Awesome dress

I bought a dress today.  Oh I am in love with it.  First I have to tell you that I need a dress to wear to my friend's husband's commissioning ceremony on Friday.  He got promoted and it's really exciting and a big deal.  So I wanted a new dress.  Right now, I have not managed to lose much baby weight, although I have lost a little.  So I have literally no clothes, and certainly no dresses.  On Tuesday during the last day of preschool (wipes away tear) I wandered through JCPenney's with Elena at the mall to kill some time before I had to get Karina.  I saw these dresses and thought they looked really flattering.  They were sleeveless with a kind of full skirt, but the thing that caught my eye was the band just under the bust.  If any of you have ever watched What Not to Wear, you know this is key to looking better.  I thought that dress might be really flattering on me, and might even camouflage some of my tummy issues, so I started looking through the options.  I had seen a blue flowered print I liked in the display, but as I looked, suddenly I saw this gorgeous white with red roses print.  I was in love!  I decided to find it at the JCPenney closer to my house the next day (today).  They didn't have my size at the other store, but I hoped they would at this one. 

Today, after Karina's doctor's appointment (just an ear infection recheck, and she's fine), we headed to Penney's despite the rain.  Karina really wanted me to try on dresses.  She was actually really excited about it.  It's the sweetest thing how pretty she thinks I am.  I started looking for the dress right away.  At first I couldn't even find it, but then in the back of one rack there were two.  Only two!  I was crushed--the first one was a size way too small for me, but the next one was it!!  The exact size I needed!!!!  I was ecstatic.  I was ready to head right for the fitting room, but Karina really wanted me to try on more dresses.  I decided to humor her a little, and we looked through a sale rack.  I thought, if I found another nice dress that wasn't too expensive, I might get two.  Karina picked out a blue flowered dress with pretty ruffles at the top that I thought might look okay, and I found a navy blue dress in a jersey knit with pink polka dots on it (it reminded me of a sophisticated version of these adorable onesies/shirts Karina and Elena had/have that came from Gap.  That was a pricier dress though, so if they both fit, I wouldn't be getting that one. 

Into the fitting room we went.  I tried on the blue one first, per Karina's request.  It fit great in the hips, but HUGE on top.  I am not a busty lady, and because my hips are wider now from childbirth, I need a larger size.  But I'm discovering it's hard to fit the top and bottom in a one piece (as in a dress).  So that one was a No.  Next the navy dress with dots.  I loved it.  It was fitted just right, had some ruching on the side, and overall looked really good on me.  A possibility I was not expecting, but I really liked that dress.  Then I tried on my favorite.  Bleeeehhhh.  It didn't fit right at all.  It barely zipped up to the top, but the straps were way too loose.  The hips and waist fit, the bust was too tight, and the straps were too big.  Who the heck was this dress made for?  Anyway, that meant only one dress, the navy dotted one, and I have to say, I wasn't upset at all!  In fact, I'm kind of elated.  Okay, really really really super extra mega happy about this dress.  Karina was happy, too, although she said I looked pretty in all the dresses.  She is so sweet.  Everyone should have someone like that to shop with.  What a confidence booster!  She wanted to carry the dress up front, and did.  She is such a little helper.  She's also got pretty good taste, even though the blue one didn't fit, it was really pretty.  I need to shop with her more often.  It is so much fun!

Now I just can't wait to wear this dress on Friday.  When I put on my sucker-inner magic underthings, I'm actually going to look good.  Wow, and I haven't felt like that since before I got pregnant with Elena.  Maybe even longer.  I want to wear this dress everywhere!

I haven't had a chance to take any pictures yet (rainy day, 3 year old and whiny, teething 4 month old who won't nap...you do the math)(yes, she's teething; Dr. B could see the teeth there under her gums and she gnaws at stuff constantly), so I tried to link to the page.  It's not quite working.  I will give you a link, but I don't think it will take you directly to the dress, so if you want to see it, just go to www.jcp.com and search for the American Living V-Neck Empire-Waist Dress.  It's going to say it's black and pink, but it's not.  It's definitely navy.  I double checked.  And I couldn't find a picture of the rose one at all.  You can try this link for the polka dot dress, but I don't really think it will work:  http://www.jcpenney.com/jcp/X6.aspx?GrpTyp=PRD&ItemID=1dc9d50&DeptID=70656&CatID=80145&SO=0&SelDim=8~&x5view=1&NOffset=0&Ne=4294957900+29+3+23+1031+1490+8+1545&pagesize=1&N=4294936942+550&Nao=0&PSO=0&bcCat=3&CmCatId=70656|80145 





Now I have to tell you that I am in no way affiliated with JCPenney, nor did they pay me or compensate me in any way for writing this stuff.  It's all just my opinion about a dress I bought myself that I just happen to like a whole lot.

Pictures, enjoy!

Cute little dress that I love, on baby I love even more.

Two cuties asleep in the car.

Showing off her tongue

So sweet!

I can't get enough of this smile!  So nice to see!

Zonked out on the couch.

Fake sleeping on the playground at preschool when I wouldn't let her swing anymore.

The funniest kid!

My Mother's Day card from Karina; made at preschool.  I hope you can read it.  It made me cry all the way home.

Chillin'

Two fancy dressed up ladies.

Friendly Creatures

There were some ducks out front the other day.  They were just waddling around, happy as could be.  I got some pictures of them from the window in the house, so I didn't scare them away.  They were just hanging out over in our neighbor's driveway.  I wonder if they have a nest nearby (we live close to a marshy area), and if we might see babies someday!

 Then, the other day I took Karina to the local park.  Suddenly, this large green butterfly-looking insect flew across the playground and landed in a tree.  I realized it was probably a luna moth.  I'm pretty sure that's what it is.  Can you see it?  I can't believe I got this picture, as I was holding Elena, the sun was in my eyes, and I had a really hard time finding him in the tree!

Elena's 4 month checkup

We went to the pediatrician's today and Elena weighs 15.4 lbs.  She's over 24 inches long.  She is smaller than I expected.  She feels so heavy, I thought she weighed at least 16 or 17 pounds.  So I was pretty surprised when she didn't.  Her weight puts her somewhere around the 75th-90th percentile, but her height is nowhere near that.  It's more like the 50th.  This is a lot like what Karina did when she was little. She has now settled right into the 50th percentile, and I'm totally fine with that. 

Elena has a little cold again, and got some icky shots.  She's been sleeping a lot today so I hope the night isn't awful.  I haven't slept well the last few nights and I really need a good night's sleep tonight!

Karina has the start of an ear infection so she's on antibiotics.  But she has no fever so I'm thankful for that. 

Overall it was a good visit.  Elena is doing great and even laughed at Dr. B! 

After the visit we stopped at a small farmer's market that goes on in this little square on Wednesdays only and browsed some stuff.  We got some chocolate cake pops that were delicious! 

Then we ate at Wendy's as a treat and overall just had a really good day.

The Hunger Games movie

Yay, I finally saw it!  I read the book after reading a review of it over at Second Time Around.  I was able to read the whole first chapter free on the Barnes and Noble website, and I was hooked.  The movie was well done, I thought, with the inevitable changes made for the sake of turning a book into a movie.  They simply can't fit it all in.  Overall, definitely worth seeing, although there were a couple areas I would have liked to see them be a little more detailed about or explain a little better.  Her attitude is one--very well explained in the book, and kind of glossed over in the movie.  You're just kind of expected to know how she's behaving and how that is affecting others.  (I don't want to give anything away)  And there's a relationship between two characters that kind of changes out of the blue without much explanation of what is going on.  One minute it's one way, and the next minute it has changed.  Again, I don't want to give stuff away.  But overall, no complaints.  I thought it was really good, moved fast, kept my attention, startled me a few times, and even made me cry.  If you like action-adventure, dystopian (I sure hope I spelled that right) type stories, this one is good.  And I definitely recommend the book.

I got a double stroller!

I did, I got one.  Now, I know I'm not a review blog, but sometimes I buy something with my own money and I want to tell you about it.  Here is a case of that.  I bought the Graco Ready 2 Grow double stroller in green and black (because that's what the store had.  I would have preferred brown and blue, but it's okay).  So far I like it a lot.  It didn't feel like pushing a train down the aisle of the store, and Karina said the seat was fine.

We tested it out on a walk this evening, with Karina riding in the front seat (where she would lie down if we were somewhere like a water park or amusement park) and Elena in the infant carrier in the jump seat area.  Now, I have a Britax infant carrier, and it is not compatible with this stroller.  However, I put her in it anyway (NOTE:  I do not recommend doing anything the manufacturers say not to.  It could be bad.  Just because I tell you I did it, doesn't mean I think that you should.  I don't.  So don't.) and it worked out fine.  The carrier was a little loose, which is something I wasn't too happy about, but it didn't feel like it was going to leap out or anything.  I do have a Graco infant seat and if I can convince my dear husband to get it out of our garage then I will probably use that with the stroller instead.  But, it's nice to know that I can use the Britax if I am so inclined.  The front with Karina in it didn't pull and didn't feel too heavy except when we went over driveways with the ramps.  Then it did tend to pull pretty strongly down hill, but any double is going to do that with the heavier child up front.  So that wasn't anything against the stroller.

I don't like the parent tray but I can live with it.  The cupholder area seems much too shallow and flimsy, but again, not anything I wouldn't buy this over.  I also don't like the basket.  It is very hard to get to and there's no way my diaper bag will fit in it, but again, the positives of this stroller outweigh these two negatives for me right now.  I am going to get some stroller hooks to hang my bag from when necessary, and most of the time I think it will fit on the standing platform.

I folded it up and it's tall, almost as tall as me.  But I can remove the two canopies (really only need to remove one) and the child tray, and it will fit in the trunk of my car just fine.  Most of the time I won't have to do that as I'm planning to keep the stroller at home most of the time.  Again, good to know though for when we go places like the water park this summer (I can't wait!) and the amusement park.

Overall, I am very happy with the stroller.  The small negatives (basket and parent tray) are things that are so easy to find solutions for that they don't really bother me.  The positives (configurations, ease of use, super easy folding and unfolding, and size compared to other double sit n stand strollers) are big deals to me.

So, in my personal opinion, if you are in the market for a double stroller, especially one that will convert to a sit n stand and can carry children up to 50 pounds (that's roughly a 7 year old, by the way; I checked online), I recommend this one.

Hey and nobody paid me to say any of this.  I bought the stroller all by myself and these are my opinions and nobody else's.  Someone else might think differently.  

Chef salad

When I was a kid, I remember my mom making us what she called a Chef Salad.  It was your basic salad:  lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumbers.  Into that she added cheese and bologna (I know some of you probably hate bologna, but I loooove it).  I used to eat each part of the salad separately (just as I did with pretty much everything else I ate, including M&Ms, which I ate by color--no joke.  If you didn't know, I am a very, very picky eater), but the other day I started trying to think of something else to eat for dinner.  I thought about Mom's chef salads, and remembered I had some ham and turkey in the fridge.  Of course I had none of the salad stuff so I packed up the entire family and we went to the grocery store.  I got my salad stuff, went home and made my salad.  It turned out the ham and turkey had gone a little bad, just barely, but I don't take chances, so bologna it was.  It was like heaven--it was so delicious.  I've been eating them more lately, too.  I intend to switch out the bologna for something healthier, but for now I'm just enjoying eating something different.  And the best part?  I don't eat it like I did when I was a kid, and it's better!  Oh, the things I didn't know when I was little. 

The next night I used the salad stuff and made tacos.  They were great, too, and did you know you can get these packs of 12 tacos (6 soft and 6 hard) with sauce and seasoning for less than $2??  All you really need is whatever you want to put in it!  We had ground beef, cheese, lettuce, and some tomato.  I don't put tomato in mine, but my brother does, and he had some, too. 

I was so proud of myself for not only making but also eating two new meals.  I am really trying to eat a little better and not eat so much junk because when I look in the mirror, ick, flab city.  It's bugging me.  I'm not one to give up my sweets, so something else had to change.  I'm not good with change (among many other things) but I am going to eat better (bologna has to be switched up for something else in my salads, or just left out, which is probably what will happen) and I've already been exercising more now that I have the double stroller.  I took both girls for a very brisk walk this morning and it felt so good to just move!

Someone's having a baby....and it's not me!

No, no, it's not me.  It's someone dear to me but I can't tell you who it is yet.  Sorry!  But finding out she's pregnant with her first baby has made me start thinking about baby advice.  Yes, the stuff everyone loves to give and no one really wants to hear after the first 1,000 people have offered theirs.  Since I try really hard not to do that to people, and to only offer advice when asked, but I still feel the burning desire to share what I've learned, I figured I'd do a little post on some of the best stuff I've learned. 

1. You can't hold your baby too much, but it's also okay to put her down.  Really.  I held Karina probably 20 hours a day until I started going crazy, but I hated putting her down.  I knew it was okay to hold her a lot (you're basically holding them 24/7 when they're in your body, so even if you hold them the whole time you're awake, you've still reduced how much you're holding them) but I didn't know how it was okay to put her down.  With Elena, I've learned.  I have to put her down if I want to get anything done.  Or if Karina needs to potty, spills her drink, makes any kind of mess, wants to "help" me with something, or wants to play.  If I want to do any of these things, I have to put her down.  I hold her a lot less than I held Karina.  But she's okay.  And I am, too.

2. There is so much baby gear out there, it's easy to be overwhelmed.  When shopping for this stuff, think about a couple of things.  What is it for?  How long will it be used?  Is it something I want to use?  And consider that your baby may not like it.  Some babies love swings and others hate them.  You might be plopping down a couple hundred dollars on something that never gets used.  Consider consignment shops if you're worried about this.  I have a Boppy pillow, something I thought I would use all the time.  I almost never use it.  However, many moms use theirs a lot.  I just didn't.  So you have to think about you, not just all these other moms. 

3. Babies cry because they want something.  They are hungry, dirty, wet, cold, hot, cranky, in pain, tired, under or overstimulated, and pretty much everything else they can't put into words.  When the baby cries uncontrollably, it's okay if you can't figure out what's wrong every time.  Holding your baby lets her know that you are always going to be there to comfort her.  However, every human mother has her limit.  When you reach it, put your baby down in a safe place, like the crib, and go take a break.  You are human.  No one expects you to be able to withstand that kind of crying forever.  It is so hard, because you want to help your baby and you can't, and nothing works, so there's the additional stress of not being able to 'fix' it on top of the crying itself.  Take a break. 

4. Take too many pictures.  You will never be sorry or regret it.  You will, however, be sorry if you don't take enough.  And get infant pictures done, please.  Take the baby somewhere if you don't do the (expensive) hospital ones.  But do it.  You won't be sorry later.  (Like I am for not doing them with Karina.  Arg...)

5. Don't freak out over your body.  It's going to be different.  Oh yeah, way different.  That's okay.  Your body just did something amazing.  It manufactured a whole new human person and for many of you, pushed that (rather large, let's face it) human person out into the world.  Yeah, you did that.  And it took almost a year for your body to change to accommodate that person, it's not going back to its old self overnight.  Or in a month.  Don't pay any attention to those celebrities.  And don't be hard on yourself.  It takes time. 

So there you go.  A bunch of advice from some random lady who thinks she knows everything.  No, I don't really know everything.  These are just a few things I learned for myself, and if they help someone else out, great!  If not, that's okay too.  Because the bottom line is, every new mom is going to figure things out for herself, no matter how many people offer her advice, or how many articles or blog posts she reads.  But I feel better for sharing it!