We Love The Fall

There has been snow on the ground for a couple days now and I have been missing Fall. I was looking at our pictures and decided to share. 

picking pumpkins

 halloween party

trick or treating at the mall

We may have gone overboard this year with three different costumes for Jayden. Oh and then there were the five carved pumpkins and one painted one. What can I say? We love Halloween. And I love carving pumpkins.

 

 trick or treat!

my pumpkin

The best thing that has come from Halloween is the new love for playing dress up!

Assumptions And The Judgey Mom At The Play Place

Today is my sweet baby boy's THIRD birthday. Can you believe it?

We have a big party planned for him this weekend but I asked him what he would like to do today to celebrate. He picked a play place and Adam took a half day off of work to meet us there.

When we got there, the parking lot was full so we had to park in the back and take the back stairs in. The stairs were dark, dirty, and kind of scary. Then once we got up there, the door was locked and I had to call for them to let me in. The whole thing was weird and I should have known we were in for some trouble right there.

I kept looking at the clock and wondering where Adam was. He doesn't have a cell phone so I couldn't check in. I got more worried as time went on.

Meanwhile, he was in the parking lot wondering where I was. He didn't see my car and didn't know about the parking area behind (I didn't know until today either.) It had cleared out and there was plenty of parking so it never occurred to him. 

So at the same time, he was in his car freaking out about what happened to us. And I was inside pacing and wondering what happened to him.

Finally he came inside...and there we were! So we all sat down in the eating area to have lunch together.

I was the crazy mom taking pictures of my child eating.

 I made his sandwich into a train and I was excited to see his reaction. 

 Of course he ate the raisins I used to add details and announced he was done with lunch. 

And here is the picture of him eating a few bites only because I bribed him :P

So clearly I was in my own little world. Meanwhile, Adam noticed one of the moms was staring at us and giving us dirty looks. Whatever. It's Jayden's birthday and we're having a good time.

As time went by, it became increasingly obvious this person was angry with us. It was so weird. 

After lunch, Jay ran off and I got up to follow him. As I start to pass the mom, she confronts me. She came on really strong and in my face. She pointed in the general direction that Jay was and asked if that was my kid. I said, "Why? What did he do?" She got louder and said "IS THAT YOUR KID?" and then I realized she was not pointing to Jay. I was so confused. I realized she was mad at me for not watching my child....but he was not mine!! 

There was a one year old up in the tree fort area and I guess she felt someone should be watching him up there because he was young. All this time she had it in her head that Adam and I were eating lunch with Jayden, but left our one year old up in the tree fort. Why us? I had one interaction with the child when he was playing with Jay earlier, but that was it. I had a similar interaction with many of the kids there. 

I don't know why she made this whole scenario up in here head. And she was ANGRY with us over it. Isn't it amazing what happens when you assume things?

Even if he was my child, approaching me like that was not okay. And her hovering over the child and making a huge deal about him using the stairs alone was plenty obvious. She didn't need to talk loudly about how nobody was watching him. 

The real kicker is that she never apologized to me. In fact, a little bit later when Jay was climbing on something, Adam and I were sitting on a bench nearby, and we got another dirty look from her! Apparently we are supposed to stand next to him at all times. This is a small play place that is completely fenced in. Everything is perfectly safe. And Jayden is basically a professional climber at this point. She may have felt it was dangerous, but it was the safest place he had climbed all week.

I don't mind helicopter parents. I also don't mind parents with cell phones sitting on a bench. To each their own. As long as your kid isn't beating up mine while you ignore it, I don't care. I tend to be more on the helicopter side when in public just because Jayden is a runner and I don't trust him not to run into traffic. But, in a safe environment, I can be the mom with a phone sometimes too. No matter what parenting choices I may have been making at the time, nobody deserves to be talked to like that. And I didn't enjoy the dirty looks while I was eating lunch just because she has an active imagination.

First And Last Day Of Cloth Diapers

Jayden has been potty trained (at least at home) for weeks now and we're still using diapers for nap and sleeping, but it didn't make sense to keep using cloth and washing four diapers at a time. We had to face the fact that it was time to clean the diapers and pack them away.

(By the way, does anyone have any special advice for packing them away when you hope to use them again someday?)

So, here are pictures from his first and last time using cloth diapers--

I am going to miss his little fluffy butt in diapers. And I am going to miss our cloth diaper collection. Of course it brings up questions in my head of whether we will ever get to use them again. I am way sadder about this milestone than I thought I would be!

Winter Cabin Party

In February, my siblings and I threw a surprise party for my parents' birthdays. They are the same age-- just born three days apart-- and they were turning 60 so we knew we had to do something special.

They thought they were going to a winter cabin party adoption event. I even made a fake flyer about the fake event and put it on my fridge.

Of course last minute my dad had to go and make it difficult and say he might not come because he was really tired that day. I had to give him a big guilt trip about Jayden wanting him there.

There was a big snow storm right before the party. It made the park absolutely beautiful, but my brother's flight was cancelled. I was so sad because it was going to be a huge surprise that my brother was there. We live in NY and he lives in Oregon so it's not often he can come home. It would have been awesome. My sister did come from Boston though so that was a great surprise. My parents didn't even realize she was there for a while. They were talking to everyone else and then all of a sudden saw her. It was so fun. There were a couple other people that were big surprises too.

 Cake

 Party Favors

 

 

Centerpieces

I am now selling these centerpieces in my shop!
You can go here to check them out: So Much To Celebrate

The hit of the party was definitely the hot chocolate bar. 

 Fun with photo props (which can be purchased from So Much To Celebrate)

As it got to the end of the night, Jayden took the broom out and started sweeping. It was like he was saying, "You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here." 

This is how I found him in his car seat when we got home. He partied hard.

I am so happy we were able to pull this party off. They were truly surprised and it's a day they will remember.

Fun With Our DIY Lightbox

 

There's Always Money In The Banana Stand

"This is the story of a dedicated fan base, who after years of anticipation, was justly rewarded with 15 new episodes on Netflix."

I couldn't resist making some chocolate covered bananas for the occasion.

 I made a bunch of different kinds, but my favorite are the ones with peanut butter between two pieces of banana. 

  

For those watching today, enjoy!! 

Easter Bunny Wreath

I just finished my Easter wreath and I was so excited I had to share!

 

Major credit goes to my mom who actually made the base using branches she found! She is a crafting genius and I am trying to convince her to quit her teaching job and craft with my every day, haha! She has off this week for February break and we have been having the best time. 

I have some more Easter crafting plans that I am looking forward to.

Do you have any projects you are planning? I'd love to hear about them!

Homework: 2012 in Review

Back in December I received a homework assignment from my friend on twitter. Well, she was assigning it to someone else and I said that it was a good idea so she handed down the assignment to me as well. The original intent was to make a list of brave and/or cool things that happened in 2012 that were not related to baby making. For me it was a little different and served as a good reminder that I am not just living the same day over and over again like the movie GroundHog Day. That I was brave at times and did cool things. 

I had to come up with one thing for each month that was brave and/or cool.

January- We made the official decision to start co-sleeping. One night Jay had fallen asleep in our bed and before Adam carried he him up to his crib, I asked if he really wanted to. He would wake up sometime around 2 AM anyway and we'd have to go get him. Why did we keep putting ourselves through it? Because he is supposed to be in a crib? Adam agreed and we never looked back. It's been a full year and it's the best decision we have made as parents. We all sleep better. I don't know how we would have survived teething without it. (I count this as brave because it felt brave at the time-- although since then I have tried to do a lot more parenting from my gut and not worry about how things are supposed to be.)

February- In January I lost the daycare kids I was watching so February was a lot about cutting costs and trying to make it without my income. It was scary and took a lot of sacrifices...even more than the ones we were already making to pay off our adoption. I feel like we were brave just in our trying to get by. 

Jay also got a stomach bug that month and while NOT AT ALL COOL, it was new and we handled it well. You never want to wake up to your child throwing up on you. Poor little one. He was so tired and couldn't understand what was happening. We both feel so bad whenever we think about it.


March- I opened my Etsy shop. Although it would still be another month until I really listed items to sell, it was a huge step for me to open it and start making things to sell. I had no idea what I was doing or how much work it would be, but I feel like putting myself out there and trying to do whatever I could to bring money in for our family was brave.


April- We celebrated Easter. This was a big deal to me. It was the kind of day I always dreamed of while waiting to be a parent. We did an egg hunt for Jay and he did so well. He liked finding the eggs and going through his basket. We also did pictures with the Easter bunny and he started putting two words together for the first time that month. I remember at the mall when we had the pictures done he got a rubber ball and he threw it to see it bounce and then yelled "My ball!" A very cool month.

May- Adam and I went to the drive in and Jay slept at Grandma and Grandpa's house. This was VERY brave of us. In fact as we were driving to drop Jay off, Adam was saying we shouldn't be doing it. We had only been away from Jay a couple times ever and those times were only for an hour or two. An overnight was huge. (And we actually have not done it since.) The drive in was fun until the end when we realized our car battery had died and I began running around to cars and asking strangers if they would help us. We finally got someone to help and we were in a freezing parking lot at 2 AM trying to get the car started.

June- I don't really have anything for June. Had my birthday and turned another year older? That's about it.

July- This month was very brave. I went to my gynecologist for the first time since my hysterectomy. I was way overdue and it was so hard for me to follow through with it. I cried and it brought a lot of hard stuff to the surface, but I did it. And now I have the peace of mind that I am still cancer free.

August- I took Jay to Boston to visit my sister without Adam. I had my mom with me, but it was still scary taking Jay far away without Adam with us. Especially since we spent a night in the hotel just Jay and I.

September- Two toddlers started coming here for daycare. With Jay that meant I was watching three toddlers at once, which was exhausting and terrifying. Although things have gotten easier since then. We now have a routine that works well and it's great that Jay has friends to play with every day.

Also, this month we had a big Sesame Street birthday party for Jay's 2nd birthday. 

October- We took Jay trick or treating for the first time, which was so cool. We also threw a Halloween party.

November- I started planning a surprise party for my parents. More on that (including pictures!) coming soon.

We took Jayden to vote, which was of course very cool. He was a tiny baby in an infant carrier last time we voted. 

December- My siblings were home and my family was together for the holidays. There is nothing cooler than that!



Okay, so there is my list. In February. I get *some* credit for actually finishing it, right?

Now, go read my friend's list at My Lazy Ovaries.

And my other friend's list at So I Was Minding My Own Business.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I hope you all have a wonderful day!!

 

 Crayon Valentines Jayden is giving his friends that come here for daycare. 

Valentine's Day memory lane!



***9 PM  Post Updated***

It was a great day :)

What did you do today?