What I Bought at Work This Week 05.20.12

No, I didn't forget last week - I just honestly didn't purchase anything!

But that's not quite the case this week!

The Thomas shirt... we literally got these in this week and it's brand spankin' new... if you've been reading the past few months you know that Jay LOVES anything and everything with Thomas and Friends on it. This particular shirt has all 3 trains that he has in rolling, plush form that he regularly throws rolls across my coffee table. When I saw it on the processing rack I had to get it for him! Good thing too - I brought it home that night and showed him and his face lit up, he squealed and came running to grab it from me, hugging it and carrying it around the family room with him the remainder of the night, lol... I bought it in a 3T as he has enough shirts for summer right now, but figured he can wear this one at the end of summer and beginning of fall when it's still warm enough to wear t-shirts.

Jay already has 2 pairs of swim trunks that I bought during end of season clearance last year at Babies R Us, but I noticed the other day that none of them match his swim shoes - oops! This pair matches his flip flops and they're super cute.

I bought the swim shirt too so he can wear it when he's outside playing in his water table on hot summer days, so he doesn't soak his regular shirts - I don't want him going bare chested for fear of a sunburn, so this'll work quite nicely, he can get it soaked and I won't care, lol...

I also bought a graphic tee for my cousin as her birthday was today and they're at their lowest price of the year right now ($5 for big kids!). We actually have a bunch of great sales right now - $9.99 clearance for our spring dressy/Easter dresses, $2.99 t-shirts and baby girl cotton dresses, $4.99 shoes (including dressy shoes!), and $5 deals all throughout the store (like graphic tees and matchable shorts, tanks and tees!).

What I Bought at Work This Week 05.06.12

Yeah... I did it again, I bought quite a bit. But in my defense, it was kinda needed...

We had a sock sale this week - 2 for $1 on the basic solid color socks, however by the time I got back there Saturday only some of the "off" colored socks were 50¢ and well, Jay hates wearing socks it seems (he prefers to be barefoot around the house like mommy!) and promptly pulls them off and tosses them the second his shoes are off, so I figured for that price, it wouldn't hurt to pick some more up.

It's been pretty hot out this past week too and he's been wearing his cloth matchables a lot lately so I picked him up 2 more of the matchable tanks since they're currently on sale for $5.

And the cotton 2 piece PJs... he has like 4 already that he can wear this summer, but I figured he's going to need more this summer as his footie PJs will be too hot, so I got him 2 in a size 2 XXS to wear this summer when it's really hot at night.

And then the jeans... premium denim is on clearance - CLEARANCE! - right now for $9.99! It was $12 last week. Normally they're $24.95 and rarely go this low, let alone hardly ever under $20. Not to mention, right now, that's cheaper than our basic denim jeans! I grabbed a 18-24month pair for late fall and winter as he'll be in them around them and he already has 2 pairs of 18 month ones I grabbed him last time they were on clearance last winter. So he has 1 pair of jeans already for winter - think I'll buy him a pair of basic carpenter jeans when they hit $10 again in a few months and he'll be good on jeans for the rest of the year.

And then the t-shirt... graphic tees are $5 right now (the lowest I've ever seen them on sale for) and this was a new one. He's set on shirts, aside from this year's 4th of July one I plan on getting him from Old Navy, but this one was too cute - he likes hot dogs and yeah... $5 plus my discount, I *had* to get it!

All in all, I got 10 items for $37 after tax and my discount. Not a bad deal, I'd say!

What I Bought at Work This Week 04.29.12

This week... I didn't buy much.

I seriously think I've bought everything in the store that Jay could possibly wear for summer that is just too cute. I keep saying I'm done buying him summer clothes, but then we get something else super cute in and of course I just have to get it for him (see last week's items), but this time, I really think I'm done. Until we get our fall line in a month or so.

What I did buy was this bib:

Friday night we were out at the mall before going out to dinner and we no sooner left the house and I realized I forgot to bring a bib for Jay. And we were having pasta for dinner. Which can get messy with a toddler. I remembered we had some bibs that recently got put in a clearance bin so since we were already out at the mall I stopped in and grabbed one of the more boyish bibs we had left.

It ended up being $3 after the clearance discount, plus my discount. I paid just under $2.50 after tax. Score! Right now there's lots of cute bibs for your little one that are 50% off the lowest price (some are already marked down too, so it's 50% off that!). I figure, you can never have too many bibs!

Nike Unveils Some Awesome-Looking NFL Sneakers

This week Nike unveiled some really neat sneakers for the NFL, featuring a shoe for each NFL team!

A lot of them are pretty cool, others... kinda meh. And they are pretty expensive too, but still cool! I don't really know where or when or how often I would wear them aside from on Game Days if I were to get the Cowboys one (which happens to be one of the more expensive styles, grrrrr!), but I do think they look pretty awesome!

Here's my favorites:

 

 

 

 

The last one I moreso like the color scheme rather than overall style, unlike the 1st two I posted where I like both the color schemes and styles!

You can see all the shoes, categorized by AFC/NFC division, here.

What I Bought at Work This Week 04.22.12

Just when I say I am all done with buying Jay clothes for summer, something new that's super cute arrives in our shipment and I *have* to buy it for him!

This week I bought him these:

We got yet another Sesame Street licensed tee in at work, this time one with multiple characters (The only one on this shirt Jay doesn't seem too interested in is Big Bird - go figure, he was my favorite when I was a kid watching the show, lol...). And we also got some super cute onesie shorts outfits in the "newborn" department (which goes up to 24months now). I thought this one was cute and would again be great for hot summer days when he needs to wear something when out but something light and simple =)

These are newer items - the tee wasn't on sale, however the onesie was $10 instead of the original $12.95. With my discount and tax the total ended up being $17 even - one of my more "expensive" purchases considering I only got 2 items, but they were too cute!

What I Bought at Work This Week 04.15.12

Didn't buy much this week, however when I learned some of our onesies were coming up $3.49 instead of $6... well, I helped myself to this one for Jay:

We don't really promote baseball in our house as I'm a Cubs fan and hubby is a Sux, er I mean Sox fan so we agreed that we won't influence Jay in that area of sports, however... it's spring, it's baseball season. And it was cute and cheap, so why not?

After my discount it was roughly $3.

I also picked up a few on-sale onesies for hubby's cousin's soon-to-arrive little girl as well, but like I mentioned last week, I'm not posting them here yet as I'm not sure if they visit the blog or not and want it to be a surprise =)

What I Bought at Work This Week 04.08.12

This week I only bought Jay 1 thing, as he's more than set on clothes for summer and we don't get our Fall line in for another month or so (I think it's the end of May if I recall correctly from last year - our last half of our summer collection hits stores this week).

I got him this cute lightweight, buttoned down shirt that I pulled from the clearance rack:

It's pretty colors and since we're finally having spring weather now (a bit of a difference from the 80 degree summer weather we were having a few weeks ago!) he can still wear it to church or for some nice occasion.

It was marked down to $9.99 with an additional 50% off, making it come up $4.99... plus my discount, so I got this shirt for under $4 - It was originally marked $17.95!

Also, heads up, baby boy premium denim jeans are currently just $12! Normally they're like $24.95, sometimes on sale for $20, so for $12 it's a steal as that's the usual sale price for the basic baby boy denim jeans!

I also picked up a few summer-y things for hubby's cousin's soon-to-arrive baby girl, as I had picked up some warmer stuff in bigger sizes from our winter clearance, but some stuff she can wear shortly after being born would be nice too! I'm not sure how often his cousin's wife visits the blog though, so obviously I can't show it off yet... but perhaps later! There are some great bargains in our newborn section this week though - all the spring dressy is an additional 50% and some of the onesies are coming up $3.49! (normally on sale for $6!)

What I Bought at Work This Week 04.01.12

Time for another edition of What I Bought at Work This Week!

From left to right...

The hoodie was on a clearance rounder, marked an additional 30% off the sale price (which was already like $19.99), plus my discount. Right now the only hoodie he has that fits correctly is his blue Thomas one and I wanted another one that would go with other things as well, being blue, the Thomas one doesn't go with *everything*.

The matchable shorts... our stock of baby baby matchables went flying out the store our 1st week open after the remodel. I had picked up one in navy and one in red to match a few lightweight onesies I bought him for summer, however after him wearing them for the 1st time during the week where it was nearly 80 degrees every day, I LOVED them! I went back to get more on my next shift and we only had 1-3 left in each color, none in sizes I needed. Same with the tops. It was ridiculous. But we finally got some more in this week so I snagged up ones in black and grey. They were $6 each plus my discount.

And the pull-on cargo pants. I LOVED this this past fall and winter. I bought him a pair for fall and went back and bought him the next 2 sizes to last through the winter and into the normal spring weather (which we haven't gotten yet). He even wore the knees out in his 1st pair as he wore them so much during his crawling days. They're great though and go with most of his tops. So I grabbed them in 24months and 3T for next fall and winter when one of my Team Leaders brought them out of the stock room to mark them down to clearance pricing ($9.99 plus 40% off). With my discount they each came out to be about $4 each! Talk about a steal!

So this week I spent about $28 on 5 items.

What I Bought at Work This Week 03.25.12

I realized tonight that I seem to *always* come home with a bag of stuff from work at least once a week, if not several times a week - seriously, working at kid's clothing store, a good bit of my paycheck goes straight back to the company, I kid you not!

But, I figured this would make for a fun little weekly feature here on the good ol' blog - I get to show off some of the cute stuff we have right now, share what deals I've found, and the company gets exposure too - it's a win-win all around, right?

Anyways, here's what I came home with from work this past week:

Jay got a cute little fisherman's hat to wear this summer. He has a cap too, but I thought one of these was a good idea to have too. I was torn between colors as this hat also comes in army green and navy blue, as well as the tan color here. I figured the tan was a bit more universal and could go with more stuff, plus it has a really cute cartoon-y shark on the otherside too!

I also got him a pair of army cargo shorts for summer too. He has a knit pair that my aunt and uncle got him with a matching shirt for summer, however they're too big for him to wear anytime too soon, as they're 24 months and he's only in a 12 month pant right now. A guy purchased these this past week to go with this Sesame Street Oscar shirt Jay also has and it did look cute together so I've already paired these with that shirt for him too!

And flip flops... they always start out at 2 for $6 and you can mix and match big kid, little kid or boy and girl. I bought Jay a pair when we reopened after our remodel, however we didn't have all ours out yet and the ones I grabbed him, don't really go with a lot of his stuff, so I figured I'd get him another more universal pair to slip on him while we're just out running errands or making a quick stop somewhere and he can wear his other ones in the backyard or in the sandbox or wherever... I was a bit hesitant to get this particular pair at first due to the skulls on it (WHY does a good chunk of our BABY clothing having skulls on it?!) - hubby's not big on his baby wearing skulls yet, not to mention my parents would be sure to comment on it too, lol... but after looking at them again, they're more of a pirate-y skull than just a normal skull so I figured for summer and beachy wear it was okay. The sparkly silver flip flops... the Team Lead I was working with one day unpacked these babies and tried them on - she wears a size 9, but thought the 5/6 (the largest we carry in big kid shoes) might work - they were just a tad too small for her foot, but me being an 8, I tried them on and voila! They fit! And since it was 2 for $6 and I was already getting one pair I figured why not. Not gonna lie, maybe it's just cuz they're meant for girls, but they're not really that comfortable... I'm hoping to break them in around the house and maybe that'll help cuz they do fit well and look fun!

This stuff, with the 2 for $6 flip flop deal and my employee discount, cost me around $21.

Mary Kay Cyber Monday Sale!!!

While some of you may be already done with your Christmas shopping, for those of you doing some Cyber Monday shopping today, here's a great deal for you!

My Mary Kay consultant, Cherice, is hosting a Cyber Monday Sale on her Mary Kay site today, from 12am-11:59pm CST - all orders placed within that time frame will receive 30% off plus FREE shipping!

And if that isn't enough to encourage to buy, unlike most consultants who work their business as additional income, Cherice gives all the profit from her sales to various charities and missions organizations! So when you buy from her, you're also giving to a great cause!

There's no code to enter for this sale - just purchase between 12am and 1159pm CST today and she'll deduct the 30% off your order once she contacts you to confirm everything (so don't freak out if it's not showing a discount on the checkout page).

I already had a few items I was planning on purchasing for Christmas gifts, but I think I'll also grab some of my mineral foundation and concealer as well since I'm getting pretty low!

So what are you waiting for - go order some stuff!

Plenty to be THANKful for, Day 10

Day 10: Black Friday!

I wasn't planning on going out this year. 

Unlike last year, there wasn't really anything we needed to rush out, stand in the line for hours (although it was in the 40s this year unlike the freezing 'teens last year and I wasn't almost 8 months pregnant this year...), and fight the crowds for.

I had been on Amazon quite a bit and had several wish lists set up - one for what we're getting family, another for Jay, etc - and figured I'd just log-on sometime after midnight and order everything since I had giftcards. 

As I went to click "checkout" though, it informed me that one of the items in our cart - the Leapster My Own Leaptop that we were getting Jay - had sold out and wouldn't be available til next week. This was something we felt we needed to get him as he's constantly trying to "play" with our laptops whenever they're out and figured he'd grow with this one for a bit too before needing an upgrade. 

The online Target price was a steal (if you don't factor in shipping) so I debated for several minutes and decided to head out into the madness to see how much it was in store, since I also had several Target giftcards too.

I got there about 1245am - 45 minutes after they opened - and found a semi-close parking spot in the parking lot of the grocery store just across the way. I grabbed one of the last 2 shopping baskets (they were out of carts!) and navigated the crowds to get to the toy department (when we would go to concerts in college, my ex and his friends LOVED my ability to navigate a crowd to get us up close - guess that comes in handy on Black Friday!). The in-store price was the same as Amazon's sale price so I grabbed it. I also grabbed the Rockin' Elmo guitar that my sister-in-law requested we get one of our nephews, this Sesame Street 2 figure pack with Super Grover and Murray that apparently is kinda rare (I was kicking myself earlier for not buying it when I was there last week, as I could not find it online at all and really wanted to get it for Jay for a stocking stuffer) as well as some stuff for my little cousin's Christmas present. 

After spending several minutes trying to find the end of one of the check-out lines I spent the next 45 minutes waiting in the line to check-out. I had my phone, and 4G (since the 3G was acting up) and ordered the bulk of my Christmas shopping via the Amazon shopping app - multi-tasking for the win!

(After giftcards, I spent $12 total at Target and $4 on Amazon).

This put us at 145am.

I figured, since I was up and already out, might as well stop out at the mall and work to see about something else we're including in my cousin's present. And since our sale today was that the entire store was 30% off (plus my 25% off employee discount) til 2pm (which was extended til the end of the day) I figured I'd grab Jay some more graphic tees for like $3 each since he had a growth spurt this last week and all his 6-9month graphic tees are now too short. I got out there around 2am, saw 3 accidents all within a 1/4 mile of each other, and yeah... the mall was insane! (Although I did oddly enough park in my usual close spot!). It was as packed as it normally is on a Friday night! And work... wow! The store was completely trashed and the check out line was all along the outer aisles and back of the store! We were short-staffed and completely in surprise at how busy it turned out to be (the majority of stores in the mall didn't open til 4am - only some near Macy's and Bergners opened at midnight).

I got 2 accessories for my cousin, 3 tees for Jay, a sweater for him that I had my eye on and missed when it was 40% off (my manager at the time said it would eventually go to 50%!), and 3 pairs of socks for $35.

My mom, aunt and cousin were still out at the mall when I got done shopping at work around 245am so I met up with them in Macy's and hung out with them for a bit. It was around 4am when we left the mall.

I was all set to go to bed... when I decided I wanted some Jingle Jammies from Old Navy.

I mean, why not? They're on sale, it was on my way home anyway and I have the Old Navy card so I can just pay it off as soon as I get my paycheck and not have to worry about interest... plus I get an extra 10% off.

So I got 2 pairs of the Jingle Jammies, a $5 thermal green striped shirt for Jay to wear with overalls, and a fleece scarf for $1 for a total of $25.

I got home right around 5am and passed out a little after 6am.

Jay woke me up around 1130am, we watched Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey on PBS among other things since they were doing a Curious George movie marathon all day today and after getting ready, we headed out around 2pm since I had to be at work at 3 and anticipated craziness with traffic and everything else.

We stopped McDonald's so I could get my $1 large Coke with no ice to get me through my shift and to my amazement the drive-thru was completely empty! 

Next we stopped by our local post office branch to pick-up a package we missed the other day - it had Jay's Super Why DVD in it as well as his stuffed Chica plush (from the Sunny Side Up Show on Sprout) that I ordered for him for Christmas (those things sold out within the 1st 24 hours they were on sale!).

Those 2 errands took us 20 minutes - I was expecting it to take MUCH longer!

So I dropped him off at my mom's and headed into work... 

The store was pretty trashed, but you could tell they had cleaned up a little since when I was there at 2am. I was assigned to stock and recover the back-half of the store, where newborn, baby boy and baby girl are all located. I kept up on baby boy and completely restocked newborn making it look awesome, so those weren't too bad at the end of the night... baby girl though... I didn't really get to touch it until the last hour or so we were open. I ended up taking down the entire wall of jeans and just redoing it all, they were soooo messy (I did it earlier in the day with the baby boy jeans too). 

I had one lady give me attitude too over the fact that she couldn't use her 20% off coupon on top of the 30% off she was getting for Black Friday, despite her coupon saying that it's excluded during sale events (all coupons are - only exceptions are employee and old/new Placecard holder discounts). She was like "Well 30% isn't much - it's still like a $40 coat!" Well sorry lady, you should have come in several weeks ago when all the coats were 40% off and you could have also used a coupon on top of that! I'm not corporate, I don't make the rules - I just find your stuff and ring them up. I didn't say that, but I wanted to!

The graphic tee tables were an explosion of shirts and took us forever to put them back together. We also had to take down all the Entire Store 30% off signs and clean the floors (normally I can Swiffer the floors with 2 pads, tonight it took me 6!). We closed the store at 10pm - we didn't clock out til almost 1215am!

Lots o' money though! Can't wait for my paycheck next Friday - it's gonna be a nice one!

And now, I'm typing when I should be asleep in bed as I get to work 12-5pm today.

Jay is having a sleepover at Grammie's - hubby and I both have to be at work tomorrow and we knew were going to be worn out from Black Friday so my mom said he could stay over there for the night so we could get a solid night's sleep without having to worry about him waking us up in the middle of the night for anything or waking us up super early! We both admit though, it feels a bit weird without him here!

A bittersweet goodbye to...

...my winter jackets!

I all excited to wear my winter coats again this winter as I couldn't last year (my baby bump was so big come winter that I couldn't get either of my winter coats to zip up).

In addition to the cute, but larger, maternity jacket we bought last year at Burlington Coat Factory, I had 2 winter coats to wear this year - a black and white heavier coat I bought for cheap at Deb for when it was really cold (cuz it gets in the negative numbers up here in good ol' Northern Illinois!) and a coat, casual black faux leather coat with a black faux fur trim along the hood my mom got me from Hot Topic one year for Christmas.

Both coats I got back in college when I dating my ex, so I'm guessing they were at least 6 years old, if not older, so obviously they've ran their course.

But what really made me realize was when I kept getting this crap all over my car, baby and everything else:

 
The cause:

My all black, casual one is beyond wearable, as you can see so I'm just going to throw that one out, however the black and white one I think I'll give to Goodwill since it's not too bad...

I went to Old Navy Saturday evening after work, as I have the Old Navy Card now and get an extra 10% off whenever I use it, plus all their coats were roughly 50% off too.

I got this one:

 

It's similar to my black and white one and is really really warm considering how lightweight it feels!

I'm sad to get rid of my other 2 winter coats (especially the all black, Hot Topic one), but it was time.

Tiny Prints Christmas Cards for Bloggers 2011!

This Jay's 1st Christmas so we're looking forward to taking a family Christmas picture (with Tiger too!) in front of our Christmas tree in our new home! We're coordinating red this year and I can't wait to do our Christmas cards!

My family didn't get into the whole photo card Christmas Card thing until I was older and it was more afforadable for the average person/family, however since hubby and I got married, we've done them the last 2 years.

For 2009 we dressed up and took a photo with Tiger in front of our Christmas tree:

And for 2010 we took a photo up in front of the BIG tree at our church (I was almost 8 months pregnant at the time):

Last year I gave Shutterfly's blogger offer a go, and it was a good deal, however they didn't have as good a deal this year.

Tiny Prints on the other hand...

I've heard quite a bit about Tiny Prints this year and decided to check them and their Christmas Card selection out  - here's some of my favorites from their Christmas Card selection:

 

 

 

 

I know for sure I want to do one big photo of our family, and maybe a smaller picture of Jay in his Christmas outfit and one of our house too.

As you can tell, I like to try and keep it holiday festive, with the reds and greens... I also prefer to use the term "Happy Holidays" as I have friends that are Jewish and celebrate Hanukkah instead of Christmas.

Tiny Prints is doing a promotion this year for bloggers that's very similar to the awesome one Shutterfly had last year - apply and get selected to blog about their Christmas Cards and receive 50 FREE Christmas Cards - and they offer a lot of the same stuff as Shutterfly too!

If you'd like to apply to participate in this promotion this year just fill out the form by Tiny Prints here!

It took about a week or so for me to get a response, so don't fret if you don't hear anything right away (I was religiously checking my spam folder, lol...)

Target Tuesday #2

It's been awhile since I last linked up with Tara for Target Tuesday, however I frequent Target almost weekly (or at least every other week as right now it's the only place in town that carries the Gerber 2nd Foods meat/veggie and meat/fruit purees in the 2pk with flavors that Jay likes!).

The past few weeks I've visited I've had my eye on some really cute Christmas kitchen towels! During my last trip I narrowed it down and finally picked some, as well as some other fun stuff I found:

• There's my 2pk of kitchen towels (they have a Christmas light design and come in festive red and green)!
• A super cute pot holder and oven mitt seat I found for $2.50 in Target's $1 shop (which I LOVE by the way - I've gotten so many board books for Jay for $1 there, among other fun stuff for $1!).
• Some festive red and white dish towels to match the kitchen towels!
• And 2 80 pks of gift labels that they had in the $1 shop (there were 4 different variations to choose from!) - I won't use all 160 of them this year, but figured for $1 might as well stock up as I'm at the end of my stash I bought a few years ago =)

Unfortunately, I had to take a picture as I couldn't find most of those items online.

And here's what I'm planning on purchasing when I get my neck paycheck (since the one I just got sucked!):

I saw this when I was browsing their Christmas selection the other day and fell in love - AND IT ACTUALLY JINGLES!!! That's right, it's a tree made out of jingle bells that actually jingle! I found a few similar ones but they didn't jingle... I think the jingling is half the fun! Can't wait to display this bad boy on my mantle this year =)

What have you found at Target lately?

Don't forget to enter my Bath & Body Works Signature Fragrance Holiday Giveaway!

New Glasses!

So I finally got some new glasses - my current pair I bought probably 6 years ago or so at Walmart back in college, as I needed a back-up pair just in case something happened with my contacts. I didn't wear them regularly until a few years ago though when my contacts and my eyes didn't want to agree (every time I wear them for more than an hour or so this annoying filmy stuff forms all over the lense, making my vision all blurry).

Anyways, Jay totally stretched my wire frames out so that they fall off my face whenever I bend over so yeah, it was definitely time for some new ones! And I wanted to get some prescription sunglasses too or at least some clips to go on my frames so I have something like sunglasses.

The stores are EXPENSIVE though!

I stopped into to Eyeglass World as they have a special - 2 for $78, but learned that with the reflextive coating and all the other stuff I would need because my eyes are so bad (ie: making my lense thin enough since they would be took thick otherwise) it would be closer to $200 instead of $78.

I started looking online and after coming across 5ohWifey's blog and post about Zenni Optical I decided to buy from there. Their frames start at $6.95 (although mine were both closer to $10) and after all the extra stuff I needed for my lenses my regular pair cost around $30 and my prescription sunglasses cost $35! After shipping, it was right around $75 for both! Talk about a steal - my old ones from Walmart cost me almost $100... and that was just for 1 pair!

I was a little hesitant at first - buying glasses online without knowing for sure how they would look on me... but they do have a feature on the site where you can upload a photo of yourself looking straight (I used my laptop's built-in webcam to snap a photo) and then "try on" the glasses that way. You can also use one of their dummy models that has a face shape similar to yours too if you don't want to upload a picture.

My only complaint really is how long it took - I ordered them on September 21 and they just arrived today, October 11. Roughly 3 weeks. I get it, they have to be crafted to the exact prescription and stuff, but still... seemed like forever and I was REALLY needing new glasses, the way Jay likes to pull rip my other ones off my face.

They're a bit strong, as my eyes got a little worse from the prescription my old ones were (which again, are like 6 years old, lol...), so I'm wearing them around the house tonight to get used to them.

So, what do you think? Yay or nay?

 

Better view of the sunglasses, with side detail:

Payday = Shopping Day!

Today was a good day, in my opinion.

Granted, I was up til 4am cleaning the house and Jay had me back up at 1030am, only taking a 30min early afternoon nap (which I often take with him as I don't get as much sleep as I should), but we had a pretty good day!

I had some errands I wanted to run today since it was payday as well as some grocery shopping I needed to do later with hubby. Jay ate his afternoon meal (chicken & apples puree and a particle bottle) around 3pm and just as I was getting him strapped in his car seat carrier the doorbell rang - it was hubby's employee *finally* delivering our Cowboys jerseys after giving us all the runaround about them for weeks now! So excited though!!! I've never actually had an official NFL jersey so I was excited that hubby finally got one (as our anniversary gift, since my HTC Thunderbolt he got me back in June was an early birthday present!). It fits pretty well, I'd say and I look forward to wearing it on Monday as we watch the Cowboy's home opener!

Jay and I went out to run our errands - our first stop being Target, as I needed to pick up Jay's wipes there (720 wipes - 9 packs - for $13!), see if they had any of the meat & veggie purees left on clearance (I cleaned out the apple & chicken ones they had last week, lol...) and I wanted to see if they had any good handheld vacuums for sale before picking up the one I saw at Bed Bath and Beyond (I don't really have a vacuum to vacuum our stairs - oops!). Got the wipes and then checked the baby food. They didn't have much left in the ones we buy but I learned why they've all been on clearance - Gerber is *finally* putting the 2nd foods meat purees in the 2pk plastic containers that cost ~$1! Yay! We checked Walmart tonight and they don't have them yet, but at least I know Target does (even though their purees are about .10 more). I also found a Dirt Devil handheld for $16 that'll work, but I used a $13 gift card so it's like I got it for only $3! Woot! I also got Jay a plastic orange pumpkin bucket for trick or treat that he LOVED - he didn't want to let it go for the lady to scan it at the register and then he threw a fit in the car when he dropped it while I was driving, lol...

Next stop was Old Navy, as they have their Buy 1 item, get a 2nd for 75% off this weekend! I got 4 different colored 3/4-sleeved shirts for $22.

We walked next door to Kohl's when I spent quite a bit, but got some good deals and basically bought myself a new winter wardrobe (I was very pregnant last winter and I needed some nice, warm clothes to wear to work this year since we have a dress code). Here's some of what I got:

At work we have to wear black on top of anything else we wear so I thought this Candie's poncho top would look cute over one of the 3/4-sleeved tops I bought at Old Navy

This cowl-neck sweater is by It's Our Time and I've bought a few in the past and LOVE them, although my old ones have shrunk and gotten a bit worn. I bought 2 - one in this grey color and another in black so I can wear one to work!

 

This brown hooded sweatercoat I thought would like nice for casual fall wear or just hanging out around the house, wearing a cami or other shirt underneath it. It's very comfy!

I saw this when I was there the other day and fell in love with it - it's going to be my Christmas top for this year, and we're coordinating red for our family Christmas photo this year too. I figured I could pair it with a pair of nice black pants.

I also bought a couple cami's in hunter green and bold purple as I love the SO brand cami's (they seem to fit me best - no offense, Old Navy!). I saved quite a bit as I learned I was shopping during their Kohl's "Power Hours" sale where you get an extra 10% off each item and I applied for the Kohl's charge card and even though I didn't get approved (yay for buying a house taking a big hit on my credit! lol...) I still got 15% of my purchase just for trying!

After Kohl's we headed out to the mall and Jay fell asleep in the car for a bit for his late afternoon nap and fell back asleep once I moved him to his stroller.

We stopped in at work and lo and behold - we finally got in the baby boy black holiday vests I've been waiting for us to get! I also got him some socks on clearance and a couple long-sleeved graphic tees I've had my eye on for him but have been waiting for the price to drop back down to normal ($6).

I also stopped in to Bath and Body Works as I had a coupon to get a free item of my choice up to $13 if I spent $10, so I got 2 shower gels: Japanese Cherry Blossom and Black Raspberry Vanilla. I also really liked their Creamy Pumpkin candle scent, however I had to refrain from getting it as hubby, like I previously mentioned, isn't big on pumpkin.

We parked by JC Penny as the mall entrance by Sears doesn't have handicapped automatic doors and trying to get a stroller through a normal door is pain and a challenge. On the way in I saw a cute pair of shoes and decided to try them on on our way out. I wasn't a fan of how they looked, despite them being flats with a slight heel. I tried another pair on in which I liked the style, but wasn't a fan of them being straight flats (I need something with a little lift otherwise I feel like I'm walking flat on the ground which I hate when it comes to shoes). I told the salesman I'd think about them and he put them on hold for me - I need a pair of basic black shoes for work as it's getting too cold out for the crocs I wore this summer, I don't always feel like wearing my block heels, and it's not really weather to be wearing my boots yet.

After the mall we went home - Jay did very good up until the end when he started getting fussy as I was trying on the shoes.

Hubby had come home right before we left, feeling sick to his stomach with a horrible headache. Despite the headache, he seemed to be alright so we went out for the evening, getting sushi for dinner (although hubby couldn't eat much) in which Jay seemed to enjoy the little sauce cups as they're the perfect size for his hands! We went to Sam's Club to stock up on groceries, diapers, baby formula and pureed fruits, however it was already 815 and we didn't realize they closed at 830! We hauled butt around the store in record time though, getting most of what was on our list and saving the rest to pick up next door at Walmart.

We were home by 930 and I started putting everything away. Jay was crawling around in the kitchen when he decided to use his walker to pull himself to his knees... and then he pulled himself up to a standing position! I was sooo happy for him, but a little sad too as it means he's getting that much closer to being a "big boy" and doing things on his own!

All in all, despite hubby being a bit sick and only being able to keep liquids down, it was a pretty good day!

Fun with Our Phones Monday #3

Linking up once again!

 

On Tuesday my mom had to serve Jury Duty so I requested the day off work as she's my babysitter when hubby's at work and she most likely wouldn't be done til 5 or so. I also had to go downtown as I had to turn in our tax assessment "complaint" forms to the public administration building by a certain date. I find a parking spot and whadyaknow - I'm parked right behind one of my parent's vehicles! I was a bit confused as to why my mom was parked in a 1 hour spot... we no sooner cross the street and are heading up the block to the public administration building when we spy my mom walking towards us down the block! She offered to walk with us up to the office and as we're waiting to get in the elevator... my dad comes out! How weird! Apparently he had some stuff he had to do there as well and turns out I had actually parked behind him and not my mom. She didn't know he was there either - it was too funny!

I often sit with Jay on the couch in our family room on the main floor and we high ceilings althroughout the house. Tiger loves that she can jump on top of our hanging cabinets in the kitchen and the interior wall of our kitchen doesn't go all the way to the ceiling so Tiger can easily reach it from the top of the cabinets! I was laying on the couch with Jay one afternoon when I looked up and saw Tiger chilling up above us - too funny!

My Dallas Cowboys "wired star" game day earrings arrived Thursday afternoon... in that giant box you see there! Yeah, I was a little confused as to why such a tiny item was in such a big box! I was expecting maybe a small padded envelope or something! lol...

As a gift to myself (but we'll say it's from Jay) for my birthday I had this necklace pendant made from The Vintage Pearl. I had seen them before on various blogs and in various giveaways but it wasn't until I saw there was a discount code in last month's issue of Parent's Magazine that I decided to get one made. Based on the photos online, you'd think it was a pretty decent size, however it is a lot smaller than I was expecting, but I still love it! I was debating about getting this one, as Jay and I often read "Guess How Much I Love You" before bedtime some nights, but opted for this "Dainty Drops" one instead. I figure I'll add a charm and birthstone for each child we have.

 He decided to completely crawl under the coffee table the other day - before he's just reached over the edge but never completely climbed under it. This time he did and seemed to be having one going at daddy's notebook before mommy took it off him, lol...

 I get What to Expect's emails daily and last week they mentioned taking your kiddo to the playground. We've had decent weather lately (not scorching hot, but not cold either) and I don't know why the idea to take Jay to one didn't dawn on me sooner! The article mentioned baby swings, sandboxes, slides, etc so I decided that since Jay was all mine on Saturday (daddy had to work alllllllllll day and I already was scheduled off work) that I would take him to a playground since we had some errands to go out and run anyway. He really seemed to enjoy the baby swing, as he swung for a good 10-15 minutes, just watching all the other kids run around. I also assisted him in sliding down part of a slide but he seemed a bit unsure about that one.

 

Jay's first Cowboys game day!! I decked him out in his little Cowboys gear - onesie and socks (and later in the night bib and bottle).

We went to Sam's Club, all decked out in our Cowboys gear, and picked up a few things in the afternoon before the game, such as hubby's beer (a 24pk of Sam Adam's Octoberfest. At Sam's it's basically $1/bottle, which is how I was able to get hubby sold on the idea of joining Sam's - no, it wasn't the diapers and food in bulk, it was the beer, lol...) Jay was a bit confused as to why there was an entire other seat next to him in the cart though - he kept waving his arm there all like "uh... guys? What's supposed to go here?" It was pretty funny!

 Game day photos with mommy and daddy! We're misplaced Dallas Cowboys fans, living in Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers territory - I'll root for the Bears so long as they're not playing Dallas or in a playoff race with them, but you'll never see me like the Packers.

He fell asleep for a bit prior to the kick-off, waking up screaming 20 minutes later when daddy started cheering loudly (ie: yelling and screaming) at the TV. We had a mini football party with 6 of hubby's friends coming over to watch the game with us. It was fun times, despite me being the only female, lol...

Eventually Jay sat and played in his walker for a good bit of the game, but we did catch him watching the game and commercials for a little bit =)

It's getting colder...

I've been wanting to get Jay some sleepers for this fall and winter but I figured I'd wait until it got colder out so I could get a size he'd be in for at least a little while...

...well, despite it being August, the nighttime temperatures have been in the 50s and 60s so letting Jay sleep in just a onesie is a bit out of the question. I was letting him sleep with some lightweight sweatpants on that he has, however him never being one for his legs to be covered would find a way to get them hiked up to his thighs so when I'd check on him before going to bed myself his legs would be all cold and have goosebumps (as were his arms). We let him sleep with a heavier blankie last night which he kept on him for the most part (the lightweight swaddle blanket we used in his crib he would always kick off easily) but I'd rather not do that as the thought of SIDS terrifies me.

So I gave in and bought him some sleepers from work the other night, a month or so earlier than I was hoping.

Dinosaurs, Robots, Football & other sports,
and Bears (with bear faces on the feet!)

He's getting so big!!

I picked out these 4 for him for now, thinking I'll get him heavier ones when it gets closer to winter. Got a great deal on them too - they're on sale for $8 (originally 2 for $24) but my discount gave me $2 off each so I got 4 for $24 - $6 a piece! Not a bad deal, considering the 0-3 month ones I bought him last spring at Walmart were $5 each. While he still fits in most 3-6 month clothing from work still (our stuff runs big on him I've noticed), I bought these 6-9 month hoping he'll be able to get a couple of months out of them at least - they seem to be fitting him okay though so maybe we're ready to move into his 6-9 month clothes...

I was showing them to my mom when I came home from work last night and Jay seemed to really like the bear one as he started grabbing at that one out of the 4 and seemed really excited over it so I let him wear that one first tonight!

Life as of late

I realize I haven't actually posted much on this blog in awhile - as it is, I barely update my baby/family blog much either. Not sure why, as Jay falls asleep before midnight, giving me a few hours to myself... guess I just haven't had the motivation!

For those still following (and I noticed I somehow gained a few this month!), here's a brief update on life and what I've been feeling!

Baby Jaydran (Jay) is doing pretty well! He'll be 6 months already next Thursday and has been hitting all his development milestones, some of them even early! He just cut his 1st tooth last week, after several months of teething/gum pain and I think he's got at least 1 more that's pretty close to coming through! He eats baby foods now, getting a big bowl of apple rice cereal in the morning and a jar of fruits or veggies for dinner. He doesn't crawl yet but he can roll from back to tummy and tummy to back with no problems and will roll around all over the place if you let him (which BTW is NOT fun when you're trying to change his clothes or diaper! lol...). Lately he's been working on sitting up by himself and he's starting to get the hang of it. He also enjoys playing in his new baby walker and jumping/swinging around in his Johnny Jump Up.

Not sure if I mentioned it on here but we're seeing a pediatric urology specialist at the children's hospital in Madison for his enlarged kidney issue - turns out, the ureter tube, where it connects to the bladder there, is deformed and basically pinched shut which is why nothing is getting through and why the kidney is enlarged. The specialist said it's basically one of those things that just happens when the organ is formed in the womb and that we'll most likely have to have a minor surgery when he gets closer to 2 years old to remove the ureter tube, snip off the tapered part and reattach it into the bladder. Not looking forward to that, but the specialist assured me he's done it plenty of times and it's always been successful.

My hours at work picked up for awhile but they seem to have slowed down now, although I still have the most hours our of the regular employees (non-management). They picked up because we lost 1 of our assistant managers so that was like 30+ hours that needed to be picked up and most of them went to me and another girl, but the last week or so we've gotten a new assistant manager for that spot and so there goes that whole block of hours. I still seem to be getting at least 2 shifts a day though (down from 4, which I'll admit was bit crazy to adjust to so all of  a sudden like, as it seemed like when I wasn't working I was on call). The paychecks were nice though and Jay's pretty much set on clothes for fall (I swear I come home with a bag every week!).

We lost power for about 2 days straight at the beginning of the month when we had a really nasty storm come through early one morning. By the time I got off work that night it was 86 degrees in our house and just too hot so my mom said we could spend the night at their house in the spare room if we wanted, which we did! It came back on later the next night though.

I recently started going the chiropractor for my back (finally) and he's got me doing some physical therapy for it too. I've been going twice a week and they do this electrical stimulation for 15 minutes, then a 10 minute ultrasound (which feels like a light massage) and then a full massage to loosen up my back muscles and get out any knots as he said my back muscles were just waaaaay too tight which was a big factor in my back pain. He also does a few adjustments which seem to have helped.

I'm sure you've heard, Borders is closing! That really makes me sad as I'd rather not have to shop at Barnes & Noble if I want to get a non-new release or best-seller. B&N's prices are higher, they have no free rewards program and the only thing I like better there is their kid's section - everything else I prefer Borders. We went the 1st night of the liquidation sale and dropped some cash on some finds. I went back the other day too and picked up a few more collectibles for Jay that we either didn't get on Friday or they were out of and just got more in. That really does suck though... I really liked Borders and before we had a Borders in my town I enjoyed Media Play for my books, but they went out of business long ago.

We joined Sam's Club recently and I really like it! We can buy diapers and baby food in bulk for good prices, as well as our kitty litter, hubby's beer (Sam Adams) and a giant tub of ice cream that'll last us awhile among other stuff we can buy in bulk to stock up on (like body wash!). Also their book and movie selections are decent and are often cheaper than Walmart too (by like a dollar at least) so I've picked up a few newer/best-seller books there.

We finally got Tiger spayed too. Ever since we moved, we've been finding furniture and stuff that she had been peeing on! I'm not sure why she suddenly felt the need to mark our brand new furniture in addition to random boxes in our storage closest, other than maybe she was pissed or stressed about Jay and then us moving soon after too or what but we took her to the vet, they said she seemed fine and decided that spaying might solve the problem. Seems to have worked so far as we've noticed she's been peeing in the litter box again. She was confined to the basement for most of the month, 1st to keep her from peeing on all the upstairs furniture and then after she we spayed we had to confine her to the larger downstairs bathroom for a week or so til she healed so she wouldn't be jumping up high and tearing em open. We let her back upstairs the other day and she seems to be doing fine. She's still curious about Jay though and he tries to pet her every chance he gets (he's very fascinated with textures right now too!).

There will be football this year!!! In case you don't pay attention to sports, there was an NFL lock-out going on the last few months involving the player's salaries and the owners and the players coming to an agreement or something... because of this there were no organized team things going on which explains why there's been so many NFL players arrested over stupid stuff the last few months. But anyways, if the lock-out wasn't settled soon there was the possibility there would be no football this season and that would be sad as I look forward to spending Sunday (and sometimes Monday nights) watching football with hubby and we were looking forward to Jay experiencing his first season of football (we're hoping to teach him to say "football" "touchdown" and "Cowboys" at some point!). It reminded me of when I was a kid and there was no baseball that one season in the early/mid-90s. The 1st Sunday Night Football game of the season is the Cowboys vs the Jets so hubby wants to have a football for it too - should be fun!

My college roommate is up visiting this week from Texas so we got together for a bit today so she could see the house and Jay (he's doubled since she last saw him in March) and we figured out her centerpieces for her wedding next year too. She also told me some rather pathetic but amusing news about my ex that only confirms I did the right thing leaving his lazyass - he's 29 now and living with his girlfriend he met online (who moved up here from Texas)... in his bedroom in his parents house! He's also still going to school and since he's living at home I assume his parents are still paying for it... his poor family, they've been paying for his tuition for at least 10 years now and it's all because he's just downright lazy and doesn't apply himself or go to class! The thought of living in his bedroom at his parents house just scares me and makes me soooo thankful I got out of that relationship! I'm sooo thankful I have a husband who WANTS to work and that it's important to him to be the provider for his family and that we have the means to have a home of our own and can support ourselves and way of life, plus we have one of the cutest baby boys ever! I can't imagine being nearly 30 and still living at home because I'm too lazy to support myself. That's just pathetic (*note* it's one thing to have to move back home because of the current economy and say you lost your job and thus lost your home and needed somewhere to stay til you get back on your feet - I get that. But the fact is, my ex is lazy and always has been and is on track to always will be. He's been wasting his parent's money for years and doesn't seem to have any problem with it either).

So anyways, while I haven't been too active on the blog here, feel free to keep in touch with me on Twitter as I'm always tweeting on there throughout the day and I LOVE tweeting with my blogger friends on there too - I've enjoyed getting to know some of you more via Twitter!