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.

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.

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.

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.

See the wood on the left? That's my deck. And the trees in my backyard. And the cows in the trees.


I got this funny dog costume for our dog, but it was too small for her.



Paisley's "asses."

Whiny days

Happy anniversary to my in-laws, Karen and Calvin. They've been married for a crazy amount of time, like 42 years. And they're not even old. My MIL has been visiting for the last week, and she's driving me crazy! Just kidding, she's amazing, and is really like another mother to me, but also like my best friend. I wish she didn't live all the way in Utah, I'd rather she just moved in with me. She doesn't get frustrated with Paisley the way I do, she has a lot more patience, and because it's not her child she finds her antics hysterical. I actually usually do too, unless it's the constant whining and pleading to go outside.swing.slide.cobey.pool.show.blankie.juice.walk.byebye. I guess it doesn't help that I can see her two top eyeteeth under her gums. That can't feel good. Anyway, here are the absolutely gorgeous roses that Calvin begged me to go to town to get so sweetly ordered from a flower delivery service and had sent to my house.




Karen also spoils this child rotten. Here's Paisley's birthday present, although I'm sure it won't be the only one. Must say though that buying a swingset at the end of the season is a great idea. And? I put it together ALL BY MYSELF. Well, Karen read the instructions but I did all the grunt work. I only had to take it apart maybe 6 times, so it was a success. The empty spot now has a baby swing hanging, so I know we'll be living in the back yard for the next 2 months. I was surprised at how much my ass was sore the day after we did this! I should put these together all the time, it's a good workout.





Here's my budding gymnast. She's seriously a monkey.






Paisley loves to attack me and use me as her jungle gym.



I went to get her from her nap the other day, and found this. She was able to open the drawers on her crib and threw all of her tights across the room. I never realized how many tights she had. Guess we'll be wearing skirts all winter.




This is one of my favorites. I love watching her pretend play, and I guess the baby needed to go potty. We've been working on Paisley going potty, but haven't gotten very far. I'm just trying to get her used to the idea first. She does enjoy sitting on it, and asks frequently to sit on it without her diaper. Maybe one of these days something will actually happen.

Terrible almost twos

Paisley is almost 2. She definitely acts like it. I always thought the phrase "terrible twos" was just a saying. It's not. She's a little hellion. I'm thinking they act like this because they understand most things, but they can't communicate what they want or how they feel, so they get frustrated easily. I just try to take that into consideration when I'm so frustrated with her, and it usually helps me stay calm and patient. Usually. I can't seem to get anything done with her around, because she is either constantly begging for my attention or getting into something she couldn't. This morning she opened the front door and was headed for the street! So if anyone ever comes to my house, that's why it's a mess. It's so nice to have P to take the blame.

This was way back in June, but I love how she manages to get M&Ms all over her face. And hands. And clothes.

Her other favorite food: chips. Any kind, anywhere.


These colorwonder things are awesome. The markers and fingerpaints are great because they are clear and only work on a certain paper. No messy fingerprints on the wall! The paints do get a little goopy, but when you stick your whole finger in I guess that's what happens. It's a little hard to clean off too. And Paisley? So proud of her, she only tried to eat it once.






Her obsession with shoes has reached a whole new level. She's conned her grandmother into helping her take her shoes off and on. And off. And on. Over and over and over...at least 20 times a day. Same shoes on and off, my shoes, her other shoes. It's a little ridiculous. She takes her sandals off in the car, then gets mad at me because I can't put them on while I'm driving. She picked these tennis shoes out, I would not normally pair a cute dress with tennies.