I hear ya!

So...

rambling in Espanol the blog-o-sphere didn't go over very well with my 3* faithful readers.

Sorry ol' faithful.

But as a reward for your half-hearted diligence here are some more Sweet Sorens! Maybe this is not the type of compensation you had in mind and although he is MY buddy bear he would like you be your friend too!

*estimated 3, it's probably less. :)

UPDATE:

---Please don't feel guilty! I didn't mean to guilt anyone for not commenting on the blog or even not reading it. I'm only joking about my circulation... that's why I can post in Spanish or jibberish and it doesn't matter, especially because (let's be honest) we come here for pictures of Soren now! :)

UN MES.

Every now and a again I feel the random need to rattle in Spanish. If you choose to translate, please read in the correct tones of voice.

1. este bebe hermosisimo, es tan chiquito pero se esta creciendo gordito! no puedo creer que lleva un mes, no es recien nacido nada mas. estoy feliz y triste. :)

2. quiero praticipar en un "flash mob" y que se lleve a cabo en el zoologico. y supongo que la cancion tendra que ser la del principio de Lion King.

3. amo a mi familia! y me encanta comer hot dogs adentro de tortillas.

HAPPY ONE MONTH (AND 10 DAYS), SOREN!

2 weeks

Soren was 2 weeks old on Monday. It's strange because we've only had him home a week, so it's hard to believe he's already growing growing... but he's a keeper and we can't imagine our family without him!

*** now weighing in at 6 lbs. 12 oz. and 20 inches long. ***

magic moments

eyes totally open for the first time

daddy holds baby

mommy loves this little dude

soren is so small, but fits perfect in daddy's arms

telling secrets about mommy

some soren squeaks

Our November Surprise!

November started off with a HUGE surprise. Baby Boy decided he was ready to meet ya'll and picked his birthday to be
11-01-10. (*5 weeks early*)

As I laid in bed Sunday evening about drifted into "dreamworld", I felt a sharp pain and then a new but unmistakable sensation... "Water-breaking!"

"Jon... um sweetie my water just broke. What should I do?"

"Are you serious? You should probably call your doctor," he replied.

And thus began Soren Idrios Galbraith's journey into this world.

Of course there was a lot of waiting between Sunday night at 11:30pm and Monday night at 10:48pm when his eviction was complete. I did not start having any contractions on my own so when Dr. Ramos came in Monday morning we started with Pitocin to move things along. I tolerated contractions alright, but when things got fierce the epidural did the trick. Don't get me wrong it wasn't peachy the rest the way, but definitely more tolerable.

Soren weighed 6 lbs. 2 oz. and all the doctors have said it was good I didn't go full term because I likely would have had to have a C-section. However good for me, coming 5 weeks early for Soren hasn't been uncomplicated.

His little lungs need some support to mature. The first night was pretty rough for him in Level II NICU, but moving him to Level III (although scary) was the best decision and he has greatly improved. I won't get into all the physiological details... just to say that technology, medical science, dedicated doctors and nurses, and lots of prayer are all powerful elements. And these things have brought about miraculous change for our little guy.

I am so grateful for some really awesome people like: Dr. Ramos, Dr. Suell, Dr. Ahmed, Dr. Simkowitcz, Mrs. Clara Bias, Austin, Anne, Beth, Myra and many others who are experts in their craft. Among them are wonderful family, friends and ward members that offer such great faith and much needed positivity and support. WE Love you all so much!

Soren will still be in NICU for some time, he has some big goals to reach, but we have NO DOUBT that he will be coming home soon strong and healthy. It's not easy being home without him... the house feels empty somehow and we certainly are aware that someone is missing. But seeing his improvement every time we visit is a great motivator for my faith.

Soren isn't giving up and neither are we.


Can't wait to hold our little man!!!

Labor Day Fun!!!!

Having a break from school and work usually means that you rest the whole day. But for a teacher a break doesn't always mean rest. We did get to sleep in until 9 this morning; which is a nice change for a Monday morning. Then it was all about work. Katrina and I first started are day at CVS together and then she moved on to Lakeshore (a teachers store) as I continued my couponing at another CVS store. After a great morning at CVS I picked up ken, a friend, from the ward and we started working on a project that we have been waiting to start for sometime. Meanwhile Katrina is watching someone laminate a box full of paper as she holds only 4 sheets that she needs to laminate for tomorrow. She arrived at Lakeshores around 10:45 am.

As Ken and I were coming back from Lowes around 1:30ish Katrina called and said that she finally got to laminate her 4 sheets and that she was on her way. We finished our project and went to the store to get a few things for a BBQ. On our way home it started to rain. Nonetheless we still grilled some hotdogs and enjoyed our time and families.

Now its almost 7:00 pm and Katrina is still working on school stuff. Trying to stay away from my homework I decided to blog about our fun labor day. Most of all to show what we got at CVS this morning. We were able to buy $79.16 worth of stuff and only paid out of pocket $1.20. Plus we got back $20.00 for next week. :) As you can see from the picture we got 1 big box of 96 diapers, 1 big can of formula, 2 bottles of baby bubble bath, and 2 things of desitin for baby rash. What you can't see is we also got 8 bottles of sobewater. I didn't include them because we drink some of them.

Now for my favorite part: Katrina purchased the formula, 2 bottles of bubbles, and 4 bottles of sobewater. The total was $39.33 and only paid $0.10 and got back $10.00. I purchased the Diapers, the desitin, and 4 sobewaters. The total was $39.83 and I only paid $1.10 and got back $10.00. I love this game.:)

Randalls and Kroger 8/11

Another good day at the store with my new hobby. This week I wanted to start saving on food items for Katrina and I. Hoping that it will help us save more money this month and for the future. Yesterday the 11th, Kroger and Randalls came out with their weekly ads. With a few hours of looking through the ads and some blogs that I have been studying I decided to give them a try. The first photo was a mix of both stores and we were able to get a few items at each one for a total of 33 items. The total cost of this items before tax was $79.88. I was able to use coupons to get the total down to $15.14. :) I hope you can see that we got 8 boxes of cereal, 5 boxes of Nature Valley bars, 2 boxes of fruit by the foot, 2 boxes of Gushers, 8 cans of Progresso Soup, 2 bags of chex, 2 bags of Gardetto's, 3 things of Sunny D, and 1 can of Pringles.

I came home with my items with mix emotions. I had planned on some of the items to be less, but found out some new rules at Kroger. At Randalls I forgot to get a little more of one item to get back some money but I forgot to purchase them. After going through I figured that I would try something else. So I went back to Randalls and was able to get 11 more items that would have cost me $34.39. I only paid $2.68 and I received $5.50 back for next week of for anything else that I want at their store. So I made $2.82 just trying it again to redeem myself. This photo shows 5 boxes of Fiber One bars, 2 boxes of Gushers, 2 boxes of Fruit by the Foot, and 2 things of Sweet Moments.

I added the two trips together to see my total out of pocket cost. For the 44 items in total I would have paid before tax $114.27 and I only paid $17.82 after tax. Keep in mind that I did receive $5.50 for my next purchase at Randalls. :)

CVS Is Wonderful!!!

I love couponing. Once again we were able to get diapers for way cheap. I love it. As you can see we purchase 2 razors, two Dulcolax Balance, 1 Shave Gel, Q-tips, 2 jumbo packs of diapers 40 ct each, and 2 wipes 216 ct each. (We also got Xtra detergent, but I forgot to include it in the picture.) The total would have cost us $95.28 without tax and it only cost us $7.16 with tax. And the best part is that we got $11 back for next week and one of the razor is a mail in rebate which will give us $8.97 back. In other words we spent $7.16 and made $19.97 for a grand total for $12.81 made this week. :)



I always like to break down the purchases for you. I think its fun. Katrina first purchased one 3 blade Razor for $9.99 and paid $1.05. Second she purchased 1 Dulcolax Balance for $12.99 and paid only $1.99 for it. Her last purchase was 1 jumbo pack of diapers, 1 baby wipe, and 1 thing of Q-tipps for a total of $23.07 and only paid $1.30. After all this her total out of pocket was $4.34 and she got $4.00 back for next week. We also used her razor receipt for the mail in rebate for full purchase price of $8.97. My first purchase was 1 razor and 1 shave gel for a total of $13.98 and paid a total of $0.00. I love free. My second purchase was 1 Dulcolax Balance and 1 Xtra Detergent for a total of $16.08 and paid only $0.10. :) My last purchase was 1 diaper and 1 baby wipe for a total of $20.19 and only paid $2.72. This brings my total to $2.82 and I received $7 dollars back for next week.

Our boy scout is going to have so many diapers.

My (Jonathan's) New Hobby!!!!!!!

So first things first. I know that everyone wants to see our pictures of our summer trips, but you are going to have to wait.

For a couple of months now I have been waiting to get into the coupon world. I have heard stories of people spending only $50 on a $150 purchase at the store. I figured that it would be worth looking into. I'll give you a little background before I jump into the savings that Katrina and I have come across, because for some reason ladies love the whole picture.

I was over at a friends home when his wife Amy asked if we needed any razors or any shampoo. She said that she got them for free and that they were not going to use them. She than showed me their room of free stuff from couponing. I told her that I have always wanted to start using coupons and then I saw some diapers amongst the free items. "Wait so you get diapers for free," I asked. She said that she almost always does and that she doesn't spend more than $0.10 per diaper. I was amazed at this because well you know. :)

Amy offered to teach us how to get started. We finally got in touch with her when we got back from Utah and right before they left to Washington State. We can't wait to report back to her on our good deal finding skills. So on with the saving details. Keep in mind that this is our second week of couponing.

Our first stop this last Monday August 2 was CVS. As you can tell from the picture we got 6 Ragu, 2 Razors, a 36 ct. and a 18 ct. of Playtex, 2 Colgate, and 3 Crest Mouthwash. The grand total before sales or coupons was $89.53. We paid $12.46 and received $15.00 in store credit for next weeks deals. Let me break it down a little more just for fun. We have two different cards at CVS and we were getting Katrina's card ready for next week money maker deal. So my first purchase was the 2 Colgate and the 3 Crest Mouthwash. I spent a total of $0.32 on this purchase. My second purchase was just one razor which I spent a total of $0.86 on it. A grand total of $1.18 and I received $9 back for next weeks purchase. I made some $7.82 this week. Katrina had two purchases as well and it takes a little money to start making money. Her first purchase was 6 Ragu and one Razor. The total was $10.21 that we put on a gift card that we got from T-Mobile. The second one was the two boxes of Playtex that Katrina doesn't need right now, but will in the future. Her total was $1.07. For a total of $11.28 and between the two purchases she got $6 back for next week. So she really spent $5.28 to get started for next week. :)

Our second stop was Walgreens. Walgreens was a learning experience for the both of us. It didn't go as planned but we were happy with the outcome of the trip. As you can see we got two 42 ct bags of diapers size 2, two 72 ct baby wipes, one razor, a 24 ct box of crayons, .5 oz visine eye drop, a 50 ct Alive Men Energy, one bottle of contact solution, and a 10ct box of pencils. The grand total before sales and coupons was $74.89 and we spent only $7.84 that we put on the same gift card as CVS. Lets break it down. We first purchased was the crayons and the razor for a total of $0.00. Thats right free with the help of a $10 gift card that we got from a purchase the week before. For the second purchase we got the contact solution for $0.36. The third purchase included the eye drops and the alive men energy for a total of $1.99. Our last purchase was the diapers and the wipes for a total of $5.49. That is not bad for 84 diapers and 144 wipes if I do say so myself.

Our third stop was Target. It really wasn't as exciting as the other two before. We got some free soup and a few other things there. We spent in total $6.06. Our last stop for couponing was Kroger. This purchase was a little more stressful, but it was worth it. As you can see we got a lot of stuff here. I won't take the time to list what we got, but I will tell you that it was 25 different items. The grand total in this purchase was $124.77 and we paid a total of 47.91 on everything here. Not bad for our first run at Kroger. Katrina and I spent many hours over the weekend planning our shopping lists and getting the early Sunday morning paper for the coupons. It was a lot of fun and it saved us a lot of money.

The grand total cost of the day would have been $295.25 and only spent a total of $49.09 out of pocket and $19.12 on a gift card that we got from T-Mobile. Also we received $15.00 from CVS to use for next weeks couponing day. :)

You might be thinking that we won't use everything that we purchase and you might be right. But as Amy taught us there is only three reasons why you use your coupons; 1. You need it 2. Its free and/or 3. You make money from it. She also said that with the leftovers she puts them in a yard sale. Which to me means more money. :)

Thanks for reading.

Jonathan

all mixed up

Jon and I leave for Ecuador in about 21 hours. I am so excited and stressed and stoked and nervous! That is all.

noticias! noticias!

Jon and I bought a crib yesterday at Target. It was such a great deal we couldn't pass it up. Although the deal was sort of outweighed with the hassle of getting it home, we're happy to be investing in the future. ;)

this is why I Teach... For America.

Every statistic has a name.

Injustice and disservice are the opposite, and dare I say the enemy, of love and charity.

Contagion is not limited to smiles and illnesses, it extends infinitely in both directional spectra.

God loves all, ALL His children.

Humanity learns through examples and experiences... if none are given, how can we learn?

Please follow this link to learn more.

http://www.waitingforsuperman.com/

to the singers, dancers, picture takers, friends, listeners, swimmers, teachers, painters, pilots, babysitters, believers, and you

I just love seeing things like this. This 6th grader is truly talented.

However, I would not want to suggest that talents are limited to only certain more visible skills. I used to think that talents only came in the form of singing or dancing... a misery caused by middle school talent shows. :(

BUT....

Now I (think) it is amazing that God loves each of us so much that He instills within us gifts to bless each other. I quickly learned (for my own survival) that talents come in an infinite number of ways and at different times.

God doesn't need everyone to be a great teacher. Who would be a great listener? He doesn't need everyone to be a swimmer. Who would be a great coach? He simply does not need each of us to possess every talent all the time.

Some things we never dreamed of doing in our youth become our most wonderful talents as adults. What an inspiring lesson. God is constantly reminding us of His love, His plan and granting us opportunities to increase our testimonies in this life.

Even now as I think on it, He needs us more than anything to depend on one another; to serve and lift and encourage one another. He knows how hard this test is, He's been there. He loves us! And like any wonderful parent He knows that learning and growth are not just a lecture but an experience.

You have talents and gifts unique to you. You will be able to do things for other people that no one else ever born has been able to do. No one. Just you.

Thank you each of you for sharing your talents, especially those that have lifted me and my fellow brothers and sisters. God loves you! And may He bless all of us with more opportunities to lift, serve, testify, listen, and learn through talents!

I never knew...

I never knew how slick it could be to own a minivan!




So big props to my minivan driving peeps, flash that street cred!!!

out of hibernation?

So someone told me that winter is over now and I can come out of hibernation. I would like to think that this would be true from here on out but something tells me that this week is an exception to the current ruling.

I'm at a conference in Dallas. I can't really work on much for work and I am without Jon so I have some free time, lonely free time mind you, but nevertheless some free time.

Overall, things are going well for Jon and I. He's almost done with another semester of school and I am t-minus 18 days 'til my first year of teaching is complete!

Jon stills love his calling with Young Men and Scouts. I am enjoying Primary and a new co-teacher was called for my class this past week. I feel as if Jon and I are very blessed. We are healthy and happy. We are blessed with great faith and strong testimonies. We love each other so much and have fun almost everyday.

We have wonderful families that support us in our endeavors and always encourage us to work hard, to be persons of integrity and to be forever joyful.

Our days so far in 2010 are not filled with great adventure or notable events; they are simple, inexpensive :), sometimes stressful, sometimes restful, but all in all life is good. (slow last phrase for dramatic effect)

So whether or not I am about of blogger hibernation is not so important as is the love I have in my heart for life, family, and the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Hopefully though I can find more quiet moments to share this love and joy with each of you as we know that one great purpose to life is to build others up and share our joys, heartaches, and lives with one another. After all Q: what can we truly take with us?








A: knowledge, relationships, and character.