Markham baby news you don't want to miss

You know it's beginning to look like spring when ... you hear about Mom-to-Mom! If you've been following my posts, you know I'm a huge fan of this series of sales.

I got the latest Markham Mom-to-Mom details from their email newsletter today. I've never been to the Markham sales, but I hear they are amazing – and I can believe this. See below for info.

Markham Mom-to-Mom Spring 2013 Sale

SATURDAY APRIL 6TH 9 A.M.- 1 P.M. (Vendor Spaces Sold Out)

SUNDAY APRIL 7TH 10 A.M.- 2 P.M. (New 42 Vendor Spaces Left!)

Markham Fairgrounds

10801 McCowan Road

www.momtomomsales.org

$3/ person admission for shoppers

free parking

strollers welcome

If you want to be a vendor, click here.

Things change with a baby. Period.

I recall watching an episode of TLC's Bringing Home Baby: There was a couple who loved entertaining and travelling and vowed not to let their first baby change their lives. After the birth, they came home from the hospital and casually hosted a barbecue for over 50 people. My thoughts were:

"Excuuuuuuse me?! Isn't the mom sore? Aren't the new parents exhausted? Don't they want to be alone with the baby?!" 

Reality check: THINGS CHANGE WHEN YOU HAVE A BABY. Things change physically, mentally and socially.

Your interests even change. Do you think I cared about Treehouse TV before having a baby? Heck no, I spent many evenings catching up on True Blood. Not to say I don't enjoy my old interests, I just have additional interests with a baby around.

But there are positive changes. Having a child brings this amazing love into your life – an indescribable feeling. And when you see her grow, when you see her develop skills, your heart just glows. 

OK, sorry, I'm getting sappy here. But the point is, things do change. Accept it.

Smart shopping for baby/toddler shoes

I hate shoe shopping for my toddler.

She's only two, but she's already picky about her clothes and shoes. I also have the problem of combining a great price with quality. I could go for a pair at $8.50 at Walmart, but how comfortable are they? And are they durable?

But at Payless Shoes, I found these adorable shoes that my daughter actually wants to wear. They're easy to put on (which is a huge bonus right there!), stretchy and padded. And the price tag? Drum roll please ... $19.99. Not bad, right? But remember, my goal was good quality, not low price. I just lucked out here.

So today's lesson? Don't sacrifice your child's health and safety for a cheap deal. Make sure shoes properly fit and they're top quality. And if you happen to find a kick-ass deal, props to you. So far, Payless Shoes has been the go-to store for me.

Where do you get your kids shoes? Any tips to share?

Mastermind coupon - expires on Jan. 20th

Got a great savings tip from my cousin (I think there's a savings gene in our blood):

From Jan. 18th to Jan. 20th, use this coupon to buy a little decorate-your-own cardboard house for $2. (See the link I provided for details, it's from Red Flag Deals.)

Honestly, go for it – I dunno about you, but I rarely find a good deal like this at Mastermind! Also makes a great gift for any tot!

I'm not a bad mom because I don't scrapbook!

I love arts and craft, especially knitting! But what I've failed to keep up with is scrapbooking.

What does this have to do with "Adventures in Baby Savings"? Well, you know how there are baby-related scrapbooks? These have you mark down firsts, such as first tooth (yes, like we want to remember that!), roll, crawl, etc.

f you're just too tired, ditch the scrapbook. It'll save you time, money and sanity.

When I got those scrapbooks as a pregnant mommy, I was ecstatic! But when baby came, I tried filling in those inserts and I just couldn't wrap my mind around them. One time, a scrapbook asked me to glue a pic of my baby's room before she was born. What?! I was supposed to take a picture of that?! I thought I was a terrible parent for not doing that!
So in the end, I let a stupid scrapbook worry the crap out of me during my early mommyhood. I do want to preserve some keepsakes though, so what I do is store things in a keepsake box. Very simple – you can find them in card stores, dollar stores, or make your own out of a shoebox.

I also met a mom who typed up little blurbs for her baby. When something significant happened, she wrote her son a quick blurb (i.e. Today we went to to the zoo...). She saved it on a USB key and it's ready for her son to read when he's older.

I'm not saying don't bother scrapbooking – hey, if you enjoy it, go for it! But if it's not for you and you're doing it because it's something you think a mom "just does," forget about it.

Free storytimes for 2013

I am still loving the library for borrowing the latest children's DVDs. But what I hope to do this year is take my daughter to a storytime session. I briefly caught one last year with her and the kids in the class loved it – there was even singing and dancing around bubbles! So hopefully the same happens this year, too.

If you live in the Mississauga, Ont area, here's a link to the Mississauga Library's Winter 2013 Storytimes. (Scroll to the bottom, under "Latest News".) If you know of any other library schedules, feel free to post their links!

A quick guide to family-friendly restaurants

I never appreciated eating out until I had a baby.

My husband and I could dine anywhere up until my daughter was about two months old, when she would sleep peacefully in her car seat. (Ah, those were the days!)

Not my kid, just a pic I found from the Ikea site.

But after that ... she became aware of things, of other people – and wanted out of her seat, out of the restaurant! And so came the crying. And neither myself or my husband (or both) didn't get to eat.

Then when she started crawling at eight months, she wanted to explore. By a year old, she wanted to run around restaurants. And it doesn't matter how many stupid crayons and colouring pictures the restaurant offers, they just don't work!

So eating out for my family has been trial and error – but luckily, we've found a few successful places. At these restaurants, my daughter will sit still for most of the time. And when she signs "done", these locations are pretty cool about kids bobbing around. Here's my list:

• Ikea: Open space, bright lights and good food. Lots of high chairs available too! Great if you need to get some furniture shopping done too. (See my August 2012 post on Ikea.)
• Jack Astor's: It's loud but not annoyingly loud – just loud enough to cover your embarrassing moments. No one heard me sing ABC and Twinkle, Twinkle to my daughter, see?
• Pizza Hut: If we go, we eat there around 4:30pm (I know, we're like seniors!). So it's pretty empty then and if my daughter wants to walk, she can do so freely.
• Mandarin: Hello, THE place for walking around! And my daughter loves the food.

Am I missing any other restaurants? Let me know!

A must-do for any couponer

It's 2013 which means ... you probably have a load of coupons that expired on Dec. 31, 2012.

So this is a friendly reminder to purge your coupon holder/envelope/binder/drawer of any expired coupons. Yes, it can be a daunting task, but in the long run, you'll thank yourself. Don't you just hate getting excited over savings when it turns out you have an expired coupon?!

See the pic below of my coupon holder after its new-year cleanse. I should've taken a before shot – it was pretty heavy!

A New Parent's New Year's Resolution

So I have a New Year's resolution that sounds simple but it's actually pretty hard to achieve:Carve out more "me" time. 

As a stay-at-home-mom who also works from home, I get pretty wrapped up in toddler things or stuff written on my to-do list. So when people ask me, "what do you like to do in your spare time?" I fumble in answering this question. In fact, I started my New Year's resolution a little early – in December 2012, my husband and I have tried to take at least one hour a day to do something we individually enjoy. He does his squash thing, I read a novel or watch some TV. Of course, we do have our family nights a few times a week, where we enjoy our daughter together by going to the mall, visiting the library, etc.

The point is, we know we're parents and we know we want to take care of our children. But our precious "alone time" also rejuvenates the spirit and our happiness. And we need this.

If you're a new mom or dad who's hesitant about taking that "me" time, don't worry, all new parents feel the same way. I totally get it – you don't want to be away from your baby "just in case." So here's my tip: Take your "me" time little by little each day. Go for a walk for 15 minutes, come back home. Go shopping for 30 minutes the next time, come back home. You will feel less and less guilty, trust me. And each time you get your "moment," you will feel like a refreshed, new person.