THE REAL {AND OFTEN TERRIFYING} SIDE OF PARENTING, AS TOLD BY THREE-TIME POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION SURVIVOR, MAMA SAIGH: FORMER TV REPORTER + PRODUCER, TURNED FULL-TIME MOM, WIFE, BLOGGER + CONTRIBUTOR FOR THE JASON SHOW. WE WERE MINNESOTA EXPATS LIVING IN SINGAPORE FROM 2012-2015, AND ARE NOW BACK IN MN AS A FAMILY OF FIVE {2 PARENTS + 3 KIDS}. FOLLOW THE EVERYDAY REALITY SHOW THAT IS OUR LIFE, ON INSTAGRAM (@MELISSASAIGH). IS IT WINE O'CLOCK YET?!
Congratulations to Misty Thompson of North Mankato, MN! You are the winner of a Violife Rockee Toothbrush. Please email us with your phone number and address so we can verify and get your prize to you (minnesotababyinfo@gmail.com). Thanks for participating everyone, and be sure to watch the FOX 9 Morning News on Wednesday, August 14th at 9:30 a.m. to hear more about the Violife Rockee Toothbrush!
Silly birthday girl! Thanks Auntie
Nancy & Uncle Lonny for the wings.
She's still a few days away from turning two years old, but this past weekend we celebrated Linna's 2nd birthday with a big Princess Firefighter party in Minnesota! Thanks to my Dad, we were able to have 25 of Linna's little pals, along with family and friends, celebrate with us at the Hopkins Fire Department. The kids and parents went on firetruck rides, "Sparky" the fire dog made a visit, and we had a lot of fun with a pinata! There was tons of food, including some delicious chicken salad sandwiches made by my mother-in-law, cupcakes made by my cousin Bridget, and a yummy pasta salad that my mom made. I got Linna's Barbie Princess cake from Target for under $40, which I thought was a huge bargain, especially when cake companies wanted to charge me like $200 to make Linna a "custom" birthday cake. For $39.99, Target made a gorgeous Barbie Princess cake WITH Linna's name on it, and I "customized" the cake to fit the Princess Firefighter theme by putting a fire hat on the Barbie's head, and gluing some fairy-princess wings on her back. I was pretty excited about this cake! Plus, she got an actual Barbie with the cake too.
Although I love planning parties, this one would never have happened without all the help from our family! I really appreciate everyone who helped wrangle the kids, set everything up, serve food, dress up in a dog costume, take photos, and clean up afterwards. The only thing that could have made Linna's party better, would have been having Papa Saigh there with us (AJ went back to Singapore a couple weeks ago, while Linna and I stayed in MN for a few more weeks). AJ stayed up until 1 a.m. (Singapore time) so we could Skype him in at noon (CST time) to watch Linna blow out her birthday candles. However, he couldn't see anything with the connection we had, so I just video recorded everyone singing "Happy Birthday" to Linna and showed him the video later. He'll definetly be Skyping in on Linna's actual birthday this coming Thursday. We miss you AJ! It wasn't the same without you. Looks like Linna will be getting yet ANOTHER birthday celebration when we return to Singapore in two weeks! Here's some video of Linna at her birthday party...
Other than a broken ceramic firetruck (sorry Dad), and a toddler's first bee sting (sorry Dylan), Linna's birthday party went off without a hitch. She had a blast playing with her little friends, and LOVED Sparky! Linna almost fell asleep opening her presents around 1 p.m., so she was wiped out when I laid her down for a nap around 1:30 p.m.
Thanks to everyone who came and made Linna's birthday party really special!
Cupcakes made by my cousin Bridget.
Buildings on fire.
Firefighter Princess Birthday Cake!
The most delicious chicken salad sandwiches made by Grammy Pammy.
Kid's table. They each went home with a hat,
t-shirt, and water bottle.
Pasta salad made by my Mama!
The Grandpas hanging the pinata before the party!
Mama Saigh and the birthday bug:)
MeMaw and PeePaw with the birthday girl!
Sparky greeting Linna's guests! Thanks Amy and Ryan.
Fire truck rides with Chief Dale.
Andrea and Maddie going on a fire truck ride.
I was shocked by how much Linna LOVED Sparky! She usually freaks when
she even gets close to a the Easter Bunny, Santa, etc. Sparky was her BFF!
Lunch.
Guarding her birthday cupcake:)
I don't even want to know the amount of sugar
Linna ate during her party.
Presents are exciting for EVERYONE!
Cute birthday card/mask from Auntie Pulie and Uncle Steve!
Someone is ready to CRASH! Even during present opening.
Linna, obviously thrilled about her historical moment.
So exciting! Tonight, Linna was in the bathtub and started to grunt, so I asked her if she had to poop. She said "yay" which means "yes", and I asked if she wanted to do it on the potty. She wanted to, so I scooped her up, and TA-DA! Linna did her first poop on the potty chair at Grandma and Grandpa Specken's house. And yes, I totally took a pic of my kid standing by her little gem in the toilet. You're welcome for my wonderful editing;)
Our usually cautious 23-month-old decided to let her adventurous side shine tonight. She wanted me to get on Grandma and Grandpa Specken's bed after bath time, to show me her new game (Grandma and Grandpa are at the Twins game tonight). The first time she did this I thought she broke her neck. But after she let our a big laugh and said "again!", it was clear that she was having fun! Where did this adventure tot come from?!
GIVEAWAY WINNER: Congratulations to Amanda Hopkins of Pine City, MN! You have won a family 4-pack of tickets to the Science Museum of Minnesota! Please email us (minnesotababyinfo@gmail.com) with your address and phone number, so we can verify and get your tickets sent to you. Thanks for participating everyone, and stay tuned for our next giveaway!
Linna, JJ, and Clark checking out the dinosaurs.
Last Tuesday, some of my mom friends and I decided to take our kiddos to the Science Museum of Minnesota's Preschool Playdate. The Science Museum hosts these Playdates every Tuesday from 10 a.m. to Noon, and they have some special activities just for the little ones. They have some "make & take creations" where kids can build and make their own project, puppet shows and theater programs, and storytimes. Our kids (all under three years old) spent a lot of the time just wondering around and checking things out on their own, as they have a lot of hands-on learning at the Science Museum. Most of the kids enjoyed the earlier morning puppet show (around 10:30 a.m.), which was a story read by one guy, while he performed the story with a puppet. But all of the kids loved the polar bear story/demonstration. The kids also liked checking out the dinosaurs, and since there weren't a lot of kids at the Science Museum on Tuesday for the Preschool Playdate, we basically had our own private storytime with a ranger! The ranger used puppets/stuffed animals to keep the kiddos interested, but since we were nearing lunch time, it was a little difficult to keep their attention on the story-teller. We grabbed lunch at the cafe on the third floor, which was nice because it was obviously kid-friendly. We might have to head back for another Tuesday visit when we're back from Singapore over the holidays!
Preschool Playdates at the Science Museum 120 W. Kellogg Blvd. St. Paul, MN 55102
Every Tuesday from 10 a.m. to Noon
Kids 5 and under are FREE with a paid adult ($13).
Minnesota Children's Museum members receive FREE Science Museum admission during playdates.
Mamas and babies watching the puppet show.
Budding musician.
Linna and Clark.
There's 5 kids in this pic. Can you spot all of them?! ;)
This weekend while we were visiting our family cabin in Hawick, MN, my mom, sister, and I took Linna and our little cousins Kayden and Kasen to the A Maze'n Farmyard. This place is about 15 minutes from our cabin, and about an hour and 15 minutes from the Twin Cities. It is such a fun outdoor spot for families with children of all ages! You could literally spend hours there, and not get bored. They have a giant slide, every farm animal you can possibly imagine, a bird house, pony rides, mini golf, puppies for sale, a maze, bouncy barn, train rides, corn pit, and so much space for the kids to just run around. Linna loved holding the bunnies and watching people feed the goats. It was really interesting to see our "city gal" on a farm! All of the animals were wonderful around all the crazy kids, and even on a busy Saturday, none of the attractions seemed to feel "packed". We were there for about two hours, and didn't even make it to the corn pit, train ride, mini golf, maze, or bouncy barn (we got a late start and needed to make it back to the cabin for lunch). Looks like we'll just have to go back again. Thanks Mom for showing all of us a really fun time!
