This has been a very busy weekend in a string of very busy weekends. But instead of having house guests (like we have for the last three weekends), we did a lot of driving around bugging other people! :)

Yesterday we hit the road around 8:30am and drove out to Natick. We made a brief stop at the Natick Mall to buy a birthday gift for one of Punk's friends and partake of the play space there. Jen also bought a little cheapo umbrella stroller because we forgot ours. Whoops. Then we were off to Beth and Cathy's for a little IVP brunch because Jen and Cait (and kids) were in town! YAY! There I ate too many delicious waffles and Punk got filthy. It was fun to hang in a circle of moms while toddlers took over the back yard. It was lovely.

From there we made a quickie stop at McDonald's to put a little food in the toddler (she wouldn't eat when there was fun to be had!) and wrap the present, and then headed out to Edaville Railroad for the birthday party. It was Day Out with Thomas and there were a LOT of people/kids there. We met up with Cody, got our tickets, and enjoyed Charlie's 2nd birthday party. Punk enjoyed her first ever ball pit, as well as multiple carousel rides, a ride on the Thomas train, a bazillion pieces of Thomas paraphernalia, and her first kiddie rides. She really enjoyed the kiddie rides and it was fun riding them with her. Good times!

On the way back, we stopped in Wrentham for a quickie dinner with Liza and Mike (who were also at the party) and then chugged along home. Punk did her usual "stay awake until 15 minutes from home" trick but transitioned to sleeping at home without a peep and slept until I woke her up at 7:15 this morning!

This morning we decided to forgo church in order to get a lot of errands and things done. Grocery shopping in the morning after Jen made a pancake and bacon breakfast for everyone. Cleaning during Punk's nap time in preparation for Punk's birthday party next weekend (I will have a TWO YEAR OLD come Wednesday), and then AGAIN I had to wake the child because she was sleeping and sleeping. I wonder if she is having a growth spurt. Anyway, after nap we headed to a local furniture store that is trying to clear inventory, and ordered a new sectional. Then Jen took Punk to the park for a while and I did more cleaning. Then we went out to dinner, and came back and I did MORE laundry.

Phew, I am beat. Tomorrow... more errands and cleaning. Fun, right? My life is sooo glamorous!

I have a Citibank card that has been accumulating points in the "Thank You Network" for several years now. The "Thank You Network" is a rewards program that lets you trade points for all kinds of stuff like gift cards, travel (you need a LOT of points for that), electronics, all kinds of stuff. I had stopped using that card because they raised the interest rate when the economy tanked, and I decided to check out my points and the rewards.

I had 24,477 points!! !!!! Which is, umm, a lot. So I started browsing the kid stuff.

I got Punk a Kettler tricycle:



and a Step2 WaterWheel water table:



For free. Free! FREE!!! Including shipping! And I chose "discounted shipping" which is 5 to 9 days longer and because of that, they took about 5,000 points off the "price"! FREE STUFF! That Kettler trike is $85ish on Amazon and $125 or so at the hippy toy stores, and the water table is usually about $40. FREE!

We're pretty much set for Punk's birthday now. And I still have 5,400 points left or so. I guess I'll keep using that Citibank card after all.

On Saturday a couple of my neighbors around the corner were having yard sales, so I figured I would walk over and scope them out in case they had any good kid stuff. I scored a Little Tikes turtle sandbox in good condition for... get this... 50 cents! 50 freaking cents! Of course I snatched it up and the guy even offered to walk it to my house for me so I wouldn't have to carry it. I gave him a dollar and thanked him but told him I could carry it home just fine.

Three bags of $4 sand later, and it's full and ready for some fun! Punk is so excited, she is going to poop her pants!

Between the stuff I got at Savers last year, some gifts from Punk's first birthday (sized up), the stuff I got at Savers this year, the stuff I got at Once Upon a Child last month, the stuff I got from one of my clients (her 4 year old's hand-me-downs), Punk's Hanukkah present from Emily, the dress that Nana sent last month, the hand-me-down bathing suit from lorac, the stuff I got with my last round of Gymbucks, t-shirt gifts from tea_soaked and bluekniggit, and yesterday's damage at the Gymboree outlet...

Umm, let's just say my kid won't need any summer clothes any time soon. There's something like 15 sundresses, 7 or 8 skirts, 7 or so pairs of shorts, a good 25 summer shirts, and upwards of 15 pairs of lightweight pants, capris, and cropped pants. And at least 7 pairs of pajamas (mostly thanks to my client!). Not to mention some shirts from last fall that might still fit...

(Once I actually pulled it all together instead of the various boxes and bags, err, it was a bit of a lot. Whoops.)

I just sniped an ebay auction for a lot of 43 Sesame Street books. I literally won it at the 3s mark. A real nail biter.

Oh yes, life as a mama is VERY exciting!

I got Jen a Roomba for Christmas and it is currently running around the house.
It's kind of creepy.
But it is going to make my floors clean so I will learn to love it.

I think she should name it.

The kid racked in the loot this year. Holy cow! Next year, I am scaling back Christmas... somehow. It is like a toy store explosion in here and it is soooo overwhelming. Woah. The good news is that she seems to really love everything that she was given. The bad news is that she likes it all SO much that she doesn't ever want to go to bed!!

The big gift was a play kitchen and I am glad she really enjoys it. She is having fun opening and closing the doors, putting things in the oven and sink, and using the phone. It is REALLY sturdy and seems to be good construction so I am hoping it lives a long and healthy life. It is compact with a small footprint, which I wanted, so score!

My brother and sister-in-law got her some play food to go with her kitchen - the kind that has velcro so you can "cut" it. She is having a grand old time pulling the fruits and vegetables apart and sticking them back together (making interesting combinations!). The cats are enjoying this as well.

She also got a couple of new baby dolls (from Jen's parents) and a little baby doll stroller. She loves to push the strollers in the church nursery and she is very excited about pushing her stroller around the living room, with or without babies. It is small and lightweight and she can pick it up and move it if it gets stuck (Fisher Price Little Mommy Newborn Stroller). Score.

Other things that Santa brought that were a huge hit were a Mr. Potato Head (she loves these at day care), some Play-Doh, books, a wooden train set that we will probably hold onto for a little while, a puzzle, and some pots and pans for the kitchen. My brother and SIL also got her a ton of cute cute cute animal puppets, a neat growth chart with velcro arrows (what a great idea!), and an activity book with buttons and snaps and things. Nana and Poppa John (my mother and her husband) got her some cute clothes and a dress-up monkey (buttons, zippers, etc.) that she is a little scared of right now but loves his shoes.

One of Jen's brothers got her Finding Nemo and the other brother really outdid himself and got her the Melissa and Doug Standing Art Easel, with a roll of paper and supposedly the painting accessories are on the way. WOAH! So awesome. (Now we just need a playroom.)

My aunt got her some clothes (she LOVES shopping for kid clothes) and my aunt's sister gave her a teddy bear. My grandparents and my mom gave her some money for her bank account. All in all, she is a very very fortunate child and our house is now a State of Emergency of small parts and partial fruits.

I felt like Supermom yesterday. I dragged my kid all over creation getting things done. Our first stop was the pediatrician to get the second half of her flu shot, and from there we went to Leeds to pick up some of those electric candles you put in the window (thank you, Freecycle), and then hit the post office to mail our Secret Snowmom gift, a holiday card for juliann, and a little pressie for Punk's internet buddy, Carys. We then went home and did lunch and naptime, and after nap went up to the bank to deposit some of my mileage checks and bought Punk's gift for her holiday party on Friday.

[Yes, her child care is having a party on Friday, and all of the kids picked names out of a hat for a gift swap ($5). How freaking cute is that??!?! So for $5, I got Punk's pick (Lucy, age 3) two coloring books (My Little Pony and The Littlest Pet Shop), a box of 24 crayons, and a sheet of Santa Claus stickers. Not too shabby.]

I also got some gift boxes, a gift bag for the gifts we got for our church's angel tree, and some other random stuff. And then came home. When Jen came home, we hit the mall for dinner and some holiday shopping, knocking one more gift off the list.

~//~

Today was officially Online Shopping Day around here, and I ordered a gift for my smurfbrother and one for his wife, got my grandfather's birthday gift (January 3rd) and knocked out all of Jen's immediate family (parents, brothers). And because it was on major sale ($7 marked down from $20), I tacked on a Melissa and Doug "band in a box" for Punk. Since I got my mother's gift at work on Thursday (she wanted a gift card to Olive Garden and I happened to be doing an evaluation right near Olive Garden), I think that we're pretty much done around here except for the wrapping and mailing. I have to split up Punk's Christmas pictures and mail those out, too.

At some point today/tonight, we have to decorate the tree that's been in the house since, oh, Tuesday or so. Trees look LAME when they are in your living room undecorated. Really weird.

And oh my gosh, but if I don't get those holiday cards done and out this weekend I will go berserk. Berserk, I tell you.

~//~

Oh, my little cherub is up from her nap (early), so I guess that's it for my productivity!

We braved Black Friday action to take Punk to Target to get some holiday photos taken. Oh my god, they were awesome. She was wearing quite possibly the cutest holiday plaid ever AND she has finally gotten the hang of cheesing for the camera. Pictures are SOOOO much less stressful now.

I'mma hafta scan some when we pick them up. They were Teh Awesome.

~//~

Then we did a wee bit of Black Friday shopping at Target. Santa got Punk a sock monkey, a Mrs. Potato Head, a little wooden train set, a little travel magna-doodle thing, and a baby doll stroller. Oh, and Christmas pajamas. With sock monkeys on them.

We are ordering her a small wooden kitchen set for her main gift, and I dropped some money at Gymbo Dot Com. So I think Punk is done. Whoo!

And I am SO letting her watch my Grinch video this year. Yay!

~//~

Did I mention the cute pictures? Oh my god. With the little black and red plaid skirt, and the houndstooth shoes, and dear god the cheesy smile. L-O-V-E. And the woman who helped us order prints was wicked queah and recently moved from Columbus. SMALL WORLD LESBO ACTION.

I bought these shoes for Punk to wear as her winter dress shoes. They don't really match what she is wearing today, but OMG CHRISTMAS PLAID SKIRT in a month.

Those freaking shoes! I love them so much. When I saw them in the store I practically tore the shoe department apart looking for her size. They're a little big but hot damn, I would wear them myself if they would fit me.

OH
EM
GEE
HOUNDSTOOTH
PATENT LEATHER
MARY
JANE
TODDLER
SHOES