WFMW: Foil that stove!

I'm not a big cooker, so most of our meals are easy and quick. Dinner is not a major event in our house, and thanks to the simplicity of the recipes I rarely make a mess on the stove. But somehow, it's just inevitable. Whenever oil is involved, things just tend to just splatter everywhere. And of course, my lack of coordination when it comes to cooking instruments probably has something to do with it.

I make a serious attempt to scrub the stove every night, but I'm going to be honest and admit that sometimes I just don't have the energy to or I just plain old forget. Burnt food is near IMPOSSIBLE to get off. But I have the perfect solution: FOIL.

After the last hour-long stove scrubbing, my genius of a husband had the lightbulb idea to cover the entire stove-top with foil. At first I thought it was so wasteful to plaster our entire stove with foil, but then it dawned on me that we're not exactly replacing it on a weekly basis. Actually, we're not even replacing it on a monthly basis. The matter of the fact is that foil is just a whole lot easier to wipe down than the actual stove. And if something is just stuck for the rest of eternity, we'll just replace that particular piece of foil. It's not as wasteful as it sounds...especially when you take into account the hours and chemicals we used to scrub the stove down.

WFMW: Air Fresheners (for dogs!)

To be completely honest with you, I have no idea when Chiploe last got a bath.  It has been MONTHS.  They're not exactly dirty dogs that roll around in the mud outside, but after a month or two they used to stink to high heaven regardless.  Not recently.  And since they're an integral part of this family and sleeps under the covers with us, we would know immediately if there was a stink, and then promptly give them a bath.  But no stink, and therefore no bath.

If anything, they smelled good when I went to kiss and snuggle them.  I was so confused...I seriously considered that Chloe was sneaking into the doggy closet and spritzing herself and her brother with puppy perfume while we were out.  But their fresh and fruity scent smelled eerily familiar - it was nothing that I remember, but rather it seemed like a combination of a number of familiar scents.  That's when the "EURKEA!" moment hit - they had a combination of all the scents of the air fresheners.

If you're a regular reader or if you follow any frugal blogs at all, you will know that lately there's been some awesome deals on various plug-in air fresheners.  I really don't have a need for them, and to be honest with you I don't think they work because I never smell them, but I will get them if they're free or a moneymaker, especially if I need to bump up my total to use a $/$$ coupon.  And if I have them, I might as well use them anyway, so basically every room and hallway in my house has at least one air freshener.

And it just so happens that the outlets are all pretty low to the ground.  And Chiploe are both pretty low to the ground too.  It's not like they sleep right by an air freshener outlet, but from what I could figure it's probably because they run around the house so much that they inevitably just catch all the drifting scents, and they combine into this one mega good smelling perfume once it's in their fur.  By the time it gets up to human level, it's pretty much spread too thin to do anything, but at doggy level, it's the perfect freshen-upper.

So, if you have stinky dogs and a couple of air fresheners lying around, plug them in and let them do their jobs!  Air fresheners works for me as an automatic doggy body-spray (I don't even have to catch them to spritz them down!), so it might work for you too...!

WFMW: Gift bags

As the Christmas season draws nearer and I'm sure we're all nervously nibbling our fingers thinking about Christmas presents, my thoughts go to present wrapping. I am a firm believer that the presentation is half the present, but the problem is that I cannot wrap a present to save my life.

I've tried desperately to learn in the past. I've even volunteered at those charity Christmas wrapping station things in order to get lots and lots of practice. It didn't help, and I'm truly sorry to everyone who got a crappily wrapped present that year. I have no wrapping skills whatever - I guess they just skipped a generation.

As much as I believe that the presentation is half the present, I am well aware that my "beautiful" wrap job will eventually end up tore into a thousand pieces and discarded without a second thought. This bugs me. Why should I spend money on stuff that someone's going to rip up? Especially since wrapping is such a hopeless pain in the behind for me.

My alternative is to use gift bags. I love gift bags - it's a very simple process. Open bag. Shove item in bag. Shove piece of tissue paper in bag. Reward self with chocolate. I am absolutely delighted when I receive a present in a bag, because it means that I will be able to reuse the bag next year! Trust me, no one knows. Let's be honest now...do you remember what you received your Christmas present in last year?

After my baby shower, I saved all of my bags, and while most of them are obviously baby-orientated bags, I have still managed to reuse some of them in my other gifting needs throughout the year. Bags are also so much easier to store than a big roll of wrapping paper. Not to mention any type of item will fit into a bag - have you ever tried to wrap something that wasn't rectangular? You'd have better luck building a rocket out of paper-clips.

We are going home this Christmas, and I love that I won't have to worry about the wrapping paper being scratched up or torn while it's in my luggage. I'll just pack the items as-is, and then when I get there I'll spend 5 minutes putting the gift bags together. Gift bags definitely works for me!

WFMW: Retired Buddies soaps

This summer, it seemed like every time you blinked there was another $1/1 or $2/2 or $3/3 printable for a Johnson's product.  And since Walmart (and a couple of other places) sold the Buddies Easy-Grip Sudzing Bar at under $1, not only was it free, it was also a small money-maker.  Understandably, I had a good stockpile of Buddies in my stockpile closet.

Buddies are a hot commodity in this house.  My husband LOVES to take these things to work - easy to work with, according to him.  Okay. Sure.  Whatever.  We also washed the baby with these soaps.  I think we even washed the dogs with them once when we forgot to take the dog shampoo into the bathroom and everyone was already soaked. 

I'm starting to run out of Buddies, and I'm going to miss that bright green bar when they're gone.  BUT fear not, there is a retirement community for Buddies.  Once the actual soap is gone, instead of tossing out the green cover, I take it to my laundry room and use them there.  I use the cover to scrub at stains, and in my opinion it is the most effective scrubber. 

After you spray whatever stain-remover on, you're supposed to rub it in.  I never figured out how to rub it in with another part of the clothing.  Just never really quite grasped that whole concept.  But these retired Buddies bars are great - I can scrub as hard as I like.  It's gentle on the hands and I don't have to worry about anything flaking off onto the clothing.  I've been able to get some tough grass stains and baby food stains out thanks to the retired Buddies bars.

Johnson's Buddies, you have served our family faithfully for an entire summer.  Fear not, you share not be abandoned to the dreaded trash can.  You will forever have a spot in the Laundry Room Retirement Center for Buddies. 

WFMW: The Toys Worth Buying Edition

This week is the "Toys Worth Buying" edition of Works-For-Me Wednesday. It took all of a second to realize which toy I would be sharing today, and that's the Evenflo Exersaucer Tea for 1-2-3. We bought this nearly 2 months ago for our little princess, and while it's normally $69.99, we got it at a steal for just $47. It was on sale at Toys r Us for $59.98, and I was able to get an additional discount of $11.99 with a 20% off coupon.

I'll be completely honest and admit that nearly $50 is more than I ever imagined spending on a baby toy, but this thing has been worth every single penny. When we first bought it our princess was a grand 4 months old - she's so teeny tiny that her feet couldn't even touch the bottom, even on the lowest setting. And every-time we put her in it, she just sat there like a rock because she was so completely overwhelmed by all the different toys and colors.

But time passed and she got used to it. She turned 6 months old over the weekend, and now she spends hours in the thing. She grabs at all of the toys, and since she's started teething the attached teethers have really helped. But I think her favorite toy is the little rolly thing that makes noise - she spins that thing constantly for at least half an hour.

Mommy's favorite part of the toy, besides having somewhere safe to put baby and being able to shower, is that I can shift the toys around. Just to keep things interesting, I yank all the toys out on a weekly basis and put them in different locations. She never gets bored with it, because to her it's like having a new toy every week. Right now as I'm typing this, she's staring at herself in the mirror and trying to peel the flowers off. I also like the fact that I can yank off all the toys and throw them into the dishwasher for a good rinse (minus the musical teapot).

My only complaint about this thing is that I would prefer it to have a padded rim. There's no padding on the seat area, and since she's only 6 months old and hasn't quite mastered the whole standing thing, she ends up leaning over the front a lot. It's not like it's hurting her or anything, but I would prefer my precious baby just have something soft to lean on. I've taken to sticking a burp cloth or two there, and I'm sure a more ingenious person could invent some foam cushioning on the actual seat cover, but it's a solution that's quick and works for now.

Forget swings, jumpers, bouncers, or anything else - my baby never put up with them. The only thing that has constantly kept her entertained has been this exersaucer, and it is truly a lifesaver. She loves it so much she even falls asleep in it:

Note the cute little hand resting on the spinny rolly thing.

Works for Me Wednesday: Taking it easy, budget wise

This weekend, my husband and I had a very interesting and involved conversation regarding our spending.  I have been working very hard to keep us on a necessities-only budget for the past couple of months, and his argument has always been that since we're not broke, in-debt, or have trouble keeping food on the table...I should lighten up a bit.  Then I come back with "we need to save for the future!  For the baby!  For retirement!".  I also pull up some number about how much we're spending and how we can't live beyond our means.  At this point, he gives up for the day and we move onto something else.

Well, we had another showing of this very regular conversation, but the only change is that this time I completely agreed with him.  I've decided to lighten up on our budget.  My budgeted projected cost for each month is 86% of our projected monthly income, but to be honest that's not exactly accurate.  Our projected monthly income is about $100 lower than what it actually is, and we always have some type of extra income for the month.  I also include our savings commitment into our budget, which accounts for the majority of our high percentage.  If I take out the savings from the projected spending for the month, our projected cost comes to around 50% instead. 

That being said, I've decided to lighten up on my budgeting.  That's not saying that I'm tossing my necessities-only budget out the window - I'm just not going to fret if we go over-budget.  I'm still going to keep my projected figures at the necessities-only level, but I'm not going to go on a "stomping out all non-necessities spending" crusade like I have been.

My husband had a very good point.  We're not in debt.  We have a workable amount of money in savings.  We're careful with our money.  It's okay to just take it easy and enjoy life a bit.  He works very hard every single day, and I work hard too finding deals and stretching our pennies...it's okay if we want to treat ourselves to a restaurant meal once a week.

It's true that our savings account would be a better place for that $50 than the restaurant's bank account, but it's nice to be able to enjoy some time out together.  It takes stress off our shoulders, and it lets us just enjoy something together, which we rarely get to do with my husband's new crazy hectic schedule and the baby's growing demands.  We're together while we're running our errands, but we're running around and our attention is getting our errand list done, not on each other.  I'm starting to look at all of this "non-necessities" spending as an investment in our marriage and happiness.

That's not saying that in order to be happy and have a good marriage you need to go out and spend non-necessity money.  There are PLENTY of families out there who do without those extra things and they're perfectly happy.  I envy them, and maybe one day when we're both older we'll be able to do that too, but we're still young and there is plenty of time for us to learn and grow. 

Works for me Wednesday: All Nighters!

I have a confession to make. When my husband's away, I go out and play. Well, sorta...except I don't really go out to play because he takes the car. I stay in and play.

Whenever my husband has duty and has to stay on base for the night, I like to pull an all-nighter and stay up until dawn. Not because I have a lot to do, but because I just love the midnight hours. After the baby is asleep, I have absolutely nothing else to do but enjoy myself. Whether that means baking triple chocolate chip brownies or taking an hour long bath...I just love having that time to myself with absolutely no commitments for the next couple of hours.

When my husband is home, we need to get to bed pretty early since he wakes up around 4am for work. I suppose I could tell him to go to bed by himself while I tended to other things, but we rarely see each other as it is, so night-time snuggling is a main thing for us. I see him an hour during lunch, and then a maximum of 4 hours after he comes home and before we go to bed. And most of the time we have errands to run or things to do (like eat dinner), so there's not a lot of time for snuggling or together time.

It might seem like an act of desperation to stay awake all night just to get some "me-time", but it's not like that at all. Like I've mentioned in the past, I am a complete night owl. I also have a unfounded terrible fear of the dark, especially when I'm alone. It's so hard for me to try and get to sleep at night when I'm alone, so I'll rather stay up and enjoy myself, and then catch some shut-eye when the sun rises. I don't sleep the day away though...I sleep until around 11:30 when hubby gets home from lunch.

I guess part of the reason why I do this is I'm still unaccustomed to having the demands of two human beings placed on my shoulders. Before the baby came along, it was just me and hubby. Whenever he left for work, I got some "me" time and an opportunity to recharge. But now, with the baby, every thing's different. I take care of the baby all day until he comes home to take over, but after he's home I have to take care of him in the food department, or just be with him and entertain him. I don't really have any "alone" time anymore, and my "alone" time is so very important to me. I'm a loner, I admit it.

But hey, being a loner works for me...even if I'm a weird loner who stays up all night to do absolutely nothing...

Works for Me Wednesday: Sleeping on the floor!

We've been without cable for three months now and we've saved so much money that we've decided to take things a bit further and get rid of the bed! Just imagine how much money you'll save on the mattress, the bed frame, bed sheets...and you get the added bonus of having a HUGE sleeping area. And you'll never have to tell the dog to get off the "bed" again...!

I'm kidding (sorry I couldn't help myself). I didn't get rid of our bed, but sleeping on the floor does really work for me. My little princess is only 5 months old, but she has always been the perfect little sleeper. She falls asleep by herself a hour or so after her last feeding at night, and sleeps through the night until around 8am.  After a quick snack she snoozes again until about 10am. 

That's a lot of sleep for a little person, so nap times are a challenge for us. She definitely needs a nap in the afternoon to stay un-cranky, but unlike night-time she has difficulty getting to and staying asleep. The only way for her to get to sleep in the afternoon is to nurse regardless of her actual hunger level. She doesn't want to suck on a thumb or a paci...she just wants mommy. And unlike at night when you can pretty much jump around with her in your arms and she'll still be snoozing away, in the afternoons the slightest movement wakes her up. She's not sound sensitive, just movement sensitive and most of the time she jerks herself awake.

Unless I want to hold her for the entirety of her nap, I can't feed her in an upright position because just the motion of putting her down will wake her up. My only other option is to nurse her lying down, but the problem is that I end up waking her up when I go to get up from the bed. We have a regular old spring mattress, and no matter how gently I try to roll myself off the bed she ends up waking up.

The only solution that has worked for me is to put a blanket on the living room floor. I grab a couple of couch cushions for my own head, and lie down to nurse her for the 5 minutes or so that it takes for her to fall asleep. As long as I'm careful when I'm getting up and don't touch her, she will take her entire nap on the living room floor. I've also noticed that she doesn't jerk herself awake as often. On the rare occasions that I got her into the pack-n-play without waking her up, she would only be able to take a 30 minute nap before waking up. I suppose that when she moves in her sleep, there's not enough support there and the whole "mattress" area ends up moving and she wakes up from it. We certainly don't have that problem on the ground.

And it makes for really cute pictures when Chloe takes it upon herself to "baby-sit".

Works for Me Wednesday: The Kitchen Organization Edition

My kitchen is honestly the one place that I could not care less about. Maybe it has to do with the fact that I'm a terrible cook and really don't enjoy cooking at all, but mainly it's because there is not much I can do about kitchen organization. With every new house comes a new kitchen. There's only so much I can do in terms of an organizational system - after all, it's not like I can replace our kitchen cabinets, and then take those cabinets with us when we move to a new house. I've just resigned myself to making things fit however they will.

What I try to do though is to keep like items together if at all possible. That means the plates, pots and pans, and cooking utensils go by the stove for easy access. Cups go directly above where the coffee maker is on the countertop, and our drink mixes ideally go somewhere near the cups. Get the idea? I try to go by this method whenever I can, but that depends heavily on what I have to work with in the first place.

And since pictures are worth a thousand words, here's my kitchen for your viewing pleasure:

It's a rather small kitchen, but thankfully there's just enough storage room for our stuff. I wasn't able to completely stick with my like-items strategy, but for the most part it works for us. All of the shelving is adjustable, but we're only going to be here for a couple of months and it just wasn't worth the trouble to adjust everything.

This is by no means my ideal kitchen, but like I said I really try not to stress the whole "kitchen" thing since I have so little control over it. In most of the other rooms I can take my organizational ways with me because every closet is more or less the same - the size might change, but for the most part it's an empty space for me to work with. The kitchen is the one abnormality where my organization is dictated by the different type of drawers and cabinets that I have to work with. So I've decided that as long as everything fits and I don't spend more than 10 seconds looking for it, I'm happy.

Works for Me Wednesday: Sob Stories

Before I start, let me just say I used the title "sob stories" just for a lack of better (short enough) terms.  I don't really view them as sob stories, or a story in fact.  These are actual people, living the actual "story", and not a bunch of actors doing some soap opera entertainment show in the middle of the day for my entertainment.  It's just I'm not sure I could have gotten my point across in less than a paragraph otherwise, so in the interest of a short title, "sob story" it is.

Okay, now that I've gotten my disclaimer out of the way, let me share with you why reading about families like Scott & Carol Decker and Jonathan & Stephanie Waite really works for me.  It's a reality check, and it reminds me that I need to be grateful for what I have instead of complaining about it.  I'm reminded to be thankful for the little things in life, and see the bright side of things when it seems like there is no bright side. 

Last night, we made a late night trip out to Sears to pick up our family portraits, and the entire way home the little Princess decided to cry her head off.  She's a little thing, but she can scream like no one's business.  She always does this if we need to do something after daddy gets home.  The second he walks in the door and she sees him...she has to be held by him every single minute or else the world ends.  If she doesn't see him, it's fine, but once she does she needs him and I'm reduced to person-who-feeds-me.  Brat.

Yesterday I had stumbled across Jonathan & Stephanie Waite's blog, and one thing that really stuck in my mind was how Stephanie talks about not having a "wake-up cry" anymore.  That really struck a chord in me, because I am not a morning person and being woken by screaming/crying is definitely not my ideal way to start a day.  I love my princess to pieces, but when she starts crying, really crying, I'm the first one to want to rip off my ears.  It's even worse when she does it in the car and there's nothing reasonable and safe that we can do to comfort her. 

But then I thought about how much of a blessing it is to be able to hear my daughter cry.  Mindless crying screaming fits are part of the parenting experience, and as painful it is to my poor ears and my aching head, in my heart I'm glad that I can experience it.  I'm glad that I can hear her healthy scream, and I'm glad that I'm around to enjoy it.  I feel blessed that my husband is finally around enough for us to take a family portrait, and I'm grateful that we can go out together to fetch them. 

My head was still aching and my ears were probably bleeding by the time we pulled in the garage, and in the past my husband would offer to take her and allow me to storm ahead into the house for a minute or two of peace and quiet.  But last night was different.  Yes, my head still hurt, but I just wanted to hold her.  After all, it's part of the whole parenting experience and I want to enjoy every single part of it, the good and the bad, because life is a fragile thing and tomorrow everything might change. 

If I was a better person, I would not need to hear about other families' unfortunate experiences to remember to be thankful for my life.  But I'm just me, flaws and all, and I've come to terms with that.  It's so easy to forget to be grateful for the simple things in life, especially the more unpleasant things like a screaming baby, and "sob stories" really goes a long way in helping me remember to be grateful. 

Works for Me Wednesday: TV Trays

When I got our first set of TV trays off craigslist for $10, it was for one purpose and one purpose only - to eat a meal in front of the TV. This was when I was pregnant and the most that I could do on any given day was sit on the couch and press buttons on the remote - and some days not even that. Well, now that I'm not pregnant anymore and we no longer eat ramen dinner in front of the TV, the TV trays have found new purpose in our home.

I call the TV trays my instant tables, because that's what they are when I need just a little bit more room. We have a tiny 35" diameter table, so whenever we have a large dinner with a lot of plates or different sauces, I'll use a TV tray on the side to help out. Or when our daughter is a "sitting mood" during dinner, we'll put her bumbo seat on a TV tray and pull it up by the table. She's not quite ready for a high-chair, and there's no way we can put her bumbo on the dinner table and still have room for food.

I also use the TV trays by my desk. If I have a huge amount of bills or paperwork to sort out, I just pull out a TV tray and set it on the side of my desk for some instant extra working area. I also use one by the actual TV. The corded playstation controller is inches too short, so if you want to play and sit on the couch you'll have to lean forward. Not comfortable in the least. So when I want to play, I'll move the playstation out of the entertainment center and onto the TV tray. It keeps it off the ground away from psycho puppies, and it lets me sit comfortably on the couch. When I'm done, I can just slide the platstation back into the entertainment center and fold the TV tray up.

This Halloween, I'm playing to use a TV tray outside our door for the trick-a-treaters. There is no way in this world that I'm going to answer the door every 5 minutes, what with a baby trying to nap and 2 psycho self-proclaimed guard dogs. I don't even want to imagine the chaos. So what I'll probably do is set a TV tray outside with a bowl of candy and a sign.

For our next move, we're planning to throw two TV trays into the car to take with us. When we get to the empty new house, at least we'll have some raised surfaces and a place to eat that's off the floor until our stuff gets there. I love our TV trays...the surface is big enough for most things, and it folds up nicely to be stored just about anywhere.

Works For Me Wednesday: produce bags!

UPDATE: I thought I'd just take a second to respond to some of the comments. I could use a glass or tupperware container, but that would require that I wash it after I'm done with it, and I confess - I'm lazy. Besides, I already have these bags from the store anyway. I'm not a fan of the stray cucumber rolling around in my cart. And as far as making sure the bag is secured before I take it anywhere...I just double-knot it and shove it in the fridge. When it's done, I can just cut open the bag. Another plus side of using something that is trash-bound anyway. It's not the baby or anyone else that I'm worried about...it's ME. I'm not cut out to be in the kitchen, really =P.

Before I get started, I just wanted to extend a huge "thanks" to all of you that commented with suggestions for my Christmas dilemma last week. What we have decided to do is to post a Christmas suggestion list for the baby over at our private family blog, and then spread the word via grandparents what we would like and possible ways of getting it to us.

We've also just come to accept the fact that as the first grandchild, the little princess will be spoiled absolutely rotten. As I am typing this, another package is making its way through the mail system to her, because her grandma couldn't resist getting her another shirt. And there's nothing wrong with that - it's great that grandma loves her little muffin to pieces. At a certain point, you've just got to sit back, smile, and count your blessings.

Anyway, onwards to this week's Works For Me Wednesday! What really works for me is reusing produce bags. Here is an example of what I mean:

I'm not a photographer for a very good reason. But then again, my subject wasn't exactly all that either. It's just 4 chicken thighs marinating for dinner...but instead of using a ziploc baggie, I decided to reuse some produce bags.

I'm not so frugal that I refuse to buy ziploc bags, but I just think it's a complete waste to use a bag for a mere 2 hours and then throw it out when something else can readily serve its purpose. Besides, those ziploc baggies are expensive! So my marinating chicken won't look as great in my fridge...no one really cares.

I've been finding new uses for those produce bags - they're especially great for my diaper bag. I'll grab a few extras from the freezer section (those are thicker and higher quality), and then I put them in my diaper bag for dirty clothes. When I get back, I can just toss out the bag. I also use some of the old produce bags for dirty diapers.

Am I out to replace ziploc bags with produce bags in my house? You can bet your bottom dollar NOT. I won't be putting cereal in old produce bags anytime soon, nor will I be putting my sandwiches in them. But for jobs like holding clothing or marinating chicken...I just don't see why not.

Works-For-Me Wednesday: Christmas list

UPDATE: Thank you so much for all of the suggestions...! I am so touched that so many people have offered their suggestions, and you guys have given me really great ideas - I can't wait to hear more of them!

Today is a backwards edition of Works-For-Me Wednesday, and I really desperately need your help. It's only September, but Christmas is already threatening my sanity. And it's not giving presents that has the potential to put me in an insane asylum, but the prospect of receiving presents. My dilemma is how to politely and in a non-tacky way ask for certain types of gifts.

I am very grateful that we have so many friends and family that love us enough to want to send us presents. Last year we had so many presents that we had difficulty fitting them under our Christmas Tree (which was also a Christmas present). And the amazing thing was that we were on the east coast, and all these presents made their way from the west coast. But the problem is that we already have SO much stuff that we really can't just take on more useless items.

I'm so thankful for that gorgeous stationary set, but I really don't need it! And I'm sure that stuffed animal is adorable, but my will-be 7 month old won't really care for it. I would rather receive presents that we have a use for, because I feel so guilty about re-gifting presents or throwing them out, especially when someone took the time to buy it, wrap it, and then mail it to us!

Is there a polite and non-tacky way to establish and distribute a Christmas idea list amongst our family and friends? I don't want to make it seem like we're expecting presents, but honestly I would rather they donate the money to charity instead of getting us more useless stuff. I would rather 3 or 4 people pool their money and gift us with one present instead (read: the food processor or the camera that I desperately need).

And I am living in fear that this Christmas will just be blown out of proportion with the baby's presence. She's the first everything - grandkid, great grandkid, niece, nephew...you name it, she's first. It's nowhere near Christmas, and at least once a week I'll get a package addressed to her with some cute booties or shirts or toys inside. And she has SO much of most things. She's got more clothes than my husband and I combined, and she's got enough stuffed animals and baby toys for me to open a daycare center. What she really needs are some developmental non-newborn toys, like walkers or entertainment centers.

I also need a way to suggest to our friends and family where to buy the gifts. It's really a waste of money to buy something at their local store and send it via mail when they can just order it online for pickup at our local store. USPS, UPS, and Fedex is NOT cheap, and I would rather they donate that postage money to a local animal shelter instead. Or if there's no local in-store pickup, I would rather they send a giftcard for the exact amount of the item they want us to get and a picture of it. I promise I'll go to get that actual item!

I admit it, I'm obsessed with saving money, even when it's not my own. None of our relatives are millionaires, and whereas I know they wouldn't make themselves broke on our behalf, I just wish that people who really need that money can get it, instead of UPS.

Anyone have words of advice on how to tactfully deliver a "we need" list for Christmas?

Works for me Wednesday: Puppy Pads!

For a long time, our changing table area was a huge dilemma for us. What happens when the little princess relieves herself while being changed...???? You know it's going to happen too, so there's no use in pretending that there's no possibility of it happening. I know they offer absorbing washable pads at the baby store, and my mother-in-law suggested a cloth diaper, but let's be honest. Those absorbing washable pads are like $5 each! Yes, cloth diapers are cheaper, but the underlying problem with both of these is that they need to be washed. Immediately. And dropping everything that I'm doing to start a load of laundry is not an appealing solution (if you can even call it that).

What finally give me my "EUREKA!" moment was seeing the disposable blue pads they had at the pediatrician's office to cover the scale. They looked like smaller versions of the puppy pads we used for Chloe when she was a puppy and we were 4 stories up in an apartment! So that afternoon I went out to Walmart and got myself a pack of puppy pads. It was some ridiculously low price - $5 for 100 or something like that. Babies r Us sells exact replicas of the ones at the pediatrician's office, but it's at a crazily inflated price...comes out to being like $1 per pad.

I love these puppy pads because they are disposable! When the little princess decides to go while we're changing her, I just pick her up, toss the puppy pad in the trash, and slap on a new one. And those pads hold an incredible amount of liquid. She had an accident once at the pediatrician office, and it went everywhere because their pad couldn't soak it all up. Not these puppy pads. And it makes sense, because they design these pads for use when owners are out of the house and they expect puppies to go multiple times. And as a bonus the pads smell great too, because they have a deodorizing component in them.

We now use puppy pads everywhere, and they are cheap enough for us to do that too. I use them at home to cover our changing tables, and I also keep some in the car. I don't even bother with those silly diaper changing pads anymore...I just prop down a puppy pad on the seat of my car and change her there. People think I'm nuts because the puppy pad is so thin and whimsy, but I'm telling you...you could drop a small soda on there and that pad will soak it up. And the best part of it is I can fold and squish that pad down to fit anywhere instead of having to lug around a huge diaper bag.

Thank you Chloe and Chip for introducing me to the world of puppy pads!