MIA

I've been a bad blogger this past week with no new posts. I've been preoccupied with work and cleaning my house and spending less money and my crawling speedracer. Jackson has now mastered crawling, and is moving to pull himself up to standing. He can go from crawling to sitting and then he will pull himself up on his knees and then he somehow manages to get his wobbly legs underneath him. He is non-stop with the moving and the pulling and the chewing.

Ahh, the chewing. I think this child is about to get a tooth because he is a slobber monster, he chews on everything, and he has been extra fussy. I tried to check his bottom gums today and it made him cry, so that tells me his poor gums are sore. Hopefully the first tooth breaks soon so he can feel better!

We have entered another new stage - separation anxiety. Jackson gets this when I leave the room, when I put him to sleep, and basically anytime he can't see me. When others are around he is better, as long as he has company.

Challenge update - I went grocery shopping on Monday and my grand total was....$101.58! Near 50% less than normal. This won't happen again next week because I will need formula and possibly diapers, but it was a great start. Here are the highlights of my bargain-hunting:

• All-natural chicken from Sunflower Market - $2.50 per pound. I got over 2 pounds for under $6! Crazy. 
• Marzetti's Simple Balsamic Dressing - regularly $3.99. On sale for $2.49 and I had a $2 coupon, so I paid $.49!
• Rice packets - Regularly $1.99 per pouch. On sale for $1.49, had a coupon for buy 3 get 1 free. The store was running a second promotion (buy several items and get .50 off each one, so total I paid $3 for four pouches instead of $8. 

I will post pics soon and keep updating on my challenge. Let me know what your money-saving tips are!