Big Girl Bed

We had to do it.   I would have preferred to wait at least another year but Little Missy decided otherwise.   If you recall from here, she has been climbing out of her crib.  I get so nervous at night that she is going to fall, so I guess its time.  We picked up a mattress and converted her crib to the full size bed.  Now, the issue is keeping her there for the night.

 

 

Toddlers

Sometimes I wonder why I try to go shopping with a toddler, or children.  This is what happens when I try on a couple of things. 

Climbing out of the crib.  Daddy was assigned to lower the mattress to the floor.  Hopefully this will stop the madness.  I'm not ready for this phase.  I want her in a crib at least until she is 3.  I don't think it will happen, I can only hope. 

Chloe having a tea party with Daddy.

 

 

 

Why?

Why can't I keep my counters and tables clean?  Seriously, I can't stand cluttered and messy counters.  I'm not sure how I can go to bed at night with clean counters and by morning they look like this.  I'm sure there is a paper fairy that destroys my counters some time in the early morning hours when I'm sleeping peacefully in my cozy bed. 

 

 

Oh, and I like to call this perimeter cleaning.  The house is clean except the perimeter.  All the "stuff" clutters up the perimeters.  Despite my efforts to organize toys, this is what happens.  At least most of the toys are hidden by bedtime. 

A little time with Chloe

My little muffin seems to love to climb.  I know if you follow the blog, Facebook, or Instagram you probably already know.  Seriously, this little girl is like a little silent climbing ninja.  She is really quite and quick about it.  One second she is right next to you and the other she is on top of the counter.  Who knew there was a need for upper cabinet locks.  Here are a few pictures of what we go through everyday. 

 

 

See how mad she gets when the pantry is locked and safe.

Here she is getting ready to make her own oatmeal. 

I took away the bar stools, they were gone for a few days.  Little Missy got crafty and would pull chairs from other rooms and stack the bathroom stool on top of other stools or chairs to get what she wanted.  I gave up and put the bar stools back.  At least they aren't being stacked together, yet!

 

She really wants to be held and given lots of attention around dinner time.  So I decided I needed some great entertainment for her while I quickly made some dinner for the kids.  I need to let her do dishes more often. 

 

Yes, we were sent to Home Depot (even though I'm not allowed to go there) for a piece of wood.  Okay, I guess I am allowed to go there if True Value doesn't sell what we need.  I stopped to look at something for a split second and the next thing I know she has climbed to the top of a totally unsafe ladder (not that any ladder is safe for a 21 month old) and is squealing to get my attention.  She was so proud of herself.  Not wanting to panic and scare her off the edge, I did quietly take a picture and nicely asked her to come down.  You would think that having 2 boys first I would be used to this.  I always knew when they were climbing, they were boys and loud while they did it.  She is so sneaky.  Love her! 

 

Special qualities

I try really hard to make each child feel special.  I will admit I have a hard time sometimes just keeping up, getting thought the day, running around getting everything done.  Just being a mom.  Sometimes I feel I can't keep up and my children aren't getting all the attention they need or deserve.  I love reading a blog of a mom with some amazing ideas.  I did this with Lane months ago.  I wrote letters on his hand representing his special talents.  And who knew, it actually meant a lot to him.  He brought it up out of the blue.  "Mommy, remember when you wrote all the special things on my fingers?"  I couldn't believe it.  Seriously this was last summer when I did this.  So I did it again and we did Chloe's fingers too.  I love these amazing moments when you feel like you really did something right!

Sunday Sync

 

 

 

 

I have to explain these next few pictures.  So I'm going to get organized.  I go out and buy a white board for a super chore chart for the kids to earn some money on chores they choose.  We also painted a niche in chalk board paint for little messages/quotes to write to each other.  Well, it turns out when you do this in a house of boys you end up with Fart Message Boards.  Here, have a look.  I must say it is quite comical and does make me laugh.  I believe the chore chart lasted about a day before it was erased with a quick swipe of some four year olds arm! 

 

 

Hahaha!  I laugh just looking at the pictures again.  

Black and White Party

My work Christmas party this year was a black and white casino night.  One of my amazing coworkers opens her house to all of us and sets her house up with casino tables.  Not only does she do all that but she provides prizes!  I won a peppermint martini kit.  Yummy!

I love to bake so I volunteered to make dessert.  I was rummaging around in the cupboard and found a cake pop kit Aaron got me last year for Christmas that I hadn't used yet.  So not being very smart I decided to try something new for the party.  I've made cake pops before but I used a different recipe and process.  I'm not sure why I attempted these for the first time the afternoon of the party...  

This is what they looked like coming out of the oven.  Cake turds, as I called them.  So with that being said, I decided I had better whip up Ol' Faithful.  So now I've started the cake pops and cupcakes and only have a couple hours to produce something pretty for the black and white party.

I must say with all the disaster and mess I made they actually turned out pretty and delicious.  These were some of the pretty ones.  I won't waste your time looking at all the misfits.  So we will pretend they ALL turned out like this.  

 And here are Ol' Faithful.  Funfetti or devils food cake with butter cream frosting.  Yes, I use a box cake cause they are delicious, don't judge.  Until I find a better recipe, this is way easier.  I do make my own butter cream frosting cause that is the only way to go.  It is amazing!

Note to self, don't attempt new desserts with limited time for a big event.

A Farewell to Big Betty

For all of you that know Big Betty...  It was a tragic loss on Halloween.  She was all dressed up and ready to go.  Just don't judge my cat face.  We really can only have one creative and artistically talented person in the house.  And we all know who that it...so back to the point.  She was happily sitting (so I thought) in a chair cup holder.  You know, the super comfy lawn chairs with built in cup holders.  Well all the sudden she just decided to jump... It was all over from there.  I had no one to blame it on but myself.  No one was near.  Perhaps she had felt neglected over the past few months, I'm not sure.   I can only wonder. 
Beautiful Betty, her costume, and my wine, gone, forever...  
We had to have the proper final picture. 
Oh how I will miss Betty.