Monday, December 29, 2008

Maison's favorite way to top off the year? A new haircut. My favorite way to top off the year? Another Coco Bonbons give-away!

So, by the title of this blog you may have already guessed what I'm going to tell you about today. Oh yes, Maison got a hold of the scissors (she was supposed to be asleep) and she gave herself the "new do" you see in the pics. As you can see, she is quite pleased with herself. When she was discovered, we also saw purple hair on the floor..."Where is the pony?" I asked. We found the poor pony and saw that it too had been a victim and had the stub of a tail to prove it. Next, we found brown fur. "Where is the dog?" I asked. The big stuffed dog was found, his ears decidedly less shaggy than they were earlier that day. Well, by that point I could not stop laughing long enough to chide Maison too harshly. I mean, it was pretty darn funny, and hair will grow back. I still giggle thinking about it. Ah memories. (I apologize for the quality of the pics...I was laughing way too hard to worry about lighting, etc.) :-)


















As the second half of my blog title suggests, there is another Coco Bonbons give-away going on RIGHT NOW! Check out Jeri's Pink & Posh blog and enter to win the outfit of your choice from our website. Love it!

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Paisley Dresses!


Awwww!!! I just received this picture of two adorable happy kiddos wearing dresses from the Coco Bonbons Paisley collection. Thank you for sending this, Molly!

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

My Favorite Nephew


Okay, so he's my ONLY nephew, but none the less, he is such a cutie patutie!!! Check out Von in his Coco Bonbons holiday outfit! I squealed when I opened the email my sister sent me with this picture. He is quite possibly the cutest little boy ever. Okay, I'm biased, but you have to agree that he is very squeezable! :-) I'll see him next week and I am very excited about it! In fact, I am looking forward to seeing my whole family. My sisters live in another state so when we get together for the holidays we do a SNO night, or: "Sisters' Night Out." When my brother is in town (he is serving our country in Iraq right now), we have a "Siblings Night Out." I must say we are a very humorous bunch and we laugh until we can't laugh anymore when we are together. I am so glad we all get along and can enjoy spending time together. SNO next week! Woo hoo!

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

With all the hustle and bustle of the season, it is easy to lose sight of what is important in our life. It happens to the best of us. Last Thursday I was taking Maison's picture for our Christmas card (the first year I am even attempting this!), and I was not in the mood to play around. It was at the end of the day and I should have taken the picture a couple weeks before but couldn't because half the lights on our tree went out and I had been procrastinating fixing them. So, that night I took the ornaments and ribbon off, remove the old lights, replace them, put the ornaments and ribbon back up (on just half the tree...the top half...yeah...not fun) so I was feeling rushed and just wanted to get the picture taken after getting the whole light mess taken care of. Maison was so cooperative. She got in her Coco Bonbons holiday outfit and even let me put a headband on her! Then it was time to take the picture and here is where we started running into real trouble. Maison wanted Mommy in the picture too. Well, Mommy was not in any state to have a picture taken. I soon realized that I needed to relax and give in or she was not going to cooperate at all. Plus, I was missing the point of enjoying this time with my daughter. So, I quickly sat down with her and snapped a pic. We took the rest of the pictures without a hitch and got a really cute one to use for our card. It wasn't until that evening after I got Maison to bed that I downloaded the pictures and saw the picture of the two of us I had snapped so quickly. It is one of our best candid pictures to date. Figures. It's just another way for me to remind myself to slow down and enjoy the moment I'm in right now. Thank you my sweet girl.




Friday, December 12, 2008

Mom in the City does a Coco Bonbons give-away

Check out Kimberly, a Mom in The City, and her Coco Bonbons review/give-away!

Thursday, December 11, 2008

...and another Coco Bonbons give-away!

'Tis the Season! We want you to help you enjoy your holiday by helping out with your shopping. Coco Bonbons is participating in a few blog give-aways across the web. In addition to Diana's site mentioned in my previous blog today, visit Kelly's site right now to enter for an outfit as well! Have fun!

One of MY favorite things...

Check out these cutie-patuties in their Coco Bonbons outfits! I love seeing other people's children enjoying our clothes as much as we do.

Addison looking adorable in her Penguin outfit. How cute is she?!
Briley and Brynna look as sweet as can be in the Candy collection...so precious











Send me your pics of your little ones in our outfits and they just might be featured right here!

Check out the awesome give-away!

Check out Diana's post! She is doing an awesome Coco Bonbons give-away.

Monday, December 8, 2008

My favorite fashionista!


My daughter picked out this outfit on her own. I have to admit that I would have never thought to pair the vest with the dress, but it totally works, don't you think?! My little fashionista. :-)



Now, down to business...Check out the new blog design!!! Thanks, Diana! http://customblogdesigns.blogspot.com/




Be on the look-out for an awesome Spring give-away. Until then, watch for Coco Bonbons give-aways on other blogs. I will let you know what links to check out as they happen!

Friday, December 5, 2008

Favorite Friday Night Tradition

This week has been a hectic one. A lot of running here and there. So, it's Friday, and Maison and I are going to do one of our favorite "Friday night things." Movie night! We'll go to the movie store and Maision will pick out a couple movies and we'll eat dinner then make popcorn and snuggle on the couch. I'm thinking a nice fire is in order as well... What is your family's favorite Friday night tradition?

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Maison's Favorite Color

Maison's favorite color changes about every week. It was pink for a while, then she would choose two favorite colors: pink and red, blue and red, pink and white and so on. Right now she says her favorite color is orange because her Daddy's favorite color is orange. For a while she wouldn't let people choose the same color. If I said my favorite color was blue, no one else that she asked could say blue. Then she started labeling colors male or female; "pink is for girls" she'd say. There is so much more going on here than her choosing a favorite color. She is interacting with people, creating bonds or trying to be accepted by saying she likes the same thing, or asking what someone else's favorite color is and comparing that answer with hers. Now when Maison asks me that question, I say "I like so many colors I don't really have a favorite." I tell her it's okay to like more than one color. The reason I said that is because she started saying things like "Megan* (*names have been changed) is not my best friend today because Susie* is. I want her to know it is okay to have more than one friend. Does your child have a favorite color?

Monday, December 1, 2008

Favorite Time of the Year

Okay, so maybe I get a little more excited about Christmas than Maison, but she is pretty darn excited about the whole getting presents and seeing her cousins thing! Maison doesn't necessarily have a favorite cousin (...or does she Haley???), but she does have 2 new cousins this year and we are both super excited about them both! Baby Von was born in May and Baby Ellison was born yesterday!!! Congratulations Ipedub!



















Von, me and Maison.........................................................Ellison


Thanksgiving is over, the turkey was fabulous, and now it's time to get that Christmas music playing!!! What is your favorite part of the holiday season? I love spending time with family and friends. It's a time of year to build wonderful memories with my daughter and form our own traditions. Maison's favorite thing to do right now is watch all the old Christmas movies. Every day we watch all or some of the classics: "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer," "The Little Drummer Boy," "Frosty the Snowman," and "Santa Claus is Coming to Town." I love that she enjoys these. What kinds of traditions are you establishing with your little ones?

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Maison's favorite bear

When Maison was younger she could not pronounce the name of one of my closest friends. Her name is Yvonne, Aunt Yvonne to Maison. Maison tried and tried and finally settled on calling her Ipedub (all vowel sounds are short). As you can guess, the name has stuck and Aunt Yvonne won't respond to anything but the name of Ipedub in Maison's presence. Maison even started saying "Aunt Yvonne" one day and stopped and called her Ipedub...funny! Maison's Ipedub is the "cool Aunt" who always seems to pick things up for Maison when she is out or gives her the slightly used but still stylish purse she doesn't need anymore. This past Sunday Ipedub gave Maison the cutest bear/doll that has a plaid dress on, patent leather boots, and a purse to match. I went to check on Maison before going to bed last night and came upon the cutest sight of her holding her precious bear while she lay fast asleep. I do believe we have a new favorite toy. :-)

Monday, November 24, 2008

Maison's Favorite Snack

It has become a habit that every time we go somewhere Maison wants to take a snack to eat on the way. I don't really mind this for a few reasons: 1)in the morning it's how I make sure she eats a decent amount of food for breakfast, 2)when I pick her up from daycare (armed with a snack) it tides her over until dinner is ready, and possibly the best reason 3)it's a good habit to eat a lot of little meals throughout the day to keep your metabolism going. This particular rainy morning (see Maison's raingear in the pic on the left) the snack was the remaining egg cheese she didn't quite finish at breakfast and her current favorite--Batman "fruit" snacks. Of course, she does not get these all the time, but when given the choice, that is what she wants. She looks at each shape and tells me what it is: "This is Batman's car Mommy!" "You're right, it's the Batmobile," I say. The Joker shape starts a conversation about how she doesn't like the joker, but she does like Dora and Hello Kitty. I can see the wheels in her head turning as she looks at each shape.

Maison is always thinking. We decorated the house and put up our Christmas tree yesterday. Maison asked me a few times why we were putting the tree up already. I explained that Christmas is coming soon and this way we can enjoy the decorations for a while. That answer seemed to satisfy her, but when it was time for bed last night I could tell she had something on her mind, that intent thinking look on her face again, so I asked her what she was thinking about. She again asked why we already put up the Christmas tree. If you have a toddler, you know it's very difficult for him/her to understand the concept of time. Everything that has already happened was "yesterday," and anything past tomorrow is tough to explain. Maison knows it is not Christmas yet, so it was hard for her to understand why we decorated before the actual day. It's so neat to see her learning something new. Understanding time and learning how it relates to her day is a biggie. How do you explain time and upcoming events to your little one?

Friday, November 21, 2008

Maison's favorite outfit

I should tell you that I am one of the luckiest Moms around. Not only because of my wonderful little girl, but also because I work for a fabulous children's wear company called Coco Bonbons! That's right. Feel free to be jealous. :-) If you've seen the designs for this Fall then I don't have to tell you how much fun I've been having dressing Maison ever since we started feeling a chill in the air. One of Maison's favorite outfits to wear is from the Cat collection. Check out the pictures to the right. Every time we go somewhere and she is wearing Coco Bonbons she gets so many oohs and aahs. You can see the designs for yourself at http://www.cocobonbons.com/.

Maison is definitely a girly girl. When given the choice between pants and a dress, she always chooses a dress. (And oh yes...there is a Cat dress and matching tights too!) Does your little girl prefer dresses or pants? Does she have a favorite outfit she wants to wear everyday? Maison has to wear a uniform to pre-school every day except Friday, so I think that's why she likes to dress up when she's out of uniform. It's interesting to see what she picks out to wear. She loves having a choice and some control over what she is wearing. She's already becoming so independent which is awesome because it will help her as she continues to grow, but it can be challenging at times too. Teaching independence and respect for others is difficult, but so far she is such a fun person to be around. Please tell me about your little one too! Is he/she an independent fashion maven too?