Girlfriends

There is nothing as sweet as having a solid group of girlfriends. I feel like I am finally forming a strong group of girlfriends in Shelbyville after being here for a year and a half and just feel so blessed to have other mommies/wives/women that I can pretty much share anything with! About 4 years ago I met some of the greatest women on the planet. Since we met, we have all married and three of us have kiddos. Through growing up and doing life we have all managed to not only stay in touch, but get together and everytime we do its as if we havent missed a beat. All of us live all over...Murray, KY; St. Louis, MO; Nashville, TN; and Shelbyville, KY. Even more awesome then having a great friendship with these girls is that our husbands not only get along with eachother, they actually like hanging out together and when we all get together we pretty much do the middle school thing and split up girls/guys;) We all went to STL this weekend and had an AWESOME times here are a few pics...and yes they are all skinny and gorgeous so taking our traditional "group pic" and 8 months pregnant was not making me feel so hot:)

I also MUST give a shout out to Amanda in Memphis...fellow girlfriend and new mommy:) who happens to have a great blog that you need to check out http://www.unnerstall.blogspot.com/

I'm a Winner:)

I hope I have not been boring everyone with all my talk of rewards codes and websites and consignment stores BUT this is exciting. One way you can "spend your Huggies points is by playing instant win games. Now, you have no control in the game and it is pure chance but apprently every once in a while is worth it. I was thinking how great it would be to have a "non-fat, no whip, caramel macchiatto or white chocolate mocha" today so I though oh why not "spend" 1 Huggies point and see if I can win. I have tried a few times before but I don't do it a lot because I am saving up for the good stuff (like gap gift card, gas card, etc.) but I did it and I won! So in the next 8-10 weeks I will be getting a $10 starbucks giftcard in the mail...just in time for baby number two:) Happy Friday!

Louisville's Best Kept Secret

... for anyone who has kids or knows someone that has kids (okay that's everyone!) then you MUST hear about this place...

babyGAP, Janie & Jack, LILLY, Kelly's Kids, Ralph Lauren, Stride Rite, Pottery Barn Kids--are you drooling yet?! Whether you live in a mansion or a shoe box or make 6 figures or none at all SLUGGER KIDS is the place to shop for your kiddos. All the brands I mentioned above are lining racks and racks (and may I say organized racks because Lord knows you don't have time to search and search if you have your little ones with you) of the east end consignment store known as Slugger Kids. I was fortunate enough to work there and am really good friends with the owner and let me tell you she knows her stuff. This is not the kind of consignment store where you will pick up an item and notice a huge stain or a rip. She only sells the best and only accepts the best. If you have girls/ have girls to shop for you must go check it out. Also, if you are a fan of smocked outfits (girls and boys) there is an abundance! Just to give you a taste check out my amazing finds from today:

(left) Children's Place- still with tags on it retails for $14.50 I paid $6.99
(right) Life is good romper retails for $25.00 I paid $6.99

baby gap one piece retails for $25.00 I paid $7.00

babygap hat retails for $15.00 I paid $5.00

stride rite shoes retail for $39.90 I paid $10.00

nike long sleeve shirt retails for $25.00 I paid $5.00

ralph lauren long sleeve shirt retails for $18.00 I paid $4.00

FREE stuff

We all love free stuff, and these days at our house "couponing" is starting to become a Sunday staple. I just started cutting coupons and last time I went to the grocery I saved $50 woohoo, and a few days ago saved $8 on Huggies diapers (if you buy diapers you know what an accomplishment that is:) Which brings me to this...which brand of diapers do you use? I can only speak for Huggies (but I know Pampers has a rewards program too) but if you are not participating in the rewards program...YOU NEED TO! We switched from Huggies to store brand diapers/wipes for a while to save money, but between coupons and rewards we have found that it is worth it to stay loyal to the name brand (in this case anyway). I have only been collecting rewards codes for about a month but already have enough to get some free things from Huggies (ex. an entire bag of swimmie diapers!). The codes are found in wipes/diapers. Also, I recently found this awesome website that has free deals everyday and she has a TON of Huggies/Pampers codes that you can use to help you add to your total points.

www.freebies4mom.com

www.enjoytheriderewards.com

What are some things yall are finding to help save a buck or two?!

The House that Built Me

"It's just a house." I agree with that statement for the most part, but it is the people that live in that house that make it a home. Recently, Chris and I have been talking about what we want our first house to be like...you know...at least 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a basement (finished or not) a fenced in yard--and the wish list goes on. Buying a house is not in the near future for us (which we are totally content with) but it is oh so fun to daydream about. Talking about what we want our house to be like has brought up many memories and conversations about the house I grew up in. Throughout my highschool years the door to our house was like a swinging door...people in and out ALL the time. That house served as a hangout place, movie theatre, restaurant, crash pad for our friends, a safe place...my parents did an incredible job of always having the door open for my friends and I. I cannot count how many times I called them and the conversation usually started out like this "umm mom, is dad there?" (haha just kidding) I would say "my friends have nothing to do and were wondering if they could come over." there response "sure." never "how many people...what are yall going to do, etc" just a yeah, sure. And 9 out of 10 times by the time everyone got to my house there had been pizza ordered and snacks/drinks on the counter. This had such a huge influence on me, that I am determined no matter where we live I want our kids to want to bring their friends over. I want our kids to want to be home and I want our home to be a safe place. It must be the end of pregnancy hormones taking over again but I heard this song last week and then saw the video and I couldn't help but cry. I hope the house that built you was as great as mine.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQYNM6SjD_o

Nanny and Papaw

This past Saturday we headed down to Grayson County to visit Chris's mom and step-dad...aka nanny and papaw. Caden is their 6th grandbaby (Chris is the youngest of 4) and they absolutely ADORE their grandkids...esp Caden:)

One of my New Favorite Things

One of my new favorite things is THIS smoothie

1/2 cup of strawberries
1/2 cup of orange juice
1 banana (cut up)
ice cubes (optional)

dump it all in the blender, blend and ENJOY! What could be better than drinking this on a hot summer day?!

So simple, so healthy and SO yummy!

Son/Father's Prayer

It must be getting near the end of my pregnancy because everything is making me cry:) Although anyone who has a son this may bring to tears. We were eating dinner at Boondocks in PCB and they have one of those gift shops. You know, the kind you walk into and immediately want to purchase everything that you see. I was walking out and this caught my eye, and soon after I read it begin to fill my eyes with tears:

home is where the heart is...

and my heart is at the beach! I know most people like the beach but Panama City Beach, FL is probably my favorite place in the world. The past week we went on a family vacation to see my grandparents and soak up some Florida sunshine. It was SO good to see grandma and grandpa--who got some extra special lovin from Caden- and staying with family is awesome:) My grandma cooked dinner, cleaned for us, and watched Caden...not to mention we got to spend a lot of time together...thanks for everything grandma and grandpa cant wait to see you in May!