Big Girl Bag

The upside to you using the potty now is that we don't have to lug around tons of diapers and wipes anymore. Now we usually leave the house with a backup outfit and maybe a cup. So your big backpack is overkill, I think.

I have been looking for a simple little tote bag that you can carry, and I found this cutie for only $10 on Etsy. Hope you love it!


You definitely seem like a grown-up girl that needs fashionable accessories. I just want to kiss those cheeks all the time!

Viva Las Vegas! (well, not you...)

Sweetie,
Please don't take it personally that Mommy and Daddy planned another trip apart from you so soon after Thanksgiving. Your daddy has always dreamed of going to the National Finals Rodeo which is always held at the same part of December in Las Vegas. Earlier this year, we decided that we were finally going to go and booked our trip for four days. After mentioning it to some friends, we even convinced Levi and Christy to join us! They are expecting Baby #3, so they figured this would be their last chance to get away for a while. We had such a great time (and spent way too much money), it was a perfect Vegas getaway!

Our first night there, we were staying at Treasure Island. When your daddy went to check us in, they told him they were sorry to say there were no rooms left with a King size bed (like we reserved about 5 months ago!) When he asked about a potential upgrade, the desk clerk talked with her manager and eventually told him about the "Executive Suite" that would only be about $80 more. I was standing across the lobby when all this conversation was happening, so I had no idea what a wonderful surprise I was about to get. When we came to our room on the 29th floor, it had it's own entryway! We opened the doors to a long hallway with two tables and big mirrors, and realized that there were two huge bathrooms across the hall from each other. One had a big jacuzzi tub and the other had a walk-in shower. The bedroom had the most amazingly comfortable bed and was separated from the living area by a huge frosted glass panel. There was a comfy couch and a TV by the bed and in the living area. Bo was in heaven! We even had an awesome view of Las Vegas Blvd. and all the runners of the marathon that next morning. It was definitely the nicest hotel room I have ever been in! What a romantic surprise!

The next three nights we stayed at the Mirage, just across the street. Let's just say, we had fun eating and hanging out there, but the gambling tables were not nice to us! At least we got to enjoy the volcano show for free!
If you ask me, the highlight of the entire trip was going to see "La Reve" at the Wynn Casino. It was the most amazing show I have ever seen, and the stage was actually a pool! The theater is round, so everyone's seats felt really close. The performers came down the aisles, up out of the water and even were raised and lowered from the 80 ft ceiling. They all had incredible strength, since the show combined gymnastics, dance, acrobatics and a musical of sorts. Of course, they don't let you take any pictures, so I will have to just remember it forever!

Your daddy will say that his favorite part of the trip was the rodeo of course! It was such an exciting night of competition since everyone is at the top of their game. I think our favorite events were the steer wrestling, team roping, and the saddle bronc riders. Our seats were not close by any means, but we still got a few cool pictures. Especially of Levi. He took that one himself.

Our unexpected part of the trip came on our last day when we were hanging out in the Forum mall next to Caesar's Palace. While I did a little Christmas shopping, your daddy walked through an art gallery and loved the photographs. He teasingly told me that he bought one, which I thought was funny. When we walked farther through the mall, there was another gallery for the same artist, so he insisted that I come take a look around. The artist is Peter Lik, and Australian photographer who is about to have his own TV show. He travels all over the world to capture these completely stunning shots with the most vivid colors you can imagine. Apparently, he uses some sort of silver in his film, so it absorbs the light differently. We both were blown away by his art. After a long discussion, we decided to buy a piece that will eventually be on our dining room wall. It was taken in Zion National Park in Utah, and has a rocky background with bright autumn trees in the foreground and a rushing stream. It actually seems to be moving because he uses a long exposure time. And let me tell you, lighting makes all the difference! The photos seem to change as you dim or brighten the lights on them. I can't wait to redo the dining room to showcase it properly. Too bad we have to wait about another month for it to be delivered! On a sweet note, we got to choose our series number and chose 605 since it is our wedding date. Makes it even more special!

We ate great food, had some amazing desserts, stayed up late and slept past 7:00, learned to play craps, and held hands a lot. After watching Levi eat a squid, we learned that he is pretty much a billy goat that will eat anything. It was a great time for us to remember how much we love each other and enjoy spending time together. Sometimes Mommies and Daddies need a little "minimoon!" We did miss you tons and were so happy to come home to see you. We could not say thank you enough to your Grammy and Savtah for trading off keeping you for us. You had a great time seeing everyone. Thanks for being such a wonderful girl to let us have our little getaway.

The Miracle of Christmas (Cards)

I love getting Christmas cards. Not just because it is nice to actually get something other than bills and junk in the mail, but because it makes you feel special and loved that someone cared to send it to you! This year, I already have glittery garland strung across our entry way, just waiting for me to hang all the fun pictures and cards from it. For most families, it is a chance to share an update on how the kids are growing and how blessed they are to be together and happy. For many people, it is the only time that they will send something out to faraway relatives with love and thoughtfulness. It seems sometimes like snail mail is dying out....

But I think the real miracle of Christmas cards is actually getting everyone together and smiling. With a two-year old, it is a huge feat to have all three of us in coordinating clothing (without food or dirt all over it), smiling together and looking at the camera. I still have yet to accomplish this, but I haven't given up hope yet!

And thanks to Shutterfly, I am going to proudly send out our family Christmas cards this year. For just mentioning them on my blog, I am going to score 50 free Christmas cards! And this one is my favorite:


To check out all of their fabulous Christmas cards, head over to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/holiday-cards

I am also a big fan of their photo thank you cards, since Cameron has not yet gotten the hang of writing her own...
http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/thank-you-cards/3x5-folded-note-cards

And of course, I love having a calendar full of cute pictures of Cameron to look at all year round! http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars

Merry Christmas to your family, and hopefully you will be seeing the smiling shiny version of ours very soon!

Better late than never...

Since I am so far behind in blogging, I feel the need to just get it over with and post all the stuff that is clogging up my brain. (No blogging means clogging!) So here are the last two special posts that were part of the series...

#9 - Two words that describe your life right now: FULFILLING and HAPPY

and #10 - A confession: I just bought myself a really fabulous pair of shoes that I originally had no intention of telling Bo about. Until he sees me wearing them. Like this weekend. Because I paid for two day shipping (which I NEVER do). I think after Christmas I might need to put the credit card back in the safe. It is way too easy to go overboard with online shopping. But look how cute I am going to be!



Okay fine, I bought the tights too. But I plan to wear them the other way around, so the peacock design is on the back of your legs. I can't wait!

You Get What You Pay For

Cameron,
I feel like this is the week of life lessons. And here comes another one: Sometimes, you get what you pay for. Mommy has been considering several areas of the house that need something either fixed or purchased to make it work. I told your daddy last night that this is the time that I bet drives all homeowners crazy. You are "moved in" and now you have to start really living with things that are broken or wrong, or pay to fix them all. Like your shower. It has hideous tiles with a funky bumpy surface, so nothing will stick to it. Your adorable frog that holds all your bath toys looks like roadkill sitting on the counter. We keep having to dry off your toys and just lay it back on its side rather than hang him up nicely. But we will just have to live with it for a while.

The kitchen, however, is a different story. There is a big empty space where a small table is obviously supposed to go. So I was on the hunt and came across this cute table from Pier 1:

I liked the size and that it looked a little worn in. I thought the bottom was more ivory than tan when I looked at it in the store, and since my kitchen is tan and brown and more tan, I thought it would be a nice change. It also came with these adorable chairs in "ivory" too...

I thought the shape was interesting and that they would serve their purpose well for only being $99 each. On sale! How great. Except the first store I went to only had one chair. So I decided to be good and not buy it until I talked to Daddy first. No more hiding my purchases on the credit card. And of course, he thought it was SOOOOO expensive. But I guess eventually he realized that sometimes you have to let your wife spend money on things, and gave in.

So after dinner last night, we loaded up and went to a different Pier 1 store. They unfortunately only had one of the tables (as the floor display) and they only had one chair because the other was broken. Apparently, the curved wood in the back is super fragile and gets constantly broken during shipping. We purchased the one good chair and headed to ANOTHER Pier 1 store. They had the table as their floor display too and it was scratched. And the only chair they had in ivory was also broken. Chair stats are now - 1 good, 2 broken. But it's only 8:30 at this point and Cameron seems to be hanging on by a thread so we decide to just get it over with and go back to the original Pier 1 store that I was at earlier in the day.

We get there and Bo is already cranky and explains to the manager that we have been all over and just want to buy the freakin' table and one ivory chair. She has one in stock and it is.... broken. 1 to 3, people! Fortunately she has the table brand new in a box, so we decide to buy it. She is quite nice and wants me to get the sale price, so we agree that I will just take the same model chair in a brown stain (which I later discover completely clashes with the table top) that I can bring back to exchange as soon as they receive more ivory chairs, most likely in two weeks. But she at least wanted me to have a second chair to sit on. She even called the store at the Forum because they showed 2 chairs in their inventory. BOTH BROKEN! 1 to 5! **This is the point in the story where I should have realized that this furniture is just crappy and should have walked away** (But Kerrville has three if I happen to be going there - I wish, but NO!) I leave after writing a big check and thinking how nice she was even though the experience has been a nightmare.

And then it gets worse.

We get home after 9:00 and Cameron is exhausted and fussy. As soon as I get her to bed, we bring in the furniture and realize that the "ivory" just looks like more tan in the kitchen light. So I think, "oh well, maybe I will just go back and get another brown chair." Then we assemble the table and realize that the top has tiny little red spots (that look nothing like the finish) ALL OVER THE PLACE.

At this point, I instantly realize that I am not going to be happy with it and yet, I am afraid that if I ask him to take it all back apart that Bo is going to lose it. He already had to drive all over town with a cranky toddler and hates dropping money like that and now I just can't tell him it was all for nothing! But fortunately, he realized it was just total crap. So we boxed it back up and decided I was going to take it ALL back the next morning.

And by some miracle, the same nice manager was there when I arrived. She was horrified that I was back. She understood my frustrations and asked if I wanted a store credit, because obviously my check from the night before hadn't cleared yet. But of course, I am not going to spend that much money on Pier 1 furniture ever again! So the dilemna is that she doesn't have that much cash to give me a refund. And I don't want to go hauling this table and chairs around in the back of the pickup all weekend when we are a THIEF MAGNET.

So I left it there and am going to have to go back either tonight or tomorrow to get all the moolah. It's a good thing that this manager seems so trustworthy! I really like her even if I suddenly despise Pier 1. And so the hunt continues... I am sad to think that I am going to have to go spend more money at a nicer place, but apparently if I don't want it to fall apart in five minutes, that's what you gotta do. Because I learned that you get what you pay for.

Update: Got the full refund. That manager is fabulous. But now I am wondering if I can find something fabulous through a garage sale or Craig's List instead of the $700 set I loved from Bassett Furniture. Decisions, decisions.

Our Weekend at the Stock Show

You had so much fun going to see all of Daddy's family at the stock show. Other than the ridiculously long walk from where we had to park, we had fun too! You were all smiles for your Uncle Chance and Grandpa as they showed you around the pig barn.

And apparently you and Gigi must have chatted earlier because you were perfectly color-coordinated! You got a sweet Valentine's surprise from her and Grandpa - pink shoes with sparkly tops and zebra ribbon laces!

She even bought you two sparkly bracelets just like hers. You always love them and try to steal Gigi's. They are so tiny and adorable!

The highlight for you was definitely the petting zoo. You were so excited to see animals that you have seen in all your books. You told us all their noises and were all smiley.

Uncle Chance even helped you touch the baby pig! Though this one was no match for Aggie, the pig that is actually being shown in the stock show. Can you tell Uncle Tanner got to name him? :)

And Sunday you got all dressed up for church and were our perfect little Valentine.

Christmas, Here We Come!

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas! Friday night we went to our church group's Christmas party (you were fabulous for the group babysitter, so thanks!) where we had some tough competition for the most ugly holiday attire. Behold:

Of course, I think we should get extra points since ours were homemade. Oh yes, your daddy decided that we were going all out with the ugly handprint reindeer. Which by the way, also required some strategic planning on mommy's part for that hand placement. Thanks for noticing, Chad.

And after our silly gift exchange (our gift and the Mowreys' gift were the hit of the night - both of us bought snuggies!) Jason even found a fabulous accessory to his snazzy outfit.

What better way to spend the evening? We had tons of laughs, good food, and even got to squeeze and cuddle other people's babies! Here is Dr. Kara giving Hailey some love!

Then Saturday morning, we headed out early to beat the crowds to the mall. We found several gifts and you were a great shopper. You definitely aren't a passive rider in your stroller anymore. You wanted to reach out and grab everything in your reach (which is more than I thought!) But you were very happy and got lots of smiles from all the strangers you waved and said hi to.

We decided to make it an evening and headed up to have dinner with Uncle Ryan in Austin. After lots of discussion and aimless driving, we headed over to Hyde Park Bar and Grill, whose name is completely deceiving. It was a lovely and cozy place with great food, very family friendly. We had a great time and enjoyed getting to see Ryan.

And today has been a wonderful day filled with our church's Christmas musical (hence your fabulous dress that Aunt Rachael gave us) and some productive chores outside in the great weather. It was over 75 degrees today, so Daddy and I cleaned out the flower beds while you had a nap.

This week, you have been Miss Independent. Daddy has been helping you practice picking up food with a fork and feeding yourself, and you are pretty much determined that it is the only way to eat from now on. Heaven help us! At least you are still a pretty adventurous eater, and you gladly share whatever Daddy and I are having. (Like last night at dinner, you ate salmon, green beans, rice, and some of Daddy's tilapia!) You are always laughing, especially if you hear us laugh at you!

Just seven more work days until we head to see all our family for Christmas. You are going to be completely spoiled, I am sure! Christmas, here we come!

Operation Christmas Child

Cameron,
Mommy was so excited to do some Christmas shopping for a good cause that we had to go last night. Our church is collecting boxes for Operation Christmas Child, which are sent all over the world through the organization Samaritan's Purse. It is an inexpensive way to give a special gift to a child somewhere in the world and tell them about the love of Jesus.

We had so much fun at Target! The dollar sections were great, so we stocked up and got a ton of items for just $25. We are sending a bracelet/necklace set; a notepad; a pencil case with tons of pencils, erasers and colored pencils; some soap with its own plastic tub; toothbrush and toothpaste; a brush and mirror compact; some jelly beans; six pairs of cute socks; some hair clips; and a tiny doll. I think I am also going to print some Christmas coloring sheets and put a special note in too. We chose to send to a 2-4 year old girl, so I even tucked in a cute picture of you so they would know who it came from.

We pray that wherever this ends up, that this little girl would know that she is special and important to God. That she would be happy for the presents, but that she would grow to know Jesus and understand why his love compelled us to send it!

Fun in Wimberley

Hi Pumpkin,
This past weekend, we were happy to have your Uncle Tanner come in from College Station to spend some quality time with us and Grandpa and Gigi! They were visiting on yet another pig shopping trip (this time for a cousin who is just starting out with showing animals.) When we had no plans for Saturday, we thought a trip to Wimberley was just what we all needed! After a wonderful lunch at the Wimberley Cafe, with some amazing sweet potato fries that you especially enjoyed, we headed out for some shopping (lots of browsing) and picture-taking!

Of course, your daddy and Uncle Tanner were perfectly content to hide away in this little nook off the main street and just play checkers...

You had a great time hanging out with Grandpa!

We found a few Christmas presents for our humonguous family, and were excited to go see the little pumpkin patch just down the street.

Princess Cameron with her carriage!

The fall is your favorite time of year, I am almost positive of it! Everyone needs more orange in their life...

It's ON, Baby!

Hi Prairie Dog,
Well, we are spent, both in the monetary and emotional energy kinda way. Friday night, I realized that we had no plans so we might as well get to the shopping. We loaded up and headed to San Marcos to check out the Pottery Barn outlet. I was super excited to find a low cabinet with two shelves and two drawers that just needed a little TLC. It has a two-inch gash across the top and was missing the knobs off the front, but was marked down from $1200 to $285! After checking one other store, we loaded it up and happily took it home. I figured the stand on the TV would completely cover it anyway, and I was right. Bo was very proud of my thriftiness, and we found great knobs the next day at Home Depot for around $8. Fabulous!

And Bo got to purchase his TV on Saturday. He really did shop around to get exactly what he wanted at the best price, so I was pleased too. And man, is it a great picture. Of course, Bo would happily watch football for the rest of our lives, but I did sneak in some time to watch HGTV (in high def!) and catch up on two shows that were recorded from last week. The only downside is that now all the equipment is at prime level for you to grab, so we are working to keep you away from all the buttons. You just smile when we say no!

But as great as it is to have the TV crossed off our list, we still have to figure out how to get the old TV out of our living room. It is parked about 5 feet away from its previous home because it is so heavy that Bo and I cannot possibly get it down the stairs and out the door. (Okay, mostly I am the problem.) Plus, we can't really sell it in it's broken condition, so what do we do with it?

Fortunately, we had a wonderful distraction from all that mess. You took your first steps this weekend! You have been holding onto things and walking around a lot, but this weekend you really tried to make a go of it. We were visiting our friends' (who thankfully have really cushy carpet) and you decided to let go of the trunk you were holding onto and managed to get about three steps in before you plopped down. I told Daddy that "it's on now!" Plus, you have figured out how to climb the stairs up to our loft area, so the baby gate is going to have to be a permanent fixture for a bit.

It's going to be an exciting week! On top of everything else, we are praying for Daddy because he has an important appointment coming up. Supposed to be this afternoon, but got bumped to Wednesday, so more time to pray! I will cautiously not share too much, but let's just say that it could be a wonderful change for him and we are praying for God to throw open the door right away. At least we have a fun weekend to look forward to, with Daddy taking a guy's getaway to Corpus Christi and my mom and sister coming to visit. The days need to go quickly! And something tells me that with you up and on the move, they most certainly will.

The Post Where I Say "Ostentatious"

Camo,
You probably haven't noticed at all, but our big screen TV croaked this past Sunday morning. On the day of a Cowboys game, that is like a national disaster. Apparently, there is a part thingy that we have already had to have replaced once before that went out again, and it would cost about $300 to fix for the second time. So we start shopping around, and your daddy realizes that he can get a brand new plasma TV for $800! And we would be paying $600 total to repair this enormous dinosaur again. My vote is to just get a new, much thinner, more streamlined TV.

So we headed to Best Buy to ask some questions and see the options. Apparently I came across as a bit bossy, because I made your daddy a bit upset by refusing to even consider the bigger sizes. I actually remember saying in a huffy voice that we already have a huge TV that is a complete eyesore (giant, black, takes up a whole wall) and that I didn't want the next one to look so ostentatious! He hates when I toss out big words...

The thing is, it occurred to me that we could take a mission trip to Guatemala with that money, or feed a whole orphanage of children for one day! Or we could replace the tile floor in our house that has cracked. Ugh, so much to consider. And on top of that (or more appropriately, below that) we have to find a piece of furniture for the TV to sit on. Our big screen now is so big that all the equipment sits on top. So now, we have to find some kind of cabinet to put all the stuff in, with the TV on top.

We have saved our money and are being responsible, but it is still tough to spend that much and not think it over completely. Yet another example of me being the spender and Daddy being the saver. I want to just run to the Pottery Barn outlet and buy any cabinet that I really like and go get the TV. He wants to shop everywhere and find the best deal. We compromised and agreed that he was in charge of picking the TV and I get to pick the furniture.


So this one is my favorite, but it costs WAY more than the whole TV. Ridiculous. Anyone know of any really cool resale shops where you can find furniture? I would be up for refinishing or repainting something too...

I am just hoping that someday you will actually sit through an entire movie and be thankful for all the stressing and shopping that we went through to get a TV. All week we haven't been able to watch anything recorded on the DVR, and I actually had to sit through all the commercials last night to watch a 2 HOUR LONG season premiere. Dreadful. And your daddy feels so deprived. The other night we were sitting on the couch after dinner and he goes, "You know how some people just live without a TV and say that it allows for more conversations? Well, it just sucks." And we both died laughing. Thank goodness he is so entertaining all by himself!

Weekend Update with Mommy

Yes, our lives revolve around the weekends. Mommy didn't have time to blog last week because she got sucked into the first two Twilight books, and now school has started and work is busy! So, there we go. Finally getting around to blogging.

Friday night, your daddy's family came to visit and met up in San Antonio. Your Uncle Tanner had to get moved into his house in College Station since he is starting at A&M very soon. That evening, Daddy and his brothers had a night out to go see the Silver Stars (WNBA team) and really enjoyed their 5th row seats. Then the next day, you took a long morning nap and got all dressed up to go to Fredericksburg.

A ton of friends and family were meeting up at the fair and horse races for the afternoon. Unfortunately, it was ridiculously hot. I mean, just look at your hot uncles. In the sweaty way I mean, though they are cute too...

We were all trying to keep you happy since Grandpa was hoping you would be his lucky charm!

We killed about an hour by doing some super fun shopping with Gigi, where she picked out several cute shirts, the most wonderful and adorable tutu (definitely pictures to come in that!), and these fabulous black and white shoes. You are going to have to start wearing shoes more since you apparently want to stand up all the time now.

See what I mean?

Even though we had to cut our afternoon short, we had fun getting to see so many friends and family. I know they are definitely looking forward to you being a little more mobile and flexible when it comes to eating and napping. You will definitely have some memories to make!

Best Weekend Ever!

Hi Sweetheart,
Not only did Mommy convince Daddy to watch Twilight with her on Friday night (and then I had to buy the book, just to see what I missed) but we even got to go on a date Saturday and see The Time Traveler's Wife, which I am proud to say did a good job of telling the story from the book. We had so much fun getting to hang out all weekend, do some shopping (not one, but two outfits with leopard print!), and even had a great family day today.

We played around and took some silly pictures... These tulip jeans were one of the first things I bought for you when I found out you were a girl. And they finally fit perfectly! Apparently you like them too!

We certainly had some excitement when we arrived at church this morning... There were only two workers in your nursery room with 10 kids, so they weren't able to take any more. When we got there, there were three other families in line ahead of us, so the options were to just take you with us into the main service or just stay and volunteer. This is probably what Mommy's face looked like... We figured we haven't volunteered in a while and should just help out - it was a wild hour and a half! Thirteen crawling babies, all wanting to be held, and four workers. You were so wonderful, I bet I only held you for two minutes the entire time. You were content to just see us across the room and play the whole time, no fussing. Believe me, it made us appreciate the workers who are there every week.

We grabbed some lunch to go and came home so we could all enjoy a two hour nap. We should definitely make that a Sunday tradition. It makes Mommy feel so much better after a late night out! Then after a trip to the H-E-B Plus (which is always a shopping experience) we came home so Mommy could cook a real dinner. Following a recipe and everything! I don't even remember the last time I did that, not counting instructions on the back of a box. :)

Then we decided Joe Dog could use a quick bath, so Daddy did all the scrubbing while we just watched and laughed.
Gotta dry off with a quick game of frisbee!

Thanks for making this such a wonderful weekend, Baby Girl! Mommy had a great time just hanging out with you and wishes we could keep the weekend going all week!

Going and Growing

Remember this post about how you needed summer shorts and I was so horrified that I had to buy you the nine months size? And I remember saying, at least going bigger will mean these will last you through the summer....

Yes, now that you are approaching 8 months, those don't fit anymore. They look like they are cutting off circulation in your poor little thighs. So I was at Target the day before yesterday, and they still had the same shorts (some on clearance now) so I picked up the TWELVE months size for you. Sigh.

And just to keep everyone up to date, the last time we were at the doctor, you weighed 19 lbs. 3 oz. At seven (and a 1/2) months old! Looks like turning that car seat around will be no problem when you turn one!

Check out this post to see the hilarious stats of Ainslee at her eighteen-month checkup (which you attended, by the way). I hope it didn't hurt your little chubby feelings...

Everything's Bigger in Texas

Check out mommy's latest purchase for you on Etsy! It even came with six flowers in all different colors that you can change out. You are super fashionable, my little redhead!

P.S. Don't worry, I think you will grow into the flower...

PLEASE NO Buyer's Remorse (Part 2)

Quick Update: Bo just found a steal of a deal on Ebay for two car seats! I had looked around and really like the Eddie Bauer ones that work for all three weight categories and will last us much longer. They even turn into a booster seat for a kid up to 100 lbs! I think buying them online will save us about $140, so kudos to Bo for his bargain hunting skills! (He is the hunter, I am the gatherer - of mostly just shoes.)

I really hope that these arrive and are wonderful. Bo had to cave in to buy two of them because I told him that I would die having to take it in and out of my car every time I dropped Cameron off and picked her up. Please, please let this just WORK!

Buyer's Remorse

For some reason, our two big purchases are just not working out. The furniture arrived in the store last Tuesday, but since it was late, they offered to deliver it for free on Saturday. We had to stay home during their "four hour window," so of course they showed up three hours into it. And then the best part...

The dresser looks great. The nightstand got sent back because of a huge white spot on the front that didn't take the stain. It is an espresso finish, practically black, and it stuck out horribly. No way I was going to be happy with it, so they said they could exchange it. (I was curious, who looked at it and thought any customer would want it?) Then they are about to assemble the bed and the guy opens the box and realizes that the rails they have go to a completely different bed. Totally different color and style. GREAT! So now those are going back too. They offered to come deliver it again on Tuesday but neither Bo or I can stay home for another four hours and wait around on them. Bo gets to go pick everything up from the store since he works close by. Why can't they just get it right when they had five days to get it ready for delivery?

Then we got another call from Lowe's that our new front door arrived damaged and was sent back. They said it will take another three weeks to get the replacement! Seriously, three weeks? Is it handcarved by pygmies in the jungle or something? Geez! Of course, we have already paid for the whole thing and just have to wait. Bo was going to try and call to see if they will knock off some of the delivery and installation charges, but it is the manufacturer's fault, not theirs. We will most likely just have to wait.

I felt like the theme of the weekend was buyer's remorse. I bought a few things for the room and ended up returning them because they totally clashed. I have a cool glass picture frame that I was so excited about, then I removed the price tag and tried cleaning it. I ended up smearing the glue all over the middle of the frame! It looks terrible and I am not sure what concoction of cleaners or vinegar or bleach or what will get it off.

I am hoping this doesn't continue... We are about to have to buy two (one for us and one for Cara) car seats for Cameron. She is totally growing out of the other one! Her feet hang out the end and she is all scrunched up when we actually put her in the base in the car. Maybe we will get lucky on Craig's List again. Bo wasn't thrilled when I told him that two car seats will be almost $400! Yikes! But he definitely agrees that she is just getting too big.

At least we are 100% satisfied with her! No return policy anyway...

Shopping vs. Sleeping

Thanks to Mr. Benjamin Franklin, we switched our clocks ahead an hour this weekend so we could save some daylight. I was really worried that it would throw your sleep schedule off completely, but you seemed to not even notice. Saturday we spent most of the day running errands. Your Daddy is trying to sell a cute little dresser on Craiglist. He had it as a little boy and all of the other furniture that it matches has been lost or sold in garage sales. (Kara is horrified that we could part with it... "That's memories!" Of his socks and underroos.) So this one lady seemed very interested and called a bunch of times. Made arrangements to drive all the way out to our house from downtown to see it. She looked at it for about 10 seconds and said, "Hmm, I thought it would be bigger. Thanks anyway." Well, nevermind!

So we loaded up and headed to Lowe's. We finalized the order on our new front door. I am so excited to upgrade since our current door's red paint is chipping off everywhere and it blows wide open if it isn't locked. So we are getting one that will be fiberglass but stained to look like wood. Low maintenance, baby girl! Bad news is that it will take 4-6 weeks before it is completely installed because it is a special order. Your mommy is unfortunately very picky.

After that, we decided to finally make up our minds on the furniture. We liked one set at Lacks but couldn't decide if it was worth $400 more than the one we liked from Star Furniture. They told us at Star that they didn't have a floor model for us to see, so we could put 25% down and order it, and if we didn't like it when it arrived we would get our money back. So we decided to just go for it. Then about 20minutes later, I found the exact same set (in King size) in the back of their showroom. So here is what it looks like (not the greatest picture)...


Hard to tell, but the headboard has tiny little ribbing in each of the panels. I like that it is a very dark finish because most of what we found was a little too reddish-brown. We didn't want it to clash with the bedding I found. I got bright turquoise sheets to go with it so I can't wait to see it all put together. The furniture could take up to ten more days to get here, but we will hurry over and pick it up as soon as possible. We don't want our next round of guests to have an empty room!

Then to top things off on Saturday, we had some friends over for you. It was our first multi-kid babysitting adventure but I thought it went pretty well. Your daddy is amazing! He just is so patient and fun and energetic. Made me think that someday far in the future, we will be happy to give you a sibling.

Sunday morning we made it to church on time, made it through the service and our class with you (we are avoiding childcare germs for as long as possible!) and had a fun lunch with friends afterwards. You were very excited to sit next to Ainslee and watch her eat. But we were so exhausted that as soon as we got home, we all took a three-hour nap! It was the most wonderful thing we have done in an long time. We woke up quite refreshed and decided to finish our chore list. The bedroom is now completely painted (other than touching up the trim) and Joe Dog even got a bath. You were happy to watch Baby Einstein and play in your room while Mommy and Daddy worked. We even went to bed at a decent hour and you woke up exactly at 5:30 as usual. So I guess you are happy either way - shopping or sleeping!

Welcome to Womanhood

Camo,
I realized this week that all your adorable little 3 month clothes are just not going to make it much longer. Your growth spurt has left you with only 5 pairs of jammies that fit and I bought three of them all at once in a panic. We also have had some unseasonably warm weather so I haven't had much for you to wear to Cara's every day. It has consistently been in the 80s pretty much this whole week.

So I headed to my thrify mom HQ, Target. I found some really cute little cotton shorts in pink, denim, khaki, and black. I meant to buy another pair in light pink but swapped out a size and forgot to get the bigger ones. And guess what size we got? I even tried them on you in the store so I wouldn't get home and be wrong.... 9 months! What in the world? You have some adorably chubby legs and the 6 month size wouldn't have fit halfway into the summer. So I decided, we're in a recession and should just buy what will last.

The funniest part is that you can still wear a 6 month size shirt. And that's pretty much how you will shop for the rest of your life. Small shirt, medium pants. It's just a little blessing that your mommy is passing down from her genetic family history. Don't worry, you will eventually start walking and lose most of it. You know, come to think of it, your mommy should probably be working out more on the Wii to take care of her own chubby thighs instead of worrying about yours.

And did I mention that Mrs. Cara said that Ainslee (15 month old!) is still wearing her 9 month shorts from last summer? Yeah, you are catching up to her. You are probably never going to want to go shopping with that girl.

Shopping Makes Me Feel Better

This week Mommy has been feeling a little under the weather and couldn't seem to do anything! On the one day that I was feeling up to it, we had to go to my doctor for a checkup and managed to squeeze in some shopping while you were (mostly) asleep. I went to Kohl's because I had seen commercials for their monster sale, and I found 5 pairs of pants. I am such a picky person when it comes to pants (remember this post?) I am super curvy and short, so once I find a pair that fits, I have been known to buy them without even looking at the tag. But I like to think that I have classic taste so that my things don't go out of style for a long time. What I found at Kohl's were a trouser cut that came in petite sizes, so I snatched up a dark denim pair, khaki, olive green (my new favorite neutral) and a black and white plaid pair of dress pants. I was so happy in the dressing room that I did a little hop and cheered. (It was silent because you were sleeping and I didn't want my joy to be quickly reversed by your screams!)

Then, to put the icing on the cake, we went to DSW and bought a new pair of black sexy heels. Bo agreed that now I really am a hot mama! Clearance and a coupon, it was just meant to be...