My Avon Biz

Filed Under Avon, This Rocks | 3 Comments

Just a quick update- it’s continuing to go well. I have recently gotten a few new customers. And they’re good ones, who like to order a lot of skin care products! (I shouldn’t say “good” because most of my customers are good, but I mean they’re big spenders). I also added four people to my downline in the last two weeks and will be appointing another two people this week. I have a few people in the works to sign up in April and May as well. I love seeing people get started with Avon and then to see how well they do and how exciting it is. I think I like that more than selling. Maybe. I just like it all. It is so silly… I went to college for Public Relations and Marketing but here I am, an Avon lady. My education is actually being used but not in a way that I ever dreamed it would be. My district manager also asked me to help her with something that will be benefiting me a lot financially, and I am working at another career fair in a few weeks. Things are looking good.

And at least I don’t have to do something like selling insurance online. How cool is it that I get to stay home with my daughter AND have a career that I love?

Consignment Sales

Filed Under Frugal, Toys, Twenty-three Months | 2 Comments

I should remind myself that I like BABY SALES and GARAGE SALES, not consignment sales. People selling in consignment sales tend to think they can get much, much more than their items is worth. Like a Carter’s infant romper for $6? Really? You probably didn’t pay that much when it was new.

I got up early to go to a baby consignment sale today. I scored one pair of Gymboree capris for Bailey (which now I am searching to find a top for on eBay) and a dress. But the exciting things I got-

Little People house with all the pieces, looks new, $8

Little People Minivan, $3

My daughter has been sitting on the kitchen floor playing with her new toys for over an hour now. She has always liked her Little People zoo animals. But in the past few weeks she has gotten into a lot of the LP stuff (my mom has a huge collection at her house). So even though I didn’t get much in the way of clothes, I guess it was worth it for the toys

If you live in the St. Louis area, there will be a baby sale next Saturday (April 4th) at Lafayette Church of Christ on New Ballwin Rd. It starts at 7:30 or 8. Then on April 25th there is a big sale at John Burroughs School, and the first Saturday in May is the Baby Mania sale. If anyone wants to go shopping with me I would love some company!

She’s Cute As a Cupcake

Filed Under Twenty-three Months | 2 Comments

Isn’t she? She looks like such a baby in this picture. Trick photography, I tell ya. Because she looks more like a two year old every day, and less like a baby. This was taken last weekend:

And these were taken just a few days later. After she had her bangs trimmed.

We have obviously developed a “picture taking spot” at our house. Do you always take pictures in the same place, too?

Please Pray for Stellan- Again!

Filed Under Prayers | 6 Comments

I don’t know if you were around when I posted back last summer about a little baby named Stellan who was very sick in the womb. Well he is now four months old and he is suddenly having the same heart problems that he had before. He is a sick little guy and needs your prayers.

Bailey’s First Easter Egg Hunt

Filed Under Easter, Firsts, Outings, Shopping, Twenty-three Months | 2 Comments

We went to an egg hunt at a local outlet mall last week. Casey and I rode up there together with the girls. I figured that they would be fine with their carseats next to each to each other because they get along so well. Um, no. Bailey turned into that friend. You know, the one who doesn’t give you any room to breathe. She’s like the friend who calls a little too often. In her defense, she was SO EXCITED to have Addison in the car that she wouldn’t leave her alone. Addison looked like she wanted to crawl back in bed. So it was not a good combination. I thought they were holding hands when I took this picture (I swear we weren’t on the highway at the time) but looking back later, Bailey is definitely just hanging on to Addison’s sweater.

Once we got to the mall, we registered for the egg hunt. We also had a chance to join some sort of kids club but it sounded like it wasn’t even worth the $5. So we got a free stuffed bunny and got to find a few Easter eggs. But we had to wait a few minutes so we (by we I probably mean me) stood outside the Gymbore outlet and tried to decide what I was going to buy!

I was wondering if Bailey would understand the concept of hunting for eggs. Although she is pretty good if I ask her to find her shoes, or her sippy cup, or something else that she misplaced. Well, she would pick up one or two eggs but then put them down because she found different ones, or she would re-hide the ones she already had… but she definitely had fun anyway! Here she is with her friends Kaylee and Addison. Kaitlynn was there too but they got there a little later and did the egg hunt after us.

While we were at the mall, we got to do a little bit of outlet shopping. We got some seriously cute stuff at the Gymboree store. They are doing Gymbucks (earning) right now so we had to spend enough to earn Gymbucks. That is how I justify it. Then we went to Carter’s and just got a shirt, although Casey got a lot of super cute stuff for Addison. Children’s Place, we didn’t have quite as much luck but I managed to get her some jammies for $1.99 and a pair of shoes and something else but I forget what. I was bummed to find out that they closed the Nautica Kids outlet. In the past I had gotten some really good deals there for Bailey. I kind of wish we live closer. BUT I am kind of excited that Casey needs to return a few things to Carter’s because I want to go back with her. (You like how I invited myself?)

And then on the way home… Addison fell asleep and Bailey was STILL going crazy. She kept putting her foot on Addison to try to get her attention. She really gets a little over excited and over-stimulated sometimes and it is hard to get her settled down again.

St. Patrick’s Day Giveaway

Filed Under Giveaways | Leave a Comment

Thank you to all who entered. The drawing took place right in the midst of my blog crashing so I apologize for not posting about it sooner. The perfume has been shipped and you can look forward to another giveaway later this week!

St. Patrick’s Day

Filed Under Clothes, Grandparents, Twenty-three Months | 1 Comment

I wrote a post about St. Patrick’s Day that was deleted. I talked about visiting my grandpa at the rehab facility where he went after his knee replacement. He is home now and doing great. But that whole post was lost when my blog crashed about a week ago.

So let me post the most important part again: The picture of Bailey (being held still by Grammy) !  I forgot to dress her in green for St. Patty’s but she rocked her new Bon Voyage outfit, didn’t she? Even though I had to roll the pants down at the top and up at the bottom! They were capris and she has short legs just like her mommy. Poor girl.

OMG Blog Headache

Filed Under Blogging | 4 Comments

You may have noticed (or maybe not, lol) that my blog has been missing for two days. It totally crashed for some unknown (to me) reason. It is back up today, finally. However my last backup was done March 15th so I lost the most recent things. If anyone happened to save any of my posts or anything, feel free to send them to me. I don’t know why you would have, but at least i only lost a few! I will get that giveaway back up and going to but unfortunately all the comments were lost. What a pain in the patootie.

Magic House with Addison

Filed Under Friends, Outings, Twenty-three Months | Leave a Comment

Bailey loves her friend Addison. She asks about her all the time. I love getting together to play with Addison because the girls get along so well together and they are usually really kind to each other. Well and I like Addison’s mom, too! Earlier this week we met up with Casey and Addison for some playtime at the Magic House.

Bailey is really fast on the spiral staircase now. I remember when it was so scary for me to watch her crawl up! Now she races to the top and then goes down the slide by herself. She even goes down the twisty slide alone now, too. She’s not scared of much, but she used to be really hesitant about slides if she couldn’t see the bottom. She has gotten over that now and I had my work cut out for me, chasing after her!

She also liked the chalkboard but for some reason the chalk WOULD NOT brush off of her shirt. She looked like Pigpen after playing with chalk. I am also a genius, I leaned back against the chalkboard not just once, but twice.

Bailey and Addison playing at the sand table–it was so hard to get a picture of them together.

And I know this is not the most flattering picture of my daughter, but I thought her face was too funny! I have mentioned before that she has some “tactile defensiveness” (a.k.a. doesn’t like crap sticking to her hands). She was fine with scooping the sand but once it got on her hands she had to get it off right away!

Playdate and Other Ramblings

Filed Under Friends, Outings, Playdates, Twenty-two Months | 2 Comments

Today has been a good day. Mostly. I slept in a little later than usual (thank you, Bailey, for loving Barney the way you do). We had some friends over to play. My very pregnant friend Kim came over with her daugher Mackenzie. Kim’s c-section is scheduled for a week from now but she is hoping to go into labor before then and try for a VBAC so send some prayers up for her! They also don’t know the gender of the baby yet. I think I would die from the suspense. My newer friend Steff also came over with her son Payton. I have enjoyed getting to know them over the past few months. We met at the early childhood center but have started having playdates and stuff together.

I wish I had taken some pics this morning at the playdate. Instead I am going to share some from the park last week. We went on Thurdsay and thought it was going to be warm but the only word for that day was “blustery.” But the girls (Mackenzie, Bailey, and Addison) had lots of fun together anyway. We went to a park that we hadn’t been to before- it’s only about five minutes from our house! So I am excited to have a new park to go to this spring/summer. I can’t believe I haven’t taken B there before because I remember going there a lot as a kid. In fact, my fourth b-day party was there!

Here is Bailey when she was watching the ducks swim in the pond. Not that I would trust her alone near a pond EVER, but I was surprised that she didn’t try to go closer. She is finally developing that “don’t walk off the edge” sense of danger. Sometimes. Thank God. She loved watching them and yelling Quack Quack!

Bailey and Mackenzie sat on this ledge for a while. Of course I couldn’t get them to both look at the camera at once- that would be too much to ask.  I also very rarely dress Bailey in jeans and a t-shirt. I like her to have on things that match. Not like the same pattern pants and shirt but coordinating pieces. So this was definitely a park outfit for her but I like to see her in playclothes sometimes. Now I am going to have to hide this shirt because she wants to wear it every day! It’s her “flurfly shirt.”

She was so worn out when we got home. She asked for her guys (which is what she calls her blanket, bear, and lovey ensemble) and then curled up on them on the floor. She NEVER does this- she’s never still. Normally after I put her in bed she jumps like a pogo stick for about ten minutes before settling down! So I had to grab the camera. I even offered her Fritos but she was too tired to reach over and pick them up. I wish I was too tired for snacks more often!

Happy Fourth Anniversary, Jonathon

Filed Under Daddy, Marriage | 7 Comments

Today marks four years of being married. I can’t believe it’s been four years. In a way, it seems like forever. Like I don’t remember what things were like before him (although I do, you know?) But on the other hand it seems like there is no way that four years could have gone by so fast. Bailey was born after we had been married just a little over two years. That was such an adjustment. First we got married, then moved three months later, then we finally got used to living with each other and I got pregnant, then we had her and adjusted to that. I feel like we are finally settled into life. Until the next big change, but I bet that is what it’s always like.

Sometimes we get really irritated with each other. I think, “WHY did I think I wanted to be with him forever?” And then I realize that there is no way I could live without him. We fight, but not for long. We both can be kinda mean when we want to be. But most of the time we are so happy. I am so thankful for him. He is honestly one of the best fathers I know of. He rarely complains about doing things with Bailey- he plays with her, does baths, dinner, bedtime, diapers, etc and always has. If I want to go out for a girls night, he tells me to have fun and understands that I need a break. Sometimes I even come home to a clean kitchen or living room. I can ask him to vacuum or do dishes or whatever and he will do it. He is easygoing and funny and loves to take care of his family. At the end of the day, that’s what I want- someone who loves his family and would do anything for them. And that’s what I’ve got

I’m sure i have posted this before- but here we are on our wedding day- well a blurry scanned version of us anyway.

And at Sarah’s wedding reception last fall-

Sweet As Candy

Filed Under Clothes, Twenty-two Months | 7 Comments

Just wanted to share a few pictures of B in her new Candy Shoppe attire from Gymboree. I love it!

This is her “Stop taking my picture” face…

Magix Face Perfector Winner

Filed Under Avon, Giveaways | 1 Comment

Just popping in to announce the winner of my giveaway!

Congratulations to commentor #8, chosen by random.org…

Here are your random numbers:

8

Timestamp: 2009-03-10 02:37:03 UTC

Commentor #8 is my friend Amy! Here is the winning comment:

“My current favorite candy is Peanut Butter M&M’s, but the tools at 7-11 haven’t had them in weeks since the whole peanut butter product recall. Second runner up, Snickers.”

She had three entries, since she registered on my Avon site and also posted about this contest on her blog.  (Amy- I already have your address, so I will get the stuff in the mail to you tomorrow!)

If you were not the lucky winner and would like to order the Magix product, visit my Avon site.  Thank you to everyone who played, and be on the lookout for another giveaway later this week!

Spring Weather and Zoo Outing

Filed Under Clothes, Friends, Outings, Twenty-two Months | 4 Comments

On Friday, we went to the zoo with some friends. The weather was amazing! If the temperature thing in my car was correct, it was close to 80 degrees! I didn’t even know it was going to get that warm- I brought jackets for both of us!

On the way to the zoo, we had a little snot incident that resulted in Bailey throwing up all over herself. Of course. So she kind of looked like Pigpen for the rest of the day but we had fun anyway. Emily and Julie both offered her a clean shirt to borrow but she was adament about wearing her new bear shirt that my friend Sarah gave her (it says “My First Alaska Shirt” on it).

Bailey has lots of favorite animals. If you ask her, she will tell you about the zebras and the penguins first. Some of her other favorites are polar bears, which she calls “cold bears” or “poker bears” and giraffes. We spent quite a bit of time watching the zebras stand around and do nothing. Ella also liked watching the zebras.

Bailey always likes to share/steal her friends snacks. Here she is with Kaitlynn’s snack container. She tried to run off with it several different times. You would think I don’t feed her, but I promise, I do!

On the way home– I think the 4 1/2 hour zoo visit wore her out!

Magix Face Perfector Giveaway

Filed Under Avon, Giveaways | 21 Comments

I am giving away what is perhaps one of the coolest products I have ever used, Avon or otherwise. It is called Magix Face Perfector and is a makeup primer, but is so much more fabulous than what you are probably imagining.

It is made to put on before your foundation (or can even be used instead of foundation). It “blurs imperfections, gives invisible coverage and the appearance of flawless skin. Banishes shine for up to 10 hours.” It protects your skin with SPF 20. It keeps you from looking shiny by mid-afternoon. It makes fine lines less noticeable. And my favorite thing is, you can even slap some more on over your makeup before you go out to dinner and it freshens you up again without having to re-do your makeup.

Can you tell I am in love with this product? It is one of the most popular items that I sell. Similar products sell for around $30-40. This is regularly $10, on sale now for $7.99!
Want to try it? I will give one away on Monday evening. To enter, leave me a comment and tell me what your favorite candy is. Just for fun. Get a second entry by registering on my Avon site, and another entry by linking to this contest on your own blog. (Of course, you’ll have to leave me comments to let me know that you’ve done those things). Thanks for playing!