Chloe, the threenager, and her creepy art

I have a threenager. 

She's 3 and a half and has the attitude of a 13 year old. A really cute 13 year old. 

Sometimes that early morning creaking of my door as she wakes me up is a bit of a scary sound. Half asleep, I try to get her to cuddle with me for a minute before forcing me up. Sometimes she'll lay with me for a whole 3 seconds before she says "Ok I'm done." I beg her for more cuddles but she's like "I already cuddled." Oh, sorry. 

We have a lot of random little inside jokes these days. Like 'Chicken butt'. I think I started that one, but now Chloe and her cousin Braden think it's hilarious to say "Guess what?" "What?" "Chicken butt!!" Now they won't stop doing it. No matter where we are. And how awkward it is. 

My mother thinks Chloe will end up being the class clown. After the past few days, I think I would have to agree. She's sometimes shy when I drop her off at daycare, but some days when I pick her up she's yelling bye to everyone and acting crazy. She's full of jokes lately. I love it.

She's also full of attitude lately. It common for her to tell me she doesn't like me. Or even goes as far as to say "You're NOT my best friend." 

But most of the time I am her best friend. And she's mine. 

It's hard to keep her away from electronics lately. She loves my 3DS and playing Mega Run on the iPhone or my mother's iPad. She's actually really good at it. And she loves puzzles.

And drawing super creepy pictures.

I think I'm the one with the big right ear. 

This is her daddy. And all his ribs. 

Anniversary, Snow, Mom, and Wedding

Today is my 3 year anniversary. And 5 months from yesterday I'll be getting married. I think that's crazy. I got an anniversary gift that we couldn't much afford, that I hinted at strongly. I love it because Eric, Chloe and Madi can pick out the charms and they'll always be special. I think it's one of the best things I own. 

We've been hit with a bunch of storms around here. I had a snow day on Tuesday. It started snowing Monday night and lasted halfway into Tuesday. By the time evening hit, it was really nice outside. We went out and shoveled out the car and pulled Chloe around in her sled. Then Chloe wanted to climb the 'mountain'. So we did. And somehow we started sliding down on our butts. It was amazing. Some of the best fun I've had in forever. We slide down in 5 different spots. Each place higher than the next. We barely wanted to go in but it was late and supper needed to be made. 

Mom flew away last March. On January 14th I flew out to meet her and we drove back home in her car the next day. It's about 2000kms. We didn't rush. We spent two nights in different places and got home around supper time on the 17th. We had Mom's dog so we couldn't shop or eat in a restaurant or anything but overall a great time. It's nice to have her living in the city and to have someone to stop in and visit after work when I'm bored. 

In other news, I picked out wedding shoes along the trip with Mom. The bridesmaids dresses arrived. Plans have come together for my bachelorette party (most of which I dont know of). Eric's tux is paid off. I won a weekend away at my staff party (that I couldn't attend because I was travelling with Mom) and I booked that for our honeymoon. The hotel room for our actual wedding weekend is almost completely paid off. I've won a few gift cards through work that's helped with that. Air Miles will be used to pay for some of the food. It's pretty amazing how much you can afford on a limited budget when you look at all the options. 

Can't think of anything else too important to talk about. 

I can't believe it's been a month since I've updated. 

Funny Things Chloe Says...

May 31

 I wait Chloe up after a nap and she gets up and looks really really tired so I ask her if she wants to come with me to my bed she sits up she looks at me really seriously and says 

"I'm not going to hurt you." 

Then she says "Be quiet daddy sleeping shhh everyone sleeping I'm sleeping." 

Me: "No you not you're awake"

Chloe: "No I'm asleep"

June 3

Do you want a drink? You might be drinky.. You might be thirsty.

June 13

I wanna go with you today. I'm wanna hide at your work

June 16

After Chloe waking up 4 times between 3-6am last night I told her no crying and getting up tonight when I put her to bed tonight. Her response: "But I want milk after."

July 13

Eric: Who's your best friend Chloe?

Chloe: My best friend is my friend Mommy.

Me: Aww that's the cutest thing you've ever said.

Chloe: I know you love me Mommy.

August 1

Going to work "Are you going to see Nephnanie? Nephnanie, Nephnanie, Nephnanie" (Stephanie)

August 4

I want green puffy treats. I love green. My hair is not green. It's orange.

August  4

I reached back to hold Chloes hand in the car. She shook it and said "nice to meet you".

August 4

Gets in the coat rack at hotel "ladies and gentlemen boys and girls. Welcome to the spring chicken"

Aug 11

My boots are dirty and grossy

Aug 15

Chloe: I love this book

Me: I got it for you at a yard sale.

Chloe: Yeah you bought it for me. Thank you. Thank you so much!

Sept 4

Me: I love you Chloe

Chloe: I love you mommy.

Eric: I love you Chloe.

Chloe: No, I love my mommy.

Me: You can love more than one person at a time.

Eric: I love you Chloe.

Chloe: I love one person. My Mommy.

Later

Eric: I love you Chloe

Chloe: I love my mommy

Eric: I thought you loved Deigo

Chloe: I thought I love my Mommy.

Sep 26

The ice cream lady was nice and I was hapy at her.

Pink is my life

Oct 4

Me: spending time with you is my favorite thing to do

Chloe: mumbles through her cuppy for a long minute

Me: I can't hear you. Take your cuppy out.

Chloe: Pink is my favorite color

Oct 6

Hey Braden.. When I was a baby my mommy used to hold me like a little baby.

Oct 14

Cuddling.

Chloe: Mommy you're my best friend

Mommy: Aww you're my best friend too.

Chloe: And you have a big nose

Oct 16

Mommy! I'm eating my boogers!!!

Oct 23

I'm gonna be a butterfly and you're gonna be a ghost (mommy) and you're gonna be a dragon (pepe). Pepe doesn't want to be a butterfly.

Oct 24

Putting matching cards away

"I'm putting them away cause you're not playing with me"

"Aww I'll play with you now!"

"You weren't playing. You can play with me another time."

Hangaber (hamburger)

Nov 4

Me: I love cuddling with you and reading with you. I love spending time with you.

Chloe: Yeah, and I love hopscotch.

*Then we laughed until we cried*

Nov 12

Mommy I have a frog in my throat. I need my temperature.

(A lie)

Nov 16

Mommy will you sing oh my god song to me while I play?

"What song?"

Oh my god'll have a farm

Nov 17

Rub Chloe's belly.

Chloe: Get away from my belly.

Me: but I love your belly. *try to kiss it*

Chloe: But bellies are not toys.

"That was just a fart. Go get my book"

Nov 20 

Looking through bin of play food.

Chloe: What's this? Chocolate?

Me: An eggplant.

Chloe: An egg plant? Let's throw it away

Nov 20

Mommy: What do you want for Christmas?

Chloe: A dollhouse.

Later..

Mommy: Chloe, what should we buy Grammy for Christmas?

Chloe: Ummm... I think Grammy wants a doll house.

Nov 27

Madi "high five my boobies"

Chloe folding dish cloths: "you go under the bridge, through the roof and into the castle" she says as she does each fold.

Chloe pulled some hair from each side of her head and held it under her chin. "I just wanna make a party hat with my hair."

Eric: Madi do you want a baby someday?

Madi: No

Eric: Do want to be a mommy someday?

Madi: Yeah, I wanna be a mommy.

Chloe: And I wanna be a daddy!!

Nov 28

Chloe whining in the next room. Comes to see me.

"Mommy there's a bowling ball and it's following me."

Nov 30

Like two weeks ago Chloe slipped on ice. Today:

When I was a little girl I slipped. Now in all growed up so I won't slip anymore

Dec 8

Playing ball.

"Wait! Maybe I just need to fart."

Dec 9

My baby has an attitude

Dec 10

Chloe looking at an old pic of me and twins

"When you was a little mommy"

Chloe: I want Santa to bring me a house.

Mommy: Anything else?

Chloe: Uhhh... A bagel!

Dec 12

Deb: you should tape them together (Chloe and her friend at daycare)

Me: that would be awkward at daycare

Chloe: (playing on phone looks up) I'm not awkward!

Dec 15

Feed Chloe a big bite of yogurt and she gags a little.

Me: What are you doing?

Chloe (calm as can be): Just choking. Little bites.

Dec 16

Reading Dora book.

Me: Do you know what little star wishes for?

Chloe: Ummm.. Chicken nuggets!

Goodnight Chloe!

Goodnight mommy. Stay in your bed all night. Stay in bed with Eric.

Dec 26

I want a chicken nugget. Fast.

Sarah, sometimes I don't like you .

Jan 4

Tucking Chloe in.

If I nee you, I will call you and if you don't come here I will cry, okay?

Chloe's Third Birthday

We had a party in a meeting room at the hotel Eric and I work(ed) at. 

This was back at the end of September, the Sunday before her birthday. 

My sister and cousin came, along with my cousin's son. 

Eric's two sisters came, along with his nephew. 

My friend Sarah came. 

Madi was there. 

Overall, I think Chloe had a blast. 

It was a Frozen-themed party. 

There was a big sparkly #3 that I made. Cupcakes with blue frosting. Frozen cookies. 

For her birthday she got:

- Baby Anna Doll

- Fairy dress-up outfit

- Coloring book and crayons

- Bubble Guppies floor puzzle

- Frozen movies

- A back pack

- Snow White Dwarf house

- And a pack of all the dwarfs! 

Plus some other odds an ends I'm probably forgetting. 

Lots of fun. I'm already looking forward to her next party. 

Chloe's First Time at an Amusement Park

I was considering doing it, but this morning I didn't put much thought into it - I just got us dressed, packed sweaters, raisins and a change of clothes and we left home just before 10am to go to a local amusement park. 

Being born and mostly raised in this area, I'd never been to it before. It's a bit pricey. But you know what's not that pricey? Bringing an almost 3 year old. I got her an all-access pass bracelet, and just bought me enough tickets to get on three rides with her. I was allowed to go on two of the kiddie rides with her for free anyway. I was just going to get us coupons to go on a few rides (25 coupons) but with the bracelet she went on 42 tickets worth of rides. Much better deal. 

She had a blast! 

She even went on the ferris wheel with me twice. She loved the carousel and nothing scared her at all. We were there for more than 4 hours and could've stayed longer if I wasn't getting a headache and getting tired myself. I'd say it was a huge success. She had some cranky moments but snapped out of them quickly. 

She was tired on the drive home, and wanted a nap but when I put her in her room for a nap she was quiet for a bit but ended up singing and never sleeping. 

I bet she'll sleep good for me tonight. I hope. 

Chloe & Potty Training

It doesn't seem like that long ago (but it was) that I was talking about Chloe and her tricks to avoid potty training. Eight quick months have passed and basically nothing changed. Until one day a week or two ago. Chloe had a bit of heat rash so I made her go diaper-free for a few hours at home. But then I decided to make her drink a lot of water. When she asked for a diaper I knew it was soon time, but she was too worked up. I got her to sit on the potty and threw a ball back and forth with her until she went. 

After that, she didn't want to go again for awhile on Thursday July 17th Madi was over. And she's been potty training for years, so we had them both without a diaper. Chloe spent the whole day without diaper and only had a few accidents. The next day she was at the sitter's, and then today and yesterday she was at her father's house. 

But finally, it's a start. I don't plan on going back to diapers. Wish us luck. 

Chloe, my shadow

My kid is super attached to me. 

She's my little best friend. She's always nearby. She always wants me to play with her. To read to her. To dress her. To help her eat. EVERYTHING. 

On one hand, I love that. She's so much fun a lot of the time. 

On the other hand, I'd love to be able to get dressed in the morning without helping her eat breakfast. I'd love for Eric to be able to dress her in the morning so I might be able to do something with my hair more often than twice a month. She'll let Eric do anything for her if I'm not home. If I'm home, it's all about me. He'll try to put her boots on to leave the house, she'll get mad and take the boots to me. 

Most days it's easier to just do it than to listen to her cry or get mad because I won't. 

It's one of those phases that I both hate and love. 

Toddler years are fun. 

Things Chloe Says...

Chloe is so full of words and fun these days. I've started keeping track of some of the funny things she says in my phone when they happen.

Random things she says a lot:

"That's not how you play!"
"Mommy, why you do that?" - Usually when I do something she doesn't like when playing.

Mommy: Are you my girl?
Chloe: No, I Chloe.


March 25, 2014
Mommy: What's up, Chloe baloney?
Chloe: What's up, Mommy baloney?

April 9, 2014
Chloe: The water's gone down the hole.
Mommy: Then where does it go?
Chloe: The pyramids.

April 16, 2014
Chloe and Eric picked me up from work. I got in the car:
Chloe: Hi Mommy, did you have a good work?

April 22, 2014
(Chloe got a new stuffed Diego doll)
Mommy: Do you like your new Diego doll?
Chloe: Yeahhh. He's beautiful!

April 28, 2014
Eric: Are you jealous?
Chloe: No I not, I'M CHLOE!

May 3, 2014
Chloe and I were playing in my bed with a couple of boxes and their lids. I had one and she had one. We traded. Hers had a big hair in it, so while I had it, I picked the hair out and threw it away. When we traded back, she opened her hair-less box and said:
"Oh no. Did you eat it?"
A minute later she tries to pull hair out of my head to put back in the box.

May 3rd - "Look, an oval!"
We can thank an iPhone app for that knowledge.

May 3, 2014
Chloe and I made a fort and were playing in it. We needed to hide because she said the witch was coming.
Mommy: Why do we need to hide?
Chloe: Because the witch is angry.
Mommy: Why is she angry?
Chloe: Because she's mean.
Mommy: What is she going to do if she finds us?
Chloe: She going to smash us.

While in the fort I also taught her that Princesses is the proper word, not Pinpesses. I love her pronunciation so much better though.

May 3, 2014
Chloe's belly started hurting so she needed a bandaid put on it. That didn't stop the pain, so she thought she needed another.

Early morning wake up call

In Chloe's room, we normally have a child-proof lock on her door handle so she can't get out and roam the apartment in the middle of the night. Even though it's a tiny apartment, I still sleep with the baby monitor on so I can hear her better, but I don't hear her door opening. 

She also likes to open and shut her door a lot throughout the day when she's playing. So we took the handle off yesterday since everyone was home for the day. At night we forgot to put it back on. 

I was in a really deep sleep when I heard a noise beside me this morning. I open my eyes to find Chloe staring at me next to my bed. I sleepily pull her up on my bed and she hugs me then cuddles down with me for a minute. In typical Chloe fashion, she can't lay still for longer than a few seconds. So I finally look the the clock. 6am.

We weren't due to get up until 6:45am. I thought it would've been closer to that time. 

I quickly got her a fresh diaper, a new drink and told her it wasn't time to get up yet. I tucked her back into bed and drifted in and out of sleep myself for the next little while. It was still early, but a little closer to the alarm going off, even though I had set it for 15 minutes later in hopes of falling back to sleep, when she started singing in her bed. One of my favorite noises. It was early, but I could even appreciate it that morning. 

I finally dragged my butt out of bed and crawled into bed with her. She wanted to read a book for all of a minute before she was ready to get up and play. 

I'm kind of tired today. 

But there are much worse ways to wake up. 

Even so, Eric's task for the day is to take her curtains down and hang them up better. The sun shining on her face this morning is probably the reason she was up so early. Normally I have to wake her up. 

Our Easter Weekend Away

This Easter was a great one. We spent the weekend away, staying with some of my closest friends (a married couple). The drive up was difficult - Chloe was not impressed with the sun in her eyes, and kept throwing sippy cups, toys, even treats we gave her as a distraction. I was relieved when we finally got there. She doesn't know my friends too well, since they live so far away, so I tried to explain to her who they were - that they were at her birthday party. That wasn't a great idea because she then thought we were going to her birthday party. Luckily she forgot about that by the time we got there. 

Immediately when we arrived, I realized I forgot to pack pjs for Chloe. Fail.

And all stores would be closed the next day. We rushed to the grocery store and bought her two pairs of pjs. 

When we got back, I realized I forgot mine too. Double fail. I wore Eric's pj pants to sleep in all weekend, which were way too big and not very comfortable. 

On our first full day there, Chloe decorated cookies and we just visited with my friends and their family. We went out for a lunch, then afterwards split up and Eric and I took Chloe to a park and the car wash. She enjoyed both. After that, we met up with people at a different park. Later on, we went for some frozen yogurt. We all loved it. 

Once we were home and Chloe was in bed, we watched The Heat. I loved it. 

The next day was zoo day! We got up and ready and went to the zoo. It was colder than expected, and Chloe didn't seem overly excited, but she didn't complain or whine. She loved the Easter egg hunt (see the top right picture below) and especially the Cheetos she got in her treat bag. 

Afterwards, my friend was amazing enough to watch Chloe so Eric and I could shop. Shopping wasn't very successful. I need jeans, but apparently I don't have a size. I'm between sizes. We ended up just buying hand sanitizer and train tracks at Toys R Us. 

That evening we had dinner at my friends parents' house. They are also like family to me so the company was great, and the food was amazing! So good. 

And that was our last night there. 

We woke up Sunday and Chloe found a trail of... well, see for yourself on our YouTube video outside the bedroom door. 

She loved the egg hunt, loved her Little People car, her beach ball from another friend who lives in the Dominican. She especially loved the chocolate chicken that had a chocolate egg inside filled with Smarties. She devoured those Smarties. We hung out until around noon before we hit the road to come home. 

About halfway home, when Eric was paying for gas, Chloe told me she was sad. I asked why, she said because she wanted her Daddy. Luckily, he was home so she spent about 3 hours with him that day. She had to take her beach ball with her to his house.  

Monday was back to work, for a 10 day stretch. Not looking forward to it, but at least two days are already down. 

Easter is Coming

I had a few bad days lately, and was feeling pretty crappy. Then that passed. I've been so happy these past few days. 

Chloe's been so cute and so smart. I love hanging out with that little kid. She's so random. 

After bath...

Chloe: The water all gone down the hole.

Me: Then where does it go?

Chloe: The pyramids.

You can thank Dora the Explorer for that one. 

She identifies a lot of letters of the alphabet. And all basic colors. I can have conversations with her. It's such fun. Eric's friend Matt was locked out yesterday so we went to pick him up. I asked Chloe if she wanted to go get her best friend Matt. She got so excited and wouldn't stop talking about her best friend Matt. Until we picked him up, then she got shy for awhile. 

Next weekend is Easter. One of my favorite holidays. I already bought a couple of toys and outfits. Just need to stock up on chocolate. That's something I am not able to do in advance. 

I have no family left in the area (except my sister), and Eric loses his job next week so we've planned a weekend away to visit my friends (who are like family) and hopefully some family. I couldn't be more excited to spend Easter with these people. 

And have I mentioned Eric loses his job? By no fault of his own, the place is just closing. It sucks big time. He had decent pay, hours we were used to, and benefits. I'm getting benefits set up through my job, but we still need him to be working as soon as possible. At least this gives him a chance to get a job closer to home, since his job is as far away as it gets without actually leaving town. 

And we also found out that since we're recently common law, we owe back some money to the government that they never bothered to mention when we changed our marital status. Luckily we have the money set aside so we can pay it. So long, half of our wedding fund. 

But I'm still happy. Despite those things, and other things that are trying to bring us down. I'm sure I'll get worked up about it someday soon :p

Chloe, my little talker

Chloe is all words lately. You hear so much about the terrible twos but rarely to you hear about how amazing this time can be. 

She plays make-believe like nobody's business. Some of her favorite make-believe games include making things pretending to sleep, whether it be her toys, or me and Eric. She says "Close eyes, go to sleep!" like the perfect little mother. 

Yesterday she was playing with her Little People princesses and I was using a rubber dinosaur pretending to drink out of a dish. It soon turned into a game where I had to ask for more milk and I wasn't allowed to  forget to say 'please', and she started responding with "Here you go, Honey."

And she knows the rules of playing, as she told Eric a few times just this morning "That's not how you play this!"

I started letting her help me cook a little. A few nights ago I let her help stir the Hamburger Helper sauce in with the milk and water, with no heat on of course. Her exact words were "Mmm soup. I love soup."

Yesterday when I changed her, I put her in a skort from her summer clothing stash since our place is usually really warm. She didn't like it at first, I guess because it's hard to open your legs really wide in a skirt. But then she discovered pockets. She pushed her hands in and said really excitedly "I love pockets!"

Yesterday she was looking at a picture of me, my mother and step-father from a few years ago. "That's my mommy." She said. "That's my Grannie. She's so happy." She paused and looked for a few seconds longer. "That's my Grannie. She's so happy to see me."

When we leave in the morning before Eric, she looks at him and says "You taking the bus?" Yes, he is. 

Today she looked at him very seriously when we were dropping him off at work. "You go get Madi?"

When we read her favorite books and watch her favorite shows, she's great at knowing what comes next and verbalizing it. Today she said the word 'No' to the tune of 'Mary Had a Little Lamb'. I don't know if that's impressive at that age, but it was cute. 

It's crazy how much she talks all of a sudden. I love it, and I want to remember all of it forever. 

Bullet Points of My Life Lately

- Chloe was sick - fever, coughing, crankiness. Luckily the worst of it was Thursday and Friday, when she was home with my mom and Eric. She was fine to go back to the babysitter's on Monday. 

- I was a little sick too, but mostly just a head cold that passed quickly. 

- Mom's been staying with us for over a week now. Tonight she flies away to move. For good. I don't think we'll see her until my wedding in 2015. 

- My nephew was with us also from Wednesday night until Monday morning. Madi was over Thursday and Friday through the day. Needless to say, I'm happy I was working. Wayyy too many people for me. 

- We've been working hard at our bead business. I don't post about it in here anymore because I don't want google searches bringing people to this blog, like it was before. And for that reason I even started a bead blog. Our custom people are a lot of fun to make. 

- The new job is going great. Most days are flying by. No complaints there. Yet :p

Made Me Happy Today

Made me happy today:

Mom is staying with us for about a week, sleeping in the spare bed in Chloe's room. When I got up this morning, the light was already on in the room, but Chloe wasn't quite out of bed yet. My mom was asking her if she was getting up. I walked into the room, Chloe saw me and started happily calling my name. "Mommy, mommy, mommy!" I went to her bed and she crawled into my lap and hugged me, sitting with me and saying my name over and over. She cuddled with me like that for about 5 minutes before she wanted to get down. The perfect way to start a morning, if you ask me. 

Things I Want to Remember

- The way you yell my name over and over and over, so happy when I pick you up at daycare after work .

- The way you lay your head on my shoulder and either rub my back or play with my hair when you hug me. 

- The way you get so excited to brush your teeth. 

- How much you absolutely love to read, and how good you are at remembering certain parts of books. 

- When I ask if you're my girl, you almost always say "No, I'm Chloe *middle name, last name*", so proud. 

- The way you love jumping on my bed, but only if I bounce with you. 

- The way you're constantly tucking your dolls/stuffed animals into your bed, and treating them with such gentle love. 

- How great you are at saying 'please', 'thank you', and 'you're welcome'. 

- The way you always want to be near me, even if it's not my favorite thing at the time. Bathroom time should be 'me' time. 

- How happy you make me when you smile, laugh, talk or do anything cute. 

(I may have stole this idea from Shannon, but I love it!)

Chloe, at 2 years and 5 months old

- Chloe still loves Dora the Explorer, but now also loves Bubble Guppies and Super Why.

- Chloe loves to read. Her favorite books right now are: I Am Small, The Napping House, The Elephant and the Bad Baby (which was a book that MY own mother had when she was a child).

- She loves to jump on the bed.

- She's a mommy's girl and always wants to be with me when we're home together.

- She weighs about 26lbs.

- She absolutely loves going to bed. No sarcasm. I hope this phase never ends.

- She can sing the ABCs perfectly. She can count past 10, to about 15 without a problem. She can count to about 8 in Spanish. She knows a few colors (orange, yellow, blue, green, red) and gets them right most of the time. She never gets orange wrong.

- She loves swimming and bath time.

- She loves Cheerios and raisins and bagels and cheese.

- She loves playing with her babies and Little People. She plays pretend with little figures and dolls, actually making them walk and speak.

Things that have been happening here lately

We've been pretty busy lately, or at least it feels like it. 

Eric's been working later shifts, which means I can't pick him up at work so he takes the bus home. Some nights I'm already watching tv in bed when he gets home. It kind of sucks. 

I've been wedding planning a little more. We've changed venue location (again) and our whole idea of the meal. I've looked into officiants/commissioners, whatever the proper term is. This week I'm going to look at some dresses. I'm not really planning on buying anything but I'm hoping to get a better idea of what's in my price range and what I'd like to do with my bridesmaids. 

We had our work Christmas party on January 24th. It was a really great night with a bunch of really great people. Eric showed up after work. We ate, we drank, we talked, we danced and after the party we went to the bar. All in all, a really great night. I can't wait until the next staff party. 

The next day was Madi's birthday party with Eric's family. She's three now. Hard to believe she was a day shy of being a year old when I first met her. The party was nice. Being there a little hungover and a lot tired wasn't as nice. We visited with his mom after the party and I kept falling asleep on the chair. It was pretty sad. 

On Sunday we had a relaxing family day, then Eric went out with a friend for the evening and I got to eat junk and watch girly tv. Win. 

This past weekend my mother and nephew surprised us with a visit. It was pretty fun. We found a babysitter for the two of them and went shopping for a little while. We got some party supplies and surprised the nephew with a small party since we didn't see him on his birthday. 

Friday when they arrived we went shopping in Target for awhile. Found some amazing deals (cowboy boots and a purse for Chloe, sneakers for the summer for Madi), but Chloe didn't have such a good time. She was having a blast with my nephew until she tripped and landed lip-first on the floor. There was blood and tears but afterwards she held the ice on it like a champ. Luckily, her fat lip didn't stick around very long. 

Saturday night Mom made me go out to a bar with her. I really wasn't feeling it but went anyway since Sunday (today) was her birthday. 

And today everyone left and I came into work at 3pm. Weekend over, just like that. Although it was just a one-day weekend for me. 

Other things worth mentioning? We've been working on potty training Chloe and getting no where. She'll sit on the potty a million times a day but won't do anything. Then she'll pee on the floor or in her diaper. She just won't do the pushing right on the potty, but she pretends really well. A lot of fake grunting. 

Chloe and I went to the mall to look at wedding rings. I'm glad to see some are pretty cheap, cause we sure are cheap people. Eric and I might go look ourselves in a few days. 

Anything else? I can't think of anything. We're generally pretty boring. 

Bad Toddler Day

Today I had one of those 'toddler from Hell' days. She's usually so sweet and well-behaved that days like this completely throw me off. 

We went shopping and she had a few whiny moments. Then she started to do a lot of little things. Kicking the big mirror in a dressing room, even though I told her to stop three times. Later she had her boots off and started banging those against the mirror. She hit me a LOT. So much slapping. She ran away in the mall. The kind of running away where I needed to drop my things and run after her. I hate when any kid does that. So I carried her from then on, no longer trusting her to walk even though she's usually great. And so when I was holding her in one arm and a bunch of bags in the other, she decided to hit me across the face. Great. 

Besides that we had three different meals get thrown on the floor, whether accidentally or on purpose, it was still three plates/bowls that hit the floor. Oh the mess. 

Luckily we got past all this once we got home from shopping, the day got a bit better, but ugh what a day. 

10 Facts About Chloe

1 - She's 100% a mommy's girl. She's my little shadow, my best friend. I love the way her face lights up when she sees me.

 

2 - She's such a caring, helpful little girl. Always bringing us our phones, the remotes, etc. That makes us sound lazy :p In reality, if I leave my phone anywhere that she can reach it, she brings it to me. Over and over.

 

3 - She's so polite - all about the pleases, thank yous and you're welcomes.

 

4 - She often asks to go to bed, so naturally she goes to bed without a fight.

 

5 - She's been in a toddler bed since December, and is doing great with it. Only two nights did she get up and play. Usually she doesn't move.

 

6 - She sweats a lot when she sleeps.

 

7 - Usually she'll wear anything, but when it's really cute 'I no yike it' she says.

 

8 - She sings like crazy. Jingle Bells, ABCs, Bingo, Old MacDonald, Row Your Boat, Wheels on the Bus, and so much more.

 

9 - She's still obsessed with the Bubble Guppies and Dora the Explorer.

 

10 - Her favorite toys are her dolls, closely followed by her Little People sets. I'm constantly finding her dolls tucked into her and Madi's beds. It's adorable.

A review of 2013 and the beginning of 2014

Bam, just like that 2013 is done. I'm not really sad about it. A lot of good things happened, but a lot of super stressful things happened. I'm ready to move on. Before we move on, let's review a little bit of 2013, shall we?

 

It started with a pretty great New Year's celebration. The Chloe was admitted to the hospital with the Flu and Pneumonia at the end of January. So scary. Eric and I had our first anniversary. We found our Madi was moving in with us, full time starting March 1st. A very old friend of mine had her St. Patrick's day baby. We upgraded to 'adult' bedroom furniture. A typical weekday for me, back in May. I got engaged on June 9th (6/9/13). I suffered from so much anxiety from around February up until recently. Lately I've been so much better. My sweet girl turned two years old, and an old friend had her baby boy that day! In October my temporary job ended, and I've been blogging a lot less. I started a new job at a coffee joint. Yay. We lost custody of Madi, and soon after decided to move to a cheaper place. We moved, and then it was Christmas.

 

New Year's eve was a little less exciting this year. I worked 6:30-11am, then 3-11pm. It was a long day, but Eric picked me up at work and I had a couple of drinks while we played South Park Monopoly with one of his work friends and his girlfriend. I knew it would be a decent night, but it was a lot more fun than I'd expected. We only left to go home after 2am, and weren't going to sleep until after 3:30am. We were up at 7:30 to pick Chloe and Madi up at their other parents houses. Well, my lovely fiancé picked them up while I stayed in bed until they got back.

 

I was tired.

 

After a good breakfast, we let Madi and Chloe open the rest of Madi's presents. Some we bought for the two of them we saved as well. They loved it. They each got a pj and bathrobe set from Eric's mom. Madi opened hers today and immediately wanted it on, so Chloe cried for hers. The pictures that followed were a bit funny.

Now I'm at work again, until 11pm on New Year's day. I can't wait to get home and get some sleep. There's still two more days of work left until a weekend off with Eric. I can't wait.