Shopping - We Love You

Yeah, so my trip to Gymboree at the ungodly hour of 8:15 pm on a Sunday was totally worth it. And, yes I know how old I sound saying that, but really we haven't slept and I have to go toe-to-toe with a two-year-old who'd give the Energizer Bunny a run for her money. But, regardless, the sale was sooo worth it. There's hardly anything that Emersyn can wear immediately, but the long sleeve shirts for the Fall and Winter (size 3T and 3, just based purely on length and the idea that it's better for them to be too big than too small) were an absolute steal. I even got her three (3!!) fricking tutus since she's now obsessed. And to give you an idea, a Gymboree tutu usually runs you about $30+ but the most I paid for one last night was $10 and a little change. No joke. I got her Summer pjs (that she can wear now) from last year for under $9 when they usually run around double that. Yeah, I'm still a little excited about my deals...

And, they didn't end there. The one guy told me that he also helps out at the Gymboree Outlet and they were basically marking down everything in the store because they were also getting overstocked. Plus, bonus, they just got two new collections that were getting marked down immediately because a third collection is hitting so soon. What could I do? Emersyn and I definitely had to check it out today... Besides, I've been meaning to go over anyway. We have a pair of shorts from last Summer that fit, but no tops to match... and they're plaid shorts, so aside from a plain white shirt, we were out of ideas.

Well, it was another huge success. Not only did I find out that the next Gymbucks are going to be accepted in the Outlet stores for the first time ever (woo hoo!!), I got even more great deals. This time all but two pairs of pajamas are for "now" and that includes the super cute tanks I got to match those plaid shorts. Ebay couldn't even beat the prices I paid for these shirts. Seriously, I've been stalking the collection on eBay.

Emersyn, my darling daughter, was a total dream. We had to go to another store first to return the sunglasses and flip flops I got her last week. With that mall totally bare of worthwhile stores, we left there and went over to PetSmart to get a bird feeder. Currently, we have the most beautiful bird feeder ever created, but it's on it's last leg. I never would have guessed that Emersyn's milk carton bird feeder would last this long (probably longer if I wanted to leave it) but it's soggy and hard for the birds to really use outside of when I first fill it. Anyways, after we said hello and goodbye to all the cats, birds, rodents and fish we left PetSmart and went to the outlets... Where Emersyn continued her amazingly well behaved streak, walking along with the stroller and using all of her nice words. We got stopped a lot more than usual being what Emersyn was wearing, but she was totally polite without me even having to prompt her, receiving even more compliments and praise for being such a wonderful young lady. (Seriously, I love old people!)

Since she was being so fantastic, Emersyn got to ride one of the things in the mall. Only one, but she could pick any one of about a dozen that she wanted. She decided on a horse but looked bored the whole time. I was only able to snap two pictures that turned out unblurry enough to see... but I was loading these on the computer (after she's asleep now) when I realized that I didn't get a good shot of her outfit today. I have one on my phone, so maybe I'll try to get that and post it later. You can get a good idea from the horse pictures though.

After a ride and hitting Gymboree, we met Chris at Toys R Us for a special treat. Emersyn's really good about understanding what she can and can't pick out based on price, so we thought we'd reward the wonderful past two days with a small toy... She picked these things from The Littlest Petshop, which would be cute if she had any idea what to do with them. It's actually kind of funny, but she just keeps looking at the animals and then moving on to another toy. We'll see if that changes, but for now, it's pretty darn humorous to us!

Okay, so let me go back to that outfit for a minute... If you remember, a couple weeks ago Emersyn discovered a tutu in her closet. It was actually attached to this shirt-dress, but she became fixated with it. She's asked to wear it about a dozen times since then, so last week my mom got her the little pink tutu skirt that she wore Sunday. This morning she saw the bags from my trip last night and asked to see what's in them. So, while she ate breakfast, I showed her my loot. As soon as she saw the first tutu (gray with sparkles) Emersyn insisted on wearing it. Then she didn't want to get dressed for the store because it meant taking the tutu off... Now I chose my battles, so I told her she could wear the tutu to the store. (Emersyn: I wear all three please? Me: You can only wear one tutu at a time. Emersyn: I said please. Me: That was very nice, but you can still only wear one at a time. Emersyn: I need to see what matches and then I can pick my tutu princess skirt for today okay? Me: Okay. Me Internally: Who's kid is this?!?!?!) I let her pick out the whole outfit, with almost no input from me. I did have to veto a shirt or two since it wasn't going to be 90 degrees outside and because you can't wear a tutu as a shirt with another tutu, but mostly it was all her... right down to the shoes. (Emersyn: I can wear my sparkle shoes okay? Me: How about your chucks? Emersyn: I have sparkle chucks? Me: No, but you don't have to wear sparkle everywhere. Emersyn: Oh I want to wear my glitter princess special shoes!!! Me: How about your sparkle shoes?) The funniest part is, she asked if she could look for a warm in the little islands at the PetSmart parking lot. Really?!?!

Sunday Funday

I have no idea what happened to the last couple days...

Friday it was a push to get Emersyn to Soccer Shots. She just didn't want to do anything. Bedtime wasn't great, but it hasn't been since the whole rash situation. The night overall wasn't bad, even compared to normal. But still, Emersyn got up about 8 and just wanted to lay in my bed. She didn't even want to get up for breakfast. We still had a few munchkins left from our trip to Dunkin Donuts on Tuesday morning (I'm not above bribes and we definitely needed one that morning!), so I ended up bringing those up while she watched Mickey's Clubhouse in my bed. She willing ate, but then didn't want to get dressed. Finally, I got her out the door for soccer, but she wasn't very interested. The whole session she either held my hand or Coach Ed's hand. (Total props to Soccer Shots and Coach Ed for being beyond fabulous!! Seriously, he's like the best coach ever and is just wonderful with Emersyn no matter what kind of mood she's in!) I had promised her that if we did good at soccer, we could get a donut (again)... but she hardly ate it. When I asked, Emersyn just said that she wanted to go home and lay in Mommy and Daddy's bed and that she wanted to watch Mickey Mouse and Caililou. So we did. That's literally how we spent Friday.

Saturday was just a mess. Nobody seemed up for doing anything but still tried anyway. After a horribly failed attempt at a nap, Emersyn finally got to go grocery shopping with Chris. But, again, that was the extent of our day. She did do gymnastics, but it wasn't really anything to brag about. Out of a possible four stamps and a sticker, Emersyn got one stamp and traded in her other stamp for the sticker. Bedtime was a little rough again, and we were all pretty sleep deprived this morning after over a week without a solid night's sleep.

Somehow this morning though, Emersyn was in a great mood. She even skipped her nap to go to my parents' house early. And, magically, at bedtime there was no fit at all. It was beautiful. (Knock on wood!!) I mean, from playing with Chris this morning - gotta love a Marine who roots for the Browns in a pink Ravens' hat - to playing with my dad, it was just a great day. I hope this streak continues...

Now, we think that the reason bedtime has been so rough is because we switched her allergy medicine from claritin to zertec (the generic version). Since both meds are 24 hour, we always gave it to her at night. But we noticed a major change in going to be at the same time that we started the zertec. So, we switched it up this morning. Emersyn got benadryl last night adn then her zertec dose this morning. We'll see if that makes a difference. One can hope... we really, really, REALLY need some sleep!!

And, now I'm off to Gymboree for an "invitation only" super clearance sale "after hours" to help them get rid of lots of their stock room clothes. If you don't know, we're totally addicted to Gymboree so any chance to get stuff for a couple bucks is one I have to take! The last time I did something like this, I literally got shirts for her for $1.99! And they're fricking Gymboree so they hold up to everything, last forever, and still look brand new even after 3 Summers for example... and yes, I can say that from experience. So wish me luck! :)

Mini Fashion Show

I think I've mentioned before that as way to see what clothes from past years (yes, yearS, multiple) fit Emersyn for the Spring and Summer, we've been doing little fashion shows. I bring the laptop up to her room, blast pandora, and we dance with each outfit. Emersyn seems to have fun and it's actually productive. She's not always up for it - I think it's been like 2 weeks since I've been able to convince her to do it again - but I always leave it up to her if we do it or not. I'd like to think that it not only avoids any meltdowns, but also is a chance for her to be in control of the decision for something.

Anyways, I never have the camera for our fashion shows. It's just too much and with a sometimes half naked little girl, the majority of the pictures probably wouldn't be anything we'd share anyway. Today, however, I got a little teeny tiny bit to share with you!

I had an interview today while Emersyn was at daycare. Because of the time, I ended up meeting my mom at the mall instead of going home afterward. By the time I would have gotten home, it would have been like an hour of alone-ness before I had to get the puppies back in the crate and head over to pick Emersyn up. (Chris had to work late due to an uber important meeting.) The upside to this is that I got to pick out a couple things for my mom to get Emersyn. The downside is that I was in dress pants and heels the whole time.

Sorry - back to the point... Since the new clothes aren't from our normal stores, we had to try them on and see how they fit. I had gotten two little pairs of sunglasses to match the "purses" my mom got Emersyn, and also a little pair of flip flops for her. They have to go back though - she said the sunglasses "hurt my ears" and "the shoes feel bad right here and here" (pointing to the thong between her toes and the strap across the heel). But, everything else worked out well. I wasn't able to catch the pink tutu-esque skirt and a couple of the other items, but I did manage to catch two of them.

Obviously, Emersyn really loved the first dress... I think more because it has a hat, since she insisted on wearing the hat the rest of the night! (She is mine after all!!) And she had to call Maw Maw to say thank you as soon as she saw all presents. The "purses" mostly, but then she saw the hat and the tutu, so the thanks became more for everything!

Playground, Puppies & Pictures (Oh My!)

First, despite saying that we weren't going to go back again, today Emersyn and I went to JCP for a quick photo shoot. I know! But they were having a special and I've had this one little dress for a while specifically for pictures. Being a weekday, I wasn't too worried about waiting around, but the special is only for April (I got the email this morning) so I wanted to act quick. I figured if they could get us in quick, great. If not, we still had a couple days to take advantage of the deal. Oh, and Emersyn was practicing since she heard me ask Chris if it was okay to go! Seriously, when the girl took us in, Emersyn said "I do this... and this... and this..." all while doing different poses. Everything from laying on her belly with her chin in her hands, sitting with her legs to the side and her hands in her lap, to standing straight up with her hands on her hips all with a big smile. The only thing was that she did all this before the girl even picked up the camera!! The pictures turned out incredible, through no help of anyone but Emersyn. Still, it was worth the $20 and we'll have the pictures to share on the 4th - Brinley's birthday.

Anyways, Emersyn continued her fabulous streak through waiting the 45 minutes for us to be rang up. It wasn't the girl's fault, but a customer came in right behind us and insisted on taking pictures until the little girl smiled... a feat that I don't think gets accomplished in the best of circumstances, much less in a situation that previously produced nothing but tears. (According to what the mom was telling the poor photographer.) After a great nap, Emersyn kept being wonderful so we headed to the neighborhood playground for some fun.

This time, Emersyn got the puppies in on the action... and well, it was amusing to say the least. As usual, I have some video but haven't uploaded them yet. Hopefully soon, but keep watching!

Bowling!!

Bowling is one of Chris' all time favorite things to do, so we always knew we'd take Emersyn at a early age... Today was that day! She's been so good lately. Plus, it suddenly got chilly and rainy, so it seemed like a great idea. Surprisingly, she had a blast most of the time. I think we messed up a little with our timing, causing us to be there really close to her normal nap time. But, aside from wanting to cuddle instead of bowl around the 7th frame, Emersyn was golden!

I will say that we did duck pins instead of 10-pins. I guess it's a Maryland thing, but Chris had never done it before. Still, it was easier for Emersyn to do the smaller, lighter balls. But the alley had this really cool alligator/dinosaur tail thing that helped. You'll see it in the pictures, it's just really hard to describe. But, without further ado, here are our fabulous pictures from Emersyn's very first time bowling!!!

After bowling we went right to my parents' house for our normal Sunday fun. Emersyn "helped" my mom put away her laundry, after getting some new bedroom furniture. Isn't great how kids can help?!?!

Cookies & Lacrosse

Yeah, I know it's an odd combination and just as an odd of a post title, but that's literally our day... We made cookies in the morning and then we went to watch Cameron play lacrosse. See : Cookies and Lacrosse. That being said, here's the pictures... Oh, Cameron is number 8 and he's in the yellow. Also, I have some video but nothing worth posting alone; hopefully one day soon after his season ends, I'm going to make a lacrosse video from all his clips. That's the plan anyway. And the last picture from Chick-fil-a's play area; we stopped for dinner after the game and the kids had a blast playing in there!! So, back to what I was saying before - here's our day in pictures!!