American Girl

We had a nice long weekend for Thanksgiving.
Thursday we had lunch with my family. It was the first Thanksgiving I have spent with my family since 2007. And only the second in seven years. It was nice to stay here for a change and get to participate in the Thanksgiving day events. Dustin even got to do a little Black Friday (on Thursday night) shopping! We spent Friday getting up most of our indoor Christmas decorations. Grace has her own tree (well, it is for her and Olivia but Olivia is too young to help with it this year) to decorate all by herself.

Since the weather was not too great on Saturday, Dustin couldn't get to the outdoor lights. We wanted to do something fun rather than hang around the house so we headed to the American Girl Store. I had a couple of the American Girl dolls growing up and we recently pulled them out of the attic for Grace. I had never been to one of the stores though so it was a real treat for both of us. Both of Grace's dolls got to visit the hair salon and get their hair combed, trimmed, and styled. Grace really enjoyed that!

Grace took this picture of Kirsten in the salon chair with her cape on getting her hair done.

And here is Grace with her doll, Sophie. This is one of the dolls that you choose the eye, hair, and skin color so it didn't have a name so she chose Sophie.

Afterwards, we walked through the Galleria (huge mall that is just next door to the American Girl Store). We were looking for Grace a dress (she is going to be a flower girl in a few weeks!) but didn't find anything. She did get a few new pairs of jeans because all of hers are too short.

While we were walking around we saw this HUGE Christmas tree in the middle of the ice rink.

It ended up being a great way to spend the day! Grace said her favorite part was seeing all of Kirsten and Sophie's friends. And she has fixed their hair numerous times since :)

Grocery Shopper

I had a little helper with me on our last grocery shopping trip!

I decided to give Grace a "job" to help keep her occupied and make shopping for food a little more fun for her. The night before our shopping trip I made our lists. Yes, we each had our own (although my list had all the things on her list and then more). Grace's list had things that she likes and things that would be easy for her to find in the store. And her list was in pictures (google images came in very handy!). There were carrots, bell peppers, milk, meat, cereal, cheese, and juice all on her list. She also got her own notepad and pen (and also some crayons). However, I think her favorite part of grocery shopping is the very last aisle. The way our store is set up, the ice cream section is the very last thing you walk by. Grace always loves to pick out a special treat before we checkout. This particular trip she chose a box of Moo Bars!

Shopping Addict?

Grace needs socks.

She has had several pairs in the past. Most she has outgrown. But most of what we have now don't have the non-slip bottoms. With shoes on this isn't a problem but we don't wear shoes in our house. The pair I like the best that she has, well... it's not a pair anymore. So I decided to see if I could find anything at the BX this morning since we were going right next door to the commissary anyways.

I ended up purchasing 8 new outfits (all of which she can wear right now! And they are perfect for this cool, wet weather we have been having). And no socks. But how could I pass up a pretty Christmas dress for $3? Or the jeans and sweatshirt for $4? Or the cute little leggings, skirt, top, and vest for $4? A set of 2 onesies, pants, and a bib for $4? Yes, I got 8 outfits (most 3-4 pieces) for $30. Oh, and we still need socks. She actually needed a few things since most of the pants and long sleeve shirts I have for her are still too big. I definitely got one of everything that was her size. I think I hit a bargain!

Since I order most of her clothes from Old Navy and Gap I decided to look there for socks. And guess what? I think I picked out about 14 pairs! I am going to go through my cart and delete some because I do not think she needs 14 new pairs of socks. Although, don't dryers eat socks?

And then I saw it! The Santa Baby section on Old Navy. She has to have a cute pair of pajamas to sleep in on Christmas Eve so when she wakes up Christmas morning she will be all festive!

And then these t-shirts are must haves:

Yes, she *hearts* Mom

And she definitely lights up Daddy's life

But then there is this one:

Totally true! Her Grandma can pick out books and toys like nobody else. I think most of her favorite things are things my Mom has bought for her. Like the annoying spinning toy that makes crazy animal sounds (now do you see why I put it in the pack n play for her to have while I shower???) and her puppy or the bag of balls that she LOVES to throw all around the house. And the puppy book and her love bug book that plays music.

And before I even saw this I told her that I didn't find any socks so she could just tell Grandma.

I also told her that Grandma would bring her ANYTHING she wanted. You better be glad she is pretty happy with what she has :-)

And please do not send socks. I already picked out more than she will ever need.

She is definitely more than a little spoiled!

Car Seat Search + cute picture

I went to check on Grace during her 2+ hour nap (she is still asleep!) and this is how I found her. The paci in her hand is the one she had in her mouth when I laid her down... the one in her mouth is from yesterdays nap I think. And the ONLY time I have seen her roll over from back to stomach has been when I put her to bed. Now every time I lay her down in her crib she rolls to her tummy... this is also the only time she enjoys tummy time.

I have been on a hunt for a new car seat. We already have 2 - an infant seat and a convertible seat that we just started using TODAY! The problem is that when we go on our cruise Grace will most likely be too big for her infant seat and the convertible seat weighs about 25lbs. This is also a problem when I travel back to the states. We want something that is easy to travel with and that I can handle on my own while also trying to maneuver a stroller, toddler, and our luggage.

So, I am searching for a relatively inexpensive carseat and very lightweight. Easy installation is also a plus. Oh, and let's not forget about safety! Any suggestions? I really don't want to spend a lot because we bought a pretty nice convertible seat for her already (we had planned on using it in Dustin's car but it is too big rear-facing). I found one at Wal-Mart that fit the description so my Mom bought it and tried to mail it. They were going to charge $90 for postage and that is mailing it the cheap way that takes 2 months to get from there to here.