Hehehehe

We have so many smug Texas fan friends who are probably crying right now over the UT-Tech game. Hehehehe. I swear the Sunday morning after Texas beat OU everyone at church (even the Aggies) wore burnt orange and white and rubbed it in. So I guess this means Alabama will be #1. Thank God we don’t live in Alabama anymore. Alabama & Auburn fans have to be the most annoying people on the planet.

Happy Halloween

Tonight we took Daphne to the Fall Festival at church, then Trick or Treating around the neighborhood. She had a blast, except in the ball pit. That was a little scary!

Getting ready to go:

Playing games and winning candy/cupcakes:

Cupcake walk (in a neon green room):

Get me outta here!!!!!!:

I hope everyone else had a great day!

Scrapblog.com

I’m not really a scrapbooker. And if I was, it would be all digital. I fiddle so much with the pictures we take and if I had to mess with scrapbook layouts too I’d never finish anything. On a whim I tried scrapblog.com today (since it’s free) and was impressed. After a few minutes I had a cute Halloween page using one of their templates and a few snapshots of Daphne from today.

Anyone else into digital scrapbooking? Any other free template sites out there?

Candidate Finger Puppets

Need a free template for an Obama or McCain finger puppet? Look no further than folduscandidate.com

The Michelle Obama fist bump is pretty funny.

She’s Snow White (even though she looks like Grumpy)

Lisa Leonard Necklaces

A few months ago I purchased two lovely necklaces from Lisa Leonard Designs. I love them both.

You might remember I purchased a personalized necklace from an Etsy seller around Mother’s Day (Since Chris didn’t take the hint and buy me one after Daphne’s birth, and then told me to “buy myself something real nice” for Mother’s Day in complete Randy Quaid from Christmas Vacation accent. Nice manners, babe.) Unfortunately I wasn’t thrilled with the quality of the necklace and decided to order something else from Lisa Leonard. If you are looking for a Christmas gift, I highly recommend her site.

And don’t you love the glaze on the plate? It’s from the Brookwood Community, which is a center for adults with functional disabilities. It’s funded through tuition, private donations and the sales from their crafts (pottery, candles), restaurant and horticulture center.

14 Month Update

Just a quick update for the family.

Daphne is 14 months old today. I’ve been telling people we meet that she’s almost 13 months. Whoops. I don’t know where my head has been lately.

At 14 months Daphne weighs about 19.75 lbs and is 30 inches long. That puts her at 10th percentile for weight, and 43rd for height. I was surprised when we weighed her, I really thought she was catching up based on the amount of food she has been eating. Last Friday she ate a good breakfast, lunch, several snacks and then a quesadilla kid’s dinner platter at Los Cucos, followed by half of my frozen custard from Ritter’s. Oh yeah, and she’s still breastfeeding twice a day.

Daphne has 5 teeth now and I think is getting ready to have another top tooth break through. She has started to climb. She had her first scraped knee last week. Her sleep pattern changes a lot. She goes from sleeping 12 hours at night with one day nap, to 10 hours at night with 2 day naps. I prefer 2 naps- one for me to get stuff done and the other for a nap for me. Daphne’s still a screamer. In fact, she really doesn’t cry much, she just shrieks. You know how they say your second kid is much different than your first. Well, I just hope possible baby #2 is more laid back. I don’t think I could handle two little banshees. I feel terrible every time I put her in the nursery at church or our Tuesday morning mom’s group. She screams and screams. Sometimes she settles down… sometimes.

She can be so stubborn (who does she get THAT from?! hehehe). She likes to read one of her BabyBug magazines from the summer and when I ask her to point out all the beach balls, she’ll go from page to page pointing them out. She has even said “ball” three or four times. Then I’ll ask her again to point out the balls and she’ll look at me, shake her head “no” and put the magazine down. She also does that when I work with her on pointing out body parts. When I ask her “Where’s Mommy’s nose?” she’ll touch my nose once and that’s it. End of game. You are boring me, Mommy. Let’s go play with my car.

I’m patiently (or not so patiently) waiting for the vocabulary explosion that supposedly happens around 18 months or so. I have been slightly worried about her speech, but I know that’s just me overreacting since she’s right on target for 14 months. I guess I expected her to be talking in full sentences like I was at her age, or at least saying no, please or bye. For now her vocabulary is limited to mama, dada, hi, Ginger, ball, and possibly Poppa.

She is so much fun to be with. Even though I’ve been totally stressed out the last week and even admitted to Chris that I’d like to run away on some of her crabby days (not that I would), I still miss her when we aren’t together. And for the last 14 months I think I’ve been away from her for a total of 10 hours. Or if you count the whole gestation period you could say I’ve only missed 10 hours of her life since Dec 25, 2006. Dang, I need a night out!

Daphne and I will be going to our mom’s group this morning, then possibly a picnic at a local park. It’s been a long time since she played on the swings and I think she’ll enjoy it. Stay tuned for pics.

Kids Clothes Deals

Ok, I’m officially done buying clothes for Daphne until sometime next year. I’m determined not to overbuy (especially dresses) this year, like I did last year. But for those of you with little ones, here are a few good deals that started today:

Hanna Andersson dress sale- price points at $19, $29 and $39. (Adorable Christmas dresses for $19, how can you beat that?!) I got Daphne her first playdress set and a few things for next year.

Gymboree started their Jingle Deal-like promos with $20 sweaters for girls and $15 rugbys for boys. And you can use one of the 20% off coupons that have been in Cookie and Parenting magazines for even more savings.

I was talking with a few other moms last week about how we dressed our kids and our strategies for getting good deals. First off, let me just say I’m not a clothing snob. As I’m typing this I’m sitting here wearing knit yoga capris from Wal-Mart. And Daphne doesn’t wear all the latest, most expensive kids clothes, and I certainly don’t pay a fortune for her wardrobe. I do my research, try and hit the best sales with the best coupons and buy ahead for next year from the clearance racks. I’ve pretty much figured out the best way to get Gymboree clothes for cheap. I never pay more than $16 for any Gymbo item, even Daphne’s winter coat this year. Daphne is still wearing a pair of pants from Gymbo’s 2007 Bon Voyage line, I think I paid $4.99 for them. Same with Janie & Jack- I only shop the Season Finale sales and have picked up some great deals.

I also try to buy things that can be worn for several years, which is tricky with a baby/toddler. Daphne has 4 or 5 jumpers from Gymboree that can be worn as a dress this year, and in the next few years as a tunic top with jeans or leggings underneath. And I think she has a number of pants from this year that will be worn as capris next year.

I try to avoid Wal-Mart and Kohl’s (unless it’s Carter’s brand) for kids clothes, because I’ve found they don’t hold up. This might be different for little boys, but the dresses and rompers I’ve bought, from Kohl’s especially, fell apart. Target is a little better, but our local store always has a horrible selection and doesn’t seem to replenish their stock often. And their Circo brand sizing is weird. Daphne’s Trick or Treat shirt is a 2T and her pants (which are too big) are 12 months. She doesn’t even weigh 20 lbs, she shouldn’t be wearing 2Ts.

So, do you have a tip or suggestion on getting good deals for kids clothes? I’d love to hear them. And, I have an extra 20% off coupon from Gymboree and Crazy 8 (expires Dec 20th so you can stack this on top of your Black Friday sales if you want). If anyone wants it I’d be glad to email you the code for online shopping, or drop it in the mail. First person to leave a comment gets it!

Bad Hair Day

It’s funny when a scarecrow has better looking hair than your kid.

Chris took Daphne to the Life Is Good Pumpkin Festival on Saturday and didn’t feel like putting her bow back in her hair as she repeatedly pulled it out. I understand. Of course, this meant she walked around the festival looking like a sheepdog. Should I cut bangs???? I’m just afraid of the maintenance. And since her hair has a little curl to it, will her bangs curl up and look funky? I have no idea since my hair has always been stick straight. What to do, what to do??

Pink Ouijas?

Last night we took Daphne to Toys R Us for the first time. I haven’t shopped for toys there in years and years and it was fun to see what was out, decide what we might want to get Daph for Christmas, and laugh at some of the more ridiculous toys on the market. Like this, a pink ouija board:

Seriously? This is taking the “make it pink and market it to girls” thing a little too far. I mean, can you access a different spirit demographic on a pink board? Like the souls of departed women and gay men? Just curious. And here’s another item Daphne won’t be getting. The Pop Tunes Melody Beads Piano:

It plays “The Final Countdown.” Bwahahaa! Who picked that song? In full disclosure I will admit that I have that song on my iPod, but only because it reminds me of GOB’s illusions and makes me laugh. It’s a horrible song and only tolerable on Arrested Development:

It also plays “Message in a Bottle” which I find weird. I love The Police and have that song on my iPod too, but for a kid’s toy? Hmm… The Little Tikes guitar plays “Message in a Bottle” as well, in addition to “Love Shack” and the Jackson 5’s “ABC.” “Love Shack” and “ABC” make sense. Maybe they threw in “Message in a Bottle” to appeal to emo toddlers or the “Urban Babies Wear Black” crowd? Now if it played a U2 song, or King of Pain then I would have told Chris to, “put it in the cart we are buying it NOW!”