Otter Creek Consignment SALE

I had a great time Friday during my Mom time out on the town going to my favorite kids consignment sale in Nashville, the Otter Creek Church Sale. If you are in middle Tennessee you can click HERE for a link about all kids consignment sales. 
I met CB there,  and afterward we had breakfast together!

here are a few of my steals:

Some sports gear:

Some Awesome Pottery Barn Frames. Erik's mom had a frame like this for he and his siblings which I love to look at! ( each circle is marked for 1 months, 2 months etc)

Some Kissy Kissy Outfits ( My fav kids clothes are Kissy Kissy, Ralph Lauren and Restoration Hardware because they are the ONLY company I have found so far that make solid colored and soft fabric clothes)

A light blue velour Ralph Lauren Footie. Super cute and soft

Ya'll Know I Lurve A Good Monogrammed Bag:

 Combining 2 of my favorite things , bags and monogramming! Fall is the perfect time to stock up on some new accessories. Accessories just happen to be one of my favorite things so when Simply Bags asked if I wanted to review a MONOGRAMMED lunch bag, I was all "YES", "PLEASE" and "THANK YOU! "
My SIL Juliel has been looking for something like this forever to take her lunch to work in. Its hard to find a nice adult looking lunch bag these days, as I have been keeping my eye out for her forever.  Below is mine! I had mine monogrammed with my twitter name ( @grizas) because I thought that is a neat idea when Paul B in Memphis mentioned it!

My favorite thing about this bag though, besides the adult look is the quality of the bag. It is structured and not all wobbly collapsable! Which is nice for things like sandwiches!!  All of their bags come with FREE monogramming and the prices are unbeatable.



I also really love these bags. They are only $15 and remind me of the famous Longchamp purse. What a great gift idea, especially for things like bridal party favors etc.

Here are some other cute options:

This is a lunch tote too! How sophisticated!

Ive seen alot of moms at the Pool with this bag, it is big and boxy for towels and such:

anyway head over to Simply Bags to check them all out and the bazillion other options.

Randomosity!

Sooo many things I wanna blog about and not near enough time to blog, as I have realized sometimes it comes down to a choice of Sleep or Computer. I have gotten smart enough to choose sleep now.

One thing I was gonna share is I subscribe via email to Martha's tip of the day and sometimes it is neat print outs and templates. Last week there was a day with a print out of stain removal chart to put in your  laundry room. GO HERE to print that. It was neat.

- I wanted to say THANKS for all the feedback on the dishrags. You guys are awesome and have solved my problem! HOORAY! Also thanks to all the feedback on twitter about a universal remote. Who knew life could be so easy? LOL

- I know I didnt do the belly post this week, and it was only because my bubs was working those days and I didnt have a camera man! I will make up for it this week!

- Was curious if you peeps have any recommendations on self tanner for the FACE? I know CT is gonna cringe , but I have been using some Dior Self Tanner for the face that Erik's Mom bought me back in 2006 and its almost gone so I will need some more. I tell ya'll I can stretch out a product like nobody's business.

- All you war eagle-ers out there, have you heard of the new Turnkey Tailgate service for the Plains called " The Tailgate Guys"? Dang that is super cool! WHY didn't I think of this?

Did you guys know that PAM the cooking spray destroys the Teflon finish on your cooking pans? Well, dont quote me on that b.c I cant find anything online confirming that but lots of chatter that supports it so I was totally gonna get one of these MISTO sprayers that sprays olive oil on your cooking pans! Well our friends that were in town staying with us this week bought me one! So sweet!  They sell them all over the place, Macy's , BBB etc if you are interested in having one yourself! Better for YOU and for the environment too! Holla!

PB Turns 4 Weeks Old

PB was 4 weeks old on Wednesday! I am running behind on blog posts because I have been using my spare time to Scrapbook for his first year! Pictures of that soon! He is GROWIN ya'll! He currently weighs 13 lbs!!

To put his size in perspective I shall show you a picture of his womb friend Walker. CB was pregnant the whole time with me and was about a month ahead of me, but we ended up having the boys 1 week apart! We have not gotten to hang out and play baby all day like we first thought! ha this has been pretty time consuming but we have had 3 or so get togethers and today was one of them! These little jokers would NOT sit still for a picture, or look happy but its pretty funny!
Look how HUGE Fenners looks next to a normal sized bebe.

Fall TV LineUP...

I was considering cutting back our cable package before PB was born because I thought we might not have time to watch as much TV, but turns out I watch MORE TV cause I am awake more hours of the day/night and cant leave the house as easily.
Thanks to twitter I have learned about all sorts of new TV shows to fill my DVR with....

I have to admit it took a minute, but Jersey Shore has grown on me! My favorite one is Vinny. I love it when he wears his black rimmed glasses. These guys KILL me. Hilarious.

I just heard about The Spin Crowd on twitter and so will start watching it! Do any of you watch?

Im obsessed with all things Kardashian. I LURVE me some Bruce Jenner

I finally gave in to the masses and started liking True Blood.  The first season I thought it was the most ridiculous show ever! Did ya'll see the Rolling Stone Magazine cover with True Blood Peeps on it? Wowsa

and  I cant wait for the new season of The Good Wife. It is a fairly new show and I LOVE it.

I also plan to add RHWNJ and Teen Mom to my line up since all you twitter peeps talk about it alot. I wanna know what the heck you guys are talking about!
Any other suggestions for new shows? Please leave in the comments!

Fenner-Bears First Tailgate!

We have some fabulous fall tailgating weather in Tennessee and I am so enjoying it! We took Fenn to tailgate for the Titans Pre- Season game tonight and he was very sweet and popular! We did not stay long, since everyone went into the game. I generally never go into any football game, since I hate sports. I just like the social aspect of it all and generally have several people who skip the game and just tailgate but they were not there tonight :(  It was a good game to get our feet wet though and see what it would be like to take PB tailgating.

I love this onesie that our friend Andrea Warren made! It is super soft and much cuter than the Titans onesies sold in stores. Thanks A!

I gotta say it was super weird packing a cooler of Water, Coke and Breast milk instead of 12 kinds of beer. ha  Also funny changing a diaper in my lap in a tailgate chair! ha Crazy how fast life changes..

I Can't Stop Thinking About This:

I saw this bag in my Shop It To Me , sale email, It is made by Michael Stars ( who even knew he made handbags?) and is canvas leather combo. I think its super cute , and calls to me! However, LOTS of purses/bags call to me. I think I have a problem....

BabyWise is Returning My Sanity....

You guys may or may not be familiar with the book BabyWise which is a book on parenting philosophy for newborns and helps you learn to set schedules so that parents and baby know more of what to expect, get better sleep and baby is secure from consistency. It is pretty controversial I would say, based on the comments I got on facebook once when I said I was reading it.
So if you are not a fan of babywise, feel free to skip this post , judge me and talk about me behind my back.
 Probably our biggest accomplishment this weekend,  was starting BabyWise schedule. I read this book when I was pregnant and thought it was so awesome. Little did I know, how hard it would be to implement the practice of it once you have the sweet snuggly babe at home, mostly b.c I just wanted to be near him, to make sure he was ok.

Well after a few emotional breakdowns from lack of sleep, I decided to let him sleep in his crib, in his own room for the night. He must have been one really tired little dude b.c he took to that crib like a champ! We both got not only longer spans of sleep, but QUALITY sleep. I didn't think of it before but he was in his bassinet in the living room with the TV on 24/7 and I think that was keeping him from sleeping well.
    So starting our babywise schedule was a lot like training my dog children, as in the children are never the problem , its ME! ha I am too soft hearted I think and give in too easy. Sometimes PB would wake up after 45 mins and cry out and I would immediately pick him up and check for diaper change or hunger etc.  Well it turns out sometimes babies just cry out in their sleep, and then go right back to sleep not actually needing anything ! So now that I know that, I watch him on the video monitor and instead of disturbing him during his sleep, I do nothing and he goes right back to sleep. What a neat trick!
       I asked Erik to read the book and he read half of it that first night. I knew that if he were on board things would be easier b.c he is a VERY good rule follower, where as my free spirit struggles with such regulations. I was right. He read and provided much needed support and planning.
I do feel routine gives security to children and as much as I have read and researched about sleep through out my Psych degree, I know what an important part of growth and development it is for children.
So we went from demand feeding and short naps to sleeping 2, 3 and 4 hours at a time, and full feedings every few hours. It is also comforting for me to know somewhat, what to expect so I can plan for outings of if I need to pump I can predict when to do that without him waking up and needing me etc. It has brought me MUCH peace. and some VERY much needed SLEEP.
     So for us this has been a total success, made easier by the fact that we didn't have to cry it out. PB has his daddy's disposition and is rather passive, Thank GOD!

Trying New Things...

This weekend we tried a few new things with my Piggy Baby! Now that he is almost 4 weeks old I am finally getting brave enough to try stuff.
We had our first dinner out in public with Marty and Eli (who were in town and staying with us for a few days ) at Taco Mamacitas. He did very well, mostly slept.

We had our first babysitter for Fenners and outing for Mom and Dad. We went to The Flying Saucer and then the Ray Lamontagne / David Gray Concert. Mom left after Ray and came home to PB! It was fun and the Grouts did an excellent job of babysitting and learned all about diaper changing and little boys who use their weenies like a water gun!

  We are mastering the bathing in the tub with water! He doesn't cry but looks kind of perplexed and usually pees on me!

2 New Things that New Momma's Would Like!

Oh ya'll! I just heard about these on twitter from my twitter friends @andrealeigh129 & @beachbumandbaby. They are basically little stickers you can put on white onesies or whatever each month when you take your growth pics of your little booboo. What a neat and affordable way to document! AND they ship really quickly!
Sticky Bellies $15

and this other site i heard about ,  I think on twitter too but I cant remember who from.
It is a site you can sign up (Free) create an account and it helps people organize bringing you meals, like folks do when you have a new baby or for other occassions too. It creates a calendar, and lists your food likes/dislikes etc and allows peeps to sign up!
Its called MEAL BABY so check it out!
If only we had known about that before having Fenners!

Dino Piggy Baby is 3 Weeks Old! ( yesterday)

Dang I can't even believe it has been THREE weeks, but then when I try to think about about the day I had him, it feels like a lifetime ago! I was just saying to a friend who is pregnant that, the birthing part was one of the most fun, exhilarating things I have ever done, so don't be nervous about that! Easier said than done I know, but I'm the biggest cry baby ever, and so If I can say that, it really means something!
PB decided to celebrate his 3 week birthday by sleeping extra for his momma! He slept 1 4 hour shift and 1  almost 3 hour shift last night. It was like a dream come TRUE! I almost danced around my living room at 4 am when I woke up and realized he was still snoozing!  Motherhood is ALOT more fun when you are well rested!

• He is now 11 lbs and eating 5 ounces at each feeding, sometimes more.
• He got his first real tub bath today, which was hilarious so I will probably post a video of that soon. I am getting more brave as time goes by, because before I would just sponge him off b.c I was too scared to get him cold or uncomfortable!
• He is still a really good baby, other than then non sleeping! He doesnt fuss or cry as long as I have the food ready! 
• He LOVES his swing and I am so thankful to the Parker/Bush/Hopkins Clan for getting that for us! I noticed Kendra Wilkinson/Baskett has the same swing on TV yesterday. Neat!
• 
  

 and ya'll know how much PB loves to do cool stuff with his hands right? Here is his best attempt at throwin some gangsta signs whilst incorporating his love of star trek:

Raise Your Hand If you Lurve Target....

Bubs was kind enough to let me have some self time today, and I spent it shopping! Below is a summary of what I loved about Target. If you get my tweets you know I had to cut that trip short and why :)

Jewel Tone Tunic $16 ( comes in other colors like teal as well) and it looks alot better in person than in this picture b.c for one thing, it is not this long. I'll be rockin this with some huge gold earrings and black tights! ( Target has black tights for $6 if you need some). The placement of that elastic is great for hiding a post baby tummy!



I did not but, but do enjoy these other Target Goodies:

Kimono Style Maxi Dress $25 ( comes in several colors) This is nursing friendly......

 Denim Shirt $20  ( I'm obsessed with all things Denim. I cant even help myself!)

Collegiate Sweater $18. Comes in lots of color/team Combos (LSU above) but I didn't see an Auburn one! Check target.com for your school!

The Post Pregnancy Body : Week 3

Week 3! Looking better! Still holding on to 13 pounds but I am not sweatin that as much as the extra skin Ive got around the waist! I wonder if that just goes away or stays or what?
It looks better from the side than the front, b.c the front is where  my " leftovers" collect.  Also ready for that line to go away too! Glad I have the fall/winter to prepare for swimsuits.
I have also realized that these purple pants are the least flattering pants EVER.

The Leftovers:

Let's Review:

BreastFeeding 101 : and then Some...

It's almost been 3 weeks since I had PB and started this adventure of breast feeding. I know BF can be a somewhat politically charged type of subject, and so let me assure you I am not trying to get up in that mix! I am simply sharing some things I have learned for those of you that are interested in BF also.

My first lesson learned was that not many people ever said anything positive about BF, except cousin Karrissa who told me that your body makes some sort of warm fuzzy hormone feeling when you BF which is why people get so emotional about it. I can attest that was true! When I first had PB and started all this I felt like I had glitter flowing through my veins!  Now that the hormones are settling down, and I am getting over my mom going back home ( major sadness) I think I am almost back to even.
Anyway most people were negative about it, and as it turned out none of that negative stuff was really my experience. It was much easier than I thought it would be. ( and I am thankful for that)

The next thing I learned is that I was soooo wrong when I thought breast feeding was a Free option. It is not free! It requires a lot of tools and accessories to be done comfortably and conveniently. If you are planning on BF I again advise you to invest in a great pump, and lots of extra accessories. I could not do without the pump though because it allows me to have milk available so daddy can get up in the middle of night with PB and let me sleep some!

One of my twitter girlfriends mentioned that she was unprepared for what an emotional commitment it was to BF and I was surprised by that too. Its a lot of dang work! Always pumping and feeding and tending to the ladies and cleaning pump parts and bottles etc. I spent at least 40% of my day doing these things. obvi I feel strong enough about it to keep on keeping on but dang it keeps me busy, and tired!

I bought the book " The ABC's of Breast Feeding" and found it to be very helpful in teaching me the fundamentals that I was not aware of yet. If you have not read anything, you need to! Learn about fore milk and hind milk and things like that. It also told me that keeping the baby with me after he was born, would get my hormones going and signal my body to start making milk so that it would come in sooner and that worked like a charm. Once I had PB I never let him leave my side, except to get a bath and his weener cutting. Milk came in the day I got home from the hospital.

I had some great lactation consultants in the hospital and a terrible run in with one over the phone after coming home. She was VERY judgy about me using bottles and pumps and blah blah. Made me CRY ya'll! It took me a while to come around to the fact that I should never have called a stranger to validate my parenting practices, and that my PB is thriving and doing well with a bottle and a booby so who cares what that LC thinks... so I would say the same to ya'll, use your common sense and good judgement and dont let any of the Nazi's make you feel like a bad momma.

Now for some Product Feedback:

I think the Glamour Mom Nursing Tanks are a waste of money. They run really small, are uncomfortable and dont seem to offer any advantage over the Target nursing tanks.

This is my favorite nursing bra b.c its soft and comfy.

I love this nursing sleep tank because its soft and comfy, can be worn with regular pajama bottoms and also can pass as a real shirt if you ran out of the house wearing it. :)

I prefer these to the disposable nursing pads.

Feel free to leave comments agreeing or disagreeing with my product feedback! I think everyone enjoys hearing that kind of info and I know its different for everyone! Leave links if you have recommendations!

Tomato Art Festival In East Nashville!

This past weekend was the East Nashville Tomato Festival.All things tomato were celebrated, in a Mardi Gras like fashion! There was bobbing for Tomatoes, a bloody mary contest, Heirloom tomato contest etc.
Mom and I went for about an hour while bubs was babysitting. Due to lack of brain cells from baby, I neglected to get cash before going to purchase neat wares with. Mom did but E a cool hand painted Jerry Garcia Magnet from @artbybertrand. ( He has an art show coming up with all Star Wars themed art on Sept. 5th!)
Neat pics below!  Can't wait till PB is old enough to go to stuff like this! There were kids and dogs everywhere!

I HEART EAST NASHVILLE and all the beautiful people!

Blog Sale! Louis Vuitton Bag

I can't believe I am even thinking about this, but alas, I think I will be selling my Louis Vuitton Batignolles Horizontal Bag ( complete with receipt & dustbag) so that I can purchase a more baby friendly ( BIGGER) bag.

If you are interested please email me lg2006@mac dot com and I can tell you price and show pictures of my actual bag. Holla!

Friday's Events and Consignment Sale

Not sure what is going on with my Piggy Baby ( who will from now own be referred to as PB)!  I have done some research and it seems he may be having his 2 week growth spurt b.c he has been waking up every hour to eat. Sleeping for ONE hour at a time and being a little fussy. He normally never makes a squeak unless I don't listen to his hunger cues, but now he wakes up with a cry and he ain't trying to be any kinds of patient for food or diaper changes. We shall see how much longer this lasts! Supposed to only last for around 3 days ( up to a week YIKES) because even with momma taking some night shifts its exhausting! So in order to preserve some sanity, I had to get out of the house today and do something fun and productive! Mom and I went to Old Navy and while there we accidentally discovered the HUGE Encores and More consignment sale next door. Tomorrow is the last day so everything was marked down 50% ( woah) and I got some much needed items. See below.

Ralph Lauren Navy Cord. Snow suit $4. Super cute.

Freezer organizer for Breast Milk Bags $1. These are $17 retail and I was actually gonna buy one yesterday before I found this one! Score! Small parts dishwasher box , and a bag of Medela Bottles and parts $2 ( instead of $20). (Don't worry,I just use the bottle bottoms, not nipples and I sanitized and sterilized everything)

and an insulated bottle bag, for $1 and the reason I liked this one is because it has pockets to hold the cold packs inside which keep the bag structured.

So these are the things I was after, now that I know what i actually NEED , and what is over priced. It doesn't look like much but all of the above I will use a good bit and saved alot of $$ on.
Now that I have been around the block a smidge, I have re-thought what I would buy at these consignment sales. I think it would be less clothes and more equipment b.c everyone likes to buy baby clothes for gifts and the equipment is the stuff you really need and you can get it considerably less at consignment sales.  They even have pregnancy pillows, boppies stuff like that.

Nursing Friendly Clothes From Old Navy:

Next, We cruised over to Old Navy and looked around. I found some items that are great for nursing and my new shape. Just so you know, anything that is deemed " nursing or maternity wear" will cost you 3 times more than it should. Because of that, I have found Old Navy to be a great cheap resource. I know the quality is lacking, but TRUST me when I say that after you HAVE to wear certain outfits for 10 months or more, you never wanna wear it again when you can wear regular clothes.

Cross Front Dress $20

Chambray Shirt Dress $29 

The Shirt Dress comes in plaids too but they were out of my size and the cross front dress comes in tons of colors. Both are great for easy Nursing!