Baby Corner

[chri'stina 190]

Sorry Kelly...stinks.

I like the Madagascar better too! We used Mickey for Kavi's 1st birthday but not baby mickey, regular Mickey. hehe. I kinda wish I has saved that for his 2nd bday since he met Mickey last October! We got him a "Go Diego, Go" cake for his 2nd bday. But I find it annoying that so many cake and birthday decor themes they offer are kids' shows or movies and not very original. I would have loved a cute retro robot themed birthday cake. The only robot I saw was Wall-E, not very 2 year oldish.

We haven't spent over maybe $120 for either of Kavi's bdays. That was for about 20-25 people at our house. The first year we did provide BBQ'd hot dogs, hamburgers, snacks and such so that was the more expensive year. For his 2nd I didn't feel like feeding everyone a real meal, too time consuming that weekend with people visiting to prepare, but we had lots of snacks and the kids just had fun playing in our backyard with Kavi's new bday toys he got from different people. I don't like spending a lot of money. I am a bargain shopper, for real, like I mean finding myself a shirt on clearance for $6 is my favorite way to shop.

[~Jess~ 0]

Where in NY are you?

There's this party store in Brooklyn that I rented costumes from ... we got Blue's Clues & Scooby Doo. They had the BEST Spongebob mascot costume. It was so much better & cheaper than hiring someone to work the party, plus I got to see my uncle make a fool of himself.

Im upstate NY about 4hrs from the city.

Im looking to spend under 200 so we will see, only 20-25 people max will come. His birthday is May 30th so itll be getting warm and maybe we will have it at a park or something and have a cook out and stuff. Im pretty excited to actually plan a party for him with my friends and family and his little buddies--my friends kids. Last year all I did was cry on his first birthday because we were in Saudi Arabia and it seemed like everything went wrong, even though my very bestest friend that I met over in Saudi(American woman named Emily) and her family came. Her son is 5mths older then Josh. Them coming to the party was the only highlight. We got his cake from Carvel, which sucked ... we had pizza and other snacks but I just didnt feel it was a birthday party. Sigh. Better luck this year.

Kelly, Goodluck this month. Enjoy these few days of your visitor to indulge.

[Nizzy 1]

For his first bday, Eman had an Elmo theme. His second bday was sesame street and his third was Curious George. I am with you Stina, I am a bargain shopper as well. I definitely spent under 150 on all his bdays. I had about 10-15 people though so I was able to limit buy spending. I went shopping at the Dollar Tree for his first bday. They had LOTS of elmo things.

[chnst 6]

Jess: where in upstate NY?

Nessa: we had 50 people, and a BBQ party, we made the food ourselves (no catering) so that saved money. I think we spent close to $800 too for everything including the drinks. It was more a party for all the grown ups involved in his life, not too many kids yet. I agree, the decorations cost more for the 1st birthday, because of the 1st bithday theme everything was more expensive at the party store.

I mixed and matched. Ben wasn't really into anything special at his 1st birthday, we got him a TON of balloons (Pooh and Elmo) and he loved those more than his presents.

BTW I vote for Madagacar too! That looks cool!

Kelly: sorry, I know the feeling, I was miserable too. Fingers crossed for a 2010 baby!! haha, but I really don't want to have a baby near christmas.. we will see.

[Mommy2ZaidnSalma 11]

Stef, ya, it sucks. I am hoping for a 2010 baby though. Conceiving this time around would be my only hope. It would be an early December baby and thats ok with me, perfect time for maternity leave.

125$ on a party? I cant even fathom it. My family is HUGE and we even made all the food for Zaids party which in the long run I think cost more than catering. The cake was nearly 100$ alone. geez maybe im doing something wrong lol

Jess, ya im indulging lol Went tanning today, and had an EXTRA large diet pepsi (my all time love)

Stef, your post said you "were" miserable too. Does that mean you are??????????

Edited March 1, 2010 by ZaidsMommy

[Vi Mazzella 4]

Chrissy@ Hope the little ones are feeling better,keep us update...

Nessa@Am I the only one who likes the Disney decoration?

Sofia had a big bash in Lima, my parents went crazy for her and the theme was Strawberry Shortcake,of course it had to be...

girls Sof just woke up, I'll be back...

[Mommy2ZaidnSalma 11]

I do like the Mickey, but I like Madagascar better

[Vi Mazzella 4]

Part II

In Lima McD has this special service where they organize/host kids parties but of course you gotta serve their food. They want a minimum of 20 kids (happy meals) and they give you the area, all clean and decorated, two girls that will be encharge of the party, playing with the kids,singing with them and serving the food, the Happy B-day, and at the end of the party they clean the area. It was really cool at the end of the party we just said thank you, paid and left with all the gifts, no cleaning or nothing.

Silvio wanted to have something big here but she had a big party in Peru plus he has a small family so I feel that is not worth it,we are just having something small with family and a few very close friends,on the other hand I have my family in Peru asking me already If I decided the theme of her second b-day in Lima

Mommies Sofia is throwing tantrums!!!!!!!! ,what to do? she gets really upset when she doesn't get her way and just throws her herself and starts kicking, whenever whe say NO she looks at you and starts moving her head saying no but she keeps doing the same thing I gotta be honest it's funny but we don't know what to do to stop this behavior. She is not even 1!!!!

[Mommy2ZaidnSalma 11]

Vi, the one thing that works for us is when Zaid is throwing a tantrum to just walk away from him. I act like I dont see him or hear him and he normally stops right away.

If we are in public and he throws a tantrum, I take him to the nearest corner and make him have a timeout.

[chri'stina 190]

I think the parties I've had weren't much $ because both were at my house, I didn't rent anything, about 20-25 guests, and I didn't buy tons of themed decorations. Balloons and streamers are cheap, the cake was about $20(cutely decorated from store, 1/4 sheet even for 1/2 sheet it's maybe $28). Even birthday hats and little things to give the kids are cheap like $1-2 a pack. Food would be the most expensive part and we didn't make real food this time, just had fruit and other snacks. So that's how it's not much money.

[Mommy2ZaidnSalma 11]

Vacation from work isnt truly a vacation when you have a whiny toddler at home with ya...ahhhh

[Susita 175]

Vi, the one thing that works for us is when Zaid is throwing a tantrum to just walk away from him. I act like I dont see him or hear him and he normally stops right away.

If we are in public and he throws a tantrum, I take him to the nearest corner and make him have a timeout.

Ignoring it really works when they're little. They do it for attention & if they're not getting it they'll try something else. The time-out thing doesn't always work for me (my kids are bigger now) but if you combine it with taking away a toy that they're playing with (which is what I normally do when they throw it during their tantrum or something like that) it is effective. Luckily, I rarely had problems when we were out shopping and they were little. Now I have to explain to them why I can't buy them everything in the store

One time, I told my son Joseph that I wasn't going to buy him a Spongebob toy he saw, and he asked me why... I told him we don't have a lot of money to buy toys every time we go to the store, and if he really wanted it, to wait for his birthday. He said "Mommy, just use your credit card!" I had to explain that paper money and the credit card are the same thing. Sometimes they give me a quarter or some pennies and say "here Mommy can you buy me that?"

My kids have been really good for a while, but now one of them is starting to be really defiant, everything I tell him to do, he says NO and is back-talking. It's been going on for a few weeks now, and according to everyone it's normal at this age. I feel bad though because he's been doing a lot of time outs and he's had his toys taken away A LOT.

Christina ~ my parties are never really that expensive either. Last year, we threw their party at a play place and it was $250 - the most I've ever spent on a party for the kids. We always buy food and cook at home, buy decorations and buy a cake. For a few years we rented mascot costumes and the boys had Blues Clues and Scooby Doo at their birthday. This year, they want to go to Build a Bear and Chuck e Cheese. I'm going to take them on their birthday (it's a Monday) and the Saturday before we're throwing a party at home for the family. We also own one of those blow-up jump castles so we don't have to rent one. It's not huge, but big enough for a few kids.

[~Jess~ 0]

Jess: where in upstate NY?

Nessa: we had 50 people, and a BBQ party, we made the food ourselves (no catering) so that saved money. I think we spent close to $800 too for everything including the drinks. It was more a party for all the grown ups involved in his life, not too many kids yet. I agree, the decorations cost more for the 1st birthday, because of the 1st bithday theme everything was more expensive at the party store.

I mixed and matched. Ben wasn't really into anything special at his 1st birthday, we got him a TON of balloons (Pooh and Elmo) and he loved those more than his presents.

BTW I vote for Madagacar too! That looks cool!

Kelly: sorry, I know the feeling, I was miserable too. Fingers crossed for a 2010 baby!! haha, but I really don't want to have a baby near christmas.. we will see.

About an hour south of Syracuse on 81.

[chnst 6]

Kel: no luck here yet either... I am hoping for this month, otherwise I am taking a break, haha. It may sound weird, but I prefer to have the birthday parties in the summer/fall and that is now not an option anymore for this year. I think i have way too much stress in my life right now which is part of the reason why it hasn't worked yet. I am hoping that after I graduate in May it will be easier...

How come you paid so much for the cake? We got ours at the grocery store, it looked great, all I did was add a Pooh candle. I don't remember exactly how much it was, but I think we didn't spent more than $30 for the cake.

Vi: Ben started the tantrums around his first birthday too. i agree, ignoring and walking away works good, but it doesn't really prevent them from happening again. I really admire how my husband handles him so well when he throws a fit. The other day we were checking out at the supermarket and he wouldn't sit in the cart, or behave himself at all. He was running away and grabbing stuff from the shelves and then threw himself on the floor when he couldn't have a candy bar. My husband took a shopping basket, flipped it over and sat him in time out right there, and he was sitting there all quiet and good and all of a sudden he was in a good mood again and said "listen to daddy"

Jess: oh NY is so big . I go to school in Lake George. That's "the other upstate", I guess, haha.

[~Jess~ 0]

Kel: no luck here yet either... I am hoping for this month, otherwise I am taking a break, haha. It may sound weird, but I prefer to have the birthday parties in the summer/fall and that is now not an option anymore for this year. I think i have way too much stress in my life right now which is part of the reason why it hasn't worked yet. I am hoping that after I graduate in May it will be easier...

How come you paid so much for the cake? We got ours at the grocery store, it looked great, all I did was add a Pooh candle. I don't remember exactly how much it was, but I think we didn't spent more than $30 for the cake.

Vi: Ben started the tantrums around his first birthday too. i agree, ignoring and walking away works good, but it doesn't really prevent them from happening again. I really admire how my husband handles him so well when he throws a fit. The other day we were checking out at the supermarket and he wouldn't sit in the cart, or behave himself at all. He was running away and grabbing stuff from the shelves and then threw himself on the floor when he couldn't have a candy bar. My husband took a shopping basket, flipped it over and sat him in time out right there, and he was sitting there all quiet and good and all of a sudden he was in a good mood again and said "listen to daddy"

Jess: oh NY is so big . I go to school in Lake George. That's "the other upstate", I guess, haha.

Lol I guess we are called the 'Souther Tier' but usually when I say NY everyone assumes the city, so I just say upstate LOL