Thrift finds: Baby boy

Shopping for baby stuff is the best, but it’s hard to  know at first what to spend money on and where to save; like I really wanted organic cotton clothing at first but at $25-30 a onesie who can afford that? So I opted for organic for the bigger items like a changing pad and crib mattress because he will spend a lot of time using those and he’ll just grow out of the clothes before they get their money’s worth. At least that’s how I think about it.

I have spent a lot of time on Amazon and Target.com reading reviews of products and researching just about everything I thought we might need.  It gets confusing though because there is just. so. much. I think it just comes down to what your budget and needs are and simplifying from there. Also I started to think: What can you buy second hand safely and that you would be ok with? What can you skip buying for now? What can wait until baby comes ?  Because it got overwhelming and I would get upset thinking we wouldn’t be able to afford everything he needed.So I started looking at my local thrift store for baby items. There’s a clothing bin where they just throw all the kids stuff in and it’s all $1. Books are also $1. On random days clothes or books will be buy one get one free too.  On one lucky haul day I found 10 baby clothing items and got them for $5 with the sale. I was stoked.  Most of the clothes look brand new as well, no stains or tears.  I think I’ve spent something like $30 total…I also found a few toys like these stacking blocks for $2..
look how cute this little onesie from Old navy is with little foxes and trees, I die.
And this super adorable sock monkey hoodie 3 months size.This was the first thing I found thrifting before I even knew we were having a boy, a precious little knit sweater..Getting the nursery closet organized:  We went to target and bought 6 white storage bins ($7/each), a couple shoe organizers($3), a hanging closet rod($10), baby hangers($3), and the 6 storage cube shelf with 4 neutral colored bins($40).  The bins above I labeled 0-3 months, 3-6 months, 6-9, 9-12, you get the idea.  My good friend saved her baby boy clothes and gave us 2 large home depot boxes full so I organized them all and just hung up the newborn and 0-3 months so far.  I honestly  think I’m done shopping for newborn clothes at this point, except for socks, I need some socks.  I’d love to get my hands on a pair of baby moccasins too, they’re all over interest and just darling. So anyhow, that’s what we have so far in terms of baby clothes that we were given or thrifted so far.  It’s just such a relief to have things coming along what with only 10 weeks left before he’s here.  I guess because I worry so much about everything being perfect.  I didn’t use to be like this! It’s funny how my mom instincts seem to be setting in.  xoxojess

Bump pics: Week 15-27

19 weeks//at my sister’s winter wedding in WisconsinHere he is! We found out he was a boy at 20 weeks in mid-December.  Look at that little profile and that round belly! He was breech at the time and everything looked perfect.At 21 weeks I visited Wisconsin again and had a great family Xmas at my aunt’s (my first since we moved to Texas 6 years ago)..and it was freezing.Still just wearing baggy clothes because I feel big but not hugely pregnant yet..
And almost through the second trimester! Time is really flying by now whereas for the first 5 months it seemed so slow.  I think once I started feeling him kick and move every day (at 20 weeks on the day) makes it feel like he’s really real and this is happening.  Really starting to see the baby bump for what it is now..(Above: 26 weeks) We got another ultrasound at 26 weeks because the first one we got was not at a medically licensed facility (a pregnancy spa) so we didn’t get the full medical report, even though the sonographer did show us that everything was developing and looked great. We chose to get another just to be sure things were still going well and to get the medical report to our midwife.

Look how much bigger he is already! according to the machines measurements Baby R is growing perfectly and is at about 2 pounds, his femur bone is almost 5 cm long and his head is about 24 cm around.  He was taking a few swallows of fluid in this picture and stretched for us a bit.  A few times he elbowed me on screen and I could feel it too.  I’m so super attached to this  little guy and can’t quite believe we’ll meet him in 13 weeks! (below shot taken Jan. 27) xoxojess

Nursery update: Cloud wall

I went back and forth over what to do with the nursery colors, paint, and theme but I kept going back to a more neutral look that wasn’t too “baby”ish if ya know what I mean.   I had pinned a similar cloud wall for inspiration and decided to go for it, using what we had at home too.

Here’s what we did:

My husband drew the cloud onto a piece of cardboard which I cut out and taped around the edges to prevent the cardboard going soggy from paint.  He then measured out where each cloud would go. This was complicated because we both are terrible at measuring and math, so I won’t explain how we measured.  He put blue painters tape where each cloud stencil would line up with.  We taped up the stencil then painted using a mini sponge roller.  Our walls are super textured so I was worried about the edges bleeding/blurring outside the lines, but it worked really well.  I did have to touch up missed spots the next day but overall the project took us 4 hours one Sunday afternoon.  I think it turned out so well, I just love it.  There’s lots of tutorials out there on how to do this if you are interested as well. xoxojess

Painted kitchen cabinets (DIY)

Before: ugly colored oak + ugly chandelier + too small islandAfter: Antique white cabinets + Modern brass chandelier +Stainless island.  It does look a little more cluttered in the after shot but I feel so much more organized and everything just flows better when we’re in there.  I have storage under the island for things I use daily and that is just awesome. The white cabinets just feel so much more clean and open as well.   Before/During: This process started last September when my brother came to visit us and he was an amazing help. We got the entire lower island cabinets done. Michael was awesome at the sanding but didn’t love the painting, hee hee. He would disappear for like half an hour at a time once we started painting..But, it was a lot of work, so I don’t blame him. I organized the shelves to fit a set of china dishes we inherited from Ryan’s grandmother+ my cookbooks. Love it. Organizing makes me happier. So that was it. It’s a long process, we had to sand all the doors and paint 3 coats on each, but besides the tedium, it’s not hard.  I’d say it took us a good 8 days total (over 3 months) but I would do it again. It only cost us the gallon of paint and a cheap sander. We already had brushes from other projects so for about $60 we have a brand new looking kitchen that we love.  Thanks for looking, xoxojess

DIY Maternity leggings

At about  25 weeks pregnant I was no longer fitting comfortably into my pants or leggings anymore due to about a 15 pound weight gain (which about half happened around the holidays thanks to an unleashing of pastry and frozen yogurt cravings). I’d much rather buy baby things than maternity wear so I used several pairs of old leggings to re-make into maternity size.  Other than these leggings I stay comfy in sweats and tees. I’ve found two maternity shirts while thrifting but I really have plenty of clothes right now that are loose and big enough to keep wearing.
Supplies: Leggings, stretchy jersey type tank top or material, sewing machine, scissors.

I cut the elastic waist off the leggings and simply sewed the tank top on as the new waistband.  I’m not going to try to explain exactly how I did this because I don’t really know and it certainly is not a professional job, but it works for me and after 2 wears the leggings have held up fine.  The tank top material is stretchy enough to hold up the pants even while out doing errands. I cut the straps off the tank and left enough material so that I could fold it over like yoga pants or hike it up over the bump.   What do you think about diy maternity? It sure beats buying new in my book and it’s a great way to save your baby $ budget for the important things.  xoxojess