Mars and Venus

I wrote the following list for Lance on Saturday when I sent him out to do errands.

Target
Return sheets
1 roll of children's wrapping paper and
1 pkg. of tissue paper

Hallmark
Exchange ornament
4 baby's first Christmas picture frame ornament

Lance's shopping trip to Target was successful yet he came home with a HUGE bag from Hallmark. At first I thought he had purchased me a sentimental present. However, I was shocked when he pulled out four identical Baby's First Christmas ornaments from the bag.* Why in the world would I want four units of the same ornament?

Taking the advice from Elder Wirthlin, we laughed until we cried. If husbands could only read our minds.

*For those who suffer from the same misguided interpretation skills as Lance: I intended him to exchange the ornament "for" a baby's first Christmas picture frame ornament.

Grounded from eBay

I have a sickness.  I LOVE shoes.  I have more pairs of shoes than I could possibly need but I love to find a pair that is just "me" and add it to my collection.   I haven't boughten shoes for myself since June 2008 in an effort to be more frugal.

However, Elisabeth's shoe closet has been feeding my addiction.  Heaven forbid she wears a pair of shoes that do not match her outfit.  And she has to have two pairs of dress shoes - one black patent leather and one brown.  Nevermind that she can't even walk yet and is still weeks away from all out crawling.  Her toes need to be covered.

My favorite shoes for her feet are Pedipeds.  UNBELIEVABLY expensive shoes for a baby but very high quality craftmanship and fit her chubby little feet perfectly.  My friend gave me a pair in a box of hand-me downs and it has been my mission ever since to procure cheap used pairs for her future use.

Just today I purchased THREE pairs of gently used Pediped shoes in pristine condition for an average of $9.00 a pair from eBay.  Shucks - You can't even find a decent pair of Target baby shoes for that price.  Here is what one of the pairs looks like:

I can't wait for her to sport these in public.  But, in the meantime, I am grounding myself from eBay.  I may be saving close to $20 on a pair of shoes but I am spending money on non-necessary items.  I have to admit Elisabeth does not *need* shoes AND I need to be more of sensible with my purchases and save my money up for more important things.  Like a house.  Oh, how difficult it is to exercise self-constraint when it comes to shopping for a baby girl. Yet , how important for me to start now so my daughter can learn important life lessons about frugality.

A Very Merry Half Birthday

Six months. Our baby girl is now six months. We have been floored at how much she has grown and developed in the past few weeks. Here are just a few of her newest tricks that make me feel like we no longer hold an infant in our arms but a baby girl who is growing up way too quickly:

• Can hold her own bottle.
• Eats three meals of solids a day - rice cereal and fruit for breakfast, fruit/veggies for lunch and meat/vegetable for dinner.
• Drinks water from a cup
• Started officially teething and has her two bottom front-teeth to prove it
• Can "scoot" like a little worm across the floor


• Started taking swimming lessons


• No longer wants to be rocked to sleep. Prefers to be put in her crib with her soothie blankie and fall asleep on her own.


• Give us kisses on our cheeks (Okay, she actually chews on our cheeks when we ask her to give kisses, but close enough for go, right?)

Grandma Bev says Elisabeth is the happiest baby she has ever taken care of. Beth's big smiles and giggle are pretty contagious. She does have her occassional "mental breakdowns" (as her papa calls them) and fussy times but is usually happy-go-lucky. Life would not be the same without our little ladybug who loves music, singing, reading books and pulling the puppy's ears.