I got nothing for ya

So we've sorta been hermits lately ... well, not sorta, we've been hermits lately. Which leaves me with not a lot to post about. I am hoping to start breaking the trend here shortly. I still have a bit of anxiety about leaving the house, it's kinda hard to explain, so we've just been staying in and doing lots of crafts to keep busy. I am getting excited about Black Friday shopping though. Since as long as I can remember, I've been one of those people you see on the news battling the crowds looking for a hot deal. Which is sort crazy, considering I hate crowds. But this is really my favorite event of the year. By the end of the day, I typically will have my christmas shopping 90% finished. I have been scanning the ads and planning my attack. I haven't decided what time to get up yet - this is usually the biggest dilemma. Since having Keira, I am NOT a morning person, so you can bet I won't be near JC Penney's or Kohl's when they open at 4:00 AM, but I am thinking maybe I'll get up at 5:00 this year - we'll see. The complicating factor is that Black Friday is also Wade's B-day - so the earlier I get up and get the shopping finished, the quicker I can be home to celebrate!

Adopt a Family Programs

Every year, Wade and I adopt a family for Christmas. These are great programs that I would encourage you all to participate in. The one we are participating in this year is run by the Salvation Army, but there are lots of different programs. Basically, you sign up and are assigned a particular family. You can choose how big a family you want and then purchase gifts for the holidays for them. This usually includes a gift card for a grocery store so the family can purchase a meal plus a few gifts for each family member. You get a list of names and ages of the family and a wish list for each family member. These agencies are always in need of people to adopt families as many go un-adopted every year. I can't imagine a child going without Christmas - so please volunteer! We used to do this with co-workers - a group of us would pitch in for one family, so buddy up with a friend or two and adopt a family together - it is a great feeling to know you are helping.

Free $100 Visa Gift Card

Sorry to my most loyal readers in OH and IN, this is only for the Kansas Citians (I have no idea if that is a word) ... Go to Commerce Bank and open a new Free Checking account and they will give you a Visa $100 gift card. I got a flyer in the mail about it and really didn't believe it - but just went today and opened an account (you have to deposit at least $100) and sure enough they handed it over - $100 GC for 20 minutes of my time. Wahoo. Not sure how long you have to keep the account open, but there are no fees, so you can leave a $1 in the account and it will still be considered opened. This offer expires December 15th - so hurry. I'll be using mine for Christmas Shopping on Black Friday!

Routine

I guess routines are as good for adults as they are for kids. Keira and I have slowly gotten back into our routine and it is somewhat of a comfort. At least it passes the time and makes me feel normal. I still can't talk about it without crying and I got 2 'thinking of you' cards in the mail yesterday that made me cry, but it is starting to get easier. We decided to name the baby - Aidan Michael Hacker. It is more for us really than anything, but somehow it is a comfort too. I got a card in the mail yesterday from my Grandma and while it was sad, she said something that I hadn't thought of - That Papa would take good care of him. This helped too.

We are going to get Keira's Christmas pictures taken today, so wish me luck ... she typically doesn't enjoy the experience. Though I have promised McDonald's if she is good and she has been running around the house saying "I'll say cheese Mommy, I'll be good". She is fairly hilarious these days.

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One week

It has been just over a week since we found out our terrible news. And it still hurts like we found out today. Physically, I am still in some pain at the c-section scar site, but it is minor at this point. Emotionally, I have no idea how I am. Not good. I am not sleeping well, so I am exhausted. Being tired makes everything worse, if that is possible. I think I hold it together pretty well most of the day, but it takes a lot of effort. Yesterday,I did not hold it together well. We picked up the baby's ashes from the funeral home yesterday. It was the tiniest little box. It was overwhelmingly sad. Today, I guess, is suppossed to be go back to normal day. Mom and Mark left yesterday morning, Wade had to go back to work today, so it's just me and Keira. But I don't feel normal. Not sure that life will ever go back to what normal was before this. It is so hard because it seems like everything was revolving around this baby. I keep finding lists of things to buy before the baby gets here, things to do before the baby gets here, and me and my stupid sale shopping, I have a closet full of diapers for the little guy. I had gone through Keira's clothes to seperate what could be used if it was a girl and what could be used if it was a boy. People keep saying God never gives you more than you can handle, but I think maybe he overestimated this time. Going throuh this has mad me even more thankful for my beautiful Keira. I just want to hold on to her as tight as I can and never let go. If you thought she was spoiled before, I imagine it to only get worse. I try to console myself with the fact that I have a wonderful family already. Keira is a treasure and Wade is an amazing husband - I could never get through something like this without him. I love them both so much. And we are perfect just the way we are. But everytime I think about our family, I had already put the baby in there with us. Keira was sitting on Wade's lap at dinner last night and all I could think about was him holding the baby on the other knee. I had to leave the table. Anyway, enough for now. Thanks for listening. I hope to go back to posting normally at some point, but not sure when that will be, so until then there probably won't be much here.

VOTE!

Get out and vote today, if you haven't already! I did the early voting thing last wednesday so I wouldn't have to take Keira with me. After voting, put your sticker on and go enjoy the spoils of your work ... free cup of coffee at starbucks (note that it's just the regular old coffee, not the good stuff like lattes), free chicken sandwhich at chick-fil-a, free donut at krispy kreme, and free ben and jerry's from 5-8pm. Yummy!

Weather

Its 75 degrees here today! How crazy is that for November 2nd?

Trick or Treat

Keira had lots and lots of fun on Halloween night. She did really well saying Trick or Treat and saying Thank you afterward. She truly adores her princess costume and prances around in it like a princess. Wade and I took shifts with her so that someone could be home passing out candy - Wade took the first shift, but in hindsight, I wish I would have! Keira popped out near the end and wanted to be carried - ugh - 20 weeks preggo and carrying a 32 pound child don't go together super well. Oh well, a good time was had by all. We went to the neighbors house afterward and played out side in the driveway until way later than we should have. But it was really a ploy by us to keep Keira up since the time change was this weekend. Don't ask me about the time change ... my lovely child who was sleeping until 7:00 am is now getting up at 6:15 again - bleck! Here are some Halloween pics!

Ok so I had the energy for just one more

Apparently Target has their Christmas Toy Book out - though we didn't get it in our paper this week (did you?), but there are toy coupons on the web ... here's the link:

http://sites.target.com/site/en/spot/page.jsp?title=toy_coupons_main&ref=sc_iw_r_1_0

Keira wants that Baby Born goes Bye Bye doll and there is a $15 coupon for that, Wahoo! Plus I have $15 in Target gift cards right now from other deals, bigger Wahoo!!

Ok, night night!

Lots of Deals

There are lots of deals out there this week, too many for me to post about here but here are a few of the good ones:

Pampers: If you are a pampers user, CVS has Jumbo packs on sale for 2/$20, buy 2 and get $5 ECBs. So that comes to $7.50 per pack - plus use the $1.50 coupons from the insert a few weeks ago for an even better deal. Target also has big boxes on sale for $30; buy 2 and get a $10 gift card. The boxes have free wipes inside as well. The CVS deal is slightly better price per diaper, but I know I can use the Target Gift Card toward Christmas!

Cereal - see Deal of the Day sidebar

Victoria Secret: Two bras and a pair of panties for $15.99. I have not tried this one, but I have read lots of people that have been successful with these codes Here is what you have to do.

1. Go to http://www.victoriassecret.com/
2. Put 2 bras that are in the 2/$40 category into your cart
3. Add a pair of panties that are on sale for $7.50 into your cart - MUST be solid color (reports are that it has to be a more plain color as well - white, black, nude, etc)
4. Before checking out, select the option to use discount codes with your order; enter these codes:

FA813789 - $10 off any bra
25PTY - $25 off any 2 bras and free cotton panty

5. Proceed to checkout - total should be $10 plus $5.99 shipping.

This one ends TOMORROW!!!!!

That is all I have the energy for today - will post Halloween tomorrow!