Sonogram Number... I don't know, I've lost track

Here is the latest sonogram photo, face (and one hand) only. Again, tilt your head to the right and squint a little! The baby is looking right into the camera with it's little hand up next to its face. They estimate the current weight at 4.7 lbs. What do you think? Boy or girl (assuming you think it is human)?

Welcome Back CVS

I got turned off to CVS for a while, mainly because I was tired from being pregnant and did not want to shop, and they also shortchanged me $10 Extra Care Bucks a few months ago, so I got mad at them. Plus their deals got kind of lame for a while there. This week, that all changed... I bought these (our first diaper purchase!):

And got all this for free:

That would be another pack of diapers, three boxes of cereal, three bottles of shampoo, a deodorant, toothpaste, half and half, and six energy bars. ALL FOR FREE! That would be the result of shopping CVS sales, using coupons, and using Extra Care Bucks (and I didn't have any saved up, these were just earned from today's trip... I broke the purchase up into two transactions).

The retail of all these things would have been $88.54, I paid $24.17. Yay! Even Danny was impressed!

Doing our part for the economy

So when you are facing being laid off, what do you do? Buy a car!

My old car, just to refresh your memory:

That is not my actual old car, mine was exactly the same but with less shine and far more rust. And fewer hubcaps. Well, it was time to say bye to the car my mom got when I was a junior in high school. The seat belts no longer worked, the dash was literally cracking in half, when I drove it the backseat squeaked and it sounded like an acorn was bouncing around under the hood. Mechanically it was sound, but the body was seriously breaking down, and that backseat was no place for a baby. So, we traded it in (if you even want to call it that... they mercifully gave us $300, which of course offended me) and got this:

Again, not the actual car, but the same year and model, an '07 Corolla. I am definitely sticking with the Corolla! This one has four actual doors, power windows, and the seat belts actually work. Plus it has a normal backseat that would actually fit a carseat, so I guess it was a good investment. Our payments are very reasonable (200/month) so I guess if we had to take on another car payment, this would be the one. The only thing that sucks is that now Danny and I both have Toyotas in the color Silver Streak Mica. I promise it was an accident! I swear we have nothing else that matches, excepting of course our sparkling personalities.

Come on over to our crib!

A sample of Danny's fine handiwork:

What do you think of the crib? Cribs are so ridiculously expensive, but lucky for us, we actually liked one of the cheapest models they make (thanks Enoses!). We didn't make the bed (make the crib?) yet because we have to wash all the stuff first I guess, but you get the idea. Here is the matching diaper stacker (the one thing I absolutely did not need but bought anyway because it was cute and I wanted something to match):

And don't worry, we still have plenty of room for you to come visit, too!

Now if we could just train her to use the toilet!

Proof that dogs can be as non-photogenic as humans:

Proof that dogs can be as innocent-looking as humans:

But I am NOT reusing bread bags!

Well, in light of the fact that I am not going to be paid for my maternity leave, and also the fact that I have an excellent chance of getting laid off after this school year, we are stepping up our cost-cutting and savings measures. We are still cutting coupons but I plan on being a better planner to stack newspaper coupons with store coupons and sales. We rolled all our coins and deposited them (over $200!) in savings. I gathered some things that were around the house to sell on Craigslist and/or Ebay. I warned Danny we were going to be eating lots of pasta in the near future. Instead of Danny getting his hair cut at the Supercuts (which costs $18.00 w/ tip), we spent $18.00 on clippers and I gave him my first boy's haircut! It actually turned out ok! Of course he wanted me to engage in mindless banter with him so he felt like he was at a real salon but I refused. I also decided not to renew my US Weekly subscription -- that was hard -- but it's not really necessary and it will save us $70. Stevie has even made some sacrifices... she no longer gets the comforting sounds of the tv during the day when we are not home, so we can save energy.

Anyone else have any money saving ideas that they use?