sniff. sniff.

if you haven't seen this yet then go there. now.

sniff. sniff. sniff.

oh and by the way. i have been given permission to shop. yes. i know. how incredible it is! and even despite my recent post about cutting back. we were outside last night at this school function thingy and J kept covering jules up with a blanket because, in his defense, it was cold. anyway, the girl grows like a weed so i had her in the warmest cute outfit we could find (that she could fit her chubby thighs into) and he was still very worried about her. he said, "do we need to stop at Babies 'R Us on the way home?"

score!

vent

i used to love gift cards. the tightwad in me just loved getting “free” things at places i regularly visited. plus, they’re one of the more useful gifts that teachers actually get. however, i have recently had a few bad experiences with the stack of gift cards (and I do mean stack – at least 20) that i’ve acquired over the past 12 months or so. so now i'm starting to like them not so much.

first let me say that i am obsessive about keeping track of how much money there is left on a gift card that i haven’t fully used. not only do i write the new amount on the back of the card in black Sharpee, but i also usually wrap the receipt around the card itself that tells the remaining balance on the card. then i put the card back in my stack and put a rubber band around them all.

so why is it that it never fails that the computers tell you that you have some random amount left on the card the next time you visit that business? the other night we went to a chain restaurant and i pulled out my gift cards to pay. i had two, one with the original $10 on it and the other with a remaining balance of $15.30 according to my notes. well, the waiter came back and told me that there was only $9 left on the second card which i really don’t understand. i know that $6.30 is not really that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things, but it just makes me mad that someone had already paid that restaurant when the gift was originally purchased and now they’ve gotten some way of getting more money out of us by telling me that there’s an incorrect balance remaining on the card. in this case the waiter offered to go get a manager, but i’m not one to make a scene or make such a big deal about something so minor (see: increasing assertiveness). but i’ve been down that road before. the managers always come. they scan the gift card, tell me the same thing, i argue with them and show them my receipt and then they say that the gift card was used since then, blah, blah, blah. WAAAH! i want my “free money” back!

and what's up with this mess of deducting $0.95 every year the gift gift is not redeemed?! what a rip off!

well, thanks for letting me get that off my chest. i feel better now. i’m off to give blood (and hopefully score some free Krispy Kremes). happy Friday!

penny pinching

the husband flipped when i told him i spent $100 on these earlier this week. maybe i’m nuts or maybe i just like shopping. whatever. they’re cute. even some of my students think so. they helped me pick them out after school. and besides, little J has been pulling on our fingers and begging for us to help her get up and walk around. (*sigh* she's growing up so fast!) we have to protect her precious little toesies! so big J said, “you do remember you’re just part-time this year don’t you?!” anyway, i can’t wait until they get here. should be tomorrow. so little J should be walking by Monday, right? ha, ha

well, i obviously need to cut back on my spending. or i need to come up with some other ways to make a little more money. i’m thinking that it will be easier to just try to cut back a little since you know i have all this spare time now that i have a baby and all. do you have any suggestions? it will be nice when little J stops taking so much formula. the darn stuff is SO expensive! (and of course the rice cereal and oatmeal is only like two cents a serving.) anyway, no more clothes shopping for me for a while and i’m contemplating quitting stamp club so i won’t spend any there and instead using that time as a designated scrapbooking/card making time to use the supplies i already have.

oh and by the way, we’ve now eaten one of our dream dinners and it was fabulous in my opinion. not so much in the husband’s but oh well. more to come on that…

something’s in the water over here

i now have three sets of friends that are currently pregnant and one who had a baby on Thursday. three out of four are boys too. (one couple doesn't know yet.) it must just be that time in my life. you know how you go through spells like my most recent if-i-have-to-go-to-another-wedding-i’ll-scream spell? well, now we’re on to the baby-making phase of life. good times. at least i get to buy lots of cute baby gifts instead of dumb china.

notes from the crib of little J

Dear Nanna and Papaw,

Thank you for taking care of me when I didn’t feel good. Thank you for still smiling at me and loving me. I really liked sitting on your laps and laying on your shoulder. You helped me feel better.

I love you!
Julianna

---

Dear Memmaw,

Thank you for bringing me a walker to play in. I love sliding around the kitchen in it although it's odd that it only goes backwards... I'll have to figure out how it is that Mama and Daddy can make it go forwards. But it is a lot of fun! I really like the bears on top. I hope you can come play with me sometime soon!

I love you!
Julianna

---

Dear Sefff,

Thanks for coming to visit me yesterday. It made me so happy to see someone besides that crazy Mama lady! I had fun swinging outside with you. Please come visit me again soon. I've heard you have a loud bike and I want to see it!

Love, Julianna

on my mind

i do not want to send my child to daycare. i do want her to have the benefits of staying with Nanna and Papaw every day. i love the fact that she gets loved on all day, individualized attention and learning experiences, a safe place with few germs, and plenty of social stimulation and adult interaction. yeah i’m also glad that she gets to go to church and interact with other kids sometimes too instead of every day at day care, but i’m happy that i know she is well taken care of by someone who loves her as much as i do.

that being said, there was an hour or so on Monday where i thought, “if only i sent her to daycare i wouldn’t have to worry about how my concern for my child affects my personal relationships with my family.” it’s unfortunate that i often hurt the feelings of the people who are close to me because i share a suggestion for taking care of the little girl. because of the way it comes out it is sometimes heard as criticism and my comments are taken personally. i wish that they didn’t and weren’t. that’s what stinks about having family take care of your baby. but i’ll take the stinky every day over putting Jules in day care and her not getting to love on her grandparents each day.

shots suck

tonight jules was not feeling well at all. she was as fussy as she could be and she didn’t even enjoy her bath which she always does. she was also spitting up a lot (the doctor says she’ll grow out of that soon). when i put her on the bed after her bath to dress her she just pooched out her bottom lip and started wimpering. it was the saddest, most pitiful little cry i’ve ever heard. real tears came rolling down her cheeks (and mine) and it was so obvious she wasn’t feeling well. she wouldn’t even roll over to play; she just looked up at me with the biggest, saddest brown eyes. she’s been running a fever from her shots this morning and we’ve been giving her tylenol, but she still is sleepy and cranky. when she was crying i just picked her up and held her and she immediately quieted down and just laid her little head down on my shoulder. it wasn’t long before her breathing matched mine and i slowly rocked her back and forth telling her that everything was ok. i love my little girl so much and it totally broke my heart tonight to see how bad she felt. i guess i got a taste of what it will be like the first time she gets sick. she is sleeping now (fell asleep on the bottle) but she’s making lots of little wimpering noises every few minutes. poor baby. and poor me. it’s hard sometimes to be a mama.