Couponing 101

So I held my first coupon class recently at a friends house. We had a pretty good turnout of about 10 girls. A lot of people have different views of couponing. My opinion is that if you follow the rules and are nice about it then kudos to you for saving your family money! A lot of people are misinformed about couponing and couponers thanks to shows like Extreme Couponing. With that being said I am going to start blogging a little more about my couponing adventures and posting pictures on here and explaining how I got the deals that I got. I think this will be a lot easier rather than posting it on my Facebook. I use my Facebook primarily as a means to communicate with family far away. I post pictures of my kids and updates of funny things they say and do and that is about it. Recently I have felt a little bombarded because of all of the notifications and messages I have been receiving so this may be easier.

This is a picture of my latest haul.

So I have had a ton of people asking me how I got all of this for roughly under 10.00. The mouthwash was on sale for .99 cents at Walgreens. I had 1.50 off coupons. The Dr. Scholls was on clearance for 2.49. I had 5.00 off. Both of these got me overages. The Almay was on clearance and I used a 4.00 coupon that I had and got those for a few cents. I price matched my diapers at 9.49 (in the Kroger ad this week) and used my coupons I had for them. I also price matched the Gain for 4.99 (also in the Kroger ad) and used my coupons I had for them. So not only am I using coupons but I am price matching as well. On my next haul I will post my receipt as well as Ad's that I price match for a more detailed explanation.

20 Weeks Halfway There!

This week marks our halfway point in this pregnancy. Where has the time gone! I feel so blessed and grateful to have gotten this far in my pregnancy and am thankful for a healthy baby and to have my own health. I have been on bedrest for the past week and will continue until Friday when I go to see my Dr.. This is for the birds. Besides going to church I have been at home doing nothing.  I don't take a lot of pictures of myself but Monday night we met the inlaws for dinner to celebrate my sister in law's birthday and my husband insisted we get some pictures of the growing baby bump. Here we are at 20 weeks!

I have to share this picture as well. It was hard for me to get a picture by myself because Maci kept wanting pictures with the "Bee-Bee". I have said it before, but she is going to make the best big sister. She just has that little "momma instinct" in her to take care of things. She helps me cook, she helps me clean and she even helps me take care of Chipper. Here is my baby girl being so proud that she is going to be a big sister.

 

It's not the best quality but she looks so happy. We tried to get a picture with momma and all the babies but Chipper wasn't the least bit interested. Poor guy, I am just not sure how he is going to do with this whole baby thing.

Baby Update

Well it's been a while since my last post but now that I am to be on bed rest for the next week and a half I have some extra time on my hands. It has been crazy busy around my house lately. But really when I look at our life when is it not busy? When you have two, 2 year olds no matter how much you plan and prepare you still feel like you are running around like a crazy person. Here is a little update on Baby Hudson.




Week: 19
Cravings: I am not very big on having a particular craving. However, I do find myself eating more sweets than what I usually do.
Movement: I felt Hudson move for the 1st time this week!! I was so excited!
Total Weight Gain: 2 pounds
Baby Size: Baby Hudson weighs about 8 1/2 ounces and is the size of an heirloom tomato.
Big Changes: I went to see my Dr. this week after having complications and found out along with my subchorionic hemorrhage I also have a complete placenta previa. The Lord is control. Prayers for momma and baby Hudson would be appreciated.

Snakes, Snails & Puppy Dog Tails!!

IT'S A BOY!!

I can't begin to tell you how shocked I am. I just knew for sure that it was going to be a girl. Boy was I wrong! Everyone keeps asking me if I am happy or sad that it's a boy. Of course I am elated because I have a healthy baby that the Lord has blessed me with. The gender makes no difference to me.Every mommy wants a girl that they can dress up and play tea with and all of those girly things. BUT...having a little momma's boy is amazing.I have the perfect situation (in my opinion) where I got blessed with both right off the bat. There are things that I love about both of my children.

 

 

Maci Annabella

I love her sweet spirit. She is the little mommy of the house. She loves babies and is going to make the best big sister in the world. I have NO DOUBT. She is momma's wild wild woman. If you know Maci at all you know how almost impossible it is to get a picture of her because she is ALWAYS on the go. I love how talkative and outgoing she is. I love that sometimes she seems so big and it makes me want to cry (and often does) but she still has to have a her "lovie" when she sleeps. I love how she always sings even if their isn't music and how her walk is more like a strut. She know's she's a pretty awesome kid. I can go on and on about what makes this little lady so special to me.

 

Chipper Maddox

 

I love Chipper's soft heart. He loves everyone and loves to give hugs and kisses. He is the sweetest child I have ever met. I love how I can look at him and I know that he completely adores his mommy. It melts my heart. (OK..So I'm crying now.) I love how he surprises us by his outbursts and how funny he is. He tries to make us laugh and often does. I love, love, love how in so many ways he is EXACTLY LIKE HIS FATHER.

 

The pictures are from the twin's 2nd birthday party. Chipper sure knows how to eat a cupcake huh! The picture of Maci is really the best picture that I have. In the birthday blog (coming soon) I should post all of the out takes of our family picture. Some of them are quite hilarious!

 

 



Boy or Girl

So everyone has been asking the same question. Do you want a boy or girl? Really it doesn't matter to us. We already have one of each and they are both so different from one another. Pinterest has became my best friend, so getting nursery ideas is definitely what I have been addicted to. I am thinking that it's a girl, William of course goes against everything I say and is saying boy. We shall see! In the meantime, here are some ideas that I have for The Nursery.

If it's a boy I want to recreate this decor. I love the vintage repurposed feel. I know my husband would love it.

 

It even has our boy name that we like. "Hudson Reed" is the name that I like.

 

 

But......

If it's a girl I would like to do something along this decor. Love the color combo!

 

 

 

Merritt Kennedy is the name I love for a girl.  

Either way, I feel so blessed to be bringing another addition to my sweet family. Once again the Lord has given me far more than I deserve.

I'm Pregnant!!

Well we have announced it to our family and as one of my best friends Lilly would say on "The Facebook" so now I can write about it. The Keown's are expecting Baby #3 in July! I am not going to lie at first I was completely terrified. It took me a while to get used to the fact that our family of four was growing into a family of five or who knew..maybe 6! We weren't trying at all. We were taking almost every precaution and being barely short of abstinent so this was completely unexpected.

The first thing I did was take a picture of my pregnancy test and send it to my sisters and ask them how many lines they saw. Their response...both of them.."OMG!" My sisters and I are very close so it's only natural for me to go to them first. All day I couldn't wait for William to get off work. When I told him he was so excited of course. William loves kids and he loves being a dad. Not to mention he is great at it. Seriously, the man deserves an award. So I told him the day that I found out. He cried out of excitement and I was crying out of fear. I didn't want to go through what we went through the first time and we were living in a little two bedroom apartment so it meant we had to move. Our lives were changing so much and then to find out we were pregnant was a shock I felt like we didn't need. After prayer and getting a grip on my bad attitude I am now very excited to be having another baby. The Lord has blessed us more than I know and way more than I deserve. Updates coming soon!!

Slacker

Ok...So it has been a long time since I have wrote anything! Seriously..A month?  Life has been crazy hectic and by the time I sit in the bed to have a little me time...Well..I'm zonked...Soo..where were we last?? Halloween has came and passed, Thanksgiving has flew by and Christmas is steadily approaching. Where has the time gone! When I look back at last Christmas and see how much the kids have changed it makes me really aware of how fast time goes. My sweet babies are now toddlers who can walk, are beginning to talk, and are so much more indpendent than they were last year.

The Keown's Christmas 2011.