Oct 13, 2010

Writer's Block

This week I have writer's block... which is weird and technically shouldn't apply to a blog because it's basically just writing about my life and my nonsense. Regardless, I can't think of anything funny or important to say.

Our "road trip" was shockingly awesome... and we even got lost on the way to the resort and basically went three hours out of our way. Dan and I complained more that Jane. She was all "ba, ba, ba" when she saw a tour bus and "caw, caw, caw" when she saw a car... and Dan and I were all "my a** hurts", "this is effin' brutal", "oh my G** are we there yet?". tee hee hee. Jane was even an angel during the wedding, at one point during the reception, I was having a conversation for well over a half an hour while she played quietly with her food - making a complete mess but who cares about that, I got to have an adult conversation! On the way home, Jane slept the entire 3 hour drive. She hasn't had a three hour nap in 8 months! (Side note: yes, it took us 7 hours to get there on the way).

I've been working my way through my Christmas shopping - if you've not been following since last year then you don't realize that I'm a Christmas-a-holic and I usually have my shopping done and gifts wrapped by early November. :) This year Christmas is more fun than ever as Jane's personality is becoming pretty clear and it's easier to find gifts I think she will enjoy. I'm trying to stick to the "classics" or updated versions of classic toys - instruments, puzzles, pretend play stuff, etc.

Ok, if you want the God's honest truth - I'm sure I could find more nonsense to talk about but Dan just turned Glee on and YAY the new blond guy is back and I really like him.

Oh, on a side note, I had a dream about "Riggins" last night... Friday Night Lights. Taylor Kitsch. Thank you very much Mr. Sandman. :)

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Oct 7, 2010

Random Nonsense

It's amazing to see their little personalities bloom... obviously you have an influence on who they will become but some things are innate. I mean, I didn't teach my child to be such a character...


Tonight in the bathtub (we still do bath time together in the tub), I was having the time of my life. The fun of having kids is getting to be a kid again yourself... I forgot how much fun splashing and screaming at the top of your lungs could be! :p

We're going on a "road trip" this weekend. Four hours in the car with a 16 month old. Should be interesting. Will more likely be a six hour trip as I suspect we'll have to pull over a few times to let the monkey run and stretch her legs - sounds like I'm talking about a thoroughbred. :p I've picked up a few new books as Jane loves "reading" (i.e. pointing at all the pictures and flipping the pages so quickly I can't read the words) so that may work for like 30 minutes. I'm also hitting the grocery store for all the essential  nutrition-out-the-window because I need things that keep my child occupied snacks - includes things like baked cheetos, marshmallows, etc. Obviously, these "cards" are only put on the table during desperate situations like when I'm tired and need a break. tee hee hee.

Hotels are such a pain in the behind when you have a toddler... mainly due to the eating situation. No fridges in a lot of hotel rooms nowadays, so where do you put your milk? And, of course, no microwaves! How long does it truly take to heat up a bottle with hot water? I have no idea cause I've never done it. :p Thankfully, we've rented a cottage that has a little eating area with fridge and microwave... I'm totally not a cottage type of girl. Cottages = camping to me. Tents = hmmmm, doesn't matter cause it ain't happening. However, the benefits of the cottage far out weigh the "risks" (beds that don't have duvets and have those nasty, floral, bacteria-infested quilt covers - YUCK) when travelling with a toddler - the kitchen, the fridge, the microwave, the separate bedrooms - so we don't have to watch tv in the dark, with no volume from 7pm onward, etc.

Ok, I've done enough blabbering nonsense for now - it's 8:40pm and it's time for me to go upstairs under the guise of reading my parenting book only to fall asleep 10 minutes in. Yes, I am THAT cool. Deal. You should all aspire to achieve my level of coolness. :p

Wow, this is the most random post ever. ha ha ha. I started off just planning on sharing that picture with y'all then I thought, well they don't care about just looking at pictures of Jane all day (you're crazy for that by the way :p) so I started writing about the weekend and then I ended up complaining about hotels. The woman's brain is fascinating - so many things going on all at the same time. We are truly spectacular creatures... :p Although, some nights when I'm lying awake thinking about a bazillion things all at once, I crave the simpler mind of our male counterparts. I'm pretty sure, in 7 years together, Dan's never been up "thinking about things" during the night. The thought is hilarious. And here I go again with another random topic...

Night.

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Why I can't make mom friends

This is priceless... I have to admit, as much as I'm the chick on the right, I've definitely had moments where I tried to be "Mrs. Perfect" on the left.... Dan would call these my "Monica moments".

This is so true however as far as the back-n-forth some Moms try to get you into - the competition. Totally wish the video wasn't so robotic because I think it would be even more hilarious if it were done with real people, real expressions and voices. I can just see my girlfriend Kristie in the roll of "chick on the right"... although I'm pretty sure she would have strangled Mrs. Perfect as would I.

Thanks to Lena over at Listen to Lena for passing this one along. Check out her blog right now for a chance to win a crazy expensive Britax stroller!

Enjoy.





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Oct 6, 2010

Know These Sites?

Thanks to Facebook and some good friends, some fabulous, $$ saving websites have been sent my way and I am officially addicted!

I'm sure there are bazillions more, so feel free to share (please! just don't tell my hubby :p).

The deal with these sites seems to be either one daily deal (posted the same time everyday with limited stock) or multiple daily deals (again, with limited stock)... so basically what I'm saying is, if you want to save $$, check the sites regularly. We're talking dedication people.

Most of these sites offer big discounts - 50%+ - off brandnames... things I look out for are shoes for Jane or unique toys. Now that she's walking, I like to buy her good, comfortable, made for walking, infant shoes... and just like most things, paying more for them makes me feel like they are better shoes and are best for her - so they end up costing me a fortune! All of these sites have baby items and have had Robeez, Pediped and so on for half price! YIPEE!

They also have great stuff for house and home, and also important, YOU! :)

Here's a few:
Totsy - Multiple deals daily - mostly kids/Mom related
Baby Half Off - one daily deal, kids related
Hautelook - multiple fabulous daily deals - kids, house, men, women, shoes, bags - a dream really!
BabySteals and KidSteals - my favourite is babysteals, they have the best stuff - and are now doing two daily steals (9am and 9pm MST) - you have to be quick, quick, quick.
Mother of a Daily Deal - I'm pretty sure they don't actually have "daily deals" but sometimes the deal is good - but the stock seems to be low, so whenever they offer the deal, if you can find out, hop on it cause the stock disappears QUICK.

The other thing I've learned is that signing up for "newsletters" and so on is worth the few extra emails you get in your inbox. I always used to avoid providing my emails to retailers but now, at my fav stores, I'm all over it. I haven't paid full price at Old Navy, Gap, etc. in a while. Also, you get alerts on the sales asap so you can make your way to the store before all the sizes are gone.

Signing up for services like RedFlagDeal's weekly newsletter is also awesome - gives you the best deals of the week. This is where I often find out about 50% off days at Gap and so on. Did you know that Old Navy and Gap (et. al.) are now offering online shopping in Canada - WHOPEE! A few weeks ago, they were having 30% off all baby stuff PLUS on LouLou I found a code for an extra 15% off all Gap, ON, etc. stuff.

Have some more deals-n-steals sites you want to share - or likely not with how quickly stock runs out :p - please do!

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Oct 5, 2010

Terrible Twos?

Is it at all possible that my 16 month old is going through the "terrible twos"?

There are things I will take responsibility for - like the fact that she won't go to sleep without a nummy - that's my fault, yes - but the drama, the rebellion, the defiance, where did this come from? Is it my fault?

Some days are fabulous. And, honestly, I thought Jane was getting "better" - i.e. she seems to respond to "No" more now vs. laughing at you. But some days I feel like I am disciplining (i.e. yelling at her and taking things away from her and making her screech) for hours at a time!

For instance, tonight, we were drawing on the white board together... and, of course, she started to try and draw on the entertainment unit. So, I started with the "no's" and that worked. But, then she started trying to put the marker in her mouth. By the third time, I took the marker away from her. She cried bloody murder. And, it's things, on and off, like this for hours on end! Another example - again, tonight - we were reading books and we had already read this book five times, backwards and frontwards and upside down, so I put that book down to grab another one. Well, didn't I basically get whacked in the face with the book as Miss Drama screamed at me, pushing the book in my face, demanding we read that book again. So, I said a firm "no", lifted her off me, and walked away. To me, this seems like the common sense approach to not spoiling her - she misbehaves and I do not give her what she wants, letting her know that the way she has behaved will not have good consequences, non? HELP!!

What the heck do I do? I hate that some days the few hours I get to spend with her in the evenings are bouts of screeching because she acts defiantly and I won't give her her way in between periods of fun. Seriously, what the heck do I do? Or am I doing the right things?

Am I doing something wrong? Sometimes I feel like I'm the worst Mom ever! I worry that I'm so worried about "spoiling her" that I'm over-disciplining her... as much as I don't want a spoiled brat, I hate that she's crying all the time - well, not all the time, but you know what I mean - tonight we had two-three breakdowns! Am I responding to the breakdowns properly? Honestly, I have no idea how to respond to them! I usually just try to distract her away from what's making her screech and that works. But should I just ignore her? Obviously I shouldn't comfort her, right? I don't know! AHHHHH!! This is serious rocket science. Being a parent is HARD, HARD, HARD. Having to worry about all the consequences of your actions - knowing that they will affect the little person you are helping develop is STRESSFUL!

I'm reading a book right now. It's been awhile since I resorted to reading a book by the "experts" but this book is from the same series I relied on during pregnancy, babyhood and now the toddler period - The Mother of All... series. And, it says all the things I am describing above (about the drama, defiance, independance, etc.) are "normal". Yeah, well they sure don't feel normal when I'm getting notes from daycare saying my daughter needs to work on her "listening ears". The over-protective Mom in me wants to rationalize it and say that Jane is just advanced and going through the terrible twos early. But, I'm really just worried that Dan and I aren't being effective in disciplining Jane or that we're not responding properly when she throws these tantrums. I haven't gotten far enough into the book to read what you should and should not do or suggested strategies for discipline. Maybe I'm doing the right things? AHHH! Maybe I should read further.

Any suggestions? Has anyone been through this or am I all on my own here?

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Oct 1, 2010

Smart Shopping Ladies

I"ve written about this before... and saved TONS - insane amounts of money by buying Jane's clothes for the next year at the end of this years season - does that makes sense? In other words, I buy summer clothes for next year at the end of summer this year.

It's not rocket science. I usually just guess sizing and, so far, it's worked out perfectly - for example, right now Jane is wearing either 18-24mth or size 2 pants because she's tall. But, otherwise, they are quite big on her cause she's also slim. So, I'm buying size 3 bottoms for her. They may be a little big, but, chances are, they'll be perfecto!

Here's what you need to know NOW - Old Navy is giving an additional 50% off their clearance items right now!!! Get out there now ladies! The key - don't just look in your kids size area because items are all mixed in together so it's worth searching a few racks to find some goodies. FYI, there was little to no boys stuff where I'm at, so may not be worth it if you're blessed with a little man (sorry).
Here's what I got:
5 Pairs of shorts
10 Pairs of capris/leggings
10 T-shirts/Tank tops
3 Dresses
So, 28 items and basically Jane's entire summer wardrobe next year.

And here's the even better news - I paid $89 in total, including tax. Which means that I paid less than $3 per item pre-tax! In truth, certain items were only 98 cents but I averaged it all up to make it easy!!!
Wanna know how much I saved?  $416. That's how much it would have cost for all my items at regular price. I love sales. Sales make me so happy. I love to save money. Now, my hubby would say - "why are you wasting money on summer clothes right now" - but men aren't forward thinkers, they are now thinkers. Dan thinks
do we really need to spend $100 now on clothes for next year. He doesn't think, spending $100 now will save us over $400 next year. Thank God for me! :p ha ha ha. I can rationalize murder.

Get your behind down to Old Navy quick and do some smart shopping! Although I sound like an Old Navy advertisement, I am obviously not paid by Old Navy for marketing. However, if Old Navy would like to pay me, I am 4000% open to that :p ha ha ha.

Here's the monkey in something that wasn't on sale but was so cute I'm going to share anyways!

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