Splish Splash

New swim suit - $4 Ebay
New blow up pool - $8 Dollar General

Freezing your rear off in your very own kiddie pool in the front yard...priceless!

Thursday Update

Today was Natalie's 15 month well baby visit. She has a sinus infection but besides that she is all good. She is 31.5 inches tall (70%) and 21.5 pounds (25%).

Natalie has some odd marks on her that I used to think were just accidents. Sometimes I wonder if she wasn't marked by her birth mom. I know most of us hope someday we'll be able to connect with the birth parents, this would be one way of telling Natalie from other babies. She has a pinch mark scar on her cheek that the director said was on her when she came in. The spots I thought were her small pox marks aren't (Dr confirmed). They are pinch marks too. I can't imagine what sort of situations a baby could get into and get those type of marks. I am interested in what other IA moms think, I'll take pictures of them tomorrow.

So she was cute at the Drs office except when she got her shots. Of course she screamed and screamed and screamed. The billing problem was escalated to the office manager and I didn't even have to be mean, that made me happy.

I am working on yard sale stuff, I've managed to make an awful mess. I have enough priced to have a decent showing I think. My dad is coming over to help me watch the baby, during slow times I am going to price more loot. The big sale is a week from tomorrow, this little one is to just help me reduce the volume. There is a ton of stuff!

What I downloaded from my camera today...

I guess a good mommy wouldn't of stopped to take a picture on the way to making her get down lol
Starting to remember what happens at the docs

Goovin at the doc in my diaper and beads


She puts the phone to her ear and goes heywhoa dan u heywhoa dan u

Furbabies


When I was cleaning on Sat I organized my shells by country. Check out what I found in Myrtle Beach...

Cool tooth

holy cow! cool BIG tooth!

Check out the serrated edge along the gum. This my friends is why I don't get in water where I can't see my toes.

Bye for now!

Oh ya, I forgot...

We have a new word...dan u

Thank you :)

How cute is that?

Wednesday Update

Just a quick update!

I have been surfing Ebay like they are paying me by the minute looking at Gymboree clothes. Stephe, you asked if I bought lots of clothes in the wrong sizes. Ya, like 50-100 outfits lol Lots of them were yard sale finds but I did waste a lot of money on the clothes. I have them all hanging up now, tagged for the next big consignment sale. At least I am getting some of my money back :)

I have learned something. Don't buy anything from Wal-mart clothing wise for kids. You know those cute little dresses and tshirts with the pink shorts? Worn just a couple of times and they look like crap. Her Gymboree short outfit that bonnie gave us looks better and I bet it's been washed 20 times now (because it doesn't slide off her hiney!).

Lookie at what I bought on Ebay. I have several (million ha!) bids out there for some bon voyage outfits from a few seasons ago. Yup, I am going to stick my kid in clothes with anchors on them for a cruise. I might put a bow the size of TX on her head too! wwhhheeee!

The shirt says just horsen around. This was $12.54. CHEAP!

I got this for $10.40. I just wanted the shirt and this combo was just a couple $$s more than the shirt alone. I'll probably sell the overalls or pair them with a different shirt. You can't see the E I E I O if you put on the overalls :)

This was just $4.67. The walmart version that looks like poo after 2 washes was $3.85..it's a no brainer!

So all gymbo, all new with tags. All cheap! Do your retail therapy online :)

I really want to win these items too...
I have the capris and hat from this line but they were too little by the time it got warm :(

I think lots of people have this dress...except for me!

That's it for now. Tomorrow is her Dr appt. I am going to speak to the billing department and see if they can't call my insurance to verify the start date. They have it as Jan 1st still, three phone calls hasn't convinced them that they have it wrong in their computer. They keep sending me bills for almost $1,000 when my copays are about $60. Soooooo tomorrow I am going to get semi nasty with the billing person to straighten her out. I am not very tolerate of paperwork errors, I work in the documentation department I can't help it. Wish me luck!

Monday Update

This weekend was my favorite type, nice and quiet. I like hanging out with the baby at home playing and cleaning. I was able to make great process in my living room. I cleaned out the TV cabinet and I was able to free up the entire bottom shelf. Now the mess that was in my built it is stored down there. I still need to clean up my desk that is in here and clean off the other desk that is going into the yard sale. Some of Natalie's toys were put into a storage box (because right now she is playing with a silicone muffin cup, a spatula, a small tupperware cup, a tissue box and a spatula) and rolled underneath her bed. I found the missing diapers too, they were under the crib. Well duh, that was a great place to store them. Too bad I didn't remember that before I tore apart the kitchen closet looking for them!

I've been thinking about what I would of bought compared to what I did buy for Natalie. Here is my rundown, I hope this helps someone else!

If you don't want to be chained to your washer buy 7 sets of bedding. Buy white sheets and white mattress protectors. Buy white blankets. Wash and bleach those once a week and you won't be scrambling for stuff mid week. Worried about the cost? Stock up at yard sales before you buy new. I got my three covers new but they were under $3 in clearance sections over the years. My best crib sheets came from Ross at $6 (Wamsutta) and my least expensive Carters ones came from a yard sale for a quarter. I only have 4, wish I had 7!

Bottles! Used bottles work just fine. You can boil them if that makes you feel better. Just be sure to check the nipples for any wear and if you find it then toss them. I would recommend that you avoid bent neck bottles that are small on top. I have a set that is normal in the body then it pinches in, the flairs back out. Those are very hard to clean! The easiest to clean are these:


they come apart and are super easy to clean. These are the only ones I have that come clean in the dishwasher :)

Toys...buy toys from yardsales. I know it is tempting to buy all the cute new stuff out there but in just a few months you'll be up to your neck in toys! Out of Natalie's toys, there are 4 things I would 100% buy again.
One, her blocks (she loves them). I got them all at yard sales for $1-$3 a bag instead of $20 a bag. Just toss them in a sink full of hot soapy bleach water for a bit, rinse well and air dry. You'll save a ton.
Two, her Fisher Price puppy, I would buy this new. She loves it!
Three, her musical Fisher Price table. It is the $40 version (I got her's used for $5). She turns it on herself and plays with it multiple times a day. It is the one with food on it and plays a ton of music.
Four, her Fisher Price train. She has always loved this.

And truthfully, if she just had these 4 toys, she'd be fine. But noooo, I have several hundred other things for her. So if you want to save a bundle, the toy department is the place to cut.

Clothes - I don't know if I am qualified to give clothing advice. I do know the cute dresses I got aren't worn a lot and that I don't have enough cheap knit comfy daycare clothes. Right now I have 5 daycare outfits that are less than $10 each. We using denim shorts ($4 pennys), 2 pairs of denim capris (50 cents and $4), pink shorts ($5) and flowered shorts (free). I have about 8 shirts that are rotated around with that. In a perfect world I would have 10 complete daycare outfits that I'd wash all together.

I guess that is it for now. Here are a few pictures :)

Fun with blocks....

It's for you!

then what did she say?....
hang on, my other line is ringing
stereo!

Poor little thing

Pipsqueak died today while I was at work. He was so active yesterday but this morning he looked really bad. I fed him, washed him and hoped he'd still be here when I got back. He is the first kitten that has died on me like that. He was just so pitiful from the very beginning :(

I am getting inquiries on his siblings. I have small pictures at work and I am going to blow those up and hang them in several places. The black one with the white spot on the chest is a girl. The other black one I can't figure out. The blank and white one is a boy I think. The girl really really likes me and cries for me all the time. It's the same trick Fifi, Laney and Monkey used on me!

Speaking of the kids, I don't think I posted that everyone except for Wookie is outside now. They didn't want to go out but I just couldn't keep up with all the cleaning once I went back to work. They weren't too pleased when it happened, one warm day I opened a window (one story house) kissed them on the head and tossed them out the window (that wasn't as bad as it sounds!). So now I have one indoor kitty and 7 outdoor kitties. So you can see I REALLY don't need these three new kitties!

I almost caught the mom today. ALMOST! ARG!

I had a weird thing happen earlier. An old man stopped at my upper driveway, looked on the road and threw something in my yard. I only caught part of it, I just knew he had killed a cat. But actually he tossed a baby blue jay into my yard. I guess he thought it was dead but it wasn't. I had to keep the cats off of it until it hoped back to it's tree. I guess that explains why the parents have been dive bombing the cats. Marie got nailed on the head pretty bad, I tried not to laugh but her bewildered look just tickled me. Monkey almost caught the baby, if I hadn't caught her leg she'd be hacking up baby blue feathers right now.

Natalie had a good week at school and was super cute both Thursday and Today when I picked her up. If she is on the other side of the room she'll ball up her little fist and shake them by her sides and let out a insanely loud OOHHHHHHH and run to me. It's pretty darn cute :)

Natalie also has a new way of pitching a fit. She puts her little head on the floor then her little hiney in the air and screeeeeams. I hate to tell her, with all the screaming she did in China....her whiny cry now doesn't bother me a bit lol

Look...something to show her prom date. This was caused because I wasn't making her bottle fast enough. BTW that is spit not snot lol

Look at those little fat knees! :)

That's it for now, bye!

Thursday Update

Ok so the rumor is that this is the Carnival Dream currently being built. If so.......I am so there!


Just some YouTube fun
Carnival ship, then mystery ship then you know who...



This guy just cracks me up

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jf4J3YQZrWQ&feature=related

Dinner tonight....

yummy sour dough bread from Atlanta Bread Company to go with our brats, cabbage, carrots and onions (a new favorite)

It's a little chewy!!

I win!


Did you know you can grow pineapple from tops? It takes almost 2 years for an indoor plant. If I can find a nice one I am going to try, it would be interesting to see :)

Bye for now!

Well Crap

Kittens for sale

Cheap

Buy one for a penny get one free! Buy four and I'll give ya $20!

Still trying to catch their mother who is a stray. Luckily they tamed in just a few minutes, they like baths and wet cat food.

Natalie was sick today so I missed another day at work. I am quickly running out of off time! But I think she feels better. After she expelled the demons she ate well and wasn't as wheezy. She decided to do a forward flip out of her highchair today too. She landed on her back and conked her head on the tile floor. She cried for about 2 minutes then pushed me away to get blocks. Ideally I'd never have to hear that thud sound again!

Why did I spend money on 100s of toys? Note the trash bags, at least I got some of my yard sale stuff ready today.


Sailing my cardboard ship in my diaper!

Smile for mommy!

That's it for now, see ya!

Pretty in Pink :)

There are some great little shorts at Walmart if your baby has a tiny hiney like Natalie. They are very narrow and the waist is adjustable. Plus they come in all kinds of colors.

For $5 they aren't the best quality, but they will last as long as Natalie is this size (she ruins clothes, there won't be a lot to pass down).


Ready for school!
She loves my Vegas beads from the Rio. I had 15 strands and we only have these two and three in the AC register. Who knows what happened to the other 10? lol

Addictive AND Educational

http://www.tripadvisor.com/TIQGame

I feel so grown up!

Ever have days where you feel very grown up? Like you have your act together, even just for a day?

Today I was looking over my expenses and where my next paycheck was going. I put the beach trip on a different card (Disney Rewards) because I misplaced my Citi card (it was in my purse, the one I carried the whole time).
What I realized is....(drum roll please).... I get to keep this paycheck. Citi doesn't get it, Chase doesn't get it. The power people, phone people, cable people, insurance people....everyone has their share. HA! It's mine, all mine!

So what am I going to do with it? Wait for it (this is the grown up part).....




I am saving this extra cash for my retirement. TADA How is that for a boring grown up decision? :) (and you really thought I was going to post something good tonight huh?)

Ok ok...here is a funny picture I got today:

Redneck Calamari

The baby said cookie about 20 times tonight. She also said ookie several times and pointed at wookie. We went to the grocer tonight and she was so cute with her little bear and baby bottle (the little 2 ounce one from the hospital). She also isn't interested in the paci anymore - whew! dodged a bullet there!

I am up to 5.55% for the month so far with etrade. If I keep that up (which I know I can't, I'm just pretending out loud) I'll retire in three years! But seriously, if I keep moving forward at 2%, I am out of corporate land when I am 40. Woohoooo!

Sunday Update

We had a quiet weekend which was nice for once. We only left for a few minutes to pick up dinner tonight. The rest of the time was PJ time!

The little stinker found a paci tonight in the yard sale stuff. She wouldn't take one when she was a baby but what does she do tonight? Pop it in her mouth and cry if I tried to take it out. Some days I feel like she is regressing, she cries like her heart is broken for bottles. And now she likes pacis. I see braces in our future!

She really has become a mimic. Every night we sit on the sofa and yell. But instead of random yelling she likes to do (like all the time) we are yelling our phonics. We get all the way to "G" (GA!) and she gets stuck there because that is her Chinese name. So after she says that 20-30 times she'll move to "H" (ha!) which becomes HI! then that gets her waving and she switches to bye bye bye bye bye bye. Today she clearly said cookie, purple, puppy, mama, kim, kitty cat and ookie (wookie). But she won't say anything clearly on her own only if I prompt her.

She also has figured out to wave her arm for hi and bye bye and to blow kisses. Normally she'd do a fishy face or smack her lips with her hand. Now she makes kissy sounds on her hand and releases it.

She has figured out you are suppose to sit on the bean bag chair and that the blue puppy rocks. She has also discovered she can stand on the seat of the puppy and "surf". She knows a lot of commands from me, drop, close, back and march!. She will unload the washer and put everything in the dryer. Then she'll go and get a few blocks and put those in the washer then just look at me like "well, where is the soap?". When she gets close to something I don't want her to be near I say back! then march! and she'll waddle away in toddler cuteness. A lot of times she'll kick one foot in the air while she marches, it's pretty darn cute.

She has stopped eating for me. I am going to the grocer tomorrow to get all kinds of new things I normally don't cook to see if she'll eat it. I am also going to get some lean cuisine type meals for her just to get some variety (I'm good with PB lol). She will eat 2-3 teaspoons for each meal. Sometimes she'll snack on fruit during the day. Her formula intake is good though!

I only took a few pictures this weekend, this morning just to show her crazy hair. It has gotten so long so quick. She went to bed with a damp head last night and a bunch of it was sticking up this morning, I just laughed and laughed. She was like cool it mom .... I need a bottle.

Sleepy and dazed!

I officially reserved the "secret cabins" on the Destiny and Valor last night for Oct 2009. They are 1A cabins (the least expensive on the ship) that have 2 picture windows. There are two of these great cabins, one has a twin on the floor and one in the air (we'll get a rolllaway). The other has 1 king permanently put together. There is a some noise in this type of cabin because of the location but it is in the morning when we dock (we had the same cabin last Sept on a different ship) and its not like Natalie will let me sleep past 6am anyway :)

I think that is it for now - bye!

Friday Update

Helloooooo!

Let's see...this week I started carpooling. We are saving the world one gallon of gas at a time!

I am kicking butt with my day trading, I am up 4.8% for this month. Next week I am poised to make another 2%. I am totally in my groove!

I picked out our cruises for late 2009, I am still looking for a spring one. We are going to do a 5 day eastern then hang out for a day then leave on a 7 day western. Two different types of ships too, should be lots of fun :)

This weekend I hope to dog out my little garden. My beans are in those little peat pots and some are 6 inches tall already. I started them inside so they wouldn't be too little and be trampled if the cats played in them. We are going to the farmers market in the morning to buy tomato plants too :)

We went out to eat tonight and she was really good while she was hungry and the food was coming. Then she was super squirmy and we had to leave. But here is a cute picture :)

Bye for now, I'll post more later! :)

Monday Update

I have a lot to catch up on!

First of all, Happy Belated Mother's Day to all the Moms out there!

We went to eat pizza with my Dad on Saturday. She tore through the mall like she owned it!


My favorite bib :)She loves Diet Coke with Lime. I give an amount that is equivalent to a teaspoon and she smacks her lips together and goes ahhhhhhhhh!

On Sunday we went to my Aunt and Uncle's to have a cookout. We were going to swim but we've been hit with our annual May cold spell. Just when you think it's safe to put away jackets and buy lots of flip flops, we get hit with cold cold weather!

Aloha!


Eating Pringles - that with the Diet Coke wins me Mother of the Year right?

Biiiiiig bow head :)


With my 83 year old Grandmother. She is fascinated with Natalie's black hair (she is senile) and doesn't remember she is from China. She pets Natalie's head a lot.
Bad puppy!


Bad shoe!Bad baby! (no I didn't put her in there...a dress a lady does not make)



I am really really looking forward to Dec now with the cruise. Now that I know that is my speed of vacation (I know what to expect and that makes trips easier) I spend a lot of time planning it out in my head. We'll be flying Allegiant (sp?) Air which charges for each bag you check. So my plan is to just pack one checked bag. We'll be hitting some US ports so I'll be able to restock on stuff if needed. Think I can do it? It IS iffy :)

BTW, I have two cabins left on that cruise at the $650 PP group rate if anyone wants to go. Click here to view, it is the Dec 6th one. As you can see, that price is without tax and without our group credit of $100 per cabin (so ours is really $600 PP). Plus we don't have to pay the $58 PP fuel supplement because Miss Planner Kim has had this cruise group booked for hhmmm, like over a year way before they implemented the fuel charge on new bookings :)

I think that is it for now - bye!