A do-over...again

Hello friends!
It has been a hot minute since I've posted anything...I know and to be honest I've missed writing. Life has gotten insane! So within the past 7 or so months...lets see what has been going on.
FIRST thing: we welcomed our newest addition to the Watkins family on July 11th, little Miss Amelia Mae. We found out that we were pregnant on (ironically) World Prematurity Awareness Day, which has a great significance to our family because of our sweet Kaden. Going into this pregnancy, I was slightly terrified at the thought of potentially having another baby so early and going through the NICU life again. But I have had a lot of practice regarding not worrying about things I can't control and do what I can to make sure I had a healthy pregnancy. I made a lot of things for her, re purposed old furniture, hunted for deals left and right, and purged like a mad woman. SO many things to share regarding what I did for her! Also threw in some other crafts, made some sales and started a side small business with a friend.  I'll share more on her story and everything else later. 

Kaden turned THREE and let me tell you, this kid can go from zero to 100 in .2 seconds flat...and back to himself within seconds. I've said it once and I'll say it again- this is my favorite stage I think because I get to see how his brain is working and constantly learning new things...even if that means asking a million of the same questions over and over. He's adjusting to being a big brother overall pretty well, he sure loves his sister and it melts my heart. The past (almost) three weeks have been a roller coaster of emotions for me and I'm trying to get a grip of them but sometimes a mama's gotta cry, am I right moms?

We found out that we're staying in Virginia for about another year, which makes me happy simply because that means we get to keep John home. I can't tell you the last time that we had a whole year together of him being home...probably because it hasn't ever happened. Not even this past year. We celebrated his home from deployment for a year but also realized he was sent away to different states and different countries for weeks at a time-but he still came home and it was only for a few weeks instead of 7 months-so we will take it. Speaking of celebrating, we also just celebrated 6 whole years of marriage. SIX. I can not believe it has been that long. We've been together for 8 years total and I was just looking at all of our pictures around the house (as I listened to Kaden running around the house and as I was nursing Amelia) and I realized how much we have been through in the past 6 years. Technically 4 deployments, 3 houses, 2 states and now 2 babies later- and I love this guy more and more each day.

I think that pretty sums up the past few months, I know it doesn't seem like much-but time flies when you're having fun :)
Stay tuned-
xox

Happy March!

Happy March everyone! February was a crazy month for us- Kaden turning two, our first snow storm,  battle with food poisoning..but onward to another month! I'm really excited for March, not only because the first day of SPRING is coming..I have some exciting news!

Have you ever checked out Brickyard Buffalo? It is an online pop up shop featuring different shops..and guess who gets to work with that wonderful site? Oh just little ol' me! I am incredibly excited about this opportunity and really hopeful that there is a great response. My 'chosen family' hand made cuff bracelets will be featured for 4 days starting on Monday! This bracelet means so much to me because of our lifestyle. We spend so much time away from our families, so we have to make our own 'framily'! We come across so many people with all of our moves but some people click more so than some others and we have lifetime friends, non-related sisters and non-biological aunts and uncles for our kids.
So do a girl a favor and go check it out, think about who you have in your life that is your own 'chosen family' and tell all your friends! :)

The Weecycled Wardworbe is coming up this month! I love going to this big sale to get all of Kaden's upcoming season things! You know this girl loves a deal. This month it is March 13-16, so don't forget to put it on your calendars! You'll see me there at the night before they open the doors to the public, let me know if you want to come along! :)

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for warmer weather. Yes I realize we are in Virginia and it is winter, but having a toddler- I long for warm weather so we can go outside and burn off that energy. Until then, we will be frequenting Kids in Motion which is an indoor inflatable bounce house filled with so many amazing things for little kids! We'll also be checking out a couple other places, we really want to get Kaden into soccer. I mean is there anything more adorable than a bunch of little kids learning how to play soccer? I think not.

Also, I'm going to do my best at something I 'created' called 'Money Saving March'. You may think I'm crazy- which is totally okay because I could be-but I literally do not need anything that could be considered 'fluff'. SO I'm going to be challenging myself to not buying anything that we absolutely do not need (besides heading to the consignment sale). That means no thrifting, no random Target runs..so I will be filling my time with getting rid of things! I don't know if its because of Spring coming up-but I want to try to get a jump on the Spring cleaning train! Wish me luck :)

So on that note...I'm going to go work on my mountain of laundry. Be sure to help this girl out and share the news of Brickyard Buffalo with your friends! Sale starts tomorrow bright and early!
xo

TOMS....TOMS for sale...

Have you ever read the book "Caps for Sale"? Anyone..? Well in my head as I typed the title...all I could think of was the book. We read this book a lot apparently.
Anywho- I have something to share with you all, since the end date is quickly approaching...like by tomorrow. I am sorry to share this on such late notice, but perhaps you already know of it! I just found out. We all know the wonderful world of Toms shoes right? The "one for one" campaign? Well, I am a fan of these shoes because they're cute, comfortable AND they provide shoes to someone in need! Win win all around. What the bargain shopper in me doesn't like is the total price when I pick out a few shoes I want. A friend of mine (hi Kelli!) went to a warehouse sale a few summers ago that Toms has on the West Coast  in a few cities- she went to the Arizona one- and told me about the AMAZING deals she got on her Toms! (like paying 15.00 for a pair...but I digress.) I was instantly jealous and literally checked daily for the dates for this years sale and had my mom on board to go for me! 
Well....days passed by with no date. We're now in the fall and the sale is a summer thing. So I commented on one of their IG pictures about the sale and whaddya know, they commented back! They told me that they're having a 'warehouse of sorts sale' on http://www.tomssurprisesale.com/ but only for a limited time! I checked out out (of course) and some of the items are up to 45% off, free shipping over 25.00 AND there's a coupon code (we all know I love my coupons) for an extra 5% off with SURPRISEGIFT!

They don't have ALL the fantastic shoes on there, but there are a good amount! If you're a college ball fan, they do have quite a selection of shoes to support your school! Unfortunately, they don't have any Arizona State shoes probably because we're amazing and sold out. But if you're a fan of the University of Arizona...well I'm sorry (just kidding) but they do have a shoe for you!






 OR if you can wear kids shoes...you can check out what they have to grab an even better deal! It's totally acceptable for an adult to wear red glitter shoes right?
I hope you find something you like, happy shopping friends!

Oh, by the way- you can sign up to be on the list to be notified of any warehouse sales! Go to http://www.tomswarehousesale.com/ and check it out!

Prepping for the Holidays

You guys, we have less than 100 days until Christmas is here.

Less than 100.

I'll let that sink in for a minute.

I really don't want to be rushing around this year trying to get gifts for everyone especially because I am a classic procrastinator. I also have found it to be increasingly difficult to get gifts that family members actually would use-something that they would enjoy having instead of a generic gift. Now that our family includes our crazy Kaden, I think a safe gift for the grandparents would be pictures or something personalized along that line.  But you can only have enough room on your shelves and walls for pictures before they're completely taking over your house right? But you can always use more magnets.

I was recently contacted by PicStick, a company that creates magnets out of your pictures to create personalized magnets.  It is super easy, all you need to do is upload 9 pictures from your computer, tablet, phone, Facebook account or even from Dropbox, make sure they look fantastic and click order! It took less than a week for them to be made and sent to us. The only issue I found was if you zoom in on your pictures when you add them, it does make them grainy. Other than that, I think these are fantastic. They're easy to slip into the envelope with your holiday cards for a just because gift, or you could make a whole sheet as a gift for someone. These are 14.99 for a sheet that includes 9 magnets but I have good news!

The people over at PicStick were generous enough to create a promotional code for me to share with you all- when you are done adding all of your pictures, be sure to enter OPS25 to receive 25 % off your order! 

So head on over to PicStick.com and get a little jump on your holiday gift giving! Enjoy friends-

xo

Consignment Sale Finds

Well it has been a week since I went to the Weecycled Consignment sale. We have had a busy few days here and my grandma was here from California visiting. This sale is traveling and was close by us last week so we decided to check it out. The sale had chances for pre-sale for volunteers, consignors as well as military families. Thank goodness we went then, because it was packed! I can't imagine what it would be like when the doors opened to the public. Some of the moms that were there came prepared let me tell you-they had wagons pulling their goods and even those giant plastic tubs with a rope tied to it. Talk about serious. I made a quick walk around the toys, snagged a tent with a tunnel, an easel as well as a construction table that came equipped with a set of tools for little ones. I decided the easel as well as the tools were going to be hidden until Christmas-mom win!

I found the area packed with boys clothes. When I say packed, I mean it. There were some great deals, and not so great. Besides the gifts that we got, the most I paid was 6.00. Let me show you some of what we got:

Yes, that is a tunnel with a tent...in the middle of the front living room....

 TONS of pj's. We're in 18 months now, but I saw a 3 pack of 24 month Carters fleece footies...for 5.00. How do I say no? I'm holding onto a little bit of hope that one day Kaden will want to spend a day in his pj's watching Disney movies once winter comes...and if that day comes- I will be prepared.

how cute are these?! Baby Gap and Old Navy

Gap jean jacket, Old Navy puffer vest and the cutest corduroy coat

Baby Gap jean jacket was 6.00 that my grandma picked out, vest was 5.00 and so was the coat!

 

Ralph Lauren button up was only 2.50, the rest were 3.00 each. We picked up some jeans too, great deals on those too of course!  And lets not forget my 'retro' shoes-

 

Overall, I think we got some great finds! The sale is coming our way again in October- I think I might skip the pre-sale and head for the end of the sale where most of what is still there is extra 50% off. I'll let you know what we find then-

xox

Mom Style Debut

Hi, my name is Jayshree and I may or may not be a dealaholic. 

If you know me, yes. I do love a good deal. I love hunting for the amazing deals and I'm usually the one that will probably have a coupon or a promo code for anything we buy. I can't help it, it's in my genetics I like to say. 

I have jumped on the bandwagon of the 'retro' shoe craze and have been on the hunt for a pair for quite some time. My friend Jessica (Kaden's non-biological aunt) has 2 amazing pairs of sneakers that I want to steal love. She also got deals on both of them. I have a hard time swallowing spending around 85.00 for a pair-the deal finder in me was itching to get out and I've scoured the internet for pairs. I think everyone else and their mother had the same idea. 

 

1// 2 // 3 // 4

Last night I went to the pre-sale of the Weecycled Wardwrobe sale for Kaden. Little did I know there was a whole room of shoes for babies up to teenagers apparently...and I recently realized that I can wear big kid shoes! I browsed around the size 5 table and whaddya know...I found these babies:

Want to know the best part?! They cost a whole whopping 5.00

All I needed to do was throw them in the wash with detergent and some of my On Guard Concentrated Cleaner to get them extra clean and they're good to go! I have a feeling that fall is going to come out of left field so these will be perfect for being outside and running errands. 

I'm linking up with a fellow mom blogger, Rachel, over at Stickers for Mommy on a weekly style post. Thank you Rachel for inspiring me to share! She has a son about Kaden's age, has a love for deal hunting also is in the Northern Virginia area..it is a win win for everyone around!  Her new post from today may or may not have started a possible online shopping trip...go take a look! 


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