Groupon Love!

Just want to gush about my renewed love for Groupon!  I've always loved Groupon - I mean who doesn't love a great deal.  I've gotten deals on Pilates classes, a conceal and carry class, restaurants, a photo session, a trip to Jamaica.....they have everything! 

Last fall I purchased a Groupon to have our vents and air ducts cleaned.  I even bought the higher level to have them clean out our dryer vent.  The deal expired in April, so in March I called to have it scheduled.  They couldn't fit us in until May, so I put it on the calendar.  When May rolls around, the company called and said they had to cancel, but to call their 800 number to reschedule.  So I did.  The customer service rep couldn't tell me why the appointment had to be canceled and then let me know they couldn't reschedule until July!  July!!  So I reluctantly put it on the calendar for the end of July.  The day came in July that we had the appointment scheduled for, and we waited, and waited, and waited.  They didn't show up.  Grrr.  I was getting really annoyed.  So I called the company and the customer service rep says, "oh we have a note that they left you a message canceling the appointment."  Um, nope, nobody called.  But they politely offered to reschedule....again!  I said, "sure I'll reschedule if somebody actually shows up this time."  They promised to put a  note on the file indicating that we had been rescheduled twice already and set a new appointment for the end of August.  So you can imagine how surprised I was when, again, NOBODY SHOWED UP for our August appointment, again, without even a call!!!

The problem with the whole situation, however, is I've already paid for the service.  Otherwise there's no way I would have bothered with this company after the first no-show!  I didn't think there was anything I could do though since I had already paid for it.

Oh, and I tried finding this company online and I can't.  Their name is "Quality Air. " But there are a ton of companies with that name out there.  And I'm pretty sure they aren't a local company because whenever I called them to reschedule, they would ask what state I was calling from.  So frustrating!

But this morning I called Groupon just to see what my options were.  They were beyond awesome!  They apologized for me having to deal with this company - they are going to revisit their agreement with them.  And I will have a credit for Groupon by the end of the day!  It may not seem like that big of a deal, but I literally thought I was just out $70!  Yay!

Baby style

Baby clothes don't go of style, right?!  Depends on the outfit maybe.  But as I was getting Lincoln dressed yesterday morning I couldn't help but remember just how adorable I thought this long-sleeved bodysuit was when I bought it from Baby Gap.......TWELVE YEARS AGO!!!  Ahhh.  Crazy, right?!  I still happen to think it's pretty adorable.

   

 

 

I managed to get a couple bags full of some pretty amazing deals when I worked there part time during college.  Clothes would go on clearance and then plus my employee discount = score!!  Some people thought I was crazy, but look who's laughing now!  (nobody's really laughing - it's just an expression.)  Most of what I bought back then were girl clothes, but I do have a good stack of boy clothes, although a lot of them are bigger sizes!  It's fun to pull them out of Lincoln's drawer now and put them on a real baby!!!

Two Months

Look who is two months old already - time is just flying by!  We are loving every minute with Lincoln.  He is growing like a weed and changing every day.  He loves to smile (especially at his momma), has the funniest facial expressions and absolutely LOVES taking a bath!  He really is a good baby, and we are so thankful. 

 

We Love Sleep!

Look who is all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed after sleeping through the entire night - for the second night this week!!  That makes his mommy SO happy!  He slept from 9:30pm until 6:30am on Tuesday night and from 9:00pm until 6:00am last night.  Yay! We'll see if he can keep it up and make it two in a row......or more!

 

 

Trip to the Zoo

We've been trying to enjoy our time together as a family before football season officially gets under way and enjoy these summer days before they're gone.  So on Thursday we got all ready and headed out for lunch at Red Lobster and then hit up the Como Zoo in St. Paul.  It was a gorgeous day to be outside and Lincoln was quite the little trooper - he did great and mostly slept all day, except to eat.  He loves being in his stroller walking around!

 

 

 

Obviously Lincoln was super excited to see all the animals! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 We found Nemo!

 

 

 

 

 

We obviously haven't quite gotten the hang of taking family "selfies" yet,
but we're working on it!

One Month

it's hard to believe it's been a month already since the Lord blessed us with Lincoln!  it's so fun to see his little personality starting to show through!  we are so thankful for this gift and are looking forward to watching him grow and develop into the boy and man that God has planned.

 

 

We have a baby!!!

Lincoln is here.........and is actually a month old today and I'm just getting around to blogging about it.  But life has been a little crazy since June 25th and we're just settling into our own little routine here at home together.

 

I won't go into detail with the birth story, but we checked in to the hospital on the evening of June 23rd to be induced the morning of the 24th.   

 

 

Lincoln was finally born via C-section on June 25th, 2013, at 2:39am.  He was 8lbs 9oz and 21 inches long - absolutely perfect.  We weren't planning on a C-section and it was a little chaotic once the decision was made so someone (my husband!) forgot to bring a camera into the OR.  So we don't have any pictures from the actual delivery.  Once Lincoln was born and after I got to lay eyes on him for a few minutes, he was taken to the Level 2 nursery to be watched for 48 hours to ensure he didn't have any infection.  So I didn't get to see him until later that morning when I was a little less medicated, but both Hal and my mom were able to see him right away and snapped a few pictures!  I know I'm biased, but I just couldn't get over how cute he was!! 

 

 

We were discharged on Friday morning, and we were so ready to get out of there - it was a long week!  My mom was so great and had been with us the entire time trading off with Hal being with me in the hospital.  So we came home to a clean house and dinner on the table!   Have I mentioned before how awesome my mom is?!

 

 

Saturday we ran some errands and had a few visitors.  Sunday we went to church to introduce Lincoln to everybody and then had a few more visitors that afternoon.  Monday morning Lincoln had his first doctor's appointment, we picked up his birth certificate at the courthouse and then we packed the car and headed north for a few weeks!  Since both Hal and I are off for the summer we had decided to spend a few weeks up north with my parents.  We just weren't planning on Lincoln being over a week late and having to be in the hospital for so long - so we were a little short on recovery time.  But we survived (again - thanks to my mom!). 

 

Lincoln did great in the car - he slept almost the entire trip!

 

 

Grandma Marge must have seen us pull in the driveway (she lives next door) because she was at the door before we had even made the first trip in with luggage.  She was so excited to meet her 40th great-grandchild!  What a sweetie - she couldn't stop smiling holding him!  We are so blessed to have such a godly woman in our lives who prays daily for each of her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren - and there's a LOT of them!!

 

Lincoln also got to meet his two cousins, Jace and Britta!  They were both kind of obsessed with him.  Britta, who is one, just oohed and aahed and squealed over him - it was the cutest thing ever.  Every time she saw him she wanted to hug and kiss and touch and poke him!  I can't wait to see their friendship grow over the years.  Jace was such a good big cousin!  If he wasn't holding Lincoln, he would just sit and stare at him!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lincoln had a lot of firsts while we were up north....his first 4th of July, his first trip to the lake, his first boat ride and his first rodeo.  Unfortunately we didn't get any pictures at the rodeo, but I'm pretty sure he had a great time!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And....you might be a redneck if you weigh your child on a meat scale.  Guilty.  Since we were missing Lincoln's two-week appointment (worst parents ever?!) we were curious to see how much weight he was gaining.  So we drug out the meat scale naturally.  The first week he had gained a pound and the second week almost another pound.  What a little chunker!

 

 

 

 

Hal and I also celebrated our one-year anniversary while we were up north.  It's so crazy how fast the year has gone and how much has happened in that short time!  It was nice to be able to have a babysitter and enjoy a nice dinner on the river to celebrate!  Thanks again, mom and dad!  We also got to enjoy our wedding cake one more time.  My mom froze part of our cake from the wedding last year so we had it for dessert!  It was still as good as the first time around!

 

 

Here's just a few more pictures of Lincoln while we were up north.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The night before we left we were able to get some family pictures since all of my siblings were home, which is kind of rare these days since Jordan is in the military in North Carolina and soon to be in Korea for a year. 

 

 

 

 

We're all buckled in and ready to head back to the big city!  Even Libby was tired and ready to get home! 

 

 

We had such a great time and was so nice to be able to be up north with family for three weeks.  But we sure were ready to get home and get our own routine established!  And I don't have to go back to work until September!!  So excited!  We're looking forward to enjoying some quality time together in the next few weeks until Hal starts training camp.