them's the brakes...

FIGURE A.
The end of last month we went on vacation and because we were traveling with the munchkin, that meant we had to bring the car seat and stroller. Well I knew we would have to gate check the carseat and the stroller because I didn't want to have to pay an extra $250 for a 3rd checked bag and $325 for a 4th, (ridiculous I know)so we got to the gate, we took our seats on the plane and I mentioned to the flight attendant that unless someone knew how to release the brake (which is NOT that hard, see figure A above), seperate the top part of the stroller and collapse the chassis, to please come and get me and I'd be more than happy to do it for them. (The stroller doubles/triples/quadruples to a playseat, highchair, etc etc so it seems complicated if you've never used it before) Well anyhow...back to the story. The flight attendant said Okay, we'll come get you if we have any problems" and right before we were set to depart she came by and said "oh, we had no trouble with the stroller" so I figured all was well... Well, all was not well.
Once we arrived in Orlando I waited for the stroller and here it came. All in one piece. Not separated, not collapsed. Hmm I thought, I guess this is why she said they had no problems with it, beacuse they didn't collapse it. I put the brake on and instead of staying put so I could load Jolie in, it went cruising down the ramp at what seemed like 25mph. Apparently, their version of collapsing it meant not figuring out how to release the brake and just kept pushing it till it broke. GAH!
Well I called the airline and they said unless I could prove it wasn't broke before the flight there was nothing they could do! WHAT?!@ You just ruined a $900 stroller! There's nothing you can do?! Well I decided to give Bugaboo a call and see what they could do and they said they would send me a whole new chassis for FREE! They said they don't bother trying to replace the brakes anymore and that it should be here within a week. Well I am so happy to say that the chassis came yesterday and that I can't say enough how good of a company Bugaboo is. Allegiant Air, not so much. I guess you get what you pay for.
So there's 2 morals to this story. One is, Bugaboo is an awesome company and I cannot recommend them enough! and two, apparently you need to video tape your strollers, and any other belongings that you think might get damaged, as you are boarding one of Allegiant's flights because, then and ONLY then will you have "proof" that the brakes, or whatever it is they could possible screw up, worked before hand. Yes, I am still a tiny bit upset.

Walk n' Roll!!

Yesterday was a great day for baby deals! Since I saved all that money on diapers, I decided to head to our local children's clothing resale shop that I had a $10 off a $50 purchase coupon for on a hunt to get a walker for Jolie and to see what other bargains I could find. (Consignment or resale shops are a GOLDMINE when it comes to buying baby equipment! I wish I would have known about them sooner!) As soon as I walked in I found an almost brand new Winnie The Pooh walker(it actually probably was brand new because the wheels had no dirt on them at all!) and it was $26! Way better than the $49 I had seen it for at Walmart! I was thrilled! Then to add to my enjoyment I looked up on a shelf and and low and behold there was the Fisher Price Sit to Stand Giraffe gazing down at me that I had been debating about buying for only $9! What a steal! I looked around at what else I could find to bring my total to $50 so I could use my coupon, and I found a cute Baby Gap hat and shorts set, a Children's Place swimsuit, some new white leather Keds, and a few other little things. I paid $40 for everything I got! I was so excited to get home and have Jolie test out her new toys.

Well, she LOVES her walker. She can only go backwards for now but she you can tell she likes being in control of where she rolls! Yeah, so I guess I should let her master crawling first but I can't help myself. I'm a sucker for baby stuff. Then there was the Sit to Stand Giraffe. Well my friends, whoever named that thing was right on. As soon as Jolie sat in front of it she pulled up on the ears and after a little bit of a struggle, she pulled herself up to a stand! What?! She's only 7 months old! She's not supposed to grow up this fast!!! I was amazed that she was even attempting this, since she had never before, so I quick ran and grabbed the disposable camera that I'll be taking to Walgreens later today to have developed for FREE! and snapped a few photos of the process. They should prove to be rather amusing. She was making some interesting faces. I'll post them later.

Another note.... Jolie has had her 2 bottom teeth for a while now, and now her 4 top teeth are coming in. I've tried to get some pictures of her new pearly whites but Jolie turns into Fort Knox and refuses to open her mouth. One day I'll get a picture of those elusive things. I know they're in there.
Well here's my problem..only one of her top teeth has broke though so far, which has made for a few sleepless nights around here. I've been using Hylands Teething Tablets and gel, frozen bananas in her mesh bag feeder, teething rings, you name it, to try to help with any discomfort, and I'll give her some Tylenol at bedtime but it doesn't seem to really be helping. What do you do for your teething baby to help ease their pain? I'm not a huge fan of Tylenol/Motrin so if you have any homeopathic remedies to share, please do!

Who wants FREE ECBs?!!

Everyone knows I love CVS. That's no secret. What was a secret to me though was that there's a GREAT new way you can earn ECBs and you don't even have to spend a dime or leave your home!

CVS has a program called CVS Advisor Panel and when you join and complete your profile, they will send you up to 4 surveys per year requesting your feedback about certain products, services, etc. For each survey you complete you can earn $5, $10, or even $15! Not bad at all! I signed up today. You should too!

I had to laugh though when one of the questions on the sign up survey was "how many times a month do you visit CVS" ...hmmmm? I don't know... maybe 4, 5, or 15 times? Wow, I need help! :)

Are you interested in signing up? Grab your Extra Care card number and go here: CVS Advisor Panel. They'll send you an e-mail to confirm and then just sit back and wait for the surveys to earn your free ECBs! Neat huh?

Thanks to Wendy at More Than Enough for the heads up on this one!

If you buy Pampers...

I've been a loyal Pampers customer from day 1 and I was thrilled to find out that I can earn free stuff just for buying them! So I wanted to pass this on to any other mommy's or mommy's-to-be that use Pampers.I wish I had found out about this sooner!

It's called Gifts to Grow and you find the labels on the inside of the package of diapers. It takes just a few minutes to register then you go and scour the trash for all the diaper packages that you just threw away if you're like me, and enter the codes! I'm already up to 19.5 points! Another 1/2 point and I'll be able to get a free book for Jolie! They have other things you can get too, like free movie passes etc. For more detailed instructions and info visit Kendra at Handprints On The Wallor Pampers.com

Free $25 ends in 7 days!

I just realized that the free $25 I posted about the other day is only good til APRIL 15th, not May! :( So if you want a few extra dollars in your pocket, take 5 minutes and sign up today! Only 7 Days left!

Free Mocha Iced Latté Wednesday 4/9 @ Sonic!

Head to Sonic this Wednesday, from 5pm to 9pm, to get one free 10-ounce Mocha Iced Latté. All you have to do is ask! It doesn't say a limit to the number of free lattés per vehicle, so load up the car and get a free treat! :) Thanks to iMommies for this link!

.98 cent huggies diapers!!

This is what I got yesterday at CVS. I actually have 5 excedrin's but one was put away.
This deal only worked for me yesterday because the CVS coupons expired 4/6 BUT if you're store lets you use expired coupons then try it. I actually went again today and it worked :)
I did this 3 times.
Bought:
1 Huggies Supreme 35pack diapers $8.99
2 Nature's RX Essentials Vitamins $14.99/2 (On sale for B1G1)

Total before coupons: $23.98

Used:
1 $4/$20 CVS Welcome Coupon
1 $2 CVS Huggies Coupon
1 $2 Huggies Manufacturer's Coupon
1 $5 CVS RX Essentials Coupon
2 $5/1 RX Essentials Manuf. Coupons

for .98cents AND I received $10 in ECB's for spending $25 in baby items (part of the weekly deal buy $25 worth of select baby products get $10ECBS) Now, I only had 1 $2/1 manuf. coupons for the Huggies, but I had 3 other $1.50/1 that I got from a Huggies Mailer & Sunday papers. So the other transactions I paid about $1.48 for. So I got $116.91 worth of goodies for $3.94+tax!! If THAT'S not a deal, I don't know what is!!
Thanks to Jenny at Mommin' it Up for this great idea!!

In a seperate transaction I also bought:
5 Excedrins at $1.99 each,(Limit 5)
Used $2/1 from here, here, and here
These were FREE after coupons and I actually MADE money because I got $5 ECBs back as part of the deal Buy 1 Excedrin 24ct at $1.99, Get $1 ECBs (Limit of 5)
Making money is so much fun!

I've done some more deals today and am going back tomorrow to hopefully pick up some Softsoaps that they were out of.

Just a note, it pays to talk to the CVS clerks. I asked them if they had any more soft soaps and the cashier offered to write me a rain check for 5 free! WOOHOO!! She also told me her truck came in today and that they might have some out by tomorrow! We shall see!

What did you get at CVS this week? I'd love to hear what other deals are out there.