it's a girl!!!

that's right... our little baby is a GIRL!

we found out friday morn that we are expecting a girl! we are very excited! i think i said to myself/Trent at least 10 times, "i can't believe we are having a girl"... it's crazy actually knowing. and now continues our extensive baby girl name search. we are having quite the challenge so feel free to make any suggestions!!

here are a couple pics of our beautiful girl...

we love how she is already so modest with her legs crossed all proper-like :) trent especially loves that.

right after we found out, we went to target to buy our 1st baby girl outfits for her. it was actually hard at first just b/c we aren't naturally drawn to all the frilly, over-the-top girly things... but we eventually found 2 outfits we both adore!!

this 1st outfit actually has a monkey on it!! it is very hard to find a girls outfit w/monkeys bc most of the boys outfits have those. so we had to get this one!

this one is just adorable! the elephants are too cute.

okay & here is a belly shot from the day before our big u/s. i am 19wks & 2days.

thanks for celebrating our joyous news with us!!

hmm boy or girl?

so here is my 1st actual pregnancy update... it's about time. i'm 19 weeks as of yesterday!

i am finally getting some good rest @ night which is a huge blessing! i was excited for the 2nd trimester for this reason... but weeks 14-16 were horrendous for me due to severe allergies & little sleep! more so than my nausea during weeks 6-8. thankfully, the allergies died down & now it is getting hard for me to wake up early whatsoever.

here is a cute idea i got from my cute prego friend, kendall.

Food Cravings:

1. coke icees!

2. grape slushies from sonic

3. sonic tater tots

4. chocolate carnation instant breakfast w/skim milk (look forward to this every morn!)

5. pasta salad, pasta salad, pasta salad (& i never liked the stuff pre-pregoness)

6. chick-fil-a lemonade (let's be honest, that's always been a craving of mine)

7. dill pickles, extra crunchy

8. subway grilled chicken sandwich (honey oat bread, cheese, lettuce, tomato, extra pickles, mayo, red wine vinegar, salt & pepper)

9. sushi - california roll (fake sushi)

10. chips & salsa (preferably @ el toro)

Food Aversions:

1. beef stew

2. meatloaf

3. lasagna

4. steak

5. hamburgers

6. browning ground beef (hmm i see a trend)

7. BBQ

8. really, any creamy beefy things

9. supreme pizza or mighty meaty wick

10. roast beef

we find out in 2 days - this Friday (our 5th anniversary!) if we are having a boy or girl. so based on some old wives' tales, let's see what i am predicted to have.....

* You didn't experience morning sickness in early pregnancy - BOY

* Your baby's heart rate is at least 140 beats per minute - GIRL

* You are craving salty or sour foods - BOY

* You are carrying low - BOY

* Dad-to-be is gaining weight, right along with you - BOY :)

* Your belly looks like a watermelon - GIRL (well... not sure yet, but it's shaping to be more of a watermelon than a basketball)

* You are having headaches - BOY

* You don't look quite as good as normal during pregnancy - GIRL (girls supposedly suck the beauty away from you, while boys add beauty to their mommies)

* Your breasts have really blossomed! - i wish! this is true if you're having a GIRL, so this a BOY point for me

* Your face breaks out more than usual - GIRL (awesome!)

* You add your age at the time of conception and the number for the month you conceived and the sum is an odd number - GIRL

* You are craving protein -- meats and cheese - true for a boy... NOT true, so - GIRL

* Had Trent look at my eye & tell me which eyeball had a split blood vessel - in my left eye - BOY

**grand total.... BOY: 7, GIRL: 6**

hmmm... well we will see if the old wives' tales are correct in 2 days! will keep you posted!

below is a pic i took of myself today... decided to treat myself to a shorter do & my baby bump is starting to look more like baby and less like mexican food! yay!

& yes that is a coke icee in the pic. mmm.

best savings yet!

so i know a lot of you may not be interested in my couponing endeavors... but... i can't help but share my awesome week of savings! perhaps it will inspire you to save where you can. i am grateful for the Southern Savers website which i would be lost without. here is the snapshot...

Savings #1 = ~$79 in savings

Medco was doing a great deal of $10 off any purchase with only .99 cent shipping. this means, you could put $10 worth of items in your cart, use the -$10 off code and essentially pay .99 cents for shipping to get your items. you have to enter a new email address each time & luckily trent & i together have many many email addresses.

(props to medco... placed 4 of these orders on June 4th

& received those 4 orders today, June 9th)

so here is what i got:

(1) charged $3.07 for... tylenol allergy pills (24c) & neutrogena body wash (typical cost: ~$15)

(2) charged $2.47 for... aussie gigantic 33oz shampoo & normal conditioner (typical cost: ~$14)

(3) charged $2.96 for... 3 glade sense n spray refills (typical cost: ~$12)

(4) charged $1.68 for... neutrogena oil free moisturizer (typical cost: ~$11)

(5) charged $3.48 for... 2 large bottles of contact solution (typical cost: ~$20-30)

(6) charged $1.68 f0r... huggies ultratrim newborn diapers (36c) (typical cost: ~$13+)

... yes - this is my 1st official purchase for baby chambers!! crazy!!

Summary:

... Bought $95 worth of items (all which i needed!)

... Spent $15.61

Savings #2 = $80.11 in savings

Okay here is the rundown of my CVS success... definitely the best ever.

yes, all of these products = $84.23 (!!)

can't believe how much these items cost full price!!

(though i definitely used to pay full price for them!)

Transaction #1

(1) Bought these items...

Gillette ProGlide Razor ($10.99, on sale for $9.97)

6 Deodorants (4 degree, 2 dove) ($3.79-$4.79, on sale for $2.50 each)

2 Windex MultiSurface Cleaners ($4.29, on sale for $2.50 each)

2 Glade candles ($3.99, on sale for $2.50 each)

(2) Used these coupons...

-$4 off Gillette coupon

-3x $3/2 off Dove/Degree deodorant coupons

-$1.50 off Glade coupon

-2x $1 off Windex coupons

Used these ECBs (essentially, CVS gift card)...

7 ECBs + 4 ECBs + 4.99 ECBs + 3 ECBs = 18.99 ECBs total

*Total $ I gave the cashier: $1.73

***Total ECBs (gift card) I got back: 5ECBs + 5ECBs + 5ECBs = 15 ECBs total

Transaction #2

(1) Bought these items:

2 Old Spice Deodorants ($5.49, on sale for $3.99 each)

1 Old Spice Body Wash ($4.99, on sale for $3.00)

1 Venus Breeze Razor ($9.99, on sale for $8.99)

2 Dawn dish soaps ($1.99, on sale for $0.97)

(2) Used these coupons:

-$5 off purchase of $15

B1G1 Old Spice Deodorant

Free Body Wash wyb Old Spice Deodorant

-$2 off Venus razor

-$0.25 off Dawn dish soap

Used these ECBs:

5ECBs from Transaction #1

*Total $ I gave the cashier... $2.39

***Total ECBs I got back... $4ECBs + $2ECBs = $6ECBs

***TOTAL ECBs for my next purchase = $16ECBs***

Summary:

... Bought $84.23 worth of products

... Spent $4.12 out of pocket

... Have $5 rebate to send off

** Essentially, CVS will pay ME $0.88 for $84.23 in products**

... Received $16 ECBs for future use

wow. i praise the Lord for giving me the time to coupon & save $ as i can.

some of you may be wondering... what am i going to do with all of that deodorant?? well, we will use some of it, we will keep some for a "bed & breakfast" basket for guests, and as we increase our 'stockpile' we will most certainly give the surplus to those in need.

happy couponing!

saved $$$ at cvs!

so couponing is something that i have been trying to do for almost 1 year now. it definitely takes up time and effort and i took a big break over the past several months from couponing attempts.

but now im back!

i saved $50 @ CVS today!

i am quite excited because i still have 19 ECBs (extra care bucks) to use towards my purchase next week! so my hope is i will use my 19 ECBs and buy items that rack up more ECBs... so essentially i would be getting items for free and just keep rolling my ECBs over each week - fabulous!

here's a snapshot of what i purchased today:

2 12pk Cottonelle toilet paper, 1 bayer meter, 1 box tampons, 2 prohealth crest whitening toothpastes, 2 deodorants for trent, 1 schick hydro razor for trent, some gum, claritin allergy pills

doesn't look like too much but they were high priced items and i saved over $50 :)

(oh - and these items are sitting on our very awesome new comforter from kohls! it was $400 retail price and we got it for $160!! adore it!!!)

couponing can be exhausting and tiresome but when you get good deals... definitely worth it!

note: southern savers is my lifeline for couponing help! the site does pretty much all the prep work for you... a blessing indeed!

best. card. ever.

i got the cutest surprise package from big sis, nat, a few days ago. i loved the goodies inside but i think the card really made my day.

front:

inside:

"don't even get me started on the imaginary universe we could create.

(thanks for making my real life sparkle)."

adorable.

this card is perfect for all of my family & all of my best friends. in my imaginary universe, we all live in the same cute, quaint neighborhood. if only...

p.s. you can find and purchase this card (& other super cute ones) on papyrus' website.

adding mercy to marriage

so the jt & i road-tripped it to good ol' canton, ga last weekend. he was asked to speak at a parenting teenagers conference... he did an awesome job!! his dear mom came to me afterwards, gave me a big hug, and said "he knocked it out of the park! i am sooo impressed and proud to be his mama". too cute. i was definitely proud to be his wife too!

on our way down to canton, we decided to listen to brad bigney's marriage series - it has 8 parts. we listened to part 1 over a week ago so we listened to part 2: solving problems & part 3: adding mercy.

i seriously don't think i have ever been more convicted by a sermon in my life. ouch. big time.

i can't remember everything God convicted me about (isn't that sad?) but a few things i do remember.

(1) i certainly spend more time reflecting on the jt's faults than my own fault (opposite of Mt.7 right there)

(2) i have definitely said to myself, "goodness, if i was the only person in this marriage, it would be perfect!" (super ashamed to admit that one)

(3) i absolutely stink at adding mercy/extending grace towards the jt... whereas, he is an amazing example of this!

why is he a better example at this? b/c of this verse right here:

Luke 7:47 - "Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little."

... so this tells me that the jt does a great job remembering how much he has been forgiven - and is thus able to freely forgive others... yet i often forget my many sins and how much God has forgiven me. when i sinfully think that i've been 'forgiven little' i will then 'love little'...

the ironic thing i was most stricken by was...

my work in focusing on how the jt fails as a husband leads me to fail even more as a wife.

meaning... the more i stare at his "huge" log, the more i act ungodly in order to try to get him to fix his "huge" log. so even though my pride convinces me that i am the "perfect" and "most excellent" wife, my pride certainly leads to my destruction b/c i start holding the jt to the law instead of extending grace.

here is a snapshot (from part 3, adding mercy):

"author and biblical counselor Elyse Fitzpatrick recently gave her own testimony about how God had moved her from a legalistic works-oriented faith to what she calls 'a grace-filled peaceful existence with my merciful heavenly Father... The pressure's off me,' she told her small group. 'Don't get me wrong,' she said 'it's not that i am not pursuing holiness it's just that i know my Father will get me where He wants me to be and that even my failures serve in some way to glorify Him. My relationship with God is growing to be all about His grace, His mercy, His power' but she said she had an awkward moment with her small group that night because when she shared this with her small group, one of her friends spoke up and said, 'Oh, Elyse - Oh, Elyse - that must be such a blessing for your husband, Phil - wow - to be walking in that kind of grace must enable you to be so patient and so grace-filled with him - to know that God is working in him just like He is working in you must make your marriage so sweet and your husband so pleased. It's gotta be great for Phil to know that the pressure is off for him too'. She said there was an awkward, awkward silence as it struck her. She realized in that moment that she rarely ever made the connection between God's mercy and grace to her and her mercy and grace to her husband, Phil. She says 'I scarcely ever extended to Phil the grace I enjoyed with the Lord. Instead I was frequently more like the man in Jesus' parable, who, after he was forgiven a great debt, went out and beat his fellow slave because he owed him some paltry sum.'"

can i get an ouch?

no worries out there... i am not in a state of self-loathing or 'woe is me'. i am repentant & very thankful that God has revealed these areas in my life that i need to work on and i am all the more burdened to strive to be a faithful, loving wife for His glory (and my husband's good!).

i probably explained that in a very perplexing, unclear way... all the more reason to check out the sermons yourself!

:)

grateful

1 of the 52 books i am reading through this year is

the Excellent Wife by Martha Peace.

i read this one a couple years ago but i am definitely in dire need of the refresher!!

i skipped around a little bit and decided to read chap. 14 last week. this chapter basically deals with how to respond biblically to your husband in conflict - especially when you disagree with something.

i realized through my reading that oftentimes i do not act like this 'excellent wife' God calls me to be... i tend to believe i know best, assert (aggressively so) these opinions i have, and take control of situations. instead of allowing trent to lead, i usually don't even give him the option! but i just assume i know best, tell him that's the case, and then pout if he disagrees (hmm... rings a bell from my toddler years... ouch).

oi.

grateful for this book.

super grateful that my husband's loves for me is not based on my works.

super duper grateful that God's love for me is not based on my works.

in Christ alone, my hope is found.

[ in other news... ]

-- tex lost his manhood last week :( poor little guy. he got stitches thursday. pulled them out himself on saturday. that's tex for ya.

&

-- in happier news, 4 snow days within the past 7 days! score!

yes, the road covered in snow is the left lane.

we got stuck in a (small) ditch.

all those years trent drove an off road jeep really paid off!

this is not a 1 lane road. but super pretty.

backyard... couple inches left over from last week's snow

+ last night's snow.

grateful to God for many things this Valentine's season!

p.s. to see how the jt & i celebrated vday (early),

please read the "getaway" post :)