Flea Market Finds

Last Sunday Chloe and I had a day to ourselves. Once boyfriend left for work, I decided to take her down to the flea market to see if we could find any deals. You know how I love shopping second-hand. 

The place was a little bare - a lot of shopper, but also a lot of empty tables at the back. It made me sad. There was also very few people selling girls clothes, but I did find a couple of things. I found two shirts for Chloe for $1 each, and two pairs of Old Navy pants for $1 each. 

I found two Robert Munsch books for $2 each. We've already read 'Love You Forever' twice. Chloe will actually sit through most of it. Then I found some scrapbooking cutouts for $0.50 a bag, so I bought a few - hearts, flowers, balloons etc. 

I think the best deal I found was a bag of 5 little Tonka trucks. They were $5 (I have no idea how much they cost regularly), and Chloe played with them for quite awhile on Sunday, tried to take them into daycare Monday, and still played with one in her highchair this morning while she ate her breakfast. They are a hit, and listening to her make car noises is adorable. 

All that stuff for $15? I'd say we did pretty well. I only wish now that I would've bought more books. There's always next time. 

What's your favorite thing to look for at a flea market?

I'm Wondering Wednesday

I couldn't help but laugh at the comments on yesterday's post concerning my annoyance with boyfriend. The verdict seems unanimous: men are clueless. While we haven't discussed the issue, we did have a decent night together last night. I'm going to try to let my annoyance slide this time, and the next time the same issue starts bothering me I'm just going to resort to my usual defense - sarcastic comments. Even clueless boyfriend catches on to that. 

After all, it was a sarcastic (whiny) comment that got me a balloon a couple of days after our anniversary. 

Now, onto 'I'm Wondering Wednesday'. No one's ever linked up yet, but I'm still giving you the option to. I'm hoping with enough begging, some of you will give in and make my day. If not, you can still answer in the comments. 

1. What's your dream job? It has to be an actual job that exists. 

I love my job, but I'd love it more if it was a little busier. These days we're not getting many calls. I'd love to do something the requires computer work - like blogging if I was actually interesting enough to make money from it. Or a writer as in book writer. 

2. What's your biggest cooking or baking fail?

So many. Usually when it comes to cooking. Baking I do okay at, but the  fail I remember the most is baking: Cheesecake. I'd made it before and it turned out fine but the second time I made it, it turned into a runny, goopy mess. I was sad. 

3. What's the largest age gap between you and someone you dated? And the age gap between you and your current partner?

Three years is the largest, and boyfriend and I are almost exactly 6 months apart. He was born 6 days too early. 

 4. Where do you spend most of your internet time? 

Facebook. I really need to do a boycott again (like I did before for a week) just so I can stop wasting so much time. I spend the majority of the time browsing the local buy and sell groups. It great for finding good deals, but I don't need any more deals. We have what we need, but I'm still addicted to browsing and shopping. 

5. When you were a kid, what names did you swear you were going to name your children, that you wouldn't now? 

Anthony, Arianna, Madison, Kelley (for a boy) are a few that I can remember. 

The post where I get serious

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*The one where I get serious*

I've been upset over something for a few days now, concerning boyfriend and I. In true annoying female fashion, I haven't voiced this. Instead, I've been distant, quiet, snappy, mean, and whatever other mean adjectives you can come up with. 

In this time, I've learned a little bit about boyfriend. 

I don't know if he's trying to give me space, genuinely doesn't notice I'm upset, or if he's scared to bring it up.  This is day 5 of me being upset, and he only acknowledged that something was up yesterday. He said we need to do something fun, and that we're in a rut. He hasn't really seen me laugh in days. He's been cleaning more around the house. He's been helping out more with Chloe. 

Sometimes I wish he would just force me to tell him what was wrong, instead he hasn't even asked. 

Things have been 'off' lately. 

First Chloe wasn't feeling well, and so I was always tired and not sleeping well. There were two different evenings that he had friends over. There were a couple of nights when he worked late, and I was in bed when he got home. There were a couple of nights where he stayed up late watching stuff on tv that I had no interest in. 

So there's been no 'us' time, and how has he not realized that himself yet? 

Yes, I should voice my concerns, but I don't think I should have to tell him that spending actual time together is a relationship requirement. I shouldn't have to make him want to spend time with me. Shouldn't he be doing all that on his own? After 5 days of me being distant, shouldn't it be sinking in that something is a little wrong? Shouldn't he miss me by now? 

It's especially sad, because before this week, things had been so amazing. When things are good, they're great. 

Sometimes I wonder if little things like this will ever 'make or break' the relationship. We haven't been together overly long, so I like to think of situations like this as us working out the kinks in the relationship. Fixing up all the little details to make sure this is the real thing. 

But if the same issue keeps arising, is that what will eventually break the relationship? 

No, I don't think we're breaking up. Not even a little. We've discussed marriage. A couple of days ago he even spoke the words 'Maybe we could be engaged by then'. I'm just scared that this little hitch in our relationship keeps coming back. 

Adventures with Chloe, Lately.

Oh Chloe. 

You have turned into one handful of a child lately. 

It seems you're always sick or teething. Our good days seem few and far between lately. Luckily, Sunday was one of those great days together. We went bargain hunting at the flea market, and you charmed people at Michael's when I let you carry our purchase to the cash. Yep, Sunday was great. 

You sat with me on the couch and let me read the whole book  Love You Forever (part of our flea-market finds) by Robert Munsch.  You played happily with your new (from the flea market) Tonka trucks, complete with sound effects. You even tried to take them to daycare on Monday.

We got into a tickle war, which was when I realized your need your nails cut since you left a scratch or two on my belly.

You learned about wearing sunglasses in the car, and how it keeps the sun out of your eyes.

We had our first conversation that went a little something like this:
- Mommy: Chloe, come put your coat on so we can leave.
- Chloe: No.
- Mommy: Okay then, I'm going to leave without you. Bye.
- Chloe: Bye.

You say 'bye' a lot. Rarely to people in public, but you say it all the time at home.

You've mastered the art of the temper tantrum, complete with kicking and rolling around on the floor. It's not cute anymore.

You love yogurt, flavored apple sauces, crackers, soft flour tortillas, and especially Popcorn Twists. You don't like much else, and sometimes you're really hard to feed, but you're slowly improving. I hate making new food for you, especially food that takes awhile to prepare because (like chicken breasts) you tend to spit them right back out then refuse to eat more.

I really hope our good days continue for awhile. I think we're both more than a little tired of you always being sick and miserable.

Meal Plan Monday

Crockpot Beef and Barley Stew - Recipe | Pinterest

This week is mostly a trial run in meal planning. We're horrible at it, because we're both picky eaters (We're both not veggie fans, and even worse, boyfriend hates cheese). It's especially a trial run because we've already done our groceries for the week, so we need to work with what we already have, or make a trip to the store. I don't do breakfast most days, so that will rarely be planned. Boyfriend takes sandwiches to work for lunch, so lunch will rarely be planned either.

Dinner: 

Monday: Boyfriend's choice, his day off
Tuesday: Shepherd's Pie * (Mom's recipe of ground beef, cream corn and potatoes)
Wednesday: Store-bought beef pies & potatoes
Thursday: Grilled cheeseburger wraps and homemade fries
Friday: Crockpot Chicken Tacos *
Saturday: Rotisserie Chicken & potatoes
Sunday: Crockpot Beef and Barley stew *

Lunch Ideas for the Week: 

- Leftover Shepherd's Pie
- Pasta salad *

* - Items needed

- Salsa (Optional: Lettuce & sour cream)
- Cream corn
- Cubed beef
- Beef broth
- Tomato paste
- Ranch dressing

Since we horrible with meal planning, we might not actually follow this plan. Especially since I'm a new crockpot owner, and haven't even used it yet. This gives us something to run with. Starting next Monday, I'll be doing two meal plans - ours, then a gluten and dairy-free menu for Madi. That should be more of a challenge. 

What are you eating this week?

10 Things I Did This Week

1. The most major thing, is we decided we were going to have boyfriend's daughter, Madi, in our care full-time. We started taking some of the steps towards making that work. 

2. I got super into the idea of meal planning and extreme budgeting. This is all due to #1. 

3. Something's been up with Chloe. I think and hope it's teething. First she was super cranky for days, then she was fine. Then she was fine, but randomly throwing insane tantrums and waking up a million times through the night. I'm tired, she's probably tired and I could some happy child time. 

4. I cooked a spaghetti squash and it was a huge fail. Chloe wouldn't eat it, I tried it and thought it was weird. Garbage it went. We'll try again someday. 

5. I'm still struggling with Chloe's eating lately. I'm trying almost anything to get her to eat, well, almost anything. Her favorite seems to be 'cherry berry carrot' apple sauce that I got her. And vegetable soup. It's hard to get her to eat much else these days. 

6. Got a couple of cavities filled at the dentist. Oh, fun times. 

7. I got most of my papers to get my taxes done. I hope the tax fairies are good to me this year. 

8. I decided I would try get caught up on current episodes of Gossip Girl. I haven't seen the end of season 5 or any of season 6 yet. 

9. I realized I need to work on how I deal with some things in life. Like sleepless nights or mealtime fights with Chloe. 

10. I miss coffee giving me that perky feeling in the morning, but when I drink it now it makes my belly hurt sometimes, the rest of the time the coffee shop just doesn't make it right and it tastes like bitter water. 

* I don't feel like posting photos. Go to my instagram to see a couple from this week. There's not much*

Announcing the new addition to our family

I mentioned a life-changing decision that me and boyfriend were discussing on Saturday. 

Well here it is. 

We are not engaged. We're not pregnant. 

We are, however adopting a child. His child. 

Nothing is signed on paper yet, but this little one is going to be in our custody. We will be her primary guardians, and have her from Monday to Friday, while her mother has her on the weekends. 

While this is a good thing, it has a lot of scary aspects to it. Yes, I am going to talk money. 

One tough factor in our decision was boyfriend's work schedule. He does shift work - so any day of the week, and any hours between 10am and 10pm. The shifts all vary. I work Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 4:30pm. She will need to be in daycare through the week, and I will be the one responsible for both her and Chloe after daycare when boyfriend is at work. That right there is a ton of responsibility. 

The biggest factor in our decision was money. I would say that we're somewhere in the lower middle-class. I joke that we're poor, but we get by. We have a lot of debt, and we have okay paying jobs. Just okay. We both need to work full weeks to get by. 

Madi is an expensive child - she is still in diapers, and she has a lot of dietary restrictions: gluten, soy, dairy are all things she can't have at this time. Paying for more diapers, and food to fit her needs will be a bit more than we're used to paying. 

And daycare. Since we're low income, some of our child care is covered through the government (Thank YOU Canada). Chloe's child care was fully covered, but now taking boyfriend's income into play, so we have to pay a lot more out of our pockets for child care. 

We are making money off of her though - we will no longer pay child support, and we will get a small amount of support from her mother. 

We will survive, but things will be tough. We've always kept our money separate, but we are now going to be working off a joint budget, and it will be a tight one. 

I am planning on becoming a big believer of menu planning, budgeting, and money saving tricks. I've already been researching a lot, and Blissful and Domestic blog has taught me quite a few pointers. I'll be sure to share what I'm learning along the way. 

So here's to taking on a new child, and becoming frugal. Wish us luck. Somedays me and Chloe go a little crazy on our own. This will certainly be a tough adventure to get used to. 

Some LOL Things from Pinterest - Share yours too!

Browsing through my Pinterest funnies board today. Here are a few to share that I still find funny. Link up your own Pinterest funnies below if you so wish.

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I'm Wondering Wednesday

I'm Wondering Wednesday. I'm going to try again to make this a weekly thing because I don't have much to blog about. It's four questions. I answer them, your answer them, then link up your post below. That's pretty much it. If you're feeling frisky, suggest your own questions in the comments for next Wednesday! 

1. What's one little thing that bugs you so much more than it should? 
Chloe throwing food on the floor.  I think it bugs me so much because she has that badass 'tough shit, mom' look on her face while she does it. 

2. What's your favorite breakfast food or meal? 

Bacon (if it's cooked perfectly to my liking) and over easy eggs. I dip the bacon (and toast and hashbrowns) in the yolks. Now I'm seriously craving breakfast.

3. Can you do a proper cartwheel? 
Not a chance. 

4. What's the best part of your job?
I love so many things about my job, but I guess the best part is how laid-back it is. I get to sit at a desk all day. I can take a bathroom break whenever I want. I can snack at my desk. It's all good.


Join me. Answer the questions in your own blog post, and link up:

We had a bad day

Yesterday was one of those kind of rotten days. It was a holiday, so Chloe and I were home alone for the day. Lucky (not) for us, it was also storming so we knew we weren't going anywhere. 

I don't know if it's sickness or teething, but Chloe was miserable all night, and then all day. 

She wouldn't go to bed, and when she did she woke up a few times through the night. She was up at 6:40am, when normally I have to wake her up sometime after 7am to get ready for daycare. 

She whined all morning. 

Boyfriend watched her for a couple of hours so I could take a nap. He put her in her bed for her first nap, but she didn't sleep much. After more whining, I put her back to bed around noon. This time she slept for an hour and a half. She woke up whiny all over again. 

She had a tantrum or two, one that lasted about a half hour until I finally stuck her in bed until she calmed down. She was better after that, but still whiny until I put her to bed. 

I sure hope it's teething, because we sure need a break from sickness. 

Just after her tantrum, I held her on the couch for a little while. She was serious and quiet, but as soon as she saw her face in the camera (iPhone) she perked up and started making faces. 

It was one of those bad days where I lost patience more than once, and just wanted to hide in the basement listening to loud music while she had her freak outs. I didn't, but I wanted to. One of those days where I was more than happy to put her to bed, and prayed with every fiber of my being that she would stay there. 

Nope, not a good day. But those too shall pass, right? 

10 Things I Did This Week

1. Boyfriend and I thought about some life changing decisions. When I know what's going on, I will gladly share, but until then I'll just let this be my little stress of the week.

2. Boyfriend and I celebrated our second Valentine's Day together. By celebrated, I mean we got some take-out (garlic fingers and donairs), I took a bath, I finished watching 90210 and he actually watched with me then we literally passed out around 10pm. How's that for a wild and romantic Valentine's Day? Oh, but while he was home that day he made me a card. 

3. I made Valentine's for Chloe's daycare class but...

4. Chloe was up sick a couple of times through the night before Valentine's Day. It was boyfriend's day off work so she stayed home with him. She was whiny, but basically fine for the rest of the day. She was back to herself by Friday, but she didn't get to give out her Valentine's. Sad. 

5. I finished season two of Raising Hope. Best show EVER! (So far!)

6. Boyfriend had the flu, probably got it from Chloe, so I "slept" on the couch. I say "slept" because I was awake almost all night. I'm terrified of throwing up, to the point where I freak out if someone near me is sick and I could catch it. So far so good, but as I write this it's only been 12 hours since boyfriend was sick. I could still be next. 

7. I took Chloe's 'baby' to work. 

8. I bought a couple of vegetables that I've never had before so Chloe can try them: spaghetti squash and zucchini. Now I just need to figure out how to make them edible. 

9. I started working on a joint budget for boyfriend and I, in hopes that if we're more organized we'll be a little better at paying both of our debts off faster. 

10.  I'm having a hard time thinking of a #10. Oh.. Chloe started drinking homogenized milk. I hope to have her completely off formula by the time we make it to the end of this can. 

A work day

Baby girl Saturday morning before she got her pants on.
If she wasn't so tall this would be a cute dress. 

Happy girl, midway through the week

How much do you indulge?

I've been sitting at work all morning, really wanting to go out and get my favorite hot drink - half hot chocolate and half coffee. So yummy. 

What you might not know is that for about a month or two, I would stop for one of these every.single.morning. on my way to work. That's just a little bit under $2 a day. Then I fell in love with frosted cinnamon rolls. Cinnamon rolls with FROSTING. Then I was paying around $3.50 a day. 

A day. 

That's almost $20 a week just on a morning snack. 

What you also might not know is that I wasn't feeling well for a few days back in January. Because I wasn't feeling good, I wasn't eating well. By well, I mean barely at all for two days. I didn't stop for my morning snack those days. 

When I finally got my appetite back, I didn't immediately get back that craving. Now, I stop every now and then, but not nearly as much as before. I'm thankful for the money I'm saving, and I'm sure my health is thankful for all the water I'm sipping on to replace my coffee. I've been drinking a lot of water. 

But those hot chocolate coffees?  Those are my little indulgences. 

Some people have pop, or an alcoholic drink, or a meal out, or some spa time, but this is my only real addiction. 

But my question to you is what's yours? What's is that one (or two or three) thing that you know you probably have way too often, but you can't or don't want to give up? 

And how do you know when it's too much? When you should give it up, or if you're allowed to have this treat as much as you want? How do you control your little indulgences? 

I'm glad I was able to cut back, but since I started writing this post, I went for a walk and gave in to my craving. 

Oh how I love you, chocolatey coffee

Valentine's Day Cards

I picked Chloe up from daycare on Tuesday afternoon to find a note with her things. It was the list of babies in her class at daycare. For Valentine's Day. That's when it hit me - I have a kid who spends Monday to Friday in a social setting and therefore I'm expected to take part in these kinds of holidays. I felt a mixture or excitement and dread. 

I've always loved these kinds of holidays as a kid. Getting and giving Valentines and treats was always so much fun. That excitement still lives on in me a little bit, but I'm also lazy. I knew I wasn't spending money on Valentine's, as there are only 6 kids in Chloe's group, with her included, so that left me with the option of making something. I knew I wasn't making treats, as these are all babies under the age of two. 

I love card making, and I have all the supplies I'd ever need, but I didn't want to go all-out on Valentines for babies. I wanted to save the special ones for later years, when someone might appreciate them. 

I was super excited when boyfriend got home from work and he was the one to suggest the we break out my craft supplies and make cards. There's nothing like help to motivate me to get something done. 

So we dragged some supplies up to the kitchen table, all stuff I already had on hand:

- Two pieces of cardstock - red and white

- Valentine's Day stamp ($1.50 at Michaels) & ink ($4 at Wal-Mart)

- Edge punch (Around $25, but used coupon at Michael's)

- Rounded corner punch (Forget the price, from Michael's)

- Heart punch ($3 at Wal-Mart) 

- Paper slicer

- Glue tape ($1 at the Dollarama)

- Black pen

I cut cards and rounded corners while boyfriend edge-punched. He looked so sad and serious doing it that you'd never guess that it was his idea. 

He suggested we just do a flat card that doesn't open, since they're babies anyway. 

Then I stamped 'Happy Valentine's Day' and wrote out the 'To' and 'From' portions, while he punched out some hearts then glued them on. 

Punching hearts and edges? At least it sounds manly. 

While he was heart punching and gluing, I was hard at work taking photos of him, our work, and myself making horrible faces. 

And this is the final result:

Happy Valentine's Day to the little daycare kids, and you too!

What I've Been Watching - A lot of awesome

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Raising Hope

I've loved this show since the first couple of minutes of the first episode. It's so random, quirky, fun. Jimmy knocks up a serial killer, who gets the electric chair after giving birth. So he's raising his daughter, Hope, with the help of his crazy family. 

It has all the redneck hilarity of My Name is Earl (and a lot of surprise appearances from the actors of Earl), except it's funnier and you can't help but love them all. 

Oh, and Katy Perry plays a hot cop in one of the episodes. 

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I can't say enough good things about this show. Watch it. 

- 5 / 5 stars. [ Raising Hope on imdb ]

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PS I Love You

It wasn't my first time watching this movie, but I still love it. It's so sweet, with a lot of funny moments. And let's face it, we all have a huge crush on Gerard Butler, don't we?

Holly's husband dies of cancer. Before he dies he writes a series of letters to her, telling her to do stuff, helping her move on. It sounds a little creepy, but it's adorable. 

- 4.5 / 5 stars. [ PS I Love You on imdb ]

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Harry Potter

I'm a little late to the party, but I finally watched the entire series of Harry Potter movies. I originally read the first five books in high school, but never read or watched the ending. After a lot of bugging encouraging from boyfriend, we finally finished the series last week. The Deathly Hallows part one was incredibly boring and I hope to never watch it again, but part two was great. For the first time, I wasn't falling asleep at all, and I managed to watch the whole movie in one sitting. It took two sittings to watch most of the rest. I'm an old lady, and can't stay up late.

But to get back on topic, great series. I wish I would've watched them in theater like everyone else, but I was stubborn and wanted to read the books first. I'm glad I finally gave in and just watched them all. Someday I wouldn't mind going back and reading all the books from start to finish.
- 4.5 / 5 stars. [ Harry Potter on imdb ]


Annnd, what have you been watching?

How To Get The Most Out of Your Baby Clothing Budget

My child is a bit of a spoiled diva. You see, she can only wear any outfit once. 

I'm kidding. She can wear an outfit more than once, but girlfriend has so much clothes, that she barely gets to wear anything more than once before she outgrows them. I have a bit of an addiction when it comes to baby clothes. I just can't stop buying. 

[ Top - Old Navy second hand $1 || Bottoms - Old Navy second hand $2 ]

My biggest money saver is the fact that 98% of Chloe's wardrobe is second hand, with items being $1-4 each. Compared to paying $10-30 a piece in stores, you would think that I'm saving a fortune. In reality, I think I spend even more on clothes just because I know everything I'm buying is so cheap. 

If you follow me on Instagram, you'll see that I almost always post a daily photo of what Chloe's wearing. It's not because I think we're so fashionable. It's because she might not get to wear that outfit again. And because she's cute. 

So if you think you're better at controlling your spending than I am, here are some tips on how to get the biggest bang for your buck when it comes to clothing a small child. 

1. Local Buy and Sell Groups and Websites. 

Like Craigslist, Kijiji, or a local Facebook group. Most of my clothing comes from a local Children's Buy and Sell Facebook group that a couple of mothers threw together. Check to see if you have one in your area, if not maybe you could be the one to create one. I live in a really small city, and the group has over 2000 people now. 

All of the following clothing was bought second-hand, either through Facebook or another buy and sell website. The most expensive was the pink Winnie the Pooh jumper outfit, which was $4 for both items. 

2. Browse the second-hand shops. 

You never know what you're going to find at these stores. I found a onesie that says "Too cute to play with your ugly ass kid" at a thrift store not long ago. It's so wrong, but so funny. I also got a ton of shirts for $0.99-$1.99, and a lot of brand name jeans for $1.99 each. Five pairs of jeans for $10? You can't get those kinds of deals buying brand new. 

3. Always check out the sales.

The following items were all bought brand new on clearance. 

Photo 1 - $3 pjs from Wal-Mart that went on clearance over the summer, and fit Chloe in the fall/winter. 

Photo 2 - Snow suit (regular $49) that I paid $14 for this week, because she just outgrew her other winter coat, and I know it will fit her for the remainder of this winter, which around here will probably until the month of April. After that, it'll still be in good enough condition that I'll be able to get most of my money back when I sell it. It's hard to find a coat and snow pants for $14 anywhere. 

Photo 3 - Bathing suit bought brand new at The Children's Place at the end of June for $4. It was good for all of July and August before she stopped wearing it. 

Photo 4 - $3 dress from Wal-Mart. This was an impulse buy, bought too close to the end of summer so she only got to wear it once. I still love it, and have it stored away in case my next baby is a girl. If not, I'll probably be able to sell it for at least $2 anyway. 

Sometimes seasonal items go on clearance when there's still a lot of time left to use them. 

4. Re-sell your gently used children's clothing.

I make most of my money back on everything I buy by re-selling. It takes a lot of time, patience and effort some days, but it's worth getting the money back. Some things get stained and are not fit to resell, and usually I'll donate those items or give away for free.  

5. Shop ahead. 

It usually pretty easy to figure out what size your child will be in when the next season rolls around. Buy stuff ahead of time. If you know you'll be taking your baby to a pool during the winter, buy bathing suits when they go on clearance at the end of the summer. 

Before Chloe was born I bought three bathing suits - 6 months, 12 months, and 24 months. I paid $3 for each, when the regular price would've been $10 for one. I've already got a bin of stuff for Chloe to wear this summer. Sure, I'm taking chances that some of it won't fit, but when I'm paying $1-2 an item, I can just re-sell them in the summer to someone else in need. I also bought her a small inflatable pool last year when they went on sale to use this year for $4. 

Chloe will always need indoor shoes for daycare. She just got a pair of size 4 sneakers, and I'm on the lookout now for a nice cheap pair in the next size up. 

6. Don't go overboard, like me

Chloe's closet and dresser are full of clothes. The same goes for Madi. I also have four bins in our basement - one filled with 12-24 month clothing, one with summer clothing of all sizes, one with size 2 clothing, and one with a little bit of size 3 and 4 clothing (mostly gifts in that bin). 

It's great to be ready - because we've got two girls that fit in clothes ranging from size 12 months to 2T, but I'll be the first to admit that I've got maybe a little too much. 

Just keep track of what you're buying and what you need. No one needs 15 pairs of size 2 pjs. Not even our two girls. 

Do you shop brand new or second hand? Do you have any money saving tips when it comes to children's clothing? 

You Know You're a Mom When...

You accidentally take your baby's doll 

to work with you in your purse. 

My child got smarter

There are not enough words to describe how happy I am to have my baby home. After spending a week at her grandmother's, and the week before that in the hospital, she's like a whole new kid. 

Well, maybe not new, but new to me because it's been so long since she's been herself. 

I just couldn't stop kissing her and hugging her all weekend. But she didn't seem to mind too much - she likes kissing now, too, complete with the 'mmm' sound. 

I didn't mean for this post to be a Chloe update, but what better time to document all the new things she's been doing lately? This is Chloe at 16.5 months.

While sick, she was starting to get mean. Really mean. A lot of slapping people in the face, pinching, and scratching. As she got less sick, she got less cranky and violent, but my mom also unintentionally taught her to be nicer. Anytime she would be rough with Mom's cat, mother would tell her to 'Be nice to the kitty' and show her how to pet him. Now? When she hits me and I tell her no, she rubs my face and says 'nice', which sounds more like 'niiii', but it's still adorable. 

She started waving 'bye' a little while ago. Now? She says bye. 

She knows where her nose is every time. She's also learning eyes, ears, hair, mouth, tongue, belly and fingers, and she sometimes gets them all right without help. She also says nose, eyes and mouth.

She understands so much of what I ask her now. If I ask if she's hungry, she goes to her highchair. If I ask her for her baby, she brings me her doll. 

She says 'baba', and is she ever addicted to the thing. She gets it at night, and for her nap then it needs to be immediately hidden, or she'll just carry it around in her mouth sucking on air. Now that she's better, the first step is switching her to milk, and soon after that it's bye bye baba. 

After being sick, her appetite was basically non-existent, and she would barely eat a bite of solid food. Mom had her eating mashed food and baby cereal all over again. This weekend I managed to get her hooked on blueberries again, and eating pasta, cheese, bread, broccoli and cauliflower. Her newest addiction is regular old saltine crackers. As soon as grocery day comes, her diet will be expanded a lot, if I have any say in it. 

Moving on...

This weekend we had a storm, and got a TON of snow. I believe it was about 30-35cm. It snowed and blowed all day Saturday, and most of Sunday. 

Boyfriend tried to get out to pick up his daughter Saturday with no luck. He got stuck and gave up. Sunday, he finally managed to get out and get to work, after an hour of shoveling. 

This morning, we let Chloe sleep in while we dug my car out. That took another hour of shoveling, car pushing, and flying snow. We checked that Chloe was still asleep every now and then, and lucky for us I still had to wake her up when we were done.

Luckily, she's back to being a great sleeper.

But back to Sunday. For the first time ever, I bundled up my little bundle of joy, and we went outside to play and shovel a bit. I knew boyfriend's car wouldn't make it back in the driveway with the mountain of snow that the plows made at the end.

Chloe watched me shovel and laughed every time I threw the snow. She wasn't interested in playing at all though. She just stood an watched, until she finally got sick of it and we went inside.

Our shovel broke Sunday morning

The snowbank next to our driveway was almost up to my shoulders. 

So that was our weekend in a nutshell. 

To recap? I love having Chloe home. We got a lot of snow. 

Silent Sunday: A Messy Confession

I'm almost embarrassed to post these, but here is my basement. I still haven't gotten much organizing done since we moved in at the end of November. Hopefully these are just the 'before' photos and someday soon I have 'afters'. 

10 Things I Did This Week

1. Chloe spent the entire week at my mother's house - from Monday afternoon until Friday night, so I didn't do a whole lot of parenting. 

2. I celebrated the one year anniversary of the day boyfriend and I officially started dating. After dropping a whiny hint the night after, I got a little surprise Thursday night when he got home from work. On the actual night of, we used a coupon to go our for appetizers at Boston Pizza. I got him this card from JulieAnnArt. 

3. I was featured on The SITS Girls blog, which means I got a ton of comments, and some new followers. 

4. I made these Snickers No-Bake cookies, and they turned out so soft and amazing that I'm lucky if there's any left at home. 

5. Boyfriend and I got a lot of boring activities done: Got caught up on How I Met Your Mother, started watching season 6 of The Big Bang Theory, played some video games, and got some cleaning done. A week without children is weird. 

6. Work was painfully quiet and boring for most of the week. 

7. I pretty much stopped drinking coffee! This is a huge one. I didn't feel good for a couple of days last week, so I didn't drink any. I got one when I started feeling better, didn't finish it, and I haven't had one since. I don't think I'll actually give it up, but this is huge, because for the past month or so I've been buying it and drinking it daily. 

8. Sold a bunch of books and baby clothes. Yay for cleaning out the basement. And if you want to know what I'm talking about, tune in tomorrow for some nasty basement pictures. No, we're not hoarders. 

9. I got my first massage! It was a half hour that went by really fast, paid for with the gift certificate boyfriend got me for Christmas. It was enjoyable, but I probably won't go out of my way to pay for one for awhile. 

10. I barely took any pictures this week, so enjoy a photo of the 'I love you' balloon boyfriend got me, a snapshot of my desk at work at I write this post on Friday afternoon, and a picture that I did not take of cookies. My cookies looked better!