Wednesday, January 21, 2015

I'm making another one.

Human, that is.  I'm making another human.  And I can't wait to meet this little nugget.  Expected date of arrival is early July-ish.  I wasn't certain of my due date until my first appointment which was the beginning of this year (Lofty 4 Less tip:  since I found out about my pregnancy at the end of the year, waiting an extra month to go to my "congratulations-you're-pregnant" office visit saved me hundreds of dollars.  Why, you ask?  Because your insurance deductibles reset at the beginning of the year, which means you'd have to start from the beginning paying office visits, sonograms, etc...  Depending on when you find out about your pregnancy (as well as your age and overall health) will determine if this is even an option for you).

Here are some random points that I would like to make about my pregnancy (and child-rearing in general):

  • Children are only as expensive as you want them to be.  There are plenty of items that you can buy on sale or second-hand that will keep you from plowing through your budget.  And second-hand baby items are more often than not like new, because the previous user/baby outgrew the item before he/she could get really good use.
  • My family chooses to find out the gender of our baby.  We're planners, Well, I'm a planner, and I like to have the baby's room (in this case, our future "sitting room") decorated for him/her before his/her arrival.  I also like to be able to buy gender specific clothing.  I know not everyone is like this, but the need to know is part of my DNA.
  • I buy all of my maternity clothes at the beginning of my pregnancy.  I have found that at the beginning of your pregnancy, you can find a bounty of season's end clearance (which is typically the season you'll end your pregnancy in).  Take advantage of this, because fully priced maternity clothes are ridiculously expensive.  Since this is pregnancy #3 for me, I have every season covered in the maternity clothing department. Haha!  I did, however, buy myself a clearanced but very trendy top and dress for myself.  There's nothing wrong with being a little stylish during these pound-packing months, right?
  • I sell my kiddos' outgrown clothes at seasonal consignment sales.  Okay, so this may seem a little counter-intuitive, but let me explain.  Babies outgrow their clothes very quickly.  And then there's the gender thing.  This combo makes it hard to line up your older child's wardrobe with your newborn's.  For example, I currently have a Winter girl and a Summer boy.  If baby #3 is a Summer boy, then I've hit the jackpot...but if not, then I will have to buy an entirely new newborn wardrobe for my Summer girl.  So, instead of holding on to all of my kid's baby clothes, I sell them and use the money to fund their future wardrobes (I typically net $200/kid - more than enough to buy next season's ensemble).  Plus, I like dressing my kiddies up for special occasions, so I'm not one to put my newest addition in a hand-me-down for an occasion worthy of a photo opp.  Guess that's the "lofty" in me talking! 
  • I love, love, love kids!  They are a joy!  I truly cannot wait to be a party of 5!
And in home decorating news, this pregnancy has slowed my progress down significantly!  That, and the fact that I have to make a wedding dress, 3 bridesmaid dresses, and a flower girl dress by end of April. Long story for another day, perhaps.
Needless to say, I have been painting my kitchen walls for the past 3 months. Hahaha!  Thanks to playing it safe and not using oil-based primer...and fatigue...and nausea.  I will hopefully be able to post pictures of my kitchen updates before this baby arrives. lol  But that's life, right?  It does things like get in the way of your plans.  And although my plan was to get pregnant, it was not to make dresses for an entire bridal party.  But how can you say no to someone who wants their wedding to be unique??  You can't.  At least, I can't.  I will post pictures of these dresses as well, since making them will take a good chunk of my "free time" from now until mid-April.  Yay!  :-D