Holiday Hits and Misses

We are home (and have been for a few days....it just has taken me awhile to clear a track to the computer through all of the presents, Christmas do-dads, and discarded boxes)! Here are some Hits and Misses from our holidays:

1. Out of four flights, Isaac only melted-down on the final five minutes of the very last flight. Why does five minutes of your baby crying bloody-murder feel like five hours? Besides that tiny episode of tears, Isaac was a perfect traveler....even on the day we had to get him up at 4:15am to catch a flight. (Near Miss)

2.The two trauma-provoking toys of Christmas 2006 are a stuffed giraffe backpack (which I love) and the Fisher Price Learning Puppy. Isaac cowers in fear at the sight of both toys......we really aren't sure why. Yes, the learning Puppy sings songs in a strange voice which could explain some hesitancy, but the giraffe backpack simply sits there harmlessly waiting to be loved. Oh well. He was afraid of a train he got for his birthday for about three months and now he loves it. (Miss...but sure to be a hit soon)

3. Our crawler is officially a walker. Yeah! The walking is going great and we are so glad this child will not one day crawl into kindergarten. His new thing is to come up to me and either grab my finger or open and shut his hand rapidly until I place my finger inside of his hand so that he can lead me somewhere important. He still reverts to crawling at times, but we can remind him to walk somewhere and he will. (BIG Hit!)

4.By our fifth Christmas celebration, Isaac finally understood the concept of unwrapping gifts. This lack of desire for tearing paper off of packages really worked to our advantage this holiday season....not once did Isaac bother the Christmas tree or presents stashed underneath. (Hit)

5.We can now open a Fisher Price Little People Museum in our home. After Isaac opened all of his Christmas presents, we can set up our own Little People town for hours of enjoyment. I don't know who is more excited....Isaac or me! (Hit)

6. The crud. Isaac's nose started running on Wednesday night and is getting ickier by the day. Currently he is hacking up a lung while he naps next door in the nursery. It hasn't seemed to slow him down and we keep up the medicine at regular intervals. We hope to avoid anything major this time (Potential miss....stay tuned!)

7. Sleeping. Isaac did great sleeping on all of our travels. When he was quite small we put him on a very good and consistent schedule for eating and sleeping and have stuck with it. This has turned someone who was not a good sleeper as a newborn into an excellent sleeper by month four of life. The boy giggles when you put him to bed out of sheer joy. A few weeks before we set out on our holiday travels I had Isaac practice resting on my chest (with blankie and giraffe) before I would place him into bed. Sometimes he would even fall asleep this way. I did this so that if he wasn't sleeping well while traveling (and for one leg of a flight when we needed him to nap) I could get him to go to sleep with a bit of help. The plan worked and came in quite handy in the middle of one night when he could not get comfortable and was a bit distraught. He and I ended up sharing a bed and he slept peacefully the rest of the night with his face inches from mine (I did not sleep peacefully in fear that I would smush him in the middle of the night or mistake him for an extra pillow). We don't cosleep here at casa de Phillips so this was a rare treat for him (Tobe takes his life in his hands each night while sharing a bed with me---i am a horrible sleeper---so I think CPS would be called out if we ever let young children share our bed). (Hit)

8. As always, Tobe managed to find creative and thoughtful Christmas presents for me despite the fact that I could not think of one thing I wanted for Christmas. Two of these presents came from James Avery...yippee! (Big, Big HIT!)

9. The biggest HIT of our Christmas season is that on December 22 we found out that Phillips' baby number 2 is a GIRL!!! Our ever-thoughtful OBGYN rescheduled our sonogram for before Christmas rather than the originally planned after-Christmas date so that we could know what this baby is in time for the holiday season. We are thrilled!!!!! Although I have not officially discussed the sonogram with my doctor, everything looks good with this baby and she is growing right on schedule. We are about 99.9% sure of a name.....Evelyn Kathleen. Because no one knew that we had this sonogram scheduled, we gave our parents a Christmas present revealing the gender of our unborn child. It was a pre-packaged present that I picked up at a local boutique which contained a pink onesie reading, "Little Sis + Big Brother =Heart" and a t-shirt that reads "Big Brother + Little Sis = Heart." Cute, huh? Well two of our parents both originally thought we were having twins. Nooooo.... I believe that shirt would read "Three children under the age of two + One stay at home mom = Looney Bin." (MAJOR Hit!)

Hope everyone had a peaceful Christmas and a happy New Year. Christmas pictures to come as soon as we download them from our camera!

“…Baby, All I Want for Christmas
Is You…..”

Happy Holidays!
Tobe, Lynley, Isaac, & baby (May 2007) Phillips

Merry Christmas Eve, blog readers! We are happily enjoying our Christmas season with friends and family (and lots and lots of traveling!). Above is a quite altered version of our Christmas card this year. Again, I thought it would be great to get out the paste and scissors and create our own cards.......and again I realized that this task loses its appeal after I had hole-punched 27 out of 50 cards. Perhaps next year I will learn and order cards online. This year we choose to include the lyrics of that famous Mariah Carey Christmas song, "Baby, All I Want for Christmas is You." Each year we include a verse from a Christmas song and we already have next year's verse picked out! Hopefully I will remember it by then.

Here are some pictures from the past week before we set out on our Christmas travels....

Our Little Elf

We went on a sleigh ride through the snow-covered Forest as a family

Thursday Evening we opened our family gifts to each other so we would not have to lug them around the southern United States. Isaac still doesn't like to unwrap presents and attempted to put the wrapping paper back together when I showed him how to unwrap something. When he saw the contents of his first present (after I half-way unwrapped it for him) he looked up at us in excitement and said, "Codors???" Yep....a new box of crayons for our little boy was his favorite gift so far.

Isaac hugging his new "codors"

Merry Christmas!!!

Jingle All the Way

Yesterday, Isaac had his first official cookie (to our knowledge) and he quickly became an avid fan of Keebler Jingles. This addiction started with a simple brown bag lunch with Santa at our local community center. The event was free and included lunch (if you brought your own---which we did), pictures with Santa (if you brought your own camera--which we did), crafts, and a puppet show. Fun times. I figured this would be an easy (and free) way to get Isaac's picture with Santa (Last year all dreams of precious Santa pictures were crushed when...A. I realized that you must buy expensive portrait packages taken by a teenager to be able to snap your own picture with Santa at our local mall and B. Isaac does not like Santa. Taking these two things into consideration, I have let go of all idealistic Mommy dreams of my precious boy sitting angelically on Santa's lap.).







We headed out to "Lunch with Santa" on Wednesday, arriving a bit early so Isaac could get used to the place before large amounts of children descended on the gym. We ate with some people who take Mommy and Me class with us on Thursdays and then Isaac immediately wanted down and set off to explore. Although his "exploring" involved me chasing after him, I was happy that he felt relaxed and comfortable enough to set out on his own. We made some crafts (okay I made the reindeer ears, but he did color the Christmas card---until he felt the need to take the markers in and out of their bag. His new word this week...."doder" for "color" He loves to have his big crayons and art pad out on the coffee table at all times. This is his first request after his morning milk.). I gave Isaac a sticker and he immediately put it on his shirt. Where did he learn that? The only place that he gets stickers is the doctor's office (which I confiscate and put in his prize chest for a time when he is older and needs a reward system) and the library (which they always put on his hand). However, he wanted that sticker on his shirt and would not let me remove it for the rest of the day. Too cute.







After crafts, it was time to meet Santa. We were second in line and Santa was just a bit grouchy by the time we got to him. He was insisting that someone bring him a fan and never even greeted Isaac. He then acted annoyed because Isaac would not look at the camera. My question is, why sign up to be Santa if you are not going to be jolly about it? This man was obviously a "professional" as his beard was real and he is not an employee of the center. His attitude kindof bummed me out and the pictures are not stunning at all, but in ten years when Isaac is looking at old pictures he can never accuse me of not taking him to see Santa as a small child.







The puppet show is where the cookie addiction actually started. Isaac sat on the mat with the other children, eager to see a good puppet show. All I can say about this production is that it was put on by our local children's librarians and bless their sweet hearts. It was during this time that the plate of Jingle cookies was passed around for the children to enjoy. They are small and I figured Isaac should try one since it is the holidays (I normally don't serve him anything with processed sugar--we do the whole organic thing on juice, yogurt, applesauce, etc...). He loved it. He then wanted more, so I let him have another. He then discovered where the plate with the cookies was kept and crawled right over to help himself to a third serving. This is when I cut him off and the tears began. Fortunately "Lunch with Santa" was winding down, so we said our good-byes and made our exit. Isaac was sad as we left and as we loaded up in the car, but he did catch my eye in the rear view mirror as I was driving home and flash me a big grin. That boy is sweet even when upset about life being unfair. However, we will be avoiding all Jingles at future holiday events and will be sticking to fruit until he gets old enough to figure this whole junk food thing out. Don't even think about buy him a package for Christmas, because they will be returned to the store before he even realizes they are gone.

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Isaac's other big milestone yesterday was that we turned his car seat around to forward-facing. Although the law says you can do this at one year and 20 pounds, it took us a while to get to 20 pounds. I also wanted to make sure his neck was nice and strong before turning him around in case of an accident. Lately he has been attempting to sit up more while rear-facing, so we figured it was time to turn him around so he can see the world as it should be rather than out the back window. I am starting to wonder how I am actually going to get him into the car seat once this belly gets big. That might be an interesting sight....

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I went to the post office the other night after my bootcamp class to mail our Christmas presents (we are flying everywhere again this year, so we must mail our presents). I choose to visit the post office after-hours because I hate the lines and because we have the handy-dandy 24 hour kiosk that allows you to mail packages and buy stamps without ever interacting with an actual human. The two people in front of me in line could not get the kiosk to work for them. I figured I would try since I was already there and had lugged in two big boxes and a shopping bag of Christmas cards. First, the machine told me it was unable to sell me stamps at this time. Fabulous. However, I was able to get mailing labels for my packages. After making twenty decisions about how I wanted the packages mailed, I was granted my official mailing labels. I slapped those things on the boxes and put the first one in the big mail slot, specifically designed for boxes. Well, the box apparently got stuck and the mail slot would not open for me to stick my other package inside. A man waiting in line for the kiosk said that meant the bin was full on the other side. Aaargh! I attempted to dislodge my package, but was met with only failure. Several people in line gave me mean looks as if it were my fault that no more packages would be able to be put through the slot that night. A man in line had been at a neighboring city's post office kiosk--which was broken--and had come to this one in hopes of mailing out Christmas presents. Because the mail slot was now stuck and not working, he planned on going to a 24 hour post office somewhere at the airport. Hope he got those packages mailed. So my plan to avoid long lines at the post office was ruined because I had to return the next day (with the baby) to mail my other package and buy stamps. I have since gone on long tirades about how our postal system is broken to Tobe over the past few days. Poor guy.

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Pictures with Santa

(Notice no one is full of cheer in this photo)

Craft Time

The beloved cookie

Another photo from our Christmas card photo shoot

First offical picture of Isaac and his future sibling together

(Notice how thrilled Isaac is about this picture)

The Next Food Network Star

(Isaac loves the lights over our kitchen table and I had just flipped them on to take this picture--thus the look of wonder as he gazes above)

Friday I decided to start a new holiday tradition of baking Christmas cookies with Isaac. Understanding I was working with the attention span of a 16 month old, I made the dough beforehand. Then after morning naptime on Friday, I pulled out the dough, cookie cutters, rolling pins, and flour. Isaac sat at the table in his super-cool booster seat (looks like one of those camping chairs that collapse--too cool for school!), with snack close at hand, and we got to work. Isaac choose each cookie cutter that I used to cut out the cookies and did a great job of not repeating the same shape (although the poor angel went undetected the majority of the time because it somehow became hidden in Isaac's lap). He watched in awe as I cut the cookies. I then gave him his own dough in which he would roll it out (pat it with the roller) and then proceeded to smash a cookie cutter onto the dough. Adorable. I have great video of this first "cooking" experience. Isaac is at the stage where he can see either Tobe or me do something once and then makes a great attempt at repeating it. About half-way through this cooking extravaganza, Isaac realized that the dough could be eaten and was rather tasty. I let him eat it because it is the holidays and it was homemade so I knew what was in it (I know raw eggs are dangerous--we live on the wild side here at casa de phillips). I eventually had to cut him off because his little body isn't used to ingesting sugar and I was fearful a sugar-high would interfere with afternoon naptime. The cookies were a success (the frosting is another story) and I believe we have found us a new holiday tradition.

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In other news, Tobe and I walked into QuickTrip on Saturday night (where else would one go on a Saturday night???) only to see ol' St. Nick himself at the check-out counter. Hysterical. I suppose he had just gotten off work and was headed home to Mrs. Claus. Tobe said I should have hugged him. He must have been a Southlake Santa because he had the real hair and beard and wasn't sporting a set of fake hair. Wanna know what kind of car Santa drives....an old Honda Accord. Guess the sleigh was in the shop.

Hello, Blog World!

The two readers that I still have left have both questioned this week if I am ever going to post on my blog again. The answer is.....................Yes! The lack of posting is not due to lack of funny Isaac stories or exciting events here at casa de Phillips but more likely due to my laziness and frequent migraines caused by this bundle of joy growing in my tummy (my new outlook on the migraines is that I would rather this baby cause them now than when he/she is 15 years old. Perhaps this is all the trouble child number two will ever give me!)

Recap time:

Thanksgiving: Turkey Day was a successful day in the Phillips' household with an unanticipated exciting start. I walked out of the bedroom that morning to put the turkey in the oven and check the status on the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (I HAVE to watch this every year or my holiday season is ruined) when I was met by an unfortunate smell outside of Isaac's door. Seems the poor boy had gotten sick in the middle of the night and had slept in a pile of throw-up. Because we are used to this sweet boy getting sick on occasion, Tobe and I immediately began the process of cleaning everything up. This involved me waking Isaac up to put him in the bathtub (he began clapping when I started the water--that boy loves his bath even at 6am!) while Tobe stripped the bed and began the wash. Windows were open and many candles lit to rid the room of the telltale smell. The rest of Turkey Day went well with Tobe's parents and sister joining us for lunch and then our little family just chillin' together for the rest of the day. I believe that Tobe and I sat on the couch that evening for at least three hours watching all of the Friends' Thanksgiving episodes on TBS.

Black Friday: I love to shop and I actually enjoy shopping in large holiday crowds. However, I have never really taken part in the early morning madness of Black Friday shopping. This is partly because we are in Arkansas every other year for Thanksgiving so my choices of stores are quite limited during those times and partly because we often have the majority of our Christmas shopping done before Thanksgiving. However, this year I decided to venture out to Wal-Mart at 5am to score a cheap, portable DVD player for Isaac so we don't always have to use the laptop to watch videos on planes. I pulled into the Wal-Mart parking lot at 4:50am ready to fight my way into the door and race towards my prized DVD player. Much to my surprise, there were no lines or frantic people attempting to get cheap holiday deals. The store was quite packed but tons of employees were on hand to give assistance and tell you where deal items were located. (The electronic sale items were being held in the meat department.) I raced to the meat department and retrieved my DVD player, snatched up a Special Edition Little People Amusement Park for Isaac (We LOVE all things Little People here in our household), and headed for the check-out lane. The only commotion I heard was from a group of women frantically searching for the $10 Easy Bake Oven. I was out of Wal-Mart and back in my car by 5:12am. I then proceeded to load up with the rest of the family into Tobe's parents van and head out for West Texas to spend some time with Tobe's grandparents.

The Stomach Bug: Tobe and I were struck by the stomach bug the Sunday night after Thanksgiving. Tobe started feeling sick first and then it hit me. I really thought mine was the ever-present morning sickness, but quickly realized it was a bit more serious. We spent the evening in misery but came through it together. Tobe worked from home the next day so we were able to tag-team with caring for the baby. We were all good as new on Tuesday morning.

Arkansas trip: Last Tuesday night I headed out for Arkansas to spend Wednesday with my grandmother. My mom was out of town and the 29th of November was the one year anniversary of my grandfather's passing. I surprised Grandmother early Wednesday morning and we had a great day together just talking and hanging out. She was in really good spirits, which was nice to see. Tobe had taken the day off of work and he and Isaac had "Daddy/Tiger Day". This was a first for them and they had lots of fun, despite the fact that Isaac had several major blowout diapers which is very unusual for him. I will attach pictures below of some of the fun they enjoyed. I flew back home late Wednesday night, making it in before the big ice storm.

Artic Blast 2006: I love when snow and ice are predicted here, because all the news stations treat it as if World War 3 is about to be declared. We spent Thursday indoors, watching the weather and admiring the snow. Tobe returned home from work around noon, so we didn't have to worry about him attempting to commute in the rush hour traffic and ice (Ask him about the time it took him over three hours to get home from work when a sudden ice storm hit at the end of the workday--not fun, my friend!). We took Isaac out into the snow and he wasn't even barely impressed. It was nice to have a day to stay inside and enjoy the cold temperatures.

Christmas Picture Session: This week I took Isaac to have his Christmas pictures taken. He likely will need several therapy sessions to get over this trauma. We went to the same portrait studio we always go to because I know that Isaac tends to feel more comfortable in familiar places. I arrived a few minutes early to give him time to get used to the setting before someone started snapping pictures. Apparently the studio was running ahead of schedule as well (very unusual) because they were ready to start as soon as we walked in the door. Isaac was not too thrilled with this idea. The rush of tears started when the photographer moved his stroller and did not end until we exited the studio thirty minutes later. The boy cried the whole time. I usually like the photographers at this studio and the last few times the photographer has been able to get smiles out of a hesitant Isaac. This lady didn't really make an attempt to put Isaac at ease or give him a minute to become adjusted to his surroundings. She then attempted to sell me large, expensive packages of pictures of a crying 16 month old. Nothing says "Merry Christmas" like a very sad baby. I did settle on two pictures (there was no way I was going to attempt this task again and return for a repeat photo session)---one of which Isaac is not smiling and you can see my fingers in the edge of the picture as I attempt to hold him in place (it is a cute expression--just no smile) and a profile shot of Isaac sitting in a rocking chair, in which you can see a large tear on his face. Classic. As soon as we left the studio, Isaac was all smiles. Ugh! We then proceeded to look in some of the stores while we waited for our portraits to be printed. In one store I was told that Isaac and his stroller would have to remain by the cash register while I shopped. There was no sign on the door or anywhere saying "No Strollers or Babies Allowed" and so we chose to leave the store rather than leave my child by the register (By the way, I will no longer be shopping at Penny Lane of Colleyville. If you don't want kids or strollers in your store, put up a sign. Don't tell Moms that their children have to be banished to the cash register area upon entering the store. Better yet--create a small playyard for kids to stay in while Moms shop.) Christmas Pictures 2006 are done and I am sure in future years we will look at these portraits and laugh....hopefully.

Tuesday Night Date Night: Call us extravagant, but Tobe and I had a date night on a TUESDAY NIGHT!!!! The grandparents came over to watch Isaac while we set out for the Dixie Chicks concert. It was excellent and the place was full. I know a lot of people have strong feelings about the Dixie Chicks and the "London Comment" made several years ago. Everyone is entitled to their opinion (however I have found that most people honestly do not know the actual quote that was even said at that concert). Tobe and I do find it amusing that despite all the drama made about this quote from Natalie Maines, no one has really had issue with what she says about the President in their movie "Shut Up and Sing." Don't know what I am referring to? You probably have seen the edited version if you have seen the preview for this movie. Otherwise, I suppose you can Google it. Be advised that it is strong language. The concert was great and we are so glad we saw them on this tour. If you happen to be a "W" fan, you wouldn't have found many friends in this audience. There were several signs (from audience members) that were quite amusing and got loud crowd responses. A few rows ahead of us someone was sporting a spin off of the French Connection shirt (Like the one Natalie made to get back at Toby Keith) that was aimed at the president. Hmmm.... Enough political talk....speaking of "W" Tobe and I made a quick pit stop at the new W Hotel for me to use the restroom as we walked from our car to AAC. Upon entering this trendy hotel, I somehow managed to trip on the entrance rug and almost fall flat on my face in front of numerous trendy people. Nice. Then I get a bit confused as I am making my way to the restroom because all the walls are mirrored. Guess I am not trendy enough for such hangouts because the whole five minute experience was a bit stressful for me.

Central Market: I have had yesterday marked on the ol calender for a while now--It was the Grand Opening of our Central Market! My life is now complete! It was a bit crazy, but no more crazy than any of the other Central Markets on a Saturday afternoon. There were lots of things to taste but that is where the crowds seemed to form, so we avoided those. We did manage to score some organic sour cream and onion chips, which Isaac loved. Check out the new Central Market if you happen to be in the neighborhood---it is heavenly! Be sure to pick up a pack of warm butter tortillas while you are there!

Baby #2: This baby is growing. He/She doubles in size over the next month, which is starting to become evident in my waistline. Right now this little baby is the size of a large onion. With Isaac's pregnancy, I had no cravings whatsoever. This pregnancy began with a craving for nachos and has moved on to simple chips and queso. I have been strong and only have had chips and queso once (at the AAC Tuesday night in which I likely paid $20 for nachos). I did come home from my bootcamp class Monday night and ask Tobe if he had made me chips and dip. He just looked at me as if I were crazy. Not sure why I thought he might have concocted such a meal since we have no cheese or chips in the pantry--probably just wishful thinking on my part! I think it will be interesting to see if this child one day loves chips and dip.

Isaac: Isaac has officially reached 16 month old status and is a riot everyday. A few weeks back he mastered the skill of getting in and out of his Little Tikes car gracefully (after a failed attempt where he somehow ended up backwards with his bottom in the hole and his legs sticking out the rear window). He does this numerous times during the day. The funniest part is that he is always is so careful to shut the door of the car after exiting. He also is really catching on to picking up toys when finished playing or when the day is over. He LOVES to color and likes to have his crayons and paper out at all times on the coffee table for am impromptu art session at any given moment. He understands a lot and can respond to questions. He still doesn't say a lot of clear words, but he will repeat things (I can understand him). His new word lately has been "cracker." He has pretty much mastered the art of feeding himself with a spoon and really only needs helping with getting the last few bites out. He now hurries through his meal so he can get applesauce or yogurt. He loves to wear his hat outside when it is cold (um...had to buy a size 2T-5T hat to fit on that boy's head) and laughs when he sees himself in the mirror sporting this winter wear. His new "trick" is to make a silly face which honestly looks like a "Sing Song face" (ACU reference). It is hysterical and I must admit I showed him how to do it.

Christmas Decorating: I love Christmas and all things associated with it. Our four trees are trimmed (only one is a big tree--there isn't that much room in casa de Phillips) and we had the 6th Annual Phillips Family Christmas Lighting Ceremony last week. Isaac has done really well with not messing with the tree or any of the presents underneath. Yesterday I hung an ornament with his picture in it and he loves to go and point at it. Sweet boy. I am a bit disturbed by seeing "dead" snowmen and Santas on people's lawns during the day. I know people with inflatable decorations must let them deflate during the day, but it slightly disturbs me. However I respect anyone who puts up holiday decorations and I can't wait to go look at Christmas lights. I really love houses that go overboard on the lights. I was going on about my love for Christmas lights to Tobe the other night and he looked at me and said, "You are a really sweet person." Not sure if he meant more "simple" than "sweet" because of my extreme love for Christmas lights, but I will take it as a compliment nonetheless. Sunday night HGTV is airing a show about tacky Christmas light displays in America. I can't wait! I bet the houses will be beautiful!

Church of Christ Humor: For those ACU/Highland Church alumni go to www.youtube.com and enter in "Mike Cope Sings the Classics" into the search box. This is hysterical! Tobe didn't think it was quite as funny as I did, but it makes me about cry every time I watch it.

Whew! If you made it all the way to the end, kudos to you! Sorry for the lack of posts, dear friends. Also, those of you whose blogs I follow please know I still read them even though I have not commented in a while. Hopefully these headaches will end soon and computer time won't be so unpleasant.

Happy Holidays!

Photos from Daddy/Tiger Day

**Waking up**

**Enjoying the local sidewalk cafe***

(IN PJS)**Checking out the local holiday displays****Snow day**

(notice the look of excitement on Isaac's face)**This is what happens when Mom attempts to take a cute Christmas card picture by placing a 16 month old in a box**

Week in Review

We are still here, blog friends. For whatever reason, my desire to blog has somewhat diminished over the past week or so. However, it is not for lack of adorable Isaac stories or crazy Phillips' family antics. Here is the past week's highlights, for those of you who have been anxiously checking this site over the past seven days hoping for an update.

Monday: Isaac and I ventured out to a new park. The reason we had to go to a new park rather than our standard favorite was that the week before I had let him explore the beautiful fountain at our normal park. This fountain has waterfalls that spill over the sides which you can walk up and touch. Since it was at least 80 degrees outside, I allowed Isaac to splash in the waterfall and play in the water. By the time we were ready to leave, he was one soaked and happy baby. I literally poured water out of his shoes and had to wring out his socks. However, we have not gone back to the park since then to give him time to forget how fun the waterfall at the fountain can be and avoid the desire to play in the water every time we visit this establishment. Isaac---being one who is hesitant to change and all things different--didn't really care for the new park and clung to me at all times. He was not at all impressed by the fun house mirrors or baby slides.

Tuesday: Isaac quietly sat on the blue diamond on the reading mat at the library during story time like the good boy that he is. Of course he had one hand placed firmly on my leg in case I decided to leave him there, but enjoyed his twenty minutes of literary time nonetheless. However, each week I am amazed at the parents who miss the large sign at the front of the room that reads "Please take out children who are being noisy or disruptive." and allow their precious darlings to cry, talk loudly, or run around the room during story time. Drives me crazy. Isaac was given a sticker on his hand for sitting quietly. He kept that hand in a fist the rest of the morning and wouldn't move it. Hilarious! That night I put Isaac to bed early so I could watch the finale of Dancing With the Stars. Loved, loved, loved Emmitt and all of his dances. I did not care for Mario's freestyle and felt like most nine year olds with a year of hiphop dance experience could do the same dance. However, I was glad to see Jesse Spano and Kelly Kapowski cheering on AC Slater from the audience!

Wednesday: Isaac and I bundled up against the wind and headed out to my old school to eat lunch with some friends and show off the baby. We haven't visited since last school year and Isaac was quite curious about all the children. Because the weather kept a lot of parents at home (and not making useless trips up to the school) we were able to hang out with my friend Paula in the school's office (she is the attendance clerk). Isaac had a great time sitting in her lap and eating crackers and then playing with an old soccer ball behind her desk. Fun times. I love catching up with old co-workers and rehashing some of the "interesting" days spent in my classroom. I did not see any former students due to an outbreak of chicken pox in the 5th grade (There has been speculation that the chicken pox vaccine might not be effective. Kids currently in 5th and 6th grade were some of the first to be vaccinated and it seems like they are not immune to the new strain. When Isaac is older, I am seriously considering exposing him to the chicken pox if ever given the chance. What the medical community fears about the chicken pox vaccine is that it won't be effective against various strains and mutations and a bunch of people will get the pox as an adult, which can be rather serious. That is your medical tidbit for the day.)
After trying countless times to put in a vote for Emmitt the night before (unsuccessfully, I might add), I was nervous all day over who would win Dancing with the Stars. I am not even sure why I cared so much, but I did. My parents were in the Grand Caymans last week (for business---they don't often holiday in exotic locations....unless Branson counts!), where they attempted to vote for Emmitt as well. They were devastated to discover that the 1-800 number did not work out of the United States. I was quite ecstatic when Emmitt one and thought that Mario might cry. I do feel sorry for his partner, Katarina, as she seemed to really be into their relationship. I am sure Mario dropped her like a bad habit about thirty minutes after the final taping in search of Dancing With the Stars groupies.

Thursday: Is it bad that I don't remember a thing about what I did last Thursday???? (Oh, now I remember that I did go to Anne Taylor that night---without the baby---in search of maternity clothes. No the AT is not making a maternity line, but they do carry tunic sweaters and t-shirts that will fit over my belly. I am constantly searching for anti-maternity clothes for some reason. Thanks, Kelli, for my coupon!)

Friday: Early Friday morning, Isaac escorted me to a doctor's appointment. This particular doctor is Indian and Isaac is fascinated by her accent. She affectionately calls him her boyfriend and likes to show him off to the nurses. They have formed this unusual relationship. After a short morning nap, we loaded back up in the car and headed down to see Alison and Morgan. Morgan was quite excited to see Isaac and the two of them had a lot of fun playing together (or playing side by side with the occasional glance given to the other). However, there always seems to be a meltdown point when we get together with these loved friends. This point came as Alison and I were finishing up our lunches (the kids had already eaten and resumed playing). Morgan somehow fell off a bench in the kitchen and hit her head, which caused great sadness. It was at that point that I heard Isaac screech and saw him crawling in my direction as fast as possible. I figured he suddenly felt sad when he heard Morgan crying. Oh no. He had spotted one of Alison's cats and was gleefully chasing it. The boy who is hesitant to really venture out was now crawling under coffee tables, behind couches, and under end tables to get this poor cat. Isaac did manage to grab him a few times. Finally, we decided for the cat's sanity to put him away in another room, safe from the hands of Isaac. Isaac had such a good time with his friend Morgan that he cried when I put him in the carseat to go home.

Saturday: We welcomed Isaac's new friend, Brandon Scott Kasberg, into the world! Yippee! Now Isaac will not be the only boy at 1017 Washington reunions. That morning, Tobe and I left the baby with the grandparents and loaded up the car to head out for the big city of Sweetwater, Texas. All of Tobe's college buddies get together each year for a game of football and a pre-Thanksgiving feast. While the boys play football, the wives sit around and talk. Years ago it was decided to cater in the food so no one has to cook. I had a fabulous time talking with this wife and with two other super cool wives as well. On the way to Sweetwater, Tobe and I stopped off at the ACU campus in search of the infamous walking track that we had been unable to locate in June while in Abilene. We finally saw it and was quite impressed with the new Jacob's Ladder sculpture. We spent a good 30 minutes shopping in the ACU bookstore, often giggling over the joke of "Hey, I need to buy a scantron." or "Where are the Kojie license plate covers?" Yeah, we are quite the comedians in the Phillips' family. We did manage to score the ACU Centennial Coffee Table Book for $35 (they were originally charging $100 when it first came out. Despite the obvious lack of sales, the book is actually quite interesting and worth the money. However, it is obvious that one of the editors was biased towards a particular women's social club. Social clubs are barely mentioned and the only pictures are those of just one club. Not that it really matters, but I felt like for my $35 they could have at least thrown in something about club life. Perhaps they will make a supplement for the book which includes information on all the clubs. I would even loan them my 1995 Kojie Christmas social sweatshirt to take a picture as archival data.) Tobe and I quickly realized that the fastest way to feel old is to walk around your former college campus while classes are in session. The students looked like children and I often felt the need to ask them if their parents knew where they were. Getting old is the pits.

Sunday: Before getting Isaac back, Tobe and I ventured out to the movies. We caught the new James Bond flick and we were quite impressed. The movie could stand to lose about 15 minutes because it is a bit long, but the overall quality was very enjoyable. It appears that this film finally broke away from the James Bond cheesiness that personified all of the Pierce Brosnon Bond films (for instance, Denise Richards as a scientist????). I like the new Bond, but often felt like he looked like Clinton Kelly from TLC's What Not to Wear. This was a bit distracting at times, but I was able to get past it. I recommend this movie if you are searching for something to catch during the upcoming holiday season.

Monday (today): In search of some last-minute Thanksgiving food items, Isaac and I went to Wal-Mart. Because I am easily distracted in any type of retail establishment, we immediately headed towards the Christmas section and bypassed the food. Isaac loved looking at all things sparkly and bright. I placed a Santa hat on his head to see what he would do and he just beamed all over himself. He rode around during the remainder of our shopping trip with that hat on his head, happily eating fruit puffs out of his snack trap. Most people we passed had to comment on the hat to Isaac and he would simply pat it proudly. Too cute. That boy loves hats for some reason.
Tonight he had a meltdown because we would not let him take his bath early. We were all playing in the living room after supper when Isaac crawled off to the hall. He then proceeded to knock repeatedly on the bathroom door to get someone to open it. When he realized that there was no one inside the bathroom to open the door and that neither Tobe nor I would open it, he fell to pieces. That kid loves his bath and bedtime. We were able to distract him for a while and hold off the whole bedtime routine until a more appropriate time. Every so often Isaac would sign more and then frantically point to the bathroom. I might have wanted to video tape this to show him one day when he refuses to take a bath. He was quite giddy when it actually became time to bathe and go to sleep.

As I type this, I just noticed a hole in the knee of my jeans. I suppose this is from crawling on the floor with the baby. These are my favorite jeans and I am now quite sad about this hole. Tobe told me to go get a new pair, but I purchased these over a year ago off the sale rack at Target. These jeans were supposed to get me through the next month or so of pregnancy before I might be forced to dig out my Gap maternity jeans.

There you go, blog friends. That was the highlights of our week. I promise to be a better blogger and share every juicy detail of our upcoming holiday season. By the way, if you are wanting to live closer to casa de Phillips' (lets be honest, who doesn't???), the house behind us was foreclosed on and the bank is selling it dirt cheap!

In closing, I will leave you with pictures of our 15 month old heading off to college....

The computer has finally returned home with a clean bill of health. However, our 15 month old is another story. What started as a runny nose on Tuesday morning quickly turned into a coughing, feverish, snotty little boy by the end of the day. Fortunately Isaac's well-baby 15 month check-up was on Wednesday so we were able to get the cold examined as well. The doctor confirmed he indeed had a cold, but that his ears looked good for the time being. We are quite thankful that Isaac is not prone to the baby drama that is ear infections.

For the most part Isaac is still perky and happy despite the continuous stream of mucus out of his nose and the nagging cough. Food is not his favorite and we have been lucky to get a little fruit and some veggies down him. I made him his own big pot of mac and cheese (a usual favorite that he has to battle his father for) but even that was met with a half-hearted attempt to eat. Because he has not reached that lovely developmental milestone of being able to blow his nose, we do have to pull out the infamous nose aspirator and suction out his nasal passages. He hates this. Tobe has to hold his arms and head still while I suction. After we finish, Tobe and I clap and cheer for Isaac for being so brave. The other night the sweet boy sadly clapped along with us.

Aside from the cold, the doctor said Isaac was growing beautifully. We are happy to report that he has gained two pounds and is up to 21.9 lbs (he didn't gain a full pound between his 9 month appt and his 12 month appt--he has his Uncle Andrew's metabolism) and is 32 inches long. The doctor felt like his walking was coming along and contributed his hesitation to personality rather than ability. She said that his muscle tone looked great, which is always a good thing to hear. It was a year on Halloween that we discovered Isaac had torticollis and began physical therapy to strengthen his neck. We stopped PT in June because Isaac was doing so well and because he spent one whole session crying (and they billed us for it!). The neck tilt is gone (with the exception of when he is super tired or going through a growth spurt) and all muscles look great. We will continue to monitor this, but it appears to be a problem of the past!





Baby #2 also went to the doctor this week for its monthly check-up. I ventured alone to the doctor's office while Tobe and Isaac played at home (we didn't want to expose everyone to Isaac's cold). I was able to read two back issues of Child magazine and 1/2 issue of Oprah (the pulled back curly hair look is starting to look incredibly out-of-control....) before visiting with the nurse practitioner (My doctor was booked and the office allows you to see this certain nurse before you hit week 30). Baby looks great and the heartbeat was 170. I have a new medicine for the migraines, which seems to be helping. This one is growing and getting bigger with each day. My instructor for the Mommy and Me fitness class did make quite the deal about just how much my stomach had grown since the last class. I did not find this amusing and wanted to point out that I had just eaten before coming which does make the tummy protrude a bit. During pregnancy, I find it amusing how in the same day someone can tell you how you barely look pregnant and then 45 minutes later someone else remarks about how huge you are and that baby must be ready to pop out at any minute. I asked Tobe yesterday in the middle of Pottery Barn if I looked fat or pregnant. He sweetly replied that I am in the stage where no one can really tell----that from behind I look normal and that from the front it is more of a question mark. He then offered to buy me half of Pottery Barn, but I think he was just trying to change the topic of conversation.....



In closing here are some funny Isaac antics:



** Early one morning while we were in Arkansas, my mom noticed the lights in Isaac's room (AKA "the Cousins Room") were going on and off. She opened the door to discover a 15 month old standing in his crib, smiling a large toothy grin, with a chubby baby hand firmly grasping the light switch. Seems the crib was perfectly placed next to the light switch. Every time Isaac took a nap after that we had to roll the crib out from the wall to prevent anymore light shows.



**Yesterday Tobe went to retrieve Isaac from his bed after a peaceful night's rest. He walked in to discover all blankets and the loved giraffe on the floor (usual occurrence). Joining them......Isaac's PJ pants. One happy t-shirt and diaper-clad baby was standing in the crib pointing out the pile of discarded things.



**Last night we gave Isaac his usual dose of cough medicine after eating supper. Cough medicine tastes gross, even to children whose favorite food happens to be sweet peas. Tobe held Isaac head while I blocked his arms and administered the medicine. Isaac immediately clamped his mouth and teeth shut. Apparently the whole scenario struck him as funny and he started to smile, all the while attempting to keep his mouth shut and the medicine out. Needless to say a smiling baby cannot kept his mouth shut for long and we got the medicine in and were all giggling afterwards.



** Isaac dances by moving his shoulders back and forth. He will do this on command if music is playing but does this spontaneously if he hears a song that really speaks to him. Friday we were in a store when Smashmouth came on----Isaac instantly began "dancing" in the stroller. I hope this does not reflect his future taste in music.



Finally...here are our Halloween pictures.

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A woman and her two children were killed in a hit and run accident while legally crossing the street Friday night in Denver. This lady was the sister of a friend I used to teach with. My friend and her sister were born and raised in a small town in Arkansas about 45 minutes from where I grew-up. Please keep this family in your prayers. The husband of the lady killed was also involved in the accident and is in the hospital but is expected to recover from his injuries. I believe the two men in the truck that hit this family have been found and arrested. Tragic. Why can people just not be idiots while driving? I don't know how many people I see talking on the phone, messing with the radio, or texting someone all while driving horribly. A few months ago a man swerved off the road ---while talking on his cell phone--- and barely missed hitting Isaac and me while we walked on the sidewalk. Really.....who is so important that they must talk on their cell phone while driving and endanger everyone else on the road? I don't know if the driver of this truck involved in the Denver accident was on the phone or not, but the whole incident makes me angry. Tobe and I are big against people talking on the phone while driving. Ten years ago no one had that much to say to their fellow man that they had a need to talk to them while driving. Read the studies about how people who drive and talk on the phone (including those who use hands-free pieces) are worse drivers than people who are intoxicated. I encourage you to hang up your cell phone while driving and simply drive. Use the time to talk to the people in your car or sing along to the radio (unless it is Smashmouth and then I urge you to quickly change the station).

Welcome to the 80's

It feels like 1989 all over again at casa de Phillips. Our computer decided to become ill yesterday afternoon and we had to put it in the ol computer shop (AKA Best Buy). Didn't realize how much I rely on a piece of technology until it was gone. A lot of what I do/need during the day is stored on the hard drive (to do list, phone numbers, email, etc...). Thankfully Tobe brings his laptop home at the end of each work day and I can plug myself back in for a bit and get my technology fix. Hopefully the computer will be back and working in a few days but for now I have to actually call my husband on the phone to ask him a question or find the weather channel on TV to know what the temperature is outside. Barbaric, I tell you.

Because the home computer is not functioning, there will be no Halloween pictures of Isaac for now. However here are few points of interest about our past week.

1. We took Isaac trick or treating on Main Street on Halloween. He rode stoically in his stroller and gripped his pumpkin for dear life. He did enjoy taking out pieces of candy once a store owner placed it in his pumpkin. Tobe and I managed to pull the good candy out (Paydays, Snickers, Rolos, Twix) and leave the less desirable pieces to be sorted (Tootsie Rolls, Suckers, Mints). It was a fun evening and Isaac was the only lion sporting his costume. The amusing part of the evening was how his lion mane kept riding up in the back, thus covering his eyes. I would look down and realize that Isaac couldn't even see what was going on sometimes. However, he never once complained. What a good baby.

2. Wednesday morning Isaac and I boarded a plane for Arkansas to spend some time with my family. Tobe joined us there Thursday evening. Fun times.

3. Fall actually exists in other parts of the country. Fall foliage was quite beautiful in Arkansas and we enjoyed every red, yellow, and orange leaf and the cool temperatures. If you want to see Tobe lose his cool, mention that the local temperatures are going to be in the 80's this week. Does Texas even have seasons anymore?

4. For those Camp WyldeWood campers from back in the day, Tobe was introduced to B Rock. We wanted to enjoy our fall experience so we hiked up B Rock. It was beautiful and the perfect exercise between lunch eaten at a buffet and supper eaten at a buffet. (Don't ask.)

5.Apparently I looked pretty rough at dinner Saturday night. My mom looked at me across the table and said I looked incredibly pale and Tobe confirmed her remark. I attempted to remind them that I AM pale, but they said I was almost completely white. I found this odd since I felt very flushed at the moment. My mom took me to the bathroom (yes, like I was five...but isn't it comforting to have your mom take care of you?) and I splashed some water on myself. The paleness returned to my natural shade of pale and the flush feeling disappeared. However food has become my enemy and nothing sounds good---not even junk food. The things we do for our children. However, this will pass and I often read that morning sickness is a sign of a healthy baby.

6. Airport security. This could be a post within itself. I believe I have blogged about my struggles with traveling with a baby and a stroller before. I also believe I have mentioned that I have had to take Isaac's shoes off to be x-rayed, because most shoe bombers are 15 month old children. When we left the metroplex on Wednesday, I had to declare the food I was carrying in the diaper bag. However, I only had to declare the apple juice and the apple sauce--the bananas and cheerios I had were fine. The lady at security told me it was a good thing I had juice because they would have to pour water out. (I didn't mention it was 3/4 juice and 1/4 water). Fine. When we left Little Rock yesterday, the people at security told me I could only have milk and they would have to pour out the juice (However they reassured me I could purchase more juice once I entered the airport---for $4 a bottle!!!!). These security people told me water or milk were okay, but not juice!!! I pointed out the discrepancy and they said Love Field was wrong. These security people did not care about any other food that was in the diaper bag and I did not have to fill out any type of food declaring what I was bringing on the plane (as I did at Love Field). They dumped out my juice into a trash can and handed the sippy cup back, which still had big drops of liquid inside. Now if I was a terrorist (and you know I fit the profile), what if those trace drops were all I needed to cause havoc? Also, what if I wanted the deadly liquid to explode when it was poured into the measly airport trashcan? I believe these "Measures" our government has attempted to put in place in airports are worthless and provide a false sense of security. If airports in neighboring states can't get the policy correct, what is going on in airports across the country. The ironic thing---also inside of my diaper bag was a plastic bag containing three unusual looking syringes filled with an odd colored lotion. I forgot on the first flight that they were in the diaper bag and did not "declare" them. Not one security person asked about these mysterious syringes and the diaper bag only went through the x-ray once and was not searched. They felt the need to pour out a 15 month olds juice and tell me I could not carry diaper rash cream on the plane, but no one thought twice about these mysterious syringes. Hmmm. What if the contents of those syringes could have been combined to cause major devastation on the plane and security just let them pass right on through (By the way, the syringes hold my morning sickness medicine that I apply directly to my wrists. However, there was no prescription written on them and they were in a simple ziploc bag. ) Also, I predict the Terror Alert Threat Level will go down from orange after elections are over tomorrow. Another thing that makes one say "hmmmm".

7. We had severe storms in our area last night and I thought lightening had struck a tree in the backyard. The storm woke me up around 2am. Shortly after that I saw a huge streak of lightening, a large flash, and heard a loud boom all at the same time. I expected the oak tree in the back yard to come crashing through the window at any moment. My response---to grab onto Tobe as hard as possible. Apparently I am more "flight" than "fight" when it comes to disaster. Fortunately our tree--nor our house--was hit. We aren't sure what was hit, but it was quite close. Isaac did not wake up once during that whole storm. That poor baby was worn out after all his potential terrorist activities were thwarted earlier that day at the airport....

8. If you did not participate in early voting these past few weeks (I did and once again the polling place was out of "I voted" stickers), I encourage you to head out tomorrow and vote. My grandmother plans on voting in peak voting hours tomorrow to enjoy the crowds (she used to work the polls but isn't this year). I won't relay any political feelings here, but I am not very excited about the preliminary results of the Texas race for governor. Get out tomorrow and vote. Enjoy the crowds. Perhaps you will get one of those nifty "I voted" stickers.....

Have a great evening. If you are feeling extremely generous, feel free to drop off a new computer by casa de Phillips so we can return to 2006!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

For holiday fun, I thought I would post some lion pictures and some pictures from last year as well. Notice I have a thing for safari animals and making Isaac pose for what I call "The ET Picture" (remember how ET hid in the closet among Drew Barrymore's dolls and stuffed animals so the mom would not see him???)

Halloween 2006
Halloween 2005

A Roaring Good Time

Thanks to all of you who graciously gave your opinion on Isaac's Halloween costume. I did seriously consider having several costume changes through-out the evening to make use of each of the cute get-ups, but we finally decided to go with the lion. No, I did not sell the other costumes out of the trunk of my car at all the local Halloween trunk or treats---however, now that I type that idea it could be a potential money-making endeavor. Perhaps next year. (I already returned the other costumes and was granted full refunds).

Here are some pictures from last night's Fall Festival at our church.


Me getting Isaac dressed before going inside

(This costume is not car-seat friendly. It also is not very Texas-friendly considering Isaac had on a long-sleeved shirt, sweat pants, booties, a hat, and a jacket with a considerable amount of padding in 80 degree weather. He was a trooper and didn't complain once, even when we subjected him to trick or treating in the heat of the upstairs of the church.)



We thought it would be a great idea to get Isaac's face painted with a lion's nose and whiskers. Isaac did not think this was a great idea. The whiskers didn't work so well and we ended up wiping them off quickly after they were painted on. I love his pouty expression in the top picture. Have you ever seen a sadder lion?Pre-festival cruising around his "jungle" with his walker

Not very many of the games were designed for toddlers, however Isaac did enjoy the lollipop tree. Little does he know that the lollipop is actual food. The sweet boy enjoyed taking all of his candy out of his pumpkin, organizing it, and then putting it back into his pumpkin for at least half an hour after we returned home last night. If only he knew what chocolate goodness laid beneath some of those shiny wrappers......

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How did you spend your Saturday morning? My husband spent his doing this.....

That is Tobe on the right, in the back, wearing the red t-shirt.

No, he did not enlist. He competed in a 10K Mud Run with a college buddy. Obviously participants must wear old clothes due to the mud factor. Tobe wore some old dress pants that he was planning to toss anyway. A team member had purchased ties at Goodwill for everyone on their team to wear. So Tobe tucked in his shirt, threw on the the tie, and wore his dress pants complete with belt---He went business casual for the run. That makes me giggle every time I think about it. Way to go, Baby!

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Isaac took about 4-5 independent steps several times tonight. My goal has been for him to be walking by himself by his 15 month check-up (in a week and a half). Will he reach it? Who knows--perhaps I should change it to him to be walking by the first day of kindergarten. We really think he has the ability to walk on his own, he is just so cautious. However, he has become the fastest crawler and could win any diaper derby around.

Here is a shot of him checking out Tobe's record collection while beloved giraffe dangles from his mouth. Usually giraffe stays in the bed but somehow this day he had escaped. Isaac likes to crawl through the house with him in his mouth on those rare occasions that giraffe is out of the crib. You can't tell in this picture, but the shirt Isaac is wearing has a mummy on it that glows in the dark. Precious. I took Isaac into the laundry room to show him but he was more interested in attempting to bang on the dryer.

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Baby #2 Update: Today marks the beginning of week 12! Yeah! I am always confused--does this mean I am in the beginning of the second trimester or does week 13 actually mark that milestone? I am hoping all sickness ends with the beginning of trimester number 2. I have become personal friends with our local pharmacist who I visit about every third day to have my nausea medicine refilled. Blueberry muffins are now on the "Never Going to Eat it Again in My Life" list. On Friday I ended up calling the doctor's office because I thought I had come down with a kidney infection of some sort (glamorous, huh?). The only symptom I had was lots of lower back and abdominal pain. Apparently it is not a kidney infection but the result of being a mom. The nurse told me I needed to be sitting 3-4 hours a day. Huh? Perhaps if Isaac was 15. Sitting with my feet propped up was easier when I worked because I could teach from my reading table (I had a very small class) and could save my standing for when I had to chase after a student or retrieve a tantruming child from the cafeteria. I plan to try to sit more (Hello, Baby Einstein) but I figure decades and decades of women have gone before me and endured pregnancies where they had much more to attend to than a sweet 14 month old and life continued on. Baby is growing well, which is such a huge blessing. I think I might be carrying this one a little bit higher than I did with Isaac because I have no trouble buttoning anything (I was using the ol rubber band trick by this time with Isaac, but I carried him LOW). Now that I have said that for all of blog-world to read, most likely none of my pants will fit tomorrow. Oh well.

Have a great week! More pictures of our precious lion enjoying Halloween to come!

Costume Central

Four. That is how many Halloween costumes currently reside in casa de Phillips for a particular 14 month old. Despite my love for all things crafty, I have never learned to sew. Therefore, I must purchase my child's Halloween attire. This has been a bit traumatic for me in that I have not found the "perfect" costume except for one that Isaac might suffocate in during a mild Texas fall and another one that was much too expensive. While my mom was visiting, I finally purchased a costume at Osh Kosh (Sidenote:I grew up knowing a woman who would not allow her children to wear Osh Kosh clothing because it said "Gosh" on it. Wonder what she thinks of all of the overly suggestive t-shirts marketed to today's youth now.). It was a zebra and it was cute. I didn't LOVE it, but I also didn't hate it. The only problem with this costume (now referred to as costume #1) is that it is size 12 months and it about choked Isaac.


Today, Isaac and I went to the local mall to get some exercise since the rain prohibited us from walking this morning. The only problem with mall walking is that I am tempted to shop. After completing our three miles I allowed myself to look in only three stores (one per mile). First we hit the new mega-Children's Place. Apparently someone had returned the lion costume that I had my eye on at the beginning of costume-shopping season (which had quickly sold out). It was on sale and then marked down an additional 50% off. I snatched it up (This is costume #2). I then noticed a pumpkin costume, which has also been hard to find lately. Again it was on sale so I threw it in the basket as well (Costume #3). Before making my purchase, I inquired as to what the exact return policy on holiday attire might be. As long as I return the costumes with tags before Halloween, I will get a full refund.

Happy with my purchases, Isaac and I resumed walking so we could hit the other two stores before time to leave. One of those stores was the Gymboree outlet. I am not terribly impressed by this new store. I thought it would be items that did not sell at original Gymboree stores. Wrong. It appears they have gone more of the Gap outlet way and simply created cheaper lines to sell in this store. Of course most of it was little girl apparel and hardly much boy stuff.

Finally we hit the Osh Kosh store to see if someone happened to return a size 18 month zebra costume. Someone had! We snatched that one up (costume #4) and headed home for lunch and naptime.

Here is the delimma--obviously Isaac is not going to wear four Halloween costumes. Technically Halloween Costume #1 is not even in the running because it is too small and I will be returning it this weekend. That leaves costumes 2, 3, and 4. Much to my child's dismay, I dressed him in each costume and shot some pictures so that you, dear reader, could give your opinion on what costume you like best. The best part of this whole delimma....none of these costumes cost me over $8!

Costume #4: Zebra Costume from Osh Kosh (also costume #1)

(the only way I could get Isaac to sit still was to bribe him with books.)

Costume #2: Lion Costume from The Children's Place

(a tan shirt and tan pants go under this outfit. I didn't want to torture Isaac too much so we skipped that step. It also has little slippers for his feet but they are in a package. I did not dare open such package in case it ruins my return)

By the way, Isaac managed to fall off his ride-on dump truck while wearing this costume and hit his head on the corner of a wall in his room. He didn't even bat an eyelash. The headpiece makes a nice little helmet.






Costume #3: Pumpkin Costume from The Children's Place
(Putting this costume on was met with several tears and much complaining. I felt like the worst mother in the world for forcing my child to suffer all in the name of holiday fashion. For actual wear, a black shirt and black pants are worn underneath.)

What is your pick?

In closing, I saw a woman pulling triplet boys (younger than Isaac) in a wagon today at the mall (the wagon was more like a train. Each child had their own little wagon and they were all attached. There was even an extra wagon holding her packages). She was visibly pregnant. She must be the most patient woman in the world.