It has come to my realization recently that I like routine. Which kinda stinks because that can get pretty boring. But whatever.
So Makynzie's routine at 7.5 months is....
Between 7-7:30 she wakes up, She watches cartoons while I get dressed and make her a bottle. Then I get her dressed and give her her reflux medicine and vitamin d. At 9am she gets breakfast. Which is usually a pureed fruit with Mixed Grains or Oatmeal mixed in it (I rotate them.) But now I'm starting to give her some table food with it, like cut up bananas, kiwi, blueberries, raspberries, avacado, etc. At 10am she goes down for a nap. If she wakes up I give her 15-20 min to fuss it out and fall back asleep. If she doesn't, I get her up. At noon she gets a bottle. She goes down for her second nap when it's been 3 hours after she woke up from the previous one. She gets another bottle at 4ish and then take a short nap in the early evening, usually around 5. We don't let her sleep any later than 6. When she gets up she gets dinner, which is usually a pureed vegetable, meat, and barley or rice cereal mixed in. But now I'm introducing table foods like peas, bread, green beans, noodles, etc. Then we give her her night's dose of reflux medicine and offer her a bottle around 7:30 but she usually only drinks about half of it. Then she goes down for bed at 8. If she wakes up in the night we let her cry it out, which happens between 4am and 5am almost every morning. But she only fusses for about 5 minutes and then knocks back out.
So anyways! That's where we're at. Aside from that- I have found a new hobby that I can't. get. enough. of. Couponing. It's so simple and I have already saved us hundreds in the last 2 months. The only thing I need to work on is not buying something JUST because it's a good deal. Like did I really need those 4 cans of crushed pineapple? Probably not. Now that my friend Melissa told me about Coupon Mom, I have that do all the work for me but I didn't used to. So all I did was this:
1- I decided where I'm going to shop. I chose Harris Teeter and CVS because we live a stone's throw from them and that way I only use a small amount of gas when I go grocery shopping. And if I walk I can but I just haven't had the energy lately. Therefore the only inserts in the Sunday paper that I keep are CVS and the circulars (Red Plum, Smart Source, and P&G.) All the other inserts get thrown away.
2- Every Sunday I went to Harris Teeter's site and made my shopping list based off of what's on sale in the weekly specials.
3- Then I went through the coupons and clipped the coupons that went with the weekly specials.
Having said that, now I just use Coupon Mom. Thanks Melissa!
And Shane and Kynzie come with me when I shop so that Shane and I are on the same page as far as what's a deal, and what's not. For example, if I see that the generic brand of toilet paper is cheaper than what it will cost after I use my coupon on the Charmin, I get the generic.
But this is SO addicting! I totally get a rush at the checkout line every time. :o) I'm also keeping track of how much I save every trip so I can keep myself motivated when I don't feel like couponing. (Which hasn't happened yet)
Shane and I do several things to save money. We only turn on the heat/ac when absolutely necessary. We combine our errands in a way to save gas. We don't wash each article of clothing after a single use. We don't eat out. Ever. We have date nights in instead of date nights out. We save change. We buy everything we need for Makynzie used. I make her food. etc. So couponing is just another way to save!
