Carter Sample Sale / Consignment Sale

Last Saturday morning, I went to a Carters Sample Sale over in the Matthews/Stallings area.  Carters is such a great brand in clothing / all things baby.  Everything on the rack was $5.00 an item / brand new with tags, straight from the distributor. 

My cousin Ginger is the go to person for all things "SALE".  She is constantly e-mailing me about coupon classes, consignment sales, sample sales, etc.  I love it - because if you know me, I love a good BARGAIN!

Here are a few items I scored this past weekend:

A Pop of Red

2 pairs of stretchy ruffle butt pants ($2.50 each)

The Cutest Pair of Santa Pajamas

A 4 piece set including a sleeper, onesie, sleeper pants and a bib all for $5.00

And my fav.....  Leopard top and pants - size 18 months (they didn't have anything in 12 mths)

Following the Carters Sample Sale, I ran over to First Baptist Indian Trail for their bi-annual consignment sale.  This is the first time I've been to their sale.  I must say, I was NOT impressed.  A lot of the items looked really worn.  One thing I must say about going to these consignment sales is that I ONLY buy items that still have the tags or that you can tell have been worn once or twice.  Also, I only go to the half price sales.  These are usually on Saturdays or the final day of the sale.  For example, if an item hasn't sold on a Friday or first thing Saturday morning, then the consignor has the option to discount it for the half price sale which is really when you get the best deal!  If consignors put in the time to get their items sold, then they will usually discount the item to have the best chance of getting it sold. 

The only thing worth blogging about at the FBIT consignment sale is that I scored a 100% cashmere sweater for Lottie for $2.50 - it looked as if it had been worn once.  The consignor's tag said that it was Kate Spade but I don't know if I am buying that (there was no actually tag in the sweater).  Oh well - you can't beat 100% cashmere for $2.50.

6 Month Photos

I'm finally getting around to posting a couple of photos I had taken at JC Penney for Lottie's 6 month photos.  These photos are not only price friendly but great for her "milestone" photo collection.  Speaking of which, I've been slacking on the baby book - hope to catch up on that this weekend! 

So much is happening right now - Lottie has perfected sitting up on her own.  She sits on her mat in the living room floor so content and happy playing with all of her toys.  She's also been giving Steve and I these little hugs where she buries her face into our faces and her arms go around our head.  She repeatedly does that while laughing hysterically.  It is beyond cute.  I am determined to get video of that this weekend! 

I can't wait for Lottie to rock her leg warmers this fall with her jeggings!!

I can't tell you how blessed Steve and I are.  Lottie is such a joy to be around.  I thank God every day for her. 

Weekend Wrap Up

What a busy weekend!  Although weekends like the past one are so much fun, it makes me long for those quiet weekends with just the three of us. 

I don't know if it is because of having a baby and all the added day to day things that come with that or getting up between 4:45 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. every day for a workout or my thyroid issue (ongoing since 2009) - but this mama is TIRED!  Thankfully I'm going to see my endocrinologist on Thursday morning to have my thyroid levels checked and hopefully within the next week I will have my medication adjusted according to those results so I will start feeling a little more energetic!  WOOHOO!

Friday night was a pretty quiet night - I made some poms for a friend's b-day party the following night, played with Lottie, had a little girl talk and magazine reading and made dinner.  I was supposed to be running / walking in the Brixx 5K the next morning but Miss Lottie decided that she was going to wake up at 1:00 a.m. and not go back to bed until 3:30 a.m.  I think her ears were bothering her (so sad).  So with that said, I skipped the race.  Sleep sounded so much better than getting up at 7:30 a.m. and driving downtown to run!  Right???????

Girl talk and magazine reading

Saturday afternoon Lottie and I did a little shopping and walking around Blakeney.  It was pretty cool out and I must say it felt GREAT!

Saturday night was one of my BFF's (Ashley) 30th birthday party.  Ms. Beverly (like my 2nd mom) wanted to keep Lottie for the night so we dropped her off around 6:30 p.m.  We had dinner at Room 112 and got a table at Kazba afterwards.  Steve and I hung out until midnight and decided it was time for us to go.  We had the Panthers game the following day and didn't want to feel like crap / tired the whole rest of the day.

Ashley - I hope you had as much fun as we did on Saturday night!  I can't believe we are 30!  Here's to celebrating the next 30 birthdays together!!!  Love you!

The Birthday Girl

Jeanette and Lauren

Steve and I

Jeanette and I

The girls

Scuba

Sunday afternoon was the 1st home game for the Panthers!!  Steve and I were pretty stoked because we were playing Green Bay (defending Super Bowl champs).  My dad was always a Green Bay Packer fan before the Panthers ever had a team in Charlotte so that is who we followed at our house.  With that said, I was definitely rooting for the Panthers on Sunday.  I knew the chance of actually winning on Sunday was slim to none but we gave it a good fight the first half.  I think everyone was surprised at how well we played.  Unfortunately we fell apart in the second half.  Yesterday it was announced that Thomas Davis would be out for the season w/ an ACL tear.  That means that our defense continues to weaken as both Beason and Davis are out for the season.  Uggghhhhhghhhh

Our good friends Matt and Danielle tested out their babysitting skills on Sunday so that we could get to the game.  During the game I got this sweet text and my heart just melted!!!  Thank you so much for keeping Lottie on Sunday!  She had the best time!

Getting Crafty

I've been perusing the Internet the last few days thinking about the upcoming holidays and how excited I am for fall! 

Lottie will be 7 months old on Sunday - can you believe it? 

The next couple of weekends are pretty jammed pack, we've got a 30th birthday party tomorrow night, the Green Bay Packer game on Sunday, another home Panther game next Sunday along with a Carolina Hurricane hockey game next Sunday night.  Then the first weekend in October we are headed to Pittsburgh for our friend's wedding.  Busy, Busy, Busy!

Thankfully after our weekend away, our weekends to follow should be relatively low key.

Speaking of low key - I'm ready to get my craft on!  I am going to attempt to make a Halloween tutu for Lottie this year.

Stay tuned...........

The Never Ending Ear Infection

Lottie will be 7 months old in 4 days!!!  I can NOT believe how quick the time goes! 

My poor baby is suffering from a double ear infection.  This has been ongoing since August 1st.  I initially took her in because of the greenish discharge leaking from her left eye.  I thought she might have had an eye infection or pink eye.  Not the case. 

I had Steve take her in for the third time yesterday afternoon because once again her eye is oozing with a greenish discharge.  I thought for sure the last round of antibiotics had cleared it up.  But after 2 weeks of not taking the antibiotics, it is BACK! 

With that said, the doctor suggested one more round of the same antibiotic for 10 days.  He is doubtful it will clear up the infection, but will give it one more try.  If the infection has not cleared in 10 days, we will be given a referral to Charlotte Eye Ear Nose & Throat for TUBES.  Just the thought of Lottie being put under anesthesia is scary. 

But, from what I've heard from family and friends is it is a God Send and their kids have not had an ear infection since.  It is relatively an easy procedure that lasts 5 minutes. 

Please pray for Lottie and her ears over the next few weeks that we will see some improvement and she can get back to feeling 100%!

On another note - she weighed in at 16lbs, 9oz yesterday!!  My baby is porking up!  :)

It's a Fish Fry Kind of Weekend

This past weekend was a weekend spent with family!

Friday night was a loooooooooooooooonnnnngggggggggggg night!  Between the never ending ear infection (we've gone through 2 rounds of antibiotics thus far) and teething - Lottie was up at 1, 3 and 6 a.m.  I spent the majority of the night worrying about her b/c I am a worry wart!  With that said, I was so sleepy when she decided to start her day at 7:15 a.m.  Steve got up with her so that I could try and catch up on sleep.  He fed her, changed her and took her on a walk over at the 4 Mile Greenway off Rea Road (Good Daddy).  I slept until 10 a.m.  WOW - I can't remember the last time that happened.  It was much needed! 

After the gang got back, Lottie and I headed to NY&Company to spend some city cash I had earned from a previous shopping trip.  They have some great items that just arrived (think lots of animal print). 

Afterwards, we headed to Southbrook Church for a little kid's consignment shopping.  Every year, local churches in the area hold two sales each year to sell gently used children's clothing, toys, strollers, shoes, pack and plays, etc.  I absolutely love it!  This year I walked away with several outfits for $11.00!  I bought the cutest puff vest w/ matching jeans for $2.50 - it must have only been worn a couple of times because it is in great condition!  Last year while I was pregnant, I scored a pack and play for $15.00!  Crazy right?  I leave that one down at my sister's house so we don't have to pack it each time we visit.  This year I am on a mission to score a jogging stroller!  I saw one this past weekend for $50.00.  I thought that was a great deal - hopefully I will find an even better deal these next couple of weekends!  If anyone would like for me to post upcoming sales, please let me know!!

Saturday afternoon we headed to my grandma's house for a family fish fry.  Since my uncle Delano retired, he spends quite a bit of time on the river fishing - I think mostly for catfish and crappy.  The food was delicious!  I wish I had thought about taking pictures because it was quite the feast.  We had spicy battered catfish, crappy, hush puppies, fries, sweet potato fries, onion rings and cole slaw. 

As you can probably imagine, everyone couldn't wait to get their hands on Lottie!  She is the youngest baby of all of us cousins.

My Aunt Dixie and Lottie

My Aunt Francis and Lottie

My Aunt Brenda and Lottie

My Aunt Joy and Lottie

My Grandma Patterson (almost 95 years old) and Lottie

My Aunt Brenda showing us how she used to hulla hoop

My second cousins Morgan, Mya and Haley

Morgan and Lottie

Shirley, Francis, Wesley, Ginger, Lynn and Brenda

Sunday morning, Steve took Lottie out for another walk on the Greenway. I went to church for Homecoming at Union.  He came back and watched "futbol" with Lottie and made her wear her England jersey so they matched.  It was really CUTE!!!!  I had to capture a few pics!  The rest of the afternoon was spent napping and watching football!  Oh how I have missed football season.  Steve and I have owned PSLs for the Panthers for years and really enjoy going to the games.  This year will be a little different since we've had Lottie.  Hopefully we will still make it to a few games.  We are especially excited about the Green Bay Packer game next week!

Dad and Lottie in their England jerseys

We put Lottie in her Panther jersey for the 4:00 game.  She was so stinking cute!!!  I just love this little girl!

I hope everyone else had a family filled weekend.  You can't beat them!  I wish every weekend could be like this past weekend!