Happy Birthday Greyson!

Three years ago tonight I was sitting in a hospital bed holding an 8 pound 4 ounce little baby. Tonight I tucked in a 32 pound, rambunctious little boy. I know 15 years from now the 3rd birthday won't seem so monumental, but I still have a hard time believing my little man is 3 years old already. In 2 short years we will be registering for kindergarten! Aaaahh! Okay, let's not think about that anymore...

Let's switch gears to all the fun we had today. We decided not to have a big party this year for Greyson, so I felt compelled to make him feel extra special all day long. Since we weren't decorating the house for a party, I decorated his bedroom door instead. I even put some balloons on his chair at the kitchen table. His big present from mommy and daddy was a second train table that we made for him, so he now has one for Thomas and one for Chuggington. Since that wasn't something we could wrap for him, I of course had to make sure he had some things to unwrap this morning. For breakfast I made him cinnamon rolls, and since we aren't having his cake till Saturday when all the grandparents are present, I put candles on his cinnamon roll and sang to him. Speaking of cake - I still needed some decorations for it. Thomas ones of course which meant a trip to Toysrus. Obviously Greyson didn't mind that at all. I think we circled the place twice just to make sure we saw everything. For lunch he got a happy meal from good old McDonalds which we brought home and ate at the picnic table on the deck. McDonalds must have known it was his birthday cause they gave him 2 bags of apples instead of just one. Ha! After nap (or lack there of) we played a bit outside before curling up and watching one of his presents from mommy and daddy - Dumbo! Then for dinner I made him one of his favorites, mashed potatoes, which also had to have candles on it so that we could sing again and daddy could see him blow them out. After dinner we finally finished his train table and got it set up in his room. He must have liked it cause we got lots of kisses and thank yous from him.

As if that wasn't enough fun, it all continues this weekend when the Mimis and Papas show up. He should be on cloud 9 by the time he goes to bed Saturday night :-)

Happy Belated V-Day!

We had a good old fashioned family Valentine's Day in the McCormick household. Greyson and I made a homemade valentine for daddy. Both boys helped me bake some cookies that afternoon. Then the four of us had  a lovely Valentine's Day dinner together at Chickfila. Nothing super romantic obviously, but hubs did surprise me with some flowers and a new bathing suit from Victoria's Secret for my "hot mama" body I am working on ;-)

The Greatest Show on Earth!

That's right - we went to the Circus! Now last year was Greyson's first year going, and while I don't know exactly how much he remembers from it, he was definitely beyond excited to be going again this year. Most of his excitement was directed at the animals...okay the elephants. They could have walked those elephants in circles around the arena for 2 hours and he would have been completely content. In fact every time they would go behind the curtains it was very traumatic and all he asked was when they were coming back. Regardless he had lots of fun again this year. Next year little brother Rylan will be big enough to go as well, so it will be interesting to see how he reacts to all the excitement!

Fun worth screaming about!

Greyson has been begging a LOT lately to do Playdoh. Considering that is an activity that I can't let him let him do unsupervised and I can't supervise him while chasing Rylan, we usually can only do it when daddy is home. Well daddy was at a work dinner the other night and Greyson was begging even more than usual, so mommy had to figure out a successful way for us to play it by ourselves. I strapped both boys into their booster seats at the kitchen table and sat myself between them. I gave each a chunk of Playdoh and let them go. I figured Rylan would enjoy it, but I had no idea the thrill he would get from something so simple. Every time he squished the Playdoh between his fingers he would let out the loudest squeal! Of course he tried to eat it - that was a given, but he definitely found the squishing part more exciting cause he only tried it once or twice. Now that I see that he is old enough to start enjoying these types of things, hopefully he can participate in other crafty stuff with me and Greyson!

The Valentine's Day Dillema

Valentine's Day was definitely created for women! The flowers, the chocolates, the jewelry - it's all wonderful but not a one of those things are something you can get a man. Now my hubs always tells me that I don't have to get him anything, but I really like to at least try. But what the heck do you get a man guy for Valentine's Day? Does anyone out there have any stupendous ideas they can share?

The Magical World of Disney

Before now I never knew why they called it magic. I have always been a huge Disney fan so of course that is my first choice when I get movies for my boys. While they all thoroughly entertain them, there is one in particular that hypnotizes not one but both of my boys and that is the Baby Einstein. Now Greyson is old enough that I can get him to sit and watch a movie with me for a little while, but Rylan doesn't sit still for anything! Or so I thought. I popped that movie in the other day cause I needed a breather and Rylan's eyes were immediately fixated on the screen. Not just for a moment either, but for like 15 minutes straight. Now I am sure some of you out there are wanting to call Child Protective Services on me for letting a one year old watch television. To those (who probably don't have any children of their own) I invite you to try and cook dinner with both if them wrapped around your legs. Then you might understand the magic I experienced when I played this movie :-)

**UPDATE** Free baby slings AND nursing covers!

**UPDATE** I got an email this morning and Udder Covers is doing the same promo with the same code, so if you didn't take advantage at Christmas here is another chance!

Okay, so remember back before Christmas I did a post about free nursing covers!? Well now it is time for the free slings! Yup, their sister company Seven Slings is doing their free sling promotion now. Go to their website, pick out any sling you like, add it to your bag and enter code VALENTINE. All you pay is the shipping which is $11.95. Yes that is high for shipping, but considering that is all you pay you are getting an amazing deal on a sling! They also offer a one time size exchange for about $3. Basically that allows you a one time free exchange if you order the wrong size. Make sure you follow the instructions on their website about how to measure and figure out what size you need. You can order as many as you like with the code, so you can order one for yourself and one as a gift! The only catch is that they have to be in separate orders, but like I said it is still an amazing deal. Order yours quick though cause when they do these promos they sell out quick and the back orders can stretch to several months out!

Free $10 from Rue La La

Rue La La is one of my favorite discount websites, and right now they are giving $10 credits to any new members that sign up. It is by invite only, so you have to click on my link to get in, but once you are a member you can invite your friends to join. Even better, you earn a $10 credit every time one of your invitees makes a purchase! They have new sales that start every day at 11 am and they have started doing more and more free shipping events, so you have lots of chances to score free stuff!

I am finally on Pinterest!

So I know I am way behind on this whole Pinterest thing, but I finally got in. I haven't had a lot of time to play around on it yet, but hopefully it lives up to the hype! Click here to view my page in case you want to follow me.

I'M FAMOUS!!

Well 15 minutes famous at least. A popular coupon blog called Koupon Karen had a contest going and to enter you had to submit an amazing coupon deal that you spotted. Well I submitted my $.25 Minute Rice deal that I have been stocking up on at Harris Teeter for a couple weeks. Much to my surprise my deal got chosen as a feature on her blog! You can check it out here. Today is the last day for the sale and most of them are out of stock, but you can always grab a rain check. The coupons are good for a while and the rain checks never expire, so you can grab some when they are back in stock!

Little Blue Box

I will be turning the big 3-0 in just 2 short months, so while we were out shopping this weekend I decided it would be a good idea to go ahead and pick out a few things that I could suggest as birthday gifts. Ever since my Channel sunglasses broke I have been trying to find a new pair that I love just as much. Well problem solved! And who else to solve it, but Tiffany's of course. There is just something about that Tiffany blue that makes a girl's heart skip a beat. Combine that with Swarovski crystals and you've got an irresistible pair of sunglasses. Now I just have to hope that someone out there deems me worthy of such a treat on this very special upcoming birthday :-)

I had the best weekend!

We have fun in our house, but this past weekend without a doubt was the most fun I have had in a long time. Partly, okay mostly due to the fact that we got to drive to Raleigh and help celebrate my best friend's 30th birthday! It started off with a surprise lunch with a large group of family and friends and then we met back up in downtown later that night for some drinking and reminiscing.

In between all the partying hubs and I snuck off for a little bit for some shopping. While we make the trip to Raleigh quite often, it is a rare occasion that we get to sneak off by ourselves. We leisurely walked around the mall and them enjoyed a casual dinner at this cute little diner.

Meanwhile Greyson and Rylan were having some quality time with Mimi and Papa so it was a win win situation for all! And the good news is we will be back up to Raleigh next weekend for even more fun! February has already started off 100 times better than January was!

And the groundhog says...

Six more weeks of winter! To this I usually say blah, but if we have six more weeks of how this week has been then I am all for it. While I am a little bummed we haven't gotten any snow yet, I am definitely enjoying being outside in January, well February now. This is usually the time of year when it turns the coldest and instead it is 65 and sunny. Now with 6 more weeks left there is still plenty of time for some flurries so I won't give up hope just yet!

If I have heard it once...

I have heard it 1000 times - boys are easier than girls! Now I obviously dont have any experience in raising a girl, but I definitely do have experience when it comes little boys. Now I know people probably mean well when they say this, and anyone who has said this to me has actually raised both, but just because you think boys are easier than girls does not mean that boys are easy in any way shape or form. Now I am sure that is not exactly what people mean when they say this to me, but I still don't quite see the point in the comment. I mean if I am having a rough day I don't sit back and think to myself 'at least they aren't girls!'

I know everyone is entitled their own opinion and mine on this topic is that boys are rough! They are loud and rambunctious and dirty and just like girls they are whiney and dramatic too! Now I will admit that I have contemplated the idea that boys might feel harder to me cause I am such a girly girl. I don't like to be dirty and sticky. I don't like trucks and GI Joes. I'm a girl I can't help it. I have also contemplated that it might feel harder because I have two and they are only 21 months apart. They are both at very demanding ages and crave lots of attention from mommy.

Of course none of this means that if Greyson and Rylan were little girls they would be easier to handle. I am just trying to make a point that I don't think one sex is naturally easier to take care of than another. I do, however, think a lot of it depends on the care taker and how they were raised. Regardless, at the end of the day, no matter the age, the sex or the parents, they are all children and not a one has, is or will ever be EASY to raise!

Look at us all fancy!

While hubs has to wear a shirt and tie to work everyday, I on the other hand am lucky if I make it into a pair of jeans on a daily basis. Not that I don't like to dress up, but if you have read any of my recent blogs about the rocks and dirt we get into on a daily basis then you understand why I choose my outfits the way that I do. Well last weekend was hubs holiday work party which meant not only did we get to do an activity by ourselves, but we got to dress up for it as well. The dressing up part was a lot more exciting for me than him as you can tell from the expression on his face in the picture. But he did what he had to to get a night out with free drinks and food. The party ended up being a little different than in the past. We were done about 915, so we got to make a rare trip to the movie theatre as well. We go to the movies so rarely now that I feel like the price of the concessions doubles each time. Luckily we had some discount passes from Groupon that got us into the movie for free so we were able to spring for the small popcorn and drink! Next time I think I will just take my bigger purse and bring my own concessions. I know that would make my mom proud ;-)