When I found BabyList had a registry where you could add items from any store, I thought that was a great idea since one of my favorite stores, Marshalls, has the cutest baby stuff and best prices. That was one thing that was not available for my wedding registry. I was able to add gift cards from Marshalls, my newborn photographer, Sarah E Dunn Photo & Design, and other places that typically don’t have a registry. I am hoping to help others by writing this review of my experience with BabyList!

Pros:
>>Ease of Use– BabyList was very user friendly and easy to navigate. It had a lot of different options with its navigation. You can share your registry and track gifts.
>>Price comparison– It allows you to price compare and lists the best price for the item you register for. A lot of the items are found on Amazon and when their prices change, it also sends you an email alert.

>>External registries– You can add other registries to BabyList too, so ideally, you could point your guests to one registry and find all of them in one place.
>>Products– BabyList allows you to browse products from popular companies, handmade items from places like Etsy, and gives reviews of those items. You can browse through different articles and sample registries.

Cons:

I don’t have many cons, other than looking back and registering for a lot of items I didn’t necessarily need as recommended by BabyList guides. It is so much of a personal preference on registry items, I am not sure this is avoidable. As a first time mom, I was happy that I registered for items that were really just cute more than functional, especially having a girl! I figured I probably wouldn’t spend the money after she arrives on anything other than the necessities.

In hindsight, I would have rather signed up for an Amazon Baby Registry and here’s why:

>>Simplicity of finding items– Search for your item, done!
Most people compare prices on Amazon anyway (why make it harder!?)- You want your guests to have an easy time finding gifts for you.
>>Amazon Prime -Makes shipping free for those with the membership. We seriously buy everything on here (from paper towels to diapers to drinks). Totally worth the yearly fee.
>>Lowest prices– This is usually the case on a lot of the baby items you will want. Other than using the one time coupons you get in the mail for the big box stores.
>>External registries– You can also add your external registries to Amazon. Have it all in one place. You can add anything from the web too, just like BabyList!
>>Amazon Handmade– Similar to online marketplaces like Etsy, one stop shop on Amazon for unique handmade items. They even have a Handmade Baby Store!
>>Welcome box– See more details about what you get in your box to start your journey of motherhood! I never received anything like that from BabyList. Womp womp!
>>Completion discount– Get 10% off everything you buy on your registry, 15% for Amazon Prime members!
>>Amazon has everything!

So would I recommend BabyList to expectant mothers? Absolutely! But first consider Amazon for its benefits listed above. If I could do it over, I would go with the Amazon Baby Registry!

Thanks for reading mommas! Please share your experiences with baby registries.
Kim

Our trip to Hawaii did not last long enough, although any amount of time would not be long enough! You can read more about my trip and what we did while I was 20 weeks pregnant. With all the delicious food including fresh fruit and lots of pulled pork, we came home craving that Hawaiian Kalua pulled pork, for breakfast and dinner! Since we can’t dig a hole and cook it in the ground like they do, the crockpot was the next best option.With a little help from La Fuji Mama and some simple ingredients– wala! Easy crockpot Kalua pulled pork! The recipe called for 6 pounds of pork, but we used only about half that. By the time the meat cooks and you remove the fat (if you choose) and the bone (if there is one) it doesn’t leave you much leftover. Between the two of us, this only lasted 2 meals. I would recommend making the full 5-6 lbs as listed in the original recipe. Trust me, it is too delicious not to have a few more meals out of it.Here are the ingredients we used:

• 5-6 lbs Pork butt (really, just the pig shoulder)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons Hawaiian black lava sea salt
  OR Hawaiian red sea salt (we chose to mix the two)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons Liquid smoke flavoring

One of the easiest crock pot recipes!

Steps:
1. Put the pork butt in your crockpot and pierce it all over with a knife. You can leave the bone in and fat chunks and remove them later. We found this to be the easiest way.
2. Sprinkle the sea salt over the pork, pushing some of it into the holes you made with the knife.
3. Add the liquid smoke flavoring. Do not add more than recipe calls for. It may not seem like much, but the cut of meat has so much fat it will cook perfectly!
4. Cook covered on low for 8-10 hours, flipping halfway through.
5. When done, remove bone and fat (if necessary), shred the pork, and enjoy! We bought ciabatta rolls or you can have other fancy bread if you choose. If you want to do it Hawaiian style you can make it a ‘plate’ with rice and eat if without the bread. Or make a breakfast sandwich with leftovers (my husband’s favorite) with an egg over-easy and the sauce of your choosing!

To make this recipe even more Hawaiian, we used Hawaiian bbq sauce and these delicious Bai coconut drinks! We just put in another order of these drinks, we love them!This is one of the easiest crockpot recipes and the pork butt is very inexpensive. Once you buy the other few ingredients listed, you can keep making this over and over!

What other Hawaiian dishes do you enjoy? Leave me a comment below!

Thanks for reading! Kim

If you are a decorating addict like me, your husband will say we don’t need to buy any more frames! That is the case at our house. So what do I do… find creative ways to save money on frames. Here are a few of my favorite ways:

>>Shop the clearance aisle at Hobby Lobby. I found a few $30 table top frames that had the back broken off. Got them for $4! It didn’t matter since I wanted to use them to hang anyway. Seriously, this is how I’ve scored the best frames for cheap. They always have a good stock too!

>>Rearrange the frames you already have. If you are anything like me, you printed so many wedding pictures. A few years later, it is all baby!  As the seasons in your life change, you may want to change some of the pictures. Take a few frames you already have and give them new life by moving them around in your house and changing out the photographs.

>>Use coupons! Hobby lobby and Michaels both have apps with coupons each week. And Hobby lobby has tabletop frames half off all the time!

>>Shop Michaels sales. I got these 11X14 frames for $6 a piece for my stairway gallery wall!! Patience pays off when decorating! Since I bought these frames, I have seen the 70% off frames sale a few times. Sometimes you can even use extra coupons on these. I chose the prints for this gallery wall randomly sifting through photos, but they are a good representation of our little family. Lots of Army pictures, our doggie, and Savannah, GA (the Forsyth fountain).

>>Shop the discount stores like TJMaxx and Marshalls. I am a little partial to these stores, or as others would call it, obsessed! I may have been there yesterday. They have such unique, reasonably priced frames. Just be careful not to buy the entire store!

>>Go to thrift shops! Or even better, shop your mom’s closets for those vintage frames! See, another reason moms are the best!

Thanks for reading! Let me know if you have other ideas I didn’t mention.

Kim