It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Ok, well maybe it isn't the most wonderful time, but it's definitely one of my favorites!  You see, I'm a consignment sale junkie and late each summer and winter there are tons of seasonal children's consignment sales.  I love scouring the tables and racks to find super cute high end dress clothes for Little G for a fraction of the new retail price.  They are often in brand new condition since they are only worn a few times for special events.  When G was younger I also found lots of baby gear for a fraction of the price.  Since most of that type of thing is used for a very brief time it is usually in good condition too. 

I've been to a few lot of sales this season and while I haven't necessarily purchased a lot at each sale, it has been worthwhile. 

Here are some pics of my favorites so far:

Our back yard "play ground"

Also, including a refashion of sorts.  The monogram on this little shirt was almost correct, but since accuracy counts when it comes to monograms I got out my needle and thread and voila!

Before

After

The Ensemble!

This one is going to be cute with some white knee socks and black shoes:

On that note, why is it so tough to find cute black dress shoes for little boys?  They all look like clunky old man shoes! 

I actually purchased fabric a little while ago to make a longall in almost this exact color and pattern!  Now I can save that fabric for another project. 

I've also found some play clothes, but I try to focus on dress clothes since they often have less wear and more of a discount over the new retail price. 

And lest you think I've deprived my child of toys (you were really worried, right?), one or two of those have made their way home too!  I've even started Christmas shopping for him. 

Ladder Hill Designs Tinkle Time Trainer Pants Pattern Review

You've no doubt been waiting with baited breath for the update on the training pants I've been making for Little G.  Well, the wait is over and without further ado here is the finished product:

I think they are cute, although the more astute among you (you know who you are), will notice that the print is upside down on the front and right side up on the back.  I'm going to blame that on the one year old who was "helping" me while I tried to get the pieces for these pants cut.  He helped by hanging off of my body, yelling and in general doing whatever he could do to transfer my attention from the fabric to himself.  I guess I should really just be appreciative that it's only upside down!

They have adjustable side snaps so they can grow a little as he does and they can pull on/off OR snap on/off in case of accidents.  There is an absorbant lining between the inner and out layers of cotton knit, as well as a layer of waterproof fabric inside so that wet accidents are somewhat contained. 

Little G's verdict is.... drumroll please........

He likes them!! I tried them on and they fit him and he didn't want to take them off!  I'm hoping it's a positive sign.  Now to work on the courage to put them on him without a diaper underneath. 

Here's a random pic of our crazy guy being his goofy little self.

Here is the pattern I used.  It is the Tinkle Time Trainer by Ladder Hill Designs and I recommend it.  There are several pieces to cut out, but the directions are very detailed and there are several choices on style, materials, etc. 

I also purchased a new pair of snap pliers and some snaps from Kam Snaps and they made all the difference in applying the snaps.  At no point did I want to throw them out the window or yell and gnash my teeth. 

I'm temporarily declaring these a success.  I'll withhold final judgement until we actually use them!

Tool of the Devil

My old snap pliers are dead to me.  I normally would donate something like this that wasn't broken and hadn't been used that much.  In this case, I've decided not to inflict the frustration of using them onto an unsuspecting person just trying to score a good deal at the thrift store. 

They are going in the garbage!  I'm currently debating whether or not to hold some sort of destruction party before throwing them away. 

For your own information and so you never accidently purchase these, they are Dritz brand and I bought them at JoAnn several years ago.  They are difficult to use and the finished product isn't great in my opinion. 

I'm not saying I blame them for the training pants flop, but they definitely didn't help.  On that note, I have good news about my second attempt at training pants for Gabriel.  More on that next time...

Perspective

Last night after I went to bed and waited for sleep to come I could hear crickets and circadas singing.  One had a particular chirp and I couldn't stop thinking, "Wow, that sounds just like The Very Quiet Cricket." 

Image: The Children's Book Guide

Being a parent definitely changes your perspective on the big AND the small stuff!

Busy Weekend

We had a great weekend and got to spend time with old friends, new friends and family!  It doesn't get much better than that!

Oatmeal: messy and yummy!

Saturday I went out for breakfast with some old friends while Big G and Little G hung out.  They went for breakfast at Waffle House.  The staff there know them and Little G is treated like a prince AND gets to eat waffles so, of course, he really likes it.  Later that morning the guys met Little G's cousin and her mom who also happens to be Big G's sister at the park and they played and played.  Little G came home with a scraped chin, but seemed pretty much unbothered by it.  He's definitely a rough and tumble boy.

Spiffed Up for Church

Following afternoon nap, the guys rode the bike to our park and then went to a dads night with the kids from our neighborhood while the ladies had a mom's night out. We went to eat and then saw The Help.  I saw it last weekend with Big G and it was great both times!

Obviously thrilled to have his picture made with Mommy. :)

Sunday was more low key, but we did go to sunday school and church and then in the afternoon I went back to church for our Women's Ministry Fall Kickoff.  Little G and his cousin P were both in childcare and when we picked them up the workers told us they played together the whole time chasing each other around and yelling their version of their names to each other.  So sweet! 

We had a very loud thunderstorm shortly after bedtime and Little G was upset so I got some bonus cuddle time with my little guy.  What a sweetie!

Whew!

I know I'm tired at the end of the day, but now I have scientific proof as to why! 

The Longest Shortest Time, a blog I really enjoy,  recently did a post on the Gesell Institute's books on child development.  Author Hillary Frank's little girl is the same age as Little G, so her post really resonated with me.  She recently read Your One Year Old: Fun Loving and Fussy by Louise Bates Ames.  The book's title itself is an accurate description of Little G so I'm planning to get this book!

Go over to read the blog post now!  The diagram of the paths of different aged of children in a playroom is right on with Little G at 18 months.  It's no wonder I'm worn out in the evening - or morning depending on they day!

Training Pants

So, Little G has been using the toilet for months, but not 100% of the time.  He goes through periods where he consistently never has a dirty diaper because he reliably uses the toilet.  He also has weeks that he doesn't.  We don't stress about it since he's so young, but we are glad he got comfortable with the toilet before he even turned one so it isn't a big concept we are just introducing.  Sitting on the toilet is just part of daily life for him.

I started looking around for training pants for him to wear in the (hopefully) near future and was a little surprised to find that traditional training pants aren't as common as they used to.  I suppose it's due to the popularity of pull-ups disposable training pants, but I'd prefer some that give him the feeling of being wet when he's wet so he'll learn what that means. 

This is my very roundabout way of saying that I decided to try to make some water resistant pull up/down OR snap on/off training pants.  There are tons of patterns available and I decided to start with a free pattern to test the waters.  Here is the one I used.  I took Little G's measurements and decided on the M/L sized pants.  They are similar to a cloth diaper, but have a lot less padding.  They are polyurethane laminated fabric (PUL) on the outside, microfiber in the middle and flannel on the inside and bound with foldover elastic (FOE).  The lady at JoAnn was very curious about what in the world I was making when I bought these supplies!  I could tell she thought I was crazy. Ha!

Here is the final product:

Cute, huh?  The only problem is that I inserted the sockets for the snaps backwards and it would have to be worn inside out.  Oh, and they are enormous on him.  These won't work at all, of course, so this pair is a bust.

I won't be bested by a pair of training pants so I'm going to try again!  I'll keep you posted.

CVS Trip!

I had a great trip to CVS yesterday!  I am always on the lookout for bargain priced diapers and also had lots of ECBs (CVS cash) to use before it expired. 

This isn't the most exciting photo, but I got paper towels, 4 packs of Huggies Slip Ons, 5 packs of CVS diapers to donate (clearance at $1.49/pack), free body wash, free bandaids and free caramello bar.  My total out of pocket was less than $14 and I also got a $10 gas card so effectively I'm out of pocket less than $4. 

It made my day!!

Little G at 18 Months

Since one of the main reasons I started the blog is to document Little G's life and share his updates with family, this post is all about him! 

He is 18 months and just had his well baby check up.  He is 34 1/2 inches long (97th percentile); 27 lb (75th percentile); 20" head circumference (97th percentile).  He's a big guy just like his daddy.  Except his large head is from me. 

Gabriel wears a size 18 or 24 months in most things and a size 6 shoe.  He wears a 2T hat! 

We can understand more and more of what G says.  He stills says lots of things that only he understands too.  Some of his favorite words are cracker, ball, car, woof (puppy), no, hi, bye bye.  He is also starting to learn please and thank you and uses them with moderate success. 

He can climb into the chair on his own and likes to "read" books there.

Coloring is a favorite activity.  So is trying to eat the crayons.

Trying out his Halloween costume.  He'll be a lion and already loves to ROAR!!

Cutting Up with Daddy.

Little G is a very loving and affectionate little guy.  He loves to give hugs and is learning to give kisses.  He shares his hugs with just about anyone who slows down long enough.  He is so sweet at bedtime when he snuggles into my neck and hugs and plays with me.  It is our favorite time of the day.  His daddy and I have to take turns every other night so we can share it.  He is also such a HAM.  He definitely gets that from his dad and already performs to try to get attention and laughs. 

We've recently made the switch to one nap a day (from two).  It has been a ROUGH week, but hopefully we'll settle into the new routine soon.  It will make it easier on Sundays since we are gone to Sunday School and Church all morning until lunch.  Also, it will be easier for him to go to his Mother's Morning Out he starts next month.  He'll be at preschool at a local church from 9:30 - 1:00 two days per week.  Such a big boy.  We can't believe how quickly the time has passed!

25 Things About Me

1.  My family is my top priority.
2.  Sometimes I am still surprised they let us go home with a baby and now we are expected to raise him without messing him up.  It's a lot of pressure even 18 months down the road.
3.  While I am persnickety about some things, there are lots of things that aren't on my radar to worry about.  Which things fall into which category is probably surprising at times. 
4. My hubs (Big G) is the best husband and daddy ever.  I'm sorry if you were under the impression that it was your guy.
5. My son (Little G) is the light of my life.  Sometimes now I wonder what we used to do with ourselves before he was here.  Except I do remember the sleep and free time.  Well, maybe it is coming back to me, but this is way better anyway!
6.  I always thought I would have little girls because I had no idea what to do with a boy.
7.  Sometimes we make plans and God laughs.  Having children is a prime example of this.
8.  Now I can't imagine if Little G had been a girl.
9.  One of my favorite snacks is popcorn.
10. I love to save money.  Or at least to feel like I'm saving it. 
11.  I put a lot of effort into planning shopping trips to spend as little as possible on groceries, toiletries, medicine and baby care items (diapers!!).  It's a game I like to play with myself.
12.  I have very little problem forking out money for items that are my splurges.
13.  I love Kiehls Ultimate Strength Hand Salve.  It is worth the price.
14.  I use drugstore moisturizer (Purpose).
15.  I hate to pay more than $15 for a shirt for myself.  It has to be pretty special for me to break that rule. 
16.  I am not into status purses or sunglasses. 
17.  I have a very hard time shopping for purses and sunglasses because I can almost never find one that fits my requirements which basically include that it be exactly like my last purse.
18.  I'm shy around new people.
19.  I love to shop for fabric. 
20.  I don't always love to sew with the fabric I purchase.  I have a lot of fabric.  Sometimes just looking at it satisfies my creative urge.
21.  I love to read craft blogs and come up with grand plans of things I'm going to make.
22.  I can conservatively estimate that approximately 1% of those plans become reality.
23.  I love to cook.
24.  I am a procrastinator. 
25.  I am a perfectionist.  I had a blog partially set up for months but never launched it because I couldn't get the design the way I wanted it.  I would rather not have it than have it be wrong.

Hello!

Well, hello there!  After reading and enjoying other blogs for years I'm taking the plunge and creating one myself.

I hope that this space will allow me to share our daily life with family and friends we don't get to see nearly often enough.  Also, it will be a place to share my creative projects with the blogging community after being a lurker for so long.