New Wardrobe!!!

My most favorite clothing store, New York & Company, is having a buy one, get one 50% off sale. I realized that if I'm going to start handing out business cards to people, I need to look a bit more adult and professional. And I'm tired of only having three things to wear! So I went shopping! I got 9 new tops and a necklace. Then today I took them all to a girl in my knitting group who is a seamstress to have them altered so they fit properly. A bit more costly than I had anticipated all told, but I won't need new tops for the rest of the season. And they look great! Now I just need a couple pairs of nice pants, one or two skirts, and a couple pairs of shoes and I'm all set! Oh, and maybe some accessories. Anyway, here's what I bought. Please excuse the bad fashion show pictures. Eli isn't the best photographer and I'm not the most ideal subject. So we compensated by having some fun with it!
































While I was taking photos of the clothes laid out, Brayden came over and looked up at me standing on my chair and said 'Cheese!'. So adorable! Here's a couple shots of him cheesing it up.

One of my favorite authors, Elizabeth Pantley, is having a give-away in honor of Mother's Day. I have her books The No-Cry Sleep Solution and The No-Cry Sleep Solution for Toddlers and Preschoolers. They are fantastic resources for dealing with sleep issues by attacking the root of the problem and creating calming routines rather than struggling to simply deal with sleep resistance.

"Our children bring us incredible joy. Yet, there are times that they can bring out the anger in us. It is helpful to identify the things that provoke your anger so you can make positive changes in your household." ~Elizabeth Pantley from "The No-Cry Discipline Solution"

I find myself struggling with this a lot lately. I inherited my short temper from my mother. (Love you, Mom!) It makes it difficult to have calm and presence-of-mind in stressful situations where Brayden is pressing all the right buttons. I can't recall ever giving my mother problems, but I've watched her for years struggling with Brandon. I see that she has trouble with her anger when he pushes her buttons - which he does often. But here lately I'm encouraging her to try to push through her anger and try a different tactic to deal with him. Now if only Elizabeth would write this book geared toward teenagers!