Free Birthday Fun for your Child

For all of my new mom friends out there, here are a couple of sites I found that have some fun birthday clubs for kids.  Enroll your children now, so they'll have lots of fun to look forward to.

OLD  NAVY
Old Navy offers a free birthday surprise (I think this means coupon) on your child's birthday.  From their homepage, scroll down to the bottom where it reads "Sign Up and Save." Of course you'll have to enter in your basic contact info and e-mail address, but you can opt to sign up for e-mails and deals from Old Navy's affiliates (Gap, Banana Republic, etc.). 

TOYS R' US
This is the coolest idea - Geoffry the Toys R' Us mascot will call your child on his/her birthday to leave a message.  You can select whether you want him to call in the morning, afternoon, or evening.  And your child will get a free gift card.

THE CHILDREN'S PLACE

Receive birthday coupons during your child's birthday week. 

ZAXBY'S

Sign up for a free kid's meal - just FYI, you have to print a form and mail or fax it in.  It doesn't appear that they have an on-line submission form, but you get a card for a free cookie just for signing up.

WAFFLE HOUSE

This is for my little friend Ansley....If you sign your child up to be a Waffle House Regular (which she is!), then they'll enroll you in the birthday club and he/she will receive a special birthday present  P.S. - It's Waffle House's 55th anniversary!  I don't think they've aged a bit!

MOE'S

This is a really neat site - you can sign your child up for the Mini Moe's Birthday Club and receive a free kids meal during his/her birthday week.  When you sign up, they'll calculate how many days until your child's birthday (282 for McCord!) and it will tell you about what happened on that day in history and famous people who share their birthday (FYI - on McCord's birthday in 1847, the US Post Office released its first adhesive stamp, lick em' stick em'.  He also shares the same birthday as Princess Diana).  Visit their site for a free coloring page and on-line birthday games like tic tac toe and memory. 

Kindermusik Rocks!

Tonight McCord attended his first Kindermusik class which was held at our church.  Kindermusik is a music and movement program for young children (even as young as McCord!).  Research shows that music introduced at a young age can help build neural pathways by fostering language, mathmatic, and social skills.  We bounced, sang, and danced to a variety of songs led by our instructor and McCord loved every minute!  His favorite thing was the rainmaker that you see below.  McCord and his classmates were given goodie bags full of Kindermusik materials - a CD, book, and wall poster to study for their homework - too cute!

McCord's Baptism

THE DAY
Sunday, September 19, 2010 was a beautiful, sunny day in Rock Hill.  It was a perfect day for a baptism at Oakland Avenue Presbyterian Church.

THE GOWN
The gown was made for my mother-in-law, Frances, to wear when she was baptized as an infant.  Since then, it's been worn by Bo, my sister-in-law, Meredith, and her two children - Emily and Kyle.  We were so honored to have the gown passed down to McCord to wear for his baptism.  It is steeped in tradition, and we feel blessed to be connected to so many family memories. 

THE MENU
My mom helped me prepare for the big day - a celebration on Surrey Lane.  We had so much fun putting together the menu. It was a great day to pull out the crystal and silver!

THE PRAYER

McCord offered this prayer on his big day:

God in heaven, hear my prayer,

keep me in thy loving care.

Be my guide in all I do,

Bless all those who love me too.

Amen.

THE FAMILY
Bo and I were so thankful to have all of our family come up to celebrate McCord's baptism.  It was so meaningful to look out into the congregation and see them beaming at our little boy. 

THE BABY
Neither Bo nor I enjoy being the center of attention, so we were so curious to see how McCord would do when he was in front of the church with so many eyes on him.  We were amazed when he slept through the whole thing.  When our pastor sprinkled water on him, he waved his arms in the air, startled, but never opened his eyes!

Update on Football Platter

For all my fellow blog readers who dread football season...my mother-in-law found the platter and it's available here!  Thank you Frances for the info!

Wordless Wednesday

Upscale Weesale

McCord and I went to the Upscale Weesale on Friday.  For those of you who don't live in RH, this is a Big Deal.  People start talking about it months in advance.  It's offered in the spring and fall, and the merchandise featured is season-appropriate.  For instance this time, there were fall and winter items available (lots of Halloween costumes {I wish I got a picture of the woman carrying a life size horse around on her back at checkout!}).  They also offered household furniture and designer purses this year, so you can find some good deals even if you're not looking for baby clothes.  Here are the finds we came home with.   

Pottery Barn Kids Hand Print Kit - can't wait for craft day with McCord! - $5 

Baby Gap cords, never worn - $4

Genuine Kids Sweater - $8

Red cord Christmas overalls from Talbots - $5

1st Birthday John John from Bailey Boys - new with tags - $25

...and here's a close-up of the applique - the next craft project on my list is learning how to applique with my sewing machine, and I'd love to learn how to make these john johns...

I also bought a new waffle weave white shower curtain (that I didn't photograph) for $4.

And here's my favorite purchase: a transportation rug for McCord to bump around on!  Steal of the day for $6!

Football Season

Bo forwarded me this image in an e-mail.  Can anyone tell me where I can find one of these platters?!!!! 

This Is What Happens...

when Daddy dresses me.

Life Is Good

Monkey Learns to Boogie

McCord's First Beach Trip

A few photos to remember the weekend in Litchfield for Papa's 60th birthday celebration and McCord's first beach experience!

Happy Birthday Father-in-Law!

Generations Between Them

Neither Bo nor I have any living grandparents, but we joined a program through our church about a year ago called One Anothering where we are connected to some of Oakland Avenue Presbyterian's oldest members. We really enjoy our monthly visits with Mary - she's spunky, has a great sense of humor, and in a few short days she'll turn 98!  She has more energy than both of us combined and talks non-stop from the moment we enter her apartment until we leave.  Throughout my pregnancy, she kept saying that she couldn't wait to meet her great-grandchild.  When we visited on Saturday, we couldn't put McCord in her lap fast enough - you can see her excitement in the photo above as she cradled him in her 75 lb. body.  She spoke to McCord so endearingly, and I couldn't help but gaze in awe at these two little bodies.  She was born in 1912, and with McCord's birthday in 2010, there are generations between these two souls.  How different life was the year Mary was born: 

• 
  
  A loaf of bread cost $0.05, a gallon of milk $0.32
• 
  
  Life expectancy for women was 51 years and only 48 years for men!
• 
  
  The Titanic sank
• 
  
  New Mexico and Arizona became the 47th and 48th states admitted in US
• 
  
  Girl Scouts were founded in Savannah, GA, while women all across America were striving for equality
• 
  
  The average salary was $750
• 
  
  Lifesavers candy was invented
• 
  
  5th summer Olympics were held in Sweden
• 
  
  Frank Sinatra, Julia Child, Lady Bird Johnson, and Gene Kelly were born
• William Howard Taft was president

It makes me wonder about all of the things we will remember about 2010, the year McCord was born.  Each day, we are experiencing the history of our son. 

McCord is Two Months Old

... and smiling up a storm!

In this photo, McCord is dressed in hand-me-downs that used to be his Daddy's.  From the adorable romper to the shoes, he looks pretty pleased with himself!  Thank you GeeGee for saving these and sharing them with us!

Here's McCord with his maple at 2 months

... and some noteworthy things about being 2 months old:

• 
  
  For the past couple of nights, McCord has slept for 8 hour stretches!  We're so proud (and rested!)
• 
  
  His stubborn umbilical cord fell off at 6 weeks and we were finally able to give him a real bath - and he loves it!
• 
  
  McCord has been on a couple of road trips already - to Lexington and Aiken to visit family.  Fortunately slept while traveling to both places
• At his 2 month appointment, McCord measured in at 24 inches long (90th percentile!) and 11 lbs. 10 oz. (50th percentile)
• 
  
  McCord has recently discovered his vocal cords and has started having "conversations" with us - sometimes they last for 10 minutes and go something like this

McCord: Umm, mah mah wa wa!

Bo & Sara: Really?!!  I don't believe it!

McCord: Wa wa wa, mah! Bah bah wa wa ha?

Bo & Sara: Hum, I'm not sure about that. 

McCord: Wah, wah wah. { long pause } Mah!!!!

Bo & Sara: Tell me more...

McCord: Ummm, mah mah mah wa bah bah!

Bo & Sara: quickly scramble to grab the flip video to capture all of this so we can send it to the grandparents.  Then...

McCord: { Silence }

We love you more than you will ever know, McCord, and are so happy with our little family of three!