Girlymama

She must be joking, you say.

Oh, no. Today I went to the Pottery Barn Outlet. Which also carried stuff from Williams Sonoma. And I went to the newly-opened Pottery Barn Kids Outlet and

I did not buy anything.

NOT that I didn’t want too. I was sorely tempted by a silk nesting quilt for our bed. And I almost bought this, which was on sale for $70. And the Pottery Barn Kids store… Oh the Pottery Barn Kids store. If I had a little more money to burn right now, I would have sent it up in flames buying this bedding set for the girls’ room. And of course, the coordinating lamps. And oh my word, the bedding is even cheaper online. I have to go e-mail my husband now. Excuse me.

Two things came to my attention today:

1) I went out and got me a pedicure in honor of my birthday. I love pedis and hadn’t had one (well,  a real one)  in a full YEAR.
I was sitting in that massage chair, perusing In Style and sipping my Mocha Frappachino (with whipped cream. The baby needs whipped cream) and thinking, “I think I should do this more often. Like once a month.”
I am, after all, pregnant. I think some pampering is in order, don’t you?
(When I was pregnant with Ellie, my sister-in-law gave me several gift certificates for pedicures for Christmas. So I had one every month until she was born the winter. For future reference, you should give this gift to every pregnant woman you know, because it is much more useful than baby clothes!)

2) Me. A dance store. Buying outfits and shoes for my two little girls who are starting ballet next week.

This is a very dangerous situation and I fully realize it should not happen. I need supervision. Very similar to Husband will in the soccer store when the girls start soccer.*

*Funny side story, Husband seriously wanted to get Grace a very small (and, I admit, cute) $60 Beckham jersey for her birthday. Insisting that she would really love it and it would be a great gift.  We went with the goldfish.

to me! Its my birthday! For my birthday today, my mom (who is visiting this week) asked me what I wanted to do today. I said, “Go back to bed.” So she said, “What are you waiting for?”
Heaven. This baby is suddenly really making me tired. exhausted. barely able to keep my eyes open. But I’m having good and bad sickness days this week, which is a nice change from feeling sick all. the. time. And I swear I have a small belly already. I don’t know how, since I have gained approximately one pound, but its there. It is totally not in my head, since my mom noticed it and pointed it out to me. This is bad, since I am only 2 months. Must mean that if I have a fourth, I will be wearing maternity clothes about 1 month before I’m pregnant.

**********
My mom is visiting. She’s hilarious. As much as she might deny it – her grandkids can talk her into anything.
She’s from Ohio and she follows good ol’ Midwestern values like “Coming to a Complete Stop” and “Driving the Speed Limit” and “Yield.” That doesn’t fly here in Philly (state motto: Death Before Yielding) where any and all traffic signs are merely suggestions.

“Gosh, people in Philly sure honk their horns a lot.”
snicker snicker “Uh, yeah, they do.”

Ellie: “Mom, when our fishies die can we get a puppy?”
Me: “No. You can get another fishie.”
Ellie: “What about guinea pigs? Are guinea pigs teeny-tiny small pets?”
Me: “Yes they are.”
Ellie: “What about a guinea pig? Could we get a guinea pig?”
Me: “Nope. We have fish. Remember, we’re getting a baby soon. That’s enough excitement for our house.”
Ellie: “I really want a puppy, though.”
Me: “Sorry.”

One of my favorite pretend cyber-girfriends, Christie, has kindly bestowed on me the “Nice Blogger” Award. She clearly was not sitting behind me in the food court at the mall today when Ellie dropped her entire plate of pizza upside-down on the floor and then split her entire drink ten minutes later.
Anyway, I get to pass the love on to three other bloggers!
First, it has to be Musings of a Housewife, since she is a real-life girlfriend and is awfully nice. Her blog shows her to be a living example of Biblical womanhood and she is super cute and funny to boot. And her new blog design matches my favorite purse. Which has nothing to do with being nice, but I thought I’d mention it anyway.
Second is Jenny at Chased by Children. She’s a new bloggity find and I just love her! She has three little princesses and a great sense of humor. If you haven’t been to her blog yet, by all means  hurry over!!
And thirdly is Mostly, I’m Tired. This mama has four kids (including twins) and still finds time for sharing honest and hilarious stories on her blog!

So pass on the bloggy love, Ladies! Nominate three nice bloggers of your very own and keep the nice ball rolling.

Grace had her princess party yesterday! It was so fun!

The girls came up to our “Princess Dressing Room” where they went shopping for their dresses and got their hair, make-up and jewelry done.

Then they went to the ball and did a princess craft. Then we had a princess tea party.

We had lots of fun eating princess pizza and ice cream cake.

And please meet our newest family members:

Named “Ariel” and “Cinderella.” We are assuming they are girl fishies.

Already?

I’ve been absent for a few days, mainly because I’ve been planning a last minute birthday party for Gracie. (What? Its your birthday? Again?)
Anyway, we had lots and lots of fun with her four giggily three-year-old friends and I will post pictures of the party tomorrow.
Can you guess what the theme was? Bet you can’t.

Gracie: Mommy, can you take the baby out of your tummy now? I wants to play with her.
Me: Sorry! The baby will be in Mommy’s tummy for a long time still.
Gracie: Why?
Me: Because it needs to grow and get lots bigger.
Gracie: No it doesn’t! Babies are teeny-tiny, Mom!!

Ellie’s sleepover:
Ellie had a GREAT time at her friend, Hannah’s last night. She was a champ, giggling herself to sleep until she fell out of bed in the middle of the night with a loud “thump.” Prompting Hannah’s daddy to line the side of the bed with couch cushions, just in case. Now she is asking when she can go back. And for longer next time, please.

Gracie’s sleepover:
Gracie and I had our own special evening, just the two of us. I can’t remember the last time we had some time to ourselves like that. She’s getting so much fun. She chit-chatted all through dinner about princesses and movies and toys and puppies and this and that.  We ended out time out with a trip to the new ice cream shop that opened up next to Trader Joe’s. And the bite I had of Gracie’s violently pink strawberry ice cream with sprinkles was very, very yum. Then we came home and watched a movie, had bathtime and she got to sleep in Mommy’s bed. Boy was that a treat.
For her, I mean. I got to go to bed at 9pm, listen to her cough every 15 seconds all night and have Cinderella, Baby, two puppies, 3 blankeys, 2 books along with Grace join me last night. It was a tad crowded.  Especially since Grace likes to sleep sideways. (In her own bed, too.) And I got woken up at 2:39am because she had a booger.
But she had fun and didn’t miss Ellie too much.

Tonight, Ellie is sleeping over at a friend’s house for the first time. (Sob!) I’m not really worried about her, since she has slept away from me at Grandma’s loads of times.  She was super excited and had been bouncing around the house all day.

What I didn’t count on was Gracie. She’s really traumatized. At first I just thought she was jealous, but then I realized – she’s never been without Ellie. She keeps saying, “We have to go get Ellie! I can’t sleep without Ellie!” I can only think of one night last year when she was hospitalized overnight, that she did not have her sister with her. She’s really upset.

Hopefully, a sleepover with Mommy will be enough to distract her. Although I’ve been told that I am not as much fun as Ellie. Humph.