A (Few) Sunday Picture(s)

Adalyn looked so cute in her reversible plaid/corduroy dress for church yesterday that I just had to get some pictures. The dress, turtleneck and shoes were all from consignment sales! Please excuse the mess in the background of the pictures.

"I'm too busy inspecting this lens cover to look at the camera, mom."

 "Fine. I'll look. But no smiling."

 "This is an awesome treasure!"

 "Everyone look at my awesome treasure."

 "Maybe I should taste my new treasure."

 "Nope. Wasn't all that."

 "Here mom. Do you want to try it?"

 "Maybe I should just put the lens cover back on the camera." (My girl is smart you all!)

 She really regretted giving the "treasure" back to mommy and didn't want to stand for a picture. But seriously with the cuteness!

The Bright Side...

Let's look on the bright side first... I got to try out this SAHM thing and I really liked it, I got to spend the day with my sweet baby, I had lots of cuddles, and at least my baby made it to 10.5 months before getting sick.

On Friday Jonathan was diagnosed with a sinus infection and stomach virus. Well, it got passed around our house and Adalyn got a cough, sneeze, runny nose along with the stomach virus on Sunday. Poor baby has never been sick before (other than a runny nose) and I felt so sorry for her.  The weird part was that she pretty much acted normal and then would throw up after every bottle or meal. But she slept much more than normal on and was quite pathetic. 

She never falls asleep on us, so the fact that she slept with us holding her showed us just how sick she felt. 

She and Jonathan were getting some Zzzz. They both needed the rest.

I stayed home with her today and thankfully she was feeling much better by this afternoon. We did some pedialite, applesauce and bananas and she did great. I'm thankful that it seemed to pass so quickly. It's nice to get all the extra cuddles, but it's hard to see your baby feeling stinky.

We puked through so many pjs (and also sheets) that we actually were able to wear the same pjs two days in a row thanks to daddy's laundry abilities. Today as she was starting to feel a bit better and played with her toys.

 Smiles! And we even changed out of pjs!!

I'm so glad that she's feeling better. A sick baby is no fun. But I will miss her while I'm at work tomorrow!

I Love Deals!

So you all know how much I love sales and never paying full price for things, especially baby gear, clothes and toys. I know that I've mentioned before how much I love consignment sales. I'm not talking about consignment stores (which I have never shopped in). I'm talking about sales that different mops groups, preschools, neighborhoods and churches put on.  There are two times a year that sales happen: March for summer clothes and Aug/Sept for winter clothes. We have two huge sales and then a bunch of smaller sales over a few weekends.  The sales usually have quality/current stuff that are gently used. (Most sales have strict rules about wear - although a few items always slip through.) If you volunteer to work a 3 hour shift, you get access to shop before it's open to the public.  After one or two days of being open to the public, the Saturday shopping is always half off, so it pays to go back on Saturday to get some discounted items.

I know that many cities do not have sales like this, but if there are sales like this near you and you're not taking advantage, you are so losing out. Most of our baby gear and toys have all come from sales. And pretty much all of our clothes (except pjs because I like those new) are from sales. Why pay full price when babies barely use/wear items?

So, today I decided to document a typical trip to the sales. (Although usually Jonathan is with me and picks out a ton of toys and that didn't happen today.) I was offered an early shopping pass, so I snatched it up and ran to the sale as fast as I could get there so Jonathan couldn't get away from work.  I shopped in peace and quiet and only had 1 person in front of me in line to check out. (Once the sales open to the public it's usually a mad house and a mile long checkout line. But you just gotta hang in there, because the savings that you get are so worth it!)

Here's my loot:

Sorry the picture is hard to see. This is how I shop: I only look for full outfits and try to only look for Gymboree, Gap and boutique brands.  I'm also really picky about wear. I like things to look brand new. This is the breakdown of what I got:
14 full outfits (many of which have 3 pieces) both in current and winter sizes
1 tutu (couldn't pass it up)
2 tops (because they go with jeans)
2 jackets
7 pair of shoes in size 2 & 3 (including keds and robeez)
7 books
2 toys
This is what I spent: $130. That breaks down to $3.70 per item! Please remember that most items are FULL gymboree outfits!! Seriously. There are 3 outfits that are Carter's brand, 3 Gap items and every.single.other.outfit is Gymboree or boutique (that = 13). Consignment sales are the only way that I can dress my child in name brands. (Not that other brands are bad, but I love how name brands don't wear out easily and the knees don't get faded from crawling. I figure that I'll be able to pass them down to the next girl we have when that time comes.)

Please check out Dakota laying on this ($6) Christmas dress. He wouldn't get out of the middle of the clothes for me to take the picture so he finally moved but made sure that he was still touching the clothes. :)

And please look at this adorable Gap coat!

Now it's time to wash and sanitize everything!  I'm so excited that my child now has some clothes to wear in this fall weather that's coming!  We may go back Saturday to check out 1/2 priced toys and books to save for Christmas gifts. Jonathan enjoys trying and picking out her toys:)

Moral of the story... if you have consignment sales available to you in your city RUN to them and get your kids some deals!! Thanks for humoring me by checking out my loot:)

10 Months!

I'm almost two weeks late posting Adalyn's 10 month pictures. It is so hard to get her monthly picture now so it's hard for me to choose which picture to post!

Adalyn didn't have a normal doctor's appointment this month so we don't know her stats.  She's still in a size 3 diaper, size 6-12 month clothes (we've quickly realized quite a few fall items that we will be looking for at the consignment sale this week since her clothes in 6-12 are summer clothes.) She's wearing size 2 shoes.

She went through what must have been a growth spurt because she was eating us out of house and home.  She was trying tons of new finger foods and ate all of her meals so well.  The sitter asked us to pack extra food because she was still hungry after her meals.  But lately she's had the opposite and barely eats her food. She'll eat some puffs, but even those she doesn't eat many of.  I guess her appetite will keep shifting. She still loves drinking out of her straw cup!

She says baba for bottle and she also does the hand motion. She calls Jonathan dada and squeals when I come into a room, but won't say mama unless she is whispering it. So funny.  She does the hand motion for "more" when she wants something. It's so cute.

She has come so far this month is her mobility. She is FAST! Especially when she's trying to get into something...like the dog food, toilet paper, or the stairs. She is constantly standing and pulling up everywhere. As soon as the fridge, freezer or pantry are open, she is inside them pulling things off the shelves.

Here are a few pictures:

It was hard to keep her laying on her back in one spot!

 I had to throw this one in there. She thought it was nap time when I put her in her bed and she didn't want to take another nap.

 She got over it:)

Adalyn is such a joy. She keeps us on our toes and keeps us laughing all the time! I love that toothy grin! She is such a blessing to us and we love her more than we could ever imagine!

The End of One Era. The Beginning of Another.

I bought Adalyn's exersaucer in March at a consignment sale for $40. I wanted one that wasn't gender specific but I had been hunting the sales and this was the only one that passed my "like new" and "good priced" standards. So, I got it and I'm glad because Adalyn has gotten her money's worth.  She loved that thing and would play forever in it.  This is what she looked like the first couple times she tried it out:

It takes up a ton of space in the living room and lately Adalyn is on the go, so while she would still play with the items on the exersaucer - from standing next to it, she didn't like being confined to the seat. So, we decided to take it to storage. Can I tell you that I about teared up watching Jonathan carry it to the basement? Yep. It's true.

How cool is this? Jonathan figured out after I brought it home from the sale, that it turns into a walking toy. $40 for a 2-in-one toy? Double score!  So, today was the day to take it apart. I took a few last pictures of Adalyn playing in the exersaucer...

Jonathan turned it into a walker and Adalyn was all about it. She tries to push it and it rolls faster than what she can walk, so then she "walks" behind it on her knees. So funny.  If she runs it into anything, like when we were holding it for the picture, she tries to keep pushing it until it about flips over. So cute!

 It's really short and wide and we were laughing because it looks like she's pushing an old person walker.

I love watching Adalyn grow and discover new things. But seriously. I can't handle how fast time is going! On to bigger and better. This is going to be the story of our lives going forward... growing out of toys and into others. (Oh, and I'm really enjoying having that part of my living room back now that I'm over the emotional shock.)

Lima Bean Kids WINNER!

A couple weeks ago Jenna had a giveaway for a FREE Lima Bean Kids t-shirt. I was so excited to win!! I was able to choose any t-shirt from their website.  There were so many choices that I could barely decide, but I just kept coming back to this cute owl. You get to choose which color of shirt and what font you'd like so there were so many decisions to make!  I ended up using the font that they showed with the print on their site.  And if I remember correctly, I got it within the week that I sent my order in.  I was really impressed with the service and also the quality of the shirt and print.  I got a 12-18mo size shirt, so it's big on Adalyn right now but I'm hoping to get some quality wear out of it this winter.  Here are a few pictures:

Thanks Jenna and Lima Bean Kids! Adalyn loves her new shirt and so do I!

9 Month Pictures

We got Adalyn's 9 month pictures back from Jes! I was so excited to see them. But I would be lying if I didn't say that I was nervous. We went to a historic site for pictures and Adalyn was a GRUMP.  I was so grateful to Jes for allowing us to take a break during the shoot for Adalyn to take a nap. It pays to be friends with your photographer! :) After nap, she was way more happy but still not completely herself. But Jes has a gift with babies and cameras and somehow we got some amazing pictures! I have to share a few (or lots). I could barely decide which to post so I decided to post quite a few for the grandparents.

I bought this shirt/bow for her 6 month pictures but couldn't use it because it was too big. It still is too big but so cute so we used it for a couple pictures.

 This bow is as big as her head! Love it!

I know I'm biased but I'm positive that she is the cutest baby ever! I want to go wake her up just so I can cuddle her now! :)