Friday Fragments

Blanche is now the proud owner of not one, but two teeth. Center bottom.

Can you see them? They are still pretty small nubs, but they are there.

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BG has hit a defiant phase. We have our morning power struggle over something, typically small. She ends up sitting on time out before we have a chat about listening and obeying. After spending all this time on time out, she has learned something. I'm just not sure it's what I was hoping for. After playing with her baby, I found her here. In the corner, on time out.


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BG can't say the letter S very well. She has started to notice that we can't understand her when a word starts with S. In an effort to enunciate, her requests sound like this "Mom, can I have a tthhhhh - nack?" or "When are we going to the tttthhhhhh - tore?"

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I'm trying to find a preschool for BG for this fall. Thus far, I haven't found one that 1-works with my schedule 2-Falls in my price range and 3-I feel comfortable with. Still searching.

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I feel a little dirty admitting this, but I like Facebook. In fact, I really like it. I'm getting to know my neighbors so much better (who knew?). I'm not sure why I resisted for so long, but I really like it now.

Summer Bounty

Have you heard of Bountiful Baskets yet? If not, you need to look into them! The are a food co-op in the Western US. You purchase a basket online on Monday and pick it up somewhere in your community on Saturday. You never know exactly what will be in your basket, but you always get 6 fruits and 6 veggies. This is what I got last week.

Look at all that goodness! Corn, watermelon, grapes, peaches, cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes, bananas, plums, pineapple, lettuce, and brocciflower. Whew! We usually can't eat everything in one week, so we only buy every other week.

The buyers buy local as much as possible. If they do buy from Mexico, they go to small farmers, which I like. I have been impressed with their quality, variety, quantity, and certainly price! You get all this for $15. It's really a deal. You are going to spend double that at the grocery store for all that you get. Even better, they just opened up a pick-up location in my neighborhood. Now I just mosey down the street with my stroller to get my produce. Love it!

*I am not being compensated in any way for this post. I am an actually happy customer trying to spread the love. Check their website to see if there is a site near you. If there isn't a site near you contact them about starting one.

Dear Walmart,

I'm sure you've noticed that I've been mad at you. I have refused to shop your aisles for the past few weeks. I guess I shouldn't just leave without an explanation. Really, it comes down to this; I hate that you are reorganizing your layout. I hate that I can't find anything and that I don't know where to find my needed products. I hate that you are trying to position your store to look and feel like Target. I like Target, but come on. Own your space and be proud that you are Walmart.

Even though I've refused to visit, I can't stop thinking about you. I went to another store, but gasped when I saw the receipt. It's hard to ignore the hard numbers. My budget is missing you. And so, I've come back. It appears most of the musical aisles has settled down. There was even a nice woman who offered me a map of your new layout.

I'm not entirely over our spat, but I'm willing to give you another chance.

Until next week-
Jessica

Swimming

BG loves the inflatable pool we got for her birthday. We don't keep it inflated all the time because we don't want to kill the grass. It takes about 30 minutes to get it blown up using the air compressor. BG has such a great time playing, I wanted to get a shots of her playing in the pool.

Look Who's Sitting

Just in the last week or so Blanche has started sitting up on her own. I am loving it! It is so nice to put her down with a toy and not have to worry (too much) about her falling over. She plays so well with toys and keeps herself entertained.

She doesn't particularly like sitting in the grass. It's prickly and kind of itchy. She makes great disgusted faces (none of which I could get on camera).

I really liked the angle of this shot. I was trying to be at least slightly more artistic.

The Dark Side

I have succumb. I resisted the evil as long as humanly possible. Even with family and friends pressuring me, I resisted. But alas, no more. I have turned to the dark side and joined Facebook.

Holiday Weekend

We had a busy weekend! On Saturday we slept in (as much as you can with an infant and a 4 year old), then puttered around the house most of the day. I braved a trip to Costco on a Saturday, on a holiday weekend. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be - thankfully!

We knew the fireworks would be that night but I didn't really want BG staying up that late. So I told her to go to bed and that I would wake her up before the fireworks started. About 9:30 I went upstairs to get something and her bedroom door was open. I found her in my room, peering through the blinds watching the neighborhood fireworks across the street. So I let her get up and come downstairs. We got out the sparklers and let her play with those while we waited for the big show.

We live a mile down the road from a firework display so we get to just sit in the driveway to watch. We pulled the deck furniture around and watched the show. BG did really well this year. I think it's the first year she actually enjoyed them. Usually, they scare her. Blanche slept through the whole thing.

Sunday was a pretty low-key, average Sunday. Church, etc. We grilled and ate out on the deck.

Monday morning, my dad picked up JM and BG and took them flying in his plane. Mom and I stayed home and got some scrapbooking done. We all had lunch then the kids got naps. I got some more scrapbooking done while JM dozed. When everyone woke up we decided to head over to the city pool.

Poor BG didn't like the pool very much. She clung to JM the whole time and wouldn't let go. After we got out, she kept insisting that we had to go back because she "didn't wim on mine own yet." We need to go to the pool more regularly to get her used to the water. Blanche, on the other hand, had a great time. She loved watching all the other kids. They even had a little bitty-kid part of the pool with infant swing things. She had a fun time swinging/bouncing in those.

After we got home, we grilled again for dinner on the deck. It's so nice to eat outside! After baths and jammies, it was off to bed. All in all, a very nice holiday weekend. How was yours?