Christmas Tree Shoppe & Mema

I had to run to the Christmas Tree Shoppe, and next to the dollar store is my Mom's favorite place to shop. Often times she'll let us know she's going shopping there and we'll meet up with her to get in some extra visits. Well today we walk in the door and Melly starts clapping and says, "Mema's coming!!" Even after I tell her that Mema won't be joining us today, she starts calling around the store, "Mema! Where are you?"

Vacation Recap Day #10

Memorial Day was spent poolside in Water Country. Luckily we had much better luck with Melly this time around. We were more prepared. First thing to the wave pool and put the water shoes on. Then try the kiddie pools. Then float the afternoon away on the Hubba Hubba Highway. She LOVED it! I'm not saying we made her a water kid (wishful thinking), but she did realize that water can be fun too. We stayed until about 3:00, then Melly passed out cold walking to the car. I think she actually took a 3 hour nap, and then went to bed regular time. The evening we spent packing and resting up for our trip back home.

It was so nice to spend so much time with Nana and Grandpa. I feel bad that we don't see them that often, but the time we do spend with them is real quality time. I thank them whole heartedly for all they do for us. We will visit them as often as possible always!

Day #11 was spent driving back home. We left at 5:00 in the morning (again) and Melly was as good as she could be in the car. I thought she would ask for Nana more, but I think on some level she understood that we were going back home, and not back to their house. I often question how much her little brain actually understands, and I'm usually pleasantly surprised at how much it does.

Now I can actually catch up on the "back to normal life" antics to write. Melody turns 2 soon, so I've been getting ready for her party. I'll post more when I get a moment to breathe!

Vacation Recap Day #9

Well, back to Busch Gardens again! The beautiful part about having the year pass is that you can go for a few hours in the morning, then go home for nap, then go back if you want. When you go for the day you want to get your moneys' worth and you end up wiping yourself out trying to do everything! This time we checked out the Animal Antics show. It's a bunch of small animals that have been rescued from the animal shelter and trained to do a really cute bunch of tricks. This day it was really hot and while we were waiting for it to start we were all getting a little dreary. The dogs came out and pulled some ropes and signs came down, a cat that looks just like Slim Kitty chased a mouse (this got Melly really interested in it). Then for the finally, they let loose some birds from the back of the theater that flew right over Melly's head, scared her and made her jump out of her skin (then laugh), and then wiener dogs were chased by ducks, that were chased by a pig. What a finale! Well, we giggled, but Melly kept talking about the birds that flew right over her head, and the duckies chased by the pig! For hours she talked about that. We went home for nap time, she woke up from her nap still talking about the birds flying over her head. She was telling full stories, including sound effects and body language. This kid, I tell you, is something else! I think this may end up being one of those things that she'll remember in some form for her life.

That night we went to Willimasburg again to walk around and look at the animals. It was such a beautiful night. Towards the end, it's dusk, and Melly's riding on my shoulders. Rob (always the gentleman), spits on the sidewalk (I've been trying to break him of this for years, and it's not going anywhere). Melody thinks this is funny, and says, "Daddy, spit again!" Rob tells her to spit, so she leans over my shoulder, as a little kid is walking by, and "patooey!" Luckily, she's not a very good spitter. Nana on the other hand was walking behind us, didn't see that she didn't actually have any spit come out of her, almost bust a gut laughing at this poor little kid walking by about to get a loogey splatted on him by a 2 year old. That's one of those moments that I would have wanted to run and hide instead of trying to explain THAT to the poor kids mother!

Vacation Recap Day #8

Friday night we went to the Living Museum again to see the Walking With Dinosaurs exhibit. They were really lifelike and pretty cool. Melly did have a great time.

For some reason, they even made this one. I thought it was a little weird for a Children's Museum, but I guess it's more realistic!

This one was Melly's favorite. The little babies were so small, and all she wanted to do was hold one.

It really makes you realize how big they were! And this was only 3/4 size. They actually were bigger!

We couldn't resist...

Melody the Palaeontologist!

Vacation Recap Day #8

Day 8 back at the "Carvinal" as Melly calls it. So much to do, so much to see! More rides!

Here are some of the rides she went on:

The Lady Bug Ride

The Hanglider Ride

The really fast Elephant Ride

The Dragon Ride

The Dragon Ferris Wheel

Vacation Recap Day #7

Another day at the park to burn off some steam. Melly really is happiest when she can just run and play. Too bad Mommy makes her do such boring stuff like nap, eat and shop. After her nap, we went to Pirate Golf, and if she didn't love pirates before, she REALLY loves them now! Most kids would be scared at the skeletons dressed up in pirate gear (like me! I'm still scared of them!). She didn't really play golf, but liked stealing our golf balls and running them down to the end and throwing them in the hole. Since I am a terrible golfer I didn't mind it so much. There was a little bit of drama at the 18th hole where the hole just keeps going and you can't get the golf ball back. She kept sticking her whole arm down the hole trying to get the ball back. We told her the Pirates took her ball. She then ran around to all of the Pirates around the golf course asking them where her ball was.

We then took a trip to the candy store in town. Someone discovered jelly beans! You would have thought it was the greatest thing that has ever passed her lips. While in there she also found a very big stuffed elephant with a tag that she likes, so Nana had to buy that for her too. Now she has "Big Ellie" to add to her collection.

After getting back to the house, she played the evening away with the girl across the street Jordan. Melly sees her and says, "There's my friend Jordan!" How cute is that! She can actually say she has a friend now! I guess it's different than her gang here, because she sees them all the time. Jordan is special since she only sees her a couple of days.

Vacation Recap Day #6

On Wednesday we went to Jamestown. For those that don't know, it's the first permanent colony in the US. Last year when we were there they had a big Anniversary with the President and the Queen (I don't think all at the same time). This year it's business as usual. Rob thinks its pretty cool because he did the genealogy back far enough to find out that his relatives owned a piece of property in Jamestown. I think pretty far back and kind of distant, but we took some pictures of Melly standing on her backyard. I have pictures somewhere, I just have to find them. I'll post them when I do.

We can't make a trip without going to the Outlet Malls, but this time we didn't find too much. I guess it's different when I'm not really making any money, because 50% off of something that's $100 is a good price, but still way out of my budget! So it was nice to look. Melody surprised me, as this cute little "not girly" girl walked into the Coach outlet and said quite loudly, "OOh! Nice brown purse!" That's my girl!

That night we had a Birthday party for Melly since Nana and Grandpa won't be able to come to her party up here. We got to eat very yummy ice cream cake, and sing, and open gifts. Melody really got used to the opening presents thing, so she should be fun on her party!

Vacation Recap Day #5

This day we went to a park in the morning and let Melly wander around in the woods. She got to see some squirrels, some lizards, and a bunch of birds. We debated renting a row boat and taking her out to see how she would do, but then we decided she may be a little young for that. So we'll wait until next year.

Later on we took a trip to the Living Museum. This place is really cool. They have a lot of tanks like an aquarium with fish, turtles, jellies, etc. They also have a ton of hands on places where the kids can do a whole bunch of exploring. They have an outdoor area with beavers, otters, and an aviary with some pretty big birds in it. Don't worry, Nana has a history of jumping over the kids to "protect" them from any swooping bird. We found out that they are having their Walking With Dinosaurs exhibit grand opening the end of the week so we will make another trip out the end of the week to see that (and I'll add all that stuff in on that day).

I think we're slowing down a bit!!!

Vacation Recap Day #4

Monday started off with the fun trip to the hair dresser to get Melody her 2nd real haircut. The first one was a year ago for her first birthday, and I've been trimming the bangs (the best I can) since. She cried at first because she didn't want to sit in the chair by herself, but when Rob sat with her, suddenly getting a haircut is a lot of fun. AND they give you a lollipop when you're done! Nana bought Melly a Thomas train for being such a good girl. (Nana just can't help it!)

Then we were off to Williamsburg to walk around. It's been years since I've actually done any of the tours or gone into any of the buildings, but this is one of the best places to walk around. Everywhere you look it's absolutely beautiful. If you have never been, I strongly suggest you go at least once to see it. While we were walking around looking for the animals, we finally found the pen where the sheep are kept. Melody almost bust a gut "baaahhh-ing" at them. She's walking around the fence trying to pet the Mommy, then the baby, loving every minute of it. Then Rob tells me she has poo on her shoe. You want to see me freak out? After many wipes, Rob dragging the shoes through the grass and sand, me freaking out complaining about her Dora shoes that are now poo shoes, crisis is over. Shoes are clean (somewhat), Melly didn't seem to care, and we're back walking trying to find the moo cows. We also found Chief and Nelson the horses that soon became Melly's friends. At the end of the day we ended up by the jail (or whatever the Colonial word is for it), where they have these big tree stumps as a border. Well, Melly climbs up on one saying she's the Lorax. We start laughing, it becomes a game, and now everyone has to get on and take a turn saying "I am the Lorax, I speak for the trees". The best part is when she wants all of us on the tree stump. So, here we are Melly, Me, Rob, Nana & Grampa all standing on this tree stump (holding on to each other for dear life), singing the Lorax. The things you do for the kids!

After an exhausting day (again), we go to Sal's for dinner. This is on my request, because I LOVE his 4 cheese tortelloni dinner. This is the only place where I literally lick the plate clean. MMMmmmmmm Sals!

Vacation Recap Day #3

As if Busch Gardens isn't enough to get all of the grand kids to Nana and Grandpa's house, there's always Water Country! Now, here's the funny part with Melly. I've mentioned about her foot issues with always needing them covered with socks and preferably shoes too. Water Country is one place that walking barefoot or with water shoes is really the way to go. I finally got her to wear her water shoes before we left home, but she decided right before going to the water park that she didn't want them anymore. She would however go barefoot, just wouldn't walk. So we get to the kiddy part, which in my opinion, is a kids dream come true. There are giant whales and sharks and dolphins that you can climb on, sprinklers everywhere, all in a pool that is only 1 foot deep and with really warm water. She wouldn't even dip her toes in the water. With shoes, without shoes, she wasn't having anything to do with it. So, for the first hour or so, I'm carrying her around. Rob would have helped, but he went on a ride already and was "cold" according to Melly. So walking around with my little monkey hanging on.

Finally we get to the wave pool. In my arms, I just keep walking in... walking.... walking (of course making a fool of myself the whole time by singing, jumping, splashing, dancing for entertainment of Melody) until without her realizing it, she's in the water! And, she found out that it really is quite fun. From that point on, Water Country was a big hit. Until we went to go to another ride she would like (Hubba Hubba Highway) and she fell asleep, out for the count in my arms. We decided to go back to the house and try Water Country another day. At least we had a successful trip!

Vacation Recap Day #2

Off to Busch Gardens! Boy, the fun Melody had there! Rob decided to get us seasons tickets so we could go as many days as they are open, and not have to cram the whole park into one day. GREAT IDEA!!! We really used those passes! Our first day there Melly didn't know what to do with herself. She went on all the rides at the kiddie section of Land of the Dragons (except the log flume... Mommy didn't know how she would do when they brought her into the tunnel where we couldn't see her). Not only did she go on them, but she really enjoyed them. She smiled from ear to ear just loving every minute of it. I have such an adventurer on my hands. Her favorite was the tree house. She even climbed all the stairs by herself. She had a hard time going over the cargo net area because her little feet went right through the netting. I guess they're made for littler feet.

Vacation Recap Day #1

The Jackson Fam woke up and left the house by 5:00 AM (I know it sounds insane, but no more than 8 hours in a car with a 2 year old). Melody slept until about 7 in the car, then watched a movie until we got to DC. We were planning on going to the Museum of American History, but that is currently closed for renovations. So we decided to stop by the Museum of Natural History, only to find out it must be Field Trip Day, and there was a line to get in at least a block long that was made up of all kids between the ages of 10-15. Yeah, not sounding like a good idea. So, we walk around the mall area with Melly very happy to be running around. That is until Melody decided to take a header into the wet muddy gravel. I think she cried more because she was covered in mud than because she fell. So, change in outfit #3 for the day, and we're off and running again. She got to run around the WWII fountains, and touch the Washington Monument. Mostly she just wants to run around, but it's never too early to get her used to respecting our Nation's Capital.

We finally make it to Williamsburg around 3:00, and rest a bit. Then we're off again to walk the Relay for Life. Nana is in a sorority group that does a lot of community service. They raised some money for Relay for Life, and had a tent set up to raffle off some items to get even more money. While we were walking around, the Geico Gecko was there walking around saying hi to the kids. Most kids are afraid of the big mascot things, but for some reason Melody has always loved them. She was very excited and thought he was a big frog (which she calls Badduh), and pointed and screamed "Big Badduh". After playing a few of the games for charity, she won a few strands of beads, which she immediately ran to Big Badduh to show him that she won them.

Back from vacation!

We were gone for about a week and a half to Williamsburg, Virginia (which is why the few word only posts for a while, and me trying to catch up with many posts today!) What a whirlwind trip it was! My inlaws live in one of the greatest places in the country (I think). There is so much to do, and boy did we do it! I'll give a day by day brief breakdown but all I can say is the trip was fantastic. Besides the fact that I may have the best inlaws you could ask for, we had so much fun with nothing but smiles and a lot of laughing!

I do have to say, HURRAY FOR DAVID COOK!!! Even though I was concerned that it might be good for his career if he didn't win, I am really glad that he did. I've never wanted a person to win and then have it happen. I actually got a chance to watch both Larry King episodes with all of them on, and I was impressed at how much of a leader he was for the rest of them. I'm not sure if that comes along with actually being the winner or if he was that way all along. I wish him all the best, and I will be buying his CD when it comes out.

Playing "Mommy" to a train...

Dolly's are not that welcomed in this house, but we can play house all the same! Melly has found that she loves to take care of her trains just as much as another little girl would her doll. Here is Gordon (from Thomas and Friends) with his bib on ready for lunch, and a nice clean diaper.

Ashley and Melody at it again!

Melody and Ashley play well together. So well in fact that they can have a "wrestling" match and not get hurt or upset! (It helps when you have a giant stuffed bear as a mat) The pictures are a little blurry, but it's really hard to get a clear picture when they're sitting still, let alone when they're flopping all over!

Idol comes to an end

The last night of Idol. Always a sad day. A close second to after the final game of the Redskins when I realize I have to wait a whole year before I can see them again. I was saying all along that if David Cook didn't win, I would stop watching the show. Now, the more I think about it, and watching how fantastic he did tonight, he's better off not winning. It would really kill his spirit to have to dance around all the "rules" that go along with the title. Let's have Archuletta win. He's too young to know any better. I just hope they don't need the paramadics to revive him when he actually collapses on the stage.

The lost art of toenail torture

Apparently when you are two (or almost 2), the best way to be completely tortured is to have your toenails clipped. Rob & I have to tackle her down on the ground, while I try to hold on to a squirmy foot and clip a toenail that is no bigger than the tip of an eraser. The whole time she is screaming and crying as if I were actually cutting her toes off. The neighbors must be wondering what is going on, and all I can say is that I had to cut her toenails. Rob, however, does not agree that this has to be done. He thinks we shouldn't cut her nails because it bothers her so much. The mean old Mommy believes that the toenail torture must continue. So far this week I was able to cut 3 of her ten little piggies.

Kudos to Daddy Daycare!

I want to comment and applaud my brother-in-law who, after spending a vacation with his boys, realized how much he was missing with his insanely demanding job, and decided to take early retirement to stay home with them. Starting Monday he will be Dad in Charge with the most uncertain, yet most rewarding job in the world. We're all here for you if you ever need any help or ideas on what to do with the kids!

Nice shoes!

Melody has an issue with her feet which I have talked about before. She will only wear socks and sneakers. Sometimes you can get a pair of dressier shoes on her if they look like sneakers. If she sees open toe shoes she says they are "broken". Lately she's been taking off her shoes and socks, but then refuses to walk because she doesn't like the way it feels on her feet. She's been this way since she was walking, so it's been a while. Well my friends, we have had a breakthrough!

My sister bought water shoes for Melody that seemed like they would be OK because they weren't all mesh, they had some squishy fabric instead. Well, I was trying on a bunch of shoes for her today to see which ones fit, and which ones didn't. She was not too happy with it, saying, "no Mommy no" with each new pair. I put on the water shoes and she says, "Oooh! Nice shoes!" And then she wore them for the rest of the morning.

Now, I would have been more than happy with that alone, but it gets even better. After wearing the water shoes for a while, she takes them off, then WALKS all over the house with bare feet! I could hardly believe my eyes. She spent the whole afternoon/evening with commando feet! Way to go Melly!

OMG! Enough with the Terrible Twos!

What a morning! I'm hosting Mom's group today with a very special Mother's Day theme. Plus, my sis is coming over with Emilie to see what it is we do with our group. Fun! Now, with all of that fun, comes a little work. Nothing crazy or major, but I make sure I clean everything a little extra, and all within a couple of days instead of a little here and there throughout the week. So, Melody, my sweet little angel, you need to play by yourself just a little bit these couple of days, OK??? WRONG!! Let's recap the day:

She wakes up looking for the kitty, chases her around the house a little bit, Rob jumps in my shower time. No big deal. Melody watches some shows on TV while I get the morning started. Time to get her dressed. She's screaming because she doesn't want to put clothes on. I don't mind that except for her weird foot thing. She WILL NOT walk on the floor unless she has socks on. So now she's crying because she wants to walk around, but won't because she has bare feet (and really nothing else on except a T-shirt, I tricked that onto her). So I pick her up and plop her on the couch with all of her clothes next to her, but not on. So I'm finally getting some cleaning done, and it's time for breakfast (at 10, because she refuses to eat anything earlier). I make her toast & cheese (after she said "NO" to everything else). She eats 2 chunks of the cheese off the toast and shes finished. (still no clothes). I go and get her changed up and finally get her to put on clothes except for socks. This must have been the beginning of the end because she was just in a foul mood after that. Sitting on the couch wailing "juuuuuuuuuuuuice", then "shooooooooooooooowwww", and anything else she decided she wanted. She was hurling her body around on the couch, then on the floor, screaming words that really weren't understandable. I must say I did laugh at one point, yell at another, ignore one of them.... nothing worked. Finally I put her in the crib, let her cry for about 5 minutes, and she's been sleeping ever since. At least I finally got a shower! Later on today when she gets tired again for taking such an early nap, Rob will be home and he can deal!!!

Mother's Day...bust or blessing?

First, Happy Mother's Day to all!

Rob had to spend all morning at church, as they scheduled the confirmation ceremony for today, and Rob is a sponsor for one of the kids (young men) that was confirmed. I'm not sure why it was scheduled for Mother's Day, and maybe it's just a coincidence that it falls on this special day. Regardless, all morning I did feel a bit jaded because it was MY day, and I wasn't getting any help. I had in my head as I'm playing the "fly on Mommy's feet" game that I should be giving myself that facial that I had planned. Then as I was rolling play dough into little balls for Melody to line up, I was thinking about starting my stampin' up stamps that I just got. Finally, as we're marching around the house singing "Hi-Ho", like a bolt of lightening it hits me. THIS is what Mother's Day is. It's about me being a Mommy, and spending time with Melly. Look at this picture. Today, like every day, is a blessing.

Happy Birthday Faith!

Happy Birthday Faith!

We went to Billy & Joanna's for Faith's Birthday. She's now 2, so that means Melly is right around the corner. It was nice to watch all the cousins play together now because they're all old enough to run. Melody did enjoy the sandbox the best (no surprise there) and proceeded to completely bury herself in the sand. Luckily Faith's sandbox has that nice white beachy sand and it comes off fairly easily. (Not completely off, like Rob thinks. There is still some sand residue and you DO need to wash her hands after!) We will be buying that nice sand to put in her sandbox this week though...

I didn't grab many pictures, and my card reader is currently broken, so pictures will follow. All in all it was a wonderful day and we are so glad to have so much of the family close.

Syrup does NOT equal breakfast!

In my never ending, always challenging job of trying to get food into my daughters stomach, I will try ANYTHING. So, after not eating any of her cheerios this morning, I opt for some bananas and pancakes at 10:00. Keep in mind she has not eaten since dinner last night at 6:00. There's no way she's not hungry. So we sit down and she sees me putting some syrup on my pancakes and she actually asks for some. PERFECT! There's now way she won't eat her pancakes now! Every kid loves syrup! Guess what? I was wrong. She found that her banana worked great as a syrup getting tool. She mopped up all the syrup on the banana, then licked it all off. She didn't even bite any of the banana with it. Of course, after she literally licked her plate clean, without an ounce of any actual food getting in her, she asks for more syrup. At least she didn't look shocked when I told her no!

Bubbles, Big Purple Ball & Corn?

Today we went to the Christmas Tree Shoppe with Mom, and of course got a new batch of bubbles. Last years "Everlasting Bubble Gun" was a big flop, because it would only blow about 2 bubbles per dip in the soap, and what fun is that? This years bubble wand was a big hit. Not only can I make dozens of bubbles at once, it is with minimal effort on my part. That may sound "un-Mommy-like", but lets face it, after blowing a bubble wand for more than a few minutes will make even the most dedicated Mom's a bit un-enthused.

So after a while in the front yard, we moved on down to the back yard for better running room. It is more fun to run through the wall of bubbles to properly pop them. Anytime we're in the back yard, we have to bring "Big Purple Ball" to place in the yard and run around it in circles. Have I mentioned that my child is completely adorable, but really weird? Now here's the kicker (as if that's not enough). Melly had to bring her plastic corn on the cob with her. For some reason, it is only fun to pop bubbles with the cob. If you look closely, you can see it in her hands here. So, we're in the back yard, me blowing billions of bubbles, Melody running around the ball, popping bubbles with her corn on the cob. Ahhh, you can't make this stuff up!

Bubbles are really fun!

We topped off the day with a trip to Toys-R-Us to buy a Wii, and to say "Hi" to Bob.

Mom Tip #3

Save all those clear plastic bags that linens come in (you know, the ones that sheets, pillow shams, comforters and blankets come in. They're square-ish with the zipper that goes around the top) These are PERFECT for throwing a few toddler toys or snacks in and throwing in the car to travel. If you can find the real small ones you can make a few for different destinations, like the grocery store toy bag, or the park toy bag, etc. You get the idea!

The puppets are gone...

Melody LOVES puppets. Unfortunately, she doesn't like to put them on her hands, she wants me to put them on my hands. You would think that would be such a sweet and simple request, but after days and days (and nights) of "puppy puppet on", "kitty puppet on" over and over again... you guessed it! The puppets "went away" during a nap time. It's not that I didn't want to play that game, but if I had to do anything else, she would yell and get upset that I took the puppet off, and start screaming "puppet on, puppet on, puppet on" getting louder and louder until the puppet went back on. It's very hard to get a child dressed with a puppet on one and many times both of your hands! The part I really feel bad about is that Melly keeps asking for them. I keep saying that they're gone, or go see if you can find them (in the shoe box on the top shelf of my closet), but I'm starting to feel a little bad about it. Maybe it's Mommy's guilt. Perhaps it's the week of rain we had and we were all cooped up. Let's see how I do this week if the puppets find their way back from playing hide and seek.

The noodle monster!

For those that don't know, Melly is not the biggest eater. Well, that's an understatement. This kid doesn't eat anything! So, when we can find a way, any way, to get her to eat something we jump on it! Voila! The noodle monster!

Old friends, new memories

This weekend Megg came to visit for a whirlwind weekend. We went first thing to visit our friend Danielle who we haven't seen since High School. (We all shuddered at how many years that added up to be) It was so nice to catch up again, to watch all of the kids play together, and to catch up with her parents as well. Back in the day, Megg, Danielle and I were fairly inseparable. I'm actually going to dig in the basement to find some of the older pictures of all of us together to post, so Megg & Danielle be warned! To completely embarrass us, I believe there is a picture of us all dressed up to party at a STRYPER concert! I'm laughing just thinking about that picture!

After that, we went to pick up Claire, and head up to a purse party! A few purses later we're back at Carol's house to play with Emilie and get some dinner. I guess it doesn't sound like that much now, but we were beat by the end of the day! Megg helped me pick out curtains for the living room (finally I'm going to cover the window!) so I can't wait until those are up!

Oh Ashley!

My dear friend Kerri has been getting a lot more work these days, and I've been helping out by watching Ashley for her. Melody and Ashley get along so well, that it's really no bother at all to have her here.

Well, it came to nap time, and I know at home Ashley will boycott naps, but when she's been here, she either naps OK, or is just real quiet for a couple of hours. I got both kids to sleep at the same time (yes, thank you!), and I did some work of my own while they slept. I heard Ashley calling me, so I went in to get her. My only reaction was to say, "Oh my!!"

She had somehow broken into my vanity, emptied my make up brush holder, found a pack of gum, tore it to bits, ate who knows how much of it, ripped off a door hanger from the closet, tore that to shreds, and had wads of gum in her hair. OK Pam, don't panic. Safety first... call my Dr's office. They really weren't sure if eating an undetermined amount of Orbit spearmint gum would have any adverse affects, so on to poison control it is. The very nice and humorous woman that spoke with me assured me that it is non-toxic, a sugar free gum so she will be fine. Phew! All right, second, wads of gum in her hair. Luckily I have come across this myself a time or two in the past, so out comes the ice to hold on the gum to get it nice and brittle. Fortunately it wasn't chewed gum in her hair, so it came out kind of easily. Then, third, I have to call Kerri and tell her that my house is apparently a potential death trap waiting to happen!

Luckily Kerri is not a panicky-type Mom, and she did find the humor in it. My apologies to you Kerri, had I even known that the gum was there, or that she was a genius at getting things clearly out of her reach, or that she could be SO QUIET while being mischievous, this never would have happened!

Kerri did inform me that Ashley has figured out how to use tools like a monkey (her words, not mine), so I'm sure my make up brushes came in very handy in sliding the pack of gum into her clutches.

Ashley returns to the scene of the crime

The make up brushes that were used as her tools

The pack and play with all of the shredded mess!

As if that wasn't enough... I was packing up the pack and play and I found under the mattress several more brushes, some chapstick, even MORE peices of gum, a bookmark, a pen, an eyeliner and a pair of tweazers. Boy she really was busy during naptime!

We do love the mall!

Our mall was just renovated and updated. It didn't look that bad before, but one thing we love is their new kid area. They have an indoor playground that is great for the little ones in the morning (there's a problem with the afternoon kids being too old and not supervised). They also put little kid sized picnic tables in the food court which really make eating McD's nuggets cute!

During the cold and rainy months with a toddler, you'll find that you spend a lot of time in the mall just letting them run around to get out of the house.

Melody & Rylan NOT eating their lunch

Mom Tip #2

Here's a crafty one that I got from somewhere. It's not technically mine, but good all the same.

Save the caps from your laundry detergent and fabric softener bottles. You can cut out sponges into shapes, glue them onto the caps and make it really easy for little hands to use sponge stamps. Happy Stamping!

I just don't get it...

So I'm flipping through one of my magazines, and there is this new product on the market for breastfeeding Moms. Well, maybe not new, but featured in this magazine. It's called the Milkscreen and it's purpose is to screen breast milk for alcohol content. Now, I am all for safety and everything, and maybe I shouldn't judge because as much as I love a good drink I can very easily go without, but if you're breastfeeding, here's another idea.... DON'T DRINK! And it's advertisement says, "Provides a fast and accurate method to let you know if your milk contains a level of alcohol that may negatively impact baby". Wouldn't ANY amount of alcohol negatively impact your baby?

Maybe I'm way off base, but it just seemed really weird to have it. But then again, they also have the "at home" Breathalyzers that you can use too. Another idea is not to drink and drive, but I guess I'm making these things way too simple. Sad that people are buying them...
Thanks and sorry for the vent. The next post will go back to being happy and funny.