‘Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving’

One of the perks of living the cement jungle life of New York City are the festivities of the fall and winter. One of them being the famous Macy’s Day Parade for Thanksgiving! The night before, Macy’s inflates the balloon floats right next to my boyfriend’s family’s apartment in the city and his family holds a big celebratory party for kids to come watch, enjoy and eat lots of candy and goodies!  I am very fortunate because the apartment overlooks the balloons from a very high floor of a tall building and it might be the best view in New York!  Being originally from California, this event is even more special as I have only had the opportunity to see balloon floats from the television as a child, and now in person as an adult. Families from all over the New York boroughs travel far to come and see the annual ‘blowing up of the balloons’ and it is a tradition for many families passed down from generation to generation. This past Thanksgiving I can say that I am most thankful for the friends and family I have that could share this special night – it will always be one to remember (and I highly recommend it if you are from the New York or New Jersey area). Here are some pictures from high above the floats on November 24th. Gobble, gobble!

Here are pictures the night before versus the next day at the parade!  

Here are the crazy crowds that swarm the balloons at night
(and by crazy, I mean lovely NYC families)! 

And then see them during the day…

Buzz Light Year being blown up the night before….

Here he is the next day!

Macy’s ‘Believe’ Star balloon floats that open up the parade

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Turkey and Tails

I understand that the above title is very vague, if not weird.  However, I thought it would be appropriate to describe our “little” announcement.  We found out what our upcoming arrival’s gender would be last Wednesday, (the day before Thanksgiving) and since it was only a day away from Turkey day, we thought we would be a little naughty and make our families await the announcement until Thanksgiving day. So like good little secret agents, we were able to keep our lips sealed for one whole day.  Believe me, that didn’t come without the barrage of leading questions. I especially had to choose my words wisely, keeping “it” and “the baby” as the noun of my sentences and not slipping with….well, you are about to find out with “what.” That is the “Turkey” part of the above title, now on to the “Tails” part.

Before you go jumping to conclusions, you need to ask your self the following question “What Kind of “Tails” is she talking about?”  It could be that I am talking about “puppy dog tails” or is it possibly “pig tails.”  Two very different types of tails.  So which is it?  Puppy Dog Tails or Pig Tails…I hope you are ready for this one! 

It’s going to be….

We’re having a boy!

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Leaf Impressions

The winter chill has arrived and the leaves are changing colors. I took a walk through Central Park in New York City (my hometown) this past weekend and admired all of the leaves and how beautiful nature can be in the ‘big city.’ I was inspired by a childhood activity that is fun for kids and great for parents as a piece of art for the coveted refrigerator door. Preserve the beauty of fall leaves with leaf-rubbing (leaf impressions) art on paper! Read more to find out how this easy (and inexpensive idea) is fun for a winter day. Next time you are out walking ith your kids, collect leaves of different shapes and sizes. When you are choosing leaves to rub, pick leaves with raised veins or texture to ensure the rubbings will come out crisp and clear.

Need:

• Leaves
• White paper
• Crayons or soft-lead pencils

Steps:

• Rub a variety of leaves using white tissue paper and crayons or soft-lead pencils.
• Place the leaves under the paper and gently rub the impression on the tissue paper.
• Cut each leaf impression out and arrange them on a white piece of paper.
• Special step: Use a hold puncher and punch one hole in each leaf impression. Use thread or clear fishing line to tie the leaves together and string the line in a window as a decoration!
• Discard leaves in garbage

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Happy Birthday Pax Jolie Pitt!

There is sure to be a party in the Jolie Pitt house today!  Pax Jolie Pitt (pictured in hat), son of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, turns 7-years-old today!  He will celebrate with his family brood that includes, Maddox Chivan, 8½, Zahara Marley, 5½, Shiloh Nouvel, 4, and twins Knox and Vivienne, 2-years-old.  Eat lots of cake for us here at Le Top! Cheers!

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Thanksgiving Thoughts

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John Travolta, Kelly Preston Welcome Son Benjamin

John Travolta and wife Kelly Preston welcome son Benjamin, who was born yesterday evening, Nov. 23rd in a Florida hospital. The baby weighs 8 lbs., 3 oz.

“John, Kelly and their daughter Ella Bleu are ecstatic and very happy about the newest member of the family,” they say in a statement. “Both mother and baby are healthy and doing beautifully.”

What a wonderful baby to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. Since John is a pilot and love flying, we think this Le Top Baby “Plane Ride” Collection outfit would be SO CUTE on baby Benjamin.

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Thanksgiving Cutie!

We just couldn’t resist sharing  this adorable photo of baby Anika in her festive pumpkin attire. She is truly something to be thankful for! Many thanks to her proud grandpa for sending us off to our Thankgiving celebrations with a smile.

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Le Top Takes: Out of the Mouths of Babes!

No, I did not say that!

My daughter was standing on the bathroom scale, and read her weight out loud to me.

I’m 49.8 libbets.“

Mommy: What’s libbets?

It says right there… L-B-S. Libbets!”

–Miranda, age 6

Editor’s Note:
Please spread the giggles by sharing your funny quotes with us!

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Le Top Tip: Dressing on Time

I don’t know how all of you get your child dressed on time in the morning but it has been a struggle for me. I’ve have been searching for a solution to this dilemma. I have noticed more and more that my almost 4-year-old has been asking me what time it is. I’m not sure she really understands what she’s asking or if since Mom and Dad both have a watch and seem to care, she should too. Well, we are using it to our advantage!

I recently let her choose a Buzz Lightyear watch, but it was just too distracting while in her classroom. Instead I replaced it with a plain digital watch in her favorite color, green. She loves it because she feels like a grown up. Now we can tell her to start getting dressed on her own when the watch says 7:50. If she doesn’t, we can say we will take the watch away because she’s not using it properly. It seems to be working for the moment. Now if I could just figure out how to take it off military time. 🙂 

If your kids like to dress themselves in the morning, rabbitmoon kids clothes are the way to go! Their quality clothes for kids are meant to be mixed and matched. Coordinating separates means more outfit choices for your kiddo, more creative freedom, more value for your dollar and they will look great.

Shop rabbitmoon here

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What will baby look like?

As the days get closer to finding out what we are having, the families (both ours and the Le Top family) are getting a little more anxious. It doesn’t help anyone’s impatience that once we find out our baby’s sex, we plan on keeping our lips sealed until Thanksgiving, or in the case of our Le Top family, they will have to wait a whole extra FOUR days to find out!

Aaron and I are keeping ourselves somewhat distracted and are trying not to think about it, while my sister-in-law has resorted to other measures. She found a website while “working” the other day called http://www.makemebabies.com/. She grabbed a digital picture of myself and my husband, plugged them into the website, and voila! We have an image of our child….with a full mouth of teeth and crossed eyes!  FABULOUS!

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