The Bliss that is Target, amongst other things

Yesterday baby girl and I went shopping at Target for her Christmas dress and shoes, and the fixings for rice krispie treats. We browsed for a bit, found a very cute black velvet dress for her with a red bow (making it sort of an empire waist) and holly berries all over it. We also found her first pair of black patent leather shoes. Oh the joy.

After Target, we went to a Toddler Story hour at one of the branches of our local library–it was a bit of a drive, but totally worth it. We heard stories, sang, danced, did finger plays and played with toys. And we signed up for Indy Reads, got a tote bag and free book…and (are you sitting down?)…M got her first library card. My inner-bookworm left the library feeling satisfied. The rest of me was worn out-while I was filling out the paper work for all of these treats, M discovered how to open the drop box for old glasses, crawled all over the reference dept and almost walked out the front door.

What a morning.

After my last entry about work, I have to admit that I was a little hesitant to go in on Friday. But Sybil had left the building and my co-worker was calm cool and collected. Although she did ask if I’d recieved her email, which I hadn’t, and she started wondering aloud who she may have sent it to instead of me….Anyway, I’ll only be there a short time Monday before I leave for my drs appt, and heck, T-day is only a week away. Surely I’ll make it, right?

The Happy Shopper

The “new mom” thing hasn’t really worn off on me yet (most days)…I still LOVE shopping for the wee-one, especially for things she hasn’t experienced before, like mittens and mitten clips. That was today’s mission. I found cute fleece mittens (well, thumbless mittens, if you can picture that) with a matching hat (sears), along with hot pink mitten clips (target). I got her the next size of Target brand Robeez knock offs, and a cute hooded zip-up sweater with a pom-pom on the zipper (sears).

While shopping at Target and Sears, I looked through the holiday dresses. Last year she had a Santa Dress, and then another very pretty dark maroon velvet number. I’m thinking two holiday dresses are a good thing to have, with multiple celebrations and all, a girl has to have choices. We came by 2006’s dress number one via her cousin Anna–it’s the cutest thing with fur cuffs, matching hat and everything. Perfect. So here’s question–do we go for another Santa dress this year or do we branch out??? There are beautiful velvet dresses with pink or white tulle skirts, burgandy dresses with drop waists, traditional Christmas plaid, and many other options. Any and all opinions and advice will be considered!! I looked online, but Target.com didn’t have the selections that I saw in the store today or I’d have ya’ll check ’em out.

Madonna

How could you not post about Madonna today?? I had to say I was disappointed that it was a video feed and not a live interview, though if I’d thought about it long enough, I would have come to that conclusion before turning on the TV (Oprah: Chicago, Madonna:London). So here’s what I noticed: a) The Material Girl really did go through “the process”–she had a Social Worker and a Homestudy just like us!! (who knew i’d have something in common with Madonna??) b) She actually has an open adoption, since she’s met David’s first father and all. c) I think she explained her situation quite well, and I’m prone to believe her.

All that being said, I noticed that most of her pretty face really didn’t move. I think in addition to a Social Worker, the Material Girl also has a Botox worker, don’tcha think??? That said, she looks fantastic for a mom of 3!!! Also, me thinks she’s affected the accent of a Brit.

A Day of Firsts…..

Today I got done with work early so I went to go pick up the Monkey before she went down for her nap. I thought she’d sleep longer and better at home. Ha!! This was the first day that I can remember in recent history that she’s gone WITHOUT A NAP. She played in her room for awhile, filled her pants, warranted a change, played some more and after 90 minutes, I let her out.

Later in the afternoon we flipped on Arthur and for the first time she seemed semi-interested. It happened to be an episode where D.W. and friends are at a spoof of the American Girl store, and there are thousands of dolls and accesories and books to be had. It was pretty funny, because the girls were poking fun at how commercialized it was, and a salesperson was saying how a certain doll (the Tibetan one) was discontinued because there weren’t enough accessories to generate enough income, and so forth.

So after that we went to the mailbox and what was in it???? Our first American Girl catalog. I kid you not. I had a whole new appreciation for it after that Arthur episode!!! OMG is that stuff expensive! Wowsa! Now granted, it’s worlds apart from Bratz and other assorted crap–it actually is somewhat reality based and comes with lessons in history, etc. But come on–we all know it’s just overly commercialized stuff. It’s like the Hanna Andersson catalog on crack–Hanna offers Mother/Daughter outfits, American Girl offers girl/doll outfits.

In sticking with our firsts theme, the first Christmas presents of the season have been purchased!!! With 9 (!!) neices and nephews aged 5 and under to buy for (I know, Beth, I have NOTHING to complain about), one must get started early. Toys R Us had a fab sale on Little Tikes and Melissa & Doug puzzles. I also ordered several items from MontessoriServices, which in turn will give my school a merchandise credit that the teachers can use in their classrooms.

I think that’s it for now.