Kenzie’s birthday party

Filed Under Four Months Old- Taylor, Friends, Parties, Three Years Old, Toys | Leave a Comment

Trying to get all updated here… have quite a few pictures from Bailey’s friend Mackenzie’s birthday party back in July! It was a really fun party and made me wish I could plan an outdoor party for my kids. (But with February-cold and April-rainy birthdays it probably won’t ever happen). They had a swimming party and got one of those huge Bonzai waterslides (I think this link is the actual slide they had, it was really cool). Obviously a big expense but you can partially write it off as a birthday party expense, right? And then have a super cool toy afterward. I have been looking for those to go on end of summer clearance but haven’t seen anything. It would be one of the cheaper ones but still…

Anyway about the party. The kids had a lot of fun and it was great for a really wide age range of kids. Instead of serving cake, the kids got their choice of ice cream sandwiches or popsicles. Bailey won’t eat ANYTHING even close to a sandwich so we told her it was an ice cream cookie treat. She loved it. She still talks about it and it makes me so happy to see her try new things. They also had hamburgers and brats and typical barbecue food, and two big tubs of water balloons, and a small kiddie pool. Everything was really well done but just laid back and casual. One of the best parties we went to this summer.

And of course, pictures-

As the evening went on, she got better at climbing up this ladder. At first it really took her a while and some of the older boys were just climbing over her.

Splash! I love this one… caught the moment perfectly.

Eating the beloved “ice cream cookie treat” with Daddy.

(Did I mention Taylor was there too?)

Okay so I just saw this picture and it occurred to me… the kids were supposed to choose either ice cream sandwich or a popsicle. I guess Bailey decided to have one of each and it didn’t even register with me at the time. Oops!

Faith’s Wedding Weekend

Filed Under Friends, Gifts, Toys, Travel, Two and a half years old, Weddings | Leave a Comment

This weekend we went to Iowa for my friend Faith’s wedding. I was the matron of honor (doesn’t that sound really old?) and Bailey was one of the flower girls. Actually, Bailey was the ONLY flower girl who actually went down the aisle. She did a fantastic job!

The car ride was fairly uneventful. There was a light rain for about the first two hours of the drive which always sets me on edge. Thank goodness Jonathon loves to drive because I hate it. About the last hour of the six hour drive, Bailey started yelling, “Help! I’m trapped in this chair! Somebody let me out!” we were trying so hard not to laugh!

She was beyond excited about staying in a hotel room. It was the first time that she was really old enough to enjoy it, and there was an indoor pool so we got to swim several times. We had a suite with a separate area where we put her bed (we brought her toddler mattress from home). It worked out really well and she was much more comfortable sleeping in her own bed/mattress on the floor. She ran around the room like a crazy girl for about the first half hour after we arrived.

The first night we were in town, I went to the bachelorette party/lingerie shower. It was a fun and relaxing girls night at her house. I was glad to be able to just put my (extremely swollen) feet up and hang out and catch up. Faith is the type of person who blushes and gets embarrassed easily so it was fun to watch her open the gifts.

She got a really cool set of products from her sister in law. There were all different bars of soap and bath oils and fizzies and stuff. Apparently everything was natural and preservative free. Her sister in law was telling us all about the company and I might have to go check them out. They even have something with top fat burners in it.

On Friday morning, we got up and went to the church to help decorate and set up. Bailey met the other little flower girl who was NOT friendly at all. There were a few other kids there for her to play with, though and she stayed pretty busy with the toys she got from the nursery.

Bailey also got to see Faith for the first time in about two months. She was so excited. On the drive there, she told us, “I can’t wait to see Aunt Faith! And Uncle Bryan! He’s her cousin!” More like fiance, but anyway…

Friday night we had the rehearsal at the church. We all sat and introduced ourselves. I was getting ready to introduce Bailey when it was her turn but she spoke up and said, “Hi, my name is Bailey. I’m a flower girl!” She always surprises me- I mean she’s really outgoing, but I didn’t know she was capable of making an introduction like that to a group of people!

Bailey cooperated for the most part. She took her job of walking down the aisle very seriously and practiced twice. The other little girl started crying, so Bailey walked down by herself. At first her flower basket just contained some Little People…

She was given a Dora house for her flower girl gift. She carried it around with her all weekend and then ended up losing Dora. So we are currently looking for a small (like two inch tall) replacement Dora figurine, if anyone has one or knows where to get one. She’s about the height of Little People, but thinner. You know, to fit through the narrow doorway in her house…

I’ll try to get the pictures from the actual wedding posted soon! Need to go make some Avon phone calls now.

Christmas Eve

Filed Under Christmas, Church, Gifts, Holidays, Toys, Traditions, Two and a half years old | 1 Comment

We had a really nice Christmas Eve. Nothing exciting or huge but just nice to be together as a family. I had been working a lot of hours at my mall job and really missing time with Jonathon and Bailey. So I was glad just to spend this night together. We spent the afternoon getting some last minute Christmas things ready and wrapping done during her nap. Then we got dressed up and went to church together. I was able to get a few pictures of her at church (in the nursery) when I remembered to get my camera out.

Afterwards we didn’t get to have the Jesus Birthday Party because my parents decided to go to the late service instead. We came home and ate snacks and let Bailey open a few presents. We decided that as a tradition our kids will get a new ornament and pajamas on Christmas Eve, and that we will get a “family gift” like a game or something we can all do together.

This year she opened the Mr. Potato Head (one of her favorite gifts) that our neighbors brought over for her. She became almost irrationally obsessed with him, wanted to keep talking to him and hugging him and bring him to bed.

Her ornament was a princess castle, all pink and sparkly, with her name and the year on it. I thought that would be a good representation of this year and this Christmas, since she has been asking for “A castle with a princess and a princess and a princess and a princess and a king and a dragon and a dinosaur!” She has also recently gotten really interested in her Beauty and the Beast book, her new Tinkerbell room decor, and playing dress up in general. I have been looking forward to this stage!

She got a Disney Princess Memory game which we attempted to play. Really she just wanted to keep stacking and organizing the cards- but at least it was something we could do together! I know one of my friends got her daughter (who is a few months younger than Bailey) the Candyland game for Christmas. I’m wondering if they had any luck with that.

These are her new snowman jammies that she got to open and wear to bed. I don’t know that I am going to do any sort of matching jammies for the kids in the future, since we’ll have one boy and one girl. I might just try to get ones they will each like. I knew Bailey would love the snowmen and I was happy to avoid “character” pajamas this time. She has one pair of Dora jammies and they are enough for now!

The one regret I have about Christmas Eve is that I completely forgot to read the Christmas story to her! I was going to read it from her Jesus Storybook Bible and then we got all busy at bedtime and she was so wound up and kept running around her room and jumping from her bed to the beanbag chair. It completely slipped my mind. I am going to have to be more intentional about that next year because I don’t want this to just be a “gift holiday” and nothing else. We have been talking about the Christmas story and Jesus’ birthday etc but I was just disappointed.

Works for me Wednesday- Bubble Baths

Filed Under Play, Toys, Two and a half years old, Works For Me Wednesday | 2 Comments

Bailey LOVES to take bubble baths now. I use the Avon Kids Bubble Bath because it’s perfume/dye free. She only gets to do them for a special treat, like maybe once a week. But if I sit on the bathroom floor next to the tub, I can read magazines or whatever for at last a half hour while she plays. I just have to add warm water again about halfway through. She has a Dora castle that she loves, and it suctions to the side of the tub.

She also loves to make a “beard” on her face with the bubbles. And swim in the water, and pretend to lose toys under the bubbles and search for them. She’s really turning into a kid…

My Grandpa’s Birthday/ Bailey’s Tricycle

Filed Under Birthdays, Grandparents, Toys, Two Years Old | 1 Comment

We celebrated Grandpa’s (papa’s) birthday a few weeks ago. This day was also significant for two other reasons: Bailey wore “real” ponytails for the first time AND she got her first tricycle!

Okay but we’re supposed to be talking about Grandpa. He turned 88. I am so proud of him and my grandma. They live on their own in a condo nearby and they do pretty well, most of the time. Bailey loves to go over and visit them! Here she is giving her Papa his birthday present.

My mom gave Bailey her new tricycle that evening. She had so much fun riding around the house with it. It is the pink and purple version of this Kettler tricycle and I seriously recommend it. My mom got it used and the price was really reasonable. It is much more sturdy/stable than Radio Flyer or any of the ones we saw at the toy store. The base is wide, the wheels are wide, and it’s heavy. Bailey is getting a helmet before she takes it outside because we want her to learn early that she has to wear a helmet to ride a bike. We have a family member who had a head injury from a bike accident so I take it pretty seriously!

Happy birthday, Grandpa!

Randomness in Picture Form

Filed Under Avon, Church, Clothes, Gifts, Grandparents, Random, Toys, Two Years Old | 1 Comment

This was the first warmer-weather outfit I put on Bailey this spring. I can tell the difference in her looks even from just a few weeks ago when this was taken!

Bailey got some cool new stuff for her birthday. One of her favorite gifts was the monkey play-dough set from her friend Mackenzie. She got a little obsessed so we (I) made a rule that she only got to do play-dough with Daddy!

Speaking of her friend Mackenzie- here they are at church. They see each other every week in the hallway outside the nursery and get so excited! They were rolling around on the floor and laughing.

Then I decided I should try to get a picture of her with Grampa, but she wasn’t really into it.

And at home watching Barney after church, wearing her sunglasses, OF COURSE. Because she likes to wear them ALL THE TIME.

This is a Dora nightgown that Grammy gave Bailey for her birthday (or Easter, maybe). She loves to wear it around the house but she WILL NOT sleep in it. She thinks it’s a dress and I haven’t been able to convince her otherwise. But it works well for a comfy play-around-the-house outfit.

I don’t remember if I posted this one before but she was putting puzzle pieces all over Jonathon. He let her do it for a long time… that man has much more patience than I do! It was pretty cute though.

And just one last one of her playing… if you look on the table you can see some Weebles stuff. I found it at a yard sale in our neighborhood and she was with me at the time. She thought it was Little People and started yelling “Peeeeepole!” One of the best $3 purchases I have made lately- she can interchange a lot of it (size-wise) with Little People and she just adores any type of little guys/cars/houses/animals like that right now. This set came with a house, swing, about five guys including Santa and a snowman, a motorcycle, and a car. Hours of fun.

As for me- I am winning a new prize for my Avon recruiting. We are getting two new gold iPod mp3 players in a few weeks! Jonathon was SO excited about this. I will have to figure out how to use it now…

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!

Santa Came Early (Dec 23rd)

Filed Under Christmas, Gifts, Toys, Twenty Months | 5 Comments

We decided that Santa was going to deliver one of the gifts early to our house. Bailey is one year old, she has no idea how many times Santa is supposed to come and let’s face it- she doesn’t remember from one day to the next whether he’s been here already or not. Since I needed to get a lot of baking and cleaning done, and I was excited for her to get her kitchen, we gave it to her the morning of the 23rd when she got up. She was SO excited.

It’s the Step 2 Lifestyle Partytime Kitchen. Try saying that five times fast. Originally, I was going to get her a much smaller kitchen. But we decided that it made more sense to get something she could use for a long time instead of having to replace it in a year or two. This one is a little too big for her now (she can’t really reach the microwave, etc) but there is plenty for her to do anyway. Also it’s big enough to have a friend play too. It’s so sturdy that I think it will hold up well, and it got good reviews. We got it on sale and it seemed like the best kitchen for the price.

Bailey’s favorite things to do with the kitchen are to cook her Little People and to cook an ice cream cone. We just got her a small set of food for it. She also likes to warm up her baby’s bottle- my mom showed her how to do that. The burners even light up and make different bubbling/sizzling noises depending on what pot you put on them. The microwave makes noise and you can press a popcorn button to hear popcorn popping.

No kitchen is complete without a phone! It has more realistic ringtones and stuff than some of her other play phones. She will only call Grammy (Geenay), Grampa (Popock) or Santa Claus (Kee Claush). Her conversations usually go, “Hallo. Hi. Good. Toys. Bye!” She also paces while she talks- it’s funny the stuff you learn about yourself from watching your kids!

She also loves to explore all the cabinets and drawers and stuff. There are little slots for the plates inside the top cabinets. I tried to show her how to put the silverware in the drawer but she thinks it is for “binks” (a.k.a. her binkies, which she would NEVER use as a baby but is now obsessed with playing with them).

Thank you, Santa Claus!

Keeping the macaroni contained

Filed Under Toys | 1 Comment

There was one more thing about the Roni Tub. Bailey does an amazing job at keeping it in the tub. From the beginning, I showed her how it had to stay in the tub, and if we dropped a piece we had to put it back in. If she dumps a scoop and some of them spill it’s okay, but we have to put them back. So she really has been good about it. I told her that if it was a mess, we would be all done. She understands that much and so she doesn’t want to get it put away.

Things I Love Thursday- Dry Macaroni

Filed Under Eighteen Months, Things I Love Thursday, Toys | 12 Comments

Yes, this is a thing I love. The reason I love it? It can entertain my child for much longer than most typical toys. I know it’s not a brand-name item that I can show you a picture of online, or link to the website. But it has been a lifesaver for me since Sunday when we made this tub.

We call it “The Roni Tub.” It’s a shallow Rubbermaid tub (that links to the exact one we have- the size is perfect) filled with 8 boxes of dry, uncooked macaroni noodles. We bought the cheapy 93-cents-a-box kind. At some point I am going to color them with food coloring but I was just in a hurry to get it set up. Right now there are just a few scoops and cups and plastic animals in the tub. I plan to change out the items every so often. Bailey really likes to fill the containers and dump them out, and bury the animals. She also pretends that they are eating the macaroni.

This is a great toy for when I am on the phone, or making dinner, or working on Avon orders or something like that. (Speaking of Avon- I would love it if you can help me out with this contest I am in! I need orders from as many states as possible.) We don’t leave the tub out all the time- we just get it out as a special thing so that it stays fun and exciting! Also, it fits under our bed so it’s easy to store.

Don’t you love this startled look? I had been trying to get her attention and she finally noticed me and looked up. She is so good at tuning me out. And that bright yellow spot on her forehead? It’s a bruise. Lovely, isn’t it.

Things I Love Thursday- Fisher Price Pop-Onz

Filed Under Things I Love Thursday, Toys | 4 Comments

I know sometimes as moms we can be hesitant to buy more toys, when our kids already have too much of everything. You wonder if it will really get played with, or if you just like it because it looks educational, or if your kid just liked it in the store because it was something new. We have a toy at our house that I think was a great investment- Fisher Price Pop-Onz Twirl Table. Bailey absolutely loves them. I don’t think they are available new in stores anymore (we got hers at a garage sale) but this is hands down the toy that she can play with literally for an hour at a time. Nothing else competes, not even her books or puzzles right now. She loves building on this table. It is so fun to see what she makes. I think it is easier for her than Legos because on a lot of the pieces, there is just one spot to connect instead of having to line up two spots.

A quick search on Amazon showed tons of results for this, so it would be easy to get if you are interested. It’s also nice because all the blocks store in a net under the table. One side of the table lifts up to drop them in. Bailey can clean it up herself when she’s done!

Around the House

Filed Under Fifteen Months, Hair, Play, Toys | 1 Comment

For the last few weeks it has been dreadfully hot, up until just this past weekend. We have stayed home a lot of days, instead of just finding something to do. Gas is expensive, it’s sooo sweaty outside, and I have just felt like hanging out at home. We have played in the pool/sprinkler a bit, but other than that we’ve just been in the house.

Bailey has gotten a few new toys, including some wooden puzzles from Jonathon’s parents, a new Elmo video and stuffed Elmo from Mommy, and some new books. I have also been making more of an effort to rotate her toys so that she doesn’t get tired of the same ones. Her absolute favorite thing is her Little People Zoo. She doesn’t really care about the zoo part, but she loves the animals. Her new thing is lining them up on the couch or the coffee table. I have also noticed that sometimes she will get only the birds out (there are like six different kinds of birds in the set). For some reason, she really likes birds. Maybe because my parents make a big deal out of looking at the birds at the feeders on their deck.

Here she is lining up her animals. Yes, I know my coffee table needs to be cleaned. Glass top tables are constantly gross, especially with kids around. Of course that’s what we bought, before having a kid!

Whining at Mommy… this happens more than it used to. But my reason for including this picture- you can see her “haircut” because her bangs are actually laying nicely in this shot. I can’t believe this was just a month ago and already they are down to her eyebrows again. I think her hair grows fast like mine!

Playing with her baby and her Fuzzy bear. She loves to carry them around and hug them and pat their backs.

This is about as messy as she gets when she eats… weird, I know. Only maybe three times that I can think of has she gotten messier than this or gotten food in her hair.

Let me out of here, Mom! I’m sick of being at home!

My Busy Day

Filed Under Doctor Stuff, Fifteen Months, Home Sweet Home, Movies, Toys | 3 Comments

Today was a busy day for me. The morning started off by Bailey climbing out of her highchair. Then the carpet guy came to reclean our downstairs carpet. You know, the cat pee carpet? Well apparently the pet odor treatment didn’t work because after a few days the smell was back. (And to think Jonathon wanted to spend money on stuff like cat trees and condos for this stupid cat). The guy who they sent out today did injections into the carpet padding and onto the floorboard. We are hoping this works. If not we get refunded and have to buy new carpet. A friend of mine mentioned today, she thought we had already gotten new carpet. Well that was abandoned last minute due to money being needed for other things. So cross your fingers that this carpet cleaning works!

Then my Avon order came and I couldn’t sort it downstairs because of the carpet cleaning, so I completely trashed my office trying to find room to do stuff… but at least I can deliver things tomorrow and get some money!! Bailey did a great job playing by herself in the living room and watching her Elmo video.

Tonight I had to go get my eyes examined at my old eye doctor. Apparently the crazy woman I saw last time at the cheapie place was right, and I really do have an astigmatism. So my contacts are now like $65 a box. I am just waiting to go back for my “recheck” of my new contacts and then once they give me the prescription I will go get it filled online.

After that I ran a few errands- stopped by the grocery store and stopped by Best Buy to get a new Elmo dvd for Muffie. She is absolutely in love with “Mo” right now. Then we had a late dinner and let Bailey go outside and play in her new Cozy Coupe for a little bit. She can get in and out on her own and then picks up her feet so you can push her around. I’ll have to get some pictures of her in there!

Sprinkle Dinkle

Filed Under Fifteen Months, Play, Toys | 5 Comments

I think I mentioned that a while back, Jonathon bought a Dora sprinkler for Bailey. While very cute, it’s just not a functional kid sprinkler. I could tell that when I saw it, but he was so proud of his purchase. It’s inflatable and fills with water, and then water sprays out of all the holes. But I decided that we needed to get some more use out of it, so last night after dinner we got the sprinkler out to play in the yard.

Here’s Bailey checking out her Dora sprinkler.

We noticed that the water wasn’t coming up very high out of the sprinkler as it had in the past. Upon further inspection, Jonathon found a split on one of the seams. Of course it is from stupid Target and we will have quite the run around trying to return it, just like I wrote about here. That is so frustrating. I’m going to have to start searching for that receipt.

We ended up getting out the regular sprinkler for Bailey, and she was just as happy with that. Proof that kids don’t need cute sprinklers that don’t end up working. I have lots of pictures from last night but there were just so many that I felt like really captured her personality and her silliness, so here you go!

This is what she does when we tell her to smile…

Snacktime (which seems like about every half hour all day long!)

Our neighbor Will came over and confessed that he and his wife had been watching Bailey play out their window for a while. He is such a nice guy and Bailey just loves him! Plus, he helps us out with all kinds of house/yard/car stuff and has taught Jonathon a lot.

Wordless Wednesday- Building a Tower

Filed Under Fifteen Months, Toys, Wordless Wednesday | 9 Comments