Winter baby

Dave and I have long joked that Olivia is a "winter baby" because when she was just a few months old, she deeply expressed her hatred for being hot and clammy. there were a few sweltering days and nights where she let us know that she wasn't too keen on warm weather. since it's started to cool down, she can be found watching the rain against the sliding glass door and happily wearing sweatpants and socks in the autumn chill (chill being a relative term, here in Southern California).

that being said, Olivia is also growing out of all her clothes and didn't have much of a winter wardrobe anyways because she didn't have much past 9 month sizes. so the past few weeks I've been on the prowl for some warmer clothes. The good thing about living in Southern California is it doesn't really get cold like most states, so I can get away with upgrading her pants and long sleeve collection and be pretty good. No snow suits or one piece fleece stroller outfits necessary!

I'm definitely a bargain shopper, especially when it comes to baby clothes that are only worn 3 for months. So sad. So in the words of the well known series, Game of Thrones, buckle up, because "Winter is Coming":

I definitely shopped around because it's hard to find cute baby clothes, in my opinion, that aren't all cupcakes and unicorns. I'm also not a big fan of onesies that have cheesy sayings like "grandmas sweetie", etc. The navy owl onesie and black, ruffle top are from Kohl's (brand: Jumping Bean), the pink striped top, navy and teal polka dot blouse, and navy and pink onesie are all from Baby Gap (on sale AND an extra 30% off!), the 4 pack of onesies are Carter's, and the purple sweatshirt is from Target (brand: Circo).

and for bottoms:

I got pretty lucky and found a decent amount of pants from Old Navy. I say lucky because they're onesies are just too wide for Olivia and never fit well enough. the navy and black leggings, as well as the mint and dark peach color pop jersey pants are from Old Navy, the dark pink sweatpants and light pink polka dot jeans are from Carter's, and the navy polka dot corduroys are from Baby Gap. I also got her two pairs of leggings in teal, and pink and black polka dot from Baby Gap, but they aren't pictured because I ran out of room!

my diligent quest to affordable clothes means that I got all of this for about $100! Everything was on sale and I even got one of these items for $2.09! Though not urgent, I would love to find some cute, warm boots and a warmer jacket. We have one, but it's really not made for winter and she's nearly grown out of it.

lately, Olivia has been outdressing me! even though I can fit into most of my old clothes, there are some old blouses i'm dying to get back into. let's hope the winter is kind to me ;)

8 Month Favorites

I am getting worse and worse at this! Luckily, I only have 4 more of these to do. Honestly, it's been taking me forever to make my lists of favorites because they are fewer and further between. I haven't been paying attention as to whether or not something is new, we just use it!

Old Navy Pop Color Jersey Pants: these are my FAVORITE pants for Olivia! We only have 2 pairs (in peach and turquoise) but as soon as I can get my hands on more, I will. They are really soft, like leggings, but look like pants. It gets a little old for babies to just wear typical leggings and these fit the bill!

Johnson's Honey Apple Baby Bath: I know a lot of people give J&J a hard time but I'm not one of them. You couldn't pry their pink baby lotion out of my dead hands, I love it so much. This baby bath and container are awesome! I always find myself up to my elbows when giving Olivia her bath and the pump on this bottle is so helpful! The smell is delicious and it's very creamy, so Ollie doesn't get extra dry skin.

Fisher Price Classic Infant Trio Gift Set: Olivia got this as a gift from great grandma and she loves playing with the lid of the shapes box. I find it all over the house! I probably play the xylophone more than she does but she always smiles when I do :) This is a nice basic toy set that is small enough to take with us and is inexpensive.

Carters Microfleece PJs: now that it's "cold" in California, these are perfect jammies for baby! They keep Ollie nice and warm and she doesn't need a sleep sack when wearing them. The only problem is that she doesn't crawl too well when she's on the carpet, because the friction from the carpet with her pants causes her leg to get stuck. It's actually quite funny.

Gerber Puffs: These are Olivia's favorite snack. She literally starts shaking when she sees the container. I keep a little ziplock container of them in my person and they have proven quite helpful in screaming situations! They have whole grains and the serving size is something like 85 so I know she's not eating too many.

Halo Microfleece Sleepsack: no more swaddle Sleep Sack for us! This is an awesome wearable blanket that keeps Olivia warm, and that we don't have to worry about accidental smothering with. I accidentally got her a size Large based on her height and it was ludicrous how big it was. I think I could have worn it. Once we got the medium, it's been great!

big baby, sad mommy

my Little Wood is 8 weeks old today! time has flown by, and i can't believe how much she has grown developmentally and physically! a few weeks ago i went to dress her in her going home outfit, because it's so darn cute and she was only 5 weeks. but much to my chagrin, it was too small for her! it took me by complete surprise because i see her every day, and it didn't seem like she had grown that much. but she snuck up on me and outgrew her clothes before my very eyes.

here she is next to her once baggy outfit:

she mostly outgrew it in her length, and as you can see she is one gangly baby. we've always known her legs were long, but apparently she's growing in her torso too! the outfit she is wearing in the photo is also probably on it's last leg. it's getting a little too snug around her growing midsection. it makes me sad that she's already outgrowing the first things i bought for her, but i'm excited to see LW with some meat on her bones!

here are a few more things she's outgrown, all newborn sizes, in the last 2-3 weeks.

(p.s.: that's not a stain in the lower right hand corner of the picture, just my shadow!) i'm excited for LW to wear some new outfits, but surprisingly the jump to 0-3 month clothes is quite drastic. most are still too long, and some are definitely too wide. Note to FTM's: the Target Circo brand is made for extremely WIDE babies. i bought a newborn sized onesie the other day because it was so cute, and it was still too wide for LW, nearly 8 weeks along. ahh, baby problems.

more to come on Olivia's new outfits!

nesting

every pregnant woman knows the feeling of needing to be prepared RIGHT NOW. while my nesting has been more recently brought on by boredom than anything else, i would say i've used my pregnancy pretty thoroughly to prepare for Little Wood.

here is a sneak peek into the growing wardrobe of the wee babe! i think she probably has more clothes than i do. the problem is, i never feel like she has enough! most of the items hanging are 3 months and older:

there's definitely more pink in there than i thought there would be. but i've tried to balance it out with plenty of Dodger wear splashed in.

this pic is mostly of newborn and 0-3 month onesies and jams. you can't tell, but she already has 3 Star Wars bodysuits, boasting Yoda, Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader and R2D2, my personal favorite. and no, i didn't buy any of them.

i love this mini drawer (thank you Ikea!) in our dresser where i can put LW's bibs, hats, mittens, and all the other random things she'll need. i.e. her mustache pacifier and emery boards. a girl's got to have manicured nails! and no, i didn't buy that USC bib either.

this is my slightly lacking "pants" drawer for LW. she has a decent amount of leggings but i'd like it to be filled out a little more, especially so i can live vicariously through her spandex. she has MORE than enough newborn socks that i'm hoping she can actually get through before she grows out of them. they are just so darn CUTE. so far, i haven't lost any. i got the drawer organizers from Ikea, and they were about $8 for 6 of them! they fit near perfectly in this bottom drawer.

i picked up these Sugar Booger clothes dividers from Babies R Us (for about $10 which seemed a little steep to me, but oh well) to help separate out sizes in LW's closet. As it stands now, i've only washed 0-3 month clothes because i'm still a little paranoid LW could come out a boy, and also because i don't feel the need to wash clothes she won't wear for another year. you can get the same brand on Amazon. they're great!

i got these Madison Baskets from Cost Plus World Market for $5 a piece (i think the color was being discontinued because normally they're $10) and they are enormous! They have a wooden bottom so they're sturdy, and i have two more for her changing table for diapers, wipes, and other accoutrements. i'm using the ones in her closet for breast feeding supplies (bottles, bags, nipples), baby carriers/wraps, and other miscellaneous items. i plan on using clothes pins to make labels to "pin" to the outside.

i forgot to take a picture, but i also bought two of these Sterilite 3 Drawer Carts (i didn't put the wheels on) to put on the floor. apparently, babies need a TON of blankets, as evidenced by the 3 drawers they are currently taking up on 1 cart alone. i probably have about 12 swaddlers, not to mention a plethora of other receiving blankets, homemade blankets and quilts. the other drawers are being taking up by back up sheets, changing pad covers, and burp cloths.

 

needless to say, this little baby is loved! i can't wait to meet her :)