Ahhhh, my ears!

Watching the AI results show, and if Simon could, he would tear Miley Cyrus apart! (She's not horrible, but she's not exactly good either.) Holler for Kris, Anoop, Danny, Alison, and Adam all being safe! I predict Lil goes. I know the odds are in my favor now that it's down to two, but I predicted sweet Scott would go last week and I predicted before now Lil is gone this week. She was one of my faves, but she just hasn't held up against the others these past few weeks.

Cha-Ching!

That's the sound of cash in my pocket thanks in part to Savin Sistas. I am a coupon/sale shopper convert. I've always been fairly thrifty, but during my weekly shopping trip to Publix yesterday, I spent $26.19 and saved $28.21! As a run down, here's what I bought:
-2 boxes of Cheerios (BOGO + coupon = $1.77 each)
-2 boxes of Quaker Chewy Bars (BOGO + coupon = $1 each)
-2 Lean Cuisine pizzas (on sale)
-skinless boneless chicken breast (on sale)
-tilapia filets (on sale)
-grapes (on sale)
-bagged salad (on sale)
-Arnold bread (BOGO)
-Sargento shredded cheese (BOGO)
-Egglands Best eggs (on sale)
-Toufayan wheat wraps (BOGO)
-pack of Stride gum ($.50 off thanks to Target coupon that prints with your receipt - Publix accepts competitor coupons)
-red onion
+$5 off Rite Aid coupon (again, Publix accepts competitor's coupons)

LOVE IT! And, as you can see, I didn't skimp. I already stocked up on milk last week while it was on sale plus I had a coupon, and I have a few other things in the fridge to put toward the week. I have breakfast, lunch and dinner every day for under $30 for the whole week!

Husband said I need to post this on my blog...

... so I am. I didn't realize he knew I had a blog. ;)

So, we went to dinner at Roy's Friday night thanks to a wedding gift. We sat down, ordered a bottle of wine, an appetizer and a salad to share. As we're enjoying our first course, the (pregnant) lady next to us is served her lamb chops, which she requested medium rare. She cuts them open, and they were well done. Rightfully so (and very politely, I might add), she asks if the server thought they were medium rare, and he agreed they weren't and said they'd replace them. Of course, the manager came up and said her meal would be on the house. Meanwhile, we finish our appetizer and salad (both were great) and are waiting for our entrees. The server brings out the lady's new lamb chops. She cuts them open, and they were rarer than rare. She attempted to eat around them, but she was pregnant and that's just not healthy. She ended up just eating her the sides and packaging up the chops to go. Needless to say, she didn't pay for anything. In the meantime, we STILL haven't gotten our entrees. Matt calls over the manager and explains that we haven't received our entrees nor any communication from our waiter as to the hold up, and it'd been over 30 minutes since we'd finished our appetizer and salad. Additionally, we were now out of wine. The manager brought us each a new glass of wine. The waiter comes over and jokingly says something about lamb chops messing up the kitchen while the lady was still there. We all gave him a hard time. Apparently, someone was fired from the kitchen though. After another 10 minutes or so, we get our entrees, and it was worth the wait. Our waiter offered dessert, and we accepted. It was also delicious. Now we get our check. Grand total - $44 plus tax. They comped EVERYTHING but our bottle of wine. This would have been a $140 dinner otherwise. So, we still have money left on our gift card (only enough for a couple drinks, but that's neither here nor there). Some people have all the luck. :)

Elusive

I have been coveting a pair of Christian Louboutins for some time, but I just can't bring myself to pay $600+ for a pair of shoes (side note: the most expensive pair of shoes I've ever purchased were probably $150-160). It's not a lack of funds issue, but rather a there are so many other things to put $600 toward issue. However, I've always told myself if I could find them on sale for $300 or less, I'd buy them (and resole and restore them many times). So, imagine my excitement when Gilt Group advertised their Christian Louboutin sale! I put it in my Outlook and got on their website five minutes before the sale began. I clicked reload several times, and I was in the sale the second it started. I immediately began clicking on the various beauties that caught my eye and trying to put size 6.5 in my cart. I got on the waiting list for four or five different pairs, but to no avail. I am still Louboutin-less. Sigh.

Savin Sistas - The New Blog on the Block

My good friend Jenny is the couponing queen, so I am so excited that she just started her very own blog to share all of her coupon glory with the rest of us! Go check out Savin Sistas and save yourself some moola! I went to the grocery store yesterday - spent $46 and saved $20! Much of that savings was due to Publix's BOGO, because I couldn't download the coupon printer at work (will definitely be doing that at home), but I did save $6 thanks to Jenny's blog. And, I really had NO IDEA about some of this - like using two coupons if you BOGO free and that Publix accepts competitor's coupons! She also posts coupons and codes for clothing, restaurants, and other fun things besides groceries.

Brody Shane

Disclaimer: I really have no idea how to use my camera yet. If you have any good tutorials, let me know. I'm sure it's just going to take time and a lot of practice (and much steadier hands... pardon the camera shake in the pics without flash).

Happy Mommy!

Pizza party in Mommy's hospital room.

I love my nephew/Godson!

The best nephews in the world. Yes, I'm biased.

I interrupt this regularly scheduled program...

...to tell you that want to lick my TV right now because Gilles just danced on DWTS, and he is so dang yummy. I'm not even generally a fan of the tall, dark and handsome type, but HELLO! I'm sure glad he danced before the NCAA Championship! Hoping to get pictures of little man up tonight... stay tuned.

Fairy Godmother

Matt and I are GODPARENTS! Steve and Christine asked us to be the Godparents for Brody as the four of us drove to the hospital to visit the little man in the NICU on Friday night. We feel so honored. Only two people could be in the NICU at one time, and one has to be a parent, so I didn't get to see Matt hold his Godson, but Christine said he did well... a little stiff, but that's okay. :) In even more exciting news, little man finally got to go HOME yesterday! James was so excited to finally get to meet his little brother and had lots of kisses to share. It was so great to just hold him and love on him. He is such a happy baby. He doesn't cry unless he's hungry or naked, and he's not a fan of getting his diaper changed (probably due to the nudity that comes with the process). Otherwise, he's just happy and content looking around and trying to soak in the world.

I will upload pictures tonight and get some posted of the handsome little man. He is such a beautiful baby!

God is GOOD!

How stinkin' cute is he? Seriously!

Brody is doing dramatically better over the past few days. He got his CPAC mask off on Wednesday afternoon and was just receiving oxygen through his nose. Then, they were able to eliminate the oxygen completely and just supplement with normal air through his nose. He also had a feeding tube and an IV, and today... ALL ARE GONE!!!! No IV, no air, no feeding tube! He had his first bottle feed today and did well. He is jaundiced, so he is in the glow bed for a few days. During this time, he can be monitored for all of the milestones he needs to achieve before he can go home. He has to bottle feed and keep his respiration normal, sit in a car seat for 90 minutes while keeping his respiration normal and a few other things.

Please continue to pray for him and the other NICU babies. There is a little baby girl, Hannah, who is next to Brody and has been having a rough time. Please keep her in your prayers. There are also babies there that are "Baby Doe" and others who we've never seen anyone visit. This breaks my heart, and I pray that they have someone that will love them like they deserve to be loved.

"O Lord, you are my God;

I will exalt you and praise your name,

for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things..."

-Isaiah 25:1

Brody Update

Little Brody is hanging in there. He's in a Level III NICU (highest level of care) at a good hospital. Christine was able to hold him last night for the first time, but he didn't take well to the disturbance, so they're going to wait for him to get better before holding him again. His official diagnosis is pneumothorax and pneumomediastinum, which basically means a collapsed lung or air in the chest cavity. I have not heard anyone say collapsed lung, but he does have a small hole in his lung that is leaking air around the lungs and heart. They believe the pneumomediastinum could have occured during birth due to the change in pressure from being in utero (water world) to being in the real world. This is something that should heal itself, but it's a delicate balancing act because of his struggles breathing. They need to give him enough oxygen to keep his levels up, but if they have to start giving him more, it could be too much pressure on his lungs and make the hole larger. If that happens, he will need to be intubated. He needs prayers focused on healing the hole quickly, so he will have an easier time breathing and be able to get rid of the fluid in his lungs. We are praising God that all else seems to be healthy - no fever, infection, and all other functions are good! His nurses say he's feisty, and his doctor thinks he's the man. They rolled him over yesterday (at about 8-10 hours old), and he did three "push ups." Tough guy! Please keep Brody, his big brother James, and parents Steve and Christine in your prayers. And, pray for the doctors and nurses that are taking care of him and all the other sweet, precious babies in the NICU. He is very lucky and is one of the healthier babies there. I will be traveling there tomorrow after a work trip and should be able to spend a lot of Thursday in the NICU with Brody. Only two guests are allowed per day in addition to parents and grandparents, but I will only be allowed in with Steve or Christine. I will also have my birthday present, a Canon Rebel XS with me to try to snap some pictures of my little Brody man. He's covered in wires and breathing apparatus, but he is going to be my first (un)willing photography victim, errr... I mean subject.
More to come on the birthday and new camera later... (it was already purchased before our expedition to Serenbe below... he's psychic!).