My Flowergirl Is Getting Married Part II

My beautiful, talented, and very smart niece Kristin is getting married to a wonderful man named Josh next month and today I threw her a "Honeymoon" Shower..... To help her get ready for her after wedding day fun.... The gifts she received were sexy indeed...I'm thinking Josh will be a very happy man while cruising the sea in the Caribbean....
The women enjoyed mimosas, strawberries, and sandwiches galore.... the sun was shining and the weather was balmy and laughs could be heard throughout the neighborhood....
Where do the years go? I ask myself... I don't remember getting older.. so when did she?
My flower girl is getting married......

Overstock.com - Try It You'll Love It!

Search Overstock.com for:




One of my favorite places to shop is Overstock.com.

I have bought cameras, movies, bedding, and many other things. The prices are less expensive than in the stores and shipping is only $2.95 per order... That's it! They carry everything you can imagine.. sports equipment, furniture, video games, and much much more... and shipping is just $2.95! You CANNOT beat this. I still love Ebay for selling all my old clothes and videos...but Overstock.com is where I buy my fun things. Last Christmas, I purchased majority of my families gifts off of Overstock.com and everyone was extremely happy. Each daughter received a camera and reconditioned IPODs they could not tell the difference but my wallet did...
Take my advise and try it out..... I am sure you'll be a fan just like me. In today's tough financial times, it's nice to be able to get a good deal... for the shipping cost of $2.95 for the ENTIRE ORDER! Happy stocking!

Pacifier Liberation Day

Both of my kids were pacifier (binky) babies. I had no problem giving my kid a pacifier when they could not find their thumbs... I gave them binkies right after they were born and both took to them right away... I know the binky is responsible of many quiet nights in our home.... When one of the girls would cry out at night we'd walk into their room and sure enough she had lost her binky.. We took care of that problem.. we put in around ten binkies so she would always be able to find one and comfort herself back to sleep.

Kara would have three binkies her hand and on in her mouth. She would rub one of the binkies against her face before she went to sleep at night.. When the girls became too old (in my opinion) to walk around with a binky in their mouths - we made a rule that the binkies stayed only in their bed.... we were lucky because that was never a problem.... except when one of them was sick - I would let her have the binky out of bed...it soothed her and that is good.

When the girls each turned three - no more binky... We started talking about throwing away the binkies about two weeks before their birthday..... So when they turned three they would big girls and that they should throw them all away.... So when each of their big days came both of my daughters were ready to take the next step into Big Girl World.. They gathered up all of their binkies and threw them in the trash... we would pick up our daughter and do a dance through the house - kind of like a conga line... no more binkies yeah..... no more binkies yeah.... Kara/Nikki is a big girl today...yeah...
Silly I know....but neither one of the girls ever looked back.... I think because we talked about it and they took part in the planning of the liberation of the Binky Day - it became something to look forward to and not dread....

PS. the binkies did not do any damage whatsoever to either one of my kids teeth... I had asked my dentist about binkies and he said more damage is done by thumb sucking and having a bottle at bedtime....

How To Help Baby Sleep Through The Night.

On Becoming Baby Wise: Giving Your Infant the Gift of Nighttime Sleep (On Becoming. . .)
This book saved my sanity...... When I first became a mom, my daughter would sleep during the day and cry at night... I was so tired... and cranky... I wanted to cry.. I remember one night holding my dear baby and watching the sunrise.. neither one of us had gotten any sleep that night....
The second week of motherhood my friend Kim called... she had a baby about three months before me.. I just cried on the phone to her. "I can't sleep...I don't think I'm cut out for this mommy gig " well she told me to hang on tight and she was coming over... She said that her daughter was sleeping through the night at 8 weeks... really sleeping through the night... going down at 10:00 PM and not waking until 7:00 AM...that sounded like Heaven to this girl...
Kim's secret was this book On Becoming Baby Wise: Giving Your Infant the Gift of Nighttime Sleep (On Becoming. . .)
In the book was a sample schedule that you can start right away with your newborn baby.. and it went to up older babies... it told me everything I needed to know..... seriously... How much and often to feed the baby, secrets to keeping the baby awake, when to put the baby down for a nap.. and when to know when it's time to get up.... When I followed these simple instructions, my daughter started sleeping through the night at seven weeks..... My youngest daughter by four weeks..
The schedule was a great boiler plate for me to work off of... and when she got to be closer to two months - I started the "sleep through the night" training....
The first few days was tough... for example when you know the baby is fed, clean, and not sick and she cries - I would go into her room and not pick her up. I would just pat her on the back for a few seconds and say go to sleep sweetheart... the letting her cry was the tough part... I would cry in my bed listening to her cry... Of course, I would not let her go for more than 10-15 minutes without sticking my head in the door and saying softly go to sleep baby.. mommy loves you..... The reason behind letting the baby cry in small increments is that she learns to comfort herself... and that my friend is a good thing... a very good thing..and having about ten pacifiers in the crib did not hurt either!
The book helped me to understand the difference between a hungry cry and I want to be picked up cry... When she slept through the first night - I woke up in a panic and ran to her room and there was my sleeping baby..
One great thing about this program is that both of my girls loved taking their naps... they never cried.. at least at home... and they always woke up happy... with naps being a good experience for them they tended to play in their cribs later until I got them up... That was great...
I hear horror stories from friends about their child or someone else's child not sleeping through the night at one year.....two years... that would make mommy irritable and baby not happy either... a child needs their sleep and so do mommies...
One real cute story... I had a friend that was pregnant and Dusty my husband told them that they have to get Babywise... and I saw her eyes glaze over... I know pregnant women and new parents get really tired of all the unsolicited advise they get... but Dusty kept going...they'll sleep through the whole night, it makes life easier...and blah blah blah... About 2 months later my friend's husband calls me....he says I'm desperate... none of us have slept in five weeks... What is the name of that book...I'm going to get it NOW... He did.. one month later, I called to chit chat and they said the book saved their sanity too and baby, mom, and dad were doing good... real good.
So if you know a friend that is having her first baby.. or second... get her this book.. she'll be thankful.....I promise... On Becoming Baby Wise: Giving Your Infant the Gift of Nighttime Sleep (On Becoming. . .)