Test post from iPad

Ok.... Testing!

I downloaded the light version of the iPad app. It doesn't have my green color for text, but that's ok :)

It says you can only do 6 pages with the light version. I wonder if that means 6 at a time or 6 before you have to upgrade. Hmmm......

At any rate, I love my iPad. The only problem I have is trying to decide how to spend my iTunes money lol so maybe buying the full version of this app won't be so bad. As of now I have spent more money on apps for my 3 year old than on apps for myself!

Well, I think I may have both children asleep. Time to put operation splash into motion (blow up the new kiddie pool).

Post a day challenge.

I am going to try to post every day in June. Very ambitious of me...

The thing is, I got an iPad for a combination birthday and Mother's day gift. I have mastered everything on it, except for blogger. I need to download the app I guess. I can't edit text color or spell check on the iPad, and I have been letting that stop me. Well. Time to suck it up!

So I am about to purchase the app from the app store. I'll be back to update how that goes lol. Wish me luck!

Playing catch-up

I really stink at this blogging thing.  I've tried at least twice before to blog. Maybe three times if you count myspace.  I can never keep up with it. Now that I have kids, it's worse. I really like to write and it helps me think.  I think that I am capable of giving really great mom-related information, such as car-seat info, money saving ideas, craft and lesson plan ideas, and so-on.  I just need to get organized.

The problem is, I do too much. Since my beautiful little nephew was born I've been away more than I've been home.  I was there on and off for two weeks. Then we went to visit my brother and his family, including my sweet baby niece who I hadn't got to meet yet.  After that was Easter, and then I won tickets to the Texas Motor Speedway race weekend and we were back in Dallas.  It was exhausting, going to Dallas twice in three weeks, but just look at my boys:

They were SOOOO excited! Anyway, so after that I got one weekend at home and then I was off again.  This weekend I'll be home but we have company, next weekend is Mother's Day.  BUT I'm HOPING that after Mother's Day things are going to slow down around here! *fingers crossed*

Seven Slings Review *Updated*

My good friend Kallie turned me on to www.sevenslings.com. They currently have a promotion going on where you can get a sling for the cost of shipping.  Baby T loves to be worn, and I was really struggling with the Moby wrap, so I was very excited to try a sling out. Unfortunately I've had some minor issues, the process was a bit confusing, so here's what you need to know.


The Website
The website is easy to use.  You go to the "shop now" tab, pick out your pattern, quantity and size. It automatically adds to the cart.  You can then enter your coupon code.  The first time you shop this site, it also adds $3.50 for "size exchange insurance." I thought that was kind of odd, but see below

Sizing
Slings come in sizes 1 through 9. The sizing chart is very complicated and I had a hard time determining what size I would need (I quickly saw why the size exchange insurance was offered). Sizing is based on your conventional size, your t-shirt size, height, weight, cup size, and (most importantly, according to the chart) your shoulder to hip measurement. By the first two measurements, I was a 6. Height, weight, and cup size put me at a size 4. Shoulder to hip measurement put me between a 5 and a 6. I decided to split the difference and order the size 5 and made sure to purchase the size exchange insurance. 

Ordering
Ordering is the easiest part of the process. Pick your pattern, your quantity, and your size. It adds the sling to your cart and gives you your total with a place to enter a coupon code.  I used code family2012, and it removed $39 - the cost of the sling. I checked to make sure the size insurance was in the cart. My total came out to $15.45 for a sling that was sale priced at $39. Excellent.  I entered my info and clicked the order button.  I got an e-mail confirming my order right away with a link to track shipping.

Shipping
The reason the shipping is so expensive is it's first class and with processing you can expect your delivery "within 2 to 8 business days" by the website's description. I ordered the sling on February 27th and when I went out of town on March 6th it had not arrived.  When I returned on March 9th, it was waiting in my mailbox.  I never got a confirmation shipping e-mail, and the link to my shipping information just took me to a page that said my order was being processed.  So while I'm not sure exactly how long it took to get to my mailbox, it was relatively close to their 8 day estimate.  Usually when a place gives you a shipping estimate of several days, it comes either on the lower end or right in the middle of the estimate, so I was a little disappointed in how long it took.

Product
I opened the sling and the first thing I noticed was the smell.  It had a very heavy chemically type of smell. The fabric also feels very thin, cheap, and not very soft. My first impulse was to wash it, but I decided to get it tried on and put the baby in it so that I could return it if it was the wrong size.  When you unfold it out of the package, it's just one big long piece of fabric sewn together at the ends. You have to fold the sling inwards on itself to make it into an actual sling.  The website and the sling itself have step-by-step instructions, and it didn't take long to figure it out.  I got the sling on and it fit great shoulder-to-hip (which was the only measurement that told me to actually order a size 5). Unfortunately there is a lot of leftover material in the middle.  I put baby in and there was so much extra material that I folded it back at the shoulder.  Well, since the print is only on one side, folding it back really took away from the appearance of the sling.  I decided that I would need to take advantage of the size insurance and send it back.


Size exchange policy and a problem
This is where things get tricky, and this might be long winded but it's important. The size exchange insurance is $3.50 and for that you get a postage paid envelope to send it back and they will send you another size without charging you additional shipping.  Does anyone else find it odd that it cost me $12 for them to ship it to me but only costs $3.50 to ship it back?

The sling must be returned in "perfect resell-able condition."  I figured that meant no damage to the product.  Well, when you get the return instructions, you find out that it's a bit more complicated than that.  The sling must be perfectly re-folded, per their included folding instructions.  It must be perfect re-packaged and they must be able to literally take it out of your envelope and put it into another shipping envelope to send to someone else.


Unfortunately when I took the sling out, the green zipper broke off of the bag right in my hand. I figured I could put it back on.  I folded it to the best of my ability and squeezed the sling back into the bag. I sealed the bag and tried to reattach the zipper. No dice, it would not go back on. So I started trying to unseal the bag. It tore. In two places. It says right on the instructions that if the bag is torn it may result in them shipping the same sling back to you because it is no longer resell-able.  I was leaving town AGAIN, so I didn't deal with the issue until I got home.


I e-mailed the company on a Monday, got a response on Thursday that as long as the sling itself was not damaged, I could return it.  I e-mailed them back and said "Great, but now I'm really close to the 14-day return window, can I still send it back?" I got an immediate response saying they would waive that requirement for me.  I should have figured if I posted my review they would get back to me the next day! :) So it's safe to say that yes, I would recommend this company, with the following recommendations:


My Recommendations
1)Don't order without a coupon code, it's silly to pay full price (try coupon code familybump). 
2)Buy the size exchange insurance but be aware that your bag and sling need to stay in PERFECT condition (I don't know if they often bend those rules, so do the best you can just to be safe). 
3) Don't go in and out of town and wait to deal with it like I did, the instructions say if it isn't returned within 14 days of delivery that they can hold you sling and re-charge you for shipping! 
4)Overall, just be willing to take a risk.  I'm disappointed but it's a good deal and I can always re-sell it on Craigslist or a friend might be able to use it :)


Hope that you found some helpful information here!

Mama needs some new clothes!

I HATE spending money on myself!

I know I'm not the only thrifty mama with this problem.  I love buying for the kids - toys, books, clothes, etc. I shop it around and I try to save as much as I can on those things, but it doesn't "hurt" when I spend the money.  Buying for myself is almost physically painful - it makes me nauseous even. Unfortunately, looking in the mirror every time I got ready to go somewhere was making me MORE nauseous.  New clothes have been long overdue.  

This week, Target just came out with a bunch of coupons for clothing.  So I printed like mad, grabbed my pharmacy rewards 5% off and my Target Red Debit card, and went shopping.

Here's what I purchased:
Merona denim crops
Mossimo denim crops
Two Merona cross-front t-shirts
Liz Lange Maternity/Nursing tank
 2, 2 packs of MAM 0-6 months pacifiers (because baby is a paci-snob and needed new paci's!)

Total before coupons and 5%'s off: $76.60
Total spent: $58.20

I still hate that I had to buy clothes, but I can't argue with what I paid!

A non-review of Diapers.com

A good rule of thumb is not to judge something until you've tried it.  I'm not going to do that here.  I'm not going to order from diapers.com, so I can't tell you about the shipping or the customer service. I simply researched price (because you know I love to save some money), and I'm going to share my findings.

First, Diapers.com; then, my local Target (come on, if you know me you HAD to know that was coming ;) ).

Diapers.com
I have a coupon for $10 off my first order of $49 or more.  I figured that diapers.com sold by the case so I figured that $49 would probably be spent quick buying in bulk.  I'm wary of buying in bulk, because when it comes down to cost per diaper you don't always get a great deal. I decided to do my research and see what came up.

We use Huggies Pure and Natural diapers. Yes, this money-saving mommy uses the most expensive type of Huggies there is.  It's a long story that has nothing to do with this entry so I'll save it. I was surprised to find that they sell P&N the same way as my Target store, or by the case.  So I compared the same package I can get at Target (score!).

A 80 pack of Huggies P&N is $21.99 on diapers.com (that is the sale price, it says original price $27.99). This comes out to 27 cents per diaper.  My $10 off is only good if I spent $49, so I decided to add 3 packs to my cart for a total of $65.97.  Subtract the $10 for a cost of $55.97. Diapers.com gives free shipping on orders of $49 too. And, if I'm reading right, no tax for Texas (it had certain states on the list that had to pay tax and TX wasn't there). This comes out to 23 cents per diaper.

Target
This week, an 80 pack of P&N diapers is on sale for $19 at Target.  I also have a $1 coupon, and I get 5% off (You NEED a Target Red Debit Card people, I'm tellin' ya!). So my cost pre-tax is $17.10, with tax it's 18.51, or 23 cents per diaper. 

So it's all the same... except next time I don't get $10 off at diapers.com. And last week at Target I had a Target coupon for $2 off and a manufacturer coupon for $1 off, making my tax-included price $17.26, or 21.5 cents per diaper. I'm not always lucky enough to be able to stack coupons but it pays off when I can.

If we compare sheer base price, Diapers.com sells the 80 pack for 27 cents a diaper (and, like I said, that says "sale") and Target sells it for 25 cents per diaper.  Now you do get a $5 off per case loyalty bonus at diapers.com, which for the size one case of 132 diapers makes it $32.99, or 25 cents per diaper.

So from what I've found, you really can't save much by buying in bulk at diapers.com. I don't buy in bulk unless I'm going to save money, because I need something to make up for the sanity it's going to cost me when I'm trying to store 240 diapers. Either way, by big pack or case, you have to order over 200 of my brand of diapers to get free shipping at diapers.com.  I'd rather pick them up 80 at a time.

A first for me!

I've been a proud aunt for almost 13 years (I can't believe my niece is so grown up!!).  My nieces are 12, 6.5, and 4 months old.  But on Monday I got something all new to me - I got my very first nephew!  I was the last of my siblings to get a nephew. It goes like this.  My sis had the first two kids, so my bros and I all got nieces. Then, I had my first son - my bros and sis got a nephew. THEN, my older bro and his wife had a daughter in October, so my sis got her first niece. I had another boy in December (another nephew for everyone else).  So everyone had nieces AND nephews but me.  That changed Monday!  And oh my goodness is he beautiful, I just have to show him off.

                                                        My youngest and my new nephew

Yes, we have doubled my mom's grandchildren count since October :) Can't you just hear her complaining about it?

I was super happy to spend part of the week in Cypress helping out with my nieces and my new sweet nephew, I can't wait to get back this week  to kiss those cheeks! And maybe do some fun aunt stuff with the nieces :)

Tomorrow I'm going to work on a post about baby related stuff. I have to talk about my new sling and diapers.com. I love blogging about saving money so it will be a fun entry!