Worlds worst Blogger.

I'll admit it, I forgot about my blog. Oh well, I'm just soaking up time with my girl.

BTW, is she not adorable?

She's starting to speak in sentences now, which is pretty amazing. 

Christmas is coming. Santa is coming. I'm feeling the energy from the holiday and definitely in full fledged Christmas spirit. 

The First Snow.

The first snow fell in Maine last weekend.

Normally, the first snow is a few flakes falling from the sky one day and you think "wait, is that SNOW!?" and there is a little excitement there as you picture the days full of white to come.

Not this day. This day, there were FEET of snow that fell from the sky. Heavy, wet snow that blocked plow trucks, fire trucks and CMP trucks. Yes, we were without power for 3 days. It was rough but, all in all, it could have been worse! 

Meanwhile, Layla HATED the snow. We spent about 30 minutes getting us and her ready to go out into the great white stuff and we spent about 3 minutes playing and then came inside! She wasn't a fan at all but, eventually, she'll get there. All kids do!

We have plans to lay low this weekend and maybe do some Turkey crafts! Thanksgiving is fast approaching!

Halloween.

We had a GREAT Halloween! Layla went as Charlie Chaplin and was the best Charlie Chaplin I ever did see!

She's TOTALLY cheesin' right here. For real. This is what she looks like when you tell her to say "cheese" for the camera.

These photos below are from a couple weeks ago when we painted her pumpkin and did some halloween crafts. Thanksgiving Crafts are coming right up! I'm so excited!

is she, or is she not the next Van Gogh?

Thanksgiving crafts are coming up! I'm SO excited! Mommy loves crafts. After Christmas is over, crafts will be much easier because we'll have a brand spankin new easel for her to paint on- courtesy of Santa :). 

Baby Fashion.

I'm not gonna lie, I've been pretty heavy into baby fashion lately. Not like, obsessive heavy, but just heavy enough to write a blog. Ok. borderline obsessive.

The fact is though, I refuse to buy "off the rack" unless it's under $5 or so unbelievably cute I can't leave the store without it (which has happened a total of 2 times and cost me less than $20 total for both items).

The entire outfit in the photo above cost me less than $4. But truth be told, I can do better.

For me, I love when Layla looks adorable in her outfit and I pride myself in my ability to pull a cute outfit together for less than $5. How do I do it you ask? Well, let me share my secrets.

I'm never afraid to buy second hand. Or third, fourth or fifth hand. Who cares? She'll likely outgrow all of this within the next couple of months. To be honest, I don't know how people can afford to buy clothes that are brand new. I just don't get it- unless you're rich or have your priorities like, completely backwards, I just don't understand it. Maybe I'm being judgmental but I'm going to chalk it up to ignorance. Here's how I save money by shopping cheap.

First off, I start at Goodwill. I L O V E the Goodwill. I search through items more than once to make sure I didn't miss anything. I even shop for shoes there. The sweater above game from goodwill as did the pants. See? Less than $4. Most baby clothes in my area are $1.99 per item (half off if you get the right colored barb. I got the right colored barb on that sweater!). I go to Goodwill about 2-4 times a week depending on my availability. I don't always leave with something but I always look. And I look at the color of the barb first.

That dress is so vintage and was only $1 at Goodwill! The shoes were mine when I was a tot. The tights? Let's not go there. Let's just say, there are somethings I refuse to buy second hand. 

Second- I shop second hand online. Where is my favorite place? THREDUP! (p.s. click that link for a free $10 to spend there. You can thank me later). Their clothes are in like new condition. I buy a TON of clothes there for Layla and we love it! SUPER cheap clothes in excellent condition? Yes please! I also do a TON of online shopping on ebay. I know, right? It sounds so...gross? But you know what? The clothes are always in great condition. I just bought her Christmas pj's on there and am SO excited to get them in the mail! I've bought a ton of shoes for her as well. I normally hit them up for pajamas but I've been known to buy other things. ebay is SO underutilized by people when it comes to clothing. They have a ton of stuff on there. Even if you don't end up buying anything, it's always worth a look!

Third- I shop second hand consignment stores. 

I think the coat says it all, right? A hell of a steal. PERFECT condition. Basically new. $7!!! Holy crap! I almost fell over when I saw that coat. I specifically went in to a local consignment store looking for a coat and the perfect one was hanging on the rack! We also got another one on ebay that has a hood and is a little longer but either way, they are both adorable and total, I spent $10 on both. That evens out to an average of $5 per coat. Great deals. The boots? A goodwill find! The pants? A gift :). Also, my child, much like her mother, LOVES goats.

Fourth- I shop deals in store. MAJOR mark downs people. MAJOR. And sometimes, price isn't everything. Sometimes, it's a mixture of price and quantity. If I can get two pairs of pajamas for $7, that is a GREAT deal. $3.50 per pair OR $1.75 per item (they were two piece sets). I rarely buy baby clothes new so when I do, they need to be unbelievably cheap.

I also use this really cool cash back website while I'm online shopping- EBATES. Ebates is great. It basically has all these links to websites and gives you a certain percentage of cash back on each website. When you earn a total of $12, you can send away for your big fat check (their term, not mine. I don't consider $12 fat by any means but, it's basically free cash so, I take it!). It is SUCH a good way to do holiday and birthday shopping. We have a couple of big ticket items this year for Layla and I'm hoping to earn a bit of cash back on at least one of them. It isn't specific to clothes either. I plan on using it when we buy Layla's big gift from us this year (a kitchen set) and it's looking like I'll get $5 back. Not a huge amount but a free amount!

I freakin LOVE when she wears a pony tail.

That dress? FREE thanks to a working parent program at my previous job. Holy cow it was SO cute I couldn't leave it there!

The FINAL way I save money on baby clothes is this: Instagram. Bet you didn't see that one coming did you? Here's the thing about Instagram. A lot of the sellers way over price their items (I saw a used baby gap coat for $40 yesterday. WHY?!). You really have to weed through everything to find something worth the price they are asking for. I bought her a brand new pair of slippers on there the other day for $5 but now, I'm questioning the price. Oh well, too late now- they are on their way! They are part of her Christmas Eve gift so hopefully they will still fit her in a couple months. Anyways, take the Instagram advice with a grain of salt. Go look at what they have to offer but don't get your hopes up. @xoxomadalyn has some pretty good deals (her $3 sale is going on right now!)

One of my favorite dresses. $1 at the Goodwill. Missing a button but it's just for play. Still adorable.

So anyways, that's how I save money on baby clothes. Brand? Not important to me (although I do love to get a good score on Baby Gap or the pair of TOMS I got for $2.99 a few weeks ago). I don't think brand should be important. They are baby clothes. Worn a few times and done. The clothes she wore when she was an infant were always second hand because she was constantly spitting up on them. And now? She's constantly covered in dirt. Why would I pay $40 for a coat that she's going to get dirty all the time? One thing I will say is this: I always, always look for stains or signs of a lot of wear (other than wash wear or light fading) before I buy. Sometimes, I'm not picky. Sometimes I am. It really depends on the day or if there is something specific I'm buying the item for. Her Christmas dress- it will be used this year just like last year...but it will have to be in perfect condition. I also work to get stains out of Layla's clothes so that they will have a little resale value.

And you know what? I get daily compliments on how cute she looks and how well she is dressed. And people are usually floored when I tell them I got her outfit at Goodwill. There is something to be said for being smart about your shopping. 

Does it sound like I'm constantly shopping? It probably does.

Family photos and a toddler.

This past weekend, we attempted our family photos. Needless to say, we'll be having a MAJOR re do this weekend. Seriously, my child is adorable but when sister wants to swing, we swing.

Meanwhile, Layla's daycare provider is expecting her first baby boy and I had the pleasure of doing her maternity photos! It's been a while since I was behind the camera for someone other than Layla- other than a senior shoot I did this summer and a "play date" photoshoot I did for a friend and her one year old boy. This summer was the most I've photographed other families in a while. I loved it! I looooved photographing Makayla's baby belly and it made me excited for when baby Colby #2 takes up residence in my tummy (not for a while. So don't get too excited). 

Here are a couple shots of her. I haven't shared any of this type of work in a while and I'm pretty proud of these images. There are a couple on Facebook and the rest will hit when I've fully edited them all.

I have to say, I was a little afraid it was going to rain but the weather persevered. And, although it was a little cloudy and kinda cool, we survived! We ended up leaving the orchard with a big jug of fresh apple cider too. Matt absolutely loves it. Me, on the other hand, not a cider fan. I REALLY wanted a big bucket of apples but we are already over flowing with apples!

Meanwhile, I'm pretty sure I'm just gonna put this on our Christmas cards this year and call it good.

Hopefully some better family shots this coming Saturday. Weather (and Layla) permitting!

Somedays, you gotta dance.

Sometimes, Layla wakes up 5 minutes after she falls asleep for the night and is LOADED with energy. And when those nights happen, all you can do is roll with it.

Don't we always say we hope our children dance? Why would I try and stop her?

Once upon...

Once upon the last day of a golden summer.... -Winnie The Pooh

Today was the last day of Summer. Not really, that was a few days ago...but with temps in the 80's and it being the end of September....it just felt so nostalgic. I wore SHORTS. Layla wore a dress, we sweated and complained about the heat. We had a popsicle after dinner and drank ice cold Lemonade. It was the last day of summer. Autumn is here now and, I'm ready to fully embrace the pumpkin spice craze. I've already had a pumpkin spice iced coffee...more than once. And I've already eaten a pumpkin pie blizzard at DQ. My birthday is in a few short days which means it's officially fall time now. We are planning on painting pumpkins with Layla in the next few weeks and I'm SO excited!

This smile. It generally means she's about to do something she shouldn't.

Fall is here now and I'm so glad. I've already started Christmas shopping and hunting. Santa is bringing his four best gifts to our house :) We learned this year that Layla is a HUGE artist. She loves to paint, color, draw and anything else you can possibly imagine. So, Santa MAY be bringing her an art easel, art supplies, a smock and some art books :). We just got Pop Warhol's Top and it is the freakin CUTEST book ever! Santa typically does the "One thing you want, one thing you need, one thing you wear, one thing you read" deal so we don't get too carried away with the "presents" and we get more carried away with spending time enjoying eachother. I'm so beyond excited to spend this Christmas with my favorite girl.