Starting Out Small

Great advice on when your child is being "disrespectful":

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 21:41:00 -0500

Great advice on when your child is being "disrespectful":: We all have days where we feel like our...

Right now, my kids are off from school, it is their...

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 22:34:21 -0500

My "baby" who was only 5 months here!

My "baby" looking in the mirror!

My 5 month old at Great Wolf Lodge

How cute? I love this pic of my kids!

Pic of me and my two older kids

My two GIRLS!

My "baby" girl (now 3) being silly!

sliding down the slide, this time around

Right now, my kids are off from school, it is their “winter break”. We took a day off as a family and went to the Great Wolf Lodge in the Poconos, NY. It was fun! We have been there a few times, but the last time we went, our youngest (who just turned 3) was only 5 months old, so it was obviously a very different experience for her this time around! I remember how chubby she was the first time we went, so adorable, all that chubbiness. I am including a few photos of her then, at less than a 1/2 year old and now more than 2 1/2 years later. What a difference? She barely had any hair then and now look at her, with her long locks, well, maybe you can’t see it so well in the picture, but try! Then and now…she is still my “chubbiest” kids so far, my two older ones were not as chubby by this age, still it is fine by me, I love it! So, I apologize, for not being so good with my blogging lately. Life is busy with three kids, (as many of you moms out there can vouch for me, right?) I love my kids and my family IS my first priority, that being said, my business tends to take the back burner at times. BUT, have no fear, I still maintain my excellent customer service and fast delivery, I just may be a little slower on some of the things I want to do to GROW my company into more than “StartingOutSmall”, pun intended! Check out my site: www.startingoutsmall.com for all your baby gift giving needs! Also, if there is something you would like to see on the site, let me know. We are always striving to meet our customers growing needs!

That being said, we do have some of the popular mini sequin clippies back in stock! We know how much you all have enjoyed them for your adorable photo shoots with your little girls!!! So, come check them out, plus some other favorites and a few new ones as well!

Additionally, many of our Trumpette socks are on sale too, just $18 that is a savings of $6 of the usual price, we are making room for our new inventory of TRUMPETTE SOCKS coming soon! So, stock up on the sale styles while you can and if you spend $75 or more, it is FREE SHIPPING!

Johnny’s Mary Jane Brights

As always, please keep in touch and now, I am just an email away!

Save 30% NOW through January 30th, 2012

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 10:08:07 -0500

Save 30% NOW through January 30th, 2012: What can I tell you? It has been two weeks since I last...

Cool site: Looking for a way to fund your new venture?

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 22:50:00 -0500

Cool site: Looking for a way to fund your new venture?: I just found out about a great site called...

Been a LONG TIME!

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 22:39:01 -0500

Hi, Everyone!Wow! I can’t believe we are soon approaching the year 2012. I don’t know...

Okay, we are all well aware of the saying, all it takes is a few...

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 16:35:00 -0500

My daughter begins her spraying...

My daughter continues with her spraying.

lemon pledge on the TV in the kitchen

Okay, we are all well aware of the saying, all it takes is a few minutes…well, my daughter “accomplished” a LOT in just a couple of minutes alone in the kitchen. I often “leave” my almost two year old in a room if she is eating a snack or playing with her toys in a safe area. I had to go and send an email at my computer (which is located in my husband and my bedroom). In the few minutes that I was away, and my daughter was (what I thought) eating her lunch and snack in the kitchen while watching the under the counter TV, my daughter got a hold of the PLEDGE furniture polish that I bought at Costco yesterday with her (it was a 3 package one, but I had tucked the other two neatly out of her reach under the sink with a lock on it). The other one, I planned to clean the furniture with in the living room. Of course, SHE got to it before I had the chance.

What ensued next, you can clearly see by my photos that I took shortly after the disaster occurred. It felt like a snowstorm in our kitchen!

I know I have no one to blame but myself, I should NEVER have left it on the counter, I also know how curious my child is, as are most 2-3 year old children. I EVEN heard noises, but I “assumed” (I should never have assumed, because it makes “an ass out of you and me”) that she was just playing with the faucet in the bathroom. She often likes to wash her hands for L O N G periods of time, BUT, when it was a noise every second, I quickly zoomed downstairs, realizing it was some type of SPRAY and NOT water!!!!

Of course, I needed to explain to her why what she did was not a good thing and that I should not have left it out. These are cleaning supplies, they have chemicals, etc. and they are POISON. I had to immediately wash her hands and rinse her face, luckily she did not get it all over her, just everything else!!!

What a mess! Plus, Pledge, being the furniture polish that it is, leaves a thick residue and is not an easy thing to clean up. In fact, I better go back and make sure it is thoroughly cleaned up before Thanksgiving! Not what you want RIGHT before the holidays, what can you do?! At least my kitchen is lemony fresh!

Enjoy your Thanksgiving, take time to appreciate all the good things in your lives and I too, will look back someday at this and laugh…just maybe not in the next five minutes!

Hot Nail Polish Colors for a great cause!

Sat, 12 Nov 2011 21:51:18 -0500

Hot Nail Polish Colors for a great cause!: This past summer, I was reading an article in the 201...

THANK YOU! Plus, great baby gift items ON SALE!

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 16:40:09 -0400

THANK YOU! Plus, great baby gift items ON SALE!: Thank you to everyone who made purchases this past...

October is Breast Cancer awareness month!

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 22:34:57 -0400

October is Breast Cancer awareness month!: A percentage of sales this month is going towards cancer...

Gilad Shalit

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 23:24:32 -0400

Gilad Shalit: What a day! I am so thrilled that Gilad Shalit’s prayers have been answered! I...

Baby Name Site---- Very Cool!

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 22:55:00 -0400

Baby Name Site---- Very Cool!: Tonight I was just curious about what the most popular baby names of...

CRAZY BLOWOUT FALL SALE: Baby Dry Goods stroller blankets, diaper attache and MORE!

Mon, 03 Oct 2011 15:25:00 -0400

CRAZY BLOWOUT FALL SALE: Baby Dry Goods stroller blankets, diaper attache and MORE!: Now that the...

I don’t often share photos of my kids online, but I just...

Thu, 22 Sep 2011 21:57:00 -0400

My DD admiring herself in a fancy dress.

My DD eating a snack and sitting with DB

"Ahh...sibling love!" will it last?!/?

I don’t often share photos of my kids online, but I just had to share these few that were taken today. In the first photo, my DD is wearing a fancy taffeta red dress that she insisted on wearing to school on Monday and I refused. (I let her cry for about 45 minutes b/c she only wanted to wear that particular dress and I would not let her). It did not matter that I explained I did not want it ruined while she painted or how it would be tough to go to the playground in that dress, the tears and wails just kept coming. I let her cry it out, until she got too tired and finally gave in. However, today, she again wanted to wear it and since she was not going to school (she only goes 3X’s a week) I gave in…I figured it is not what I would normally put my child in to go the grocery or the post office, but she is not harming me or herself, so why not? I mean, she did look so cute! So, off the store and post office we went!

In the second photo, I had just given my daughter a few jelly beans (positive reinforcement/treat) for going to the potty and she asked me to put them in her “box” and she planted herself right next to her big brother sitting and doing his homework on the couch. I thought it was a darling photo.

In the third photo, I have to admit, I did ask my children to “look at each other” and I quickly snapped the picture, I think it looked quite natural, what do you all think? It is so much fun taking photos of your cute kiddies…

I am now inspired to go take my point and shoot out and make use of it. Perhaps I can get some nice nature pictures tomorrow, if the weather is cooperative.

Anyone have any great photos to share? I miss taking my photography class! I use to take one every Tuesday evening at the local recreation center, but, after my third child was born, I never seem to have the time, energy, etc. Oh well. Hopefully, someday I can get back to going! It was a fun group of people and we had contests, etc.

Trumpette sock sets & SnackTAXI's now on a HUGE sale

Mon, 19 Sep 2011 14:21:00 -0400

Trumpette sock sets & SnackTAXI's now on a HUGE sale: Hi, Everyone! Now that it is a few weeks into...

"Brat Ban", what are your thoughts?

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 23:33:30 -0400

"Brat Ban", what are your thoughts?: Wow! I cannot believe it has been two weeks since I last wrote...

Z Daisy BINKIE BUNGEES are back in stock and new products available!

Mon, 29 Aug 2011 23:57:00 -0400

Z Daisy BINKIE BUNGEES are back in stock and new products available!: Nice to be back on the...

We were very last minute this summer to make our...

Fri, 26 Aug 2011 18:00:00 -0400

My husband and daughter pointing...

I loved this tree pic! cool, though dead

Only pic of ME, since I take the pics!

Love this pic, my "family"...

A pic of the Marshes

My baby walking on the marsh path

Some weird webbing?! not sure?!

We were very last minute this summer to make our “vacation” plans, but we managed to set up a few days to go to Ocean City, MD and hang out on the beach. We were very excited…lucky for us, we got there prior to the whole “Hurricane Irene”, though we did have a mandatory evacuation on Thursday evening, when we were suppose to stay over one more night, until Friday morning. (I was actually happy about it, b/c we were not planning on doing anything, just sleeping and leaving very early, around 8 AM, so I look at it as “we saved money!”)

While we were there, we did the normal going to the beach and swimming in the pool thing, but we also went to a National Park called Assateague Island National Seashore, it was a neat place. It’s a unit of the National Park Service occupying much of Assateague Island along the Atlantic coast of Maryland and Virginia. It is a barrier island shaped by stormy seas and gentle winds. It lies adjacent to Assateague State Park and Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge.

There were three main sections to go and visit and do a hike with each one. The Sand dunes, the Forest and the Marshes. The ranger guy told us his favorite is the marshes, so we knew we would do that one, it was very hot outside and we didn’t know if the kids could do all three, so we chose to do the marshes and the sand dunes. We did the sand dunes first. After we applied sun tan lotion on all of us, particularly the kids and put on our hats, we were on our way. Oh wait, the water bottles and lemonade juice boxes! Silly us, we forgot it in the nice chilly ice pack back at the hotel!!! Oh boy, we hoped we could survive doing even ONE hike without any drinks! We were not near anything to buy any drinks. We survived, but were all very thirsty and hot!!! We saw WILD PONIES, along the roads before the hiking trail! So cool. Here are some pictures: They can be very dangerous, they tell you not to get too close, to stay at least 10 ft. away, notice the last pic of my hubby and baby girl pointing towards one…it was right near our car. When we got inside, it moved behind our car, so we had to wait until we could back up, THEN, it came right up against my husband’s seat and along his window. I told my hubby, “quick, shut all the windows and lock the doors!” You know how on a safari, they tell you to keep your hands and arms inside at all times…well, you should listen! It showed a few people who got bit by the horses on the bathroom doors…it said, better you get bit by flies and mosquitoes than a horse!

The sand dunes were amazing also! My hubby and I discussed how cool it was that the sand dunes were just on a hike and then a few minutes later, we saw marshes on another hike. You felt like you were in two different ecosystems…really amazing! Here are some of THOSE pictures…

Lastly, I just wanted to say, there is always an opportunity for not only adventure, but lessons taught and learned on vacations.

My older daughter and son explained to me how they found “sand crabs” with their friends on the beach…they really enjoyed finding them and showing them to me.

Also, I asked my son, “why don’t you go and build sand castles with that boy over there?” he said, “he doesn’t need any help!” I said, I am sure he would love a friend to help him…he wanted me to go with him, so I did and they both had a great time…My son, sometimes needs encouragement that way and after speaking to the boy’s grandma, I think he could use a friend too. His parents recently went through a bad divorce and they are having a rough time. Nice that the grandma can take them away from their troubles a bit and have a nice vacation away from all of their stresses. Lastly, just teaching your kids about manners and holding doors for people, being polite and also having the opportunities to teach about good behaviors and having rewards, etc. All in all, it was a great trip, the hotel was nice, the weather was beautiful and the kids behaved pretty good the entire trip. Of course, DVD’s really help on a long trip in the car ride. Oh, did I mention we also played mini golf and my son felt so proud when he did well? We also had slurpies for them on the way home after that HOT time at the National Park…they were so pleasantly surprised with that!

It was just nice getting away from our hectic fast paced life here in Northern, NJ, and spend time together as a family. When it comes down to it, family is everything and we need to try our very best to make happy memories always! Hope you all made some great memories this summer, please feel free to share your stories in the comments. I have enjoyed reading all my new fans and old fans comments. THANKS!

Hope you all have enjoyed your summer and enjoy the last bit of it…stay safe and may Hurricane Irene just wizz right past us!

A NATURE lesson for today!

Sun, 21 Aug 2011 21:45:00 -0400

A NATURE lesson for today!: Over the weekend, while my son and daughter and husband were coming back...

New Product available: ART CARDS for BABY: By wee gallery

Tue, 16 Aug 2011 15:53:16 -0400

New Product available: ART CARDS for BABY: By wee gallery: On Sunday, I went to the NYIGF (NY...

Random thoughts at this crazy hour!

Sat, 13 Aug 2011 21:29:14 -0400

Okay, it is now 1:15AM Thursday night (or really Friday morning, depending on how you look at it)...