why you should yard sale

If you know me or have read my blog for long, you know I'm all about a deal.  I'm naturally thrifty-minded and, for me, it's a thrill to seek out a deal.  Many Saturdays, I get up and hit the yard sales around town.  Some mornings we go out as a family.  Some mornings it's just Adeline and me.  And occasionally, Justin stays home with Adeline while I go out for a bit in the morning.  This morning I flew solo and had tons of luck!

Total yard sales: 5

Total time:  1.5 hours

Number of items purchased: 12

Total spent:  $6

I found Adeline gobs of books at a couple of the yard sales! I was able to buy 5 board books at my first yard sale for $1.50, including Tigger Bounces into Fall (so cute!).  I then bought Clifford's First Halloween and a Max Lucado board book, as well as a sing along nursery rhyme CD for $2 at my next yard sale.

After that I headed to another yard sale and found an awesome oval frame that I've been wanting for a crafting project that's up my sleeve! I'm currently giving it new life with some spray paint and a little makeover.  (Justin was disturbed that the family left their family photo in the frame.  Seriously...it's a reprint of an old family photo.  He wants me to burn it so it doesn't haunt us. ha!)

My last planned yard sale was a flop.  High prices and junk I didn't need.

The last yard sale I went to probably excited me the most and I just found it following signs.  Love when that happens.

At this yard sale I found a Bailey Boys gingham romper set and two pairs of shoes for Adeline!

I had just told Justin the night before I wanted to find some bright red shoes to go with Adeline's lady bug Halloween costume...found them! I only paid $0.50 for these and they're Gap!

The deal of the day...century maybe...was the Bailey Boys outfit.  This thing was probably between $30 and $40 new!! I bought it for $1!

Tips for "Yard Sale-ing":

- Search Craigslist or your local paper around Thursday or Friday for listings. On Craigslist, under "for sale, garage sales"...search by the town names you want to shop in.  I search by my county, then I search by the specific cities I know I want to shop in.

-Go early but don't worry if you aren't there when they first open.  Sometimes you'll get better deals as the day goes on because people just want to get rid of things!

-Take cash and coins...and preferably set a limit.

-Look for prices that are about 10-20% of what they originally would have sold.  (Or try to do even better!)

-If something isn't priced...ask!

-Just think: sanitize.  My favorite option is Clorox's Anywhere cleaner.  Makes toys and books brand new! Porous items such as fabric, can be thrown in the washer.  Small pieces like plastic blocks can be put into a mesh laundry bag and put into the top rack in the dishwasher!

-Be bold and ask for a lower price if you think it should be lower.

-Group items together and ask the seller for a price for the group.  (For example, I bought 5 books for $1.50.  Originally, they wanted $0.50 a piece for the books, meaning I would have paid. $2.50.  I just approached the seller with the group of books and politely asked if she would take $1.50 for all of them.  It was a yes and I got an even better deal!)

-Don't give up.  Some weekends you will have a lot of luck, while others you won't have any.

-Go with items in mind and think about how you can repurpose or give new life to an item! If you're willing to put a little creativity and/or elbow grease into something, you can save SO much money by shopping at yard sales.

-Look at the tags! (Often, you can find designer kids clothes for super cheap at yard sales.  I know I can buy many clothes, such as Target, Kohl's, etc. very cheap on clearance and with store coupons in the store.  I often don't buy those types of clothes at yard sales.  However, you can't even find yard sale type deals on designer clothes when you buy consignment.  I don't pass up a designer outfit that's priced right at a yard sale.  Often kids clothes have been worn once or twice and look brand new.)

-Make it fun.  I often stop by McDonald's and get a large diet coke to take along with me for the ride.

still in her jammies...enjoying her new treasures!

Enjoy the hunt!

9 months!!

Dear Adeline Grace,

            Well baby girl...you are now 9 months old! You've now been in this world as long as you were in Mommy's tummy.  It just amazes me how time flies by each month.  You silly, spunky, full-of-joy girl, you.  We love you soooo much.  You have been such a sweet little busy body this month!

So what have we learned about you this month and what have you been up to in your ninth month of life?

Here are some of your firsts this month...
 

On 7.14.21 you went to St. Simons Island, Georgia for the first time for a family vacation! We also visited Savannah, Georgia.  Your Mommy, Daddy, Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Matt and Amanda went.  We stayed in a cute little beach cottage close to the water.  You had an absolute blase and loved the water and sand! You would dig in the sand, put it all over you, and play like crazy.  You even tried to eat it quite a few time! You would crawl into the ocean and let the waves come over you--you so loved this! You also got into the ocean with us and enjoyed floating in the pool!

On 7.23.12 you started clapping! Your Daddy taught you.  You hold your left hand still and hit it with your right hand.  You often say "yaaaaay" as you do it because you have seen us do that so often.  It's so cute and you do it every time something excites you now!

On 7.26.12 you seemed to really get the whole pulling up and being crazy, mobile thing.  You've been pulling up on occasion but I marked this day as the day you really seemed to get it.  You pull up on the couch, end tables, dishwasher, door, windows, everything!! :)

On 7.27.12 you started dancing.  You bounce up and down when we clap or sing or you hear music.  You wiggle your little butt...so cute!

On 7.28.12 you stood up in the bathtub and your crib for the first times.

On 8.4.12 it was your first time taking a bath in the regular tub without your baby tub.  You loved it and crawled all around.

On 8.6.12 you stood by yourself for a few seconds without holding onto anything!

This month you also:

-perfected the crawling thing....you are fast!
-really perfected that pincer grasp and picking up little pieces of table food
-started pointing at people and things you want
-say "ba ba" for bye bye
-ate meat for the first time (pureed turkey and chicken...now we've moved on to small pieces of cooked meat)
-"cruise" as you hold onto things
-take steps when we hold your hands
-say "oooh ooooh oooh" when you like something and want something (this is accompanied with bouncing)
-found a love for stuffed animals (you even pat them and say "awwww")
-perfected waving
-seemed to switch from pureed baby food to prefer table food
-doing the milk sign but we think it means "mommy" instead of milk.  ha!
-throw your hands up and rub your ears when we say "all done" --this may be your "all done" sign?

So what do you like and dislike?

You love…

-swimming

-Boone
-playing in the floor with toys
-pulling up
-emptying anything you can get your hands on
-stuffed animals (including your huge bear)
-wallering
-talking
-Puffs

You dislike…

-diaper and clothing changes

-when you are awake in your crib and Mommy or Daddy leave the room

-sitting still for any period of time

 

What are your sizes?

You are in 9 month sleepers.  You are also in 9 month clothing.  You are in size 3 diapers when in disposables and are in the largest snap setting in cloth! You still have lots of chunks and rolls....love it!

You weigh 17.5 pounds this month.  We will find out your percentiles at your upcoming 9 month appointment.

What are your eating habits like?

You nurse when you wake up (8ish), at lunch (12ish), before dinner (4ish) and at bedtime (7:30-8ish).  Your nursing always comes before you eat your three "meals".  You are also waking up during the night and nursing everywhere from 2 to 3 times.

As of today (it seems to change constantly), you are eating oatmeal or banana baby food for breakfast.  You eat a veggie and/or meat of some sort for lunch...really this varies.  If we're eating something you can, we also let you explore with table food.  You don't think twice about anything we put in front of you to eat off the table.  Seriously.  You also love to munch on puffs at lunch.  At dinner, it's the same as lunch...it changes every day.  You still love to drink water from your straw sippy! We haven't done juice at all.

How is your sleeping?

We really try to stick with a 7:30-8 bedtime and you prefer to sleep 12 hours total.  You wake up 2 and 3 times a night right now and nurse and go right back down with no fuss.

You nap in the morning a couple hours after you wake up four about 30 to 45 minutes and then you nap in the afternoon around 2 or 3 for about an hour.  (You still aren't a "napper". ;)

So what makes you, you this month?

I say it every month, but you are just so full of life.  You keep us on our toes and so busy, but we wouldn't want it any other way. You learn something new every day.  Sometimes it seems like every hour.  You are so sweet, cuddly and joyful.  You are slowly leaving baby and heading toward toddler.  I want to freeze time, but also adore seeing you grow and learn each day.  God made you so, so special and we love you more than we could ever tell you.  As the sweet quote says, "You have our whole heart for your whole life."

                                                                                                    Love,

                                                                                                    Mommy and Daddy

what I'm loving!

Linking up with the sweet Jamie today!

Today I'm loving...

*This new Pandora station I heard about for babies...Caspar Babypants.  Seriously cute!

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*My amazing bible study I'm doing on Thursday mornings....James by Beth Moore.  I have always loved the book of James and how convicting and raw it is.  Beth Moore is seriously amazing at enlightening you to see scripture in a deeper way to closer to connect to Jesus.  One of my favorite parts of this is that we're handwriting the books of James throughout the study. How cool is that?  It makes it stick in a whole new way to visual person like myself! One part of James that's stuck in my head right now...

"Consider it all joy!" 

James 1:2a (paraphrased)

*That it's still summertime.  That's all I need to say about that! :D

*This article I found on Pinterest.  Definitely worth the read! So full of common sense, easy ideas!

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 *All of your kind and encouraging comments on my post from yesterday.  I am so, so filled with joy over the fact that God was able to use my story to bless and encourage you.  You are such encouragement to me as well! Praise the Lord for how He works!

*That we just took an amazing family beach trip to St. Simons Island, Georgia. (I really hope to post pics eventually about this trip when I can find some time! I've got a crazy, mobile, pulling-up-on-everything crawler, y'all!) It was so fun to watch Adeline play in the sand and fall in love with the beach!

Happy Wednesday!