Great Blog. Great Dress.

I have already mentioned this on here, but I can't say it enough, I love this new blog that I stumbled on.  I can't even remember how I found her, but everyday I am awed by her affordable fashion blogging. 

Well, right now she is doing a give away.  Giving away this dress.  Isn't it great?

Have you heard of Shabby Apple?  So cute, so modest.  What a great combination.  Now, the prices are higher than, say, my 6.00 Target finds ;), but not too much for the occasional special occasion.  And probably not too high for everyday wear for many of you lucky ones out there. 

You should head over to her blog and get in on the giveaway and her great fashion finds.

Things to say

There are several things that I am feeling really excited about these days.

First things first, look what showed up at my house this week...

Okay, it didn't just show up, Scott's parents were oh-so-generous, and they bought it for us as an anniversary gift.  I was giddy with excitement.  Our vacuum hasn't worked for a while, and that is just not okay.  I would use the vacuum every once in a while, just to go through the motions, but I basically just pushed dirt around.  Well, I first read about this vacuum over here at this wonderful blog, I then researchd it on Amazon, and it was even on sale at Target.  The stars really aligned on this one.  Anyway...it truly lives up to the hype.  I love it.  I can't thank Scott's parents enough!!

Thanks to Mary, I just finished reading the above book yesterday.  Warning:  it will make you want to do nothing but sit around all day reading quality literature to your children.

And during John's NICU stay, I read the above book.  The Well-Trained Mind is a must read if you plan to homeschool using the classical method.  It is an incredibly practical book that walks you through each step of the classical homeschooling process.  Love it.

And I am in the process of reading The Case for Classical Christian Education.  Because Ada is only 2 1/2, I am trying to read all I can before her schooling years sneak up on me.

And thanks to the above books and wonderful, wonderful swagbucks, Ada will soon be reading these; they are in the mail as I type this.  I just keep checking them off the list as I earn more swagbucks.

In addition, we are checking out stacks of books every week at the library.  Ada picks her own books, so they aren't always my first choice, but that's okay.  I try to sneak in a few of my own choices every once in a while.

And finally, I am loving this blog--Uber Chic for Cheap.  I don't even know how I stumbled upon it, but I love it, love it.  It really speaks to my need to stick to a budget and possess a decent wardrobe.  Check it out!!

I would tell you that I am excited that Ada is potty trained and that John is sleeping through the night, but none of these things is actually happening.

I thought Ada was potty trained.  All signs pointed to her being potty trained, and then we had a major set back day, which involved lots of urine on the floor.  I then put things on hold while Scott's parents were here, but it's back to the grind tomorrow.

And based on the last two nights, John is back to eating every three to four hours during the night.  Last night I was so tired in the middle of the night, that I woke Scott up and asked him to go get the pan, but I meant to ask him to go get John.  He, of course, said, "What?!!!" and I told myself to concentrate really hard, and that time I said, "will you go get the soap?"  For some reason my brain and my mouth were not cooperating.  I don't even know why I woke him up because I was perfectly capable of getting John myself.  And then today, while Ada napped and I was lying in the bed nursing John, I fell asleep and woke up 30 minutes later, and he was still nursing on the same side.  Not good, ya'll, not good.

But we'll get there.  Sleep will come.  Ada won't start kindergarten in diapers.  It's all a process, right?  One day at a time.  One foot in front of the other.

p.s Happy Cinco De Mayo.  We had guacamole for dinner to celebrate.

on a happier note, let's talk J. Crew for kids

thanks for the encouraging comments, friends. I greatly appreciate it.

Our day today is going slightly better. We made it out of Publix with only three major battles;)

So...I decided to cheer things up a bit with a discussion on my favorite brand of clothing for little girls, Crew Cuts. Oh. my. goodness. I am in love. When Scott and I were at the beach, we visited the outlet malls in search of a pair of flip flops, and we took a minor detour into the Crew Cuts store. I was dying over the cuteness. We picked out a skirt and a top from the clearance rack, and ever since then, I am constantly pouring over the sale section on the website.

Here are the things I have my eye on right now.

Of the three, which is your favorite?

Favorites around our house

There is so much that I want to blog about that I feel overwhelmed, which is the story of my life.

Because I have about 30 minutes before I have to tutor (yes, on a Saturday night), I am just going to do a quick blog about what we are loving these days, and by we, I mean Ada.

That little chicken nugget (as we like to call her) pretty much rules the roost around her, so if she loves it, we all better love it, or at least make plans to get on board really quickly.

As I have mentioned before, Ada loves anything having to do with music. Her first favorite song was The Itsy Bitsy Spider, and even before she could talk she had certain motions that she would do when she wanted me to sing it. Since then we have added various other songs to her list of favorites including the ABCs, Living on a Prayer by Bon Jovi (thank you, Scott), the Thomas the Train theme song, the Veggie Tale theme song, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, and the list could go on and on.

She also loves to read. Loves it. I often catch her all by herself making up words to go along with the pictures in the book. A while ago, Scott's mom gave us some of Scott's old books, and those have become Ada's favorite ones of all. They are very short and simple books, and she has even memorized a few of the words in each one. (Scott and I have memorized all of the words--yikes! She never tires of reading the same books over and over and over).

Over time as I observed her ability to remember songs and stories even at her young age, I was convicted that she could already be "hiding God's word in her heart." As great as the words to itsy, bitsy spider are, I feel like scripture might benefit her just a tad more;). Another mom that I go to church with and who I am in bible study with came to my rescue. She made me a copy of the C.D. "Seeds of Courage." Do you know about it? If not, you need to know about it. It is a CD that takes straight scripture and puts it to music. It's great. I have only had the CD for a little over a week, and I have already memorized four new Bible Verses. Something about hearing the verses as songs, makes them so easy to memorize, and I am hoping they will have the same affect on Ada.

This brings me to the other thing that I am loving (and Ada will love it too when she gets her Easter basket). Swagbucks. Do you know about this? Through Swagbucks you can earn gift cards and other prizes just for doing things you normally do on the internet. For example, I set Swagbucks as my homepage, and I use it to do internet searches in much the same way that I would normally use google. I have only been using Swagbucks for about a month and I am one point away from earning a ten dollar gift card to Amazon. I am using that card to buy Ada a few books for her Easter basket, or perhaps the Seeds of Faith CD. I have big plans to own all the cds in that series.

So that is just a few of the things we are loving lately. What are some of your favorite things these days?