Give Back with Barbie Cares

Mark your calendars for November 8. Then, take your daughters (or your sons) to Wal-Mart to donate a Barbie. Yes, it can be a used Barbie. Yes, you can donate all of them if you would like to.

What happens to the Barbies? I don't know exactly what happens to the used Barbies, but for each donated Barbie, Mattel will donate a new doll to a local children’s hospital (up to 100,000 dolls.)

What you get for your donation? You can snap a picture of your daughter (or son) with Barbie (at participating stores) and receive a coupon to print a free 4x6” photo from the Kodak Picture Maker that same day. Other Barbie-themed gifts will be given away while supplies last.

Why does napmom promote this event?

1. It's a great way to get rid of the Barbies that your daughter doesn't play with anymore. You don't have to give ALL of them away but I know that you can sacrifice one.

2. New Barbies for a local children's hospital sounds like a wonderful service.

3. This provides a great opportunity to talk to my children about the needs of others.

4. This is a Free and fun event for our little princesses.

Sounds like a no-brainer. Am I missing something here?

What are you hiding up there?

Yes, Bro has been sick for nearly a week now... a hacking cough that won't go away. When he's not snuggling with us on the couch, he finds time to explore new areas of the house. Most recently he discovered that there are things up on our tables.

Could he get any higher up on his tippy toes? That takes real talent!

more Breast Cancer Awareness

Check out the happenings at work. Yes, those are bras and NO I don’t work at a lingerie store.

It’s a great day to be a State employee. The American Cancer Society circled the Governor’s mansion with bras to demonstrate the need the protect funding (but I am not exactly certain what the funding is for). Nonetheless, the event made for some great pic opportunities.

Here are my favorites!


Thurgood Marshall watches over the bras.




A policeman guards the collection.

Bras... here and there and everywhere.

"I think we're not in Kanses anymore, Toto."

And this doozy, not part of the day's pics, submitted by a co-worker.

Don't forget to schedule your annual breast cancer screening.

Toodles!

Breast Cancer Awareness month

Do a self breast exam today. Your kids will thank you!

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. I know, I know, I am a little late pointing this out.

To keep in the spirit of breast cancer awareness, I have changed my blog colors to pink. Very cool!

Check out these resources on breast cancer awareness:

Susan G. Komen for the Cure

All about National Breast Cancer Awareness month

National Breast Cancer Foundation Inc.

Avon Breast Cancer Crusade

Bloggers sharing their journey with breast cancer:

Can I Be Pretty in Pink

Laura has breast cancer

PJ Hamel - Breast Cancer

Cancer Vixen - Breast Cancer

Make your contribution today.

Check out these adorable lunch totes from Lean Cuisine. They are only $9.95 each and $5.00 of each purchase will be donated to Susan G. Komen for the Cure. My co-worker has one (so I have seen these in person) and it is a great lunch tote. Would make a perfect Christmas gift as well.

It's like eating an oatmeal cookie for breakfast

I made the Amish Baked Oatmeal from Blissfully Domestic.


Why? I am a lover of baked goods. Plus, it seems like a reasonably healthy breakfast option for my little Lulu who has tired of waffles and cereal (cold and hot) and won't eat eggs. Also, the claim is that it can be mixed a night ahead of time and then baked in the morning OR you can bake ahead of time and reheat in the morning.

Review: Delicious! I highly, highly recommend that you make this easy recipe for your family at least once.

Check out the recipe on Blissful's site.

Pay attention and follow the directions closely. I originally scooped out 1/2 cup of oatmeal instead of the 1 and 1/2 that the recipe called for and almost had a disaster.

Other ideas for this recipe...
1. Try adding raisins.
2. Substitute apple sauce for the butter (probably won't change the taste but will make for a healthier breakfast).

If you try this recipe, any of the variations, or have a similar recipe to share then please let us know all about it!

What We Did This Weekend

Friday night was cheer practice. Lulu was wearing a brace to keep this bruise from getting worse. (Welcome to life as a stunt base).

Lulu woke up at Fairy Grandmother and Luvs2Boat’s house on Saturday so that she could celebrate Fairy Grandmother’s b-day with her and go get this year’s crop of oysters for Oyster Gardening.

Saturday evening was filled with cookie sales at the local grocery store. It was raining and Lulu decided that she was in charge of drive-thru sales. Who knew that so many people go to the grocery store on Saturday nights.

Lulu had a cheer competition on Sunday. Let’s see. I left the house at 9:30 in the morning. Got to the arena at 10:15. Stood outside ‘til 11:00.


We were later joined by Daddy Warbucks, sporting the only red, black, and white attire that he owns.


Got into my seat at 11:15. Watched my daughter perform for 2 1/2 minutes at 12:35. (She is front row, third from the right in this picture.)

Saw her team get a 3rd place trophy at 2:30. Took pictures until 2:45. Landed at home at 3:30.


Lulu’s cheer competition was at the local college. She didn’t realize that a college campus was that large. We drove through the neighborhood that I lived in when I went to school there. Then, we had lunch at my college hangout. It was (and is) a popular place for the college kids to eat. I don’t know how anybody in college can afford to eat there though. It was too much for my pocketbook and unlike most of the college customers I actually have a job.


Lulu fell asleep in the car on the way home. It was an exhausting, but fun, weekend.

{{picture deleted per the request of Fairy Grandmother}}

We did get the Guitar Hero, thanks to Dear Husband. And, Lulu and I played it, but Dear Husband announced that he refuses to play until Christmas. Lulu just stared him square in the face and laughed, “Bah Humbug.” He cleaned while we jammed, which is a win-win situation for me. I think that he thought that he was punishing us or something.

Not much to report about Bro. He was sick all weekend long. He is still gagging on his food and just miserable over all.

Happy Birthday to you.

Happy Birthday to you.

Happy Birthday dear Fairy Grandmother.

Happy Birthday to you.

Words can not express how much you mean to me. Thank you for being a great mom. Here's to another wonderful year!

Love,
Napmom, Dear Husband, Lulu, and baby Bro

Doctor Visit

Bro went to the doctor today to get a check-up. Overall, he is very healthy. Our only concern is that he has been gagging on his food for the past 3 days, I'd say. Seriously, he has been gagging on some fairly mushy food as well as the Gerber stars which he mastered months ago. Also, he does this thing that she calls 'chipmunking' where he stores his food in his cheeks instead of swallowing. She is not too concerned because he is still taking pureed foods and milk (formula/nursing) without any problems and, according to the doctor, it is more difficult to swallow thin things than thicker ones. She says that people who have swallowing issues are told to stay away from thin foods and to eat chunkier foods.

The doctor told us to keep an eye on his gagging issue for the next 10 days. Interestingly enough, it was the 'chipmunking' issue that seemed to cause the greatest concern. If it doesn't clear up then we are supposed to take him in for a swallowing test. For this test, they will watch him drink and eat a variety of foods via an x-ray type thing (yes, that's a technical term).

Also, I did opt for the flu shot since he will be going to daycare in a few months. As usual, he did very well with his shots.

As a reward, the doctor gave him this 'stick' to chew on.

And here are his stats:

Weight: 19.5 pounds (25th percentile)

Height: 29.25 inches (88th percentile)

Point of observation - he's long and lean like his sister is.

Now he is sleeping so I am going to go tackle the dishes!

Toodles!

Cradleboard

I was very excited when Lulu learned how to crawl. However, every time I would sit her on the floor, she would cry to be picked up. Not a little whine, but a full-out cry. I had thought that this was unique to Lulu (being that we are still seemingly attached at the hip). Baby Bro does the same thing, for no good reason. I could hold him for 3 hours and if I put him down then he will cry, not to be fed, not to be played with, just to be held.

I find this very frustrating. Similarly, it is extremely difficult to get anything done around the house because he wants to be held all of the time. I love my little prince and I spend enough time at work, that I feel like I can meet his little request.

Recently, we have been very busy at home. Admittedly, Dear Husband has taken over much of the housework, since the little prince was born. However, I feel like I need to be doing more of my share and it is so hard to do, again, while holding an infant.

I had been feeling like the Native Americans had the ultimate solution by carrying their babies in cradleboards. The cradleboard provided a safe place for baby while allowing mom to travel and work. Not having a cradleboard at home, this will have to do. Here I am doing the dishes and Bro is peeking over my shoulder watching my every move.

Are all babies like this or just mine? Help!

Dilemma - Respone Requested

Have you ever purchased a Christmas gift for the kids but then NOT been able to hide it until Christmas. This is our dilemma this year. You see, we Emily wants a Guitar Hero for Christmas. Admittedly, I don’t know who the biggest Guitar Hero fan is in our house: Lulu, Dear Husband, or Napmom. Guitar Hero comes out this weekend. I found a playlist online and e-mailed it to Dear Husband. Read the exchange that followed:

Napmom: Complete playlist - I can't wait 'til Christmas – Napmom {{insert playlist}}

Dear Husband: Wow, are we going to be able to wait until Christmas. There are a lot of great songs on here.

Napmom: No. Seriously, I can't wait til Christmas. Can you?

Dear Husband: Hell no! We are playing as soon as we bring it home. We can rewrap it and put it under the tree at Christmas time. What a solution! Sorry for the delayed response, I've had to restart my computer 4 times since this morning. By the way, I sold a box of thin mints and a box of tagalongs.

I don’t make this up folks. Our only saving grace is that Bro is not old enough to tell on us.

Oh - and Kudos to Dear Husband for selling cookies at the office.

Help me out here. What should we do?

Buy the Guitar Hero and leave it unopened until Christmas?
Buy the Guitar Hero and play it and rewrap it at Christmas time?
Buy the Guitar Hero and tell Lulu that Santa came early, so that we can all play it NOW?

What would you do?

Unlock your inner rock star. Buy your Guitar Hero today.