PoppyMama's Profile

Recently I realized a browsing and shopping trigger for me was the daily emails I was getting from so many companies offering me "great" deals. Right after Christmas I unsubscribed from nearly every mailing list I was on and am working on getting catalogs to stop coming. This has made managing emails better in general and I find myself thinking less about buying more "stuff" I don't need just because it's on sale or I convince myself I need it.

I used this idea to cover our fireplace. I bought a piece of wood at Home Depot, painted it with chalkboard paint and then used industrial strength velcro to attach it. We are going to keep it up for a few years. I doubt the kids (currently one and three) will be confused about the safety aspect by then.

Not sure if someone else suggested this since I just skimmed through previous posts, but for my daughter who was born in February I bought most of her everyday clothes for the first year from ebay. You can buy a lot (as in a bundle) of clothes for a good price with each piece ending up being around a dollar. Just search for "baby girl 0-3 months" and then look through each list. It's a good way to get a variety of clothes (short and long sleeved onesies, sweaters, socks, hats etc.,) all in one place. Make sure to read feedback etc., and look closely at the pictures. I had great success with this for my daughter's clothes before we found a great consignment store in the neighbourhood we moved in to (also another way to find good, cheap clothes).
I'm sure you will also receive lots of clothes as gifts that you can use for special occasions or pictures, but used stuff is great for every day. It just gets puked, pooped and peed on anyway! Congratulations on your baby! :)

Wow, I can't believe you moved in 5 weeks ago and it looks so great! Love the play kitchen. I'm planning on making one for my 17 month old daughter for her 2nd birthday so will definitely check out your site about that!

What a great party--I want a party like this for my 32nd birthday!!

This book looks great! Can I please have that little outdoor cottage for myself? I promise to let the kids use it every now and then!

I am both inspired and very jealous! My 16 month old daughter would love a backyard like that.

A "universal" ribbon will even work on Underwood typewriters that are over 100 years old. If the typewriter is in good condition you can still use it--and wonder just how strong the wrists and hands of the secretaries and journalists had to be back then! My husband went through an antique typewriter collecting phase and found some beautiful ones on Ebay, some in near perfect condition, some that need a bit of rehab. I can't wait until my kids are old enough to play on them! Now we just need to find and old record player to show them life before iPods...

I love reading all the names people have chosen or think they might name their kids. I've always loved unusual names and actually bought a baby name book when I was 12. I think my favorite at that time was "Xaviera". My brother always teased me that I would name my kids "Piece-of-grass". The funny thing is that I did end up naming my now 14 month old daughter "Saffron", which is on the list of Top 100 Most Unusual Names So Far. I'm pregnant with our second child, don't know the sex yet and we have a boy name picked out ("Hugo"), but are having trouble with a girl's name. Part of the problem is finding a name that sort of goes with Saffron but is not too matchy, (i.e.) Sage or Ginger are out. I can't have one kid with an unusual name and name the other Kate (although I really do love that name too!)