A Toy For Girls That Made Me Cry

The line that did me in was, "Your daughter is so much more than a princess."

You MUST watch this right now.


How freaking amazing is Debbie?  I love her.

I pre-ordered a set of GoldieBlox for my girls because I want to support this company and what they're trying to accomplish.

I would love to see an entire aisle of toys like this at Toys R Us or Target!

If you want to support girls getting involved in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math, if you want to support a company that is going to change the world one girl at a time, if you want to do something good and healthy for the mind of a girl you love, click here and visit their website.

(Nobody paid me to write this or gave me anything, I'm just all fired up about this idea and I wanted to share it with you!)

Red Stamp

No one is paying me anything or giving me anything to write this post.  I just like to share the cool stuff I find with you all from time to time.

I suck at thank you notes.  I mean, really, really suck.  It's not that I'm ungrateful, I'm just really busy, and for some reason finding a stamp is as hard in this house as finding tape or a pair of scissors that is still suitable for cutting fabric (seriously, family, lay off Mommy's scissors!).  Excuses, excuses, it's one of the things on the short list of things I wish I could change about myself (we don't need to get into the rest of that list, it's depressing...  But I'd like to be in a single digit size between now and when I die, and also I really would like to cure my chronic foot-in-mouth syndrome).

And then I found out about Red Stamp, and everything changed.

Red Stamp is an iOS app.  You download it free from the app store, then you give it permission to muck around with your photos and your contacts, and BAM!  Instant thank you notes.

Seriously, look at the one I made from our Halloween picture in like 33 seconds:

Or this one that I sent to my mother-in-law after our trip to Chicago:

Or this one I sent to Uncle Doug and Aunt Kathy:

Once you've designed your card, you can email it, text it, save it to your camera roll, post it to Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, or you can pay $1.99 to have Red Stamp print it and send it to your recipient in the actual mail!

I am using the heck out of this thing.  Sure, the same functionality is available from a variety of websites (I've used Shutterfly for the past several years to do our Christmas cards, for example), but this app is so quick and so slick, and it makes sending personalized thank you notes so easy, that I have officially run out of excuses.  I don't have to plug in my camera, upload to my computer, walk uphill both ways to the post office...  I just choose the cute layout (and they have a lot of cute ones!), choose the picture, change the text, choose the recipient, and hit "MAIL IT!"

The other thing that I love is that they're something that the recipient will actually keep and enjoy, rather than just reading and saying, "Oh, that's nice," and tossing away.  (Actually, I keep every single personal piece of mail I get, from letters to thank you notes to Christmas cards, but I'm crazy like that.  Most people don't.)  I wish I had found the app before we left the Jack Hanna show, because I would've taken a picture of the kids.  I found it later that same day.  I just happened to have taken a picture of the logo on the wall and the screen to blog about it. 

So, there you go.  I just made your holidays a LOT easier if you have an iOS device.  You can just email me the thank you note. 

Got Hair?

There's a lot of hair in this house.  Mary Grace has difficult hair.  It's thick and curly.  Very, very curly.  I tease her that she spends most nights lying in her bed tying it in knots.  Claire, on the other hand, has thick, straight hair, and a very tender head.  And of course, my hair (which desperately needs to be cut) is also thick, but mine is more wavy than curly.

Consequently, I used to spend at least 15 minutes every morning dealing with hair.  Generally this involved chasing a screaming Claire around the house, threatening to shave her head if she didn't just suck it up and let me comb her hair, already.  Mary Grace behaved better, but it still broke my heart to hear her say, "Ouch Mommy, it hurts!" as tears rolled down her sweet cheeks.  I'd tell her that I remember my mom combing the tangles out of my hair, too, and I know how much it hurts, but there's nothing I can do.

Then I heard about a product that has changed our lives.  I loved it so much that I contacted the company and asked them if I could share it with you!  Behold:

That, my friends, is a Magic Flowerpot by Tangle Teezer, and they are not kidding when they say it's magic.

The top part lifts out, and there are eensy weensy little plastic tines on the other side.  Somehow, probably with magic, it takes out the tangles without hurting the kid.  Even Claire's tender head! 

I can brush Mary Grace's hair dry, which is something I haven't been able to do since she was one.  This is going to make our winters so much easier - it used to be that I had to soak her hair to comb it, and then worry about her going out in the cold with a wet head.  We won't have to worry about it next winter!

The kids have even asked to comb their own hair with the Magic Flowerpot, and because of the magic they can actually do a pretty decent job of it - freeing me up to do other things in the morning.  I just give it a once-over when they're done, and we go.  No more 15 minute hair battles in our house!

I'm still in the post-partum shed - I don't know how I actually have any hair left to lose at this point, because it has been six months, but I'm losing a TON of hair every day.  It was all over the bathroom before, because the brush I used to use didn't grab it as well.  The tines on the Tangle Teezer actually grab the hair better, resulting in less mess (and fewer loose hairs all over the house).

You can buy the regular Tangle Teezer at Sally Beauty Supply (which is what I did) or you can order one online.  I'm excited to be able to give you an opportunity to win one, too!  All you have to do is go to the Magic Flowerpot by Tangle Teezer's Facebook page and click "LIKE," then post a comment on the wall saying that you came from http://prettybabies.blogspot.com, and why you need a Magic Flowerpot by Tangle Teezer.  One winner will be randomly selected to win!

Good luck!

Organizing My Life with Evernote

(No one paid me anything to write this, although I'd happily accept a year of Evernote Premium in return for being such a nice blogger, if the Evernote people happen to find this...)

I've been looking for a solution for literally YEARS to the information overload that plagues me.  I think I've found it with Evernote.

Evernote is free.  You download the app to your phone and your computer, and you can access it through the 'net, too.  You can save images, photos, lists (with check boxes), web pages, PDF files, notes... and in the premium version you can save Microsoft Office documents.

I have to admit, I've had it on my phone for a long time without realizing its potential.  But yesterday I had some time to fool around with it, and I'm really excited about the possibilities...

One area where I have total info overload is recipes. I'll be surfing and I'll see something and think, "Gosh, I really want to try that!" but then when I sit down to plan our grocery list I have NO idea what to make.  I can't remember that there was this recipe on Allrecipes and that recipe on Pioneer Woman and so on.  Well, now when I'm surfing and I come across a recipe, I just "clip" it to Evernote.  Just this morning I made Oatmeal Pancakes from Smitten Kitchen (LOVE these) and I clipped it to Evernote (with a picture copied and pasted into the file!) so that next time I want to make them, I don't have to search for the recipe (and run the risk of finding the wrong Oatmeal Pancakes because I can't remember which blog it was, or the risk of the whole blog being taken down for whatever reason).  If the internet is down, I can still make them, because the file is mirrored on my computer.

I can scan in my own recipes and put them in the same "notebook."  Then, when I make them, I can take a picture with my phone and upload it to the recipe easily.  I can tag all of my recipes, too.  Entree, Beef, Chicken, Dessert, Must Try!, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Christmas Cookies....  The possibilities are endless, and it will make them easy to find.  And it's SEARCHABLE!

Now, imagine I'm at the grocery store and I suddenly have an urge to make pancakes...  I can call up the recipe on my iPhone and make sure I have all the ingredients (ok, bad example, because I always have all those ingredients, but if I wanted to make some exotic recipe that didn't just use pantry staples, and I couldn't remember if I needed lemon or lime or whatever, I'd have that information at my fingertips).  If I'm up in Grammaland and I want to make a new Christmas cookie with Mimi, we can pull up all my recipes on her computer and use them there.  And since it's web, phone, and computer based, I don't have to endlessly print out the same recipes (or type up the same recipes to send to someone - I can e-mail it to you straight out of Evernote).

Ok, so beyond recipes and groceries, I have plenty of ideas for how Evernote can simplify my life.  If I'm talking to someone and they mention a book I'd like to read, I can put it in a special note (with check boxes!!) called "Books to Read" - then, 10 years from now when I have time to read again, I can call up that list and have all those book titles at my fingertips.  Ditto for movies.  How many times have we been sitting in a theater watching previews and said, "That looks great!" but then we get to movie night and we can't think of anything to rent.  Oh my gosh, that happens every time!

Let's say I'm out shopping and I see something that my mom would love.  Well, we draw names at Christmas so I don't get her a Christmas present every year... but I could put a note called "gift ideas" in my phone, and jot it down, and then if I draw Mom I've already got an idea for her.  I could also clip a website to Evernote if I'm surfing and run across something I'd like to get for her.  Awesome, right?  I can't be the only one who gets to December and draws a total blank on what to get for everyone.

We get freezer beef every year.  I am considering making a checklist of what we get, then checking it off as I use it.  With the checklist function, there is a lot of potential for inventory. 

But wait, there's more!  If I'm on the phone with someone at work, and I need to take notes on the conversation to refer to later, I have a whole notebook called "Work" where I can keep that stuff, and tag it so that I can find it.  There are about a thousand ways I can use it at work, all of which are boring because they're work, so let's move on.

Kids' sizes?  In a note so that if I'm shopping without them I can remember what size shoe they wear.  I never remember shoe sizes.  I can put BJ's sizes in there, too. 

Medical stuff that I need to remember?  Note.  Tagged with the person's name.  Magically accessible from anywhere so that if (God forbid) we're in the ER and they need to know when something happened, I can call it up and tell them exactly.

We want to build a house in a few years.  As I'm surfing if I run across an idea I like, it goes into Evernote.  If it's in a magazine I can scan in the page.  If it's at someone's house I can take a picture with my phone.  So when we sit down to design our "forever" house, I'll have years worth of ideas at my fingertips.

I can even take pictures of the kids' art projects (or scan them) so I don't have to store the originals.  Tag them with the kid's name and date them, and poof!  Instant preservation.  It doesn't get much easier.

I just couldn't wait to share this tool with all of you.  I hope you find it as useful as I do!

Product Recommendations!

If you know me in real life, you know that I've been walking around like a plumber for about a month now. ALL of my pants are falling down.  Even my formerly-tight ones!

YAY!

I know a lot of you are on this journey with me, so when I found and tried this product (which I bought with my own money, no one is compensating me in any way to write this, except Amazon Associates if you decide to buy it via this link - I think I get 75 cents or something) I knew I had to share it with you.

Behold, the ADJUST-a-BUTTON!

This is one of those products that I look at and think, "Duh! Why didn't I think of that??" It's a button on a lapel pin. If you've lost weight and you need to tighten up your pants (so you're not lookin' like a fool, right?), all you do is stick the pin through the waist of your jeans a couple inches past where the button is sewn, and then you button the button hole through the button on a pin, rather than the button that's already there.

Brilliant.

I'm hoping that with this product I can buy every-other-size of pants, rather than every size, on the way down. Thus saving myself lots of money.

Money that I can spend on cute tops, instead.

Speaking of tops, have you tried VitaTops?  HungryGirl swears by them, but I was skeptical (mainly because of the name, who wants to eat something that tastes like vitamins?).  I tried them yesterday, and YUM.

They're only 100 calories, and there's a lot of good fiber and vitamins and stuff going on in there.  I got mine at the grocery store for about $1 each, but you can buy them from Amazon for a bit more and get them shipped straight to your door.  Note that you have to keep them in the freezer, because they don't contain any preservatives, so before you go and buy a case, make sure you have the freezer space to deal with them, ok?  I got the "deep chocolate" that I linked to, there, but there are lots and lots of flavors.  Try them and let me know which you like.  (FYI, Kroger carries the Deep Chocolate and the Corn Muffin flavors).

Speaking of corn meal, I made mush for my kids for breakfast the other day, because Claire is obsessed with Goodnight Moon ("Goodnight nobody, goodnight mush...").  They didn't love it.  It was super easy, though.  All you do is mix 1/2 cup of corn meal with 2 cups of water, and stir it and stir it on the stove until it thickens.  It looks and tastes kind of like cream of wheat.  Like I said, my kids didn't love it, but it was kind of fun anyway.  I like to "cook the book."  When Mary Grace was obsessed with Peter Rabbit (I must have read that book 1000 times) she really got into having chamomile tea for snack.

One last thing, speaking of corn, have you seen Food, Inc.?  Oh.  My.  God.  It made me feel really good about our decision to feed our kids organic milk (Horizon, usually) and organic beef (that we get from BJ's uncle, who is a farmer south of here).  I'm currently shopping for an organic pork farmer - the farmer's market starts in April, and I'm 85% sure I remember a pork farmer being there.  I have a source for "happy chickens" (coincidentally it's the same person I get happy popcorn from, and it's way better than grocery store popcorn.  Please don't eat the microwave stuff with any sort of frequency.  The yellow dye in the butter will kill you.  Besides, it's super easy to make real popcorn on the stove and it tastes a zillion times better).  Anyway, jeez, ramble much Amy?

Food Inc. is about the way our food is made in the U.S., and all the things that are wrong with that system.  I really think that we all need to think more critically about what we're eating, and why we're eating it, and what we can do to make healthier, more sustainable choices.  You know this is something I've been thinking about a lot, lately, because I wrote this not too long ago.

If you have Netflix you can download Food Inc. and watch it for free.  It's also available on-demand from Amazon for a couple bucks  - click here -  Food Inc.  Did you see Oprah talking about this last week?  She had Alicia Silverstone on, who is my age and still looks 17 so she must be doing something right, along with Michael Pollan and they talked very carefully about food (because Oprah got sued a few years ago by the beef industry for saying, "I'm not eating hamburger anymore..."  Crazy!  Isn't this America??). 

Anyway, it was very thought provoking, and I challenge all of you to see it, and tell me what you think!

That is enough rambling for today.  Go forth and shop!!  Let me know what you think if you try (or have tried) any of this stuff.

Been there, done that... Now get the t-shirt

I really liked the image I designed for my post about Fiona, so I made it into t-shirts at Cafe Press. There are lots of different designs. Get yours here!

I Like Free Stuff and I Cannot Lie!

Go here, follow the instructions, get a free cutlery set and dessert (I got seasonings instead) for like no money. I paid a little over $6 for a $30 order and got a free gift. I even know who is getting this for Christmas... (and he doesn't read the blog, so it's ok!)

I have a feeling that a lot of us are going to have to use such creative shopping methods this Christmas. Sign up for iMommies' RSS feed. They bring the sweet deals, and it's always good stuff that I can really use. Love them. And doesn't she totally look like Beth? Weird.

I Gots to Get Paid

You might notice a new ad on my humble little page here.  It's called YouData.  Click on the link over there (under "followers").  Don't be scared.  You can make money.  I can make money.  We can all make money together.  Isn't that a great idea?  Think of it as a little high tech tip jar, and if you like what you read here, click it!  If not, leave a comment.  That seems to be a popular activity these days.  Hee...

I've been signed up (as a viewer, not a blogger) for about 24 hours, I've watched 6 little ads, targeted to people like me, and I've already made $1.50.  If I do that every day for a year, we'll be able to afford Max's surgery in... 6 years.  Ok, need a new plan for that one.  But seriously, I need a new roof, and new carpet, and I have to repair my home security system's knee, and You, Adored Reader, can be a part of all that by simply clicking a couple times, watching ads, and getting paid yourself.  You can also give some or all of the money you receive for ad watching to charity.  How nice is that?

So give it a click and sign up.  Then, when you're here anyway, you can click and make a little change for yourself.  Maybe support your Starbucks habit or fund your kids' 529 accounts.  And if everyone who stumbles through my little corner of the web hits it every day, you can make a big change for the PrettyBabies.  

You know I love you, and I'd do this for free, right?

(You need a PayPal account, by the way).

I do love you.  Thanks!

Shutterfly ROCKS

I just got a $50+ leather 8x10 photo book for less than half price ($24 and change) using coupon codes at Shutterfly...  And folks, I have ordered and/or been given several photo books from Shutterfly, and they are extremely high quality keepsakes (especially for persons like myself who are, shall we say, scrapbooking impaired).

The coupon codes were 69AUTUMN and 68AUTUMN (but I hear they expire tonight, so sorry, you don't have much time to use them).  The first is for $10 off, and the second is for free shipping.

Y'all, if you aren't Googling "coupon code {storename}" every single time you shop online, you are wasting a ton of money.  A TON.  Get in the habit of Googling before you buy.  "Coupon Code Shutterfly" comes up with thousands of hits, and if you're patient and willing to try a few losers before you find a winner, you can save huge money.  Huge!

Go forth, and shop some more!

(I put together a photo book of pictures from our August trip to Washington DC, by the way.)

((Their new photo book editing software makes it really easy and, dare I say it?, FUN to create photo books)).

(((I am not getting paid to endorse Shutterfly, or receiving coupons or anything like that... I just really love to share good stuff I find on the web with my beloved blogdience))).

((((Blog-audience.  It's late.  I'm making up words now.  And grossly abusing parentheses)))).

Speaking of Networking

If you ever need to get the screen repaired on your AT&T tilt because you slipped on your cat and threw it down the stairs, or whatever, I can't recommend Mobile Device Repair highly enough! The price was very reasonable, the communication was excellent, and they were fast. My phone came back today, and it looks great. Good as new!

Tell Matt I sent you!

State of Emergency

Yesterday I mentioned that I have been neglecting my housekeeping duties because I've been reading a really good book. As soon as I hit "publish" I realized that I have neglected the commitment I made to write a review of Knock Yourself Up by Louise Sloan, and I immediately felt extremely guilty.

But seriously - my house is at DEFCON 1 (DEFCON being short for Definitely Condemned) and I had set aside the next 8 hours to whip it back into shape. We are completely, and I do mean completely, out of diapers. We are nearly out of toilet paper. I can no longer blame the mess on the kitchen project, as the mess has spread and is now inhabiting every corner of every room in my house. My dust bunnies have dust bunnies. It's BAD. It's so bad I'm tempted to call a service and have it done for me, until I realize that I'd have to spend all day cleaning to get it clean enough for the service to do their thing, and it would just be easier and cheaper to do it myself.

I can't even find the book I am supposed to review!

So I'm going to throw on clothes and run to Walmart, to arm myself with diapers, toilet paper, and cleaning supplies. That'll give the AC a chance to dehumidify the house so you don't find me, stroked out, in a bathroom up to my elbows in Comet and humiliation.

When I come up for air, I'll sit down and write the review, Louise, I promise... and I'm sorry it has taken me so long. So stay tuned, kids. It's this kind of excitement that keeps you coming back day after day, right?

(Image borrowed from www.babble.com/cs/blogs/strollerderby)

Go here, win stuff...

I just entered, you should too...

I LOVE giveaways! Wish I could afford to host more!!

Notes from a playdate

We had a super playdate today. It made me realize that I am a total internet addict, though, and I need to write down the links I promised to share before they leak out of the sieve that is my memory...

First of all, the cool iPod thing. (For those of you who weren't at the playdate, it's a speaker that you plug your iPod into, then you zip the iPod up inside and you can let your baby/toddler cart it around and sing her songs without having to worry that she's going to chew on your iPod and destroy it). Best of all, it was FREE. It's $10, with free shipping, and if you use Google Checkout for the first time, you get a $10 credit. Hello, free. And we use it all the time. It clips nicely onto the stroller. Heh, I pimped my ride... Just follow the instructions on Buy.com, and e-mail me if you have any trouble.

Second, is PaperBackSwap. Y'all, I have saved at least $400 with PBS. You post the books you don't want, and then people request them for you, and you send them via media mail (which is like $2.13 or something insanely cheap), and then when they receive it you get a credit which you can use to request a book for free from someone else. You can even add money to your account, then print postage directly from your computer, saving you a trip to the post office. It ROCKS. If you are willing to wait to get the books you want, it's a great way to save money. I would've spent $1000 on these books if I'd bought them new. ($400 assumes the used book price, but I rarely make it down to the Half Price Bookstore). Please click on the ad on the right (beneath the BlogHer ad) so that I get "credit" for referring you if you're interested in signing up.

See, now the mind colander is leaking and I can't remember what the third thing was. That's what happens when you're a mom. Oh well!

OH! The Pepsi Points. If you look inside the caps, or inside your 12 and 24 packs, there are points which you can redeem for song downloads at Amazon.com. Just go to www.pepsistuff.com. That's how we got all our Choo Choo Soul songs to put on our iPod to play on our speaker thing while Mommy reads books and blogs. Hahaha...

(Just in case you're wondering, I type 100 words per minute, so that's how I make time to blog, and I read while I'm nursing Claire. Oh, and my house is a complete disaster area. :) )

Blog Party - Door Prize Winner

Remember last week when we had the Big Blog Party? Well, tonight we chose the winner of our door prize... A $20 Amazon.com Gift Card... Take a look!

All Worn Out

We have had a very busy weekend. On Thursday night (technically not the weekend) we went out for dinner with Tim, Fran, and Ben at TGI Friday's. MG and C were good, mainly because they were bribed. MG saw Chuck E. Cheese when we pulled into the parking lot and said, "Hey, look Mom! It's Chuck E. Cheese!" and I said, "Yeah, wow! We're not going there!" Feeling guilty, I told them that if they were good we could go and play Skee Ball after dinner, and sure enough they were good so we did. $5 worth of tokens will buy you a lot of good dinner behavior, if you're keeping track at home. I mean, she even ate her food. Totally worth the investment, IMHO. That's 20 games of Skee Ball - that's about 17 hours worth of Skee Ball when you're two, and enough to get 4 Tootsie Pops when you cash out your tickets at the end. If it weren't located firmly in the fourth circle of hell, we might go there more often.

Big News though, all you locals, in the same shopping center where The Rat lives, they're putting in a Sonic!! Right next to the Starbucks (the place on the corner is going to be another Walgreen's, because it's not enough that we have 157 pharmacies in this town already). Have you ever been to Sonic? It's fantastic. They have awesome beverages (blue coconut slush - hello gorgeous!). And they're half price every day from 2 - 4 (Happy Hour!) so I can totally see us going to Sonic at 2, smuggling our delicious beverages into Chuck's (because, let's face it, the only thing worse there than the constant noise and screaming, adrenaline drenched kids is the food), hanging out for 17 hours of Skee Ball, and then heading home.

Playdate anyone?

Wow, I digress. And this totally isn't the same as the time when I started the city wide rumor that they were going to put in a Trader Joe's, only to have everyone near suicidal when they actually put in a new Goodwill. There really is going to be a Sonic.

Right, so then Friday night we went and saw Ben Folds at the local U. It was really fun. Uncle Chuck came down with his friend Serena, and we went with two girls from work (sort of, they work for the company that leases our space to us). It was awesome. The only problem is that going to a concert, when you're 31, with a bunch of 18 year old college freshmen makes you feel exceedingly old.

So, we got to bed at like 1 am on Saturday morning, and then drove 45 minutes south for a family party with BJ's step-cousins. They are super cool people - they're the ones who do The Program at Christmas. It was so cool to just get together and hang out with them. We had a great meal, and the girls had a fabulous time with their cousins.

Then, we drove 2.5 hours to "Grammaland" where MG and C went to Gramma Denna's, Mommy went to Jenny's for a wine tasting, and Daddy went to play with Grandpa Ben. Mommy had way too much wine (see, when you're tasting 10 different wines, and you end up really liking the Riesling in the blue bottle, and then Jenny opens a new bottle just for you, you tend to get a little bit festive...). Things occurred at the party. However, I was specifically told that I would be killed if I blogged them, so I am just going to say it was really fun, and Jenny and Brian's friends are hard core. And when they say they'd kill me? They are totally not kidding...

Moving right along... We finally left (poor Jenny and Brian were passing out, and we're still standing there yakking because we have no tact. Finally I said, "We need to go home so these folks can go to bed," and they were all like, "THANK GOD they're finally gone! Jeez, I thought we were going to have to charge them rent!") and then we totally almost hit a deer on Division.
BJ the Sober was driving, though, so we are fine. Stupid wildlife. I joked on the way home about how I felt like we were breaking curfew, and we were going to be in trouble, and then Mom met us at the door and we both said, "Busted!" at the same time! She had an alarm clock in her hand, which was funny because she used to set the alarm clock for 11:05 in the hallway, and if I didn't turn it off before it went off, they knew I wasn't home and I was grounded. It didn't take me long to figure out that Chuck would turn off the alarm clock for $5. However, it was very odd to have her meet us at the door with an alarm clock in her hands (she said that she had taken it to work so she wouldn't forget to check in for her flight to Florida yesterday, but you never know with my mom). The girls were both asleep so we had a glass of wine (which was exactly what I needed, because the first 6 really didn't phase me) and talked until Claire woke up at 3 am, and I went up to put her back to sleep and promptly passed out.

The rotten babies got me up at 7:00 am. Ugh. I thought I was going to get another 5 minutes of sleep when Mom turned Charlie and Lola on in her room for Mary Grace, but then Claire woke up, too. It was alright, because we met Gramma Susan and Gramma Diana and Ken for breakfast, so we needed to get up anyway. No rest for the wicked. Then we drove home, where it's 57 degrees and we've turned off the furnace and opened up the house.

Claire is saying "nie nie" which seems to mean, "I want my nap, woman!" so I'm going to take her upstairs and pass out for a while. I hope you all had good weekends, too. If you need me this week, I'll be upstairs catching up on my sleep!

Wouldn't my babies look pretty in this?

Ok, how sweet is this:

The nice girls at 5 Minutes for Mom said that they'd enter me in a drawing for one if I'd share this link with you. And this one.

That fire truck is too cute. You can enter even if you don't have a blog. Just leave a comment here.

Oh, duh...

Hey, it would help if I'd post the URL of my Cafepress store.

http://www.cafepress.com/prettybabies

If you want a different color, let me know and I can make it for you. Cafepress only lets you do one design per shirt (unless you pay for your store).

If there is any interest, I may work on more complicated, more artistic designs. This was the best I could do with two screaming babies yesterday. You'll note that I posted about it very, very late.

So, let's start a "You can be happy" movement for Christmas!

Shop, shop, shop

Today's the Big Shopping Day. I've been boycotting this day for as long as I can remember - preferring to stay home with my family in lieu of fighting over bargains with a bunch of strangers. But this year, Amazon.com was advertising HUGE HOLIDAY DEALS, so I thought I'd leave all the stuff I have in my cart for the kids in there, and then purchase everything today, hoping something would go on sale.

The only product that changed price was the Fisher Price Alphabet Zoo that I've been wanting to get for them - and it went up $5! I think Amazon.com is punishing me.

Anyway, I thought I'd offer a small, modest holiday gift guide here at Pretty Babies. I can remember my life B.C. (before children), and how impossible it was to buy gifts for kids. I still have a hard time with the kids in my life who are older than mine (although I like to believe I'm getting better). So, below, please find a helpful list of gifts for the significant babies, and moms, and maybe even dads, in your life. Hope you find something useful!

Do you have a friend who has a baby, but who is not the type to carry a diaper bag emblazoned with fuzzy ducks and bunnies and bears? How much would he or she love one of these?

Sure, it's for "tech," but if it can hold a magazine, it can hold a couple diapers, some wipes, your lipstick, your cell phone, and hide a couple of essential baby toys. Then you've got your hands free for shopping (or holding the baby, or whatever). I think it's super. I don't have one (hint, hint) but I got one of the mens' styles for B.J. a couple of years ago, and he wears it a lot. He uses it for tech, although I have been known to stick diapers in the back wall, where you're supposed to carry a laptop (!!).

If you really want to give the parent in your life hands free ability, give them a sling. The good people at Kangaroo Korner really need to start paying me a commission. Seriously. Anyway, you put the sling on under your tech jacket, then put the baby in your sling, and you are ready for any parenting adventure. I have the adjustable pouch, in both fleece and mesh. I love it, love it, love it.

But what about the babies? Pretty Babies don't read the internet, so it's safe for me to tell you that I'm getting them the newly-more-expensive Fisher Price Little People Zoo. Mary Grace loves her Little People, and she loves animals. I figure most of the zoo animals will end up in the farm that she already has. Maybe the lions will eat the cows. It will be very exciting.

I found this Jumpolene Castle at Amazon.com, and I am so excited to get it for my kids. MG has a really bad bed jumping habit going on, which I'm hoping to curtail by giving her a place where she can safely jump. Of course, it will also work as a play house, or a castle, or a fort for pretend play. I love something that's multi-use. I may regret it, because it looks huge and it will take up a large corner of the playroom, but I think they'll have a lot of fun in it.

Pretty Daddy reads the internet, so I can't talk about what I'm getting for him, but that's okay because I have no idea. He is extremely hard to shop for. Suggestions welcome in the comments. In fact, if Pretty Daddy would like to leave anonymous comments with a detailed list of exactly what he wants, that would be super. One year I got him a case of mint flavored Snapple iced tea, which they no longer sell in this market. Another year I got him that tech jacket. Last year I got him an astrolabe. After 10 years, though, I'm totally running out of ideas. Thank God the good people in silicone valley keep coming out with new toys, or I'd be sunk. What is the hot tech gift for 2007?

I admit that I usually do a search for "holiday gift guide geek" to find his present. I'm not finding anything that moves me this year, though.

Another gift that would be super for moms with young kids is an mp3 player with a gift subscription to Audible.com. I've gotten into the habit of listening to audiobooks when I'm putting the kids to bed, and it has been really nice. Those first few bleary months when it feels like all you do is breastfeed and complain about how tired you are would go by a lot faster with the addition of audiobooks. Because lets face it, babies are wonderful, but they're really crappy conversationalists.

The other tech gift (can you tell we're complete nerds?) that has saved our sanity as parents has been the ability to digitally record TV shows and play them back when it's convenient for us. We don't have a TiVo (BJ actually built our digital video recorder - that's a whole 'nother post), but I've seen some super deals on TiVos in the past around the holidays.

That's all I can think of right now, and I'm also ruminating a post about the book I'm reading and how it's going to change the way the PrettyBaby family eats in the not-distant future, so I'm going to go write the outline for that right now (yes, I put that much time, effort, and thought into the posts here at the blog for all of y'all. That is how committed I am to quality!). So stay tuned...

And if you have great gift suggestions, leave them in the comments. I'm particularly interested in ideas for grandparents!!

WFMW: Brand Loyal Edition

I LOVE my Magic Bullet.

I have purchased a lot of junk from the TV, so I know that if it's $19.95, or if it's "buy one, get one free!!!" it's usually crap. However, the Magic Bullet is not crap. It is awesome.

I've had mine for about 2 years, now, and it still works as well as it did the day I opened the package. When Mary Grace was little, I made almost all of her baby food using the bullet. When I made dinner, I'd just toss a little bit of whatever she could eat (veg, fruits, casseroles, whatever...) into the bullet, blend it for a few seconds (literally!), and feed it to her. (Add a little liquid to thin it - juice, cooking water from the veg, milk, etc. Whatever makes sense with what you're making. Add baby cereal to thicken it, or mashed potato flakes, or mashed potatoes, for that matter... Whatever you have handy). No preservatives, no tiny jars clogging up the landfill, no money wasted on jarred food (50 cents for about 2 dozen peas, blended? Puh-lease!). It easily paid for itself by the time she was off of pureed food. And it's much easier than dragging out the food processor - I just leave mine on the counter, and it's ready to rock and roll.

By the way, have you tasted commercial baby food? Nasty. I think the reason that she's such a good eater now has a lot to do with the fact that I've always fed her "real" food, and not the jarred stuff. (Well, ok, we used the jarred stuff when we were on the road... We kept some on-hand for really busy days, or days when we ordered pizza, which doesn't puree well, or whatever...)

But that's not all! Once she was eating "real" food, one of our favorite breakfasts became the smoothie. Take some of those frozen bananas I've been pushing, and throw it in the bullet with some vanilla yogurt and whatever fruit (fresh or frozen) that you have lying around. Poof, smoothie. You can even be mean and add protein powder and other nastiness... Vitamins, whatever. I don't, but you could. I'm just happy that she's eating fruit, and she thinks it's ice cream. It's great for days when you have to be somewhere, and you don't have time for a sit down breakfast, and it's much healthier than anything you'll get in a drive-thru.

Another brilliant thing I do with mine is make my own Aveeno bath gunk for a fraction of the cost of the real thing. If I hadn't already paid for the bullet with the baby food, I'd have paid for it by doing this. Take a handful of oatmeal. Put it in the bullet and blend it until it's a fine powder. You have just made Aveeno. But wait, there's more! If you add some baking soda (to soften the water) and some powdered milk (to moisturize), you have a bath powder that will seriously cure the toughest diaper rash in the universe. Just pour in about a third of a cup (more or less, this isn't science...) as the water's running in the tub, and swish it around with your hand to mix it and eliminate clumps, toss the baby in (gently!), and by morning the diaper rash will be a thousand percent better. I promise. You will save money on diaper rash cream, too. I'm not even kidding - MG had a rash so bad that she had blisters, and we gave her a bath with this, and by the next morning it was almost entirely healed. It's magic.

You can also do Frappucino style drinks, and they're really good. Use that creamer stuff that my husband's addicted to - Coffee Mate liquid. Get fun flavors (they have a bunch, Creme Brulee is my favorite). Coffee (cold, left over from this morning, works fine), some ice, some creamer, poof. You just saved $4.

The salsa and guac that they do on the commercial didn't work that well for me, but I over-mixed them. You can do batter, but I've never though stirring was such a big deal (and things with flour tend to toughen if you overmix them) so I don't do that. You can make Slurpee or Icee style drinks by using fruit juice and ice (real fruit juice, not the flavored chemicals with food coloring that they sell at the gas station). You just saved another $2, and you didn't fill your kid up with Red Dye #3. Yay!

Do yourself a favor and buy one. If you use the link above, it's buy one, get one, and you can save the second one for a baby shower gift (print this post and give it to the Mom-To-Be - tell her I said congratulations!). Or you can do what I did and buy yours at Walgreen's for instant gratification. You won't be sorry!

If you're here for WFMW, don't miss my other WFMW posts:

How to quickly cool Mac & Cheese.
How to soothe a teething baby without whiskey - oops! I mean Tylenol.
How to do Time Outs correctly.
How to improvise a changing table.
How to get a baby and a toddler into the car.
How to keep your house decluttered with an old waitressing mantra.
How to find a great baby sling.
How to manage your grocery list online.

Thanks for stopping by! Hope to see you again soon!

Visit Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer for more WFMW tips!

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