6 weeks away - where has time gone?

Woooo what a whirl wind the last month has been! We are down to 6 weeks away!

Our families threw us a beautiful baby shower for Emma about a month ago. We couldn't be more grateful or feel more loved! It was so great to celebrate with everyone Emma's impending arrival and how generous our friends and family were. Really, ya'll are too much! We got so many great and useful things. We were really left with only a few things to get which is such a blessing.

I wish I could of kept this cake forever - it's so pretty but it was VERY tasty too!

The shower was beautifully decorated by my Mother in Law and my Mom

opening gifts - so fun!

pictures of us as kids :)

I was about 28 weeks here

We also were gifted some gifted cards and money which has been great. In effort to maximize that money (typical.. haha) we have been able to find lots of deals & coupons. We got the stroller and car seat travel system the day after the shower. We were just shopping around a few places and found that BabiesRUs had the exact stroller we had on our registry and even the color on clearance! It was  normally $329 & it was priced at $199 PLUS we were able to use a 10% coupon towards that and anything else we needed that day. What a blessing! So we got the stroller for $180! It was the floor model and was in perfect condition (trust me Trevor pushed that thing allllll over the store) except the canopy had some fraying. I e-mailed Chicco about it & they are sending a replacement. Yay!

the exact stroller we had on our registry and in the color we wanted too!

Also Nesting is certainly in full swing for both Trevor & I. Lots of projects and to do lists! This is going to keep us busy for quite awhile. Between that & family parties and get togethers I think summer is going to fly by. This make me sad because I really love summer but I am SO looking forward to meeting Emma at the end of the summer too.

We are slowly getting Emma's room ready for her. I was able to get all her tiny clothes put away & trying to organize everything. It's been fun!

adorable baby clothes - I washed, seperated by size and put away all her clothes

Our garden is also in full swing. I'm not able to do as much as I'd like but it's still been really fun hobby we have together. We did lettuce in a box this year and we've had much better luck than in the past so that's been fun. We of course have lots of herbs too which we are already using. However we havn't harvested any veggies yet. I think within the week we will have cucumbers and zucchini. The peppers and tomstos are starting to really take off too. I'm hoping I'm able to can this year. We usually go up and visit my Grandpa in NY and can with him but since I'm in my third trimester we aren't able to. We are bummed but hopefully next summer we can. We always really enjoy it. Since we can't go up Trev & I will do some canning. Also since my parents now live close I'm sure we'll do some canning with them - at least as much as I'm able to do.

in the beginning

a few weeks ago

So far we're really enjoying the summer & the weather. It's hard to believe in 6 more weeks we'll hopefully be meeting Emma!! Life is such a miracle and just thinking about the journey we've been through I feel so very blessed. Thank you for all your prayers and support during this journey we certainly have felt them and felt very loved.

learning how to use the ergo carrier

putting together the crib

picturing Emma in the crib :)

it's also an excellent place to store things for now :)

 

Citrus Lane Box - Sooo fun!

So I know on facebook I've mentioned a few times how much I like & enjoyed the Citrus Lane Box subscription but I wanted to explain it a little better. My experience with the company so far has been great. The company has offered so many deals & coupons after subscribing. I just can't help but share the great deals we've received so far! I can honestly say we've spent about $20 on all these items below.. which is a termendous deal on all these high quality toys.

You can also 'win' or 'earn' credit through their app by 'playing' (it's a tab on their app) and using the app - such as posting and liking other peoples posts. It's been a cool way to hear about deals and also connect with other Moms. I won $15 twice so far!

Our first box was great - I got it discounted & we got so many useful things! I had a discount code and got it for $9. We really enjoyed all the toys and useful things. I loved the Skip Hop puppet & Trevor loved the Haba rattle. He's a sucker for toys anyway.

We decided to keep the box and we weren't quite as impressed with our last box but I was able to add on an item with free shippimg and they have a $10 coupon code they had mailed out. They do this often, mail out coupons or store credit. We added a Green Toy (which I love this brand!) shape sorter. Emma won't be able to play with it for awhile but it's something we can put away for later. We got that for 7.50 (normally 22!).
The box we recieved this month defintely had the value it just seemed to be missing something. The onesie was super soft & cute. It's something she'll grow into. The seahorse was also really cute and I'm sure it's something she'll like. The cream smells great and the diaper cream was something I wanted try anyway so that was a nice add on.

I also ordered a mystery box and recieved that earlier this week. I thought the mystery box was great! We got lots of cute toys and useful things. I like getting things for her to grow into. It's like shopping in my own home as she grow for toys! I was able to get this bix for $19 normally $29. Again they sent out a great coupon that made it worth it.

Also I've recieved e-mails at holidays offering store credit which has been great! The first time I got a $15 credit so we got this cute peekaboo mirror by Skip Hop for free!

I went to cancel the subscription service through their website, which is super easy, & they offered me another box for $15 (normally 29). So we decided to keep it and see how the next box is. If we are able to keep getting deals we'll probably keep it for awhile.


Also right now (I'm not sure for how much longer...) but groupon has a citrus lane deal going on for new customers and existing ones too. The deal for current customers is $40 for $20 - and if you use the code local15 it will give you 15% off making it around $18. You can use these 'shop credits' to give yourself a e-card for $25 and purchase a subscription box. It's a pretty good deal.

Check it out -
http://www.groupon.com/deals/citrus-lane-6?utm_campaign=UserReferral&utm_medium=email&utm_source=uu


They had a promotion going on for Summer Soltice - they were offering store credit again. This time I got $10! I was able to get a cute stroller toy from Skip Hop. Someone offered there code for $5 that they weren't going to use so I got another stroller toy! All for a few bucks (shipping).

So as you can see we've made our pretty good with deals and coupons. Since we are first time parents and don't have any toys this has been a great resource to get high quality toys that will last at really reasonable prices. I defintely recommend this company to other people.

We are waiting for our next box - it should arrive anytime. We also went ahead and subscribed for 3 more months with the current groupon deal it made it worth it. 

If you're interested in ordering your own you can get your first one for $15! Plus you'll be signed up for all there great sales. Just use the link below.

https://www.citruslane.com/invitedby/Christine.Block.4008757

I hope you like it as much as we do.