The dreaded Christmas Shopping

Good evening friends, I apologize I've been MIA lately - life has been well, busy.

        Anyway, we all know that Thanksgiving is 16 days away (uhm, WHAT?!). Yep, seriously, go look at your calendar then take five before you even attempt to pick your jaw up off the floor. With Thanksgiving being so close, that means Christmas shopping is close. Now, if you're like me (in previous years) I waited until AFTER National Stuff Yourself Until You Vomit Day. This year I vowed to change that, I was tired of seeing such large sums of money leave our bank account at one time. With that, I will share that I managed to get $190 worth of toys (just toys) for... wait for it.... $62. No, they weren't used, damaged, broken, etc. they were hot off the shelf of my local Tar-J. So friends, Im here to share with you some great ways to save money this holiday season and keep your sanity.


Lets start with the basics: 
 - MOST stores will price match, do your research (yes, this seems time consuming but, is it worth it to save $130 on gifts?). For instance; Target listed the Fisher-Price Little People Princess Klip-Klop Stable for $39.99 online and in stores. Amazon was running a special for $29.99 with free shipping. Since I knew I had to go to Target anyway, I printed the listing from Amazon and at the completion of my shopping, I went to Guest Services instead of the cashier and asked for a price adjustment. But, AB, Thats only a $10 savings - where did the rest of your $120 savings come from? Don't get your britches in a bunch faithful reader, I will share with you.

-Go all Magnum P.I. on manufacturer websites and Facebook Pages. Weird. I know. What I mean by this is - go to the manufacturer website (Like Fisher-Price, Nerf, Hasbro, Playskool, Mattel, Etc.)  or their Facebook page and subscribe to their emails. Manufacturers want you to buy their products so they will do just about anything to get you to buy it. Yes, this includes giving away free money.

-Check the store's website (or phone/tablet app). Target launched this new app called 'Cartwheel' and it gives you deals that aren't listed on their website and it lists hundreds of deals throughout the store and yes, they will accept the coupon on your phone. Also check their website - every week Target releases their 'Weekly Ad'. In this ad it lists all the popular markdowns, and gives you a link (via email) to check out the weekly coupons. This week my local ad had $150 in toy coupons alone. Its a good idea to sign up for emails from a retailer that you plan to frequent during the holiday season as they often release deals via email before they release them to the public and occasionally throw in a nice treat (like Michaels sends me $5/off coupons that aren't in their ads).

-Check your store's coupon policy. I was able to stack a $10 coupon from the FP Facebook page, a $5 coupon from Tar-J and another $5 email coupon to get the Klip-Klop Stable for $9.99 + Tax. Some stores will allow you to stack, others won't. Some won't but depending on the person checking you out they will override all of your coupons so they work.

-Don't make every single purchase on the same day and don't hit the same store twice (see below for this one). This one may seem weird but, allow me to explain; If you are planning a trip to Target - make a list of all the items you need from Target and gather your price lowering powers (see above) and get just the items that you need to purchase from Target on that day. Oh, you're going to JCPenney next week, GREAT! Do the same thing there. It will help alleviate A. The exhaustion many people get from trying to hit 25 stores in one day, B. The shock of seeing that huge chunk of money leave your bank account in one day, C. It will also keep you (and your gifts) safer. I have tinted windows but, whats to stop a thief from watching me put my gifts into my car and follow me to the next store and wait for me to leave so he can take my fresh purchases? It seems like a one in a million chance, but hey, rather safe than sorry.

-STICK TO YOUR LIST. Yep, I said it. Im a habitual offender of not sticking to my list when it comes to Christmas/Holiday shopping. Its just who I am. Im a giver and feel like everybody always deserves more (unless you ask me what I want, I'll tell you nothing and be worse than a three year old at the dentist. I don't feel I deserve anything). Make a list and stick to it. Kids are the hardest people to do this for, trust me, I know. About mid-October I begin making my list and contacting people for their lists, it may seem early but, you may have people that forget, have no clue, or procrastinate and give you their list on November 10th (and if you're following my steps, you should have already made one purchase, or two). Make your list, check it four times, make sure no-one is purchasing the same things as you for your loved ones, divide it up by store, and carry it with you at all times. Still a habitual offender of not sticking to the list? DON'T GO TO THE SAME STORE TWICE. This is where I fail. Every-freaking-year, I fail. Why? Because I end up needing to go to Target, or The Container Store (great spot for stocking stuffers, in case you were curious) once or twice between the time I finish shopping and the time Christmas Day rolls around. Its horrible. Don't do it. You and your bank account will thank me later.

-Its okay to shop Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Seriously. I have four 'BIG' gifts on my list and Im not going to purchase them until I see the Black Friday and Cyber Monday ads. I have printed the lowest advertised price thus far (just in case they don't go lower) and have been watching the Black Friday ads closely and will continue to do so. I recommend you do the same.


Ok, so are you ready to get shopping? Fantastic. Go get your price-match and coupon ON!

Have a great week and a very happy Thanksgiving if I don't talk to y'all between now and then!!

A.B.

P.S. That picture is from last year. I don't put my Christmas tree up until the night of Thanksgiving or the weekend following!

Extra Yummy Pumpkin Bread

Good afternoon friends! I realize it has been over a month since we last saw each other, for that I apologize. I have been exceptionally busy juggling life, a child, a husband, a dog, a cat, needy family and issues with friends that I won't go into on here.

ANYWAY, since fall is only a few short days away (its four, but who's counting? Oh, right, I am!), I am already in fall baking mode. Today I made pumpkin bread, and six loaves later - my house smells ahhhh-mazing. So, friends, whats the point here? An easy recipe for you to make your house smell delicious and make your mouth water. Here's how it all goes down.

You'll want a stand mixer for this one, and a hand mixer too (or second stand mixer) if you are like me and realize half way through that all the liquid ingredients fill up 3/4 of your mixers bowl. You'll also need the following:

1 Can (29oz) Pumpkin Puree
8 Eggs
2 C. Vegetable Oil
1 1/2 C. Water
6 C. White Sugar
7 C. All- Purpose Flour
4 tsp. Baking Soda
3 tsp. Salt
2 tsp. Ground Cinnamon
2 tsp. Ground Nutmeg
1 tsp. Ground Cloves
1/2 tsp. Ground Ginger


Now, pre-heat that pretty oven of yours to 350 degrees, and pull out your loaf pans (6 -7x3) and get them ready for baking (grease them, flour them, talk sweet nothings to them, whatever..).

In your mixer, combine the following and mix well; Pumpkin Puree, Eggs, Veggie Oil, Water and White Sugar.

While that is sloshing mixing away, pull out your largest mixing bowl and whisk together the following; Flour, Baking Soda, Salt, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Cloves and Ginger.

Once your liquids (plus sugar) are well blended, gradually incorporate the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Once those are co-mingling nicely transfer the batter to your loaf pans ( I recommend the 1 C. measuring cup). As soon as everyone is happy in their pan, stick those puppies in the oven for 50 minutes (or until a toothpick in the center of the bread comes out clean).

Happy Fall Y'all!

Baby Bee's Birth Story

 Happy Monday all! Hope y'all had a F-A-N-T-A-S-T-I-C holiday weekend, I know we did!

I am a person who loves birth stories and I mentioned last week that a very complicated pregnancy interrupted my marriage date plans, so I felt the need desire to share baby B's birth/ complicated pregnancy story. Here it goes.

When I found out I was going to be Momma Bee, I was ecstatic - my first doctors appointment put my due date at April 15th (tax day, yipee?) and from that moment I started planning. 

When I was roughly 6.5 months pregnant I was at my normal bi-weekly appointment and I had asked about the horrid swelling in my feet. It was TERRIBLE. I fondly remember sending J a picture of my legs, ankles and feet which resembled something off of the Hulk or Big Foot one day while I was at work and he responded with "Is that your feet? YIKES!". Anyway, my doctor took one look and then retreated out of the room without a word, she came back holding my chart and what resembled a cash register receipt (what I later learned was the UA test results). She proceeded to ask what I had eaten that morning and when I answered a bowl of Crispix, her jaw hit the floor. She informed me that I wouldn't make it to work for another few hours because my UA showed ridiculous amounts of glucose in my urine and I needed to see the Endocrinologist, who was on the other side of the office, right away.  She poked my finger just to cover all bases and my blood came back as a 164. Later that day I was started on a high strength dose of NovoLog, where with each meal I would have to stick myself for blood then, jab myself with a needle to inject insulin.

Two weeks after my doctors appointment that concluded I was a gestational diabetic, I started having severe abdominal pain while sitting at my desk one day. I immediately asked my boss if I could go home, he of course said yes (the man had three kids, he got it) and I was convinced by my mom and J to go to the hospital instead of coming home. When I arrived they performed every test imaginable and figured I had huge gallstones, I had an option at that point I could have surgery OR wait. I chose to wait. During my follow up appointment for that episode my doctor decided to take me out of work (effective the following Friday) and I was to stay home on bed rest. 

When I was put on bed rest I was also put on strict monitoring, which meant I was to go in at least once a week every week to see my doctor, during my March 1st appointment (I was taken out of work the last week of January), the other doctor in the practice that saw me noticed I had the early signs of pre-eclampsia and wanted to have me admitted for 24 hour monitoring, I was devastated. I cried the entire way home because I knew what was coming. I knew that with my luck I wouldn't leave the sterile hospital until I birthed baby B, but I went anyway. When I checked in that evening, the nurse insisted that I needed an IV (though I didn't use it until 10 days later....), after three tries she finally got the IV in and I was left alone to sleep in a bed that I hated to call my own for as long as I did. 

When my 24 hours was up, I was not evicted from my room. Instead I was informed to make myself comfortable because I wasn't leaving. Minutes turned into days in that hospital room and on March 8th, they decided to do a 24 hour UA collection to see where my numbers were. The next morning I was informed that a normal number is in the 50's, I was in the 700's for pre-eclampsia and that I was to be induced that night. 

They started my induction on the night of March 9th. On the morning of the 10th, my doctor came in at 10am and broke my water. This is where things started moving quickly. I was so sick of my hospital bed that I begged to get up and walk the floor once my water was broken , luckily, I was allowed to and ended up walking for an hour and a half before calling 'uncle' and pleading for an epidural.  After 45 minutes of waiting I finally got my epidural put in and was able to sleep for a good two hours. When I finally awoke (mind you, they started pitocin while I was asleep to get things moving faster),  my epidural had worn off on my left side. After crying in agony for what seemed to be hours (it was only minutes), they were finally able to give me a spinal block and make it numb again. By that point I hadn't been checked in hours and when my nurse (Danica) left the room I had the unmistakeable urge to push. Within seconds J and my mom had run into the hallway screaming that I needed to push and a team of nurses came running in. 

After 12 pushes, baby B was born at 4:58pm on March 10th. I was able to hold her for only moments before she was whisked away to the NICU (being 6 weeks early). She spent the next 16 days in the NICU, and every day I would drive down and spend 8-10 hours with her, just to make sure she was ok!

Until next time y'all! Have a great week! 

Monday: Marriage

I was having lunch last week with SaraDear herself and somehow we got on the topic of marriage. This is nothing new for us, we cover everything from weird things we noticed while getting ready that morning to the newest Essie nail polish. There really is no off-limits topic to us. While discussing marriage we really got into the nitty-gritty of how much work a marriage is. Not in a 'full time job'  type work but more in an emotional type of work. I am a firm believer in the 'marriage takes work' saying. It takes work on both sides to keep things interesting. 

Now, a while back I talked about ways to date your spouse, but I don't really think I touched on why you should date your spouse. So today, we are going with the 'marriage takes work' theme and discussing ways to keep the spark alive and the stress level minimal.

I will be the first to admit that I was the type pre-marriage, pre-engagement that said that marriage was easy. I mean, what gets better than living with your then boyfriend and spending the rest of eternity together? Well, the answer was nothing, really, but when J and I moved in together we went a little backwards and bought a house, then got engaged, then had a baby, then got married. Judge me if you want to, a complicated pregnancy really killed my wedding plans (more on that later). So, in all aspects I got a true sense of what marriage would be before I even said yes to a proposal. There were times that we fought because he liked his laundry folded one way and I simply didn't fold that way, but there were also times that we bonded about weird things (can we say backyard landscape?). But, with each fight, it brought us closer (after briefly pulling us apart), but it wasn't until I actually said "I do" until I really started to realize how much work a marriage is.

Like I said in the beginning, its not so much work in the full-time job sense, but more so an emotional sense. In a marriage there will be days that you are emotionally tested to what feels like your breaking point. I won't bore you with the boring story of the time that I thought I was physically done because of how hard I was being emotionally tested.

Being a working couple (both husband and wife working), seems to take less work marriage wise, than only one spouse working. Not only does only one spouse working put that person in the lime-light to keep the household supplied with necessities but also keeping the lights on and the roof over the families head. The true test of my marriage came when I stopped working, at the time, I was 7.5 months pregnant. I loved my job, I loved the people I worked with but my doctor decided it was in my (and baby B's) best interest for me to be on bed rest. When I called J with this news and immediately he said that it was no problem and that I shouldn't plan to come back once baby B arrived. I could tell that there was a hint of hesitation and stress in his voice but he continued to support me staying home. There are days now (18-months later) that I question if I should go back to work to take the stress off of J to be the sole breadwinner, and every time I mention it to him, he always fights back with a very harsh no-way.

Now, you are likely asking yourself how me rambling about marriage and work has to do with dating your spouse. I will tell you. Dating is fun, you are carefree and basically you go out on a new adventure more often than not. When you finally settle into a marriage routine, you tend to spend more time working on the physical aspect of keeping your spouse attracted to you than you do actually spending time together and making memories. I've noticed more times than not that many people who get divorced or are getting divorced have no idea what their spouses interests are, because they chose not to work on their marriage and spend time with them.  They certainly do not put "'Till death do us part" in wedding vows for shits and giggles. I think more people nowadays take that line for granted because its much easier to site irreconcilable differences and give up, than to work on the marriage and make it work and be in love the way you were when you wed. I can honestly say that since J and I have started   taking time monthly (date over-night) to work on our marriage (outside the day to day), that we have become closer and I have learned that I love him more now than I did a month or two ago.

So, is marriage easy? No. Is it a walk in the park? No, if it was EVERYONE would get married at the drop of a hat. Should you take time out for you and your marriage monthly (Im talking NOOOOOO kids here)? YES!

Have a great week y'all!

A.B.

Crock-Pot Crispy Chicken Quesadillas

Have I mentioned lately that I love my Crock-Pot? Seriously, its seen more dinners than my skillets and mixer combined. Anyway, so I made this awesome recipe by accident and loved it sooooooo much I just had to share it with you all. So, obviously you will need a crock pot (if you don't have one, shame on you- you are depriving yourself from deliciously effortless meals, forrealzz). You will also need the following fix-in's:

2 - Boneless Chicken Breasts

1- 16oz. Jar Salsa (your choice on strength and brand)

16oz. of Water (I used the salsa jar to measure this)

1 - Packet Taco Seasoning

1 - Pack of Taco sized Tortilla Shells

1 - Box/ Packet of Spanish Rice

6 C. Colby Jack Cheese

To start: Combine Chicken, Salsa, Taco Seasoning and Water in Crock-Pot. Mix together thoroughly and cook for 8-10 hours. 

Once the chicken is cooked, shred it with a fork and throw it back in the Crock-Pot on the 'WARM' setting. 

Now, cook your Spanish Rice to specifications on the packet and set aside. 

Pre-heat oven to 350 and grease a cookie sheet.

Now comes the fun part, take one taco shell and on HALF of it, layer in this order - Rice, Cheese, Chicken then Cheese. Fold it in half and set it on the greased cookie sheet. Repeat this three other times and hope to heavens your oven is heated up by the time you get done!

After all your 'dillas are assembled and in their respective spot on the baking sheet, bake them for 15 minutes. 

Once baked, pull them out of the oven and let sit for 2 minutes, then slice in to four sections and enjoy!!

These are very kid friendly (depending on how spicy of salsa you get), I got mild and Baby Bee devoured them!

Happy Weekend all!

Carseat Commotion: Part Three: Seats that didn't make the cut

Happy Monday y'all!  Its time that we re-visit the final portion of carseat commotion! 

Now in part one, we discussed infant carriers. Ultimately we chose the Chicco KeyFit30, but we certainly didn't walk right in and pick that one. It took months of research and testing. So, in part three I will show you the top two contenders that we looked at and give you reasons we didn't choose them! 

Lets get started! Our first runner up was the Britax B-Safe 30. It looks like this: 

While this seat is very similar to the Chicco, there were a few things we didn't like. The first issue being with the infant insert. Since we knew from day one that we would have a small baby - we knew that we would need a seat with an exceptionally supportive infant insert. This particular seat fell short. The padding on the head support was less than sub par, it honestly felt as though they stick a thin layer of quilt batting in the headrest and called it a day. The second issue with this seat was the visor, or canopy (while many of these issues seem minor, they meant a lot to us). The Chicco has a neat feature on its canopy where there is a flip down section that extends the canopy an extra 4-5inches, giving that much more sun protection. The third and most monumental issue with this seat was the base. I tried for fifteen minutes to install this particular base into my car at Babies 'R Us (if you ask nicely, they will allow you to test fit seats and bases), the self leveling system did not work nearly as easily as the Chicco and the latch buckles took more of a mathematical equation and science problem to ensure they were even on both sides, so they wouldn't pull the base to one side or another. 

Our Second runner up is the Graco SnugRide35. It looks like this: 

I think when many people think baby gear, they think 'Graco' - while this is great for Graco, its not so great for every other manufacturer out there who has set out to set the bar a little higher. The first reason (and issue) we looked at this one was obviously the '35' in the name, meaning it will hold a baby from 4-35lbs., while we thought this was great - we felt it was a bit unnecessary. Since baby bee was born early, we knew that obviously she won't be the next sumo wrestler or basketball star, but if we were going purely on weight, she would have been in this seat until she was six or seven. The second issue arose with the padding, while the Britax didn't have enough padding- this one had far too much. So much, in fact, that it was HOT. I put my hand in the deepest part of the seat for three minutes in each seat to see how breathable it was, this seat was not. AT. ALL. Three minutes in and I had a very sweaty palm, gross. The third turn off for this seat was how cheap it felt. While it may be the 'lightest seat on the market today', that actually makes it feel cheap and flimsy. I'd rather lug around a 20lb. carseat and 20lb. kid any day over a seat thats 5lbs. if it meant the seat felt like it might actually do its job in the event of a crash. This brings me to my last and final reason we didn't choose this seat, the safety ratings. In the US all car seats have to meet a certain threshold to even be on the market, now  there are independent labs that will actually test the same exact seats to actually see how they do, this one did very poorly in side impact ratings, part of this was due to where Graco recommended it to be placed in the vehicle (drivers side - outboard). This seat buckled on BOTH SIDES when hit at 45mph.

Our other contenders right out of the gate were; the Baby Trend FlexLoc, utimately we didn't choose this one because of poor safety ratings in a side impact crash and rollover crash. We also looked at the Combi Shuttle, this one was not a top contender due to the poor design and tendency to break babes legs when rear ended. 

Now, in part two of carseat commotion, we discussed convertible carseats. Ultimately we chose the Recaro ProRide. Here are the top two contenders that didn't quite make the cut for us!

Our first runner up was the Britax Marathon 70 G3. It looks like this:

The primary reason we didn't choose this seat was how difficult it was to adjust straps. You'll recall on the Recaro, it only take a turn of a knob to adjust the straps. On the Marathon G3, you have to take the seat out of the car, take the seat apart, pull the straps through the correct height setting, make sure they are connected to the T-buckle correctly and then re-install it. Sounded like too much work and effort for my tastes. The second reason we didn't choose this seat was the crotch buckle cover. As in there wasn't one. I have a deathly fear of burning my child with her car seat buckles and since this one didn't have the crotch buckle cover it was a no-fly zone for it. The third reason we didn't choose this seat was the strap covers. They are made of rubber and while they are an ingenious design by Britax in terms of a safety innovation, I could very easily see a rash breaking out or rubber burns happening from them. 

The second runner up for the convertible seat was the Graco MyRide 65 DLX. It looks like this:

There was two main reasons we didn't choose this seat, the first being that it was so narrow that I have a very hard time believing that a full size toddler (or preschooler even) will fit in this seat. When we purchased our convertible seat, we purchased with the intent of not needing to replace it for some time and I foresaw us replacing this seat with another convertible around the time she was 2.5-3. The second reason we didn't choose this seat was the material of the seat, much like the infant seat from Graco - it felt cheap, and much like something you might find on an athletic shoe. Not a car seat. 

There was only one other consideration for a convertible seat right out of the gate, it was the Evenflo SureRide DLX. I hated it, it looked cheap, had almost no padding in it and looked like it would be better suited as an office chair than a child's car seat. It also had some of the lowest crash reviews. 

Happy Hump Week, friends! We have officially made it through half the year!!

I will see you back in here in just a few short days to show off my newest crock-pot recipe!

Until next time,

A.B.

Spicy Chipotle Burgers

Howdy y'all! Its been ten days (thanks Sara, Dear) for counting for me since I've blogged and I truly apologize. I'll make up for - promise!

Since its Summer (ie. Schools are out, my neighborhood pool is crowded on the weekends and its hotter than blazes every.day.of.the.week), that means that in the Bee house, we crank up the at least three times a week. What, we like to be outside, ok? I always like to try out new recipes, and over these past few years have managed to make a couple of my own. I would like to take this very moment to share my most prized (non-dessert) recipe with you. I will warn you that these are not for young kids and those that don't like spicy. They are veeeery spicy. It can be toned down, but they will still be spicy!

Meet my friend, the Spicy Chipotle Burger

Is your mouth watering? Mine is. Is that weird?

Heres how you make it!

First, crank the grill up if these are going from mixing bowl to grill grates!

Now, pull out a knife of good chopping variety, a cutting board and mixing bowl (you wouldn't want to mix them on your counter, that would be ICKY!)

Now, you will need the following mix-in's;

1 lb. of ground beef (I prefer 90/10)

1 C. Chopped Cilantro 

1 Shallot - Minced

2 Tbsp Chipotle Sauce

1/4 tsp. Ground Cumin 

Now, stick your hands in that bowl and mix those suckers up. 

Once they are mixed, form them into four respective patties.

Once you've pattied to your hearts content, throw those suckers on the grill (assuming that its warmed up, and stuff). If you are saving them for dinner tonight - cover them tightly and put them in the fridge.

After they have been cooked, place them on a toasted bun (I like sourdough) and top with your favorite salsa and lettuce (optional). 

Now, eat up! 

I like to pair these with farmer's market veggies on the grill (asparagus) and some chips! 

Happy Summer! 

I'll be back next time with part three of Carseat Commotion!