It’s free to setup an account and they offer FREE SHIPPING!! You can buy many of the items you would at your normal brick-and-mortar at discounted prices and some food items. Plus, Alice will show you competitor prices too! And, oftentimes there are coupons in effect so you save even more!

No, this is not a sponsored post. (But, hey Alice – I’d be happy to do one for you!)

I’ve been wanting to do more online shopping for our random things – toiletries, paper goods, etc. and Alice even has a reminder thing that allows you to set how often you typically buy these products and it will remind you. You can also choose to add your favorite regularly purchased items to “My Products” so you don’t have to search the next time you need to order.

Sometimes the prices are not a TON less, or possibly not at all less than say WalMart, but many times it is and the convenience is definitely worth something. Plus, I figure if I order more things this way it will keep me from lurking around the aisles in person and grabbing random things we don’t actually need, and that can really add up.

I placed my order on Sunday night and came home today to find my box of goodies

nicely packaged

with some freebies!

Here’s what I bought:

• Crest Fresh Mint Toothpaste (6.2oz) $3.06 – $1.00 Coupon = $2.06
• Crest Fluoride Toothpaste (8.2oz) $3.19 – $1.00 Coupon = $2.19
• Secret Deodorant (2.6oz) $3.95 – $0.50 Coupon = $3.45
• Quaker Instant Hot Cereal (8 pack) $4.39 – $1.00 Coupon = $3.39
• Lever 2000 Bar Soap (2 pack) $1.95
• Fiber One Toaster Pastry (6 pack) $2.39 – $0.51 Coupon = $1.88
• Alpo Dog Treats (16oz) $2.15
• Tax $0.82
• Shipping – FREE!

I had $4.01 in coupons and ended up spending $17.89 for these 7 items. I don’t recall specific prices in the local stores, but doesn’t seem to bad to me so far! I just don’t have time to clip coupons, read the paper and plan my trips around town to get the best price on stuff so this works out pretty well for my lifestyle.

I think the website could be a little better to navigate (part of it I think is due to the settings on our monitor?), but other than that my experience has been very positive and I look forward to doing more shopping this way. I want to start paying closer attention to prices on items in the store so I have a better idea of how much I’m really saving.

Oh, AND one of my favorite things…Yep! There’s an app for that! It needs some work as it was crashing for me a bit. But, not only can I do my shopping from my phone but they have a scanner where you can take a photo of a sku on a product and instantly see if they stock it! Fabulous! I’ve been going around the house scanning everything in sight like I am registering for a wedding!

Do you do this type of shopping online? What are your favorite sites from which to shop?

So I had Andy take some photos tonight. He snapped a few quickly and I decided we need to work on some things. Like, it’s okay to say “Let’s try that one again, you’ve got a stupid look on your face.” Well, maybe not in those exact words, but you get the idea. So, I did a little cropping to take care of those and PhotoShopped the crap out of the others so I look, you know, “normal”. It’s not so much the pasty pale skin (although I went with B&W to help that), or the tiny wrinkles around my eyes (I left those in), but it’s the bags under my eyes! I left those in on one photo for your viewing displeasure. Gross! Guess that’s the look of a soon-to-be-mother, no? :-)

Yep. There’s definitely a bump there!

And let’s not forget my first baby…

Some boys were getting a bit jealous I think.

16 weeks, one day. So far so good. Just waiting to actually feel the growing nugget any day now. We head back to the doctor for our gender ultrasound on March 17th. Keep your fingers crossed my babynugget cooperates and gives us a little show so we can tell what we’re having! (And, keep your toes crossed that it’s a boy nugget!!)

Years ago I was terrified of needles. Deathly afraid. So, I thought there was no way in hell I’d ever consider an epidural. (I’ve seen the videos of those; the needles are bigger than my arm and they want to stick it in between my spine?!) But, I’m one to face my fears head on so I got myself a couple tattoos and decided needles aren’t so bad afterall. I’ve also had the displeasure of experiencing some pretty serious monthly cramps in my time and decided perhaps a prick of one giant needle might not be so bad to the alternative of a “natural” birth.

I’ve witnessed two births in person – one with mild drugs, one epidural, both with doctors in the hospital. The epidural seemed to be the way to go as far as being cognizant of what was going on AND having less pain. After that I thought I’d be an epidural-all-the-way kind of girl. And then I watched that movie tonight.

I saw women (including Ricki Lake) giving birth they way THEY chose – at home, in water, standing up, with clothes on, etc. And I realized, hey, maybe I don’t want to be all nekked, flat on my back, feet up in stirrups with my junk up and out for all to see. No, I really don’t. Who does? The water thing looked pretty comfortable. And rolling around on a yoga ball seems much better than people strapping down your thighs yelling at you to “Push!” and “Don’t forget to breathe!”

Now, I don’t know about the whole at home thing, that might be a little too much for me. I don’t really want to clean up that mess. But I am interested in what my options are, whether they’re normal or extreme. Nobody likes stark-white, sterile hospitals. And I’ve never been one to go to the doctor for anything other than my required annual checkup. The only reason I did is because they wouldn’t give me those lovely birth control pills without a checkup. Andy nearly carried me to the doctor one year b/c I was hacking up a lung for like two weeks. I don’t know why I don’t go to the doctor, or don’t take much medicine…it’s not that I’m afraid, I guess I just think my body is capable of healing itself. I like natural, homeopathic methods too. I dunno, I’m not a hippie or anything like that, I’ve just always been a little weird I guess. I like to go against the grain.

I am going to start seeing a midwife I think at my next visit. Not that I have anything against doctors, I just think a midwife might be more my style. Speaking of style, if I could have my way I think I’d have my birthing room like a spa…quiet and tranquil, dimly lit with relaxing scents, warm blankets and atmosphere with calming music. I want to keep some clothes on. None of this completely naked, Amazon woman stuff for me. And yeah, maybe one of those birthing tubs/mini pools and a yoga ball, just in case.  Of course, it would be reassuring to know there would be doctors and all that scary hospital equipment next door if necessary.

Think I can hook that up?!

Anyway, the movie was interesting and I would recommend it. But, I would like to hear stories and opinions of people of all kinds. Tell me about your past or current birthing plans – what did you like? Dislike? What would you do different or do again? Epidural? Meds? Nothing? Doctor? Midwife?

While there is a small chance that could still happen, the risk shrinks a little every day. Plus, I’ve also realized that even if this baby is born and blessed with perfect health I will live the rest of my life coming to terms with the fact I have no control of the outside world and what will happen, today, tomorrow, or twenty years from now.  What I do know is that today we had an amazing 12 week appointment and ultrasound…Everything looked good! 

Our nugget has gone from a little tiny blob to looking like a real-life baby! Yes, for some reason I was slightly shocked. Lately I have been feeling almost not-pregnant. (Despite my bloated tummy, sore chest, and other pregnancy symptoms!) I tried to order some early maternity and baby stuff online this weekend but left the stuff in the online cart and shut it down. There was a tiny part of me that said, “No, just wait a couple more days until your appointment. How terrible it would be to have something be wrong and then have all this stuff delivered.” It was like I needed to see our baby again and get the good word from the doctor to be absolutely sure he or she was still there and doing well. :::sigh::: Thank goodness it all went great! I can’t imagine having to wait the full 20 weeks they originally told me I’d have to wait for my first ultrasound. That seems absolutely ridiculous!

We saw the head, heart, tiny arms and legs, little stomach…it was amazing. The little guy was jumping all over the place too! We were in there for quite a while trying to get him or her to settle down into the right position for the u/s tech to take the necessary measurements and I could not stop laughing! She said if the baby stretched out he/she would be about 4″ long! I knew there was supposed to be activity going on but I had no idea it was THAT much! We took a video of the baby being dramatic and throwing it’s little hand up to it’s forehead. SUPER cute! :::Squeal:::

So, I think it is FINALLY starting to sink in. I am absolutely pregnant. Odds are that we are really going to have a baby in less than 8 months. I’m not sure why this seems so weird to me. I’ve always wanted to have a baby, couldn’t wait to have one for a long period in my life in fact. I have witnessed two births in person and watched as nearly all my friends and family have had one, two, three, and more babies.  There are girls half my age and women almost twice my age that have given birth to healthy babies. Why has it been so difficult for me to believe that finally, this year I will get my turn?

I’ve been thinking that maybe it’s because for some reason I never realized life could be so good for me. I’ve learned how unfair Life can be at times so how is it that I finally have the wonderful life I once only dreamed about? I know that I have been very, very blessed. I have an amazing husband and having a family together will only make things more perfect. This is what life should be like for everyone. LOL – sorry to get so deep…I know I need to stop analyzing it and just enjoy it. Be thankful, and cherish every moment.