i don’t know if it’s a good thing that i caught the gap’s family and friend’s 30% off sale right before midnight but i did. alex received a bunch of clothes from our friends and families so i think he’s good for a while. i bought him some anyway because i just couldn’t resist the organic onesies from gap. and really, for about $6 a piece after the discount (and with free shipping!), i think they are just too cute!

here are some of the ones i bought for alex; aren’t they adorable?

i’m replacing things in my house with more eco-friendly alternatives. sure it get expensive but the thought that it is much better for my family really drive me.

so here’s what i did today (you guess it, more shopping):

1) replaced our old cotton sheets with these rayon / bamboo sheets from jcpenney (used thank-you giftcards). they feel SO soft!!! what a difference!

2) replaced our pillows with new organic cotton ones – again using giftcards so my wallet is okay.

3) replaced our plastic food storage containers with pyrex glass storage containers. bought 4 sets.

pyrex 6 piece storage set

4) i was just browsing and saw these oh so cute incense holders so i grabbed 3 from gaiam. about $7.08 w/ t & s.

zen incense holder

aren’t these just beautiful??? as much as i love the colors and idea, i’ll hold out for now. see more here.

decorative bamboo charcoal

multipurpose decorative air freshener

last but not least, you have to visit this website i somehow stumbled on. i love the concept of it – all kinds of neat things and ideas to decor your home with. maybe i won’t look much so i won’t spend much but still, it’s a great blog!

green your decor

i made some purchases using most of our giftcards from our thank you points. (lots of photos :D)

i got wash clothes, hand towels, and bath mats in “natural” and “green tea” for both bathrooms from west elm. vegetable dyed shower curtain from overstock.

tomorrow i’m ordering these sets of rugs from jcpenney. they come with a 5′ x 8′ area rug, 24″ x 40″, and 22″ x 60″.

we bought this memory foam mattress from overstock. it’s going to be our first memory foam. keeping fingers crossed. also bought a mattress protector.

this is on our shopping list from jcpenney. looks great huh? it’s on backorder so we probably won’t place an order until the weekend.

my new bedding from west elm!! i love it, don’t you? it’s a duvet and 2 shams – i got it in “sea spray”.

in white.

after using all gift cards, we would end up spending about $100 out of pocket. i’m also getting another $100 giftcard from thank you and this time, it is most likely for bed bath and beyond. i need a new pull-out trash and laundry sorter.

james and i joined the citi thank you points network when we got our credit cards in september of last year. we received a bunch of bonus points for opening our accounts and were going to use them to redeem for flights for our family vacation next year.

guess what? thank you points no longer have their fix flight option (for 20,000 in us or 50,000 to hawaii). what a big bummer!!! and i wasn’t keeping tabs on the whole thing so i missed redeeming our points for fix flight options at the end of february. sucks huh? yea, tell me about it. should have checked flyertalk more frequently. the thing is i missed it by a week!! Urgh!

we have been using our cards to pay for almost everything (since we get 3 points per dollar on the amex for the first year) and paid all our balances off each month to accumulate more points.

so now, the points are only worth 1 penny each. really sucks. if we can’t spend it on flights, we are going to buy something we need – here are what we’re planning to buy:

- new platform bed for us

- memory foam mattress instead of coil

- new beddings – it is going to be spring

- new twin bed and beddings for faith

we have traded our points for $400 to JCPenney, $400 to Overstock, and $200 to West Elm (their stuff looks so cool!).

we can probably get another $100 or so in the next month but i can’t wait to start buying.

i’ll post a photo of my stash soon. my original budget for cloth diapers was $150. well, i ended up spending $200. here’s what i got:

23 little lions prefolds

13 newborn fitteds

6 small gdiaper covers

9 small/newborn covers

some doublers and pins.

i was practicing using a prefold on one of jaelynn’s dolls to get a feel – i’m going to need more practice. LOL

OT: get 1 year of prevention magazine free by filling out this short survey! (i did!) thanks to slickdeals! i have always receive my magazines from rewardsgold. i actually have a bunch of subscription magazines that come every month. the ones i don’t bother to read are elle (only flip through them), interview, and some others. i just throw them in the recycle bin. i do love shape, glamour, redbook, and body and soul.

i bought some new things for the household again (i always buy things *sigh*. and i use “household” because it’s not really for me. )

preserve toothbrushes in soft – you can recycle them afterwards. i’ve tried them before and love them! $16.22 for a pack of 6.

preserver toothbrushes for kids in soft – these are so cool! i love the idea of recycling, don’t you? and comes in colors. $17.22 for a pack of 6.

dropps laundry pacs - you use 1 small liquid pack per load of laundry. biodegradable and eco friendly. looks great huh? i’m going to use them for the baby’s diapers. they’re suppose to be low sudsing too. can’t wait to try them. $25.50 for 84 pacs (2 x 42 pacs each).

for two of the above products, i subscribe to their auto-delivery and save an additional 15%! that’s a great way to save. you can always cancel the subscriptions after. what a great way to try some of these more eco friendly things that i can’t get at the stores or cost a bunch somewhere else.

as for the bella b tummy honey (see post below), i love it!! smells great and the cream is very nice! will love to buy when run out…but at $15?? ouch!

oh and my bella b glowing face wash/mask should be here tomorrow.

you know, i don’t feel comfortable using the palmer’s cocoa butter all the time and so i stumbled upon some products from bella b that’s supposedly all natural and very safe for pregnant women. of course, i bought some to try so we’ll see how they work when they arrive on monday.

click here for a special on bella b’s tummy to toes lotion – $2.99 plus shipping

i swear, when i was reading the description of this product, i felt like it was made for me. i got melanin from my last pregnancy and have been wearing sunscreen a lot this time around to hopefully prevent more from forming on my upper cheekbones. $12.75 from amazon.

i needed thing to replace the palmer’s that i’m using. since palmer’s got a bunch of ingredients in there, i’m just hesitant about using it everyday, kwim? if i like this, i’ll be ordering more. $15.01 from amazon.

i bought this to try from the learning curve special they’re currently running. otherwise, i would have pass. will see how it works. $2.99 plus shipping from learning curve.

i also found out that you are not suppose to use certain products while pregnant. yikes! i’m breaking out like crazy and was using olay’s age defying night cream for 2 days and stopped because it contains beta alpha hydroxy. see more of what not to use from babycenter.

thankfully, i usually stop taking care of my face because i get too lazy with my pregnancies. LOL i just got back into the skin care routine and am using zia’s products.

on a side note, i gained about 27lbs and counting. *sigh* but that’s okay. i’ll work out (hopefully) and lose some of it afterwards. i’m carrying this baby very low and have a lot of back pains and sciatica. i know how an 80 year old woman feels. i’m so stiff sometimes i can hardly walk. my baby is moving and kicking me so much!! sometimes, very early in the morning, he’s already kicking me and i’m hardly awake yet. then at night times, i’m trying to go to sleep an he’s still moving around. i just love to hear the baby move. i find it all very fascinating.

2 thumbs up for this free, easy, and light defraggler from the makers of ccleaner so it’s free too!!

i have it on my pc for a while but never got to defragmenting it because i just didn’t think about it. two nights ago, i got brave and opened it up and had it on defrag during the night. i love this thing! it’s so light and free up 50gb of space on my harddrive. isn’t that just wonderful?? i love using ccleaner too so this is a great combo in my book! get it if you haven’t! it only takes a long time to defrag the first time.