Thrifty Wife Happy Life

Helping women love what they wear on a budget

Shopping Finds- Old Navy LBD

by Katie Haller

I don’t think it’s possible for a girl to ever have too many little black dresses.  They are so practical and you can accessorize them with almost everything in your closet.  A few weeks ago, I bought this LBD from Old Navy and I couldn’t ask for a more perfect dress for the summer months.  It’s so lightweight and with our summer temperatures in the 100’s for 3 straight months, you definitely want something that will be practical for the heat.  I could honestly pair this dress with anything in my closet, but my favorite way to wear it is with my black strappy wedge sandals.  I love wedges in the spring and summer.  I also decided to wear the new sun hat I recently bought.  I found this cute hat for $5 in the dollar section at Target.  To add a little color to the look, I accessorize with my coral purse.

Shop my closet
Dress- Old Navy (exact) || Shoes- Target (similar) || Purse- Coach Outlet (similar) || Necklace-Old Navy (similar) || Bracelet- Old Navy (similar) || Hat – Target (similar)
The best part about this dress is that it’s currently on sale at Old Navy for $15.  They have it in lots of different colors and patterns.  I’m not going to lie, I may buy it in another color if it goes on sale for even less in the next couple months.   

The Pros and Cons of Child Care

by Katie Haller

I’ve been wanting to write this post for a while now because I’m sure that there are a lot of new parents out there struggling with the idea of daycare.  It’s never easy to think about leaving your baby in someone else’s care, but many parents do it every day.  I have been working in early childhood settings ever since I graduated from college with my degree in child development.  I’ve been an infant teacher, toddler teacher, and administrator at child care centers, so I know what it’s like to work in a child care center and take care of other people’s children.  It’s not always easy.  I also understand now just how hard it can be from a parent’s perspective.  I dropped off Jack for his first day of daycare when he was just shy of 8 weeks old.  It was not an easy day for me.  I remember that feeling of having to trust a complete stranger with my precious baby.  This is why I feel like I am the perfect person to write a post on the pros and cons of daycare. 
It’s often a personal or a financial decision to continue to work after having a child.  For me, it was a mix of both.  My husband and I felt that we weren’t at the financial place we wanted to be at to support our family with just one income, so I continued to work.  Plus, I actually like my job.  It has been the best job that I’ve had since I graduated college and I wasn’t ready to give that up yet, so after a short maternity leave, I went back to work.  I’m grateful that I don’t work too long of hours and I do have a lot of flexibility with my job if needed, plus it was nice knowing that my husband was able to be home with Jack most days in the beginning.  For the first 9 months, my husband stayed home with Jack 2-3 days a week, which was nice. We found a small Christian child care center close to our home that had the right price.  At first, I had my concerns about leaving him, but overall I’m happy with the setting and Jack seems to love it.  His teachers are very sweet and I can tell when I drop him off that he’s in good hands.
So what are the cons of starting your baby in child care?  Here is what I came up with. 
1.) It’s not you 
If you are planning on heading back to work after having a baby, one thing that you have to accept is that no one is going to take care of your baby the same way that you will.  I knew that things would be different if it was just me taking care of Jack.  It’s hard for teachers to care for your child the same way that you would because it’s a different setting and there are other children that need their attention too.  You have to accept that your baby will eat differently, sleep different and play differently while they are away from you and that’s okay. 
2.) Child care staff turn over
Child care jobs are some of the lowest paid jobs out there.  Many places require the bare minimum qualifications of their teachers and pay them minimum wages, while other higher quality programs have higher standards for their teachers and still only pay them a little over minimum wage.  This is why many child care centers are a constant revolving door.  Just in the first few months that Jack was at his center, he had a number of teachers come and go.  As a parent it makes you question what is going on behind closed door.  All you can really do is trust that anyone who takes a job to work with young children has there heart in the right place.  
3.) Germs and Illness
Unfortunately, children can carry lots of germs and with germs comes illness.  I’ve seen lots of children start in a child care settings and then get sick quickly, because they have never been exposed to the foreign germs.  My best advice for that is to start your baby early.  The earlier you expose them to the germs the more their little immune system can build up a tolerance. I’d also recommend breastfeeding.  Breastmilk has antibodies in it that help protect against infection.  The month that I stopped breastfeeding Jack, he got his first ear infection.  He never even had a runny nose before that.
4.) No one-on-one care
Most centers have a 1:4 ratio in the infant room, which means that your precious little one and only is going to have to share the attention.  It’s impossible for the teachers to attend to your baby perfectly, so in some cases, they might have to cry and not be held and comforted right away.  They might have to wait for their food longer than at home.  It’s just the reality of not being the only one to care for. 
After listening the cons, I have to end on a positive note and tell you the pros of child care. 
1.) SOCIALIZATION! 
It is so cute to see Jack start to interact with his friends.  He’s the first child in our family, so he doesn’t have any siblings at home to interact with and learn from.  I love that he can go to school and play with his little buddies.  You would be amazed with how early children start to engage with their peers and learn from each other. 
2.) Helps build up their immune systems
I mentioned that illness is a con of daycare, but on the opposite side of that, the germs that they are exposed to can also be a benefit of child care.  It definitely helps build a child’s immune system.  Parents who keep their kids at home until preschool or kindergarten often find that their kids get sick all the time.  As I said before, the earlier you expose them to germs, sometimes the better. 
3.) Curriculum 
Most child care centers have a curriculum that they follow, even with babies.  They do learning activities with them throughout the day. They paint, read books, dance, do sensory exploration, it all helps meet their developmental needs.  When choosing a center, I would ask about the curriculum and find out how they implement it with the infants and toddlers.

4.) Cheaper than a Nanny
My husband and I had thought about getting a nanny who could be flexible with our schedule needs, but after doing the math it was just not worth the cost.  It was much cheaper for us to pay for full time care at a child care center than it was to pay for part time care with a nanny.  When looking into child care, look at the price and see what they offer, but you are almost always going to find that a child care center is cheaper than a private nanny.

Honestly, child care can be a really great thing for you and your baby, but you really need to decide if it’s the right fit for you as a parent.  It’s a personal decision that you have to make as a parent. 

 Are you a parent looking to enroll in child care?  I’d be happy to answer any questions from a parent or teacher’s perspective.

Stripes for Spring

by Katie Haller

I love the in-between seasons of Spring and Fall.  The weather is perfect for putting outfits together because it’s not too hot and it’s not too cold.  I am really loving all the spring trends that I’m seeing this year, however, I haven’t had the opportunity to do very much shopping lately, so I’ve been shopping my own closet to see what I can find for some spring looks.  
If you follow my looks on my blog or on Instagram, you already know that I have a bit of a stripe obsession.  I just love stripes, especially black and white.  I just can’t get away from stripes whenever I go on a shopping trip.  That’s why today I figured that I would go ahead and share some ways that I’m wearing stripes this spring.

For my first look, I wore a simple black and white t-shirt with my white pants, wedge sandals and accessorized with a turquoise pendant necklace.  I love how the white pants and wedges help add that pop of spring into the look.

Top- Target (similar) || Pants- Target (similar) || Necklace- Nordstrom Rack  || Shoes- Target (similar) || Purse- Last Call (exact)
For my next look, I again wore another black and white t-shirt.  I styled it with black jeggings and a denim jacket.  I accessorized with a statement necklace and ankle booties.  To add a pop of spring colors, I used my coral coach purse. 

Top- Target (similar) || Pants- TJ Maxx (similar) || Shoes- Burlington Coat Factory (exact) || Purse- Coach Outlet (similar) || Necklace- Savers (similar)

For my last stripe look, I wore my striped long sleeve dress and denim jacket.  I accessorized with my turquoise bead necklace and some cognac color wedge sandals that I thrifted from the Goodwill. 

Dress- H&M (similar) || Necklace- Kohl’s (similar) || Shoes- Thrifted from the Goodwill (similar) || Purse- linked above || Sunglasses- Ross (similar)

In my opinion, stripes are always in season.  How will you be wearing stripes this spring?

Confessions of a First Time Mom

by Katie Haller

 I have to admit that I am a total first-time mom.  As a first time mom, I am learning every day how to figure out this whole parenting thing.  I never thought it would be easy to be a mom, but I honestly never knew it would be as hard as it is.  I learn a little every day on how to be a better mom.   Many of my friends from high school and college are at the same place in life as me, with little kids at home, but we are all scattered across the country.  We don’t get to talk every day or see each other all the time.  I don’t have any other mom friends that live near me to talk with about babies.  That’s why I thought it would be fun to create a series of posts called “confessions of a first time mom”.  I thought it would be a nice way to share my experiences and thoughts on my journey through motherhood with all of you!

As a first time mom, I am constantly concerned about doing things “the right way”.  I’m always questioning myself about the way I do things.  What I’m finding out is that there is no right way to raise a child.  You kind of have to find out how to do it on your own.  You can read every book and blog out there on parenting and it still won’t have the answers, because every child is different.

I will stress out over the silliest things sometimes.  Recently, I was overly concerned about how to wean Jack off his bottle.  He was really starting to love his bottles, especially his evening one.  I was so concerned that he was going to have a fit and cry and make giving up bottles so hard.  But then one day he went to bed without a bottle.  Then the next night he went down without a bottle.  Now I have him completely weaned off the bottle and he’s sleeping through the night now!! (at least most nights.)  I can’t remember why I was so stressed out.

My baby loves to read.

We love to read together before bed.

I’m learning that parenting is not as hard as we make it out to be.  It’s a live and learn kind of thing, full of trial and error.  You make mistakes, then you learn and move on.  I hope that I will learn from all my parenting fails with Jack and not make them with the next baby, but somehow I know that I will still be learning even as a second time around mom.  That’s just how life goes. 

I hope to share more of my motherhood thoughts soon! Thanks for reading! 

Instagram Outfit Review

by Katie Haller

I just realized that it’s April now and it’s been a really long time since I last did an Instagram outfit review post.  So I decided to put together a quick round-up of all my favorite outfits that I’ve posted during the last couple of months.

Here are my looks! 
Top- Old Navy || Sweater- Target || Leggings- Forever 21 || Shoes- Nordstrom || Purse- Savers
 || Necklace- Nordstrom Rack
Top- Target || Cardigan- H&M || Leggings- Forever 21 || Necklace- Kohl’s || Shoes- Target
 || Purse- Last Call Neiman Marcus
Top- Old Navy || Cardigan- Nordstrom Rack || Jeans- Target || Purse- Last Call || Shoes- Target
Top- Old Navy || Cardigan- Macy’s || Boots- Target || Necklace- Target || Purse- Coach Outlet
Top- Forever 21 || Cardigan- Target || Scarf- Macy’s || Jeans- Mejier || Shoes- Target
Top- Target || Cardigan- H&M || Scarf- Banana Republic Factory || Leggings- Last Call
 || Shoes- Nordstrom 
Top- Target || Jeans- Target || Necklace- Charming Charlie || Shoes- Burlington Coat Factory 
|| Purse- Coach Outlet
Top- Target || Cardigan- Target || Leggings- Last Call || Shoes- Nordstrom || Purse- Last Call 
Top- Target || Cardigan- H&M || Jeans- Meijer || Shoes- Target || Necklace- Savers || Purse- Last Call
Top- Savers || Cardigan- Macy’s || Pants- Old Navy || Purse- Last Call
 || Shoes- Target || Necklace- Kohl’s 
Top- Old Navy || Sweater- Savers || Leggings- Last Call || Necklace- Kohl’s || Shoes- Nordstrom
 || Purse- Last Call
Top- Savers || Jacket- Meijer || Pants- Target || Shoes- Burlington Coat Factory || Purse- Savers
Top- Target || Cardigan- Savers || Pants- Target || Shoes- Nordstrom || Necklace- Charming Charlie 
I hope you have a great weekend!

Shopping Finds- Old Navy $6 look

by Katie Haller

Nothing makes me more excited than accidentally stumbling upon a great deal!  That’s what happened to me over the weekend.  I was out running errands when I decided to stop in Old Navy for a quick look.  I ended up finding a whole rack of $2 tank tops!! I wanted to buy one in every color, but I had to refrain myself.  I ended up just going with a white tank top because I don’t have many white tops.  Just as I was ready to leave, I ran into a whole shelf of clearance accessories.  I ended up finding the cutest matching pendant necklace and cuff bracelet for under $2 for each. I can never pass up a cute necklace, and I’ve been wanting to add a new bracelet to my jewelry collection.

I styled my new items with my distressed jeggings, gold wedge sandals and my pink crossbody purse. 

Shop my closet
Tank top- Old Navy (exact) || Necklace- Old Navy (similar) || Bracelet- Old Navy (similar) ||
Jeans- Target (similar) || Purse- Ross (similar) || Shoes- Kohl’s (similar)

Now I have a new look and I only paid a little over $6.  You really can’t beat that price! Good luck bargain shopping!

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