Mommin' It Up!

July 26, 2012July 25, 2012

The Amazing Back-to-School Lands’ End School Uniform Review

Guess what? Only 26 days until my big kids go back to school! And I. Am. EXCITED! Because you know, I’m that mom who likes it when their kids are in school. This year, Joshua will be in third grade and Sophie will be in all-day KINDERGARTEN! That’s right, two out of three kids in school all day! I gotta tell you, I am REALLY looking forward to having some alone time with Jonah. That kid has waited a long time to have mommy to himself!

For me, having two kids in school means having to kids in school UNIFORMS. Of course, for these I turn to my trusted favorite, Lands’ End. Now I will tell you a secret: because I am a frugal gal, I buy school uniforms ALL YEAR ROUND. I wait for coupon codes and free shipping and penny embroidery and I strike when the iron is hot! So my kids are pretty much set for the year! However, one of the fun things about being a blogger is working with Lands’ End and getting to review some brand spankin’ new uniform designs to show you the best of the best. Here’s what I chose for my kiddos:

For my big kindergarten girl I chose this adorable, classic plaid jumper and short-sleeve feminine fit polo, as well as this oh-so-functional khaki chino skort and long-sleeve pink feminine fit polo. I love the button detail and the pleats on the jumper, and also the fact that the bodice is lined with taffeta and doesn’t snag on clothes worn underneath. My favorite thing about the skort is that there is elastic in the back and the adjustable waist is in the FRONT! Such a great feature because adjusters on the side usually irritate Sophie’s waist. The feminine-fit polos are awesome, just perfectly girly. I love the way they look on Sophie! For her backpack, I chose the Small Classmate. The size is perfect for her, and I expect it to grow with her for two to three years. I had her name embroidered on it and it’s adorable! But beyond that, I know it’s also TOUGH! Joshua’s small Classmate from last year is still going strong! I got her the matching EZ-Wipe Lunch Box and I L-O-V-E it! It’s got tons of space but it’s not too big for her to carry. With an ice pack, it will keep food refrigerator-cold for five hours. The sides are rigid to keep food from getting smushed, and the smooth inside is super-easy to wipe clean. I think it’s a real winner!

Now, for my big boy! Here’s what I chose for Joshua:

Lands’ End Iron-Knee uniform pants are my fave, so of course I chose these for Joshua! They have a dressy pleat-front, are easy to clean & care for, and of course have the reinforced knees which is so important when they get worn day after day after day. They also come in slim sizing AND have an adjustable waist which is super-important for my super-skinny guy. Love ’em! For his shirts, I chose the soft yet sturdy long and short-sleeve interlock polos. These are a little softer than the mesh but hold up just as well. They look great with his school logo embroidered! I also got him a pair of plain-front chino shorts. These are stain and wrinkle resistant and always look SO nice! Perfect for the hot weather at the beginning and end of the school year. Joshua didn’t need a new backpack, as I mentioned above, the one I reviewed last year is still going more-than-strong. But he did need a new lunch box since his “character” one he had imploded half-way through the school year. I let him choose which one he wanted and he chose the FeatherLight lunch box. He loved the bright colors; I love the features. It too keeps food cold for five hours with an ice pack and is very easy to wipe clean inside. It also has lots of pockets and room for other items that don’t need to be kept cold. It’s a great lunch box and I know it will last us a long time!

The last item I got for my two kiddos is a school uniform half-zip fleece to keep them cozy all winter! These are soooo good-lookng, and work great as jackets or as extra layers. Joshua’s last year was INDISPENSABLE and it’s one item I will for sure purchase every year. Here’s some more pictures of my kids in all their Lands’ End back-t0-school finery, including their fleeces!

Adorable, RIGHT!?? I know! One thing I really enjoyed about shopping this year is that you can create a profile for each of your kids and add your school on LandsEnd.com so that all the approved and size-appropriate items you can choose from will automatically populate for you. No more weeding out what isn’t part of your school’s code or doesn’t come in your kids’ size. It made picking their clothes SO easy, and it’s saved in your Lands’ End account so you don’t need to re-enter the info every time. Score! And, if your school is a part of their Preferred School Program, they earn money when you shop. Win-win!

You all know I love Lands’ End, and these awesome, high-quality uniform items are just another reason that I do! What’s your favorite Lands’ End uniform item?

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Lands’ End provided the above-mentioned items to facilitate my review. All opinions on them are my own.

July 24, 2012

Leftovers

Big Daddy's Leftover Pizza Frittata — Photo by John Carelton on Flickr

Back on 2009, or aught-nine as I like to call it, because it makes me sound old and crotchety (which I totally am in spirit), I had a fun little bout with birth-control-induced depression and anxiety. And after awhile I quit taking the crazy pills (birth control) while simultaneously taking the anti-crazy pills (anti-depressants) and I got bettah. When I got pregnant with Jonah, I stopped taking the anti-depressants (Which? Weaning off of those while you’re already puking your guts out 24/7 anyway? NOT FUN!) altogether and I’ve never had to go back on them. Sure, the night before my period starts I get a little UMMMM “moody” (so maybe I hate everyone in the world, that’s normal, right?), but other than that I don’t have issues with depression.

I do, however, still have a few “leftovers” from that time period of the anxiety variety. And like most leftovers, they are unappealing. However, they are at least not worse than the original incarnation.

My anxieties are these: claustrophobia, mostly due still to the elevator incident, and the fear of crowds. The “elevator incident” occurred when I was in the midst of this depression-anxiety battle and well, it scarred me for life. I ride elevators when I have to but I am an inner mess the whole time. And despite trying to play it cool for my kids, Joshua has picked up on my anxiety. He’s not afraid of elevators but he is always all about getting in and out of them as quickly as possible. I hate that he knows something’s up when he’s in an elevator with me.

(Honestly, my heart is racing now because I am writing about being scared of elevators. I am scared of them.)

My BFF Luanne lives in a tall apartment building on the 6th floor. You have to enter a CODE to make the elevator work. Let me just say that each time I go to her house it is an act of bravery and an experience of fear. (She’s worth it).

On my recent trip to Toyota headquarters in California, I waited for the last elevator when the group was going up together so that there’d be fewer people in with me. I got out of an overly-full (by my standards) elevator more than once.

I’d love to get over this, to be cured of it or what have you, but I don’t know if that’s possible. I can’t un-experience being stuck in an elevator with 12 other people for 45 minutes, smashed against the wall, crouched on the floor, being hot, panicked, having to wait so long for help. I just have a bad feeling that I’ll always be this way. But if I could get a happy pill prescribed to me to only be taken right before I had to step on an elevator, I would totally do it!

Now on to my fear of crowds. I don’t know if this is it’s own thing or a morph of the claustrophobia. But I pretty much don’t want to be anywhere crowded, ever. I guess this really cuts my kids’ already-negligible chances of going to Disney World. When I take my kids to the park, I internally flip my lid if there are too many people there. I can’t relax and watch them play. I am hyper-vigilant and if I lose sight of them for a nano-second I freak. This usually ends in us having a pretty short park visit. If there are not too many people there, I am ok, but if it’s kiddos and parents and possible creepy perverts everywhere? I can’t take it. Same thing with anywhere indoors that we go – the kids and I have much more fun at the children’s museum if we wait til later afternoon when most day care or school field trips have cleared out.

My leftovers don’t incapacitate me, but they do inhibit me. They ruin parts of my day sometimes. They make me afraid. They make me less fun for my kiddos. They make me have this awful feeling in my chest just because I’m thinking about them while writing this. And they’re a part of who I am that I don’t like at all.

I’m not quite sure what I need to do, if anything, besides pray about my problems in this area. What do you think? Do you have any leftovers or main dishes that you struggle with?

July 23, 2012July 23, 2012

Putting my money where my mouth is.

A few weeks ago, I went on a wee tirade about how I felt like people care more about animals than they do about their fellow man. Especially when that fellow man (woman, or child) has a disability.

I said this then, but I’ll say it again now: having a child with developmental delays made me look at, think and feel differently about people with disabilities. I don’t like the way they are treated and I want to do something to help, just to help change things. Because there are a lot of totally cool, amazing people who also happen to have disabilities. It would be so great if we could all see the totally cool, amazing parts FIRST.

So, when my friends Paul and Jessica posted on Facebook a few weeks ago that their infant daughter Joy had been born with Down Syndrome and that they were forming a team to raise money for our local chapter of the Down Syndrome Association through their Buddy Walk, I was like, “I’m going to do that with them!” So, that day I joined Team Peace, Love, & Joy. We’re walking for this cutie:

And as you may have guessed, (like her big brother Jay, pictured below) she is totally awesome and amazing! She is exactly what & how God made her to be!

I’m walking for Joy and for persons like her with Down Syndrome in my area because the funds we raise will stay in our area to help them! Funds are used for scholarships for therapies and services that will improve their quality of life. Families can get scholarships for important therapies – speech, OT, physical therapy – and other important things you might not think of like private special needs swimming lessons and iPads to work on speech therapy at home.

Emily and I decided back in May when we were at Mom 2.0 that we wanted to do more to use this blog for good! So today, that is what I am doing. To help us reach our team fundraising goal of $3,000, I’m asking each and every one of you to donate $5 to our efforts – become one of our $5 Friends! Team Peace, Love, & Joy is 77% of the way there! I hope Mommin’ It Up readers can put us over the top by being our $5 Friends! Here’s how you can help!

1) Click here to go to my fundraising page
2) Click on “Donate to Team Peace, Love, & Joy”
3) Click “other” for the donation amount and enter whatever amount you want
4) Submit your donation & process through PayPal

All donations are of course tax-deductible.

Emily and I have between us given $65 to this cause. So once again, we are not asking you to do anything we wouldn’t do many times over. Please join me in my passion for helping our friends and neighbors with disabilities! Let’s make a difference! I’ve already raised over $500 thanks to generous friends and family, and I hope to add to our team total and put Team Peace, Love, & Joy over the top with your help. It would mean so, so, so, so, so, SO MUCH to me if you would help me in this effort. THANK YOU for reaching a hand out to improve the lives of a lot of totally awesome people in our area with Down Syndrome!