Belated Birthday Photos

I really believe that Paisley is the most spoiled 3 year old ever. She had 2 birthday parties, her grandparents flew in from Utah just for the occasion, and she got way too many presents. Unfortunately many of those presents came from me. I told her grandmother that the only present I wanted her to give Paisley was the potty training lesson. Which she did. Such a relief having a potty trained kid. If I had known how easy this was I would have done it a looooong time ago. Paisley's first party was at my dad's house with her cousins and a few family/friends. Nothing special, just pizza and cake. Her second party was on her actual birthday at our house with grandma and grandpa and some of her girlfriends. Pizza and cake, once again. And way too many presents.

Grandma loves dolls, and really wanted Pais to have an American Girl Doll. They came out with the toddler edition, since before they only had big girls and babies. It comes with all sorts of accessories, a potty!, and Grandma even sewed some adorable outfits.

I'm having problems with the pictures and such, so I'm giving up for now. I'll try to add more pics as soon as possible.
Birthday morning. She was so excited to wear this princess nightgown, as she is obsessed with everything princess. Her hair is especially nice, since she slept in french braids.
The costco cake at Capa's.


I really wanted to

Trucks and Cinderella

Paisley is sick. Of course. Second week of school, and her entire daycare has runny noses. I work there a few hours a week in 2 different classes, and I swear all I do all day is wipe noses. It's gross. And now P has it. I thought she would have all her immunities built up from last winter, when she got sick EVERY MONTH for 8 months. It may be the weather, I suppose. Stoopid hurricanes. Usually Kansas is hot hot hot in September, but it's been rainy and cold. I hate it. I am so not ready for the winter, and especially not prepared if we have the same kind of awful ice storm as we did last year. Also with school I absolutely CANNOT miss school. All of my classes have policies that missing more than 1 class docks your grade by an entire grade! Ridiculous. I thought that's what college was all about, being able to choose going to class and choosing to do the work.

Lately I've been trying to keep track of all the Paisley's been doing lately, because she is so freaking funny. She must pick up a lot at school because she doesn't at home! Now of course I can't find it. My house is a DISASTER.

-P is a follower. She got written up at daycare because she was part of a small group that rather than listening to her teachers, she ran after some kids that were heading right for the street. Argh. There's a little boy in her class that is a troublemaker. She also doesn't listen when it's naptime at school. They sleep on little cots, and they have a hard time getting her to stay in bed. This is one reason I am not tempted to put her in a big girl's bed.

-We decided to try gymnastics again for the fall. I was worried because last spring was difficult for her. She didn't want to listen to the teacher and I had to sit in there with her. She did GREAT yesterday. I was so relieved. Her friend Mackenna is in the class with her so that may have helped.

-The other day we were teasing each other in the car, her saying "no!" and I was saying "yes." I tried to change it up by saying no, and she got pissed. "No! My no!"

-She told me that Caesar, our cat, is her best friend. Best friend? Where did that come from?

-The whining. Oh. My.Hell. Does it stop????????

-Kay. Found the list.

-She's getting really good at playing pretend. Her favorite is to play mommy and I'm "Pasey." She'll get her purse and put on her Cinderella heels, and telling me to get my shoes on because we're going to the store. Or we're going to go see Emmett, India, Adam and Cassie. My bro and his family.

-She has a toothbrush with a car on it, and she didn't want to use it because it was a "boys" toothbrush. A boy's? I didn't teach her that.

-Playing with the dolls in her playhouse, the mommy kisses "Pasey" goodbye. Or once a conversation that sounds like this:

-Paisley: I want candy

-Mommy: No candy

-Paisley: I want cheese

-Mommy: Just a minute

-She loves to play birthday party. She'll sing me a condensed version of Happy Birthday, then give me a present. It may be a pretend present, or a basket wrapped in a kitchen towel containing fake food. I think she'll love having a bday party (in 3 weeks! That' so wrong.)

-We were driving to school the other day and passed an ice cream place that is being built. It has a huge ice cream cone on the front, and she said "wow! It's beautiful!"

-Right now she is obsessed with trucks (and cinderella, but whatever). The entire drive to and from town (25 miles each way) she points out EVERY SINGLE TRUCK. We live in a very...agricultural region...so that means there are many many trucks. "Look mommy! A truck!" And if I don't say that I see it, she gets mad. Argh. Get's just a little annoying.

1st Day recap

Just as I finished writing that last post, I got a call from the daycare (P's) where I'm going to be working, informing me that I was to have been at work at 8. Huh? I was never told this, I haven't even been through orientation yet. The girl said that they've sent out many emails over the past month, but come to find out that I'm not on the email list because I haven't been through orientation. Ooo-kay. Then talked to the main girl in charge and she informed me that we had set up my schedule back at the interview. Umm, no. We talked about my hours, but nothing was ever set in stone, and I assumed I'd find out after orientation. She basically told me that since I couldn't make the hours she had put me down for, the only thing I could do was be a sub. No steady hours. So, before I even go to class, I'm crying.

First class, I'm not on the roster. Go to the Eled office, and they couldn't find me on the list either. My schedule showed me enrolled in the course, but no one else could find it. Sigh. I then met with my advisor and we tried to work out some different options. I was able to drop the morning dodgeball class, leaving the mornings free to work. Now I'm dropping a few and adding some ESL ones, as long as no one signs up by Thursday morning, blah blah blah.

Had a few hours to kill (that process took awhile), then went to my geography of KS class. The teacher seems interesting, very amiable and excited, so hopefully it should be an interesting class. Then on to Entomology, where we were given a "killing jar," some vials of alchohol, a very large net, and some posting boards. Now I get to collect 200 bugs. Woohoo. I love bugs...Did catch my first one in the garage. For some reason the garage attracts TONS of bugs. Think I could get away with using previously dead bugs? There's a huge spider by my deck at night, not sure if I'm brave enough to go for him though.

Oh, and something fell off of my car when we got home. Some large metal disk which is probably important. It's been a great day.

A new day

I'm sitting at the library at KSU, getting ready for my first class. I haven't been a full time student since 2002. I'm a little nervous. I miss my job already, and am jealous that someone else is there! My first class today is Health and Movement for children. I don't really have any idea what that entails, I just hope we don't have to play dodgeball. Brings back some awful childhood memories. I have never really been the athletic type...I also have some huge gaps between classes today, like 4 hours. I can't go home, since I live 30 minutes away. Eventually it will be good because I'll have study time, or work time (I'll be working a few hours at Paisley's daycare). I do have a lot to get taken care of on campus, so that should bide my time. And I brought my book, which I'm having a hard time to put down. "Breaking Dawn" by Stephanie Meyer. Girl from Florida mentioned more about it on her blog.

Should say some stuff about Paisley, as she's so darn cute (and wild-she doesn't get that from me). I'll think about it. I have to get to class now.

I want some guns

Every day I hear the phrase "I want some guns," and "I want vitamins!" Guns=Gum. I think she's just messing with me since I repeatedly over pronunciate gum, but to no avail. Vitamins is pretty obvious, and she loves them because they taste like gummy bears. I was eating them too for awhile, but then realized how quickly we were going through them. It's a good thing she can't get into them yet, as I can remember getting out the Flinstone vitamins as a kid and eating quite a few of those.

Next week is my last week of work. I'm pretty sad about it, and also apprehensive about starting school again. Especially at my age, so I'm going to try to convince people I'm only 23. I've also applied for a few small jobs here and there. Student worker, helper at P's daycare, and possibly a waitress at this hole in the wall. We'll see how that works out.

Paisley and I spent some time in Utah the end of July. It always goes by way too quickly. I slept in a lot which was a-maz-ing. Gotta love that. One day we drove out to my ex-cousin-in-law(?)'s house to hang out and let the kids play. She's got 5, my sis-in-law has 2, and my Paisley. I think P was super overwhelmed at first, but then got into it. They've got this massive pool slide in their yard which I desperately wanted to go on. I finally convinced P to go with me, but one we got to the top she freaked. I was surprised because this kid has no fear whatsoever when it comes to slides and heights. Instead of letting her go back down, I grabbed her and went head first down the slide. I thought it was fun, but I don't think she did as much.

Oh well.

Unbelievable

I got this over at www.dooce.com. All I can say is what.the.fuck. Sorry to anyone with tender eyes, as this is a 'family' blog, but oh well. That's how I feel. And I'm sure Paisley would too. Don't read this article if you get sick easily. I'm sitting here at work trying to keep myself from bawling at my desk. http://www.tampabay.com/features/humaninterest/article750838.ece. Make sure to read the comments at the bottom of the article. Some of the commenters? Should be drawn and quartered. What is wrong with people???

Dinosaurs are scary

Paisley woke up screaming bloody murder last night about 1am. I finally dragged myself into her room, and she was crying and told me that a dinosaur and spider were biting her. I tried to reassure her that there was nothing that was going to hurt her, held her for awhile, then put her back to bed. Fell back on my bed, and woke up a few minutes later to the same scenario. Went back in and she was totally freaking out, slapping her arms because she thought there was a spider biting her. I must have subconsciously passed my irrational fear of arachnids onto her. I can still remember a dream I had as a child where I was being chased by an ENORMOUS spider in my front yard, enormous like elephant enormous. And of course I couldn’t move. Why IS that? Anyway, P didn’t want to get back into her bed, since that’s where the spiders were, so we lay down on the floor, which was oh so comfortable, with me trying to reassure her that she was fine and that nothing would happen to her. Of course my dumbass cat that can open doors kept trying to get in, startling her out of her relaxation. He finally got shoved and locked in the bathroom. Dumbass. P loves all of her animals, but really freaks if they come in her room at night. We both fell asleep on the floor, I woke up at 2:30 and went back to my room, to get 2.5 more hours of sleep. Paisley slept on the floor all night.

We’re headed to KC tonight, as my brothers and their wives/kids are all in town. I’m excited as we usually see each other twice a year, and I love to show Pais off. Although with my luck she’ll be grumpy and out of control, because isn’t that the way it always goes? Anyway, the point of me mentioning this is because my bro and his wife are expecting a little girl this winter, hopefully with red hair, and whom I believe they should name Ashley. I’m going through Paisley’s clothes to separate them between baby Ashley and my brother in law and sis in law on the other side of the family. They just adopted a baby girl named Isabela. It’s freaking hard to part with these clothes. I was looking through them last night, they’re so small! And some are so hard to part with. But some aren’t. I think I’m keeping the outfit P came home from the hospital in, because how cool would it be to give that to her when she has a baby (uh…huh? She’ll never be old enough to do that). Though this showed the outfit better. Guess not.



Paisley has a monster friend. Actually two, but one is not nice, because it’s big and bites toes. The other one though is nice. I haven’t seen it yet, but P tells me it’s little, yellow, has only 2 eyes (rather than 4), likes to dance, smells like kitties, eats cat food, does NOT bite toes, (sounding a little like big bird to me) and seems like there is something else, but se me olvido.

Pictures coming soon. Really, they are.

Working on it

I'm getting there. I'm slowly trying to figure out this new blog stuff. I can't get flickr/youtube to work, so if anyone has any suggestions, I'm all ears. 

On to Miss P. She is in Utah right  now with her Grandma and Grandpa. She left on Sunday and I sobbed like an idiot saying goodbye to her at the airport. I get to go get her on Saturday, so I'm getting very antsy. This is the longest I've ever been away from her, and dammit, it's hard. She seems to be having a really good time, as she is spoiled like the princess she thinks she is. It'll be an adjustment to come home to her wicked witch of a mother. I call her everyday and our conversations consist of this:

P: Hi Mommy!

Me: Hi Sweetie!!!!!

P: I'm with Grandma and Grandpa. 

Me: What are you doing?

P: Bye mommy.

Me: Wait! Don't go!

P: Bye!

Me: I love you!

P: I love you too.

Me: I miss you!

P: Gone.

At least she's enjoying herself and  I know she's in great hands. I'm hoping she'll be potty trained when I get there, but doubt it. Anyone have any tips on potty training? Why is it so hard???? 

I'll post some new pics as soon as possible. My new gorgeous Macbook doesn't have a place for my camera card so can't do it yet. I'm finding it hard to get pics of her anymore because she just won't hold still!

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

No more daycare drama. Hopefully.

Miss Tina quit (the other teacher), almost as soon as I wrote that post. Something about how she wanted the 7:30-2:30 schedule, but instead they gave her the 9:30-5:30 schedule and she was pissed. So she quit, and is starting a daycare in her home, which she told me I could take P to. Umm...no. She'd probably walk around in her underwear. Today when I dropped P off, Tina was wearing very short shorts, and very revealing top. I know all too well about the tattoo she has on her chest, right above her bra line. So needless to say, I'm not too upset about her leaving. I actually applied there to be a student worker, just to get a few hours here and there while in school. It doesn't pay nearly as well as this job, but at least it would pay for gas. Plus, the experience will be good for my resume. I'm just worried about being around P, and making it harder for her if she sees me a lot, because she'll want to stay attached to me. I just got a call for an interview Friday, so maybe I can express interest in a different age group. Nursery perhaps?

Recap

I quit my job yesterday. This was both a relief and a sad day. I have the best boss and supervisor ever. Never had anyone like them, and I've had lots of jobs. I've decided that I need to really focus on school so that I can finish in 2 years. Fat lot of good an English degree did. Especially since I can't remember how to write or spell anymore. Advice to anyone going to school: DO WELL! If I had really focused then I could be getting a Master's right now. Sigh...
Instead I'm doing Elementary Ed, which is what I started out with (8 years ago!). It's hard to go to school with a bunch of youngins, I feel old. Especially with my 10 year high school reunion sometime this summer. Seriously? How the hell did that happen? I'm working until right when school starts, so it's still about 6 weeks.

Paisley finally got into the child development center here on campus. She was on the waiting list for 8 months, but it is a great place, the best in the entire city. The only thing that bugs me is that P started out with an amazing teacher, Miss Melody. The student employee what also great, Miss Molly. P LOVED them. They always gave me feedback everyday on how P did. The center ended up switching classes around to make them more age oriented. P was in a room with all ages, up to 4. Now she's in a class with 2-3 year olds. This is all fine and dandy, but I'm not pleased with the new teacher. She's nice enough, but I never see her. When I do, she's always dressed rather skankily. Lots of cleavage and short shorts. This in fine for spare time, but teaching 2 year olds? I find in unprofessional. Then to top it off, they hired a new teacher, Kim. I know Kim. She's from my town, and I have not heard good things about her. Her son used to be babysat by my neighbor, and she didn't really like him. Then Kim opened a daycare in her home, but obviously not doing that anymore. Now when I go to get P, Kim seems to be so frazzled that I can't even talk to her. I'm glad to get her out of her old daycare anyway. It was an older lady, with no kids, who started a daycare in her home. She did all the classes and was licenced, but I had issues with her. First of all, she would make comments about other kids to me and other parents. Talk about unprofessional. Every time I went to pick P up, the kids were sitting at the front door with their coats on, ready to go. Seriously? That's ridiculous. It's sad because for the longest time P would say "No Jean!" everytime we'd get into the car. Even now if we even drive in that neighborhood she freaks out and says "No Jean!"

I need help

I've noticed that all my blog buddies have darling layouts. I used to be able to change mine, but as it's been such a long time, I can't remember how to do it. Would someone be willing to help me???

Time to rewind

Life is not really slowing down, but getting to the point that I don't feel constantly stressed and out of time. Ok, maybe that's not entirely true, but if I keep chanting it over and over perhaps it will be true.

We've had a pretty crazy few weeks here lately. Last week we had a huge hail storm, then 3 days later we had a tornado. I've lived in Kansas for 21 years, I'm used to going to the basement once or twice a year, but I have never actually been IN a tornado. I guess I really wasn't, as I live 25 miles away from school, but the tornado came right through Manhattan. It damaged the building I work in, many other buildings on campus, and many many buildings and houses. Paisley was with her dad that night, and he lives in kind of a dumpy old building. When I went to pick her up the next day, the path the storm had taken was about 10 yards from his apartment!!!! They had some concrete stairs to hide under, but he said that it went right over his building. He thought Paisley was asleep, but when he shined the flashlight her eyes were really big and she said "woo woo all aboard!" I guess that proves that tornadoes really do sound like trains.

Paisley makes me laugh. Everyday. Some things I shouldn't laugh at, but it's so hard not to. She's lately gotten into a bandaid fix. I was hoping we could skip that, but someone (grandma) had to give her one. She got a blister on her foot yesterday from her shoes, and since that I think I've heard about her owies oh maybe 100 times. She is obsessed with her owies, and is constantly telling me about each tiny scrape or bruise, repeatedly.

Another area I've wanted to stay away from for sake of my sanity is Dora and/or Barney. My sis-in-law got P a Dora doll a year or so ago, and I was not too pleased with that. This one is plastic, and she holds her hand out and then asks you to give her something, like "do you want to give me my orange butterfly?" Then when it's put in her hand she says thank you and rambles some other stuff. There are about 4 sentences she says. This week I've noticed though that Paisley will press Dora's hand and when she asks a question, "can you help me find the animal that sings?" Paisley just says no. Then presses the hand again, "can you help me find the thing that twinkles?" No.

Our poor solar car. The team worked so hard on this.




My building.
My building, again.
This is in Chapman, KS, the town that was destroyed the same night we had our huge storm.
The frat across the street from work.
This is about 100 yards from where Paisley was.


A church in Chapman.

2 and a half

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.

Sick sick sickity sick

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.

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