Mall Santa. 2011.

I'm borrowing my grandma's pictures for this post since I didn't have any hands free to bring my own camera:

So!  Time for our annual trip to see the Mall Santa (here's 2009 and 2010).  This year my grandma made them adorable matching red corduroy outfits to wear.  So when I was telling my daughter what the plan was for the day I said something along the lines of  "you'll put on your red dress from Nonni and we'll go to the mall to see her" Specifically not mentioning S-A-N-T-A.  Considering her current line on him is "I DON'T WANT HIM IN MY HOUSE" it seemed prudent not to tell her she was going to have to ... gasp.. sit on his lap.  Also when you break it down the santa myth is pretty damn terrifying.  I haven't been pushing the issue.

(see also:  he sees you when you're sleeping = NIGHTMARES)

Anyways!

All morning she was a holy terror.  Fits and fights and all of the ugly that a 2.5 year old is capable of.  She doesn't usually act that way.  I guessed that she got wind of the whole Santa meet and greet and was having a complete freakout via acting out.  So I sat her down for a little chat:

Me:  What's up sweetie?  Why are you acting like this?

Her:  lip quivering

Me:  It's ok honey you can tell mommy anything and we'll try to fix it.
Her:  clearly trying not to cry but eyes filling up
Me:   Sweetie it's alright.  Whatever it is we can handle it. 

Her:  bursts into tears

I DON'T WANT TO MATCH MY BROTHER!!

Oh. Ok then.  Matching outfits are HIGHLY UPSETTING and filled with much sadness, woe, and bad behavior. Clearly she must be a special little sparkly and fashion forward snowflake at all times.  And here I was trying to force her to wear the same thing as someone else.  Poor kid.

I let her pick out a dress to wear after that.  No point torturing a kid with corduroy.

On to the mall!

She loved the train even if she was a bit unsure at first:

And loved riding the escalator over and over again with Pappa Nonni:

But when we got to Santa?  "I DON'T' WANT TO SIT NEXT TO HIM. I DON'T WANT TOO. NO. PLEASE NO."  My mom tried to talk her down and reason with her but I saw the look of terror in her eye, knew that there was no way it was going to happen without brute force, and just went for it:

That'll work.

I think she acutally had a really good time, though.  Despite the whole S-A-N-T-A part.  And the trip was beyond worth it for this:

Before his sister got involved he was actually pretty into it.

because of this:

My first Christmas, My son's first Christmas.  You're not seeing double.

Perhaps next year she won't be as terrified... although flipping back through previous years she's never been down with this Santa thing.  Or the matching outfits now that I think about it..

My Mom's Memory Card.

I'm sorry, mom.  I had to.

So.  My mom does not have what she calls the photo gene.  She takes terrible pictures and doesn't ever think to do it since my dad is a straight up photographs in jured shows photographer.  Anywyas she accidentally left her camera at my house after visiting santa yesterday and I thought it would be super funny to download her card.

It also could end in disaster.

I figured/hoped that most of them would be of my children.  But you really never know.

Here's what I found:

This pic is from November 2010.  So we're to assume that she a.) hasn't downloaded her pictures and b.) hasn't taken enough pictures to fill a card in OVER A YEAR.

Then we have exactly seven pictures from my brother's wedding (Dec 31, 2010).  All terrible and all for some reason cake related:

Then inexplicably several images of the gargoyles in her backyard.

Maybe she was trying to be arty?

Then some of my daughter doing a craft at her house.  Including this awesome:

I will paint ALL OF THE THINGS.

Then two pictures that I can't believe I"m even posting:

Taken on March 18.  Oh so pregnant and my daughter's leg was oh so broken.  But we're at the zoo!  Having fun!  On the phone with a doctor's office!  Sigh.

I don't... i can't... wow.

Then a few from her trip with my grandma.  I posted the group to flickr b/c I know my mom will never share them (or even download them, I guess):

And then, finally, a few really fantastic shots of their new dog:

After that it was me using the camera so I won't include them in this.  Nothing nearly as fun as the last time I downloaded a mystery memory card.  But still pretty amusing.

Tomorrow?  Actual Christmas related content!  Yay!

Just a Pillowcase Dress... Except.

So this is just a basic Pillowcase Dress:

There's a million billion tutorials for these online and at this point I don't even know which one I used.  It's made out of corduroy so that's fancy, I guess.  But overall just a pillowcase dress.

Except.

My almost-3 year old made it.

No, really.  She picked out the fabric (Squirrel-ys!), was adamant that the straps be Black Leow (black like a kitty), and sat on my lap while we sewed every seam.  She was careful not to get her hands too close to the needle as we fed the fabric in and was completely in awe when I showed her the finished product.

It's just a simple, basic, pillowcase dress.  But I couldn't be prouder.

Hanging out with my cousin on Thanksgiving.

Three Stories - Wordful Wed

So a couple of weeks ago I did a Wordless Wednesday (and looking at those pictures still makes me smile)... today I thought I'd try the opposite and do a Wordful Wednesday.  A post with no pictures - very odd for me.  And kindof hard for a visual person like myself to do...  It's fun to experiment, and makes me think about the blog in a new way which is always good...Anyways!  I give you:

Three parenting stories that were too long to fit into a tweet:

So Matt was home sick yesterday with the death cold that has our entire household at a standstill.  With the prospect of bedtime looming I punted for dinner and made a Chipotle run.  Of course my daughter wanted to come with me.  I didn't want to bring her but couldn't explain why so threw her in the car anyways.  This was the car ride home:

"I want my tia (tortilla)."  "do you have my tia mommy?"  "can I please have my tia?"  "where's my tia."  "Is my tia in the front seat?"  "Can you give it to me?"  "But I want to eat it NOW."

Oh.  That's why.

But the Chipotle love isn't limited to the 2 year old.  Her little brother?  Whined between bites because we couldn't get the black beans into his facehole fast enough.

Honestly sometimes I think my kids are just my Id running free.  I totally wanted to tear into my burrito in the car and eat it as fast as humanly possible.

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This conversation happened the other day:

"Take this book, Mommy, because it's for Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving is over.  We past it."

"yup.  Past it.  It's Christmas time now."

"Not yet.  Not Christmastime yet.  Almost.  I have to clean my room then we can put the Christmas tree.  And I haveta ask Santa for the Frog Moonie Moonie, and a Beauty and the Beast Book, and some New Crayons, and I haveta say Please."

So she has that all figured out.

I ordered all of the items on her list that night.

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A guy cut me off and stole my parking space at the store the other day.  I was IRATE.  He waved.  To which I showed great restraint considering I have two kids in the car and responded:

"Wave?  Really?!!!  Wave!!!  Yeah I have a finger to wave at you, buddy."

"What finger, Mommy?"

Uh huh...

Cake Mix Hack - Pumpkin Cupcakes

So.  I suck at baking.  Something about the precise measuring and mixing just doesn't work for me.  Basically I'm TERRIBLE at following directions w/o trying to get all creative and change things up.  Which doesn't really work when you're trying to make something as precise as... cookies.  However I now have a kid who loves to bake.  Enter the Cake Mix Hack:

Cake Mix Hack - screwing with and/or adding stuff too a box of cake mix to make it even more delicious.  Also works with canned frosting.

 And in honor of Thanksgiving this week I thought I'd share with you my latest hack.

Crazy Easy Pumpkin Cupcakes:

Ingredients:

• 1 box of yellow cake mix and things it calls for (usually 3 eggs and some oil)
• 1 - 15 oz can pumpkin
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 jar cream cheese frosting

 Make the box cake mix just like it says in the directions except repace the water with the can of pumpkin.  Add in the spices.  Bake according to package directions.

Frost with cream cheese frosting.

Decorate with sprinkles (or have your kid do it for you):

Done!  Easy, delicious, and perfect for Thanksgiving.

Wordless Wednesday - Leaves!

Bleachable Moment.

So when I read this writing prompt from Chlorox:

Spending time with friends and family can lead to fun and memorable moments, but also some very messy ones. Tell us about the messiest moments that you’ll always remember!

I immediately thought of all of the many pictures I have of my kid covered in paint: 

Pics range from April 2010 - last month.

And all of the many times that I have let my love of art and my excitement that my daughter is so into drawing and painting get in the way of common sense.  Like that time she drew on the dog:

Proof that it's a bad plan to leave a 19 month old alone with a box of markers.  Or that we have the most tolerant dog ever.

Or that time we dyed Easter eggs in September:

Now she wants to dye them anytime we make hardboiled eggs.  Kid likes color as much as her mom does.

 You know.  Cute stories.  Not gross stores.  But sill "messy" stories.

But then?  My kid got sick.  Real sick.  Flu sick.  The kind where you wash every set of sheets you own twice with in 24 hours sick.

And then I remembered what a true bleachable moment is.

Half asleep on a splashzone of  towels.  Spoiler Alert:  the towels only kindof worked.

A bleachable moment is when you are in a fit of rage storming through your house clorox wiping everything in your path.

Because even though I had washed all the gross laundry, cleaned the toilet and the rest of the bathroom, scrubbed the rug & couch, washed the floor and aired out the house something STILL smelled like puke. I believe my tweet about sums it up:

i've scrubbed everything that i can - couch, floor, carpet, etc. but the living room still smells vaguely like puke. #burnitdown

She's feeling better now but the puking continues.  No fever.  No dehydration scares.  Just random projectile vomit.  The doctor's advice?  Just wait it out.  Awesome.

I did eventually find the source of the puke smell, though:

I don't even want to know why the dog smells like puke.  No good can come of that investigation.

And yes, I totally used wipes to clean the dog.

I received information about Clorox’s Bleach It Away campaign and am sharing my messy moment for the chance to win prizes from The SITS Girls. To learn more about the messy moment program, check out www.BleachItAway.com. Sharing your story on the Clorox fan page gets you entered for the chance to win $25,000 and daily prizes, and you can grab a coupon for Clorox® Regular Bleach.

Baby's First Haircut

Disclaimer:  Some of these photos are a bit overedited and uneven.  I recently discovered the CoffeeShop Blog's free actions for Photoshop Elements and I"m still getting the hang of them.  They are a great add to my usual Pioneer Woman Actions, though!

So on Saturday our little man had his first haircut.


I could get all sentimental or be all sad but really?  It was beyond time:

He passed the cute crazy baby hair sometime around Fourth of July when my brother commented that he looked like a hockey player.  Since then his mullet has become as long and free as one you would see at Walmart.  In 1990.  Also he had this weird stick-y up part in the back that kindof made him look like a rooster:

I debated just chopping off the back myself but babies flail alot.  So we took him to our local barber shop (the one at Kamms Corners.  I can't find a website... or even a name but Matt's been going there for years) and let the professionals fix him up.

I don't usually go for the black and white but with the stripes and the barbershop thing I'm kindof digging it.

The end result?  ADORABLE. 

He looks so much older.  Like a little boy and not just a baby.  Although perhaps some of that is contextual:

I may only be 6 months old but I'm better at this football thing than half of the Browns.

Yay for haircuts!

Peter Pan & Tinker Belle Halloween.

First of all to get this out of the way... did I try to make the Prudent Baby Tinkerbelle costume that everyone has been Pinning?

Yes.

Did my toddler completely and totally refuse to wear it?  Of course.  But at least I realized that it wasn't going to happen and bailed before I spent too much time finishing it.

Did she also refuse to wear the tutu without some tweaks?  Obviously. 

IT'S TOO FOOFY.  TINKER BELLE DOESN'T HAVE WHITE.  PLEASE TAKE THE WHITE OFFA THERE.  PLEASE.

My toddler is the most picky client ever.  But the end result?

Flipping adorable.

And honestly noone would be able to see the costume under her coat anyways.

Peter pan came out pretty adorable, too:

I used the tutorial from Make It and Love It with a few tweaks.  I didn't have a feather or a buckle so I made those from felt.  And the sword is a bit different than she describes.  Hilarious, though.  Totally made the costume especially since he brandished it so well:

Heh.

Trick or Treating was superfun times this year. 

She was so, SO excited about the candy:

And I got a family pic with the kids in their costumes and our pumpkins:

And even a few with both kids together (holy logistics, batman!):

Although I think next year I will be alot more tempted to just buy a damn costume.

Oh and in case you were wondering what Matt and I were for our friend's Halloween this year....

People who were awesome in 1991.

Yes those are Hard Rock pins and fanny packs, Yes that is a hypercolor sweatshirt, and Yes that is Crystal Pepsi. Or a vodka tonic in a Pepsi bottle I relabeled.  One of the two.

Happy Halloween!!!