Jump Jump Around or Not

Oh the sweet smiles for the first two jumps

Have you ever seen in the mall those jumping rides with the harness and trampolines? Our mall has one and all Holiday Season my son said he wanted to go on it. I was a worry wart and never let him. I thought oh me might get scared, he might get hurt, all the things a mother might think. But it was my husband's birthday and we were at the mall buying video games. Our son asked pretty please with a cute big blue eyed held tilt and a smile. There was another child already jumping so we watched and I asked him are you sure you want to. He told me yes its fun he wants to. When it was his turn they wanted to weigh him first lol you must be 30 lbs apparently. He was smiling as the lady took him up on the trampoline and strapped him in. He jumped once then twice but then she turned on a machine that was lifting him a little higher to get a big jump and thats when he got scared. Oh the look on his face, he was sad, would not jump and just hung his head down then looked over to his Dad with a sad face.

I asked if he was scared he of course said yes and wanted down. The lady was nice and got him down and gave us our money back. When he got his shoes on he smiled at us and was no longer sad and ready to go. I asked him maybe we will try again another time and he said yes. I am so glad even though I knew my sweet boy might get scared that he tried. It did not work out but we will try again sometime. Maybe next time we can get in a few more bounces!

Scared and not wanting to bounce

Happy Mother's Day

This is a very old picture of my mother, Ruth. She was born in 1921, and died in 1988.
I still miss her everyday. She was the kind of mother who was loving, and there for me in all ways whenever I needed her. She was the best of grandmothers to my children, and it was a huge and heartbreaking loss when she left us.

I now look at my own grandchildren and know she would have been so thrilled to see these beautiful little people that are a part of her. And she would have been a fabulous great-grandmother, too.

Happy Mother's Day Mom. I love you.

Eat, Nap, Play

It was a  fun day and my son was exhausted. I did not get much work done, but I had a blast playing with my son all day. We played cars, read books, piled all his stuffed animals on his bed and put him in it (about 4 times in a row since he thinks its so funny), watched a movie (Elmo of course), played ball (yes just like a dog oddly he loves me to throw it then he goes and gets it lol) and  we played make believe kitchen.

He loves to play make believe. He will ask me if I am hungry and then bring me a container and tell me ok try. I pretend to eat it, share it with him and then we drink our fake coffee. He makes me laugh how he even says Ahhh Good  then tries to make him self burp. Its been while since I said ok this whole day will be about my kid. Sad but true and I need to make more days just Mommy and her side kick hanging out doing kids stuff. The bills, stress and worry can wait a day.

By the end of the day he was tired and fell asleep on the floor. His shirt he was wearing was perfect! 

A boy and his Mama

Trying to get Liam to take a decent picture is tough sometimes. Like all (or should I say most) kids he has to be in the mood. If he is not in the mood, this is what I get!

Half opened eyes, pushing me away causing the picture to blur.

Pointing at something else he would rather be doing.

Looking away while I try to sneak a kiss.

Seriously I just wanted to snap a few quick pictures of a boy and his Mama. Is that too much to ask for?

Happy To Hang Out

My grown children lead busy lives. Everyone does, I know. But between kids, jobs, school, and a boyfriend, it's sometimes hard to get a day together.

So this week it was just fun to "hang out" with some of them. We went to the bookstore, went out to lunch and just generally goofed around. It was great. Two of my kids live in other states, and to say that I miss them is the understatement of the year. I miss them with all my heart.

So it just makes it sweeter to be able to see the ones I can. It is so hard, this letting go that all parents have to do. Weather it's going to kindergarten, or moving away, all we can do is give our love and prayers that they do well and are happy. Easier said then done.

Sports for Toddlers??

My son loves to play sports. Hes only 2 1/2 but hes really good at all sorts of sports activities. Its the one time he will follow directions and listen to what is being told to him. We have watched Golf, Football and Baseball on TV since he was first born. He would be so quiet sitting there watching and learning. He is awesome at throwing a football, he grips it right and can hit a target I set up for him. With force too, I have missed catching it and have been hit in the face many of times. He also is great with a bat, a little too good sometimes lol. I always seem to a target for being hit in all his sports. But I encourage him to keep playing and have fun with it.

Golf is something that he does that amazes me. He putts slowly and with care keeping his head down. Something that took me years to master. He loves to watch it on TV and shouts Golf and makes the swinging motion with his arms and his hands together like he is driving. He loves to practice in the living room. He gets a bit wild with using his driver but he has a blast.

Dont mind all the stuff on the floor, those are hazards for the golf game lol

My question is about soccer. I have seen some leagues he can join but they are for Mommy and Me groups. I am concerned about there being a bunch of parents on the field getting in the way and being helicopters too much. I want him to learn to take direction from a coach and to listen to one or two adults in charge not the 20 or more parents there. He will have shin guards and I know he will fall over get a few bumps and bruises but thats apart of learning a sport. I am wondering if at his age 2 1/2 will it be worth the money we have to pay.

Have you ever had your child in a Mommy or Daddy and Me group for organized sports? If so what are your thoughts or advice.

Locked Out!

Tonight as I went in the garage to toss a load of laundry in the garage I was locked out by my son. He is only two so he did not mean to, he was messing with the door on the other side like he usually does trying to open it. I tend to close it all the way so he wont come out there but sometimes he is my little helper and I let him. It was really cold outside so I closed it all the way, pulling to double check it was shut.

I could hear my son asking for the dog so I went to open the door so he could give her a hug goodnight. My heart sank when the door would not open! I knocked on the door hoping my husband would hear me but he had already gone to our room at the back of the house to brush his teeth.

I asked my son if he could turn the handle to let mama in and he started to cry. I was so sad for him that he was scared. I knocked some more but I just started the dishwasher in the kitchen so there was no way my husband was going to be able to hear my knocks. I then asked my son to go get Daddy and he cried more saying Mama Mama!

To make it more no fun I had just taken off my sweat pants and put them into the washer so I was standing in the garage in a pajama gown and socks! I thought ok I am going to have to go into the back yard to knock on the window in the room to get my husband to know I was outside, but would I scare the you know what out of him.

My dog came into the garage to see what all the noise was and then I realized she was going to be my plan. I knocked on the garage door again and at this point I was yelling for my husband and it just made my son cry more. My husband did not hear me since he had been in the back of the house with the water running and the noise of the dishwasher. Finally after get the dog all worked up asking her who is it while I knocked on the door she started to bark loudly. She ran into the back yard and was barking like crazy.

Finally my I could hear my husband calming our son and then he opened the door. My poor little guy was so sad that he accidentally locked me out. It kinda freaked me out about what would I have done if we were home alone and this happened. I now grab my key to do laundry and when I take out the trash just in case it happens again.

Stuck in the Slide!

Yesterday I took my son to the local park. It has been sunny and beautiful just a bit breezy. For some reason he has been a bit apprehensive about slides. Months previous we could not keep him off of them. Its fun to see his little emotions develop and change. One of the big slides at the park I do not normally let him go down since it seems a bit big kid and he is just a toddler. He asked to go down this one and smiled. I asked him if he wanted to and he nodded his head.

This slide is one of those slides that is a tube so I was not worried about him falling off, but something else happened. As he was sliding down he put out his hands and legs. This stopped him right in his tracks! He was stuck half way down the slide inside of it. My heart started to panic!! I could not reach him from the top or bottom to push or pull him out. I asked him ever so sweetly to move his feet and come down to mommy. Hes response was "Im Stuck!" My heart was in my throat since I had no way of climbing in there to get him. I started to look around to see if I could ask another kid to go in there to pull him out.

Finally I tapped on the part of the slide where I could see he was in the tube and told him I see a doggie and he came sliding down. It was quite the slide adventure!

Caught........Chocolate Handed

Around my house there has been a lot of chocolate cake. I seem to bake like crazy when I have a lot on my mind. That and I also love chocolate anything! My son seems to have inherited my love for the treat. The other night there was a cake mess that my husband let our son eat a piece when I said none today, he told me the baby blue eyes asking for cake made him give in lol. This afternoon my son was being very quiet, always a sign of something naughty going on, he usually is talking, singing, babbling, or making sound effects while he plays so I knew for sure he was up to something. I peeked around the corner and saw that he had a huge piece of cake in his hand. I explained to him if he wants something he needs to ask mama and then sit in his chair to eat it. He of course said "Okay" like he has been saying to everything lately. He doesnt mean okay he just knows thats what he should say lol.

Upside Down Kitchen

Well its not literally upside down but all the chairs are. It seems no matter what I do with the nos, time outs and explanations my son could care less as to why he should not jump from kitchen chairs or use them to get on top of the table to try to leap from there. He thinks it "cool" as he says to leap from everything he can. He worries me and I try to stay calm asking him nicely to get down. I know hes a boy, they are wild but oh my the time I came into the kitchen and he was standing on the kitchen table with the biggest smile on his face like he climbed Mount Everest I nearly passed out. He leaped as soon as he realized I had seen him. Thankfully I caught him but then he giggled and now thinks its a really fun game. My solution has been to turn the chairs over. He can almost pick them up but I tell him its not time for chairs and he seems to be satisfied with that answer, for now.

I hear from Sam her younger boy has the same love for chairs and leaping from things. I am not sure if it their genes or their love of the thrill of making Mom freak out. I used to blame my husband for our sons wild streak but now it seems to be a trend on my side. lol

I dont want to give fear to my son. I love his fearless nature. He is a mini explorer and very energetic. I want him to be careful but not fragile. I just tell myself, well when I am not saying no-no or get back here, that I am sure people that are in extreme sports or stuntmen probably were like this as kids, right?!?

New Words and Phrases

My son is not a big talker. He likes to gesture, point and get me to guess what he means. Its our baby charades. I have even had a few people ask me if he knows signing, I laugh and reply no he just makes up his own stuff. But this last week he has been saying so much more. His newest thing is "Help Me". I find it awesome since he is recognizing he is a "me" and that if he asks I am there to help him. He asks for something he cant reach, a closet he wants open, to put on his socks and shoes and when he needs something. He even now says "Im Stuck". The other day I was in the kitchen making him lunch and I hear "Help me I'm Stuck!" I go down the hall and he managed to climb to the middle shelf of a deep cupboard and could not figure out how to get down. It was beyond cute. He held out his hand and again said "help me I'm stuck" I grabbed him out and got him down and he said "your welcome". Oh he cracks me up!

He has realized if he says "help me" I will quickly come to see what is going on. I was using my computer and he was behind me sitting on some empty boxes. He likes to make little play areas with them. He said "help me" I turned around and he was sitting there with a sly look on his face then giggled. I asked him if he was ok and he smiled. I turned back around and he said it again. Again he was sitting there needing nothing. The third time he did it he was standing on top of a small box waving to me. I explained to him you only say "help me" when you need help. He said to me "ok" The fourth time he said "help me" I did not turn around then he yelled "help me!!" I turned around and he was stuck between the wall and a few boxes that had slid over and he was stuck behind. I laughed and rescued him. Its seems all boys do cry wolf at one point!

Now even I think his "help me"might be a false alarm I still go see what he is doing to make sure he does not need a rescue. I love that he is saying more and understanding that what he says gets results. I cant wait to see what the new things he will come up with to entertain himself.

What's keeping me busy these days

 These 3 are the center of my world right now.

And I would not have it any other way :)

Flash Card Fun

I love mom blogs for many reasons. One of them is the great products I get to learn about that I had no clue were out there. I like to enter giveaways too. I have won some cool stuff over the last few years. When my son was just a infant I won a set of A Modern Eden Alphabet Flash Cards. I thought they were so cute and colorful and planned on framing some of them. Well flash forward two years later and they have been sitting in the closet lol. The last week I have been using them with my son and to my delight and his he has mastered many words. He knew the sounds the animals make since his mother (me) is a silly one and we make animal noises all the time.

He now knows the name and the sound the animal makes of a Cat, Dog, Cow, Chicken, Fish, Pig, Sheep, Monkey, Duck (that was a tricky one can sound other wise lol) Elephant (hes a bit off but hes so close, has the noise down perfect!) Bird and Giraffe of course! He also is so very close to sounding out his own name. He calls himself baby and tells people thats who he is. Its cute but he does need to know his own name. That my goal for the next couple weeks is to help him be able to say his own name clearly and consistently. I know many kids can talk a mile a minute at his age but I have tried to let him develop it on his own but its just so darn cute to hear his little voice. Plus oh my I am tired of playing baby charades to figure out what he means or needs lol.

1 month already?

Miss Ashley 1 month old, her cheeks are really filling out!

Time is flying.... I cannot believe that Miss Ashley is already 1 month old. WOW! This little girl has enriched our lives so much in just one short month. She is so sweet and so stinking cute!! We love her. Now excuse me while I go snuggle this baby girl before I blink and she is 16! Haha

A Princess, 2 Little Monkeys, And A dream Come True

I am the grandmother of three charming, handsome, and all around great little grandsons. My daughter Sam has two boys and my daughter Laura who lives in California, has one. These boys have my heart. As a good grandmother, I have have played sword-fighting, trucks, trains, crashing cars, superheros, football and more. I love it all. Regular readers here know that my daughter Sam recently had a baby girl. Her name is Ashley and she is the sweetest and loveliest baby ever.

Having a girl is completely different than having boys. I can see that daily life with two boys is loud, fun, and very rough and tumble. I think most moms would agree that life with little boys is a never ending adventure. Having to say things like "Do not jump off that table!" and "Don't pull the cat's tail, she'll scratch you!" is simply the way life is with little guys. Of course drying the tears that come because he did pull the cat's tail and the cat scratched him, is also the way life is. So after having two boys, Sam wanted a little girl with all her heart. I'm so happy her dream came true. From her sweet pink nursery to her pretty hats and clothes, Ashley is getting the girly-girl experience that Sam has always wanted to share with a daughter of her own. "Think Pink" is practically our motto around here lately. I wanted to share this photo of Ashley I took the other day with my new camera. I'm loving her headband!

Now I say I'm the grandmother of three charming, handsome grandsons and one extra special granddaughter. And I couldn't feel luckier.

She's HERE!!

Miss Ashley and I!!!

We recently welcomed a little girl into our family. She has actually been here for a little over 2 weeks but am just now getting to blogging about her. Recovery is going slower than I expected and having 3 kids is a big adjustment, but life is good!!!! This was my 3rd C-section and my body is not feeling as great as I would like it to. Still having some pain, and some swelling but I am on my way to being the "Super Mom" I once was!

When I thought about welcoming a new baby into our lives, honestly I was nervous and expected it to be totally crazy. I mean Baby L is still just a little baby himself at almost 18 months, I was worried how he would react. I have to say we have been pleasantly surprised, he has been so lovable and great. Both of the boys have been loving on their sister and treat her like a princess!! Having a girl has changed my husband as well, he is already protective of her and thinks the world revolves around his baby girl. It is so sweet :) I love having a girl and think about all of the great things we can do as she grows, and I can't help but smile when I do. My sister and I have great memories of shopping with my Mom, girl scouts, barbies, dolls and much more!! I look forward to our journey as a family of 5 and can't wait to see what the future holds in 2012. This girl has captured our hearts and we love her more than I can express :)

P.S. I think the name Baby L does not fit our 18 month old, he is not the baby anymore!!

Still Just a Baby

My son is now 2 but still very much a baby. He has the attitude of a teenager but still wants his baby stuff out. I was cleaning out his closet, its one of my to do before the New Year items on my long list, and his baby seat was in there. When he saw it he was so happy and insisted I let him sit in it. He wanted me to install the bar with the animals on it and he crawled in with his two stuffed giraffes and sighed. It was so sweet. He sat in there for over an hour without moving, for my son thats amazing since he is such a busy bee. He barely fits in it but he loves it just as much as he did when he was a baby. Its hard to believe he is 2 already but he is still just a baby.

Pregnancy 2.0 Mommy Party

This weekend I was hosting a Pregnancy 2.0 party for my Mommy friends and even some Husbands and Kids of my Mommy friends. We made it a family affair! We got some really great products from places like BabyPlus Prenatal Education System, Britax. And some goodie bag items from Snuggle Buddy, and Xlear.

Here was the table set up for the party with the goodie bags and some yummy snacks!!

The first product that we reviewed was the Baby Plus Prenatal Education System. Baby Plus is a little belly machine that you wear for one hour twice a day for noises that resemble a mother's heartbeat. Very cool little device, wish I had known about it when I was pregnant with my boys.


Here is what Baby Plus is saying about their product-

The BabyPlus curriculum is a series of 16 naturally derived sounds that resemble a mother's heartbeat. The rhythm of the sounds increases incrementally as the pregnancy progresses. The BabyPlus sonic pattern introduces your child to a sequential learning process, built upon the natural rhythms of their own environment. This "auditory exercise" strengthens learning ability during the developmental period when the advantages will be most significant and enduring for a child. BabyPlus is the first educational tool designed for prenatal use that has been proven effective. BabyPlus children have an intellectual, developmental, creative, and emotional advantage from the time they are born. Your baby can very clearly hear these patterns. She/he learns to discriminate between the sound coming from the mother and those from BabyPlus. In other words, learning has begun.

Here JJ and I are enjoying each other as the baby listens.

The next products were from Britax, oh man do I love them. Great quality products from a great company. They sent us three great products to test out!

Our BRITAX products!!

We got the B-Safe Car seat, and it is red which I love! The car seat is lightweight and holds up to 30 pounds, designed to carry your child through the first years. It was so easy to click in and out of the base, everyone said how they were so surprised at how lightweight it really was. The Britax B-safe is designed to click and go into the Britax B series strollers.




The B- Agile stroller is compatible with the car seat and has a lightweight aluminum frame that weighs 16.5 pounds total! We ended up having this item as the giveaway because with a small child and one on the way a double stroller is a must for us these days. Our winner is a pregnant Mama herself do she was over the top happy about this!!!
Lastly we got to try out the Britax Baby Carrier in black. I just love their carriers, they are ergonomic, soft and really well made. The top part where your babies head goes has a soft terry cloth material just seems so snugly and soft. Love it!

A few of the ladies Ohhhing and Ahhhing over the carrier :)

Haha here is our littlest one "trying" out his soon to be sisters seat!!! Even carrying him around in the seat it was not too bad ;)

Of coarse the kids favorite part of the party... THE BOXES!!

Disclosure:  I was provided with products from Britax and MommyParties to review and use with my guests.  No monetary compensation was received.  Any and all opinions are my own.  To learn more about MommyParties, please visit their website at http://www.mommyparties.com/

Frugal Family Tree Holiday Gift Guide Starts Today

Happy Holidays from Frugal Family Tree!! Today starts Day 1 of our Holiday Gift guide. December 1st feels like the official start to the Holiday Season but we do buy our tree shortly after Thanksgiving. We want to enjoy the spirit of the Holidays as long as we can. This is the time of year where all the coupon clipping, deal finding, rebates filled out and sales we have taken advantage of really pay off. We like to save all year to splurge a bit on ourselves, our families and friends.

This year we want to share with you our great holiday gift finds for all ages. We have a huge family tree so we need to find great gifts for everyone. From newborns to grand parents for Moms, Dads, Spouses, Aunts, Uncles, Brothers, Sisters, In Laws, Cousins and of course Friends. We want to share the gift giving with everyone by hosting some great giveaways as well!

We have awesome companies working with us to provide great gift ideas for your Holiday Lists and have offered giveaways of the items to win here at Frugal Family Tree. You can read the list of participating companies here.

Happy Holidays to everyone! We would love to hear some of your holiday traditions. Having new ones to add to the season can make it even more fun. We have all the kids wear matching pajamas on Christmas day. That way they feel connected even though they live states away.

My Baby got his First Haircut!

I have known this day was coming soon. My son has been pushing the hair out of his eyes and on Halloween got candy stuck in his hair. It was time to get a haircut! I have been dreading this day because he has the sweetest long curly hair and I am worried his curls won't come back. That somehow this means he is a big boy. He just turned two hes only just a baby still. Perhaps I am over emotional about it, maybe I am more calm than some moms, either way I knew I had to cut it for him. He hates his hair brushed and to wash it makes him so very mad! He started to pull at it when it annoyed him. There is always the people who say oh dont cut it the curls will never come back to the people who say your little girl is so cute! LOL But in reality it is up to me and my husband on what type of hair do he will have until he can tell me himself what he likes.

His long curly hair!

Over the Thanksgiving weekend we took him to our local mall to go to my favorite place to get my haircut. I had an awesome coupon to use too! It just arrived in the mail a few days before this and I already cut my hair so it must have been meant for him right?! When we left the house around 6 pm it was oddly very very foggy like creepy foggy. When we arrived at the mall I took his picture a bunch of times and almost thought no dont do it. But I did not want to be that kind of mom that gets all crazy about sentimental things. Its hair it will grow back!

As we were getting his haircut he was calm like wow calm. He is a wild monkey most of the time. He watched himself in the mirror as the woman cut his hair. He had his BFF stuffed giraffe in his arms and there was a giraffe on the cover he was wearing too. He liked that. We wanted a trim at first then it got shorter each time she asked is that short enough. We decided to go ahead and cut it short like in his baby pictures so we could see his sweet face and big blue eyes. The cutest thing was when he would take out his binkie look in the mirror smile at himself and then put it back. Toward the end he did get a bit restless and his bangs and side burns need to be straightened but for the most part the haircut is great. After his haircut we changed his outfit and let him go play at the mall play yard. He had a blast running around a squealing with the other kids. This time he did not have to push his bangs out of the way as he was running he seemed very happy about his new hairdo. For a moment I almost cried that he did not have those bouncing curls flowing in the air as he whooshed down the slide but than I told myself hes happy so I am happy.

His new Big Boy Hair cut