BLEUBIRD BLOG

GIFT GUIDE: FOR A FRIEND OR SISTER.

are you guys getting excited for the holidays? like last year, i will be posting a short series of holiday gift guides to help you pick the perfect gifts for some of the special people on your list. these are all great things for her, what ever her personality may be. she could be your very best friend, your roommate or your lovely sister.

no.01 / field notes. no.02 / claw ring. no.03 / dyed rope bracelet. no.04 / dolly print. no.05 / magis puppy. no.06 / spine bracelet. no.07 / classic baggu. no.08 / temporary tattoos.

*this gift guide was sponsored by fab. i chose all of the items from the fab holiday shop.

CONVERSATIONS WITH BIRDIE / EPISODE 01.

after the little video that i shared of birdie on thanksgiving, i had several requests from many of you for more. i take a lot of pictures, but not a lot of video footage, so this gave me the perfect excuse to do so. i decided to turn this into a new blog series called conversations with birdie. the series is mostly for myself because i don't want to forget all of the cute things she says and does, but also to share with long distance family and friends and of course all of you.

so here is my first conversation with birdie. oh, and as most of you know, we are potty training so i hope you don't mind the underpants. aaand just a little bragging on how potty training went today... birdie had one accident and seven successes!!! i am such a proud mama.

footnote: i will also share videos of the other kids from time to time, if and when they let me.

BIG GIRL UNDIES & MILK BUBBLES.

i have been prolonging "this day" for a very long time. "this day" being "potty training day." we have toyed with the idea a few times. we've gone out to buy potty seats, one for upstairs and one for downstairs and we have talked to birdie about how learning to use her little toilet will make her a big girl and fed her tales of how life will become somewhat like magic once she is out of diapers. (funny the things parents say to convince their children to agree with them.) we have had her sit on her potty chairs for long periods of time, introduced new "potty time only" books and have encouraged her to go with little potty songs and stories. yet after all of that, tomorrow comes and we put the potty training on pause because we've got a busy day ahead and then it's back to diapers and the very little progress and interest that we have made becomes a thing of the past.

well, today was the day. the day that i decided that i was ready to potty train birdie. we had a little pep-talk with her this morning while she was eating her eggs about our plan which involved going to target to pick out some big girl undies. she seemed to be entertained by the idea, so off we went. when faced with the giant wall of under things, she chose two different cartoon characters, hello kitty and justice league. how cool is this girl for wanting the "bat ones." two packs of undies and a cart full of needless target crap later, we went home with our two year old to start potty training. shortly after we walked in the door we removed her diaper, had her say "goodbye" and on went her new undies. she immediately wanted to sit on the potty and to our surprise she peed right off the bat. i thought to myself "hmmm, maybe this will be a breeze..."

she had five accidents today and two successes. i am proud of her. so proud that i fully supported her blowing milk bubbles and making a giant mess before bed in her awesome batman underoos.

THE CHRISTMAS TREE FARM.

i have always wanted to cut down our own christmas tree as opposed to going to one of the parking lots in town that are filled with pre-cut trees. not only did the idea of cutting down our own seem more memorable and fun, but also the lot trees that we have purchased over the years seem to be a little dry and expire quickly. cutting our own tree was something that i had wanted to do since i was a child and i had this beautifully painted picture in my head of how the event would unfold. with aubrey and the kids on board, we found a tree farm and planned to go sunday morning. i was stoked!

to be honest my picture couldn't have been more inaccurate. by the time we made it into the car to head out of town it was already thirty minutes past birdie's nap-time and we were entering into dangerous waters. there are times when postponing nap-time is no big deal but of course there are other times when scheduled naps are crucial. this was one of those times. within minutes of arriving to the farm birdie had her first meltdown. it involved forgetting one of her beloved stuffed kitty cats in the car, which we quickly fetched for her in hopes of brighter times ahead. but the one soon turned to many and we we quickly became "those parents" that had the screaming toddler making a scene in the middle of the christmas tree fields. as the day went on we were all frustrated, hot, hungry and exhausted. the good news is that we got what we came for, a freshly cut christmas tree. we also managed to get quite a few photos and we look surprisingly happy in them. on the way out we stopped by the tents for hot dogs and snow cones and frowns turned to smiles while jumping in the bouncy castle and braving the giant slide. it wasn't a complete bust, but next year we will be more prepared and will make sure that no naps are missed.