Thank You, Nordstrom...

...for the Women's Lounge and Mother's Room at the Cherry Hill Mall in Cherry Hill, NJ. It made an evening of holiday shopping with me, my husband, and my son, as convenient as possible for a breastfeeding new mommy.



Southern New Jersey Moms, check this out in a youtube special from ByMomsForMoms here.

---

And thanks, Target, for having huge carts that fit my baby's carrier safely in the back of it, as well as dressing rooms with super fat plastic benches that made feeding Gabe possible on a day of interview and shopping mayhem with my Mom.

For the record, it was really awesome watching Gabriel coo in awe as we strolled through the mall and walked through Target over the past few days. My little man is so much more alert, and he is soaking in the world. This was confirmed when he started talking to (my parents' -- we will not be in our condo until Sunday at least-- arrrgh) Christmas tree.

...
In other news, Gabe changed his entire grumpy late afternoon attitude yesterday when his Daddy got home from work. He looked up when he heard his Dad's voice in the room, turned toward him, and immediately stopped crying. In his sudden quiet alertness, he shifted to small smiles, realizing his hero was in da house. It was awesome.

Christmas Sneak Peek

Well, Gabe is still a wee lad of under 2 months so I am not too worried about him seeing my blog and having his Christmas spoiled so I figured I would share with you his "Top 3 Gifts." To give you an idea of what my husband and I decided to do for the little man this Christmas, we decided to build his library with books, and Santa will be giving him some Dr. Seuss among other favorites. Santa is also stuffing his stocking with little must-haves-not-already-had such as MAM pacifier holders and some more of Gabe's favorite butt paste. We're not spending more than $100 this Christmas on him, and I think we came to a total around $80, which, for a newborn, seems just fine to me.

Gift #1. Sassy Me In The Mirror (Santa's "big" gift)

First of all, he needed something for his crib that can entertain him and stimulate his senses. I was pretty disgruntled with the cost of most crib "soothers," as they are called. For the money ($35-$70), a little light up aquarium with mini sparkly fishies seemed really lame. My Mom swears by mirrors for little ones; it makes sense-- babies can see themselves, smile, coo, and watch their little lips move in a mirror. Bonus: Sassy makes a mirror that doubles as a tummy-time toy... you can lean it on the ground for little one to explore his face, too!



Gift #2. from the Urban Babies Wear Black Series:
Urban Babies Wear Black
Eco Babies Wear Green
Foodie Babies Wear Bibs
(Mommy and Daddy's "big" gift)



The cutest damn board books you will ever read or discover. Hell, I would put them on my coffee table even if I didn't have a 7-week-old. The text is hilarious, clever, and adorable, but when paired with the books' satirically-cute illustrations, I would suffice to call the series "genius." I highly encourage you to find them and enjoy them for yourself. The series consists of the three my husband and I are giving Gabe, as well as a book about Rocker Babies, Jet Set Babies, Country Babies, and Winter Babies, etc.








Gift #3. Babylegs
Union Jack, Yellow Dots


So I caved and bought babylegs. For my baby BOY. Go ahead and say they are a waste of money because they can be homemade, but I got a buy one/get one/free shipping deal, and it seemed worth it to me. And for those that say these little leg warmers are not for little boys, let me just say this: Gabe is a BABY. He will look AWESOME.





---
BONUS SHARE
Gift from Mom-Mom and Grandad
a.k.a. Gabe is already spoiled, and it's wonderful.

Evenflo Triple Fun Jungle ExerSaucer

Lucky guy. It starts as a playmat, converts to a stationary play seat with incredibly colorful and interesting jungle creatures, and then forms into some sort of curvy amusement station for toddlers. I can't wait to watch Gabe's bright eyes look up at the rainforest on Christmas day!

Feeling Ornamental

Gabriel's First Christmas Ornament is here! And we just love it.

I found it on Department 56's website, and it was sold out almost everywhere I looked, online or in stores. Luckily, Boscov's internet store had it in stock (and on sale), and it got here in time for Gabe's very first Christmas!

Here it is:


Full Price: $12.50 new

I went food shopping.

Last weekend. I fed Gabriel, left him home to hang with his Daddy, and I went to Shop Rite. I looked like hell in an over-sized Gap sweatshirt, whoever-knows-what hair, and eyes that screamed sleep deprivation, but WOW, it was a great experience to be out in the world.

I never enjoyed picking out a package of tilapia so much, and I never rushed food shopping so much. The entire time I thought about Gabriel and worried he was crying horribly for his exhausted full-time working/part-time grad school-going Dad (who had paper upon paper to write). So yes, I called while I shopped to make sure all was well. And little Gabriel slept the whole time I was gone. When I got home, I saw the most precious thing...

My husband sitting in his office chair with Gabriel swaddled up in his arms, my husband just staring down at his baby with total amazement and happiness.

That shopping trip was totally worth it!