Funny funny kid

I never imagined how great a 3 year old could be. Yes, she can be totally irritating, but so funny. I have to start writing down the things she says so I don't forget them. Because I will. Promptly. She's obsessed with bubble gum. OBSESSED. She is not allowed to have it until she's 4 (6 months! How did that happen?), and she can't wait. I honestly think she talks about it a couple of times a day. Sometimes on our 25 minutes to and from school, she'll talk about it. The entire time. "When I get 4, I get bubble gum. When I get big like you, I get bubble gum." She'll pull a pack out of my bag and say, "mommy, when I get 4 I can have bubble gum. You'll buy some for me. You have to share with me." So I guess she'll be getting lots of bubble gum for her birthday.

Lately she's been doing a lot of role playing, which has to be about the cutest thing I've ever seen. She plays mommy a lot, gets in my heels and demands that I say "bye mommy." "You're Ashwey and I'm mommy. Now you cry." Then she gets in her little tykes car and drives around. Then she'll come up to me really quietly and say "mommy's here!! I have a present for you!" I guess I'm a really nice mommy. :) She comes up to me quietly because I always do that to her when I pick her up from daycare. I love watching her play, and the look on her face when she sees me. Priceless, and unfortunately it won't last forever. The other kids in her class piss me off though, because I'll walk in and they start yelling "Paisley! Your mom is here!"

Last night she was playing with her princess dolls (Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Ariel. She's obsessed). She'd put them to sleep in her bed, then turn out the light and come tell me to be quiet, the baby is sleeping. Then she has this dialogue with herself, mimicking our bedtime routine at night. She'll say "Mommy, I want a kleenex! Mommy, I want some books!" etc. And she makes them talk in the exact whiny voice she uses when she yells that stuff at me (which drives me insane). Pretend conversation:
Doll: "Mommy, I want a kleenex!"
Paisley: "Okay, I'll get you one."
Doll: "Mommy, I want some books!"
Paisley: Okay, I'll get them for you!"
Doll: Mommy, I don't want books!"
Paisley: "Okay, I'll put them away."

She has lots of high expectations of me at bedtime, which drives me up the wall. She's lost many privileges because of this. She also have to have her blankets PERFECT. Covering up the entire bed so the sheet is not showing. Then she'll say no, she wants this blanket UNDER the blanket she's got on. I'll do that and then she'll say no, she doesn't want that blanket. Same with slippers. I'll ask if she wants slippers or socks, and if she says socks, I go to put them on, and she'll say no, I want slippers. So I go to put them on and she says no, I want socks! We've had many an argument about this, with me not being a very nice mommy.

My favorite thing she said though was we were driving home the other day, and told me that "when I'm tall, I'm going to clean the chitchen (kitchen). I'll cook you food." Loved it. Then when she's playing at bringing me food, she'll bring me a cappuccino. LOVE the way she says that word, absolutely adorable.

Oh blogger, how I miss thee.

Yes. We are here. And for some reason I can't get this type not blue or underlined. So life has been one big blur these past few months. I'm going to school full time and working, and Paisley is going to daycare. It's a lot of work! That seems to be the extent of our existence right now. She loves daycare though, so that's a huge relief. I feel like a bad mother though because I let her watch more tv than I should (it's only old Disney movies) because I need time to myself to do homework, etc. I also have no patience it seems, or she's just always in my way.

She is getting so funny, she's constantly making me laugh, unless she's making me yell. Which happens more than I like to admit. Now it's typing normally...huh. The other day we were driving home and there was a bag of catfood in the seat next to her. She asked me, "mom, when I'm a cat, can I eat catfood?" "I guess so, when you're a cat you can eat catfood." "They'll have to take off my eyes, and nose, and chin and arms and butt." "Won't you also need to grow a tail?" "It'll hurt when they take off my butt." Where does this stuff come from? She's so funny to talk to, and I can't believe that we hold normal conversations now.

We've been working a lot on listening ears, because Paisley doesn't seem to have any. I've tried many different tactics, and the one we're doing right now is marbles in a cup. One in for listening, one out for not. I'm not sure yet what the magic number will be, but she doesn't need to know that. We've also got a jar for no accidents. She's been potty trained since the beginning of October, but will go through times where she has an accident everyday. So we counted 7 days that she didn't have accidents, and she was able to go to the store and pick a prize. It only took her 8 days, so she definitely understood this concept. She picked a Barbie movie, and oh hell it's awful. She likes it though. The next prize will not be so fancy or pricey, perhaps a candy bar or a trip to the dollar store. At least it's an incentive she understands, because she's had a tangible reward.



These are some old Christmas pictures. This is P with her favorite little cousin, Emmett.



With another cousin, Miles. She was a little unsure of him, as he tended to take toys away from her.

All the cousins at Christmas. This is probably the best shot of the group.
With her Aunt Jenny.
"Take my picture!"

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.