WFMW: Saving Money on Your Kids’ Clothes!

In last week’s Works for me Wednesday I showcased my thriftiness when it comes to groceries. This week I thought I’d let you in on how I save money on my kiddos’ clothes. To illustrate, I’ve got some super cute pictures of said darling kiddos from our pumpkin-picking excursion the other day:
sophiepunkin.jpg

pumpkin-cheese.jpg

Don’t they look adorable and fashionably dressed? You are SO right, they SO do! Would you believe I got both of their jackets at Goodwill? I SO did! Sophie’s is from Baby Gap and looked like it had only been worn a couple of times. Joshua’s is a Circo (Target brand) and was new with tags when I bought it. I paid $2.49 for each jacket! Joshua usually has tons of hand-me-downs from his boy cousins, but this year he did need a few more pairs of pants, so I headed to Goodwill. There I got him several pairs, including the brands Carter’s, Gymboree, and the Children’s Place, and the most I paid was $1.99. If you’re a regular reader, you know Emily and I also frequent a couple of consignment sales in our area (you can read our accounts from this year’s sales here and here), and I also love to garage sale, but thrift stores (I like Goodwill the best because it is the most nicely organized in our area) are often a really good place to look for a specific item you need. In Joshua’s case it was pants, in Sophie’s case, it was long-sleeved full-length rompers I was looking for (I found two). Sure, they’ve been worn before, but in most cases they’ll still have as much wear in them as you need them to! So, if there are a few items of clothing missing from your kids’ wardbrobes, I suggest you hit your local thrift store to see what they have to offer. It works for me!
For more great Works for Me Wednesday tips, check out Rocks in My Dryer.

Post to Twitter

T-Minus GINORMO and Counting (One year ago this week!)

(Before you read today’s enthralling post, if you haven’t checked out my post at TopBlogMag yet, pleeeeeaaase head on over and do so! Thanks!)

The following is from a blog I had before Emily and I started Mommin’ It Up. It was kind of just a family and friends thing, but I wanted to share this post with you all. It was written one year ago this week when I was 37 weeks pregnant with Sophia. Enjoy!

Well it’s 4:43 in the a.m. and even though I took a Tylenol PM, I can’t SLEEP! I’m not happy! I’ve been up for about two hours. I went to sleep at ten and fell right asleep but no such luck with staying that way. My belly is so ginormous that I just can’t stay comfortable even with the bed all to myself and my three strategically placed pillows. As a matter of fact, I’m not even GROGGY from the ol’ Tylenol PM so maybe I need to take 2 next time. One for me and one for Sophia. I haven’t taken any in a few weeks but then I took one Wednesday cause I was desperate and it really helped so I thought I’d try again tonight. Oh well.

I’m still behind on my weight gain from my last pregnancy but nevertheless I feel like a giant. I try very hard to walk gracefully but I am officially no longer walking but either “waddling” or “lumbering” at this stage. I am happy to report however that my feet and hands have not really gotten swollen yet which is great cause they were definitely FUGE (that’s how Joshua says “huge” – it’s so cute!) at this point last time. I can even still wear my wedding rings – HOLLA! And my normal shoes! I wore my mom’s shoes, which are a whole size bigger than mine, for about the last two months of my first pregnancy. THAT’S when you’ve REALLY thrown fashion to the wind, my friends.

They say when the last few weeks of pregnancy, the baby gets less active because it runs out of room in there. My girl apparently knows how to make the most of what space she’s got ‘cause she’s still throwing a kickin’ dance party several times a day. One of my friends says she just likes to hold her belly and smile when she feels her baby move, but Sophia is such a crazy girl that my comments are usually more along the lines of, “This kid is trying to kill me!” or “Oh my GOSH she’s driving me nuts!” But then of course if I don’t feel her move for awhile I get anxious…it’s good to know she’s doing so well. I just wish she was doing so well a teeeeeensy bit more gently.

I think I am in the official “nesting” stage. I’ve been doing laundry like it’s going out of style, and I hate laundry! I cleaned the kitchen really good yesterday, put away all my maternity clothes that were too small or not warm enough, and I’ve vacuumed TWICE since Thursday. I washed all of Sophia’s 0-3 month clothes yesterday which was really fun to fold them all and just imagine that soon she’ll be here and I’ll get to play “dress up” with her every day!! Bobby and I have made a list of things to do before she is born and I got several things crossed off this week. He is working hard on her room. Her bedroom wall now has no holes in it! YESS! Way to go Daddy!

I’m trying to spend some “special time” with Joshua before his sister gets here…it does make me a bit sad to know I’ll never be able to give him 100% of myself again. Today we went to McDonald’s for lunch, and he dipped ALL his chicken nuggets in the caramel sauce that comes with the apple dippers, and it was so funny! But he ate every last bite and usually he eats juuuuuust enough to stay alive so I was pleased. We went shopping for some things for the baby and he was such a good boy at the store, he really made me proud. We had a really nice day. Something that he did this week that just melted my heart (granted, I am emotionally unstable to the max right now!) was when he woke up Thursday morning, I went in to get him and he gave me a big, tight, warm hug. I said “I love you so much!” and he said “I love you TOO so much TOO!” Holy prozac I nearly lost it. He is such a sweetie!!

On that note, I think I’ll wrap it up and attempt to put myself back to sleep. Hope you all are sleeping well and not getting the crap kicked out of your insides.

Post to Twitter

It’s a Nice Day for a Meme!

The very talented Avery tagged me for this Five Things Meme. Enjoy, and then go check out Avery’s blog!

What were you doing ten years ago?
1) Going to college
2) Studying
3) Dating my future husband
4) Wearing my hair all one length
5) Drinking a lot of Mountain Dew

What were you doing one year ago?
1) Being a mom
2) Complaining about being 8 months pregnant
3) Nesting frantically
4) Worrying irrationally about my unborn baby
5) Working part-time

Five snacks you enjoy:
1) Hershey bars
2) Yogurt
3) Cheesy chili dip & nacho chips
4) Baby carrots
5) Kashi TLC crackers

Five Songs you know the lyrics to:
1) At the Moment by Stavesacre
2) Ugly Girl by Fleming & John
3) Our Lips Are Sealed by the Go-Gos
4) Foolish Beat by Debbie Gibson
5) The Star-Spangled Banner

Five things you would do if you were a millionaire (what do you mean if?? hahahaha):
1) Buy my brothers & parents a new car
2) Buy a new house
3) Buy Bobby an electronic drum set
4) Send my kids to private school
5) Pay all my grandparent’s bills

Five bad habits:
1) Picking my cuticles
2) Biting my nails
3) Being messy at home
4) Checking StatCounter every 2.2 seconds
5) Worrying

Five things you like to do:

1) Spend time with my family
2) Sleep
3) Play Trivial Pursuit
4) Blog
5) Eat out

Five things you will never wear again:
1) Acid wash
2) A bikini
3) Plaid pants
4) Straight leg jeans
5) Bangs

Five favorite toys:
1) My laptop
2) My digital camera
3) My son
4) My daughter
5) ??

Five things you hate to do:
1) Fold laundry
2) Take out the trash
3) Dishes
4) Clean the tub
5) Clean out my car

Feel free to play along! If you want to do this one, you’re IT!

Post to Twitter