This kid lives in Princess dresses!

Case in point, this is Kaelin dressed up at McDonald's. That's right, folks, I let her go out in public like this.  I think it's important to pick your battles so as long as she's dressed, I don't care. I will, however, make sure I tell people she dressed herself! The dress she wore for her 3rd pictures is the one she normally wears, so this one was a nice change of scenery! And you can't go anywhere without lady shoes to complete the outfit!

The joys of having a potty trained kid

Kaelin just came and got me and told me she had to poop. Yippee! So I take her in the bathroom and get her all situated on the potty and she tells me "turn on the fan, Mommy, it's gonna stink!" Then she tells me to leave and shut the door along with "I'll call you when I'm done so you can wipe my booty!" Niiiice! But I'll take it over changing 3 year old diapers any day!

See and Spell Review

About a week or so I got a lovely little box on my front porch! I love that! Inside the box was a See & Spell by Melissa & Doug from http://www.ebeanstalk.com/. So exciting, I love getting new, educational toys for Kaelin. Plus, anything Melissa & Doug is awesome! We were on our way out to run an errand but Kaelin and I were so excited that we had to put off leaving so we could check out the package!

If you missed my last post about ebeanstalk, lemme catch you up! They are an awesome website for great educational toys for 1 year olds, 2 year olds, and they even have super awesome baby toys! Win, win, win! All the items have descriptions that tell you what skill your kiddo will be working along with detailed safety information. Super awesome prices too, which means alot in this economy.

The See & Spell is a wooden puzzle set that teaches basic three and  four letter words with bright colored, solid-wood letters in the self correcting cut-outs on two-sided wooden boards. Kaelin was so excited when I opened the box and pulled it out. We have a few other Melissa & Doug toys that she plays with frequently, so she recognized the style right away. I love the wooden sets because they are well made and last a really long time, so I know Sean will be playing with this same set in a few years too. The eight word boards not only have the letters cut out, they also have a picture of the word on them. You also get a bunch of letters with this set! We hate toys that don't have enough letters to spell more then one word at a time. I like that the words are easily recognized and Kaelin knew what they were instantly. The possibilities are really endless with this set. Not only is it a puzzle, but your kiddo will learn their letters, the sounds of the letters, plus as your kiddo becomes more adept at language it will help them on the road to reading! It comes packaged with a card that has a bunch of different ideas for games to play with the See & Spell.

The only thing that frustrated Kaelin a little bit was that there are letters in the set that don't get used on the word boards, such as l, j, z, v and x. But I'm not too concerned about it since we can still use the letters to spell words on our own. I'm excited though that she figured that out on her own while I was reading the card that came with it. She said "Momma, these letters don't have anywhere to go!" before I even got a chance to play with it. So smart already! I think my favorite thing about the See & Spell is that it's so pretty in it's wooden box, that I don't mind it sitting out on the table in the living room! Bonus points! :)

3 months old and Kae's new hobby

Yesterday was Sean's 3 month birthday! Aww, it has gone by soo fast! Hard to believe that 3 years ago, when we were at this stage with Kaelin, it was the longest 3 months of our lives. Thank God Sean isn't colicky like Kae was. And sorry for the blurry pic, but Kaelin took it with my phone. That's her new obsession! And of course, all the pics she takes have to be sent to Daddy too. Yesterday he got a random picture of her strawberry milk and today it was a pic of Sean's ducky towel. A lot of times he gets really close pics of my eye or nose. Eh, whatever makes her happy! 

Sean is working really hard on some bottom teeth. He normally has his little hand crammed in his mouth chewing the heck out of his chubby fingers. And the amount of drool that comes out of him is insane! Kae wasn't really a drooler so I'm having to learn to keep a bib on the boy all the time. He's getting pretty good with his head and almost a hip baby. That'll make Momma's life so much easier. It's hard to get things done holding him like a newborn. He's trying to pull himself up from laying down like he's doing a sit-up. A lot of times I'll look at him in the carseat and he's holding his head up as far out of the seat as he can. Such a big man!

Kae had her last dance class of the first summer session. She did well this month but is not a fan of tap. So when it gets to that time of class she loses interest. We ended up leaving a little early because Miss Elise thought Kae may not be feeling well. But I learned in the car she just doesn't like to tap. Such a little drama queen! Can't expect any less from a kid that lives in princess dress though!

New family pictures

We went to Target today to get our pics taken. I'm a little late in having Sean's newborn pics taken, but I didn't want the alien baby pics. So we just waited until he filled out and looks like a chubby little baby first.     I had the kids wear there big sister and little brother shirts and Mike and I just wore plain white shirts and khakis. I'm pleased with the group shots, you can even read their shirts! Then Kaelin didn't want to take pics with Sean anymore because he pooped and apparently it's contagious or something. So we only got 1 pic of them together but it was an ok one.

Kaelin did her third birthday pics in a princess dress and lady shoes this year. That's what she's always wearing anyways so I'm just sharing the love! :) She kept running around or giving her cheesy grin and it was a little maddening trying to get her to sit still for her pictures.

I changed Sean into one of the outfits I won from Bei Bambini before he was born. Let me tell you, I was a little hesitant to rip the tag off of an outfit he'll only wear once knowing it's got a $50 value. But I sucked it up and ripped that baby off. I can still sell the other $450 worth of stuff he got. Which is crazy for the amount of stuff that actually is, but that's another post! Anyways, we are now the proud owners of some cute baby sailor pics, how cliche!

They should be emailing the proofs to me soon, so I'll post them when I get them. Then I have to finally tackle redoing our picture wall. Ugh, it's such a mess right now and I hate it. I think I need to take the snapshots down and only frame the good professional pics. That way it's not so hectic and I can actually have a cohesive wall of pics. Maybe :)

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Okay, here's the link to the pics!

Portraits!!!

Great site for fun learning toys!

I was recently came across a great website for quality education baby toys and kids toys! If you haven't been to www.ebeanstock.com yet you gotta check it out! 


One thing I like when I visit a website is to see that they are well organized with easy to search categories and I know when I'm shopping for baby toys and kids toys, I have a hard time remembering what works best for different ages. Ebeanstock has taken the guess work out of the equation by having a toys by age category along with many other options for finding the perfect toy! Love it! Every toy has a detailed description, safety information and tells you exactly what areas your kiddo will be working on by using that toy. Plus their team of child experts hand-pick every toy that is on their website and conduct their own tests to ensure that that the toy is age-appropriate. Many times a toy will be for ‘AGES 3+’ and their experts will move that toy to an older age group. Additionally, they conduct their own ‘wear-and-tear’ tests. If they don’t think a toy will stand up to the tough, daily grind of being a toy, they don’t want the toy. It's so nice to have a company that is looking out for not only our kids' safety, but for our pocketbooks! No more wasting money by throwing away crummy toys that just don't last. 


Ever get stumped when you're trying to pick out a fun, educational and safe toy for your kiddo? Not anymore! Ebeanstalk list what their best sellers are, so we can peek at what other moms (and dads!) are getting for their kiddos. And since they are committed to selling only the best educational toys, they also have a page dedicated to expert advice. And who doesn't need some of that from time to time? When Kaelin had her birthday last week, I got so many calls and e-mails asking me what she wanted. With ebeanstalk you can get online (with or without your kiddos help!) and create a wish list that other people can view and shop from. Imagine that, not having to return gifts that are all wrong for your kiddo! You get to be in control of what others are getting them. No more loud, pointless toys! I would much rather point my friends and family to Kaelin's wish list and know that whatever they pick is going to be perfect!


One last thing I want to mention is that www.ebeanstalk.com has a chat feature! So if you are having problems finding the right toy, or just have a question about their shipping or return policy, there's someone right there to ask! I hate playing the waiting game when you just want to know what to do if your kiddo doesn't like the toy you're about to buy. Let's face it, time is way too precious for us parents, why waste it trying to hunt down answers or phone numbers? 


Speaking of precious time, mine is up! Time to get the munchkins bathed and into bed. Tomorrow is picture day! 

My baby is 3 today!

I can't believe it's already been 3 years since my Kaelin was born! It seems like it has gone by so fast. We had a small party at Chuck E Cheese this morning then came home and had a big party with all the family and friends. It was crazy hectic, but it always is! She had a blast, ate alot of sugar, got some great presents and is now passed out in her big girl bed! I am so proud of all the things she's done in 3 short years. She talks so well (always has!), uses her computer by herself, can dress and feed herself, and is 100% potty trained! I could go on and on about my super bug girl, but my brain is mush from this incredibly long day! Happy Birthday my princess Kaelin Marie!