Trip for Two: Recap - The Rains Came

My second full day in North Carolina had promise to be as beautiful as the first. However, even though we woke up to warm weather - it was overcast with the occasional light showers. This didn't really make for the best zoo weather, so we decided to hit one of the museums.

While my mom was working a little in the morning, Jude and I took our time getting ready and then went to visit his cousin Olivia. Olivia is a month younger than Jude and so they're fairly close in age. Neither of them seemed overly-excited to play with one another - in fact, aside from Jude stealing her pacifier, I'm pretty sure they didn't interact much as all.

After talking with some of my mom's friends, we decided the children's museum I had found online was the perfect indoor alternative. So, we were off to Marbles!

Pretty much everything near my mom is at least a 25-30 minute drive. She lives in a small town and has to travel to the larger cities/towns around her to do much of anything. So, we also knew that in addition to Marbles, we'd be hitting a couple of stores near there that my mom had said she was interested in.




But about Marbles! It was ADORABLE! Now, we have a number of children's museums in our area that I've been wanting to get to, but just haven't made the trip to yet. I'm excited to see them, but have heard that Jude is too young for them for the most part. It was no different here, but he still had a GREAT time!





The main level of the museum has a huge area called "around town". Inside this area is a small little 'crawlers' section that after I took one look at it, I knew he would be totally uninterested. So, I let him brave the big kid section. There was everything: a garage, an ambulance, a bus, a costume room - with a stage for performances, a reading area, a tree house, a house with a front porch swing, a garden, grocery store, kitchen and restaurant. All on a kid's level to play pretend. I would put Jude down in one section and he would crawl around, climb up to play with things, chew on toys (there was even a basket to put all "tasted" toys in for disinfecting) and just watch all of the kids around him. He loved it!

Playing Dress-up

In the kitchen...

Picking out Produce in the store:

Playing in the garden:

Afterwards, we went to the "splash" zone. Jude again mostly just watched the big kids around him. There was a hose that spit water and kids would put boats in the stream, which would splash Jude in the face. At first he seemed a little startled, but after about 2 or 3 times, he just giggled.

If you look, you can see the white hoses coming down the sides of the light house... going into the 'river' which empties into the tub that Jude was playing in... he was right in the line of fire.

He loves water

Next, they had an 'under water' area, with fish on the walls, and lights that cast 'bubbles' on the walls. There were speakers making wave sounds and it was so adorable.

After the splash area (which had much more than what we experienced - but it was too much for Jude), we headed outside to a bubble station. I don't know that Jude ever really has seen bubbles, so he was in awe. I blew some for him - but quickly realized that at some point in your life, you just lose the power to blow the perfect bubbles. Luckily, the lady working the station knew what she was doing.

The few successful bubbles he saw, he loved.

When we had maxed out bubble time, we headed upstairs where they had a 'construction' zone. They had super-sized legos to build your own buildings, some blue prints and even real tools/wood working stations for older kids. By this time, Jude was pretty over-stimulated and so we decided to head out.

checking out some blue prints:

On our way out though, we walked by another great section that was all about finances. They had little stations set up where kids could earn money by doing chores and then use the money to buy "needs and wants". The whole point being to teach kids about financial responsibilities. I must say - this place had thought of everything.

Afterwards, we swung by a mall near by, did a little more shopping (who can resist?) before heading back to (again) close up shop.

That night for dinner, we went to my grandparent's house. She had gotten wind that my brother and I were starting a garden (more to come on that later) and was just oh-so-excited. My mi-mom has apparently been an avid gardener for a few years now and was so excited that I too expressed interest. As a gift, she made me a little herb garden with cute little stones. In addition, she made us the most delicious meal with some of her produce.

Let me recap this meal:
- fresh green beans and asparagus
- pasta with a little bit of pesto and tomatoes
- chicken sandwiches. let me tell you about these sandwiches. They were on some hearty italian-style bread, lightly buttered and toasted. Then she spread pesto sauce, layered on some cherry tomatos lightly roasted with olive oil, chicken and sprinkled with mozzarella cheese and baked them. YUM.


After dinner we talked for a little while and then home to put Jude to bed.

Another solid sleep for the two of us.

Trip for Two: Recap - Our Last Day

After two busy days, I knew that Jude was probably getting a little tired, so I planned to give him a pretty relaxed last day.

Aside from that, I needed to get packed up.

It's amazing how one can think they have a 'whole week' - but really if you subtract most of Monday and Thursday... it goes by pretty quickly.

But either anyway...

Jude and I spent a little longer than usual getting out of the house Thursday morning. Aside from the Children's Museum, he had been limited in how much he could move around, so I felt I owed him the chance to play.

In addition, I realized more than ever last week just how much of a schedule I had Jude on. His nap times are pretty set and while I tried to adjust our schedule around it, he was throw off a little. So, I thought I'd let him spend the last day going at his own pace.

After we had time to hang out, I again went to visit my mom at work. She wanted to get Jude a pair of sneakers - I mean, you NEED new sneakers with a whole new attire - so we decided to head back out. We quickly found him a couple pair of shoes and grabbed lunch. Jude then was obviously ready for a nap, so I again headed back to my mom's so that he could pass out - and that he did. I fell asleep right next to him and the two of us slept for a good two hours.

The rest of the day whizzed by and before I knew it, we were loading the car and on our way home.

Looking back ti didn't seem like that long of a trip... and the time really flew by, but of course it was so nice to get home to my gentleman, our house and our routine.

The drive home went surprisingly fast and Jude slept a good portion of the trip. We left at his bed time and so within a few minutes of being on the road he fell asleep. Every hour or two he'd wake up and whine a little because he was being held in place by his car seat, but it would only last a few seconds to a minute before he would just pass back out. For the most part, I'd say that he was a great traveler and really did a great job keeping up through the week.

Trip for Two: Recap - The First Day

Jude did not sleep very well that first night. He woke up the next morning with the tip of a new tooth poking out (still not those two front teeth - but he officially has the two side teeth). I'm not one to really buy into the whole teething-makes-kids-miserable thing, but he did squirm quite a bit which kept me awake. We were both a little tired for the rest of the day - but nothing terrible.

By the time we got out of bed, my mom and Curt were already off to work, so we had the house to ourselves to eat breakfast and just enjoy the morning. My mom had stocked the cabinets with some of Jude's favorite breakfast foods and so I took him right downstairs to eat. This first morning was a foreshadowing of the rest of the week. I'm going to say he threw something like 85% of his breakfast on the floor. First his cantaloupe (he loves cantaloupe!), then his waffle.

Frustrated with his lack of eating, we showered and went to visit my mom at her work. Like I said she owns a coffee shop. She currently is getting ready to close down the location she's currently at and move it to a new store a couple of months from now, so she went ahead and closed the store during the day while I was there.

The first day was GORGEOUS! 75 degrees and oh-so-sunny! Before leaving to visit my mom and I had discussed a few possible options for things to do while Jude and I were visiting. I had found information about a children's museum, a science museum and the North Carolina Zoo. In addition, my mom wanted to take Jude shopping for some new spring/summer clothes. Being the little shopper that she is, we headed towards some outlets for the first day. We hit up the gap outlet and a few others, getting Jude the basics for a super cute summer look!

The drive was about 45 minutes, which was lovely. We put the windows down and just soaked up the beautiful weather. I had wanted to do the zoo - and in hindsight ... it would have been the perfect day for it.

We got back to my mom's shop in the late afternoon while she did some closing up and then went out to dinner.

Hanging around mommom's coffee shop...

As I had said earlier, Jude and I were both pretty sleepy, so I fell asleep with him around 7:45 - and we both slept soundly.

Reusable Shopping Bags (or just skip the bags...)

Welcome to the beginning of my weekly posts about ways that we as a family strive to go green... or save some green. Some of these things will fit both categories... some others may only fit one. This weeks topic fits both.

REUSABLE SHOPPING BAGS! (see my amazon product list for a couple of different reusable bags!)

These come in all sorts of colors, patterns, sizes, and materials. Average cost for a reusable shopping bag: $1.00. I slowly acquired mine over the last year or so. I have roughly ten bags now, which is more than enough for even my larger grocery orders.

Some might ask: "why would I pay for bags, when I get them for free at my local grocer?"

1. You're using less plastic bags! (that's the 'duh!' answer)
2. In the long run, it will save you money! "How?" You might ask? Easy. Most grocery stores will give you a certain amount off for EACH reusable bag. This amount is something trivial like .05 a bag, but it adds up! If the standard family goes grocery shopping roughly every two weeks and uses their 10 reusable shopping bags each time, they will save $13.00 a year on their grocery bill!! So, within one year, you will have gotten back your investment in the bags, plus $3.00!
3. Extra savings! The other day, I was informed by my grocer of choice (Safeway) that if I purchase some of their "Bright Green" brand cleaning products and use my reusable shopping bags, I save something like 10-20% off of my "Bright Green" products! At that time, I was buying a $13.00 jug of laundry detergent (in addition to a couple other products). That's at least $1.30 in savings! I encourage you to check with your local grocer to see if any of these secret savings are available to you too!
4. More free hands! I rarely put Jude in a stroller, so when we're shopping at the mall and hitting a number of stores, using one convenient canvas tote for all of my purchases cuts down on the handful of bags that you can get from various store. The straps are conveniently long enough to sling over your shoulder and leaves your hands free for the more important things in life :)
5. No more spilled milk! Well, let's face it, I wouldn't put milk in a grocery bag anyway, but there are some items that those thin plastic bags just don't hold up to! Most of the reusable bags are much more durable and significantly larger than what you can get from the store. Since I've began using them regularly, it's very uncommon for me to have a few stray cans rolling around in the cargo space of my Jeep on my way home. They hold their shape, hold more items and in general just hold up better!
6. Easy Handling! I usually hit the grocery store during the day with Jude. Getting him and our groceries from the cart, to the car, to the house and put away is usually a feat. He has just behaved for roughly a 1 hour+ shopping trip and is ready to move! As I said, they are larger and hold more items, so there are less trips in and out of the house, making it as quick and painless as possible.

Of course there are hurdles with these as well:
1. Mrs. Forgetful. I'll say that forgetting to use them is my biggest hassle. I'll say that it's one of those things that you just need to get in the habit of using! I personally keep one in my diaper bag at all times for those little trips out. The rest are usually stored in my trunk for grocery trips. I've heard of some women who keep them with their coupon book. Whatever your way to remember, eventually it just becomes habit.
2. Things that Leak. Another problem is things like meat that can potentially leak into the bag. For these types of items I usually just use a plastic bag. But if it's an unexpected leak, most are also machine washable, or made of a material that can easily be wiped clean.

Other tips for reusable bags:
- Occasionally I will skip the reusable bags and use the plastic bags. We like to have a small stash in our house for things like: bathroom trash cans, dog poo, Ryan's lunch and much more. Usually one grocery order with plastic bags will last us quite some time.
- If you aren't ready to use reusable bags, try other ways to reduce the number of bags you use. For example, there are standard items that just don't need a bag: milk, detergent, boxes of canned soda, etc. Think outside of these items to things like large jarred items, 2 liters and more. When you're at retailers, question whether the item you're buying REALLY needs a bag (large boxed items from toy stores, the lipstick you're just going to throw in your purse anyway, the CD you plan to pop in your car stereo when you get out to the car, etc).
- You can also purchase reusable produce bags for your grocery trips. I personally just skip produce bags all together, but if you insist on keeping your produce bagged up, it's a great alternative (see my amazon product list for a link to reusable produce bags)


And now for a giveaway!!!!!!!!! I'm giving away a reusable shopping bag!

I an effort to boost the number of blog hits I get, I'm going to challenge you to help me! There are two ways to win this give away:

1. If you are a frequent visitor of this blog. I challenge you to have ONE (that's right, just ONE!) new reader check it out. Your reader needs to leave a comment referencing your name. You will BOTH get a bag!
2. If you are a blog lurker, I'd love to know you're there! Leave me your first comment and YOU will get the bag!

(Note: winner(s) will need to provide their mailing address)

May the fastest one win!

Ebay

Another thing off the list!

I sold my first item on ebay the other day!

I was so super excited when I got my baby food cooker from my coworkers. I took it home, and placed the fancy box among all of the other "to be used later" items for Jude.

Well, by the time food rolled around, we had pretty much decided against purees and so there was no need for the cooker any more. Of course by the time I decided there was no need for it, it was already out of the box and played with.

Recently I've been having a bit of a "get rid of shit" urge. Anymore, the thought of having things piled up around the house that we don't need frustrates me. Perhaps it's because of all the construction. I mean our house has holes in the walls and wires exposed... the last thing I need on top of that is clutter. Maybe it's my newly emerging 'minimalist' self, where I'm losing attachment to almost any 'thing'. Maybe it's my fear that I'll become that woman with 50 boxes of baby clothes/toys/gear in my basement that hasn't been touched in 10+ years.

Whatever the reason, the baby cooker (among other things) just had to go. I first tried selling it on craigs list. No Go. I did my blog sale. No Go. Knowing I've eventually have to face the beast that is ebay to cross something off my 101 list, I decided to give it a whirl.

The cooker usually retails for $150. I was hoping to get $100 + shipping. The auction ended up closing at $84 + $15 for shipping. So, $99.00 total. Not too bad.

My newly earned $99 is now sitting in my Paypal account, to be used for a future purchase, a rainy day fund, vacation spending money or whatever-else.

Monster Size Savings!

I don't know why this struck me as SO amazing, but it did...

I was in Christiana Mall today and even though I told myself I wouldn't buy anything - I did.

Children's Place is having a pretty big $2.99 sale.

I walked away with 3 pair of Cargo pants, 1 pair of cords, 2 thermals, 2 sweatshirts, 1 long sleeve shirt and a fleece for under 30 bucks. Obviously none of these items are super trendy or amazing, but they're some of the basics to start any season off with for layering, etc. Their boy's selection was starting to slim out a bit, but there was a considerable amount of stuff left to chose from.

I remember this past summer I had gone to the Gap towards the end of the season and picked up a few items for Jude as he was outgrowing one size or another and gotten some good deals, but didn't want to buy for the following summer because I was afraid we'd not have the right size for the right season. However, if he continues to be pretty consistent, I just might be "that mom" who shops a year in advance (and of course goes back to pick up some 'current fashions' when the time comes).

More than enough...

Around Christmas time I made it clear to family and friends that Jude really didn't need anything. Of course, we got some stuff for him and it was all lovely, but thank goodness we didn't get a lot of clothes.

Jude's closet is pretty large. It's deceiving from the outside, but when you open the door, you see that it goes into the wall a bit making it a really good size. In addition there are two bars in his closet. One up high towards the ceiling and one down about eye level. After our baby shower, both of these bars were packed FULL of clothes. The clothes on the bottom bar alone were all in the newborn/0-3/3-6 month rage. As with most kids, he zipped through those pretty quickly. It was only a matter of time before we started to slowly pull things down from the top - and of course buy things on our own (and we can't forget that mommom loves taking her little Jude bug shopping for new clothes). Quite regularly that bottom bar is stocked full of clothing options.

The other day I seriously ran out of room to hang his clothes up. I had to take all of his pants off of hangers and put them in his dresser (which to that point only held onesies and sheets) just to make enough room.

As I was taking them down, I decided to count them. Eighteen. That is the number of pants this kid owns! To make it worse, those are ONLY the pants that don't go to outfits. If they were sweatsuits, I left them together. Even more, I STILL HAD LAUNDRY TO DO! It is quite possible that he has somewhere near 30 pair of pants that fit him currently... I could without a dress him for the entire month of February without repeating a pair of pants.

Then I decided to count his hoodies and jackets. I know there were a few scattered around the house, but in his closet alone... FIFTEEN. That's about where my counting stopped... but I will say again... this kid does not need any clothes.

Lost and Found

I go an unhealthy amount of time in a pair of contacts. So much so, that I often times decide that I need to go an extended period of time without touching contacts. Of course, I'm pretty reliant on corrective lenses and so I will wear my glasses during this time.

A few months ago, I was on my last pair of contacts and decided I needed a break. I had been wearing the same prescription for a few years and so had never gotten new glasses. When I went to pull old faithful out though, I couldn't find them. I was so bummed! Not only were they my only pair, but I really liked them...

I looked everywhere. I looked in the night stand, the bathroom, the junk drawer, in the living room, the 'office', under the bed, under the couch, in the pantry, the laundry room and the coat closet. I checked coat pockets, my dresser, my lingerie drawer (b/c Lord knows no one had been in there in a while), Ryan's dresser and everywhere in between.

When I sat down and really thought about it, I tried really hard to remember where the last place I had put them was. I remember putting them somewhere "i wouldn't lose them", but couldn't remember where that was or if I had since moved them.

Then I remembered that in the span of time since I had last worn them, we had taken a trip to North Carolina. I ALWAYS take my glasses as back up, so I had to have taken them with us. I checked my luggage, purses, 'carry on bags', the car and even called my mom to see if they had found there way under the bed of her guest room. No Luck.

I was reluctant to do so, but I went and bought a new pair of glasses. I remember being surprised at how expensive they were... it had been so long. But I figured I needed them anyway and just went for it. I was lucky enough to get a buy one get one special... but it was still money I didn't want to put out. That was a few months ago now...

The other day when packing for New York, you'll never guess what I found in my suitcase... that's right, my old glasses. I KNOW for a fact I checked my luggage. I KNOW I pulled it out and checked every pocket, crease and fold of mine and Ryan's suitcase... but somehow I missed them. Now, I have THREE pair of glasses... who in the world needs THREE pair of glasses???

Holidays (Part 1)

... and now for the dreaded holiday post. Dreaded because now it has been nearly a week and so I know I'm going to miss something. To those of you out in blog land, this may not be a huge deal, but in one way or another this is more than a blog, this is a journal of my life and one day 15 years down the road, I hope technology will still love me and that I'll be able to look back and rediscover what it was like on my son's first Christmas. By then he'll want nothing but gift cards, (hopefully not) skinny jeans and the next big Mac product. I know at that moment I'll want to think back to when Christmas was simple and enjoyable.... so on ward.

With me not working the normal 9-5 (or 7-4:30, whatever it was), things tend to creep up on me. The anticipation of a short work week is no longer part of my life, so one week it wasn't Christmas and POOF, the next it was.

We did very little preparing for the holidays this year. We bought a tree a few weeks ago, decorated with what holiday items we have boxed up in our basement and then bought just a couple of small items for Jude. The presents had been wrapped and under the tree for at least a week and so when everyone else was running around searching for last minute odds and ends, I fully expected to be sitting on the couch enjoying the day.

But as always, Ryan snuck up on me.

Up until Christmas Eve, he was 100% on board for our gift-less Christmas where we only made a donation (and bended the rules so that we could give a gift to Jude). Well, out of no where he tells me that he doesn't feel right not buying for his niece and nephew and insisted we head to toys r us for a last minute gift. I was not happy. First of all - I had already crossed it off my list of 101 and second of all TOYS R US??? ON CHRISTMAS EVE?? Not wanting to play dictator, I went along with it.

First though, we met my dad and stepmom at "The Post House" on Main Street. It's a little diner with one of those old fashion bars that go all the way across. There are no tables, only stools where you sit up at the bar and get waited on. My dad used to go there every year for breakfast with his grandmother... he took my younger brothers there every year on xmas eve (we were always with my mom) and wanted to start taking Jude too. It was a much later breakfast than we're used to, but whatever...

Next... we were pleasantly surprised to see that it wasn't that bad at TRU and actually made it in and out of the store rather quickly. Since neither of us had anything else pressing to do for the rest of the day, we decided to enjoy each others company. We had a small lunch together, hit the liquor store to get some stuff on hand, made a quick trip to the grocery store to pick up some odds and ends that we really didn't need, etc.

Later that day we got a call from some of Ryan's work friends inviting him to Buffalo Wild Wings. He almost declined, but I insisted he go - and take Jude and I with him. It was nice! There were some of the people I used to work with and some of Ryan's closer work buddies. We all just hung around for awhile until we had to leave to get ready for church.

Ryan and I almost skipped church all together... I mean not to be harsh, but we don't go any other time of the year... why fake it for the holidays? Mostly though, we weren't sure how Jude would be, it'd be close to his bed time and I sure as hell wouldn't be putting him in the nursery. But I knew it would mean a lot to my mom, so we went for it. We decided to stay just for the music and then scoot out before the sermon began. This worked out very well for us. By leaving then we were able to hit my grandmothers house for a little bit before meeting up with the church crowd at my mom-mom and pop-pop's (swhoooo - yes, it was a busy night!).

Ryan's church hair... i must say he looks mighty handsome...

Jude and G-mom Wilson

As far as the holidays are concerned, there's something about Christmas Eve at my mom-mom and pop-pop's that makes the whole thing worth while. It's what I think of when I think about Christmas and it's the one thing I look forward to most of all. Even though we weren't exchanging gifts with anyone, it was still a good time. We sat around, relaxed, watched what others got, ate, and of course, Jude got a few small gifts (I was THRILLED that people actually listened!).

Curt is obviously thrilled for his presents...

one of MANY 'first christmas' ornaments...

The newest addition...

I just noticed our horizontal sweater stripe theme...

Afterwards we headed home. Jude was beyond tired. He went down quickly and we opened a couple of small gifts from my mom and Curt. We sipped wine, chatted and then headed off to bed.



Stay tuned for Christmas Day...

My New Camera

A couple of months ago my cousin asked me to photograph her wedding for her. I of course accepted, but made one stipulation. on my 101 list, I have "photograph someone and get paid for it", so I wanted a little reimbursement.

In addition, my Nikon D40 is getting a little rough. While in Costa Rica last year, the flash burnt out. Now this wasn't entirely bad since I got a better external flash to replace it, but every now and then you just want a normal flash. To get this fixed on my specific camera it'd be over 100 dollars - this just wasn't happening. Plus, as i got more and more involved in my camera, I was being confined with what I could do with it. Basically the Nikon D40 is for beginners and was compatible with only SO MANY lenses. So, I've been (not so) secretly hoping for a reason to get a new camera for quite some time.

All of this combined to where I told my cousin that I would photograph her wedding if she put money towards a new camera - allowing me to better shoot her wedding, get a new camera and cross another thing off my 101 list.

A couple of weeks ago I got the check and that day I ordered my new camera (Nikon D80). Since then I've been researching a little and figuring out some of the mechanics of the camera. With my old one I usually left it on auto and let the camera do all the work. This time around, I plan to utilize a lot more of the manual functions. I'm finding out what exactly they all do and am really starting to get a good idea of how to use them.

Once I get a little more money I hope to invest in a few of the fun lenses that I couldn't quite use before.

I haven't taken any significant photos with it yet, mostly just some little shots to test different settings, but I'll be sure to post as I do!

Sprig Toys

I first came across these toys a few months back at Toys R Us. I fell in love with them!

Sprig Toys have the following features:

- battery free. The toys that have power are powered through kinetic energy. So, your child gets them going! They boast that this encourages longer play. The toy we got for him has a light, makes motor noises and has dialog all powered by you!
- earth friendly. The toys are made from recycled plastics and wood, use minimal packaging, are sold through retailers who uphold their standards and use no decorative paints.
- interchangeable. Similar to 'Little People', the characters and vehicles in the Sprig Toys collection are interchangable so you can expand your collection, or just have one.


When I first saw them, I wanted to buy one for Jude. The trucks are very 'boyish'. I'm a fan of the classic Tonka trucks, etc and these seemed to be the closest thing I could find to that. In my initial search, it appeared that most cars and trucks were either really baby, or very matchbox-like. However, at the time it didn't matter, he was too young to even be remotely interested, so I held off.

With Christmas approaching though (and since I said we would be able to buy Jude one gift), I decided to get him his Sprig truck. He still will not be able to fully comprehend what to do with it (and like his Diego jeep, he'll probably play with the people more than the truck)but I am just thrilled to open it up!

Another nifty feature about the Discovery Rig that we bought for him, is that it has an arm-type thing that attaches to it. When Jude gets to the age where he'll need to hold onto something to walk around a little (or just to hold him up), this might come in hand.

If you couldn't tell I will probably be more excited then he will be on Christmas morning...

I've added the link to the Sprig toys to the list on the right hand side of the page. Feel free to check them out.

Donation

Today I made our much anticipated Toys for Tot's donation!!

When I first started to make plans for our donation this Christmas, I considered picking an orphanage or a hospital or something that I could make a donation to. I found one orphanage that had some information up about donations, but they were so... 'demanding' (understandable). They had a list of specific items they wanted, and quite frankly, it was items like xboxes, ipods and other things that just seemed a bit pricey. So, instead, I decided we'd go with the well-known Toys for Tots. They have drop boxes all over the place, so it made it very easy to do.

Well, today I decided I would make the donation. We're getting closer and closer to Christmas and I didn't want to miss the deadline. So, I loaded Jude up and took a hike over to Toys 'R Us to pick out some toys. I specifically went because I thought it'd be pretty slow in there during the day, but boy was I wrong. The parking lot was packed and they had just about every register opened! I was surprised... but I guess it makes sense to do your shopping while the kids were at school. There were moms and dads and grnadparents everywhere armed with multiple carts, pages of wish lists and calculators to keep track. One lady who was pulling out when I got there had three carts FULL of toys.

Anyway - I made my way inside and did a little looking around. I planned to get a few board games and to try and find some toys for kids around Jude's age. If this is something we continue to do, I hope that we can continue to get toys for kids who are around Jude's age, have similar interests, etc.

We ended up with a little more than half a cart full of toys. I was surprised at how quickly they add up (and even more shocked that the lady above left with THREE carts!). I was specifically looking for things that I would buy for our son. I could have easily cheaped out and gotten a bunch of items that were super marked down, but I'm sure they get plenty "candyland's" and 'chutes and ladders'.

We ended up with a shape sorter, a soft tonka truck, a couple of board games (sorry, scrabble and Life), a wooden hammer and nail-type set, a giraffe clutch toy, a dinosaur clutch toy, block letters, a bucket or dinosaurs, wooden building blocks and I think 1 or 2 other items. I'm pretty sure if I had unlimited funds I could have shopped for hours.

When I went to check out, I told the cashier not to worry about bagging it, because it was all going in their Toys for Tots drop box and she looked at me like I was crazy.

All in all, it was a very rewarding shopping spree.


Done:
40. Skip celebrating Christmas one year and donate any money we would have spent on the holidays to poor children who otherwise wouldn't have a Christmas - go as far as telling anyone who would have bought us a gift to donate to a charity instead of gifting to us

Also in my initial post stating that we would be donating this year, we mentioned having a holiday party. Unfortunately I don't see that happening. We're already a matter of weeks from Christmas and haven't even begun to put a party together. Also, the house is mid-electrical construction. It's a bit of a bummer, but oh well... sorry to anyone who was excited for it. It might be a nice way to re-ignite the donation flame next year.

Black Friday

In the past I pretty much remember always going out on Black Friday. Usually I didn't have much money to spend, but I was eager just to get in the crowd.

This year, with a baby in tow, I had no interest. My family was all waking up bright and early to hit the ground running, but I decided to skip it all. They did the 4 AM Walmart, 5AM Best Buy and much more, while I was still in the comfort of my bed.

When I did wake up, Ryan and I made a little breakfast and I took my time getting dressed before deciding to meet up with them at the mall. When I did get to them, half of them looked like zombies. Exhausted from no sleep and tired of fighting the lines. I on the other hand felt quite refreshed!

It didn't take me long before I was done without spending much at all. As always, the mall was a huge disappointment when it came to Black Friday sales. Specialty stores, like most of the ones that I shop at just never have the same magnitude of sales like Walmart, Macy's, Best Buy, etc. The idea of a great sale at Gap or Pottery Barn is 10% off... and frankly I do better than that on their clearance items.

One thing I did decide to buy was something Ryan has given me a lot of grief about. Are you all ready for this??? The Twilight Series. Yes. The Books. I was shopping around the Barnes and Noble and came across them and decided to indulge. I'm more than half way through the first book in only a matter of days and for the most part it's pretty in line with the movie. I'm half tempted just to skip to the third book since I know what's going on with the first two... but then I'll never go back to read the others. The only of the four I didn't get was the 4th (breaking dawn) specifically because it was only in hardback... I'll wait to get it when I'm done with the others.

So... I've become one of those 'series obsessed freaks...

Fashionably Flat

At one point while I was pregnant/trying to get pregnant/ not even considering getting pregnant I was at work and one of the wives of the guys who work out in the field came in to discuss benefits or something with HR. I had met this woman a handful of times before and always enjoyed her. She was very presentable and just pretty put together (and of course nice). But not this time. She had a child a couple of months before and I guess like some moms, she just stopped caring about herself as much and started focusing more and more on her child. Totally understandable... to some degree.

As any non-mother would, I totally judged her. I remember wondering "how can you go out in public in a wind suit? I didn't realize they still MADE them! a friend of mine wore one of those to our Halloween party as a JOKE! Did you even BOTHER to brush your hair??". I of course felt bad, but still... she was in need of a Stacy and Clinton smack to the face.

I made a 'vow' at that moment that I would never be "that mom". I did not want to lose my sense of identity. I did not want to embarrass my husband (well - with the way I look)... and eventually my kids. I did not want to stop caring.

To help with this, I decided after Jude was born (or maybe while I was pregnant) to do a good clean sweep of my closet. I goodwill-ed anything that I was even mildly unhappy with. We all have those items that we wear because all the good stuff is clean - well, I got rid of most of it. I had so little I felt nice in while I was pregnant, that I was ready to start feeling 'pretty' again. When I got down to my pre-baby weight I then treated myself to a nice little shopping spree. I picked up new jeans, some sweaters, shirts, and shoes. It was nice to be able to invest a little time (and money) into things for ME (and a few things for Ryan) after nearly 9 months of buying for baby.

Which brings me to: Shoes. They were always my weak point when getting dressed. That's not to say I'm some super trendy woman - but in relation to the rest of my sense of fashion... they were sub-par. So, I made it a point to leave room in my budget for some cute every day shoes. I walked away with a collection of ballet flats that I adore and have since worn them almost non-stop. I love them. They're so cute and nice little touch to any outfit.

Unfortunately though, they are killer on your feet/legs/back. There's obviously very little to no support. I complained once to Ryan that my feet hurt and he looked at me like I was crazy, b/c it was obviously my fault. But I still can't help it. I still wear them regularly and probably will continue to.

Again, this is not to say I'm a fashion goo-roo who is so much more trendy than any of her friends... but I'm just patting myself on the back for not falling victim to the mom fashion trap of waking up, throwing on sweats and bumming around the house all day (which would be totally possible since I'm not working!). I'm only wearing jeans and a nice shirt, but it makes me feel good to that on more than one occasion I've been asked what I was so 'dressed up' for while just sitting around the house (dressed up included nice pants, a sweater and shoes - not 'dressy' at all really)

This is what I had to recover from...

Question: What fashion trends have you/do you fall victim to? If you're a mom, do you often feel you're in that mom-fashion-trap? Lots of parents say their kids dress better than they do, is that your case?

It's Beautiful... and it's mine.

As most of you know, we tore out bathroom apart a few months ago. The plan was to have it finished for Jude to have a nice shiny bathroom to come home to. Well, one thing lead to another and it never happened.

Well, we determined that this week we would, without a doubt be working on the bathroom this weekend. Excited, on my break at work today I decided to wander around and check out some stuff we would be needing.

Somehow I ended up in the appliance department. It was fate.

I had been telling Ryan for quite some time now that my 'dream kitchen' would consist of a double in-the-wall oven and some sort of a cook top. Now when you price these items up individually, it's usually an insane price that he just laughs at. Tonight however, I came across this wonderful cook top that retails for over a thousand dollars. It was marked down to just under $700 and I told myself... "if only...".

Well, around the time I was practically drolling over this stainless steel, 36", 5 burner cook top, the appliance gentleman comes over to chat. He jokingly asks if I'd like to purchase a fridge and I tell him "sadly no, but I would love this little guy". He mentions being able to get the price lower and I perk up. HE WAS ABLE TO TAKE AN EXTRA 50% OFF OF THE SALE PRICE!!!

I called Ryan excited and was told "go for it"!

Unfortunately I don't have a kitchen to put it in... and will not have a kitchen to put it in for quite a while, but this will be the centerpiece which I design my future dream kitchen around and I can not be more thrilled!



Now I just need to find a similar deal for my double over, cabinets, counter tops flooring, lighting, etc and we'll be set!

Community Day

This past weekend was "community day" at UD. I must say I've never heard of this... but in the online ad I saw, there were pictures of previous community days... so maybe I just missed it? Which is amazing considering I've lived in the Newark area and attended UD...

BUT - on with the details.

Ryan and I decided that we'd love to attend and that UD is not THAT far from our house, so we'd just walk. Our decision to walk spawned from the assumption that if there would be a lot of people, then parking would be limited. I must admit that about 1/2 way there, we both looked at each other and thought "this was probably a bad idea". Regardless we kept on going and before we knew it we had arrived.

The UD Green was COVERED in vendors. There was everything from Mary Kay and Tupperware to people collecting money for a cause to crafters selling their homemade goods - and you can't forget the food (oh fresh squeezed lemonade, how I love you)!

Being that we didn't know exactly what to expect we arrived and just did some wandering around. There were a handful of people who told us they'd be there, so we were of course on the look our for friends to stop and chat with.

Perhaps the most disappointing part of the day was realizing we had finished browsing and still had at least a two mile walk home - with baby (Ryan assumed it was two miles - I personally think it was longer...). But we made it up the West Chestnut Hill and into our house with just enough time to pass out before a birthday dinner for my mom-mom.

It was a lovely day and some much needed time spent with my little family.

Baby Carrier Class

A couple of weeks ago I was invited to attend a group/meeting about different baby carriers for 'wearing' your baby. I accepted the invite and the get-together was today.

In the mean time I've been getting the urge to buy a new carrier as I'm starting to realize my hotsling won't hold Jude Man forever. I had seen a few moms using the Ergo carrier once and liked the idea of it. It is definitely very baby bjorn in the way it looks (a backpack for baby), but it seemed really practical.

I looked it up online a little while ago and mentioned it to Ryan. Considering the price and that he hates any style carrier, he immediately looked at me like I was crazy. I put it off temporarily at that time and figured I'd wait until I had time to play with the different carriers before buying one. I'm soooooo glad I did!

I went to the class today and was immediately overwhelmed. I had seen all of these types of carriers online at one point or another, but to have them all presented to you at once was a little intimidating. On top of the different styles, you have different brands, price points and benefits for each.

Considering my main interest was in the Ergo Carrier I tried that first. Jude hated it. I'll admit that it was very warm on the third floor of the building we were in, so the added heat of being held up against me probably turned him off even more, but in general he just seemed so uninterested. I tried a couple of others and then tried a Beco Carrier. It's very similar to the Ergo, but not has high (in the photos, it looks to be the same, but on us, Jude's head had more exposure). I personally I liked the design of it much more!

I asked the mom who had brought it how much she paid for it and was THRILLED when she told me a price a little lower than the Ergo. I then found out that her style was only lower because it was either discontinued or gently used (as I looked online and NONE of them are 90 bucks). They run a little higher than the Ergo carrier, but in my mind, it's worth it - it seems like something I'll use much more).

In addition to finding a carrier I liked, I learned a few more fun (and scary) facts about low-grade carriers that were all good to know. for example:
- the pocketbook style carriers that allow you to cradle the baby are the devil.
- baby bjorn's and the like are bad because they don't support baby correctly
- I learned which ones are best to go from mom to dad (ones that don't need to be sized, etc).

the third really doesn't apply to us, because Ryan wouldn't be caught dead wearing any of them... but still - all of them were good to know!

I plan to do a little more research on it and find the particular pattern I love, but I'm pretty certain I found the carrier I want. YEA!

Jude Gets a Bumbo

Today, Ryan and I went to look at some photos that I had, had taken at BRU the other day (more to come on that). While waiting to sit down and review the photos, we decided to wander around the store. I figured it'd be a waste of time because there was nothing I could think of that we need - especially from BRU, but I figured, what the heck?

While walking around, I remembered there WAS something I wanted! With 'sitting up' being the next milestone to look for, I wanted something help Jude with this. I had seen people with the Bumbo chair and from what I had gathered, this was one of the best items to help achieve this milestone (really though, I'm sure he'd do it on his own time no matter what).

We strolled over to the bumbo aisle and were shocked to find that there were more than just the Bumbo brand. There was bebe brand and one other (I forget now...). We decided to stick with the bumbo and it was cheaper then the bebe and just seemed nicer (plus I loved the green it came in!).

He seemed to enjoy the chair. I can't wait to continue using it.

He's such a big boy!

Fall Fashion

I was pretty fortunate at my shower to get a good bit of clothing for Jude in a variety of sizes - but as we got into bigger sizes there were only a few of each. Also, a lot of the larger outfits were pajamas.

Recently he started to outgrow some of his 3-6 month clothes, so I started to pull down his 6-9/6-12 month clothes to see what we had to work with for the upcoming fall season. He should be able to get through summer in his 3-6, but for Fall, there's no doubt he'll need a larger size. Unfortunately there wasn't too much, so I knew I would have to do a little shopping (oh darn...).

Knowing my mom wanted to pick up some outfits, we headed up to the mall and started the shopping. We got so many adorable outfits! Little baby denim, button up shirts, onesies, a hoodies, etc.

There are still a handful of things I'll need to pick up for my little munchkin, but he's on his way to a complete Fall closet.

There were so many people at the mall today too! Children's Place was packed! Not to mention some pretty great sales at Gymboree and baby Gap!

Green Party

Today we had a birthday party to attend for one of Ryan's very old friends. His daughter was turning 1. It was of course a kids fest! One of the little munchkins there was just about Jude's age. She was born about a week and a half before Jude and is a monster of a little girl! The two of them made googley eyes at one another. Ryan socialized with his old friends and I chit chatted with the other ladies there.

At one point we went down in the basement to check out the kid zone and it was chaos! Kids and toys strewn about the living room. I swear that the second we walked down the steps one little boy began beating Ryan with a plastic golf club (and this kid had some force). When the kid realized that Ryan wasn't yelling at him for hitting him with the stick he began picking up little pieces of toys and throwing them at Ryan. Slowly the toys got larger, heavier and were thrown faster. I of course had to run and leave Ryan in the trenches.

Which brings me to my shopping experience for this birthday party...

When rooting through toys 'r us for a gift earlier in the day, I didn't know exactly what to get a 1 year old little girl so did a little browsing. I wanted to avoid the basic fisher price toys that you see in every house hold (assuming they already had most of them from their first child). I usually like to go in the direction of educational toys (always a hit - sike). I ended up coming across a little end cap of 100% recycled toys. I think I stopped initially because there was a truck I saw and wanted for Jude made from recycled wood (the closest thing to a solid tonka truck I've been able to find!).

But they also had this cute little tea party set made from 100% recycled milk jugs (all picked up from curb side recycling!). I went for it. In addition I got a little shape sorter ( you know, the box with holes in different shapes and you need to fit the correct shaped block into the correct hole) for her which was just super adorable. Surprisingly these 100% recycled, solid/sturdy looking toys were fairly cheap! Typically things that are "organic" or "100% recycled" (from what I've seen) are pricier anymore because there are so many people 'going green' but not so much in this case! (the tea set was about 20 and the shape sorter was 9.99)

To complete my left wing, liberal, hippie gift I bought two of those reusable shopping bags to wrap the gift in as opposed to the typical gift bag (1.50 for the reusable vs. 3+ dollars for the gift bags). I felt like I should put flowers in my hair and name my next child "sunshine" while making hemp bracelets on the side of the road somewhere, but all in all was proud of my eco-friendly present!