coupons

http://www.mysavings.com/grocery-coupons.asp

http://thekrazycouponlady.com/category/walmart/

http://www.mamacheaps.com/tag/acme

http://www.mamacheaps.com/tag/acme

http://hip2save.com/

http://wildforwags.com/

http://www.couponmom.com/

9 years ago today (June 11), I met my husband Mark!

lol Yes you read that correctly, Mark. I will get to that part in our story soon :-D

It is so hard to believe that it was 9 years ago, that is almost a decade! It seems like it was just yesterday :-) I was in college in Myrtle Beach. Marcin just graduated from Drexel and came down for a boys vaca to Dirty Myrtle. He claims that a waitress at Hooters suggested they go to Fat Tuesday that night....little did he know, hehe

I remember it was a Tuesday night because we always got off work and everyone headed to Fat Tuesday's, it was $1 Rolling Rock, you cannot pass this up in college!!! Although I was tired and did not want to go but my friend Jenni talked me into it....it didn't take that much convincing, hehe. As soon as I walked in, I saw this hot, TALL guy over by the dart boards. I had a 'list' of criteria for the next guy I dated. I was willing to be flexible on some but tall, nice legs and a great smile I was not going to be flexible on :-) And seriously, I am pretty sure he was tallest guy in the bar, lol After an hour or so of checking each other out, my friends keep insisting I go talk to him. Eh....I had a theory that usually when a hot guy opened their mouth, they ruined the facade anyways so why bother. Yes this was my rational back then...no judgement, it was proved true over and over again (right Keeley?!). Eventually I figured, why not :-P So I went to his table with his 3 other friends {picture this table....you cannot see the table top because it was covered in empty Rolling Rock bottles lol}, introduce myself and he introduces himself as, Mark. Mark and I exchanged phone numbers and agreed to meet at the beach the next day.

The following day on my way to the beach, I called Michelle (she is my cousin but we are more like sisters!) and told her I met my future husband. She laughs but I am dead serious. I just knew...I don't know how I knew but I had a hunch :-) I am also calling my friend Keeley to tell her about this amazing guy I met at a bar in Myrtle Beach....surely this cannot have a future, I mean what are the chances of first off, meeting a nice guy in a bar. Secondly, in Myrtle Beach. This just doesn't happen :-P And I was schedule to work a double that day and I am begging Keeley to cover for me so I can go hang out with "Mark' She covers my shift, having just met her future hubby a couple months prior, and understanding that I NEED to go to the beach lol

We had a great day at the beach, followed by dinner that night and dancing at Crocodile Rocks (my favorite piano bar ever!) and Boca. I decide this guy is one of those 'good guys' you hear about your friends meeting and marrying :-)

That weekend I was going to Beaufort to see my dad for Father's Day. On my way, Mark calls me and tells me he has something to tell me. I was thinking, Oh here we go...now the truth comes out. This guy is married with 5 kids. Or just got out of jail for something horrendous. I was bracing myself for some crazy outlandish confession. Hes says to me 'My name is not Mark.' WTH?! He then goes onto tell me his real name is Marcin. Apparently he went by many alias' in college. His explanation is that alot of people don't catch his name correctly the first time and he didn't feel like getting into at the bar. So yes I went around all week calling him by the WRONG name...I am sure his friends got a good laugh at that. HMPH! But I do have to agree with him, everytime he introduces himself to people...they ask him again what he said, so I get it :-D

I still had a few months of college left, so we did the long distance thing for a few months. I finished college and had no job. He already had a job in Philly. Michelle was living in NYC at the time, so I thought how much fun it would be to live with her for a bit, get a temporary job in NYC and I would only be a couple hours from Delaware. What an experience that was! I ended up with a job at Mesa Grill having no clue who Bobby Flay was at the time, lol My Food Network friends (Joy to the world!) informed me who he was.  Michelle and I had a blast hanging out together. And I got to see Marcin on the weekends.

The rest they say....is history. I did meet an amazing guy at a bar in Dirty Myrtle. And now we have 3 beautiful sons. I love my life and wouldn't change a thing :-)

In case you were wondering....What do you DO all day while home with kids?

For som reason people think that because I stay at home with kids, that I am not busy or can just do things at my leisure, LOL!!! That is hilarious!!!!

My friend got this from someone and I told her I needed it to post on my blog :-) Enjoy! I would imagine there are some of you reading this that can relate :-P I

RANTS FROM MOMMYLAND: Domestic Enemies of the Stay at Home Mom: "I am Lydia and I am a stay at home mom. That is an admission that may elevate or denigrate me, depending on who I’m talking to. There are ti..."

A fun day at the Zoo!!

We had a great time!! The boys of course, did a fabulous job! I still don't know why I worry that it is going ot be stressful :-P The most stressful part is getting everyone in/out of car lol But we are getting more efficient at it :-)

We thought we would get there on the earlier side to beat the crowds but apparently everyone else had same idea, oh well...there was a lot of people but you could still the animals and there were no waits for the rides. The weather was perfect, no traffic to/from Philly AND here is the best part.....EVERYONE TOOK A NAP WHEN WE GOT HOME!!! Yes you read that correctly, we put all the boys in bed and Marcin and I go a nap too. You may thinking this is no big deal but this rarely happens! It was so nice!

And I know you will be shocked by this but honestly, we could have probably taken Gavin to Best Buy so he could play with the 'SPEAKERS,' 'PUSH THE BUTTS' ( butts=buttons) and open/close doors. The child is obsessed with these things. We were excited for him to go in the building where the reptiles are and all he wanted to do was open/close doors.

Funny how you think your child will be so excited about something but then could care less about it, eh oh well :-) As long as he had fun :-)

J&K could have cared less lol But they were checking things out

Ok I  need to talk about our stroller for a minute....I am in love strollers. Do not judge lol When Gavin was born we had the Chicco which I sold because I found I liked Graco Quattro better. I also a Combi lightweight but it went to crap after about 2 months of use (great traveling stroller though with the back strap), so I sold that and got a MacLaren....awesome stroller! I still have this one, hehe! For J&K we had the double Kolcraft contours....a good stroller but HUGE and awkward to fold/stored.

So I took a deep breath and got the City Mini.....omg, I love love love love this stroller! It weighs about 10lbs (Without babies :-P), super easy to fold/store and easy to clean. What more can you ask for?! I of course also had to purchase the drink holder because I NEED somewhere for my drinks/keys/cell. And I recently just got the belly bar and two attachable snack trays (not cheap, ugh!) Baby Jogger is making a killing with the attachments for their strollers....smart company :-P

gtg and get babies up for morning!! Have a great day!

My 5:30 a.m. wake up call....

....two cute boys who go by the names Jakob and Kaleb. They are luck they are so cute. Kaleb was up around 5:15 with Jakob to follow. But I don't get them until 6:00. I learned this lesson with Gavin. He also enjoyed getting up during the 5:00 hour and if we went to get him then he would just start waking earlier! Thankfully like Gavin, they are content in their cribs until I get them. In the meantime, thought i would add some pictures, hehe!!

The past couple days have been perfect here....75-80 degrees and no humidity. Seriously...can it get any better? So we have been going outside a lot which the boys love! Yesterday Gavin was playing in sandbox and J&K were eyeing it so I put them in it. In true Gavin Jr. (Kaleb) fashion, Kaleb did NOT like the sand on his feet or legs. Gavin was same....We took him to the beach last summer and he would not walk on the sand. Thank goodness his friend Austin was there because he walked on the sand, Gavin of course saw this and figured it couldn't be that bad :-) Then Pop Pop and Gigi got him a sandbox for his 2nd birthday because he loves the sandbox at the parks....he would play in from the outside. He would not put him feet in, stand in it or anything. He does now but it took a while to warm up.

We constantly tease Kaleb as Gavin Jr. because they are so similiar in their looks and habits. They are more like twins than J&K!

Here was Kaleb's thoughts on the sandbox about 5 seconds after I snapped the picture above,

Jakob on the other hand, LOVE it! He was digging his toes in the sand, playing with Gavin for a while. Jakob and Gavin had a lot of fun sharing (yes...Gavin was sharing! Even asking Jakob for a turn. And if he got a toy from Jakob, he was sure to replace it with another fun toy for Jakob to play with, what a great Big Brother!)

So while J&G had some fun in the sandbox, Marcin and Kaleb were playing. I couldn't resist some pictures of those two. Especially this one of Kaleb chubby thighs...I love it!

Have a great weekend everyone! We are headed to the Philly Zoo today...early! hoping to beat the crowds because today should be gorgeous too!!!

Happy 9 Months Jakob & Kaleb

I honestly don't know how this is possible already....I feel like we just brought them home!

They are such fun and silly boys! They seem to have switched roles....Kaleb is becoming dramatic and Jakob is more laid back..unless he wants food :-P I have a feeling this will be an ongoing cycles with them and Gavin...the switching roles I mean.

Jakob is standing, his legs are stronger than Kaleb or maybe its because he has 3 lbs less to hold up? He is baby talking, reaching for things, taking Kaleb's food from his tray (HA! Take that Kaleb :-P), rolling when he wants to get somewhere and eats like a bird. His mouth is always open whether he is talking, laughing, smiling or eating!

Kaleb is a bit stronger with his motor skills...always has been. But he hasn't quite gotten the hang of standing, he can do it and is getting better but he likes to bouce while standing and well he can't do that yet :-)
He wants nothing to do with puree's or spoon feeding, he will flat out refuse it. He wants food he can do himself...fine by me :-) We lowered his crib mattress, all the way down, because I found him the other morning sitting up. He has no problem doing this from the crawling position. He is trying very hard to crawl but hasn't figured out the coordination part..again fine by me :-)

I love Jakob's smile in this one! Kaleb is ready to go somewhere!



Gavin at 9 months :-)



Look who is standing!!!

Kaleb is still working on the crawling and not much for standing up....he will do it but prefers to bounce which is hard to do while trying to stay steady and stand :-P

Jakob not trying to crawl but loves to stand! He will actually yell at me if I don't help him, hmph! Can you tell how proud of himself he is? hehe



cooling off when it was 98 DEGREES!!!



lol i think he likes the pool!



We aren't sure what he was singing but he was singing his little heart out :-D



How I spent my hour and a half of quietness.....

Oh yes....you read it correctly, I got an hour and a half of time to myself! It is so quiet and MY time, so nice and much needed. I've been a little short on patience the past couple days : /

I make a Shutterfly photo book in 6 month increments, so I have been working on that. I also got on the treadmill, YAY!!! And cleaned up a little :-P

I was talking to friend yesterday about ideas of how to remember all the cute...and not so cute things our kids do. I had saw on another friends FB that she writes her kids letters every year for their birthdays talking about the past year, how much they've grown, cute things they have done or said, etc. I want to do this for the boys, I think it is a great idea! And while I was working on the photo book....I had another idea. Why not make a small 8x8 photo book for each of the boys, write the letter in there and include some fun pictures of the things we talk about in the letter :-) I personally think it is a fabulous idea!

I have been wondering how the boys can each have their 'own' photo album from their childhood...if they want it. If they don't, maybe my future daughter in law's will? Either way...I love pictures and I love preserving important memories for them to reflect on when they are older. Not to mention, I get it honest. My mom was a picture fanatic! I have two big plastic tubs of photo albums of me before I was 4 years old and my baby book is bursting at the seams LOL

While I was adding pictures for the photo book I am working on now....amazing how much the boys have grown in just 6 months. Gavin is almost 3 and J&K are almost 9 months. Yes our house is crazy, sometimes insane but I love it and wouldn't have it any other way!

So I thought I would share my idea in case anyone wants to use it :-) Gtg....Jakob waking up!

Abdominoplasty...interesting.

I had a consult today for a tummy tuck....it was a little surreal going to this appointment. I was nervous, scared and a lil overwhelmed. Very similiar to how I felt walking to my first appointment with the fertility specialist....never thought I would be going to these doctors :-P

Many of you have heard my complaints of the 'twin skin,' it stinks! It just shouldn't be there.....I am more than grateful for my body having carried Gavin, Jakob and Kaleb to full term and getting through that along with countless other things it does for me but the twin skin has got to go. My clothes don't fit correctly and its is very annoying, not to mention unattractive. I was happy with my body after Gavin. And probably if the 2nd pregnancy was a singleton, it would be ok. But it wasn't :-) I was measuring 47 weeks pregnant when J&K were born...thats a lot of baby! I only gained 40lbs, which is average for twins.

So yes I am doing this for ME! All for me :-) I don't plan on doing it until closer to winter or spring, if even then. We will revisit when that time approaches but I had lots of questions and Marcin suggested I go for consult, I have to admit he had a great idea because who else better to answer my questions?! The doctor was much more informative than Google :-P

The doctor was very nice and straight to the point, I like that! I told him about my 2 c-section with the last one being twins. His first questions were how long did I carry them and how much did they weigh. I then told him that I carried them to 37 weeks with one weighing 6lb 12oz and the other 5lb 11oz. He laughed and said 'yep that will do it!'
He went onto to explain the stomach muscles and what happens during a twin pregnancy, to make a long story short...I am screwed! My muscles separated, they cannot grow back together...they are done. The 'twin skin' may be a combo of stretched skin/muscle and fat but the bottom line is that even if I exercised everyday and ate nothing but salads forever...I cannot build muscle that isn't there to build : /  There plenty of areas I hope to improve with diet/exercise but I have a feeling that will always be a work in progress :-P

So he suggested I go for the full tummy tuck with lipo (part #1 that scared me....I have watched too many reality shows, EW!). He went onto explain that for the tummy tuck, he would cut out the pocket of fat below belly button. They would cut from hip to hip below bikini line, actually even lower than my c-section scar which is pretty low. After they remove the 'fat pocket' (EW!), they will pull the extra skin down and connect it. He said he can just moved my belly button down....just like that. Interesting. Then he would lipo the 'flanks,' aka love handles :-P This would be so it would all be proportional after the tummy tuck, works for me! Recovery would be much more painful than a c-section because he will also be reconstructing my abdomen muscles, this healing process apparently hurts very much. And then I would have two tubes for drainage (part #2 that scared me!), these would stay in for 10-14 days after surgery.

All in all very productive 30 minutes and he answered all my questions, for now :-) It was stressed that I would need a few weeks worth of help afterwards because I can't lift things, especially the boys, or do much of anything the first two or three weeks. Thankfully Marcin's family is here and I am sure we can talk Pop Pop and Gigi into coming for a visit:-)

Farmer Michalski?

I think we should move further south and live on a farm so we can have chickens, cows and a huge garden. Why you ask? Because keeping our family in just eggs and milk alone is going to be expensive!!! We already go through at least 18 eggs A WEEK! And a gallon or two of milk a week!

And now that J&K are starting to enjoy eggs and then with milk to follow soon....ugh I need a farm or at least I need to become friends with a local farmer who can cut me a deal!!! I remember when Gavin started milk, we went through three gallons a week! oh vey :-P

I am being optimistic on the huge garden....that is assuming that one day Gavin will decide that yes he will eat fruits or veggies besides the ones I puree and sneak into his food! And also that J&K will eat fruits and veggies. They pretty much eat anything right now but Gavin was same when he was their age. Now his menu is pretty limited, not for lack of trying on our part. Or maybe its just First Child's Syndrome? He has been better at trying new things and we offer. Sometimes he find that yes it is good and others, not so much.

Thankfully I have discovered that Aldi in Elkton has milk for $2.79 a gallon, not bad! And sometimes they put it on sale for $1.99! A dozen eggs there are $1.25, again not bad. Why can't I ever find coupons for eggs and milk?!

Other grocery stores in our area sell milk for $3.99 a gallon! GEEZ! Eggs are usually $1.99-2.50, I mean that is ridiculous!

I love to go grocery shopping when I visit my southern relatives, so much cheaper compared to Delaware! Of course cost of living is less but not that much less!! And with all these natural disasters, groceries are not going to decrease. See? All the more reason for a farm :-)

I have been doing MUCH better with my coupons! I got a very cute coupon organizer from Etsy ( I <3 Etsy!) and I am much more organized when I go shopping. Instead of using coupons for what we need that week, I look at the bigger picture. It is still a learning process but I like the challenge of seeing how I can something for less. You won't be seeing me on the Extreme Couponing show in the future...those people are NUTS! I do not need over 100 boxes of granola bars or cereal for that matter. Maybe when the boys hit 13 or 14 years old and they start eating everything in sight....I may rethink exactly how nuts they are LOL