Yep, he's officially our baby. He's weathered the storm that is IKEA craziness. Our IKEA here in Austin is on the opposite side of the city, so quite a trek. Truthfully, I'm thankful it's so far away because I know if it was right down the street, we'd frequent it more often and spend more of our hard earned moolah. But I love making a big trip to IKEA 2-3 times a year and this time around, Nash joined me.
We hit it up on a school day so Walt was working and the crowds weren't as fierce as the weekend craziness. My neighbor/friend Heather is on maternity leave with her precious Elise. Remember I co-hosted her shower right here at CasaCullen. HERE'S the post on that. So Nash and I hopped in with them and we all headed north to IKEA! Here's the deets on our adventure and a rundown of all the new goodies I picked up, plus a product review too.
"IKEA? What's that? I'd much rather stay right here in my beloved Jumperoo! You go ahead without me"
- Nash, 4 1/2 months
Quickly, I realized, taking a trip up to IKEA is nothing like it once was. Diaper bag, car seat, Ergo carrier, car seat base and burp cloths galore. Babies really do have so much stuff.
Sweet Elise has her eyes open but Nash snoozed the entire way there.
Note to self, Maria at IKEA Round Rock is a much better greeter than she is photographer, hee hee. Both babies were happy as can be in their car seats so we started out with car seats IN the carts.
"Hey Mom, don't worry, I've got our IKEA Family Card right here! You know, mega discounts because I know how you like to save a buck or two!"
Have you gotten your family card yet? You get a free cup of coffee upon activating it (totally free, btw) and Heather had never heard of it and this month's specially discounted piece of furniture was the exact piece she was planning on purchasing. How much did the family card save her? I think around $40 off the regular purchase price. So make sure to sign up for this great freebie/perk before your next IKEA trip. HERE'S more info, bottom middle.
So guess what? Nash is usually a really laid back and go with the flow baby. On this very day, I must admit, he was cranker mc cranker pants. He was actually a pretty fussy lil' Bubs. So Heather was kind enough to help me adjust my Ergo to wear him in the back position and that appeased him for a while. I had her snap a pic because that little monkey man made me laugh just chillin' back there! We both stopped mid-way through our shopping trip to nurse and get our free coffee/tea (from our IKEA Family card) so that made for some happy ladies/babies too.
But by the time we were through the checkout and ready to head home, there was no way we were going to walk all the way back through the store to eat. So I just grabbed us both the two hot dogs, chips and a drink for $2 (love that deal) and we hit the road, back to southwest Austin. This was about a month ago, so if my memory serves me correctly, both kiddos were total angels the ENTIRE trip home too! We were smart planners with feeding times and car trips, aka: naps! Yay Team Mommy! A total success, except for my little man's fussiness. Teething, the pits.
So here we are, back at CasaCullen with all our loot. Here's a rundown of what we scored. I gave myself an under $100 budget and stuck to it. I think I came in at about $80...cha-ching!
Ikea Goodies
Two throw pillows with covers for our Master bed
Three bulk food containers
Measuring cups
Two packages of bibs for Mr. Spitter Upper
Paper napkins for entertaining
Another green laptop tray
Stacking cups toy for the Bubs
Veggie/Fruit cleaner and strainer
So onto my product review of the last item. I saw it out of the corner of my eye in the kitchen section and once I started investigating what it even was, I knew it was something we'd totally use. Why? We are produce eating junkies and I wash all of it before we nosh. Read on about why I love this product and it's eco/green stamp of approval too!
IKEA's strainer/cleaner/water saver product review
I think this here IKEA gadget was around $12. It serves two purposes and I love any product like that.
A) It's a one stop washing machine for all our produce
B) It stores the water used so I can give my house plants a drink
I love that face that I'm not only being green and conserving water, but I'm also marking something off my to-do list, post every grocery store trip. We wash our produce, it's something we've always done. We try to buy mostly organic but sometimes the price/season means we opt for conventional. We obviously keep track of the dirty dozen (more on that HERE) and really try to always buy those organic. Even though it's organic doesn't mean you shouldn't still give it a good rinse before eating it.
So in one bucket of water I was able to wash a 3 lb. bag of organic apples and a 2 lb. bag of organic pears. But wait, there's more.
I was also able to wash 1 lb. of strawberries and a bunch of kale.
So when I removed the strainer, I called Walt over to show him. We were actually both pretty shocked at the amount of residue that we've washing off each time. That's some serious dirt, y'all! But then again, dirt don't hurt. I'm just happy to have fresh and clean produce in our fridge for quick picking and eating on the go.
And guess who else loves this new gadget? That's right...Fred and Wilma, on either side of our TV. They also reap the benefits of a bucket of water dumped on their heads! The only downside about this IKEA gadget is that pouring the water from the bottom bucket (which has cut outs for handles) is pretty tricky. The first few times I poured the water in my watering bucket, I got more on the counter (through those handle holes) than in our bucket. Boo! So now I have to cover the handle hole with my hand so all the dirty water doesn't escape. Other than that, it's a great and very ingenious 'two birds with one stone' product that I've already used a dozen times or more!
