The ONE Thread- September Chit Chat - Page 2

[IwannaBanRN]

Joanie, will you give me some nesting dust? I need to do dishes and pick up the living room and change bedding. Thanks!

[Mal85]

66 days to go here! I'm not really sure when to expect this one. I think my kiddos just like to keep me on my toes. With Owyn, I just really, really wanted her to come in February. I was due in Feb and I really like that birthstone. She came 6.5 hours too late. This one, I really need her to stay in until my due date because I'm working that whole week before she's due. So, with my luck she'll come early. My sister is betting on Halloween. I am measuring a week ahead, so I guess it's not out of the realm of possibility. But I take that with a grain of salt and just say I plan on her coming late.

The really exciting part? 26 work days left until I'm off for 2 months!

[jbk21]

77 days here! wow!

[meb2]

60 more days! Ahhh! Nesting is setting in on me too. I went through all my coupons today and carefully clipped and organized them, I've been doing laundry like a fiend, going to thrift shops on the regular trying to find GREAT bargains for the baby and myself (I'm so stubborn about buying maternity clothes...), cooking and cleaning! And I can't sleep in past 8:30 even on days that I don't have to work. :( 

[LunaLady]

I was nesting pretty hard core last week but this week... meh. The dishes piled up for a couple days, I'm ashamed to say! 

I have been getting lots of good bargains at Goodwill on baby clothes, though! I'm not sure why people buy kids clothes anywhere else! Such fantastic deals.

And today at Target I got an adorable twin sized quilt on clearance for $25. 100% cotton! And a cute frog/turtle/green/blue/brown theme. Love it!!

[meb2]

I got an entire crib set at GCF for like 4.50 for all the pieces. I looked on amazon and it retails for anywhere between 75 and 150 depending on the condition! :) I don't even think we are going to use a crib at ALL... but I snatched it up because I can just resell it for a profit. :) :) And if we do ever use a crib, it is PRECIOUS! :) I LOVE LOVE LOVE thrift shops. There's one near my house that is just operated by little old church ladies, and they are SO oblivious to how much somethings cost new. Everything is always like, a quarter or 50 cents. :) I keep getting baby clothes there because there's literally twenty + new items out daily whenever I go. :)

[jbk21]

8:30!!  Omg, I wish my DS1 would sleep past 6:30am......  Oye!  

Wanna trade?  

Originally Posted by meb2 

60 more days! Ahhh! Nesting is setting in on me too. I went through all my coupons today and carefully clipped and organized them, I've been doing laundry like a fiend, going to thrift shops on the regular trying to find GREAT bargains for the baby and myself (I'm so stubborn about buying maternity clothes...), cooking and cleaning! And I can't sleep in past 8:30 even on days that I don't have to work. :( 

[Jaimee]

Originally Posted by jbk21 

8:30!!  Omg, I wish my DS1 would sleep past 6:30am......  Oye!  

Wanna trade?  

I know, right?  Dd (4.5 yo) has started sleeping in past 8- sometimes to 8:30 on days she was really tired, but of course ds (1.5 yo) is up at dawn, so it doesn't matter.  One day we'll look back at these times and say, why can't we get our teens out of bed before noon? 
 

[TalkToMeNow]

Wanna be jealous? The 14 year old will sleep until 2pm if we let her. The 9 year old sleeps until 9-10 on weekends, and the 6 year old sleeps till 8 or 8:30. BUT she gets up, gets a snack, and watches some morning cartoons or reads. She never bothers anyone. We don't all get moving until after 10. Love it.

hmmm.... and I'm starting over why exactly...?  
 

Originally Posted by Jaimee 

I know, right?  Dd (4.5 yo) has started sleeping in past 8- sometimes to 8:30 on days she was really tired, but of course ds (1.5 yo) is up at dawn, so it doesn't matter.  One day we'll look back at these times and say, why can't we get our teens out of bed before noon? 
 

[Jaimee]

A question I ask myself EVERYDAY of this pregnancy!

[Abraisme]

I've been nesting over here too..  My DH was on sabbatical for 6 weeks this summer, so we got a crazy amount of things done.  He worked in the yard non-stop (we have a huge yard) and I bought all sorts of new (used from Craigslist) furniture.  Then, we sold the old stuff at a garage sale.  I actually managed to break even on the new stuff that I bought, so our house looks much better and I hardly spent a dime.  (I'm also a super bargain shopper) 

Now that I have a nice dresser for the new baby, I need to organize all of my baby clothes and see what I need.  My DD was born in August, so I'm sure that I'll need more nb winter things.  My favorite place to get baby clothes is the Goodwill Outlet.  It's a little more work to shop there, but everything is sold by the lb and it's super cheap!   I also have no idea why anyone would buy baby clothes new.  They hardly get worn and people often get too many.  I've found so many brand-new looking things for cheap ($0.90lb at the Goodwill Oulet).  I shudder every time I see someone buying a new $15 baby rattle!  There are so many in the world, re-use people!  :)

On top of that, I have a huge garden, so I've been experimenting with food preservation.  I made my own pickles this week for the first time and plan on freezing a lot of veggies for the winter.  We also make our own wine and have currently made blackberry, raspberry, greengage plum, and italian plum wines (all fruit that I gleaned for free).  We'll also make grape wine, but grapes aren't ready until October.  We started making our own wine last year and totally love it.

Yesterday I gleaned about 100lbs of Italian Plums, which were otherwise going to rot.  I'm going to make prunes, sauce and more wine this weekend.  There is so much free produce in the world if you keep your eyes open.  I hate to see good fruit go to waste!

Now to start thinking about Christmas gifts..   

Edited by Abraisme - 9/2/11 at 8:54am

[birdhappy85]

I'm glad I'm a morning person. I get up anywhere between 5:30 - 6:30am on most days. 7:00 is "sleeping in" for me. My body just likes to keep on that schedule I guess! It'll come in handy when I have children, that's for sure. I have to admit, though, I'd give anything to be able to sleep in sometimes like a normal person. When friends tell me they sleep in until 10:00 or even noon, I am shocked. How the heck do they do it?! Unless I'm heavily drugged and/or sick, my body could never do that! lol

[Jaimee]

Originally Posted by Abraisme 

On top of that, I have a huge garden, so I've been experimenting with food preservation.  I made my own pickles this week for the first time and plan on freezing a lot of veggies for the winter. 

This is the dream... but we have to stop moving around the country and settle into a house in order to do it.  Sigh...
 

[birdhappy85]

*agreed* That's a dream of mine too. We have the yard to garden but the funds, time, and energy have been another thing entirely... Someday!

[jbk21]

We're big on secondhand here as well.  It's so frustrating because no matter how many times we tell our parents (or just talk about it, not so much  "telling", lol) they STILL BUY BRAND NEW.  So obnoxious!  I hate to be so picky about it but it's SO important to us to re-use rather than waste resources on new.  We're not trying to be snobby about it, but it's one of our deeply-held beliefs.  Frustrating that others don't get it.  I think my MIL thinks that shopping at resale shops is like slumming it or something... Whatever!  I love finding treasures in a resale shop!  It's like a game!  What fun is it to go to the store and get EXACTLY what you wanted in the EXACT right size, anyway?    I feel like we can have really nice stuff for a fraction of the cost- which allows us to pay off debt and do more things that we want to do, like go on trips.  Nobody would ever know I shop at the thrift store or buy stuff off craigslist if I didn't tell them.  There is no noticeable difference!  You know?

Oh my, Christmas gifts... I love to do all homemade/handmade stuff (knit, sewn, home-roasted coffee and home-brewed beer) but I don't know if I will be able to get it all done.  Plus I don't feel like any of our family members appreciate it.... Again, I think they feel like homemade stuff is just cheap (in a bad way, lol).  So annoying to go to all that work just for a mediocre response.  

Anyone have any good ideas for Christmas gift-giving this year?  One thing I'm working on is a video from Owen's birth and first year, and another of his second year.  I'll give those to the g-parents.  Since they don't see us much I think they'll like having that keepsake.  

Originally Posted by Abraisme 

Now that I have a nice dresser for the new baby, I need to organize all of my baby clothes and see what I need.  My DD was born in August, so I'm sure that I'll need more nb winter things.  My favorite place to get baby clothes is the Goodwill Outlet.  It's a little more work to shop there, but everything is sold by the lb and it's super cheap!   I also have no idea why anyone would buy baby clothes new.  They hardly get worn and people often get too many.  I've found so many brand-new looking things for cheap ($0.90lb at the Goodwill Oulet).  I shudder every time I see someone buying a new $15 baby rattle!  There are so many in the world, re-use people!  :)

On top of that, I have a huge garden, so I've been experimenting with food preservation.  I made my own pickles this week for the first time and plan on freezing a lot of veggies for the winter.  We also make our own wine and have currently made blackberry, raspberry, greengage plum, and italian plum wines (all fruit that I gleaned for free).  We'll also make grape wine, but grapes aren't ready until October.  We started making our own wine last year and totally love it.

Yesterday I gleaned about 100lbs of Italian Plums, which were otherwise going to rot.  I'm going to make prunes, sauce and more wine this weekend.  There is so much free produce in the world if you keep your eyes open.  I hate to see good fruit go to waste!

Now to start thinking about Christmas gifts..   

[Paigekitten]

60 days for me!  I'd be nesting, except I REALLY want to refinish our hardwood floors before it starts raining so that we can just move the furniture outside and sleep in the garage.  I've been bugging my DH to do this for my birthday which is in two weeks.  So I guess that IS my nesting....wanting to move all my furniture into the yard....
 

Originally Posted by Abraisme 
Yesterday I gleaned about 100lbs of Italian Plums, which were otherwise going to rot.  I'm going to make prunes, sauce and more wine this weekend.  There is so much free produce in the world if you keep your eyes open.  I hate to see good fruit go to waste!  

I've been reading your facebook posts lately and I'm jealous!  I'm in Portland too and I keep wondering where you find all this fruit!

[dashley111]

Wow, a lot of catching up to do!

We moved last week, and just got our internet hooked back up.  The new house is HUGE and we love it!  We are all still in the "settling in" phase so things are kind of chaos.  I over did it a few days in a row and ended up resting the last few days...Im an incredibly handy person and I LOVE constructing and painting and decorating and its really hard not to be able to do those things on my own.

I absolutely KNOW Im having this baby early.  I bet he end of October (hopefully that late).  I will be happy after 36 weeks.  I just feel it.

[jbk21]

Oh, and another rant about secondhand stuff.  My sister had a baby 5 months before me and INSISTED that everything be brand new because "her baby deserves it"

That left me scratching my head.  And you know I wanted to run out and buy a bunch of clothes from Goodwill, hehehehe

 

[Jaimee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbk21 

We're big on secondhand here as well.  It's so frustrating because no matter how many times we tell our parents (or just talk about it, not so much  "telling", lol) they STILL BUY BRAND NEW.  So obnoxious!  I hate to be so picky about it but it's SO important to us to re-use rather than waste resources on new.  We're not trying to be snobby about it, but it's one of our deeply-held beliefs.  Frustrating that others don't get it.  I think my MIL thinks that shopping at resale shops is like slumming it or something... Whatever!

I agree, but I wanted to throw out there that in my mother's case, she delights in being able to buy for her grandchildren what she was not able to afford for her own children.  So we end up with gorgeous and outrageously priced Janie and Jack outfits at least once a year.  I have to remind myself that buying these items for my kids is fulfilling to her in a way that I probably cannot ever understand.

[Abraisme]

I find the fruit at all sorts of places..  The plums came from my good friend's church, they have 4 beautiful plum trees and no one else wanted the fruit! The peaches came from a very small u-pick farm..  and of course blackberries are crazy abundant EVERYWHERE!  Ha ha.  I often just ask people who have trees or people post things on Craigslist. 

Do you work? If you're available during the day, you're welcome to come to the AP Mommies group that I host at my house.  It's every Tuesday from 11:00-2:00.  We do a pot-luck style lunch, the mommies talk and the kids play.  It's fun and nice to be surrounded by other AP moms.
 

Originally Posted by Paigekitten 

60 days for me!  I'd be nesting, except I REALLY want to refinish our hardwood floors before it starts raining so that we can just move the furniture outside and sleep in the garage.  I've been bugging my DH to do this for my birthday which is in two weeks.  So I guess that IS my nesting....wanting to move all my furniture into the yard....
 

I've been reading your facebook posts lately and I'm jealous!  I'm in Portland too and I keep wondering where you find all this fruit!