Kid Junction

Today we decided to spend a couple hours at Kid Junction. As described on its website, it is:

"...a new, exciting, award winning, parent supervised play place and learning center powered by creativity and imagination. We offer a safe and educational play space for children while providing a relaxing and enjoyable environment for parents."

I had been once with a couple of moms during the summer and it was a lot of fun but it was super busy that day (a daycare was visiting). Today there was ONE other child when we got there. Sunday is the day to go! Lilly loved it and ran frantically from one area to the next. Here she is driving her yellow corvette!

The have an adorable exercise room (Lilly says "hopasize") with 2 stationary bikes, an elliptical machine, and this mini treadmill. There is also a scale (conveniently 10 lbs light), a floor mat, and an exercise ball. So cute!!
The grocery store is so lifelike with aisles of real food boxes (shrink wrapped), a produce section with weight scale, and 2 checkout counters. Lilly loves her fruit.
Since we bought Lilly some dress-up clothes at home she's been interested in acting like a princess and dancing in her dress-up clothes. Today she had plenty of outfits to choose from. She headed straight for this "princess dress" and performed on stage for us. Here she is announcing she's ready!
The diner couldn't be more real. There are 2 retro red tables and chairs, a counter seating area, red retro kitchen appliances and all the food you can imagine. Not to mention menus (here she's taking my order) and the attire.

Making me a hot dog and hamburger...

In the post office you also get to dress the part. There are USPS boxes of all different sizes and shapes that you can velcro stamps and labels on and mail them in the slots that they fit into.


And of course there's a very large playground apparatus that is covered in soft mats and climbing squares for kids to reach. Daddy decided to take a climb as well.

Shooting some hoops before we headed home.

There is also a vet with x-rays, stuffed animals, crates, exam tables, etc. It is exactly like a real vet. She visited the vet briefly but then said she didn't want to be a doctor today.

It is such a wonderful place for Lilly to use her imagination. It's fun to watch her run with excitement from room to room. I'm sure we'll be visiting many more times.

Rainy Day

This is how Lilly dressed herself for the park this morning. She went in fashion!

We had some fun at the park and then spent the rest of the day lounging around. We watched The Little Mermaid and during a break in the rain Andy took Lilly outside dressed in rain boots, a rain coat, and pj's. They jumped in puddles for almost an hour! What a day. The rain was pouring down and we hung out together as a family. It was very nice but I feel totally lazy!

My Thoughts

After watching the Republican Convention last night I was left wondering (privately; though expressing it to Andy and two friends) why they chose to attack people when I felt the Democrats focused more on attacking policies and had a much more uplifting and inspiring convention. Something I hate about politics to begin with is the personal attacks from both sides. I really admired Huckabee and Mit Romney for staying true to character and withholding their morals and values even when in debate. But as we all have seen it didn't land them very far. I know it's wishful thinking on my part to think that politics would ever become nice and kind but I am surely drawn to candidates that not only meet my political desires but who conduct themselves with dignity and class.

I was very pleased to read Obama's reply tonight:

"Why would the Republicans spend a whole night of their convention attacking ordinary people? With the nation watching, the Republicans mocked, dismissed, and actually laughed out loud at Americans who engage in community service and organizing. Our convention was different. We gave the stage to everyday Americans who hunger for change and stepped up to make phone calls, knock on doors, and raise money in small amounts in their communities. You may have missed it, but we also showed the country a video with the faces and voices of those organizers, volunteers, and donors from every corner of the country."

These were my thoughts exactly. I am not one to talk politics nor do I enjoy debating politics but hell, this is my blog and this is what's on my mind I thought I'd share...

Yummy Fun

This is what Lilly and I did yesterday afternoon (remember I was wallowing?). We made Halloween chocolate covered pretzels. We made a mummy, witch finger, pumpkins, and bats all out of chocolate. Lilly had fun squeezing the chocolate into the molds and I struggled with letting my perfectionism go since you have to layer the colors of chocolate to create a 'pretty' design. Lilly picked this out at Michael's the other day so I promised her we could make them. Now who's going to eat them? I don't even like chocolate!!!

Wallowing

Today I am wallowing in self-pity and feeling sorry for myself that I don't carry a pregnancy in a very attractive way. Don't get me wrong - I am thrilled to be able to have another child. But that aside I just do not have a pretty pregnant body!!!

This all stems from going to the maternity clothing store this morning. I have been fortunate to have only bought 2-3 items this whole pregnancy (and I'm in my 30th week). Several friends have been so kind and shared their maternity clothing with me. But I have now outgrown them and what I wear is a joke so I had no choice but to go find something to put on this body. Well, I will not gross you out with the gory details but let's just say they didn't pull me aside and ask me to model for their catalog... I cannot tell you what I saw in that dressing room mirror (and don't even try to say that dressing room mirrors lie). Cellulite head to toe and I'll leave it at that.

So I am going to go feel sorry for my body and try to remember that I am just a vessel for this child and I can get my body back into shape at some point.

What We've Been Doing...

So thanks to my very diligent and perfectionist husband (spoken as major compliments here!) we have rearranged our house to make use of our space. I figured we have another baby coming and Lilly's starting preschool so we may as well get organized and prepared. Andy was so gracious to take his 3 day holiday weekend to devote to my project. He has not rested in a year due to his doctorate and full-time (insane) job and I know he would have enjoyed lying around all weekend. Instead he was up until 2a.m. putting together furniture and organizing. Thanks Andy!

We moved our basement furniture upstairs to our more formal living room that we NEVER used. It's very cozy and comfortable and we've spent the whole weekend in there.



We moved our former living room furniture down to the basement (not pictured here) and bought some storage shelves to turn the basement into a playroom. It is nowhere near complete - I have a lot of work to do down there but I have a vision and that's what's important! I intend on putting all Lilly's toys in baskets, labeling them with words and pictures, getting frames to frame her preschool artwork, setting up a craft table, etc. It will take time but I have plenty of that. Here are the storage units that we bought (and Andy assembled until 2a.m.).

Hopefully when it's all finished we'll be organized, be using our space more wisely, and Lilly will have a nice space to go and play with friends and toys.

Dress-Up

So I read somewhere that usually by the age of 2 kids are into dress-up and it does wonders for their imagination. I thought to myself that Lilly has never had this interest! So I was telling Andy this morning on the way to breakfast and he said, "Well we haven't provided her with anything to dress up in." He's so smart. Why didn't I think of that? So we headed to WalMart to get her some dress-up clothes after eating at IHOP (yummy). Andy found a trunk full of several outfits, shoes, a tiara, and jewelry. We got home and the fun began!

Love the pearls!

She's putting earrings on Daddy.

Dancing to Britney Spears VMA performance from 2000.

Now when Lilly's friends come over (though all but 1 are boys) she will have some dress-up that she can share. It was really adorable watching her dance in her new fancy clothes. She was saying, "I a princess!"