Scallop Fest 2010

Every Fall, as the days pass by and September turns to October, I start getting that familiar feeling of panic. You know that feeling? When there is ONE day in the 7 day forecast that calls for gorgeous summer like weather and you start hyperventilating thinking that this could be it. This could be the one last day before Winter sets in and the snow starts to fall. No? Maybe it's just me, but this weekend was one of those weekends. The weather man was calling for 82 degrees and sunny and I had every intention of soaking up every last ray of sunshine because before you know it we'll be digging ourselves out of 2 feet of snow and suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder.

We kicked off our weekend at the 41st annual Bourne Scallop Fest along the Cape Cod Canal. We try and go to this festival every year and as the kids get older it gets more enjoyable with each year that passes. We rode ferris wheels and kiddie trains, ate ribs, lobster rolls, chowder and fried dough. We sang and danced along with the Toe Jam Puppet Band and cruised through the craft tents checking out the local vendors. There were all sorts of street performers and musicians and the weather was awesome! We couldn't have asked for a better day.







We spent the rest of the weekend playing outdoors and enjoying our cozy coupes, wagon and bubbles before they have to be retired to the basement until Spring.






Today is rainy and gray and the rest of this week doesn't look much better, but the weekend ahead looks like picture perfect Fall weather! They are saying there will be a Fall chill in the air which is perfect since we are going apple picking on Sunday. Last year we went on an unseasonably warm day and it was in the high 80's. People were applying sunblock and getting stung by bees. Personally, I prefer to pick apples in hooded sweatshirts and jeans, not tank tops and shorts, so I am stoked! I see some applesauce, baked apples and hot apple crisp on the menu for the next few weeks!

Automatic Paper Towel Dispenser

Grace thinks EVERYTHING is funny. If you sneeze? She laughs. If you stub your toe? She laughs. If you close a door? She laughs. This video was taken on my cell phone last month in a public bathroom at a large retail furniture store. I just came across it on my phone and had to upload it and share.

A few words and a disclaimer: Please excuse the slurring of "paper towel dispenser". We were up before the sun this day and I hadn't yet eaten a meal or had my caffeine IV drip. Also, yes that is Jacob chewing on my keys in the background and no, I did not notice until after I watched the video. I assure you if I had seen my child gnawing on a germ infested piece of metal I surely would have stopped him.

Enjoy!

Freedom!

BEFORE:

AFTER:



The cast is off!!! I know, I know. I am SO late in getting this post up, but better late than never, right?

Since Thursday, Jacob has gone from dragging himself across the floor on his belly, to kneeling, then standing (while holding on of course) and now he will walk while holding our hands, but he is nowhere near being able to walk on his own. He pretty much tip toes around on the bad leg while bearing most of his weight on our hands. He wasted no time getting into that Cozy Coupe though. He dragged himself across the floor and then somehow managed to drag himself into that car. He looked like one of those male gymnasts on the horse and I have no idea how he managed it, but he spent the next 45 minutes in there steering, beeping the horn and yelling "beep, beep" and "car". He was so happy!

The doctor said he will eventually get up and go, but be prepared for lots of falls and crashes. Unless he cries for an extended period of time (beyond what he normally would after a fall) the doctor said he should be fine. He also said Jacob will probably walk like a duck or with a limp and it will last for about 3 months. I am glad he told us that before we left the hospital because after a month I probably would have been calling all worried. He has a follow-up in mid-December for an x-ray to check on it and by then the doctor said he should be walking normally.

The x-ray on Thursday looked great and he has actually generated more bone regrowth than what was needed which is not too uncommon. The doctor said it isn't a big deal and the only thing we'll notice is that his right thigh is bigger than his left one due to the extra bone. His broken leg did also heal slightly shorter (1 cm), than his left leg, but he will keep growing and eventually the shorter leg will catch up enough so that it is not noticeable.

When I got home on Thursday, I stripped all the beds, the bean bags and the pillowcases and washed everything and put Grace and Jacob's rooms back together. Since the accident, Jacob has been sleeping in Grace's room in her crib since we were able to move the mattress up and make it easier to get him in and out of bed. It also helped keep him contained in case he decided to try and shimmy out of his bed in the cast. That wouldn't have been good. Grace has been in Jacob's room in a pack and play so we shuffled everything around again, put their beds back together and everyone is sleeping in their own room. Until Jacob is walking, we have now put him in the pack and play. His toddler bed is not high off the ground, but Ian was worried and the doctor said if it makes him feel better to just put him in the pack and play so he will probably stay there for another week or so.

It is nice to see him happy and playing again. No more Toy Story, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse or Jack's Big Music Show on repeat!! He is also officially in 18-24 month pants (finally!) so I was also excited to see that he has grown quite a bit since the cast went on. His 12-18 month pants were getting short in the Spring, but his 18-24 month pants were HUGE in the waist. Although they are still loose, they will fit great with a belt until he grows into them some more.

We're just happy that life is back to normal around here and that we managed to get out of the cast on the earlier end of the 6-12 week time frame. I am glad to have my happy, little, chicken wing back and Grace is so happy to have her playmate again!

Cape Cod Day Trip

I love the fact that we live less than 10 minutes from the Sagamore Bridge. In fact, I plain love living in Plymouth. We are 45 minutes from Boston and about an hour from P-Town so we have the best of both worlds! It isn't too hard to jump in the car and take off to the Cape or Boston for the day. We had planned all Summer to take a trip down to the Cape Cod National Seashore (one of my favorite spots on the Cape), but I think with Jacob's cast the beach would be a very bad idea.

Since Ian was off Monday and Tuesday we decided on Monday to hop in the car, drive down the Cape and be tourists for a day. We hit a few of our favorite spots so I figured I would share a few pictures:

Scargo Observation Tower in Dennis:




Arnold's Clam Shack in Eastham (awesome lobster rolls!):



Chatham Light and Lighthouse Beach in Chatham:




Wychmere Harbor in Harwich:




We ended the day back home at White Horse Beach for sunset:

Clearance Season!

Little girl clothes are so adorable and finding deals on cute clothes for Grace (and Jacob) has become a hobby as well as an addiction.

I never went to the Mall with Jacob, partly because I was terrified of RSV and partly because I was not a huge fan of little boy clothes. I am pretty good now at finding cute outfits for Jacob, but at first I had no desire to dress Jacob in anything other than onesies because everything available had the same sayings splashed across the front like "Mommy's Little Monkey". Now whenever we are within 50-100 feet of the parking lot Jacob starts screaming "MALL!!". It's pretty embarrassing if anyone other than Ian is in the car, but I assure you we do spend lots of time outdoors playing and not shopping when his leg isn't broken! We just haven't had much else to do the past 6 weeks.

I prefer to shop at babyGap mainly because they are one of the few places that have adorable kids clothes without sayings and cheesy characters all over them. I do have pieces from Gymboree, Target and Carter's mixed in (I am not a clothes snob), but the majority of their clothes these days is from babyGap because I have found their quality far surpasses that of any other children's clothing retailer out there. They wear well, wash well and I can get great deals on them by shopping during sales and using coupons.

People assume that you can't get inexpensive clothes at stores like babyGap, but that is not true! In fact, I have never spent more than $10 on any one item for either of my children and sometimes I even *gasp* get their clothes for free! I have had friends call and e-mail me asking how I manage to get clothes so cheap so I thought I would do this post to share with you what I am able to purchase and for how much during a typical seasonal sale.

I am usually pretty good at predicting future sizing so I also buy ahead. For example, this past weekend I bought clothes for Jacob in 18-24 months, 2T and 3T. For Grace, I bought some 12-18 months, 18-24 months and 2T. The hardest season to buy ahead for is Summer because you can usually get away with being off in the sizing with t-shirts (short and long sleeve) and pants, but you can't wear shorts or sandals in the Winter if you're off by a few months with your guess.

Below are pictures of all the deals I scored during my last shopping excursion. All of these items were bought during the Give and Get Sale at Gap over the last weekend in August. This coupon gives you 30% off of your entire purchase including sale and clearance items:




The first picture is what I was able to score for Grace: 1 cardigan, 2 dresses, 4 skirts, 2 onesies, 1 pair of crawler leggings, 1 long sleeve tee, 1 tank top, 1 headband, 2 pair of PJ's, 1 winter hat, 1 pair of gloves, 1 baseball hat and 2 pair of sneakers.

In the second picture I bought Jacob: 1 jacket, 3 pocket tees, 4 graphic tees, 3 polo shirts, 1 long sleeve thermal, 1 baseball hat, 1 winter hat, 1 pair of gloves, 1 pair of PJ's and 1 belt.

Every piece in the picture(s) above was LESS THAN $10!!! In fact, the most expensive piece I bought were the polo shirts at $6.30 each and the cheapest item was the hat for Grace at $2.09!! I now have shoes for Grace in sizes 3 (which she is just starting to wear FINALLY), 5, 6 and 7! After I find her a pair of size 4's I won't need to buy her sneakers for awhile!

The total retail value of everything I bought was almost $600! I only spent $150 on BOTH kids! It definitely pays (literally!) to shop the sale and clearance sales!