Essential Oils

DoTerra Essential Oils are the best investment I have ever made. 

I have never been the person to run to the medicine cabinet and get an Advil when my head hurts, or take antibiotics when I have a cold. I have always let my body work through the problems itself. 

When I got pregnant, I never took a Tylenol for my head aches or any medicine other than my prenatal vitamins to help me get through a cold. I was NOT about to put medicine in my body that is not supposed to be there. 

A few months ago my cousin invited me to her essential oils party and I decided to see what it was all about!! And I am SO GLAD i did!!

DoTerra Essential Oils are amazing. I use them constantly on myself and my family. They are safe enough to use on children and they will never have side effects if used correctly. 

I use essential oils for things such as head aches, digestion issues, diaper rash (for my little man!) and also for aching muscles. When I used my oils on my son for his diaper rash, I noticed an improvement within a few hours! Compared to desitin or any other diaper rash cream, my oils worked so fast and gave him relief quickly!! 

I also use my essential oils for cleaning purposes. I hate spraying chemicals I'm my home and breathe them in as soon as I start cleaning. I don't want to put harsh chemicals in my home so I use my Lemon Essential Oil and it works just as good as pledge. It smells amazing and it leaves my table, and granite counter tops absolutely amazingly clean! 

Essential oils are ESSENTIAL in my family life :) We replaced many common household medicines with these oils and for a fraction of the cost!! :) 

If you would like to know more about DoTerra Essential Oils and how they work please visit my website:

http://www.mydoterra.com/jessievincelet/

If you would like to purchase any oils please contact me on my website and we can get you set up :) 

Couponing!!

If you know me then you know....

I LOVE TO COUPON!!!

I think couponing is the best possible way to save money! I used to just fly past the sale racks and not even care about saving $1.00 on shampoo and conditioner. That was until I realized my shopping habits were out of control and we needed to start cutting back. 

So I created my coupon book :) 

I went to Hobby Lobby and purchased a 3 ring notebook, and then a coupon organizer! It was probably $10 total! I started cutting the coupons I needed then made my grocery list based off of that. 

(I normally make a grocery list for 2 weeks of food!! PLAN YOUR MEALS!)

I only started taking 3 coupons to see if I could even save anything off of my grocery bill, and from then on, I was hooked!! 

Here are a few tips to help you begin couponing :) 

1. Cut a few coupons you know you need for example: toilet paper, soap, razors, etc..
2. Right down your weekly, or monthly budget for grocery shopping and STICK TO IT!
3. Just remember, you are saving money whether you take 3% off your tab or 100%. 
4. Take all your coupons to the store with you and if you see a sale and have a coupon for that item, TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT!!!! :) 

Since I have been doing this for a while now, I set up an excel spreadsheet that calculates my total grocery bill with coupon savings included! I take that shopping with me and make sure I have every single coupon I need. 

Our budget is very tight at home and I have to make sure that every dollar is stretched to it's limit. Couponing has really helped my family and gives us the opportunity to save for other things. I feel like I am contributing more when I save money for our family. Just remember, couponing is easy!! Once you start, I PROMISE you will be hooked :) 

Traveling With the Little One

My little man is now an international traveler!!

I was sooo worried about the trip right before we went, because I wasn't sure how he was going to be in the plane. 

So, in hopes of making this 4 hour plane ride the best it can be, I created an amazing thing...

A SURVIVAL BAG!!

This amazing survival bag really made a difference on the plane!

Let me tell you what I packed.

1. Diapers (of course!!)
2. Wipes
3. 3 books (little touch and feel ones)
4. 2 stuffed animals
5. PLENTY OF SNACKS
6. 1 blankly
7. coloring book with crayons

I loved every single one of these items I brought because it kept him entertained. He was a little annoyed that he couldn't walk around the plane...so that was the worst thing!!

So the plane ride there was kind of crazy! I was so anxious about the long ride and I think he knew that so he was panicked. So my advice, stay calm. Because your babies will know when you are stressed out :) 

The worst part of the flight was when we were descending. My little mans ears weren't popping and he was in pain!! He was screaming crying the entire way down and I couldn't do anything to help him. I felt so worthless...I tried giving him his sippy cup so he could pop his ears, he wouldn't take the sippy. I tried making him look up so it would open his ear canal, he didn't want to look up. So I was literally sitting there with him just trying to comfort him when he was in pain. Nothing I did was working!!

In a moment like this, I realized I didn't care if people were staring at me because of my screaming child, I didn't care that people were getting annoyed. It's not about them. My baby was hurting and I wanted to do everything I could to make HIM feel better, not THEM. 

He turned out to be very well behaved, until the end of the flight. He was very very tired and I couldn't get him to lay down and take a nap at all! Finally, my mother comes to the back of the plane and grabs him and forces him to lay his head on her shoulder and take a nap!! I was so relieved :) 

On the way home, he slept the entire time!! We had a late flight so when he got in the plane he passed out!! Even before we began to taxi out to the runway!! it was amazing!!

Don't be afraid of plane rides with the little ones! If they scream, WHO CARES!! If someone gives you  a dirty look because your child is crying, then forget they are there and focus on the issue!! 

Just remember to have that survival bag and you will be okay!!

Whatever the struggle that comes with traveling, know that you are not the only one that has gone through it :)