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Category Archives: Shopping

Typical Threenager Tantrum

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All I wanted to do was to get him dressed to go shopping.

This is typically what we get during an Owen tantrum—and I guess it’s not so much a tantrum as a power struggle. I did wait a bit longer than I normally would because I was recording it…but this is the gist of what happens—complete with eye-crossing. Of course, as soon as I stopped recording and he was dressed, he was all happy like nothing happened.

Diapers, anyone?

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Costco. Wow. 🙂

I had 11 boxes of diapers to return and of course didn’t even think about the receipts because they’ve been bought piecemeal over the past six months and returns are so easy—they just look it up on your card and you’re done.

Except this time it was a PITA because some were bought online and some were in-store. And they each had to be looked up separately and returned separately. And it was just a hot mess of confusion (two different sizes, to boot). But all FOUR people who were working on it were completely awesome—and were apologizing to me for it taking so long (it took about 30 minutes). (And yes, I apologized for being a pain. Had I thought about it, I would have printed my order emails.) We were all laughing and joking and I told them I would likely be spending the whole amount momentarily…and they said that’s what they hoped! I even saw the manager during checkout and she joked “Hey, it’s you again!” And she joked that I only had one bottle of wine!

I LOVE COSTCO.

Oh, and we spent MORE than we returned. And we returned $400 of diapers. 😮

Oh yeah—Why did I have so many extra boxes? Because every time they were on sale I bought a couple boxes. And I really didn’t expect Owen to be potty trained for a while yet. I also had a couple boxes of size 1-2 for Katie but she’s almost out of those… And I had forgotten we like the Pampers with the pee-line on them so we’ve been using those instead.

Why didn’t we think of this before?

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I have no idea why I didn’t think about doing this before… We desperately need more cupboard space, and we have an empty wall over a storage rack. So…we put in a 36″ upper cabinet this morning!

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We still need knobs and it looks a little strange with empty space on both sides, but I don’t care. Eventually, before we sell/move again, we’ll install a matching base cabinet with a short piece of counter top, and it will hopefully look like it’s always been there.

Amazon: BOO!

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Dear Amazon,

Please quit messing with your Subscribe & Save program…it’s just getting worse and worse. At the beginning, it was 20% off and you got the first order right away (two-day Prime for those of us who are members). Then it was 20% off but you didn’t get Prime shipping on the orders. Then a bunch of my items suddenly became “unavailable” so the S&S orders were cancelled. Now this week I see it’s down to a 5% “savings” on most things and you don’t get your initial order until your “S&S date” (which for me is three weeks out!). Frankly, I’d rather just pay the extra few bucks and get my stuff in two days via Prime. I mean, if I’m on the site ordering it today, I must WANT it soon, right? What on earth makes you think I want to wait three weeks for it? Just to save 88¢?

Sincerely,

A Huge Amazon Fan Who Is NOT Enamored With These Changes

Amazon: YAY!

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A rant turns into a rave!

I just realized I didn’t use the Amazon Mom 20% coupon I had when we ordered Owen’s new car seat a few days ago. I was debating if it was worth returning the other one and reordering to save $25…when I decided to try writing Customer Service.

It was:

I understand that you would want to use your Amazon mom in your recent purchase and I wish I could help.

I’ve reviewed your order and see that your order has already been shipped. Under the circumstances, I made an exception and requested a refund of $25.80 to your credit card. The $25.80 refund is 20% of the price of the item which is $129.00. It will take 2-3 business days for the refund to appear on your visa statement.

This is why I have no problem spending thousands of dollars there every year!!

Second day of potty training.

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Well, there were ups and downs today…as expected, I guess. 😐

I went to town and bought 15 pair of (size 6!) underwear, so we’re fully stocked. I also bought a bunch of toys for the Pee and Poop Reward Jars. Of course, when Owen saw me with the new toys that he couldn’t play with, he had a mini meltdown…complete with his growling “Not gonna pee in potty anymore! Don’t want toys anymore!”

But overall he did pretty well peeing in the potty. There were a few instances of not quite making it in time—he gets to the bathroom but either pees on the way there or doesn’t get his undies down in time. And the times he does get in there, his aim is awful (even with Cheerios as targets)…so needless to say the Clorox wipes and baby wipes are kept close at hand (one to clean the floor/wall/toilet and one to clean him).

I think his biggest problem is not wanting to stop what he’s doing to go potty, hence the waiting until the last minute. If you ask him if he has to go, he usually says no. So you have to watch him like a hawk and notice him holding himself or crossing his legs or prancing around. But other times he’ll just go in the bathroom on his own… so it’s a total crapshoot. He did earn quite a few toys so he was happy.

The best part of the day, however, was when he was handed a chocolate coin for his potty training reward, and said: “A chocolate coin! WOOHOO!” Yes, he literally said WOOHOO! 😀

Tomorrow is poop day. It’s been two days with only rabbit turds… Lord help us.

Early birthday presents!

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We normally don’t buy each other birthday (or Christmas) presents—we just buy what we want throughout the year. But this year, I thought of the PERFECT gift(s) for Tom…and unfortunately, I kinda had to spoil it at almost the last minute to make sure he didn’t buy it himself! (He made a comment about “still needing to get” it and I just told him NOT to shop for anything the few weeks before his birthday. 😮

Tom wears my old (circa early 1990s) MSU jersey. Owen’s MSU jersey is too small (4T). I don’t have one (my old one doesn’t fit, which is why Tom wears it). MSU’s season opener is coming up soon. So I decided to get new jerseys for everyone (well, not for Katie—she has a onesie). I was going to get them all personalized, but not once I saw the price tag. 88| So, Tom just got one and the other two were from eBay. 🙂

I was going to wait until right before the game to give them to him (still before his birthday) but he had had a crappy day at work, so I decided it was time. And he LOVED them, of course…

When he saw that his was personalized, he says “How did you know my high school number was 72?!?” I said “I didn’t—I got your birth year!” (I should have kept my mouth shut to keep him really impressed—because truth be told, I never even THOUGHT about trying to find out what his number was.)

The best thing? Owen was even more excited than Tom was! He had to have his on right away, and then he made both of us put ours on, too. Then he and Tom had to play football in the living room (Owen is GREAT at recovering fumbles). And apparently his number is a quarterback number (or at least was from last season) so he thinks he’s a QB now. 🙂

Stay tuned for a family photo on game day.

Happy 11th Anniversary

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Eleven years. Wow. It just kinda sneaks up on you every year (and even moreso this year since we’ve been a little busy with Katie).

We didn’t even try to get a sitter to do anything this year, though I’m sure our friends would have obliged. Instead, we made a family trip to Wilmington to go to Costco…and have our traditional Chinese meal (we did lunch instead of dinner, though).

Katie was a complete gem, sleeping the entire hour ride down, our entire hour in Costco, and about 75% of our lunch…then took a bottle and slept the entire way home. Of course, Owen was just as awesome, sitting in the cart with stuff piled all around him, not even noticing really because he was having fun with daddy’s phone. 🙂

We had a slight brush with fame at Costco…we saw Keith from Top Chef Texas fame (we’ve eaten at his restaurant, Catch, before). That’s as close to famous as I’m likely to get living here. And he said hi to me in passing, likely because I was staring at him. 🙂

Our lunch was really, really good. I picked a place off Yelp pretty much at random…just going by reviews and proximity to Costco…and we couldn’t have been more thrilled. Everything on the menu at Double Happiness was tempting, but I ended up with the Dry Wok Chicken and Tom got the Coconut Shrimp with Candied Walnut (and we got a Double Steamer dim sum basket). And surprisingly good Hot & Sour soup—as close to mine as we’ve ever had. We definitely want to go back there to try more of the menu!

All in all we had a really good day. How can we not when we have such a great little family?! 😀 (The only downside is that I forgot to take a picture of us to celebrate the day!)

Surprise Shopping Success

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OMG OMG OMG!!

So I was shopping at Ross the other day and just happened to pull out a shirt on clearance that I liked. I tried it on and it fit perfectly so I bought it even though I didn’t need it. I come home and just now looked at the tag and it is the exact brand of my favorite shirt in the world that I can apparently not find online anywhere but can find at Ross and Marshall’s every five years. It’s long-sleeved as opposed to my favorite short-sleeved one but I’m still thrilled. THRILLED.

Katie’s Closet

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I had to go shopping for a few baby necessities the other day (how could we not have ANY size 1 nipples?) and I just couldn’t believe the sheer number of new baby/kid products in the three years since I really SHOPPED at a Babies ‘R Us. I wanted soooo much stuff but just bought what we needed. Well, plus a few clearance clothes. 🙂 I’ve been purposefully trying NOT to buy much since I know the grandmas are going crazy buying…but when there’s a great sale (40% off already sale/clearance prices) I just couldn’t resist. Meaning I did have to reign myself in a bit.

But then—OOPS!—I went back to Babies R Us today… Not for clothes specifically, but I had to return some things. Darn! And then I bought some more clothes because, I mean, I was there. And they were still on sale. :))

My friends keep telling me you can’t have too many baby clothes—but I think I may have had too much with Owen… People were buying me gifts (first baby syndrome), I was buying stuff (first baby syndrome), and we were getting hand-me-downs from a cousin. It was nice not having to do laundry every other day, though… But it’s been so long since that age/stage that I honestly can’t remember how much we had (since I have obviously give the hand-me-downs back and have sold some stuff) so it’s like I’m starting from scratch. I didn’t take all the tags off my last two days of purchases, though…we’re going to wait and see just how big she is. She might blow past the 0-3m stuff from the start and we’ll just start with the 3m stuff…

Aside from one drawer of outfits and one of PJs (newborn, 0-3m, and a few 3-6m)…this isn’t a lot, right? (There are about eight or so hangers of 2-4T stuff.) It feels like a lot, though my friends assure me it’s not. 😮

This is why I shop at Amazon.

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Ugh, I hate stupid people. I checked a hair product website and it said the JCP salon carried the line so I called to ask. She had no idea what I was talking about. I explained the website said they carried that line and did they have the specific product. She says “Well we don’t carry the whole line…” to which I said “Which is why I’m calling to check.” To which she still seemed utterly clueless and pretty much said “I have no idea.”

THIS IS WHY I SHOP AT AMAZON.

Project Nursery

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What started as Project Nursery turned into Project Move Owen to What Was Going to Be the Nursery Because We Didn’t Have Room to Store the Queen Size Bed and Then Turn Owen’s Room Into the Nursery.

Phew, I know. 😀

Project Nursery, Part 1

Yeah, so we don’t have room to store the Queen bed (so would have to sell it), so we thought Owen could use it…but it’s just too big for his current room (the nursery is a good 3′ wider) which means he’d have to switch rooms. I didn’t want to uproot him at all with the whole baby thing coming…but it seemed like the best plan as I think we have room to store the Full bed (that Owen currently uses).

But, of course, the decision wasn’t THAT simple. Because a room switch would mean he loses all the decals he currently has (alphabet and Cars, though the Cars ones are big enough they might be able to make the move). I had JUST bought a second waterproof mattress pad. We weren’t sure what color we were going to paint, which would have an effect on bedding we already had or needed to buy. We would need new Queen sheets (we only have one summer and one winter set). Again, depending on the color(s), we might need a new dust ruffle and/or curtains (which I had just bought the curtains like six months ago). All little things, but they add up.

So we decided to ask him if he wanted to switch rooms—and of course he said YEP. (That’s it, YEP.) So he seemed to like the idea of a new room, but I’m guessing he doesn’t really FULLY understand. He also picked green over tan paint and seemed excited about his bigger bed (he went to grab cars to play with in there immediately).

So while it was kind of exciting, I honestly was not looking forward to it, as it was going to be enough work just getting one room ready and now we had two rooms to do (oh, who am I kidding, Tom now had two rooms to do as I can’t really do much). So I decided to make it more fun for me and do a full-fledged online search for the bedding I really wanted for Owen’s room…basically a multi-colored plaid…or madras as it turns out. So the stuff I love? Of course it’s at >:XX Pottery Barn Kids: $159 for either a quilt or a duvet cover. Yuck.

Tom was painting while I was shopping…

So I kept my fingers crossed that the bedding Owen was currently using would look okay with the new paint. And, of course, it didn’t—the two different shades of sage completely clashed. I know he won’t care…but but I do. Now before you think I’m nuts, let me remind you that I didn’t care one bit what his nursery looked like (it was never matchy matchy—I just tossed up some monkey decals and called it a day). And then when we moved back here, the room was a medium yellow, which went just fine with the sage curtains/comforter/bedskirt stuff we already had.

So, knowing how I am, I know that the clashing colors would drive me insane every single day. I had a quilt I could put on in the meantime, but it’s a girly flowery pink/tan/sage thing that I know I wouldn’t want on for good so why not just get what I want NOW? Right? 🙂 Besides, other than two sets of sheets, we hadn’t really spent any money on bedding for him…so I felt okay buying something specifically for him… Hence my online search.

But since I couldn’t get it out of my head, we headed out to Ross and Marshall’s. We also went to Bed Bath & Beyond (as it was right next door to Ross)…and found what I wanted. Not quite as expensive as the Pottery Barn Kids stuff (though still more than I would have preferred to pay) but pretty much exactly what I wanted—and of course I could use a 20% coupon! While I was checking out, Tom said “HOW MUCH?!” and I said “Not as much as what I wanted from Pottery Barn Kids!” and he knew well enough not to argue with a hormonal pregnant woman. 🙂

In the end, it all worked out. We were able to (re)use the white dust ruffle and the tan blackout curtains. I already had a waterproof mattress pad cover. The comforter is reversible and BOTH sides match so we can change it up a bit. I just need to buy a set or two of sheets…

And you can see how comfortable he is in his new room—this was about three seconds after we told him to come check it out:

Project Nursery Part 2 starts tomorrow with the dismantling of Owen’s old Full bed, the building of the crib, and the switching of all the clothes and closet stuff…

BONUS VIDEO:

Happy Mothers Day

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http://themommyhoodmemos….for-birth-kits/

:heart: Happy Mothers Day to five new mothers who will benefit from the Clean Birth Kits I just donated… :heart:

The Mommyhood Memos Bloggers for Birth KitsBloggers for Birth Kits is a simple initiative to rally bloggers to reach out and help mamas in Papua New Guinea. These women may seem very different to you… but they are mothers with the same heart—mothers who desire to deliver healthy, thriving babies just as we do.

Every minute a women dies of complications related to pregnancy and childbirth. Ninety-nine percent of these deaths occur in developing nations. For every woman who dies in childbirth, another 30 women incur injuries and infections, which are often preventable. (Source: World Health Organization.)

Clean Birth Kits
Photo from http://themommyhoodmemos.com/bloggers-for-birth-kits/

The specifics:

  1. Soap (for the birth attendant to wash her hands). Use a hotel-size soap or cut a regular bar of soap into 1/8-sized pieces. (Microwave the bar of soap for 30 seconds to soften it for cutting).
  2. One pair of plastic gloves (for the birth attendant to wear).
  3. Five squares of gauze (to wipe the mum’s perineum and baby’s eyes). Gauze pieces should be about 10×10 centimeters or 3×3 inches.
  4. One blade (to cut the cord). You can buy individually wrapped sterile blades at the pharmacist or buy utility blades (much cheaper) at the hardware store. We teach the women to boil the blades for sterilization, so utility blades work just fine.
  5. Three pieces of strong string (2 for tying the cord, 1 for “just in case”). String should be about 30 centimeters or 10 inches long.
  6. One plastic sheet (for a clean birthing surface). Sheet should be approximately 1×1 meter or 1×1 yard and can be purchased at your hardware or paint store.
  7. One sandwich-size ziplock bag (to pack the contents).


I strongly urge you to visit the site and make a donation for yourself…and other mothers who are less fortunate than you.

It was bound to happen…

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Well, it was bound to happen…Owen left some cars in a store and I didn’t realize it until we were home. Of course, they were the more expensive Cars cars. Ugh. So do I waste a trip back after his nap and HOPE I can find them somewhere in Big Lots…or do I just forget about it and hopes he learns a lesson?

I explained they’re gone because he left them in a store and I wasn’t sure if he’d get them back…and I don’t quite think he got it. He just kept repeating either “Grem and Acer at the store” or “Grem and Acer gone.”

It just kills me because he loves them so much (and I actually have a duplicate of one I could give him from the Easter Bunny (we haven’t celebrated Easter yet)) but I want him to learn a lesson. But I’m not sure he’s quite old enough to learn that lesson. And I’m pissed because I normally keep a very close eye on the toys he carries with him, but I didn’t even notice him taking those into the store.

3:45pm

We have a lucky little boy… He happened to take a short nap today so we were on the road back to Big Lots by 3:30. We retraced our steps and as soon as we got to the first toy aisle, he went RIGHT to them, pushing aside some other boxes to retrieve both cars. THE STINKER! Of course he was happy to have them back (as was I) but of course he didn’t fully grasp how lucky he was. And then proceeded to cry and whine because I wouldn’t buy him a new car.

KIDS!

Our local Goodwill sucks.

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We finally went to our local Goodwill today…and it totally sucked.

Maybe I’m spoiled by a big city Goodwill where everything was sorted by gender and size and hung on racks…but I can’t see me coming back to this one because I don’t have the patience or the time to sort through that much stuff…because clothes are only sorted by color. Color! So in order to find anything in your size, you have to paw through every single item. No thank you. At least they’re separated by gender. Still, no thank you.

And infant/baby stuff is just tossed in a bin which you have to dig through—and matching sets aren’t even together so you might find a PJ top but not the bottom (which some lady was dealing with as I walked by). No thank you.

Kid’s clothes? Same deal as adults—hung by color—but without the benefit (at least that I could see) of being sorted by gender (though, to be honest, I had lost all patience by that point and I just might not have looked closely enough). But again, nothing sorted by size—there was a 4 next to a 10. No thank you.

And the rest of the stuff looked like really really bad leftover garage sale crap. There was nothing I was even tempted by. And I’m in no way a snob about used clothes or stuff… So I was just really disappointed.

Hi. My name is Jen and I’m addicted to sheets.

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We are still unpacking boxes, and this weekend I discovered three more sets of king sheets. I had thought some were missing, but my linen closet was already pretty full so I didn’t think too much about it. So I counted my sets, and I have a total of nine—seven summer (cotton-type) sets and two winter (fleece) sets. Actually, 11 sets if you count the two crappy sets that we used for camping and are now pretty ratty and are used mainly for covering furniture when we go away. That’s too many for one bed. Maybe if we didn’t wash them right away and had a set as backup, but even then we’d need three MAYBE four.

Ironically, we still haven’t found the Queen size summer sheets [that were on the bed in the last house]—we found everything else that was ON the bed, but not the sheets. What the hell did they do with the sheets? I do know I only had two sets for that bed—one summer and one winter—so the winter sheets are on, just because I wanted to get the bed made. And I really don’t want to get started on the slippery slope of buying “just one more set” for that bed, because you see what happened with sheets for our bed. 😐

And then there’s Owen’s bed, the Full. Originally we had green and pink sheets (before it was his bed). I have no idea where the green sheets are, and I didn’t want him to have the pink (though we did use them at first), so I bought him boy-themed sheets. Then I figured we needed a backup pair, so I just bought some brown sheets. And then I found a pair of ivory sheets that I thought were the missing Queen sheets, but were Full. So now Owen’s bed technically has four sets. Five if the missing green ones show up.

Help me. I’m addicted.