Thrifty Wife Happy Life

Helping women love what they wear on a budget

Confessions of a First Time Mom- Boy Mom

by Katie Haller

I always imagined my first baby to be a girl.  At the beginning of my pregnancy, all my friends and family were convinced that I was having a girl.  People thought that I was just too girly and could only picture me with a girl.  Well, that was not what God had in store for me.  

When I found out that I was having a boy, I was completely thrilled.  I love little boy babies!  They’re so cute and always love their mommy’s.  I wanted to have a mini version of my husband, and that’s just what I got.  I know that my husband kept his parents extremely busy, and that’s what Jack is doing for us.  He has been giving me a run for my money since day one.  I knew when I was pregnant, that he was going to be an active little guy.  He never stopped moving.  Sometimes he moved so much that I would worry he was trying to kick his way out.  After he was born, Jack was always moving around and kicking his little feet.  He started rolling around the house at 4 months, so we had to baby proof the living room quickly.  At six months, he was army crawling and by seven months he was full out crawling, standing and running on all fours.  On his 10 month birthday, he took his first steps.  By 12 months I had a full-on toddler, which makes for a very long toddler stage.

I have nothing to compare Jack to since he’s my first, but I will say that having a little boy has already saved me money when it comes to shopping.  Boys don’t need very much.  Whenever I go shopping for Jack, I always get distracted by all the cute little girl clothes.  There are so many cute dresses, bows, shoes… I’d have a hard time controlling my spending if I had a little girl.  For boys, their clothes are simple…pants, shirts, shorts.  The downfall of shopping in the boy’s department is the selection.  I can never find the cute things I want in Jack’s size, especially when shopping in the clearance section.  Even when buying sippy cups or pacifiers, they never have enough of the boy colors.  I guess the stores think that boys don’t need as much as little girls.
 

Overall, I’m having a lot of fun being a boy mom.  Jack has been a really good baby.  He’s smart, cute, loving, funny.  He’s also extremely curious, stubborn and wants to be independent.  He’s so busy, it’s hard to get a cuddle in these days.  I recently had someone tell me that “the days are long, but the years are short, so enjoy it while it last”.  I find this to be so true, so I take in every little snuggle I can get from this little boy.
If your a mom of both a girl and boy, is there a big difference?

Shopping Finds- Easter Dress

by Katie Haller

I hope everyone is having a great Easter weekend!  I just had to do a quick post today to share this little dress I bought yesterday to wear as my Easter dress.  I’ve been wanting to add a little floral and color to my wardrobe, so I got very excited when I found this floral blue and green print LC Lauren Conrad dress at Savers yesterday.  I love the LC Lauren Conrad line at Kohls.  The dresses are super feminine and flattering.  This dress is perfect for any spring event.  Best of all, I only paid $5 for this find! 

Here is my Easter Sunday look.  Everything in this look besides the purse and jewelry is thrifted. 
Dress- LC Lauren Conrad (similar | similar | similar)

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! 

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