Garage Sale Wish List 2009

Can you smell it in the air? Is Spring just around the corner? Warm weather? And finally seeing chubby little baby legs? Yes!

And just as exciting: Garage sales are almost here!

For a while now, I've had a list going in my head of items for which I'd like to keep a lookout. If you're in my area and would like me to keep an eye out for something for you, just let me know, and I'll call you from my cell when I'm at a sale and find what you want. And of course, if you Dear Reader have something on my list that you're looking to give away, by all means, LET ME KNOW. I have no problem bargaining you down to 50¢ for your treasure ;)

So, without further ado, here's what I have so far:

1. Extra set of baby monitors (for Oma's house)
2. Extra booster seat (all plastic - for outside)
3. Two more forward-facing car seats (must never have been in an accident!)
4. Neat fabric and sewing notions
5. Crochet hooks and yarn
6. Mini or tabletop ironing board
7. Magic Bullet (looks like it would make good baby food!)
8. Outdoor table and chairs for deck (we already have an umbrella)
9. Patio seating for patio (firepit would also be nice!)
10. Plastic little picnic table
11. Hammock (we already have the stand)

Just for kicks, here's last year's list. I'm I would still like #s 10 and 11, but #s 5, 8, and 13 have all been fulfilled. Sweet.

I'll be adding to this list as I think of more or remember more, so bookmark this post!

* Note: Last updated March 21, 2009 *

Daddy's Little Helpers

How nice of the lawnmower makers to provide a special toddler-sized handle.



Jacob sat outside in his Bumbo seat (formerly his sister's), happily watching Daddy, Lily, and the cars going by.



I got the exact same blue Bumbo seat for their Oma's house at a garage sale last weekend for $3! So just because I may link to the product manufacturer or a retail store does NOT mean that's what I paid. ;)







(If you couldn't tell, I couldn't decide which pics of Jacob to put up, so I just put them all) ;)

Wear Your Baby!

In honor of November 12-18 officially being International Babywearing Week, I have decided to post a few of my favorite photos of babywearing in action.



Uncle David with tiny Jacob in Aunt Lori's sling. (Mama loved it so much, she went out and bought her own with "Happy new baby!" money.)



Tante Ilse with Jacob in the sling.



Close-up of what he's doing in there - haha!



At the park with Jacob in the Ergo (love it!), moments before he fell asleep.



Mama's view of sleeping Jacob in the Ergo.



Jacob kangaroo-style in the Ergo with Oma.



There's nothing hotter than Daddy wearing your sleeping baby...am I right, ladies?



Lily holds Marisol while Marisol holds Eowyn in her Baby Bjorn. (I got that FOR FREE for her on Freecycle - sweet!)(Sorry your head is not in the picture, Marisol!)



Aunt Lori with cousin Jeffrey in her Baby Bjorn (and Lily running the other way).



Jacob in the ring sling from Brit that matches the quilt she made him. (Thanks, Brit!)



Wait - that's not Jacob! That's LILY in the original ring sling from Brit. How similar my two sweeties look, minus the hair!

I know I definitely wear Jacob much more than I did Lily...not only is he cuddly and enjoys being held more than she did, but with Lily on the go now, I need my hands free and can't be holding Jacob all the time (who is very disappointed).

What pictures or fond memories do YOU have of babywearing? I'd love to hear about it!

[ A shout-out goes to Stephanie over at Adventures in Babywearing for mentioning this special week and for promoting a fantastic giveaway from Nonny and Boo (who have a sling named after Steph's new baby Ivy - awww). ]

Hand-Me-Ups?

So my favorite things to find at garage sales this summer are clothes and shoes for Jacob. Lily has enough clothes stored up (mostly hand-me-downs) to last her until she hits at least 5T. Crazy, I know. But not so for little DeeDob.*

I've found a few garage sales with really nice barely-worn boy clothes for $.50 or $1 a piece, including pairs of shoes and clothing from places like Old Navy, Baby Gap, and Carters. So I've been stocking up! But the funny thing is, many of the clothes I'm bringing home for Jacob to wear when he gets bigger fit Lily NOW. So I guess since he is currently wearing some of her non-feminine hand-me-downs from when she was a baby, does that mean she is wearing his hand-me-ups??

One garage sale's boy clothes had apparently been stored in moth balls. Yeck. Why do people do this? Don't they realize it's a toxin that never comes out? I didn't notice this smell until I got home, so I washed them, but the smell did not come out. I looked online and discovered that one of the ways to remove this smell is just to hang them outside for a while in cooler weather. That did the trick! No more moth ball smell, and now I can store them myself - moth ball free - until Jake is big enough to wear them.

* "DeeDob" is how Lily first said "Jacob." I thought it was adorable. Now she just calls him Brother, so I've taken up the DeeDob nickname myself.

Another Baby, Another Crib

We picked up this crib from local Freecyclers who no longer needed it. It is in great shape (minus some scratches, dings, and baby chew marks throughout), we love the design and color, it converts to a toddler bed (Lily's crib does not - though that means the front rail of this crib does not drop for easy access...bummer), and it came missing some hardware that cost us less than $20 to order from the manufacturer (Kolcraft). Not too shabby for a beautiful crib that was otherwise free! Looking forward to getting a crib mattress and bedding for it, so we can - you know - actually put a real live baby in it.

Or most likely a little Lily will be trying it out first ;)

We had to remove one desk from the red room and both make some concessions as far as what we were willing to part with (it's difficult having one PC user and one Mac user sharing an office, let alone a desk - haha) to get the crib to fit, and to also make room for another changing table dresser (which we have yet to procure).



This is the current arrangement. Works for now. The idea is, the new baby will sleep in here, with all changing and middle-of-the-night items in the dresser, while all other baby-related stuff will stay in Lily's room. That way, this room will remain our office/guest room...at least for now. We'll see how long that lasts.

Lily's New Digs

I wouldn't be surprised if she starts asking to sleep outside in her new house sometime soon. We haven't shown her how to use the slide yet, because that's just too much work. She can keep trying to climb up it for a while.



She gets so happy every time she looks out the window!





I love this picture:



So happy.

Thanks to Freecycle (again) for this loot. Now my desire for the $299 log cabin at Costco may subside. Free is much better.

Freecycle Rocks

Have I mentioned before how much I love Freecycle? Because I do.

When we first moved into the house, we got our washer/dryer and our stove from Freecycle. For free. They were all beautiful and way less scary than what we inherited with the house. And then this week, while continuing my Freecycle perusing (looking for things on the garage sale list), I managed to score our little family a few more free and necessary baby things:





(The colored bottles/plastic in the dishwasher were ours already.)

Yes, that's right: 5 MILLION Avent baby bottles! With extra nipples. Do you know what this means? I will never, ever have to wash a bottle again. OK, so I'm exagerating, but that's how it feels. How does it feel? Excellent!

Can you tell I'm excited?

Notice anything else? Like that free container of Enfamil Lipil NextStep formula in the back with alllll the $8 Shoprite coupons and $5 manufacturer coupons? The coupons will end up saving us way more money than the little can of formula itself, and they were just a bonus thrown in the bag by the homeowner!

And today, I go to pick up a changing table pad and two tan or cream colored covers for it. I figure once it goes through the wash, it's no different than all of Lily's hand-me-down clothes that I love, right? The pad is for our currently non-existent 2nd changing table dresser that will go next to the currently non-existent new baby crib.

One thing at a time ;)

I have thank-you cards ready to send to all these people. I figure with all the money I'm saving and the generosity they're displaying, it's the least I can do. That's not too creepy or too personal, right?

Here's a parting photo:

Garage Sale List

I have a list of things I would like to find at garage sales this spring and summer...stuff I don't necessarily need new and don't feel like paying for new. I'm going to distribute this list to family and friends who I know frequent garage sales, so they can be on the lookout for me.

AND having a list gives Ryan a good reason to stop when we drive by a sale. His typical male mentality queries, "Why should we stop? What do we need? What specifically are you looking for?" My answer is usually something like, "I'll know when I see it!" and that never works...he just keeps driving. So having a list is a great motivator for him to stop. That and his recent attraction to "Antiques Roadshow." Hehe.

OK, the list. Right.

1. A sewing machine (see post)


2. Neat fabric (I'll need to TEST my new sewing machine, after all)


3. A dresser for me


4. A changing table dresser for the new baby


5. A baby fence (for basement toddler proofing)


6. A crib for the new baby (see post)


7. "Alphabet Soup" bedding for the new crib (a girl can dream...) (see post)


8. A crib mattress (this is a little iffy 2nd-hand...)


9. A 2nd baby monitor set (to have one for each baby's room)


10. A small sauce pan


11. A teaspoon rest


12. A CD/tape player for Lily's room


13. The Little People nativity

There's a bunch more stuff, I just can't think of it now. I'll add it to this list (and edit what we've gotten) as I think of it, so keep checking back.

Items in purple are most necessary for new baby.

* Note: Last updated July 26, 2008 *