Angelcare Monitor

I've been thinking about a special item I'd like to purchase for this new baby. I'm considering a device called the Angelcare Monitor. Supposedly it detects the baby's movement and alerts you whenever there is no movement for 20 seconds; thus alerting you to any breathing complications, reducing the risk of SIDS. At $100 for a brand new monitor, I really want to do my research to make sure the thing really works and can help prevent SIDS. Do any of you have any experience with this type of monitor?

Run, Don't Walk...

To your nearest Walgreen's. Valentine's Day Chocolate is 75% off!

I've already eaten a whole box!

Why I Love Dollar Tree...

Because I can get breads like Sara Lee Raisin Bread, Dinner Rolls, Multi-Grain, and Hot Dog Buns...

for a buck apiece!

Cookie Monsters...

Today I spent most of the day helping our former pastors from CO move into their new Phoenix home. It's a very nice older home that has a tangerine and a grapefruit tree in the backyard. There are grapefruit and lemon and orange trees all over Phoenix. Unfortunately, we don't have any fruit trees in our backyard.

Afterwards, Elon and I went to Frye's to stock up on their $1 sale items. Wow, I just can't get food off the brain right now! And by food I really mean... snacks. Here is a partial list of what I bought...

Nutter Butters

Chips Ahoy Cookies

Oreo Cookies

Sherbet

Ice Cream Sandwiches

Tortilla Chips

Pop Tarts

...and the list goes on. I am well on my way to making another hyper baby!

Still Thinking...

About what to get those last few people on my Christmas shopping list. That would include Nathan and my dad. Why are men so hard to shop for?

Meanwhile, I just bought Elon this...

...for a pretty good deal {don't worry! not the $399 price listed}. My mom is contributing towards the cost too. I can't wait to see the look on Elon's face Christmas morning!

Holiday Decorating On A Dime...

An inexpensive idea for a holiday centerpiece-- an apothecary jar emptied of it's seashells and filled with extra ornaments and a Big Lots bow.

Our completed tree-- I like to get most of my ornaments, ribbons, and wreaths from the after-Christmas clearance at K-mart. I just love their Martha Stewart Holiday Traditions line. I think that I paid .75 for the gold and cream wired ribbon draping the tree. The pre-lit umbrella tree I got on clearance at Target for around $35.

Price Matching...

Sunflowers, a local farmer's market near my house, ran pineapples in their store ad for .99 cents apiece. Wal-Mart's cost $3.--. But, since I do all of my other shopping at Wal-Mart, it's so much more convenient to only drag Elon out of the car seat for one stop.

My solution, bring the ad into Wal-Mart and do a little price matching. I saved over $4 on two pineapples, not to mention the saved gas. At this stage in my life, I love price matching for it's convenience. I do it quite often, especially for produce. If you haven't yet, you should try it-- it even works for their automotive department!

Elon's Birthday Outfits

Elon's great grandma gave him a check for his birthday. With it, I was able to purchase these two adorable outfits! My pictures don't do justice to the clothes :(

This first one still has the Mervyn's price tag on it. The tag says $32.99. I got it for $10.99 at Ross!

This Calvin Klein one still had the original tags on it as well. Regular price-- 68.00. I paid $12.99!

I also bought him a couple of matching hats at Old Navy. He loves to wear them backwards. I can't wait until cooler weather so I can take pictures of him modeling them. Thanks, Grandma Ginny!

What I Wore Sunday...

Wrap Dress: Anny Taylor via Ross $8.99
Elon's Tee: Next via Goodwill $1.00
Jean Shorts: Old Navy via Yardsale: .50
Black Tennis Shoes: Yardsale .75

Patent Leather Shoes: Goodwill $5.99

Total for both outfits: $17.23

Happy Father's Day, Nathan! Part 1

Shopping with Marie yesterday reminded me of this. I have a wonderful and patient {for the most part} husband! Ricky reminds me so much of my dad. Tell your hubbies to watch this too! 10 minutes for part 1.

Happy Father's Day, Nathan! Part 2

I might have to try some of Lucy's tricks! Part 2, 10 minutes.



A naughty tip, if you think your husband might not like your purchase of new shoes, be sure to buy lingerie to go with it. He'll forget all about the shoes!

Shoe Shopping

Today Nathan is getting off of work early so I am heading to the mall with Marie. I wore a whole in my only brown sandals, so I really need another pair of neutral shoes to wear to work. I have lots of shoes, unfortunately, I have a tendency to buy shoes that aren't practical-- meaning I have hot pink strappy heels, white strappy heels, brown strappy heels, tan strappy heels, etc... but can you see the nanny arriving in stilettos! But I am a heels person {even to the point of seeing a chiroprator due to a high-heeled pregnancy}! I've had to dress professionally for all of my other jobs, so I have collected quite an assortment of dressy shoes. It's so sad to see them in the closet, collecting dust. Goodbye, sexy, strappy, sandals. Hello soccer mom flats!

I'm thinking about these:

or these:

I normally don't do metallics, but lately they've been growing on me. The nice thing is, they go with everything. These shoes are available at Payless. I'll be sure to post the ones I choose.

End of the Season Clearance...

Having children and living on a budget takes planning. I always buy Elon's clothes a year in advance so that I can take advantage of those end of the season sales. From the limited variety of stores we have in my town, I have discovered that Kohl's and JC Penney tend to have the best deals on children's clothes.

Yesterday, Elon and I met with a friend and her daughter at the Play Place in the mall. After the kids had let out some energy, I went browsing amongst the sales racks. I struck gold at JC Penney! Dress shirts for Nathan for $5.00 or less, a $2.50 red necklace for me, and a few big boy shirts for Elon at $2.50 each. If you haven't been by JC Penney in a while, I suggest you make a quick trip before all the deals are gone!

On The Trials of Knee High Boots

Ok, I have this problem. For a long time I have been searching for the perfect pair of knee-high boots. I have owned a couple of pairs, but neither of them were *quite right*. I would like to have two pair of knee high boots, one a dressy-- perhaps pointy toe, mid heel style and one a flat soled "riding boot" style. Now you may be thinking,"easy, go to Payless...case closed." But before you get too excited, my friend, lemme let you in on a little secret... I wear a size 10 shoe and have a calf that measures a whopping 12 inches in diameter (and no I cannot ski without skis and no I actually don't have good balance). With genetic obstacles such as these, it seems inevitable that I will be stuck in knee-high leather boots that fit like galoshes. When I use my imagination, I can walk around with my boots flapping on my calves and still feel confident. I just pretend like that curve is really filled with my calf muscle!

Yard Sale Finds

Recently upholstered antique chair-- $4
Shabby Chic Vanity-- $7 New Glass Knob (not pictured)-- $3

More Birthday Shopping...

Today was another day of errands. Nathan's car was making funny noises so I had to drop him off at the shop early this morning, then pick him back up at 5. Since I was passing by Kohls and needed to take some of Elon's birthday clothes back, I decided to stop there and look around a bit. I was able to exchange the too big shorts for another pair and for just $5 more was able to get two more Osh Kosh shirts that coordinate with shorts he has for next summer. A pretty good bargain, I thought.

I also wanted to look around for some birthday clothes for Nathan since his b-day is in a couple of weeks. I found some nice jeans and khaki pants for $7.99 a pair. Since Nathan's jeans are looking pretty raggedy (even for him), I decided to buy him a couple of pairs. This, too, seemed like a pretty good deal considering the fact that men's jeans can be quite expensive. These pants, along with the shirts and 2 dvds I purchased, will be Nathan's birthday gifts from Elon and I. Thankfully, birthday shopping is done for awhile.

I find that it is really hard to get chores accomplished when I have errands to run. By the time I load up the kids, drive there, do what I need to do, then drive back, I'm usually pooped. Then there's lunches and clean up and diapers and naps. During nap time, I try to do something relaxing or nap myself. A lot of times, I use this time to blog. I really don't like to use the time for cleaning. I used to do that and it seemed to lead to burn out. So I'm curious, what do you do while your kids nap? It'd be nice to know how old they are and how long they usually nap, just for comparison sake.

Baby Girl Shirts...

Outfit for my mom-- 50 cents

I really want to have a baby girl. As you can see here, I have already begun her wardrobe. The best part about shopping ahead of time, is that I can at yard sales I can pick out the prettiest items of the lot at killer prices. I usually pick out a couple of outfits every time I go yard saling. For girls, you can find really beautiful dresses that are nearly new. Unfortunately, most things that I find for Elon are usually washed out or dingy. Why is that?

These pictures really do not do the clothes justice. (Can't wait to get that Canon Rebel!) These are just a portion of our unborn baby's wardrobe. She's gonna be the cutest dressed kid and probably the only one who can say at six years old that her entire wardrobe of clothes up until this point cost less than $30! On Saturday, I bought 40 more girl outfits (not pictured) for $5 from a lady who was anxious to get rid of everything. Can you believe it! What a steal. I just hope and pray I actually have a little girl!

Maternity Shirts...

Oh my word... On Saturday I hit the best yard sale ever! I bought these maternity shirts...






All of the clothes were either Old Navy, GAP, Mimi Maternity, or Motherhood; several items still had the tags. One of the outfits from Mimi's was priced at $88! And all of the clothes looked brand new. Now my maternity wardrobe is nicer than my "normal" wardrobe! All in all, I bought 92 pieces of maternity clothes for less than $20. Some of them weren't my size so I will give them away, and some I just won't wear so these will be given away also...after all, who needs 92 pieces of maternity clothes (plus the one's I already own)? You can bet between myself and my other 3 married sisters, we'll put this wardrobe to good use!

I never thought I'd be saying this, but I can't wait to wear my maternity clothes!

Birthday Deals...

Sorry I haven't posted much lately. I've just been doing the regulars, cooking and cleaning, etc. However, today was an exciting day because I got to do a little birthday shopping for Elon. I spent around $45 on some outfits at Kohl's. All of the clothes were 60-80% off and then take another 20% off after that. Nathan thinks I am insane for wasting my time and money on a birthday party and gifts for a baby that won't remember any of it. How do you explain these things to men?!

For the $45 dollars I bought:

• 1 Chaps "polo" shirt in white with navy designs size 24 months
• 1 Carters collared shirt with a surfer motif in cream and blue size 12 months
• 1 Carters board short to match the surfer shirt size 9 months (the biggest they had)
• 1 Osh Kosh navy muscle shirt with camoflauge trim size 3T
• 1 Osh Kosh ankle short in camoflauge to match shirt size 3T
• 1 brown ?romper? with safari animals on front size 24 months
• 1 set of crocodile pj's size 24 months
• 1 set of pj's with a cute monkey face embroidered on front size 18 months
• 1 pj ?sleeper? (the kind with feet) in cream and red stripes (adorable!)

I thought these were pretty good prices for good quality clothing. Besides, he really needed some pajamas and I RARELY ever by him new clothing. So far, his wardrobe has consisted of hand-me-downs and baby shower gifts. Unfortunately, the hand-me-downs will be stopping so now I have to buy with the future in mind. Oh, I also bought 2 outfits from dollar general for $3 each (they were being clearanced) and 2 toys totalling $7. Sooo... all in all I spent $55 on Elon's birthday presents. I didn't think that was too bad. Maybe Elon won't remember anything but I certainly will.Can someone back me up on this (that way I can tell Nathan--hehe)?

I'll post more about birthday plans later. Trying to get everything ready for bed now so I must stop here. Good Night!

R.P.M.

My husband really needed some new cologne, he's been out for awhile. But with cologne so expensive, we usually wait until a holiday to purchase it. However, a lady at work had an Avon catalogue with the scratch and sniff pages and Nathan discovered a new cologne called R.P.M. It smells so good, quite a bit like Tommy Hilfiger, and came in a big 2.5 oz bottle. And the best part... it was a buy one at 17.50, get one free. Now he smells as good as he looks!