You Ott 2 Know

Beat the Winter Break Boredom with Disney on Ice!

2009-12-27T21:28:00.004-05:00

Here's a fun thing to do that I got from MontcoMoms.com! We're going to take the girls this week too!

Disney On Ice presents Let’s Celebrate! It’s one colossal party on ice, with all your favorite Disney friends! Enjoy a winter wonderland with Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse, a Halloween haunt with the Disney Villains, a Very Merry Unbirthday Party, a Royal Ball with the Disney Princesses and more in a magical medley of holidays, celebrations and festivals from around the globe.

Discount Ticket Promo Code: Use coupon code MOM — four tickets for $44 for Monday-Friday matinee shows, and $4 off Friday night and weekend shows; any additional weekday tickets are still priced at $11. Tickets can be purchased at http://www.comcasttix.com/ for Philadelphia shows.

Philadelphia Show Dates

Opening Night Wed. Dec. 23, 2009 - 7:00 PM

Sat. Dec. 26, 2009 - 11:00 AM, 3:00PM, 7:00PM

Mon. Dec. 28, 2009 - 11:00 AM, 3:00PM, 7:00PM

Tue. Dec. 29, 2009 - 11:00 AM , 3:00PM, 7:00PM

Wed. Dec. 30, 2009 - 11:00 AM, 3:00PM, 7:00PM

Thu. Dec. 31, 2009 - 11:00 AM, 3:00PM, 7:00PM

Fri. Jan. 1, 2010 - 1:00 PM , 5:00PM,

Sat. Jan. 2, 2010 - 11:00 AM, 3:00PM, 7:00PM

Sun. Jan. 3, 2010 - 11:00 AM, 3:00PM

6 Months of Silence....

2009-10-27T20:59:00.003-04:00

It wasn't intentional, my friends. REALLY. It wasn't.

My last post here was May 4th. And, as I look at the calendar and realize that nearly 6 months have gone by since posting on my blog, I am honestly amazed. You see... it just sorta happened. I'm sorry it did, but sometimes life just gets in the way, right?

I went through some of my last posts and realized that life here at Chateau Ott is quite different from the last time I updated you. When I left you, McKenna was a mostly immobile, binky-sucking little mama. And, Maddie, well, let's just say that the Summer of 2009 was one she'll never forget.

So, what happened? Well, my primary "distraction" (and it is a WONDERFUL distraction at that) is that in January, I started "working" with my friend Sarah in a more formal capacity over at Chester County Moms and Montgomery County Moms. We've got a great thing going over there, if I do say so myself, and sometimes when given an hour of free time, I choose working on those blogs versus blogging here. Beyond that, you know how life is with a 2 year old and an almost 5 year old. Soon, so much time had passed that there was almost too much to say and it felt overwhelming to post here.

Anywho.... I miss blogging. Period. End of story.

So, whether you want to read or not, I will be posting here more regularly (it's hard not to post any less, right? :-)). I like telling our stories and chronicling the kids lives, especially for family that live far away or want to see all of their daily happenings.

Let me catch you up a little:

McKenna is a bright, talkative, stubborn, opinionated, fully mobile little girl now. She just celebrated her 2nd birthday and she is a shining light. She is our child of extremes. She has full on temper tantrums, but she also has these hilariously heart-warming giggle fits too. She is a love bug... but only on her terms. She is willful and spirited and I love her to pieces.

Madison has had a crazy summer. After an exciting few weeks of camp, we headed to the beach in early August for a week of vacation. On our first beach day, Madison was down at the water's edge and in a VERY FREAK ACCIDENT, she twisted her leg and ultimately somehow broke it. It has been weeks of full leg casts, short leg casts, wheelchairs, walkers, pain, tears, and frustration. It has been the hardest weeks of my parenting career without a doubt, but also my most eye-opening. Madison has taught me so much in these weeks about compassion, patience, perspective and positive attitude. This little girl has been so resilient and such a trooper throughout. She has handled the whole situation with such grace and I am honored to be learning such valuable lessons from my own child. She amazes me.

So, here we are in October, enjoying preschool and planning for Halloween. McKenna is going to be Abby Cadabby, a fairy character from Sesame Street and Madison picked a "Forest Fairy" costume. They are excited to both be fairies, but be different at the same time. I can't believe how fast time is flying by with these kids!

Will post more soon! I promise.

And the winner is....

2009-05-04T11:12:00.003-04:00

#6... Amy! Amy and her family have won the family 4 pack of tickets to see Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey's Zing Zang Zoom show on opening night, Wednesday, May 13th!

Sometimes I just ask Matt or Madison to pick a number for me to select winners, but since MANY of my close friends had all entered this contest, I used random.org to generate the winning number so that it was completely unbiased!

Have fun Amy and family!

Zing Zang Zoom: The Circus is Coming to Town!

2009-04-28T21:38:00.005-04:00

It's the Greatest Show on Earth! And, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey want you and your family to get to see it! Come experience the all new Zing Zang Zoom circus playing at the Wachovia Spectrum!

How would you like to win a 4 pack of tickets to see the circus on opening night, Wednesday, May 13th? All you need to do is leave a comment to this post that includes your email address! This contest will end on Monday, May 4th and a winner will be notified! Good luck.

For all of you who may not be lucky enough to win the contest, I am excited to offer you a special discount offer on tickets to see this amazing show.

Purchase a 4 pack of tickets for only $44 by logging onto http://www.comcasttix.com and entering the coupon code: MOM**.

Don't forget that your tickets include a FREE All Access Pre-Show one hour before the performance begins

** Tickets can also be purchased by calling 1-800-298-4200. Minimum purchase of 4 tickets required; additional tickets above 4, can be purchased for $11 each. Special Promotional pricing not available for VIP Gold, VIP, Circus Celebrity Seating or combined with any other offers. Other service fees may apply.

Philadelphia Show Dates:
Wednesday, May 13th at 7:00pm Thursday, May 14th at 7:00pm
Friday, May 15th at 10:30am
Friday, May 15th at 7:00pm
Saturday, May 16th at 11:00am
Saturday, May 16th at 3:00pm
Saturday, May 16th at 7:00pm
Sunday, May 17th at 1:00pm
Sunday, May 17th at 5:00pm

Enjoy!

Slendertone Giveaway Winner....

2009-03-24T12:45:00.001-04:00

Nothing like closing out a giveaway almost a week later than I should have! The rampant sickness that has rocked our household has me more than a little distracted :-)

At any rate, I am happy to say that Patty from So Young Now is the winner of the ab toner system from Slendertone. Enjoy, Patty!

Slendertone GIVEAWAY!

2009-03-12T23:51:00.007-04:00

I recently went to a fantastic event hosted by Colleen of Classy Mommy and sponsored by Role Mommy and Slendertone called Moms Night In! It was an amazing night that was full of pampering and fun for all of the Philadelphia mommy entrepreneurs and bloggers that had gathered there. As always, there was great food, great wine, and great conversation as we all caught up with our bloggy buddies that evening and we even got to partake in FREE manicures and makeup consultations courtesy of Calista Grand Salon and Day Spa! **(As an aside, have you seen the specials that Calista is offering to Chester County Moms Blog readers? Go check it out!)

The highlight of the evening was hearing a brief, but highly informative presentation from the folks at Slendertone about their AMAZING product line! The Slendertone range of products includes a variety of solutions that includes everything you need to stay trim and in shape. Whether it’s a firm, toned midsection, shapely arms or a tighter bottom and thighs you’re after, there’s a Slendertone garment for you. And the best part? You can use it while doing cardio, taking a walk, doing chores, or even just sitting in front of the TV.

We all got to try a variety of Slendertone products at Moms Night In. The toning garments were all super easy to wear and to operate. And, they also let us try out their ReVive Professional Muscle Conditioning product. I have to say..... that was one of the best massages I've ever had. With backaches becoming more and more frequent in my household as I haul my 29 pound toddler around, I look forward to using that product over and over again.

OK, back to the awesomeness of toning while multi-tasking in your life!!! So, who doesn't want stronger, firmer abs in just 8 weeks??? I know I do. Well, here's your chance to win a FREE Slendertone Ab toner! That is a $99 value folks!!! All you need to do is leave me a comment here (PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL) to tell me why you'd like to win the ab toner system!

Also, bonus entries can be obtained if you blog about this giveaway or link to it on Twitter. Just come back and write me a new comment linking to either your blog post or your Tweet!

The contest will end on Wednesday, March 18th. Good luck!

In the meantime, check out this funny and adorable You Tube Video on the Slendertone Ab product!

Campaign for Safe Cosmetics' new report: "Toxic Tub"

2009-03-12T22:36:00.005-04:00

Traditionally, bath products and cosmetics don't list ingredients on the label, so even the most ingredient-conscious parents wouldn't know whether the product is safe or healthy. Many bath products for your baby are labeled as "gentle"," "pure" or "naturally refreshing", which can be even more confusing, since these words are unregulated and don't hold significant meaning.

Right now, children across America may be unfortunately sitting in bubbles tainted with harmful chemicals. Recently, an independent lab tested 48 kids' products for 1,4-dioxane and found it in 67 percent of the products. Of the 28 products tested for formaldehyde, 82 percent were positive. Seventeen products were contaminated with both 1,4-dioxane and formaldehyde, both linked to significant health effects.

To find out the specifics, you should check out the new Campaign for Safe Cosmetics report, "Toxic Tub", for all the details, but in the meantime, I encourage you to Take Action and Voice Your Opinion.

Ask your legislators to clean up kids products.
Ask your friends to request their legislators give the FDA the authority it needs to ensure that all cosmetics, from baby shampoo to lipstick to body lotion, are truly safe.

We owe it to our families to demand that the hygiene products that we all use are safe!

Here, Kitty, Kitty

2009-03-06T10:53:00.010-05:00

Both Madison and McKenna have a fascination with kitty cats right now. I'm not exactly sure why, considering Matt and I aren't really "cat people", they aren't around any cats, and we actually have a dog as a pet. But, they just think that cats are super adorable. Both kids have stuffed kitty cats, and Madison is particularly attached to hers right now. It's pretty much with her wherever we go and is definitely the "go to" stuffed animal for bedtime.

Madison has been so into kitty cats lately that she has taken to pretending she is a kitty cat while playing. She asks us to pet her and she purrs. It's actually quite cute!

With all of this kitty cat focus, it's no wonder that one of the first animal "sounds" that McKenna could recognize and repeat was "Meow". So, we often ask her what a kitty cat says and she adorably tells us in her cute little voice!

So, last night at dinner, Matt was going through an almost-daily routine with McKenna where we go around the room and point to different people and say "Who is this?". She can say all of our names with no issue and had already identified Dada when Matt pointed to Madison. When Matt asked her who Madison was, we expected her to reply her usual "Maddie". Instead, when Matt asked her tonight, she responded that Madison was "Meow"! I guess that our kitty fascination has now escalated to an all-time high!

McKenna's first haircut!

2009-03-04T23:01:00.001-05:00

McKenna got her first haircut in early February. Her hair doesn't look very different from before. We just needed to get the back of her hair (that had grown into a mullet) evened up. Since I didn't want the management of bangs just yet, we opted to just get the front of her hair evened out as much as possible without taking off any real length.

She did really well with the cut. At first she was tentative, and at one point she whimpered a little bit, but then she rallied and seemed unphased by the whole process. Then, when it came time to blow dry her hair, she was so intrigued by the hairdryer. She was trying to dry her hair herself. McKenna was cracking our stylist up ... she kept saying "I hope you are getting pictures of this, Mom!"

The first snip and holding Daddy's hand for reassurance

Now she's not so sure about this...

Then she sees decides that this is no big deal

But, the hairdryer really made her curious

She was literally trying to hold it herself and dry her hair

She would push it up to her head and let it sit there

And, she didn't want to let go!

I didn't get any "after" shots. We were all just laughing too hard about the hair dryer and I forgot. She looks adorable with her little baby bob!

Snow Angels

2009-03-04T23:00:00.002-05:00

During the first week of February, we had our first measurable snow here in the Philadelphia area. Madison was so excited to go outside and play in it! This was McKenna's first snow to play in, so we were excited to get her out there and see what she thought of the whole thing.

Overall, we had lots of fun. Although, with McKenna not walking, it was somewhat challenging to manage her during our adventures. After she was sliding down my hip for the 100th time because of all of the nylon clothing we had on, I finally decided to set her up in her sled and she watched as Maddie took turn after turn going up and down our hill in the backyard! After a while though, McKenna was less than amused at being bundled up like the Pillsbury Dough Girl and wanted to go inside. Luckily, the prospect of hot chocolate and a movie was enough to lure Madison into wanting to come inside with us when McKenna had enough!

Having a ball sledding!

McKenna's first time playing in the snow... not too excited!

Whee! They went down the hill together.... so cute!

McKenna and Mommy in the snow

Telling me that she wanted to have a snowball fight.... doesn't she have a mischievous look on her face!

There's the first attack on Mommy

And, now she is using her sled as a shield as mommy gets her turn to throw snowballs!

Wordless Wednesday: Climbing

2009-03-04T11:25:00.003-05:00

At 16 1/2 months, McKenna STILL won't walk (although we are getting close, I think), however, she WILL climb on anything and everything she can reach!

Bippity Boppity Boo

2009-03-04T11:04:00.005-05:00

For Madison's 4th Birthday in January, we decided to take her to the Disney On Ice show in Philadelphia. This was a special treat just for Madison, so Mimi came to the house to spend the morning with McKenna for us. There was a Disney Princess Pre-Show event that was right up Madison's alley! We could arrive up to an hour early and get a tour of all of the princesses most beautiful gowns up close. Madison was in heaven! The even bigger surprise was that Belle and Cinderella both made appearances and waved to Madison in the crowd and even said hello to her. She was so excited.

Then we headed in for the main event and were entertained by scenes from Cars, The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, and Tinkerbelle, not to mention several appearances by Mickey and Minnie!

We had a Disney-rific morning together!

Our little Belle posing by Disney Belle's dress

And, there is the "real" Belle behind Madison

With Snow White's dress

Posing with Cinderella in the background

Daddy and Maddie ready for the show to start!

Showing us her brand new Belle necklace that she bought as a souvenier at the show with the money that Mimi and Pop-Pop gave her!

The Laptop Saga Continues...

2009-03-04T10:58:00.003-05:00

Well, we've resolved the laptop issues... partially! The laptop will need to be sent away this weekend for about a 2 week vacation back to HP. The good news is that HP is being AWESOME in their customer service. The bad news is that I'll be without the laptop (and my pictures) again! So, in the meantime, I am going to do a huge dump of all that's been going on here in the last 2 months before I can't share my pictures with you for another long period of time!

Wordless Wednesday: Go Mommy!

2009-02-25T10:16:00.002-05:00

This bib was one of my favorite Christmas gifts this year. My friend Kristin got it for me (and McKenna), and it says "My mommy's blog is better than YOUR mommy's blog." Not that this is in any way true of any of the fantastic blogs that I subscribe to, but it sure does make me smile and giggle when I see it!

Facebook Stole My Blog

2009-01-28T09:18:00.002-05:00

Or, more accurately, Facebook stole all my time to blog :-) I signed up with Facebook back in October. At that time, I found many old friends, acquaintances, and even family members to connect with. Since then, though, even more people I know have signed up and it seems as though almost everyone I know is now using Facebook. Because of that, I find that I spend ALOT of my time lately "facebooking" with people, and ignoring my poor, lonely old blog.

Now I know why they have Facebook addiction groups! And, the group that is the most humorous to me is "Not Now, Mommy's Facebooking"! It hasn't gotten quite that bad around here, but I could see it easily heading in that direction :-) I have been bitten by the Facebook addiction bug myself, but vow to back off a bit and get back to updating people on the kids and myself here!

Wordless Wednesday: Silly Girls!

2009-01-07T12:00:00.000-05:00

Here are 2 of my favorite candid shots of the kids from the last few weeks.

I walked into Madison's bedroom one afternoon to see what she was up to and found her like this! She had pulled McKenna's inflatable bathtub from the bathroom onto her bed, climbed in, and decided to read a book. Silly girl #1!

Last week, I had left the 2 girls for a few moments in the family room while I went to answer the phone. I came back to find that McKenna had pulled up on the side table, got a hold of the tissue box, and decided to make a mess. Silly girl #2!

And then she decided to blow her nose since she had access to plenty of tissues. So cute!

A Christmas to Remember...

2009-01-05T15:13:00.004-05:00

And, unfortunately for all of us, that's what I'm going to have to rely on .... remembering! As a scrapbooker, you'd think by now I'd be proficient in getting all the "action shots" to accurately capture the day and have my camera at-the-ready at all times. Well, this year, NOT.SO.MUCH! I am not quite sure what happened. Perhaps it was managing the Christmas chaos for 2 kids this year (McKenna was only 10 weeks old last Christmas, and really didn't enter the fray) or perhaps it was the level of sheer joy and elation that an almost 4 year old brings to the day, but for whatever reason, there are several shots of this Christmas that I just did not get. And, I am very sad about that. One of the main shots that is missing is the annual "on the stairs" shot. That's the picture that my Mom took each year of us in our jammies just before we went out to see the tree. I've done this each year with our kids too, and missed it this year :-( I am also soooo annoyed that I never got a picture of the girls together in their matching Christmas dresses! I have lots of PJ pictures from the morning at our house and then our gift opening at Mimi and Pop Pop's house, but no pics in their cute little dresses at my Uncle's house. And, finally, I also got no picture of the 4 of us together that day :-( Well, all I can do is hope that I re-read this post before next Christmas and try harder to get the shots I want next time!

But, I did manage to get a few fun shots of the day. Take a look!

McKenna LOVED her toy keys and car remote!

Checking out Elmo with Uncle Mark.

Santa granted Maddie's single wish... A Doll House. She loves it so much and barely wanted to see her other toys on Christmas morning. Good work, Santa. (Although it wasn't green, was it?)

Uncle Mark and Maddie take a brief time out from playing with the doll house to say "Cheese!"

Hugging her Tinker Bell movie!

Trying to show everyone her new Barbie head from Mimi and Pop Pop.

Reading her Elmo book like a big girl!

Whether we have the pictures or not, it was an amazing Christmas filled with lots of love, laughter, and family. What could be better?

Christmas Eve Excitement!

2009-01-03T22:50:00.005-05:00

After coming home from our Christmas Eve dinner at Bonefish Grill (which has quite accidentally become a yearly tradition for the last 4 years!), we worked on our Christmas Eve preparations to welcome Santa and his reindeer so that we could get to bed and assure his arrival!

Here are the girls with our plate of homemade cookies and milk for Santa and a plate of carrots for the reindeer (8 carrots were carefully counted out for each reindeer by Madison!).

When we were young, my Mom parents always gave us one gift to open on Christmas Eve. Although we caught on quickly and knew that Christmas pajamas were in the packages, we still always got excited about it! So, here is Madison getting her Christmas Eve jammies. McKenna got matching pjs too, but getting pictures of her is very difficult these days :-)

Their pj's say "Dear Santa, It wasn't me!"

Trying (unsuccessfully) to get them to pose together in their matching jammies in Madison's bed.

This was the best we got :-)

Mommy snuck downstairs later that night and look what she found.... Santa and the reindeer had enjoyed our snack!

Sporting a new 'do!

2009-01-03T22:35:00.004-05:00

Right before Christmas, we decided that Madison's hair had gotten so long that it just wasn't looking nice anymore. So, we decided to cut her hair back into the "bob" that we had done earlier this year. She loved that hair style and was more than happy to go get her hair cut. I didn't have my camera at the salon with us, but they cut off a good 3 to 4 inches.

I LOVE her new hair cut, but it really does make her look older. And, her looking older is NOT what I wanted when she is about to turn 4 in just a few short days. I can't believe my baby girl is getting so big! Here is a picture of her waiting to see Santa Claus and showing off her new hair cut!

A New Tradition is Born....

2009-01-03T21:57:00.004-05:00

Some of my fondest memories of my childhood Christmases are the times my Mom would take us to see the Nutcracker Ballet. It was always such a special occasion and I was always so excited to get dressed up and be "fancy" for an afternoon. Well, now that Madison is a little ballerina herself, I thought it would be great fun to take her to see the Nutcracker this year.

In December, we went to a production of the Nutcracker by the Brandywine Ballet Company performed at West Chester University. One of the moms in our playgroup coordinated getting tickets for several of us, and it was a fun night! Thanks, Heidi!

My friend Shari and her daughter Daria accompanied Madison and I to dinner before the show and the girls were SO excited! They thought they were such big girls doing dinner and a show! Madison sat mesmerized for much of the show and kept declaring how BEAUTIFUL the Sugar Plum Fairy was! This will certainly now be an annual event for Mom and Maddie, and soon we will be able to include McKenna as well.

Madison and Daria so excited at dinner!

Shari and Daria

Mommy and Madison

A wonderful time was had by all and it really put all of us into the holiday spirit!!!

Can you tell me how to get.....

2008-12-23T09:55:00.007-05:00

to Sesame Street? ....... Or, more specifically, to Sesame Place?

We made our annual trip to Sesame Place this December with Mimi and our cousins for the Holiday Breakfast with the Characters. We had a wonderful time and it was so much fun having Declan join us for his first Sesame Place experience. All of the kids had a blast, but this year was Brynn's year (Sean and Heather's 2.5 year old)! She RAN from character to character to give them hugs. It was sooo adorable!

We did manage one picture with all 5 of them where McKenna wasn't crying. She was definitely NOT feeling Elmo up close and personal. It's Dylan, McKenna, Declan, Brynn, and Madison.

Declan's first Sesame Place trip visiting with Elmo and Aunt Ronnie.

Mimi and Aunt Ronnie with Declan.

Me and my girlies with our fave, Zoe the Ballerina.

Dylan and Madison gettin' silly with Telly.

Um, do you really think I care about these characters when Tater Tots are being served?? I mean, seriously!?!?

Maddie getting hugs from her bud, Ernie.

After our exciting morning at Sesame Place, we all went back to Mimi and Pop-Pop's house for to do some holiday cookie baking. Mimi had LOTS of recipes to choose from, but our favorite were making the chocolate covered pretzel sticks. So much fun!

Here's Brynn looking so C-U-T-E in her apron (pulled up to her armpits!)

Here are Mimi's helpful baking elves. Aren't they adorable?!

Thanks for a really fun day, Mimi. We love you.

Christmas Par-tay!!!

2008-12-23T08:50:00.006-05:00

As we do every year, we made it to Mimi's work holiday party last Friday. We always have such a fantastic time celebrating at that party. Madison and McKenna had a great time singing songs with Miss Jody, seeing the magician/balloon artist, and of course, visiting Santa and Mrs. Claus. We also had fun spending the morning with our cousins Brynn and Declan. Dylan couldn't be with us because she is in first grade now, and needed to go to school!

Me and my girls at the party

Mimi with her grandchildren Brynn, Declan, McKenna, and Madison (Dylan wasn't with us today)

Yes, the magician/balloon artist is INSIDE that balloon. The kids thought that was amazing!

Madison got picked to help John with a card trick.

This isn't a good picture, but in return for helping with the card trick, John made Madison a HUGE balloon poodle. It was adorable and Madison loved it.

The kids seeing Santa and Mrs. Claus. McKenna was not feeling it!

Madison and Brynn telling Santa very carefully what is on their wish lists.

Hugs for Mrs. Claus!

It's Declan's first visit with Santa!

Um, Dad??? Is Santa trying to move in on your woman????

Wordless Wednesday: I can help decorate the tree, too!

2008-12-10T14:13:00.004-05:00

It's a Good Day here at You Ott 2 Know!

2008-12-04T20:02:00.008-05:00

This lovely woman in the photo is my mother. She has been a wonderful mom, role model, and friend to me and I love her so, so much. Mom, hope you had a wonderful day today, and we can't wait to celebrate with you this weekend. Madison is sending you a birthday scream "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MIMI!!!"

And, in other exciting news, this is my 100th post! I'm so glad I've reached this great milestone with a topic as special as my Mom's Birthday!

Back in Business....

2008-12-01T11:53:00.002-05:00

I know there's been a looooooooong silence around here. The blog is starting to look a little dusty. Between the mind-numbing migraines I've been getting, a girls trip to Vegas and then a Thanksgiving trip to Pittsburgh, there's just been no time to blog. But, not any more! I'm back and ready to blog.

Let me go organize my blog posts and I'll get something a little more interesting to read posted up here really soon!

Back Seat Driver!

2008-11-06T15:01:00.004-05:00

I'm wondering if you can drive a car better than I can if you still play with Barbies, take naps, and use a sippy cup occasionally? I didn't think you could, but Maddie obviously feels differently. She was all up in my business today about my driving .... here are some of the best lines:
-----------------------------
Madison is drawing in the backseat as we drive to dance class.

Maddie: "Mom, look at this picture I drew."
Me: "Madison, I can't look right now because I am driving. I'll look at it when we get to class."
Maddie: "Mom, you can look. I'll watch the road for you!"
----------------------------
We were pulling out of a busy parking lot. I had started to pull out because I saw that the oncoming car had it's turn signal on and was going to turn before the street we were on. Maddie apparently didn't feel the coast was as clear as I did. As we passed the car that was turning, she waved to the car and shouted "We're sorry, ma'am!"
----------------------------
Even though we were at dance class early, Maddie somehow had it in her mind that we were running late. I tried to tell her that we would get there in plenty of time today, and we would probably wind up sitting in the parking lot waiting for her teacher to arrive (which did happen). As we were driving to class, she decided that chanting "Go, Mommy, Go" over and over again would get us to dance class quicker!
----------------------------

I didn't think the back seat driving would happen quite this early! I feel like I need a drink after being in the car with her today!

Wordless Wednesday: Baby Cousin

2008-11-05T17:06:00.003-05:00

We went to my Mom's house this weekend and Madison got to hold her new baby cousin, Declan, for the first time. She was so excited to get to hold him like a big girl! Isn't he a cutie? Even if I do say so myself.

Now THAT'S the spirit!

2008-11-03T13:50:00.002-05:00

This morning while Madison was at preschool and McKenna was napping, I was sitting here minding my own business and getting caught up on the backlog of blog posts that were unread in my Google Reader.

Today, there were 2 unread messages from one of my favorite blogs, Musings of a Housewife. Jo-Lynne put up a post yesterday titled "Why I'm Voting for McCain on Tuesday". I think this may be one of the best politically-themed posts I've read in a while.

People who know me well are probably scratching their heads right about now, thinking Shannon, that title says McCain! Don't worry, people, I am still voting for my beloved Obama. Even though Jo-Lynne and I may not agree on which candidate to vote for, we do agree fully that we each have the right to our own opinions. And, having opposing opinions does not make either of us a bad person.

This is my biggest issue with politics... the extreme divisiveness. It seems to me that sometimes people believe so passionately in their own cause that they are willing to disregard, threaten, or belittle people who may have other views. I am so thankful for Jo-Lynne confidently describing that which she believes in, while at the same time respecting that not everyone feels the same way.

Go check out her post. It's a great one.

Halloween Fun, Fun, Fun!

2008-11-03T09:55:00.012-05:00

Halloween was lots of fun this year with two little girls to dress up! Last year, McKenna was only 12 days old on Halloween, and we didn't put a costume on her. She was a "new baby" for Halloween.

Earlier in the day, our playgroup put on a Halloween Parade and the kids had a blast! Our friends V and J had us over to their house and we paraded around their cul-de-sac, played great Halloween-themed games, sang Halloween songs, and of course, trick or treated in the big witches cauldron!

Later that afternoon, we waited for Daddy to come home with our pizza. We quickly ate our dinner in anticipation of the big night! We were ready to go trick or treating so quickly that we were actually a little too early to go out, so we had to wait patiently for 6pm to finally roll around! Then, it was time to go and Maddie was beside herself. She was constantly planning out our route and deciding which houses she would go to next. She was so polite and always wished everyone a Happy Halloween before she took any goodies and always said Thank You. She makes me so proud! All in all, it was a wonderful family night with my little Lady Bug and my Princess Belle.

Help Graco Help Others in Need

2008-10-29T19:38:00.003-04:00

I wanted to share this information about an AWESOME charitable campaign that Graco is doing right now. Check out this information that I received from Graco and GO SIGN UP TODAY! You receive great Graco and partner offers and information, and more importantly, you can help someone in need receive a FREE CAR SEAT! Go sign up right now! What are you waiting for?

-----------

With Halloween here at the end of this week, the holiday season will soon be in full swing (the kids certainly know it’s coming!) which means travel for many, and unfortunately tough times for a few. As part of Graco’s new “Ready for the Road Ahead” campaign, we have created the Ready. Safe. Go! Car Seat Club.

The Car Seat Club gives its members access to car seat resources, special partner offers and e-mail updates and the best part about the club, (we think) is that for every 10 people that join the club 1 car seat will be donated to organizations helping families in need. The holiday season has always been a time to help others and just by joining, you’re able to help organizations distribute donated car seats to families who aren’t able to buy one for themselves.

So help Graco help others -- all while helping yourself!

Wordless Wednesday: Cold Enough to Start Wearing Hats

2008-10-29T11:07:00.005-04:00

MMEEEOOOWWWW!

2008-10-26T20:35:00.012-04:00

The dance studio where Maddie takes her ballet class held it's first annual Halloween-themed performance this weekend called "Thriller". Considering it was their first time hosting this event, there were certainly some kinks that needed to be worked out regarding the preparations for this event (which was only 8 weeks into the dancing "semester"!), especially for the preschool-aged kids. Several times over the last few weeks, I wondered if it was appropriate for me to even have Madison perform this weekend and considered pulling her out of the show. My biggest fear was that this would be too much, too soon for Madison and I didn't want to traumatize her and then she wouldn't want to do her main recital at the end of the year. But, I finally realized that I was having issues, not her. She's been nothing but excited since the moment she found out about this event. So we practiced and were all excited about today!

And, tonight, I got confirmation that I made the right decision to continue with it. I realized that she LOVES ballet and LOVES performing. She didn't have one moment of fear or anxiety. She is having a great time with ballet, and that is really all I can ask for. Here is the video from her class' performance. It's grainy because I had to tape it stealthily from my digital camera, because no video taping was allowed. I won't even comment on that..ugh!

Her class dressed as kittens and danced to the Stray Cat Strut! This video makes me smile. Those little girls did a great job! You can see a line of 3 girls in the forefront. Madison is in the middle. She's the one who's back is to the camera most of the time :-) She kept turning around to see her teacher. BTW, to the left of Maddie is our playgroup friend Nicole and to the right of her is our playgroup friend Eliza. Lilly was in the back row and I didn't catch her on film.

Thanks to Mimi and Pop-Pop for coming to see the show and for the celebratory dinner at Red Robin afterwards!

P.S. Make sure you put the music on my playlist below on pause so that you can hear the audio on this video clip.

Not what I expected, but more than pleasantly surprised!

2008-10-25T22:38:00.008-04:00

On Tuesday I'm headed to NYC to hang out with Martha Stewart. OK, so maybe I am going to see a taping of her show, but that's considered hanging out, right? A girl can dream.

I am going with 9 other Chester County Moms bloggers and friends. I am so thankful to Sarah for scoring these tickets for us. It's going to be a fantastic day full of laughter. I am sure we'll have alot to blog about upon our return.

There weren't alot of details given about the topic for next Tuesday's show. And, truthfully, does it really matter what the show is about? I mean, we're going to have a day in NYC, see Martha Stewart, and spend adult time with girlfriends... the show's topic is somewhat inconsequential because all of her show topics are good ones.

Then, I checked her website yesterday to see if they had posted any info about next week's lineup and saw the news...."Halloween Crafts with LL Cool J". Oooohhhhh... how the Ladies Love Cool James! This is awesome on many levels.

First, did you ever think you'd see a day when LL Cool J was sitting in Martha Stewart's craft room and helping her with a Jack-O-Lantern? Good stuff. Second, my inner college self has already played and replayed in my head the lyrics to Around the Way Girl and Mamma Said Knock You Out! So many of his songs were fixtures on the party playlists back in the day! I am really looking forward to hearing about his new album... think we might get a copy of the CD? And, third, well, you've SEEN LL Cool J, right? He's the ultimate in eye candy!

Can't wait to "meet" you, LL. I'll be the inappropriately overzealous mid-aged mommy blogger in the audience whose 9 friends are holding her down because she's so star struck!

Check your local listings and look for us in the audience!

Back in Business....

2008-10-23T21:22:00.002-04:00

After nearly two weeks of being without my power cord for my laptop, my husband saved me today and bought me a new one! I have never been so happy to see that little blue power light come on in all my life. Our desktop is so slow that it is almost unbearable to use, so it's been a long 2 weeks. So, thanks for the save, sweetie. You made my day.

Now I can get back to blogging more regularly!

Halloween Candy Recalled!

2008-10-23T14:36:00.003-04:00

I put this information on the Chester County Moms blog, but wanted to share it here as well.

There is a warning put out by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.... Sherwood brand "Pirate's Gold Milk Chocolate Coins" are being recalled due to the fact that they contain Melamine, the chemical that has caused several infant deaths in China, and sickened thousands more. These candies are sold at Costco, as well as many bulk and dollar stores! PLEASE make sure to check your childrens' Halloween candy and DO NOT LET THEM EAT THE PIRATE COINS (the ones wrapped in the shiny gold/silver foil) and please let other parents know about this!

You can verify the validity of this information at Snopes.com.

Feelin' Hot, Hot, Hot

2008-10-21T11:17:00.008-04:00

As some of you may know, I recently have lost some weight. 26 pounds to be exact! I worked the Weight Watchers program very devoutly over the spring and summer and ultimately reached my goal. What is the problem, then, you ask? Well, the problem is twofold.

First, I only made it to my Weight Watchers goal by the end of August, not my own personal goal. My personal goal was to lose another 10 to 15 pounds more after I hit my WW Goal.

Second, not only have I not been maintaining at my WW goal weight, I have gained a few pounds back! And, as sure as I am sitting here writing this post, I am NOT going to let myself get back to where I was and I don't like this upward progression on the scale that I am seeing each week!

So, after the little hiatus that I let myself take over the last 8 weeks, I am getting back on track and I am going to get Hot for the Holidays! I saw this challenge at Genesis Moments and Sarah's post inspired me to get in in on this great support system!

My goal is to lose a total of 17 pounds. I think that losing 10- 12 pounds by the holidays is reasonable, and if I lose more, even better. Here is how I am going to do it:

1. Go back to the Weight Watchers program fully. This means counting my points faithfully and accurately each day and staying within my target allowance. This program works for me. I've seen great results with it and I just need to get serious about it.

2. Go back to Weight Watchers for weigh-ins and meetings. I will set a goal to do this twice a month at a minimum and if I can get to more that will be even better!

3. Get my sorry self back to the gym. I haven't been there in months and I am wasting LOTS of money each month there. So, let me put the money and the membership to good use and get this remaining weight off!

Do you want to be Hot for the Holidays? Go to It's Almost Naptime and put a link to your blog under her Hot for the Holidays post and join the challenge. Then, leave a comment here for me so that I know you are playing along too! I'd love to have more people to support and be supported by. I will keep you posted on my progress.

I'm already feelin' hot, hot, hot!

Friends Know Best?

2008-10-21T10:13:00.003-04:00

I always thought that the sage pearl of wisdom that has been passed down through the generations went a little something like this... "Mother Knows Best". This apparently is NOT the case according to my 3 and a half year old.

After picking her up from preschool yesterday, we had this conversation about her friend from class named B:

Maddie: "Mom, B says that I am not 3 and a half."

Me: "Madison, you are 3 and a half. In fact, you are almost going to be 4."

Maddie: "But, Mom, B says that I am not."

Me: "Honey, you most certainly are. It has been over 9 months since your 3rd birthday. That makes you more than 3 and a half."

Maddie: "No, Mom, I'm NNOOOOTTTT. B says I'm not.

Here's where I want to tell her 1) that B doesn't know what the h*ll she is talking about, 2) that I would certainly like to think that as the person that birthed her into this world I might remember just a little bit better than B when she came into it, 3) that I am right and B is wrong, and 4) to stop arguing with me about it! But I realize the inappropriateness (and futility)of these fleeting thoughts and keep my mouth shut.

Me: "OK, Madison, you aren't 3 and a half then, I guess."

Maddie: "Um, I KNOW that already, Mom. B told me that today." Sigh.

Do you hear that noise? That's the sound of my head banging against the steering wheel as we had this conversation. I am so glad that B is keeping track of my daughter's age for us, since I apparently am unable to do so :-)

'Atta Boy, Dan!

2008-10-17T10:23:00.006-04:00

Ok, so I need to do some serious bragging here, because not only is this fantastic young man my cousin, he is my Godson! In this Philadelphia Inquirer article from yesterday, Dan has been ranked #6 out of the top #15 Southeastern PA High School Offensive Linemen. Pretty cool, huh? Dan plays as #65 for the Neshaminy Redskins and is a senior there, and he is also one of the 2008 Team Captains! We have some serious football fever in our family!

Even cooler.... he is one of the nicest (and most hilarious) guys you'll ever meet and he is so great with my girls and my brother's girls who are totally enamored with him!

Dan, we are super proud of you! Go Skins!

I'm getting the shakes here....

2008-10-15T14:15:00.004-04:00

I am officially in withdrawl.

I can't use my laptop. The battery has died. Well, plug it into the wall, you say? I'd love to, but I can't. Being the brilliant, put-together person that I am, I left my laptop power cord at the Boston BlogHer conference that I attended this weekend! Yeah... I'm so smart like that. I guess I was in a little bit of a rush to get to get out of the final session and over to the cocktail hour.

Not only am I relegated to this uber-slow piece of antiquated machinery known as my desktop, but I also can't upload any of my pictures. That stinks! So, no Wordless Wednesday post for me today. I'm still working with the hotel to see if they can find it for me, but if not, I'm going to have to go get my "fix" and buy a new cord ASAP.

Happy Birthday, Baby Brother....

2008-10-12T12:00:00.003-04:00

Today is my baby brother's 30th birthday. It is hard to call him my "baby" brother without laughing, since he is 6 ' 5" and towers over me.

Sometimes it strikes me just how interesting it is to relate to your siblings as adults now, isn't it? I just look at my brother and I am so proud of him. He has accomplished alot in his 30 years and is a hardworking and loving husband and father.

Here he is last year during our week in the Outer Banks. We had a Pirate theme night and he made an awesome pirate, don't ya think? Love that snarl he's giving me. This might be one of my favorite pictures of him. And, no, the silver tooth is not real.

Happy Birthday, Sean. Hope you have a great day!

Row, Row, Row Your Boat

2008-10-09T19:06:00.004-04:00

On Tuesday, Maddie's friend D came to spend the afternoon with us. At one point, McKenna was crawling around on the kitchen floor and the girls stopped to play with her. They were rocking back and forth with her and singing Row, Row, Row Your Boat. McKenna thought it was awesome. Then I messed up their groove by asking them to look at me for a picture. The fun ended right after this and they were off to their next adventure!

Get your motor runnin'!

2008-10-07T20:55:00.005-04:00

I'm going! I'm really, really going! On Friday, myself and my fellow Chester County Moms blog buddies Sarah, Jenn, and Kelly are headed to Boston to hit one of the BlogHer '08 Reach Out Tour stops.

In addition to all of the great fun and great learning experiences we'll have at the conference, we are also very lucky to have been selected to be part of the GM Carpool program for this tour. GM is letting us drive to Boston in style in one of their Saturn Outlooks. I can't wait to get that baby out on the open road..... just kidding, GM..... I promise to behave!

Please check out BlogHer's Notes From the Road page to hear all about what we and our fellow Carpoolers are up to out on the road. You can read all of our blog posts and our Twitter feeds from there! I am sure that there will be some very funny bloggy material during this trip!!!

We'll keep you "posted"!

Support a Fellow Mommy!

2008-10-05T20:44:00.003-04:00

I am posting this message that my friend Sarah had on her blog. I've had the pleasure of meeting K.C. twice and she is wonderful woman and mother. It's a win-win.... you get one (or more!) of her amazing products and she donates some of her earnings to a wonderful cause. Her story will touch your heart.

-----------------

My friend, K.C was recently diagnosed with Stage 2A Invasive Ductal Breast Cancer. She had a double mastectomy and will under go chemotherapy for 4 months, Herceptin IV infusion treatment for 12 months and hormone therapy for 5 years. All while chasing around her young daughter and running her Mommy business, The Diaper Bag Wrangler. To read more about her diagnosis and treatment plan, click here to vist her blog. In support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, 10% of The Diaper Bag Wrangler sales from 10/1- 10/31 are going to be donated to The Pennsylvania Breast Cancer Coalition.

Click here to start shopping!

Go, Team Classy Mommy!

2008-10-05T20:15:00.006-04:00

On Friday night, Colleen from Classy Mommy hosted a benefit for the national virtual "Gal to Gal Walk" which benefits women with Stage IV Breast Cancer and their families. We created virtual girls for Team Classy Mommy who will "walk" in 31 cities in 31 days during the month of October! As an added bonus, Colleen had been being interviewed by a Korean documentary crew for the past 2 days, and the crew was there to talk to Colleen's Mommy Blogger friends too.

It was a great evening and it was so wonderful to meet some of the other Philly Mom Bloggers who I feel like I know from reading their blogs, but hadn't yet met personally!

If you are interested in helping out this amazing foundation, go to the Gal to Gal Walk website and for a small donation, you can create a walker and join Team Classy Mommy too!

Spot Shot rocks!

2008-10-05T15:32:00.008-04:00

A few weeks ago, our friends at Mom Central asked me if I wanted to try out a new carpet cleaning product called Spot Shot. Now, given that I am the mother of 2 small children and a dog owner, carpet cleaners are something that I know a thing or two about! I was definitely willing to try something new to try to fight some of our nasty carpet stains. The best part is that Spot Shot is non-toxic and environmentally friendly!

The sample arrived complete with a product testing kit. They included a piece of sample carpet along with chocolate and amonia to "stain" the carpet with and the product to clean up the stains with. The Spot Shot completely removed all of the chocolate stain and all of the amonia odor! I was impressed.

I also wanted to try the Spot Shot on my own carpet stains, so I headed for the toughest stain in my whole house! I am completely embarrassed to admit that the photo below is a section of carpet in my master bedroom. While I was in my early pregnancy with McKenna and not feeling so well in the mornings, I set Maddie up on our floor with breakfast and a sippy cup to watch some television while I tried to muster the strength to get on with the day. And, well, the carpet took a little bit of a beating as a result of that!

And, below is that same section of carpet 5 minutes later. I promise... it's the same section of carpet and no trick photography. Spot Shot worked on even an OLD stain that I thought was never coming out! And, there was no scrubbing necessary! I just sprayed it on and started to blot and rub out the stain and it was gone. I am impressed with this product. If you have some stubborn stains in your house, it's worth giving it a try!

Happy cleaning!

Ouch.... That's gonna leave a mark!

2008-10-05T15:09:00.004-04:00

Today, McKenna and I were sitting at the table eating lunch together. I have a feeding chair for her that is strapped to one of my kitchen table chairs. There really isn't alot of space in my kitchen to neatly store a highchair, so we've used this chair with both of our kids and it's been great. The chair has a removable tray just like a highchair which is what we've been using for McKenna most of the time.

Today, however, I decided to just pull her right up to the table and set her food out for her. She was having a great time rolling her peas all over the table and being a "big girl". A great time, that is, until she pulled her head back and then slammed it down on the table. I *think* she may have been trying to eat a pea off the table without using her hands. Who knows? What I do know is that the instant she slammed her little baby head on the table I knew it was NOT going to be good.

She was hurting so badly that she couldn't even cry. She had her face all scrunched up like she was crying, but nothing would come out. Those silent cries are scary. Just based on the sound that the thud of her head had made, I assumed that she slammed her forehead down. I didnt see any immediate redness or swelling on the head and I knew that I needed to check her mouth in case she hit her teeth. And, thats when I saw the blood. My poor little baby's mouth was bleeding and I was starting to freak out. (As an aside, why do these things always happen when you are the only parent home? Hubs went to the Eagles game today and I got to deal with head slamming and bloody mouths!)

Once I got some of the blood cleaned up, I could see that luckily all of her teeth were just fine. She had hit her teeth on the inside of her upper lip and it is cut. She's probably going to have a fat lip, but it could've been alot worse.

I am feeling soooo guilty. Why didnt I just leave that damn tray on her chair?

Ahhh, the joys of parenting.

Ask you doctor: Vusion Ointment

2008-10-03T11:12:00.003-04:00

As a mother of a soon-to-be one year old, I know all too well that sometimes despite all of our best efforts, diaper rashes can occur. And, sometimes those rashes can be severe.

Severe diaper rash can sometimes be the result of yeast coming in contact with irritated skin and causing a yeast infection. Did you know that there is a prescription strength product to help your baby feel better quickly when the over-the-counter ointments just aren't working? I didn't know about this product until I heard about it from our friends over at Mom Central.

Vusion Ointment's prescription strength medication helps combat diaper rash complicated by yeast infections. This gentle ointment, the only FDA approved medication to treat this type of diaper rash, treats babies as young as 4 weeks old.

Next time your baby has a severe diaper rash, call your doctor and ask about Vusion Ointment.

This is very serious!

2008-10-03T09:00:00.000-04:00

We went to Toys R Us Wednesday in search of a birthday gift for a party that Madison is going to this weekend. As we were walking in, Madison asked if we could look for toys for her birthday. I told her that Christmas and her birthday still werent for a couple of months, but we could look around to start getting ideas and make a wish list. She was very excited to make her list.

As we shopped around the store, we finally turned a corner and several aisles of dolls, Barbies, princess gear, etc. all became visible. Madison turns to me and gasps "ok, Mom, this is NOT the time for joking around!" I didn't think that I was known as being a jokester, but apparently shopping for dolls is VERY SERIOUS business.

One other funny Maddie-ism from that trip.... we were looking at the Barbies and all of a sudden Madison says very dramatically "Oh, they are so romantic!" Has someone seen a few too many princess movies?

Happy Birthday, Declan!

2008-10-02T09:41:00.003-04:00

I am so totally excited. On Tuesday, my sister-in-law gave birth to a baby boy, my nephew, Declan!!! Declan has 2 big sisters, and they couldnt be happier that he is here. Since I have 2 girls and my brother and sister in law had two girls already, the birth of the first boy in the family has been exciting. He will certainly be the little prince (at least for a while until my younger sister has children)!

Even more exciting is that both Declan and my SIL are doing well. Declan was born at 36 weeks, after a very challenging pregnancy for my SIL (which is an understatement). Things had become very stressful and quite concerning in the last 4 weeks for them, and the fact that he was born at 7 lbs, 6 oz with a healthy set of lungs is simply amazing.

I will post some pictures of him soon!

Welcome to the world, little man! We love you!

Oh, so this is what my blog looks like...

2008-10-01T14:32:00.002-04:00

So sorry for the very long silence around here. Last week was... challenging. Let's just say that I had 6 straight days of headaches, with one or two of those days being a full-on migraine. You can all draw your own conclusions about what a happy camper I had been to live with!

Then, I got so busy with getting re-aquainted with my life and responsibilities, that this is the first opportunity I've had to write.

Will be writing soon about our AWESOME news from yesterday in a post very shortly.

Wait a minute... What just happened here?!?!

2008-09-22T13:22:00.002-04:00

I walked into preschool this morning as my normal friendly-but-somewhat-anonymous self and walked out 15 minutes later as one of Maddie's class' Homeroom Mom! Ummm, wait, how did that happen????

Actually, it is really a great thing! I've been wanting to get involved more at school but have felt a little held back because I have McKenna with me all the time. Being a homeroom mom will allow me to coordinate volunteers and events from home without having to actually be in the classroom alot and need to get a sitter for McKenna. My friend Laura said she will probably sign on as the other homeroom mom, but wanted to think about it some more. I hope she does. It would be fun to do it along with her and get to know her even better.

Be Still My Beating Heart...

2008-09-21T19:13:00.005-04:00

I'm not sure where I've been the last 2 months, but I just found out today that L.L. Bean has signed on to put a store in the new Uptown Worthington site that is being developed at Rt. 202 and Rt. 29. I swear, I almost drove my car off the side of the road when I drove by and saw the sign today! I love me some L.L. Bean, peeps! I wasn't sure if I could trust the sign, so I came home to do some research. And, sure enough, I found a press release on O Neill Property's site that announced this fantastic news from July.

Now all I need is a Trader Joe's closer to my house and I will be all set!

In case you just can't get enough of me....

2008-09-20T17:14:00.002-04:00

I know... I am laughing at that title too!

But ... I am also going to be doing some writing for the Chester County Moms blog on healthy and green living. I am so very excited to be contributing to this amazing blog that is a wonderful resource for busy moms in Chester County who want to be in the know!

I put up my first post today on Making your Halloween more Green!

Enjoy.

Sarah, Nancy and Val: Do NOT read this!

2008-09-18T18:31:00.003-04:00

Ok, so as proof that my brain has TOTALLY left my body since these children were born, I am going to share a story about a little (or big!) faux-pas I made yesterday.

Sarah, Nancy and Val....my dog-loving friends.... you've stopped reading, right? No, seriously, STOP reading right now!

Yesterday, I picked Maddie up from preschool at 1pm. I rushed home because I was meeting someone at the house to give me a price estimate at 1:15pm. I pulled into the driveway and she was waiting for me. As I let this person into my home, the dog got out and I let him just hang outside for a few minutes to do his business and not bother me and our guest. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Fast forward 20 minutes and I am ushering guest out of the house and I get completely wrapped up in the nap process for 2 tired little girls. Finally get them in bed, finally get myself some lunch and settle into doing some housework and blogging before the little ones wake up.

Afternoon goes along normally and nothing seems amiss until dinnertime, when I am feeding my 11 month old peaches and she dumps half a bowl on the floor. Feeling lazy, I decide to call the dog to come clean up the peaches for me. Ben? Oh, Ben? Ben, where are you? OH NO! BEN!!!! I LEFT BEN OUTSIDE FOR THE LAST 5 HOURS!!!!!!

I go outside and start screaming for him to no avail. I knew that by this point he wouldn't be in hearing distance. I also knew that he does not have our phone number on his collar. So, I pack the kiddies into the car and start on a mission to find our poor puppy dog. By some miracle, I got only half way down our street when I see a man walking Ben on a leash. I pull up (looking so stylish with my mismatched baggy sweatpants and peach-stained tshirt!) and tell him that Ben was our dog. Were it not for my 3 year old in the back seat shouting "Ben I am so happy to see you!", I'm not sure this guy would've turned the dog over to me. Apparently, Ben had made it a few streets over when he ended up at this man's house and he took GREAT care of our dog all afternoon. He decided to take Ben for a walk through the neighborhood in the hopes that we'd be out looking for him. And, thankfully we were at that time!

Ben... I am sorry buddy. This whole memory thing.. yeah, well, I am working on it! Can't make any promises, pal, but I'm hoping I'll never leave you outside by yourself again :-) As my husband said "It happens to the best of us" which made me feel better, even though he followed it up with "although 5 hours IS kinda a long time"!

Wordless Wednesday: A Week of Firsts

2008-09-17T09:58:00.009-04:00

Last week was a big week of "firsts" here. Here are a few shots to commemorate those fun firsts!

Madison on her first day of 3 year old preschool! She was uninterested in the photo shoot and just wanted to get to school, so this was the best I could get.

McKenna on her very first day of music class! Maddie did these classes too and we fell in love with the program. I am so excited to be doing this with her.

Maddie got a new bike last week. Our friends have an older daughter who had outgrown this bike, so they passed it on to us. Thanks Steve and Tracy! She had a smaller bike given to her previously, but her legs are so long she could never ride it properly. So, this is her first time really riding a bike with training wheels!

She caught on really fast. Go, Maddie, Go!

This year is Madison's first year doing a dance class at an actual dance studio. She could not be more excited about her class and loves the fact that she has several friends from playgroup joining her in class too!

She loves her ballet bag and wearing it as a messenger bag "like the big girls do"!

Dinner Dilemmas

2008-09-16T21:16:00.004-04:00

I've never really been a great cook. I can certainly get by, but my cooking is only ever ok, not excellent. Other issues? I am a bad grocery shopper, I am a bad menu planner and I dont really even enjoy cooking. So, let's just say that dinner is a little bit of a disaster around here.

I need convenient, easy meals that are nutritious for my family. Sometimes, that can be hard to do... easy and convenient while being nutritious. I have tried both Super Suppers as well as Dream Dinners as an answer to this issue to varying degrees of success. I like the concept quite a bit, but have been hard pressed to find entrees that keep me coming back for more consistently.

Recently, I'd learned of Horizon Foods from some women in our playgroup. Horizon sells quality beef, poultry, seafood and other products directly to your door. I had been very interested in their products because they have a line of antibiotic free meats and poultry. My friend Dawn hooked me up with her Horizon distributor and he came to my house. So convenient! I placed an order for antibiotic free chicken breasts, tilapia, sea bass and antibiotic free beef hamburgers.

It has been so great having a stock-pile of high quality dinner choices right in my freezer. I havent had the fish yet, but we've had the ABF chicken and burgers and they are fantastic! Now I just need to have a stock-pile of sauces and/or toppings and I've got a variety of easy dinner combinations at my fingertips. The portions are all individually packaged, so you only defrost (in 5 to 10 minutes in cool water!) what you need. We aren't so good about eating leftovers in our house, so when we only make what we need, there is alot less waste for us!

Anyway, this has been a huge help to me, so I wanted to share. I have 2 coupons for those of you who live in the local area for new customers for $20 off your first order. Let me know if you want one of them. First come, first served! If you are interested contact Dave Howk at 484-651-0541 and he will come to meet with you for a consultation! Please tell him I sent you.

However, I can always use any extra help I can get. What are your short-cuts that help you out with dinner? Do you have any go-to easy recipes? Please share!

The Big Giveaway Winners!

2008-09-15T20:09:00.006-04:00

Drumroll, please!

The 4 winners of the Precious Girls Club book "A Little Bit of Faith" are:

Dawn
Stinky John Jones
cpullum
bison61

And the winners of the FREE premium "Rainbow Membership" trial on PreciousGirlsClub.com are:

Ruby(Mouth)
Lesley
Muzbee Crazy
gkstratos
silverhartgirl
windycindy
mrs. mommyy

Congrats to everyone and thanks so much for participating in my first of many (hopefully) giveaways!!!

I'll be in contact with you soon to get you your prize!

Baby Gap Casting Call

2008-09-15T19:26:00.003-04:00

I got an email from Gap today letting me know that they are doing several casting calls for some fresh new little cuties for their ads! They are doing the calls in several different cities over the next several weeks, so if you are interested, check out this website for information and where the casting calls will be taking place.

Baby Gap Casting Call

Don't forget.....

2008-09-14T08:04:00.002-04:00

Today is the last day to enter my Precious Girls Club giveaway! I will be announcing winners tommorow!

http://youott2know.blogspot.com/2008/09/its-big-day-here-at-you-ott-2-know.html

Good luck!!!

I Heart Maine: Our Adventures

2008-09-13T14:15:00.023-04:00

I've wanted to write the vacation recap story all week, but just havent been able to. Part of the reason is that I've been too busy.... this was a huge week of "firsts" around here... more on that later. Another part of the delay, however, is that I am having a really hard time writing this post. There is just SO MUCH I want to say and SO MANY awesome memories to share that it is HARD to pick just a few highlights to share with everyone. However, I am quite sure that no one wants to read an hour-by-hour account of our trip, so let me just jump in and do my best at picking out the "best of" this best trip ever!

Neither of our kids are really car sleepers, so we knew that for all of our sanity, it was best to break it into 2 days (with several stops along the way... including the LL Bean flagship store in Freeport, ME.... OMG... ya gotta get there, people!). So we arrived in Southwest Harbor, ME around 4pm on Sunday. The kids were ROCK STARS during the 2 day drive and we arrived with all of our wits about us. Our friends Lisa and Gordon, who own Acadia Cottages, were there to greet us and, boy, were we happy to see them! We got settled in our cottage and walked down the hill to L & G's house for dinner. What a nice night!

The next day we went met up with our friends Amy and Chris and their 3 year old son, Finn. We decided to go into Acadia National Park and do some biking around Jordan Pond, and then stop for lunch at the Jordan Pond House, which I had been looking forward to since we booked this trip. They serve up their famed popovers, and while they are seriously overpriced, they are so deliciously worth it, and I couldn't wait. The only problem was the route we chose for the bike ride. Ummmm, yeah... it was up hill.... the entire way.... until I could take it no more.... and we decided we really deserved some pop-overs.

See, before I had these two children, I could hold my own on my bike. Bike riding was something that Matt and I did regularly and enjoyed many weekends. So, I was a little taken aback at just how miserable I was on these hills and how out of shape I was. However, it then dawned on me that I had McKenna on my bike with me. And, my mom is gonna be mad that I wrote this... but McKenna is a Big Momma! At almost 11 months she is already over 25 pounds. So, you see, it was hard enough getting my own butt up those hills without an adorable Big Momma strapped to the back!

My beautiful Big Momma!

The next day we had booked ourselves on a beautiful schooner called the Margaret Todd for a sail around Frenchman's Bay. It was a fantastic way to spend a morning together! Once we got underway, Daddy, Aunt Amy, and Uncle Chris all got to help raise the sails, also. What a job that is!

The Margaret Todd

This is my family... aren't I lucky? Love you guys!

Another highlight of the trip was going on a Sunset Carriage Ride through Acadia. The horses pulled us to the summit of Day Mountain and it was such a scenic journey. The kids loved the horses and loved the ride. We packed a picnic dinner and ate on the carriage and at the summit. A big thanks to Amy and Chris for suggesting this outing. We will definitely do another carriage ride on a future Maine trip.

This is Jim and Bob. I love how they are looking all camera shy!

At the summit of Day Mountain!

Snuggling with my baby girl on the carriage ride.

A real highlight of the trip was a hike that the four of us did one morning at Ship Harbor. This hike was great because it was partly wooded and partly snaked along the rocky shoreline. It was so beautiful at every single turn. We kept saying, oh look over there... no, look over there. It was spectacular. This is a relatively flat hike and was easy enough for Maddie to do on her own. I remember this one point in the hike Matt saying "This is my favorite moment of the trip." And, I remember thinking the exact same thing at almost the exact same moment. There was just something really magical about the four of us enjoying the hike and the pure beauty and really feeling like nothing else in the world mattered except the four of us!

My hikers along the Ship Harbor trail

Matt was teaching Maddie how to skip rocks at one point in the hike. I love this action shot as she is practicing her rock skipping technique!

On Friday, my friend Lisa was able to get away from her work at the cottages to show us some of her favorite hotspots that she knew that the kids (and the adults!) would enjoy. She took us to this great spot to find starfish. Lisa found a huge grouping of starfish almost as soon as we got there. She pulled out two starfish for the kids to look at and hold. Maddie touched it, but didnt want to hold it. But, she and Finn loved getting to see the starfish up close and personal!

Lisa and Maddie with the starfish they found!

After we hung out with the starfish, Lisa took Maddie and I over to a private beach to look for sand dollars and sea glass. We couldn't find any sand dollars that day, but we had a great time looking for sea glass. Between the 3 of us (or really just Lisa and I :-)), Maddie has a nice collection of gorgeous sea glass. She is so excited because Lisa promised to make her a sea glass necklace for her 4th birthday and send it to her. She can't wait!

Madison with a pretty piece of green sea glass.

So, Maine, I really do *heart* you. For these few memories and the whole host of others that I have etched in my mind and my heart, I thank you. The trip was full of family, friends, food and fun. We relaxed and unwinded and it was worth the long drive 10 times over! We cant wait to book our next trip!

The Greatest Show on Earth

2008-09-11T16:13:00.010-04:00

Nothing quite compares to the experience of the circus: the anticipation followed by the sheer excitement of the lights coming up, the performers riding in on elephants, the colorful clowns, and the acrobats flying through the air. Attending a Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus provides more than just a day out. It creates a memory that lasts a lifetime and a tradition that can be carried on from year to year and generation to generation. From the laughs that come at the clowns' expense, the gasps of delight at seeing a motorcycle making its way across the high wire, and the huge grins that come from seeing elephants and tigers up close, the circus truly feels synonymous with childhood.

I was so excited when the circus came here to Philadelphia this past spring. I have very fond memories of the circus from my own childhood, and knew that my animal-loving 3 year old daughter would just be blown away. So, we surprised her one Saturday with a day at the circus. We had so much fun together that day and the smile she had plastered on her face is permenantly etched in my mind.

Here she is with her FREE blinking clown nose - huge hit!

Mommy and Maddie making circus memories together!

To celebrate a variety of new and exciting Ringling Bros. shows in cities across the country this fall, I'd love to share a 20% discount code to my readers who live in or have family/friends in the following areas:

Indianapolis, IN - Sept. 4-7, 2008
Kansas City, MO - Sept. 10-14, 2008
Grand Rapids, MI - Sept. 18-21, 2008
Denver, CO - Oct. 2-13, 2008
Boston, MA – Oct. 8-13, 2008
Cleveland, OH - Oct. 24 - Nov. 2, 2008
Chicago, IL - Nov. 6 - 30, 2008
St. Louis, MO - Nov. 6-9, 2008
Auburn Hills, MI - Nov. 12 - 16, 2008
Highland Heights, KY - Feb 27 - Mar. 1, 2009
Cincinnati, OH - Mar. 4 - 8, 2009

To get your 20% discount on any of the above-listed shows, please use the code MCC. Feel free to spread the word to your friends and family near those areas. You can simply go to ringling.com and type your zip code to find the shows and purchase tickets online with the code!

And, in case you didn't know, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey offers a Baby's First Circus program! To help start the family traditions early, the Baby’s First Circus program allows babies to receive a free ticket voucher that can be exchanged for a free ticket to any Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey performance, anytime, anywhere. No expiration date! Check for details online.

Have a great time under the Big Top!

Get Organized!

2008-09-10T11:30:00.002-04:00

Heard about this great new organizational tool from Mom Central and just wanted to share it with everyone!

As Moms, we all participate in so many groups and activities that it can be hard to keep everything straight. From volunteering as a classroom Mom to coaching your son or daughter's sports team, getting groups organized can feel like managing the unmanageable, taking up time in already jam-packed days.

Enter Qlubb.com, which makes organizing your homeroom parent meetings, playgroups or book clubs incredibly easy. Qlubb is a web-based service that helps organize your real-life groups online, providing all the functions needed to easily and actively participate within a group. Qlubb allows you to connect, plan meetings, assign responsibilities and share pictures with all of the members of your group at once. Features include an event calendar, sign-up sheets, member rosters, a task reminder service, and bulletin boards, which every member of your community can access and update from their home computers.

Accessing and using the site is incredibly easy for even the least computer-savvy members. Qlubb's secure sign-in protects group information, so only members of your group have access. However, participants don't have to individually register and can simply sign in using the group password.

Go check it out and get some organization back into your life!

Randomness

2008-09-09T17:00:00.000-04:00

Random conversations with Madison in the last few weeks:

Me: "Madison, you are being cranky. I need you to find your happy attitude."

Madison (picking up her toy cell phone): "I'm going to call Mimi (my mother). I bet she knows where my happy attitude is!"

-------------

Matt and our friend Chris took Madison and Finn (also 3) hiking while we were in Maine. At one point, both kids were riding on the dads' shoulders.

Madison: "Finn, you sure are lucky."

Pause....no response from Finn or the Dads. Everyone waiting to hear why Maddie thinks Finn is so lucky, expecting her to say something like he got to go on a cool vacation, whatever.

Madison: "You're lucky that I like you."

Um, gee, thanks, O Great One Madison.

Vacation: The Back Story

2008-09-09T15:19:00.009-04:00

We just returned from a glorious, fantastic, awesome (are you getting the picture?) week of bliss in Vacationland. Vacationland? The great state of Maine is known as Vacationland, at least according to the tag line on their license plates, and I would have to wholeheartedly agree with that assessment!

My first visit to Bar Harbor, ME and Acadia National Park was an extended Labor Day weekend 3 years ago when Madison was just 8 months old. We rented a house with our friends Amy and Chris and their 3 month old son Finn. Amy and Chris have been going to Bar Harbor/Acadia for years and years, both indiviually and then as a couple. We had a wonderful stay that long weekend and Amy and Chris were fantastic tour guides. They escorted us to all of the major "must do" attractions and we fell in love with the area immediately.

Then, last April, our friends Lisa and Gordon announced that they had decided that they wanted to make a change in their lives. For several years, Lisa and Gordon had been doing extensive research and planning as they were considering purchasing a bed and breakfast. When they decided that Maine would be the perfect location for them, they started looking at properties. Lisa and Gordon fell in love with this site and are now the very proud (and, boy, they should be!) owners of the Acadia Cottages. Acadia Cottages in in Southwest Harbor, about 20 minutes outside of Bar Harbor.

We knew that we wanted to get back to Maine and we were also really anxious to see Lisa and Gordon in their new environment, so we booked our trip. And, even better was that our friends Amy and Chris were going too! We knew that seeing Lisa and Gordon would be special, but we had no idea just how special this week would be. Their cottages are truly remarkable. So cozy, clean, and well stocked. I am sure that I am biased a little, but really, these accomodations were fantastic. It was so great to have a seperate bedroom area and living space complete with a galley kitchen. It was a great place to come "home" to after out adventures each day! An added bonus??? Lisa and Gordon are very environmentally conscious in all that they do at the cottages. From the organic linens to the organic shampoos and soaps they provide, you will enjoy every bit of "green" luxury. Please, if you plan a vacation to Bar Harbor... go check out Acadia Cottages... you will not be disappointed!

Lisa and Gordon, it warmed my heart to see you both and your thriving business venture. We miss you terribly here, but it is a true inspiration to have friends that follow their dreams and have great success! Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedules to make us meals, take us to local hot spots, show us great starfish and sea glass collecting spots, and come on our biking adventure! We'll be back, many times over ... I have a feeling our kids will be retelling many Maine trip stories to their kids one day!

Next post: I *Heart* Maine: Our Adventures

History in the Making!

2008-09-09T12:00:00.001-04:00

I wrote last month about how I have finally gotten engaged in a presidential election ... it only took until my mid-thirties to do so! What an incredible time for me to finally open my eyes and take part in the political process. Come November, we will either be greeting our first black President or our first female Vice President. Of course, I am hoping for one outcome over the other, but any way you look at it, these are VERY exciting times! I couldn't be happier to be experiencing this time in American history.

It's a Big Day here at You Ott 2 Know!

2008-09-08T14:25:00.006-04:00

Today, I am offering my FIRST giveaway! I'm a little excited, can you tell? Not only is it my first giveaway, but the giveaway I am doing is so totally, awesomely, and completely wonderful that it's really hard to not be excited. Check out this WONDERFUL new product line from Precious Moments!

In today's world of virtual societies, life-like dolls and young celebrities with risqué images being marketed directly at children, there is a rising concern among moms that their little girls are being influenced by questionable role models. The desires of today's moms are simple -- to stay involved in the lives of their little girls and extend the innocence of their childhoods.

Moms are actively seeking wholesome brands that mirror the values on which they raise their daughters, but are having trouble finding them on the store shelves. Now, these Moms will have one more option for safe play that fosters mother/daughter bonding and family values.

Precious Moments®, the inspirational figurine and collectible company, is happy to introduce the Precious Girls ClubTM. The Precious Girls Club is based on an all new book series for girls that revolves around the life of Katie Bennett and a diverse group of her friends. Through the experiences of Katie and her friends, wholesome values are reinforced in a fun and engaging way. Their world is brought to life not only through books, but also through a state-of-the-art virtual world and exciting retail product offerings, including figurines, jewelry, charms, and other related accessories. More than a club, it's a way of thinking and being, a safe place for young girls to discover how wonderful it is to be precious.

By visiting the Precious Girls Club virtual world, young girls will be able to create a profile and make friends, participate in fun online games and have access to tools to start their own clubs in their communities. There will also be a charm bracelet component to the club, where members can earn charms by exhibiting "Precious Values" such as acting in loving, kind, helpful and responsible manners. The first book in the series, A Little Bit of Faith, will be available in select gift and specialty stores and online beginning on September 1st. Related charms, figurines and plush dolls will also be available through those same outlets.

In addition to wanting their daughters to be raised with the right values, Moms are also concerned about Internet safety and the websites their children visit. The Precious Girls Club answers both concerns by incorporating value-based games, stories and characters into a safe and secure virtual environment.

As a Mom to 2 girls, I couldn't be MORE excited about this product line and hope that more companies will follow suit. Let our little girls be little girls!

If you are interested in winning the first book in the series, A Little Bit of Faith, please leave a comment here by Sunday, September 14th. Four winners will be randomly selected and announced here on Monday the 15th.

Additionally, I have 9 scratch-off cards for a FREE premium "Rainbow Memebership" trial on PreciousGirlsClub.com. You can also be entered to win one of these by commenting here by Sunday, September 14th. I will also randomly select and announce these winners on Monday the 15th.

A second bonus entry can be earned if you link to my post on your blog. Complete the post on your site and then enter the link to it here in a second comment!

Good luck!

So Much To Say...

2008-09-07T21:05:00.005-04:00

And so little time....

I have so many things I want to tell everyone about like my birthday, our AMAZING vacation to Maine, some very funny Maddie-isms from along the way, her first day of preschool tomorrow, some awesome product reviews to tell you about, and also some fun new tips on greening your life ... I think I got even a little more crunchy (in a good way!) while we were in Maine.

Anyway, need to go unpack, prep for preschool, and maybe catch some ZZZ's. Will spend time this week trying to work on the backlog of fun posts!

Hope everyone had a great week while I was away! Missed you all, internet!

Wordless Wednesday: All Dolled Up

2008-08-27T07:00:00.003-04:00

This is what happens when you are visiting a friend's house for a playgroup and four 3-year old and one 7-year old girls go upstairs to play. Maddie will NOT stop talking about how much fun she had! She kept asking me if she looked pretty. It was really all I could do to not laugh, but I held it together because she is so darn cute, even though she looked like a raccoon (as quoted by my friend Dawn!).

We came home and the first request was to start drafting a birthday list (which isn't until January!). First on the list.... MAKEUP! She makes me laugh.

Refreshing

2008-08-26T20:37:00.003-04:00

I try hard not to talk about my politics very much. I, especially, had no intention of discussion political issues here on my blog, where obviously, I can be opened up to a variety of judgement and comments that are unwanted. But, for some reason, this entire election has changed my views on things, and I feel compelled to speak.

I am a registered Democrat. I have supported Barack Obama throughout this election. I have some major issues with Hillary Clinton, none of which I wish to outline here. I am new to this political landscape. While always interested from afar, I've never fulfilled my civic duties until this election. That is to say... I have never voted until the Primary this year! I know, that is pitiful.

However, the bright side is that at least I am getting engaged now in my mid-thirties as opposed to never being engaged. And, the reason.... Barack Obama. I credit him and his campaign for changing my views, energizing me, and making me feel that change can and will happen. There are MANY posts I could write about my feelings about his campaign, his candidacy, what an Obama presidency would mean for America, and maybe as the elections draws nearer I will write about some of those thoughts.

For now, as the DNC is going on in Denver and I anxiously await Barack Obama's speech tonight, I'd like to take a second to focus on the would-be First Lady. Michelle Obama is a refreshing change in the role of first lady, in my opinion. Michelle is a well educated woman with career aspirations, a dedicated mother, and ideas of her own. She will not be the in-your-face type of First Lady who is secretly (or not so secretly) vying to make her own way in politics, nor will she be the quiet, unassuming, and frankly, uninspiring First Lady either. I am voting for Barack. The fact that he is married to such a talented and interesting woman is merely icing on the cake. Check out her DNC speech from last night.

Ok, go ahead..... say what you need to say in the comments :-)

Blog Day 2008

2008-08-25T14:38:00.002-04:00

Celebrate the 4th Blog Day on August 31, 2008!

BlogDay was created with the belief that bloggers should have one day dedicated to getting to know other bloggers from other countries and areas of interest. On that day Bloggers will recommend other blogs to their blog visitors. With the goal in mind, on this day every blogger will post a recommendation of 5 new blogs. This way, all blog readers will find themselves leaping around and discovering new, previously unknown blogs.

For more detailed information, check out the the Blog Day website!

Movin' and Shakin'

2008-08-23T17:00:00.003-04:00

Or, maybe, the better title is Movin' and Slidin'?

Guess who needed to have her crib mattress lowered this week? Yes, we found McKenna sitting in her crib after a nap this week. All of a sudden, she can just sit up from laying on her belly. No practice, no baby steps... just sitting up!

And at the same time, she also started to CRAWL! Yay! Although, it is not a full crawl up on all fours. It is an Army crawl where she uses her arm strength to pull her body along with her....more of a slide or slither than an actual crawl. But, this is just semantics, in my world... SHE CRAWLED THIS WEEK!

This was a big week for her developmentally. We'd been waiting so long for her just to be able to roll over that I definitely didn't expect these leaps and bounds of developmental milestones being reached all at once.

Watch out world, she's on the move! And, Mommy needs to start baby-proofing ASAP!

Four Generations

2008-08-22T21:18:00.004-04:00

This was taken just last weekend at my niece's 2nd Birthday Party. We just happened to all be sitting there together and my Mom realized that this was a great picture opportunity and asked my husband to get a shot of us together. This is my new favorite picture. I love how smiley we all are.... just genuinely enjoying each other's company.

My grandmom moved to MD several years ago, and sometimes it really hits me how much I miss seeing her as regularly as I used to. I love spending time with her and love having my kids spend as much time with her as possible. I have some really great memories of my great grandparents and want my girls to have strong memories of their "Gigi" too!

And, of course, there is my Mom. What is there to say about my Mom? She is an amazing mother, and an amazing friend to me, and she is most of all an amazing grandmother to my children. I love you, Mom. And, Madison and McKenna love you too!

Smiles.

A glimpse into the teenage years

2008-08-21T21:08:00.005-04:00

Tonight Matt was out, so it was just us girls. Madison was upstairs helping me get McKenna ready for bed. All of a sudden, she found an Elmo cell phone in McKenna's toy basket. She immediately dropped what she was helping me with and said "I have to go to my bedroom now so I can call D" ("D" is her best friend... she has actually called her that... so cute!).

So, off she goes to her bedroom where I can see her having a full blown conversation with this toy cell phone and telling D that she had fun at her house today, and that she was going to read books to her doll babies and have mac and cheese for dinner....very important stuff.

She looks up about midway through the conversation and sees me watching her. And this, my friends, is where I saw my future.... and it wasn't pretty.

She drops the phone on her bed, rolls her eyes, and gets up and shuts her bedroom door! Um, last time I checked, Madison, you were 3, not 13. Could you please not start acting like a teenager yet? My fragile little heart just can't take it.

Would you like a $100 Lands' End Gift Card?

2008-08-21T20:34:00.004-04:00

Who wouldn't love a chance to win a $100 Gift Card to Lands' End? Well, it's really simple.....fill out their 2008 Outerwear Survey and be entered to be one of 5 winners! If you have a blog, you can post about it and have a second chance at winning! Easy peasy, right?

Here are the details:

Please take a few minutes to complete the 2008 Lands' End Outerwear Survey. The survey consists of 19 multiple-choice questions. Upon completing the survey, your name will be entered to win one of five $100 Lands' End Gift Cards. To be eligible to win, you must complete the survey by midnight (CST) on Thursday, August 28th.

And being the blogger that you are... we'd love for you to share this survey opportunity with your readers. If you put up a post with a link to this survey on your blog before August 28th, please send Natalie Zupo, nzupo@bsmmedia.com, an e-mail with the link to that post and we will enter your name a second time for your chance to win one of five $100 gift cards from Lands' End!

Back in Business...

2008-08-21T20:32:00.001-04:00

Hubs fixed the laptop connection tonight for me. He is the bomb! So, I get to post and watch my beloved Big Brother on TV. Happiness :-)

Thanks babe!

Technical Difficulties...

2008-08-20T20:48:00.005-04:00

My laptop is giving me some major issues the last few days. It can't detect our wireless network. And, I've got no time to try to troubleshoot the issue. Quite frankly, I'm also a little low on patience right now too, so am lacking the motivation to troubleshoot. I am now relegated to the office to use the desktop, and that is no happy feat. It is dreadfully slow and I miss being able to prop up in front of the TV and multitask writing and reading blogs while enjoying my mindless reality shows. I remember when using the desktop made me blissfully happy.... ahhh, life before the laptop totally spoiled me! Ok, maybe I'll be motivated to fix it tomorrow.

Go. Check. This. Out.

2008-08-18T14:06:00.003-04:00

Jo-Lynne over at Musings of a Housewife is doing a SUPER COOL (and quite expensive) giveaway of one of my favorite things in the world.... jewlery! Go check out her giveaway this week for a beautiful piece of your choice by Swede at Heart. They have some really cool stuff there. But hurry, she's picking a winner on Thursday.

So, go give Jo-Lynne some love and check out her blog. If you aren't already reading it regularly, you should be! And, leave a comment on her giveaway post and try for a chance to win! But, don't try too hard, people, I'd really like to win this one myself!! :-)

Olympians in the Making

2008-08-16T12:00:00.005-04:00

Let me start this post by telling you just how much our playgroup ROCKS! We've been part of a playgroup since Madison was 4 months old. I knew from the very beginning that if I was going to be a Stay at Home Mom, I wanted to find a supportive network of friends for myself and for my child(ren). Well, I found it. There are all types of Moms and all types of kids in our playgroup and I've loved getting to know everyone involved. Aside from the wonderful friendships, our playgroup schedules some of the most creative and fun event for the kids! We've made some really wonderful memories at events that the playgroup has planned.

This past week, our playgroup had scheduled a 3-day Olympics Mini Camp for the kids. We were lucky that the weather cooperated and all 3 days went off without a hitch. Denise and Dawn did an absolutely amizing job at coordinating 4 different Olympic events (each day!) for the kids to partcipate in. This was no joke... we were doing the Olympics right here in suburban Philly! Not to mention the medals, the Olympic history, the Olympic torches they carried around the "friendship flame".... they thought of it all.

Madison had an unbelievable time all 3 days. Heck, I had a great time all 3 days! She took part in each Olympics station each day and tried out all of the events. More importantly, she can tell me about the Olympic flag and knows that we came together in friendship this week to compete.... it's awesome that they learned about the spirit of the games too!

I feel so lucky to be part of this amazingly creative group of families! Here is Maddie in all of her Olympic glory!

Day 1 - Pillowcase Sack Races

Day 1 - Fencing

Day 1 - Basketball

Day 2 - Relay Races

Day 3 -Soccer

Day 3 - Balance Beam

Day 3 - Tumbling

Day 3 - Our Olympic Medalist

Day 3 - Taking the Podium

Even the babies were having fun at Olympics camp too!

Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'...

2008-08-15T16:38:00.006-04:00

McKenna is just shy of being 10 months old. She has been sitting up for a few months now, but hasn't really shown any interest in crawling or standing as of yet. Up until recently, in fact, it had been a real struggle just to get her to spend time on her belly. Well, she is now rolling over like a champ and will roll herself over to whatever she wants to explore on the floor.....especially when she wants to say hi to her dust bunny friends that are lurking under my couch!

I'm Lovin' This Giveaway

2008-08-15T16:25:00.004-04:00

A big, huge, heartfelt thanks to Michelle over at Mommy Confessions for naming me as the winner of her giveaway today! The prize is a one-year subscription to Kiwi Magazine, whose mission is all about "Growing families the natural and organic way"! I really love this magazine, and even have a link to it here on my blog, but only buy it for myself as a special treat once in a while. So, this was the perfect contest for me!

Giveaways are great, and "green" giveaways are even better!

Thanks again, Michelle.

Wordless Wednesday: Warning

2008-08-13T16:14:00.005-04:00

I just got this t-shirt from Shannon's store over at Muzbee Crazy. I LOVE IT!!! She has some ridiculously adorable pieces in her store. The t-shirt fits great and is super soft! This is in a fantastic shade of pink, although my pic is distorting the color because of the crappy lighting in my bedroom :-( Go and check it out!

Dory has a point, you know

2008-08-10T09:41:00.006-04:00

Just keep swiming
Just keep swimming
Swimming Swimming Swimming....

Many of you know that I have been working the Weight Watchers program pretty hard for the last few months. It has been relatively "easy" (haha) to incorporate into my busy life and I've been extremely happy with the process and, especially, the results. I have actually hit my Weight Watchers goal weight and stayed at or below that number for 6 weeks of maintenence. So, this week I became a "Lifetime Member" of Weight Watchers. Reaching this distinction has many benefits, not the least of which is not having to pay for meetings anymore (as long as I am within 2 pounds of my goal weight and I go to get weighed in at least one time per month). But, I have to say, I am already feeling tempted to take a little "break". I've noticed I'm not counting my points as vigorously, not drinking enough water, and eating some foods that I know I shouldnt be eating. I still want to lose 10 additional pounds to reach my own personal goal weight and that just isnt gonna happen with ice cream and cheese steaks. But, I think I've gotten it out of my system and I must hunker down and focus.

At the same time, I went over to Mel's blog this morning and she also blogged about her Weight Watchers journey. I have to say that I am really inspired by Mel's post. I know that I can continue to stay on track and continue to be inspired by her success and mine!

As Dory says, I'm gonna just keep swimming........

Chester County Moms Launch Party!

2008-08-10T09:15:00.004-04:00

On Thursday night, a bunch of us went to celebrate with the girls over at Chester County Moms at their FABULOUS launch party! Sarah, Jenn, and Margie really know how to throw a par-tay! The gave away fantastic swag bags (which were Wegman's reusable grocery bags... great swag in and of itself!) that were full of amazing goodies from all over the local area! And, the giveaways... oh my goodness... the giveaways they had. My head was spinning from all of the AMAZING choices of prizes there were to put my raffle tickets in for. So many choices, so little time :-) I was even the winner of a Maggie Moos gift card... Yummy!

Thanks so much for a great night, girls. I am so excited that you guys have launched your site and am so happy to have your site as a one-stop resource for all of the local happenings. I'm a devoted reader/member of Chester County Moms already, for sure!

It IS easy being green....

2008-08-07T12:59:00.007-04:00

Got this superb and totally EASY-to-do tip from the Moms for the Future website that is featured on Yvonne's blog. Moms for the Future is a fantastic site and a group that I hope to be joining soon. At any rate, they have some really simple things that you can do to make your home a little bit more green, and here is a favorite of mine.

Sign Up for Cleaner, Renewable Energy:
Buying cleaner, renewable energy will help create a market for alternate energy sources and move us away from fossil fuel dependence. Use your buying power to make a difference! Here are two ways to get started:

http://www.exeloncorp.com/ourcompanies/peco/pecores/peco_wind/

If you live in Chester County and use PECO, sign up for wind power. It costs just over 2 cents more per kilowatt-hour, and you can buy it in 100-kilowatt-hour blocks and pay just $2.54 extra per month per block. If you do other things to reduce your electricity use-like use compact fluorescent bulbs, buy energy-efficient appliances, and simply become more conscientious about turning off your TV and lights when you leave the room-you'll save money even with the added cost of wind, and you'll produce much less pollution. And our children will benefit exponentially.

As more people sign up for this, more wind farms will be built in Pennsylvania. So... what are you waiting for? Enrollment took me all of 60 seconds this afternoon!!!

OR:

http://www.theenergy.coop/biodiesel.htm
http://www.amerigreenbio.com/

You can sign up for 100% renewable energy at these websites, as well as others. And, if you use oil heat at home, you can buy biodiesel heating oil here, without changing a thing in your home. One of our moms uses it to heat her home, and all it took was a phone call!

Make it a green day!

Wordless Wednesday: Piggy Toes

2008-08-06T16:13:00.006-04:00

McKenna has been crossing her feet just like this since the day she was born. She loves, even now, to sit with her feet in this position and rub the tops of her feet and toes against each other. Such cute little piggies she has....makes me want to eat them!

Word Association with a Preschooler

2008-08-04T20:20:00.004-04:00

This just made me laugh and I thought it might make some of you other mommies laugh too!

We purchased a swingset a few weeks ago. Tonight, when I was pushing Madison on the swings, I noticed that she was getting better pumping her legs with each push of the swing. So, I said "Maddie, good job pumping those legs." Without missing a beat, she said "Yeah, just like you used to do pumping your boobies for milk for McKenna." Um...... no, not exactly the same thing.... this word association did definitely make me laugh though! I tried unsuccessfully to explain to her that words can have multiple meanings. But, it was 7:45pm and I just didn't have it in me .... that will be a lesson for another day :-)

Olympic Pride

2008-08-04T15:26:00.005-04:00

I can't wait for Friday night and the official start of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. I love watching the opening ceremonies, and I love the whole 2+ weeks of Olympic programming that I'll get to watch on TV. I always have such a feeling of hopefulness and renewed energy as I watch athletes from all over the world come together in the spirit of healthy competition.

For some reason, the Olympics always cause me to reflect on how I am proud to be an American, and more importantly, a part of this human race and how, at times, our collective humanity and sense of community really shines!

On my List of Things to Do Before I Die..... Go to the Olympic Games (as a spectator, of course!)!

Watch and be inspired!

And the award goes to....

2008-08-01T13:51:00.005-04:00

Madison!

Today was Maddie's last day of camp. The kids all got awards today and here is Maddie sporting her award proudly!

It says " Madison... Best Manners"!

I guess that conversation with her camp counselor last week was a little bit of foreshadowing.

Good job, little mama!

A Shout Out to Patty

2008-07-31T19:33:00.006-04:00

In honor of Patty's post earlier this month called Christmas In July, I thought I'd share this little tidbit with all of you about the sheer excitement and thrill that is my life. In this exact moment, Maddie and I are having some post-dinner relaxation time after a very eventful day. So, I tell her we can pop a movie in for a little while before she has to make her way to bed.

We have TONS of movies. I mean TONS. I was pushing hard for us to watch Enchanted. It is such a cute movie, or at least what I have pieced together... I've still not seen it from start to end. But, none of the suggestions I was making were met with approval, so I just gave up and told her to pick any one she wanted. Of all of the movies we have, the one she MUST watch tonight is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Mickey Saves Santa. Um, ok? It's a little hard to get into the spirit as I sit here in a tank and shorts, but maybe Madison is in on the Christmas in July trend and I just didn't know. She always has been a trend-setter :-)

Wordless Wednesday

2008-07-30T09:27:00.005-04:00

Her shirt says "That's it ... I'm calling my Mimi". Mimi is what my kids (and my nieces) call my Mom. I love this shirt. I especially love it when she is wearing it and getting mad at me, as she was this morning, for doing something as obscene as trying to feed her. I know, I have alot of nerve! I love how this shot captures that "I'm getting angry" finger that she was pointing at me, too.

Happy WW.

"When I was a little baby.."

2008-07-28T15:41:00.003-04:00

During our trip to Charleston this weekend, Madison really came out with some hilarious one-liners. She really kept me and my whole family entertained. But, there was one comment that has become the most quoted line of the trip.

We were at my cousin's reception and the evening was winding down. The music was still playing and all of a sudden Madison felt the need to get her groove on. She just got out in the middle of the floor and started dancing her little heart out, no one else was dancing. She asked my sister, my cousin Patrick (her new boyfriend... you should have seen her flirting!), and myself to sit at the tables and watch her "concert" (her dancing). We were telling her how great she was dancing and in her best southern accent (not on purpose, I don't think), she says "When I was a little baby, my MOMMA taught me these dance moves!" It was so HIL-A-RI-OUS! I mean, first, her "Momma"???? She has called me Momma maybe twice in her whole life, and that was only because she heard another child refer to their mother that way. Second, seeing the dance, you would think that Momma must have been drunk or high, or some combo of the two to have shown her those dance moves! Third, how cute is it that she gave "Momma" the credit for her excellent dancing? Too funny.

Mommy and Maddie Weekend

2008-07-28T14:41:00.003-04:00

On Thursday, Madison and I left for a long weekend trip to Charleston, SC. We made the trip to Charleston to celebrate my cousin's wedding. He and his wife were married back in February in Las Vegas, and they held a beach party on Friday for all of their family and friends to celebrate their marriage with them.

At first, we intended for all four of us to make the trip for the celebration. However, the more we thought about it, it just wasn't going to be possible for us all to go, especially given McKenna's sleep schedule. It was definitely a bummer that we all couldn't go together, but both Matt and I agree that an awesome side benefit of this arrangement was that we each got to spend alot of one-on-one time with each of the girls. So, Daddy and McKenna had a great weekend at home, and Mommy and Madison had a great weekend visiting with Mommy's side of the family, going to Ryan and Jessie's wedding reception, touring Charleston, and (Maddie's favorite part) getting to swim alot in the hotel pool!

Another highlight for Madison was the plane ride. My sister flew with us and Madison was so excited to be with her Aunt Erin and to be flying in a plane. You couldn't wipe the smile off of her face! We all stayed at a hotel together, and Madison and I got to share a hotel room with my Grandmother. I was so excited that we got to spend 3 days with Madison's Gigi. My grandmother (Gigi) lives in Baltimore and we don't get to see her as much as we'd like to, so it was a really special treat for both of us. And, of course, spending time with Mimi and Pop-Pop (my Mom and Dad) is ALWAYS on the top of Madison's favorite to-do list! They were in the hotel room next door to us, so it was so fun for Maddie to just go next door whenever she wanted a Mimi and Pop-Pop fix! In fact, they dropped us off at the airport in Charleston on Sunday to catch our flight home, and within 10 seconds (literally) of us being inside the airport, Madison said "I miss Mimi and Pop-pop".

Despite all of the fun we had, Maddie did miss her daddy and her sister. Periodically, she would just blurt out "I miss Daddy and McKenna". She is so cute. Although, it seemed whenever we had Daddy on the phone, she didn't really take the time to talk to him too much :-) Isn't that always the way? I missed Matt and McKenna too. I spotted them walking into the airport to pick us up and I bolted over to them while my sister watched Madison. I almost kissed McKenna's face off!

All in all, a great time was had by all.

Congrats to Ryan and Jessie! A big thank you to my Aunt MaryAnn for being our tour guide. Another big thank you to my parents for being our chauffeurs all over town. And, a huge thanks to hubby for agreeing to this girls getaway for Maddie and I. I had such a great time being with her!

Happy Birthday, My Love!

2008-07-28T14:21:00.005-04:00

My husband celebrated his birthday this weekend.... without Madison and I. We were away enjoying our weekend in Charleston, while he was holding down the home front with McKenna. While I am sure our 9 month old was awesome birthday company, I really wish we could have been here to help him celebrate. We tried to make up for it by sending him some flowers and we all (including my Mom, Dad, Grandmom, and Aunt) sang him Happy Birthday over the phone, but it's not quite the same. We are having a Birthday BBQ for him next weekend, so we will certainly celebrate, it will just be a little delayed.

Matt, I love you so much. You are a perfect husband and perfect father. We wish you the happiest of Happy Birthdays and thank you for being OK with us going away on your Birthday!

CSA PSA

2008-07-28T13:44:00.008-04:00

Ok, so here is my PSA (Public Service Announcement) for our local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). My interest in living a more organic/natural life is relatively new. I've been interested on the sidelines for a few years now, but have really started to make more substantive changes in our buying and consumption habits in the last year. This season is the first time we are participating in a CSA. We've purchased a share in the CSA, a locally owned and operated farm, and in return for that share, we go to the farm each week to pick up our family's fresh produce for the week. Our particular CSA has had a few hiccups this year in terms of farm staff, but that has not tarnished my belief in the CSA model at all. Overall, I could not be happier that we are doing this... eating organic produce and participating in a more sustainable lifestyle! What could be better. I don't think I will ever go back to buying our produce at the grocery store (at least not in the growing season).

Here are some pictures of the girls at the farm:

Bloggy Backup

2008-07-28T13:36:00.002-04:00

Madison and I left last Thursday for a long weekend to Charleston, SC. So sorry for the silence around here, but between prepping for that trip and having an action packed weekend, there hasnt been any time to blog. I have a couple of posts backing up in my head, and will try to post them ASAP so I dont forget anything that I really wanted to say here.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Shameless Bragging

2008-07-22T08:11:00.004-04:00

Some shameless bragging about Madison follows. Read this post with that in mind :-)

So, Madison is currently going to a 3 week summer camp at the preschool that she attends. Her camp teacher is someone that she has met only a few times. This teacher had subbed in her preschool class a few times last year when Maddie's regular teacher was out sick. At the end of last week, as I was dropping Maddie off in the morning, her camp teacher approached me and told me what "beautiful manners" Madison has. She said she was really impressed about how polite and well-mannered Madison was with her and with her peers.

Now, I know that Madison is a good kid. Really, I do know that. But, it is a great feeling to have someone tell me that she is being a good, kind, polite person with adults and peers, even when I am not around to remind her to do that!

Good job, Madison. You make me so proud.

Mom, Stop Snoring!

2008-07-22T07:59:00.004-04:00

So, last night Maddie went to bed really well, and after about a half hour of no calls from her, I thought we were home free. Not so much!

Around 8:45pm, she called out for us. I was upstairs in my bedroom putting laundry away, so I headed to her room to see what she wanted. She looks at me straight in the face and this is how the conversation goes:

Madison: "Your snoring is waking me up, Mom!"

Me: "Madison, I wasn't snoring."

Madison: "Yes, you were."

Me: "Madison, I promise you I wasn't snoring. I am still awake. Now, this isn't funny. You now will not be able to play on your swingset tomorrow, and if you call out again, something else will get taken away. I love you. Goodnight."

Madison: "Mom?"

Me: "Yes, Maddie?"

Madison: "Do you ever snore?"

Me: "Yes, Madison, once in a while I do snore. Now goodnight!"

Madison: "Well, could you stop snoring? It is waking me up!"

It was all I could do to not start bursting out in laughter while I was still in her doorway. I went downstairs to share the story with Matt and we both had a good laugh! She is getting VERY creative.

She's pulling out ALL the stops now!

2008-07-21T13:43:00.003-04:00

I am knocking on wood right now as I type this .... both of my kids are good sleepers. Madison, in particular, is a fantastic sleeper. With the exception of the first four months of her life, Madison has pretty much gone to bed every night thereafter with no fuss, no argument, no nothing. We follow our bedtime routine, we kiss goodnight, we leave, and she sleeps.

A few weeks ago, however, Madison started calling out for us to come up to her room. She will do this 1 - 3 times during the first hour she is in bed. Her needs when she calls out range from having to go potty, needing a drink, wanting a snuggle, needing socks put on her feet, or wanting to say "I Love You" one last time. Given that all of those things are part of our bedtime routine, there is absolutely no reason for her to call out for these things once its lights-out. Basically, she is searching for things to need so that she gets our attention. I am not sure what started this whole thing, but it is getting tiresome and I want to nip it in the bud. I get particularly salty about this issue when she says she has to go potty (a request she knows we wont refuse), then sits on the toilet and says "You know what, maybe I didn't have to go potty" (which I could have predicted given that she had just gone 5 minutes earlier before we put her to bed!).

Anyway, last night, she called out for us after about 10 minutes after she had gone to bed. I went up to see what she needed and she said, "Mommy, I just wanted to tell you I love you again". Now, it's hard to get upset about her wanting to share her love, but this whole business needs to be stopped, so I tried to stay firm. I tell her that I love her so much too, but that she told me when she went to sleep, and she isn't supposed to call out anymore, yadda, yadda, yadda.... If she calls out again, something will be taken away from her. Goodnight.

Another 10 minutes goes by and she calls out again. This time Matt goes up. She wants a snuggle. Matt tells her that she got a snuggle before she went to sleep, that it is time for sleep, that we expect her to STOP calling out and GO TO BED! She can have a snuggle in the morning. Then the tears start rolling and she cries " I JUST WANT SOMEONE TO LOVE ME!" OMG, this is the guilt trip of all guilt trips and it is being perfectly executed by a 3 and a half year old. I swear that Drama should have been her middle name! Although it is somewhat infuriating that she thinks she can just play us like violins, it is also very interesting about how advanced her manipulation skills are :-) I was proud that hubby stood firm and told her we loved her but she couldn't have a snuggle right now and she needed to go to sleep. But, part of me just wanted to run up there and snuggle the heck out of that little cutie, even though it wasn't the right thing to do :-)

Anyone have any thoughts on how to break the calling out cycle?

It's Playtime!

2008-07-20T20:33:00.010-04:00

Our long awaited playset has arrived and was set up in our back yard yesterday. Madison is soooo very excited as you can imagine. We still need to put the mulch under the set, which will happen this week, but that didn't stop us from testing it out last night. Here are the kids trying out the playset!

I'm looking forward to lots of fun times out in the yard with the kids! And to getting a few swings in myself :-)

McKenna is 9 months

2008-07-20T20:24:00.006-04:00

Yesterday, McKenna was 9 months old. She's getting so big, and I can't wait to see how she measures up at her 9 month appointment, which we couldnt schedule until early August because our pediatrician is on vacay. To mark the occassion (or maybe just because we were hungry :-)), we went and grabbed some dinner with her friend Caden and his mommy! Here are some pics of my little love bug and her buddy: