40 Free Photo Prints (Expired Nov 1st)

Head on over to http://photo.walgreens.com/walgreens/storepage/storePageId=Special+Offer+Prints
and upload and order a total of 40 4×6 photo prints for $7.60.
Head on over to the checkout and enter the code: DRUGSTORE40
This offer expires November 1st
This code will make all 40 prints FREE!  Then, select the option for FREEE in-store pickup,so you can pay $0 to take your prints home.

I love photo freebies! 

REVERSE Nesting?

So, we've all heard the term "nesting" in regards to when pregnant mothers begin to get the house ready for the new baby. Cleaning, doing laundry, yelling at our husbands to finish half started house projects, these are all common signs of "nesting." I had my share of nesting. My husband may even say I nested BEFORE I was even pregnant. I don't think buying baby toys on clearance to store them in my closet before knowing I was pregnant really counts as nesting...more like crazy? haha (Okay, I know that there are others that do this too, don't lie!)

Anyways, I'm digressing. When I "nested" I apparently made a whole list titled "Cr*p that needs to get done before the baby comes" and e-mailed it to my husband. Well, 2 days later, (and a whole month early) Sophia came, and my list never was completed. This was my first lesson I learned as a mom. "When it comes to having children, you can plan, but 99% of the time, things aren't going to work exactly as planned." So there was my short lived nesting phase when it came to my daughter.

Well, for those of you that don't know, starting in October, I went back to work 2 days a week, to ease myself back into my full time job. Well, next week, the week of October 31st, I start 5 days a week, full time. Well, this past week, on one of my days off, my husband came home an hour early, and caught me on my hands and knees scrubbing the floor of the kitchen. We're talking moved the breakfast table and chairs into the other room, and really getting the floor clean. He took one look at me and said, "So.....is this reverse nesting?"

Now, in the context of things, I don't think he meant quite what he was saying because when I initially thought of "reverse nesting" I thought it meant not getting things ready, or being lazy (I almost took the spatula from the kitchen counter and beat him over the head with it, if that was his intention of what it meant.) But, he went on to say "Is this where you go crazy and get everything neat and tidy before going back to work." You know, I think it was.

So, although the term "Reverse Nesting" can seem odd, I like the sound of it. So I fully admit to my reverse nesting phase. *Hopefully* I will get a clean house out of this!

Fisher Price Iphone Toy: Good or Bad?

So I recently stumbled across an interesting baby/toddler toy made by Fisher Price. They are calling it the new chatterbox phone. See exhibit A..The old school child friendly plastic phone:

Exhibit B, the new age "chatterbox" Toy made by Fisher Price:

 It's a case you place your iPhone in so that your child can play kid friendly apps. It features a mirror on the back, textured handles, childproof case with a plastic screen cover (no more worrying the child will drop and break/crack the phone), a cover to the home button (so the child cannot leave the game and go to your address book or phone, and accidentally call your boss), as well as a cover for the on/off button and volume buttons.

There are child friendly apps included in the case like the ‘Chatter Phone’ application, on which children can pretend to call various characters. When the child dials the police on the app, a character says, ‘Hello! I’m Pete the police officer, I keep everyone safe. Fisher Price is not new to the iDevice market. There are currently several iPhone apps available for download in the App Store with three free downloadable Laugh & Learn apps coming soon.

Do you think this is going too far? Should your child be allowed to play with your $200-$400 device?

My two cents- if you've already gone down the road of allowing your child to play with your iPhone, or play games on your phone, this product is GENIOUS, and you must get one!
On the other hand, I have yet to introduce my child to my other child (my precious iphone) and hope to keep it that way! The last thing I need is someone screaming "mine! mine!" and have a meltdown every time I pull that thing out. She should do what kids did years ago.....go look at some books, or play with some blocks!!

However, I'm sure I will succumb her desire to play with mommy's toy, and when I do, this will be in my Amazon shopping cart....

Way to go Fisher Price!

My Guest Blog at You Are The Roots!

Check out my guest blog over at http://www.youaretheroots.com/
While you are there take a look at all of the fabulous posts by its blogger Lindsay! She is awesome!

Have a great Friday!

Dear Michaels, I miss you

Recently I wrote an e-mail to Michaels, the store. I use to frequent that store weekly, but since having Sophia, I haven't really gone into the store, and I finally realized why.
I decided to write them so they would understand why I and some others may (consciously or subconsciously) avoid their store.
SO, this is evidence that if a change is made, it may possibly be because of this e-mail I just wrote. (PS. this proves how much of a dork I am, since I'm spending the time writing this e-mail, and then of course a blog about the e-mail...geeze....lol)

"Michaels! I just want to say I LOVE your store, and your SpookyTown collection gets my husband and I in every year. I do want to communicate a recent change in my life that has caused me to not be able to shop in your store as frequently. As a marketing major in college I studied the trends of consumers, and when I realized what I was actually doing, why I was beginning to avoid your store, I decided I HAD to let you know (in case others subconsciously were avoiding it as well).

I recently had a baby. Upon entering your store for the first time I realized I could not fit my child's car seat into your shopping cart basket. Your baskets are TOO small. "Big Deal" one might think, but it WAS a big deal. Not being able to place my daughter safely inside the large part of the shopping cart meant I had to lug around the entire car seat with baby in it. Too heavy, it caused me to wander around the store for 2 minutes and then leave. I haven't been back since because when I went to JoAnn Fabrics the car seat fit into the stroller, and I spent a whole hour strolling around a nice quiet sleeping baby.

So, over the past few weeks when I've had the need for crafts, I have only gone to JoAnns. The main purpose being because my car seat fits into my cart.

As a mom it's too much effort to take my infant child out of her car seat to go into a store, and if she is sleeping, no way will I take her out of it! Popping her in the stroller makes a quick trip in a one stop store a nightmare (as the effort to uncollapse and collapse the stroller is an extra step, and it is hard to maneuver around the aisle with a stroller and a basket). I save the stroller for the mall.

So, this is my friendly request. Consider making your shopping baskets a little bigger so I can again enjoy my weekly trips to your store!

Thanks!"
 
So my bloggie friends, if Michaels ends up getting bigger baskets, this may in fact be my one and only claim to fame. Here's to big baskets, being lazy and placing our carseats in them!

To Gym...or Not to Gym....

My running joke is that when I go shopping and buy clothes for Sophia (which I do a lot), I have to keep the bags hidden so that my husband does not yell at me for spending so much money on clothes. I always say I hide the bags in his gym drawer, because he never looks there.
But... I'm totally calling him out on something I'm 10 times worse at...

I will admit (shamefully) that I have had a membership to Golds Gym and have not gone in a year. I know it's horrible!! $19.99 a month flushed down the toilet. I made so many excuses... Oh I'm pregnant, wow this pregnancy is making me to too tired to exercise, tax season is here, oh, now I'm too big to go to the gym, I don't have any gym clothes that fit my pregnant belly, I just had a baby, I'll go next week, yadda yadda yadda.

Now, my big excuse is: "I would rather spend time outside of work with Sophia, than to be at a gym." And, you know what, that is 100% true. I WOULD rather spend time with Sophia then be a sweaty mess at the gym, but I need to figure out a way to motivate myself to go.

To all the other working moms out there, what motivates you to go to the gym? What do you tell yourself to get you to get those sneakers on? How do you manage family, work, and the gym?

Then it hit me. A baby and me class! There has to be some sort of class out there where I can bring Sophia along, that way I'll be spending time with her, and getting a workout. Well, I haven't starting searching for this "class" yet, so if anyone has any pointers send them my way!

I guess I can't complain about not loosing all of the baby weight yet, if I have not step foot into the gym. Maybe some exercise will help me kick these last 8 pounds that are lingering......

Here's to the end of excuses, and to the beginning of solutions!

Ashland Berry Farm

We took Sophia to her first Pumpkin Patch. We decided to make the drive to Ashland Berry Farm. They
had a great hayride (free admission) and we did the "all you can carry for $20" Ian was forced to carry 8 pumpkins!
The reason we chose Ashland was because they did not charge an admission to get in and do the hayride. And, since Sophia is too young to enjoy rides, mazes, and games, it was the most economical route. Plus, this way you pay for what you actually enjoy!
Their decorations were great, and their gift shop was a fun way to end the day.

I highly recommend Ashland Berry Farm! Visit their website at: http://ashlandberryfarm.com/

Here is a picture of the trial run. I don't have a picture of the final carry, but we tossed 3 more pumpkins on him. Ian survived, and everyone got their pumpkins!

Munchkin Bunch Member

Thanks to everyone's support and voting, Sophia made it as a Munchkin Bunch Member! She wins scholarship money and a prize package of Munchkin, Inc. products every month through May 2012

She received her first package on Thursday. It was filled with tons of Munchkin products!

Thank you again for your support. Sophia is excited to share her monthly product reviews with you and the rest of the Munchkin, Inc. Family!

My Favorite Recipe: SkinnyGirls Stuffed Peppers

Bethenny Frankel has an AMAZING recipe for stuffed peppers. It's part of her Skinny Girl line, so it is low in fat, and high in protein because of an amazing grain called Quinoa! You can get Quinoa at your regular grocery store in the natural foods aisle (at least at Kroger you can) or at any natural food grocery store.
This recipe is pretty simple, the only thing that stinks is it dirties up 3 cookware items, but it's well worth it, AND I make the husband do the dishes at the end, so it works out! :)

http://www.bethenny.com/2010/08/10/stuffed-peppers-recipe/

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Cook for 30 minutes
Prep Time 30 minutes

• 6 peppers (cut off top and bottom and use them)
• 1 pound turkey meat
• 1 cup quinoa (cooked)
• ½ large onion
• 2 cups jarred tomato sauce
• 1.5 tsp garlic salt
• 2 tsp tabasco
• 2.5 tsp worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 2 tsp fresh thyme
• 1/3 cup feta cheese
• 2 tablespoon toasted pine nuts
• Parsley for garnish

Preparation

1. Cook quinoa per directions. Add one cup grain to 2 cups water. Boil, then simmer until water is gone
2. Crumble turkey meat with wooden spoon over medium heat.
3. While turkey meat is cooking, chop the tops and bottoms of peppers into pieces and combine with chopped onion, garlic salt and tomato sauce. Saute over medium heat and add remaining ingredients except the feta and pine nuts
4. Combine the above with cooked turkey, quinoa, pine nuts and feta cheese (save a small amount of feta to sprinkle on top later on)
5. Remove the inside of the peppers. Portion the mixture into each of the peppers and place them on a baking sheet. Top with feta cheese. Bake for 30 minutes.

Target: 20 free prints

Target is having a sale on prints, 10 cents per print. This is the price I normally get my digital prints for if I'm in a hurry. 10 cents is good, and rarely do you get it for any cheaper unless it's a special deal through an online retailer.
Well, there is also an additional coupon for $2 off 20 prints. So, you will get 20 prints for free if you print the coupon at: http://clickserve.cc-dt.com/link/tplclick?lid=41000000029606694&pubid=21000000000273499

Bow Making 101: Fabric Bow-double layer folded

So here is my first instructions on how to make hair bows! First, I'm going to show you step by step instructions to make a double layer folded fabric bow. (I totally just made that name up, I don't know what it's ACTUALLY called, but just work with me here....)

Please note this is the FIRST time I have made this bow, and I'm taking pictures along the way, and obviously making mistakes. I'm not ashamed to admit it! :) So I don't think the final product is going to win any awards, but hopefully it will be a fun project for others, and maybe I'll get better at it!

PS. Please ignore my absolutely horrid chipped nail polish. I'm way overdue for a manicure...obviously....

Materials

• Fabric- one color or two colors. You don't need much, maybe 3 inches by 20 inches of one color (base color) and 2 inches by 8 inches of another color (top color)
• glue gun, craft glue (for this demo I'm using super glue because that is what I had, but I don't recommend super glue because it can be dangerous, hard to work with.
• white thread
• Scissors
• a hand sewing needle
• a small piece of felt
• ribbon (to wrap alligator clip) Grosgrain ribbon works well
• Alligator clip
• circle templates 2.5 inch and 1.5 inch in diameter
• Button cover kit

Step 1: using your templates, cut out (7) 2.5 inch circles with you base fabric, and (4) 1.5 inch circles with your top fabric. Cut a slit halfway through each one. (pretend there is 7 orange circles instead of 6 in the picture below

 Step 2: Fold each orange piece over into triangles by 6ths, folding it into opposite directions. It should look like a bunch of "S"'s bunched up.

 Step 3: Sew each bunch onto the small round piece of felt. (you only need to sew them on in the middle of the felt.

Step 4: Do the same with the top layer, except fold in 4th's and sew together.

Step5: Make your fabric button (see back of cover button box for instructions) and sew button onto top. (You can really use any embellishment on the top.

Step 6: To attach to the alligator clip, first cover the alligator clip with the white ribbon using your glue (it will make the flower hold onto it longer), then glue the flower to the clip!

Fan Question: What do I miss most?

Here's a new post where I answer questions that people have submitted to me!

Our first question is: What do you miss most about your daughter while you are at work?

Awesome question, and although there are MANY things I miss about my daughter while at work, the one that is always on the back of my mind is what she is doing. Is she doing something new? Have I missed an important milestone?
I've come to terms that I will miss a few things. I may miss her first step, or her first giggle. But, someone will be there to see it, and it will be someone that will help her develop that skill. As long as she is growing and learning, I am content. I will see those steps, and I will hear that giggle. It may not be the first ones, but I'll aim to hear the most giggles, by trying to make her laugh, and see the most steps, by playing with her outside, and that's something I look forward to every day :)

Have a question? Leave a comment or e-mail AdventuresofaWorkingMom@gmail.com

1 week down

So I finished my first week back at work! I did all the typical first week things like:

• Bring in pictures of my child
• Talk to other people about how I'm doing back at work
• Change my wallpaper on my computer to one of her
• Surf my phone to scan through pictures of her every few hours

and yes, I did call to check in on her. :) And yes, that did involve my mother in law placing the phone to my child's ear, and me explaining to my 2 month old that I missed her, and will be picking her up soon.
I realize that ALL of these things, I did for me, to make me feel better, and survive my day.

So in the end this week was a success. One thing I think I learned is that the majority of the time I need Sophia more than she needs me. When she's with her grandma, or at daycare, she learns, gets attention, plays, and has a great time. I just keep telling myself she is fine, safe, happy and learning. I couldn't ask for anything more.

So yes, I do need my child more than she needs me, but you know what.....that's okay :)

Free BareMinerals Lip Color

Now, this is only good if you have a Sephora located in a JC Pennys. But alas, if you live in Richmond, Virginia, there is one at Chesterfield Towne Center!

Who doesn't love a free lipgloss!

http://f.chtah.com/i/2/95827765/SephoraCoupon2.jpg

RIC-OOOOOO-LAAAAA

Todays find is for Ricola Throat Lozenges. I used to not be a fan of the taste, but it got the job done. AND I loved those commercials, you know RICCCCOOOOOOLAAAAA with the guy and the horn?
Anyways, they have a mixed berry flavor I've been wanting to try. Why spend over $3 to try them, when you can spend $0.19!

Walgreens has the 19-24 count Ricola drops for $1.29 with their in Ad coupon.
Then, use the $0.50 cents off 1 Walgreens coupon found in the October Coupon booklet (I snagged this book at Walgreens the other day from their counter.
Then use the $0.60 cents off 1 manufacturer coupon you cna print here: http://enlnks.com/aff_c?offer_id=118&aff_id=174

Final price: $0.19!

Mommy, CPA

Today was my first full day back at work. I'm working Tuesdays/Thursdays in October, before going back 5 days a week in November. I'm a CPA, (a certified public accountant). I work on taxes, tax return, tax planning and compliance. (Don't everyone get jealous!) I LOVE what I do though, and the people I work with. And, I like to think I'm good at what I do, so I enjoy it (plus it helps pay the bills, buy more toys for Sophia, and a few new pairs of shoes here and there.....once a month.....okay...sometimes weekly).

It feels like yesterday I was sitting at my desk at work, and my water broke, and shortly after I met my beautiful little Sophia. Well, now, 2 months later, it is time for me to get back to work. It was a hard morning. Not only was I unsure of the feeding schedule for the night (I have just done all of the night feeding, since Ian had to be well rested for his job, and I would rest during the day), I wasn't sure of how the day would turn out. We tested out a schedule where I feed a 11pm bottle, and Ian wakes up at 4am to do a feeding so I could sleep through the night. Well, 4am rolled around, and Sophia was not liking daddy duty, and cried for what seemed like 30 minutes straight. I could not sleep knowing she was unhappy, so I was awake, too. Night time schedule day 1: FAIL.

Fortunately for us, my mother in law has agreed to watch Sophia for the next 6-7 months. Then, Sophia will start daycare June 1st. It would be a great transition for me, and it seems that Grandma (aka Nannie) was more than thrilled to have more one on one time with baby girl. Win-Win. Well, Nannie asked me to write down Sophia's schedule.

SCHEDULE? Ummm.... thinking back, Sophia HAD no schedule. I fed her on demand when she was hungry (3-6 times during the working day depending on how hungry she was). She slept when she was tired and I was doing some chores around the house, I played with her when she was awake and I had the house semi cleaned. THERE WAS NO SCHEDULE... so what did I do? I guessed. I figured Sophia would get into a schedule eventually.

The morning was off to a good start. I woke up on time, got myself ready, woke up my sweet pea, spent 10 minutes just hugging and kissing her (to make up for the hugs and kisses I'd miss during the day), and got my stuff together. So.... I had my laptop bag, my purse, my snacks, my breakfast, my coffee, my pump, HOW ON EARTH WAS I GOING TO CARRY EVERYTHING IN? "You can take two trips" Ian said. No way, I was not walking through the parking garage, into the lobby, and up the elevator twice. I already was going to miss out on work time having to pump every 3 hours. I was just going to "European Vacation It." A term I coined when we went on our MMediterranean cruise and had to walk 5 miles with all of our luggage tossed over our shoulders, and on our backs. Oh, I have pictures, and it is ridiculous!

Most of my day was spent getting things back to normal. First, I noticed the coffee cups had changed, we now had biscotti biscuits in the break room, I had a new phone, we had a new phone system, I had a new computer, we finally got a color laser print. OH MY GOSH, everything was different. Learning all of the new systems/phones/computers/printers kept me busy, but I still thought about Sophia and what she was doing.....

I will always wonder what new things she was learning, did she miss me? Did she do something new today? Did I miss a milestone?

But... I will always think back to why I am a working mom. I'm very invested in my career, my coworkers are like family, and as Ian has reminded me "If you don't go back to work...we'll never afford to take Sophia to Disney World." So... I salute you Mickey Mouse, for being (one) of my motivations to continue to be strong.

Life as a working mom, here we go.....

Do You Extreme?

Okay, I wouldn't call myself an extreme couponer, but I love a few freebies here and there. if it's simple enough to print from a computer and pick up at the store, I'm in. Today I got almost $40 worth of free stuff, and all it invoved was a couple minutes and a printer!

First I picked up 2 scrubbing bubbles hands free toilet cleaners. These are regular $9.99 and Walmart had them on sale for $3.97 each. I was going to be at Target anyways for another freebie, so I took the Walmart ad into Target to be more efficient (since Target price matches.) So Target price matched them at $3.97 each, and I had (2) $4.00 off coupons I printed online. NET PRICE (-$0.06)

Here is the $4 off coupon (you can print up to 2): https://www.rightathome.com/Offers/Pages/2011-09-sb-facebook.aspx

Next, at Target I purchased a Transformer action figure MSRP $11.98, marked down to $9.98 and I had (2) $5.00 off coupons. NET PRICE (-$0.02)

The thing about Target is you can use a Target coupon AND a manufacturer coupon at one time. I had a Target coupon for $5.00 off and a manufacturer coupon for $5 off. I don't really need this, but I will be donating it to the Salvation Army Toy drive. :)

Target Mobile Coupon (This was new to me, as I signed up for it online, and Target instantly send me the link to my cell phone which gave me a bar code to give the cashier to scan): http://sites.target.com/site/en/spot/mobile.jsp?title=coupon_signup

Manufacturer coupon on Targets website (you'll have to pan through until you find it): http://gan.doubleclick.net/gan_click?lid=41000000029606694&pubid=21000000000203393

Next I picked up a free pair of VS underwear, via a coupon they sent me in the mail. They send me these every quarter for some reason. Retail price $8.50. NET PRICE ($0.00)

 

In the end I got $38.46 worth of stuff for FREE (before tax).  The items at Target had some tax that I needed to cover, but I'm going to ignore that.

Not too shabby!

A Bow For Every Outfit

That's my goal, to have some sort of bow that goes with everything Sophia wears. It may be far fetched, but I can at least try right? After spending countless hours on Etsy, and buying bows here and there, I developed the genious idea that I was going to make bows. It can't be too hard right?

Well, this coming Saturday I will let you know because I signed up for a bow making class. I'm hoping with this knowledge, and the JoAnn Fabrics down the street, I can make my dream come true...a bow for every outfit :)

Well, I've already developed quite a stash of bows, and I wanted to make sure I knew where they were at all times, so I wanted to make my own bow holder. Sounds simple enough right? I'd seen them online for purchase, but wanted to see if I could make one to match the nursery so I went to my Michaels and picked up the following supplies

*A wooden Plaque
*A wooden letter S
*Some Ribbon (I think I got a yard of ribbon)
*2 wooden shapes (as weights)
*Super glue/wood glue (which I already had)
*The paints we used in the nursery

It probably took me about 20 minutes. (I don't like doing many things that don't have some sort of instant satisfaction, I tend to get bored) BUT, 20 minutes later and I was done. SO, if I can do this, anyone can.

Here is the finished product! The only problem is....it doesn't fit (anywhere close) to all of Sophia's bows, so I'll have to develop some sort of rotation. The neat thing about bows is that I've ordered all of my bows on alligator clips, then I have a stash of headbands, and I can clip these bows on the headband of my choosing.

Happy Crafting!

BabyLegs Legwarmers and tights 75% off

Baby Legs Legwarmers and tights 75% off plus free ship on orders over $30

BabyLegs has a great deal going on. 75% off their legwarmers. These are so cute! Normally $10-$15 each, I managed to snag 11 pair for only $31, no tax, free shipping (That's $93 off). Plus they'll make great gifts too. I bought an assortment of newborn and baby sized leggings. Just use FB75OFF75 promo code when you check out. And dont add any of the winter line into your cart (those are not discounted), and the code only applies to the legwarmers and tights, however some people have had sucess with the socks.

Happy shopping! :)

Offer expires October 3rd