Boy vs. Girl

As a mom of both a boy and a girl it sure does make life interesting. Daily I get to see how truly different the two sexes are and why there are stero-types regarding each. And often it's not that they have been taught to act in that particular way, just that it is very instinctual to them.

I am constantly keeping an eye on Viggo. He has such an amazing spirit and is FULL of energy. He definitely has a zest for life and loves attention. If there ever was the epitome of boy, he is it; curious, active, physical, loud and very smart. You can often find him trying to "bait and switch" his little sister or any other friend of his who has a toy he wants. Nadia will pick up his train and he will want it. If we aren't monitoring the situation he'll just take it from her and it's followed up by her banshee scream. But if we tell him to give it back or happen to intercede the situation he will find some toy he doesn't want to play with and try and give her that so he can take the one he wants. It's so funny that that behavior is instinctual and not something he's necessarily learned. I mean, he just turned three so it's not like he even understands what "bait and switching" is much less have learned the technique of it!

Being a woman it's always interesting observing Viggo's "maleness". The other day he was in the bathroom going potty. He always asks for privacy so I go back to check on him and he tells me "I need it to get smaller". I'm like, what? What needs to get smaller? "My pee-nee, it needs to get smaller". Oh dear, now how do I handle this one? "Well stop touching it and it will get smaller." I mean, seriously, you wouldn't think that behavior would start this young but it most certainly does....younger even!

He certainly is my challenging child but he is so loving and affectionate. He's always thinking of others and if someone gets hurt he's right there with a concerned attitude and ready to kiss a boo-boo all better. He loves to snuggle and I will take all that I can get of it because I know one day he might not want to.

Now little miss Nadia is definitely coming out of her baby shell and becomming very much a toddler in her own right. She has been a lot easier to discipline then Viggo ever has. But she's also always been much more emotional (see above in second paragraph re: banshee scream). At one point we were trying to teach her to say please and she would break down in an emotional puddle of goo complete with screaming and crying just because we were making her say please. I mean, the gall of us!

She also fills in some of those sterotypes of women being afraid of insects. This morning we were outside playing and she starts screaming "BUG! BUG!" It was an ant. A very small ant. I show her to stomp on it and she looks like I've grown a second head and shakes her head no while saying "UNH-UH!!!" How dare I suggest such a thing. Then she runs over to the other end of the patio to sit on the steps. She also is much less physical than Viggo. She doesn't care about climbing except to go up on the couch. Where I had to watch Viggo so he didn't climb all the way up on top of the dinning room table and swing from the ceiling fan, Nadia has never had that as an option on her list of To Do's.

I love that she is so gentle. She loves to play with my hair and give me a nice snuggle. She also loves the girlie things like painting her nails. She calls it "pretties". She loves shoes! Oh my the girl loves her some shoes. And recently she's started playing with her toy purse. I have a couple up in her closet saved for when she really was ready to start getting into that and I think we are almost there.

They also eat differently although maybe not as one who is stero-typing would think. Viggo is the picky, bird eater and Nadia is my put-it-in-front-of-me-and-I'll-definitely-try-it kind of girl. And if it's not something truly hideous (like cole slaw) she'll eat it. I've never had any worries about her getting enough food in her tummy like I've had with Viggo. He's had me so worried at times that I've bought him nutritional drinks just to cover our bases.

Having both a boy and a girl is truly a blessing. They certainly complement one another and I get the best of both worlds!

Why aren't you writing???

Well it has been quite a long time since I last wrote. Life just got really crazy about a month ago. I mean, everyone is busy. I think it would be quite the rare person to say they weren't. Just a ton of stuff going on all at once.

First off, the biggie. My mom became very ill right about the same time I last wrote something. It started off with her having pneumonia and her body just took a turn for the worst. She has previous health issues (a liver transplant but the disease came back in the new liver) and this complicated matters. She was in ICU for almost 3 weeks. At one point the outlook seemed grim and we didn't think she would pull through. Her kidneys stopped working, she was under sedation and on a breathing tube. It was like one bad thing after another. But slowly, day by day she started to heal and just today she was released from the hospital and moved to a rehab clinic so she can start the process of walking again. From all the illness and being immobile for so long, her body got so weak and it is a lot of work and effort just for her to stand and walk a few feet. So she is getting physical therapy every day and growing stronger. Hopefully she will be back home in a couple weeks. She still has pneumonia but will be on an anti-biotic for 6-8 weeks to hopefully knock it completely out. I just bought a plane ticket this evening to go out and help her in about 3 weeks. Once she's home she will need a lot of help around the house so I really want to be there for her. I'm going to miss my kids like crazy though! I've only ever been away from the both of them for 24 hours at a time so this is going to be hard on everyone.

I haven't actually done a lot of shopping this past month either. I did hit up Target last week and scored really well on Pull-ups. They were on sale for $8.99 and I had two $5/1 coupons from mailers and a $2/1 coupon. Then Target had a special that if you bought 3 packages you got a $5 gift card. AND I will send the receipt into the Caregiver's Marketplace and get $0.75 back per package. So after all is said and done I paid $2.57 a package! Not shabby at all. My son is completely potty trained now however I still put a pull up on him at night just in case. He wakes up dry but I guess I just think it's too good to be true and the one night I don't put a pull-up on him he's going to wet the bed! I figure whatever he can't use my daughter certainly can. I will probably start actively potty training her in a couple months. She's been going potty since she was 16 months old but I just didn't have the energy to pursue it further than plopping her on the potty when it's convenient for me.

Now I need to go and distract myself with some television. Damian decided to "re-apply" the tiles in the bathroom because they are separating from the wall from water getting behind there. There's crashing....and well, that's usually not good. All I can envision is him walking down the stairs and telling me we are now remodeling our ONLY bathroom. YIKES!!

What's in a name?

I was playing around with swagbucks searching today trying to earn more points (btw - you can join me and earn points to redeem for gift cards too - just look on the right side bar).

Anyway, I decided to google the meaning of the kid's names and see what came up. I already knew what they were, but again, trying to just do searches to earn points. But something struck me as I read over the results.

Through doing bible studies this past year I've learned a lot about how people were named that are in the bible. A great amount of effort and detail was put forth in giving a name. Names had meanings and were specifically chosen for an individual. Today we don't really name our children in that manner, rather we prefer picking names that sound pleasing to us.

So Viggo's name means "war", "warrior" or "war-like". It's Scandinavian even though it sounds Italian. I think back to how it took a while for us to get pregnant with him and it did seem like a war of sorts. Months and tests that we went through waiting for him. And while Viggo is the sweetest, caring and loving child.....sometimes Damian and I feel like we are at war with him. :)

Nadia's name means "hope", "hopeful" or as one website says "one who received the call of God". I like the latter. Mostly because after all the "war" to have our son, our daughter was a bit of a surprise to come so soon. I think she was heeding the call of God to come to our family. Just something nice to think about.

I'd post a couple pictures of them but it seems I haven't been taking many lately. Of course, Viggo knows that we are having his three year photos done next weekend and is daily bumping up his face with bruises and scrapes. Every year that child has a bruise in his photos! My children have this sixth sense about professional photos being taken - they just know it's coming and start banging their faces up.

Here's a little break from the usual posts

I was just sitting here watching my daughter pull every toy out of the toy box and realized she's 20 months old, just week away from being 21 months old.

Then I start to think about how my first two children are only 14 1/2 months apart and it BLOWS MY MIND people. I mean, it would be like having a 5 month old right now. I can't even imagine that even though I've lived it! There must be some serious blockage going on because I can't fathom having another baby right this very minute - much less a 5 month old.

I know God gave me some serious grace to go through having two so close together. He continues to as well but I have to say it is much easier now than it was then. By no means am I claiming to have it down and it's easy - no way! Anyone that has me as a facebook friend could see from yesterday that I have some trying days. Probably more then I often talk about but I guess I think the good always outweighs the bad.

I don't know why He choose to create my family the way He did but I'm ever grateful for my beautiful babies. Even when they shred a box of q-tips, pour baby powder all over their room and scream like a rabid banshee. They make me smile and life is much more interesting, that's for sure!

Walgreens for 5/4

Transaction 1

• Colgate Sensitive toothpaste 6 oz, $4.49 (used $0.75/1 man coupon, received a $4.50 RR making this a profit of $0.76!)
• Right Guard Xtreme deodorant 2.6 oz, on sale for $2.99 (used $1/1 man coupon, received a $2 RR making this free!)

Total before coupons and RR's: $7.97
Total after coupons and RR's: -$0.28
Total saved: I made $0.28!

Transaction 2

• Colgate Sensitive toothpaste 6 oz, $4.49 (used $0.75/1 man coupon, received a $4.50 RR making this a profit of $0.76!)
• Right Guard Xtreme deodorant 2.6 oz, on sale for $2.99 (used $1/1 man coupon, received a $2 RR making this free!)
• Listerine Total Care 500 ml, on sale 2/$9 x 2 (used $2/1 x 2 man coupons, received a $4.50 RR)
• V8 Fusion Juice, on sale 2/$6 (used $2/1 x 2 man coupons)
• 12 pack soda, 3/$11 (used $1/1 x 2 man coupons, received a $5 RR)
• Pert Plus for men 3-in-1, on sale 2/$5 (used $1.50/1 x 2 man coupons, received a $2 RR making these both free!)
• Aveeno Active Naturals Daily Moisture lotion 2.5 oz, on sale for $2.63 x 3 (used $2/1 man coupons x 2, used $1/1 man coupon, supposed to receive a Free Travel Kit with purchase of 3 Aveeno items but I didn't so I'll have to take my receipt back and check on that)
• Pencil, on clearance for $0.03 each x 3
• Hershey Kit Kat, $0.69 x 2
• Twix bars, 2/$1.59

Total before coupons and RR's: $52.06
Total after coupons and RR's: $14.31
Total saved: $37.75 or 73%

Total for entire trip before coupons and RR's: $60.03
Total for entire trip after coupons and RR's: $14.03
Total saved: $46 or 77%!

I bought the candy and pencils as filler items because I used RR's to pay for my 2nd transaction (didn't count those in the total though since I have already counted them). Because of the "one coupon per item - including Register Rewards" rule, I had to add a few things in so I could use $16 in RR's (it ate up $3.06 of that $16 - I could have just got the pencils but a little bit of chocolate is nice too).

Walgreens for 5/1

Transaction 1

• Nivea body wash 16.9 oz, on sale for $4.99 (received a $5 RR making this free!)
• Rembrandt toothpaste 2.6 oz, on sale for $5.99 (used $1/1 man coupon, received a $6 RR making this purchase a profit of $1!)

Total before coupons and RR's: $11.69
Total after coupons and RR's: -$3.31 (I also used a $3 RR from a previous visit and am counting it since I didn't write a post about it)
Total saved: made $3.31!!

Transaction 2

• Got2B styling mousse 8 oz, on sale for 2/$10 (used $2/1 x 2 man coupon, received a $5 RR)
• Huggies Natural Fit diapers 34 ct, on sale for 2/$20 (used $3/2 man coupon, received a $2 RR, will also send receipt in to Caregivers Marketplace and receive back $0.75 for each pack)
• Zyrtec 24hour 30 ct, on sale for $18.99 (used $4/1 man coupon)

Total before coupons and RR's: $49.38
Total after coupons and RR's: $4.86 (I also used $25 in RR's from previous visits and am counting them since I didn't write a post about them)
Total saved: $44.52 or 90%!

Total before coupons and RR's for entire trip: $61.07
Total after coupons and RR's for entire trip: $1.55
Total saved: $59.52 or 97%!!

You may have heard that Walgreens is no longer doing the Easy Saver Rebate Program and there is no longer the IVC (instant value coupons) that were in the book. Boo! Hiss! Maybe they will come out with a new program or maybe, like I'm seeing lately, is that they are beefing up their Register Rewards offerings. There are also always store coupons in their weekly flyer. The only thing I don't like about RR's are that they expire and most of the time, they expire within a week or two. So you have to really be on top of the dates.

One note of caution: they are being pretty strict with redeeming the RR's. The manager tonight told me that you have to at least as many items in your transaction as you have coupons - including the RR's. So, you can't buy 12 items, use a manufacturer coupon for each of those 12 items and use RR's. The register will beep. My suggestion is to add cheap "filler" items (a pack of gum, candy or pencil) that will fill that "needing enough items" quota. I'm not sure yet if that also includes the Walgreen flyer coupons since they are a store coupon and not a manufacturer coupon. I will have to either do a trial and error or ask.

Walgreen's for 4/16 - one of the best yet!

Transaction 1

• Scunci no-damage elastics 18 pk, on sale for $2 (received a $2 Register Reward making it FREE!)
• Fiber choice 10 count tablets, $2.49 (received a $2.50 RR making it FREE!)
• Coffee Mate 16 oz, on sale 2/$3 (used $1.50/1 man coupon x 2 making these both FREE!)
• Breyers Ice cream, on sale BOGO, $6.29 (used $0.75/1 x 2 man coupon)
• Bertolli Oven Bakes, on sale $5.99 each x 2 (used $2/1 man coupon x 2)
• Chapstick 100% Naturals, on sale $1.99 (received a $2 RR making it FREE!)
• Bounty paper towels, 128 sheet, $2.39 each x 3 (used Wags coupon making them 3/$5, used $1/1 man coupon x 3)
• PAAS Egg color kit, originally $1.99, on clearance for $0.49 each x 2
• PAAS Egg Party kit, originally $4.99, on clearance for $1.24

Total before clearance, coupons and RR's: $50.91
Total after clearance, coupons and RR's: $4.70
Total saved: $46.21 or 91%!!!

Transaction 2

• Skintimate shave cream, on sale $2.99 (received a $3 RR making it FREE!)
• Chapstick 100% Naturals, on sale $1.99 (received a $2 RR making it FREE!)
• Colgate MaxWhite toothbrush, on sale $3.29 (used $0.75/1 man coupon, received $3.50 RR making this a profit of $0.96!)
• Fiber choice 10 count tablets, $2.49 (received a $2.50 RR making it FREE!)

Total before coupons and RR's: $11.30
Total after coupons and RR's: -$0.45!
Total saved: I made $0.45 and that includes the tax!!

Transaction 3

• Skintimate shave cream, on sale $2.99 (received a $3 RR making it FREE!)
• Colgate MaxWhite toothbrush, on sale $3.29 (used $0.75/1 man coupon, received $3.50 RR making this a profit of $0.96!)
• Scunci no-damage elastics 18 pk, on sale for $2 (received a $2 Register Reward making it FREE!)

Total before coupons and RR's: $8.82
Total after coupons and RR's: -$0.43!
Total saved: I made $0.43 and that includes the tax!!

Total before clearance, coupons and RR's for entire trip: $71.03
Total after clearance, coupons and RR's for entire trip: $3.82
Total saved for entire trip: $67.21 or 95%!!!!

Yay!!! This is one of my best trips yet!