[Blackbird]

I LOVE babies! Come Christmas-time I'll have 4 of them between 5 yrs. and newborn. I am completely insane and just wondered how other mommies get their kids to play nice together for pictures? And if there are any mommies in my area (I live in Clarksville, TN) where's the best place to shop for new baby stuff? My last was a girl so I got rid of the boy stuff (not intending to have another... the hubby gets home from deployment and looks at me and whamo! I'm preggers again... lol) so now I need boy stuff again!

Attached File(s)

•  Braedan.pdf (64.65K)
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[mbc72]

Congrats! It sounds like you will have your hands full, but what fun! Have fun shopping for baby boy stuff-definitely one of the perks of pregnancy.

[crigterink]

Congrats! I had 4 in 5.5 years, and my two SILs and I racked up 14 in 10 years, so I know right where you are!

In terms of pictures, my best advice is...LEARN PHOTOSHOP! Swap their little heads around until you get a nice composite shot, then sit back and bask in everyone's amazement! Seriously, though, I had to lower my standards a bit and learn that cute pictures aren't always perfect pictures. Crazy is where we live right now, and the photos are gonna reflect that! Have fun with it all!

[trishaj]

Congratulations on your new little boy!!! I only have 2 and not sure how I make it, but having 4, I don't think I could do it. Maybe check Ebay for boys clothes, they have some good deals that you can find, plus I have been selling alot of my baby clothes on there.

[elibar]

crigterink, on Jul 31 2009, 03:50 PM, said:

Congrats! I had 4 in 5.5 years, and my two SILs and I racked up 14 in 10 years, so I know right where you are!

In terms of pictures, my best advice is...LEARN PHOTOSHOP! Swap their little heads around until you get a nice composite shot, then sit back and bask in everyone's amazement! Seriously, though, I had to lower my standards a bit and learn that cute pictures aren't always perfect pictures. Crazy is where we live right now, and the photos are gonna reflect that! Have fun with it all!

LOL, Channel. Done that - I've swapped a smile for a sticky outee tongue, and erased rabbit ears. I recommend this method highly. Just take multiple shots every time!

And congratulations!

[Julie - scrapaholic]

Wow, you do have your hands full. No advice here, only had one child. Just a congrats.

[sarabethp]

elibar, on Jul 31 2009, 01:12 PM, said:

crigterink, on Jul 31 2009, 03:50 PM, said:

Congrats! I had 4 in 5.5 years, and my two SILs and I racked up 14 in 10 years, so I know right where you are!

In terms of pictures, my best advice is...LEARN PHOTOSHOP! Swap their little heads around until you get a nice composite shot, then sit back and bask in everyone's amazement! Seriously, though, I had to lower my standards a bit and learn that cute pictures aren't always perfect pictures. Crazy is where we live right now, and the photos are gonna reflect that! Have fun with it all!

LOL, Channel. Done that - I've swapped a smile for a sticky outee tongue, and erased rabbit ears. I recommend this method highly. Just take multiple shots every time!

And congratulations!

Congrats on the new little one. The easiest way to swap heads out is to plan for it. Set the camera on a tripod so that the background is the exact same. This makes it easier to erase those rabbit ears and other funny stuff.

Have fun shopping for that cute baby stuff.

[CRS]

Welcome to Scrap Girls! My dh is coming home next week on leave from his deployment, and that better not happen to me, lol! Congratulations on your new bundle of joy!

[KellyChron]

Might I suggest e-bay to you... It's not like babies are exactly "hard" on clothes... I got most of my favorite stuff for my DS on e-bay.

And congratulations, btw.

[sweetaudrey]

I love the Carters Outlet Store- if you have an Outlet Mall near you! Target has cute baby stuff! &&& I always find cute stuff at our local Good Will. With baby clothes, they only wear them a couple times before they grow out of them, so they are usually in perfect condition.

Thanks for sharing your sonogram, Braedon is so cute sucking his thumb!! Congrats, and keep us updated! We are all suckers for babies!!!!!!!

[SandiC.]

I'm nuts about babies and nuts about little boys, but they sure can drive you nuts. I survived three sons, but mine were spaced a little more. Best wishes to you and your growing family.

[ritzbits]

TOTALLY feeling your "pain." Haha! We're due with boy #3 on 9/9... and boy #1 is 3.5 years old.... So I'll have 3 under 4. But I think it was harder having the 2 under 2. I'm kind of prepared for this one cause my 3 year old is actually to the point where he can follow instructions (like, "Go get me that cup or diaper or whatever).

As far as getting clothes go... Go try FreeCycle and send out a "wanted" email on there. There are usually a LOT of people willing to give up boxes or bags full of baby clothes - and best, it's FREE!!!!!!! Craigslist is another good place to look. Both those are great because they're local, so you don't have to pay shipping, just gas to go pick it up. Another place that I frequent is DiaperSwappers.com - it's a great message board for used baby/toddler stuff.

Children's Place is having a MASSIVE sale right now getting rid of end of season things. There are some baby outfits on there for $1.99 right now!!! And a hint about having a winter baby... just use lots of blankets - they don't need to be "bundled" all the time in winter clothes. If you have a couple of long sleeved onesies from Target or something, you can just layer Tees over that. Keep an eye on TCP and sign up for their emails - they tend to have great deals throughout the year. Also - Crazy8 is the "cheap" online version of Baby Gap... I haven't been there much, but I hear great things about them. And a surprising place... the Dollar Store or Dollar General. You can get tshirts, socks, etc there for fairly cheap.

Hope that helps! I'm the QUEEN of hand-me-downs with my three boys - I try to not ever spend more than $5 on any one item unless it's for a special occasion...

[Ro]

Well, isn't this cool? Congratulations!

[Burnsie]

Congratulations! I have four kids, within 6 years. About the photos of "playing nice"....well I tried and just gave up. Get lots of photos just how they are and you will really enjoy them. Try to photograph them when they don't know it, you'll get some fantastic shots!

Best wishes and happy scrapping!

[siskitkat]

I can remember passing around our first group pic of our kids. We took it during one of their weekend visits before they came to live with us. We were so frustrated because it does not show them sitting nice and quiet. Everyone else thought that it was a great picture. So, it is all in the eye of the beholder.

Our first group pic

[Armi Custodio]

Wow, four kids under 5. I have only two (twins, just turned 4) and they are a handful! Congrats!

[StephRN]

Congrats on your new bundle. I can't even imagine how busy you are. I think the non-posed pics are the best. They capture the child's personality & create wonderful memories of those phases they go through.

I just searched Once Upon a Child locations and they have one in Clarksville, TN at
2728 Wilma Rudolph Boulevard
Clarksville, TN 37040
931-645-9346

I don't know how current their site is so I'd call first.

Hugs,

[Julie - scrapaholic]

Congratulations, Have fun shopping for him. Can't wait to see photo's.

[tiza126]

Congrats!!!

[sunnie2004]

Bless you and the next 20 years!! Congratulations Too!!

[B&K Mom]

Congrats! We have only 2 (7 yo twin girls...that's enough, thank you ). Don't know much about Clarksville. I live south of Nashville. We're looking at a job up there though, so maybe we'll be neighbors soon? If you ever get time away (I know, 3 1/2 kids 5yo and under...unlikely) and care to venture down to the Nashville area, I'd love to try and hook up with you and say hi. There are at least 2 SGs in Williamson County, and I think a couple others also. Nice to meet you...prayers for you and DH...and the next 20 years...lol!

[Shari PV Mom]

That's a great ultrasound picture!!! Congrats!

I haven't read all of the replies so this may have already been said but this is what we do .... tripod/Photoshop/swap heads (that's already been said) AND we bring somebody along who is really good at being wacky and have them make complete fools of themselves right behind the camera. Everyone laughs and has genuine smiles. Not those forces fake ones we so frequently get from our kids.

[Debil]

Just wanted to add my CONGRATS !!!!!!!!

[Yvonne53]

Congrats on your new little one to be...we have a Braden too (just spelled differently). Good luck and stay well! God Bless!

[KFiasco]

Congrats! I can't imagine having kids and a deployed husband. I hope, at least, that you live in housing so you have some support. If not, I hope you have good neighbors.