I've only been a mom for 26 months. So I am not an expert. But I have written about what I have learned over the past two years. And I thought I would compile some of those ideas (links) in one post for you to reference.
Read More
Let's face it, babies need stuff. They come into the world naked and alone, but man they collect stuff like hoarder!
I thought I would share three baby products we use daily at this house. And I love them all.
Note: These are my honest opinions. I wrote this post on my own without sponsorship. However, this post does contain affiliate links and you can read my disclosure policy here.
Seven Generation baby lotion. I've been using this lotion on Little Bit. He has sensitive skin and this is a mild lotion that is hypo allergenic. It does have a smell that requires some getting used to- you know what I mean that "natural product smell." But I love the lasting moisture. I even us it on myself.
Weleda Daipaer Ointment. I have had to use this on Little R for months now. It is kind of pricey, but man it works. It is the only thing that has cleared his monster diaper rash.
Aguaphor Healing Ointment. I am convinced this stuff is pure magic!!! Little Bit has gotten some irritation between the folds in the skin on his neck. I have tried and tried to help him. Then I accosted a lady with an infant on the baby aisle of Publix.
"Try this," she said and handed me the tube right off the shelf. I just so happened to have some samples of it at home so I could try it before I bought it. One night! That's all it took to clear it up. I put some on baby's neck and the next day the irritation was gone!!
I thought I would also share some update photos of the boys.
Sweet brothers!
Too cool for Sam's Club.
Some people fantasize about exotic locations. I dream of being organized. It's something I am working on but a slow process.
So here are five things I found on Pinterest. Five Nursery Organizing Ideas I Love.
Organized drawers from My Sweetnest. This nursery is enviable.
I am acutually doing this in baby I's room. I have extra diapers, wipes and creams in a drawer under his changing pad.
Under Crib Storage. A Lovely Lark has this idea. I LOVE IT!
Boots & Tooty has this adorable storage idea! Look at it, an old Farmer’s Market Epergne. Clever, clever.
These buckets from Pottery Barn are really precious.
RNL Musings has this great idea for organizing baby clothes. It's like shopping in the closet!
Today I am linked to The Baby Shower.
Our new little boy will be here any day now. I can't wait to meet him, hold him and kiss his little face. But until then we have busied ourselves with preparation.
Little "I's" room is a farm and truck theme (although right now it's more farm than truck) and I would say it's about 90 percent complete. I just need a rug. But I thought I would give you a brief tour.
Here is a before and after shot. Before it was sort of a catch all for our junk.
We moved in a dresser that used to be at my Grandmother's house. This will be I's dresser as he gets older and for now it makes a really good changing table. (I honestly don't see the point in buying a changing table. Why have a piece of furniture that takes up space like that with limited function?)
This old house has walls made of stucco, so it is really hard to dress them up. They are bland and ugly. But I did make photo display "stick" on the wall (You can barely see it sticking out at the top of the photo). Here is a how to.
This is our quiet, soothing corner. The rocking chair belonged to Jason's grandmother and the side table belonged to my great aunt. You can click here to see how I recovered the chair.
The opposite wall of the rocking chair is the crib. It's pretty boring looking right now with no bumper pad and nothing hanging above it. But I am stickler for the rules when it comes to infant safety. Even the blanket will be removed. It's just for decoration.
The crib is made by Delta, it's the 3-in-1 Cherry bed, and I am thrilled with the way it looks. (This is an affiliate link, please read my disclosure policy.)
We got these basic room darkening curtains at the Home Depot. They are made by Martha Stewart. However, I think they use the word "darkening" pretty loosely.
The fabric drape was leftover from the rocking chair renovation project and was purchased at a locally owned fabric store.
Here are some friends waiting for Little I to get here.
There are two closets in I's room. One contains clothes for both boys (sizes newborn through 3T). The other contains lots and lots and lots of diapers. I have been purchasing diapers on sale since I found out I was pregnant. We're good for a while. And when he gets a little bigger I plan to cloth diaper the new baby.
So it seems we're pretty ready for this baby to get here!
If you want to see some really creative ideas hop on over to Romance on a Dime for Take it On Tuesday.
It's officially beach season down here in South Alabama. Well, it's been beach season for a couple months. But before you get jealous remember we have EPIC humidity.
I have a little water baby. He has loved the few times we've gone to the beach. He LOVES playing in the sand and I am happy to report that even as a little, little fella he never ate it.
He even loves the pool.
But I've learned over the past year there are a few things a baby needs when going to the beach or the pool.
1. Swim Diapers. When going to the beach we just use a shell from our cloth diapers. But our YMCA requires a swim diaper and when I say require I mean they will fine you! So we use Little Swimmers. (This is an affiliate link, please read my disclosure policy.)
Here is my trick. I put a cloth liner under his Little Swimmer. Then I just ring out the swim diaper and reuse it. I just hate waste!
2. SPF. I am a stickler for SPF. I put on a 30 SPF everyday and when we are taking our little buy to the beach or just outside to play I slather him down.
I like this stick by Neutrogena.
3. A hat. Seriously, how cute is that boy in that hat. He loves it. He wears it all the time and I am so happy about that. I actually got it a Gymboree for only $1.48! How breat is that?
4. Beach Toys! My Mother-in-Law found these cute shovels and things at Hobby Lobby. Our boy loves them so much. We play with them in the yard, the garden and the beach. He is serisoulsy attached. I have seen some really cute shovel and bucket sets at The Dollar Tree as well.
5. Baby Powder. Baby Powder? Yes. You sprinkle a little on the baby's feet and the sand falls right off.
6. Bath Sheet. Nope. Not a towel. If you're going to visit the beach often invest in some bath sheets. Utopia has some cute bath sheets for around $15.
7. A picnic. Don't hit up the local McDonalds. Pack your own snacks. You can pack water with little drink packets, fruit and sandwiches in a cooler and save a lot of money. But don't forget to bring a trash bag. We don't want to litter on the beach.
What's your favorite thing to bring to the beach?
This post contains affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
Today I am linked to The Baby Shower.
For as long as my son has been on this planet we have been reading to him. My mother read to him in our hospital room the morning after he was born and we've been reading to him day and night since.
It's important. I believe that a child learning to read is one of the single most important things that can happen to them. Think, what is more life changing than reading?
So I thought I'd share some of our reading favorites.
(These are affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.)
Good Night Moon. This one is a classic and we have been reading it to sweet baby boy since the day we brought him home. Good night room, good night moon...
The Going to Bed Book. We heart Susan Boykin at this house. But The Going To Bed Book is our favorite. My sister gave it to me as a shower present and it might be time to buy a new copy.
The Begginers Bible. Each night we read the baby a bible story and a book or two. This one was really good for basic stories. However, my husband did find himself trying to explain some of the inaccuracies to our toddler.
If you Give a Mouse a Cookie. This is officially the first book that our boy has gotten attached to. I read it six or seven times a day. I am not even kidding a couple weeks ago I hid it just to give us a break from that mouse and his cookie. I think I recite it in my sleep.
Guess How Much I love You. Jason bought this one for our boy right after he was born. It's so sweet and I love listening to him read it to the baby.
There is a Monster at The End of This Book. We love Grover. Elmo is seriously over-rated. This is another book Jason bought the boy and I remember this one from my childhoo. I think the boy loves it as much as I do.
The Little Blue Truck. This is one of our favorites. We loved this one so much we have made it the new baby's nursery theme. I love the friendly little blue truck and all his farm animal friends.
Do you have a bedtime book favorite?
This post contains affiliate links.
Today I am linked to The Baby Shower.
Feeding a baby can be a challenge as they get older. That sense of independence kicks in and I know for my son, he wants to do it all himself. It gets to be a battle.
So I wanted to share with you a few things I've found to make toddler feeding a little easier.
A sippy cup with a straw. These Toss and Go cups with straws have been a lifesaver.
Clearly my sweet boy loves a straw. Here he is swiping my drink. So I got him his own cup and he drinks way more water out of it than a traditional sippy cup.
But when I need sweet boy to take a traditional sippy cup I really like these cups from USA Kids. They are made right her in Alabama. They are BPA free and they absolutely do not leak. But they are hard to find.
These Munchkin spoons are great because the spoon part is deep enough to hold onto food that might get flung off otherwise.
And you can see that sweet boy likes to wear his yogurt.
But I LOVE this spoon and fork set from Green Toys. They are made out of recycled milk jugs and are the perfect size for little, chubby hands.
Those baby food pouches are convenient. But they are expensive and leave a lot of waste to be tossed out and not reused. I love these SqeezEms pouches. I fill them with yogurt or homemade foods and my sweet boy loves them.
Do you have a favorite feeding item?
This post contains affiliate links, but these are not paid endorsements.
Today I am hopping at the Baby Shower.
As you can gather from reading this blog I am pretty much a tight fisted person. I don't like to see my money leave my bank account. It hurts.
But I did make a new baby splurge when I purchased these two cute tops from my friend Jennifer at Miss AE Boutique.
When baby brother arrives in just nine weeks (more or less) we and big brother will have these cute little tops to wear for photos.
I am so excited!
Since I am all about getting as much for baby as possible used or free I don't feel bad making a purchase like this.
Has there been a time in your life where you felt okay to splurge?
It's Mommy Monday and today's topic is saving money on kid's clothes.
Kid's clothes can be pricey. But only if you let them. In my house we observe the 90/10 rule. That means 90 perent of our son's clothes are used. They are either hand-me-downs I got for free or things I purchased at Waterfront Rescue Mission and other thrift stores.
The other 10 percent are things I get on sale at Target or Kohl's. These are items that I want special for my little boy.
I wrote a whole series on saving cash on kid's items, including clothes. You can get a free Ebook of that series here.
When children are as young as my son they outgrow clothes in the blink of an eye. I am not going to shell out cash I could be saving for college on tiny little shirts and pants. But that doesn't mean my son looks like a ragamuffin.
Here are some suggestions I have gotten from readers.
Thread Up used to have a flat rate, but as Kristen from Trial and Error Homemaking (a terrific blog) points out "Thred Up changed the way they do things. It's more like a consignment store now - where you purchase individual items. For instance, when I went to their site just now, the first item was a plaid shirt in size 4 for $14.49. They list "retail values" to try to justify their prices (this shirt was apparently 72% off). In my opinion, it's not nearly as great of a deal."
Consignment sales- Last January my husband and I went to a HUGE consignment sale in Mobile. It happens twice a year and we made off like bandits. Plus the sale was running a Living Social special so that made it even sweeter. But, a little warning, when dealing with boy clothes, consignment sales aren't always a good deal- I think boys, even as babies, are hard on their clothes. Want to find a consignment sale in your area? Check outConsignmentsalfinder.org.
Here is what reader Sara J. had to say about finding kid's clothes on Cragislist: I wish someone had told me not to spend so much money on clothes! Granted I did get everything on sale when JcPenny still used coupons but they hardly look good after a couple washes and spit ups anyways! I am a military wife so i do not have the benefit of getting second hand from friends and family as we live far away from them but I have used several places for great deals. Goodwill has turned out some great bargains, sometimes getting brand new items that are donated from target. Secondly I have noticed many people selling bags of clothes for cheap on craigslist along with every other gadget you would ever need. Last but not least are garage sales! With a two month old i cannot get up on Saturday morning and grab up these good deals but I do send my hubby occasionally and clothing for .25 cant be beat!!
How have you saved big bucks on little clothes?
Check out Erin, the other Erin and Iris to see what they have to say on this, Mommy Monday.
I am so excited to be blogging as a part of Mommy Monday.
Let's face it, while babies are tiny and don't take up much space, their stuff does. I remember when my son was just two weeks old, looking at the living room and thinking "where did all of this come from."
There was a pack-in-play, a bassinet, a baby swing, and a baby gym in the middle of our tiny living room. But for some reason, even though all the stuff was "new" it felt like it had always been there.
A lot of people will tell you you need a lot of things you don't when you have a baby.
I thought I would share the top four things I LOVED and one thing I did not.
1. Snugabunny cradle swing. "We need a swing," my husband said when sweet boy was just four days old. "I think he likes to be rocked to sleep."
So he went to Target to procure said swing. Oh. My. Goodness. That swing has saved my life, daily. My boy is 15 months, and pushing the weight limit and he it is still the only place he would nap. (There he is sleeping in it at a month old in that photo above.)
It was spendy, but in retrospect worth every dime and Fisher-Price even replaced the motor in it for free.
2. Swaddle Me Blanket. I call this the "baby burrito." I figured out during week two that my son needed to be swaddled in tight and it worked. He conked out in just a few seconds.
My dad called it the baby straight jacket. I called it genius.
Sweet boy, four days old, loving his bouncy chair.3. Bouncy Chair. My sister told me to register for a bouncy chair. Man, I'm glad I did. There were a few nights in the beginning when that was the only place our boy would sleep.
And he continued to love it when he got a little older, too. Between the soothing vibrations, the colorful fabric and the toys that hung from it, it was his favorite place to be.
4. Baby Gym. This could very well fall under the category of things you could live with out, but my baby boy loved it. I used it for tummy time and when he wasn't on his tummy be loved the lights, music and colors. Even though he is WAY to big for it now, he still wants to play with the hanging toys.
And one thing I hated.
I decided very early on to make my own baby food. I could control what went in it. I knew there were no preservatives and I could buy a lot of fresh, local produce at our farmers market.
But one item I hated was the Babies-R-Us baby food storage containers. You can see from the pictures that the plastic containers were flimsy and the lids would not stay shut on them, so much of the food became freezer burned.
I just started using glass baby food jars I got from the few times we traveled and needed to use store bought baby food.
Were there any baby products you couldn't live without?
Check out Erin, the other Erin and Iris to see what they have to say on this, Mommy Monday.
This post contains affiliate links.
Frugal Debt Free Life is a blog for those looking to get out of debt, stay out of debt, save money and live a more simplistic life style.
debt free, living debt free, budget living, living on less than what you make, how to live on less than what you make, cheap dinner, cheap eats, meals for $5, family cooking, stay at home mom, Frugal, frugal and debt free, frugal debt free life, save money, simple living, pay off debt, live debt free
Privacy Policy Copyright Policy Amazon and Affiliate Disclosure Policy
