Happy Thanksgiving

[image: the picture of my three adorable children that I plan on using for my Christmas card this year, where they are actually looking into the camera, not picking their noses or pulling each other's hair out (for the two that have hair). Where you can see that they have teeth (again, the majority) and that their hair is not rooster-tailing (visibly) out of control.]

Oh yea...

that doesn't exist.

I'm thankful that I have another month,

and, you know... lots of other stuff.

Happiest Thanksgiving and in the words of my guy at the Caribou Coffee drive-up "You have the very best day ever!"

for the love of squishy

We were heading into Barnes and Noble to get a gender neutral book for a birthday party of Henry's this weekend (which, by the way, I love the idea of exchanging books instead of presents and in lieu of plastic crap favors, but lucky him, he still brought home some crap sunglasses and a spinning thing along with his hardback copy of How to Train Your Dragon.)

I digress.

Like I said, we were heading towards the door, gearing up for the crunch of getting three bodies, one of them being in a stroller, into the doorway simultaneously (because that's what always happens, every. single. time.). A woman grabbed the door for us foreseeing the upcoming body bruises. Of course, being like every other mother in the universe, she had to peek into the stroller to see just who was inside.

"Oh, you have a little girl there" she cooed, "How old is she?"

"Three months" I reply.

She continues "I have three girls myself; 15, 11 and 9. They are really special girls and so sweet... getting bigger so quickly, but I really miss them being little, being a baby like you have there. Three months... what a wonderful age."

I looked down at Edy and said "Yes, I love her. She's so squishy."

Wait.
What did I just say?
After the sentimental words, near tears in her eyes of this woman talking about her once little babies, did I say some genius thing in reply like "she's so squishy".

Umm... yes I did.

I looked at her sideways hoping that perhaps she didn't hear just what I had said.

She gives me a little smile and a 'yea'.

Pretty certain she heard me...

Dang it.
(Note to self, I must work on more appropriate replies to when people tell me about how they 'miss having babies'.)

the little things - a giveaway

Thursday is Thanksgiving (duh). I'm pretty sure we all have a million and one reasons to be thankful this year, I know I have. If you could do just a little something to show your thanks, I'm betting that you would.

77kids has created an initiative called Wish-4-Snow where you can design your own online snowflake complete with your very own wish, if you desire. If they reach their goal of 100,000 snowflakes created, they will donate $25,000 to children's hospitals (this includes Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota).


This is a little thing, it will take up (very) little of your time, but $25,000 can make a big difference.

Of course, I got to visit 77kids to see how else they were gearing up for the holidays. With them, it really is the little things:

I love the store front. The front window is really magical. There is a 'Go' button right at little hands level for the birds to race down the mountain. Cute and time consuming when you need them to be a little busy while say... nursing.

The store itself is awesome. There is bean bag toss, these light-up reactor things on the floor, a treat cart (which also includes non-food treats), a peek-a-boo door in the changing rooms and the picture maker spot, where you can make one for the board and one to take home. They really have thought of every little detail.

Now, the clothes... they are adorable, just look at their website, cute kid craziness! Right now, I'm really into the girl baby clothes (what a surprise), the little77 line is perfect. Currently, when you buy 3 pieces, you get 30% off, plus I had a 20% off coupon (yes, it *was* a great deal!). I got Wyatt a long sleeve t-shirt and Henry a jacket too. Of course, both on clearance - because yes, that's the kind of shopper I am... clearance, but you notice I said *long* sleeve and *jacket*... not just summer stuff on clearance. Awesomeness.

When you shop, you have an option of donating 77 cents (or more) to benefit your local children's hospital. You'll get a snowflake to write your name and make a wish. You'll get a bumper sticker that says 'you done good' and who doesn't want a bumper sticker that tells everyone that 'you done good'!

As promised, I would never plug something or review something without giving you a chance for the same, I'm giving away a $50 gift card to 77kids. All you have to do is 'done good': visit 77kids microsite, create a snowflake; think about what you are thankful for, remember that you visiting helps local children's hospitals... plus every snowflake you make enters you into daily drawings for $77 gift cards (or the grand prize of a block party for you and 77 friends).


Come back here, tell me you made a snowflake for an entry. Follow 77kids on Facebook or Twitter for another entry. Follow me for another. Twitter about this giveaway for another... you know the drill.

Feel good that you did a little something today that could make a big difference.

*

I have been engaged by 77kids and TheMotherhood to support this initiative. Thank you for letting me be part of such an awesome event. Thanks to fellow friends: Aubrie at The Buzz 4 Moms (and for letting me steal your snapshots), Marybeth at Baby Good Buys, Sarah at Minnesota Mama's Must Haves and Rachael at Empowering Mommy.

PSF - win some, lose some

There once was a girl who got a new one of these:


She was thrilled at the extravagant features it had like crushed iced, water at the ready, more than one light bulb... even more thrilling, she was getting rid of this (circa 1988):

Only her husband decided to keep it, to store things this like:

You win some, you lose (umm... keep) some.

PS - it's totally normal to be so absolutely giddy about getting a fridge that you blog about it, right?

PPS - It's Friday, no one reads blogs on Fridays anyways. (That makes me feel better.)

PPPS - I took 2 years of Latin in college, I should have remembered circa means around in Latin. BTW, Eureka basically means I've got it in Latin. Impress your friends at parties this weekend when you throw Eureka out there. See, lucky you stopped in on a Friday, consider that your lesson learned for the day. Shut down, close shop, go home.

sock monkey

My sister and I have an idea for an invention for a nose warmer. It looks sort of like one of these Pee Pee Teepee things but with a large rubber band attached to it (yes, our patent is pending... don't think of stealing it).

The only problem is, even if we made it with some sexy lady cheetah print, it would still be, well, ugly.

But don't you love our resourcefulness. You have hats to keep heads warm, boots to keep your feet warm; what about our noses? You can only wear turtlenecks pulled over your nose so many times in a week until people start to think that you have A) a hickey (ah... high school) or B) something growing under there.

Yes, we are a resourceful bunch

and Wyatt is clearly my child.

He's into boxing right now, but no, I'm not going to get my three year old a pair of gloves to beat up his brother while his sitting helpless on the toilet. So, he takes off his socks, puts them on his hands and calls them his boxing hands.

Today, he decided that it would be fun to wear his boxing gloves for eating lunch.

Plus, he said that his hands were cold.

3 months

Last week, I lied about your age just so you could get into the gym with their 3 month minimum requirement. Probably not the first time that your age will be lied about, but I promise you, it will be the last time *I* lie about *your* age.

I want you to be (the real) three months forever.

a kick in the nerds

Kevin walked (and when I say 'walked', I'm talking about a little peanut of a boy, just barely 1 years old, where walking looked somewhat like a circus act because of his little stature) into my house my first morning of starting child care. I watched him for over three years and to no surprise, Henry and he were best friends.

I haven't taken care of Kevin in over three years now. They see each other every month or so for a play date, but that's it, but whose name does Henry write on his Popsicle stick as he decorates it with his Sharpie, Kevin's. KEViN + Henry.

His best friend in Kindergarten is not in his class this year. When Henry sees him at recess, he's thrilled, only his 'best friend' has managed to give him a bloody nose, kicked him in the 'nerds' (as we like to call them here) and refused to play with Henry, 'maybe in a day or so' he tells him. Henry is *still* waiting patiently for him, still calls him his 'school best friend'.

He is amazingly loyal. I love that so much about him.

This week has been tough. For some reason, I've just come to realize that parenting is always going to be hard. I'm not up worrying about my baby's napping schedule or pondering over getting ABC's taught, I'm sitting here with my stomach twisted up, worrying about my first grader. More talk of ADD. More wishing we had a crystal ball wondering if immersion is the right thing. More fretting in getting our other kids in the school if we pull Henry out. More contemplation about moving into the same school district as the school.

Today, I kind of wish that I could go back to that day when Henry and Kevin sat next to each other, high chair to high chair. I wish that I could simply be worried about not getting their lunches too hot.

Being a parent to a first grader can suck as much as being a parent to a newborn, differently suck, be still well... suck, but I can be loyal too; I'm sticking up for Henry, trudging through this unknown academic terrain for him.

I wish I could just make it easy for him, of course, that would only make it easier on me but if he can take a kick in the nerds once in awhile, so can I.

I think a baby seal just died

If you guys all remember, I was part of this prenatal group care. It was 13 couples, nearly all of them pregnant with their first, meeting together monthly to talk about the woes of pregnancy (along with getting measured on a cot in the back of the room with the others pretending not to listen in on how much weight you gained in a month).

Well, I've been invited to a sort of reunion this upcoming weekend. I'm pretty sure nothing could be more fun than a bakers dozen of new mothers comparing babies, boobs and birth stories.

I think the whole scenario might look a little something like this:



(Watch it! I promise I would never post a video that wasn't hilarious and totally worth 3 minutes of your time)

And before you all call me out on the similarities of the Kate Gosselinish mom and myself; the similarities stop at having 3 kids, my son learning Mandarin and my really cool robot voice.


originally posted here

butt blind

Wyatt was thrilled to see those sisters again this past week at McDonald's Playland(yes, I said again this week). He was over the moon excited that (1) he knew they would play with him since they did the previous week and (2) that they were cute little girls that would play with him.

One of the sisters had an arm that was only a mere, maybe, 6 inches long, short enough that she wasn't able to use this arm at all, not that it mattered; she climbed the ladders and crawled through the tunnels faster than her sister (or Wyatt) could.

The first time Wyatt started playing with them, I sat there ears tuned in, waiting to see if he would say anything to her about her arm, not because he's rude, but because he's three; he doesn't have this politeness sensor. He's a curious kid, he likes to talk a lot, and well, like I said, he's three.

I waited in anticipation, ready to smooth out any awkward situation and then...

I waited more.

He never mentioned anything. Not even, as I expected, a little question or two on the way home, pondering his fun playtime from the back seat.

I was so proud of him: he has this natural blindness to something that was so obvious to me. What mother wouldn't be proud of her son in a moment like this?

So of course, yesterday morning, as I finally was able to squeeze into a pair of my own, pre-pregnancy/now I'm just fat jeans, what does my three year old, blind to differences, child say to me as I turn to switch on Team Umizoomi.

"Mommy, I can see your biggggg butt."

WW - baby's first vibrator

I'd never even heard of the term BPA free when Wyatt was a baby, so I shouldn't find it surprising that with Edith, there are some new products out on the market...

For the girl that has everything (or for the girl that has everything *else* handed down to her).

And I know it's just so wrong, but come on, it's pretty funny too.

gut rot

It started mid-afternoon, getting worse as evening approached. My stomach would twist, I felt like I could throw up, my heart felt flat and sometimes, especially in the beginning, I cried, like clock-work, every Sunday.

Halloween night, six years ago, was the first night that I *didn't* experience the pang of having to leave my son in the care of someone else as I settled into my cubicle. On a Monday, six years ago today, I started staying home with Henry.

I remember telling my husband that I felt like the luckiest person in the world.

I don't always feel like that anymore, especially when the weather has changed, the nip in the air changes our moods. When we all get forced inside, we all get on each others' nerves a bit more.

But Halloween seems to be this yearly reminder for me, I am lucky. I get to hear the funny things they say about their lunch. I get to see them 'reading' magazines while on the toilet. I get to look into those eyes as they sparkle with a smile, all day long.

There might be some gut rot come Halloween, but it's from eating too many Kit-Kat bars I've snuck out of my boys' bags when they were knocking at the door at a neighbor's house.

Lucky me.