Tidbits

I am blessed to be surrounded by some really smart friends and family, and I have learned a lot this week from them. Here are some extremely random tidbits- please bear with me! :)

• I LOVED MY SMOCKING CLASS! Ok, I am officially an old lady, but I’m proud to say that I thoroughly enjoyed my smocking classes at the Lace Cottage in Germantown. I’ve always admired my Bubba’s talent for smocking, and since it seems to be a dying art, I wanted to do my part to keep it alive. (Yes, I know I am terribly cheesy, but you love me anyway.) We met from 6:30-8:30 on Monday and Tuesday nights, and I feel moderately comfortable to start on my first project- a pastel pink Bishop dress for HG. I am so ready to get going!
• Some Infants’ and Children’s Tylenol products have been recalled. Check to see if your product’s lot number is included here.
• Have you ever heard of www.diapers.com? I just discovered it and wish I had known about it months ago! On your first purchase, you get $10 off diapers or formula and 10% off of other gear, as well as free 2-day shipping. I have been looking for the Fisher Price Rainforest Jumper for HG since she is so “busy” now, and after all the discounts on Diapers.com, I got it for $20 cheaper than any other place I had found it. ANDit will be here in two days- yay!!!
• I learned today that Snapfish doesn’t automatically keep your pictures forever, but Shutterfly does. In order to keep your pics on Snapfish, you have to order one picture every year. That should be easy to do, but I just don’t like the idea of my pics disappearing if I get out of the habit of uploading and printing. This does not do anything to help the breakdown I had about deleting pics off my camera’s memory card!!!
• I am getting JAZZED about the fall weather and the arrival pumpkin patches- my favorite time of year! HG has some of the cutest pumpkin/fall festive dresses, and I can’t wait to get her all dressed up and take some pics! I polled my Facebook friends for the best pumpkin patches in the Memphis area, and here are the winners:
• Priddy Farms on Germantown Parkway north of Wolfchase
• Cedar Hill Farms in Hernando
• Emmanuel UMC at Kirby and Messick
• Our Lady of Perpetual Health Catholic Church on Poplar in Germantown

I have discovered that there is a whole underground world of activities to do with your baby- I just had NO idea! Please let me know if there are any other ones that I am missing out on. (I have every intention on signing HG up for Irish dancing as soon as she can walk, but we still have a little while for that one. She LOVED Riverdance when she saw it in utero!)

• Kindermusik:  “Kindermusik is a classroom learning experience. It's not about making little Mozarts. We teach children music so they can become better learners.  And research proves that music is the best activity for nurturing every area of a child’s development.” How fun to dance and sing with your baby?! This sounds like a wonderful bonding experience as you swing your baby along to a song or dance with them around a may pole. Maybe a little cheesy, but I’d do anything to make HG laugh and she loves music. You and your baby can go for FREE until the baby is 5 months old. Also, you can attend a preview class for free. ‘The Village’ is the youngest class, and it’s for newborns through 18 months. (Wish I had known about this before now!) Classes are offered all over town and all days of the week. Check out Ms. Annette’s website here for more details. I am going to try Friday’s class at 11:00 at Germantown Pres. Can’t wait!
• Little Gym:  This is a parent-child class as well, and it targets babies’ motor and social skills. To quote their website, “together, you will practice a variety of gentle moves that help develop your child’s balance, body awareness and coordination. And the accompanying music helps your child develop rhythm while stimulating the parts of the brain involved in reading and math.” Although the website says that babies can start at 4 months, my local Little Gym said they started at 10 months. There is one in Southaven and one in East Memphis. Have a look at their website here.
• Hope Young Moms:  My friend, Doty, has introduced me to the moms groups at Hope Pres in Cordova. Each year, they begin a new class for first time moms of that year. Then, each year they move up into a class for moms of toddlers, moms of preschoolers, etc. For the first year, our babies stay with us for our meetings, and we meet from 9:30-11:30 on Wednesday mornings. We chit chat and play with the babies for the first hour, and then we discuss a book we are reading for the second hour (The Bathtub Is Overflowing but I Feel Drained: How to Defeat Mommy Stress by Lysa TerKeurst). With all the new things going on in my life, church has gotten pushed to the back burner, so this is a nice way to devote some time to the source of all this joy and love surrounding me now. It’s also nice to talk to other moms who are going through the same things I am or have the same embarrassing questions I do! See Hope’s website for more info, or find the Hope Young Moms Facebook group. We’d love to have you and your baby!

Helen Grace and I had fun watching her daddy play soccer on Sunday afternoon and score TWO goals- way to go, John!!!