Parachute!

After months of seeing a parachute at story time, the VB got over her caution and LOVES it. Her dad couldn't figure out why she was giggling crazily when he was making the bed. Turns out she's obsessed with any large piece of cloth-like material and flaps sheets whenever she can and giggles like mad.

She's a silly girl. A very silly girl.

Future Bobcat? Or breakdancer?

My favorite Christmas card photo reject

I nearly sent this to some friends instead of the "nice" picture.

Great holiday deals on Amazon!

We've just added some holiday purchases, some we weren't planning on getting til the prices went so low. Sometimes shopping last minute has its advantages!

These items are all excellent deals as I write this post...but prices can change quickly, so please do your research before buying if you're not sure what these usually sell for. And as always, if you plan on buying these or anything else on Amazon, I'm very grateful if you click one of my links to start your shopping ;)

My daughter is obsessed with the babies at the store that have carriers, beds, etc. For $8, I couldn't resist this dolly in her carrier.

And for my budding photographer who won't keep her hands off Mommy's cameras, a real camera that actually shows her pictures on the back. She LOVES looking at pictures on the computer screen or camera preview monitor. 

I saw these were pretty affordable at the moment and told my husband I was thinking she'd enjoy one at some point. He surprised me by thinking they were a great idea, and thought it'd cost more but wanted to get her one. He brought up her taking pictures of her new sibling in May, and that evoked warm and fuzzy thoughts.

The Fisher-Price Kid-Tough Digital Camera Blue was what initially caught my eye, especially since it was $10 less when I was looking at them. But after reading reviews and looking at how the buttons were laid out, I decided to go for the Kidizoom instead, even at $10 more. If we're going to have this camera for years, it will be worth the difference. I DO like the frustration-free packaging available on the Kid-Tough camera.

I'm sitting on my hands on this next one... the Melissa and Doug easel for half price! $30 instead of $60! But she's a little young for it and it takes up a lot more space than that camera does...

Getting way too many phone books you never use?

We just signed up at YellowPagesGoesGreen.org to stop them from coming. We get about 4-5 a year from various companies and instantly recycle almost all of them. 

We use online yellow pages most of the time and keep a single phone book around for when the internet goes down.

Get too many books but don't want to stop them completely? You can call the phone company and request a phone book. Signing up on this site just stops them from being automatically delivered.

Snow!

Winter is officially here! Well, as far as I'm concerned it is. Who cares what the calendar says. Mid-November in Ohio is winter.

I'll try to get some pictures up soon for my Florida readers. Right now I have to go clean off the car. Well, as soon as Miss Uncooperative decides she can live without being in contact with me for a moment. We've had a rough morning.

The reason this blog has been so quiet lately...

Surprise...


It's been a rough last few months. I'm finally feeling better the last couple of weeks, but have had a ton of things to catch up on. We're still in the middle of a bunch of projects, and I'm really tired and have been dealing with major toddler sleep problems. Telling her Mommy needs to sleep even if she doesn't just doesn't work.

I'm due in the middle of May and am just finishing the first trimester and starting the second. I can't believe I'm 1/3 of the way through already. Now that I don't feel awful, I'd like this pregnancy to just take its time. I'm in no hurry to have a huge stomach, back problems, insane heartburn, etc. Not to mention labor and the sleepless weeks that follow!