Weekly Randoms (10/15-10/19)

etnyah

A friend of mine works for Cuddle + Kind, and she's sending me a doll! Those things are EXPENSIVE and I'd never pay that much for a toy myself, but as a gift? Yes please! 

megpants209

@grebretso... what is that? 

etnyah

@megpants209 Super cute dolls! I think I'm going for Scout the deer. https://cuddleandkind.com/collections/hand-knit-dolls

megpants209

@grebretso those ARE cute!! And expensive... whoa! 

lzzfrancisco

@grebretso the little lamb though!! 
DD got a princess fox as a gift at her first birthday. Shortly after we started getting "talked" to at daycare for her saying fuck all the time. It took about 3 weeks to realize she hadn't master the x sound. She could do K sound singular, not plural. She was telling everyone about her toy "fok." We had to put princess fox away and bought a set of blocks to help her practice! Lol

etnyah

That's hilarious @lzzfrancisco! Poor little fok, lol.

hnbergeron

@hannahbananas11 zuppe tuscona was the first I did and heck yeah we'll make it again!

notthecheat

Feel better @kayjay44 that sounds horrid

notthecheat

Maybe a week ago there were people on here saying they ought to participate more. Add me to the list. I definitely try to read and keep up and add my love tits but for some reason I hardly ever know what to say. Maybe because I always catch up at night when it's dead. I feel like everything has already been said and dealt with so I feel like me chiming in all late and wrong is a little awkward. And the less I participate the more awkward I feel like it is to say something so it's like a vicious cycle. I'm naturally an awkward introvert so I'm sure that plays in as well. Just wanted to say I might be quiet but I'm here and I'm trying and I appreciate being a part of this group so thanks for having me. There are a lot of awesome ladies on here. 

sjnsjnsjn

@notthecheat- Half the time I am up in the middle of the night so chime away!!

Wish me luck.  I'm getting up to get this little crew out the door, to O'Hare, and to NYC without too many toddler tantrums.
also, @danixbanani24 and anyone else in NYC/Brooklyn, if you have ideas for good stuff to do there with tots, please let me know! When I lived there, that was about as opposite from my lifestyle as there is...

disneybaby84

whoever was talking gender neutral clothes, target has a lot of sheep pjs and onesies

etnyah

I was halfway to work this morning when I realized my wardrobe mistake. Whoops! That’s what I get for snoozing for 30 minutes and getting dressed in the dark. Pregnancy brain is real.

danixbanani24

@hannahbananas11 that was meeee with the zuppe toscana IP recipe!  It's delish but I cut the heavy cream in half because it was just way too much.  Let me know how it turned out!

@sjnsjnsjn - Brooklyn-wise, there's the children's museum and the botanical gardens is doing some Fall thing (check the dates maybe).  Down by Dumbo there's the Brooklyn Bridge Park - also having a harvest fest this weekend.  And if you feel like traveling out to Coney Island I know that Luna Park and Nelly Bly are doing fall weekend things as well Hopefully the weather cooperates!  You're coming in this weekend right?

hannahbananas11

@danixbanani24 It was so good! I cut the cream in half, too, and I added an extra cup of stock and extra kale. I'm excited about having the leftovers for lunch! Next time I make it, I'm going to remember to pick up some crusty bread to have with it, too.

cmjenkies

@danixbanani24 @hannahbananas11 meanwhile we added extra cream 

Mostly so I could just use the whole carton and throw it away 

danixbanani24

@hannahbananas11 crusty bread makes it that much better!  yum!

@cmjenkies hey, some people love the extra creaminess!  

BourbonBiscuits

Has anyone thought about Halloween costumes yet? We (DH and I) don't dress up to take DS trick or treating, but I always do at work (I work in a middle school). DS is being Woody this year and I think I'm going really basic and gonna be an avocado. So boring.

sjnsjnsjn

@danixbanani24- Thanks! Yes we are here now. I already wanted to take the fam to BB Park where I used to play soccer on the pier, and I am excited they are having a harvest fest. Thx for the great ideas!

bww_0331

@BourbonBiscuits we don’t dress up either, but DS is going to be Elliott from ET and maybe Harry Potter in a hogwarts cardigan. 

danixbanani24

@sjnsjnsjn yay! have fun!

@BourbonBiscuits we don't usually dress up either but this year since we are going to Disney and doing the Not So Scary Halloween party, we all have Nightmare Before Xmas shirts because that is DS's favorite.  I'll probably wear it again on the day of actual Halloween even though DS is going as a robot (his current obsession) LOL

hannahbananas11

@bww_0331 Your little countdown thing is making me crave Chipotle! I was totally content with having leftovers for dinner until I saw your post. Now only Chipotle will do.

madreofdragons

So I just saw the actress Jenna Malone at a children’s museum. Her kid threw a fit about sharing. Sounds about right.

ohsunnydays

@grebretso I put my underwear inside out the other day!!! Didn’t notice until the evening... 

bellebaby221

I'm currently washing my 4th set of bedding this week. Going to take kitty to the vet tomorrow to see if there is anything we can do to fix him. 

okayestmom12

I’ve been crazy busy with my two bigs for the last two days and out of touch... I’m looking forward to a low key down home with DS tomorrow. 

@kayjay44 - how are you feeling today? 

Zuppa Toscana in the IP is life. 

@BourbonBiscuits - We did a Game of Thrones thing for a party last weekend (I was the Mother of Dragons w/ a dragon egg on my bump). My kids have other costumes for actual Halloween (Wonded Woman & Flash!) and I have a Frankenstein in my belly skeleton shirt (thank you Amazon). 

I got lots lots and lots of giggles and compliments on this shirt I wore yesterday... 

megpants209

@BourbonBiscuits I REALLY wanted to dress up as June/Offred from The Handmaids Tale but I think I’m running out of time to get the costume. I also only want to do it if I can go to a costume contest somewhere and I haven’t found that either... 

bww_0331

@hannahbananas11 the ticker changes always make me crave something!!

disneybaby84

DS is Prince Charming. I have a pregnant lady Minnie mouse shirt, i’ll wear some Minnie Mouse ears to go with it.

notthecheat

@BourbonBiscuits DD (almost 5) is so excited to be Violet Parr (the Incredibles). Up until last year, DH and I would dress up along with DD and it would be easy to do a group theme with her choice this year but we grew too poor and exhausted I guess lol

@madreofdragons love jena Malone! That's too funny

bww_0331

My dog woke me up 4x in the night. Wtf. I have several months before I need prepared for a newborn again, thanks. 

sjnsjnsjn

A friend has a chewbacca costume the right size for DS and also has a Queen amidala costume, so we're borrowing those and my SO got an Obi Wan costume.  

hnbergeron

Originally I was suppose to be a cow but decided against it. I am now going to be a "panther" got tale ears and paws. Wearing my black carolina panther shirt to complete it. Hubby will be one of the guys from the show Rick and Morty. I don't know which one or details because I never watch the show but he is super excited

becks_726

One of my front page 'articles' was about estate planning and wow I feel dumb. I had thought about life insurance but not guardianship... How is everyone handling that? And is there anything else in that realm that I should be planning for? 

megpants209

@becks_726 estate/future planning is a weirdly fun topic for me...  we had guardianship identified in our wills before getting pregnant bc you can do some minor future planning but we are changing it (currently it’s my parents but they moved 5 states away and refuse to move back, they are also obviously aging). 

Guardianship for LO will be very close friends of ours who are a bit older and whose kids have both moved out. For us it came down to: trust (obviously most important), upbringing style and area (if we die our kids are not to be moved). We’ll have someone else manage finances for the kids until they are out of college. 

Do you have advanced directives? Updated beneficiaries? My husband deals with sudden death a lot and you’d be shocked how often couples are married for many years, have kids but the beneficiary is still parents or a first spouse and that does NOT go well. 

becks_726

@megpants209 you are on the ball! I should obviously be putting more thought in to this...
I'm curious as to why you feel strongly about not moving your kids if you die. That's absolutely inevitable for us but it wasn't something I worried about.

megpants209

@becks_726 only because the loss of 2 parents would be traumatic enough without having to uproot everything else they know and their routines. I’d want to be able to keep as much consistency as possible so that even if they weren’t in the same house, they’d be in the same area with all their other supports. For a lot of people it’s not possible so I wouldn’t put it high on your list of concerns, it just is for me  

bellebaby221

@becks_726
We did ours when our twins were young and we were planning to travel. We suddenly came to the realization that if the plane went down our boys wouldn't have parents. Thankfully my brother is only 2.5 years younger than me (DH is an only child) and he has kids around their age too. So we got together with an attorney and he asked us all the questions and then created all the documents we would need. Everything we wrote up takes into account if something happens to just one of us and also if it's both of us. We did our wills, power of attorney, medical power of attorney, etc. And the attorney wrote everything to cover all living children so we wouldn't have to amend it if we had additional children, which we did. We even set it up so that if the kids are under 25 everything goes into a trust. They personally can't access the money until the age of 25 and my brother can use it for their care, education, etc.
I highly recommend finding a qualified estate attorney. It might cost some money but it's worth it to know it's right and written according to the laws of your state. 

allthingsgo

@becks_726 I feel similarly to @megpants209 in that I want my kids to stay in the same area if possible as losing both parents would be traumatic enough. I have plenty of family nearby though so that makes that choice a bit easier. But I can understand if you feel the best person for raising your kids is out of area then that may be who you want to choose. 

That being said I have a 2 yo and still have to set up a will. I plan to use legal zoom as soon as I get around to it as it is affordable and gives you access to a lawyer in your area. 

shellperry

@becks_726 if me and DH both die are kids are to move back to my parents in New York. We have there finances planed were they can’t revive there  inheritance until they are 30 unless it’s for medical bills or college. We are a military family so I don’t think moving will affect them like it would other children 

disneybaby84

Because I knew I was having two kids, I held off doing legal paperwork and will do it once this one is born so all are included. Otherwise you have to redo it each time a kid is born.