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When Grandma Comes to Town.

Published on October 27, 2016December 12, 2016 by Darlene DeeLeave a comment

Granny and Grampy (the in-laws) were in town last weekend and they wanted to take Babystar shopping for things that she NEEDS. I anticipated this because I am excellent at seeing the future and because they do this every time (AND because they kept reminding me) so I thought Stride Rite seemed the perfect destination.

Babystar got new Mary Janes because her current favorite shoes are about to not fit anymore (and I have no idea where to buy them). And she also got some fuzzy-inside, comfy winter boots because it gets cold here in Northern Virginia. So that was wonderful and very helpful. And Babystar even got a few stickers. Luckily, Stride Rite made sure she knew which stickers were appropriate for a little girl via the tried-and-true color coding system. And luckily my baby don’t give a fuuuuck. You already know we came home with Star Wars AND Sesame Street WHAAAAAAAAAT.

Have you ever been to Tyson’s Corner Mall? If you live in or near Northern Virginia, the answer is probably yes. Do you know what store is right next door to Stride Rite? If you said the American Girl store, you win. Guess what you win? You get to give ME $100.

I have already gone on record about the American Girl store. But I’m not even mad. Here’s how it went down. Babystar raced into the red and pink wonderland so Grammy and I followed.

Babystar headed straight for the ‘babies’ like they were calling her name and singing her favorite songs and I’m not convinced that they weren’t. And of course the ‘babies’ are on REALLY LOW shelves, right? So here is Babystar manipulating Grammy into bringing a Bitty Baby home with us.

So effective, right? I almost want to buy her one and I DEFINITELY DO NOT want to buy her one.

Of course it worked. She even got an extra outfit because she said ‘kitty’ and pointed to an outfit with a cat on it. (Yes, she knows the word kitty and I am very proud but am I more proud of her vocabulary or her clear ability to control her world around her? I’m not sure yet.)

She immediately has to show Grampy who is waiting on the bench outside because he is smart. And she is smart.

And then be ALL CUTE about it. Jeez, ok, that little pose is worth $60, I guess. Suckers.

And here I imagine her thinking, mama, give me the camera. This is none of your business.

The lovely, thoughtful, well-meaning grandparents also bought her three pairs of maxaloones from etsy because I wanted her to have pants that will fit over her cloth diapers and hopefully last an entire season. I let Grammy pick (but I only showed her cute ones to choose from) and I’m excited for them to arrive in the mail!

RAISING BABYSTAR: $12,790.51

Baby’s First Hurricane.

Published on October 12, 2016December 12, 2016 by Darlene Dee2 Comments

Yes, I saw the weather reports. I think I might be dumb. LUCKILY, it turns out I’m also lucky.

We flew to Florida last week to visit Grandma, Grandpapa, Great-Grandma (inexplicably called Cookie by the great-grandkids), Auntie Kelly, and 2yo awesome cousin Xan. My sister and I had big plans of taking the kids to St. Augustine and downtown Jacksonville and to the cool Children’s Museum in Jacksonville. And I had big plans of hitting the awesome and sanely priced children’s resale shops in the area. And maybe even go check out Bay & Bee, where I have never been but sent my oldest son to get my sweet mesh Tula.

Nope. None of it. Everything was closed even before the rain so everyone could prepare for the rain. And I know the storm was really bad on the coast, but my parents live so far inland (translation: middle of nowhere-sticks-boonies-BFE) that the whole Hurricane Matthew thing felt anticlimactic.

We stayed at Grandma’s the whole time so the only money I spent on Babystar was $27.45 for a grocery run for her fancy eggs and ingredients for her pasta and a bunch of fruit and a pack of diapers.

Luckily, there was a baby swing outside and a sliding board and the coolest homemade indoor ball pit EVER.

But I think both toddlers’ favorite toy in the whole house is Cookie’s walker. Xan can do some sweet 2-year-old tricks but Babystar is still in the investigation stages.

RAISING BABYSTAR: $12,470.54

Crafty Bastards 2016.

Published on October 4, 2016December 12, 2016 by Darlene DeeLeave a comment

Best. Craft show. Ever.

We lovelovelove Crafty Bastards. Last year we bought a super cool monster, among other things. This year we came home with two pairs of freaking cute handmade harem pants for $23 each from Funky and Little and a wooden car for $10 from ArtSpace but actually from USWood Toys. If you are in the DC area, be sure to check out Crafty Bastards next year. I’ve noticed a trend toward more and more baby items. Or maybe I’m just noticing them now that I have a baby. Either way, cute stuff. Highly recommend.

RAISING BABYSTAR: $12,443.09

Baby’s Gotta Eat.

Published on September 30, 2016October 12, 2016 by Darlene DeeLeave a comment

Someone please suggest a better system for keeping track of Babystar’s food. Right now, I’m keeping a list of food that I buy SPECIFICALLY for Babystar. Although we do sometimes share. And we share a lot of our food with her. But I am not counting that, because I was going to buy that bag of veggies from Trader Joe’s anyway. I would have just eaten that extra tablespoon of peas and cauliflower or whatever if she didn’t eat it. You know what I mean? Ok.

Oh, and this is for the beginning of August except for the parts in California and then all of September. I kind of forgot at the end of August. Plus who wants to read this boring blog post anyway? I just have to include it because I AM ADDICTED TO ACCURACY. Ugh, so annoying.

Nectarines $6.98
String cheese $6.47
Mozzarella toast (at our fave local pizza place) $4.99 x 2
3 cans of diced tomatoes $2.97
3 zucchinis $3.00
1 sweet onion $1.50
1 orange pepper $1.50
2 boxes ditalini pasta $5.58
5 packs of Gerber veggie melts $14.95 (yikes!)
5 packs of organic free-range hippie eggs $19.95
Gerber veggie puffs AKA Babystar’s Cheetos $2.99
box of Trader Joe’s version of cheerios $2.39
3 boxes chia seed waffles $8.97
strawberries $9.00
peaches $4.78
plain vanilla yogurt (for making popsicles) $2.79
so many bananas $8.00
Spinach artichoke dip $7.99
Fancy crackers $5.99

Those last two seem a bit odd, yeah? Babystar often goes to Costco with her dad on the weekends. (She likes any stores that doubles as a buffet. Same, Babystar, same.) APPARENTLY, she went crazy for the spinach artichoke dip at on of the sample stations and loudly insisted that they go back for more whenever she ran out. Of course, Husband was a wonderful Dada (and decent human being since she ate so much of it) and bought a container to bring home. He even bought the crackers they were selling to go with it since she loved them too. She didn’t eat a single bite at home. It was yummy. We all enjoyed it. But it goes on her tab because we bought it FOR HER.

RAISING BABYSTAR: $12,296.35

Babies Having Babies.

Published on September 28, 2016September 28, 2016 by Darlene Dee1 Comment

So apparently little Babystar tried to shoplift a Bitty Baby from the American Girl store at the Grove while we were in LA last month. Ok, I wasn’t there, but the Teenager says she picked up the box that was almost as big as her and was like, see ya.

Don’t worry. The taller, more law-abiding family members present intervened.

I wasn’t there THAT day (because I was at a taping of The Price is Right with my over-18 and therefore eligible son but no we did not win anything not even a new living room set or his and hers golf clubs but you can watch for me in the audience on October 25) but I WAS there a couple of days ago at Target when she spotted the baby dolls.

We take the toddlermonster to Target sometimes on rainy days to run out her wiggles. Sorry, Target. She sometimes rearranges your displays. I really do my best to fix them. Mostly. Anyway. We went there for a single pack of college ruled notebook paper for the Teenager and for some indoor sprintingfor Babystar. I somehow spent $100. Damn you, Target, you sorceress!

And now the Baby has a baby. And the Baby’s baby has a stroller. $12.99 and $9.99 respectively. (For comparison, Bitty Baby is $60 and her super fancy tiny jogging stroller is $58. Jeez, Mattel.) So I basically SAVED almost $100 because that is how shopping math works, right?

Babystar loooooves her baby. It is the cutest thing ever. I have had to be resuscitated at least five times now because I FREAKING DIE when she cuddles that baby. But then she eats the baby’s feet and throws the baby on the floor and the universe makes sense again.

Fun fact: I had to draw a belly button on the baby doll with a Sharpie because Babystar is obsessed with belly buttons and this baby didn’t have one. I bet Bitty Baby has one. Ugh.*

I also bough a pack of Target brand diapers (highly recommend) for $6.49.

And the baby found a fort.

RAISING BABYSTAR: $12,170.57

*I have nothing against Bitty Baby. Just kidding, I DO. $58 for the stroller?! $75 for a cradle?! The dresses are more than I spend on my ACTUAL BABY. I went down the American Girl path with the Teenager and I will.not.do.it.again. Ok, so I am HIGHLY PREJUDICED against Bitty Baby. Sorry, little plastic baby. NOT SORRY, Mattel.