Monday, August 30, 2010

Sorry folks...

I have the cutest kid in the world.



Sunday, August 29, 2010

July, August, October

When most people enter the end of August - they start thinking about September. Labor Day, getting out fall clothes, etc. Not me! My mind skips September and goes straight to October...which is why I'm ALREADY thinking about D's birthday and Halloween costume.

You probably knew this about me already - or at least were clued in after last year's multi-post costume voting. I think I started that mid-August.

I've controlled myself this year, and am just now allowing myself to start thinking about it. When my 7 year old niece asked me what D was going to be for Halloween when I saw her on Saturday, I figured that was all the reason I needed to start the planning. So - YOU'VE BEEN WARNED. There will probably be a costume vote on here sooner rather than later.

However, I have to control it. D's 2nd birthday (who can believe this?) is before Halloween and I have to get on the ball with that too. No big bashes this year, probably just immediate family, but I still want to get the creative juices flowing. I will have some practice for that in a few weeks at the breastfeeding group's two year celebration.

Even though there's close to two months for the actual day, I've been thinking about gifts I want to get him since about Easter. I just keep adding things to my mental list. It's hard because we have limited space here - so there's no giant toys to be had. But, I've planned for months and months to get him some kind of car ramp/garage/racetrack for all his matchbox cars, etc. After witnessing the full hour that he sat having a BALL by himself with my nephew's toy racetrack - I realized that this is the gift we have to get him. I'll just find a way to get the other stuff for Christmas or something. I've already been scouting toy parking garages with ramps, which I think is the best idea as a result of our space-restraints. We'll see how it goes! Yep, you may get to vote on that one as well! :)

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

A is for Alphabet Books

We love books here. This is no secret. And we really love alphabet books lately.

There's an entire section at the Geneva Public Library dedicated to "Alphabet Books" and with D recognizing more and more letters everyday - I figured we should try to get a new alphabet book every time we go.

We've looked at a lot of them - and checked out a few. There are some REALLY cute books out there - going over the alphabet in completely creative ways - making it fun and visually stimulating all at the same time.
Here are a few favorites - several have made it to the Amazon.com wish list :)


I've decided my life calling is to be a children's book editor - or reviewer - now who wants to pay me?

Monday, August 16, 2010

I'm Melting

Not because of the heat...because tonight...D finally said "I love you"!! (Well, his cutesy version which came out as "ahhhve uuu").

Seriously? There's nothing that beats this!



This just adds to his constantly growing vocabulary - which now includes things we had no idea he knew including animals like "hippo", and phrases like "that way". But none of them come anywhere close to that phrase that I've been DYING to hear for nearly 23 months and been saying to him about 300 times a day. I love you truly is the best thing in the world to hear...

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Thirty is Perty

This past Friday I turned 30, and my super cute sister-in-law wrote the title of this blog entry in my card - which I thought was catchy and fun.

My older sister was, I think, a little disappointed that I wasn't feeling sad or depressed about turning 30, but to me, my birthdays are just days and I don't really get all shook up.
I DO think it's weird that I'm 30. I don't FEEL 30. But, here it is.

Anyway, it was a good weekend all around. I worked all day on my actual birthday. I did have a nice surprise from Dain and D...

The rest of the weekend was nice. We went to a BBQ at my brother-in-law's house on Friday night. We laid low on Saturday, which was wonderful. My parents came up today to take us to lunch at my favorite restaurant and hang around for a bit. It was a perfect, low-key weekend, which is exactly what I wanted.

One highlight: Saturday afternoon we took D over to the splash park in St. Charles that's a step up from the little one in our neighborhood...with 3 splash areas and 1 large sand play area. He had a BALL and I took one of my favorite pictures of him EVER. Doesn't he look HUGE and grown up??? I can't believe he's going to be 2 soon. This makes me feel old. HA - so I guess I do feel old, Theresa. Oh well - thirty is perty!

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Little Known Fact

Who knew that my library was so well-connected?

A friend of mine seems to know all the bargain ways of enjoying fun outings with your kiddo. She recently told me that, through a grant from Macy's, we can check out passes from our library for all kinds of museums in the area! Including Brookfield Zoo! WHAT? That's amazing!

This pass, or set of passes gets a family in free or at a 50% rate, or gets you free parking at otherwise free locations. It's amazing. I encourage you all to read about it - and see if your local library is a participant of anything similar.

Check it out by clicking on the pass below: