April, 2008 | The Angel Forever

Monthly Archives April 2008

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My CVS Deals (4/10)

Posted on April 13, 2008 9:20 am by TheAngelForever

I keep striking out at CVS. Every time I head into a store they are out of what I am looking for. JSL and I went out the other night to try to get some of the Aveeno eczema cream and after three stores each only had one. Silly me, I did not know that they combine in the computer how much you spend toward Extra Bucks. Oh well you live and learn. Here is what I bought with no out of pocket expense:

CVS bargains

After JSL’s dentist appointment we were near a HUGE 24 hour CVS that looked promising. We went in looking for some items. They did not have any of the Softsoap Spa products. Everyone has been out of these since the day I got them. Nada on the CVS rapid release Tylenol either. I finally found the Essence of Beauty bags that everyone had been writing about. This month if you buy 3 qualifying Essence of Beauty products you can get $5 ECBs back. The bags are $1.49 each, so not too bad. These are perfect for teacher gift bags, as well as to package up washcloths that I make.

Next we went to the baby care area. I could have gotten wipes here, but I was kind of rushed to pick up NHL from school. So I just got what I needed. They had four of the Aveeno baby eczema creams. The deal on Aveeno was to send $25 on their products and get $10 ECBs back. In addition to this I bought JSL some of the creamy wash to try since it said it was gentle on skin that suffers from eczema.

I did two transactions and should have done better with the second, but again trying to go quickly messed me up.

Transaction #1:

3 of the Essence of Beauty gift bags at $1.49 each

4 of the Aveeno Eczema cream at $5.69 each

1 of the creamy Aveeno baby wash at $5.59

Total without tax was $32.92 —> I then used $5 off $15 and two $1.50 off Aveeno products and $14.97 in ECBs. This left my balance at $10.99. During my last CVS trip I received cash back for ECBs that did not work – so those were put toward this using no new money.

$15 in new ECBs printed out.

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Transaction #2:

6 of the Essence of Beauty gift bags at $1.49

1 candy bar $.79 (filler)

1 pack of gum 1.19 (filler)

Total without tax was $10.92 –> I should have bought more items to get me to the $15 to use another $5 off $15, but I was in a rush and not thinking (ooops!). I used $10 of the ECBs that I just earned and another $1 from the cash given back last week. So again nothing out of pocket.

$10 in new ECBs printed out.

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At this point I still have $15 in ECBs and a few additional dollars left. I know I could do better, but it is hard to stay focused when they are constantly out of items. Oh well, I can not complain since I have all of these items and have not invested more money since the original $17 the other day.

Categories:
deals shopping

More sickies, allergy testing, and the teething monster

Posted on April 11, 2008 10:58 pm by TheAngelForever

The following should have been my clue:

NHL never takes naps anymore. This is what JL and I found when we went to ask NHL a question while making dinner on Monday night. I had put on a movie for him to watch and minutes later it was very quiet. He went to get a pillow and snuggled up on the couch. The rest of us ate dinner and when NHL woke up he had something as well.

Fast forward to 9:40 when NHL woke up crying hysterically. For the first time in his four year life he told us his ear hurt. He was in agony and kept telling us. We took him to the couch and found no fever. Motrin was given to help the pain. I was concerned, but for once we may have lucked out. Earlier in the day I had called our doctor asking for a referral to a great allergist/ENT. I called to see when I could get an appointment while waiting. I just happened to bump into a cancellation for the next day – WAHOO! So all we had to do was keep NHL comfortable through the night and he was going to see the specialist in the morning.

It was a long night. NHL did not want to settle, but finally did in our bed. The next morning I took both of the boys to NHL’s allergist/ENT appointment. When Dr. K looked in his ear he yelped in pain. Sure enough infected again and on antibiotic. I believe it is the same ear that had fluid in it when he had the flu a few weeks back. We also talked about NHL’s congestion, snoring and other concerns about recurring ear infections. He told me that he would like to schedule NHL for an adnoid x-ray, allergy test, and hearing test.

We will go Monday for the x-ray where JL works. Originally we were going for the hearing and allergy test on the 25th. That was changed yesterday. They could not do the hearing test that day. That was changed to the 29th. Again I was SO lucky. I was able to score a cancellation yesterday to do the allergy test next Wednesday morning. The best thing, my mother will be home that day to go with us. I was dreading the 45 minute test since I know NHL is going to flip when he sees the panel coming at him.

With any luck next week we will have some answers and be able to help the poor little guy breathe a little better.

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Thursday I took JSL for his first official dentist visit. Yes, babies now are supposed to head to the dentist too. Our group likes to see them when they are 1, JSL will be one May 14th. He has been to the office before when we had the cysts in his mouth at 6 weeks old. Thursday we met the only dentist in the group that we had not seen. Dr. J was amazing. She actually has a little girl that is 11 months old. JSL was great and let her really get a good look.

I was right tooth #8 is SO close to breaking through. This sucker has been very pesky for weeks now. In addition to this she showed me some other fun news. Sure enough the poor little guy has three, yes three molars moving on up. *sigh* No wonder he has been so fussy lately. Dr. J said they may take a while to move and cut, but the pressure he has is definitely intense from all of this going on. She did not feel the eyeteeth yet, but those will come soon enough. In addition to this she said please to give him only Tylenol, not Motrin because you do not want an to stop the inflammation. Teeth move through an inflammatory process and by using Motrin you make it a longer time frame. So we will try to avoid it unless we need it for fever control.

Another comment she made floored me. Dr. J said to let him use his binky as much as needed. I had noticed in the last 2 weeks that JSL has become a binky addict. It all makes sense now. She said the binky sucking helps to relieve the pressure from the teething, so he wants to do that more. She told me not to worry and if we tried to take it away he would use his hands . . . and that is worse to try to take away later. So two of the three dentists in the group are pro-binky use if taken away at a certain age. Works for me.

As you can see the boys are keeping me busy, but they are so worth it.

Categories:
allergies brothers doctor jsl nhl photos sick kid teething

Nursery School Passover Seder

Posted on April 10, 2008 10:49 pm by TheAngelForever

Ready or not, Passover is coming quickly (officially begins next Saturday evening). Since next week is April break, NHL’s school had their Passover Seder that parents were invited to this week. So, yesterday my mother, JSL and I went to NHL’s school for their mini-Seder. It was absolutely adorable to watch NHL, especially when he saw that Nana was with us. Here are some photos and a video of the Seder.

JSL had a great time in Nana’s arms for the entire Seder. He loved watching all of the kids, especially his big brother.

NHL sat down at a table with some of his friends, so we joined him to wait for everything to begin.

This is how the table looked when we sat down. In case anyone is curious the tongue depressors represent the shank bone that is on the Seder Plate.

Before we were able to try the Passover foods the kids all performed some Passover songs for us. Here is a small part of my favorite song. It was too funny hearing all of the little ones singing the chorus in the halls prior to this. As you will see some knew the other parts, but they all chime in for the chorus.

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NHL loves to perform. As you can see he was quite happy when he was going back to the table after singing.

NHL gobbled up everything that was on his plate (although he was not in love with the radish).

JSL was able to try some of the Charoset thanks to it being a nut free building. Nana said he loved it!

Of course the kids did not have wine, instead it was grape juice all around.

A fun little seder for all. I am SO thrilled that NHL was able to go to this school. I have fond memories of it when I was little and I know he will too.

Categories:
fun holidays jsl nhl photos school video

Wordless Wednesday – Baby on the move

Posted on April 9, 2008 9:44 am by TheAngelForever

Wow - look at all of the things up here

Look Ma - no hands!

Hmmm. . . get the toy or not?

Keep on going

Look at the little jeans - *sigh*

Categories:
jsl milestone weekend Wordless Wednesday

Weekend of baby walking, knitting and Passover preparations

Posted on April 6, 2008 11:15 pm by TheAngelForever

This weekend was very busy for all of us in Angel Land. We had a 50th birthday party for our neighbor Saturday. The party was very nice. We were able to see many of the people who had become strangers over the winter months. NHL went with us, but we brought JSL to stay with Nana and Papa. He went there a sweet baby who could crawl and get into mischief. He was returned to us a determined child who wanted to walk holding on to anything and everything. He learned to walk with a ride on toy. Nana and Papa actually gave him his birthday present early and he is in LOVE with it. Photos to come later (no time to edit now). The nice thing we just keep him up and walking and he gets lots of energy out easily. Unfortunately it means his hands are higher and able to get into more.

I changed my mind, here is a sneak peek. . .

*ACK* – My baby is growing up way too quickly!

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Before the weekend I finished a washcloth that I had promised NHL when he was sick. He asked me to make him something new and selected one that looked like Snoopy (free pattern found here). This is what it looked like when I was finished.

This morning the last rows of another knitting group were revealed. Once again ten rows were given daily and at the end everyone has the same great cloth. This one was from Shirley’s Knitting Knook Group on Yahoo and designed by Melanie of Lil Knit of This & That. This was the first KAL of the new group and is adorable. I believe I saw that Shirley called it Showers in Spring, but not sure what the official name is.

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NHL went out for the morning/afternoon with Nana and Papa. While they did this we went to purchase Passover groceries since it is just around the corner. We spent an obscene amount of money on kosher for Passover products. Although our receipt showed that we saved $30 – I did not smile. The only part I was happy about was our deal on diapers. The store had a deal on big boxes of Pampers for $19.99. I had a P&G $2.00 coupon and the grocery store was doubling P&G coupons today. Thanks to this I was able to get JSL 72 diapers for $16 – not too shabby!

After putting away groceries and eating lunch, we went to pick up NHL and set up my parents new wireless printer. When we came back home I was set to dry the load of laundry that I put in this morning. Little did I know that I would take on another project. While putting things away I noticed that JSL barely has any clothing that actually fits. I hauled out all of the containers of 0-12 month items, put things away and took some out. Then I went and brought the 18-24 month things up. I decided to put all of those things into the wash. Then I made sure that everything that was 24 month and 2T was ready to grab easily for later in the summer. I certainly got a work out going up and down the stairs to the basement more times than I can remember.

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Randoms thoughts:

My baby is going to be one in just over a month – WAHHHHHHH!
Plans need to be made and set for the 1st birthday party that we will be having on Mother’s Day.
Passover is coming way too quickly. . . I am NOT ready for this.
I want to knit tonight, but I think I am too tired. I am working on a back scrubber for JL (he actually requested this).
New Moon is sitting and gathering dust waiting for me to read.
Wednesday I am going to NHL’s Seder at school – it should be so cute!
Thursday JSL goes to the dentist. Although he has been before they are counting this as his first official visit.
NHL is having problems breathing again (he is winded just talking). He will likely need to go to a specialist to figure out the cause and to help us treat it successfully.
Who Needs Sleep by Barenaked Ladies is my theme song – really it is!