Once Upon a Child - a review

Once Upon a Child - Anchorage location

1. As I mentioned yesterday, my biggest issue with Once Upon a Child is their prices.  Some things are just ridiculously priced.  Gymboree outfits can run anywhere from $8.99 to $19.99.  While I know that this is still a good value considering the original price, it is just too much for me to pay for a onesie and a pair of pants, regardless of how cute it is.  Especially when over at Kid to Kid, you can get the same type of outfit from Gyboree for a lot less.  There are still good deals to be found here however, and there is plenty of stock to search through in order to find that good deal.  There are sales here (seasonably, I believe) and they make it especially worthwhile to stop by.  
2. This store is a smart place to go if you are looking for something specific to complete an outfit - as they have so many items you're almost sure to find that one obscure item you are looking for used, such as a knit vest for a boy or a cardigan for a girl in a certain size.  They also don't seem to price anything over $20 (although a lot comes pretty close) and $20 is still a good price (in my opinion) to pay for things like barely worn REI or Patagonia snowsuits and the like.  One of my best finds at Once Upon a Child was two sets of Patagonia long underwear in different infant sizes for only $15 (included the thermal top and bottom).  These same items cost $50 a set across the street at REI.   

   

   Here's a picture of one of the sets, you can see they are in brand new condition.

    
3. Finally, in regards to trade in, they are very conservative in how much cash value they will give you for used items.  Clothing is probably never credited for more than a $1 per item, ever.  Big items are also pretty stingy, especially if they have a lot in stock at the time.  I saw a mom bringing in two swings, a bouncer, a bathtub and a bag full of clothes and she was offered $23 cash.  Toys are given pretty OK credit for, especially if it is a barely used item that is in high demand.  I assume the only things you can get a fair amount in cash or credit for are items very high in demand.  Because of this, I don't bother taking time to bring things by, especially clothing.  Another reason I don't like to sell items to Once Upon a Child is because of the attitude of the people looking through it and the organization (or really lack of it) at the counter.  I can't tell you the amount of times I've hear people complain about the customer service at Once Upon a Child.  I have friends who have brought nearly brand new outgrown items there to sell, and rather than tell the truth (we have too many clothes in that size and can't take yours sorry) they say things like, "The clothes were too out of date" or "Many of the items were stained".  Not only can this be embarrassing for some, it's very frustrating since you know the items are perfectly good and you or somebody else probably paid good money for them.  As you'll read tomorrow, I prefer to sell things only to Kid to Kid.    

Once again, I still enjoy shopping there enough to return, and think they do a pretty good job keeping up their stock levels in all infant sizes.  I don't know as much about older children (over 4T), but it seems like all of the shelves are always full.  Bottom Line:  Definitely stop in now and again, and especially during sales, but only bring things by to sell if you are ready to be disappointed with how much they will give you for them.  

Value Village for Kids - a Review

I heard of a new second hand store for kids in Anchorage a few weeks ago that I hadn't been to yet.  I love shopping for a bargain - there is nothing like finding something completely adorable for a steal of a deal.  The store was a little out of the way, so I didn't want to waste my time going all the way over to the store if it wasn't going to be worth it.  I wished to myself that someone could tell me their experience with the store, but I didn't know anyone who had been there yet.

This thought gave me the idea to share my opinion and impressions of all of the second hand stores in Anchorage that I visit for kids stuff.  As I mentioned in my previous post, today I'll begin with a review of Value Village (the Dimond store).

Value Village - Dimond Location:

1. V.V. used to be my all time favorite second hand store for clothing.  I could always manage to scour through the racks and racks of clothes and find a few gems for under $5.  Lately however, I have been very disappointed with two major things about Value Village.  They have completely changed their organizational system in the infant and toddler section and to put it frankly, I can't stand it!  It used to be organized by size and gender.  You know, the usual newborn, 3 months, 6 months, ect, ect.  For some reason that is completely beyond me, they decided to "organize" it by type of clothing and very loosely by gender.  For example: pants, shorts, short sleeve shirts, long sleeve shirts, ect.  It is horrible and on top of it all, with the new organization system, it also seems like there is half the stock that their used to be.  So that is the first major issue I have with Value Village now.  
2. Second, their prices have gone up to nearly ridiculous levels for some things.  If you keep reading, you will get to reviews of Once Upon a Child and Kid to Kid which go more into detail about those stores, but one of my biggest problems with Once Upon a Child is price.  They seem to overprice their used clothing, but in their defense at least they offer clothing that is up to date, somewhat stylish, and (mostly) clean.  At Value Village, their prices are now rivaling and sometimes exceeding Once Upon a Child, and you have to dig through a lot of outdated and stained clothing to find the more trendy items.  The pricing is also obviously very dependent on the opinion of whatever worker happened to price it and therefore varies widely.  What I mean by this is that some days, I find a Disney themed pair of pants for $7.99 (not even joking) and a pair of barely used Baby Gap jeans for $3.99.  Or a Carters long sleeve onesie for $5.99 and a Gymboree long sleeve onesie for $2.99.  Now anyone who knows the original prices of these items knows that this is very skewed from the original value of the clothing.  It works out great for me, as I'm typically looking for "brand name" items from Baby Gap and Gymboree especially.  But I imagine it to be very frustrating to whoever wants those Disney character pants or Carters onesie.

Despite these issues, I know I will continue to shop at Value Village in the future, especially when I am in the mood to rummage.  Bottom Line:  If you like to shop at thrift stores and find a great deal, it is still a good place to look.  But if you are not into rummaging through less than worthy items to find your own gems, it might not be the place for you.  

Coming Up

I've been thinking about doing a series of related posts on my blog for a few months, and I've finally begun work on one that I think will interest most of those who read my blog.  I am going to write a review of each of the second hand children's clothing (and misc "stuff") shops that I both frequent or have visited only a couple of times.  I will give you my impressions of each place, and hope that they are useful to you.

I plan on writing reviews of Value Village, Once Upon a Child, Kid to Kid, and All 4 Kids, probably in that order.  If you have any requests of other places, please let me know.  Hope everyone had a happy Monday, and that your first week of October is full of great things.

little cradle

I found a great deal on cradle for my little one last week and finally have it all put together and ready for him.  I think it's so cute, so I had to share it with you all.  I can't wait until he's in there, sleeping peacefully :)

fall and snow

It's been fall here in Alaska for a few weeks.  But this morning when I woke, I could see my breath and there was frost on the leaves in my yard.  It's nearly 11am, and it's still only 38 degrees.  Winter is coming!  I went on a walk out in the crisp sunshine, and there was even more evidence that winter is nearly here - the snow was halfway down the mountains, and completely covered flattop.  Steve and I were walking at the base of Flattop last Sunday, and there was no snow in sight.  That is one of the things I love most about Alaska, winter comes so fast!  I'm always excited for winter, but this year my excitement is even more profound.

October is such a great month in my opinion, it seems to gracefully usher in the holidays.  The first snow has always fallen in October, my birthday is in October and then when October is over, Thanksgiving and Christmas aren't far behind!  Skiing (usually) starts in November and Anchorage is a winter wonderland!  I'm sure there will be things that irritate me as always, such as all the bad drivers forgetting how to drive on ice and snow, but the good always outweighs the bad for me in winter.  I even love the darkness of November and December.  I'm sure many Alaskans don't share  my wholehearted embrace with winter, but to them I say, move somewhere else or enjoy Alaska at its finest!

Here are a few pictures from my walk this morning:

Love seeing the snowline come so close!
View of the mountains from my neighborhood.

Beau enjoying the sun - as you can see the streets are completely
covered in leaves!

Eagle in my circle - the roofline at the bottom of the picture is my house!

happy birthday Noah!

I cannot believe it is October already, but I'm so glad that it is!  I love this time of year.  It is so beautiful outside with all the fall colors and the crisp feel in the air.  Right now, it's about 43 degrees outside and I'm loving it!  I can layer up and wear boots and drink hot chocolate.  Now I'm just waiting on the snow :)

Friday was my nephew Noah's third birthday, I can't believe how fast they grow up!  He was born about a month after my wedding in 2008, and every year at his birthday I think to myself that it can't be another whole year since his last birthday and since my wedding.  Even though I feel like we've been married forever, it also feels like just yesterday that I was in crazy wedding planning mode, and now I'm in crazy baby planning mode! Anyway, his birthday was so fun and I can't believe how grown up he is.

Me, Corbin and baby Noah at his 2 week checkup!
October 14, 2008

Noah in Talkeetna Alaska at about 1 year.
September 21, 2009

Almost two years old at the Alaska Zoo.
Hat I knit for his birthday and sweater his mommy knit for his birthday.
September 25, 2010

Third birthday party at church.
September 30, 2011.

I love my little Noah and wish he wouldn't grow up so fast!

Nursery Pictures!

This week our new crib and dresser came in for Riggs room!  I was so excited, and determined to get the new stuff set up as soon as possible.  It was definitely a team effort!  Being pretty pregnant with a heart condition, I'm really not supposed to be lifting very much, so I was pretty useless as far as helping to carry any of the furniture to the car or in the house.  Luckily, my sister was available to help me get the stuff from JCPenney, and my dad let us borrow his truck for the day.  We went and picked it up then ran a few more errands.  Neither Kelsey or I could really do much about getting the furniture out of the truck, so that would have to wait until Steve got off work.

Steve got off work late and was pretty tired, but he hung in there and unpacked the boxes outside (great idea on his part - otherwise there would have been Styrofoam everywhere in our house) and carried everything inside for me.  What a sweetheart!  Since then I have been working hard and have finally gotten his room as well set up as I really can until he gets here - there are some big items in his room which won't really have a home until then,  like the BOB stroller and both his car seats.  He also gets to share a room with his daddy's weight set, so that stuff is in his room, but I think that considering the space we had to work with, it turned out pretty well!  I can't wait to move into our own house to make him a real nursery, but for now this will have to do :)

It seems like he has so much stuff already, but I am so happy with everything we have got for him.  The reason we already have so much is because I have been lucky with watching craigslist and sales on amazon and such - that is how we were able to get the exact car seats we wanted for him for so much less, and also things like his little travel swing, rug, ect.  Steve loves the rug and said he always loved those when he was a kid.  I have to admit, I did too!  We had one at church in our Sunday School class that I used to play with so much!  I know it will be a while before he will really be "playing" with it, but it adds color to his room, which was much needed since we don't want to deal with painting or putting much up on the walls.

This is the view from the door looking into his room.  For those who haven't been 

to our house, this bedroom is pretty small, has two closets, and two doors, so there

isn't much wall space.  You can see the two car seats, BOB stroller and Steve's 

weights in this picture.  It will look a lot less cluttered in that corner once the cars 

seats are actually in the car lol.  Steve only works out in the winter when he is

laid off, so he let's me put stuff on the bench for now, but it will all have to be free 

and clear once/if he gets laid off so he can keep in shape during the winter.  

I love how his crib turned out!  I decided not to get one of the "lifetime" cribs (the 

ones that turn into toddler/double beds) because they were so much bigger and 

we will have other kids that will need a crib.  Plus I love how classic this one looks!  

I got his bedding on super clearance from Land of Nod, it's organic cotton and I 

love how gender neutral it is.  I have two bins for extra storage under the crib.  

Here is his adorable little dresser!  I had to search far and wide for the exact piece 

I was looking for, and when I found it, it was discontinued and over 50% off, perfect!  

We will use this for a changing table too, so all his diapers are in the top drawers, 

with onesies and pants in the other two drawers. We got a small shelf to go 

above it, but I'm waiting for Steve to put that up. 

This is what you see when you look to the right after walking through the door.  

His swing is super light and folds almost completely flat.  I usually have it folded 

up but put it out for the picture. 

This is the rest of the storage area for little Riggs.  The closet is pretty small, but we 

hung all his clothes that we could in there, and there are bins for storage of other 

hand me downs in bigger sizes and such in there.  The metal storage rack is really 

nice because it keeps things out in the open that we will need easy access to but 

that aren't necessarily everyday items.  We really like open storage, so we can just 

see what we need, grab it and go, and I don't think it looks too disorganized.  Now 

that everything is mostly put together, it's going to be even harder to wait patiently 

for December!

wordless wednesday

Okay there's some words, but not many...

this cracked me up...too bad I'm not doing much bicycle commuting right now.

artificial food

fresh food - homegrown broccoli plant

minimally processed food - homemade whole wheat bread 

ultra-processed food

Below is an article I found while perusing the web today, which I felt merited sharing on my blog. I have copied this from the website, Fooducate.

New Food Definitions

In “The Big Issue is Ultra-processing. There is No Such Thing as a Healthy Ultra-Processed Product,” Dr. Carlos Monteiro makes a distinction among three types of food:

The first type is fresh food, such as the cauliflower at the farmer’s market.  Fresh food is generally rich in nutrients and low in calories, and we can accurately call this type of food “natural.”

The second type is minimally processed food, such as a cake’s basic ingredients—salt, sugar, and flour.  We can’t call these foods “natural,” because they have undergone a certain amount of processing to meet our demands.  On the other hand, the processing is not harmful because it doesn’t change the basic nature of these foods.

Whether a salt is processed mechanically with trace elements removed and iodine added or by hand with trace elements intact, it remains salt—a product we use to enhance the flavor of other foods.

More importantly, minimally processed foods, whether unrefined (whole wheat flour) or refined (white flour) do not threaten our health when eaten in appropriate, moderate, and reasonable amounts for our individual bodies.  This last condition is important.  Each of us has different tolerances and react differently to foods.  However, generally speaking, eating any food in excess is likely to be harmful to health, no matter what it is.

The third type is ultra-processed food. Monteiro describes these as “ready-to-eat or ready-to-heat ‘fast’ dishes, snacks and drink.” He says that they are made from “cheap or degraded ingredients,” and are low in nutrients, high in calories, and full of fat, sugar, and/or salt.

Ultra-processed foods, then, are artificial foods, created through chemical additives and the additional processing of fresh and minimally processed foods.  Manufacturers of these foods have distorted healthful ingredients to the point that they no longer have healthy benefits.

In fact, Monteiro counters any health claims made by manufacturers for ultra-processed food: “Manipulation of the formulation to reduce any of their ingredients, or to add synthetic nutrients, does not change their basic nature.”

These are the processed foods that are bad for us individually and globally, healthwise and socially. Monteiro says that they contribute to obesity and thus health problems, undermine traditional food systems, and undercut regional and national food identities.

This whole issue of food is something that has been very important to Steve and I, and only seems more important now that we have a baby on the way.  We want to limit the amount of ultra-processed or artificial foods, that we eat.  This is something that, undeniably, takes a lot of time and discipline to do.  But every time I make something from minimally processed foods rather than just grabbing the ultra-processed version on the shelf I feel a sense of accomplishment and pleasure from taking the time to be a good steward of the body I've been given.  

This weekend one of those things I decided to make rather than buy was polenta.  It turned out wonderful, and I was once again shocked at how easy it was to "make" this dish rather than buy it.  Things like polenta and pizza crust used to be items I viewed as minimally processed themselves, because they seemed to me just one ingredient in the entire meal I was making.  The more I learn the more I strive to get the foods I'm eating down to the least ingredients and minimal processing possible.

There are some ultra-processed foods I know I will never be able to cut out of my diet, cereal being the one that is foremost in my mind (I'm sure there are many others, I just can't think of them right now).  But I do try to be very diligent in reading the ingredients, and I try to buy things with the least artificial ingredients possible.  Things I really tend to look for are artificial sweeteners and food colorings.  I would much rather eat sugar than high fructose corn syrup or aspartame.  I don't want to condemn the eating habits or choices of others, just to make a marked effort for myself and my family to eat things that are better for our bodies.  So that is what is on my mind today, hope you are all having a wonderful Monday afternoon!  

26 weeks

Today I am 26 weeks pregnant.  I can't believe it!  It seems like literally just yesterday Steve and I were talking about deciding to stop using birth control and "try" and get pregnant!  That was the beginning of March, and I found out I was pregnant by April 20, so this whole year has sort of been a pregnancy whirlwind!  It has been 157 days since I found out I was pregnant, and the exciting thing is now I only have 97 days left until my due date!  Where has the time gone?!

As I said earlier in the week, little Riggs is about 2 lbs, and according to my pregnancy app, he should be about 14 inches long.  So exciting!  It is not surprising to me that he is getting so much bigger so fast, because I feel him moving around and kicking like crazy almost all the time.  Many times when I don't feel big movements, I just have to watch my belly and I see little movements nearly all the time.  I love to feel him move, and I think that is what I will miss most about being pregnant.  Last night I could not sleep very well at all, and was up since 3am, but I just laid in bed with a smile on my face for the next two hours because he was moving all around.  It's amazing how much I can love someone I know so little about and haven't even met yet!

Other than the issues I've been having with my heart, I have had barely any pregnancy related symptoms, which I am so thankful for!  No swelling, no heartburn, no itchy or weird skin problems.  If it weren't for my fatigue, palpitations and breathing issues from the heart thing, I think I would feel amazing!

Here's a pictures of my little guy's progress this week, I can't believe how
much he's grown and how much my body has changed to accommodate him!

As of today, Riggs has completed two-thirds of his stay in my uterus!  This is such an exciting thought, and I can't wait for December to be here so he can come out big and healthy to meet us!

as you can see he's growing fast!