Ghetto Mom

I did the tackiest, most embarrassing thing today. First let me give you a little bit of background: Every few months or so, we get a flier in the mail telling us that there will be a donation truck in our area and if we have any items to donate, we can leave them out in front of our house to be picked up on that date. So I leave my bag of really old, weathered clothes outside, along with our old lawnmower that doesn't even work. Around mid-morning I am driving down the street and I notice a house a few blocks away that also has their donation outside. There is a really nice, leather loveseat with a bunch of stuff on top. For some reason the stuff catches my eye, and this is what I see:
A really nice toddler toy! So I decide that I am just going to drive by, slow down, hop out, grab it, and keep going....I know it sounds bad, but afterall it IS a donation, right! So as I get close to stopping, the owner of the house comes outside to put more stuff out, so I get a little embarrassed and keep driving. Then I decide that I will just turn around and ask him if I can have it! I know, totally ghetto, right! His wife walks out as I'm asking him, and aside from looking at me like I am a complete weirdo, they were very nice. Luckily Hannah was in the car with me, and I just explained that I have a 9month old and she would just LOVE to play with it! I did play dumb at first and asked if they were having a garage sale and could I buy the toy (I know they weren't having a garage sale on a Thursday in 110 degree heat, but what the heck, it helped break the ice). They were very nice to give it to me (OK actually Hannah) and even threw in a little piggy bank toy that makes noise, sings, counts, and has little fake coins. Don't worry, the fake coins are big so they are not a choking hazard!

I get home and tell Jim the story, and of course he orders me to "never tell this story to anyone...how embarrassing!!!" But I can't help it! I told my sister and she referred to it as "dumpster diving", but I prefer to call it "asking". You know what they say....One man's trash is another man's treasure! AND I just read an article that said Jessica Alba takes things out of the trash all the time and refurbishes them, so if she can do it, I certainly can too!! ha!


She wouldn't even look up at the camera because she was so interested.... Why does this little book that's attached only have one page???...
Later when I went to Target, I found out they are selling them brand-new for 39.99...looks like mommy made a good deal!

These are my dancing legs...

This is a totally separate day...Baby food can still be a battle at times. When she's not interested, she's not interested...and she is very good at rubbing it all over her face, ears, hair, etc. Good thing bathtime is right after dinner!

This is the 4th of July. She loves looking at books!

And now, for a very special moment...standing by herself! Jim and I both got to see her do this. We were so excited! She does this for a few seconds and then just sits down. The most exciting part is that she usually just stands straight up from a sitting position, without using anything to pull herself up. woohoo!

We're off to San Diego! We'll bring back some beach pictures!