Finding good baby clothes for boys

The best part of having a daughter is being able to dress her up in all of the great little girls clothing! I have a son as well, and I must admit that the selection of boys outfits is never as nice as what I can find for girls! Don't get me wrong, I can find nice childrens clothes for both of my kids, but the good boy stuff is few and far between. My biggest complaint with boys clothing is that everything is dark and dreary, camouflage or sports themed, or plastered with tacky illustrations and television and movie characters. Is it so wrong to want to dress your little boy is nice, sweet little boy apparel?

Now girls clothes on the other hand... a walk in the park! Last week alone I was able to find my daughter a pair of metallic silver jeans, dark blue denim jeans with silver sparkles all over them, and some great tights in the baby clothes section at Babies 'r Us.

Where do you shop for clothing for your children? I know that Gymboree and The Children's Place are often recommended, but there have to be some other nice stores as well! I love Carters clothing, but sadly their sizes don't go beyond babies!

coolstuffcheap.com

coolstuffcheap.com has some really, REALLY neat stuff. I can think of many scenarios where their fog machines and lava lamps would be perfect: dorm rooms, a teenager's room, even my three year old daughter's room (well, the lava lamp). A fog machine is a great thing to have at parties, particularly themed and Halloween parties.

The company also carries neon clocks. These are things you don't see except in bars, retro restaurants and in music videos. If you like these clocks, definitely check out coolstuffcheap.com!

The best way to buy baby clothes

So, here is my secret for shopping for baby clothes for two toddlers without breaking the bank: shop between seasons. It sounds like a strange thing to do, to wait until the end of summer before buying summer clothes, but I promise you you'll save a lot of money, and here's why: stores push the season merchandise before the season begins. This means that by the time summer is nearing an end, the retailers need to get the fall and winter clothes out on the floor. So they clearance all of the summer merchandise to get it out of the way.

Shopping between seasons for baby clothes and childrens clothes works with retail stores, specialty boutiques, and online stores like sandboxcouture.com. They key is waiting for the right time. For spring and summer clothes, check out stores in July and August. For winter clothing, check out stores in March and April.

By shopping between seasons, you'll save as much as 75% on clothes! Here's an example of what I picked up last week: four pairs of toddler girls' shorts, four tank tops, and two pairs of toddler boys' shorts. Guess how much I spent? Ready for it? $30. That's right. $30! Thanks to the items being on clearance, I spent an average of $3 per item. These clothes are normally priced anywhere from $3.99 to $12.99 each. :)

He's almost two!

My son turns two on Saturday. I would be lying if I said that these past two years haven't gone by fast. I know a lot of moms often lament that the baby and toddler days seem to drag and drag, but for me they really flew. Of course, having a busy life and another child assisted with that. My son has a sister who is going to be four in October. I also work from home. And since my son's birth, we have moved twice, dealt with a lot of family drama and changes, and have kept busy doing family things. For instance, in the last seven weeks we have gone swimming at least a dozen times, gone mini-golfing four times, have seen three movies (Hancock, Wall-E and Dark Knight), celebrated three birthdays, went to an amusement park, and went on vacation to the NJ shore.

So, two. What do two year old little boys want for their birthday? That's the question I have been getting from family and friends, and I'm having a heck of a time figuring out the answer. I mentioned clothes and/or gift certificates to a few people, simply because my son is going to need fall and winter clothing. His age really hit me then: two. Two means no more baby clothes. Two means shopping in the little boys section, graduating from 4T and 5T to x-small and 4/5.

Moms, let me tell you: the baby and toddler years go by very quickly. Make sure to stop and enjoy the little moments of them!

One of these days

In April of 2004, I realized that my engagement ring was cracked. Specifically, the band at the very bottom, at its thinnest part, had cracked through entirely. I made plans that week to call up a jeweler to find out how much it would cost to have the ring repaired, but I never got around to it.

Oh hi. Four and a half years later, and the ring is still damaged. It isn’t an issue, except the one or two times I have managed to somehow yank the engagement ring, and the two separate pieces close around and pinch my finger. Do you have ANY idea how painful that is?! Let me tell you, painful. The one incident happened in June of 2005, and I still remember the pain quite vividly, heh.

So yeah, I need to get my butt in groove and call up a jeweler. There’s a local one that advertises free repairs for mens wedding bands and womens wedding bands, so maybe he/she does engagement rings too?

Babies and baby furniture

I just finished watching The Baby Borrowers. The show has a really neat concept: set up a teenage couple in a house and hand them a baby to watch for a period of three days. The house was completely furnished with regular furniture, baby furniture and food, and once the teens got their clothes and such unpacked, their child was brought in. Obviously there were safeguards in place: a nanny available 24/7 to shadow if need be, and the parents themselves could watch what was happening in the house at all times, from another house right across the street. But generally, the teen couples were on their own with their charges.

So this week's episode featured toddlers. I can definitely sympathize with the frustration level some of the teens experienced. Toddlers ARE frustrating. And yeah, they sleep 10 - 14 hours straight, rather than the horrible little cat naps that tiny babies do, but they are SO much more active during the day.

Heh, I think this is my new favorite show. Have you seen it?

Late night babblings

I have to pee. I'm thirsty. I'm desperately craving chocolate. But I don't feel like getting up, my glass isn't within reach, and there's no chocolate in the house, and my mom has my car so I can't even go out to buy chocolate. Le sigh.

Alyssa is up. She slept late today and didn't come stumbling out until almost noon. I need to hurry up and get her into bed though, because tomorrow morning we all have to be up and ready to go out the door when Dan needs to leave for work, and that's at 11am. We need to leave a few minutes earlier, so that Dan has the time to grab his check and take it to the bank. Since we've all been sleeping in, getting up at 9:30am (me) and 10:15am (kids) is going to suck. But, sigh, we'll deal, somehow!

So, what does everyone have planned for the weekend? I plan on taking a part of my paycheck and shopping for mens rings, and paying bills. For the rings, I'm looking at titanium, but I also like tungsten rings. I know, I'm so exciting. ;)