It's All About Paisley

I've been so slack in posting, obviously. I have so many pictures downloaded, easter, grandma, cousins, random, but just haven't quite gotten around to posting them, again, obviously. Paisley has just changed SO MUCH. Everyday she surprises me with the new things she says and does. I always think that I'll remember everything, but obviously I don't and desperately need to be writing these things down.

-Paisley is SUCH a girlie girl. There are all sorts of debates out there about whether or not having girl/boy tendencies are innate or not, and I know for a fact that they are. Paisley will choose baby dolls over blocks, playing kitchen over playing cars, putting on shoes, etc. She absolutely loves her babies. Pushes them around in a stroller, feeds them, puts them to bed. Loves her pretend kitchen which is right by mommy's kitchen. She cooks and pretends to fill up cups from the pretend tap with "juice." She'll bring it to me with a spoon and tell me that it's "hot." Then she'll ask "want more?" while nodding her head vigorously up and down. She also takes a cup of juice along with a spoon to each of our (4) cats and places it in front of them.
-She's gone from saying "ok" to everything to saying "yes." Not necessarily a big deal, but the way she says yes is too adorable. It's pronounced yee-es.
-Someone taught her about being scared (mostly of cars). I personally want to find this person and strangle them. Anyway, if we're by a car (in a driveway, parking lot) she says "don't get run over!" Over and over again. It's gotten to the point where she won't move because she's afraid of getting run over. Seriously. IN THE GARAGE she won't walk from the car to the door. She used to love running around outside, now she won't move off of the porch. Screamed hysterically until I carried her from the porch to the garage. All of 10 feet. Even at my dad's house she sat and watched her 2 cousins run around Papa's yard playing while she just sat on the porch and watched. Yeah, so, whoever taught her that? Thanks a bunch.
-On the scared realm, she also uses it towards people. Her great-uncle who is great with kids was making faces at her from across the room. She'd giggle, then get serious and say "scared." She even did it to me last night while I was teasing her. I don't know if she's trying to say we're being scary or if she's scared. We were playing with this littlest pet shop carnival last night, and she put the "mommy" dog on a ride, and it was too big of a dog and it fell off. She exclaimed "oh my gosh!" "Scared" Then she would pet this little tiny dog, wipe away it's tears and then kiss it, cuddle it, then sing "rock a bye doggy" while cradling it in her arms. I've never ever seen anything cuter in my entire life. She repeated this a bunch of times, so I ran to get the camera so I could take a video of it so everyone else could die from cuteness, but of course she wouldn't perform.
-She loves to watch "shows." She has a rotation of Dumbo, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland and 101 Dalmations. Also know as "elfents, cinderwella, wunland, and doggies.
-She has to do EVERYTHING and screams if I do it. From opening the door to let the dog in and out, opening the fridge door and getting out the juice bottle (she's brought the juice bottle to me a number of times that I wasn't expecting, my bedroom, on the toilet...) to having to take off clothes by herself. She doesn't say "I do it," instead she says "My help you." She's pretty good about getting dressed, if she wants to do it. My biggest struggle is trying to get out the door in the morning, and she's taking forever getting her shoes on, and screams at me when I try to do it.
-She doesn't like me to read her books. This makes me very, very sad. I would be very happy to do nothing but read all the time. Seriously. She'll get some and we'll sit on the couch next to each other, she'll give me one, then about 2 seconds take it from me, take it back to the bookshelf and get another one.
-She's usually a very obedient child (is the right word?). She (usually) does what I say, picks up her toys before getting out another, etc. When she's really tired or hungry she's more difficult to deal with. I think she learns a lot of this at the babysitter, which is helpful.
-She's a cuddlebug. She loves to be held or carried. She kisses me a lot, and there is absolutely no better feeling than when she squeezes those little arms around my next and gives me a kiss. Last night we were playing night-night (I'll get to that) and so we were laying next to each other on the floor and I put my arm under her head, and she moved so I thought she was going to push my arm out of the way, but instead she slid her arm under my neck and then gave me a huge hug and kiss. I remember laying there and thinking, "I never want this moment to end." Yikes, I'm a cheeseball.
-She likes to play "night-night." This consists of her making me lie on the floor, then she'll give me one of her baby's pillow, and then she'll cover me with one of her baby's blankets, say "close eyes mommy! Night night mommy! Wuv you! See ya later!" Then she turns out the light and leaves the room, shutting the door. Then I yell "Paisley, all done!" (that's what she says when she wakes up, although she says mommy rather that paisley, duh) and I hear her saying "all done? okay." And she comes back and then we do it all over again. Sometimes she doesn't even leave the room, but as soon as she puts the blanket (very carefully, by the way, arranging it very nicely to cover some random part of my body) on me, she says, "all done mommy? all done night-night? Okay."
-She loves pancakes, mac and cheese, pizza, grapes and m&ms and cheese and most processed meats. Mmm. Sometimes for dinner she'll eat a piece of bologna and about 6 thick slices of cheese. I'm the same way though, give me a chunk of cheese and call me happy.

Maybe I'll keep writing little tidbits about her activities until I finally get off my lazy ass and post pics.

Paisley and I got the week off! Unfortunately it wasn't a planned vacation. P is sick with RSV, Pneumonia, fever and ear infection. Those are the joys of day care I guess. She's been coughing so hard that she makes herself puke. I HATE seeing her puke, it makes me cry. She is loaded up on meds though, and once those kick in she's much happier. We've been home since Tuesday afternoon. I'm lucky that I have the exact number of vacation hours to cover this, although it sucks that I have to use them all up. Hopefully by Monday she'll be well enough to go back to the sitters. It has been nice for me to be able to do homework. And watch Cinderella over and over.

So let's get back to the pictures. It's so nice to hear from my friends again! My next goal is to catch up on everyone's blogs...that should only take about 6 hours or so. Paisley is finally at the stage where she'll play by herself and not insist to sit in my lap while I am on the computer. Two questions though from my comments, who is Manicmommy? And Emma in Canada, you cracked me up! Oh, by the way, I have a facebook page if anyone wants to add yourself to my friend list. Lots of you are already there, and I use that a lot so I could keep up that way.

This is Chip. Chip totally rocks. We went to a character dinner where all the characters come around and say hi. Chip fell in love with Paisley and played with her for about an hour, playing on the floor, throwing her Minnie back and forth, and he kept putting his hands over his heart. The restaurant had closed but he still just sat and played with her.

A little girl came over to Paisley one night and gave her this frog. It was so sweet! But I think she probably won a bunch at some game and didn't want 5 of them.

At the airport, waiting to leave.

Monday, February 4, 2008

A February Thanksgiving

Umm...so it's been so long since I've posted that I forgot my password. Oops. But before y'all go and get upset about the lack of posts, I have good reason!! School started back up in January. I'm taking 7 hours along with working full time. Paisley is shuttled between 2 babysitters, but she seems to do really well with them. It makes me sad because I feel like I don't get to see her. Saw her while she was awake this morning in the car for about 30 minutes, and she slept the whole way home tonight, and she went straight to bed when we got home. So between all that jazz I try to shove a little food in myself and get some sleep. That's why it's now February and am just posting about Thanksgiving. And btw, wtf? How is it February???? Although I don't feel too bad about being late, we're finally having our work Christmas (HOLIDAY) party on the 22nd.

So now I'm just plain tired and need to do some homework before I pass out. Here are a few teasers. Trust me, I've got PLENTY pics to post, but I'll leave you with these. Disneyland was amazing. I had never been and had never had desire to go, but I had a blast! I think I enjoyed it way more than P did.

How mean am I? We took her on all these little rides but didn't realize how scary they'd be to a 2 year old.
This is probably my favorite memory from the entire trip; Paisley shopping. We walked in and I think she just got so overwhelmed she didn't know what to do and started grabbing handfulls. If one of these toys is good, then wouldn't 5 be better?

She of course went home with one, a little minnie mouse which she still loves and insists on taking to bed with her.

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Ice Storm

Holy hell it's been a long time. I've really been meaning to post about our fabulous trip to Disneyland, but just have not had a spare moment to do it. More like having a spare second that I wanted to spend blogging rather than bathing or sleeping. But seeing as right now the most pertinent thing in our lives has been the disastrous ice storm, I think I'll save Thanksgiving pics until the new year. Good news though, I love my job and Paisley loves her babysitter. It's so nice to get out of the house, I just couldn't handle being a stay at home mom. I need adult interaction! Paisley is learning a ton as well, is getting really good about going potty, and she always says please and thank you. She is such a sweetie!

I also want to say congrats to Girl Florida for getting her PhD. That's kick ass, and she's going to nursing school, and she's got a darling little girl, and she's younger than me. Such an inspiration. Also congrats to Emma and the birth of her beautiful little boy. And that's about as far as I've gotten by way of catching up on my blogs.

So I'm sure most of you have heard, or experienced this ice storm that hit the midwest. We lost power early Tuesday morning, and EVERYTHING was cancelled. Even the university shut down, during finals and all. My neighbors got ahold of a generator so P and I stayed there Tuesday night. Wednesday I didn't go to work, and the generator was being taken away so I was at a loss as to what to do. Decided to pack up and head to KC as my dad didn't lose power. Luckily, my friend from a town about 15 miles south of us called me just as I was heading out and said I could stay with her and her 2 boys. I am forever grateful to her, letting us invade her house and being so generous! I went back to work Thursday, Friday evening the power came back, and finally went home yesterday. I've spent my time taking really hot baths, doing laundry and sleeping. We definitely take for granted all the amenities that we have, and I really realized that this past week. I didn't want to have to go to a shelter, or miss more work. Thousands of people are still without power, and I'm incredibly lucky to be back in my warm home.

I know it's really sad what has happened to all these trees, losing limbs and such, but at the same time they are incredibly beautiful. I drove around a bit in the country today, and with the sun shining and every tree coated in ice, it was all really beautiful.

My freezer before the blackout.

Freezer after the blackout.

4 garbage bags full of food all going in the trash. It made me ill just thinking of all the food that was literally going down the drain. Hundred of dollars, if not more thrown away. That's hard to see, especially when the budget is so tight anyway.

Sunday, November 11, 2007

The Bangs

I decided to cut Paisley some bangs last night, as she's constantly brushing hair out of her eyes. And...I don't like them. They change her face somehow. And they're crooked. That's to be expected though, as it's difficult to cut a 2 year old's hair without poking her in the eye.

One morning while I was getting ready for work, she decided she needed to put makeup on too.

Saturday, November 3, 2007

We love Halloween candy

A month. Time goes so quickly sometimes. Where did October go? Why is there Christmas stuff in the stores? Weren't we just going to the pool? It's crazy to wake up to freezing weather, but at least it warms up to almost 70 degrees everyday.

We've been intensely busy this past month. I started a new job, which I love, and Paisley started going to a babysitter, which she loves. I think. It's great for her to be around other kids, and it's great for me to be around other adults. I didn't realize how deprived I was of adult conversation. It's like that commercial where the woman is at home all day with her kids, then goes to the opera in the evening and she starts speaking in baby talk to her husband.

Between the job, taking care of P and commuting (about 35 minutes each day), we're exhausted when we get home. That should explain the lack of blogging. P is doing great. She's amazing. And please go to gap.com and vote for her in the cutest kid contest. Her talking is so cute, everyday her words multiply, her sentences are longer and she can have a conversation with me.

Some halloween pics. She doesn't really understand the concept of trick-or-treating. She understands the concept of stuffing candy in her mouth. We only went to a few houses, then came home. I put her to bed and turned out all the lights so I could wash my hair. And wash and wash and wash. Took at least an hour and at least half a bottle of shampoo. 3 days later and it's still slightly pink. Oops. I'm planning on sticking to wigs.

Monday, October 1, 2007

But...wait! She's what???

Two. I think somewhere in the back of my mind I really thought she'd stay a baby forever. I look at her baby photos and really can't even remember what she was like. She's such a funny, sweet little stinker. I don't know where to begin to describe her personality and all she does. She passed the 2 year doctor's test with flying colors, because of course she is the smartest child ever. Grandma and grandpa came to town, and P got to spend her birthday weekend in a hotel, with a pool and fruit loops and a very funny maid who sang happy birthday. Grandma organized a very cute little party for her, and somehow the room was FILLED with presents. I've never seen such a spoiled child, yet I still love to get stuff for her. Maybe it's the expression on her face when she sees something new and wondrous, or hearing her exclaim "wow! doggies" when she rips off the paper.

I really really really wish I could figure out how this happened so that I could recreate it for Halloween.

Grandma found the most adorable little cake that was shaped like a Maltese puppy. Which of course she wouldn't eat. Her birthday cake was m&ms. See this look below? It's called her crusty look and she's almost got it perfected. I'm assuming by the time she is 12 she'll have it just right.

Cows. Or moos as P calls them. They were in our backyard. This is not a normal occurance, even though we live in farm country. I'm still a city girl so this was disturbingly fascinating to me.