Staying Home Sawyer

Real Life Living on a Real Life Budget

Lifestyle

To the Friend Without Kids…

We’ve all been there at one point. All of our friends were having babies while we were just trying to get through the day on a cup of coffee (or a shot of tequila). The babies were cute, the stories were adorable. But really, we were annoyed. We didn’t understand why every story revolved around the baby, or why every phone call had to involve the toddler.  Truth is, we didn’t understand why our worlds were so different.

I’ve been there, and I remember it distinctly. I remember feeling slighted when I didn’t get my normal after work call, or my yearly birthday card. I remember being sad that I didn’t feel connected to my best friend anymore, or feeling so different that we had nothing in common. It’s a sad realization, and one that doesn’t go unnoticed. We can’t pretend that this transition is smooth for everyone, because it isn’t. It’s why most new moms find new mom friends, or other women that are in their same point in life. It’s why the phone calls lessen, and the visits diminish. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

I’m here to tell you that even after we have kids, we miss you. We miss our friendships, we miss our nights out with you. We want you back, we want our relationship back. If we get a card or a letter from you, our hearts break. We think about you all the time, if not daily. Even if you don’t feel like you’re still our best friend, you are. Because while you may have moved on, we haven’t. The only person that has taken your place is that tiny little bundle of joy, and while that bundle is absolutely adorable (and the best thing that has ever happened to us), it is most certainly not ever taking your place (besides, it’s frowned upon to take tequila shots with a toddler). Our babies will never be able to spend hours talking to us on the phone, going through the events of the day. They’ll not understand why our bosses suck, or our boyfriends just don’t understand. They don’t understand how amazing it is when something goes our way, or how amazing we feel when we have a GOOD day. But you would. You’d understand.

So while it is not your fault that we have become someone new, I’m begging you to stick around. Don’t let go of our friendship because we are different, things are different. Stick around and show our babies why we love you. Form that relationship with them that we always hoped for (because there is absolutely nothing better to us than seeing our babies love you). Be there for us, even if we aren’t in the position to always be there for you. Trust me, the roles will be reversed at some point, and we will be there for you. If/when you’re in this same position, we will get it and we will be there with all the tips and help we can provide. Because we love you.

Call us. Write us a letter (bonus points for snail mail, because duh). Tell us that you are here for us. Bring over a bottle of wine and just hang out with us. Listen to the stories about the poop and the spit-up and the tantrums. Because one day we will do the same thing for you, because we love you.

DIY

Delivery Nurse Thank You Bags

Two years ago I did this thing: I had a baby. Before that, I was so put together. I even put these gift bags together for the nurses that would help deliver my baby girl. And then she came, and that was about the end of being put together.

So here I am now, finally sharing my little project for your viewing pleasure. I mean, if this is your first baby, you definitely have time to make these. And if you think you don’t have time now, just you wait girlfriend.

I wanted to put together little treat bags, and if I was being honest with myself I would have filled them with straight bottles of vodka. Because after dealing with laboring women all day, what else does someone want? Going into it, I knew that I wasn’t going to be easy, so if I had a million dollars I would have given them much more. But alas, a little treat bag must work.

I made eight bags total (I had zero idea what to expect, how many nurses I’d see, etc), and turns out I could have made even more. After we originally forgot them all at home in the trenches of labor (I mean, I’m not that nice that I’m thinking of others while giving birth), once I got the epidural I realized they were left behind and sent my husband home to retrieve them. If you’re thinking I’m crazy, relax. We live less than one block from the hospital. Besides, every second away from me was probably a blessing.

The nurses really seemed to appreciate these little tokens of appreciation (although who knows if they even ate them after dealing with me). But either way, I’m glad I did something for these women who did so much for us. I could get all emotional just thinking of that day and everything they did for us. So do your nurses a favor too: treat them to something sweet.

You can download the tag, in purple outline here, or in mint outline here.

Lifestyle, Products I Love

The Car Seat Change

So I don’t like to admit when I make a mistake, I mean, what woman does? But being the frugal woman that I am, I can’t imagine keeping this a secret.

When I was newly pregnant and had to create a registry, I was clueless.  I had no idea what I needed to register for, or what I would need for this stage called motherhood. I enlisted the help of my friend Aimee (who already had two babes) to do my registry for me. And that was that.

Fast forward a few months. I already went through the infant car seat and was looking forward to switching to the next stage. We had registered for one already, and we had one for one of our two cars. But when we were approached by Diono to use one of their car seats, we jumped at the chance. We needed two of this stage car seat anyway right?!

Sooo….Here’s where I admit I made the mistake. I didn’t look enough into carseats before I bought one. Or two. I put the infant car seat on my registry, along with the toddler one (which by the way is uber expensive), and never really thought twice. Turns out, I didn’t ever need BOTH car seats. Did you know that Diono car seats are able to be used from birth until they grow out of them? I mean, for you thrifty people like me, why would we buy two car seats when we only NEED to buy one?

So I switched Sawyer from her infant carrier to the Diono Radian 3RXT carrier around age one. She literally could not have been happier. She has more freedom to move (she was scrunched in her infant carrier) and she loves the better angle. Don’t get me wrong, I still think once I can turn this thing around we will have much better car rides, but for now this is the best we can get!

I’m kind of upset that as a frugal mama I didn’t realize earlier that I only needed one car seat. The amount of money I could have saved is embarrassing. I urge you all to look into the Diono car seats before you purchase two car seats, or put them on your registry. You don’t NEED to buy two stages! It’s such a lifesaver (not to mention it’s a money-saver too).