$1 Sale

Hey! We're still alive and well, but limited computer options make it harder to post from Camp.  Everyone is tired and crabby today, so I have time during naps to post.

Even though it's a crazy madhouse I decided to brave Once Upon a Child's $1 sale this morning. We made a quick zip through the store and here's what found.

I almost put this Gymboree romper back a couple times, but it finally made the cut when I realized there are little bees on it along with the lemons.  I don't want to go crazy about bee items for Bea, but when they're subtle like that I'll do it.  The purple shirt is 18-24m Tea and I'm pretty sure I have pants that match it already.  The last 2 dresses are Baby Lulu.  The yellow should fit this fall and the pink this winter.  The terry skirt should make it cozy.  Tillie really liked that one.

This sale really has the most options for little kids, so since most of Bea's clothes are Tillie's 5 year old hand-me-downs I don't feel bad buying her a few "new" things.  The first Gymboree jumper came with the bodysuit and a diaper cover(6-12m).  The Gymboree sailor dress is 12-18m and should look a lot better after I steam it out.  The flowered dress is linen and Gap.  I've noticed that a lot of the pale blue items that look great on Tillie aren't as pretty on Bea, so this bright flowered dress will be great on hot days next summer.  The Tea tunic is the only thing I got for Til.  It's a 5 and looks huge, but I think it will be super-cute with boots and skinny jeans.

The first three dresses are all size 6-12m.  The pink dress is Angel Dear.  Beatrix looks lovely in rosy pink.  The gold Gap dress matches a skirt Tillie has for this Christmas.  The Pretty Jersey Dress is Baby Boden.  It alone was worth braving the crowds for.  I'd been to OUAC last wee when the sale items were all 50% off and didn't see this dress then.  I totally would have bought it.  I've always wanted a dress in this style -- this one is from last year and looks to be in great shape.  The white eyelet dress is Gap and will also look better after a steam.  I'm a sucker for pretty white dresses.  In fact, I'm pretty sure I have a very similar dress in ivory already.

I'm dying to go to the other store, but it's a busy day at Camp, so I guess I'll check it out Monday afternoon.  Hopefully I can still find some great things.  Oh!  And Ted got 2 swim suits, but I didn't have hangers so you don't get pictures.

Versatility

I paid $22 for this size 2 dress from a Matilda Jane Platinum sale when Tillie was 3 months old.  I think I've gotten my money's worth out of it.

1 year, 4 months

1 year, 11 months

2 years, 4 months

3 years, 4 months

4 years, 3 months

4 years, 10.5 months

The days of Tillie wearing this dress are obviously numbered, but it won't be too long before her little sister can wear it.  Luckily, Tillie LOVES the idea of her sister wearing her old clothes.  Let's hope little sister doesn't mind girly-girl clothes!

Little Sister's Homecoming Outfit

We have her outfit set!  The first piece I bought was the Peter Rabbit for babyGap hat.  I thought it would be perfect for a baby due around Easter.  (And, okay, I bought it before I was pregnant "just in case".  I just really loved it and found it on clearance for pretty cheap.  The timing just worked out perfectly to be a homecoming hat.)  Since this winter is never ending I suspect that even the second half of April will be pretty chilly, so I found the coordinating Peter Rabbit jacket and pants on eBay.  None of the bodysuits from that line wowed me.  Yesterday at Gap I found this newborn bodysuit for super-cheap.  The socks were on sale too, but since they're 0-3m I'm sure they'll be too big.  Oh well, they match so she's wearing them.  Tillie asked me why it said "hello"(Um, since when can my 4 year old read cursive?) and I told her it was because the baby would be new to meeting everyone and would want to say hello.  She thought that was hilarious!  The Petunia Pickle Bottom blanket was a shower gift when I had Tillie.  I like the idea of her using something that both of her siblings had used since we had to get a new car seat.  If there's a random heat wave(Ha!) I have an Aden + Anais blanket for her. (p.s. I bought it from Amazon as an "open box" for a lot less than that!)

My favorite part is that with the bodysuit, it ties the coral/orange in Tillie and Ted's Carter's big sibling shirts together.  Look how well my kiddos will match.

Having her homecoming outfit ready makes me even more excited for her arrival.  At 32 weeks it's not quite time to start washing clothes and packing the hospital bags yet.  Maybe the end of this month.

Spring Fever

I've got a little girl in my house who can't wait for spring. "Mom, I think the snow is melting!"  "Is it almost spring yet?" "I just want to play outside with my outside toys!" "Mom, can Dad build my new jumpy thing yet?"  Part of this is probably fueled by that last one.  She got a mini/big toddler trampoline thing for Christmas that she's been dying to try out.  The box taunts her in the garage.

This morning the sun is shining brightly through my windows and I'm starting to catch spring fever too.  I haven't renewed our Garden's membership and didn't feel like driving out there today anyway.  Instead I pulled out her 4t spring clothes bucket to see what she still might need.  She was more than happy to try a few things on.  (They all have "pull sleeves!"  Her word for short sleeves, cause she pulls up the sleeves of all her long-sleeve shirts.)

Well, she has a little growing to do.  She also has a collection of size 4/5 crewcuts tees to be envied.

She's been waiting to wear this heart "puff-ball" shirt since I bought it during an employee sale two summers ago.  Yes, I'm that crazy.  But I knew my girl would love this shirt.  And, I couldn't resist it at $5, even though that's more than I usually spend on her t-shirts.  (Random: The most expensive shirts my kids wear at Camp are the $10 staff kid t-shirts.  I know.)

I love these chino shorts, but I think we might need to save them for the following summer.  This is with the adjustable waist pulled in quite a bit.

I discovered she needs a couple pairs of summer pajamas and maybe a pair of shorts or two. And um, absolutely no more dresses in size 4.  In fact, I should probably sell a few since there are a number of 3ts from last summer that will fit as well.  Last summer they were all she wanted to wear though.  Hmm...

My Little Owlets

I almost got Tillie a pink hat.  Then I remembered that if I got brown I could pass it down to Teddy in a couple years.  Teddy is starting to outgrow his wood button hat and his acorn hat is still too big.

So, they match.

He wasn't spared by being a boy.

I'm still going to dress them in coordinating outfits.

I think Tillie likes it because she wanted to hold Teddy this morning.

Fashion Show Dancing

Yesterday I saw a sign I thought was leading to a garage sale, so I followed them on my way home from work. They actually were leading to a consignment sale. I haven't had much luck at consignment sales recently, but I thought, what the heck?, I'm here! I put sleepy Tillie in the lillebaby carrier, grabbed my wallet and headed over to the 2t section. At first I was a little disappointed; there wasn't much in her size. As I neared the end of the small section of 2, I noticed a fabric I recongized. What do you know, but I found a Matilda Jane dress there in Tillie's size! It's from the Homegrown line, the first line we bought Kizie something from in 2008. It's never been my favorite dress because I don't really care for the label front and center on the waistband. I figured for $10, I'd easily be able to make my money back if I didn't like it.

Then I headed over to the shoes. I found a cute pair of white Stride Rite sandals for $2. Perfect for play sandals when we're out and about this summer. As I was trying them on Tillie's foot, I noticed a box labeled "Saltwaters". I'd read about these sandals online recently and they sounded like really nice sandals that wear well. $6 for a pair of brown sandals that look like new and retail for $34 sounds good to me! I also picked up a cute Gymboree dress that will look super-cute with denim capris under it.

This morning I made Tillie try on the dress and shoes. This dress is adorable. The shoes are cute and practical. They should match everything.

As  I was taking the tags off the two dresses and the brown sandals I noticed that they were all from the same seller.  I wish I could find out who she is so she could sell to me directly!

During this fashion show, Tillie really got down with her dancing.  My pictures are blurry because she was moving so much!

Dress Shopping.

After a busy opening day, I finally got around to checking messages board I frequent. I happened across a link that was for 30% off summer styles at Boden with free shipping. I don't have a dress for Tom and Emily's wedding yet, so I thought this might be the perfect opportunity to make my first Boden purchase!

Yeah, not so much. Our internet when down and by the time they realized they couldn't fix it last night it was too late for me to go out somewhere to use a coffee shop's internet. (Plus, I have no idea where I could have gone around here. Panera is at least 15 minutes away.)

Because I'm a glutton for punishment, I started looking at Boden as soon as the internet was fixed. Hmm, I could barely afford it with the 30% off. Full price was out of the question. (But, oh, the Amalfi dress is gorgeous! I'm pretty sure it would have been on it's way to me.)

I still need a dress, and I think I picked one out from eShakti.  It's still a little more than I really want to spend, especially since I have to pay for shipping. But, I'll probably order it anyway because I like it better than anything else I've seen. I just can't decide which color. Black seems safest, but the Canary Yellow is calling to me.

I've wanted to order from this website for a while.  For a small fee($15) you can include your measurements in the order and the dress will be custom made to fit you.  You can also change length, neckline, sleeve-length, etc.  I know a few people online who have ordered and are very pleased with their purchase.

Dear Friends, which color do you think I should order?

Now I need to step away from the website.  There are a few other dresses I want too...

Printed Poplin                       Watercolor Floral

New Skirt.

I had a meeting at work today that included a try-on session.  Yes, I had to try on clothes.  For work.

It's really not quite as awesome as it seems.  I worked last week and tried on all the tops I like.  They don't really carry much in my size in bottoms in the store, but I decided to take a chance on a cute pop-on mini.

And it's adorable on!  I got it in this pattern.

I'm thinking it will be adorable with a black tee and my black capri sandals.  I'm hoping my local Old Navy has this tee in stock in my size, because it's sold out in black online.  I have one in white and it fits great!

Green Stripes and Tree Buds

Since Tillie was wearing a new shirt, I decided to take a few pictures of her outside.  Look how cute my little girl is!

She's very proud of her standing skills.  She kind of crawls sometimes now.  Still no desire to cruise along furniture or take steps while we're holding her hands.

I never would have guessed the draw the tree buds had.  I mean, they don't even look tasty.
Tillie disagreed with me.

This child is strangely obedient.  When I tell her no, and sign it, she stops what she's doing.  (And, usually starts crying.)  She was not a fan of my plan to stop eating tree buds.

Nope, not a fan at all.

Maybe someday we'll be friends again.

Lots of Laundry - part two.

We've been using cloth diapers for 6 months now.  I'd say it's gone pretty well.  I'm thrilled that the weather has turned and I can dry my diapers outside again.  They dry faster, look better and smell great.

During the months of January and February, I was having a lot of problems with diaper rash.  Tillie spent a good amount of that time in disposables while I tried to sort it out.  One thing I did was strip my diapers.  One easy way to do this is to use the dishwasher.  (Wash them how you normally do first.)  Since all my diapers are pockets, I just did this to the inserts.  I placed them in the top rack and ran a normal cycle without detergent.  The water in the dishwasher gets hotter than in the washing machine so it can help remove any build-up on the diapers.  Just be careful that nothing touches the heating unit on the bottom of the machine.  I used just the top rack to prevent any melting.burning mishaps.  I ran the dishwasher twice, using the sanitary rinse.  Then, I used the spin cycle on the washing machine before hanging them up to dry.  This can also be beneficial if you have leaking/repelling issues.

I could tell this helped the diapers, because they were "fluffier" and looked nicer.  But, we still were having some trouble.  I then bought the BumGenius detergent.  I'm not sure that it's making a difference, but I needed more detergent anyway.  We also are using disposable wipes at the moment.  I had been drying my wipes in the dryer, without fabric softener.  But, I'm sure there was some build-up in the dryer that could be causing some issues.  Especially when they were washed with the diapers.  Once we have a clothesline built, I'll try line drying them.  (I really just need to start using wool dryer balls for everything.)

One of the strangest discoveries was that the California Baby Calendula Cream (yes, the one made for sensitive skin and kids with eczema) seems to give her a rash.  The cream dries in a layer on skin that peels off leaving weird flakes and bright red skin that looks to be rubbed raw.  When we stopped using any cream at all, it got better.  (Yes, I know my child is weird, but look at her parents.  She didn't stand a chance.)

And, with that, we seem to be back in business.  And, because I know you come for the pictures of my gorgeous girl, I leave you with this.

 That's Tillie in her Palm Sunday dress. (What? We have a lot of Spring dresses.)

Easter Outfit.

I've really enjoyed putting Tillie's Easter outfit together.  The dress is bright green gingham and was a gift from my Aunt Jan.  Her cardigan was purchased on a super-clearance sale a babyGap last summer.  All I needed was shoes, sock and the ever important Easter bonnet.  I'd like to bring back the tradition of hats on Easter.  At least for kids.

Her shoes I found for $9 at Target.  The hat?  $1 from the opening section of Target.  I just have to get a new ribbon for it.  The only thing eluding me was the socks.  I knew exactly what I wanted.  And, I new exactly were to get them.

The problem is, Rogers doesn't exist anymore. 
On Thursday, Tillie and I did a lap in the mall, looking for the socks.  I didn't find exactly what I was looking for.  But, I did find a pair that will do from Macy's.

Here's a little Easter preview for you, minus the hat and dress.  Plus, you get to see Kizie's two baby chicks!

Hipster

Twitter.

I've had a Twitter account for a year now.  But, it's just this past month that I've really started using it.  What's your twitter account?  I'm ElspethCordelia.  I'd love some more friends to follow!

Also, because I know you really come here for cute Tillie pictures here she is!

She looks a lot closer to crawling than she really is.  If you look closely, you can see her right foot is still tucked underneath her.  She gets into this position by leaning over from sitting up.  When she finally gets that foot moved out from under her, she lies flat on the ground and squirms around.  Not a great method for moving.  But, it makes my job of watching her a little easier -- she stays pretty much in one place! (p.s. How cute is that knit dress with the rainbow babylegs!)

Sweet.

Is there anything sweeter than a simple Goody barrette in a little girl's hair?

Only the little girl herself.

Shopping with Grandma is fun.

Matilda Jane's spring line, Hammond Bay, came out today.  Last year, a whole box of Matilda Jane goodness was delivered to Kizie.  My mom always felt we should buy a little something after getting so much for free.

So my mom bought Tillie a dress, the Wendy Tiered dress.  It should come in 3-4 weeks.

 

She also got herself the adult sized version of this coat, Mossy Willow.

And me?  Well, I'll be getting the Cher dress I posted below.

See, shopping with Grandma is fun!

Sweet Deals.

Since I worked until 4am yesterday(today?), I decided Tillie and I should go to the mall this afternoon.  Seems like a weird idea, but she's better when we go out.

I scored some amazing prices on Gymboree clothes for this summer.  They had brought out some boxes of last summer's clothes.  They had low prices already, with an additional 20% off.  Then, I get Parents and Parenting magazine.  Usually, this (crap) magazine has a 20% off coupon for Gymboree.  I don't always use them, but keep them in my purse, just in case.

Boy, did it come in handy today.  The final price of everything I bought was at least 75% off, some were even just a little over 90% off.

1 bib
2 bloomers with tops
1 halter top
1 bib
1 dress
1 cardigan
1 romper (for next spring)
1 bubble suit
1 t-shirt
1 skirt
4 pairs of socks

My total, with tax, was $40.43.  The regular price of the sweater and dress were $29.75 each.

I think I got my money's worth.

(p.s. It's a good thing I sold some onesies this week!)

Spring is... not around the corner.

Right around this time of year at J. Crew, we get the first of Spring in.  (In fact, inventory is tonight and the new collection hits next week.  Last year at this time I would be planning the Spring rollout.)

Now, to most people, it's just annoying.  You want another long-sleeved tee or cozy sweater to tide you over til Spring.  Um, I don't have that, but can in interest you in a mini skirt?

To me, it was a license to dress in spring clothes.  Actually, I was strongly encouraged to dress in spring clothes.  I don't really dress at the top of my game right now to begin with, but am I already sick of bulky sweaters.  I have noticed that I'm pulling brighter colors out of my closet.  (Okay, brighter colors of long-sleeved tees out of my laundry pile.)

This bright cotton cardigan just might find its way into my laundry pile.

Also, when you think about it, January is half-way over, February is the shortest month in the year, then it's March!  Hello Spring.  I've missed you.

I love clearance sales.

The last week in December is a great time to stock up on random things, especially at Target.

Yesterday, when I dropped Tim off at Holland Hospital for his kidney stone surgery I headed over to the Holland Target.  (I had no desire to spend 3 hours in a waiting room with Tillie.  To my delight and surprise, the Christmas clearance was 75% off.

I had been to the Caledonia Target the day before and bought my Christmas wrapping paper for 2010 and it was only 50% off.  I had seen some cute Nick and Nora pajamas for Tillie, but they didn't have the size she would most likely wear next year.  Holland didn't seem to have any pajamas, but I did get some cute ribbon, chocolates and a bib.

I then stopped in the baby section, as I always do.  What do you know, all the holiday pajamas were there, marked full-price.  I thought this was odd, so I took a pair to the price scanner.
75% off!
Jackpot, I had my pick of sizes and styles, and no one else was around.

On these 6 pairs of pajamas(in various sizes), I spent $15.21(before tax).  Full price they would have been $60.96(+tax).  And, they're all Nick & Nora or Carter's brand.

Also, I got two dresses and leggings/tights from HannaAndersson.com for 75% off too.

Oh how I love a good deal. (Tim likes it when I bargain shop too.)