New for YOU!

NEW !!!

The For Your Peanut Cozy Cuddle Blanket

The For Your Peanut Cozy Cuddle Blanket is made of raised plush fabric and silky satin backing and is machine washable. It’s incredibly soft and cozy. It measures approximately 28" X 34". I have a ribbon loop added for easy hanging or clipping to stroller or carseat. You'll be pleasantly surprised (even jealous) by how amazingly soft these fabrics are to the touch. You and your baby deserve something this fabulous!

and...

It's only $25*!!!

*(plus $5 shipping)

You will find similar versions selling for as much at $75!!

If you are interested in placing an order, please email me for available fabrics at
ForYourPeanut [at] gmail [dot] com


HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Bad Mommy Habits

As a mom, I have found that I often fall last on my own priority list. It's really easy to do. Here's the typical checklist....Maggie Fed? Dan Fed? Cats Fed? Everybody have something to drink? Oh...maybe I should make myself a plate and something to drink. Why do I let myself so easily slip behind the cats. And knowing it's my habit, why does it continue? I guess it's my desire for harmony. If everyone else is happy, mommy's happy.

Well, I have hit the end of my rope, a little. Maggie was born in September 2007. I had a haircut in August 2007 and another one in June 2008. That's is it. ONE HAIRCUT SINCE SHE WAS BORN. I just don't take the time. It's just easier. Well, last night I pampered myself. I told Dan I needed him home by 5:15 so I could go get a haircut and I would be back after Maggie bedtime. Here is my evening...

• 5:10 Dan arrives home
• 5:20 I leave (I have trouble relinquishing control. I had to give him the layout of the evening, even though he is perfectly capable and knows all this stuff anyway)
• 5:25 Find a free spot on the street to park **BONUS!!**
• 5:30 Sit in a window seat at Panera Bread to enjoy my Broccoli Cheddar soup and half of a Bacon Turkey Bravo
• 5:38 Realize that I don't have to leave for my hair appointment until 5:55 yet I have eaten my meal in its entirety. This is what happens when you are used to eating with 142 interruptions by baby and then suddenly you have nothing stopping you from enjoying your food.
• 5:40 Clear my table and then head to the bookstore across the street to check out the newest books
• 5:43-5:53 Peruse the book "Passive Aggressive Notes". I was pulled in by the cover photo. It was of a note taped to a refrigerator and it said: DEAR MILK THIEF: THAT WAS BREASTMILK!
• 5:53 Head back across the street for my long awaited haircut
  
• 5:55-6 Sit and read a magazine, while really looking over the top of it and realizing how old I feel as I look at all of these tiny 20 somethings buzzing around. The salon is actually and Aveda school and it's on OSU's campus. Everyone appears very trendy and posh, lots of black.
• 6-8 Enjoy the most wonderful 2 hours! It started with a back massage and scalp massage. Then when she went to wash my hair, I didn't sit in one of those uncomfortable chairs...NO...she put me up on this reclined table and put a pillow under my knees. I just laid there while the hot water rushed over my hair and she shampooed me. Before I left the table, I got a mini facial. As I have never had a real, full facial and have no basis of comparison, this was so relaxing. I could have fallen asleep right there. Then the haircut. It turned out great. Hopefully it will last me another 8 or 9 months!
• 8:05 Return home just in time to give Maggie a good night kiss before Daddy put her to bed.
• 8:05-? I relaxed on the couch and watched TV until I fell asleep and then I went upstairs to bed. What a night!

Isn't it funny how a mundane haircut and eating dinner alone can turn into such a wonderful night? The funny things kids do to your sense of normal.

OKAY...enough about me...

December is around the corner and I have had a lot of people asking about tips and tricks with the specific holiday crafts they have started (or are thinking about starting). I want to help. I will post an new craft every day in December and I will answer any questions you have. They can be specific or general. Here's an example:"What's the difference between interfacing and batting?" So email me at ForYourPeanut [at] gmail [dot] com and I will post answers to the blog. Let's see what you have up your sleeves for this holiday crafting season!!!

Hi...It's Tuesday

Okay, so I shouldn't be writing I should be sewing, or more accurately FrayChecking. I have almost all of my OSU sewing project done. Here's what I completed:

• 16 Cocktail Table runners
• 4 Banquet Table runners
• 5 White and Gold Fabric wall hangings (14 feet by 2 feet)
  
• 6 Gold wall hangings (15 feet by 45 inches)

It wasn't hard, but dealing with that much fabric is so cumbersome. I think it will be picked up today, so I can CHECK it off my list and wait for the CHECK to come in the mail!

I have a friend dropping off her maternity jeans to be hemmed on Wednesday and a nursing cover to complete no later than the end of the week. Thanks for being so patient Ames. I will have it for you in time. I PROMISE. I also have 2 more baby blankets to finish. I have one done and it is so warm and snuggly I might not sell it. Well, yes I will, because it really only covers the lower half of my legs. It's meant for a baby, not someone who just acts like one. Then....I have a sweater repair for a friend and a placemat purse to finish. Pending any new orders, I would like to have all of that done by Thanksgiving. Am I dreaming??

I had an OB appointment yesterday. It was one of those take your weight, take your blood pressure, how are you feeling, here's the heartbeat, see you in 3 weeks kind of appointment. I saw the doc for all of 3 minutes, but spent an hour of my life there. Next visit on 12/9 will be our 20 week utlrasound. NO....we aren't going to find out if it's a boy or a girl. We are looking forward to the surprise.

Maggie has been bursting at her developmental seams this week. She has new words and new moves. Here's the list I can come up with:

1. say "shoo" when wanting to put on shoes or slippers
2. says "baba" when leaving the house
3. waves by by when Dan goes off to work or we are leaving a store
4. CLAPS!! I was a little worried that this one took so long, but she broke it out in full force last night.
5. "Hey Maggie, What does a duck say?" Her response, "QUACK QUACK!!" Here's the video.
6. 
   
7. Has developed a desire to walk rather than crawl. That is if she can get herself to her feet. She needs to pull up on something still, but she is actively trying to figure out how to get to her feet on her own.
8. Started to hide the food she doesn't want in her highchair seat. I got mad at her for throwing it on the floor, so she developed a sneaky way of hiding it. I often don't realize that half her food is in her chair until I lift her to get her down. She's sneaky!!
9. It looks as though she might be pushing her morning nap later than 10am. Currently she has been in bed for 30 minutes and she is still talking to herself. I need my down time...now what?

Lastly, thanks to my "Followers". It's fun to know people are reading about me. Is that narcissistic? Maybe, but I think I am okay with that.

Okay, Maggie has gone from talking to crying. I have to intervene. I think that her bear may have taken an irretrievable flying leap out of the crib, aka...Maggie tossed him and now wants him back. When does she learn cause and effect????

Read a Book!

Okay. I give you permission. Sit down at least 20 minutes per day and read. It can be a magazine or a book or the newspaper, but, take the time!! We are told to read to our kids for 20 minutes a day, so why not read to yourself? I have been doing that this week and I find it quite therapeutic. Here is what I just finished and what's next:

I just finished this one and it was a nice quick read with lots of laughs. It doesn't hurt that the author used to be a TV comedy writer.






This book is next on my list. It is already on hold at the library. I think I will run over there today and grab it.








Also...the author has a great blog...check it out. I will be adding it to the blogroll.

babyonbored.blogspot.com

Have you read anything good lately? Share with me...I need to start a list...

hooded towel

I really want to make this, but I am not sure how hard it will be. Has anyone else ever made one? Does anyone want to give it a try and then tell me how it went? I would appreciate it.

http://infarrantlycreative.blogspot.com/2008/02/kids-hooded-towel-tutorial.html

I am off to eat some chips and dip. Wait, is 10:30am too early for chips and dip? The baby wants them. I can feel him/her moving around in there. Yep, they dig the Ruffle ridges and the french onion yumminess!

Ah...Wednesday

Documentation

One of the goals of this blog is to document the milestones of Maggie and eventually of her little sibling. So here is some documentation....

Maggie has been walking (with encouragement) for a few weeks now, but has to be prompted to "go to daddy" and the distance couldn't be too far. She would get super frustrated when she would stumble. The sense of defeat (or de feet) would be overwhelming to her. UNTIL LAST NIGHT.

Last night Maggie took some of her first unprompted steps. She would go from the coffee table to the chair and then to the gate and then to the play room. She would have places picked out for a stabilization stop, but if she didn't need it, she would keep trucking. It was so cute to see the sense of accomplishment in her eyes and the sense of pride.

I think that by the end of the month she will be running.

Make a Difference!

Voters can vote to pick up free stuff on Election Day

Enlarge AP Some Krispy Kremes will give away star-shaped doughnuts Tuesday as a voting-day promotion.

By Bruce Horovitz, USA TODAY

Besides queuing up to pick a new president on Tuesday, many voters also will be standing in lines to vote for their favorite freebies.

Savvy retailers and marketers are working hard to lure voters with an array of Election Day freebies — from Starbucks coffee to Ben & Jerry's ice cream to Krispy Kreme doughnuts.

Most marketers doing this, however, have been less inspired by patriotism than by capitalism. Sales are off for most of these marketers in the sickly economy.

"They want you to buy something else to go with the coffee or doughnut," says Allison Cohen, president of the market research firm PeopleTalk. "It's to stimulate business."

Stimulate it will. Long lines are expected at many of the retailers. Some will be handing out freebies all day while others are limiting the handouts by time or available supply.

FIND MORE STORIES IN: Washington | California | Las Vegas | Bill Clinton | Beverly Hills | Starbucks | Orange County | Air Force One | Krispy Kreme | Chick-fil-A | Jerry Johnston

Due to possible conflict with election laws in various states, most are not requiring proof of voting. The free offers:

•Coffee. Starbucks expects to hand out "hundreds of thousands" of free 12-ounce drip coffees (valued at about $1.75 each), says spokeswoman Jenny McCabe. "If everyone who votes comes in for a free cup of coffee, we'll have some lines," she says.

•Doughnuts. Some 85 of Krispy Kreme's 231 locations in the U.S. will hand out star-shaped, red-white-and-blue sprinkled doughnuts "while supplies last," says spokesperson Dana Hughens. The chain will give out about 200,000 doughnuts valued at 99 cents each. "People are definitely talking about the brand as a result of this," she says.

•Ice cream. Between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. in each time zone, Ben & Jerry's ice cream shops will hand out single-scoop ice cream cones (a $3.40 value). "What better way to encourage people to be politically active than to give away free ice cream?" asks spokeswoman Liz Brenna.

•Sandwiches. In a local market promotion, several hundred of the nation's 1,400 Chick-fil-A stores will hand out $2.70 chicken sandwiches to adults who show proof that they voted, says spokesman Jerry Johnston.

•Phone calls. Credo Mobile, a wireless company that donates money to progressive causes for calls its customers make, will offer free outbound calls to current customers during polling hours in their states. The cost could be about $250,000, says spokeswoman Becky Bond.

•Discount haircuts. Then, there's Cristophe Schatteman, a top hair stylist known for giving former president Bill Clinton a $200 haircut on Air Force One. His salons in Washington, D.C., Las Vegas, Beverly Hills and Orange County, Calif., will offer all services — including haircuts — at half price today. A $500 haircut from Cristophe will go for $250.

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...and there are new pictures from Halloween @ www.TeamStamm.com! :)