Baby Boy Clothes

I never thought I would say this, but I have loved dressing a little boy!
For as long as I can remember, I always "oooed" and "aaaaed" over precious newborn girl dresses and colorful bows.  I even admit to you that I purchased a few can't-pass-up-super-clearance baby girl outfits long before we thought about having kids.  In Art III my junior year of highschool, I sewed a sweet green seersucker dress for my future baby girl.  Needless to say, my eye was always drawn to a baby girl style...  All until I found out I was pregnant.

Like any pregnant momma, I quickly headed to target and strolled through the baby aisles.  Oh yes, I saw cute spring dresses, but I kept going back to the colorful button-down shirts and Easter ties.  "Handsome" onesies and tiny jeans.  I just thought from the beginning I was having a little boy.  I went to a lot of consignment stores before the big gender ultrasound- because who can resist buying baby items!!- and while I tried to buy as little as possible and only gender neutral items, I allowed myself to purchase one item for a boy and one for a girl.  I also only bought items 12 months or larger (which was super difficult) because I knew I would be receiving plenty of newborn sizes.  The week before the big reveal, I bought a white dotted swiss dress with a yellow ribbon AND a red & white striped dress-shirt that reminded me of one of Patrick's shirts.  Can't believe that this week I pulled out that precious shirt from the garage... Is he really old enough to wear it now?!

One of my favorite outfits- a gift from Janie & Jack and Robeez shoes:

Long story short, boys are actually pretty fun to dress!  So where do I buy most of JR's clothes?

First of all, I have to say THANKS to everyone who has given us hand-me-downs!!  Growing up, my sister and I had several sweet ladies that always shared their clothes with us and I'm so thankful that JR has so many boys a little older that have been so generous... well their mommy's have been super generous!  JR has 5 boy cousins, 4 of which are just a little older than him.  We also have some sweet friends that are done with their baby boy clothes and have shared them with us!  Let me just say that I hope to pass our clothes along one day and I encourage you to go through some of your clothes and pass them on too!  There is no shame in hand-me-downs :)   It also reminds me to take good care of our clothes now, so that when he grows out of them or I have worn something too many times, it will still be in good condition to share with someone else.  (Maternity clothes are another great example of this!)

(consignment find)

Now there have still been specific things I have needed wanted to buy for JR to fit during a certain season or to go with something that had been given to him.  My first stop, always, when looking for something is at the consignment store.  Some people do not like consignment stores, but I say if it can be washed easily, Why Not?  Thankfully, we have several really nice ones in our area that I don't have to "dig" around to find like new or new items.  While the boy section is usually less than half what the girls is, I still find plenty!  I try to only buy staple items (jeans, sleepers, etc.) that are in perfect condition.  Unfortunately I learned the hard way, that it is not always the best to buy something just because its $1.  After living in Cincinnati and visiting the Gap Clearance center far too often in college I ended up with tons of cheap cardigans and pants, but they all had to be worn in a particular way to cover a hole in the sleeve or keep the pants from falling down.  It's better to wait and find a shirt with tags still on it and spend a couple more dollars.  You have to remember that it is probably still half the regular price!  I can get a little purchase happy with cute baby clothes for $1, but I had to limit myself to perfect condition items and only something really different from what he has already in his closet.  My favorite purchases have been Robeez shoes and a Janie & Jack one piece for this Christmas :)    

(consignment find from baby Talbots)

My favorite store for John Ryman is Gap.  Okay, Janie & Jack and Naartjie are pretty darn cute, but if I had to pick one near our price range it would be Gap.  Even then, I only look at their clearance section.  Last year at the end of winter, I purchased a lot of their super clearance items in size 12-18 months and thankfully, they look like they are going to fit great this winter :)  They always have really cute sweater one pieces and fun everyday onesies.  I also found that Gap fits JR the best because he is so long & lean.  Their newborn gowns were the only ones that kept his feet in and his shoulders covered in those early months!  Old Navy also has some great essentials and stylish accessories!  I try to set aside a little bit of money each season, so that when my favorite stores have their end of season clearance (whether it is home decor or baby clothes) I can pick up one or two of my top pieces in a size for the following year.  And it's a special treat to open up my rubbermaids the next year and find new pieces!   Gift outfit from Gap:

(monkey shirt from Aunt Sadie- baby H&M)

Another favorite is Baby Boden!  However, we are trying to save as much money as possible, so an order from Boden is not in the budget.  I have found that Ebay occasionally has some nice Boden clothes, just be sure to add in shipping prices because sometimes it is not worth it.

JR pretty much wore a diaper by itself all summer because it was SO HOT... so I am excited to get out some precious cozy clothes as the weather cools.  Here are some of my favorites in stores this fall:

 (1 & 2 from Old Navy)

 (gap)

 (target)

(H&M)