I heart Comforts for Baby

 

Ok first of all, that baby is DAMN cute. Not as cute as mine, but still. And my "Official BzzGuide" pamphlet has been sitting on my bulletin board for a few weeks with that cute face staring at me. Finally, a BzzCampaign that I can blog about and I keep putting it off. But no more! I'm on a blogging kick and since it's easier to Bzz about stuff you love, and use anyway, I need to get this post done and published.

 

Second of all (cause I have to have a second, if I have a first, right Mike?) being a Bzz Agent rocks. Don't know what that is? Well head on over to BzzAgent and check it out. I'm so glad I did 2 years ago and I've been in some AMAZING campaigns. But probably my favorite ones are anything that has to do with Kroger. So in a nutshell, become a BzzAgent, fill out some surveys that take like 5 min to do and before long you'll be invited to a campaign where they send you FREE stuff to try. Then you just need to talk about it. And it's way easier to do when you get to try stuff you already love.

 

Like Comforts for Baby. I stumbled upon them when Mercy was a baby. It's basically Kroger's store-brand. It's affordable and they WORK. Having three kids means I know diapers. And wipes. And all the other baby stuff you have to have. Truthfully, I'd rather cloth diaper. The older I get (and the more kids I have) the more "granola" I become, but Mike doesn't want to deal with shakin' out poops into the potty, so disposable diapers it is.

 

Grace had Pampers...and some Huggies. And maybe Luvs. I can't remember, she's almost 7 for cryin' out loud. But the point is, we've tried them all. And guess what. Huggies leak. Every time. Blow-out city. Pampers are great for newborns. The Swaddlers are awesome. Luvs...eh. Take em' or leave em'. Huggies wipes are the best. Well....were the best. Until I tried Comforts.

 

Hands-down - I will never buy a name-brand diaper or wipe again. There is no need. Well, except for Newborn size. Comforts doesn't have a newborn size (Ahem, Kroger...please get on this!)

 

Comforts diapers are affordable, effective and I feel good knowing I don't have blow-outs of both the diaper variety and wallet. The wipes have 2 different types that compare to either Pampers or Huggies. Personally, I like the thicker wipe, which is more like Huggies.

 

 

 

 

They also have a boatload of package sizes. Since we're nowhere near potty-training Bethany, I usually buy the box of diapers which has about 150 diapers. She's in size 3 right now, but we put her to sleep in size 4 since there's more absorbency.

Mercy is about 95% potty trained. She does pretty well during the day, but does wet the bed at night. Comfort's Training Pants come to our rescue. I love that she can pull them on easily and they are SUPER absorbent for those nights when she's had too much to drink before bed. And the design is pretty cute too.

 

 

The wipes also have a ton of packaging options. We usually buy 1 or 2 refillable bins and then the refill packs. If you buy the larger boxes, the refill packs are re-sealable so we can stash one in the car, or stroller, without the huge bin or worrying about them drying out.

 

 

Another thing I love about the diapers & wipes: they're usually on sale. The large boxes of diapers are around $20 each (15 cents a diaper), and I get coupons that I can either load to my Smith's card or paper coupons to hand in. Perks of constantly shopping at Smith's. The other day when I shopped, the wipes were on sale for 2 for $9 for packs of 216 wipes. That's 2 cents a wipe. And we use wipes for more than just the baby's bottom. They clean hands, faces, etc.

 

We also bought Comforts formula when I had to quit breastfeeding. We preferred the Sensitivity formula because it was low-lactose and didn't have soy. We kept Bethany on it until she was 1 and then gradually switched to whole milk.


















Another thing we loved for Bethany was the food. I wish they had a line of jarred baby food. They don't, but they do have the snacks that compare to Gerber. Everything from crunchers to puffed rice snacks. These were one of Bethany's favorites:




And Mercy's. And Grace's. And the dog's if we weren't watching.

So long story short: COMFORTS ROCKS! Honestly. The only thing I'd change is the little lightening bug all over the diaper. They used to be all white with the little design on the top but changed it. It's not that bad, and definitely not a deal-breaker. But if Bethany is in a light colored outfit (like for Easter), the design shows through. I've mentioned it on Comforts FB page and it's really not THAT big of a deal, just something I noticed.

But really, this campaign is my favorite (and it's the second time I've been in a Comforts for Baby campaign!) And I tell everyone I can about Comforts (I've even stopped people in the store who looked like they were comparing them). And I've given out diapers from my purse to friends who had never tried them. And probably embarrassed my kids and husband in the process. Oops :)

#GotItFree - Diapers, Wipes & Lotion were free because I'm a BzzAgent. Rest of the stuff I paid money for cause I love Comforts for Baby!

#GotItFree

I received these products for free to try and review because I'm a BzzAgent.

 

 

P.S. - See that blue sippy cup on the left. That's a Comforts for Baby sippy cup. From the last Comforts campaign I did. It's Mercy's FAVORITE cup. And she can't say "sippy cup" so it's really her blue "Yippy Tup". Which reminds me, Bethy is entering sippy cup phase so we'll have to go buy some more!

 

Visiting Family & Friends

Remember when I posted that I was going to head to Lehi when I noticed that my tires were shot. 

This is why I was heading to Lehi:

Sweet, baby James. My friend Jade had him on October 4th. He was 6 lbs 14 oz and 19" long. Congrats to her!! Oh, just looking at him gets my baby-hunger growing. But I need to be realistic.

This is his big sister Maddison. Love the outfit kiddo! :)

Jade lives in Lehi which is about a 2 hour drive from Logan, so we don't get to see her often. :( But I'm super excited that she had a healthy pregnancy and baby. Other than some slight blood-pressure issues. But both mom and kids are doing great.

Grace does pretty good as a big sister. Even to someone not related to her. Mercy...well, she's special.

He feel asleep in my arms. Oh I miss those days. But then I remember that everyone at my house is currently sleeping through the night....ya sleep is good.

Bethy had fun destroying someone else's house.

She wants a brother. Ahem, Mike??

On the way home, we made a stop at Mike's grandma's house. We haven't been to visit her in a long time. Meaning, she hasn't seen Bethany yet. And since it was her birthday (October 17th - day after our anniversary, so I'll never forget), I thought it would make a nice surprise to visit.

Great-Grandma Hedy. And Bethany. Bethany wasn't so sure.

Mercy was just relaxing. She'd only been to Great-grandma's one other time. As a baby.

Trying to get the kids to pose with grandma was easier said than done.

Best one we could get.

It was a nice visit and I'm glad we got to see her and get some pics. We'll try and go down and visit again, but it seems like life is just too busy, all the time.

Happy Birthday Mercy Jo

Sunday, October 20th was Mercy's 3rd birthday. I can't believe she's 3 already. Time is going by too, too fast. 

We only do "big" parties for birthdays number 1, 5, 10, etc. Not every one. So this was just our family and Mike's dad. We had church in the morning and then Grace had CCD and then we all just ate dinner and presents and cake. Here's a photo story of the evening.

Waiting for presents. Happy Birthday kiddo!

Normal photo op for the girls. Sillies.

I swear she constant thinks she's adopted. 

Opening gift from Grampa

CARD! Mercy was way more excited about cards than presents. In fact, she's been carrying cards around the house, and to daycare, ever since her birthday. She said she wants birthday cards for Christmas. 

Opening gift from Grammy & Pappy.

And another card! WOOT!

Yelling at Grace cause Grace wanted to help her read the card. 

Screw the present. She had a card!

Holding it up for everyone to see.

Finally to the present.

Wooden "paper dolls"

Her own Barbie from Mom & Dad

We interrupt this birthday for a call from someone (Maybe Grammy & Pappy, I can't remember) to sing happy birthday.

Candy Land from Mom & Dad

She wanted a pink cake. That was all the direction she gave me. I think it turned out pretty good!

Singing to the birthday girl

Making a wish

Hooray!

Oh and I made the cake "ombre". I did cheat and use a box mix and pre-made icing. The icing was gross. Ugh. But everyone liked it!

Happy Birthday to my sweet Mercy Jo!

Now we enter the wonderful 3 year old phase. And I'm totally not being serious. Three-year-olds are the devil. Wish us luck. 

Wednesday Weigh In

Or not.

My days of the week are all screwed up. I forgot to weigh in this morning, but I know it wasn't going to be pretty. I've been binging a lot lately. And went to Arctic Circle last night for milk shakes. Oops! So I'm skipping that today and focusing on other things...like BzzAgent. I've been slacking there.

But this is what I know for weight this week. I'm down 4 lbs from last month, so I'm calling that a success, even if I'm up from last week.

Monday Mayhem....on Tuesday

Crazy weekend, but a good one. Got some pumpkins, did the Pumpkin Walk. Put the truck on ksl.com and SOLD IT! More on that in a sec.

This week is Halloween week. Fun, fun, fun!!

Monday: Pizza (supposed to be chicken nuggets and butter noodles, but had a change of plans)
Tuesday: Taco Tuesday
Wednesday: Grill cheese & tomato soup
Thursday: Homemade pizza
Friday: shopping so we'll figure it out then
Saturday: See above
Sunday: Ditto

Only thing we really have going on is Halloween. Grace has a parade at school, and then we'll probably go Trick or Treat downtown. And then around the neighborhood. Grace is going to be a vampire, Mercy is going to be a Candy Corn Witch and Bethy is going to be a bee.

Ok, so the truck.

This all started because my car needed some new tires. Safety inspection is due in November before I re-register it. And the other day, before I was heading down to Lehi, I noticed some metal framing poking out of my tires. Not good. Figured it wouldn't be the best idea to drive on that. So took it in to a local place and they told me I needed 4 new tires. One of my rear tires had a screw in it as well. Boo. And both front tires were bad cause my alignment was messed up. So left the car and the little kids and I walked down to the library.

When we got back, they told me my brakes were shot too. Probably shouldn't drive on them. And it wouldn't pass inspection. So added on the cost of new front brakes. And rotors. Needless to say, $830 later, I was driving away with new tires and brakes and a heavy, sinking feeling in the bottom of my stomach. Our emergency fund was now gone. Nothing. Empty. And when I sat down to balance the checkbook that day, we were back in the same place we were before. Out of money.

I'm so sick of living week to week. I'm so sick of watching the money we work so hard for, go to pay for our stupidity from when we were younger. We used to have 2 paid for cars. But we also had credit card debt. Then we got the bright idea to get new cars. I can honestly say, we will never have a car payment again. When we get a new car, we'll save up the money and pay for it. In cash.

So, back to the truck. I looked into CarBuyCo.com, which I had heard about on Dave Ramsey. They offered us an amount that would pay off the loan and leave us with a little extra to buy a beater car. But I felt like we could get more. So on a whim, Mike put the car up on ksl.com. Within 5 minutes, someone had texted him asking details. Next thing you know, the guy says he'll be up the next day to check it out. He had offered $500 less than our listing price, and we just wanted it  gone with a little extra, so it was a good offer.

Then the next morning a kid called Mike offering us $500 more than our listing price. So Mike called the first guy to let him know. Turns out that guy was a car dealer. He wasn't too happy, but Mike said "sorry!" and met with the other kid. We ended up selling it for $500 less than asking because we got an inspection on it and it did need some work.

We are now $6500 LESS in debt. O.M.G. This feels crazy. And we have some cars we want to look at that we saw on ksl.com for less than $2000. That we will pay cash for. Cold, hard, cash.

And after a long discussion, we're taking some money out of savings to pay off the hospital bills. We'll be down to just a line of credit and student loans by November. And without a truck payment (and subsequent registration due in Dec) and hospital bills, we'll have an extra $500 a month to throw at the line of credit. Which I hope to have paid off by my birthday. Then, all that will be left will be the student loans. It might take us a year or two to pay that off, but that's peanuts compared to the 30 years that it would take if we paid minimum payments the entire time.

Wow, I feel.....amazing. And we're not even debt free yet!

We went from not having money for Christmas to having almost $10,000 less debt and extra money to make sure the kids have a good Christmas (more on that in a later post).

And there's the possibility of Christmas bonuses from work that we've heard about (and gotten in the past) but don't want to count on, so if they go through, then we're even better off.

I'm SOOOOOO glad that we're finally on track, and on the same page, and getting our financial lives under control. It's gunna be a good week!!!

Wednesday Weigh-In

It's blurry, but I wanted a pic that didn't include the weight of the phone as well. Down 35 lbs!!! So many random comments from people who come into my work and never really talk to me. Must be doing something right!

Monday Mayhem

.... on Tuesday.

Yesterday was a LONG day.

Today may be another.

Work.

/sigh

But good weekend. I'll post later. Mercy is 3!!!

Food for this week:

Monday: Chicken Nuggets and leftovers
Tuesday: Loaded Baked Potato Soup in Bread Bowls
Wednesday: Grilled Chicken, veggies & bakers
Thursday: Frozen Chicken Alfredo meal w/Grands biscuits
Friday: Chicken Pot Pie
Saturday: BBQ Pulled Pork sandwiches, chips, veggies & ranch dip
Sunday: BBQ Pork Enchiladas

Rest of this week: need to get new tires on the Impala. Need to make a St. Helen costume for Grace for CCD, groceries, budget for November..... lots.

Wish me luck.