MoxieJean - Another Online Consignment Store

I know I haven't blogged in a bit, but after my good experiences I've had with Thredup, I decided to see what else is out there. I came across a website called Moxiejean. It only accepts kid's clothing, but, it accepts more brands than Thredup does. I have a lot of Carter's items from my girls' early days and many of my friends like that brand. It's usually reasonable and quality is decent. I've recently been giving stuff to my sister since her daughter is a tiny bit smaller than my youngest, but I still have a ton of clothes in storage.

I just requested a clean-out bag, which is free to get and return. Like Thredup, they seem to have high standards, maybe higher, and there are some "discount" brands they don't take. What I like about them is they will also take infant clothing and they will give you store credit or mail you out a check instead of a Pay Pal credit like Thredup does. Supposedly, you make more money sending in stuff to them than you do on Thredup. I don't know yet. They also take newborn to 12-months. Thredup doesn't take under 12-months items.

I'll let you know how it goes. I think it's hard to say what they will take before I've had a chance to see what they accept. I've got two bags prepped and will probably prep a 3rd one today. 

Any negative or positive experiences anyone wants to share? From what I've seen online, people are mostly happy with them.

Top 10 Baby Products for the First Year of Life

Recently, I seem to have many friends and relatives delivering new babies. All the pregnancies around me reminded me that people often ask what items are needed the first year. Obviously, this is a subjective list, but hopefully others will find it helpful.

1. A Comfortable Rocker-Recliner

During the first year, you spend a ton of time holding your baby. They love being held and rocked. We invested in a nice Best Chair rocker when my first daughter was born and it came in handy with my second daughter, too. I've slept in our chair many nights and we still use it daily. Best Chair allows you to customize your chair to your liking in various prints and patterns. You can find them sold online from various companies, but I think it's best to find a local company first to go sit in some chairs till you find one that you like.

2. Summer Infant SwaddleMe Wraps

During the first few months, babies often wake themselves up because of the Moro Reflex. Swaddling them often helps them sleep a bit better. As a new parent, you will do anything to get your child to sleep! You can find SwaddleMes everywhere from BabiesRUs to Amazon.

3. Merlin's Magic Sleep Suit

I found out about these sleep suits after my second child was born. I wish I had known about them with my first daughter! They are designed for your child to wear after swaddling, but before blankets. They still inhibit their movement a bit. My second daughter was a much better sleeper than my first daughter. It may have been a coincidence, but I still think these suits are great! Check out their website here. If you decide to try them, make sure to look on Facebook on their page. They used to post discount codes there.

4. Halo Sleep Sacks

You are sensing a theme here, right? Sleep is very important to new parents. These sacks are great. I still use them with my 2-year old, though now she wears ones with feet holes. They even sell some with the swaddling feature built into the sack. Check out their website. You can buy them on Amazon or BabiesRUs.

5. Fisher Price Swing

Before I had kids, I researched products quite thoroughly. I decided I wanted to have my daughter near me in the room at first. I went out and bought a co-sleeper bassinett. Guess what. Neither girl liked it or would sleep in it. Both girls would sleep in their swing. If it weren't for that swing, I don't know what we would have done for the first several months of both girl's lives. Fisher Price has a nice selection. We had the My Little Lamb Swing, though I would probably buy the Snugabunny now.

6. My Brest Friend Pillow

Everyone knows about the Bobby. I had never heard of this pillow for nursing. I tried it out at my lactation consultant's office and I was hooked. It stays hooked around your waist and is much more secure than the Boppy. I used it with both girls up until I weaned each girl at a year of age. They even make an inflatable one for travel! Check out their website.

7. Medela Freestyle Pump

I used this pump with both girls and my sister is now using it with her second child. It's small and has a lot of power. It doesn't need to be plugged in to work, which is great for when you don't have an outlet. If you are a working mom, then you need a good pump. I think this is the best one you can buy, though probably the most expensive. However, it's now being used for baby #3, so it has been well worth the price. You can find it on Amazon.

8. Quick Zip Crib Sheet

I first read about these crib sheets in the book Baby Bargains. As you can briefly see from the picture, the top part zips off, making it much easier to change the crib sheet. Although they come in limited colors, they are great! Check out their website.

9. Nursing Tank Tops

I lived in nursing tanks while breastfeeding. There are several makers, but the two I liked best were made by Bravado and Target. I would usually wear one to work underneath another shirt and then take the top shirt off and sleep in the tank that night! 

10. A Dresser Changing Table

My husband and I went back and forth as to whether we wanted a changing table. I asked friends on Facebook and on message boards. The thing that swayed me in the favor of a changing table was the reasoning that my daughter was going to need a dresser for her clothing anyway. Why not get one with the changing table option? My husband and I both agree that it was the right choice. The above changing table is from a website online. It's made by Pali and is the one that we have. Since my 2-year old is not yet fully potty trained, we are definitely getting our use out of it:)

Hope you have found this post helpful. Maybe I'll write another post about the best products for toddlers when my kids are a little older.

Goose Egg from Hell and Why Being a Parent is Scary

Since I work full-time, both girls are in daycare. I like the place they go to and genuinely believe the teachers love and care for my girls. I like the teachers, too. Today was one of those days when I arrived to one of them crying. I walked into her classroom and my youngest daughter was curled up on the teacher's lap crying for Mommy. I walked over to pick her up and then saw this:

My first question is "What happened?" The teacher says she doesn't know. She turned around for a minute and my daughter was crying. Sigh. It's one of those accidents. The ones that can happen anywhere, any place, to any of us. My daughter calmed fairly easily once I picked her up and thus far, has been acting fairly normal tonight. Thank goodness!

When I first saw the bump, I really thought it looked like a blood vessel was going to burst and it scared the heck out of me. As soon as my daughter stopped crying, I started to realize that it probably looks much worse than it is and reminded myself that kids fall every day. I confess that on the drive home, I kept talking to her and assuring myself she was okay. She's sitting on the couch now eating an orange and watching Scooby Doo with no other signs that she fell other than the goose egg from hell.  Sigh. Being a parent is sometimes the scariest adventure a person can take. 

ThredUp...Why I Am a Fan

I posted a while back about cleaning out my closet and sending in some stuff to Thredup. In case you aren't familiar with this site, it's an online consignment store that accepts women's and children's clothing. I recently sent in a second bag of my old clothing. Unfortunately, I didn't get as much for my second bag because they did not keep as many items. I do admit to being a bit confounded sometimes as to which items they keep. Regardless of that, I've now taken a liking to using Thredup to buy clothing for my kids

After my first "test" order of items I basically got for free with my credit from my first bag I sent in to them, I've purchased more items from them. I also had my husband buy some clothing since they give you 40% off your first order. The stuff I've gotten from them has been in fabulous shape. I can't believe most of it is used! Many of the items I've purchased have had tags on them and are brand new. Even the items they rate as having a small flaw are usually just fine. Most of the time, I don't even see the flaws they identify. I like that they take large pictures of the items so you can see the item closely. And they have a 30-day return policy.

Here are pictures of a brand new shirt I bought for my oldest daughter with the tag still attached:

If you look closely at the second picture, you will notice that this item retails for $88! I'm not paying that kind of cash for a 4 year-old's shirt. 

The downsides to ordering here are you can't always match colors exactly or find exact outfit matches. And, obviously items may not fit or be as perfect as you want them to be. I'm pretty picky, though, and I've been pleasantly surprised with every piece I've purchased. I usually buy most of the girl's clothing online from Zulily, Old Navy, Amazon, etc. I might be taking a break from them for a while except for shoes. 

If you want to try it, here's a link giving both you and me $10 to shop.

Art Show

My husband comes from several generations of artists, on both sides of his family. Both his maternal grandparents were painters. His mom also paints. His father also likes to make pottery. My husband's art is his cooking, though he used to paint. I'm glad he enjoys cooking because I like baking, but cooking, not so much.

I'm pleased to say my oldest daughter seems to be developing an interest in art, though she is only 4. Her favorite hobbies are coloring and drawing. I'm not sure whether it's more than the average 4- year old, but I've been saving her art since she was an infant.

Because my mother-in-law still participates in art classes, she decided to enter some art from her mother, herself, and my oldest daughter. To give you an example of my mother-in-law's skills, check out this awesome castle she made for my princess loving daughter:

I think it's very pretty.

Here are the pictures my daughter is entering into the art show. My husband picked one of them and the other picture was given to my mother in law as a gift from my daughter for Mother's Day:

The top picture in the center is called "Princess Ice Ice." The one underneath is "Minnie Mouse." My mother in law painted the flower on the left. Her mother painted the seagull picture next to my daughter's pictures. I think it's pretty cool to see three generations of artists next to each other. We'll see whether my daughter wins a prize. She's pretty excited about participating in the show.