Christmas Day

Our Christmas was super busy. 

We started off the morning at our place with the girls. Boyfriend woke up first, way too early, and went downstairs for awhile, before coming back to bed. I drifted in and out of sleep a lot until about 8. We got up, got breakfast ready then actually woke up the girls. 

The one time they sleep in! And it has to be Christmas. Silly girls. 

We were like the children this time around, too excited to sleep. 

The girls had some pancakes (Chloe) and raisin toast (Madi) then we moved on to presents. 

Top left: Stockings
Top right: Madi and her toast
Bottom left: Chloe smiling
Bottom middle/right: Nephew playing with the chainsaw set I got him (Christmas night)

We rushed out to Mom's after presents, and opened more presents. Then we rushed to boyfriend's Mom's place, and opened more presents and had turkey dinner.

Then we rushed to Mom's boyfriend's parent's place, and had turkey supper.

Then boyfriend went home, I stayed at Mom's for the night.

Then I rushed away to visit an old friend for an hour, then to pick up my grandfather, then more presents and another turkey dinner.

Yeah, it was nuts, and rushed.

It was so nice to get back home on Boxing day night.

Oxymoron, much?

Wanna know what we got? Here's just a few things.

Me: 
Gift certificate for massage
The book Bro Code for Parents: What to Expect When You're Awesome
Craft room storage
Picture frame
$$$
Chocolates
Gift cards for groceries and Wal-Mart

Chloe (And Madi)
Singing frog bath toy
Mickey Mouse couch
Kitchen set
Cash register
Sleeping bag
Ooodles of clothing

What did you get for Christmas?

Silent Sunday: A glimpse at our Christmas

The tree Christmas morning

Our stockings

All the presents at Mom's... no tree :(

You can't even see half of it, but these are all our presents under the tree on the 26th before I put them away.

All of Chloe's toys (some that are also Madi's, of course)

Also, head over to my Facebook page and tell me how you chose your wedding date. Please?

Dinner Theatre and Christmas Eve

Christmas is finally over with. I say 'finally' because it was so busy, I could barely enjoy any of it. It was still great though. The girls, and boyfriend and I, were so spoiled by everyone. But more on Christmas later. 

First, I want to recap the days leading up to Christmas. 

On Friday the 21st, boyfriend and I went to the dinner theatre. I scored us free tickets because that's my job - booking the tickets and chasing down people for payments and such. 

The show was absolutely amazing. So funny, and the entire cast was so talented. The food was fine, but I'd go back again and again just for the show. 

We went with boyfriend's best friend and his new girlfriend. I'd like to say we all had a great time. 

We took a few pictures together, and with our girls before leaving them with the babysitter. 

Me and my pretty girl

Daddy and his little girl

We always look awkward together. 

As mentioned in my last post about Madi's tantrums, we went to a small gathering on Sunday to meet up with boyfriend's father. Before going to the party, we rushed to the mall to get the Santa photos out of the way. They did not turn out very nice at all, but those are the joys of toddlers. Neither girl would sit on the seat with Santa or next to him, so for the first time in at least a decade, I got my picture taken with Santa. 

Happy, happy girl

Last year I bought Chloe this shirt. She's 15 months, the shirt is size 6-12. I knew she was small, so I was hoping it would fit this year, and it did. I also bought a bag of used clothes from someone, and unintentionally got the same shirt in Madi's size. We went them to daycare matching on Christmas eve. 

I tried to get a photo with them. They weren't having it. 

They got away. 

Madi left that afternoon to visit with her mother's side of the family. She got a couple of toys and an adorable outfit from them for Christmas. While she was gone, I went shopping with my crazy brother and his girlfriend. He bought us dinner. 

Boyfriend got off work early, so him and I got to relax for awhile after Chloe went to bed. Not long ago, a wore out Madi got home. She slept on boyfriend's shoulder while we talked with her grandmother for awhile, then went right to bed. 

We did up the stockings, got all gifts ready, packed our bags, then it was off to bed to wait for "Santa" to come. 

How do YOU deal with these kinds of tantrums?

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Wow, it's Christmas eve. It sure doesn't feel like it. 

We started celebrating a little bit yesterday. We took the girls to visit my mom for a little while. We met up with my friend, S., while we were there and exchanged gifts with her. We got a really nice touch and feel Christmas book, a noisy learning toy, bathtub crayons, and some pjs for miss Chloe. So much nice stuff already, and so much left to open. 

The reason we were in town was for supper at boyfriend's sister's house. We were meeting up with his ex-step-father (his father figure growing up) and siblings, as their Christmas 'get together'. Not only did boyfriend and Lil M get presents, they actually had a present for Chloe and I. It was a surprise but a really nice one, especially since we've never met his father before. 

Lil M had on major meltdown over a sippy cup, and we left on that note. She screamed for a half an hour while we got ready to leave, and screamed for another 15 or so minutes as we drove home. I need your advice, any moms of toddlers, so I'll explain the situation. 

She saw the cup in the bag and wanted it. We told her she could have it later, meaning in the car, and put the bag away. Insert tons of crying and screaming. She had a sippy cup of water already, but didn't want that. She wanted juice. After the first 20 minutes of crying, I poured the juice into another cup. She wasn't in the room when I did it. I filled the one she was crying over with water and gave it to her. She continued screaming over it. 

I refused to give in to her tantrum and give her the sippy cup in the car, even though her father really wanted to. After almost 45 minutes of crying, she fell asleep in the car.

So I ask you, what do you do in these situations? Keep holding out to teach her you don't throw a tantrum to get what you want? Or do you give in after awhile? 

She's gotten to the point that she has little meltdowns over anything. If you give her food, even if she wants it, she will cry and scream if you don't give it to her the way she wants it. I don't know what her mother does about it at home, but I am not the type to give a child what they want just because they scream. Her father is. What do you do? 

Keep in mind, she's almost two and barely speaks so it's not like she can't ever tell us if there's an actual problem, she just screams over everything. 

I got a bit off my original topic... Christmas eve! So I hope it's happy. I'm not sure when I'll update next, so I hope you have a Merry Christmas and I can't wait to read all your Christmas updates later! 

Night Terrors: More common than I thought

December 17

Do you know what night terrors are? Because I hadn't heard of them until a little over a year ago. I also had no idea how common they are. 

How common, you ask? Well my step-daughter had them almost nightly for months (her half brother and mother her also had them), from about 17 months until about 21 months. They're finally getting to be a bit rare with her. 

And now Chloe has them. She has only had two so far, with a couple of weeks between the two, 

What are night terrors? That article posts a great explanation, although I would assume that they're a bit more common than they say, and they start a bit younger. 

With our girls, they usually started 1-2 hours after going to bed for Madi, and about two hours after going to bed for Chloe. 

At first it just seem like they're upset in bed.

Last night I picked Chloe up, and she seemed okay but all of a sudden got really upset. At first I thought something may be wrong. 

I sat on the floor and held her but then she started to fight me so I let her go. We tried to give her a bottle, which she never turns down, but she wanted nothing to do with it. She crawled into the corner with her head on the floor, and the rest of her body in the downward-facing dog position. She would tense up, then relax over and over. The crying sometimes gets so intense that it's scary. She wouldn't look at us. It was like we didn't exist. It was always the same for Madi too. 

It lasted about 10 minutes. Madi's were usually longer - 20+ minutes. Then, like someone snapped their fingers, she just stopped crying, picked up her bottle and crawled into my lap. She smiled again. She  got up and wanted to walk around. I held her for a few minutes then put her back to bed without a problem. 

I think more parents should be made aware. If you're child has never done this before, it's  terrifying. You think something is seriously wrong because they're crying so hard, and look right through you like you're a ghost. 

But they tell you not to touch them, or really talk to them, and I believe in that as well. Doing so only makes them cry and thrash around harder. Make sure they're somewhere that they can't get hurt if they're kicking and throwing themselves around. 

And don't panic. They're not dying. It just seems like they are. 

Does anyone else know someone who has them?

Dear World End... Bring it on.

The world is suppose to end tomorrow. It doesn't seem like that much time has passed since the last time the world ended. And last time, I wrote a post on the things I've done, and how I felt if the world ended, I'd have no regrets. 

So! Let's do 'No Regrets if the World Ends' part two, shall we? Because I sure have done more amazing things. 

I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. I watched her laugh, learn to crawl and walk, and watched her bring smiles to the faces of others. Because of her, I felt the kind of love that I didn't know was even possible until I held my child in my arms for the very first time. 

I met a man. The sweetest man who will do anything for anyone, without complaint. One who takes care of my daughter like she is his own. One who is so opposite from me in the most perfect ways, but also so much like me in other ways. I've never felt more lucky. 

I've got a crazy family. The kind that could probably get their own trashy sitcom. Or at least be on Jerry Springer. In a few days, we'll all get together for the first time in awhile to enjoy an insanely noisy, chaotic Christmas. 

I still have some of the most amazing friends anyone could ask for. 

We've got a ton of gifts under the tree that we were able to provide for our girls, each other, and the rest of our families. We won't get to open them, if the world does end, but at least we were able to buy them. 

I have a ton of chocolate sitting on my kitchen table. And a box sitting next to me on my desk. And a coffee on the other side. What more could I ask for?

Well, if the world doesn't end, a million dollars would be okay. 

4 Christmas Crafts I Wish I Would've Done This Year

This is my second Christmas with a child. Last year I had a baby who was under three months old. Life was busy. Now I have a 15 month old, plus boyfriend, plus a step-child, along with a full-time job. Surprisingly, life is less busy, but there still just isn't enough time for all the fun things I want to do. 

People everywhere are blogging about the fun crafts and keepsakes and gifts they're making, and I'm so jealous. I'd love to make something with a handprint or a fingerprint as a keepsake, and maybe I will, but right now there just doesn't seem to be enough time to pull it off. 

Here are a bunch of things other bloggers have been doing, that I absolutely love and want to try. If not this year, then hopefully next. 

1. Thumbprint ornament

[ via ]

You can barely tell they're fingerprints. That makes it cute, and incredibly special, without being overly obvious. If I knew I could pull off this exact ornament, I'd try it this year, but I think it would be a huge fail for me. Better start with something smaller. 

2. Thumbprint Card

[ via: Meet the Dubiens ]

I'm a huge fan of card making myself, so next year I'd love to make all my own cards to send out, and this one would be so easy.

3. Child-Friendly - Felt - Christmas Tree

[ via ]

A great idea to keep the kids away from the real tree. I'm not sure how well it would work with our young ones (15 months and 23 months), but I wish I would've remembered it sooner and tried it. I don't think I'd have the time to make one before Christmas now even if I wanted to. 

4. DIY Handprint Gift

[ via: Our Tiny Place ]

We're kind of cheap, so this would've been the perfect present for someone who a) loves our kids, and b) doesn't really need/want anything for Christmas anyway. Or I'd just make it for myself and display it every year. 

Am I missing any other good ideas for next year? Help a girl out.

For more awesome ideas, you can stalk me on Pinterest. 

Homemade Hot Chocolate & Chocolate Coffee

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I've been addicted to half coffee, half hot chocolates lately. I love me some coffee, but the added sweetness of the hot chocolate makes me want to drink it all day. That may be a bad thing. 

Bad enough, because the $2ish I'm spending a day to buy them started adding up, so I started experimenting at home. Both with homemade hot chocolate, and homemade chocolate coffee. 

Lucky you, I'm going to share. 

Homemade Hot Chocolate

1 1/4 cups of milk (approx)

1 tsp cocoa (add more if you like it thicker)

1 tsp white sugar (same amount as cocoa)

Heat up the milk in a pot on medium heat. Once it's starting to boil a little, add the cocoa and sugar and stir. Add more or less cocoa and sugar until you figure out what works for you. More options: Add a drop or two of peppermint extract, throw some whipped cream on top, pour in a little bit of flavored coffee cream or a flavor shot. 

Homemade Chocolate Coffee

Coffee

Milk

1 tsp Cocoa

2 tsp Sugar

Make the coffee as desired. You can use instant if you'd like. Make enough to fill your cup approx 3/4 full. Stir in the sugar and cocoa (adjust amounts to meet your tastes), then fill the cup the rest of the way with milk. You can also add peppermint extract, whipped cream, or any kind of flavoring you like. 

Do you have any favorite hot drink recipes to share?

I am so grateful for my daughter

I don't want to dwell too much on the Sandy Hook tragedy in here. It's already on my mind a lot, and breaks my heart. It was a nice relief to pick up my baby girl Friday afternoon and get to spend an amazing weekend with her. I can't imagine being one of the families that no longer gets that luxury. Yeah, it's a luxury. 

I think Chloe was trying to drive that point home, because she was being so damn cute all weekend. 

She's pretty much a full-time walker now, and I love just watching her go. 

I don't, however, love watching her climb on the coffee table and make a beeline for the stairs every chance she gets. 

She gives me cuddles and hugs and kisses now. Big, wide open mouthed kisses, where you're not sure if she's going to kiss you or bite half your face. Although she makes up for some of the cuteness by hitting in the face a lot. You win some, you lose some. 

She has also started doing one of the funniest things. She'll make a surprised face, and even do a quick inhale, as if someone just jumped out and startled her. She does it a lot. 

Here's a blurry example:

Last night we were playing in her room, and she made the face a few times. Then she glanced across the hallway and saw the nightlight on in Madi's room. She made the face, made the noise with a little exaggeration, and acted like she saw a ghost. 

Boyfriend and I were laughing so hard that I was crying, but she kept doing it. He managed to get a bit of it on video. I think it's my favorite video of Chloe ever made. 

And one last favorite part of the weekend? When I went to check on her before I went to bed, I accidentally woke her up and she started crying so I took her to my room for a little while. She lay down with her head on my shoulder for 15 minutes until I put her back to bed. Occasionally she would look up and smile a little. 

It was one of my favorite moments. 

Oh how I love this little girl. She's the funniest, cutest person I know. She's my best buddy. 

Fill in the Blanks

1.  When it comes to holiday shopping, I absolutely love it. I'm a shopaholic in general, so guilt-free shopping feels so great for me, and I especially love picking out things I think people will love. I just hate shopping for people who are hard to buy for.

2.  A few things on my Chritmas wish list are...  a new bedding set, things we need for the apartment, boots, hat/mitts/scarf, a wallet. Or see the whole list here.

3.  An intangible gift I would like to receive is a weekend away with boyfriend, and even with Chloe too. I'm in the beginning stages of planning something like that on my own. The gift would be for it to work out.

4. A gift I would like to give this year is   a better job for boyfriend. He's stressed over money and although I can help with money, it would make him feel better if it wasn't a problem for him in the first place.

5. My Christmas will be spent  with my little family Christmas eve and Christmas morning, with my mom and family also Christmas morning, with boyfriend's family Christmas afternoon, and with mom and family again for supper that evening. It shall be a busy day this year. 

6. My most favorite Christmas gift of all time was  My Baby Spice doll. I was never so excited over a doll. 

[ via ]

7.  The best thing about the holidays is all the family time, and this year, seeing our babies get excited over their new toys. Or the boxes and wrapping paper, I mean they're just babies after all. 

It's rare that I double post in one day, but this just sounded like too much fun. Link up yourself with Lauren. Have a good weekend!

Life is good.

My little family, not so photogenic.

I am in an amazing mood today, and I'm not sure I can pinpoint exactly why. It's more a collection of little things. 

This morning Chloe woke up super early. I was tired, but it allowed room for some cuddle and play time. Around the time our alarm should've gone off, I dragged her upstairs to bug boyfriend, who was also tired but entertained us and got up without a complaint. Things have been so great with him lately. 

Getting to spend a little time with my two favorite people in the morning sure set the tone for the day. 

My half coffee, half hot chocolate (new addiction) topped up the happiness, and from there, there is just so much to be excited about that I can't help but be in a great mood. 

Christmas is coming. The shopping is basically done, we have most of our Christmas plans made up, and I get 2.5 days off to spend with my family. Boyfriend only gets Christmas day off, but that's better than nothing. 

Christmas week will be crazy. We are adopting boyfriend's daughter for a week - the Friday before Christmas until the Friday after, because her mother is going away. We'd rather have her for a week than not see her at all on Christmas. 

She will mainly be my responsibility, since boyfriend will be working and I'll be in charge of the daycare drop offs and pickups, as well as supper and bedtime some nights. It'll be a challenge but I'm mostly looking forward to it . 

I will also be taking her alone to spend Boxing Day with my grandfather and family while boyfriend works. Wish me luck as I spend a week being a mother of two girls under two. 

Life is pretty sweet. 

Our Daily Schedule, These Days

I was reading a post today on people's everyday schedule's over at Shannon's blog. She finds them interesting to read, and I couldn't agree more. It's kind of fun to see how other people do it, so I'm going to do the same. This is how a typical weekday goes in our household. 

7:10am - Alarm goes off. I drag myself out of bed and get dressed. 

7:15am - Wake Chloe up if she didn't wake me up first, get her out of that overnight diaper and drag her downstairs for her breakfast. While she eats, I pack my lunch, get her daycare bag ready and gather anything else we need for the day. Sometimes I eat breakfast, but these days that's rare. 

7:40am - (She's a slow eater) I get Chloe out of her high chair and change her into her daycare clothes. If she's quick eating and dressing, we get to take our time and play on the floor for 10 minutes or so. Boyfriend usually drags his butt downstairs around this time. 

7:50am - Get our stuff and ourselves packed into the car

8:00-8:10am - Drop Chloe off at daycare. 

8:25-4:30pm - Arrive at work, punch in, update my voicemail, check my email, answer phone calls, etc. Eat randomly throughout the day at my desk. Continue with this all day. 

4:30pm - Leave work and either run a quick errand or go right to daycare to pick Chloe up. 

5-5:30pm - Arrive home with one cranky, hungry Chloe. Immediately strap her in the highchair and give her food as fast as I can. 

6:00pm - Bathtime

6:15-7:15pm - Mommy and Chloe time

7:15-7:30pm - Bedtime, and depending on boyfriend's schedule, potential supper time for me and him. 

7:30pm - OMG relax time. 

9:30-11pm - Bedtime somewhere in here. And we're lucky to usually sleep right through the night until 7am. 

Good times. 

The presents are wrapped under the tree

This is our tree.

Ain't she pretttttttty? 

No? I don't think so either. Although the picture gives it more credit than it deserves. It's got some huge gaps that no 'fluffing' could fix, ornaments that are plastic (toddler-friendly) and boring, and not much else. I want a better tree for next year. 

Boyfriend and I almost finished our Christmas shopping yesterday, and that is the results. There are even presents in the far corner behind the tree. We have a ton of presents. A lot for the girls, some for me and him, and some for my family. 

Last night we wrapped presents and listened to random music from the 90s and early 2000s. And Gangnam Style. And eventually went to a friend's place and played Monopoly. I won. It was a great time. 

A few nights ago he told me he couldn't believe we've been together for almost a year already. And how happy he was with me. It kind of made me melt. 

Saturday was his family's Christmas get-together. It was an evening thing, so even though we were definitely going, I was a little scared about how the girls would take it. The party started at 6, and bedtime is at 7. 

Well, around 9:30pm Chloe was holding onto a chair dancing and Lil M was still running wild. Boyfriend's niece and cousins all loved the girls and were great babysitters to let us eat and play a couple of games. Overall, a good time with some nice people. His mother even took a photo of her and her grandkids in front of the Christmas tree and got Chloe to get in the picture. 

We took a 'family' picture of our own, which of course has a million flaws, but the important part is, I look good. 

That's always the important part. 

But I can't share the photo today because I'm at work and the photo is not. 

So, tell me about your weekend.

Chloe is 14 months old

Being sick is interfering with my life. 

I missed almost two hours of work this morning trying to get some sleep because I had a horrible headache and felt weak and just plain exhausted. I haven't stopped coughing in almost two days. 

But onto other things. It's been awhile since I've done a Chloe update, so let's do a quick one. 

Weight: Approx 19lbs. I'll have to remember to check length sometime soon. 

Eating: She went through a spurt of eating amazingly. All finger foods, but she was eating a lot. She stills eats okay, but the past couple of days she's been throwing more food on the floor than actually eating it. Her favorite thing ever is still cereal bars, it seems. Or any food I'm eating. Typical child. 

Sleep: She usually sleeps through the night from 7-7. She tends to only wake up through the night on nights where I'm tired or sick. Thanks, little girl. 

Clothing: She's finally outgrowing some smaller clothing. I'd say for the most part she fits into 6-12 month shirts, and mostly only 12-18 month Old Navy jeans. She's size 3 in shoes. Still size 3 diapers. 

Walking: She still prefers crawling, but walks quite a bit now. It's so weird to see her just walk into a room. 

Other stuff: She still whines almost every time we're in the car. Some things never change. She's been sick again for awhile with coughing and runny nose. It'll be nice if we could all be sickness-free for a little while. 

She still likes daycare. She usually goes willingly to any of the workers. 

And that's about all. 

Men are silly.

It is no secret that I'm a little boring. 

I was reading some blogs this morning about crafts, and activities and the most amazing closet I've ever seen (scroll down near bottom).

Meanwhile, I'm just like... did anything even happen this week worth mentioning? Even just to document for my own sake?

Usually the answer is no. And still is. 

I haven't posted any recent, decent photos of Chloe in awhile. And I have a few, plus like one from the day we put up the tree. Maybe I'll share someday. 

I barely do anything besides work and clean and baby duties. 

But last night I helped boyfriend make biscuits for his daughter. He passed me the measuring cup then I measured, mixed, stuck my hands right in there to mix that gluten-free mess some more. While he watched. Just as all was mixed, and I had a couple of biscuits on the pan, shaping another one in my hands he looks at me with a smirk and says "thank you for helping me make biscuits". 

Oh. Right. So he helped shape the rest. 

Awhile later, when they were done and cooled and we were about to go to bed, we were both in the kitchen. Boyfriend grabbed a garbage bag from under the sink and shook it open. I was half paying attention, but thought nothing of it. I turned back to fill Chloe's bottle with milk, and turned back to him to see him putting the last biscuit in the garbage bag, and twisting it to 'close' it. A garbage bag. 

And then I laughed. And couldn't stop laughing. I finally managed to ask why, and he told me it was because we didn't really have a storage container clean that was big enough to hold them. 

"What about a Ziploc bag?" I asked. He stared at me for a moment with that same smirk on his face, then went in the drawer and pulled out two Ziploc bags while I continued to laugh at him. 

It's the little things. 

And just for fun, here are a few recent, horrible photos of Chloe. 

Someone hopped on the potty herself

This looked like a good place to sit

Chloe helping me clean the bedroom by bringing me the hangers. By walking! 

PS - Enter my Boy Meets World giveaway. Don't make me beg. 

My Grown Up Christmas Lists

I think I might be hard to shop for this year for Christmas. I guess maybe unless you know me better than I know myself, because there's just not much I can think of that I want.

 

Boyfriend's been asking and asking, and I've never had much of an answer.

 

Today I got a message saying "Ideas. Quick!" because he was at the store. My mind was blank.

 

For gift ideas for me anyway. All I could think of are things we need around the house. So for your mocking pleasure, here are my boring, grown-up Christmas lists.

 

Yeah, lists.

 

You'll get it.

 

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Items I Wouldn't Want a Clueless Male to Pick Out

 

1. Wallet

2. Bedding set

3. Work clothes

4. Hat/mitts/scarf set

5. Winter boots

 

Gift Cards

 

1. Michaels

2. Clothes

3. Photography session

 

Too Expensive

 

1. Bedroom furniture set

2. Coffee table set

3. Remote start for my car

4. Winter tires for car

5. Flash for my camera

6. Lens for my camera

7. New phone

8. Washer and dryer

 

Somewhat Reasonable

 

1. Craft storage

2. Craft supplies

3. Card game

4. Seasons of tv shows

5. Big mirror for livingroom

 

Boring Apartment Stuff

 

1. Decent can opener

2. Pot set

3. Cup set

4. Cutlery set

5. Plastic containers

6. Better cooking utensils

7. Griddle

8. Vaccuum

9. Laundry basket with handles

10. Hangers

Then, I could honestly make a whole other list on stuff I want for Chloe for Christmas, and wouldn't care if I got them as my gifts. (Toy box, bookshelf, Old Navy gift card for baby clothes, etc).

When did I get so boring?



Being sick means extra cuddles

We've been sick. Me and Chloe.

 

Not horribly sick, just the gross kind - coughing, lots of nose blowing, etc.

 

Still it's affecting baby girl's sleeping and I feel pretty sad for her. Twice last night she started crying in bed. Usually when she's crying, she's standing or sitting up waiting for me, but these times she was still laying. I picked her up and craddled her like a small baby and she immediately started going back to sleep both times. So I held her and we cuddled on the couch for awhile.

 

It was by far my favorite part of the day, but I still don't like that she's sick.

 

I let her sleep in an extra 15 minutes this morning before we got up for work/daycare. 

 

Very unflattering picture boyfriend got of Chloe sleeping in my arms last night

Over the weekend I finally started getting caught up around the house. Mom even came up to visit on Sunday and helped me get the washer and dryer hooked up. That's one less stress to worry about.

 

Maybe sometime in 2013 I'll have all the moving chores completed.

 

Maybe.

 

 

Ps.. Don't forget about my Boy Meets World giveaway.

Silent Sunday: A Wedding

You remember my friend M's wedding? Well we recently had a visit and I was able to steal some pictures. They are currently the only pictures I have on my newish computer. Enjoy! 

Me and the bride

My favorite of the girls

I did not know this was taken. I'm drinking and holding a naked baby. How inappropriate. I swear I'm a decent parent.

Boy Meets World season 1 GIVEAWAY

I wanted to do something on my blog for Christmas, because it's Christmas and I love it. I wasn't going to, and then I was, and then I wasn't. But now I am.

 

I'm hosting a giveaway, all on my own. No sponsors or anything funny, just me giving you something.

 

 

One of my favorite ever tv shows growing up was Boy Meets World. I finally managed to get the entire series on dvd for myself, but in buying the boxed set, I ended up with brand new, sealed doubles of seasons I already had. So I'm giving season one to you.

 

This giveaway is inspired by the fact that it's been announced that Boy Meets World is going to continue - with Girl Meets World. Corey and Topanaga themselves are returning as the parents of 13-year old Riley. I don't know who else may or may not be returning, but this is exciting enough for me.

 

So enter below to win your very own copy of Boy Meets World season 1. And spread the word.

Enter using the Rafflecopter stuff below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

There's just no time

I've been struggling lately.

 

I survived the move without any kind of break down, but now that we're into the apartment, all the little stresses are getting to me.

 

And today they're getting to me big time.

 

I have reasons to believe that Chloe's back into teething mode. (Didn't we just get over that last tooth?) There has been excessive whining, and it looks like the rash is coming back.

 

There is barely anytime to eat. There is very little time to get stuff put away. I can barely keep up with the daily stuff like dishes. There's no time for groceries without Chloe going into major whine mode.

 

Boyfriend even spent part of his day off cleaning the old apartment for me.

 

I'm just too overwhelmed with stuff to do, and absolutely no time to do it.

 

That, paired up with budgeting and other personal pain-in-the-ass things, as well as work stresses, I am not keeping up so well.

 

I'm cranky. I'm stressed. I'm mean to everyone. I suck.

 

And ain't nobody got time for that.

 

But tomorrow, I think I'm going to do a small giveaway. Sponsored by just me and my money. So come back for that!

Time for some Holiday cheer up in here

This is how busy I am at work today.

 

But I'm taking a quick break to say hi.

 

We still have no internet at the new apartment townhouse. I can't believe we live in a townhouse.

 

I started organizing the basement last night. The basement where we basically threw everything to get it out of the main living areas upstairs. The basement where my craft area is going to be. You have no idea how much that excites me.

 

We put up our tree last night. It's lacking something, but I can't figure out what. It's artificial, and not a very full tree, and that makes me sad. It also means I need to buy a nice tree after the holidays when they're on sale.

 

Boyfriend doesn't know it yet but I might set up my smaller tree in the basement. Holiday cheer all over the place.

 

Oh how I love Christmas.

 

We watched Home Alone last night while we set up the tree.

 

I can't wait to do more Christmas shopping on my next pay day.

 

How are all your holiday preparations coming along?

Christmas Shopping and Moving Weekend

I don't want to forget about my blog in all the craziness of moving, which is this weekend, but even at work there just hasn't been any time. The hotel I work for hosts a Christmas dinner theatre and I've been working hard at booking, taking payments, doing seating charts and filling out the paper work. It's super busy, but I love it. And that's not even my original job - I'm still booking meeting rooms and all that regular stuff I always do. Oh how I love this job.

So I've been busy with that and moving, and everyday life.

 

Today I made a huge Christmas purchase, first thing in the morning at Toys R Us for our girls. Boyfriend was sweet enough to drive up with me in his own car, meet me there, I paid and he dragged it home while I went to work. I sure do love Black Friday sales when they work out in my favor.

 

I feel a little out of the loop since I'm lacking an "I'm Thankful" post this week, but I'm Canadian so I was thankful in October. I'm still thankful now, so read that post if you want a Thanksgiving-related one.

 

If not, you made it to the end of this boring post, and for that I thank you. Now I need to go get me a coffee. Hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving, my American friends.

So I took a sick day

Sunday night I wrote and scheduled a post, just recapping our simple weekend. I got up Monday morning at 6am with Chloe, thanks to the kitty, cranky but ready to face the day. I was up for about 15 minutes when I felt a wave of nausea. It passed. About 10 minutes later, another one.

 

And while I did not actually get sick, this feeling stayed with me on and off all day.

 

I know what you might be thinking, but no, I'm not expecting.

 

I'm not sure what I would've done otherwise, but I woke boyfriend up and he took care of Chloe's morning duties (feeding, dressing, packing her daycare bag), and took her to daycare with me. He had the day off, and had a cold so it was nice to have someone to spend my sick day with.

 

I took a morning nap and an afternoon nap, and they were just lovely, and much needed. I couldn't eat a thing most of the day. I just sipped on apple juice. I felt okay enough to go pick the girls up from daycare, but still felt tired, weak and a little shaky for most of the evening.

 

Finally, finally, I woke up Tuesday morning feeling weird, but not sick, and made my way to work. I've felt fine ever since, just extremely tired.

 

And that is the story of my sick day. And trust me, I don't have many.

 

Coming soon? Busy days at work and moving on the weekend.

 

Stay tuned. Or not. I might not be around much.

 

Here's what's been going on around here lately...

 

Chloe cuddles

 

Chloe in a bucket



Playing with a store display