CREDITS:

Digital scrap items in the header, layouts and sidebar are by Miss Mint at PeppermintCreative.com or Jen Wilson at JenWilsonDesigns.com

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Blanket Found! Help Me Pay It Forward!

I am so excited to post that after EIGHT MONTHS of searching, an IDENTICAL star blanket has been found! I am extremely grateful to Caroline Langrall of Maryland for taking the time to view the Plush Memories Lost Toy blog, checking her closet, e-mailing me, being willing to part with a brand new star blanket she'd been saving for a baby gift and taking the time to ship it lightning-fast to a stranger in Texas for only enough money to cover the cost of the blanket plus shipping. What a saint! What she also didn't realize is that when I opened the package and saw the bright, clean new blanket and felt how super-soft it was I was whisked back to Aiden's newborn days when 'banket' was still clean and Aiden was brand new. It made my heart melt!

And now I want to do for others the good deed that has been done for me, except at this moment there is no one looking for any of the plush toys & blankets I have. But maybe you can help me! The Plush Memories Lost Toy Service is run by a wonderful woman and is 100% free. If there is something you can't find and you desperately need to replace, e-mail them! Obviously it works! And please, please, please scroll through the list of items being searched for. Each photo represents a heartbroken child (and parents at their wit's end) over a lost lovey. Many of the items are Target/Circo plush toys that I remember seeing in the store and I KNOW have been given at baby showers in years past! See if you can help some of these fellow parents.

On a side note, I must admit that Aiden has quite unique taste and got attached to something very rare indeed. Caroline's blanket came with it's original packaging and is sold under the brand name "Baby Basics" with little other info than it was made in Brazil. She found hers FIVE YEARS ago at a local discount store that frequently bought close-outs. I was very truly hunting for a needle in a hayfield (forget haystack) and incredibly lucky that one showed up in Maryland. I am sincerely grateful for Caroline's generosity and will check the blog often in the hopes that I can pay this huge favor forward.

Monday, June 15, 2009

Lazy Summer Days

Not much going on here, except that I keep forgetting to bring my camera to our activities! Last week it was so quiet, we went to the pool five times in six days! I really enjoy running into friends & neighbors out there. I have a big bag of pool toys I take to dump out in the kiddie area to attract other toddlers who will play with Aiden so I can have a bit of a break. (He doesn't share well so the kids usually end up swapping toys which is great, too!) Unfortunately on Saturday the sun was really bad and we got burned. Aiden burned through THREE applications of SPF 50 and I burned through my sunblock and over my tan. It hurts to even wear clothes! LOL! Luckily Aiden and I both seem to tan out quick so today we're both looking more tan & less red. Aiden's hair is about three shades lighter blonde from the sun, too! He looks VERY cute - like a Malibu Ken doll! :D

Last Wednesday we drove out to Katy to visit the cousins and have a shopping day at Katy Mills. It was a BLAST! Every store we hit was having a clearance sale. At TCP I picked up 19¢ winter mittens & 99¢ pool shoes (for Schlitterbahn next week) and $3.99 newborn baby gift clothes at the Gymboree outlet. I WISH I'd had my camera there so I could take pictures of the mess we had at lunch. It's Aiden story time!

We stopped in the food court to eat lunch and as soon as food was placed on the table, I was fighting a squirming Aiden who wanted to sit in my lap but the second he was there, wanted back down onto his own swivel chair again. I was dodging the swinging chair back, trying to get him situated with his hamburger and sprite when I knocked my sprite and sent it flying. Julie (Brian's cousin-in-law) was quick to salvage it for me but the floor around us was soaked. Lunch proceeded with me coaxing every single bite down Aiden's throat and lots of ketchup smears on my clothes. The carousel in the food court was way too inviting so I went to pay for a ticket for Aiden to ride when I suddenly felt a rapid drip-drip-drip of something on my flip flop....and a VEEERY wet waist. Aiden had unleashed a flood and his diaper just couldn't absorb it fast enough, leaving us both pee-soaked. I had to change Aiden (screaming at full-volume) on a food court table - thank goodness I had thought to pack a full change of clothes - and then leave Aiden with Melissa (Brian's cousin) on the carosel while I went to go find a bathroom to change in, grateful I had just bought a pair of denim crops and a tee at Old Navy. I'm glad Julie and Melissa were there to hlp me laugh it off! Like I told them, these are the moments my life - and blog stories - are made of! LOL!