My Review of FAO Schwarz Elephant Walker

Originally submitted at Toys R Us

The Elephant Walker from FAO Schwarz is jam-packed full of fun! Designed to resemble an elephant, this wooden walker features a push handle, wheels and storage compartment; nine rotating wooden circles on the front are decorated to teach your little one about colors, numbers, shapes and more!

FAO Schwarz Elephant Walker

Huge hit! Perfect! Multifunctional!!!!

By The Nester from Camp Lejeune on 12/10/2010

 

5out of 5

Pros: Colorful, Lasting Fun, Easy To Use, High Quality, Easy To Assemble

Cons: Only comes in orange

Best Uses: Home, Outside

Describe Yourself: Parent

Was this a gift?: No

I bought this for our 9 month old daughter but our son who is 3 and tall loves playing with it also. Gender neutral, super easy to put together. The center part has room for toys or dolls to sit in. Excellent quality like you would expect from FAO and we got on sale so great price too! With it being solid wood we plan on keeping it for years and hopefully one day grandkids way, way, way down the line.

(legalese)

Black Friday Deals

Black Friday was chaos but the people were amazing. I decided since it was really warm out to try out Black Friday lines at ToysRus. I met alot of really nice girls. The kids all got along and had fun with each other waiting in line. I'm officially a Black Friday junkie :)

Not only was everything wonderful but we snagged some great deals. The kiddos are only getting one gift each for Hanukkah and a new book. I was able to buy most of their gifts for next year.

Here are our deals.



1 Transformers Helmet $9.99 regular price $39.99 (This will be our son's 4th birthday gift)
4 Disney Collection books $5.99ea regular price $15.99ea. The plan is to give both baby A & B one book each and then one for their birthdays next year.
FREE Coloring Book & 64ct Crayons. This was the Black Friday deal at ToysRus. We're going to use this as rewards for baby A.

After ToysRus I took the kids to Walmart. The whole site was appalling. The store apparently had never closed so everyone had there carts packed and were just waiting for the prices to kick in so they could leave. I heard some people say they had been there since 5!!!

I couldn't find the item I went there for so I going home and putting the kids to sleep. The walmart black Fridays didn't kick in until midnight west coast time so I stayed up until 3am. Snagged my Leapster 2 for $25, regular price $59.99. This is Baby A's Hanukkah gift for this year.

I'm a big fan of the Leapster 2. It seems a perfect learning item and fun too. I can't wait to see the new things Baby A learns. You can track their progress which is what made me chose the Leapster 2 over the vtech version. I really want to know the progress and have activities to focus on activities he is learning. Hopefully the progress goes well :)

Mr. Right scored some awesome black friday deals online also. I can't share my deals I found for him on here since he reads my blog. Soon though ;)

Birthday Boy & MIA

So I've been MIA for the last few days. It has been a busy last few days. Baby A turned the big 3 and his Nana was visiting for the event. She always makes it a point to be here for his and Baby B's (birth)days. They are going to grow to love and appreciate that just as much as I do.

Birthday boy had so much fun telling everyone how he was 3 now.

To get ready for his birthday, Mr. Right and I had started prepping in the summer. Baby A is dino obsessed like most 3yr old little guys.

Here's how we did....



The Melissa & Doug Jumbo Puzzle *new & sealed* $1

Various Dinosaurs totalling to $5 for all. Didn't get a good pic of all these but there are over 12 and many were those big imaginext ones.

Then our crowning jewel for his party took some digging. I am all for posting wanted ads all over Craiglist and local yard sale sites. Time and time again I find something we'd like to get in the store but its too much for our budget. I go home and post a picture of the exact one I want and how much I will pay. More often then not I have an email within the day with someone who has the item and in more cases than not they ask for even less than I have posted to pay!!!

Well his Jewel was this bad boy.....




He retails for $129.99 at almost all the big box stores around here. Jake's "My Parents Rock" price $30.

Yup you read that right $30. Barely played with too. The lady I bought it from had bought two for her nephews but they cannot be played together due to frequency issues so this dinosaur was just taking up space in her closet.

Its worth noting that at the garage sales we bought enough things to resale to cover the costs of what we bought. So Baby A essentially got free toys including spike. :) Nothing beats that.

We love you kiddo, can't believe your the big 3 already. So proud of you.

Happy Veterans Day

I hope everyone had a wonderful veteran’s day! Thank you to all who have served for those who can’t or won’t. Also thank you to all of the wives and children who go with out Daddy being home.



We're missing Mr. Right today! We are SO PROUD of you babe!

Garage Sale Find!

So today was FREEZING out. They also were doing the veteran's day parade so garage sales were slim. I was suprised by how expensive things were too. I guess it's Fall and they know people are planning for Christmas. I did manage to find one amazing score! Baby A has his big 3rd birthday coming up in a few days.

His party is going to be Dino themed. We got all sorts of great gifts over the summer. I will do a post after the party with all our deals. Its unreal!!!

Anyways I spoted this Fisher Price Garage w/little people vehicles and people. I just saw it and it screamed 3 yr old!!! The lady was asking $10 and I got her down to $5!!! I tried to play it cool and hide my glee. My two yr old upon seeing it as I opened the car door let everyone know just how wonderful it was. The people we bought it from couldn't have been smiling bigger. Really who couldn't smile at a 2yr old seeing an awesome toy and then realizing it's theirs?



Thats the only deal I got today. I plan on giving out board games this year. Mr. Right has a rather large family so giving out gifts that we think the whole family can enjoy are how we chose to deal keeping a budget but still letting everyone know we're thinking about them and giving them something they can do together. Last year we did the 4 dvd holiday pack from Walmart.

Family Photos

I'm so excited. The kids and me snagged an awesome deal with some great photography. I always am checking out our local yardsale site, they have all sorts of amazing deals and the good ones go quick.

I paid only $15 for family photos! Thats right only $15 and I'll be getting a cd to print as many photos as I like. This is a great deal. The photographer, Amanda Lee Photography, was wanting to expand her portfolio so she was offering a great deal. I was able to get a few family shots, the kids solo and together and halloween pics!

Below is our photo preview. We love it so much!





Sweet Baby A is almost 3 and Baby B just turned 8 months. She is finally wearing size 2 shoes. I know the precious tiny feet! Baby A came out wearing size 2 shoes and was in size 4/5 at 8 months. Baby A is potty trained (officially accident free) and wearing his big underpants with no accidents.

I'm going to be printing some off and sending them to Mr. Right.

Progress so far!

Well it has been a couple weeks since Mr. Right left now. Things are slowly getting settled into a new groove.

On the bill front I have made some huge progress. Our electric bill has been cut by 60%!!!! Our water bill has gone down some mainly due to not washing all those cammies everyday. We're working on getting our cell phone bill lowered. Our plan will be up soon and we're going to be looking at other providers to suit our needs. Most of our friends pay only $100 or less for their couple plans. Its embaressing how much more we have been paying especially since we don't have a cool iphone or something similiar.

Things are looking up and the babies are adjusting. Baby B threw a tantrum for 48hrs after her Daddy left. She had never been without Daddy since she was born and did not like it one bit. Baby A is our little trooper. He kisses Daddy's photo every night. It's so cute because he tells him to be say, that he loves him, and night, night.

We're so proud of you, baby!

The Home Front

I'm proud to announce no one has died of sugar overdose and the dogs have been fed. It's been a wild couple days getting used to all the adjustments.

So far savings are looking good. I have only spent cash on paying the electric bill. My focus is to save as much as possible from this deployment. We really want to upgrade to 4bd home with a shed/workshop in the back for Mr. Right to do all of his projects. To do this we'll need at least 20k plus whatever our house sells for. Right now we have no idea of where we would like to move to. I'm really pushing for North because I miss the snow and he is pulling for as South as possible.

We plan on accomplishing this by spending virtually no money minus what bills cost and whatever Mr. Right needs to buy while in country. I'll be doing some reselling to clear out the clutter we have. This will also make moving much easier. We're doing small holidays. Only one gift for Hanukkah and one gift for Christmas.

Since Mr. Right has left I have been burning up with an itch to do some home repairs. His leaving was really unexpected from the time we thought we had needless to say, I am left with a kitchen with all the cabinets off and 7 month old and an almost 3yr old. Yikes!

Some projects I would like to do are
1. The Cabinets (any Mum out there is nodding yes)
2. Tile in the bathroom/laundry room space
3. Quarter round that has been waiting over a year to be put down
4. Touch up painting

I am torn as to what to do with the cabinets. I'm debating doing them all white with bead board accents to match the front of the island or staining all the cabinets a warm mahoghany color. Either way we are going to be putting down a dark speckly top. I'd love to do granite but we can't afford that. I'll be checking out some local Habitat for Humanities before making my ultimate decision.

Squirrels end up with millions because they put the nuts away, not because they make lots of nuts.

I read this quote on a msn money article. I love this quote so much. It rings to true to our life. We have alot of friends that make 50K++++ more than we do and they have deep financial woes while we have little.

Life has become tougher since last year with some personal events that happened to us including my husbands pay being cut in half. Ways we save money are buying NOTHING new. I mean nothing with the exception of groceries. If I ever find a way around that I'll let you know. I go dumpster diving, reselling our things as we no longer need them, learning to cook, and strict budgets.

It is amazing the good trash people throw away. I have come across tons of new with tags clothes. We've been blessed to find tons of toys and clothes (for our kids and for us) that we can use. We've turned some into rags. We try to salvage what we can and make it usable for us. We found a huge kitchen table that we used to host some events outside. Eventually it got caught in the rain so we posted it for free on Craigslist. It was picked up within the hour (love that site).

Clothing has been a huge stress relief. Mr. Right's cousin and Aunt have been so great. They have passed on clothes that have been outgrown for both Baby A & B. I can't even describe how nice it is to find a big box at the door full of clothes for them. Everyone knows how spendy it can get with two kids under 3. They constantly outgrow clothes. I would say this has saved us a good $1000 or more on each little punk. Big thank you's go out to them.

I resell everything we have that we no longer need. My husband and me used to have a bet about things we were going to trash. We'd post it up for $5 on craigslist, 9 times out of 10 it would sell by the end of the week. If not we post it back for $3. After that we'd trash it or post it up for free. We recently changed out our living room furniture because our sofa was in need of repair we couldn't afford. I sold the set for $600 then bought a leather sofa for $100 of craigslist and later a nice Broyhill chair at a yardsale for $10. Doing things like this really ads up. Our living room looks more gorgeous than ever and I saved big time on redecorating.

Learning to cook has been a huge process and very profitable. I received a huge set of cookbooks from my Mother-in Law that I use all the time. My sister gave me a book on Jewish recipes that is my favorite cookbook out of all the ones I own. I used to believe you had to buy peanut brittle and that it could only be made in a factory. I call that one of my blonde moments. Lately I've started counting calories. I hope to lose 50lbs while Mr. Right is deployed and do it the healthy way. My whole family will benefit from this. I haven't told Mr. Right of my plans, I think it'll make for a great welcome home surprise for him :)

We stay on really strict budgets. We make less than 2k a month and have a mortgage of $894. After you had in bills like electricity, water, trash, and Internet, we're left with the rest of pay for groceries, things we need (not want) and to put some into savings. While it is not reccommended to have a house that costs you so much remember we bought this house well before we had the giant pay cut. We have looked at other houses to save but to find one with the same we have space now is more costly. Renting is our of the question because we have two dogs, a basset and a beagle. Any home that allows pets in our area cost more than we pay on our house including bills. So for not we are stuck, we watch our budget really closely so we have some cushion built it otherwise we'll live pay check to pay check.

Frustrations

It seems like lately if it's not one thing, it's another. I thought we were done with the Marine Corps. Now not only are we not done but Mr. Right will be leaving soon and possibly (most likely) re-enlisting.

I sell things only to have the money spent on junk instead of being set aside for our future home down payment. Frustration that I feel is an understatement of how I really feel.

Frustrations selling a gorgeous NWT Bonnie Jean dress on ebay for only 99 cents. My head was literally screaming BOOOOOOOOOOOO with thoughts of I do not want to ship this running through my head. I have not had any luck with Ebay so far.

Feeling lately that I'm just a dreamer with unrealistic dreams. My farmhouse and my wishes for future are to be put aside. Everything is once again on stand still. It's like going across a trapeze wire, making it across to only realize you have a whole other side to go on.

Feeling so down right now. I hate it when Mr. Right leaves.

Bummis Cloth Diapers & Snappi

So my first diaper purchase I feel was a bust. They were pretty cute and basic. I looked to youtube to figure out how to use the snappi. I think those things would be great for a newborn but a mobile baby? Not so much. Baby B would rip hers right off and go peeing around while crawling.

Snappi = No Fun!

I did like the concept of the snappi and it is pretty cool looking. The retail price for things are currently 2.97. Fairly reasonable but I think they would be best suited for a newborn (non-mobile baby). They do a great job of keeping the diaper together once you figure out how to use it the right way. While youtube helped, it was mainly trial and error.

Now the Bummis Super Whisper Wrap diaper & Bummis Super Brite

Differences between the two was actually the lining on the inside. The material and size seemed to be the same. The Whisper wrap has a fabric lining where the Super Brite lining is super shiny and plastic like. There is a thin/mirco leg gusset on the inside of the super brite.

Functionally they seemed to preform the same. I did not notice the leg gusset in the Super Brites to make any difference. These cloth diapers I did not like with my chunky legged baby. Baby B was within the weight limits but her chunky thighs made her need the large size instead of a small or medium. They both used pre-folds. Over all they were a good set of diapers. I didn't care for the fit. They seemed cheap but they were functional.

I ended up reselling these on ebay (thats another story). I didn't make a dime but I got my cash back at least.

Currently we are trying out gdiapers so be on the look out for that review

***Cloth Diapers***

I have officially began to use cloth diapers. I guess I'm an old school mom in a lot of ways. Toys that are made of wood or fabric are my faves. Any toy that truly sparks imagination. I don't care if it's turning an old shoe into a phone. I love seeing my kids be all about it and having fun. Not so much into the video games. Ones for babies and toddlers just baffle me. Do we really need to get infants one step away from playing Call of Duty? Lol that's another tangent, for another day.

Main my point was I NEVER thought I would be using cloth diapers. Not in a million years. But with a huge pay cut that happened to us a few months ago and two kids in diapers. Something needed to be done....

So....I went thrifting today. I found 2 Bummis diaper covers with something called a Snappi for $8. A homemade, brand new cloth diaper for $5. Then at Goodwill I hit a home run I felt. 39 cent diaper/burp cloths. Snatched up everyone one of those sucks I could find. A pack of 6 cost around 12 to 15 dollars at the local stores here. I plan on using those as inserts for the Bummis diapers. Lol I sound like I know all about this things but honestly I don't. I went home and looked up on youtube to learn about the Bummis diapers. I apparently got the Super Whisper which work great according to youtubers.




Baby B is now on her third and hopefully final change out for the night. Baby A, I put in the all in one, homemade diaper. I figured it would help with the potty training process. I guess we're still in that mood since he is taking off his diapers and peeing all over the bed. Ugh. I'm infatuated with the fact that he has not once ripped off this home-made diaper yet. Lets hope this infatuation turns into LOVE.

Oh and I also looked up the snap. I don't know how well it works yet. It looks so weird! Basically the idea is using pre-folds like the gerber ones I picked up today with out any pins or snaps. The Snappi hooks on three different places on the fabric and instant diaper. I don't know how well this is going to work with Baby B since she grabs at everything and Baby A, I know better than to try something like that...

I've also bought some crazy cute Gdiapers off ebay (my first purchase, YAY!). I'll let you know how those go.

Seriously how could I resist those cute ruffled diapers?

Beauty in Laundry

We are home from a wonderful vacation. The weather was so gorgeous down in Myrtle Beach. We did a little antiquing before heading to Myrtle.

This is the beauty I found.


Isn’t she darling?

I love how you can see her words and the wood really is as soft as it looks in the pictures.

We found this HUGE antique store. The nice guy behind the counter mentioned that everything in the basement was 50% off. We were sold. The owner gave Jake a couple old school cars for FREE. It was so great. Those two little cars kept Jake entertained the rest of the ride to Myrtle Beach and even on the way home.

$15 with 50% off made it a much better deal.

She looks so pretty in my little laundry “room” :)

Hurricane Earl

We've been gearing up for Hurricane Earl. Thankfully it has gone from a stage 4 to a stage 3. Hope everyone weathers throw the storm.

Dumpster Finds

So this is the dumpster finds trash nights this week. In my favorite diving spot trash is picked up on Sunday nights, then near by me it is picked up on Monday nights. I am all about my trash!

I found many little baby shoes that looked as if they had never been worn, nike, air jordan, ralph lauren, and some brand called Maui Island. Yes, you spy a pair of Coach shoes in there. :) A tigeroo jumper, a playskool push and ride, a nerf gun, a fisher price construction set, a playboy purse, a canteen holder, a flashlight, a flower pillow and in the bag was an assortment of Fast Food toys. They looked like they ate out alot.

The next photo has a shower curtain in new condition, a full desert digi set w/both the hat and pants still in great shape. A pair of Rue 21 shorts, again in like new condition. A Charlotte Russe top.



My exciting find was this baby though



Who on earth would through an excellent looking Nine West bag? It looks like it has never been used. Hello dear friend, I'm glad I saved you from trash pile. You deserve a better a life.

Sunday Garage Saling

We hit up a great garage sale on Sunday. Since Justin was in the hospital Saturday, he still had the itch to garage sale with me on Sunday. I thought he was crazy but he persisted (not that it took that much).

I looked at our local sale website and BAM! The perfect garage sale! The people stated that they had too much stuff from buying some storage rooms at auction and that things would be cheap because nothing held sentiment value. The winning words were MILITARY GEAR. :)

Well it turns out there really was not that much gear to be had. We did manage a few HUGE scores!

Now in the next two photos keep in mind that I only spent $30 on EVERYTHING. That right all of it. Talk about not caring and really just wanting things gone.


There were Aqualung Blade II flippers w/quick release, boots and goggles. I look up the prices on these items. The flippers sell for around $140, the goggles $60, and the boots $95. I can't wait to see how they do.



We also have a leather Duckhead purse, Janie & Jack baby clothes, Children's Place skirt, Rare Editions dress, and a Bitty Baby dress.

The next photo has a GG&G attachment w/sling, 3 under armour shirts, a brand new huge admin pouch, a pelican memory card case, a coach dust bag, nike airforce 1 baby shoes, another sling, Dark Knight Dvd, Baby Einstein Dvd.

Can you believe all of that for only $30!!!!!!! The pouch alone sells for $30 brand new. We also bougth two other movies from them, Ladykillers and The Untouchables. Jake had already long ran off with them before I could get them in the photo.

Alot of these things Jutstin will be using for work but man it is going to save us some big bucks.

We dropped by the local flea market on the way home. It was so over priced and the quality of most things were poor. I think after coming from a garage sale like the one we were at made it even worse lol.

I did find this pretty number for Charlie. A NWT Bonnie Jean Dress. My Mum is in love with Scottie Dogs and this reminded me so much of her. At $2, I couldn't pass it up.

Appendix

Last night was so chaotic. Things took a turn for the worst. Mr. Right was more than just sick. It turned out like the symptoms for appendicitis that I had looked up last night. We went to the hospital, it was confirmed and he went straight in for surgery.

Thankfully the wonderful doctor got him in just in time. The kids and me took him home this afternoon and everyone has been sleeping since we got home.

It's days like this that make me appreciate our family so much. The kids are so sweet and well behaved. While we waited for Daddy to be allowed to come home we drove around base. Right across the street from the hospital is the Senior enlisted base housing so the babies and me had to do some garage saling!

Baby A picked out a huge stack of books and he gave them $3 and a big smile. I love that he is so into reading. He got right back in his car seat and read through his books the rest of the ride. Dinosaur books of course :)


The next garage sale I found a Boppy brand pillow w/pea pod cover and a new Jenny Jump Up. She had them both marked for $2 a piece and took $3 for the both.

Last garage sale I picked up a Fisher Price Polar Coaster and Princess See and Say. I think the see and say will make a great first birthday for Charlie. It was $3 for the both. I guess 3 was my lucky number today ;)

After that I was out of cash and Justin was ready to be picked up. Things couldn't have been timed more perfectly :)

Trash to Treasure will be on tomorrow, right now I just want to go curl up with Mr. Right.

Sick Days

Justin has not been feeling well since last night. We (the kids and me), took him to work and then straight back home. Everyone went to sleep and the lazy morning commenced. It was so nice to have cinnamon rolls for lunch with one happy husband, a frosting faced baby, and the other baby gumming away at a roll :) Charlie is so eager to be just like her brother.

Best Dumpster Deal of the Week

This morning was wonderful. I took Justin to work with the kids at 5. He had formation then some wait time so we drove to the beach and watched the sunrise. Jake was all about getting as many seashells has his little hands could hold. Charlie was content sitting up on her own on the dock next to us. She is quite determined to not lay down again. Guess she wants to stay 10 steps ahead with no steps back.

On to the stuff everyone is dying to know about...garbage!



I found this out on the curb for trash night....man I was excited! I took Jake's carseat out and popped this baby right into the car. Obviously he was tucked away sleeping at home with Daddy.

No Support

Charlie is sitting up all on her own now!!!!

No more diapers!

At least for Jake. He has taken the big task on himself. I've been persauding him to get on the potty for about a year now but this past week he has decided to take off diapers and but new ones on by himself. While this is totally fine, he is doing this after each tiny wee and we're going through a lot of diapers!

I think when a little man can literally change his own diapers, it is time for no more diapers.

We've had a couple wet underpants but nothing terrible *knock on wood*

One of my dear friends told me having two kids both in diapers was easy and not to stress on potty training Jake when I was pregnant with Charlie. I really wish I had not listened to that advice. It sucks! I'm so excited to only have to change Charlie's diapers now.

Don't get me wrong. There are many baby and childhood moments I will miss but changing diapers, especially dirty ones are not something I will miss at all :)

Garage Sale Finds

For some reason this past weekend and this weekend garage sales were scarce. I eneded up on base and found killer scores.

Justin's older sister introduced me to some gorgeous baby clothing. I was hooked from the embroidery and beautiful design. Well I managed to find some in Charlie's size all for $5!!! The two halloween costumes I bought for re-sale but the dresses are mine, I mean Charlie's until she outgrows them.


Brand were little lindsey, nanette, goodlad of philadelphia, and some others. While I loved all the name brands and pretty frills, I could not resist the cute pink and white oshkosh coveralls.

The next garage sale was filled with more great deals. I bought believe it or not all these clothes for only $3. Everything is by New York & Co.

The shorts alone retail for $34.95 each brand new....

Some is for me to wear, lately I've realized almost everything I own has paint spots on it somewhere :)

Vacation Comes to an End

Vacation has been great with the hubs home. We had a great time with family visiting and bonus we were able to do alot of home repairs/upgrades before and after they left.

When I say I usually mean Justin. He does most of the repairs but me nagging along the way to make sure it gets done counts for something right? ;)

One of my favorites is the shelves he built. We got the wood for free off the side of the road. Removed all the old nails and the corkboard was already in our garage when we bought the place. No what use to be in a huge mound is now all organized with a place even for Jake's outdoor toys and bikes. Yes, he has two. One is too big for him right now so it is hanging up and the other is a trike on the floor.

Here's Before

Here's After




Another big one was this crack we had in the wall. It has been there since we moved in over 2yrs ago. Never got bigger, just stayed the same with its big ugly prescense. When I changed the color in living room, I decided to paint around it in hopes that the uglier it was the sooner it would get done. It did... :)



Have I mentioned how perfect Justin is?

Babysitting!

Jake had his playmate across the street coming over today. It is so cute seeing two little boys running around the house playing pretend and attacking the train table. Boys and train tables whats the deal? I wouldn't have minded if Charlie had been a boy but I am so thankful she is my little girl.

Hope everyone has a great day!


Robin

Hectic Days

This past week has been so hectic. We've had things that couldn't be pushed off any longer on base to do, guests over, and trying to paint the house.

Sorry for not blogging. More to come soon. I'm enjoying the North Carolina rain. It is such a nice change to have warm rain over Seattle's cold rain. I love this state!

P.s. Finally have a new camera so picture quality will be much better around here <3

The Wife Mowing the Lawn

I mowed the lawn. Well the front, and the side and half of the fenced in part. That’s right just half. Out in the lovely humid heat of NC, I hear a small whimper. I swear I must have bat ears. I turned off the mower crept into the house as I thought both our babies were sleeping. Low and behold Charlie is teething and awake. She was laying there and seemed to be yelling at her elephants on her crib mobile.

Like any mother bird, I swooped her up and cuddled. The lawn can wait. Moments like this can’t.

For the Love of Crabs

Yesterday Justin brought home some more crabs. And these is what we made!



It’s so yummy! Hope everyone has a great day

Top 10 Baby (Smaller) Toys

Usually you see lists with the swing, the exersaucer, etc. I wanted to compile a list of the smaller toys, the ones your child can take with them. These are all ones my kids have enjoyed for almost the whole 1st year of their lives.


1. Lamaze Octivity Time
This toy has been a huge hit with both of my children. It carries a high price tag, $21.99 currently on Amazon. We were lucky to score it for $2 at the Tacoma Once Upon a Child. I’m not sure I would have jumped for it brand new due to the price but knowing how wonderful it is now, I would should we ever lose ours. This toy has it all! It’s soft, adorable and completely baby friendly. The head squeaks, the starfish clicks when it turns, a mirror, floppy pieces, and crinkles all over! There is even a little Velcro piece in the bottom so that you can take it almost anywhere with you. Both my children played with this little guy from birth but the recommended age is 6+ months.


2. Infantino Ball
Not sure if you can purchase this one separately. The little clackers have received little use but the ball is a huge hit! Jake loves interacting with Charlie and the ball. It has little beads in the clear parts that sound like rain when turned just right. Charlie is all about grabbing this one, gumming away on it, and just having a good time flinging from either side of her bouncer. I also like this one because it is brightly colored. This toy is for 3+ months.


3. Bright Starts Rattle & Shake Barbell Rattle
This toy is great! You can use this one from 0months on up. Its amazing watch your two week old baby curl her fingers in between the twisty part in the middle and just go to town. We went through many, many rattles with my son and none seemed to really hold his interest or even be easy for him to shake til he was older. I actually received this rattle at my daughter’s baby shower. It has been a huge hit so thank you Heather!


4. Bright Starts License to Drool Teether
There are so many obnoxious baby keys out there. The License to Drool Teether by Bright Starts is great. No obnoxious noises, has great little bumps so your teether can use them and accomplish that much needed massage. These keys were the only ones that have out lasted and been most used by my little punks.


5. Sassy Me in the Mirror
A lot of the toys I have on my list have little mirrors on them but nothing beats having a big (no breakable of course) mirror in the crib or on the floor so baby can see another baby to crawl over to or make funny faces at. I love the Sassy Mirrors the best because they are low noise, can be hung on a crib or stand alone on the floor or where ever baby is playing. These come in a variety of colors and even has an mp3 capability


6. Whoozit
This toy has bold colors and an adorable mirror nose. There are little noise makers all over and easy to grab arms. Great straps to take everywhere with you. I personally hung ours above the changing table. Spin it around and your babies won’t be able to take their eyes of the whoozit. We have the larger version but they do have a smaller size available.


7. Leap frog caterpillar
I loved this toy so much. I remember going into the store with Jake. Everytime I would bee line it for toy aisle and grab this so Jake could play with it. He loved it from moment he was born. I had to save up to get it, it was a new toy so I had no luck at garage sales finding it. We were beyond broke back then and with a new baby. This toy has little hang downs that crinkle or make noise. The neck allows you/baby to chose from classical music, colors, counting. It attaches to the strollers, cribs, can be alone, and about anywhere else you can think of. This one doesn’t seem to be in stock anywhere unless at very high prices. It’s one I would suggest hunting garage sales for. It’s worth it!


8. Lamaze Play & Grow Flutterbug
What is more fun that a toy that you grab and it vibrates away from you? Well I can think of lots of things but this toy is a huge hit at our home. Infantino, Tiny Love and other brands have similar toys. I think the Lamaze Flutterbug was such a huge hit because of the bold colors, the rings making it easier to grab for younger ones, not to mention the rings are great to chew on.


9. Infantino: Monkey & Elephant Wrist Rattles
These are so much fun for newborns till around 3 months. You just put them on your baby and their face is priceless when they move their little hands. This is one toy I love to gift to others at showers. We picked some up at a garage sale for just 10 cents!


10. Stuffed Animal
A classic no matter the gender. I recently bought this new with the tag Pluto (goofy’s dog), stuffed animal from Goodwill for just 99 cents. Both my kids fell in love with him. He is great with huge and an adoring puppy look. They remind me of our basset hound. Just make sure if baby is playing to have all tags removed and watch out for any removable eyes or parts.

*All pictures are from Amazon.com

Twilight: Eclipse

This morning has been a great one. I finally watched Twilight: Eclipse. The movie didn't disappoint in the slightest. Or perhaps I should say Edward didn't (yes I am Team Edward). The battle scenese made it much more interesting for Mr. Right to watch with me. To his credit, Mr. Right has dutifully watched the other two films with me and bought them the day they are released on DVD. He truly is Mr. Right for many reason :)



What I really liked in Eclipse was the how they portrayed the growing friction between Edward and Jacob. While I absolutely love the first two movies, I felt the friction could have been a little more obvious in New Moon. There is nothing like a good drama strung,love triangle. At least in books and films...




Another sweet surprise was Jasper's sudden Texan accent. I never detected it in the other films but when he was recounting his story to Bella about his past, there it was. When he called Alice "Ma’am", it made heart go pitter patter for a moment. Mr. Right is such a gentleman to me like Jasper is to Alice. Few men are like that in these times and I am so grateful to have nabbed one to have all to myself.

If you have yet to go see Eclipse, I highly recommend it. Hopefully you will be able to get your husband to go with you. Show him the trailer with the fight scenes of vampires and werewolves if he needs some coaxing. Then just cuddle up with a bag of popcorn and enjoy.

Mr. Right just brought home some yummy coffee and is cooking up breakfast right now. Hope everyone has a blissful day!

Getting to the Good Part is Always Tough

Today Justin and I went crabbing with kiddos. Jake had an absolute blast. The intial plan was to go fishing but after the water was assualted with pinecones thanks to Jake, we settled in on some good crabbing. Charlie spent the day cuddled up with Mommy in her swanky Baby Bjorn, checking out all the tadpoles and crabs.

The bites we're not that great but we had fun sitting around on the dock waiting for the turkey neck nets to tug. We caught all in all, 4 crabs worth keeping. We let many little guys go. The plan is to give them time to grow and nab them later.

Here is a picture of our "catch"


We brought these guys home and cooked them up. The hard part was cracking up all the little pieces. Just like in life the hard work always has big payoffs. Its funny how things always work out that.


The crab meat was amazing!!! Hope everyone had a relaxing Sunday

The Beginnings

Hello! Welcome to A Bird Loves Her Nest. My name is Robin and I LOVE my nest. I have been "haunting" garage sales for years. I love antiques with a passion. Since my husband and I had a sweet little boy, almost 3 years ago, I have turned my thrifty ways into cover our baby expenses. Whether is be finding 304ct of *sealed* huggies 1-2 diapers for only $5, finding decorating, and everything nest. Hope you enjoying visting and check back soon.

To shorten things up from now on these will be how I refer to my little family in the blog.
amazing freebies, or making it myself. My husband has been amazed that I have continued to do so after our last addition to the family, a smiling baby girl that completes us all. With much nudging from my ever encouraging husband I've decided to take things a few steps further and really see just how well I can do. I plan on writing about my amazing deals and steals, projects,