Some people have personality disorders, some have eating disorders; I have a clothing disorder.
I used to try to be somewhat trendy. I had a job and could go shopping when I wanted and there was no one trying to pull accessories off me all day long.
Then came the children. Dresses and skirts went out the window when I started spending 80% of my day on the floor. I tossed purses left and right since there was no room to carry one anymore. Coordinating sandals were dropped off at Goodwill and I adopted a uniform of crop pants and t-shirts.
Now I've rediscovered sweatpants. Not those velour ones from Dillard's or athletic ones from Academy, but good old-fashioned Hanes Her Way sweatpants. Have you tried these? They're so warm and soft and cheap and you don't have to wear a belt, and as of last Monday, I was seriously considering buying five more pairs and calling my wardrobe complete. What's not to like about an article of clothing you can sleep in and then wear out to the mailbox?
Then I went to Old Navy. (Disclaimer: I *know* that Old Navy is not the height of fashion for most 30-something year old mothers, but I haven't held a job in over five years, so I don't get too dressy.) There were racks and racks of cute sweaters and even a coat I liked. I stood there with one eye on Jack kicking a soccer ball through the kids' section and one eye on the women's area and started rethinking the sweatpants. I finally left with one pair of jeans--for Alice.
This weekend I have to go to a Christmas party. The invitation calls for "festive holiday attire." I'm not sure anything in my closet could be called "attire," so I dragged the kids to Kohl's this morning and ended up with a purple sweater to wear with my black pants. I also bought a belt, only to discover that my pants don't have belt loops. I am hoping they hang okay, because few things make me grumpier than baggy pants. Anyway, I have been bugging Jay about what I should wear for the last two weeks, while he hasn't given a thought to what he will wear. I, on the other hand, have been wondering why I haven't found a place to get my eyebrows done since we've moved and worrying that after Saturday night I will be known as "that weird wife."
The good news is that I found tow new non-baggy pairs of jeans at Kohl's, so at least I can comfortably continue down the middle of the fashion road--with just a few swerves back and forth along the way.
I still think she's worth it. For all of the crankiness and sleeplessness, there are many more sweet smiles and laughs. And a lot of drool--but no teeth yet.
Today there was a parade on her six month birthday. Not for her, but she doesn't need to know that. Happy six months, Alice!
A while back, I read Heather's post about some cookie fun they had and tucked the idea away in the back of my mind. About a week ago, I thought of it again and was thinking there should be some kind of Cookie Day so I would have a good excuse to make the game. Then I remembered I had done a Cookie Day post before and it was on December 4! Now that I've been looking around, I can't find it listed as December 4 on the site I originally used, but who cares? Do you really need an excuse for cookies? And in case you do, I found Sugar Cookie Day, Fortune Cookie Day, and a few others, too!
This morning we played cookie bean bag toss. Heather's daughter makes a nicer cookie bean bag than I do, and she's just nine. Oh, well. I used felt and tried a couple of different ways. My stitches aren't so great because I waited until last night to work on them and Alice was asleep on me and I was watching Conan while I sewed. Excuses, excuses. I am planning on making a few more and I am hoping I will improve. Heather's post has a link to a pattern for cookies and a mouse puppet. I didn't make the mouse since I had gotten us a stuffed one at Kohl's a couple of months ago.
When we went to the mall this morning, we each got a cookie. By telling Jack about the cookies before we went inside, I got him to look at hats and clothes for Alice without any complaints. Some may call that bribery. I call it smart parenting.
At Sam's last week, I got a giant bag of chocolate chips. Jack has been asking to open it every day. This afternoon, we finally did!
Jack helped with the measuring and surprised me by being able to answer some (simple) fraction questions. I am hoping that means he will have a little more math sense than I do!
He also enjoyed making pictures with the chocolate chips.Cookies are baking tonight for tonight's dessert. We hope you enjoy Cookie Day, too!
This poor boy. I don't know why we do stuff like this to him. But we do. And he kindly complies.
Last week we went to visit Santa. You can see how well it went.
I actually found outfits that looked good together. It's no small feat to find boy clothes that coordinate with baby girl clothes, but I did it! If you've ever been anywhere with us, though, you can guess what happened before we even got to Santa. I did snap one picture of her in the coordinated outfit before I bagged her clothes.
When we had regrouped with clean clothes, Jack ran right up to Santa. He brought a copy of his list to help Santa would remember everything.
At first, it looked like things might go well. It all went downhill pretty quickly, though.
She was so relieved when it was all over! Her first tooth came through today, so I am sure that wasn't helping her feel any better that day. Hopefully next year will be a little better!
