All I Want for Christmas is….. Mom’s Edition

Megan's Christmas Wish List

Cashmere Sweater- Black, please. Everyone knows that a black cashmere sweater is a must-have in a ladies' closet. And mom, you know me, I love a good sweater or cardigan.

Pearl Earrings- I have a light pink pair from hubby, but I'd really love a pair of plain white ones that aren't too expensive that I can wear more often. Not too small and not too big, I trust you to know what "classic" size to get me....

 

 Nina Garcia's Look Book- This just looks fun, and I love all Nina Garcia's books so it would fit right into my collection! Also, until she has more of her customized look books in stock this would be a great backup.  

Watch- I've just always wanted either a menswear looking watch or a Cartier-inspired tank watch. This style is a perfect blend of the two, without the Cartier price tag :)

 Nina Garcia's Style Strategy- Again, I just love her books and I already have the other two in the collection, so really, I HAVE to have this one. Right?!

**You've probably figured this out, but if you click on the links, they'll take you to the site where you can buy it.... see how convenient I made it for you?**

What I came home to. Alternately titled: I got up at 4, YOU got up at 7:00

Is returning to your long-lost (not forgotten) blog only to bitch considered tacky??

If you answered yes, I have a business trip post coming down the pipes so...don't judge.

Many people who meet my dear Husband think he's perfect. I'm not about to destroy the facade he's so carefully built, but I'm not above putting a few cracks in the foundation.

Vindictive? Who, Me?!

If you're not married to the guy and don't have to live with him, then you don't get an opinion.... just sayin'

Most of the time he's close to perfect, but then he goes through these spells where all I can think is "What the hell?!"

The past few days has been one of those spells.

Case in point, the other night was Lasagna night and what do you need with lasagna?? French Bread.
Or at least I do.

Nearly every night of the week, I make sure dinner is done and ready for Husband the second he walks in the door so that all he has to do is change, sit down and eat. The guy does work full-time and go to school y'know.

I rarely ask him to pick up something from the store on his way home, but this particular night, I forgot to get french bread on my way home and so I asked him to get some.

After one big sigh and much hmm-ing and haw-ing, Husband finally said "Can't I just come home? I can do without it."

O.k. fine.

I wound up toasting regular bread in the oven...not the same.

Anyways, I got home from work today, after waking up at 4:30 to be at work at 6 to train a new hire, to this:

And this:



And this:

Seriously?! SERIOUSLY!?

Then, after tidying up the kitchen a little, I came to the conclusion that I really must be the maid because dear Husband left me a tip:

A whopping $.15 which is going in our my collection bin:



Mama needs a new pair of shoes...



*Editors note: Microsoft paint is hard!! *

**I'm also really glad Husband doesn't have a blog...Lord knows what he'd post about me**

Gag Reel

I got alot of funny pictures with "what the what?!" faces. So, in no particular order, here they are:

Hey Big Sister, have we ever told you about how that baby's getting out of there??

Oh, you didn't know that? Huh....hindsight really is 20-20, isn't it?

Let's see how Monster's taking the news of not being the baby anymore...

Oh, not good. Not good at all....

Mom may be adding a little more whiskey to her punch everytime someone tells her she's going to be a grandma....but we won't tell.

Those bottles are designed to eliminate air bubbles so the baby won't get gas, but I think Big Sister's a bit put off by the idea that Baby, who is a girl, would even get gas....because girls don't fart, you know.

Uh, oh. Someone just told her about the warzone that is baby's diapers.

I guess she wasn't aware that poo up the back or diaper blow outs weren't an urban myth.


I suppose Daddy will be handling those.....

Conversation got off topic and we started talking about books, specifically Justin Bieber's new autobiography.

This is Big Sister's reaction to Justin Bieber's autobiography being a best seller, especially among middle-aged women:

I know... I, too, was scared for humanity when I heard that.

And that's a wrap for the Mommy Shower Chronicles.

Now what ever will I blog about?!

They came bearing gifts

Holy cow you get alot of stuff when you're pregnant!

Let me tell you, Baby has a cuter wardrobe than me, and that's hard to come by!

Here's a look at all the loot:

A cute crab hooded towel and crab-themed washclothes...for when Baby's feeling crabby.

A super-soft and plush purple blanky. If Baby is anything like her mama, that thing will accompany her EVERYWHERE until it's nothing more than bits and scraps.

This was one of the cutest little outfits Baby got, a cute denim overall dress...I'm seeing this paired with white knit tights and a sweet little henley onesy.

Big Sister's work friend and her daughter put together a laundry basket filled with stuff for baby. My guess? The laundry basket will see the most work :)

This cute red gingham number was one of the gifts in the laundry basket and is another top cute outfit that Baby has. See those brown mary janes on the arm of the chair? So cute!

And a swim suit for next summer.... how do we feel about babies in bikinis? Judging by that smile, I'm thinking it's a winner!

Little Sister was quite taken by this singing dog toy for Baby. Here she is confused by the question "where is your nose?" Little Sister might need some help....

A pretty purply-pink dress that I have an idea will be Baby's outfit of choice for Christmas this year....

Anyone want to take a guess at what this awkwardly shaped gift is?

It was a really cool carseat that is suited for up to 40 lbs and swivels so it can be rear-facing when Baby is young, side facing when Mommy's in the car next to her, or front facing when she's a walking talking toddler. Pretty neat.

This was my gift, it's a monster hooded towel that makes me laugh everytime I see it. I imagine it will only make me laugh harder when there's a baby in it...

Baby wanted to try on this ballerina-inspired number from Monster. I think this will be another favorite. It's a tu-tu dress with a cute white cardigan....soo pretty, I wish they made it in my size.


Baby is so set for life, she's even got next year's Halloween costume all ready to go. Speaking of which, Happy Hallow's Eve, readers!

You know what you should do...

I think it's a given that when you're a new parent, you walk a fine line between wanting to ask for help as you forge along the path of parenthood and regretting what you wish for in the advice department.

So, to eliminate Big Sister's need to ask any of us experts for tips we had all the guests take an opportunity to write down their best pieces of parenting advice.

We're hoping that Big Sister will keep them handy or preserve them in an album to pull out when she needs a boost of encouragement or a reminder that she has such a huge supporting cast behind her.

Here's a few of the parenting advice highlights....

From Aunt CoCo: "When they hit middle school, always have long talks when they cant see your face- when driving, walking at night, or after the lights are out....they won't know how shocked you are!"

From Grandpa (Baby's Great Grandpa): "Love that baby and spoil it. Give it everything it wants, or that's what grandfathers and great grandfathers do."


From Grandma Maddie: "Ask for help when you are feeling frazzled."


From Hailey: "Go with the flow. You can't predict what is going to happen and every child is different. Books can freak you out."


From Auntie Em: "Remember to let her surround herself with people from different cultures and backgrounds so she can have a better understanding of individuality. It will help her to find herself and where she fits in."


From my mother-in-law Mary Lou: "Always kiss them goodnight."

And this is where the tears start... not from Big Sister but from moi.

For some odd reason, that bit of advice struck me, it was totally unlike the normal advice that you hear for new moms.

It was simple.

It seemed like a no-brainer, but to me, it was such a beautiful thought, that a mom wouldn't allow their baby, no matter how old, to go to sleep without a kiss goodnight, a reminder that they are loved before they drift off to sleep.

And I lost it.

I quietly left the room to wipe away my tears, before anyone else saw me, but when I returned to my seat, Big Sister looked up and said "are you crying?!"
"No," I lied, but she could see right through me, she began to pout, her face screwed up and just like that, she started to cry too.

When I stood up to get her tissues, Mom was also crying.

It's no secret my parents broke the parenting mold, and it's evident in the way they treated us kids, the constant reminders of how proud of us they are and making sure we feel loved. Now that we're older, it's evident in the advice they pass down to their children who are preparing for children of their own.

A few pearls of my mother's wisdom, that never fail to make me cry:

- "Read aloud to them - they love to cuddle, even in their older years." (You'll remember this is true from this post about my dad)

- "Take pictures of the naughty things they do- someday it will be funny!"

- "Hug & kiss them often, even in high school."

- "In middle school, remember that you might be the only one that talks nice to them that day."

And finally, what really makes my parents good ones is this: "Love their father! And the daddy needs to love you a lot. It's the best gift to give your children."

It was Mom and Dad. It was...

The Games We Play...

You know how you go to some baby showers and it's all "eat this poo-like substance out of a diaper, because it's fun (!?) and not at all degrading or gross," or "let's measure the big, fat pregnant lady who already feels like a whale, but let's show her in string just how huge she's gotten! Because that's fun for everyone!"

Yeah, well, you'll find none of that here...

Instead, we played games like Are You My Mother? in which our guests had a celebrity mommy's photo attached to their back and, somewhere at the party, was another guest with their celebrity baby and they had to find each other by asking yes or no questions.
I have no photos of this game, but it was fun for pop culture fans and fuddy-duddys alike, trust.

One of the favorite games of the day was the baby photo match-up game. When I sent out invitations I asked everyone to bring a baby or childhood photo so other guests could guess and match the baby picture to the adult. The most fun was seeing all the cute baby pictures and trying to guess who was who.

Most of the guests had trouble matching us Apple girls to our baby pictures. Of course, we all look similar, but people were mistaking me for Little Sister and Monster for Big Sister...it was fun to see us through their eyes.

Here is Monster in the throes of a killer staring contest with picture number 13. Don't tell her, but I think 13 has the edge in this one....

Next up, and honestly one that I was kind of excited about because I was sure people would be stumped, was a baby food tasting game. I purposely chose the typical and a few not-so-typical flavors of baby food including peas, carrots, sweet potatoes, chicken and apples, green beans and macaroni and cheese thinking that, number one, they'd be gross and number two, mommy or not, the guests would never be able to guess them.

Especially judging by their faces, I was certain I had them:

Some people opted to forgo the tasting of pureed veggies, fruits and chicken (?!) and opted instead to sniff out the specimens:

L doesn't look too sure about the Apples and Chicken entree.... Can't say I blame her, judging by Monster's reaction:


Little Sister wanted to share hers with me, I kindly declined


I was way off... everyone got 100%, except one person who mixed up the green beans and peas. So she won the gift for that game.

Is it more sad that I was TOTALLY bummed that I hadn't stumped everyone, or that I'm pretty sure if I had been playing, I probably couldn't have guessed what foods I was eating??

Remember the game Memory as a kid?? You laid out tiles with pictures like farm animals or something and had to match the sheep with the sheep, the pig with the pig by flipping over only two tiles a turn and remembering where your opponents had revealed tiles??

We made a baby memory game with pictures of a baby smiling (first smile), a naked baby bum (for diaper rash), a rattle and other baby-centric occasions or items.

Please note this was the ONLY baby-centric game of the party.... and I only allowed it because we gave gifts that were adult versions of the baby things.

Confused? Take a look:

Lisa matched baby's first smile. Her gift? Chapstick!

Hailey matched sippy cup, so she won "mommy's sippy cup" aka two mini bottles of wine!


George Ann found the rattles, so she got the grown up version- bangle bracelets.


This is Monster, kinda bummed about matching carseat and winning a car air freshener when she doesn't have a car...


And the irony is not lost on Little Sister, who, for matching mobile, won eye shadow when she gets make-up samples galore for working in the Macy's beauty/fragrance department...


And for matching diaper rash, Ellen is shocked at her big girl gift:


Thong underwear!

I think people were impressed by the entertaining games and were pretty delighted by the fact that nearly everyone went home with a fun gift just for them.

**Up Tomorrow: Unsolicited Mommy advice. Were there tears? You'll be shocked by the answer...*

Baby Mommy Shower

On Sunday, the younger sisters, mom and I threw a shower for this crazy couple:

O.K to be fair, the shower was mainly for that minx on the right and that pumpkin she's smuggling under her dress.
For those who don't grasp sarcasm, that's not a pumpkin, but my niece who's due next month.

As the most opinionated of the hostesses, I was adamant that this shower be adult and not crawling with babies or children.

Politically incorrect? Maybe, but I desparately wanted a fun party that everyone would enjoy; young, old, married, single, mommy, not... you get the drift.

From the decor, to the food, to the games we played, the party was meant to say "Welcome Fall...and a new baby" and not scream "BABY!!"

Mission Accomplished if I do say so myself:

Here's a close up of the piece de resistance, the diaper cake:




Those poufy things are tissue paper ruffly globes that mom and monster little sister made, we thought they added the perfect amount of whimsy and pop to our adult party.

Here's also where I give a big shout out to my fabulous husband for hanging them just so, even when that meant rehanging, retying and getting yelled at by a stressed out wife. (Who, me?!)

This is a little station for the fellow moms in attendance to write down their best piece(s) of parenting advice. Because what does every new mom need? Unsolicited advice!

In attendance were good friends who are practically sisters, like L, shown here with the monster


Aunts and work friends who attended with their grown up daughters:


This is BIL's aunt George Ann (center) with Big Sister's work friend Ellen (right) and Ellen's daughter Megan (left).

Big Sister was a regular tourguide showing off the nursery and all the cute things she has ready for Baby (Post on the nursery later maybe?).

These are two of Big Sister's neighbors, I have an idea they'll be a big help when Baby (I know the name, but I'm sworn to secrecy by penalty of death...so we'll just call it baby) comes:

When she wasn't up running tours through the nursery, Big Sister just sat in her chair and glowed.


Pregnancy looks good on her, wouldn't you say?

***This starts a weeklong series of the Mommy Shower Chronicles. Up tomorrow: The games we played***