5 Great Ideas for Your Halloween Party

Halloween was always my favorite 'Holiday'. I don't know if it was because October is my birth month, or because I love candy so much. Maybe a combo of the two. I actually went trick-or-treating for my first Halloween (less than two weeks old!) every year until I was 18 years old. I would still go to this day if it didn't feel so unacceptable. Soon Chloe can go and I can be happy again.

So yes, I love Halloween.

Someday I would absolutely love to have a huge Halloween party. One with the spooky food, scary decor and tons of dressed up people. I don't have the budget for the kind of party I'd like to throw, but I sure do have a lot of ideas floating around in my head. These are just a few I've stolen from Pinterest.

Halloween-Themed Food

Halloween Jell-O Shots

[ Source: Halloween Forum via Pinterest ]

Candy Corn Cheesecake

[ Source: I Heart Nap Time via Pinterest ]

Scary Punch Bowl

[ Source: Simply Stated via Pinterest ]

Halloween Decor

Witches Potion Bottles



[ Source: Instructables via Pinterest ]



[ Source: Better Homes and Gardens via Pinterest ]

I would have loved to share more ideas, but let's face it  - I'm lazy. And this post is late.

So, is anyone actually having a Halloween party, or has it already happened?

I was the Halloween Pinata

This past weekend we celebrated Halloween.

We made our own costumes. I was an awesome pinata. I made the costume myself, mostly due to boyfriend bugging me to finish. I was ready to give up on it a long time ago. I'm glad I didn't. More details on that costume at a later date.

Boyfriend was a loser.

I mean weird superhero made out of trash bags and duct tape. It took many nights for him and I  to put together. First we made the pants, then duct taped the underwear part. He even duct taped a belt, so it would match and keep the pants underneath in place. He's wear tape-covered croc-like shoes, and a shower curtain cape.

Great idea, but the suit was kind of warm and had no breathing room so he didn't last too long in it. He went bald as part of the costume. I was, and still am not a fan.

He now reminds me of Harry from Sex and the City. So many bald guys just all look the same to me.

But the weekend was a good one. We were able to get a free hotel room, and my mother kept Chloe overnight Friday (so we wouldn't have to go to bed at 7pm when she did) and babysat Saturday night while we went out.

In the daytime Saturday, we were able to go visit my grandfather for a couple of hours. We don't get to do that often enough, and we also got some great photos of him and Chloe. To be posted at a later date because I've been too busy to upload them.

Saturday night boyfriend and I put on our costumes and went to a party at his sister's house. It was a nice way to spend the night, but I was happy to get back to our room and get to bed.

We made it back home with Chloe in the afternoon, and immediately picked up M, and then it was back to real life for us.

Blogs I Love, and You Should Too

With more time to blog lately, I've had a little bit more time to read blogs and have picked up a few new ones along the way. These are some blogs that I've recently discovered and have been loving lately.

Don't worry, I still love all my old favorites.


 

The first post I read was Why I Never Let My Children Drink 100% Fruit Juice, and I was immediately a new follower. This short post was a close runner-up favorite.

 

Meghan loves books, like I used to I do, and she plays the game of Eff, Marry and Kill on her blog. You know, where you pick which guy you'd like to marry and kill, and, uh, stuff.

   

One of my favorite posts of hers is 10 Signs You're Too Young to Get Married. Also, Kristen's blog designs are gorgeous. 

What blogs are you loving lately? Share some links.

Early Morning Wake Up Cry

I hear crying in the other room, shortly after 6am.

I want to roll my eyes a little, because the alarm won't go off for almost an hour. Everyone could use the sleep.

I get my little girl from her crib and take her with me to grab a fresh bottle. I try to get her to settle down in bed with it, but she isn't having it.

I finally accept the fact that we're starting our day a little early.

I take the bottle (and the little girl) to the living room for a quick diaper change. It was a 45 second procedure, but as usual she acts like I had her laying on pins and needles and fights and cries to get away.

When that's finished, she morphs back into happy baby and babbles a few words at me.

I hand her back her bottle, which she takes willingly, sucking on the nipple but never lifting it high enough to get the milk.

I throw some pillows on the floor, lay down, and pull her down with me. She rests her head on my shoulder and bends her knees to pull them closer to her chest. She stays with me the whole time she's drinking her bottle, never once trying to get away.

I kiss her on the head a million times, look down at her pretty blue eyes to see her watching me, just content.

It's my absolute favorite part of the day. The week, even.

And to think, at first I didn't want to get up.

Baby Skinny Jeans?

I'll be honest - I hate skinny jeans. 

I wouldn't really be caught dead in them. I mean, they look nice on a lot of people but I hate the way I feel in them. 

But baby skinny jeans? I am now in love. Especially the random bright colored ones. 

I bought these blue ones, then liked them so much that I got her some dark pink corduroy ones, and a different dark pink pair in the next size up.  

What do you think, yay or nay? 

Chloe seems to like them.

I bought them at Old Navy on sale. I am in love.

Time to enjoy the little things

Happiness.

Isn't that all anyone's ever looking for in life?

We try to find love because it makes us happy. We buy things because they make us happy. We have children because they occasionally make us happy.

But even when we get what we want, we're not always satisfied.

It's always the little things.

With me, if you look at the big  picture, things are great. Things are pretty much amazing.

My daughter is amazing. She's semi healthy. She plays, she learns, she cries. But she also likes to try to get up too early sometimes. She's cranky a lot. And she barely eats. And too much I forcus on the buts, instead of the wonderful things.

I've also got an amazing boyfriend. Some of the things he does still catches me off-guard. Like the day he got off work before I did and had dinner ready, the dishes done, and laundry in the dryer by the time I got home. He picks up the toys when the girls are in bed without being asked. He'll change and dress Chloe sometimes without being asked. But when I get up in the morning with a baby and he gets to sleep in, sometimes I want to punch him in the face.

Okay, bad example because that has more to do with jealousy and not being a morning person. And I kid. I don't want to punch him. I just want to beat him with pillows and make him feel my pain.

But he's not perfect either. And more often than I'd like, I find myself annoyed with the little things when I shouldn't be. The good outweighs the bad times a million.

I am grateful for all the good things in my life, but too often I find myself focusing on those little annoyances, and forgetting the big picture. I want to enjoy the good, instead of alway noticing the bad.

When my daughter got up at 6:30am this morning, 40 minutes before our alarm was due to go off, I was annoyed. But she was in a great mood and it meant that we got to play for awhile. Usually we only play in the evenings, and she's tired and cranky.

In the end, are we trying so hard to be happy that really we're the ones messing it up by not appreciating the little moments?

My new goal is to do exactly that - appreciate the little moments.

And I want you to do it too. Think of a few times today that something bothered you, even just the slightest, and think of something good about it.

If you're feeling really ambitious, blog about it. But if you do, please send me the link.

I am driving in style

Friday was my birthday. 

It was nothing too crazy. 

Maybe I should rewind to Thursday. Thursday was a bunch more exciting. 

On Thursday I went out and got myself a huge birthday present - a huge bank loan. 

But it got me this:

My amazing 2010 Kia Forte. For someone who only owned a 2001 hand-me-down Chevy Cavalier, this is big news. It's all power windows, mirrors, keyless entry, and it hooks up with my phone by Bluetooth, so I can basically use my phone over the radio in my car. The radio even displays the caller ID. I am in love. 

So this was Thursday, then Friday was my birthday. 

Chloe wasn't feeling well in the morning. I blame teething. I drugged her up and put her to bed to wait it out and she woke up super happy. I shipped her off to daycare and made it to work a bit before lunch. 

I worked all day, then had dinner with my boy, then met up with my mother and her boyfriend and a close friend and we all had a couple of drinks and went out to a pub. It was pretty low-key. 

Maybe I'm growing up, because spending the afternoon shopping with boyfriend was probably my favorite part of the weekend. 

Scratch that. The nap I had Sunday morning was probably my favorite part of the weekend. 

I'm terrified for my financial future, but super excited about the car. Things are finally coming together. 

Next up? Apartment hunting. 

Birthday.

The little girl in the pink pants? She had just turned a year old that day.

Funny how fast 24 years fly by.

Today she's 25.

She feels old.

I'm a little Drunk on Luke Bryan

Earlier this week I was using boyfriend's car, so naturally I chose a country radio station as my music of choice. All of a sudden I hear my favorite voice come on the radio, and to my pleasure it's a new Luke Bryan song. It's been awhile since I've mentioned my huge celebrity crush on Luke Bryan, but it's a serious crush.

I got home, found the song, immediately got on my iPod and listened to it at least five times. And three times on the way to work the next morning.

I've been on a Luke Bryan high.

Join me..

It's been stuck in my head ever since.

It's almost comparable to the excitement I felt when I found these waiting for me after work on Monday:

I think I'm spoiled. But more on that another day.

15 Things I Love About Being a Mom

Age 1

1 - The way you hug me when I drop you off at daycare, even though I know it's because you don't want me to leave you

2 - The excitement on your face when I pick you up at daycare

3 - How I look forward to picking you up at daycare so much everyday

4 - How happy you look when you manage to stand up without any help at all

5 - Watching you take that one, wobbly first step, over and over

6 - Watching you walk around with your walker like it's nothing

7 - Listening to you babble like you know exactly what you're saying

8 - Hearing you say 'tickle tickle' or 'uh oh'

9 - Playing ball with you. You're a good catcher and thrower

10 - Dressing you up in cute outfits. I'll love it even more when you start walking on your own

11 - Noticing little things you've picked up, like how to wipe a nose, and finally how to drink from a sippy cup

12 - How you hug your doll everytime I give her to you

13 - How you lay down on your pillow buddy for a few seconds when you notice it's there

14 - Daydreaming about all the fun things we can do when you're older and how much more fun holidays are going to be

15 - Watching you grow and celebrating every milestone with you

4 Reasons You Shouldn't Follow Me on Twitter (and Three Reasons You Should)

I'm usually pretty quick to jump on any kind of band wagon. Except maybe joining a band. That's one wagon I don't want on. So I hopped on Twitter pretty quickly, a long time ago on an old account. I didn't get it, but I didn't care. More and more, I'm starting to really get it, but I still can't master it. It's time to face it, I suck at Twitter.

Reasons Why You Don't Want to Follow Me on Twitter

1. I can be incredibly boring.

I tweet about lack of sleep, taking the city bus, slow computers, and other stuff you couldn't care less about. I'm that person you want to defriend on Facebook because they always update with what they're eating, when they're working and how long they showered for. Except even that would be more exciting than the stuff I tweet about.

You might not believe me, but I'm actually not one of those people on Facebook. Sometimes I'm even witty. But definitely not on Twitter.

I kid you not, at the time of this post, this was my latest tweet, and I wrote it long before I thought about writing this post.

If that doesn't prove my point, what does?

2. I can't take part on Twitter 'convos'.

Because I can never find a conversation to jump into. It's not that I don't want to. I mean, ask my boyfriend - I am a huge interupter!

3. I'm not consistant.

Sometimes I just disappear from Twitter for a few days. I forget about it all the time. If I do remember, I'm basically a one tweet a day kinda girl. I don't have enough interesting things to say to bore you more than once a day.

4. Sometimes I'm that annoying 'tv tweeter'.

You know, where I tweet while I watch a show about what's happening. I'm most guilty for doing this during Big Brother season, but that's just passed so you're safe for awhile. Even then, I think I made less than 10 Big Brother tweets all season anyway.

Reasons Why You Might Want to Follow Me

1. I post pictures directly from my cell.

So they don't usually get posted on the blog. You hear that? Never-been-seen-before boring photos of my child. How can you not want in on that? I've been on this twitter account for probably almost a year and I've already posted five photos. I promise to post more often if it'll reel you in.

2. I follow some funny people.

And sometimes I retweet them.



3. I almost never Tweet my blog posts.

I used to have it set up automatically, then I stopped. Now I don't remember to do it manually, and don't care a whole lot anyway. So you know I'm not a huge pile of self-advertising, just a huge pile pointless.

So, now it's your turn. How do you feel about Twitter?

Chloe is one year old

This post is a tad bit late, but baby girl you are a year old. Crazy, I know. 

Let's make this last update a quick one. Hopefully. 

Weight: 17lbs oz. Again. You didn't gain any weight. Fail. 

Length: I still haven't measured. Fail again. 

Diapers: Still size 3. 

Feeding: My God you're out to kill me with this eating thing. You eat great for a day, then spend two weeks eating horribly to make up for it. Since starting daycare on October 1st, they've been telling me you eat their food great. Good for you, but I don't believe it. You favorite things these days are bottled sweet potatoes, yogurt, bread, and cereal bars. And rice. You'll eat rice sometimes when I mix it with your baby food. Progress. Slow, slow progress. I guess that's why they call it baby steps. 

Sleep: Ugh, don't get me started. 

Some nights/super early mornings I actually have to let you 'cry it out'. I haven't had to make you do that in so long, but you've become spoiled. So I've stopped letting you get up every time you cry. It works sometimes. Some nights you sleep right through the night, but a few times lately you want to start our day at 6am. That's not cool. You take two naps at daycare usually. I've only been giving you one because you never seem to take two for me. Daycare seems like it works miracles. 

Talking: You don't say any new words, but you like to make a lot more noise lately. You say 'dada' a ton, but you still don't know what it means. 

Teeth: Besides the 8 you had when I did your last update, you've got a huge one making it's way in a little further back on the top. It made you pretty sick the week I started work and you were at Granny's. It doesn't seem to bother you now, but it still hasn't broken through. 

Mobility: I swear this walker is what's going to teach you to walk on your own. You walk like a champ with it, and even manage to move it around when you get stuck in corners. You're a pro. And finally, you've started standing up by yourself without pulling yourself up. You do it all the time now. Last week (the 12th), you even did it and stayed standing for about 20 seconds before you lowered yourself down. You'll soon be my little walker. Then I'm in trouble. You've also learned how to climb on the coffee table, but you only did that once so far. 

Personality: You're little miss personality. You have a new 'happy face' where you open your mouth wide as if you're surprised. 

You babble up a storm. You've learned how to wipe your doll's runny nose. Last week you also learned how to be silly by closing your eyes really tight. It's a game we play now. It makes us both laugh so much. 

So overall, you're such a funny girl. You whine like nothing I've ever seen, and your terrible to feed, but you make up for it by being so silly. You light up my life, little princess. 

Silent Sunday: The Many Faces of Chloe

The many faces of Chloe. These were all taken within approximately 5 minutes. She's just all full of faces. 

Photos from September 7, 2012. 

20 Facts About My Life, Lately

1. It has now been three months that I haven't had a car. I hate hate hate it. I will never take a car for granted again. It's also been over a month since I sold the thing.

2. Chloe had her one year needles yesterday. She got pretty upset during, but stopped crying almost immediately and went back to being happy. She was pretty warm and cranky in the morning, by Tylenol seemed to fix her back up.

3. We're moving in less than two months. Boyfriend and I are getting our own place as soon as my current lease is up. I'm really hoping to find a decent-priced three bedroom apartment, but at best we'll probably just end up with a two bedroom. Hopefully it's bigger.

4. My birthday is almost here.

5. For the first time in my life, my budget doesn't look scary to me at all.

6. I love my job. I love it more when it's busy.

7. Chloe's had a cough and runny nose since last week. She must be used to me wiping her nose, because she got a hold of a piece of Kleenex yesterday, and started wiping her doll's nose with it.



8. I lost $40 in an ATM last week. Seriously. I requested $380, and it gave me $340. When I called the toll-free line, they said they may give me the money back if it checks out that I wasn't lying. I'll never trust an ATM in a convenience store again.

9. I've been pretty sad lately. The reasons, I don't want to get into. I just hope the circumstances change soon.

10. It's Friday afternoon, and I'm not looking forward to the weekend at all. I'd like to say 'what's wrong with me', but I already know.

What have you been up to lately?

Chloe Smashes a Cake

It's no secret that my child is a little odd. She hates to eat. She hates the beach. 

And now...

She hates cake. 

She had her cake smash photo session the week after her birthday. The cake was a cute little Elmo cake. She wore her colorful circus tutu. The pictures were going to be adorable. 

I half counted on this being her reaction, but still hoped we'd get some good shots. 

Like this one...

This is a good shot. I think it's the only one where she looks happy. And that's because she hasn't touched cake yet. 

It took a lot of coaxing to even get her to touch the cake a little bit. As usual, my daughter feels uneasy around things such as cake, but is super brave when it comes to barking dogs or trying to jump off the back of the couch.

Her next reaction after 'Wtf is this' was 'Okay, I touched it. I'm done now.'

I had to keep picking her up, holding her messy hands far away from me, and putting her back near the cake. She'd barely touch it. I smeared some on her face. Again, she was like 'wtf, Mom.' But at least she half smiled. 

Finally, she was had her fill of this cake and icing business and wanted out. I peeled the dirty tutu off her, hoping she'd be a little happier naked and at least take one or two more good shots. Maybe even show the photographer a real smile. 

Not a chance. She was so done. 

So done that she just wanted to cry. 

And all I can think about every time I look at this photo is that it looks like my daughter was feeling remorse after taking part in a brutal murder. Of Elmo. 

Cake smash was kind of a fail. At least we got a couple of pictures out of it. 

Just another weekend

Monday was Thanksgiving. Boyfriend and I took the girls to my mom's place for turkey dinner. I spent a little too long that morning looking through our two closets to find shirts that would all 'go together' in hopes of taking a semi-decent photo of the four of us. We didn't have much to work with, but I think I came up with nice enough options. And then we never took any photos. 

Typical me. The more effort I put into something like taking photos, the lazier I become at it. At least I documented Chloe's first Thanksgiving last year. 

Mother, me, grandfather and Chloe
Thanksgiving 2011

I still managed to get a few pictures of the girls over the weekend, even though they barely stopped moving long enough. Chloe's walker toy has become her favorite. When she was just a young one, it helped her learn how to sit by leaning forward to play with it. Now that she's a little more mobile, she runs all over the apartment with it, and has even figured out how to swing it around when she gets stuck. Someday soon she's just going to stand and walk out of no where. 

Saturday night boyfriend and I went to his best friend's birthday party. It was a blast, as it always is when we go there. It's nice to get out and socialize every now and then. It had been too long. 

The weekend was a decent one, and I still wasn't disappointed about going back to work. Although I wouldn't complain if every weekend was a three-day one. 

I'm Thankful for...

Yesterday was Canadian Thanksgiving, so in true Thanksgiving style, these are some of the things I'm thankful for lately:

My little girl

Of course. She's just so full of personality lately and I get so excited when it's time to pick her up at daycare. She was sick the night before Thanksgiving, but she took it like a champ.

* So if we're keeping this one for the books, Chloe's first time getting real sick was early morning on October 8th.

My amazing boyfriend

I don't know how he does it. He's basically my life saver now that I'm back to work with no car. He gets up early to drive me to work most days. Other days he takes the bus and lets me take his car. He's taken taxis for me. He's dropped Chloe off at daycare for me. He's paid extra on the bills so I'd have more money to put towards a car. When he thinks it's his turn to do the dishes he won't let me touch them. He cooks most of our meals when he's home. He does anything I ask him to and the best part? He's never complained once.

My new job

It's my first day working by myself, and I love it so far.

My family and friends

Of course. All all my material things, my health, and so on.

Coming up soon.. pictures of Chloe's cake smash photo session.

I just don't have the time

I don't have time to blog anymore. I really don't.

I need to be in the shower like an hour ago so that I can hurry up and dry my hair and get it presentable so I don't have to worry about it in the morning.

I need to be ready to start dinner in just a little over an hour.

I need to get to bed before 11pm, because I am so tired of being so tired.

But in reality? This is the first time I'm sitting down since I got home from work, and I'm not sure I can move just yet, so therefore this is my time for blogging.

I am insanely grateful for this three day weekend coming up.

 

I miss spending actual time with my daughter.

 

And I have so little time, that it took me more than 12 hours to finish this post.

Chloe's First Day of Daycare

Yes, I'm still here. Work, combined with having no car to easily get around, combined with chores and daycare pickups = not a whole lot of free time.

I started typing this up at work, just so I could finally hop back on to the blogging train. Hah, I sound so lame.

I was so excited to see Chloe Friday night. But then she cried most of the drive home (because that's what she always does), and whined for most of the night, didn't sleep well, and whined for most of the weekend. Therefore, I wasn't as sad as I should've been to drop her off at daycare on her first day. After both girls gave us a run for our money Sunday night when they should've been sleeping, it was a welcome treat to drop them off at daycare and go to work and sit down in a quiet office all day.

Chloe's first day of daycare went well. I was a little nervous that they'd have trouble with her because of her horrible eating habits and the fact that she doesn't sleep easily when there's noise.

According to the workers, she ate all their food perfectly, so they didn't even open her baby food. Score. I'd love to have her eating more normal food.

I picked her up shortly after lunch for a doctor's appointment and they said she had already taken a 45 minute nap, which was great to hear.

I didn't get to speak to the workers when I picked her up again at the end of the day, but both of her baby bottles were empty, her baby food was still there and she was happy all evening. So far, I am happy.

Her second day didn't start off as well. When I dropped her off, she went willingly to the worker and was all set to play but when she realized I was leaving, her lip curled out and she started to cry. She was fine and happy when I picked her up though.

Playing in the doctor's waiting room

Her doctor's appointment also went well. I don't have her exact weight, because they wrote it down wrong for me (I know she isn't only 15lbs) but she's in the 15th percentile now, which is a nice change from being in the 1st-2nd percentile. She's right at the 50th percentile for length. He doesn't need to see her again until she's 18 months.

Now, we just have to get through her needles next week and she's all caught up on her one year check ups.