As it turns out....

I did manage to screw up my CVS run. As I was sitting at my Weight Watchers meeting waiting for it to start, I reviewed my receipt (in order to pat myself on the back) when lo and behold-- there it was. The big fat mistake I should have known would be there.

This is where my rookie-ness really shines. Somehow, almost every time I do this, I grab the wrong size of something that throws off my plan. There was a Huggies deal this week (spend $20 on CERTAIN Huggies products, get 5 ecb's back.) Including body wash, wipes and certain count diapers. I had some great coupons for all of it. Except I bought the wrong count diapers. Dang it! Instead of grabbing the $10 pack- and counting toward my $20 total for the ecb deal, I bought the $17 pack that DID NOT count toward the deal. Therefore, costing me an extra $7 and NOT resulting in my 5 ecbs. Sheesh.

So, I gotta go back tomorrow with my tail between my legs- again, take back the $17 diapers, trade 'em in for the $10 pack and hopefully walk out with my 5 ecbs. There is also a razor I'm after that hits the shelves tomorrow afternoon. (silly!)

Deal experts- how long will it take before I stop making these lame-o mistakes? Is there hope? Tune in tomorrow for the rest of the story!

Let is snow let it snow let it snow

Since we've been a bit snowed in and couped up I thought I'd include some pictures to share how we've been passing the winter days away.

Olivia likes to help me clip my coupons. She's pretty good at it (she doesn't get to handle the real ones, but what she doesn't know won't hurt her.)


Turner has a stacking toy that he likes to wear on his head. Don't let this angelic pose fool you, he's into EVERYTHING. All the time. He is a clown and loves to ham it up. I enjoy this guy a ton.

I caught these two up to what I thought was no good. Didn't hear anything for several minutes and here they were. O was reading Turner a book and he was "kind of" listening. It was very sweet, until moments later, Turner ripped the book away from O, she slapped his hand and they both took turns screaming at each other. Perhaps a taste of things to come.

Pretty much, we're ready for spring to arrive around here. But I'm not holding my breath for an early arrival this year. Better luck at your house.

"You're getting good at this"

Words that will keep me going with this coupon/CVS thing for at least one more week. The super nice cashier at the CVS that I go to has hung in there with me. Since blowing the budget in November and December trying to get this thing right, I think I now have it down.

I got all this stuff for $25.18, out of pocket. The cashier "announced" to the line that I'm getting good at this and that I saved $50 this trip. I also made 8 ecb's for my next trip. And after I go back tomorrow and get my "free" razor, I'll make another 4 ecbs. I actually got a few of these items for free b/c they were on the clearance rack and I had coupons for the exact amount of the clearance price. So what if I don't exactly need 2 bottles of Pantene conditioner, I might sometime, and since I didn't have to pay for it... I also got that bag of Chex Mix for free and the Mentos gum for free. The three pack of Kleenex was .69 out of pocket.

The weather here is glum, 8 inches of snow, freezing cold temperatures and more snow on the way. My mom's been in the hospital so the last thing on my mind has been CVSing, but my mom was released to physical therapy rehab today, I got Kudos from the CVS cashier and the weekend is right around the corner. Yippee!

under the pile

This past week I've been reading a new blog that I've found. Blogging and reading blogs has certainly become a hobby for me. It's fun, it keeps me positive about my life and being a mom and in general makes me happy. But this week as I stumbled upon this new blog (which by the way I am like a million people removed from this girl who lives down South, but like with most blogs, it's fun to spy on a complete stranger's life) and it brought me to the verge of depression. Honestly, I'm ashamed of myself on many fronts for this entire post- first off because what should have brought me to the point of depression and the whole reason I went and read this blog to begin with- her newborn daughter being rushed to the NICU and on the verge of death- is not the reason for my sadness. Instead, it is the ridiculously cute life that this girl leads that has made me depressed. My selfishness, pride and envy were all exposed as I've been peaking into her life.

There are photos of this girl during labor that are INSANELY cute. (Quite frankly, no one should look as lovely as she did during labor- NO ONE!) The day before she went to the hospital for her induction she posted with pictures the gift bags she had prepared for her nurses, the homemade monogrammed cookies (with her daughters initials) that were wrapped and tied with adorable bows and matching chocolate dipped pretzels that looked like cigars that were to be given to all of their visitors in the hospital. Even the blog itself is customized and amazing. She wrote about how the month before she was due people gave her the great idea to get a house cleaner to help lighten the load. She photoed and posted pictures of the sweet little monogrammed wardrobe that awaits her daughter when she does get home from the hospital, most of which had come as gifts. Thousands of people read her blog.

As I got done reading and was looking around my house (which I am so thankful for and think God has hooked us up with nice stuff - as if that is what is really important anyhow) I was in a funk. I can barely keep from breaking my neck as I trip on the toys in my path, or the dust bunnies from reaching out from under the sofa and pulling me under, or keep the laundry clean, folded and PUT AWAY. Most days I try to have my make up done, a reasonably fashionable outfit on and an interesting blog entry (at least one that I think is interesting) posted. But it all seemed to pale in comparison. I'm not cute enough, my house isn't clean enough or de-cluttered enough. Not only am I not baking gift bag treats or monogramming outfits, I'm lucky if I can get dinner on the table.

Then I just had to stop. Stop the madness. Comparison is such an evil trap. I love my life. Most days I am truly satisfied. Her blog has led me to hug my kids and appreciate them more this week than ever. The thought of having them near death or in a NICU, not being able to hold them or kiss them is horrible. So I've taken extra time this week to love them and kiss them. Each person is wired differently and uniquely and culture really does play an important role in how someone does life (Ohio and the deep South = not the same!) I probably will never wear pearl earrings- labor or no labor. I probably will never spend heaps of time making sure my shoes and other accessories are co-ordinating. Those things aren't bad and they aren't bad if they don't exist either.

I'm trying to give myself a break and embrace who I am. But I just might try and let my inner bow-head come out to play, I'll let you know how that goes.

ps this girl's baby is making slow but steady progress toward recovery and breathing on her own. It really has been fun to pray for a baby and a family I don't even know!

I'm in love!

If you know me or you've followed this blog even a little bit you know that I'm a self-proclaimed technical laggard. (I learned that word in high school and it makes me sound really smart. But it's just a smart word for LAMO!)

Anyhow, until Christmas, Steve and I had a dinosaur of a printer. The kind that was big, bulky and you screwed it into the back of your computer. Well when our old computer died this fall and we had to get a new, high tech laptop the old dinosaur finally went extinct when there weren't even holes in the back of the computer to attempt screwing anything into. So for Christmas I asked my parents for a new printer.

True to my beloved's personality, before purchasing a new anything, lots and lots of time, research and energy must go into said purchase. After subscribing to consumer reports for a few months, Christmas finally came to our house in January (when we could also "take advantage of all the after-Christmas sales.") P.S. If it were up to Steve, we would celebrate Christmas at the Chinese New Year so that ALL gifts could be purchased in what he is sure is the cheapest time of the year ever- known as- After Christmas Sales. But I digress...

Well, let's just say my new printer is AWESOME. I'm a printing fool. Because not only does it print- wireless- it's also a copier. So now, I really don't have to plan ahead. I don't have to worry about a trip to Kinko's or a visit to our office, I can lay around until my copies are needed. This is like my dream come true. And I've got a stack of sweet coupons just begging for a trip to the store-- so I can buy more stuff-- I mean, uh, save us money!!!

Now you know where to find me, Makin' copies!

One step away from The Shining!

Can't you just see it in Turner's eyes? Cabin fever is officially here. Winter in Ohio stinks! We'd take a 50 degree day (shoot, we'd even take
a 30 degree day) where we could head over to the park for some fresh air. But instead we are watching our fair share of movies, going to the Y and ....

inventing new games. This is one of O's new favorites. She gets really nervous and gets a great core workout until she finally gives in and trusts her daddy and then swings upside down for awhile. It is hilarious.

And finally, yesterday I couldn't take Olivia's hair for one more day. We high-tailed it over to Kookie Kutters after my work out and I asked them to help a girl out. Can't you see the relief in her face!

She went from beggar child to super cutie in one trim of the mullet! Last time we went in for a haircut I asked them to keep it long because it was finally long enough for a ponytail. But O REFUSES to let me put her hair in a ponytail. I kid not- I ask several times a day if I can put one in. Usually the response is, "Not today." What can I do? It's her hair after all.

But the straw that finally broke the camels back was the day before the haircut and I was on my 3rd plea of the day for a ponytail when she said no. I started to badger her. "Olivia, why don't you want a ponytail?" "Because I don't want a ponytail." "But WHY don't you want one." "Because I don't want one." "Yeah, but what's the reason?"

Finally, she looked me square in the eye and it was as if I had a flash forward moment (to a 13 year old O) and said, "Stop asking me!"

There you have it. What the heck was I trying to do? But I have to say this new haircut is super cute. So now I'm annoying her by about 5 times a day saying, "I love your new haircut!" Funny, she doesn't seem to shut that one down!

Good news on a cold day

There are so many things about our adoption that point to a higher authority. God is in control and we believe that. In fact, this whole adoption thing just kind of came to be. It settled in our hearts and there was no looking back. While we are still waiting further word, our dossier is on a desk somewhere in Beijing, China. We wait and we pray for Quinn; our son whom we've never met but is probably tottering and teetering just like Turner somewhere in China today.

Another proof that God is involved is a crazy detail regarding our friend Shannon being at his exact orphanage this past summer with a group of other Chinese young executives on a service project to beautify his orphanage. Shannon is a really great Chinese friend of mine and we have a long history together. When we first found out where Quinn was living, my friend Lisa told me that Shannon had been there and that she may have a contact at the orphanage whom we could get in touch with. I've been facebooking Shannon since we found out about Quinn. Here is the message I received this morning:

Dear E,

Sorry for not writing you for so long. Sophie is no longer there. One of the girls in my home group is from Xi An, she asked one of her friends to go to Xian Yang and look for Sophie but she is no longer working there. I will try to send you some photos later. When I was there, kids under five were managed separately by an organization, not part of the bigger orphanage. Almost all the staff are believers, kids are loved and taken care of very well. I was really amazed at what I saw. We painted huge murals for the first floor, which is where the small children lived. Have you gotten your kid yet?

I'm leaving tonight for the Chinese new year and will be back at the end of Jan. I'll contact you then! Have a warm winter, miss you!

Shannon

Are you kidding me??? We pray every night before bed (as Quinn begins his day in China) that there would be someone there to love him, hug him and protect him until we can get our hands on him and bring him home. It sounds as if there is a good chance that is happening (and not always the case in orphanages across China nor the world.)

I am so thankful that God would connect us to a little boy, rejected because of a facial deformity, but scooped up by his Maker and put in a safe place until he can come home. Naturally, we would have been just as happy to pick up a child whose started life in a horrible situation, but had we not started this journey when we did and progress in just the format in which we had, we would not have been matched with Quinn.

Please continue to pray for a fast forward on the rest of the red tape and that we would be able to go and get him soon! God is certainly in the details.