Our Not-So-Frugal Purchases

We work very hard to be frugal and good stewards of the money God blesses us with. We try to save money for the future and for retirement and pay cash for everything. I had started a small stash of cash shortly before Rose was born and after a couple of rough nights with her waking and crying, I sent Tommy out with a list of survival items. As it turned out, she was just adjusting to her new life outside the womb and has slept well ever since.

We were able to buy a really nice solid wood glider rocker and a new boppy nursing pillow with the cash I had set aside. He also bought a pack of pacifiers which we never opened:) It was nice to have this money set aside and be able to get these things guilt free. We were both very pleased with the quality of rocker we were able to get. And Rose loves it too:) Although these purchases were made at full price, no coupons or discounts, we are very thankful to have them and they will serve us well for a long time.

She is Pretty As a Rose

After much discussion our baby girl has a name...Rose Dawn Carter. She is indeed "pretty as a rose". We liked several names, Maddy, Rachel, Emily,Sally, May Lynn,Padme,Prairie to name a few. Some of these were seriously considered and others just made us giggle. We all had an opinion of course.

Rose has the prettiest pink complexion and I just decided that Rose fit. Tommy said she will be my "little Rose". I enjoyed thinking about her name and getting to know her this past week and now we are glad to know her name and share it with others. We called her baby and sister this week and now she is our little Rose. We are so thankful to have her.

O Lord, thou art my God; I will exalt thee; I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth. Isaiah 25:1

Our Beautiful Pink Blessing

Born at Home Saturday January 19, 2008 at 8:17 am

9 pounds 14 ounces

21 3/4 inches long

We will soon make an announcement about her name! We are so thankful for her safe delivery and to have her here in our arms. Praise the Lord!

In case anyone was wondering....

What a two weeks past due pregnant belly looks like.....Still patiently waiting:)

Finally..A SNOW DAY!

Works For Me Wednesday

We were blessed with some great hand-me-downs this past week from a dear friend of ours, Marie. Thank you Marie! This is a picture of our littlest girls Wendy 3 and Lily 2. They are wearing two of the sweet dresses given to us. As you can see they would be much too short to wear alone, but being such cute dresses we knew they would make great shirts with some jeans.

Tommy (Daddy) happens to love this look! Lily's dress is soft warm flannel trimmed in denim, very cozy on this cold January day. Wendy's dress has a emboidered Pooh Bear that is hidden by her pig tail. "Wendy Pooh"loves Pooh Bear so she loved this dress and I am glad we could make it "work for her." There are lots of great tips today, read all of them at http://rocksinmydryer.typepad.com/shannon/2008/01/works-for-me-ga.html

Super Savings Saturday

The deals at CVS were great this week. We actually made two trips. This one pictured is the second trip. I have been so impressed with many of the purchases made by all the ladies at Money Saving Mom. I bought two coupon packed papers last Sunday, and was thrilled to replace a ton of expired coupons out of my organizer.

We must have tossed the receipts from this week , so no details. We did not pay anything out of pocket, just a few cents off our gift card. We mostly took advantage of the freebies after coupons and our first transaction include two gallons of milk for the week and two of my favorite treats....Eddy's Lite French Silk and Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream (a pregnant ladie's dream:) And we still have $23 in ECB to use. Check out the other posts and great coupon links from Crystal at http://www.moneysavingmom.com/2008/01/super-savings-saturday_11.html

Just Waiting...

Waiting for our baby to be born, (our seventh, due date Jan. 4), has given us lots of time to get excited and anxious too. Strange as it may sound I think everyone else is more anxious about the timing than I am. After being induced with the last two, I am quite content with letting this one come when the time is right. Sometimes I think we get so "stuck" on "THE DATE" that we forget that it is an estimate, just a guess basically.

Don't get me wrong, I definitely have my moments of feeling miserably anxious, but for the most part I am enjoying the extra time to prepare mentally ,physically and practically. We have accomplished a lot around the house that wasn't exactly necessity, but has been nice none the less. I was able to grocery shop one day this week and stocked up on some more convenient foods to help out the first few days at least. Hopefully the baby will come before we eat it all up! We also cleaned out and organized the pantry. Today I worked on organizing the changing table. This was fun, just looking at all the tiny things, wondering whether we will need the pink or the few neutral things we have to put on "little britches". Not knowing if we are having a boy or girl has made waiting even more fun, at least for me. Having had four girls in a row our house is over run with pink, which I love. If this baby is a boy we will be so happy to go out and buy blue and red and green and brown and denim, Oh wouldn't a pair of brown corduroys be precious! Either way we will be thrilled of course!

Before and After of the changing table:)

Having had so many, I am well aware of the sleepless nights, blurry mornings, and endless days of feedings and diapers. But having had so many, I am also aware of the blessing of a new baby, a new life God has entrusted us to love, care for, and raise up for His glory. Thank you Lord for the blessing of children in our family. As we wait, let us not forget that everything good comes from Him.

But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. Isaiah 40:31

Taget Deal

Our simple, but exciting find....$0.89 Christmas lights from Target. Our store went to 90% off today and we were so happy to find replacement lights for the tree for next year. We struggled to get enough working lights for it this year and did not want to pay full price!

An Expensive Lesson Learned Today

On one of the coldest days we have had this winter, we woke up to realize yesterday that our heat pump is blowing cool air. Now I know heat pump air is not exactly "toasty", but it became obvious that it was not heating. We burn wood in a wood stove of our basement for our main heat, but the heat pump supplements this at night for us.
So, first thing this morning we called the repair man, ugh, not something we normally do because my husband has always been the "repair man" aka "Superman". However today is our due date for our seventh child, with a planned home birth, and we need to be able to warm up the house quickly and warmer than normal.
To make a long story short, the repair man determined that the unit inside around the coil was clogged with dust, debris, and lots of hair. We had removed the filter in the summer months with the best intentions of replacing it. We had a hard time finding the right one in stock and just simply forgot to ever replace it.
It is so easy to neglect these "little things" around the house, but obviously it is such an important preventative maintenance thing. A mistake that we will not likely make again. So...go change those filters and read more frugal friday tips at http://www.biblicalwomanhoodonline.com/blog.htm . Oh, and for those that are wondering how expensive was our lesson?....$195.00

Starting Off Great In 2008

Following my blogger friend and "twin" Monica's lead http://monica-shineagain.blogspot.com/2007/12/starting-off-great-in-2008.html I am excited to share some organization that has taken place here at home. Her enthusiasm and encouragement started with a list she hoped to complete to start the new year on the right foot.


Our motivation seems to come with a move or a new baby. Since we never really organized many things after our last move (a little over two years ago now) there is much to do! To give even more perspective on how badly we need to organize and regroup I will throw in a bit more history...We moved twice and had two, soon to be three babies in just over three years. I don't recommend this, at least not the moving part. To add to chaos, I am so not a natural at being orderly and do not have an eye for organization. Thankfully I am married to someone who is and is more than willing to help, especially at times like this when it is so needed. (Baby #7 due friday!!!! We have considered naming this one "seven" wondering if it would help us call the sweet thing by the correct name:)

Here are some pictures of what has been done lately. Again, credit goes almost completely to my husband and daughter Abby, a natural like her Daddy and very self-motivated child.










We have made much progress and there is still much to do. The most important thing is maintaining order. I will share more as we go. Happy New Year!!