Mother of the Year

I can laugh about it now (kinda) but Saturday I def was NOT laughing.

We were at Kohl’s redeeming some Kohl’s cash. It was pretty busy, so we decided to just take in the stroller thinking we wouldn’t find a cart with a baby seat in it. It was freezing so I didn’t strap her in right away. We do our shopping, (and find awesome gifts for Summer…for FREE using Kohl’s cash!) I check out while Derrick goes to check out his area of the store (team apparel). The lady checking us out is talking to Summer and I’m getting our bags situated and we head over to where Derrick is. We get to the other side of the store where the cash wraps are, kind of a big open space on the tile and the stroller comes to a sudden halt, and I try to go forward and I can’t. So I look around and down and there’s NOBODY in the stroller. I look on the floor and there is my sweet little baby FACE DOWN on the tile and I’m TRYING TO RUN HER OVER. I immediately pick her up and she starts to cry and has a bump on her forehead forming already. I felt SO HORRIBLE. She was fine, laughing and clapping by the time we got to the car, but I was SO upset the rest of the afternoon. I cried. Then I freaked out while she was napping wondering if she was going to wake up. You know how it goes. I know it could have been much worse, and I definitely learned my lesson to always strap her in RIGHT AWAY.

The worst part? Besides it happening in front of the entire store? The whole time I’m thinking of all the photoshopping I’m going to have to do to get that bump out of Christmas pictures. (You can’t even see it now.)

Tell me I’m not the only one who’s done this.

Crafty McCrafterson

These are just a couple of the things I’ve been working on lately. First, a stocking for Summer. I had a really hard time finding a stocking I liked for her, and I really wanted her to have one that was handmade. So then I had to find a shape that I liked, which is really hard, because most stockings have cankles, and that’s just not an attractive shape in a stocking now is it? But I finally did and then just traced it and whipped this bad boy up. I love ric rac, don’t you? Now it’s just ready and waiting for Santa to fill it up!

I realized I didn’t have a Christmas dress for Summer so I decided to make one. Not the greatest idea when you’ve never sewn clothing before, especially with a 4 day deadline. Luckily for me, wee chunky babies don’t need very specific cuts. I loved this pattern from Burda, and it really came together quite quickly. I won’t tell you where I screwed up, or that I tried easing sleeves in and failed so I just made it into a jumper and put binding around the sleeve holes. I think it turned out decent. Just don’t look on the inside. 

I also made these little Christmas birdie hair clips. Wish I could say it was an original idea, but alas, it’s not. I’m a champion copier. Thank you, Etsy.

Blah-g

Get it? Blah? Blog? Meaning my blog has been rather blah lately. Although there is a good reason. I’ve been too busy making Christmas gifts! The majority of gifts I’m giving this year are handmade by moi. And if they’re not gifts, they’re Christmas-y crafts, such as a stocking for Summer, and advent calendar, a Christmas dress for Summer, etc.

I will leave you with this year’s edition of Christmas Songs I Hate. Every year I seem to find a new song to dislike. This year is no different. Topping the list is “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” by The Pretenders. Could it be anymore whiny and annoying? Bah.

I am loving Carrie Underwood’s and Taylor Swift’s Christmas songs, however. Such lovely girls.

O Holy Night

O Holy Night is, in my opinion, one of the very best Christmas songs out there. And there are a million versions from which to choose. Do you have a favorite? You can’t go wrong with classic Celine, the “BEST singer IN the WOOOOORLD!!!!”

While not a huuuuge Mariah fan, her version is decent as well. I especially like when she goes for the high note at the end, which most people chicken out on. (Although Celine hits it as well…but it doesn’t sound as high as when Mariah does.)

Josh Groban does a great version, and in the male vocalist department, he almost wins.

But for dudes, my vote goes hands down to Cartman.

It is the niiiight for the Christmas trees and pieees!

Santa Saturday

Saturday was quite possibly the perfect day. After a leisurely morning, we all got ready and headed to the mall to see the Jolly Old Man himself, Santa Claus. The line wasn’t horrible, and after waiting 20 minutes or so it was Summer’s turn to sit on his lap. We made sure she saw him before in case she had any anxiety. Turns out we had nothing to worry about. She was happy as a clam sitting there, and only experienced a brief moment of what looked like panic. Our mall lets you take 2 pictures with your own camera FOR FREE, and that’s exactly what I did.  We walked around the mall for a bit and bought Summer her first ornament at, where else? Callister’s Christmas! 

After the mall we went furniture shopping where we found sofas for our basement. Hopefully they’ll be here in time for the New Year. All I know is this Ikea futon is not comfortable for sitting. Hopefully it’s better for sleeping….

We went to Kohl’s to look around and while we were in the checkout line this older couple in front of us started talking to Summer and waving and the man grabbed a stuffed moose off the shelf and bought it for her! Wasn’t that so sweet of him??

We had dinner at Chili’s (thanks to Mark & Amy!!!) to perfectly round out the day.

Oh, and what day is complete without a public urination sighting? Yes, we saw a grown woman squatting along one of the entrances to THE MALL peeing. Then I proceeded to watch her wipe with something, then drop that something on the ground and pull up her britches. Ah, the holidays.

2 of my favorite things:

The Muppets and Queen. Seriously, could this get any better?

Spelling Lesson #2

We all remember Spelling Lesson #1, right? I definitely do.

Well, lately I have seen another word frequently misspelled, and I feel we should go over it.

The word/s is/are PEEK/PEAK.

If you wanted to peak at your presents, well, maybe that’s your thing, but I’m thinking you’d rather PEEK.

PEEK can be used two ways, as a verb and as a noun.

As a verb: to look or glance quickly, especially through a small opening or from a concealed location.

As a noun: a quick or furtive look or glance.

Either way, both involve LOOKING at something.

PEAK can be used in many ways.

As a noun: usually the top of something, whether a mountain, a salary, price, etc.

As a verb: to attain a peak in activity, development, popularity, etc.

Peak means high. Peek means look.

You can say “I peeked at the peak” and you can also say “I peaked at the peak”, but that’s kind of naughty. You cannot say “I peeked at the peek”.

These words are homonymns, meaning they sound the same but are spelled differently. Just like your/you’re/, their/there/they’re, its/it’s, etc. But don’t you worry, we’ll save those doozies for later.

Even if you are a genius and have a Mensa IQ, if you misspell words, especially on your blog and on Facebook, you come off as less than intelligent. Maybe that’s just me, but I’m a spelling nazi.

11 months!

Really? 11 months?? Time is going by TOO FAST!

 

Our 11 month girl is at such a fun age. She’s very vocal and is getting stronger at pushing us away when she’s tired of us snuggling her. She never has been much of a snuggler, which makes a mama very sad. She was sick last week and did let me cuddle and rock her to sleep for a bit, and even though I hated that she was feeling so yucky, I was loving that she let me hold her for so long. (She’s feeling fine now, btw.)

She’s thisclose to crawling and is starting to try and pull herself up to a standing position. She loves playing at her piano table, as you can see.

She can stand for quite awhile before she gets tired or starts to do the splits. But she’ll let you know if she needs repositioning, don’t you worry.

She still loves cheese and would rather eat only that than anything else. She is getting to be a little pickier at the dinner table but is still a great eater, eating everything that we eat. And she eats A LOT. She’s still rockin’ the arm rolls. When I took her to the doctor last week she weighed in at 17 lb 7 oz. Oinker!

She is such a curious little bug, and always wants to be in on any action going down. She continues to love to smile and laugh, especially to strangers we see shopping who always love to stop and talk to her. She’s a friendly kid, that’s for sure.

   

She’s sleeping 12-14 hours straight at night, which is heavenly. Then she takes a 2-3 hour morning nap and a 2 hour afternoon nap. I seriously attribute her easy demeanor to how well she sleeps. Sleepy kids are cranky, well slept kids are not. Anyone gonna disagree with me?

We are so thrilled to have her in our family. She brings us a ton of happiness and we just love her so much!