St. Paddy's Day





The girls were thrilled this year to actually ride in the St. Patrick's Day Parade. Just the very idea of bike decorating and being able to THROW the candy was enough to make it the highlight of the month.

 

We were lucky to have reasonably good weather (no rain). It's a good thing too. Once we went to the Dollar Store to get the decorations for the bikes, we were 100% committed...rain or shine. I also put little buckets on the front of the girl's bikes to hold the candy for them to throw. Their heads were spinning. Seriously thrilled.

 

I was really nervous for Chloe. She is only 2 but thinks she is 4 and can do all things big-girl related, including ride her big wheel for the 2 mile parade route. Mind you, she doesn't even know how to use pedals yet, so she just scoots along using her feet. Could you imagine 2 miles with feet that are about 6 inches long? It must be the equivalent of me running a marathon. She was not to be deterred though. She wouldn't even think of riding in the stroller. Luckily, I brought the stroller just in case.

 

Here we are just before the parade. I think Chloe was already a little tired from riding her bike the 2 blocks from the car to parking lot. When I asked again if she wanted to ride the answer was "NO!"



 

 

Grace in action along the parade route. Her legs were pretty tired after riding the 2 mile route but she held on like a champ. Plus, she had no alternative. I was alone with 2 kids, 2 bikes and a stroller.

Chloe made it the first mile and was starting to slow down but this girl would.not.give.up! She was having a blast. Finally I looked down at her feet only to realize that, even though Chloe wouldn't give up, her shoes totally did. She wore the sole completely off of them and it was just hanging down from the rest of the shoe. I guess that's what you get for hand me down shoes from Target! Secretly I was happy, because I knew she would have to ride the stroller now. Once she saw the shoe, she agreed to ride in the stroller and we were moving a little faster after that. Oh, I think I forgot to mention that the stroller was also decorated. Hey, we travel in style.

The picture below was of my view for the remainder of the parade. Once she sat down, she realized how tired she was and just hung out and still threw candy to the bystanders. Loving it!

We were exhausted afterwards but a good time was had by all. I think this will be an annual event for us. The girls loved it! Love making memories like this with my favorite little people.

Memories

I find myself several times a day seeing things that I hope stay in my minds eye forever. Ten years from now, I want to be able to look back and see all of these cute memories just as vividly as they are today. For example, as I write this blog Chloe is pushing her little shopping cart. It is stuffed with her My Little Ponies and she is wearing a Snow White nightgown with the back tucked into her bright pink Hello Kitty underwear.

Everything about this scene is adorable. I hope I always remember it.

Yesterday Gracie's class learned about tooth brushing and healthy foods. For their class activity they made smoothies and then each kid got to make 'Ants on a Log' for their parents. Each kid came home with a quart sized ziploc bag with contained a tiny paper plate and their own Ants on a Log snack that they had made themselves. Grace could not have been prouder. Not only did she remember the recipe, but she made something really healthy all by herself that she could give me for MY snack. She brought it in the house by herself and made a big production about it, reciting the recipe loud and clear, "First, you break the celery in half. Then you put cream cheese in a little paper cup and use a plastic knife. Then you spread the cream cheese in the little celery crack and fill it up. Then you take raisins and put them in the crack on top of the cream cheese. It's called Ants on a Log! It's really healthy! It's for YOU mom!"

Adorable. I hope I always remember it.

Fighting seems to be happening at least half the time both kids are away. But, when they aren't fighting they are the best of friends. Chloe loves to walk up to Gracie and give her a big hug and a kiss and says, 'Best friend' which usually sounds like "Bess Fwend". I love it. I know we have many more years of fighting ahead of us, but I hope they will come to a day when they really are best friends and have more love than fights between them.

It's funny how most of the scripted events aren't the ones that make the mental scrap book.  Memories from fun or exciting family outings or holidays aren't the ones I cherish as much as the random Tuesday morning when the girls decide to walk hand in hand on the sidewalk into the library. Or the Friday evening when both kids squeeze into the same dining room chair and hug and talk while I clear the table.  Or the Monday afternoon when Chloe is Grace's biggest sideline cheerleader during swimming lessons and then Grace returns the favor that evening during bath time when Chloe takes her turn to try to bobs in the bath tub like Grace did during swim lessons.

These are the things I hope I always see in my minds eye. I'm so lucky that I get to stay home with my kids and can watch all of these events and see their own memories and relationship building. Love 'em!

Now, time to hit the shower so we can go build some random memories at Costco.

The Other "B Word"

When you become the parent of a school age child, the B word takes on a whole new meaning.....

Brat.

Can I just say, I feel this is a totally underused word these days. Maybe it's the lack of sleep, maybe it's the fact that I just finished reading a totally snarky parenting book, maybe it's the kid in Grace's preschool class who I just want to throttle at least once a week because of the way he treats his mom and teacher...who knows, but I have been on brat high-alert lately. 

Let me preface this rant-ish blog entry with the following disclaimer *my kid is not perfect and I am not a perfect parent.* However, I can say with certainty, my girls behavior will never humiliate me. Embarrass me? Yes. They will laugh when they fart in public and then want to talk about it for what seems like FOREVER. They will whine when they are sick of shopping. They will bicker with each other in public. But they won't be the kids disrespecting me in public. Why? A very healthy fear of their parents.  My warnings don't fall on deaf ears and I only warn once. And they know, I mean business and there isn't a grey area with the boundaries. 

So I ask, what is with all of these parents raising total brats?

This all stems from a little boy in Grace's class. I'll call him Brady. During the first few months of school, Grace would come home from school with a new story about Brady. I call it a story, because at this age her imagination is wild and she likes to embellish most stories. I really have to take them as half-truths. However, the stories about Brady just kept getting worse and worse. "Brady yelled at the teacher today." "Brady had to sit in the naughty chair today." "Brady threw a toy at another kid today" "Brady told Miss C to 'shut up' today."

I started to notice Brady when I would drop her off. He treats his mother like crap and she just smiles at him and says, "Oh, Brady. You should really be nice." I can tell she is just hoping the teacher will open the classroom door so she doesn't have to deal with any more of his behavior. It's seriously all I can do to not insert myself in the situation.

I just can't think of another word to call this kind of kid other than brat. When you have a toddler, this behavior is always part of the learning/testing process. Kids act out when they need a nap, when their blood sugar is low, when they are learning to share, the first time another kid gets on the slide at the public park that your child things s/he owns. It goes with the territory and can always be somewhat explained away. When you have a perfectly healthy 5 year old doing this, there is no excuse.

When I first witnessed this, I silently thought to myself, "Boy, this kid is going to learn the hard way."  Then I volunteered in Grace's class and actually witnessed things first hand. And you know what? I actually felt really sorry for this little boy. Brady's actions had already ostracized him fromt he rest of the kids. While adults can make excuses for kid's behavior, kids won't excuse it. Kids fall into one of two categories: the nice kid who plays well with others, or the not nice kid who plays with no one. Brady falls into the second category. He has one friend in the class...another kid who acts just like him. I must say, I use the term 'friend' very loosely here. He and this kid play with each other in a really bratty style. So they play for 1 minute and then fight for 5...repeat. The other kids won't go near them.

It made me feel so sorry for this little boy. His parents total lack of boundaries and discipline are already affecting his friendships and social life. He's only 5. At this point, things are only going to get worse. It made me wonder what his mom thinks. She doesn't seem to care when he treats her like crap. I wonder if she would care if she realized it is turning him into an unpopular kid? Let's face it, no one wins in this situation.

It has proved to be a really valuable parenting tool. When Grace comes home with Brady stories, I just remind her that she doesn't have to play with him but she has to treat him with kindness. We have had so many conversations about it and how important kindness is. Somehow she finally 'gets it' when there is such a visible example of what not to do.

So, there you have it. Life is too short to make excuses for other people's kids. Sometimes brats exist, and you just have to call it like it is. You have my permission to do so :-)

"Words"

Grace is all about writing these days. She can do almost all of her upper case letters without help and some of her lower case letters. Every time she draws a picture she puts both her name on it and the name of the recipient...usually mommy. Of course there is at least one heart and one rainbow on the page as well. It's like her personal insignia. 

She can write her name, mom, dad and Chloe without me first showing her how to spell them. Once she realized she can write more "words", she decided that she is going to make the full jump to book author. She sits down and doodles letter after letter after letter in a row across a sheet of construction paper. Often times, she will have rows and rows of letters or "words" followed by squiggle lines once she gets tired of writing the actual letters. She then folds the paper in half like a book, draws a picture on the front, adds her name and the recipient and then presents it to the lucky family member. It's adorable.

She wrote one such book the other day. It was the longest one she has written and contained lines and lines of random letters. She then asked me to read it. I started rattling off the letters, "CYPFDBA...." and there in the middle of the book, unknown to Grace, was the first real word she has ever written (aside from names). There, in bold caps was CRAP. Ahh yes, an adorably proud moment for a parent.  

In case I ever forget

I have seen this article going around. I love it and want to high-five the author every time I read it.

I think all of us moms had a trace of these feelings before having kids, although this woman is REALLY clueless. 

I want to keep this as a reminder in case I ever forget what the word 'constant' means, or in the event I become so brain dead from the sleep deprivation that I'm unable to articulate just how it was to be home all day - every day with little ones.

Another First

It seems the older the girls get, the fewer "Firsts" we have. That makes them all the more notable at this age, if you ask me. We had a MAJOR milestone today for Chloe.

For the past few weeks, Chloe has become obsessed with going to preschool. Grace gets to do it and she really wants to as well. She also wants to go to swim lessons like Grace and get her hair cut like Grace. My answer to all of these things is "You have to be 3." That seems to make sense in her little mind, since she is very proud of the fact that she is 2 now and knows that she will be 3 next. She often walks up to me and says things like "Chloe goes to preschool when me turn 3."

This girl cannot wait for it to happen.

The sad thing is, I NEVER want it to happen.

I'd be happy to keep Chloe a 2 year old and home with me forever. I like spending the one on one time with her and cherish these times we have together. Plus, I just can't imagine myself without a little one in the house.  Chloe has never been away from me. She wouldn't go to the church nursery, even as an infant. She wouldn't do the gym kids club and she only recenlty has been able to tollerate being left with Aaron while I escape leave the house.  She's just my little buddy.

Grace started swim lessons today. So Chloe and I picked her up from preschool and drove to the pool.  While we were there, we walked by the kids club. When Chloe saw it she looked interested. I told her it was 'preschool' and asked if she wanted to go while Grace was in swim lessons. Her eyes lit up! YES! She wanted to go. I couldn't believe it.

I walked up to the front desk and asked if they would honor my 2 year old punch card (the one I bought when she was a baby thinking I could have both kids in the kid room and get a short hot tub work out in. Ha! What a joke that was!  Turns out they would honor my punch card and I checked Chloe into the "preschool". It was amazing. The child who used to scream when I left the room just turned and ran from me into the kids club. No hug. No kiss. No tears. Just a smile-filled wave goodbye.

I was in total shock.

I then proceeded to get Grace dressed for lessons and joined the other mom's on by the side of the pool to watch. I was finally one of 'those' moms. You know, the kind I was always jealous of who could sit there for 30 minutes and have alone time while their kids had swim lessons. I thought to myself "well, that only took 4 1/2 years!"

To be honest, I didn't quite know what to do with my self and ....dare I say...I felt a little bored. This could take a little getting used to.

Big Girl Bed

It's a brand new year and we are starting things out this year without a crib in the house. Chloe is officially in a big girl bed. This will be the first time in over 4 1/2 years that we have not had a crib. Amazing. I never thought this time would come and, frankly speaking, never really wanted to rush it.

I have always been a big fan of the crib. Mostly for one reason, and one reason alone....it's an amazing containment device!

I have a lot of friends who have great escape artist kids. Not me. Neither of my girls ever figured out that climbing out of the crib was an option. I also wasn't sure if Chloe would nap in a big girl bed with all of her toys so easily accessible.  I wasn't in any hurry to get her out of the crib, plus I kind of liked having a 'baby' in the house. I know she's 2, but I could still sometimes pretend I still had a baby.

I started to get a little nervous about how this would all play out at Christmas time. We planned a trip to my parents house and I knew Chloe was just too big for a pack & play and the only option was for both girls to share a room and each have their own twin air mattress. Since Chloe has never wanted to get rid of her crib, I was really worried about how things would work out at my parents house. Let's face it, it all boils down to "how much sleep is mom going to get" when weighing these options.  Anything that makes ME lose sleep is a VERY BAD THING.

So, I started talking up the idea of the girls sharing a bedroom and Grace was on board right away. She was thrilled at the idea of sleeping in the same room as Chloe and was excited to help 'teach' Chloe how to sleep in a big girl bed. Now that I had Grace on board, Chloe was really excited about it. We talked about it every day for a week before visiting Grandma and Grandpa.

Then the visit came. Bath. Stories. Bed. Lights out and 11 hours of sleep!  My kids sure have a way of totally surprising me! Chloe also took the liberty of putting herself down for a nap the following day and then did another 11 hour night in the big girl bed. This is much better than she does in the crib at home since she usually wakes herself up at least once a night rolling around and hitting her head on the crib slats.

The first thing on our agenda when we got home was to get that girl a bed! It came with a 14 hour night sleep and a 3 hour nap the following day. Amazing! While I don't expect that to become a trend, I'm going to enjoy it as long as possible.

Gore fun fact: Grace transitioned to a big girl bed exactly 2 year ago on January 1st as well.

The crib is now disassembled and ready for a new life at a friends home. Yay for big girls!

Kinder Garden

Any sort of blog update has been a long time coming. I keep putting it off and putting it off. I have no idea why.

Lots of happenings in the Gore house this year. It's useless to try to play blog catch-up, so I'll just jump right in...

With a new year just around the corner comes lots of questions about where to send Grace to school next year. Public schools are way too crowded for my liking, private schools are way too expensive for my liking and homeschool just isn't an option for us. Bleh. The whole thing makes me stress. I've been looking into several options and will be attending a few school open-houses over the next month or so. Hopefully that will bring some sort of light to the subject. For right now, I'm just trying to hold tight to every.single.preschool.memory. I can't believe Grace will be starting kindergarten next year.

Because she is a major planner (hmmm, wonder where she gets that?) and likes to have plenty of warning about things to come, I've started to talk about school next year. She was actually quite upset that she wouldn't be going back to preschool next fall. We talked about it and I tried my best to get her excited about kindergarten next year. I told her she would meet a new teacher and all new friends. We could have her new friends over to our house to play, etc.

She just stood there looking at me and I could see the wheels turning in her head as she processed everything. I was so afraid of what would come next.

Would she be upset that none of her friends would be in her class next year?

Would she be mad that Chloe could go to preschool and she couldn't?

Would she be sad that she wouldn't get to have the same teacher next year?

After processing everything in her head, she turned to me and said, "Mom, will there be flowers in that kinder garden?"

Priceless.

Poop

I have never had so many poop conversations until I had kids. Seriously. No one tells you before you have children that your babies eating, sleeping and pooping habits will consume you.

Well, I have big poop news and scary poop news.

First the scary.  Last week I ended up taking Chloe into the doctor because she had black poops for about 5 days. When we got there, her doctor ran a quick test and discovered blood in the poop! Not good. Her next question was what really scared me, "Has Chloe thrown up blood or anything that looked like coffee grounds?" Of course, the answer was 'No' but at that moment I realized the seriousness of the situation. She had bleeding in her stomach.  Our pediatrician sent me down to the hospital lab immediately to have a blood draw and prepared me for the possibility of taking Chloe to the Children's Hospital that day pending the blood draw.

I started to freak.

I kept thinking, "This is how every parent with a terminally ill child starts out. First things are totally normal until one little thing happens and doctors find a major issue." I was so scared. Started praying and crying immediately.

Our pediatrician also prepared me for the trauma of a blood draw on a todder. In case you're wondering, they draw blood the same way as they do on an adult, expect you have to physically restrain your child while they scream in pain and horror. I'm not sure who it was harder on.

Thankfully, the blood draw came back fine so we didn't have to head to the Children's Hospital. The poop tests came back normal as well. Nothing viral or infectious about the bleeding in  her stomach.  Our pediatrician's assumption was some sort of lactose/dairy issue brought on by the combination of Chloe being so sick for the month prior to this happening and the fact that we changed her milk from whole milk to 2%. Apparently, the lower the fat percentage the higher the lactose. We took her totally off dairy and put her on an acid blocker to allow her stomach to heal. It was the right thing to do. Within 2 days the bleeding stopped in her stomach and poops were normal. Praise God!

Then another poop miracle happened. Chloe potty trained herself! I mean, totally by herself. Seriously. Because we are moving in a month, I decided not to even bother trying to work with her on potty training, even though I knew she was ready. She only sat on the potty once a day after her bath. That is Grace's post-bath routine that Chloe wanted in on.

One night I heard Aaron clapping and cheering for her because she peed.

That was on Tuesday, by Friday she was using the potty 6-8 times a day and I never changed a diaper. WHAT?! She's in Pull Ups now and loves it. She still has some little wet accidents but hasn't pooped in her diaper/Pull Up for 3 days.

Her favorite thing is to pee 3 drops, use 800 sheets of TP and then wave as she flushes the potty. Ha! It's a good thing we buy TP from Costco :-)

We are so proud of you, Chloe!

Pride

As a parent, there are certain things your kids can do to make you swell with pride. Usually these are their 'firsts'.

The first "I love you."
When they share with other kids.
When they learn to pray.
When they kiss you without being asked to do so first.
When they can put their shoes on by themselves.
When they first try to write their name.
Of course, pulling up on furniture, first steps and potty training also top the chart.

I had another 'first' with Choe yesterday that was one of those moments. I gave her a snack bag with some Oreo mini's to occupy her during a long bout of running errands. She had never seen an Oreo before that day. Needless to say, she LOVED them. I was full of both laughter and total pride to see her unscrewing the top and eating all of the frosting first before devouring the actual cookie part.

Atta Girl!

I have arrived

I had one of *those* moments this weekend. You know the type. It's the moment you realize you've reached a milestone. You're living the life you always dreamed of. You are THERE.

Only a parent would understand what I'm about to tell you.

I took both girls to the neighborhood park this past weekend to play in our approximately 42 minutes of sun. It was beautiful. I loved the fact that the wiggles were being worked out. But what happened next brought a HUGE smile to my face.

Are you ready for this????

I SAT on the park bench and WATCHED both girls play. That's right people. I was one of those parents who could take their kids to the park and WATACH them play. No helping Chloe climb up to the slide, no holding hands while she got situated and didn't have to catch her at the end. Both girls chased each other up and down the play structure. I actually SAT IN THE SUN, had a little bit of 'me time' and thought "I HAVE ARRIVED!"

Clothing Optional

I just can't keep clothes on this girl. She's constantly yanking her shirts and pants off, regardless of whether or not the house is warm. Luckily she hasn't figured out how to get the diaper off yet.

BTW, Chloe just turned 18 months old. EEEK! Where did the time go? More about that in another post.

Rainbowey

Graces latest venture is dressing herself.

I love it, for the most part.

It saves me about 10 minutes each morning trying to help her pick out clothes and then put them on, although some days it doesn't quite go as planned. This was one of those days, but I let her wear the outfit anyway. This is what she picked out and wore to preschool this morning.

She kept telling me, "Mom, I'm so rainbowey" She was so proud of herself

Hello, My Name is______ (cont.)

Yesterday, Grace insisted on being called Diamond. Today, it's Star. I predict Rainbow will be in our near future.

Picking Grace up in style

One of my absolute favorite things to do during the week it walk to pick Grace up from preschool. It's only a 7 minute walk, but is actually faster than driving if you count the amount of time it takes me to get kids in/out of car seats. I love being out and about strolling thru the neighborhood and strolling back home chatting with Grace about all the things she did that day. We usually hit the highlights which include: what they had for snack, who she played with, if she went down the 'fast slide' that day and what her classroom job was.

This week, Chloe and I headed out in style, sunglasses and all. This girl loves to accessorize, so when she realized she had sunglasses of her own she refused to take them off. I think it's a good look.

And for those of you following Grace's daily name change (see my last post), her new name is "Diamond". I have no idea where she comes up with these!

Hello, my name is ____

Grace's imagination has been in full swing lately. I love it. I love listening to the random, imaginary things she comes up with. Most of them have something to do with horses, princesses, rainbows and hearts. After all, is there really anything better in life?

I don't know if it is because Valentines Day is in the air, but lately she has been obsessed with hearts. I always ask her what she dreamed about last night and her answer has been, "Hearts, mom. Because harts are the best" Her bouncy horse is now named Heart. Starting yesterday, she also informed me that her name is now Heart. If I call her Grace, she quickly corrects me, "No mom, my name is Heart." She also loves referring to herself in third person (probably the result of watching too many hours of Elmo's World). Most of our day is filled with her saying, "Mom, Heart will do it." or "Can Heart help?" or "Mom, Heart has to go potty."

I'm sure she'll be back to Grace next week, but for now her name is Heart.

Being a Stay at Home Mom is.....

I was talking with the lady who does my hair not long ago about being a stay at home mom. The first thing she asked me was, "So, is your house always clean since you're home all day?" Ha! If only! Then it dawned on me, I probably had the same assumption when I was working (and before I had kids). I laughed as I explained to her that the reason I'm home is so we can do fun things together that ALWAYS inadvertantly trash my house (playdough, glue, cook together, build forts, etc)

It is a vicious cycle of getting my house 100% trashed and then having enough time to get it 80% clean. Cut to the next day with my 80% clean house...we trash it again by making pancakes together in the morning and then finger painting, etc. Again, I only have time to clean up 80% of the mess (at best), so I'm left with a 60% clean house. The next day, we do it all over again. I think you get the picture. By the time the weekend hits it looks like a bomb went off. I find beads from Mondays art project still under the table, my cell phone in the laundry basket (courtesy of Chloe, which she most likely did when I was busy cleaning up our bead art session), socks under the recliner, one kids shoe in the laundry room (the other one is still missing), etc.

Man, these little creatures really can make a big mess while I'm still busy trying to clean up the mess that just happened. Sigh. I often think my house would be cleaner if I worked full time, that way we'd only spend a few hours a day in it as opposed to all day.

Before I became a stay at home mom, I would day dream of being at home with my kids in a perfectly clean house (because after all, I was home ALL DAY), with something in the crock pot for dinner, kids involved in activities while I quietly watched from the sidelines. HA! Oh, and by the way, I always seemed to be showered/dressed/makeup on in these daydreams. How wrong I was.

So to set the record straight, being a stay at home mom is....

• Being there for your kids from the minute they get up till the minute they go to bed


• Leaving dirty dishes in the sink to go play My Little Ponies for the zillionth time that day because you know eventually your kids will want nothing to do with you.


• Never peeing alone and usually eating 2 of my 3 meals while standing.


• Taking 30 minutes to cook a box of Mac and Cheese because your kiddos want to put on their own apron, pick out their own spoon, pour each ingredient into the bowl, mix it with the personally hand picked wooden spoon and spoon it into their own bowls.


• Leaving the house unshowered because you decided to let your kids in bed with you to make a fort and play under the covers instead of send them away while you take a shower.


• Mid day walks/tricycle rides thru the neighborhood the instant it stops raining.


• Turning the task of loading the washing machine into a 3 person job because everyone wants to help.


• Building memories with your kids all day long.


• It really is the most rewarding job in the world.

That said, I love my girls and being home with them, love afternoon nap time and am starting to accept the fact that my house will always be a wreck, my life will always feel unorganized and it will always take 3 times as long to get something down when you have little helpers around.

Life is all about the journey....

Art

We are knee deep in wet, soggy, grey Oregon winter. This is always the hardest time of year for me since I really like to get the girls out doors as often as possible. Cabin fever doesn't really sit well with any of us.

Luckily, we all love to craft. And equally as lucky, Santa seemed to know that and brought us some wonderful items for all of our art projects. At least once a day, the girls find themselves busy with some sort of sticker - playdough - paint - markers - glue project. Often times, one project contains a little of everything. Hey, whatever makes them happy!

Grace loves to paint birdhouses. You can find these things at Joanne Fabric for $1. Money well spent! Green is her favorite color, as you can probably tell. This project really lives on. Once the paint dries, she heads outside to fill the house with sticks and leaves (bird bed, of course) and then chooses a perfect spot to hang the house in one of the trees in the back yard. Good times.
Chloe refuses to be left out of anything. I mean ANYTHING. Painting is also one of her favorite art projects. This is so much work for me since it usually involves being stripped down to a diaper, paper taped to the high chair and a good 20 solid minutes of clean up which always includes a bath for at least one child. Oh well, this is what staying at home is all about!

Somehow she actually managed to paint both legs and the underneath side of both feet. Also notice the paint around her mouth. She must suck on the paint brush when I'm not looking because her entire tongue was blue. Oh well. Crayola paints are safe, right? RIGHT?

If I could carry her with tongs to the tub I would.

A few other random pictures of the girls. Here is Chloe and gang watching Sesame Street. This girl loves all things Sesame, especially Cookie Monster (or Coo Coo, as she calls him)

Grace has really come a long way with pretend play. It's so cute to see her come up with story lines for her animals. Usually she is playing My Little Ponies ALL-DAY-LONG. I don't have any pictures of her doing this yet because I always get roped into playing with her. She loves these horses. It's adorable. I just have to keep telling myself that. Mostly because it's true and partially because I am so sick of playing My Little Ponies.

Grace also likes to play with the stuffed animals that she sleeps with. She decided to play restaurant one morning for one of her favorite customers "Big Caterpillar". Apparently Big Caterpillar enjoys chips. Then again, who doesn't?

That's all from our house!

It's like having your own chef. Sort of.

I feel the need to blog about myself today and one of the greatest Christmas gifts I have ever received.

First, a little context. The best part of my morning is a piping hot cup of coffee. It's what gets me going and is like a little treat that I get just for hauling my sleepy booty out of bed. I find it especially important to start your day with coffee when you have little kids in the house. Rarely do I actually get out of bed when I want to. So, it really is my morning treat.

Since Aaron doesn't drink coffee (I know, how is this even possible???) I usually get up and make it myself. My old coffe pot was HORRIBLE. It was the best coffee pot $9 could buy and only kept coffee luke warm. Not good. So, Aaron decided to buy me one of those super nice coffee pots that you can set a brew timer and actually wake up to the smell of coffee. Kinda like that old Foldgers commercial...sing with me now "The best part of waking up is Foldgers in your cup." Kind of like that, but totally better because I don't buy crappy Foldgers coffee.

I must say, coming out of my room to the smell of hot coffee in the morning is nothing short of AWESOME. It's like having your own chef...well, if your expectations of your chef are really low and you only expect her to make coffee.

Chloe is 15 months old

Chloe actually turned 15 months old on Dec 12th, so the fact that I'm actually doing this post during her 15th month of life is nothing short of a miracle!

We had her 15 month appointment recently. She is healthy and tracking at a great rate. She was 22 lbs 3 oz (30th % - she really dropped in weight once she started moving), and 33 5/8 inches tall (actually off the growth chart on height. Somewhere around 100+ %! Where did she find the time to grow that much???)

She only has 5 words right now that are actual words (Mama, Dada, Grace, Cookie - as in Cookie Monster - and Thank You) but she thinks she says much, much more than that. She picks up on the "S" in every word and ends up just pointing at things and saying the "Ssss" sound. Technically, she's not that far off when talking about the words she knows, such as: cheeSe, ShoeS, juiCe, treeS, SandboX, etc. You get the idea. Who knew we used the 'S' sound in so many words?

It is so hard to believe that in a few short months I will have a 1 1/2 year old. Seriously, where did the time go? It seems you just concentrate on making it thru the first year with your sanity in tact and then want to freeze frame life after that.

Chloe, you are growing up too fast! We love, love, love you!
Love,
Dada, Mama and Zace (as you would say)