Books, books, and more books!

In this post…

#1. Rain Gutter Bookshelves

#2. We Give Books

I never dreamed my household would be so obsessed with children’s books, but I’m thrilled we are! I’m sort of addicted to buying them for my son. I keep trying to lighten the book load, so to speak, but when I look through our “library”, he really does read almost all of them! So, we just enjoy housing them.

I also figured I’d make art out of them and took a stab at the interweb-famous rain gutter bookshelves. I think I used this tutorial, but I sort of winged it anyway, because the rain gutters I got didn’t have the same sort of brackets. We just screwed the actual gutter itself directly into the wall. Here’s how mine turned out! Oh yeah, I painted them red to give the wall some color without having to paint. My son’s room is sock monkey themed. =) And here’s Cooper enjoying the book display! So far they’re holding up. I was a little worried about little hands pulling them down. But they’re still in great condition over 2 months later.

My next new and exciting find is We Give Books! I just discovered it on Pinterest (I FINALLY caved and joined) and it’s AWESOME! Basically, it has a catalogue of 167 books (and growing) available for you to read online. For each book you read, the foundation donates a book to an ongoing campaign. What could be more awesome than reading with your child AND teaching them about needs in other parts of the world?

They even have a book in their library called Hope for Haiti. I’m looking forward to reading it with my son to attempt to further explain his dad’s trip to Haiti a little over a year ago. You can add books to your own library so you can read them over and over, with a book donation EACH time you read it! How cool is that? So what are you waiting for, hop on over and check it out!

Just added to our library are titles such as:

and…

Seriously…aren’t you soo excited? =)

Wearing my clothes – Day #5

This is called…cleaning all day Saturday. You’ve got to keep a couple of those types of outfits in the good ol’ closet, right? Ack! Again…waited until the end of the day (post cleaning even!) to take the pic. Oh well. These pants were either hand me downs from who knows where, or uber cheap at TJ or Ross. They’re DKNY jeans. The shirt is Roxy, tip off to my teen years! (not that I purchased it then, just that that’s when Roxy seems more appropriate) Shoes are from Old Navy, they’ve lasted forever and are actually pretty comfy! My necklace is Brighton, from my cousin. =) Happy Saturday!

Wearing my clothes – Day #4

**CONFESSION**

So, my goal in posting these is to not purchase anything new until I’ve worn everything in my closet. BUT…my bestie MAY have given me some Old Navy cash, and I MAY have already had $30 worth of merchandise credit there to boot! So technically I didn’t spend money. hehe

My pants are from Old Navy - $13! The shirt is as well, $7, and the sweater is also from Old Navy, but purchased last year (yeah, so I wore the sweater 2 days ago, but with a different undershirt…shh!) And the heels, sorry…you can barely see them, were from Payless a few years ago. I know, I’m weird. A mom that occasionally wears heels to the park. 

I had to wear a touch of red seeing as we celebrated Valentine’s at my son’s preschool today. Glee!

Tricks of the Trade – A myriad of them

A few of these tricks will be for new moms. So, if they seem obvious, just disregard. But, they’re things I would’ve appreciated knowing. Figured ‘em out, but always nice to know ahead of time.

Trick #16: Buy a Back-Up Blankie

Of course, you won’t know which stuffed animal or blanket is going to end up being the favorite, but soon enough, YOU’LL KNOW! My mother-in-law bought this “lamby” for Cooper and this is most certainly his, can you tell? So, we bought the same one for Allie, and guess what? I’m pretty sure this is gonna be hers, too. We’ve “borrowed” hers a couple of times for Cooper. I should probably call my MIL and ask her to buy an extra now that I think about it. That way, one can be in the wash, and they can still have their precious loveys. 

Trick #17: Robeez – to help keep socks on!

I have little houdinis who remove their socks before I can even get the second sock on! During the winter months, this can be a problem, especially when our babies are in that teeny tiny stage when we really do need to keep their toes warm! THANK YOU ROBEEZ! They’re not super cheap, but they are worth the splurge. So, keep an eye out at Home Goods or Marshall’s or the like. My daughter has worn hers out already. Love ‘em! 

Trick #18: Nightlight Timer

Is your precious child receiving your “not so happy face” in the mornings because they are strolling in long before you’re ready to get up? I was spoiled, and my son has been a phenomenal sleeper! BUT…when we switched him over to a big boy bed, he did start prancing into our room slightly earlier than I was ready to greet him in the manner that I would LOVE to. (ahem…let me have my coffee first please? Then I can greet you with a smile and a great big hug. ;)

So, we simply purchased a digital wall timer to attach to his nightlight. You know, like the ones you’d use to time your Christmas lights? (which, by the way, if you don’t have one for your Christmas lights, get one! So fun to drive home and see them on already) It has multiple settings, so we set his for both bedtime and naptime. This way, he knows that he cannot come out until his nightlight has turned off. And it’s not an alarm, so IF he happened to sleep later than the nightlight, it’s not waking him up (although occasionally the “click” it makes when it turns off does, but…I’m ready for him! So it doesn’t matter). It’s not pretty, but it does the job!

Heads up…we did have to teach him not to push buttons on it. They have to push a LOT, but they can mess up the setting. We joked about getting one of those wall lock boxes like they put around thermostats, but he’s pretty much over it now. =)

If you wanna spend money, here are some professional options that look well worth the money:

Trick #19: Holiday Clothing on Clearance

I tried to tell myself I didn’t need these cute little holiday shirts…but when push came to shove, they’re just so stinkin’ cute! But it feels ridiculous to pay full price for them to wear them, like, once. So, I’ve been trying to keep my eyes peeled for holiday clothing on clearance post-holidays. Often times, they’ll be out of the size you need, but with my daughter being so young, I can really buy almost any size and have it work. So, if you find one you like, snatch it up and store it away for the next year!

 

Trick #20: Back-2-Back Swings

I can’t take credit for this one…my friends introduced me to the back-to-back swing idea. When your baby is still a bit too small to support themselves well in the swing, toss ‘em in with an older sibling! Allie absolutely loved it! So precious. She was only 4 months here. I forgot about how bad the Donald Trump hairstyle was. Ha! Here are the links for Tips #2-6 and Tips #11-15. Use the label in the upper right to find the others. =)

Wearing my clothes – Day #3

I know it’s only 3 days in…but so far so good! So, the outfit above is from Marshall’s. The shoes are from Ross.

Interesting tidbit that I never would’ve guessed. Apparently I wear petite jeans. What?! My mother-in-law has been so sweet the last 2 years for my birthday, she’s taken me to Macy’s to try on as many pair of jeans as needed in order to find a fabulous fitting pair! (My hubby doesn’t mind the outcome of this 2-year tradition!) This past year, I was frustrated with having to hem almost every pair of pants I bought, and the lady helping us at Macy’s said, “Well sweetie, you’re a petite.”

My response was, “But I’m 5’7” Well, apparently I am average height, but I have a super long torso (and therefore, short legs =( I guess this explains my delight in high heels!). Who would’ve guessed? But man has that made my life easier! So, you guessed it…these jeans are petite. 

Life lesson? Know your body. It will help you shop so much faster! AND…you’ll look that much better to boot. You won’t waste money buying something that…sort of fits…you know what I’m talking about! We’ve ALL done it! Everyone has been so nice lately telling me how well I’ve “popped back” from having a baby. Shh! Don’t tell anyone my secret…I just know how to dress my body (and good genes I think!) =)

Happy shopping!

Wearing my clothes – Day #2

I’m so impressed my husband is humoring me and taking pictures! So here’s outfit #2. Sweater is recent from Old Navy. The shirt underneath is from good ‘ol TJ Maxx awhile ago. The Guess jeans were on mega sale at Macy’s. Shoes are Jessica Simpson from Marshall’s.

My friend gave me a great idea to help with knowing what I’ve worn in my closet, too. She said to turn the hanger around after I’ve worn it. She found the idea with the intention to do this over the course of a month or so, and whichever clothes haven’t been turned, might be a good idea to get rid of those items. Thanks friend! =)

P.S. – I took the picture in the morning this time..don’t look quite so tired…YET! hehe