Show us your Life-Wedding Showers

Yesterday was "Show Us Your Life Once" on Kelly's blog.


I didn't get my digital camera until 2004 so many of my shower pics are on film and I haven't scanned any old ones in. As with baby showers I have given and attended lots of fun wedding showers. When I was getting married I had a shower hosted by Maggie and her mom in Virginia. It was so fun and there was lots of yummy food and great friends from all times during my life. My work buddies and friends also hosted an "around the house" shower and girls night for me here in Savannah. Maggie and MarAnna made the trip from North Carolina to attend which made it even more special! We also had a couples shower and the theme was tools so we got lots of much needed stuff for our new (old) house which we bought in 2001 and was in need of some TLC!

When Whitney was getting married I went to Virginia for a shower hosted by John's mom and it was a tea party. We had tea and cute little sandwiches and great fellowship. A friend of John's mom even let us borrow her red hats, the only thing we were missing were the gloves!





One fun shower I help host was for my co-worker and friend Kelly. We had a "relaxation" shower and all gifts were geared toward pampering and relaxing for the bride to be. She got fun PJ's, a nice monogrammed robe, spa gift certificates and more! We had the shower in the evening (we all had to work that day for SCAD Day!) and had desserts and drinks. It was a fun girly night!

Ouch.

My mom had to have emergency surgery to have her gall bladder removed. She hasn't been feeling well for over a month and it was attributed to many different things, but we think the source of it all was her gall bladder. Luckily, it is a "non-vital" organ! I will always remember how the exam rooms at Dr. Napolitano's office had posters of the body and its organs and it always had a fork holding up the liver so you could see the gall bladder. I was always so intrigued by the fork.

Mom is feeling much better and hopefully will be going home tomorrow.

Preschool Meeting and Open House

I had Jimmy's parent meeting at his preschool yesterday. He goes to preschool at our church Isle of Hope United Methodist Church and it is a GREAT program. Lots of information, more than I would have expected for preschool, but I think if they tell you everything they expect, dos and don'ts, etc it makes the year go smoothly. The most complicated part is the carpool pick-up! Ha, yes they have carpool for preschool. Mainly because there are so many kids (several classes ages 2-4) that having kids going back and forth through the parking lots is a safety concern.

Today was the open house where the kids come to meet the teacher and other classmates. Jimmy was a little reserved at first, but he did participate in the art project and sat at the table for snack time (a mini Krispy Kreme doughnut) and sat with me during circle time.

Tuesday, September 1 is the first day of school! There will definitely be pictures to come.

Show us Your Life-Baby Showers

A friend and fellow blogger Molly, turned me onto Kelly's blog and I have been reading it for the past few weeks. From what I gather, every Friday is "Show us your Life" and each Friday has a different topic. This is my first time participating in "Show us Your Life" and it is all about baby showers! Now, that is something I may know a thing or two about :). I have given and attended many showers and the one thing that I have noticed is how much my gift giving has changed over the years, especially now that I have a child of my own. I think back to the first baby shower I ever attended was when I first moved to Savannah. Jimmy's friend from high school who quickly became one of my friends invited me to her shower. It was her second baby so I didn't have a registry to guide me so I think I gave her some white washcloths and maybe a white hooded towel. So creative, right! I definitely looked like the rookie. I think that my gift giving has gotten much more thoughtful and useful over the past 10 years!

Here are a few pics from my baby shower in October of 2006. I had two baby showers, one hosted by my friends in Savannah and the other by work friends. This was my Savannah shower and it was hosted by my friends Eliza, Alison, Catherine and Pam (Alison and Catherine's MIL). It was at Pam's house on Wilmington Island and no decorations were needed, just look at the scenery! They have a beautiful home on the water on Wilmington Island. It was a gorgeous fall day and the weather was just right (it still could be hot in Oct!). Whitney came all the way from NC to attend! We had some yummy food made mostly by Eliza's MIL, Margaret, who by far is one of the best southern cooks around (she could rival Paula Deen) and she made grits and grillades that were so delish! I could not get over the generosity of friends and family before, during and after having a baby. It really was overwhelming.




These last couple of pics are from my SIL Ginny's shower last August here in Savannah. I was just a guest at this one, but the hostesses gave a really nice shower at the Savannah Golf Club. I thought the cake was super cute and if you can't tell from all of the pink, it was a shower for a little girl! Amelia Parks arrived in September. Hard to believe that we will be celebrating her first birthday soon!




In a previous post I showed the backpack from PB Kids that I like to give. Another one of my favorite presents to give is the Tubside Kneeler and Step Stool. I got one as a shower gift and I am STILL using it. It saves your knees and back when giving the little one a bath. It can be used from infant to whenever they start bathing themselves or start taking showers. Also, when recently shopping for a baby shower, I discovered a new item (they are always coming out with new thing!) this hair rinse cup that keeps the soap and water out of the eyes. Genius. I bought one for her, me and my mom!

One more piece of advice regarding strollers...if I had to do it all over again I would not get the whole travel system. I would get the infant car seat and then the Snap and Go, a jog stroller, and a nicer umbrella stroller (something that reclines and has good shade).

My preschooler!

I was outside yesterday trying to snap a couple recent pics of Jimmy so that I could take one to his school. Crazy how you take the pics monthly when they are first born and now it just seems like it is for certain occasions, trips or holidays. Of course he doesn't want to smile for the camera or he acts really silly but here are a few recent pics of my preschooler! Certainly not a baby anymore. I was giving him a bath the other day and realized how his little birthmark on the back of his left shoulder is starting to fade. It used to be bright red. I love that birthmark! Will be so sad when it completely fades away :(.

New Book

I mentioned book club in my last post so wanted to post our next book. We have been on non-fiction kick and I have also read a lot about Pakistan and Afghanistan lately that this will be a welcome departure. Don't know much about it besides being set in Mississippi in the 1960's but looking forwarding to reading something new. Want to get at least one more book in before the new baby comes!

Summer is almost over...

Summer is almost over. Well, not the heat of summertime, but several schools have started back which means that fall is coming. Jimmy has started his countdown to college football season and I just ordered Jimmy a new backpack for preschool. I thought that I had the "perfect" backpack for him, come to find out my friends (not part of the preschool mafia!) gently told me they were going to tell me it was too small! So I got him this from LL Bean (it's the junior version):



My friend Maria does monogramming so I am going to get her to monogram it because I couldn't decide if I wanted his name or just initials and she has lots of fonts, styles and colors to choose from.

I also got home from book club on Tuesday and had a message from the preschool director that a spot opened up on Tues/Thurs. Another little boy, actually a buddy of Jimmy from his class last year, needed the Wed/Fri spot so we swapped. I am bummed Jimmy and his bud won't be in the same class (though, they would mostly get into trouble together!) but this works much better in my work schedule.

It's official! Jimmy is a big boy!!

I know I did a "big boy" post earlier, but Jimmy is now official in his big boy bed. He started climbing into his crib for fun and then would always call us to get him out but on Friday he climbed in and then tried climbing out and actually fell and hurt his stomach and hit his head. Then at nap time he did not want to nap and climbed out of his crib again. Two times in one day so we figured time for the big boy bead!

Yesterday while I went to a baby shower for a friend, Jimmy and his dad brought over the twin beds that used to be Jimmy's when he was little and cleaned them up and also went and purchased two mattresses. I have yet to pick out his big boy room bedding and his actual big boy room will be upstairs and his nursery will be turned into a playroom (we will also make the new baby's nursery upstairs as well). However, for the time being to make the transition, we took down his crib and put one of the twin beds in the same place. Once he is comfortable with it we will move the bed and his room upstairs. Yesterday afternoon I ran to Target and bought a white twin sheet set (and they had lots in stock for those new college bound students...I remember having to get the extra long sheets...but I digress..). I ended up just putting the fitted sheet on since he isn't used to sleeping with blankets, pillows and covers anyways. We also purchased a side rail to keep him from falling out.

It took us a while to get him to go to bed last night so had lots of extra books, rocking and singing but he finally ended up falling asleep at 10pm. Late, but not too bad since it was such a big change! He slept the whole night!

Today, naptime went a little differently. I put him in his bed but when I went back to check on him this is what I found:

Farmer's Market

I did want to mention we went to the Farmer's Market in Forsyth Park this weekend. Savannah is finally catching up with the "local' movement and it is now easier to buy local. I picked up some fresh tomatoes, cucumbers and lima beans. Plan to go back this weekend for more.

I have been wanting to try the Savannah Co-op as well, but haven't gotten my act together to order and pick-up.

Preschool Mafia

As I sit here at midnight, after being woken up by acid reflux (the joys of being pregnant) I have decided the Preschool Mafia exists. The Preschool Mafia consists of parents (mostly, moms) who purposely withhold important information and it ends up making us first-time moms-of-preschoolers look like we don't know what we are doing.

For example:

1. I was in charge of the Valentine's Day party for Jimmy's mothers-morning-out program (which was only two mornings a week for 3 hours). I got a note from his teachers about the party and it said to bring in some cupcakes or cookies. I made some cute little mini cupcakes, perfect for 2 year olds, and decorated them red and white for Valentine's Day. I thought they looked pretty darn cute. When I went to pick him up he had a whole bag of Valentines from all of his friends, most that came with a "goody bag" of treats and a Valentine card "signed" by his classmate! Nobody told me about Valentine's!! I didn't even really think of it because my son is TWO and has been know to draw on the furniture and walls so crayons, let alone pens or markers, were currently banished from our house.

2. Registration for preschool. Jimmy did the mothers morning out program last year, which come to find out, is not the same as preschool, so when preschool registration came around I turned my form in a reasonable time, but not on the first day of year which is when you could "officially" turn them in. I just assumed (I guess that is what the Preschool Mafia counts on!) that since he did the program before and we are members of the church he would get preference. WRONG!!! He got a spot but on Wed/Fri and not T/Thurs which was my preference since it works best for my work schedule and my parents schedule. I am still hoping to work that one out.

3. Apparently, there is some waiting list that I need to get on now if I want Jimmy to go to camp in 4 years. What?

Is this all supposed to be common sense? If so, then I am lacking in that department, apparently.

I think I am going to have to up my game or maybe start blogging more about the times when I think to myself "Nobody told me that!!" so that other normal moms don't end up looking like they don't have a clue!

Great Gift!

The backpack is my new favorite gift to give for showers, birth presents and birthdays! Especially since there is free shipping right now! It's 19.00 at PBKids and $6.50 for personalization. I got one as a gift for Jimmy a couple of years ago and he used it all last year as his "school" bag. I just ordered one as a birth present and another for my niece's first birthday. They are perfect for preschool. I think the lunch box would be perfect for preschool and older/school aged kids.