Friday, July 20, 2012

New favorite food? Oh yes I do believe so....

Today we tried a new food four the first time.... fig newtons... I do believe that sophistication loves them! She ate three whole cookies by herself. That is not including the crumbs that ate everywhere.However she feed herself three and I'm sticking too it!  What are your toddlers favorite snacks?




Friday, July 13, 2012

How to give an Awesome Baby Shower Present for Less!

The other day my mother informed me that I have two cousins expecting babies, one a girl and the other a boy!  We live on a tight budget and I always like to try to give awesome presents to new babies in the family.  I do this by buying on clearance and having a "baby bin" in the back of my closet.  I wanted to share with everyone on how I put together my presents by using sales and my daughters favorite toys.  The presents pictured below are priced approximately at $30 and $40 for the last picture.  The value of these are worth $50 or more at full price clothing.  

Total Cost without Tax $29.67
1:  Babies always get tons of clothing at baby showers so I try to give larger sizes in layer-able outfits.   I also buy towards the end of season on clearance when I can.  Below are pictured the girls and boys presents that I put together.  The boys outfits cost me under $10.00 for both.  I found the Mommy's Heart Breaker outfit for 85% off! and the blue outfit for 75% off.  The girls outfits were 75% and 90% off!  I also spent under $10 on both girls outfits. :-) By utilizing the sales at the end of the seasons I keep around 6 outfits for each gender, as well as a couple gender neutral's in my bin in the off chance of multiple births or a baby boom.  This recently happened last year with 7 of my friends preggers at once!  This way I can keep around $50 invested in clothing and have much more variety.  

2:   I give the Infantino Light and Sound ball as it is a great toy to grow with your child.  The ball lights up and plays music when you shake it.  I used this from birth for Sophistication to help her enjoy tummy time more.  I would lay her on her belly and shake the ball next to her.  Now that she is crawling around and picking up toys on her own she loves to shake it and roll it around on the floor.
Total Cost without Tax $29.67

3:  I utilize dollar stores/kmart/walmart/amazon sales as much as possible to get the best prices on clothing and toys, but even full price toys can be reasonably priced.  Dollar stores are great to find teethers and bath books.  

4:  I make my own toys by utilizing multi-packs and breaking them down.  

  • Baby Links typically come in a 24 piece package for $5.  I then combine this with a teething ring to make my own teething ring/link combo.  I use 8 links and the teether that I typically get at the dollar store for a total of $2.66 for total cost.  This is similar to Sassy Ring O'Links Rattle.     
  • Splitting up PVC Ball Bag's is great too.  I bought a bag of 100 at my local Walmart for $10.50 however online they are priced $15.  If you give one of each color you can spread this cost over 10 people easily bringing the price of 10 balls down to $1-$1.5! Part of why I split up the bag is as a parent I find that 100 balls are a lot to keep in check unless you have a ball pit.  The PVC balls are a perfect size for little ones to practice gripping and throwing to mommy and daddy!    In the pictures below I gave larger bouncy balls with numbers on them that I found at my local Dollar store. 
4.  All of the toys I give are kid tested by my daughter as some of her absolute favorites.  

Total Price $39.76!
 Items I give include:
  • Infantino Light & Sound Ball $10
  • Mix Link/Teether ring 
  • 2 outfits both for under $10
  • Dollar store items...
    • Bath books (1-2)
    • Teething Toys (1-2)
    • Ball(s)
    • Animal Loofah
extra items 
  • Infantino Activity Toy Set  $11.09
    • This can be substituted for the light and sound ball and a teether for a lower cost bundle.  I frequently use this with just an outfit and my teether/link for an under $20 option :-)


Using these items you can make a great gift at any price point!  $10/$20/$30 on up! By mixing and matching these toys and clothing deals you can come up with a great present for very little money.

I hope you enjoy...


I personally paid for all of the items I have blogged about here.  Have used them with Sophistication and approve of them for my child.  I have received no compensation from any company for the review given here and all links are controlled by their own respective companies.