10 Things I Did This Week

1. Boyfriend and I thought about some life changing decisions. When I know what's going on, I will gladly share, but until then I'll just let this be my little stress of the week.

2. Boyfriend and I celebrated our second Valentine's Day together. By celebrated, I mean we got some take-out (garlic fingers and donairs), I took a bath, I finished watching 90210 and he actually watched with me then we literally passed out around 10pm. How's that for a wild and romantic Valentine's Day? Oh, but while he was home that day he made me a card. 

3. I made Valentine's for Chloe's daycare class but...

4. Chloe was up sick a couple of times through the night before Valentine's Day. It was boyfriend's day off work so she stayed home with him. She was whiny, but basically fine for the rest of the day. She was back to herself by Friday, but she didn't get to give out her Valentine's. Sad. 

5. I finished season two of Raising Hope. Best show EVER! (So far!)

6. Boyfriend had the flu, probably got it from Chloe, so I "slept" on the couch. I say "slept" because I was awake almost all night. I'm terrified of throwing up, to the point where I freak out if someone near me is sick and I could catch it. So far so good, but as I write this it's only been 12 hours since boyfriend was sick. I could still be next. 

7. I took Chloe's 'baby' to work. 

8. I bought a couple of vegetables that I've never had before so Chloe can try them: spaghetti squash and zucchini. Now I just need to figure out how to make them edible. 

9. I started working on a joint budget for boyfriend and I, in hopes that if we're more organized we'll be a little better at paying both of our debts off faster. 

10.  I'm having a hard time thinking of a #10. Oh.. Chloe started drinking homogenized milk. I hope to have her completely off formula by the time we make it to the end of this can. 

A work day

Baby girl Saturday morning before she got her pants on.
If she wasn't so tall this would be a cute dress. 

Happy girl, midway through the week

How much do you indulge?

I've been sitting at work all morning, really wanting to go out and get my favorite hot drink - half hot chocolate and half coffee. So yummy. 

What you might not know is that for about a month or two, I would stop for one of these every.single.morning. on my way to work. That's just a little bit under $2 a day. Then I fell in love with frosted cinnamon rolls. Cinnamon rolls with FROSTING. Then I was paying around $3.50 a day. 

A day. 

That's almost $20 a week just on a morning snack. 

What you also might not know is that I wasn't feeling well for a few days back in January. Because I wasn't feeling good, I wasn't eating well. By well, I mean barely at all for two days. I didn't stop for my morning snack those days. 

When I finally got my appetite back, I didn't immediately get back that craving. Now, I stop every now and then, but not nearly as much as before. I'm thankful for the money I'm saving, and I'm sure my health is thankful for all the water I'm sipping on to replace my coffee. I've been drinking a lot of water. 

But those hot chocolate coffees?  Those are my little indulgences. 

Some people have pop, or an alcoholic drink, or a meal out, or some spa time, but this is my only real addiction. 

But my question to you is what's yours? What's is that one (or two or three) thing that you know you probably have way too often, but you can't or don't want to give up? 

And how do you know when it's too much? When you should give it up, or if you're allowed to have this treat as much as you want? How do you control your little indulgences? 

I'm glad I was able to cut back, but since I started writing this post, I went for a walk and gave in to my craving. 

Oh how I love you, chocolatey coffee

Valentine's Day Cards

I picked Chloe up from daycare on Tuesday afternoon to find a note with her things. It was the list of babies in her class at daycare. For Valentine's Day. That's when it hit me - I have a kid who spends Monday to Friday in a social setting and therefore I'm expected to take part in these kinds of holidays. I felt a mixture or excitement and dread. 

I've always loved these kinds of holidays as a kid. Getting and giving Valentines and treats was always so much fun. That excitement still lives on in me a little bit, but I'm also lazy. I knew I wasn't spending money on Valentine's, as there are only 6 kids in Chloe's group, with her included, so that left me with the option of making something. I knew I wasn't making treats, as these are all babies under the age of two. 

I love card making, and I have all the supplies I'd ever need, but I didn't want to go all-out on Valentines for babies. I wanted to save the special ones for later years, when someone might appreciate them. 

I was super excited when boyfriend got home from work and he was the one to suggest the we break out my craft supplies and make cards. There's nothing like help to motivate me to get something done. 

So we dragged some supplies up to the kitchen table, all stuff I already had on hand:

- Two pieces of cardstock - red and white

- Valentine's Day stamp ($1.50 at Michaels) & ink ($4 at Wal-Mart)

- Edge punch (Around $25, but used coupon at Michael's)

- Rounded corner punch (Forget the price, from Michael's)

- Heart punch ($3 at Wal-Mart) 

- Paper slicer

- Glue tape ($1 at the Dollarama)

- Black pen

I cut cards and rounded corners while boyfriend edge-punched. He looked so sad and serious doing it that you'd never guess that it was his idea. 

He suggested we just do a flat card that doesn't open, since they're babies anyway. 

Then I stamped 'Happy Valentine's Day' and wrote out the 'To' and 'From' portions, while he punched out some hearts then glued them on. 

Punching hearts and edges? At least it sounds manly. 

While he was heart punching and gluing, I was hard at work taking photos of him, our work, and myself making horrible faces. 

And this is the final result:

Happy Valentine's Day to the little daycare kids, and you too!

What I've Been Watching - A lot of awesome

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Raising Hope

I've loved this show since the first couple of minutes of the first episode. It's so random, quirky, fun. Jimmy knocks up a serial killer, who gets the electric chair after giving birth. So he's raising his daughter, Hope, with the help of his crazy family. 

It has all the redneck hilarity of My Name is Earl (and a lot of surprise appearances from the actors of Earl), except it's funnier and you can't help but love them all. 

Oh, and Katy Perry plays a hot cop in one of the episodes. 

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I can't say enough good things about this show. Watch it. 

- 5 / 5 stars. [ Raising Hope on imdb ]

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PS I Love You

It wasn't my first time watching this movie, but I still love it. It's so sweet, with a lot of funny moments. And let's face it, we all have a huge crush on Gerard Butler, don't we?

Holly's husband dies of cancer. Before he dies he writes a series of letters to her, telling her to do stuff, helping her move on. It sounds a little creepy, but it's adorable. 

- 4.5 / 5 stars. [ PS I Love You on imdb ]

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Harry Potter

I'm a little late to the party, but I finally watched the entire series of Harry Potter movies. I originally read the first five books in high school, but never read or watched the ending. After a lot of bugging encouraging from boyfriend, we finally finished the series last week. The Deathly Hallows part one was incredibly boring and I hope to never watch it again, but part two was great. For the first time, I wasn't falling asleep at all, and I managed to watch the whole movie in one sitting. It took two sittings to watch most of the rest. I'm an old lady, and can't stay up late.

But to get back on topic, great series. I wish I would've watched them in theater like everyone else, but I was stubborn and wanted to read the books first. I'm glad I finally gave in and just watched them all. Someday I wouldn't mind going back and reading all the books from start to finish.
- 4.5 / 5 stars. [ Harry Potter on imdb ]


Annnd, what have you been watching?

How To Get The Most Out of Your Baby Clothing Budget

My child is a bit of a spoiled diva. You see, she can only wear any outfit once. 

I'm kidding. She can wear an outfit more than once, but girlfriend has so much clothes, that she barely gets to wear anything more than once before she outgrows them. I have a bit of an addiction when it comes to baby clothes. I just can't stop buying. 

[ Top - Old Navy second hand $1 || Bottoms - Old Navy second hand $2 ]

My biggest money saver is the fact that 98% of Chloe's wardrobe is second hand, with items being $1-4 each. Compared to paying $10-30 a piece in stores, you would think that I'm saving a fortune. In reality, I think I spend even more on clothes just because I know everything I'm buying is so cheap. 

If you follow me on Instagram, you'll see that I almost always post a daily photo of what Chloe's wearing. It's not because I think we're so fashionable. It's because she might not get to wear that outfit again. And because she's cute. 

So if you think you're better at controlling your spending than I am, here are some tips on how to get the biggest bang for your buck when it comes to clothing a small child. 

1. Local Buy and Sell Groups and Websites. 

Like Craigslist, Kijiji, or a local Facebook group. Most of my clothing comes from a local Children's Buy and Sell Facebook group that a couple of mothers threw together. Check to see if you have one in your area, if not maybe you could be the one to create one. I live in a really small city, and the group has over 2000 people now. 

All of the following clothing was bought second-hand, either through Facebook or another buy and sell website. The most expensive was the pink Winnie the Pooh jumper outfit, which was $4 for both items. 

2. Browse the second-hand shops. 

You never know what you're going to find at these stores. I found a onesie that says "Too cute to play with your ugly ass kid" at a thrift store not long ago. It's so wrong, but so funny. I also got a ton of shirts for $0.99-$1.99, and a lot of brand name jeans for $1.99 each. Five pairs of jeans for $10? You can't get those kinds of deals buying brand new. 

3. Always check out the sales.

The following items were all bought brand new on clearance. 

Photo 1 - $3 pjs from Wal-Mart that went on clearance over the summer, and fit Chloe in the fall/winter. 

Photo 2 - Snow suit (regular $49) that I paid $14 for this week, because she just outgrew her other winter coat, and I know it will fit her for the remainder of this winter, which around here will probably until the month of April. After that, it'll still be in good enough condition that I'll be able to get most of my money back when I sell it. It's hard to find a coat and snow pants for $14 anywhere. 

Photo 3 - Bathing suit bought brand new at The Children's Place at the end of June for $4. It was good for all of July and August before she stopped wearing it. 

Photo 4 - $3 dress from Wal-Mart. This was an impulse buy, bought too close to the end of summer so she only got to wear it once. I still love it, and have it stored away in case my next baby is a girl. If not, I'll probably be able to sell it for at least $2 anyway. 

Sometimes seasonal items go on clearance when there's still a lot of time left to use them. 

4. Re-sell your gently used children's clothing.

I make most of my money back on everything I buy by re-selling. It takes a lot of time, patience and effort some days, but it's worth getting the money back. Some things get stained and are not fit to resell, and usually I'll donate those items or give away for free.  

5. Shop ahead. 

It usually pretty easy to figure out what size your child will be in when the next season rolls around. Buy stuff ahead of time. If you know you'll be taking your baby to a pool during the winter, buy bathing suits when they go on clearance at the end of the summer. 

Before Chloe was born I bought three bathing suits - 6 months, 12 months, and 24 months. I paid $3 for each, when the regular price would've been $10 for one. I've already got a bin of stuff for Chloe to wear this summer. Sure, I'm taking chances that some of it won't fit, but when I'm paying $1-2 an item, I can just re-sell them in the summer to someone else in need. I also bought her a small inflatable pool last year when they went on sale to use this year for $4. 

Chloe will always need indoor shoes for daycare. She just got a pair of size 4 sneakers, and I'm on the lookout now for a nice cheap pair in the next size up. 

6. Don't go overboard, like me

Chloe's closet and dresser are full of clothes. The same goes for Madi. I also have four bins in our basement - one filled with 12-24 month clothing, one with summer clothing of all sizes, one with size 2 clothing, and one with a little bit of size 3 and 4 clothing (mostly gifts in that bin). 

It's great to be ready - because we've got two girls that fit in clothes ranging from size 12 months to 2T, but I'll be the first to admit that I've got maybe a little too much. 

Just keep track of what you're buying and what you need. No one needs 15 pairs of size 2 pjs. Not even our two girls. 

Do you shop brand new or second hand? Do you have any money saving tips when it comes to children's clothing?