She's Here!

Ellia was almost as surprised as we were when we realized the baby would be coming on Saturday, November 7 instead of closer to the 18th!!

Me the morning of, 9 months and READY!

We got Ellia all ready to drop off for the weekend and she showed us just how much she loves posing for pictures!

After an unexpectedly short labor Ashlyn Claire arrived at 6:11 p.m. and weighed in at 7 lb 4 oz. She was 20 inches long and surprised us with thick dark hair!

October

Well here it is, probably the last post we'll make as a family of 3.

Just after my birthday Jeremy's family came on a last minute trip to visit. We got to take Ellia to build a bear where she chose a puppy dog and then went crazy looking at all the clothes...what a girl! Oh yeah, she also couldn't resist getting in the car.

We were also lucky enough to attend some other holiday celebrations. At our first party Ellia got to pick out a pumpkin and decorate it with foam facial features. When we got home I caught her putting all those pieces on herself. I missed the best picture where she had both her eyes and mouth covered!

Another party we attended was a park pot luck and trick or treat play date. We didn't have Ellia's real costume yet so she got to be a Hula girl. One of the other little girls at the park was obsessed with Ellia's coconuts and chased her around trying to put her hands on them. Ellia did NOT like that!

At this point the treats were piling up and we had to keep re-hiding them...well if you know Ellia at all you know she'll do whatever it takes to find treats. As you can see she snuck into the pantry and climbed on the garbage can looking for them....but she left a little too much evidence!

For another play date we met at a local pumpkin patch and chose some smaller pumpkins which we took home and painted.

Finally it was the eve of Halloween and Ellia was lucky enough to have a friend over to help carve pumpkins!

The morning of Halloween as I was getting Ellia out of bed and asking how she slept and what she wanted for breakfast and all kinds of other things and she was ignoring me like usual, I decided to tell her happy Halloween and I added, "It's Halloween Ellia, do you know what that means?" Without skipping a beat she answered, "treats."

At last we she got to wear her costume! First to a school party, then a church party...I attempted to "dress up" for that one, and then of course trick-or-treating! She is still working on her camera smile, but the trick or treating came easily!

Dad and Lia having a tea party!

Something new to get excited about!

SAVING MONEY ON GROCERIES!

Ok so awhile ago I mentioned that I went to a class on how to save money on groceries etc, well I have been putting the information I learned there to good use. I check the site http://www.saveathomemommy.com/ often and it is my new addiction to coupon clip - which comes at a nice time so I can stock up on items before the baby comes.

When I went to this woman's site I used to think it was funny that she took pictures of her shopping trips and the money she saved, but now I am rethinking it because of the amazing deal I got - I just want to show everyone! So here goes....

My total for this stuff was over $90 but I only paid $28 out of pocket!! Plus I got $15 to spend on anything at Albertsons on my next shopping trip!! I'm telling you, check out her site - then if you have questions let me know!

A few more deals to share!

I took my coupons to Rite-Aid today for a few deals. I got what you see below for approx. $16.00 and will get about $14.00 back in rebates. So my total "spent" was $2.67!!! (Ellia was trying to add her sucker to the picture)

There is also a semi-annual consignment here in town so I stocked up on some winter clothes for the girls. The average for each item (including the shoes) was less than $3.00! Wahoo! (Plus I am attemping to sale some things there that we weren't using and if everything sales I will make around $30 which would take the items I bought down in "cost" to about $1.10 each - I am so addicted to bargain shopping)

County Fair

At the end of September Ellia and I met some friends for a free day at the fair! Ellia and B. loved looking and the animals and all of the kids enjoyed the HUGE bubbles. Sadly this was the last day of my pregnancy that I could walk without major back pain...must have overdone it!