Keep Those Comments Coming. . .

I want to thank the four of you who have commented on my last post.

Kristen, Alison and Sheils, I have sent you each an e-mail from thethreebeansalad@gmail.com with your Shutterfly 10% off code.

People--you still have time to comment and be in the running for a set of FREE 10 5x7 flat stationary cards from Shutterfly.

Just comment on the post below by Wednesday, October 6th and you will automatically be entered to win!

Shutterfly Giveaway: Stationary

I used Shutterfly this year for the birthday invitations to both the Ladies parties and was really pleased. For the Little Lady, I did a collage of photos from her first year. For the Lady, well, it was a Princess Party, so I used one of their princess-themed invites. In both cases the result was great.

I also created a thank you card for the Little Lady. Again, super cute, mostly due to the awww factor of the Little Lady, but also because of the great selection of thank you cards that could be personalized any way I wanted.

I'm planning on doing a thank you for the Lady too, it's just a matter of choosing which photos I want to include. I am certainly including one of her big cake smile.

I know this might sound ridiculous, but I already have four different versions of our Christmas photo cards saved. I haven't decided which to use mostly because I was waiting to see if we would take another family portrait--the one we took in Disney is great of the Ladies and my hubby, but I have a double chin and look crazed--or if I would just use photos of the Ladies from the last couple of months. All versions are waiting in my saved projects, too many great designs to choose from!

The Holiday designs are definitely worth seeing. From Halloween invitations through the craziest of December's there is something for everyone. Plus, Shutterfly usually runs great deals including discount codes and free shipping.

Don't forget to leave a comment. The first three comments will receive a 10% off coupon for their entire order (until November 3rd) and all comments will be entered to win a giveaway of 10 FREE 5x7 flat stationary cards (until December 31) provided by Shutterfly. Winners will be announced soon!

Can't a Girl Get a Comment? There's Something in it for You!

I am a little disappointed in you my dear readers. Last week I blogged about my Shutterfly photo book experience and let you know that the first three readers to comment would be given a 10% off code to put towards their next Shutterfly order. All you had to do was leave one little comment.

What does a girl have to do to get some comments on this blog?

I guess I have to do another Shutterfly giveaway!

Not only will the first three comments still get you the 10% off code (good until November 3), anyone who comments will be placed in a drawing to receive 10 FREE 5x7 stationary cards! (S&H not included) There will be three winners chosen. As you budget conscious people and money saving moms out there know,  FREE is a great word to see.

So, we will try again.

"These are memories people!"

Anyone who can tell me the movie that quote came from, won't get anything extra, but will win a special place in my heart.

Look for the posting later today about Shutterfly stationary and leave me a comment. No need to wax poetic about your photography skills or what photo projects you are working on, just leave a quick note to say hi. I will be looking forward to it.

love and kisses,

Bean

Some Pics from the Princess Party



Waiting for the Cake



Loving them!

Ariel

Sleeping Beauty

Pretty, Pretty Princess

The Lady Turns Three!

Happy! Happy! Happy! The Lady turns 3!

It seems like it was just yesterday that she was turning one.

I am grateful for her everyday in my life and grateful for those of you who have been following our adventures on this blog.

I am happy to report she had a great morning at school. I brought in some mini-brownies topped in pink icing and some star sprinkles. They were a big hit. I have to say she was super cute in her homemade crown and was glad to be there with her to celebrate.

Pics and post of the Princess Party to come.

Guest Blog: Making Mom Friends

I want to introduce a good friend and a faithful Three Bean Salad reader, Kristen, as she posts her first guest blog. I have been talking a lot lately about trying to fit in, meet new people at the Lady's school and trying to overcome my own anxiety about being in situations where you have to interact with strangers. I am currently dreading my Ladies Night Out with the other moms from the Lady's class, not because any of them have been anything but incredibly nice and inclusive, but because I don't thrive in situations that I am unsure of and quite frankly feel like I am an outsider. The Lady, however, announced today that she has new friends and proceeded to list everyone in her class.

Kristen, has a similar but in many ways much more difficult situation to deal with. Not only does she have to go out and meet all new moms (in three classes no less!) but she is also trying to meet new friends in a new place, without the support of other friends (geographically speaking--she certainly has support from me!)

Oh, BTW. . . CNY to any of you whose brother didn't go to Colgate or aren't a friend of someone who lives "upstate" in New York means Central New York.

Here is her story.

Making Mom Friends
Having (very) recently moved from a small rural town in CNY to a suburb of Nashville, it is an understatement to say that it is a bit of an adjustment. Moving in general is hard work – the cleaning out, the packing up, the unpacking, setting up a house, new doctors, new schools, finding your way to the grocery store – you get the picture! While all of this can be trying, I am suffering the most when it comes to the fact that I have no friends here. Having left a supportive community where I had wonderful friends, I am really feeling the loss.

Not being one to sit around, I sent my two older daughters off to 1^st and 2^nd grade respectively and jumped right in to activity finding/doing mode with my 3 year old daughter. I started on the Internet looking for “meet-up” moms’ groups -  I signed up for one only to be told I was on a waiting list as the group was currently filled. It is a group that is meant for meeting other people – I am not sure how they can turn people away, who must clearly be in need if they are putting themselves out there and signing up but who am I to judge – well, let me not speak so soon!

Next I try a story time at a (large chain) bookstore. It was very crowded and almost not worth the time it took us to get ready and get there since the stories lasted all of ten minutes. We were surrounded by many children and moms so I hoped for the best as my daughter headed for the train table to play once the stories were over. There was not much conversation for me to engage in and after a while, we left for home. Feeling disappointed and thinking that if I went back again, I may find myself turning to someone out of desperation and begging them to talk to me!

I decided to try the local library. We headed to library story time and found a lot of children and moms. While it was very crowded, it was a much better story time with a theme and songs followed by a craft. My daughter loved it and I was pretty happy that we made the effort to go. As we headed out of the story room, I was hopeful of having an adult conversation as my daughter headed to the computers to play a game. As my daughter donned the headphones, I smiled at the woman standing next to me who had a headphone clad child sitting in front of her as well. The woman did smile back but then proceeded to click away on her blackberry – she did not look up once in the time that the children were on the computers – maybe 20 minutes. In the age of technology, how am I supposed to make new friends? Maybe I can get someone’s number and text them while we stand right next to each other?!

Bean Says. . . (more, of course)

First of all, thank you for guest blogging. Second of all, all those blackberry addicted moms are missing out on an incredible friend and third of all, I think that this is confirmation that the story time at Barnes and Noble is no good. Check out a very early Three Bean for a similar experience.  Finally, I think that meeting new mom friends is harder than dating (which I know nothing about, having met my husband in high school and "dating" him from the end of college), but I think that the fear of rejection probably stings just as hard. I give you a lot of credit for making the efforts that you have. If worse comes to worse, start stalking Nicole Kidman or any other celeb living in the Nashville area! Love you. Thanks so much for doing this and good luck with all your Southern adventures. You are welcome to blog about them here anytime.

So the Second Child

The Little Lady is a force to be reckoned with. She is very clear about her wants and needs, has no problems grabbing a toy from a hand, throwing her body around like a weapon and clearly articulating who she wants to come and get her--Mom! Momma! Mommy! (Although, I will admit that I think she uses a combination of these words in reference to any adult including my husband, my sister, my mother and our sitter.)

She also is a bit more active then her older sister and a bit more of a risk taker.

Sure, Little Lady, stand up in the middle of the couch and throw your body backwards, I am sure you won't fall. Climb up into your sister's booster seat (when she is taking a nap or otherwise out of the room) sit in it and demand all her toys (can you say porcelain tea set and washable markers?) with a point of your finger and a high-pitch grunt.

I am imagining stitches with this kid. A lot of stitches.

In the last two days she has:

• 
  
  Fallen off the bed (totally my fault)
• 
  
  Gotten a bloody nose (not my fault) and then proceeded to crawl all over my white down comforter with said bloody nose (probably my fault)
• Climbed naked on the couch and peed (I should have been quicker with the diaper, but wanted to get her off the white comforter in my room after said bloody nose incident, so decided to move her to the white couch. She is just so darn quick! Thank goodness for big pillows)
• 
  
  Flushed the toilet in the range of 15-25 times while I am trying to do other things (in my defense our bathroom door doesn't shut properly and it is easy to get into)
• 
  
  Removed a steak knife from the dishwasher while I was trying to empty it (note to self, remove silverware from dishwasher first. . .)
• 
  
  Eaten a K-cup of coffee grounds

Yes, a K-cup as seen above. She and her sister were playing with the bowls and Tupperware in the cabinets, which I do allow as long as nothing is breakable, and they happened upon a Ziploc baggie of Colombian Fair Trade Select K-cups, The Lady opened it to use the cups as wheels in the "car" she was making out of bowls and Kitchen-Aid Mixer parts and the Little Lady took a cup bit into it, then continued to bite into it. She didn't actually ingest a lot as far as I could tell, I was pretty quick to address the situation, but what was so interesting about it was that she didn't seem to have a problem with the grounds in her mouth or the taste.

Let's be honest here, the last thing this kid needs is caffeine, she will have one leg over the gate and be sliding down the bannister's soon!

Oh, Little Lady. . .

Shutterfly Savings and Super Cute Photo Books

It is no secret that I love to take photos. Most of you readers have seen pics of the Ladies over the last two years from their first day. . .

The Little Lady

to their first day of school. . .

The Lady



I try to be quick to post these pics, either on facebook or on the blog. I also try to share as many photos as I can with friends and family. As much as I enjoy about having a physical photo in my hand, I have noticed that as I take more and more pics they aren't displayed or looked at as frequently as I might like.

In the past year I have used Shutterfly to create not only a family share site, which sends out a monthly (or weekly--depending on your settings) e-mail to friends and family with a link to my own web page of photos, but have also transitioned from just ordering prints to ordering photo books. 

I have to say that the photo book I made this summer with the pics from the beach house turned out amazing. I picked the best photos of all the kids and combined them into one beautiful book. I made a copy to leave at the beach house and am hoping that this will be the first of many books that chronicle the adventures of the Ladies and their cousins over the next 10 or 15 or 20 summers.

I also made a photo book for my in-laws (and a copy for us) with all our Disney photos. The best part about it is that Shutterfly is pretty good about running deals and I got two photo books (with 50 extra pages) that would have retailed for $94 each for $103--TOTAL!!

If you are quick you can still use their free shipping code SHIP30 and the code BOOK29 (which ends tomorrow) to put towards a photo book. What is even better is that you can use their Simple Path photo book maker and the book is basically put together for you. Plus all their photo books are 30% off right now.

I know that most people probably don't get as excited over photo books as I do, but to the first three readers who comment about what their next photo book will be about I will send you a code for 10% off your next Shutterfly purchase through November 3rd.

Happy Photo Taking!

love, Bean

A Few Things. . .

Snack Time

After passing by a large Oreo display while grocery shopping yesterday, the Lady asked for "oretos," which I can only imagine is a cross between Oreos and Doritos. I am pretty sure if that existed, it would be my husband's favorite snack. He is both an Oreo and a Doritos lover.

The "faux nacho-cheese chip" as they say, has not fallen so far from the bright orange bag, as illustrated by the Little Lady.



TV Time

Set the DVRs my friends the Biggest Loser has returned! Hopefully, I will not be sitting in front of the TV tonight with a bowl of peanut M&M's even though my husband bought two 56oz bags from Costco.

I, of course won't start watching until after Glee, but as long as the Ladies are in their beds on time tonight, momma has some TV time to herself!

Nursery School: Day 3

Well, our morning was a little hectic. The Ladies didn't get up until 8, so our laid-back morning routine was kind of rushed.

The Lady, refused to get dressed, ate only a cheese stick for breakfast and hid under her assorted blankets for about 10 minutes.

Luckily, when the sitter came she was able to convince the Lady to put on her clothes, while I shoved her feet in socks, finished faxing some of my work, and tried to ignore the Little Lady who was crying for me.

We did make it to school on time, but the Lady was a bit clingy. Luckily, it was another little girl's birthday today and one of the Lady's teachers was able to distract her by asking her if she wanted to see the cupcakes they were going to have.

Bless you, Mrs. McMasters. Bless you. Not only was I able to leave the classroom, you knew the exact magic to use to distract the Lady. If there is one thing in this world she loves, and one thing in this world that reminds me that this kid has to be mine--it is her love of cupcakes.

I am off to pick her up, grateful that the first week of school has come to a close and hoping that next week will be a little bit easier.

A few things. . .

Belated B-Day Wishes

I feel like this week is going by incredibly slow, even though we have been super busy and trying to keep on a schedule.

I didn't want the week to end without giving some (belated) birthday wishes to two recently-turned-3-year-old's!

Last weekend was the Big 3 for the Bunny and the Littlest Lady (who is now a Southern Belle). Happy! Happy! to you both. We hope you both had a great day.

TV Time

The new fall season is starting up and I am in a bit of a panic mode. Will I have time to watch anything? The last few weeks have been jam packed and quite honestly, the Ladies haven't been that great about bedtime. Well, let me clarify that, the Lady hasn't been that great about bedtime, which has in turn woken up the the Little Lady more than once. I am finding that by the time I get a chance to sit down and relax it is usually almost 10 o'clock.

I have great faith in my dual room-records up to three shows at a time-DVR. I just have to figure out the line up and settle in for some much needed TV-time. Oh, Bones. . .how I have missed you.

Run. Run. Run.

I am happy to report that my return to running is going pretty well. I am working up to longer runs (but still am painfully slow) and have signed up for a 10k in October. I am trying to set little goals each week, and although the scale hasn't changed much, my clothes are fitting a bit better.  

Just Because. . .

The Little Lady has had so many photos taken of her this past year, she has adopted a "photo face." While, her mother is queen of the fake smile, the Little Lady has become princess of the face pucker.

I really believe she thinks this is what you should look like in pictures.This is not her real smile, but a scrunchy face that she puts on when I whip the camera out.

She is freakin' cute though!

A Few More Firsts

The Lady started soccer on Saturday. I signed her up for the "thumpers" class because the description said between 24 and 35 months, for first time players and it had parent participation. However, it soon became obvious that the Lady was a little too old for this class. There was a lot of high-fives given between her and her dad, but in terms of any real soccer playing there was not much.

On the recommendation of the coach, we bumped her up to the next level "hoppers." I am hoping that this is more her speed. Actually, I am just hoping for an hour where she can run and kick and get a wee bit of her energy out.

Finally, The First Day!!!

The Lady, wearing pants--pants!!!!!

Getting excited for school!

Outside of school on the first day!

Well the first day is over with. It was pretty smooth sailing on the Lady's part. We walked into the classroom, and while I signed her in the teacher distracted her with stickers and I left. No tears on her part. Very few tears on my part. I got a little misty eyed as I drove away, but was happy that she was starting something new.

I will say that yesterday's meet and greet with the teacher, was a good thing. We got to see the classroom and twice the Lady told me "I love school." We will see if this attitude and the pants wearing continues. . .

Pre-Preschool Prep

I am still counting down the days until the Lady actually starts pre-school.

Today we went to a playground playdate to meet the other kids in the am 3's class. Turns out that there are three am classes, based on when you were born in the year.

It also turns out that even though the Lady was "buddied" up with two girls--one of them we already had a playdate with, and who the Lady played with exclusively this morning--that said "buddies" aren't actually in her class. Apparently the Lady is in the middle 3's class and these girls are in the younger 3's class, even though their birthday's are within a few days/weeks of each other.

Ugh. At least I met two moms and they will be going to some of the same things as I am, like tonight's Parent Orientation. I don't want to go alone. Had my husband not gotten home last night at 1:30 am from California, I would have made him come with me. Or had his late night been due to Fantasy Football, like it was last week--I would have insisted. But I think he might have the harder time putting the Ladies to bed, than I will nodding politely and touring a nursery school.

BTW. . . I think I was the fattest mom at the playground. Good thing I have started running again. Every little mile will help.

So, to recap:

This morning: Playground playdate
Tonight: Parent Orientation
Tomorrow morning: Playdate with our two "buddies" who will not even be in our class
Monday morning: Meet the teacher, tour the classroom for an hour
Tuesday morning: Finally. Finally. Finally--the first day of school.

Happy Birthday to The Wild Woman

Happy 1st Birthday Wild Woman!!

We love you!

The Little Ladies in matching pjs!