Coupons

I think that this economy has a lot of people in the save a little more, spend a little less mentality. In light of that view, Stephen and I have been going over our budget. I don't think that we are extravagant spenders. I am not out shopping for clothes for me or the children like many people my age do. In fact, Emma's and Benjamin's clothes are almost exclusively hand-me downs. I just brought home another suitcase full of clothes from Utah from Elizabeth's kids (thanks again for sharing with us!). The one thing that I am not very budget conscience on is our grocery bill. I usually plan the meal calendar for the month without regard to what is on sale. It is usually what sounds good to us and what we like. I do stock up if I find a good price on things at the grocery store, but often I just don't know what is a good price to pay. Lately, I have been doing a bit more research on couponing. I know that it is really popular right now and there are lots of blogs that teach you how to do it. I have been reading some and trying to learn my way around the coupon world. (It really is its own world.) So the last two weeks I have been clipping coupons and taking them to the store. I will only clip it if I know that we will use it. I certainly have mixed reviews for couponing thus far. The first thing that is a con for me is that it takes so long. I have to find the specific item that I have the coupon for. I think that I was in the store maybe 15 to 20 minutes longer than I normally would have been. For me in newborn stage those minutes can make all the difference between happy baby and screaming baby. The other con that I wonder about is all the people who use more than one coupon. Most of the ones that I have come in across are specifically labeled one per household, yet all the coupon bloggers are stocking up on these. Is it really being ethical or honest to keep using the coupon when they are labeled one per household? One pro that I have for it is that all my coupons took $10 off of the last grocery bill. My only wonder is that are coupons really saving me money. Mostly they are for name brand items, and I wonder if I had bought generic would it be the same price or cheaper? My verdict is still out. Do you coupon? What do you think of it? (By the way, there is a good coupon for diapers here if you have a little one.)

Emma at 6 Weeks

Emma's Blessing

Andrew and Kelly's Utah Reception

Pilot Benjamin

As we were preparing to fly to UT, Benjamin kept changing his mind from wanting to be a dentist, to teach people to brush their teeth, to a banker so he could have all the money, to finally a pilot. He was so excited to see how the pilot flies the airplane. As we boarded the plane, Stephen told the pilot what Benjamin wanted to be when he grows up. The pilot then told Benjamin to come up to the cockpit after the flight was over, and he would show him inside. Benjamin was in heaven the whole flight especially during take off and landing. He even enjoyed reading the safety procedure pamphlet. After the flight was over, the pilot kept his word and Benjamin even got to sit in his chair. What a lucky boy!

First Smiles on Camera

Emma is always smiling, but we can never catch a good one on camera. Liz got her to smile when she was up visiting, and Stephen can make her smile with his sing song noises. These are the few that we could capture. Even with a quick picture taking camera we can't get the full smile quite yet!

Emma at One Month

Aunt Liz

Aunt Liz, Stephen's sister, came to visit us from Colorado last weekend. She brought presents for Benjamin and Emma. Benjamin got a game called Cookin' Cookies, which is now a must for every household with young children, and some Color Wonder books. Emma got the cutest bows, which she is wearing one in the picture above. Hopefully Liz didn't think that we were too boring because it was basically a weekend of delicious food! Stephen and Liz cooked some delectable cuisine. We had migas, baked apple pancake, and blueberries muffins (from scratch) for our breakfasts, and for dinner we had parchment salmon and beef short ribs. Thanks for visiting us, sharing your great talent of cooking, entertaining Benjamin with the hundreds of games of Cookin' Cookies, chatting with us, and snuggling with Emma.

Baked Apple Pancake

Migas from Pioneerwomancooks.com

Beef Short Ribs from Smittenkitchen.com

Emma's Blessing Invitation

Please email us if you are going to be in Utah and would like more of the details.
We would love to have all our friends and family there.

Emma's Newborn Photographs

We had an amazing photographer and stylist come to the house to take some pictures of Emma. I think they turned out perfectly and best of all they were free! Thanks to Stephen's sister Liz, the stylist, and Stephen, the photographer, we have some great newborn shots.