Ewwwww....

Anyone ready for the end of summer? I just popped on weather.com (I'm not sure why, as if I expect to see something surprising and different???? Like a snow storm????) and this is what I saw:

Current weather:

92°F
Feels Like
104°F

Isn't it ironic?

Tomorrow at 10:00am I have an appointment for Tyler to get his 4th birthday pictures done at Sears. I was gonna see, if they had time, if they could fit me in for a maternity shoot. If not I was gonna schedule one ASAP. I always wish I had done that when I was pregnant with Tyler, so I decided to ignore my insecurities and promised myself I'd do it this time around, even though I don't look as ideal as I'd like to.

So, it figures that I think I've spotted my first stretch marks just a few hours ago!!! Don't shoot me, but I never have had one before so I'm not positive. Do they start out as really thin, deep red/purple, lines on your belly? I figured they'd be wider, but maybe they widen over time?

For your benefit, I do NOT have a photo to go with this blog post.

Ah, this child is giving me a rough time, huh? I'll be sure to remind him of this when he gets older! LOL! In the meantime I'm gonna go lie down and focus on the positive...those cute little hiccups he gets almost nightly.

Big boy bedroom

So I've finally finished Tyler's room, or at least as far as it's likely going to get for a long time! I do still have to fill some nail holes and touch up paint, but I think that will be it for a while.

Please excuse the vast amounts of crap on Tyler's bed. This is how Al had it all organized for him when we got home from NJ, and Tyler won't even consider allowing a different arrangement now! All stuffed animals must remain where they are, and darn it, some battles are NOT worth fighting!

feeling very blessed

After viewing my late night freak-out over the destroyed clothes on my blog, my mom promptly posted a "wanted" add on her freecycle. Apparently 2 people responded, one offering "some" things. When she went to get them today, there were BINS of things. My mom claims it's possibly MORE than a full wardrobe of 0-3 month clothes and then some larger sizes, all seemingly in very good condition. There were also some other things that I don't need (like a play mat and monitor and such), although I guess I'll wait and make that prediction once I take the rest of my stuff out of storage. I suppose it could all be ruined as well. Either way, apparently I won't need a thing, and I most certainly will be passing along any extras I might now have to someone in need. I can't wait until my mom comes in less than 2 weeks so I can see all the goods! Thank goodness she and my dad are flying Southwest and can bring 2 pieces of luggage a piece without paying an extra fee!

It's amazing how generous people can be. Gotta love it!

There must be something wrong with me

For one, Al took Tyler fishing this morning and was gone at least 2 hours, probably closer to 3. What did I do? Manicure? Shopping? Napping? No, that would be logical. Me, I did laundry. And cleaned. Al wanted me to "relax". Sadly I did exactly what I WANTED to do, as this obsession with nesting continues.

Tonight Tyler was in bed at a very decent hour, and I've been continuing on in my madness.

Someone.stop.me.now!

Ode to OxiClean

So, thanks to my beloved OxiClean and the Clorox Bleach pen, it appears as if at least 50% of those "ruined" clothes will be salvaged. I spent ALL day doing laundry and I still have one last "last effort" load to do. Although I'm still sad that things were damaged, I'm thrilled that I was able to save some of them! It appears that we'll be absolutely fine with onsies, sleepers, and socks. And in case we get a freak snow-storm in Florida in early fall, I'm all set with winter stuff!

Oxi, you're a cleaner I can't live without.
Other stain products make me want to shout.
Your cleaning powers outdo all the rest.
I tell all my friends that you are the best.
So in case you haven't heard the news,
OxiClean, OxiClean, I love you!

Clothing dilemnas

Note: Please ignore the photo rotation. I'm not sure why I'm having issues with this today, when they look completely fine on my computer.

First off, Tyler is starting to outgrow some of his 3T stuff, and since he's starting school in 2.5 weeks, I decided to go school shopping yesterday. I hit up a few stores, but got some great clearance deals at Children's Place. I bought mostly 4T, but there were some cute (cheap) shorts in a 4 so I bought them. I also bought a pair of 5T jeans to put away, simply because they were $2.49. I got them home and tried them on and the 4Ts are just a tad big (which I expected) but the 4s are absolutely HUGE (they are going back to the store). Oddly enough the 5Ts looked smaller than the regular 4s.

So, how the heck does sizing work? I THOUGHT that the 4"T" meant that it was cut a little wider for a "toddler" who may be in a diaper still. I was under the impression that the regular 4 would be narrower. But this was not the case at all. It was larger all over. Freak occurrence or am I missing something? I also pulled out my limited amount of hand-me-downs and garage sale purchases in 4/4T and it seems (for the most part) that the 4T pants are smaller than the 4 pants. I can't figure out the difference in the shirts though, but that doesn't bother me as much since boys can get away with shirts that don't "fit" perfectly, kwim? Baggy is fine with them.

Anyway, the war is on with the Oxi-Clean and Clorox Bleach Pen. See, here is an example of some previously perfect clothes of Tyler's, now only to be found destroyed in the Tupperware container. I will clearly have to post an update later of how my progress (or lack thereof) is coming along.
And then there is the battle of shoes. You might THINK these look like perfectly good school shoes that we picked out yesterday, but you'd be wrong. Wrong? Why? Well, because they aren't Crocs. Tyler is just devastated that his preschool won't allow him to wear Crocs.
By the way, shoe shopping with an opinionated 3-year-old is NOT fun. First off, we had him sized and they said he's more like a 9W but to go ahead and get a 9.5W. So, 30 minutes into the hunt for 9.5W shoes we discover that he's really a 10XW. So the hunt was back to square one. Tyler is learning at a very young age that it is not easy to find the most stylish shoes in an XW. It's a problem I've dealt with my whole life, although I've never been disappointed that I couldn't find light-up shoes in my size. Personally I'm a little happy that they didn't have them in wide sizes for him, LOL. I find them obnoxious. Then again, they may have made the transition from Crocs are little less unbearable.

And, for finally some good news, I realized that I can still do matching clothes for Tyler and the baby. Obviously I have no intention of doing this regularly (or even semi-regularly) but I was so happy when I found these little matching Hawaiian shirts and bathing suits on clearance at The Children's Place!