Dr. Seuss for Breastfeeding Moms

Would you nurse her in the park?
Would you nurse him in the dark?
Would you nurse him with a Boppy?
And when your boobs are feeling floppy?

I would nurse him in the park,
I would nurse her in the dark.
I'd nurse with or without a Boppy.
Floppy boobs will never stop me.

Can you nurse with your seat belt on?
Can you nurse from dusk till dawn?
Though she may pinch me, bite me, pull,
I will nurse her `till she's full!

Can you nurse and make some soup?
Can you nurse and feed the group?
It makes her healthy strong and smart,
Mommy's milk is the best start!

Would you nurse him at the game?
Would you nurse her in the rain?
In front of those who dare complain?
I would nurse him at the game.
I would nurse her in the rain.

As for those who protest lactation,
I have the perfect explanation.
Mommy's milk is tailor made
It's the perfect food, you need no aid.

Some may scoff and some may wriggle,
Avert their eyes or even giggle.
To those who can be cruel and rude,
Remind them breast's the perfect food!

I would never scoff or giggle,
Roll my eyes or even wiggle!
I would not be so crass or crude,
I KNOW that this milk's the perfect food!

We make the amount we need
The perfect temp for every feed.
There's no compare to milk from breast-
The perfect food, above the rest.

Those sweet nursing smiles are oh so sweet,
Mommy's milk is such a treat.
Human milk just can't be beat.

I will nurse, in any case,
On the street or in your face.
I will not let my baby cry, I'll meet her needs, I'll always try.
It's not about what's good for you,
It's best for babies, through and through.

I will nurse her in my home,
I will nurse her when I roam.
Leave me be lads and ma'am.
I will nurse her, Mom I am.

Author unknown

I found this today and I loved it! If you know me then you know that I am a huge supporter of breastfeeding and breastfeeding moms! If I were ever to go back to school and start a new career path I think it would be as a lactation consultant. I would love to help other moms and babies experience the joy of breastfeeding.

The Coupon Game!

I have always bought the Sunday paper and clipped the coupons for whatever items we used or what I thought might make for a good deal. I only shopped at Wal Mart and Sam's Club. I bought the store brand on most items that had one available. Doing all of this I thought I was being very frugal with my grocery shopping! HAHAHAHAH! That is what I have to say about that now!
I started learning more about this not so secret world of couponing in October and November. This is the same time we were moving and staying with my parents. So, I decided that I would just look around a little and learn until I was back to full time grocery shopping. We settled into our new temporary home at Jeff's parents' at the end of the year. I started getting more into the coupon world, as well as getting freebies, the beginning of January. In the last 6 weeks I have learned so much and received so many free or nearly free items.
Most of the free samples take anywhere from 4-8 weeks to arrive. About 4 weeks after I started all this I began getting something free in the mail nearly everyday! Sometimes multiple items/coupons! A few of the items I have received are pens, prunes, trash bag, insulated freezer bag, coupon books, recipe books, and coupons for various free items.
I have got some of my best deals at Walgreens and CVS. I have made several trips to Walgreens and bought $50-$70 worth of personal care items/cleaners/groceries and only spent $3-$5! This is easy from Walgreens and CVS because they have good sales, store coupons, manufacturer coupons and register rewards/catalina coupons. These all combined make for opportunities for lots of free items! CVS just opened here so I have not had as many opportunities to shop there. But, they have many of the same great deals.
I am also finding some great grocery store buys. There are so many different grocery stores here that I have had to do some research for best buys. Since I moved here I have not even been to my store of choice, Wal-Mart! My grocery trips started with a savings of about 35%, but I have done as well as about 75% savings recently!
I can't say exactly what we are saving right now. Our grocery bills are still kind of random because sometimes Jeff's mom will pick up a few things at the store or she will give me some cash to chip in for groceries. Also, I am cooking for one additional person and we are shopping in a new town and state with a higher cost of living and different taxes. But, I can say that we have already reduced our budgeted amount for groceries by about $50 every two weeks and have been able to stick to that fine, even though we are buying groceries for one more person than we use to. I still feel like I am learning and our housing situation right now is just temporary. So, I will continue to learn and practice and we will sit down with a smaller budget and I will work even harder once we sell our house and buy one here.
I have been looking at this as a part time job. It has been paying me like a part time job and it takes time like a part time job. The benefit is that I don't have to pay for child care and I still get to be with my boy's all day. I do my "work" while they are napping and after they go to bed at night. The biggest complication with this new theory behind grocery shopping is that I make more trips to the store(s) so I end up taking the boys to the store more than I use to. I use to go to Wal Mart once every two weeks after the boys went to bed. Now I go a couple times a week to various stores. I may still go out after they go to bed one night a week though. Have I ever mentioned how much my boys HATE shopping?! Oh, well, maybe if they go enough one day they will learn to love it as much as their mama!

Some pictures of some of my recent steals and deals!

This was a combo purchase from CVS and Walgreens. It totaled FREE! I made $2 at Wags and spent $2 at CVS!

I saved about 70% on this grocery store trip.

This was our first attempt at "playing" Walgreens (affectionately called Wags). Jeff went with me and we made multiple transactions and bought about $60 worth of items for $5!

At Wags, this was also about $50 for about $5.

Wags again, this was $13 worth and I paid $3.

Wags, $70 for $4!

This was another combo trip from CVS and Wags, I think this was about $25 worth of items and we paid about $3.

I have had several other really good trips, but I don't take pictures of them all! ;)

Workin' the runway!!

That's right! My handsome little men got their first opportunity to strut their stuff on the runway and the red carpet this weekend during their first fashion show! A local cloth diapering store called Cotton Babies hosted a birthday party with the fashion show, a hair and nail salon, a radio station dj, great free giveaways, a story time, paparazzi, red carpet and, of course, cake and punch! The birthday party was for the owners daughter who was having her first birthday! I was lucky enough to be in the first 10 callers after receiving the email newsletter they sent out a couple weeks ago. It was a neat idea and we had a great time!

The boys wore Kimono style one piece outfits that were so soft and silky! They were made from soy fiber! We did not get to keep the outfits, but we did get a $25 gift certificate for each boy to spend in the store anytime in the next year. That will buy several diapers! ;)

Story Time

Daddy and Ayden

Daddy and his boys

Workin' the catwalk!

The "red carpet"

Ashton found a cute girl to flirt with!

Sitting on the red carpet before getting started

Ayden checking out Daddy's camera.

Ashton's not so sure about Daddy!

Mommy is trying to keep the boys entertained!

As you can see they walked the red carpet fine. The step to get onto the stage was really big so that was a little tricky. Ashton was enjoying being center stage and was not ready to give up his place! Hope you enjoy our first video to be posted on this blog. Hopefully we will have many more to come!