Thank God for the deleted thread yesterday because Addie pray mentioned getting a personalized Christmas stocking for her new baby (oh geez, I hope that isn’t violating the “what is said in the deleted thread stays in the deleted thread” agreement too much…), and I was like, “Oh, crap!” And I then immediately went on Etsy and ordered a personalized stocking for Joanie, which I hope will make it here super fast because we’re decorating next weekend. Yeah, yeah, she’s a baby and wouldn’t know the difference if she didn’t have her own stocking, but I would (and Jackson would surely notice and what kind of message would that send him?), and I already feel bad enough as it is for not having any framed photos of her yet on our wall of photos and not starting a baby book (or even buying a baby book) or getting her any of those cute “Baby’s First Hanukkah” (or Christmas or Thanksgiving or Halloween) onesies.
Everything is a lot different this second time around. With Jackson, I organized a mom and baby playgroup when I was still pregnant with him. With Joanie, I finally got around to it this week (she turns five months old on Monday). I ordered a personalized Christmas stocking for Jackson in early November, a few weeks after he was born, along with matching ones for me, Drew, and my parents and sister who all came to visit us for the holidays that year. This year, I waited ’til a deleted thread reminds me of my failure as a mother before I remembered Joanie needed a stocking. Guys, half the time I forget diapers when I’m running out the door with Joanie (seriously, we’ve had to make so many emergency runs to the drug store for diapers or formula because I left everything at home).
Oh, but I love Joanie. Every day, I love her more. And I hope when she is old enough to notice that I’m not always as organized as I should be, that any oversight in regards to her is only because the love I have for her is taking up so much space in my brain that there’s less room left over to keep track of other stuff. That, and also Mommy’s kind of a drunk. Kidding! Sort of. (And that reminds me, I need to start making my Drinking with Dear Wendy videos again.).
Anyway, I wanted to remind you as you do your holiday shopping over the next couple weeks that any purchases you make through my Amazon affiliate link (and any link on this site to Amazon, including the big one on the sidebar, counts) will help support DW since I get a 4-8% commission on all purchases. Last year, the commission I made from affiliate commissions paid for a whole year of site hosting, so it really adds up and makes a difference. Thank you for your support!
And if you need gift ideas, please check out my many gift guides!
That’s it — happy weekend to all of you!
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Lianne December 4, 2015, 4:19 pm
I saw that comment from you on the deleted thread and thought to myself, this does NOT make you a failure as a mother. You’ve had so much to cope with the past few months, I can’t say I am surprised you’ve forgotten a basic necessity like diapers, never mind thinking about a Christmas stocking when you haven’t even begun decorating yet! And even if it’s not here when you decorate, it will be here before Christmas…so cut yourself some slack, drink some tequila (and please some for me, too) and know you’re doing just fine!
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Happy weekend, all!
anonymousse December 4, 2015, 6:44 pm
Nailed it, Lianne. I leave the house all the time without: a bib, or extra diapers, or extra onesies or clothes, whatever necessary toddler item. And that’s always when we have a poop explosion. It takes serious planning and mind power to leave the house. It’s like that scene in “Neighbors.” Yes, I am admitting to having watched that movie.
Anonymous December 5, 2015, 8:44 am
Hey I did too… Mostly for zack Efron shirtless
Taylor December 4, 2015, 4:36 pm
Joanie is so cute =) This is my (first) baby’s 3rd Christmas and she still doesn’t have a personalized stocking…
honeybeenicki December 4, 2015, 4:36 pm
I can’t believe I missed the deleted thread 🙁 But I took a mental health day to hang with the baby and go to the mother-baby group I attended while on leave and have lunch with those ladies.
I remember last week to get him a stocking. And it is the coolest stocking ever.
http://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Tactical-Stocking-MOLLE-Black/dp/B00GIXY9W8?tag=dearwecom-20&linkCode=w13&linkID=K63NAFNTQFC7LQNG&ref_=assoc_res_sw_us_dka_cra_c_result_1&ref-refURL=http%3A%2F%2Fdearwendy.com%2Fweekend-open-thread-158%2F
I love it. And he has a baby’s first Christmas onesie because my friend bought it for him. And I just got him and my mom matching “Who needs Santa when you have Grandma” shirts…
Diablo December 4, 2015, 4:39 pm
Wendy, sorry to be thick here, but does that mean that if we want to shop for whatever on Amazon (which definitely applies to me), we should just come to DW and then click through to Amazon (which i would be glad to do)? Or do i have to be shopping for particular things discussed, seen or advertised on DW (which is a lot less likely to apply to me)? I’d be glad to help if it’s for things that I might be looking for.
muchachaenlaventana December 4, 2015, 5:30 pm
I think it is just clicking through the link on her site, but can be for anything that you want to purchase.
Dear Wendy December 4, 2015, 7:21 pm
Yes, just clicking through the link — thanks for asking!
othy December 5, 2015, 12:44 am
And if I click through the link, but then add more to my cart once I’m at the amazon site, does that count? Or do I have to add each item from DW?
Dear Wendy December 5, 2015, 6:22 am
Just one click-through and then everything you purchase counts!
othy December 5, 2015, 12:45 pm
Perfect, because that’s how I do it since I’m lazy 🙂
RedRoverRedRover December 5, 2015, 11:42 am
Does Amazon.ca count? I never use .com, most of the stuff doesn’t ship to Canada, and the things that do tend to have crazy fees.
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Also just FYI, when you do your weekly picks and put up Amazon links, they do get automatically converted to Amazon.ca when I click, which is nice. Of course if the product isn’t available on .ca it comes up with a “no results” page, but since I probably would never buy it on .com anyway due to the extra expenses, that’s fine.
Dear Wendy December 5, 2015, 12:18 pm
Yes, the .ca counts too!
Moneypenny December 4, 2015, 5:03 pm
I give my mom a hard time sometimes because there are no baby books or “baby’s firsts” books or albums for me from when I was a baby/kid. Meanwhile my sister has all of these things! Because, well, she’s the oldest. So we joke about it. Just knowing my own experience, it’s sounds pretty normal for this to happen with the second kid. (We’re so deprived as younger siblings! :P) You have your hands full! It’s totally ok! I’m pretty sure I didn’t have a stocking either, right away- but my mom did end up cross-stitching one for me. (My sis has one too, and mom also embroidered one for my nephew!)
Joanie looks so cute in that photo- she has such long eyelashes!
Wendy's Sister December 4, 2015, 5:10 pm
I know a lot of you have babies right now, but I think most of you have boys, so I’m going to say that Joanie is the cutest baby girl. Please don’t be offended if you have a baby girl. I am a very biased auntie.
Addie Pray December 4, 2015, 7:30 pm
She really is!!
Miss MJ December 4, 2015, 5:15 pm
Oh, Wendy, don’t be so hard on yourself! You’ve had a busy few months. You got the stocking early, so it should be there in time to be in the pictures. No worries. Who cares if it’s there a week, a month or a couple of days before you need it? Joanie doesn’t care that you forgot the diapers or formula; all she cares about is that she has clean diapers and food. And the baby’s first stuff is nice, but by the time Joanie is old enough to care, it’ll all be on some bizarre, as yet unheard of format that makes whatever you put together archaic, anyway. What she does care about and know is that you love her and she’s safe and happy and in a place surrounded by kindness and love. That’s the important part! And you’ve got that in spades!
MaterialsGirl December 4, 2015, 5:37 pm
I was kinda drunk during the later parts of the deleted thread. I may or may not have told RadioStar to fill my womb after drinking too many whiskey and gingers…
But again, my uterus hurts because AP just posted another freaking adorable photo of BabyPray and I want to snuggle him up.
keyblade December 4, 2015, 7:30 pm
Just look at that sweet gummy smile. I can’t believe I missed pics of Baby-Pray! Did she mention if she used a name from the forums?
Addie Pray December 4, 2015, 7:31 pm
Get knocked up already. Everybody’s doing it!
keyblade December 4, 2015, 7:35 pm
Material Girl should totes.
Addie Pray December 4, 2015, 7:29 pm
Wendy, that was top secret! J/k. I ordered stockings for Baby Pray and his cousins. They look so cute I went back to order ones for me and my sisters but they didn’t have the same stockings left and if was getting pricy and I just nixed the project bc I remembered that im poor now – or will be when the full-time nanny starts. I was also torn – do i put my name on the stocking or “mama”? It’s weird to think of myself as “mama.”
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I can’t believe my baby will be 12 weeks old on Monday…. And that I gotta go back to work in 2 weeks. 2 weeks!?!?!?! Noooooooo!
keyblade December 4, 2015, 7:33 pm
Mama Pray! How’ve you been? How’s baby…. (Just tell me it’s Milo, or Marc, or Nicolas?)?
d2 December 4, 2015, 9:59 pm
Wow, look at that face on Joanie! I need to figure out how to get that much happiness on my face.
RedRoverRedRover December 5, 2015, 11:48 am
When I was born my older brother wasn’t even a year old yet (we were born in the same calendar year!). So yeah, I’m pretty sure I didn’t get much attention, lol. Actually I’ve been asking my mom lately about it because I’m about to have a second kid, and I have no idea how she even did it, having a newborn and an 11 month old! She freely admitted that I got ignored. But I still feel extremely loved by her, so it’s not going to kill Joanie. 🙂 It’s about your whole relationship throughout her life, not the few months in the beginning when things are insanely hard.
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Also I feel pretty good about myself being ahead of the game here…. I already have personalized stockings for all four of us! The lady I bought them from personalizes them by writing the names on a little wooden heart which she hot-glues to the stocking. They’re very cute. So I have a blank heart for the new baby, once I know her name I can just add it. Or I can email the woman who made the stockings and she’ll mail me the heart with the name, which I might actually do so the writing matches. And her writing looks so amazing, compared to what mine would be.
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Oh, also, I’ve solved the problem of not having as many pictures, baby books, etc for the second. Be really lazy and don’t do it for the first! Lol. Yeah. I’m still not done with my son’s baby book. Maybe I’ll get one for my daughter and work on them both while I’m off with her. But who are we kidding? Probably not. At least they’ll both be in the same boat of not having any childhood memories, poor little things.
Dear Wendy December 5, 2015, 12:22 pm
Oh, Joanie doesn’t get ignored at all. One of the benefits of spacing our kids the way we did is that jackson is in school all day, which means gets lots of one-on-one time with me just like jackson did when he was a baby. I just happen to be more forgetful that usual and am prioritizing other things over the baby books and stuff like that. I joke about it, but I doubt joanie will give two shits about it in the long run. She seems pretty happy with everything so far.
RedRoverRedRover December 5, 2015, 2:12 pm
Yeah, maybe “ignored” was too strong a word. Obviously my mom didn’t ignore her newborn! I just got a lot less attention than I otherwise would have, because my brother was just learning to walk and climb over everything, and he was quite a handful. My mom said I was an easy baby though, so that made it not so bad. She could just put me somewhere and I’d happily watch her chase my brother around the house, lol.
Jane63 December 5, 2015, 3:52 pm
Joanie is adorable! Talking about forgetting things. There were a few times I forgot to pick up my kids from daycare and would get all the way home & wonder where they were. Ha! Most of the time I went back and picked them up…..LOL Wait, I was supposed to get them personalized stockings? They are 29 & 23 now maybe that explains a few things. Oh, boy.
Portia December 6, 2015, 9:20 am
Happy Hanukkah!!!
I’ll be making lakes tonight, fried with love and topped with applesauce. Plus the yearly ritual of hearing Bassanio attempt to say the prayers. He does try really hard…
keyblade December 6, 2015, 9:51 am
Mazel Tov
Ladyinpurplenotred December 6, 2015, 11:11 am
I’ll be making latkes too!
Happy Hanukkah!
Dear Wendy December 6, 2015, 1:23 pm
Happy hanukkah! i’m currently on the hunt for latkes because i don’t even want to attempt to make them myself. I do have a brisket in the slow cooker though, and I’m about to wrap some gifts for drew and jackson who are currently at a dinosaur movie.