If I Had A Million Dollars... Part 3

Tonight I've been shopping for Brayden. Specifically for toys. I've only made it through One Step Ahead and Toys 'R Us and I'm pooped! But I've racked up quite a bit of stuff! Here's what I bought.

One Step Ahead






(Okay, not exactly for Brayden, but doesn't it look so comfortable! I totally want this next time I'm preggo.)















(All pieces to a closet system!)
















(A nifty little glider)


Total so far = $207,783.87

Toys 'R Us















(Sensory Stepping Stones)














(Zig Zag Zog - check it out here)






Total so far = $210,917.60

The last thing I'm buying tonight is a custom-built tree house. Here's a great site for them. Look at their gallery. How cool! I totally want one for Brayden.

Total so far = $230,917.60

Well, in three days of shopping I've only managed to spend just under a quarter of my million. I'll have to try harder tomorrow!

If I Had A Million Dollars... Part 2

Tonight I'm being romantic in my thinking. I have always lamented that I never had the chance to have a wedding. I was very sad that things were such at the time I got married that I didn't feel that a wedding was a possibility for me. I have always thought that I'd one day renew my vows and have the wedding I've dreamed of (and still do). Every woman deserves to have a wedding!

So here's my dream wedding. I want to get married at Bellingrath gardens. It's just so beautiful! I want to have my dress custom made. I'd use this dress as a starting point.



Isn't the back positively beautiful! I love the way the train spreads from the split back and how the lace overlay is longer than the fabric. I'd have the bust made differently. Maybe a sweetheart neckline with tiny cap sleeves. And I'd wear a mantilla veil with it. I really like this one. Not too much embroidery and I'd wear it closer to my face and not just attached to my hair.



I wouldn't do a big reception. Instead I'd take the wedding party and close family and friends out to dinner at a five-star restaurant like the Pillars or Beinville Club. And my 'wedding cake' would be five tiers of these chocolate-covered strawberries! (Have I ever told you how I ADORE chocolate-covered strawberries? Well, I DO!)



That's it really. I don't want much. Well, except my engagement ring! My engagement ring will be a simple gold band with white gold Tiffany-style settings. It will hold a beautiful 2 ct round sapphire flanked by two 1 ct flawless round white diamonds. Similiar to this ring.



Total so far = $156,989.97 (about $15,000 on the wedding and $35,000 on the ring)

To continue my non-shopping shopping :), I want to go to Europe! I want to take six months and tour all over. I want to re-visit Ireland and actually get to see more of it than just from the inside of a bus. I want to see the Blarney Stone and the Dennis Tavern. I want to go to Italy! I want to see the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican and Pompeii and Venice! I want to go to France and visit the Louvre and the Eiffle Tower. I want to go to Spain and Germany and Switzerland and Israel and Jerusalem (okay, not exactly Europe) and so many other places! (I guess we'll go to Japan, too for Eli's sake :))

Total so far = $206,989.97 (I'm traveling in style!)

Well, that's all for tonight. There's actual shopping! to be done tomorrow. Clothes! Toys! Home decor! Come back and see.

If I Had A Million Dollars...

Erin tagged me and asked what I would do if I had a million dollars. I have decided to forgo all the traditional responses like pay off debt or help family or build savings. In this post, with this imaginary million dollars, I'm going SHOPPING! I'm going to shop slowly over the next few days and post each day with the new things I'm going to buy.

First order of business would be to build a house. Okay, I know it's not exactly shopping, but it falls in the same fantasy realm for me. So anyway, here's the house I want to build.


Eli hates it. Says it's too big and needs to be two floors. I don't care. If I could, I'd build it. Only thing I would do is extend the 'porch' on the back of the house and make it a big deck with French doors leading from the master bedroom. Isn't it great? I'll of course be using all the finest in materials - stainless steel appliances, induction stove, granite, expensive tile, beautiful hardwood floors - you name it.
Total so far = about $100,000 including cost of a nice big plot of land in Tennessee (we're building it ourselves)

Now that I have a house, I need things to go in it. So I'm going house shopping! I'm starting with our bed. We desperately need a new one. So I'm buying this - my dream bed. A Sleep Number 9000!

While I'm buying beds, Brayden needs a new big boy bed. I'm thinking this one.

How awesome is that?! It has three beds! I see sleepovers where no-one has to sleep on the floor.
Total so far = $106,989.97 (in my million-dollar-fantasy world, tax and shipping don't exist)

That's all for tonight. I'm sleepy. Check back tomorrow for installment two!

Gymboree Day

Gymboree started their huge sale today with things up to 60% off. Anyone who knows Erin know she's a total Gymbo freak. She called us yesterday and invited us to go shopping with her and Markus today. So we met them at Gymboree in Spanish Fort at 10 this morning and we didn't leave the store until 12! But look at everything Brayden got. Erin was so wonderful and bought Brayden a ton of clothes. Thanks again Erin!

Catch-Up Catch-All

So, much has been happening around here. I'll stick to Brayden on this post and update on the rest of the family later.

So, first off, my son decided to do a little redecorating in his bedroom. He's quite the little budding interior decorator. Not!!! Here's what I entered his room (after cleaning the kitchen whilst he played in his room with the gate up) to find.







In retrospect, I realized that he wasn't being good and playing quietly like I had thought. Just a reminder that there's quiet and then there's TOO quiet.

This event was shortly followed by the lesson that though we can't color on the walls in the bedroom, we CAN color on the walls in the bathtub. You can see that he went to town with that idea.



We've recently discovered the joys of stickers! They're lots of fun and you can stick and re-stick them! Brayden really loved when I pulled these out the other day. He loved even more when he found he could take them off of his shirt and stick them on Mommy's shirt. How cool is that!



(This is as he's in the process of adorning Mommy.)



Eli and I took him to the Daphne Jubilee weekend before last (of which I will post pictures soon). We had fun. On the way back we stopped to grab lunch. Eli got him applesauce with his kids meal. When I got back in the car, this is the sight I saw. At first I thought Eli was crazy! But now I see the complete genius in it. Now it's the only way I let him eat applesauce. Brayden REALLY loves it and it's totally mess free!



Brayden's really into baseball caps. Well, really it's hats of any kind. He even has a Brayden-sized baseball cap that he'll actually keep on and wear out of the house. This is a favorite toy.





And last but not least, for those of you Moms out there who occasionally wonder why it is we don't feed our children anywhere other than the dining room table, this is why...



And that concludes our photo tour. We hope you enjoyed the ride and ask that you please come back soon. :)

Funny Moments

Brayden loves spray bottles. He loves when I spray a tine bit into the air and the little droplets get on his skin and tickle. He just giggles and giggles. He'll make me do it for half an hour just giggling the whole time.

I got home tonight from work and Eli told me a funny story. Brayden was eating some mandarin oranges in a bowl. Once the oranges were gone, the bowl had juice left in it. Brayden was holding it and he kept getting distracted by the TV. Eli heard it start to drip onto the floor and he told Brayden to put it back on the table. Brayden looked up at him then looked down at the mess he'd just made. Then he bent down and said 'uh oooh' and started smearing the puddle with his hand! He did it two or three times before Eli took the bowl away.

I haven't posted in nearly a month and there's so much I've wanted to catch you all up on. I have lots of pictures to share, but they will have to wait until tomorrow when I have the time and energy to get them all off my camera. In the mean time, here's some cute things that have been happening around here.

We're currently having "I don't want to go to sleep" evenings. It's mostly separation anxiety that started shortly after I went to work at nights. I can spend an hour sitting on the edge of his bed and he will fight valiantly to not close his (very sleepy and very heavy) eyes. Daddy is having to go in after me to make sure bedtime is final. In fact, as I write this, Mommy is trying to do it on her own. I put him down and snuggled for a minute and then left. It was only a matter of minutes before I heard little baby noises. He had come out of his room and was trying to crawl across the living room floor, thinking I wouldn't see him from the sun room. When I spotted him and started walking his way, he put his little hands over his eyes and put his head on the ground like he was hiding! It was too damned adorable. He even kept trying to "hide" as I carried him back to bed.

He's gotten more vocal lately. Not so much actual words as noises, but it's progress. His new thing is to spin in circles shouting 'round and round and round'. He also runs around the room like a crazy man giggling and shouting nonsensical things. He's so funny! He makes me laugh so much.

We went to the Eastern Shore Center (think outdoor mall) and walked around with a new friend of mine and her daughter. They have music playing all around and Brayden kept stopping in front of speakers hidden in the bushes and dancing. Oh how I wish I could post video of him dancing! It's too too funny. He really loves to dance. He gets into it, too. He's all bouncing and kicking his feet up and waving his arms around. And you can't help but join in. I was laughing so hard at him I was crying.

We've joined a mommy and me group and have all sorts of great playdates lined up this month. We're really excited! I think he'll really enjoy getting around other kids for a change. And I know I'll enjoy the mommy company!

I know there's so much more I want to share but it's late and I can't remember. I'll post more tomorrow. Good night!