discounts, teething & playtime

I know, I know... a whole lot of random-ness!  Well, thats what is going on in this household!  Recently, my little 9 (almost 10 week old) started teething!  What???  Yes, thats right.  Believe it or not, she has.  We can barely see the little white spot beneath her bottom gums, but its definitely there and so are the signs!  This little lady has been pouring buckets of drool for about a week or so.  Not to mention sticking her entire hand inside her mouth and rubbing on her gums.  Other than that, not much else as far as signs or symptoms.  That is until last night.  Since night #2 of having her home, she has pretty much slept a good solid 6-8 hours through the night.  So, when she woke up 6 different times last night... it caught this mom and dad off guard.  She was FUSSY!  Nothing seemed to soothe her, and we felt terrible.  We could tell she was uncomfortable, but since she hasn't been fussy up until now, we weren't prepared.

So... MOMS out there... HELP would be greatly appreciated!  What do we do to help soothe our baby girl???  We pulled out the teething rings this morning from the freezer.  But since she's still so young, she doesn't quite get it and gets even more mad when we stick it in her mouth.  Thoughts and advice are appreciated!

Now... onto discounts!  This new momma LOVES some good ole discounts and doesn't mind clipping coupons, searching consignment stores and even searching online for the best deals.  So when they posted that Belles and Beaus was "opening shop"... we headed their way!  Its basically a giant consignment sale in a big warehouse that they host twice a year!

We found LOTS of great finds and great deals!

Including 14 new outfits...  (these are just [some] of my favorites!)

We even found a white beach hat for her to wear with her ADORABLE bathing suit we found a few weeks back at Babies R Us!  The hats there were $16 and up.  We found this one for $3 and it looks brand new!!!  LOVE!

 a REALLY cool nursery rhyme book (notice the 3-D cover)...

My mom said my sister and I were huge fans of nursery rhymes as kids.  And fortunately, my parents saved all of our children's books and I have most of them in the nursery for Katherine Grace.  My sister also has some of them.  But now... she has this really cute NEW one!  :)

 and a (GIRLY) play mat!  

I wasn't sure if she would be that interested in it quite yet... but we gave it a try this morning and she was VERY entertained for a good 45 minutes straight!  Wahoo, we have a winner!  See for yourself!

I told you she follows my every move!  :)

Thanks to my Aunt Katie for this little peach outfit!  She got this during her welcoming party/shower back in January.  :)

So.... I'm sure you're wandering just how good I did?  Well, we bought 14 ADORABLE outfits (some can be mixed and matched), a beach hat, a fun & unique book AND a play mat - ALL for.....

Drum roll everyone....

$70!!!  Now... I'm sure some of you thought... ugh, thats not cheap.  Well, thats sort of what I thought when it was all said and done.  But... when you think about it this way... that was REALLY CHEAP.

We found 3 Ralph Lauren outfits (each would normally be around $30 each).

The play mat alone can be priced at around $45-$50 new.  (we paid $8)

At most stores, you'd be looking to spend around $15-$20 (at minimum) for a new outfit.  We spent roughly $4 per outfit (some were less than that.

So... when you break it down this way... we did GREAT!  A BIG thank you to my mom who came shopping with me and helped me find most of the things we ended up with.  I'm so excited for her to wear these this summer!  So.. what kinds of great deals have you found recently??

Until then... Brantley