Free Stuff Rocks!

For all of you non All You readers I wanted to share with you some information I gathered from May’s issue. I love the All You magazine because it is full of saving ideas and there are coupons throughout. I love coupons and reading about how people save money. Today I want to share with you some great freebies.

Restaurants

Dunkin’ Donuts: Put your name on the email list and get a beverage at sign-up and your birthday.

Red Lobster: Join the Fresh Catch Club and get a coupon for a free appetizer or dessert.

IHOP: Join the loyalty program at ihop.com/pancake-revolution and get a meal at sign-up, on your birthday and one year after joining.

Firehouse Subs: Show your ID on your birthday and get a medium sub.

Chili’s: Join the Email Club and get an order of chips and queso.

Entertainment

Movies: Sign up at advancescreenings.com for invitations to screenings in your area.

Books: Projectgutenberg.org offers more than 42,000 ebooks.

Kindle reads: amazon.com/totally-free-kindle-books

DVDs-Join the Redbox Text Club by texting redbox to 727272 to get a code for a free DVD every month.

No Cost Treats

June

7: National Doughnut Day-pick up a free doughnut at Krispy Kreme

16: Father’s Day-Free admission at many zoos and dads get a free breakfast at Ikea

21: First Day of Summer-Get a coupon for a free Nestle Drumstick on the Drumstick Facebook page

July

11: 7-Eleven’s birthday-Get a free slurpee

12: Cow Appreciation Day-Dress like a cow and get a Chick-fil-A meal

25: McAlister’s Deli-Get a 32-ounce tea

September

8: Grandparents Day-Get free supplies for kids to write a letter to their grandparents at Pottery Barn Kids locations

19: Carvel Customer Appreciation Day-Get a free soft-serve cone between3 and 8 pm

29: National Coffee Day-Get a free 12-ounce coffee at Krispy Kreme

October

31: Halloween-Wear a costume to Krispy Kreme and get a pumpkin-spice doughnut

November

9 and 10-Free entrance at National Parks

11: Veterans Day-Free entrance at National Parks

Veterans get a free doughnut and small coffee at Krispy Kreme

Current and former military members get a free meal at Applebee’s

22-24: Sam’s Club-Members get to enjoy samples of fresh holiday-themed foods

December

1-25: Cheesecake Factory-Get a free slice of cheesecake for every $25 gift card you buy

4: National Cookie Day-Get a free cookie with any purchase at Quiznos

25: Free Shipping Day-Visit freeshippingday.com for a list of e-tailers

Summer Fun sure is HOT

I'm doing my best to start this summer off with staying busy. What I don't want to happen is Jack and I getting into a routine of lazy behavior. I knew I had to start us off on the right foot. My first instinct is to be lazy so I am really having to push myself. Here is a little recap of us staying busy.

Saturday:
Jack and I went to the park with my sister, her husband, and their son Bennett. We didn't stay out too long because it was so hot.

After a nap and a trip to the store we went swimming with family. It was Jack's first time in the pool. My husband hated missing it (he was working all weekend) but he knew how excited I was to get Jack into a pool.

My sister posed him for me so I can get a few cute pics of my little man in his first pool.

Sunday we went to a family cookout. I didn't get any pictures but we had a good time and some good food.

Monday we went to the park. Can you believe I live in a neighborhood with its own park? I knew there was one but hadn't really checked it out until Monday. It even has a few baby swings. I can't wait until Jack gets big enough to really take advantage of it. 

Tuesday we went to the zoo. Boy was it hot! When we got there Jack was asleep but it didn't take long for him to wake up and enjoy what was going on. My favorite exhibit was the penguins. They had it set up so you could watch the penguins under water. I love watching them swim! We were able to go as a family which made me very happy.

Banana Split Cake

I had seen a recipe for a banana split cake and decided the vamp it up a little. It is super yummy and easy. Make quickly and enjoy!

Ingredients:

• pineapple cake mix
• can of crushed pineapple
• vanilla pudding
• strawberries
• bananas
• cool whip
• chocolate syrup
• cherries
• nuts

1. Make pineapple cake (cool)

2. Put some cake at the bottom

3. Mix crushed pineapple with vanilla pudding and put some pudding on top of cake

4. Put some bananas on top of the pudding

5. Put more cake on top

6. Add more pudding 

7. Put some strawberries on that

8. Add cool whip

9. Sprinkle nuts, put some chocolate syrup on top, and add some cherries

Here is a picture of the final product.

I Totally Suck at Blogging

It seems the blogging gods are against me. As much as I try to get on a blogging schedule something or someone gets in my way. Right now that person is my husband who just said "I'm a lucky woman" as he caressed his man nipples. My husband has no sense. He is watching Gangsta Squad as I finally write a post.
Here are my blogging woes:

- my son knows when I turn on the computer and will immediately cry. Why is he not crying now? He is staying the night at his Nana and Papaw's house. It is killing me not having him with me but I am trying to push through it (by taking a Tylenol PM).

-my primary picture taker (my iphone5) died. Yep, it straight up died. It has been one week and one day. I am heartbroken. I'm not sure what happened but the only way I can get it fixed is to go to an Apple store which is 2 hours away so I haven't had a chance to make it there yet. All of my pictures are on there. Lord, if I can just get my phone back I will promise to backup from now on.

On another note I'm trying to get healthier. I haven't done very good today but I did wonderful over the weekend. My goals right now are to only drink 1 Dr. Pepper a day, move more, and replace one meal a day with a Slim Fast. Jack and I have been doing the park thing. Luckily we have a park in our neighborhood. He loves swinging and I need to move more. Hello Summer!

Since I have no personal pictures I will share a picture from the film my husband and I just watched.


Yep we watched Hangover III. There was better stuff we could have went to see but we had seen parts one and two in theater so we wanted to keep the tradition alive. We wanted to watch Mud which was filmed in our parts but we will just have to wait until DVD.

If you don't see a post from me tomorrow just remember I still suck at blogging.

When You Get What You Want

When I was a single girl I couldn't wait to have a family and be part of the mommy club. Today I type this with a baby in my arm while my husband watches a movie. I started thinking about this idea as I watched Bridgett Jones's Diary. When you are single you get to dream about your husband, your home, and your teeny tiny baby. Everything can be as perfect as you want it to be. Once it is here you have to keep a good marriage, keep your kids alive, make the house look decent, manage some type of relationship with your friends, and try to make pajamas look like an outfit as you rush off to Walmart to make that must-have recipe off Pinterest.  I now have everything I have ever wanted, so now what? I never had a plan for what to do once I got that husband and baby. Of course, I have plans to do this or that but I no longer have that thrill of what could be because I know what is.  I have dreams for my husband. I have dreams for my son. I don't have dreams for myself anymore. I'm not even sure what to dream about. I spent many years dreaming for a husband and some years dreaming for a baby. Those were my greatest wishes. I'm out of dream practice. I've been to school. I have my career. I have the husband and the baby. Now what? 

Learning Jack was a boy by cutting the groom's cake. 

He Said Mama First-Ha!

Since Jack was born I have said "mama" to him. I really wanted him to say mama first. J insisted that Jack would say dada first. He said all babies say dada first. Well the other day Jack looked right at me and said "mama" and then laughed out loud. I thought it was just a fluke but he did it 2 more times that night. Too bad J wasn't around to witness it. Well when J came home from days of working he got to witness it for himself. Oh he was mad but he got a kick out of how happy it made me. Now I'm not delusional and know that he doesn't know what he is saying. However I do know that me saying "mama" over and over to him helped him to learn how to say it.

On the sign language front he does one word-milk. He only does it when he is drinking milk. I'm still glad that he was able to learn it. 

Here are a few pictures of my little monkey. I also want to give a shoot out to my husband who made all A's this semester. Congrats!!!!

Being silly

Helping Mama repot some plants.

Swinging at the Park

A Space of My Own

I took a little break from blogging because basically my life was crazy. My husband's new schedule formed a whole new routine for us, school was wrapping up, Jack was in a horrible fussy stage, and basically the only thing I could write about was how much things were sucking.

There are only 5 school days left until summer. This will be my first summer with a baby and I have lots of excitement and some fears. Never getting a break is the biggest fear. My biggest excitement? I will get to form an even greater bond with him.

During my little break from blogging I decided that I needed a space. I had in the past blogged in my car, in our den, outside, on my couch, in my bed, at work.....basically never in the same spot. We have a guest room that I have since turned into my room. It is the place I will blog and craft. It is not even close to those cute rooms you see on pinterest. Yes, I would love a space like that but that just isn't possible right now. Of course, I will vamp it up from time to time as I go. I'm just so excited to have my own space. Here is a little tour.

The closet which houses my crafting supplies. Please note the half painted wall.

I pushed the desktop computer to the back. We never use it but I just can't throw it away.

Included this picture to show the sewing machine in the floor where it will probably stay.

Here is my craft bed. Gotta do what works.

Friday's Letters

Dear Husband,
I know you are so happy finals are over. Congrats on all the great grades you made! I hate that you will be working all weekend.

Dear Jack,
You turned 6 months this week! You are enjoying baby food. You can sit up pretty well. You also have slept all night the past 2 nights. Mama loves this!

Dear Books,
We have you in perfect order and now starts the scanning process. Inventory is always a dreaded project each year but I'm on top of it.

Dear First Mother's Day,
I am excited to have you here. I hate that my husband can't be here but I am excited to go to my parents for a steak dinner.

Have a great weekend peeps!

A Selfish Rant

My husband is an EMT. I knew this when I met him and I surely knew this when I married him. His job frustrates me. Let me preface this by saying there are many families who have it worse. Many families face their wife or husband leaving for very long periods of time. I feel for you because our situation isn't nearly that bad and I hate it.
The 24 hour shift thing is for the birds. My husband doesn't just love it but he doesn't just hate it like I do. He just thinks of it as part of it. When he does a 24 hour shift he is usually gone for a few days and then home for a few days. We dealt with the 24 hour shift thing until this past February and then he got a day job as an EMT. It was amazing. I was recovering from surgery and about to go back to work. We had Jack and were going to get to be a "normal" family for the first time. Last week he gave me the bad news that he had to go back on 24 hour shifts. We got into a huge fight. I was bratty and mad and being very selfish but I did not care. The anger of my life being flipped upside down again just infuriated me.

Did you know that ambulance is spelled backwards so you can read it from your rear view mirror?

Here is why I hate him working 24s:
1. I can't sleep. I hear every noise. I worry about someone breaking in. I worry about the house catching on fire. I worry that something will happen to me. I worry something will happen to Jack. When he has worked 24s in the past I always slept on the couch. After we had Jack, I was on the couch and he was in his pack n play. We have since transitioned him into his crib. I don't want to mess up Jack's sleep routine but I'm worried that I will not be able to sleep unless Jack is in the room with me.
2. Meals. I had finally gotten into a routine of meal planning. I am not going to cook a meal just for me so I am going to be stuck eating quick food that is either cold or microwaved. Now I will also have to buy groceries and meal plan around his schedule. I have to make sure he has his food and I have my food. It's just more planning on my part that I just don't wanna have to do again.
3. Mornings. We have a system down. He will either feed Jack in the morning while I am dressing and then we switch and the other gets him ready while the other is getting dressed. It works and I like it. Now I will have to do mornings on my own.
4. Bedtime. It works like the mornings. We share the responsibility. Now I'll be on my own.

I've liked our routine since February and I'm not happy about it changing. I just wanted to rant about it.
The End.

Diaper Disaster

 Wednesday my husband called to say he would be leaving work in ten minutes. I let him know that when he got home I would need to run to Walmart for diapers. Surprisingly, he said "I'll get them". I was thrilled! I hate going to Walmart and I know how much he hates stopping when he is anxious to get home. I quickly changed into my jammies at 5 pm and relished in my amazing husband. That was until he got home. He walked in with the diapers in a Sunflower sack. For all of you who don't live around these parts, Sunflower is the one grocery store in the town my husband works in. He bought diapers from a grocery store! Do you have any idea how much diapers cost at a grocery store, and not just any grocery store, the only grocery store in town? He pulled them out of the sack so proud and announced "they have bunnies on them". He bought the most generic brand they had and they still cost the same as a box of Huggies from Walmart. Now I will say that he asked when he called if it mattered what brand. I just never thought of him buying generic. I also never thought he would stop at the grocery store. I really thought he would stop at Walmart when he came into town and when I said the brand didn't matter I meant Luvs, Huggies, or Pampers. Hello lack of communication! When Jack woke up at 2:30 am for a diaper change and a bottle he was soaked from his underarms to his diaper. I marched right into our bedroom, woke my husband up, pointed to Jack, and said "this is why you don't buy cheap diapers". He rolled over and went back to sleep and didn't even remember my rant the next morning so I had to start over. Oh how I hate repeating myself.
I wasn't really mad at him because I should have been more specific but it did make me chuckle to have another point on the mamas are awesome side. A mama wouldn't have made that mistake. I told my mom about that story because us mamas have to stick together. When I got home Friday from work I had 3 big boxes of good diapers inside my house and a 100 dollar bill under the formula can. Moms are awesome. Just another piece of proof.

Ready for Summer

15 more days of school until summer! This summer is different than any other because I have little buddy to occupy my time.

Every morning that I have to drop him off at daycare my heart breaks a little. He spends more time with Ms. Jen in a day then his own mama. It's hard missing him so much during the day and knowing I can't go get him. We are going to do so many fun things. He will start summer 6 months old and when school starts back he will be 9 months old. These next few months he will really grow and mature. Knowing that I'll be with him every day during this critical time just makes my heart so happy. 

Not only will Jack and I get to spend some great time together but I have several things I want to get accomplished. Hopefully soon we will have the vinyl down in the playroom/office so I can start some pinterest crafts to get it decorated and organized. One craft I am looking forward to is making him a lego table. I know it will be a little while before he will actually care about it but it will probably take me that long to get it done. I don't really have a "theme" picked out yet but I have a few ideas swirling around in my head. What did I do for ideas before pinterest? 

How Candy Crush Changed My Life

I joined the candy crush bandwagon about 3 weeks ago. My husband joined in a week later because I put it on his phone because he kept stealing mine. Now to most people it is just a game but to us it was just the thing to bring some joy back into our chaotic lives. I know how sad and pathetic that sentence sounded but the truth is the truth. We are busy people so playing a quick round of candy crush is a fast thing we do throughout the day and when Jack goes to sleep we will often play our 5 lives before bed. We get gangsta serious about it. Trash talk at its best. Competition can be fun in a relationship.

 

My husband has actually said to me "if you give me a life I'll do the dishes". We send friendly texts about what level we are on.We aggravate each other by covering up each others phone screens. We say silly things like "your talking is messing up my game". We have fun with it. Since having a baby we don't get out much so something as silly as a game on our phones has brought fun competition to us again. It isn't the same as drinking a beer while playing pool but that's just the life of parents with a 6 month old. 

Friday's Letters

DearReaders
Sorry I’ve been MIA. Things have been super busy at work. By the time I get home, clean a little, laundry, take care of Jack, cook supper, and play a round of candy crush I am exhausted. I use to do my blogging from 4:30-5:30 but Jack isn’t napping during that time anymore. Now I have about 30 minutes to run around and get as much done as possible for he wakes up.
Dear Left Ear,
Can you not seriously let me hear out of you? You are on my nerves. You pop and whistle like you are at the club but then NOTHING. I’m tired of saying “what?” all the time. Most of the time I just act like I know what they are saying by nodding my head and smiling. I just keep my fingers crossed that I do not need to be shaking my head and frowning.
Dear Husband,
Finals are next week and I know you are stressing but you got this. You are tied for the highest grade in the class so I have no worries that you will be just fine. Listening to you teach me about hearts is very educational. Although I have no idea what you are talking about I try to go along with it.
Dear Jack,
You are 4 days away from being half a year old! I am loving this time with you right now. You are so full of joy. Even the simplest of things brings you to smiles which in turn makes my heart so happy. You are starting to sit up better. You love your Johnny Jumper. You don’t really jump in it much but you like to spin around.
Dear Summer,
I’m coming for you and when I get to you I’m gonna savor you up like piece of Copeland’s White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake. I can’t wait to take my time with you. Unfolding all you have to offer me. I have never needed this summer more than I need this one.
I hope everyone has a great weekend. The husband has clinical and I need to do some online workshop stuff so a pretty boring weekend but sometimes boring weekends can be just the right thing. I’ll jazz it up with some cake, Redbox, naps, and lounging.

Maybe a Boy Isn't so Bad

Although I love Jack to pieces, I always sorta wished he was a girl. Girls have tutus and bows. Yesterday my mind was changed. My friend invited me to her son's baseball game. Oh what a treat! It was so entertaining. It made me wish for days of games and shirts that say Jack's mom. Money being spent on Gatorade and pickles. Afternoons of rushing around and pizza suppers. I can't wait!
Jack and I had a great time! He even clapped his hands for the first time. Of course I took lots of pictures. It was so enjoyable that I plan on going again. Now getting the stroller situated wasn't a breeze but well worth it.
I'm starting to think a boy isn't so bad. For all of you with boys....what is the best part of having a boy?