Sunday, August 22, 2010

jonah update and fun discoveries

Matt and I had a really great day yesterday, and the report from Granny and Grandaddy was that Jonah was a very good boy... who took an extra long nap. Go figure. Matt and I were able to eat a delicious meal at Cracker Barrel, and then we were able to use our 50% coupons at Gap and caught a few other clearance sales. I love me a good sale. It would seem I'm becoming a shopper in my old age. Funny how being stuck at home will do that to a girl. Afterwards, we went to see Inception and then got dinner at Ronni's. And between my carb-fest at Cracker Barrel and the wings and pizza (both still as good as I remembered) at Ronni's, I'm fairly certain I gained 10 pounds. Oh well. Back on the wagon tomorrow. My goal is to work out four times this week, but that will mean getting up at 5:45 at least two mornings this week and going first thing. Pray for me, folks. It will take a miracle to make that one happen.

We made it to church today and Jonah is napping now. Good day so far.
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A quick Jonah update:
- Eating: I took a mega break from offering anything to him by mouth. For both of our sakes, and it was the right decision seeing as how I don't feel like jumping out our kitchen window anymore (kidding... sort of). A couple of times this week, I've very nonchalantly offered Jonah some yogurt here and there, and he's eaten a couple of ounces a time or two. No problem, Little Buddy. It's all good. (This is me, not caring.)

- Sleeping: Still sleeping all night most every night for about 11 hours. Good stuff. He only takes one nap a day, for an hour and a half. I'd love to push that to two hours, but I'll take what I can get.
- Pain/Skin: Jonah's been in rough shape these last couple of weeks. He has a huge raw area (from a refilling, growing, dragging blister) on the top of his left arm/back, two big places on each side where his ribs are, a place around his g-tube site, a small place on the top of the other arm, and a big spot on the bottom of his foot/toes. His face is doing pretty well, but his forehead and eyelids are worse than the rest. I can't wait until he knows what rubbing does to his face and can understand to take it easy, already.
- Nutrition: In the last seven weeks, Jonah has gained three and a half pounds, and has grown three and a half centimeters. He has jumped from the 25th percentile to the 75th. Thank you, avocado, flaxseed oil, and duocal. We're backing off some of the calories and are able to relax a little more about the volume he takes in. It's nice to not feel like every calorie is life or death now. I'm so thankful.
- Cuteness: Yep, he still is.

So overall, things are well. Jonah has his 18 month check-up a week from Monday. I think this will be the first time EVER that we've not had to go to the doctor between well visits. Three months without a pediatrician visit! Thank you, God!
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I wanted to tell you about a couple of cool things I found out about this past week. You already know that I'm a mega fan of online grocery shopping. Actually, I try to do as much shopping online as I can, since our schedule, most days, doesn't allow for much getting out.

I now follow this blog, Money Saving Mom. It's a great place to print out coupons if you don't get the newspaper, and you can sign up for weekly emails and pick your preferred stores, and she'll email you the deals/coupon match ups to save you lots of money. I haven't really figured it all out yet, but she makes it super easy. You can join her Facebook page here.

And I also signed up with Groupon this week. It's free to join and you get emailed one coupon/awesome deal per day. You can take it or leave it, and there are a lot of things that don't interest me, but when you get a good one, it's so good. Matt and I each have an account and each paid for a $25 coupon to get $50 of clothes from The Gap. We paid $50 for $100 worth of clothes yesterday. Woohoo! (Note: you don't get your coupon immediately... or at least The Gap one didn't come immediately. I got it in an email the next day and printed it out from there, so don't be worried if it takes a while before you get it in your inbox.)

And probably my favorite discovery that I learned about from MckMama, ebates! Do you guys know about ebates? Essentially, you sign up for a free account, and you go there before you begin any online shopping. They have pretty much any store you can think of AND you can search for coupons (online codes) to get a percentage off and/or free shipping. And if you click on the store link from ebates (go through their site to get to your store of choice), you earn cash back on your purchases... anywhere from 1-10% in most cases. I've already earned a few dollars back. I think they send you your check quarterly. Anyway, if you want to sign up, it's free. AND I get rewarded for referring folks if you let them know I sent you. You can click here if you'd like to let them know you're coming through me. I've loved it so far.

Alright, just wanted to let you know about those fun things. Hope everyone is having a good and restful weekend. We're one week closer to Fall. Oh man, I can't wait. (On a side note, Cracker Barrel already has some of their Christmas stuff up! Apparently nobody's told them that it's still AUGUST.)

14 comments:

Millicent said...

how about swagbucks.com? BEST ever!
My link--you know, so if you sign up I can get points :)
http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/milli249
make sure you have their toolbar and you'll earn lots of points each day just by searching, then redeem for amazon gift cards!

lillymac said...

Love all the sites you named. Also love swagbucks! Two of my favs are southernsavers.com and hip2save.com (she's in NC.) Faithful, local follower of your blog too... secretly wish I will randomly run into you at K'ville Target. ha! So glad you got a date day with your hubs.

Jennifer said...

Patrice, I am feeling for you about the getting up early to go work out. I have done it all summer. It occurred to me that the only way to exercise (I walk outside, with dogs) and not kill myself or the dogs from heat exhaustion was to do it early (before hubby goes to work). It has been SO HARD and I have had to push but I am so glad once I am there and I am always surprised when I get home how much I get accomplished so early in the day. I have been walking and praying about his eating and his gaining. So glad that is starting to work for you now. I think you are on the right track. Also, I will be more earnest in prayer over the healing and blistering. Thanks for all you shared. It remains a priveledge to share in your journey. Sorry I have been so out of touch. I am reading and praying, just not commenting. Kids go to school SOON! Jennifer in Southeast, NC

MWalker said...

That is just great that Jonah has gained some weight and grown a little. Actually, it pretty much tickles me to death right now! I'm glad you are giving yourself a break from the mouth feeding, it seemed like it was consuming a lot of your energy worrying about it. I'm glad he eats bites now and then for you though.

Megan @ SimplyThrifty said...

Yeah for Jonah doing so well with weight gain! :)
I love the sites you mentioned. You should try out couponmom.com. They have a little video to watch and it really does save you HUGE %'s off your grocery bill. I went last night and saved 70%. It's easy to use and best of all, you don't have to pre-clip your coupons.

Laura A said...

Hi Patrice-

So glad you and Matt enjoyed your day out! And go Jonah on all that growing! I'm sure he'll get back to eating by mouth soon - and it's probably so much easier (and peaceful!) for both of you!

Hope you're able to get in all your workouts this week. I've been doing a fitness boot camp twice a week (because any more would surely kill me!) and trying to ride our recumbent bike in between. I always feel so much better after a work out, but really have to make myself do it!

Have a wonderful week - continuing to pray as always (and especially that Jonah's extra bad sores will heal quickly!)

Love from TX!
Laura

Laura A said...

From Caroline: Jonah's gotten cuter than ever! Especially in the laundry basket!

Love from TX (again!)
Laura

Excellent Parent said...

always praying for you! Been reading for a while, I just have fallen in love with your little one!

Mike and Molly Spivey said...

you need to check out southersavers.com

she is from the carolina's and will post EVERY store (mostly) and coupons that match their ads.

to me it is the one stop for couponing.

Also, I agree check out swag bucks. Since may I have gotten $100 in Amamzon gift cards. I am about to cash in 20 more dollars too :) Sweet!

natalie said...

Just a good note for groupons: you can browse other cities. Like you said, some are things you wouldn't be interested in, but there are some REALLY good deals out there (picaboo books had $25 for $100 free books(!) in several cities last week) and you can buy them just because you've got an account. Good stuff!

~Ashlea~ said...

Yay! I got the $50.00 Gap certificate for $25.00 from Groupon too! I'm glad to see that someone else tried it and I didn't get scammed
:)
I also LOVE southernsavers.com. You should check it out. She has deals listed for every grocery and drug store around. She lists the product with the price and all the coupons that you may have clipped recently to get the best deal!
I have decided I'll never pay full price for anything again! (Almost)LOL

Amy said...

I did the $25 for $50 Groupon too! I was going to sign up for ebates but realized I'd already signed up for them in 2008!!!! Guess I should start using them!

The Pelhams said...

I have been following Money Saving Mom for about 2 years now and another one I follow is www.freebies4mom.blogspot.com

Dame said...

I am a huge coupon/money saving person. If you like money saving mom, you might like "jessica's coupons" "freebies 4 mom" and "coupon geek." They all feature a lot of great deals and sometimes they're just fun to look at. I don't want to throw a million links at ya, but you can find all of them if you just stick the blog names in google.