They'll Never Know

On Saturday we had an AWESOME birthday party for my little baby Jonas.  He'll be turning 1 on the 28th but this was literally the only weekend we could do it, so there you have it.  Don't worry, the party will get it's own post with tons of pics... and credit where credit is due because you KNOW I didn't do it all by myself!


We decided not to open the presents at the party.  It was getting late and people were still hanging around... the kids were getting tired and we didn't want to have to open everything up.  Plus, do people really like to watch other people open gifts?  I don't really.  Anyway, we decided to open the gifts, just me and Mau, once the kids were asleep.  Yes, we stole their opportunity to open presents... but they'll never know.  That's an advantage to having little ones.

We love getting clothes.  We still have all of Marco's clothes for Jonas, but some of it is not in season and it's always fun having new things to dress him up with.  We love books.  Having new books is awesome and we wear our books out.  What we don't love so much are toys.  I know kids need toys, and I wont deprive them, but I will be selective.  Basically, any toy that doesn't fit into the toy chest is pretty much out... unless it's rideable or awesome.  Toys with lots of parts are generally out as well... except blocks and some chunky legos that are put back into their containers after each use.  We want our house to look organized... not like a toy store threw up in it.  We are anti-play rooms too, by the way.

So we looked through the toys that we got and decided to try and return most of them in order to buy something we really need and might not really be able to afford... Jonas' new car seat.  They'll never know we returned their fun toys to save us some green and buy something we really need.  We figure, they have a lot of toys anyway... and what do they usually want to play with?  Balls, cars, blocks, paper towel rolls, empty 2 liters, and balloons.  Really, expensive toys are over rated.

Don't get me wrong here, I truly appreciate the thoughtfulness of each present... and I don't want to seem ungrateful.  And, I'm not returning their toys to by Mama a new dress, (although it's been tempting).  Just, with 2 birthdays and Christmas and a BIG family, the toy situation can become overwhelming and all consuming.  We also donate the toys that the kids are no longer playing with to make room for new stuff and purge.  I hope that eventually this will teach them that less is more and that we need to pass on our blessings to those less fortunate.

So anyway, we had 3 VTech toys, a $50 gift card to Target and a $20 bill that someone gave us in a card.  We went to Target, returned the toys and got this car seat for... wait for it... $1.73 out of our pockets!  WHAT?!

I don't feel bad about our decision... actually I'm elated.  We did a practical thing and got something we really need.  Our kids are still happy and not at all deprived.  And besides, they'll never know the difference anyway.  

And for the record, we're not TOTALLY Mr. Scrooge and Mrs. Grinch... they did get to keep 3 toys to add to their collection. 

Um, What Year Is It?

The reason I ask is because in this modern age of technology, where phones no longer have buttons, cars no longer have keys and video games no longer have controllers, I can not for the life of me understand why they still manufacture and sell this:

Not the mobile of course... Jonas just loves talking to his monkeys... I'm talking about the wind-up mechanism necessary for enabling it.  Wind-up?  Really?!  You don't think they could put a button on there that will let it run for say, 3 minutes? Would that be too difficult or expensive?

As it is, this mobile cost me over $30!  $30 to have to return to it to RE-wind it every 30 seconds... $1 per second, I guess.

Maybe it's the old charm people like about it... brings us back to those good ol' 1800's.

I really don't get it.

Stroller Swagger

We did it.  We bit the bullet and got a double stroller!  It was time.  I had been dealing with a single for nearly 4 months now.  There were two ways I could get around with the single stroller:
1. Strap Jonas to my chest in the Moby and put Marco in the stroller, or
2. Put Jonas in the carrier in the stroller and let Marco walk.

There are down sides to each of these options.  For starters, if Jonas is in the Moby, it makes it difficult for me to chase and carry Marco.  But if Jonas is in the stroller, then Marco gets upset because that was HIS stroller FIRST and how DARE his brother take it from him... (it's already begun).  So I have to endure Marco walking at a turtle's speed and stomping his feet and whining the whole way to wherever we're going.

Initially we wanted a front and back stroller, one like this --->
In fact, my sister-in-law, Bea was going to give me hers and I was going to buy her a new double umbrella in exchange.  Good deal!  So we went to the store to try it out and realized we would have to buy a new car if we wanted this stroller.  It was WAY too big and couldn't fit in my trunk.  So, that was out.

Then we thought we could try to get a Sit n' Stand stroller.  Baby in the front, big kid standing in the back.  We tried it and laughed out loud thinking about all the mischief Marco would get into if he were not confined to a seat.  There was no way I could trust him in that position.  I mean, he's still a baby!  He's only 19 months old!

So one day, we went to the amazing Buy Buy Baby and found the stroller of our dreams.  You know, the heavens opened up, a bright light beamed down onto the stroller and we heard a choir of angels singing.  (Ok, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but the stroller was pretty awesome!)  The Baby Jogger City Micro... it's a side by side stroller that folds in half and would fit in the trunk with room to spare. Problem was... the price!  EEK!  The stroller lists at $300, not to mention all the accessories I'd want to buy for it.  We were going to have to save our pennies to make this purchase.

I started searching Craigs List and eventually found one for sale in Boca Raton.  This worked out well, because I just happened to be flying to FL at the time.  I begged my dad to drive to Boca and pick it up for me.  The seller wanted $260 for it, but it included the belly bar ($40 value), 2 snack trays ($40 value) and a cup holder for me ($20).  All in all, we would save about $150.  My dad drove up to Boca, checked it out, paid for it and then GIFTED it to me!  Hooray!  Thanks DAD!

I took it for a test drive this morning at the mall.  It drove like a dream!  It's not any longer than a single stroller, so you still fit easily into small spaces, (like elevators) and it's not too wide, so it still fits in regular doors.  I had to get a snuggler for Jonas because it doesn't recline all the way, but it wasn't a problem.  The stroller maneuvers easily and Marco loved sitting next to his brother.  Cutest thing:  He held Jonas' hand and gave him his paci when he started crying.  Such a good brother!

But I will say, once I put both kids back in their car seats, closed up the stroller and put it in the trunk and got into the car myself, I was panting and sweating.  Being a mom provides me with some of the best works out I've ever had.  So watch out... there's a gun show coming to town REAL soon!

Beating the System

Notice, I said "Beating"... NOT "Cheating".  There was NO cheating involved.  But I do have to brag on this awesome bargain.

It's no shocker or mystery... I hate BabysRUs (BRU).  I think that they are a manipulating monopoly that leaves small town folk little or no option but to shop there.  Really, if you need a nipple shield, where else can you go?  Of course, Target has a minuscule baby section, with all of 3 whole aisles dedicated to baby gear... but how can that compare to a SUPERSTORE such as BRU?  It really can't.

The customer service at BRU is a huge joke.  No one knows a thing, and I feel like I have to do my own calculations just to be sure they don't mess it up.  There are absolutely no perks to doing your baby registry there... it's almost like it's expected... because again, where else is there?  This is not the case with wedding registries.  Companies are competing to get your wedding registry with all kinds of perks, customer service ploys, discounts and coupons.  Shouldn't it be the same with baby registries?  Sadly, it so is not.  In fact, if you have to return something to BRU, you'd better have the receipt.  Oh, it was a gift?  Where's the gift receipt?  It wasn't on your registry... oh well, no refund.  LAME-O!

Sure, BRU does offer coupons... that last for like 3 minutes and exclude everything you'd want to purchase with it.  Literally, the coupon says "20% off ANY baby item" and then goes on to list about 1,000 things that are excluded.  Uhh, since when are diapers and formula NOT baby items?  Oh, another funny and oh so BRU typical thing I saw at the store... a sign that read "All customers 85 years and older are given a 1% discount on sales tax for personal use items".  Really?! What can an 85 year old buy that's for PERSONAL USE at BRU?!  I know they sell diapers, but not adult sizes!  BRU, thanks, but keep your 4 cents.

So, anytime I get to take advantage of their system I do.  They currently have a promotion going on, called The Great Trade-In.  Basically, you take any old/used crib, car seat, pack n play, stroller or high chair and give it to them.  In return, you get 25% off of a NEW crib, car seat, pack n play, stroller or high chair.  This seems like a pretty good deal.  Problem was, we didn't have any old gear that we needed to get rid of.  In fact, all of Marco's old stuff is still in really good condition, so we're reusing it for #2.  But, we did need to buy a crib.  What to do, what to do?

Since the boys will be sharing a room, we wanted to get the same crib for #2 that Marco currently has.  He's not ready for a "big boy bed" yet, so we need a separate crib.  When we did our registry (at BRU, unfortunately), we noticed that our crib is discontinued.  They only had 50 in stock for the entire east coast!  The good side of this, was that the price was now reduced from $500 to $350.  But we still had to buy the rails to make it into a full, which was an additional $140.  Since the crib was discontinued, we HAD to buy the rails now, or else we wouldn't have them when we need them, in 2 years or so.

We were in a bind... we had to buy the crib now, or risk not getting it at all... but we didn't really have the money.  We HAD to take advantage of the trade-in promotion.

We went on to craigslist to see if we could buy some really cheap baby gear to make the trade-in.  We were able to find this car seat for just $5.  Note: I would NEVER buy a used car seat for my child... this was JUST for the trade-in.

Because we traded in this car seat, we got 25% off of the $350 crib.  There was also another promotion going on, that if you were purchasing baby furniture and spent more than $400, you were awarded $50 off!  So, all in all, we were supposed to have spent $500 for the crib and rails, but ended up getting 25% off the crib + $50 off the total and we ended up spending only $375!  

So in essence, because of a $5 crappy, used and gross car seat, we were able to purchase this BEAUTIFUL crib for baby #2! Oh yeah!  That's what I call, "Beating the System"! 

2 Toys: Love one, hate the other

A toy review
Love it:
When people ask me what toys they can buy for Marco, lately my answer has been the same... books!  Granted, books are not technically "toys", but if he will play with them, and they will entertain him, that counts as a toy to me!  Toys seem to lose their novelty very quickly, and just become another thing to toss into and out of the toy chest.  However, I have noticed that Marco will actually sit with his books, turn the pages, walk around with them and asks us to read them to him.
My mom came last week and wanted to get him yet another toy... but instead opted to get him some books.  She found these books at Target for only $10.99.  

It's a box set of Sesame Street board books, with a total of 12!  That's less that $1 per book!  The box has a handle on it for easy carrying... we tell Marco he's "going to school" when he carries it.  The box also has a magnetic door that shuts firmly, so once the books are in, they're in... until your toddler pulls them all out again, (so maybe 2 seconds).  The books are small (only about 2 inches tall), but the stories are cute and colorful.

So far, Marco has pulled the books out and put them back into the box about a million times.  He loves flipping through the books, and gets excited to see all his favorite SS characters!  This was a GREAT buy! (Thanks Mom!)
To buy:  http://www.ecrater.com/p/8837156/sesame-street-set-of-12-books-in-a-carry
(I searched the Target site and couldn't find it... but that's where I got it, and it was cheaper than this site)

Hate it: 
Being a musician, I try to give Marco all the musical outlets possible.  He has TONS of musical toys... a piano, several guitars, bongos, egg shakers, claves, etc... My friend Jennifer added to his collection of instruments with the Fisher Price Alligator Xylophone.

When we first gave it to Marco, his face lit up and he loved that he could hit the bars with a mallet or press keys like a piano.  I loved it too... until I began to better examine the instrument and realized that there are many musical mistakes that are unnecessary and make me think that the manufacturers are lazy to not have done a little research before mass producing this product.  Now, these are things that wont bother most people... but I'm a music NERD... so it bothers me... a lot.
First, there are 6 bars/keys... that means it goes from Do to La.  This is awkward.  How hard would it have been to add two more keys to the body of this alligator so that it would complete an entire scale?  Ok, so if they couldn't complete the whole scale, then why go to La?  It would make more sense for it to complete at Sol... Do to Sol makes sense... Do to La, not so much.
Second, when you are looking at the alligators face, assuming that is the front, the first key on the left is the highest pitch.  This is incorrect!  On a piano, or a REAL xylophone, the low pitches are on the left, moving higher as you move to the right.  I don't think it would have cost them any more money or time to flip the order of the keys.
Third, there is only one mallet, and the cord connecting the mallet to the instrument is very short.  The fact that there is one mallet is a problem, because it teaches children to use only their dominant hand, when a musician needs to have both hands equally developed.  The cord being too short makes it difficult to reach all of the keys and you have to hold it just right in order to do so.  I'm sure it's made short as a result of some code of safety, so I'm not too upset about that one.
Overall, I think it has the potential of being a cute, entertaining and musically "sound" toy... but it falls flat.  Speaking of flat, as a personal complaint, my Do key is flat (of course).  But the truth is, Marco doesn't care about my complaints... he likes it anyway.
To buy: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300457243631&rvr_id=129293971546&crlp=1_263602_263622&UA=M*S%3F&GUID=7c3ce16e1290a02652d0fe10ffb4568b&itemid=300457243631&ff4=263602_263622#ht_500wt_1145
(I could only find it online at Ebay, although I bought mine at Target as well.)