Shop Online Much?

I know that I probably should have posted on this before Christmas but since I figure I'm not the only one scooping up some online deals in the after-Christmas sales I'd post it now. I subscribe to a bunch of blogs and about 4-5 are them are money saving blogs. About 2 months ago one of them had a link to sign up for Ebates. I checked it out and I'm pretty glad I did. I don't shop online much, but here's how it works.

1. You go to their website and sign up - all you need is an email and password. They'll even give you $5 to start out with just for signing up.

2. When I shop online I go to their website and find my store in their listing. No matter where I have shopped lately, my stores have always been on the list. Motherhood Maternity, Drugstore.com, Amazon.com, Wal-Mart.com - seriously pretty much everybody is there. Besides just having a store listing they also have a coupon section where you can look up your store and see if they have any coupons or deals listed - like free shipping on my Drugstore.com order.

3. Once you find their store you click on it and it will bring up a tracking ticket and then take you to their storefront where you shop as usual. After you make a purchase a certain percentage of your purchase price is added to your account.

4. Ebates keeps track of your cash-back and sends you a "big fat check" quarterly. So far I've only earned about $15.00 cash back but, hey that's $15 I wouldn't have had if I hadn't shopped through them, right? I think I've only made 3 purchases with them too so it isn't too bad.

Honestly it is pretty easy or I wouldn't bother. All it takes is one more step, going to eBates first, before shopping and you get some money back. Not too shabby. So, if you want to give it a try click on this link and get signed up! Happy online deal finding!

Christmas Grown Up

I will try to get a post up with Christmas pictures soon I promise. See, we have a memory problem with our computer at home and are constantly running on the lowest available disk space possible so uploading pictures to our computer at home isn't really an option. Anyone feeling bad for me right now and want to buy me an external hard drive, or a new computer? Yeah didn't think so. So until I find a place to upload those pictures I'll just post a (hopefully) quick recap of Christmas. And yes, I am ecstatic it is over!

We went down to my mom and dad's house on Christmas Eve and got a chance to stop by and see Kasidee, James and Bentlee for a minute. Oh my word that girl is adorable! I told Logan he needed to impress his future inlaws because he's going to have a LOT of competition. It was so good to see them and it made me realize I need to make a bigger effort to see my friends - they only live 45 minutes away - 2 minutes from my mom's house!

Lisa and Joe came over too and we had a great dinner. My mom always outdoes herself and even if she forgot the pineapple bread everyone was super stuffed on ham, 2 kinds of potatoes, broccoli, rolls and from scratch cheesecake. We watched a really cool movie about Christ coming to the Americas and Logan woke up so we knew it was present time. I think everyone was more than happy with the goods they got - I know I was. I got a kitchen slicer that I can't wait to use and used the money they gave me to buy a cute pair of boots (and another pair when I can find the right ones!). Dave got .17 bullets that he loves and bought some games for his Playstation with his money. Logan was spoiled with books and puzzles. We were so happy to get new books since we end up reading them over and over daily.

Unfortunately there was a storm brewing so we had to leave my mom's fairly early to head up to Panguitch. Logan fell asleep on the way there but woke up once we got there and there was no stopping him after that. We stayed up and played Mario Kart and Golf on the Playstation. I tried to put Logan down finally at about midnight and had no luck. There was no way he was sleeping with stuff still going on. I was upset and tired and finally took him out in the snow at 12:30 to get him to sleep. He finally did fall asleep after we drove around the snowy roads for 15 minutes. When we got back and I carried him through the door he woke back up! There was still too much going on but he finally fell asleep and had a restless sleep all night.

We woke up about 7:30 to open presents (too early!) and the boys had a great time even though they didn't want to give up their first gift to open the next ones. I got the perfume I had asked for and a gift card to the mall which I'm excited for and Dave got me the cutest pair of Etnies. He did AWESOME! Dave got more .17 bullets and a little tool set. Logan was spoiled with toys and clothes from grandma and grandpa and toys and a big spring horse from his mom and dad.

We went to the Veater family Christmas breakfast and tried to get Logan to take a nap. Nope! The kid couldn't do it with all the activity and people. The only nap he took was about 4:30 when we drove around for half an hour. When we took him back in the house, he was up and running again. For as little sleep as he got he was still surprisingly happy. He didn't get much sleep that night either. All the adults were watching Uncle Dusty's new movie, The Dark Knight and Logan couldn't sleep with that going on so I had to take him in the other room and hold him on the couch until it was over. I think it is the longest movie ever!

We made it home on Friday and I think everyone was relieved to be home. Dave got to open his present from me, a portable DVD player for camping and fires. I hope he liked it, he said he did but I know he really wanted the ammo/rifle safe for his gun safe. Logan finally napped and we've been recovering ever since.

I'm so thankful for Christmas and the opportunities it gives us to give and receive and think of the Savior. I know that pretty much anyone that was within blogging distance of me the last few weeks must think that I hate Christmas but I don't. I hate how stressful it can be when it should be a time for family and peace and gratitude. I am always grateful for everything I receive and of course for the chance we have to remember our greatest gift - but this year I also was able to realize how thankful I am for the opportunity that we have to grow and mature as well.

At Christmastime I always try to think back to the previous years and how things were different. When you're a kid Christmas is obviously all about you and its great and you think it couldn't be better any other way. I think Dave and I both figured out this year that Christmas is way better when it is all about someone else. This year Logan was old enough that we could really buy him some fun stuff and we loved it. Don't get me wrong I am so thankful for all the great stuff I got, but watching him love his new toys and books is awesome. Christmas is not about tallying the gifts we did or didn't receive, but for for giving and being grateful for what we have. Besides that revelation this year I have noticed that I've gotten better at holding my tongue. There were opportunities that I could have said things or done things to cause more contention but I didn't. For those of you that know me well, that's saying a lot! This last year has been great and challenging at times, like every other year, but it is rewarding to see that this time I have actually learned something from it.

I hope everyone that we were able to visit with over the holidays know how much we appreciate and love them and all they do for us. I also hope that those of you we haven't seen in months and years also know how much we love and miss you. We look forward to a new year with new challenges, new blessings and new opportunities to grow.

So much for SHORT!

Anybody else ready...

to just skip all this holiday jazz?

Can I get a merry hell yeah?

Hi! - Month 18

Well here you are, a year and a half old. You are growing SO fast. So cliche I know, but seriously kid it's like I look at you sometimes and wonder what the heck happened to you overnight. Yesterday we got home from taking a ride around in the snow and you were walking away from me to the kitchen to shut the gate by the stairs and I started to cry. I'm blaming it on the fact that I'm pregnant (it's a good excuse for everything, just wait till you have a wife), but just that view of you as you were walking away hit me really hard. You were so tall, and so capable. I swear you can do anything you want to at this point. It's hard to imagine you when you were a baby and I had to carry you everywhere and do everything for you. Now you are practically my little slave. You put dishes in the sink, throw diapers in the trash, get new diapers out of your room and find your shoes. You put your hat on, you help with your coat, and you tell me when you want something. Just this morning you woke up a little upset and grumpy. I asked you what was wrong and you said "Juice." I said oh, you want some juice and you nodded your head. The small things are amazing to me.

You had your 18 month checkup last Friday. Your stats don't suprise me at all - 27 pounds 10 ounces and 33.75 inches tall. If I remember right you're in the 74th percentile for weight and 89th for height. You're a big kid! You made the doctor laugh so hard at one point. He had already been in to check on you and left to let us wait for the nurse to give you a few shots. I had asked him to give us a 90-day prescription for your vitamins to replace the 30-day one and he came back in to give it to us. You were just playing there in the middle of the room with your back to the door so when the door started to open it scared you. As he opened the door he knocked and you yelled "WHO IS IT?!?!" Holy crap you made that man laugh so hard. He had to go back out in the hall before he could come back in. I was laughing too - partly because of how hard he was laughing and partly because I knew how much he had startled you based on the volume level you had used. I had tears in my eyes as he handed me your prescription. You've never said that before (usually you say come in), so I don't know what made you do it then but you made both our days.

As far as language goes you are still learning a lot. Your grandma is better at challenging you than I am. You have a book that has raccoons in it and one day when I was reading it to you you pointed to the raccoon and said 'dog'. I figured raccoon was a little too advanced for you so I told you good job, it was a dog. Not your grandma. After she had spent the day with you last week I was reading that book to you and you pointed to the raccoon and said "rack-oon". Forgive me for underestimating you - I'll always try to remember that you are going to be way smarter than me.

I think one of the best moments of the last month was when you, your dad and I all went to Home Depot. We wandered around for a minute and decided your dad would come back in the morning to get the sheetrock and we started walking back to the door. As we were walking you stopped and said Hi! to every single person that we passed. It was the best thing ever. It's a crazy time of year and you could tell it had been a long day for a lot of the people in there. You know what I mean... it was like 8:30 on a Friday night and there is always some guy who has been working on a project all day who ran to Home Depot before it closed and just looks like he's had it? Yeah, you made that guy smile. You made the girls at the registers smile. You made pretty much everyone smile. And if they didn't hear you or see you the first time, you would stop and say it again until they looked at you and we made you keep walking. You're a good example of how we should be. Not that I think people would necessarily think it was as cute for a grown woman to stop and say HI! to every person in the store, but I could do more than I do. I could smile at someone if we happen to make eye contact or chat a little more with the person ringing me up at the register. I have a feeling that you're going to be a good example to your mom and dad for the rest of your life and I don't think anything could make me more proud than that.

Love you chubs,
Mom

Oh, and thanks to Lisa D. for posting about http://www.bloggled.com/. If you haven't done so yet, go backup your blog for free today and get entered to win an iPod or Cricket!

Get Ready for a Laugh

I'm getting our Christmas cards ready to go and if you want one and don't think you are on my list let me know. And trust me, I think all 3 of you faithful readers will want one. Lisa took our pictures again yesterday and for some reason the one Dave and Logan look the best in, well, I look like I weigh 200 pounds in. Don't believe me? Stay tuned, you'll see and you'll laugh, cause I still do every time I think about it.


Thanks again Lisa, and I'm blaming the fact that I'm pregnant and trying to tickle my kid while smiling my best for the reason I look so fat - not your camera!

Thanksgiving

So I had great intentions for this weekend, I was going to take my camera so I could post something about our fantastic Thanksgiving. And I forgot. Bet that doesn't surprise any one of my three loyal readers. While I could post a somewhat-less boring post scattered with stock photos, you're just going to get a verbal rundown of our Thanksgiving activities with a couple cellphone pictures to look forward to at the end.

On Thursday we went to my mom's and had a great dinner. I made yeast rolls that actually turned out half decent (which is helped by the fact that I didn't kill the yeast!). We had tons of awesome food and pie and of course we were sent home with tons of tupperware containers filled with leftovers. I wish I could make gravy like my mom. I complained to her that I watched her make gravy for years and I still hadn't mastered it yet. We decided years of practice is her secret ingredient and I will just have to keep working at it. I could eat her mashed potatoes and gravy every day! We were happy that Jean and Marty were able to make it down to hang out with us too. They always liven the party and Dave was absolutely in love with Jean's sweet potatoes!

Friday we woke up and headed to Panguitch to get our Christmas tree. Logan and I shared an orange juice on the way over. I diluted his with water but then I ran out of water so he had straight juice a few times that day which Dave likes to point out is a cardinal sin at our house. He always shakes my head at me when I do it because I always get mad when anyone else does it. But the difference is I only do it in an emergency, like when we're in the truck and Logan is screaming his head off. This story has a point, although I'm not sure anyone wants to get there at this point and I can't say I blame you.

SO.... After we got the tree and enjoyed some leftover turkey sandwiches and a nap (for me anyway!) we headed home. Logan woke up about 20 minutes into our hour drive and just started whining and crying. We knew something was up because he NEVER whines nonstop like that. When we got to Enoch I finally took him out of the carseat to sit on my lap (another cardinal sin). We stopped at Dave's cousin to check on his dog and right as Dave was getting back in the truck Logan puked all over me. Luckily they live only two blocks from our house. Dave jumped out and ran in the house while Derick jumped out and stood in our driveway. This left me in the truck with the puke, the puker, trying not to puke. I was screaming at someone to come let me out of the truck while they both puttered around for what seemed like minutes (probably only seconds). It's all funny to me now but it wasn't then. Poor baby had such a stomach ache from all the orange juice and junk food he'd had over the last couple days. I'm proud of myself for not being a party puker and happy that we have been lucky that although Logan is sick quite a bit he rarely pukes!

Logan had a fun time in the snow when we were getting the trees though. I bought him a snowsuit and some snow boots the other day and he hasn't really tried them out just yet. He was so funny - his boots are too big so he had an even harder time walking. Then when he was back in the truck he just sat there like he couldn't move with this wide eyed look on his face. He's seriously adorable.














And yes, I know this picture is blurry but I was driving and just took it real quick while I was looking at the road - yes, I'm talented (and yes mom, I took a picture while driving, and we survived, and it's the only time I've ever done it or ever will do it). We were on our way to Wal-Mart Saturday morning when I took it. I had been rushing around trying to get out the door before it got too late. See, I'm not a shopper. I don't like crowds and I don't like this time of year when my typically dead early morning shopping trip to Wal-mart becomes crowded with holiday shoppers. So I told Logan we had to be out the door by 8:30 and when I couldn't find the beanie I wanted I just threw the closest one I could find on his head. When we got in the car I found the beanie I wanted and just threw it on his lap so I could put it on him when we got to the store. When I turned around less than a block later I saw him with it on his head. He's getting so good at doing stuff himself and the look of accomplishment on his face is priceless!















That's all for now, I'll try to be better at remembering my camera!