At what price does kids clothing become disposable and not worth washing?

I must confess. I have an addiction (and no Dad! not just to gin, tequila, Cadbury Fruit and Nut bars and all thing fattening and unhealthy). I like to shop sales and stock up closets for the next few seasons, especially when it comes to Rito's wardrobe.

We are lucky enough to have a The Children's Place Outlet (yes Outlet, not just the regular store or the online shopping - I think even Swistle would be jealous) in our city, now sometimes the deals still suck but this weekend I scored, and I scored big. It was like the Game 7 Play-Off hat-trick in regulation overtime of shopping scores (I am from hockey country give me a break). 

Yesterday (when LoudGranny had Rito so I could get my haircut) I popped into the store since it is beside my salon and saw racks and racks of kids clothing for prices like $9.99 and then another 30% off. I thought to myself $6.99? Not a bad price for pants I should check it out. Not being the smartest girl in the world I failed to notice the 30 people in line to pay for stuff, and no $6.99 sale generates that kind of craziness. 

I moved to the back of the store and that when I saw it. Five (5!) large racks of clothing in the little boys area for 0.99. Yeah 99 cents.... not joking, and it wasn't the crap stuff either. Since I was going to be late for my haircut and the lines were stupid, I decided to be back at the store for opening the next day (this morning) to beat the crowds. 

So today, LoudGranny and I hit Hell-Mart for cheap laundry detergent and then went to The Palace (what my little cousin calls it, as in "You know that Palace store? They gots good stuff there you know" what a funny guy...) for door opening. We bought Rito a stack of stuff in larger sizes, one of my little girl cousins a few things for her birthday next summer and a whole ton of stuff for a 21 year old cousin who is a single Mom expecting her second boy in a few weeks. 

For Rito: 

3 Pique Polo shirts (red, orange and yellow) 99 cents each 

4 t-shirts (love these so soft! grey,navy, orange and yellow) 99 cents each

4 pairs of flip-flops for next summer (2 green, 2 navy) 2 pairs for a $1.00 

4 pairs of sunglasses (3 navy, one green) 2 for a $1.00

1 pair track pants (camo) $6.99

1 long sleeve layered looking t-shirt (beige with brown stripes) $6.99

4 baseball caps (in two different size ranges navy, green, beige and yellow) 2 for a $1.00

Basics in two size ranges (18 and 24 months) that can be layered with long sleeve onesies for inter yet my kid looks like a little Izod Lacoste ad (25$ including the two "expensive" items) - priceless.

For My Cousins Girl:

2 Tank tops (white and purple) 99 cents each

1 T- shirt (white with a pink layered one under it) 99 cents

1 Fancy tank top (white)  - 99 cents

1 Shrug (purple) 99 cents 

2 pairs of shorts (purple and blue) 99 cents each 

Birthday gift that all coordinates and looks so cute and like I spent a ton ($7 so far) - priceless

For My Cousins new Baby Boy: 

4 Pique Polos (blue, white, orange and yellow) 99 cents each

3 pairs shorts (camo, beige and khaki) 99 cents each

2 t-shirts (cute little graphic ones) 99 cents each

1 t-shirt (grey) 99 cents 

1 matching pair cotton shorts (grey) 99 cents 

2 hats - 2 for a $1.00 

2 pairs of sunglasses - 2 for a $1.00 

Rocking baby gift that looks like I spent a ton ( 13$ total) -priceless. 

Photos of my steals (kinda; it was all this stuff in different colors and some others that are not online)

Sleep Regression and a General Update Until I become Coherent Again.....

Rito has slept like crap for the last three nights getting up anywhere from two to six times each night. Right now he is working on two very stubborn molars that are making mincemeat out of his gums causing him to scream in his sleep (my god does that ever scare the crap out of me in the middle of the night) and not eat well during the day. The result is that he has been getting up to eat a couple times a night this week, which means neither of us is getting much sleep, but this too shall pass and it will hopefully be back to normal soon. 

The renovations in the basement are almost complete, we are just having a problem with the french door not closing properly - hopefully by next week it will all be painted and I will have no more people trudging through my home creating dust and more cleaning for Dad! and I to do. I would love to get the shelving and stuff in for next weekend, but with some work obligations coming up I really do not think I will have time to complete everything in the little timeline that is in my head.

Rito loves the Backyardigans. I personally am sick of having the little songs stuck in my head and Dad! had to go make new words up to one of the songs and now I sing his version too. I must admit that I am happy I finally found the remote for the Crackyardigans TV (rolled up in the sheet from the bed if you want to know where it was Dad!) and could get 20 minutes of televised peace to do the laundry. Yesterday I also was lame enough to Google what the heck Uniqua was. She is nothing. I thought she was a Salamander or something but she is unique. Lame, you think if the rest of the Backyardigans are actual animals they could have made Uniqua something.  Yadda Yadda I know, she is supposed to be the unique one, just sayin' it is lame. 

It appears that the site is loading faster for my readers, thanks for the messages telling me how it was loading for all of you. If you are running into problems loading PLEASE let me know in the comments! 

I will be back to my funny self once I get more then 2 hours of consolidated sleep......

Site redesigned...Help! (DogMama and ADW)

Ok, so I redesigned the site to hopefully load faster. I have tested it using Safari and Mozilla and it loads reasonably for me here. ADW and DogMama, can you let me know if it loaded quicker now?

Where the Silence is Deafening

Last week Dad! and I finally left Rito with LoudGranny and Grams and went away for a couple nights. Other then going to work, this was my first time ever leaving my little guy overnight, and it almost killed me. I would be lying if I told you I didn't cry a bit as I handed him over to my Mom when we left, but I soon got over it and so did Rito.

Dad! and I hid away in the mountains for two nights, and let me tell you with no TV or radio in our cabin, the silence was deafening. I really think I need some noise to get a decent nights sleep. I am so used to us having the radio on in our room and the baby monitor on at night, to hear nothing but a couple birds and the odd person going to the other cabins was just strange. I am such a city girl at heart.

The drive out was nice, and you know what made it so good? Having satellite radio in the car, we always had something to listen to (it is usually on Howard Stern when Rito isn't around) and we didn't have to resort to listening to park radio while driving through the mountains. Ahhhh, technology. Satellite radio is the best. thing. ever.

So I leave you with some photos of our trip and I am not lying when I tell you that I am thrilled to be back at home with my cranky, not sleeping and cutting-two-damn-molars-at-once little man. Regular blog posts will be resuming now. 

The violent water at Kicking Horse

The Natural Bridge at Kicking Horse

The view from the balcony of our cabin

We actually hiked all the way around the lake (it was supposed to be a quick walk before dinner, quick my ass it was 2 hours and the last half of the hike was pretty treacherous) and canoed on it. For those who know me you may think that is craziness; SleepyNita canoeing????? That is all the hippy granola fun stuff I can handle for a couple weeks. 

The World's Cutest Little Guy

Because all the cool babies rock a happy-face-and-crossbones T-shirt like this one. He has a matching doo-rag but doesn't care to keep it on too much. 

Technical Crap

Not really redesigning the site, but I am trying to figure out what causes the page to load so slowly for others..... All this tinkering has done so far is made me realize how much Bloggers templates and "add a page" elements and customization really sucks. SERIOUSLY. I never though tI would say it, but I much prefer tinkering with the HTML then the crap point and click tool they provide (not to mention but the template code provided with the stock templates is a total mess at best).

Blah

Question?

Does the swimming baby doll on my header look a little too freaky-deaky, or is it pleasantly ironic? I am trying to reduce the size of my header so the page loads faster for all 3 of my readers ;)

With what we pay in taxes this service should be included.....

The post where I use hyphens like they are going out of style.

I watched the MTV Video Music Awards opening last night just to see the trainwreck live. I do have a bone to pick with the people in blog-land commenting on Britney's lack-luster half-stoned full-of-crap performance though:

This is NOT fat

Not by any extent of the imagination. 

She is being called huge and bovine online. Well I will be damned because that makes me an elephant. Seriously I would have to starve myself for a year to look like that at all. The girl had 2 babies, and is no longer a boney ass girl but a WOMAN. Her body looks great. Now lets talk about the hair. Britney honey, we can see you poorly dyed real hair above your rats nest of extensions. Puh-leeze just get a rocking short haircut and own it. The fake hair isn't fooling anyone but you.

Sara Silverman is not funny. 

I think she bombed-sucked worse then Britney.

 

Sara Silverman is not funny, she is loud and annoying and has the worst. voice. ever. but she is not funny. I have never seen her actually be funny on stage. Ok, I lie, she was funny when she did the Celebrity Roast of Pamela Anderson, but she had tons of time to prepare funny shit about her. And, why is a semi-funny guy like Jimmy Kimmel even dating her? Maybe he is deaf. Or like Dad! says, she puts out. She dooz it. A lot. Oh, and calling someones kids the "cutest little mistakes ever" is not funny, it is rude and shows how class-less and talent-less you are. 

It was the worst awards show ever, with a ton of crap performances. For the MTV people, when I-am-so-bland-live-that-I will-get-ass-kicking-new-hair-so-people-forget-I-suck-Rhianna was the better performance of the night you have problems with your production. That was 3 hours I will NEVER get back, although it beat doing laundry. Barely. I vacuumed though.

P.S. 

Hi Paris? My 75 year old Baba (grandmother) called, she wants her hair back. You know, the old lady hair that they get done at the salon each Friday and don't wash all week? 

Uggers Hair. 

All that money and that's what they did to her head?

All about Meme!

Ok, for the first time ever I have been tagged by Maki to do a meme. Maki is a for-reals friend of mine who has a super cute food blog, but what is better then the food is her photography of what she makes. It is good. Give it a look over, and while you are there the picture in her header is her kitchen. Yeah, jealous much? I love her concrete counter tops with the inset pot holders and stainless steel back-splash, very smart indeed.

Back to the meme. I have to use my name and provide a tidbit about me that relates to each letter. Now since I am SleeyNita on line, I must think of ten things to tell you. Bleh on days like this I wish I used my real life name online, it would be much shorter. 

Sleep, I know a lot about sleep. Seriously.

Love to shop, dear goodness I love to shop, but it is getting more and more complicated with a toddler who wants to run everywhere and dear god not sit in the stroller. The inhumanity.

Engineering. My background is in Electronics Engineering (with a Medical type specialty) and I like to consider myself a bit of a geek, but really I am not that big a geek.

Everyone likes my car. More important I love my car. Her name is LillyBubble. She is a green VW Beetle. Most people think it is an unpractical car for a Mom to drive (and high heels are unpractical to wear but whatever), but seriously it is bigger then it looks and stands up well in accidents (unfortunately I know this too well). What is really fun about it is the fact that little kids like to hit each other at bus stops when I drive by. Endless entertainment I tell you.

Parents. I only have have one left, my Mom. She is pretty cool and full of energy. Some days I feel like Rito has been ripped off by never being able to know my Dad. He would have been the coolest Grandpa ever.

Yesterday, I got up at 3pm prepped dinner, played with Rito, had Dad! take him to Grams house, got ready for work, worked a 12 hour shift, came home at 8am this morning, talked to Dad! for a while, had a shower, checked my email, let the contractor into the house, fed the dog, watched Dad! put away the dishes (thanks Dad!), let the dog out (2 times), had Dad! make me a coffee (amazing what men will do when you ask), and updated this blog. It is around 10am now and I should get some sleep but my basement ceiling is going in today so it might be too noisy. I need to go pick some paint colors though so I may do that while Rito is chilling with Grams this morning.

Not married. Surprises most people that Dad! and I have been together over 10 years and have not tied the knot yet. Are we going to? I don't know, we really do not see the point. I guess we just are not a traditional couple that way.

Interests- stole this one from Maki, but she got off easy with only four letters. I have a few interests including reading, my often neglected blog, making movies in iMovie on my computer, shopping and food. I love to eat out.

Target. I love Tar-jay. Best store ever. I so wish we had Target instead of Hell-Mart in Canada. When Dad! goes to the states there is always a shopping list for him to fill, and he does good picking shoes out for me at Target. That's a real man girls! ;)

Airlines. Damn I think they are trying too hard to play judge, jury and executioner with their customers. Where do they get off treating people this way lately? Now the most recent one is here, and although I think the outfit is tacky, it is no different then what Paris and Lindsay parade around in, and they would NEVER be kicked off a plane for a short skirt and tight shirt.

 

And now for a bonus letter since it didn't fit my name and I have to add it....

 

BuddyLove, the worlds greatest, cuddliest, sweetest and most patient dog lives with us. We are so lucky. 

 

Now I get to tag someone. DogMama since you have bloggers block, you are it!

Letters to my Son, 14 Months

Dearest Rito,

This last month has been a whirlwind with you. This month you have managed to not grow too much, yet the changes in you have been huge.

In the last month you have learned a few new things physically. Recently you have learned how to run. Now I must admit the first few days of running in the house was a little nerve wracking since you spent much more time falling then being upright. You do have the running thing totally down now and have burnt off much energy doing laps around the main floor of the house. You also started dancing a couple weeks ago, but you always held onto the coffee table each time you danced (it looks like a little jig, your little feet move so fast) but this week you have let go of the table and danced your little but off. Now all Dad! has to do is sing this little dancing tune and your little feet go like crazy. Three weeks ago you scared the crap out of Mamamama and decided to walk down the stairs (not "on your bum" like Mamamama commands you to do), you are pretty smart though and waited until it would be a short fall before you attempted this feat.

You are full of words and language now. You have added "gum" to your little vocabulary, we have not figured out how you learned this word since we don't actually chew gum in this house. You also like to knock on doors and yell "Daddy!" no matter who is on the other side. If no one answers the door, you like to find a heavy object to whack the door with hoping someone will hear you on the other side. You love to say "bubbas" which is of course bubbles in our language. This gets a little crazy though, since you always seem to want more bubbas, Dad and I started hiding the bubble containers because quite frankly, we are kinda tired of blowing them all the time. You have started saying Mamamama again, which is nice because you dropped that word for a while now and I was fearing you would never call me Mamamama again. Last night, I think I heard you say nanas too, and you ate the banana you were pointing at. Pretty cool, you can order your own food now.... as long as it is nanas and bubbas I guess.

Mamamama and Dad! love you SO much, and you are learning so many things each and every day. There is never a dull moment in our house since we had you; there is never a quiet moment in this house either but nevermind all that!

Love you more then chocolate,
Mamamama

P.S. Thanks for all the awesome sleeping you are doing, Mommy loves it when you sleep until 8am and take those 3 hour naps.

Dearest Apple Computers,

I love my MacBook, really I do. So so much. I love the new features in iPhoto 8. But I hate that you keep trying to make things "idiot proof" and took away folder level access to my iPhoto library because some morons screwed up their libraries. This makes me very angry. If I wanted to do things ass-backwards and hack my computer to access my own photos to upload, I would use a PC.