Retail Therapy- Zulily!

Just for all of you special little lurkers out there, I mean kind readers of my little blog. :)

Zulily has kindly offered a $10 promotional credit that is good for one week for the little spending monster inside you.

What a perfect way to start the weekend- with a little retail therapy.

Simply go to their site, pick out any adorable, discounted item and apply the promo code GROWUP10 in the appropriate box at check out and Voila! $10 will be taken off of your total that you can then spend elsewhere on something more pressing like diapers, or martini's with the girls. what??

Some of today's deals to be had are on Melissa & Doug toys, Petit Couture, Baby Creationz and super cute Primigi shoes.

Psssst, Monday they are doling out deals on one of my faves- Swedish brand Polarn O. Pyret! (be still my heart!)

Happy Friday!

600 Plus??

So I just noticed today that my blog has had over 600 plus views? Really?? I thought the only people reading this were my immediate family and bestest of friends judging by the amount of followers I have. Unless of course it's just my mother hitting refresh all day long, in which case if it is, thanks Mom. :)

For most other bloggers 600 views is a measly number but for me it's substantial as I'm not even sure I know 600 people. Or 300 people for that matter that would be willing to check this out more than once.

All of a sudden I feel the need to become a better blogger since it would seem I have a decent amount of lurkers. I'll get to work on that asap but in the interim, thank you to all of the secret readers for making me feel as though my random ramblings on life and motherhood are worth checking out.

Feel free to follow along publicly (as it would be shamelessly great for my ego ) and offer your suggestions, favorite products or random musings of your own. I'm an open book and love to hear about what other mom's are doing, as I'm all about sharing the wealth.

Rescue 911

So I came across a great find today. While LM isn't quite old enough yet to have any truly cherished plushies, nor will he ever have a beloved doll to tote around, (at least we don't think so. :) ) I couldn't help but rejoice in this little stack of doll rescue services that were rounded up on Stroller Traffic this morning for possible future use.

If only these had been around, or had my mother known about them, when my brother decided that my BELOVED Emily was too cold in my grandmother's basement and decided that she needed to warm up on the radiator, my childhood love could have had a fighting chance. This "solution" that my brother concocted up resulted in her back catching fire and most of her head melting off, which resulted in my first full blown panic attack of epic proportions.  My mother's valiant effort to try and patch her up, quite literally with a mishmash of iron-on patches on her back, did help to soothe the burn (no pun intended) for both Emily and myself. Sadly though not much could be done with her half melted head.

So in honor of Emily, I'm reposting these great sources here in hopes of no other dolls having to suffer such a horrid fate ever again. And if they do, have faith that help is just a short call away.

R.I.P Emily.

The Doll Hospital & Toy Soldier Shop is one of the oldest in the country, with five restorers and more than 100 years of doll restoration experience among them. Services include everything from patching leather body parts to restyling hair to cleaning, repairing, and restoring plushies. President Stacey Zagrodzki says broken limbs are the most common injury, though she sees a lot of bald dolls—hair shorn by scissor-wielding toddlers (they can re-implant hair). Evaluations are free, and in their 60 years of operation, they've never met a doll they couldn't fix. Visit the site for instructions on how to mail in a toy for repair.

The Doll Hospital & Toy Soldier Shop
3947 12 Mile Road
Berkley, Michigan 48072
248.543.3115
Dollhospital.com
 

The Madame Alexander Doll Company store, with more than 600 dolls and sets inspired by Eloise and Little Women, has its own hospital, where dolls of any lineage (not just Madame Alexander dolls) can be brought for repair. Hospital staff work Tuesday through Friday, from 9am to 4pm; appointments are not required for evaluations. Cost of repair is based on the damage, but an example of the cost for rejoining an 8 inch doll is $30, and larger dolls slightly more.
 
Madame Alexander Doll Company
615 West 131st Street
212.283.5900
madamealexander.com 

 

While the American Girl Doll Hospital is equipped to handle the worst of injuries (re-attaching a head is $14), not all doll repairs require major surgery. Owners can opt for a "wellness visit," during which a doll's skin is cleaned and hair brushed—and the doll is returned in a hospital gown with a certificate. The cost is $14, plus $6.95 shipping. Doll ear piercings are in the offering, too. They'll work on non-American Girl dolls as well; most repairs take two to three weeks.

American Girl Doll Hospital
609 Fifth Avenue
877.247.5223
americangirlplace.com

Young Love

So yesterday we went to the Sweetheart's Party that was hosted by one of the playgroup's that the Little Man attends.

All was going well and sweet until LM decided to start getting frisky with some of our little friends.

It started off innocently enough with a sweet attempt to plant a kiss on one of their cheeks but quickly progressed into inappropriate lengths. I kid you not, whenever he was within arm's reach of one of these poor little peanuts he was groping her like they were in the back of his Dad's car on Prom Night.

By the end of the day I couldn't help but feel like I had already failed him as a mother.

Terrible thoughts started flipping through my mind rapidly such as:
Is my kid going to grow up to be the dirtbag paying the girls in M&M's to "show me yours and I'll show you mine" behind the jungle gym at the playground? Or worse yet, be the guy in school that breaks girls hearts with a love 'em and leave 'em mentally? Surely those boys all started their "Quests to Conquest" innocently enough, right? How does one teach their 6 month old to quit being a floozy?

All jokes aside, I realize that he has zero idea what he is doing but are these subliminal acts signs of what's to come? (shudder)

Here is some evidence of my son being the town tart. I have blurred the faces of the innocent to protect their privacy, as well as in the hope that their father's won't recognize them and come to my house wielding any blunt objects.

LM's first attempt to give "A" a little sugar

Never one to discriminate he sets his sights on "M" and goes in for a squeeze

I'm too horrified to even think of a witty caption for this

one last attempt to get whatever he can

this directly followed his efforts being rebuffed.

finally a willing participant in the form of a much older woman.

It is becoming increasingly more aware to me that I have a lot of work ahead of me. *sigh.

Old Man Winter Strikes Again

Today was a huge snowday in the tri-state area and our town was covered with over 14 inches of snow! Everything looked so beautiful blanketed in the bright white stuff. I just love how quiet everything gets after a big storm like this, what a treat to just stop and enjoy how amazing mother nature can be at times. We had lots of fun playing out in the cold fluff again with Dad who managed to score a day off from work, that it made us all feel like kids again. It's going to be awhile before all of this melts and things are back to normal, so we're going to enjoy it as much as we can while it lasts as Spring will be here before we know it.

Wintery Weekend's and Mom Mafia Delights...

We're back from a glorious long weekend in Vermont with some of our besties and we couldn't have had a better time. Everything was perfectly snowcovered and beautiful in its wintery wonderland glory. It was just what the doctor ordered.

We were able to get some great skiing/snowboarding in on Saturday afternoon with perfect blue skies and sunshine, that gave way to some magical snow flurries later in the weekend. Jax had a great time visiting all of his little buddies and we had a blast with our big buddies, which makes us partly sad that we can't spend every weekend having that much fun. HUGE THANKS to our loves, the Owens' for having so many of us this weekend and for being such gracious hosts and friends, as usual. We love you guys.

The best part of the weekend though from a Mom standpoint, were all of the great tips and product finds that were shared with me by some of my mom idols.

My amazing friend Amy is the kind of Mom that I aspire to be- her kids are sweet, considerate, kind little loves and she makes it all seem effortless.

To boot she always find the best products for kids and is kind enough to pass on the wealth, which as you know, is a theory I subscribe to wholeheartedly.

This past weekend she told me about two great label companies that have a seemingly endless array of uses.

Stuck On You is a great company that makes adorable little sticker labels for everything from labeling bottles to backpacks with your child's name on them, so as to not confuse who owns what at school and daycare. They also make a cute line of labels identifying the now ever present kid allergies, so you can rest easy knowing that anyone looking over your child when they are not with you, will know not to give them that helping of PB&J or the pint of milk that everyone else is enjoying with their cookies.
They also make adorable star charts for tracking and rewarding good behavior.

If you order some lables from S.O.Y for your little bean, pass on the "Mom's helping other Mom's" good will and check off the agent box on your order with Kate Lester as the agent, as she was the original Mom who passed along this great company to Amy (envisioning the makings of a kick ass Mom Mafia happening here.)

Another great label company that Amy passed along was Mabel's Label's that is based in Canada and make super durable iron on clothing label's for kids that withstand the abuse of constant washing and they don't irritate sensitive skin.

Our other friend Jill who is an incredible mom practicing mostly green principles and makes it look so easy that she has me green with envy, bought Jax the cutest little pouch to carry around his treat's in once he's snacking on the go.

Per their website, SnackTaxi's are a great alternative to plastic ziploc bags for carrying around snacks and sandwiches, especially when one reusable bag has the potential to eliminate 1000 plastic bags in its lifetime. An important fact to recognize when an estimated 4 billion plastic bags end up as litter each year. Tied end to end, that's enough to circle the Earth 63 times!

SnackTaxi's have a 100% cotton exterior and can be machine washed and dried or simply handwashed and air dried. They were developed by a mother of 3 (noticing a trend here?) and come in a bunch of adorable fabrics and colors.

Here are a few examples of the super cute SnackTaxi.

All of these fab finds for the little ones that I can now pass on to you, while spending quality time with my friends in a beautiful relaxing setting? Weekend Success.

The Friday Highlight

Patemm Pads

Patemm Pads are a great solution to the wrestling match that takes place during diaper changes once the little ones begin to move around much more freely. Their round design makes it easy to place your little bean in virtually any direction while knowing that their little bits are easily covered. 

No more trying to gently pin your kid down on a small rectangle that they outgrew months ago. Nor do you have to worry that as soon as they roll to one side- while you quickly gather supplies- that they have their hands (ultimately ending up in their mouths) touching dirty changing tables or play gym floors.

Patemm Pads come in a rainbow of colors and designs and are available in organic fabrics as well. Each pad is eco-friendly and PVC free, is capable of storing spare diapers, wipes and even a spare set of clothes, all while folding up neatly into one little pouch that is easy to carry and cuts down on the amount of stuff we lug around.

What's not to love?

A Very Vermont Weekend

So this weekend we are headed off to Vermont for some fresh snow, skiing, s'mores by the fireplace and the all important aprés ski - complete with hot toddies. It will be Little Man's first time in the Green Mountains, one of our favorite places on Earth and we will be spending the weekend with the Owens's, some of our favorite people on Earth. We'll be sure to give a proper recap of our wintery weekend when we return!

My Son Officially Hates Me.

 my guys 

So after the last 6 Months of doting, snuggling, cuddling, kissing, playing, feeding, rocking and carting my son around to all of his fun activities and playdates that I arrange for him- this morning he woke up and said one word that broke my heart in two, right on the spot.

"Dada."

I'm crushed.

Don't get me wrong, his Dad is pretty great but I have to admit that I'm a tinge jealous.

I'm also sad /proud/ excited/ amazed by how quickly he is growing up and that he said his first word today. It's incredible to me everyday how much he learns and is becoming more independent right before my eyes.

I love him so much it kills me.

So does however, the fact that he didn't say "Mama" first but I'm sure I'll get over it.
If I never do though, I'll be sure to give him guilt trips about it well into his adult life. :)

I keed, I keed. The wound is still fresh!

Really though, I'll be drilling it into his head, er I mean, we'll be practicing all day saying..... "Mama, Mama, Mama"

Welcome, Aimon!

So my new nephew Aimon was born last night at 9:23pm and was 5lbs even and 17 inches. He is a petite little bean as my sister was only 34 weeks when her water broke yesterday but both Mom and Baby seem to be doing great, so sighs of relief all around.

Welcome little guy!

Baby, Maybe?

So my step-sister is in the middle of labor right now about to give birth. Which means that I am just a few seconds? minutes? hours? from being an aunt again. Before I had my son I would be both equally excited and terrified for my friend's and family before they gave birth, partly because it was such a mystery to me. Post delivery, I'm just excited for her because I know how drastically her life is about to change, in the best way possible. As I wait for the call from my Mom, all of my most positive thoughts are going out to her tonight as she awaits the arrival of her little boy, hopefully safe and sound. 

I'll be sure to share the good news once the little guy makes his debut.

Love

Speaking of Love.

I adsolutely adore everything in the Sarah Jane Studios shop on Etsy.

Her vintage inspired artwork for kids is so sweet it makes my teeth hurt.

Be Mine.

Happy February!

This month is just what I need to perk up from the post holiday haze and frigid January temps that have left me feeling less than inspired. Above and below are a few Valentines I found crusing the internet. Aren't they cute? I love that we have another holiday to look forward to and celebrate with the Little Man. I can remember being in school when I was younger and being so excited for Valentine's Day. It was so exciting to collect all of the sweet homemade paper hearts (or the cute storebought kind) that filled the DIY mailboxes we attached to our desks. What a sweet little way to let someone know you think they're special. No grand romantic gestures, no sweating trying to find a reservation only to eat one of the 5 items available for the evening, just a sweet little note with a loving sentiment- and maybe some chocolate. :) I look forward to when the LM is bigger and we can make some together. He is most definitely my little valentine this year

 (and his Dad ;) ) who's yours?