Sleep Toys

Stuffed animals! How many can one child get?! I used to “collect” stuffed animals as I child until I was in high school, then I had to “send them away to a farm.” Who am I kidding? I either sold them at a garage sale or donated them to the Goodwill. Of course, my daughter has TONS of stuffed animals. In this picture (when she was 3 years old), she took all her stuffed animals and lined them up. Then she asked me to take a picture of her with her “friends.” Haha! How could I resist? It was too cute to pass up.

So as much as I would love to “send one animal to the farm” each month without her knowing, I just couldn’t. She LOVES them all and named them all. In fact, she also sleeps with a different “friend” each night.

Here is this week’s line up (as far as I know):

When we go on vacation somewhere, she carefully selects one to take along on the trip. “Hmm… Mommy, which sleep toy should I bring to San Diego? Can I bring two sleep toys so that Mr. Green Bear doesn’t get lonely in case I forget him in the car?” (Adorable, right?)

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Are we there yet? Traveling during the holidays

The lovely scenic drive of I-5

Not all can be so fortunate to stay home for the holidays and relax with our families. Some of us have to travel to far away places–either by plane, train or the dreaded car ride (Do you want me to turn this car around?!) –and cram the entire family and dog in the van, along with 12 suitcases, casseroles, pies, jackets, pillows, blankets, etc. It was so much fun this year that I can’t wait to do it again next year… Not!

This Thanksgiving, we drove down from the Oakland to San Diego. We usually fly but with the amount of gear we had to bring, driving was the better option. If my husband and I didn’t have kids, we would probably make it there in about 6 hours, maybe 7 with minimal detours. However since we have a 4-year old in tow and I’m pregnant, we had to make numerous stops: potty stops, food stops, and I’m-going-to-go-crazy-if-we-don’t-stop stops.

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