Frugal Grocery Shopping

Yeah, so we have a baby now.  And still only 1 income.

I’ve been working the coupon thing for a while now, but lately I’ve been on the freebie boards, and have managed to snag quite a few free coupons.  Mostly offered by companies when you “Like” them on Facebook.

Went shopping at my local Kroger today and scored:

1 free bottle of Suave Professionals 2 in 1

1 free Philadelphia Cream Cheese Minis

1 free bag of Doritos Tortilla Chips

1 free can of Kroger brand cream of mushroom soup

1 free container of Chavrie goat cheese

Kroger sends me great coupons, often for free items. And since my mother doesn’t use her coupons, I take hers too.  I’ve gotten free eggs and bacon in the past.

Our Angel

Islay has finally made her way into the world!  I had a scheduled C section on April 26 – she still hadn’t turned, the little stinker.  Turns out that I probably would have ended up with a c section anyway.  First – it turns out she’d pooped – but luckily hadn’t inhaled any so no MAS issues.  Secondly, her umbilical cord was wrapped around her torso, which is likely the reason she was breech.  After she first came out it took a while to get all the mucus out and to hear her crying.  It sounded quite urgent to me, but I was behind the blue curtain and couldn’t see anything.  Until they laid her on me.  I couldn’t hold her or anything because my arms were numb from the spinal, but I got to look at her for quite a while.  It was love at first sight.

We’re finally home and tired and adjusting, so I’ll try to post more later.  Including a picture!

She’s coming, whether we like it or not.

At our OB appointment on last Thursday, we finally had another ultrasound.  Turns out Islay is breech.  She’s what is called frank breech, with her feet by her head.  It seems unlikely that she’s going to flip herself around, considering we are already at 38 weeks.

My doctor suggested a C Section.  I’m not a good candidate for version due to my placenta placement.  And while I know it’s possible to do a breech deliver vaginally, I’m guessing that due to my age (AMA) and the fact that this is my first delivery, my doctor is taking no chances.  I’m ok with that.

So on Monday April 26th, barring me going into labor before that, I am going in for a C section delivery.  Islay should be here by 1 pm.

There are some upsides to the whole situation.

• She will now have an April birthday. We don’t have any immediate family birthdays in April yet,  but we already have 3 in May!
• I’ll have a longer recovery time at home, but my husband is self employed and works from home, so he’ll be with us every minute.
• There won’t be a mad dash to the hospital at the last minute, or me trying to figure out if that really is my water breaking, or labor for 20 hours before they decide to do ultimately do a C Section anyway (as happened to a good friend of mine).
• We get some extra time in the hospital together before coming home.
• And dude! I’m going to be a mommy for Mother’s Day!

Housekeeping

We have made a huge dent this weekend in getting ready for Islay’s arrival.  Our nursery is what was our guest room.  While we’re keeping most of the furniture in there, but the baby doesn’t need a queen size bed or a desk right now.  We finally got those items moved into storage this weekend.  Up next, painting and flooring!

Part of our remodeling is (finally!) getting our wood floors installed.  Those are going in all 4 bedrooms. So we’ve been sorting, purging, donating and storing our stuff.  It’s been crazy. We’re going to paint before the floors go in, so that’s on the plan for the next few weeks.  Luckily we’re only painting 2 rooms – Jonathan’s batcave and the nursery.

We still have more stuff to move temporarily to the garage, but we’re so tired from all the stuff we’ve done the last few weeks that we’re putting it off for a few days.  We’ve been helping my parents clean up their house and storage units – in part because my father is about to start dialysis and in part because we needed room to store our bed and desk.

I hope the nursery is finished by March.  That’s my unofficial goal. Wish me luck.

One other thing I want to do before my due date is get some meals stored in the freezer.  Which, since it’s just the two (soon to be three) of us, isn’t as hard as it sounds.  I can usually double a dinner recipe and freeze one.  I’ve got a longer list of ideas than I thought I’d have.  Meatloaf, meatballs, chili, hamburgers, greek meatballs, breakfast burritos, pancakes/waffles, baked ziti, lasagna, enchiladas, pot pies, shepherd’s pie.  Many choices!  Now I just need to get cooking.

A look back at 2009, and forward at 2010

Last year I wrote, “This year, I’m going to quit trying to make everyone else happy and try to make myself happy.”  I think I did that.  It was a year of despair, acceptance, anger, and finally joy. But as part of my resolution in 2009, I took a look around me.  At my life, at my relationships, at how we live. I made some hard decisions, some of which were easier once we found out about my pregnancy.  Suffice it to say, that I am living my life more on my own terms.  I’m not exactly where I want to be, but I’m certainly closer.

For 2010, we’ll have many changes.  A baby! It’s still a shock. I think we’ll spend most of the first part of the year getting ready for her arrival, because we have a LOT to do. And the second part adjusting to having her in our lives.  It promises to be an interesting year.

Finding out I’m pregnant as also forced me to evaluate our lives again – take stock, weed the garden, etc.  I want Islay to be brought into a positive environment. I want us to have people around us we can count and depend on, and that she can depend on.

For myself, I’m going to stop feeling guilty for things I can’t control, try to give up a little of that control, but also change the things I can about my life.  I think all of that will make me a better mother for Islay in the long run.

I want less clutter in our lives, and I don’t necessarily mean less stuff.  For the physical stuff, we have started clearing out the house and selling items through amazon.  All the money we make is going towards our baby fund.  But most importantly, we are looking at the things in our house and our lives with a new eye, and clearing out things we don’t need anymore.   I feel very positive about it.

Avoidance & Other Things I’m Good At

I always have such big plans for this blog. And I’ll be pretty good about posting for a while, and then…nothing. I just kind of forget that it exists.

So here’s the latest news from Casa Watmough. I’m pregnant. Yup, after 2 and 1/2 years of trying, and getting *this close* to accepting that I might not get pregnant, I get knocked up. It’s still kind of a shock. I’m 11 weeks so far. Here’s our first picture of our little Lima bean.

I’m due for another ultrasound next week.  So far, it’s been a pretty easy pregnant (knock wood). I’ve only had mild nausea. I feel tired, but generally pretty good.  All in all, aside from a slight set back this week from a cold, I’ve been good.  I’m turning my other blog into the baby blog. Though I’m not posting there anymore than I do here. *shrug*

I hope I finally get over this crap and start cooking again.  I’ve already started planning some goodies for Thanksgiving.

Cruising Food

Some of you might disdain a cruise, but we had some wonderful meals on our latest vacation.  We began in Vancouver, spent a night in Whistler (where I had a delicious Steak & Guiness pie at an Irish pub), then moved onto Victoria.  I had amazing halibut fish & chips, including sweet potato fries in Victoria.  Then we started our cruise of the Inside Passage of Alaska.  It was the trip of a lifetime, and I heartly suggest that you go to Alaska at least once in your life.

Today, I’m just going to share some of our meals.  It was truly a culinary experience.  We traveled on the Carnival Spirit.

Tomato & Fresh Mozzarella Appetizer in Dining Room

One Empire Dining Room dessert, which I could remember what it was!

We also took the opportunity, on the last night of our cruise to eat in the Supper Club.  It was an additional cost of $30 per person, but it was more than worth it. A masterpiece of a meal.

A Mushroom Cappucino as a "pre-starter"

Duck Confit also as a prestarter

My Crab Cake appetizer

Dad's French Onion Soup appetizer

My Lamb Chop Entree

Chocolate Tarte with Bitter Chocolate Pate, Pineapple Croquant and Tirimasu Notre Facon

I thought I’d be getting one chocolate tarte, but instead I ended up with 4 different desserts.  Just amazing.  I’ll be posting more pics as I sort through J’s pictures, but this was a cruise a foodie would love.

Banana Bread

We had 3 very ripe bananas that need to be used, and I was in a baking mood.  So I made banana bread. Not generally my favorite, but I’ve never made it before and knew J would love it.  So really a win-win.

I used this recipe from SimplyRecipes.com.  It turned out great.  Probably didn’t need to cook the entire hour, but definitely yummy.

My Perfect Work Shoe.

BORN Bark Women’s PACE Shoe.

Assuming I can find them anyway.  I am being thwarted while trying to order these, in Black.  I ordered them from Shoes.com and just got a cancellation notice.  Zappos has them, but they’ll cost more.

Love them.  Must have them.

My New Year’s Resolution

In a nutshell:  I’m going to try to be happy.

My infertility diagnosis in September hit me really hard.  I’m struggling with trying to be hopeful about our situation, but I’m also struggling with the idea that I might not have children.  So I have to take each day as it comes.  I get sad, I get angry, I get depressed, and I try to deal with it all and still maintain a level of sanity.  It’s not easy.

Much of 2008 sucked.  Ike came through and disrupted our world.  My job was stressing me out, the trying to get pregnant, the infertility testing, worrying about money when my husband quit his job.  Major suckage all around.

I’m enjoying my social networking sites because they let me connect with people from my past, and our family overseas, but at the same time I’m feeling more disconnected from a lot of people I thought I was close to.  I’ve felt like there was an inside joke I was being left out of.  Maybe.  Maybe not.  I don’t know what was going on.

Here’s the thing, I don’t care.  Really.  I don’t want anyone reading this to call me and want to discuss it.  I don’t want to hash out any non-existent or ancient issues.  I don’t care.  I’m going to just let all that crap stay in 2008.  New Year’s Eve was a turning point for me.

What I miss most is feeling truly happy.  Because I should.  I have a lot going for me.  I married a great man who loves me even when I’m being stupid.  I have friends I can trust with anything who feel the same.  My job is better, despite the added responsibility I’m taking on.  And I’m doing okay with it – it keeps me busy, pays the bills, and I even enjoy parts of it.  Some time this year Jonathan & I will sort out trying to get pregnant again, and I’ll deal with what that might mean then.

So Hello 2009. This year, I’m going to quit trying to make everyone else happy and try to make myself happy.