Cinderella the Turkey

Meet Cinderella the turkey.

Bailey and I had a little fun the other night and made our first Thanksgiving craft. It was a very simple craft made out of her little hand prints and foot prints. After gluing everything together (side not here: DON'T BUY GENERIC GLUE! I didn't think there would be a difference, but trust me on this one, spend the extra dollar and get the real stuff...it was like using slightly sticky water!) I decided we should write what Bailey was thankful for on the feathers.

I asked her to tell me what made her happy that she was thankful for. She sat at the kitchen table in deep thought for a few seconds before replying. The very first thing she told me she was thankful for? Her family.

Wow. From a three year old. I had to give her a big hug and kiss right then and there. I was so proud and awed that she already has an understanding for the importance of family.

After that the list included: doggies, eating, Halloween stuff, riding ponies (which reminds me, I still need to do a post with her riding her pony Bob!) and trying new stuff.

We had such a good time making the little turkey together and it was great listening to her tell me what she was thankful for. I know I am definitely thankful for her! So now Cinderella the turkey is living on her bedroom door where she can see it every day.

And The Winner Is...

Thanks to everyone who left a comment for the Kix giveaway! Random.org says the winner is...

#2: Brooke said...

Oh goodness! We are huge cereal eaters.. Kix being one of our favorites. But, if I had to choose, I'd go with Cinnamon Toast Crunch for sure :)

Congratulations Brooke! If you'll send me an email with your mailing address, I'll make sure My Blog Spark gets the information and they will mail your prizes directly to you! Oh, and Cinnamon Toast Crunch is my favorite cereal as well!

Finally...A Giveaway!!

**I know I said this was going to be like TWO days ago, but, really...I think you all are used to my tardiness by now!**

Speaking of tardiness, I am NOT a morning person. I'm always pushing the limit on when I need to leave my house to get to work on time. And now I don't even have to get Bailey ready anymore since she can get herself dressed, so I can't even use her as an excuse! Needless to say, there's no time for breakfast at the house before we leave during the week. Which isn't a huge deal, she eats as soon as she gets to my mom's house and I pack some oatmeal, banana, muffin or whatever I have to take and eat at work.

We're not big cereal people at the Maxwell house, and when I do buy it I end up buying sugary stuff that I eat as a snack, instead of for breakfast. And then of course it's off limits to Bailey, you know, being that I'm the sugar Nazi and all.

I was contacted by My Blog Spark a while ago to review the cereal Kix, and since I'm all about free stuff, I said sure! The email said I would get to try the Original Kix and Honey Kix...what? I didn't even know there was Honey flavored Kix! When my package came in the mail (a short 2 or 3 days later!) I was so happy with what all I found.

The two boxes of cereal, as I mentioned, a 24-piece counting-themed floor puzzle, learn to count flashcards, a snack bowl and a sippy cup. Not too shabby!

Bailey loved the cup right away. And while she hasn't used a sippy cup in a long time, we allow her to use this on occasion, since it's really just a cup with a built-in straw.

We opened the floor puzzle almost immediately and that kept her entertained for quite a while. She did really well with matching some of the pieces up. I like how large they are!

The cards are neat because on one side you have just a number with the corresponding number of items, and on the other side you can learn addition and subtraction.

To the cereal...Bailey loved it! She actually had a little in the snack bowl on the way to my mom's this morning. She calls it honey bees, because of the picture of the honeycomb on the Honey Kix.

While I still don't think I'm a cereal person, and I prefer to give Bailey hot breakfasts when we actually eat at home, I feel completely comfortable letting her eat this. Until now the only cereal she had ever had was Cheerios, but I think we've found a new go to for mornings when we need to eat fast.

Now, the best part...one of you all get to win this exact same package!! Just leave a comment about your family's favorite cereal. Or, if you're not cereal people either, what's your favorite breakfast to share with your family?

Giveaway will end Saturday, November 13th at 8:00 pm Eastern Time. Winner will be chosen randomly and will be announced sometime on Sunday, November 14th.

**I was provided this gift pack from Kix through My Blog Spark for offering to do a review of their product.**

My Girls

Well, once again, this post is LONG overdue...but better late than never.

On October 22nd we had "the appointment". If you are or have ever been pregnant, you know what I'm talking about. "The appointment" that shows you whether you've got a little girl or boy growing inside you. We found out we're having another girl!!!

I really thought (and most of you did as well) that this little babe was a boy. This pregnancy was so different in the beginning than it was with Bailey, that I was convinced it must be a boy. We had a boy name picked out and hadn't even thought about girl names. You can imagine how surprised I was when the ultrasound tech announced that it was another precious little girl! Bailey, on the other hand, was not surprised at all. She had said all along that it was a girl...because my belly looked like a girl baby. When the tech asked her what she thought the baby was she said "It's a girl" with this, duh, like it could be anything else tone. Guess she knew what she was talking about!

She's starting to talk more and more about her baby sister. She thinks her name should be Tinkerbell. No middle or last name, just Tinkerbell. I told her she could call her Tinkerbell if she wanted, but that we'd probably have to pass on that suggestion. Every now and then when she goes to bed she'll give my belly a kiss to kiss her sister goodnight. It absolutely melts my heart!! I love the thought of having two little girls. Lots of pink and frill and giggles, I just love it!

What's interesting is I really wanted another girl, even though I was convinced it was going to be a boy. I had also decided that I was DONE having babies. But as soon as the tech said "it's a girl", I was overcome with excitement, then I cried a little bit, and then this thought went through my head...we should try for a boy.

What? Where did that come from?! I'm not sure, but I have to say I'm not 100% sure I want to be finished having babies just yet anymore. Nick, on the other hand, says he is completely satisfied with two. We'll see what happens I guess. I think it's the finality of it. Of saying, I'm never having anymore children. Until then, I can't wait until this little pumpkin arrives in late March!!

P.S. I've got a great giveaway coming up really soon! Hopefully I'll get it posted tonight, but don't hold me to that! One lucky winner will be counting their way to an easy, good breakfast!

Swim Lessons

Bailey loves the water. When we were on vacation all she wanted to do was go swimming. We'd been talking about putting her in swim lessons for a while, and finally got around to it this year.

We've been twice now and she has done great! This is the preschool class, so they're just with the instructor. I was a little nervous about this initially because Bailey can be very shy and attached to me at the hip, so I didn't know how she would do. Before her first class we had many talks about how mommy and daddy would be really close, but not in the water. She kept asking "But there will big people in the water with me, right?", and when we told her yes, she seemed fine with that. At the first lesson, she nearly ran off with the instructor...so much for being attached to me!

There are 4 little kids in Bailey's class, including her, and their instructor is great! After their first session ended Ms. Michelle went around and spoke to each set of parents individually. She spoke to us last and here's how she started the conversation: "I just love Bailey!" That's all it took, she won me over right there! She said Bailey was the most patient little girl (what?!?! she's never patient at home!) and that she listened to all the instructions really well and followed all the rules.

She did suggest we get some goggles, because she could tell Bailey did not like the water getting in her eyes. Bailey gets so excited on Saturday mornings and can't wait to go swimming. When she sees Ms. Michelle walk in she nearly runs to her! So glad I have a little water baby!

Trick or Treat

Yeah, it's November, and I'm just now posting Halloween pictures...I'd like to use my pregnancy card on this one, okay? You know, the card excusing me from just about anything I need/want it to for the next 20 weeks. Now that we've got that cleared up, how about this beautiful princess!!

I think it was decided very early on in the year that Bailey would be Cinderella for Halloween. She has a slight obsession with all things princess right now. She was all decked out in the dress and light up slippers...the crown was too big for her little noggin.

My mom and I took Bailey and my nephew trick or treating down town on Friday the 29th. This is the third year we've done this, and I love it! All the businesses pass out candy to the little ones from 1-5 pm and there is a certain age limit, so you don't have to worry about the bigger kids knocking you down.

Georgetown decided to have trick or treating on Saturday this year and we headed out to our future home site to snag some goodies there. Usually they have a big wagon that hauls all the kids around and then there's a big bonfire party, but that didn't happen this year...I was a little disappointed about that, but it was still great! Since the houses are further apart than the neighborhoods in town, Nick and I were trying to figure out the best way to attack the situation. We rode around a little bit to see what everyone else was doing, and most people were riding in their cars, so we went with that method also. Bailey and I rode in the back of the car with the lift gate up while Nick chauffeured us around. She thought it was the coolest thing that she was able to sit in the back with no seat belt while the car was moving...I made sure to stress the point that this was a special occasion and not to get used to it!

She had such a good time! Everyone was sooo nice and it made us that much more ready to build our home and move out there...everything in good time though.

Notice the orange ring around her mouth? Silly sticky faced girl!