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    Thoughtful Thursdays: Reusing!

    Thinking is easy, acting is difficult, and to put one’s thoughts into action is the most difficult thing in the world. ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

    Since last week I talked about recycling, I figured I would talk about reusing this week. Maybe next week I’ll come up with a reduce topic. Last week was one of the many kids’ consignment sales that take place in my area in the spring and fall. I would say about half of Sawyer’s clothes have been from consignment sales and resale shops. Probably 75% of what I’ve bought him has been used. I find the price of baby & toddler clothing to be a tad crazy considering how quickly they grow out of it, so I much prefer to buy used clothing. Plus it exist. The clothes are already out there, so why not buy them instead of going out and buying something new. Sort of like the idea of getting a dog from a shelter or adopting a baby. The clothes are there, needing to be worn. No need to “breed” new ones. LOL. As a matter of fact, Sawyer was wearing a sleeper bought at a the Little Lambs consignment sale in his hospital picture. That’s right, the first clothes I put on my child were used.
    DSCF7380
    Used, cheap, and brand new looking. That’s how I like it. (The hat and blanket pictured above were new gifts from Mamaw Donna, and the total look was all we had to semi-fit him since we had expected a 9lb+ baby).

    Some of his other “famous”/ favorite stylin’ looks were also consignment finds…
    Mommy & Sawyer Staring at HannahTouchdown!
    In the first pic the onesie was consignment with clearance preemie-sized pants from Wal-Mart, and hat from eBay

    I Got Love For MobileRelaxingSawyer & Toys
    My 2 favorite sleepers: Ralph Lauren gray soft wonderfulness and the rainbow striped happy one. AND YES, the “green bean” outfit that everyone loved was a used Baby Gap find :)

    Our newest bargain reusing deals include the following:
    Bargain Shopping
    2 Gymboree One-piece outfits (do you see the adorable bobsled on the mountain?!) $2 and $2.50
    Old Navy Corduroy bibs ($2.50)
    Polo 3-Piece outfit ($4) – and the pants zip off to be shorts
    Old Navy 2-piece PJ’s ($2.50) – love these because they seem like big kid stuff
    5 comfy footed PJ’s ($7)
    Halloween t-shirt “I Love Mummy” ($1)

    AND!…this now famous (haha) Children’s Place outfit which I snagged for $2.50
    Sawyer Holden

    Overall I think we’ve had great luck with finding some nice used clothing and I’ve felt really good knowing I’ve saved myself some green while being green =)

    Go Go Green Gnatural Gnatalie! hahahaha

    Sawyer Sundays

    Sawyer’s accomplishments this week include:
    Sitting himself up from a laying on his belly position
    Regressing in his sleep and hating his crib
    Being clingy and seeming to develop separation anxiety
    Hating his fancy fish dinner
    Trying to use whining to avoid crawling to a desired object (a certain parent gives in, lol)
    Adding “lunch” to his daily routine, so he’s getting solid foods 3 times a day
    Pooping in bizarre amounts
    Continuing to babble and jabber, which is so precious to hear
    Destroying a whole avocado by himself… although I don’t think it all made it in his belly
    Feeding Self Avocado

    AND being ridiculously cute & lovable & the most precious, wonderful part of our lives
    July 24, 2010
    He did a photo shoot at the house with Mommy on Saturday

    4 Going on 17 - Happy Birthday Hannah Grace!!!

    Somehow this chunky, dark haired giant of a baby who was born 4 years ago today
    Eyes Wide Open

    Has already become this beautiful, blond haired, smart, independent little girl :)
    Hannah

    She changed fast while aunt gnatalie was still living in Maryland and not seeing her often.
    Christmas 2006 044

    I moved back just before her 1st birthday :)
    hannah1bday 026

    Since then we’ve been able to share many good times together… and apparently grown our hair together
    Sept10 022
    Fly!!!!
    _MG_8174
    Easter09 021
    Christmas08 163
    First Swim

    She is hillarious
    My favorite!
    DSCF9393

    And entertaining
    Little Dancer
    Princess Dress Up

    And loving
    DSCF9635

    I can’t believe how grown up she seems lately and that she will start preschool this year. This is probably making my sister cry, sorry Becca. Wishing my wonderful niece a very happy birthday. Aunt Natalie loves you!

    Thoughtful Thursdays: Recycle!

    Thinking is easy, acting is difficult, and to put one’s thoughts into action is the most difficult thing in the world. ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

    recycleBefore I start about recycling, I have to share that I just had a great idea. I need to somehow incorporate a new term into these weekly tips. Ready for it? gnatural. LOL. Maybe… “Getting gNatural with gNatalie”. Haha, I should make that the title instead of Thoughtful Thursday… anyway. It’s gnatural time.

    RECYCLE. Do it. NOW. End of story. But I’ll keep going… It is unbelievable the amount of waste American’s throw out in the trash every day. We’re huge fans of Discovery’s Dirty Jobs, and when I saw this episode at the San Francisco dump I was horrified. I can’t believe what a wasteful bunch of people we are. PLEASE click the link below and watch this episode.

    Dirty Jobs San Francisco Dump Episode

    After you watch that, I hope that in addition to considering recycling you’ll also think about the amount of food you waste and throw out. There are 3 super easy ways to reduce the amount of food that unnecessarily takes up space in landfills & dumps. 1) Cook less! We all know about obesity rates being at an all time high in our country, and especially here in the Huntington area. We eat too much. We cook too much. Fix smaller portions, and less will go to waste. 2) Compost food scraps. An actual compost pile or barrel is a great idea, or you can just make a scrap heap if you live in the right area. I live in town and we still have a “compost” area on the corner of our lot where we throw out big scraps. Birds and animals eat them often, and then they just compost naturally along with leaves and grass clippings we throw back there. 3) Use a garbage disposal for small food scraps. Simple.

    Ok, now that we’ve covered all that, let’s get back to recycling. Unfortunately in West Virginia most of us have to put forth a little more effort to recycle. Back in Maryland, the city picked up recycling at every household and it was great. Fortunately right here in Huntington, most of us still have that luxury thanks to Allied Waste (formerly BFI). For a small fee ($9.95 per quarter – yes, $3.31 per month), Allied Waste picks up our recycling every other Friday. They accept cardboard, non-glossy paper, plastic (1 & 2), and aluminum cans. That pretty much takes care of all of our recycling needs. I have yet to find any place in the area that will recycle glass. So if you live in Huntington, no excuses! $3 a month is too cheap to pass up.

    Allied Waste Services
    Kyle Industrial Park Lesage WV 25537
    304-525-1631 or 800-331-0988

    Along with home pick-up in Huntington, there are several places around the area that accept various types of materials to recycle. Here is a list of the places I’m aware of. If anyone knows of another place, please leave a comment. If you live outside of Cabell County, then click here for a list of all the recycling centers in the state of West Virginia.

    Empire Metal Recycling
    111 22nd St. Huntington, WV 25703
    Contact: Mike Smith
    Telephone: 529-2339
    Fax: 529-2182
    E-mail: emr150@aol.com
    Hours: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to noon Saturday
    Materials collected: Aluminum cans, alloys, ferrous and nonferrous scrap.

    Empire Metal Recycling, Ceredo Facility
    5095 U.S. 60 W. Huntington, WV 25704
    Contact: Mike Vansteenberg
    Telephone: 781-7801
    Fax: 781-7800
    E-mail: emr150@aol.com
    Hours: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to noon Saturday.
    Materials collected: Aluminum cans, alloys, ferrous and nonferrous scrap.

    Rt. 2 Metal and Paper Recycling
    4602 Ohio River Road Huntington, WV 25702
    Contact: Ken Maxwell
    Telephone: 529-1308
    Fax: 529-1308
    Hours: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday
    Materials collected: Aluminum, copper, brass, stainless steel, radiators, cast aluminum, transmissions and batteries, cans
    and converters are purchased.
    Comments: No chemicals accepted.
    Document shredding available.
    Tin cans accepted by donation.
    Purchases paper and cardboard.

    Taylor’s Iron and Metal
    1st Street and 3rd Avenue Huntington, WV 25701
    Contact: Norman Taylor
    Telephone: 525-6390
    Fax: 525-6373
    E-mail: timinc@ntelos.net
    Web site: www.taylorironandmetal.com
    Hours: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to noon Saturday
    Currently accepting Iron, Steel, Copper, Brass, Aluminum, Stainless Steel, High Temperature Alloys, Most Other Metals including auto scrap tin, appliances, batteries and metal food cans.
    With future plans of paper, plastic, and glass recycling (yay!!!)

    Tri-State Metal Salvage
    5171 Altizer Ave. Huntington, WV 25705
    Contact: Carlos Rowe
    Telephone: 523-5872
    Fax: 523-5872
    Hours: 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday
    Materials collected: Copper, brass and steel

    Goodwill Industries
    525 W. 19th St. Huntington, WV Telephone: 429-3261 Fax: 429-5103 Hours: 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
    1005 Virginia Ave. Huntington, WV Telephone: 523-9177 Hours: Call for store hours
    6007 U.S. 60 E. River Place, Ste. 208 Barboursville, WV Telephone: 736-8624 Hours: Call for store hours
    500 Main St. No. 8 Perry Morris Square Milton, WV Telephone: 743-0100 Call for store hours
    Cross Roads Shopping Ctr Lavalette, WV 25535 Telephone: 304-697-2764 Call for store hours
    Materials collected: Paper, cardboard, packing materials, junk mail, magazines, telephone books, Furniture, clothing,
    books, toys, miscellaneous household goods

    Jeep Jeep

    Sawyer’s first time parallel parking. Check the mirrors… then go…

    Jeep + Cuteness

    Need I say more? =)

    Sawyer Sundays

    We have forward movement! Sawyer has finally figured out how to switch gears and get himself out of reverse. I especially love watching him “chase” these little toy balls that constantly shoot out of his hands and roll. I’ll have to get video soon. In general he just seems so much more grown up this week. He plays and plays, and rolls, and goes after toys like a wild man, and wiggles and squirms (forget holding him for much of a cuddle), and he sleeps.

    Oh he sleeps like a baby… at least more like a baby than before. He’s doing really well at night, I think. We have routine. He goes to sleep about 8, and will wake up partially around 11 to nurse. Then he sleeps till about 6. Sometimes 6:30, sometimes 5:40. Anyway, there were a few nights when he reverted back to waking 3 times or so but we’ve had a good week.

    His belly had a good week too. He went wild for spinach and bananas this week. Spinach has been one of the harder foods to fix, because I picked the stems off fresh baby spinach, steamed them, pressed out excess water, and then Magic Bulleted them with butternut squash. We’re going to add some protein this week, so little man is going to have some flounder. Should be interesting :)

    Here are some of the adorable Sawyer moments from the week…

    Wild Child
    He no longer stays on the clean, protective mats. If you leave the room, you might come back to find him licking the hardwood.

    Sneaking (to chew on edge of mats)
    General playful cuteness. He turns into a ham when he sees the camera.

    Papaw & his Buddies
    At John & Iyanu’s wedding with Papaw and Hannah

    Fluffy Bum Obsession

    I have a little obsession with Sawyer’s bootie. It stems from my cloth diaper obsession. Now that he is scooting around and trying to crawl, he has that fluffy bum stuck up in the air all the time and I LOVE it. I know, weird sounding… but it’s so cute! Don’t deny it…

    Getting On Knees

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