Happy Birthday to my Honey!

Mike seemed to have a great birthday yesterday. He always tries to take his birthday off work because really...who wants to be at WORK on their birthday?!?
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Before we were even out of bed, Ryan came in with Mike's birthday card (that he'd been hiding in his suitcase for 2 days) and wished Mike a happy birthday. Unprompted and without a reminder! Mike was so touched.

(I had Ryan sound out the letters in "Happy Birthday" and he forgot the "day" at the end. Oh, and you'll notice that he's learning to put periods at the end of sentences and everything else he writes. Too cute. And the picture is of him and Mike hiking.)
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From there, I made Mike's choice for breakfast: bacon, eggs and homemade hash browns. I'm a big believer in putting candles in everything possible on a person's birthday, so for breakfast, Mike got a candle in his hash browns.

It took so long to cook and get on the table that Ryan missed the bus and we had to drive him to school. Good thing Ryan felt like a rock star getting dropped off at the curb by his dad!
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Later in the morning, we drove to the outlet mall to do some shopping. Mike hasn't bought new t-shirts for himself in...too long, so he actually looked forward to getting some new clothes. From there, he went straight to surprise Ryan at school and eat lunch with him. I pack Ryan's lunch every day, but yesterday Mike bought them both a hot lunch...a huge deal for our Kindergardener!
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Before taking the older kids to my mom's for a sleep over, we put candles in a couple of cupcakes to celebrate with Daddy one more time.

To top off the big day, Mike's parents took us to dinner last night. Jason was an angel and slept through the whole meal. (Which I paid for later in the evening by him being too awake to sleep while I wanted to sleep! The 10 glasses of iced tea couldn't have helped with my lack of sleep, either. I do it to myself, I tell ya.)

Mike was beaming all day and night. I think he genuinely had a great birthday. Happy Birthday, Honey!!!

Out of the Mouths of Babes

Kaylin: "Why don't boys wear lipstick?"
Ryan: "Because only girls wear lipstick. Boys wear chapstick."
Kaylin: "But why DON'T boys wear lipstick?"
Ryan: "Because if they did, people would laugh at them."
Kaylin: "Oh...yeah."
(I'm not sure that answer goes back to the origin of WHY boys don't wear lipstick, but it was good enough for Kaylin!)
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(at 3am, there was a soft tap on my arm)
Ryan: "Mommy, I had a bad dream..."
Me: "What was it about, honey?"
Ryan: "There was a Sea Monster on the playground and it wouldn't get off the swings and it was trying to eat people. It was really scary."
Me: "Don't be afraid. That would never happen because Sea Monsters don't play on playgrounds...they live in the sea."
(silence)
Ryan: "Um, Mommy?"
Me: "Yes?"
Ryan: "I thought monsters weren't real..."
(Oops, that's right. I'm so sleep deprived, I didn't even go that route!)
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Kaylin: "Mommy, can I have dessert?"
Me: "What's the rule?"
Kaylin: "If I eat all of my dinner, then I can have dessert."
Me: "That's right."
Kaylin: "What's for dessert?"
Me: "Cookies."
(15 minutes of pushing food around the plate later...)
Kaylin: "May I be excused?"
Me: "Sure. Are you done eating?"
Kaylin: "Yes."
Ryan: (in a shocked tone) "You won't get a cookie if you don't finish your dinner..."
Kaylin: "Yeah, I know. But I shouldn't eat sugar. It will give me holes in my teeth."

Jason's New Duds

I got my package from my online shopping spree at Gymboree! Check out how cute Jason's new outfits are...

He even has fox on his socks. (HA - that rhymed) It looks like Jason is missing a foot, but it's up in his pants somewhere.

And I didn't realize this at the time, but I ended up buying the boys coordinating outfits with identical corduroy pants and shirts with matching green, orange and cream. I see a photo opp coming up!

(Those socks look like tiny clown fish swimming out of Jason's pant legs, don't they? If I took a Sharpie and added eyes, it could be Nemo and Marlin.)

A Day in the Life...with THREE

I feel like today is the first day I tackled real life with all three kids. Of course, with Ryan in Kindergarten during the week, I guess it won't really be "my life" until school is out for the summer. (He was off today for Veteran's Day.) Regardless, I had a crazy busy day and successfully managed it with all three in tow. And I'm about to collapse with exhaustion...
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7:00am - Fed Jason, Mike left for work, argued with Kaylin about wearing a black shirt and jeans for our baby photo shoot.
7:30am - Breakfast.
7:45am - Ryan and Kaylin started a cutting project with 1/4 inch pieces of paper all over the kitchen table and floor. I didn't have time to deal with it and was grateful they were occupied while I made sure we had everything we needed for our morning out. Diapers - check, wipes - check, pacifier - check, sack lunch with ice packs - check, camera - check, coupons - check, extra shirt for me (just in case) - check, water cups for everyone - check, coloring books and crayons - check, M&Ms to bribe the kids to cooperate during the photo shoot - CHECK.
8:00am - Drove across town for Jason's newborn photo shoot. Jason slept, the kids watched a movie, I daydreamed of a nap...
8:50am - Arrived at our destination, unloaded everyone and everything from the van.
9:00am - Stripped Jason down for his naked baby pictures. (No child porn here - his bits and pieces were covered the whole time!) The kids colored peacefully in the other room.
9:15am - With plenty of pictures of Jason crying, I took a break to feed him. The photographer took pictures of the older kids in the meantime.
9:35am - Jason peed through a beautiful, thick, fluffy, white baby blanket and all over me. What did I expect with him diaper-less for an hour? Thank goodness for the backup shirt.
10:00am - Photo shoot ended, loaded back into the van. (pictures to come soon...she's sending me the CD after she edits the best of the shots)
10:30am - Decided that since Jason was fed and sleeping and everyone was piled in the car, we should run some errands. Gave the kids an early lunch in the car since they were magically starving knowing that there were still M&Ms left in the bag.
10:55am - Dropped off kid clothes to a friend, ran into my aunt cleaning her house. Showed off the kids, talked about Thanksgiving, went along my merry way.
11:00am - Returned jeans for Kaylin to Target. I can't find jeans that fit that girl's body. Suggestions?!?!?
11:15am - Went to Trader Joe's. They were sampling hot apple cider; it tasted like a little bit of Christmas in a tiny paper cup...
11:30am - Drove to the new Krispy Kreme that actually makes donuts on site. The line was out the door with so many kids being off school for the holiday today. My kids watched the donuts bake and get glazed along the conveyor belt and we all enjoyed a hot, glazed, little round piece of heaven. Or two. The Voice could be heard very faintly, but was pretty muffled with the sounds of me moaning over the donuts I was shoving in my face.
12:15pm - Headed home and fed Jason. The kids made cards for Mike's birthday on Friday and Ryan made a birthday card for his teacher tomorrow.
1:25pm - Kaylin went down for a nap, Ryan went to his room for a quiet time, Jason drifted off to sleep on my bed and I gladly laid down next to him.
1:30pm - Woke out of a dead sleep realizing that I'd signed Kaylin up for a free trial Gymboree class at 2:30. So much for my nice, long uninterrupted nap...
2:10pm - Ryan woke me up, per my request. Woke Kaylin up and changed her, loaded Jason into his car seat.
2:30pm - Dropped Kaylin off at Gymboree, drove back home.
2:45pm - Ryan watched a cartoon while I fell back to sleep.
3:40pm - Took Ryan to Taekwondo.
4:00pm - Fed Jason while Ryan was in class. Met a nice mom who just moved to Phoenix. We exchanged numbers.
4:25pm - Ryan's class ended, quickly loaded the boys into the van.
4:30pm - Barely made it on time for pick up at Gymboree. Exchanged pleasantries with the owner as she tried to sway me into signing Kaylin up for a month of classes.
5:00pm - Pulled into the garage as a friend dropped off a hot, homemade dinner. I love my friends and Food Tidings!!!
5:30pm - After eating, I cleaned up our mess of a kitchen. Dishes, fallen rice from dinner, craft items and tiny pieces of paper all. over. the. floor.
6:00pm - Folded and put away laundry, made lunches for tomorrow.
6:30pm - Someone came over to pick up some of my maternity clothes that I was sick of that I posted on Craigslist. Pray for that sweet girl...she was only 18 and seemed so scared!
7:00pm - Sat down to feed Jason and blog while Mike put the older kids to bed.
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And here we are. I can't believe I ran around town with all three kids for four hours this morning. I also can't believe Jason slept through it all! He took all of his naps in his car seat today with the exception of 30+ minutes on my bed with me. Poor kid. I guess this is what everyone means when they say kid #3 is naturally more flexible. He did manage to stay on a loose version of his schedule, though!
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Last night, I barely got 2 hours of sleep at a stretch, hence the attempt to take 2 naps today. I'm topping Jason off with some formula tonight to try to get him to sleep a little longer. I'm barely functioning right now!!!

{a messy little morning}

"Oops" just isn't enough sometimes. This is one of those times.
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But my drama starts several hours before the "oops" incident. Let's begin with last night. I still wake Ryan up at night to go to the bathroom because he's such a heavy sleeper. So heavy, in fact, that he often sleeps through his trip to the potty and asks me in the morning why I didn't wake him. Last night, I tried taking him to the bathroom before I went to bed at 10:00. He stood over the toilet and nothing happened, so he climbed back into his bottom bunk.
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When Jason woke up to eat at 3am, I went in to check on Ryan and he was in his top bunk; a surefire sign that he peed in the bottom bunk. (*sigh*) I tried to wake him to go to the bathroom again, but he wouldn't budge. And being on the top bunk, I couldn't swing his legs around to the edge and help him out of bed. Oh well, he'd already peed, right? Wrong. Around 4:30, he came into my room to say that he peed on both his bottom AND top bunk and needed help getting his sleeping bag. Once we were all awake later in the morning, he told me that he didn't want to pee in his sleeping bag, so he put on a Pull Up. My poor, sweet boy!
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So the day began with a huge load of peed-on laundry. But that's not the end of the mess. Apparently, I accidentally overfed Jason, because as we were going downstairs, he projectile vomited all over himself and me. There was even spit up dripping inside my shirt. (*sigh, again*)
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I stripped him down, gave him a bath (thank goodness Mike's still helping me out by going into work late so he can take Ryan to the bus stop), got him settled and hopped in the shower to rid myself of the spit up that was permanently adhering my bra to my skin.
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At 8:50, we were headed out. I had an efficient little list of errands to run with the baby after dropping Kaylin off at school...we were ready to go. Little did I know that my messy morning had only begun. On my way back into the house to grab my purse and Jason in his carrier, I noticed that I was walking through water in the back hallway. I opened the laundry room door to discover that I had turned on the faucet to the sink where I was soaking some of the spit-up clothing victims and had never turned it off. There was an inch of water everywhere. The cluttered counter next to the sink was soaked, along with everything on it. The things on the counter included all of our Halloween decorations waiting to be packed away, even now-ruined Halloween books, cloth grocery bags, the Floppy Seat, a box full of wrapped Christmas presents that arrived from my aunt in Kansas City yesterday, a paper bag holding the borrowed nativity scene costumes for our Christmas card picture, pine cones that I was saving for a fall craft with the kids...the list goes on and on. It was REALLY cluttered.
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I quickly opened the cabinet that holds our beach towels and water came pouring out. But how did it get there when there's a drawer above it that should have caught all of the water???

I opened the drawer and it WAS full of water. Do you see that little paint brush? And the shadow underneath? It's floating in 3 inches of water. That is our junk drawer that holds pens, paper clips, nails, screwdrivers, spare change, sewing kits, all of that stuff. And it was all drowning.
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(Sidenote: Before I'm teased for taking pictures of this chaos, I have to explain something. A while back, a friend used to share stories about her tiny monster of a son. She couldn't leave him alone for a second without him getting into something. She said the only reason she stayed sane was because whenever she walked in on him in her bathroom with her department store makeup ground into the carpet or in her kitchen with an empty bottle of honey - the contents dripping off everything visible - she took a picture. I stole this idea from her years ago.)
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I emptied the contents of the drawer and poured the water into the sink. At this point, I was starting to worry that the water was going to warp the wood drawer and cabinets. I tried salvaging everything that got wet, running out of places to put things, and was desperately drying every inch of the cabinets in the meantime.
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When all was said and done, I had used - and soaked through - every towel that we own: beach towels, bath towels, even dish towels and the peed-on sheets. The whole disaster of a mess took 30 minutes to contain. Jason slept in his carrier the whole time while Kaylin was strapped into her carseat reading books with the van door and garage door open.


FOUR loads of laundry later, my house is put back together again. Basically, everything is as it was when I went to sleep last night. How sad is that? I suppose I did go through and clean out cabinets that haven't been touched in years. Odds and ends were thrown away and I found lots of cleaning supplies that I'd forgotten about.
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It's been a messy couple of weeks with the new baby around, but today was the icing on the cake. I thought it was bad when he peed on my sheets while I was changing his diaper at 3am and I had to sleep with a towel under my hip to keep from getting wet. Or when he wriggled out of his diaper and pooped all up his back at 1am (that was the night of his circumcision...a bad ending to a worse day!) and I had to change him in the hallway so the light wouldn't wake up Mike, then had to get new PJs out of Ryan's room and hose him off in the bathroom because the poo got in his hair...all while he screamed bloody murder. Or this weekend when I changed his diaper on the carpet for the first time and he pooped before I was able to put the new diaper under his bum. On the carpet. And remember...it's liquidy at this age!
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All ideas of cleanliness have gone FLYING out the window recently. The pee and poop stories I have could fill a whole 'nother blog post. But I doubt you want to read much more about those, do you???

"The Voice" is Back

For most of the last 9 months, I have had free reign on food. At first I was a little careful with what I ate, but it didn't take long for me to let go of the food guilt. Thankfully, my sweet tooth wasn't out of control and I didn't crave french fries or milk shakes or anything calorie-laden like that. I ate junk, just in moderation.
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I didn't notice this until a couple of months ago. For the first time since childhood, I had no food conscience. I mean literally...at all. Because I got full so quickly (and we're talking post-Thanksgiving-dinner full after almost every meal, complete with heartburn and acid reflux) I didn't overeat at meals. I ate desserts almost every day and never thought twice about grabbing a second cookie or cupcake. If I wanted it, I ate it. If I was satisfied, an unnecessary second serving never "called" to me like it has my whole life. There was virtually no temptation because I didn't banish anything from my diet. I still ate healthy (oatmeal for breakfast, salads for lunch, lots of balance and nutrition) but for the first time in my life, I ate whatever I wanted with no guilty conscience.
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I baked constantly and would have a bite or two of my creation, then either give the rest to friends and neighbors or have to wrap it up and put it in the freezer so it wouldn't get stale on the counter.
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But now, it's back. I call it, "The Voice." I practically hear it audibly when I reach for a piece of candy out of the kids' Halloween buckets. "Put it down...you don't need that. You don't even really want it. This pregnancy weight will hang around forever if you continue to make choices like this..." My mom's homemade apple pie calls to me. The sugary granola bars (that were on super sale and purchased for special treats only) - they also call to me. Healthy snacks like apples or almonds or yogurt no longer satisfy me. As soon as I gave birth, things switched back to reality.
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And it stinks. I'm already anxious to have my body back, yet I know that it will take months for that to happen. Lots of people have made comments that I look great for just having a baby, but it's all a facade. Creative camouflage, if you will. I'm still wearing stretchy maternity pants and am resisting going back to a button/zipper combo with every fiber of my being. But I'm very ready to get back into shape. I'm ready for energy again. I'm ready to feel good about myself. I want to feel comfortable in my own skin, which I did when I was pregnant (lumps, curves and all) but now all that skin is so...loose. Stretched out. Soft. Jiggly. Blech - it grosses me out even thinking about it...
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I feel hungry almost all of the time. Likely because I'm nursing, yes, but it's a very undignified feeling to be in the fridge and pantry all day long. Nibbling. Looking. Snacking. Sneaking a handful of this or that so my kids won't see what I'm eating 30 minutes before dinner, when they aren't allowed to eat.
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I realize it's been 2 weeks since I had Jason...I do give myself some slack. "Nine months to gain it, nine months to lose it" as they say. Whoever "they" are. But The Voice is getting on my nerves. I want to shove a sock in The Voice's mouth. Can I please enjoy another piece of pizza without you piping up, conscience o' mine??? That second Tootsie Roll isn't going to hurt anyone. But The Voice just won't. shut. up.
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Maybe I need to put several intentional snacks into my daily routine. I used to eat whenever I felt like it, but I find myself hungry an hour before dinner, eating a mini-meal, then a whole meal at 5:00, complete with dessert, whether I'm full or not. And The Voice always shakes it's head in disgust at me. "Tsk, tsk, tsk...such a lack of self control. Again!"
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I wish The Voice would give me a break for a few weeks. I'm not allowed to work out yet, I surely shouldn't be allowed to diet yet. I wish it would keep it's thoughts and opinions to itself!!!

Christmas and Baby Rambles

Did I somehow miss the entire month of November? Or is my calendar correct in proclaiming that the date is November 7th? Because everywhere I go, it feels like December 15th. Short of the Christmas music playing over the loud speaker and the hand-knit snowmen sweaters worn by old men, Christmas is already in the air. Literally. Target has HUGE Christmas ornaments hanging from their ceiling. Even the grocery store has a large display at the front entrance. Do they realize they still need to be fighting for my Thanksgiving dinner business???
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(PS - this is how my kids went to the grocery store with me last night. The tiara headband of Kaylin's is much more subtle than Ryan's new "Prince hat" - as he calls it - from Aunt DutchMac in Holland)

That's all I really have to say about that, but I had to get it off my chest. Since it looks like I might be hosting Thanksgiving this year, I have a whole 'nother huge holiday on my mind that comes weeks before Christmas!
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Last night, I was giddy as I climbed into bed. Mike agreed to take Jason's 4am feeding so I could get a decent stretch of sleep. But I had no idea that I would get the gift of him sleeping through his 1am feeding!!! He started squeaking around 3:15, Daddy took over and I was so well rested that I actually had trouble falling back to sleep! Only at first, of course, then I blissfully nodded off until 7:02. 10-7 with a brief waking to go to the bathroom and a longer stint to overhear Jason at 3am. Of course, Mike was awake, so he thought it the perfect time to start a nice chat. I laid there, biting my tongue, thinking, "The entire point of you taking over a feeding was actually for me to be able to SLEEP, sweet husband!" But I groggily answered his questions and played along. If he took over all nighttime feedings, we would both be a sleepless wreck.
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Jason's eye contact is improving every hour of every day. And I swear he's already smiling. 3-4 times a day for the last few days...not gas, not when he's falling asleep, it's actually when I'm talking to him. But I looked it up and every site says the first intentional smile isn't until 5-8 weeks. Mike and the kids finally saw it this morning a couple of times when we were all hovering over and talking to the poor I-couldn't-escape-from-these-people-even-if-I-wanted-to child. Call it my imagination, but I'm seeing smiles...seriously!
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I don't think I've mentioned this, but Jason's days of being a screamer are over. Last week was drastically better than the week before and now he'll actually hang out, alert and awake, pacifier-free for long periods of time without making a peep. I forgot that this is what some babies are like when their needs are met and they're content.
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I feel like all I blog about anymore is Jason, but I've been told more than once that people are checking my posts more often in hopes of seeing recent pictures of the little guy. So Julie, Amy, the grandparents and the rest of you baby lovers...these are for you.
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This boy loves bathtime

And holding his pacifier (often accidentally pulling it out)

He loves wearing Elton John glasses with his sister (okay, maybe that's ME who enjoys this one)

He's just so precious!

Gymboree Affordability

My kids wear a lot of hand-me-downs. New clothes are usually bought on the clearance rack at the end of last year's season, but as a rule, I have no problem buying clothes off Craigslist, at consignment stores or paying friends for their kids old clothes. And my kids don't care whether their clothes are old or new...YET.
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Last week, the temperatures got low enough here to send Ryan to school in a long sleeved shirt and I was hit with the realization that all of his shirts from last winter are WAY too short for my growing boy. I decided to bite the bullet and buy him some shirts from Target. $10 each shouldn't seem like much, but knowing they were full price about killed me as I approached the register. (yes, I realize I'm being dramatic...) I justified the purchase because I found a clearance rack and swiped up a bunch of $1.24 short sleeved shirts for him for the spring.
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Dropping Kaylin off at school the next day, I noticed this one little girl in her class who always looks so cute and put together. Her hair is always perfect with identically matched hair bows. I mentioned something to her mom and she sheepishly said, "I'm kind of a Gymboree-aholic." I quickly decided that she must have money that I don't have to spend on her kids clothes and practically tuned her out. (yes, I just admitted to that...don't judge me, I'm extremely sleep deprived) She went on to say that she waits for their 30% off sale and that's when she stocks up. "Only 30% off?" I thought. "That's nothing! 30% off a $75 outfit is a joke!" I just kept nodding and smiling, wishing I had that kind of money to dress Kaylin and the boys. She said that the 30% off sale is going on right now and she can usually turn around and sell the outfits on eBay for most of what she paid for them.
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That's where I snapped back into attention. (I obviously wasn't completely ignoring her if I got this far into the conversation, right???) I've had friends tell me that they buy their kids' clothes at Gymboree on clearance and resell them on eBay for around the same price, but I've always had a hard time believing that the math added up. I've even gone into the stores to look for deals and I always walk away unimpressed. I can't find the sizes I want or need and the tops never have matching bottoms so outfits are incomplete...I just didn't get how it worked out for people.
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When I explained all of that, this other mom said that she shops online for that exact reason. I had nothing better to do for the next 2.5 hours, so I went home and peeked on Gymboree.com.
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Sure enough, they have a 30% off sale going on, but it's not only on full priced items...it's also on their clearance stuff. Light bulb moment - I was starting to get it!
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I looked through all of the sale items and added a bunch of winter clothes into my cart for Jason. Then I looked through Ryan's sizes and found cute (and inevitably more durable than Target) shirts for around $8 after the discount...cheaper than Target and better quality! I was so excited. The Target shirts still have tags on them, so they are going back for sure. I also found him some corduroy pants and a lightweight jacket. Ironically, I didn't like any of the girl clothes that were on sale. I'm not into panda bears or kitty cats or guitars and all of the cutest stuff wasn't cheap enough for my taste. But my boys will be well dressed!
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Not only did I get the 30% off, but they have a "free shipping on items over $100" deal going on through Sunday AND for every $50 you spend, you get $25 in Gymbucks to spend during a designated time frame in January. (Can anyone say, "after Christmas sales" - ?)
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When all was said and done, I got Jason 6 long sleeved onsies with 3 pair of coordinating pants and 2 pair of matching socks and I bought Ryan 3 long sleeved shirts, 2 pair of pants and a jacket all for $109, tax included. 16 items for $100!!! Things I can resell on eBay for much more than I'd get for Target resale clothes.
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I am so excited for my package to come in the mail. And for the weather to cool back off enough to put my boys in their new duds! For those whose ears are perked and are on their way to Gymboree.com, HAPPY SHOPPING!!! And to Gymboree...you're welcome for the free advertising. Feel free to hook me up with a little appreciation gift, wouldja?

#53 - Go to a concert/comedy show

My 101 Goals in 1001 Days list has been neglected for months. I haven't consciously thought about trying to cross more items off of the list, though I'm still determined to finish every item!

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I bought tickets for Mike's birthday to see a hilarious Christian comedian, Tim Hawkins, who performed at our church last night. My cheeks still hurt and I cry laughing at some of the jokes as I think back on them. So many comedians stoop to being raunchy to get a laugh; hearing 90 minutes of good, clean humor was beyond refreshing.
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I've seen lots of Tim's bits on You Tube and even posted a couple here back in September. Seeing him live with all new material was a great way to spend a date night.
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And we even got to leave all three kids behind. Yes, already!!! My mom came over and I was prepared to take Jason with us (she was a single mom to just me, after all...hitting her with three seemed, well, mean) but she insisted on keeping him at home.
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We returned home to a homemade apple pie (which she made with the kids), a kitchen sink free of a single dish (I'd left her a huge pile from dinner as we rushed out the door, plus all of their pie mess), two bathed kids tucked into bed, a baby sound asleep, a squeaky clean kitchen floor (FYI: she might be part robot) and she even helped Ryan do his homework (that somehow barely got started before dinner). So yes, Mom...to say the least, I was and am incredibly impressed!!!
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What a great night out. An easy way to cross #53 off my list! If you get a chance, search some of Tim Hawkin's videos on You Tube. They aren't nearly as funny as his newer stuff, but you'll still get a great laugh!

Birth Announcements

I threw together this sweet little birth announcement in Photoshop yesterday. I'm going to print them off as a 4x6 picture and will probably just include one with each Christmas card this year. (yes, I'm that cheap and don't want to spend the extra money on stamps)