I had a really good weekend. Very relaxing without my husband here. Adam left Thursday afternoon and came back Sunday evening. Thursday was extremely rainy but that didn't stop Nicole and I. We went out to find her a new camera and scout out some birthday presents for Miranda. I was trying to find a certain new car seat that I want to buy for her but was unable to find it anywhere. And, without trying her out in it first, I do not want to rush into buying it. I want this particular one because I'll be able to rear-face Miranda up until my next baby arrives and then I'll probably switch her over to a forward-facing only seat, like the Frontier 85 that's coming out soon or if money is too tight to swing that, I'll settle for a Graco Nautilus. I'd prefer the Frontier though. It's a car seat fanatic's dream! Anyone who knows anything about me knows that car seat safety is a BIG thing with me. I no longer care what other people do with their kids, so you'll see no preaching from me but I want to do the absolute best for my kid. No matter what. Anyway, we did end up getting a new camera for Nicole. She's quite happy with it. It's a Nikon CoolPix. I'm actually kind of jealous. I love my Nikon D40 but I only  have the one lens and it's not exactly the most portable thing in the world. Oh well, maybe some day I'll be able to get a small point-and-shoot like that.

Friday, Nicole and I went to go see her friend who has two little boys. One about a month older than Miranda and another who's 9 or 10 months old. Very cute. Miranda had an absolute BLAST running around with her friend. It was very nice to watch her play with someone her age. She needs some more practice though. Not to say that she's abusive or anything like that but she tends to be very argumentative and kind of has this know-it-all attitude towards other children. She's pretty good at sharing although has a little bit more to learn about taking turns. I think she'll get better once she starts going to school. I ended up leaving our friend's house a little early though because the snow was falling fast and I was a little afraid of the roads.

Saturday morning was pretty uneventful. Nicole and I both stayed at our homes and did some well needed cleaning and laundry. I guess it couldn't be a completely fun and games type weekend. After Miranda woke up from her nap, I decided to take her down to the library. I had some books that desperately needed to be returned and was itching for something new to read. Miranda loves the library very much and I love taking her there. Usually she doesn't want me to read her many books while we're there, 1 or 2 tops sometimes, she just wants to run around and play with the other children. I like to let Miranda explore the children's section on her own, if I can help it. If she runs off to a part of the library where I can't see her, I don't follow her. She has a lot of fun making friends on her own and playing all sorts of  new games. She's too fast and all over the place mentally for me to keep an eye on her constantly. I'm always listening for her though and I also know she's a sweet little girl who won't hurt a smaller child. I find it interesting sometimes just to people watch. Not truly judging anyone but just taking notes about how I would handle their situation. Tucking away ideas that work and throwing away things that don't.

After that Nicole and I headed over to her parent's house to check out their new kitchen. Our plans for the evening had us heading over to the local fire house for their yearly pasta supper. Since Nicole's dad is a volunteer firefighter there we try to attend when we can. When we arrived at the fire house later that evening I decided to let Miranda push her teddy bear in a little stroller. She was very excited to do that and I knew it wouldn't harm anyone. After a delicious and filling dinner the bay was starting to clear out a little bit so I decided to let her push her bear around while Nicole and I sat and chatted with her family. A little boy who looked to be about her age came up and started to play with her. (I later found out from his mom that he had just turned two! He was a good inch or two taller than Miranda and probably well over 30lbs. Big boy!) It was absolutely adorable. (It's times like this one that I wish I had a small but decent camera to take pictures. I wasn't about to drag my $600 camera to a fire station.) They walked around 'helping' each other to push the stroller or taking turns pushing it. We were making little jokes about how they looked like a tiny married couple. Quite entertaining. :)

Sunday was fun for most of the day! We decided we wanted to go to Denny's for breakfast. (What else is new?) On the way there, we stopped by my dad's place for a surprise visit and he decided to join us. It was very nice meal. He talked about his new girlfriend and it was nice to see him so happy. :) After we dropped him off we were planning on going to Kohl's to check out what kind of sales they were having, plus I had a 15% off coupon. On the way there though we passed by the pottery place we had visited last week and I remembered that we hadn't picked up the pieces we'd painted yet. Miranda had painted Adam a hot plate as a gift, I made Miranda a plate that says "Happy 3rd B-day" on it that she'll have her cake on this year and Nicole made Miranda a frame that says "Auntie and Me". (Pictures coming soon.) At Kohl's I only ended up getting Miranda a Dr.Suess book (in honor of his birthday today and it was a Kohl's Cares for Kids purchase) and a Dora jump rope which is being stashed away as birthday present.

While we were there, Adam called and informed me that his truck had broken down on the side of the highway in Greenfield, Massachusetts. He tells me he's thinking about either renting a car or having me come and get him. Neither of these options sound appealing to me. He ended up, hitching a ride with his father and then taking the Jeep back up there to fetch the rest of his stuff. Yesterday, he took the day off of work to figure out something to do with the truck since he wasn't allowed to leave it there for much longer. He ended up driving up there with my brother (who's on vacation this week) and selling it to a salvage yard. I don't mind, really. I've wanted to cut down to a one-car family for a little while now. It'll save us some money. Eventually he'll get himself a fuel-efficient sedan to take to work but for now, he's got the Jeep.