Gro Baby Rave (random)

Here is Grant's cute bootie!

I heard the buzz about Gro Baby and I had to try them. Overall, we LOVE them!

Pros: Very absorbent, organic cotton soaker (we go overnight in them w/o the booster b/c sometimes I forget to stuff it in there)

GORGEOUS shell (we have mandarin and the color is so yummy! I also love the natural color snaps)

Super trim

I love the soft "velcro" part (no scratched up tummies! Love, love, love this! You can customize the fit better than snap dipes, but no red irritation especially if you have tummy sleepers!)

Super quick dry shells!

Cons: The velcro is really sticky and sticks to everything (like GSP fur that is taking over my home. :(

I don't have enough! :(

Here is Evan. Yeah..don't mind "George the Steamroller" in the background...lol!

Get 'em here:

The Natural Baby Co.

No...really...go get them! :)

Paper Towels?

A few months ago, we stopped using paper products in our kitchen to reduce waste (and conveniently save money at the same time!). My dad is a paper towel-aholic so he brings his own roll to my house if he is watching my kiddos for any length of time longer than 5 minutes. (Yeah...I'm working on it...) He left his last roll here in case of any catastrophes.
We had one.

A giant milk spill while all my kitchen towels were spinning happily in the dryer.

Uh oh! I decided to grab the paper towels since they were here for this. exact. reason.

I grabbed one off the roll and headed in to attack the spill. Hahahahahaha!
One paper towel didn't even make a dent in the milk spill...by the time it was over I used a huge handful and was pretty P.O.ed! Seriously, I had been using paper towels for years and I never realized how inefficient they actually are. One of my kitchen towels could have easily cleaned up the milk and lived to tackle more messes. Hmmmmm....

Just a little prelude to June...(June is FREE month!)

Sell-Off Status Update

Craigslisting: Ehhhh...I like it when things sell fast, but I get aggravated if a potential buyer asks 10 million questions and then drops off the face of the earth. All my single baby stuff is gone, but my twin stuff is just sitting there....

Ebay: Gah! I really must say this is not my favorite outlet for selling smaller lots...too many fees and rigamorale...

Yard Sale: Well, I am still trying to determine my pricing strategy for the yard sale. I typically like to price things a bit higher and then immediately mark them down (can you tell I spent many years working retail?), but I am not sure how that will work with a yard sale? I am counting on people trying to make offers though so I do think I will price a bit on the higher side...any suggestions?

I haven't tried out Consignment selling, but I wanted to add 2 other selling venues for baby/mama gear (and some other stuff too!):

Diaper Swappers

Spots' Corner

Both of these sites allow you to sell items that you are no longer using to mamas that may need them. You would want to save these sites for gently used clothing/shoes/maternity items b/c they would need to be shipped. (ummm....I won't tell you how this is working out for me... ...I'll just say try to post your items and run without looking at anything else!)

Let me know your status!

Craigslisting Craziness!!

Okay..you caught me! It's true...I am a huge blog slacker...it seems whenever I actually think about what I want to write I can't get anywhere close to the computer, but on days when I have nothing to say I seem to have unlimited computer time. Ugh!

I promise to TRY to do better.

Anyway, by now you should have had plenty of time to organize your stuff. Unless of course you are blessed to have a hubby that collects crap (oops, I mean stuff!). If you do, then you might run into a problem. (Or if you collect "stuff" too you might have an even bigger problem!) There are 2 ways to deal with collections:

* If the collection is a genuine, legitimate collection that your spouse (or you!) loves, the best bet is to find a good place to actually DISPLAY the collection. This may seem like going against the BtoB way, but you may actually have to find & purchase (or swap for or barter for or whatever...) a storage unit to keep the display neat and free from tiny, grabbing hands.

*If the collection is made up of "I can't walk past the $5 DVD bin at Walmart without grabbing at least 5 DVDs"...then you can institute the Golden Rule. The Golden Rule of BtoB life is: "If one comes in, one goes out!" That means for each new addition to the DVD collection, one DVD needs to find a new loving home. This rule requires you & your family to really think about whether or not to make a new purchase.

On to the Craigslisting...
*Take great pictures of your gear in an area free from clutter and with good natural light!
*Post your listings on the weekend when lots of people are already in "shopping mode" and most likely just got paid!
*Include as much description as possible for your item...google it (better yet Swagbucks it!) and get the manufacturer's description to copy and paste into your ad.

Another great idea...CONSIGNMENT SALES!
If you don't have time to deal with individually selling items yourself, look around for a nearby consignment shop and have them do the work for you! We do not have any really close in my area so I have not gone this route, but I have heard great raves from other mamas about this method!

Alright mamas, post your craigslisting tips or success stories here!

But I want more babies.........

Yes, it does seem a little silly to think about clearing out any baby gear before you are done having babies. But here are a few things to consider when you are taking inventory of the baby booty (no, not your baby's booty...you know, all their loot!):

*Did it work for you? Did you like to use it or did you spend hours each day cursing it out and wishing you had a different version?

*Does it expire? (This probably only applies to car seats and baby food, but hey, who knows?)

*Will you most likely get good use out of it again? Is is seasonal? Is is likely that one of your own kiddos will actually get to use it again? (Seasonal baby clothes are a tough one to decide what to do with...basically, you need to have another same gender/same season baby to get the best use out of those little-bitties and even then it is a crapshoot! My twins were unable to wear ANY of their older brother's summer gear even though he was born in May and they were born in June.)

*How far apart do you plan to space your kiddos? (One thing I discovered even with only 2 years between my kids is that there was TONS of cool new gear available by the time my 2nd & 3rd were born. Some of it we were easily able to bypass, but some of it was just callling our names. By purchasing it from craigslist and keeping it clean and resellable, we were able to have some of the best new gear only while we needed it for a fraction of the cost.)

Want to keep it, but don't have enough space?

What about lending it out? Be sure to set very clear, firm ground rules before lending out any items including a return date (even if you don't really know when you'll need it again). Explain you would like the item returned in the same condition it was lent out in (although it may not come back perfect...if this expectation is in place it will encourage the borrowing mama to be a little more careful with your gear) Be careful who you lend to. A good rule of thumb is if you would trust them to babysit you can trust them with your stuff! Keep track of who has what either on your computer or in a notebook.

**If you want to "lend" out clothing, go for it! Just don't expect to get any particular pieces back and you will probably be happily surprised with the outcome!**

Any other ideas about what to do with all this stuff, mamas?