2009

So this year has been great. My baby turned 1, I celebrated 2 wonderful years of marriage, I got to go to Florida 2 times, I went to the American Idols concert for my 26th birthday (my first inn years and years) and things went great at work.

So this year here are some goals for 2010.

1. See my baby turn 2 healthy and happy years old
2. See my other baby turn a healthy and happy 30 years old
3. Loose at least 15 lbs (so back to my pre baby weight)
4. Get my masters degree
5. Continue to succeed at work
6. Save money and keep couponing

26 Days

On our 4th day in Florida, my hubby, mom and our nephew are going to really explore Epcot instead of going to Animal Kingdom. Sorry Animal Kingdom, maybe we will see you next time.

Epcot here we come! I adore vintage Epcot. Well, I adore Epcot in general. Maybe it is something about seeing Spaceship Earth from the road and just knowing you are there or maybe it is all Epcot has to offer while still being educational. I don't know but I love it. Just as a little tidbit, EPCOT stands for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow; I think I was the only kid in my 5th grade class who knew that!

Tuesday, January 26, 2010
8:20 a.m. Arrive at Epcot
9:00 a.m. Epcot opens
9:15 a.m. Ride Soarin'
10:00 a.m. Ride Mission: Space
10:30 a.m. Innoventions East
Sum of all thrills
Don't waste it
Storm Struck
12:30 a.m. Innoventions West
Great piggy bank
Wheres the fire
Segway Test
Video Games
Interactive Postcards
Get a fastpass for the Kim Possible adventure
3:00 p.m. Leave for break at home
4:30 p.m. Return to Epcot
4:45 Innoventions West to pick up kimunicator and get character photo
5:30 p.m. Honey I shrunk the audience
6:00 p.m. Tour World Showcase
7:40 p.m. Dinner at Rose and Crown
9:00 p.m. Illuminations

Our Christmas in pictures

Christmas Eve morning, I made 3 pumpkin pies....and burnt everyone of them. I cried and then laughed.

Our family shot.

My girl.

Me, my mom and Steph.

Steve and I.

Eric (our nephew) and Steve.

Steve and Sadie.

Okay, let me explain this one. So, we tried a dollar gift exchange where everyone brought a stockinng and then you brought something valued at a dollar for everyone. It worked out pretty well and some gifts were great (like some $7 body washes that we got couponing) and some were funny like these towel hair wraps and moustaches. It was a lot of fun seeing what everyone got! This is my brother-in-law Darren, Sadie, Steve and my other brother-in-law Lance!

Christmas Morning! Steve, my mom and I were all present to watch Sadie unwrap all of her gifts and we all got some great things as well.

My best gifts are by far my family! The icing on the cake were my Ipod Nano and new watch!

33 Days

So our 3rd day in Florida will be our family day at Epcot. I am really nervous about everything running smoothly since this will be the first time my in-laws will be in the parks so I am really trying to get everything perfect!

Monday, January 25, 2010
8:00 a.m. Arrive at Epcot Gates
9:00 a.m. Epcot opens
9:15 a.m. Steve runs to the Land to get fast passes for Soarin' everyone else goes to Test Track
9:15 a.m. Half of the group goes on Test Track
10:00 a.m. Spaceship Earth
10:30 a.m. Nemo and Friends
11:00 a.m. Imagination
11:30 a.m. Back to Soarin'
11:30 a.m. Half of the group go on Soarin' and Katie rides Land
12:00 p.m. Leave for Nap
12:30 p.m. Arrive home and have lunch
1:00 p.m. Sadie down for nap
3:30 p.m. Sadie up from nap
3:45 p.m. Leave for park
4:00 p.m. Arrive at Epcot
4:25 p.m. Le Cellier for dinner
5:30 p.m. American Adventure
6:00 p.m. Gran Fiesta
7:00 p.m. Steve, Katie and Sadie leave for home
9:00 p.m. Illuminations begins for remainder of group

39 Days

Here we go again with our Disney agendas and this one will focus on day 2 in Florida.

The latest issue we are having is coming up with a solution to baby proffing the stairway in the rental house. We were going to buy a baby gate when we got there but then we realized the railings are to thin to support a gate. So I am going to call the rental agency today and see if they have any ideas or our next solution is a piece of plywood through the slats of the stairway :P.

So on Sunday, we are visiting Hollywood Studios AKA MGM Studios (sorry Disney I will always remember it as that!).

Sunday, January 24, 2010
6:00 a.m. Get up, shower and pack up car
8:00 a.m. Arrive at Studios (exit 64)
9:00 a.m. Studios Opens
9:15 a.m. Run to Toy Story Mania
10:00 a.m. Ride Rock N Roller Coaster
10:30 a.m. Get in line for American Idol
11:00 a.m. American Idol
11:30 a.m. Leave park for lunch at home
11:45 a.m. Arrive at home
12:45 p.m. Leave home for park
1:00 p.m. Arrive back at park and head for Lights, Motors, Action
1:20 p.m. Lights, Motors, Action
2:00 p.m. Muppets
2:30 p.m. Star Tours
3:00 p.m. Animation Studio
3:30 p.m. One Mans Dream
3:55 p.m. Hollywood and Vine Fantasmic Dinner Buffet
5:30 p.m. Get in line for Fantasmic
6:30 p.m. Fantasmic
7:00 p.m. Fantasmic ends
7:30 p.m. Arrive Home
8:30 p.m. Bed

20 Months

So Sadie is 20 months old today. Her personality is certainly blooming and she is exerting herself more and more everyday. Sadie loves to be in the action and she loves imitating any adult behavior. Like this for example..... She loves her mommy but is definitely a daddy's girl and is always so excited to see her dada. We love to color and try to do different activities with Sadie. Here is what we made for Thanksgiving. Lately, Sadie's favorite thing to do is climb. Which gives mommy a heart attack but she loves climbing in and out of various things, on shelves and on counters.
As of December 7, 2009 Sadie moved from the infant room to the toddler room at her daycare. This was a bittersweet day because mommy was not ready to hear the word "toddler" but Sadie sure was and she is loving it. Sadie is also very unpredictable. When we think she will love something she does not think anything of it and when we think she will bother something or try to destroy something she leaves it alone. Like the Christmas tree for example. We thought for sure she would touch it or try to knock it down but instead she just stares at it and is very gentle.

Sadie is talking more and more and now says thank you and I love you all the time. It is a wonderful thing. Sadie used to be great about not putting things in her mouth but now it seems if she sees it that it goes right in. She is also once again having trouble getting to sleep and staying asleep at night which is making mommy and daddy once again in the exhaused state but she is always worth it.

47 Days

So I was thinking of starting a little series that will highlight our upcoming Disney trip. One of my favorite things to do is to plan and make lists. What better thing to plan about and organize than our family Disney trip, which is in only 47 days folks. So today I am going to start with our first day in Florida.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

3:30 a.m. Get up, shower and pack up final luggage into car.

4:30 a.m. Stop at McDonalds

5:30 a.m. Arrive at airport

7:00 a.m. Leave Flint

10:00 a.m. Arrive in Orlando

10:30 a.m. Luggage Claim

11:00 a.m. Pick up rental cars

12:00 p.m. Leave airport

12:45 p.m. Arrive at Downtown Disney

1:0o p.m. Everyone find somewhere to eat/shop

3:00 p.m. Mom leaves for Walmart grocery shopping

3:30 p.m. Everyone else go to Celebration to pick up park tickets

4:00 p.m. Meet up at house and check in (door will not open till 4 p.m. on the dot)

7:00 p.m. Dinner at home

8:00 p.m. Everyone to bed

Preview for Sunday, January 24, 2010 - Disney's Hollywood Studios.

Couponing to Disney

So I know I have talked about and told like everyone who will listen about this really awesome blog before but I am going to say it again.

Couponing to Disney

This blog is run by a really cool gal named Kristin and she is always posting such great deals. Her site combines two of my favorite things, coupons and Disney so it is right up my alley. Everyone knows I love a good bargain and want to know a secret...most of them I get off her site.

Well, while you are over visiting and bookmarking Couponing to Disney, you can also enter a giveaway to win a $100 gift card from shop at home (which by the way is another great site that gives you cash back for your online shopping). I know I want to win it.

Thank you Kristin for all you do!

If I spend it online it's not real is it?

Sometimes I think money I spend online must be like monopoly money or something. I sometimes forget that it is real and it is really going to come out of my bank. Online shopping is dangerous. The excitement I get when I see boxes stacked up is also dangerous. In the past two days here is all I have bought online.

1 new DVD, Cosmo subscription and Video games, here

140 Gift tags, 140 business cards, 1 tote, here

3 sweaters and a scarf from Victoria's Secret, here

Sharpies to go with our notepads for our family stocking give-a-way, here

Note on the sharpies: So I end up getting an e-mail from Staples stating my sharpies are out of stock, so I call up to just cancel my order because I figured I just wouldn't bother to go pick up the 2nd pack of basic sharpies since I can get them anywhere. Well, I call up and the lady tells me not to cancel because they refunded me the $25 and I ended up with a total of $-19! I said no that I did not feel right about it and she said they were doing it for everyone so just to keep it as is. I ended up getting -$19 back and when I went to the store to pick up my sharpies I told them about this and if they could take it back anyway and the girl said, "no, just keep it for your inconvenience." WOW

Thank you fellow bloggers!

Updated 12/4/9 - Here are more great deals

1 sweater and scarf from Victoria's Secret, here

E.L.F cosmetics, here

Crocs Lena clearance, here

Updated 12/7/9 - Bargains

Crocs Mary Janes, here

Updated 12/8/9 - Great Christmas Gifts

VS PJ's and free slippers, here

Hooked on phonics with 50% off plus free shipping, here

Updated 12/9/9 - More

A little something special for Steve from this site

Wedding Ring for Steve to wear at work, here

Updated 12/10/9

Totes for cheap, here

This cute dress for only $15.49!

A new laptop for Sadie, here

Another small thing for Steve from one of my favorite sites

A Bebe logo T shirt for $15 shipped!, here

Our atttempt at Santa.

Well, we gave it a shot.

Black (Thursday) Friday (and Saturday) Fun

Here I am on Thursday getting ready to plan out our black Friday adventure.

I purchased this K'nex set for my cousin and this high chair for Sadie from Walmart.com.
Was $39.00 got it for $25.00

Was $19.99 got it for $10.00

Total spent on walmart.com: $36.00

After we ate our thanksgiving lunch (which was amazing by the way) my mom and I headed out to Old Navy. As soon as we walked in and saw the line was all the way to the back of the store we decided to split up and take turns waiting and shopping.

Here are my purchases, clockwise, a new tank top, two new t shirts a new sweater, new thermal shirt for Steve, pair of jeans for Steve, jacket for Sadie for next year (not sure what the grey thing is?), new jeans for me, rock band 2 and the guitar (free). Total spent: $121.00 and my mom gave me $20 toward this for the rock band so $101.00.

So after that we went home and I ended up falling asleep and my mom went straight to Toys R Us around 8 p.m. I ended up getting there around 11 a.m. to relieve her and we were one of the lucky ones to get ZhuZhu pets!

We were excited and we were in a good crowd so it was fun. The Lakeside Toys R Us was very organized so kudos to them. Clockwise, hot potato game, princess baby doll, two packs of diapers ($3 each!), free crayons, the price is right on Wii, the Grinch who stole Christmas DVD and the child's medical kit. Also pictured, two Zhuzhus which are being sold on e-bay as we speak. Total spent: $71.20

Our next stop was Walmart. I went home again and took a nap since I get extremely crabby without my sleep. My mom went straight to Walmart at 12:30 a.m. I met her there around 3:30 a.m and sat with her for a bit and then went over and waited by the clothing. My mom ended up getting her camera which she was super excited about.
Here are my purchases, food storage containers thing.

Monsters Vs. Aliens and The Dark Knight on Blu Ray.

A new hoodie and jammies for Sadie along with a new jacket, tracksuit and Pj's for Mason.

Matching fleeces for Sadie and I.

A new coat for me (try to beat $7 for a new coat!).

I also bought this DVD player which I ended up returning. Total spent was: 162.63- 60.00(dvd player) so 102.63.

Then we went over to Avenue and I purchased some Christmas gifts and I am not going to post pics :) but I got all of my purchases for $10!

Then my mom and I got breakfast and took a nap. After we picked up Sadie from her grandma's we went to CVS.

From left, 1 refill of huggies wipes, 2 packs of huggies diapers, 4 bottles of Herbal essences shampoo, 1 bottle of Vaseline sheer infusion lotion, 2 boxes of rice krispies, 2 toothbrushes, 2 boxes of apple jacks, 1 tube of toothpaste and 2 boxes of fruit loops. Total: 41.92 but received $25 in ECBs so real total was $16.92.

When Steve got off work we went to Best Buy and bought...

A PS3! Oh and Simpsons season 12 and Taken on Blu Ray. Total spent: 349.77

Saturday we went back to Old Navy to get more deals.

From left, a blanket, thermal for me, thermal for Sadie and 3 stockings. Total $24.91

We also went to Michael's to purchase the candy for our molds.

16 bags of candy and 2 bags of pretzel stick bags for $30.

So this year for Christmas our family is doing a stocking exchange type of thing. Well here is the deal, everyone buys the number of items for the number of participants but the item must be under $1. So for example we have 16 people participating so that means we purchase 16 items. So for Steve I found these at Target on the dollar section. Cute huh?