Thank you all for the kind words you left on my post from Wednesday! I’m about four months along, and Frugal Baby is due in early April. We’re all very excited, and I’m looking forward to sharing our frugal adventures as a family of four. So far, we have only purchased a car seat. We will also buy a new organic crib mattress at some point, as we’re planning to have our son continue to sleep on his for quite some time. Other than that, there is really nothing at all that we need. Most of our newborn clothes are very gender neutral, although if we have a girl we’ll be on the lookout for some used clothing in larger sizes. I’ve checked on Craigslist a few times and found huge lots of baby girl clothes for about 50 cents per item, so I have no doubt that we’ll be able to get everything we need very easily. If we have another boy, we won’t need any clothes at all, as we have tons that our son has outgrown. Some of his larger stuff is gender neutral too, like jeans and plain colored shirts that would work for a boy or a girl. Almost all of the diapers that we’ve made over the last couple years are still going strong, so I doubt that we’ll need to make any more. Now all we have to do is wait another five-ish months to meet our new little one!
There were 43 entries for the e-book giveaway that I posted last week, and I used random.org to pick a winner: Cradled on the Waves, your e-book should be coming soon, directly from the author, Laura Cowan. Congratulations!
I’m currently reading another great book about eco-friendly, frugal ways to raise a baby, written by the authors of Green Baby Guide. When I finish it, I’ll be offering it as a giveaway too, so stay tuned. And I hope you all have a great weekend!
Frugal Vegan Mom says
Oh my gosh, belated congratulations, I haven’t been doing much blog reading this week! So much fun for me to follow along with someone who’s almost the same-pregnant as me, and your blog is such a great resource for a first time mom too =).
Kelly
Cradled on the Waves says
NO WAY, I never win anything! Thanks a bunch and congrats again :)
Zengirl @ Heart and Mind says
Frugal Babe!
I missed the ebook giveaway, no problem. I came for the main thing to congratulate you! 4 month along, that is super exciting news!
Welcome to 2 kids network! It is triple to joy and triple the work with two. I have no doubt it will be fun.
Hearty congratulations! You are so tiny (just saw your wordless post :-)
Preeti
Alissa says
Wow, congrats Frugal Babe! I’ve been out of the blog loop for awhile so I had no idea. :). Instead of buying a new crib mattress, have you considered co-sleeping? Much more frugal (and natural), and makes nighttime breastfeeding the easiest thing ever. :). We’re still co-sleeping @ 19 months and it’s bliss… I love snuggling up to my little guy at night.
Well I’m off to find out what else I’ve missed!
Take care & congrats again!
Alissa
Kaytee says
OOoo, is it ‘The Eco-Nomical Baby Guide’? I’ve been on the lookout for that book for a couple years. I keep hoping it will make an appearance at Goodwill or even one of the bookstores in town, but it never does. I might have to break down and buy it online…
FrugalBabe says
thanks Alissa! We co-slept with our son until he started sleeping through the night. I never sleep through the night – I always have to get up a couple times to go to the bathroom. And I found that it was waking him up when I would get up. So we moved him to a crib at that point. He would always wake up around 5am or so, and then we’d bring him into our bed to nurse and snuggle up with me until I got up at 8 or so. I nursed him until he was two, so any time he woke in the middle of the night we always brought him into our bed, and he would stay there until morning. But for the most part, he’s a great sleeper. He never wakes up before 8am now, which is great for this night-owl mama :) We plan to do the same thing with baby number two. We’ll co-sleep until my night wakings start to disturb the baby, rather than the other way around. We plan to have our son continue to sleep on his organic mattress as long as he fits on it, which will probably be a few more years, so we’ll definitely get our money’s worth out of it. I would love to get an organic mattress for us too, but the sticker shock on queen size organic mattresses is a bit too painful for now!
Kaytee – Indeed it is! It’s a great book, so stay tuned for the giveaway!
Alissa says
Oh, that’s awesome. :). How old was your son when he started sleeping through the night? I think Gavin is a ways off from sleeping through the night… he’s just a really light sleeper! Your arrangement sounds great, and makes sense. I’m sure I wake him as often as he wakes me, just from rolling over, going to the bathroom, etc. I hear you on the organic Queen Sized mattress… it’s something we’ll likely do at some point but for now we’re sticking it out with our current one – we’ll replace the kids’ mattresses first.
Leah says
have you thought of getting an organic twin sized mattress for your son and letting the baby use his? It’d obviously be more expensive, but it might help you ultimately get more use out of organic beds for your kids.
FrugalBabe says
Alissa, he was only about three months old when he was consistently sleeping for 8 hours each night before his morning wake-up. So that’s when we moved him to a crib and started bringing him into our bed once he woke up in the morning. I can’t remember the last time I slept for 8 hours without waking up!
Leah, that is something we’d been considering, and it’s why we’re holding off for now. I’ve been looking online at various size mattresses, and we might end up going with that option instead. I’m on the lookout for great sales!
Kelly says
Oh, I reviewed The Eco-Nomical Baby Guide for Joy and Rebecca a couple months ago. It is a great book! I wish I had my hands on it before I had my daughter as there are so many things that I bought and never needed or rarely used. I had my friends tell me while I was expecting what is a need and what isn’t, but they were mostly of the big consumer-must have everything mind frame, so I ended up with lots of stuff that was totally unnecessary.
I also kinda pat myself on the back because there are a lot of things listed in the book that I do/did on my own. Nice to know that just because I wasn’t necessarily going with what the masses do, I wasn’t some nutso mom alone in my thinking! I am and always have been pretty confident in my mothering, but it is nice to have my decisions reinforced, if you know what I mean!
Anyway, it is a great book! Enjoy!