Free & Cheap Frozen Food at Target

OK - I know the week's almost over so you only have until Saturday to get this deal... but it's a good one!  Target is offering a $5 gift card for every seven frozen food items.  That's over $0.71 off each one.  The picture shows bigger items, and if you need those, that's great, but go for the smaller priced foods to get them for almost nothing!

From Totally Target's Blog: "While it would just take me forever to lay out all my transactions, the final outcome of my frozen food venture alone was… 22 Frozen Food Deals (or 154 products). After Gift Cards & a mountain of coupons I spent a total of $28.01 for 154 items, or approximately .18 cents an item."  See her article and match-ups here.

My deal sounds pathetic after that, but even so, I was still excited.  I got paid to take home 8 bags of frozen veggies and I got 6 cans of frozen Market Pantry orange juice for $0.30 each.  Of course, after I got home I found more deals here and here and even cheaper brand name juice.  But I won't complain - its still a GREAT deal!  There's also a deal on Smart Ones frozen dinners and many other items!  Moneysavingsmom will show you how here.  Don't miss out!

If you are getting other items, check out in two orders with your frozen items first.  Then, check out a second time and use the gift cards to pay!

Bathtime Smiles



We love taking baths!  (click to enlarge)

I put the boys in the tub while it was still filling.  K-Man imediatly put a cup under the faucet.  He loves scooping and pouring cups.  I turned it off since the tub was full, but he kept his cup under the spout to catch each tiny drip.  It cracked me up, he just held it there - drip, drip, drip... I guess he realized it wouldn't fill up very fast, because he finally gave up!

You can't tell by the big grin, but this tubtime was right after Mistuh K's big fit and puking breakfast session.  He was also crying as I got him ready for the bath.  But once he hit the water, he was happy and you'd never have have known!

Perfection

I guess K-Man was feeling left out as I was feeding and taking pics of his younger brother, so he wanted his picture taken too.  And since I photographed the avocado in the bowl, I also had to take a picture of K-Man's oatmeal.  He's so cute! 

After I took his picture, he wanted to see it, of course.  So he gently pulled the camera closer and looked intently at his image.  "It's perfect," he said, and smiled.  He makes me laugh!  But, I didn't disagree with him!  What do you think?

The Joy of Feeding Mistuh K

I've known from comparing Mistuh K to K-Man's pictures and by remembering what K-Man wore during basketball season at church that my little guy was definately smaller than his brother.  And it's not much of a surprise when I think about those weeks of trying to force feed him when he was refusing the bottle. 

His pediatrician seems somewhat concerned as well.  She wants me to stop baby food and go to table food, since it has more fat in it.  She said to stay on formula, even though she was okay with K-Man moving to whole milk at this age.  She wants me to add butter and cheese to everything I can, give him chocolate milk or Carnation instant breakfast in a cup (seperate from his formula as she wants him to still get enough of that), feed him fast food - whatever he will eat!  She thought he might really love table food and eat it really good. 

As you can see, she doesn't know my son well.  I have yet to see him like CHANGE, especially when it comes to his diet! 

This face is from scrambled eggs with cheese, butter, and some bacon flavoring.  And he acted like I was torturing him.  Ma-Ma would not have liked this sesson as he was screaming and mad.  I had to pry his jaw open with one hand to try to get the spoon into his mouth, but  then I discovered I needed another hand or two as he would use his hands to smack the spoon away.  So then he got in trouble for that and would cry more.  And the feeding sessions have now lengthened to an hour.

So, I decided that this child will never believe me when I tell him he was so difficult to feed and give a bottle to.  So, I'm gonna get it on video.  Why not?  I know, videoing him screaming seems mean, but it's not like I was hurting him - he was just throwing a fit!  So I get it out, and thats when it gets even better --

After an hour of fighting to get the food in him, he pukes it all out.  On camera.  Yeah... I stopped recording at that point and breakfast was done...

Although he hasn't thrown up again, meals were still taking forever and have been a fight.  And I forgot to mention he's sick, too.  His doctor said it was just allergies, but his nose is runnign like crazy and he's contantly coughing and sneezing.  Which means, IF I get a bite in, it can still come back out.  Usually in the form of a spray all over me.

But we had a good morning!  I threw half an avocado, half a banana, and half a cup of plain yogurt into the blender.  Avocado is supposidly very fatty (yet healthy!) and its one of the things I read

over and over when researching "fattening a baby" :).  May sound and look gross, but he ate it ALL!  He even opened his mouth for it and smiled!

If he eats better and they are fattier foods, the combo should increase his weight gain.  We go back in one month to check his weight again, and he may have to move to Pediasure or something else.  We'll see!

Where Are My Pants?

Another adorable moment when I went to get Mistuh K up from naptime.  I still can't figure out how he did this one!

Subscribe to Parenting Early Years $5 for 2 Years

Here's a good deal for an Amazon coupon magazine.  Follow MoneySavingMom's post here to get two years for $2.50 each!  With the coupons that have been in these type of magazines lately, I got a box of 100 diapers for FREE yesterday!

Diaper Genie Refills for $5.50

There are never coupons for Diaper Genie Refills.  You just get hooked on them because you can't smell the stink :) then you keep buying them no matter the price!  We've found that Target is usually cheaper than Wal-Mart but its not always convient when you don't have a Target close by.

But... as I said... I love Amazon!  I got three refills, which usually cost about $6.99 each, for $5.50 each!  If you want some too, just buy the 3-pack and add it to your Amazon Mom account for 30% off.  Don't forget to unsubscribe after you order!

I Love Amazon & Free Diapers!

I really do!  It has been a huge blessing to us!  If you are a mom buying diapers and have online access - you NEED Amazon Mom!  You cannot buy diapers anywhere cheaper - not with regular couponing, not even at Sam's Club (which is where we used to always buy diapers). 

To make it even better, yesterday I got my diapers for FREE!  Usually they are pretty cheap, but I cannot beat free!  (Ok - unless they pay me to take them but I have yet to have that happen with diapers!)  By stacking my discounts (15% Mom discount + 15% Subscribe & Ship = 30% Amazon discount, 20% Magazine coupon, and $10 off Magazine coupon)

Not only do you get free two-day shipping with diapers, but also with anything else that is Prime-eligable.  That comes in really handy for Christmas.  After shopping around for movies, some toys, and other items and Amazon still had the best prices, no tax, and it would be at your door it two days.  If I need to, I can pay only $3.99 and to get it next-day!

If you want to know more about Amazon Mom, please ask me!

The Headlamp

Do you like his headlamp?  He's using it to help fix his bike, it seems.  He tries to be just like Daddy!

Click to enlarge

(And, yes this was yesterday - his "special" hair day!)

"Meat Cakes"

My husband made fun of me tonight for supper.  I found an idea online for meatloaf.  Meatloaf Cups!  I know, it sounds weird, but it would be quicker than a regular loaf!  Once he found out what it was called, he said I couldn't call it meatloaf because it wasn't a loaf - so they were "Meat Cakes" to him. :)

I started to make it, but I knew if I made it with all of the spices the recipe called for, he'd refuse it.  Or at least let me know how nasty it was because it had FLAVOR!  So, I used the recipe we normally eat (thank you, Ma-Ma!).  And I was glad because the first question he asked before he took a bite was, "Is this mom's recipe?"  I know him very well! 

I think I do like this a little better because I kept the sauce seperate to dip pieces into.  That means I got the sweet sauce in every bite! And, instead of the hour-long bake, it only took 20 minutes!  You can't beat that! 

Check out the recipe tab at the top of this page to make some yourself!

The Slow Eater's Lunchtime

As you can see, K-Man was patiently awaiting me to bring him his plate for lunch. 

We always wait until Daddy gets home - we are so privileged to be able to eat with him everyday!  Once he arrived, we all started eating...  

Including K-Man...  Lately, though, it seems to be a recurrence that Daddy and I finish before K-Man.  So, we got up. 

And K-Man was still eating...

After a little while, Daddy had to go back to work. 

K-Man was still eating...

And while he was eating, I got a phone call.  Once that was over (mind you it wasn't that long of a call!), I checked on K-Man. 

He was still EATING!  And - here's what I found:

You may want to click the image to enlarge and get the full experience!

I had to include the ketchup bottle, because, if you didn't notice, its now almost all gone.  I just had to point that out, in case you didn't notice and all!



The Hair Thing

Hmmmm...  Something in this photo makes me think of some other recent images of his older brother.  The HAIR!  It was extra fuzzy today after a bath and nap.  Despite Mistuh K's fickle appetite, he still manages to be happy and almost ALWAYS has a smile on his face.  (With the exception of the times we're somewhere besides home and I leave his presence for even a moment!) This picture captured his glowing smile well I thought!  (And you can even see tooth #5 just barely!)

"Twice the Coupons" Printing Trick

I learned a new little trick for printing coupons.  You know how you can print two by hitting the back arrow?  Well, you can print two in Internet Explorer, AND I've been able to print two in FireFox as well.  No guarantees this will work for every coupon, but if there's something you want several coupons for, its worth a try!

Snuggled Up

I couldn't resist taking these pictures when I walked in to get Mistuh K and he didn't wake up.  I loved his little arm tucked around the bumper pad.  (You know, the ones that are unsafe for babies...  I guess I see how people would say that when I look here!) I thought he looked adorable, of course!  All that mattered to him was that he could still get his thumb in his mouth - which he was successful at, by the way!

Just Call Him Rooster!

Something K-Man's always been famous for is his hair.  Even before he had much, he was called Rooster because it stuck straight up. Other times, he reminded me of Einstein...

Not much has changed!  Ok, when I spray it down and comb it, or right after a bath, he's good to go.  Then there are those times I'm a bad mom and we get to church and I realize I forgot to do that!  Ugh!  (And I always told myself I'd never be the mom that took her kids in public with messy hair, too!) 

But, everytime he gets out of bed in the morning or up from a nap, I never know what to expect!  And this morning was no exception after his recent haircut.  Don't you agree? :)

Cooking With K-Man

Last night we had our first meal made by K-Man!  He had a lot of fun cooking!  I asked him if he wanted to wear his chef hat and at first he didn't.  But once I mentioned that it was like Pig's hat on WordWorld, he changed his mind.  He had fun pouring, stirring, setting the table, and even eating.  After he mixed up some veggie dip he proceeded to eat it... veggie-less with a spoon!   Daddy decided K-Man should cook more often since he ended up eating all of his supper so fast!  (Notice we can't cook without a bulldozer?)

New Coupons (Hamb. Helper, Simply Juice, Renu, etc.)

There are a few new coupons out I was excited about!  Get them while (if!) you still can!

Hamburger Helper .50/1

Coupons.com (use zip 90210)

• Simply Orange Juice $1/1
• Campbell's Condensed Soup $1/3
• Stove Top $1/2
• Renu $2/1
• Meat $1.50/1 when you buy Kingsford Charcoal (says available at Safeway but worked at Dillons ok for me)
• Land O' Frost product, any $1/1 (cheap lunchmeat!)

Free Baby Magazines = Amazon Diaper Coupons

Below are some links to sign up for two free magazine subscriptions.  According to Mandie at I Heart Coupon Deals, they both have diaper coupons in them and can even be stacked.  Personally, I've learned its not worth subscribing to more than one year as its not too hard to find subscriptions for $0-$5 for most magazines.

FREE American Baby: Click Here to Subscribe to American Baby

FREE Baby Talk: Click Here to Subscribe to BabyTalk

Two other magazines known to have the Amazon Coupons are also available, though not currently for free.  Parenting the Early Years and Parents Magazine both have had coupons in the past.  I have found each of these for $5 or under, so keep your eyes open for them!

For tracking my subscriptions, I now keep a list in Excel of the ones I subscribe to.  Since I've started couponing, I've discovered many for free or cheap that almost always have savings inside.  But then I forget which ones I have!  So, just a thought, but you may want to keep a list to help you too!  I include the dates I've ordered them and when the subscription expires so that I know when I'll need to sign up again. 

Don't forget to use your "junk mail" email address!

Finally Posting!

So, this blog has existed for almost a year now and I'm just now doing my first posts.  Pathetic, I know.  What's worse is that Mistuh K is 8 1/2 months old and I have not written anything down about him.  So this is my first attempt. 

He is ALL OVER the place today.  He's still not crawling, but he is able to get where he wants!  That includes getting to the pennies he discovered (under the couch), the dvds on the floor by the XBOX that big brother K-Man left out, the cords to the laptop and my ever-precious portable heater, the magazine basket... you name it, he's found it today!  He pushes up like he's going to crawl normal, then falls back on his belly and pushes off with one leg.  It works for him.  He doesn't give up easy though, he keeps trying to crawl normal.  That part just isn't working for him yet!

The poor guy is still getting teeth in, too.  Number five made itself known to us a last week.  I'm sure his mouth is not enjoying all five growing at once.

K-Man is loving Netflix, and so is Mommy.  Even though we may not keep it, I've liked the fact that I don't have to watch the same things over and over... and over!  And we've been able to try some new stuff without having to buy it.  That's how WordWorld became a new favorite.  We both love it - its educational and fun!  We still watch our videos though.  As we sit now, Leapfrog's Letter Factory is playing in the background.  And in the foreground... Mistuh K's ready for his bottle.  That means he's crying.  So that' means I'm gonna go fix it since it is that time again!