Writer's Workshop: She's Just Not That Into....Mommy

It's Thursday. If you read, you know the drill. Head over to Mama Kat's to check it out.

Today I chose the prompt Signs That Your Little One Is Just Not That Into You Anymore.

Let's begin!

1) When used to wake up not feeling well, or just generally want to get out of bed, she'd cry out, "Mommy!" and ask for kisses or an extra snuggle. I'd put her back to bed quietly and sneak out and she said, "Nie Nie" while I closed the door. These days, she puts her little face next to the crack at the bottom of the door, pokes her hand underneath and says in the sweetest, highest voice imaginable, "Hi daddy...Hi!" I try to put her back to bed and says, "No..Daddy!" She's just not that into me.

2) She asks for a drink. I hop up and get into the fridge. I offer water. She says no. She pouts in protest. I try to offer more, but the damage is done. Along comes daddy with milk. Her eyes light up, her curls bounce. She's happy. Daddy to the rescue. She's just not that into me.

3) I'm leaving. I gather her clothes to dress her to take her with me on my little trip. Gas station, store, laundromat...Where am I headed? She shakes her head. No way is she going. Daddy is leaving. He has no clothes to take her. His hand hits the doorknob and she's wrapped around his knee in seconds. He sighs and asks to have her dressed. Away they go in the car. She's just not that into me.

You see, Claire used to be a mama's girl. My snuggle bunny I called her. Always in my lap. Always playing with me. Always insisting I brush her hair, her teeth and read her stories. But, there's a new guy in town, and his name is Grayson. She no longer wants these things from me because of Grayson, so daddy is now her favorite guy.

You know what though? It's OK. I get my one on one time with her, and I know she still loves me just as much as I love her. I always will.

Crawling And Cloth..OH MY!

Grayson is on the move. That's right...He's crawling. It happened one day I'm thinking by accident. We were sitting on the floor on a blanket. Him on one side, I on the other. He looked at me, I looked at home. I pushed himself onto his hands and got into rocking position. He checked to see if I was coming to get him. I was not. He whined, checked again, and I stayed put. He got upset, put his head down, and away he went. One hand, one knee, crawling for mommy. He climbed up me, and I covered his little face in kisses of congratulations. What would have made this moment better? Video. Alas, I put him on the floor and grabbed the video camera, only to capture Grayson face down in crawl refusal mode. This happens every time I take the camera out. I want a video of this milestone. I have Ethan and Claire on tape crawling for he first time, Grayson, however, is making it difficult. Want to see him in action?

That was the day he realized there was a whole other room to the house...The kitchen. And in the kitchen is a toy box that Claire routinely empties and dumps onto the floor so she can sit in it and read books. He was pushing toys out of his way to get to another toy. As soon and the flash went off, he stopped crawling. I guess he's some kind of movie star and he doesn't want me and my paparazzi flash in his face.

In cloth diaper news, things are going OK. I haven't been able to use my diapers this week because they are all dirty, and our dryer is broken. Yeah, I'm about to right it an open letter. Anyways, our dryer needs fixing, so laundry is done once a week. I then take it to the laundromat here in town and dry it. I can't wait until tax time. Maybe we can get it fixed. So, diapers are washed once a week, and taken to the laundromat with everything else to be dried. It's a pain, but worth it. Another pain? Dealing with the poo in the diapers. I highly recommend anyone who wants to try cloth to get a diaper sprayer. It would be quite a handy tool to have during the poo times. Although, now I've figured out another way. I'm going to purchase flushable liners. This way, for poo, all I need to do is remove the liner and flush. Done. Seems simple to me. Now, to put it into practice. You know, disposables have been good for us, but cloth is proving to be much easier on our wallets. And, after a week of full time in disposables again, Grayson got his first diaper rash. He is not happy when I change him. I can't wait to put my cloth back into rotation.

I'm Getting Crafty

My cricut and I have been arguing...A lot.

She ate some of the paper I bought. I yelled at her. We apologized and got along. She ate some more of my paper. I yelled some more. We made up. David watched this in eyebrow raised amusement. I finally got all my letters and shapes cut out. Well, almost all. The bitch ate so much of my paper I need to go back to Michael's and grab some more orange and some smaller squares of black. Apparently, party hats made of 12x12 paper look a little witch hat and pointy, who knew?

After all my letter were cut out, I realized I needed glue. Crap. You know what happened that was like freaking fabulous? I got an e-mail from BzzAgent telling me a crafter campaign from X-Axcto and Elmer's just opened to test out some new crafting supplies. I was all, "SHUT UP!" and signed up, happy smile glued to my face. Two weeks later and no trip to Michael's to pick up more orange paper later, I got this is the mail:

Except mine looked a little more like this when I took a picture of it:

I tore into the glue stick and the glue pen right away, and they are freaking AWESOME! No really, they are. The glue pen is really the best thing I've ever used to glue. I want to run to Wal Mart and buy like, 50 of them to keep around the house for when Ethan has to do art projects for school. Especially that 100 day project that will be coming up soon and that we always seem to have a shortage of glue for. That black x-acto thing with the pink button is picture corner rounder, which I love because I love to round the corners on all of my pictures. I don't have a reason for this, I just do it.

So, want to see what I made?

This is the beginning of Grayson's 'Happy Birthday Grayson' banner. Happy and Birthday are both finished. Grayson is what I ran out of orange on. I still need to make the party hats, which is proving more difficult than originally thought, and favor bags, which is going to be easy. I see a trip to Michael's in my future to pick up more orange paper, a hot glue gun and more Halloween ribbon.

This party is going to be super!

Writer's Workshop: TEDDY!!!

Yay for Thursday and Writer's Workshop! Head on over to Mama Kat's and link it up!

Today I chose the prompt Your Pets Least Likable Character Trait.

Meet Teddy:

Teddy is a Christmas gift we got for Ethan in 2007 before Claire was born. He's a fluffy little guy who has a reputation for barking too much and standing under your feet while you cook.

What other annoying habits does Teddy have?

Teddy is the main contestant in Survivor: Snack Dropper. If you happen to be a toddler having a snack in a box he's there, waiting for the goldfish to drop, licking his chops and panting the whole time.

Teddy has an obsession with feet. Actually, Teddy has an obsession with licking feet. Especially little feet. As soon as we walk in the door and socks and shoes come off, he is running around the house trying to sniff and lick everyone's feet, maybe hoping for a taste of where we've been. Grayson is not a happy participant in the activity.

Teddy likes to be the front runner of attention. If you're trying to take a picture, he's there. In your face and in your lens. My lens is in need of cleaning almost every time I try and take a picture because Teddy jumps into it to give it a sniff and leaves behind nose juice.

What the thing that makes all this worth it though?

He LOVES my babies. He's never snapped at them or been anything but loving. It's like he knows they are tiny, and adjusts his strength accordingly. When playing with his rope toys with Claire or Grayson, he gently and gingerly pulls on them so that they are never yanked out of their hands. When they cry, he's there to lick their little faces. He's their constant companion. He is the best dog, even with his annoying habits.

Make Your 8 Year Old Cry And Teach Him A Lesson

It's Friday morning. It's 7:20AM. I'm at the table shoveling oatmeal into Grayson's mouth, shoveling some kind of cereal into my mouth and trying to get Claire to shovel cereal into her mouth, which is always a fight because the kid all of a sudden has an aversion to food. Ethan is gingerly eating his cereal, and then pipes into this fabulous conversation here. And, in case you don't get it, E is Ethan and M is me. You're welcome.

E: Guess What?

M: What?

E: Yesterday, I rode a bike with S (neighbor kid) without my helmet and I did great! I didn't fall at all.

M: You did what?

E: (Face realizing he shouldn't have told me that) Well I didn't get hurt.

M: I don't care you didn't get hurt. The rule is you ALWAYS wear a helmet. ALWAYS. Another thing, you didn't come in and ask me to unlock the shed for me to get you bike. Did you borrow on from S?

E: No, I went do the hill and I found a bike.

M: What do you mean you found a bike?

E: I borrowed it.

M: Who did you borrow it from?

E: I don't know their name.

M: Did you ask if you could borrow it.

E: No.

M: So, you STOLE a bike?

E: No, I borrowed a bike. I put it back.

M: It doesn't matter that you put it back. If you didn't ask, that means you stole it. You know what? No bike for a week. That's not even good enough though. I'm going to talk to daddy when he gets up about this.

When David gets up, I talk to him about it. He takes Ethan's TV out of his room. Then we wait. At 3:30PM, Ethan walks in and David tells him to go to his room. After 5 minutes, David goes back to Ethan's room. Ethan asks where his TV is, and David tells him that someone decided to borrow it without asking. He then goes on to say that the cops found out that Ethan stole a bike and were going to come to the house and arrest him for doing so. Ethan laughed and thought it was a joke. David was like, "No, they're really coming. People who steal go to jail." Then he made me come back to tell Ethan he was going to jail. As soon as I got back there, I started laughing, so David hugged me and told Ethan I was crying. This got Ethan believing that he really was going to jail.

David closed the door to Ethan's room, and grabbed Ethan's fake handcuffs. He went outside, waited five minutes, then came stomping up the front steps. He knocked on the door really hard and the dog, being the "tough" guy that he is, went CRAZY. I heard Ethan start getting upset in his room. David came in side and said in a super deep voice, "Yeah, I'm here to take Ethan to jail." David asked the "officer" if he really needed to take Ethan to jail. The "officer" said that he did because he stole a bike. The "officer" also noticed that Ethat didn't poopy scoop like he was supposed to the day before. David asked the "officer" if he could handcuff Ethan and bring him to the car. The "officer" handed over the handcuffs. David went into Ethan's room and told him the cops were here to take him to jail. He handcuffed him, and brought him to the front door. He had Ethan tell us a tearful goodbye. The he opened the door to hand him off to...No one. Ethan looked around and said, "I am NEVER touching anyone's stuff EVER again."

Lesson learned.

The 3AM Post Otherwise Entitled Vomit In Hair

I know..You saw the title and were like, "Dear Lord Chantel, why are you awake at such an inhuman hour?" Well, I tell ya, it's a puke night. Quite literally, a puke night.

See, at about 12AM, Grayson awoke. I'm not really sure why. I went in and did a few tummy pats and he drifted softly back to sleep. I decided I was tired and wanted to go to bed myself. I curled up in my warm covers only to hear a soft cough come from Claire's room. And again. And again. Then it was followed by a bigger cough and kind of a gurp (gag burp..I'm totally coining that. Use it. Love it.) I walk in to find Claire and her pillow covered in vomit. Yeah, that's just what I want to deal with at 12AM. I take her out of bed (yeah, she REEKED) and walk her into the kitchen. I fill the sink with water, strip her and bathe her as best I can in the sink she barely fits into. She doesn't smell terrific, but she's not covered in chunks anymore, and that's really all she needs. Fresh jammies, a quick sheet change and some mommy love later, she's back into bed by 1.

I say my goodnights and quietly close the door. Only a matter of minutes later, I hear her coughing. I think to myself, "I'm going to need the puke bowl." I dig it out of the cabinet and get into her room in time to catch her starting to gag. Then I get to catch puke. I know, you're jealous. This time, I had to change my shirt. I know, you're even more jealous.

So, here I sit, at 3 am, writing a blog about my night's escapade. See, every time Claire lies down in bed, she starts throwing up. She's thrown up a few times in the living room, and she won't let me out of her sight. I'm tired and ready for bed. Claire is tired, but fighting sleep like nothing I've ever seen in between gagging and nose wiping.

I'm really hoping tomorrow is nothing like today.

Back To Blogging Day 3:: A Post You Are Proud Of

I'm taking part in the SITS Back To Blogging series this week. Each day there is a different prompt. It sounded like too much fun to pass up, so, here I am, taking part. Want to take part too? Head on over to SITS and check it out. Also, check out their sponsors for the challenge: Standards of Excellence, Westar Kitchen and Bath, and Florida Builder Appliances. You're probably thinking, "What? Sponsors?" Yeah, because you can win Thelma and Louise. No, not the movie. The washer and dryer that are FREAKING FABULOUS!

Today's prompt is to share a post I am proud of. The post was entitled Writer's Workshop: Create A Conversation Between This Couple and it can be found here.

Why do I like this post? Because it's actually funny. To me anyways. You may disagree, but I'll still think it's funny. I laughed just rereading it right now. I was all, "Haha Chantel, you are extremely witty."

I bet it was all those extra hormones since I was pregnant and David's Netflix movie losing was all annoying and crap. Throw and cartoon in there, and you have yourself a humorous post....To me anyways.

Back To Blogging Day 2:: A Post That You Wanted More Visitors To

I'm taking part in the SITS Back To Blogging series this week. Each day there is a different prompt. It sounded like too much fun to pass up, so, here I am, taking part. Want to take part too? Head on over to SITS and check it out. Also, check out their sponsors for the challenge: Standards of Excellence, Westar Kitchen and Bath, and Florida Builder Appliances. You're probably thinking, "What? Sponsors?" Yeah, because you can win Thelma and Louise. No, not the movie. The washer and dryer that are FREAKING FABULOUS!

Today we're supposed to re-upload a post that we wish had gotten more attention. In all honesty, I am so happy that there are people out there that take the time to visit and read. I would love it if everyone who stopped by left me a comment and a note on where to find them, but I know that doesn't happen.

The one post I wish more people would have commented on is still pretty recent actually. It's the post And Then She Got A Little Bigger It reminds me to slow down and enjoy my babies while they're small, because soon they're going to be growing out of cribs and moving into big beds, they'll not longer be wearing months or T's and would rather be shopping with friends than with me. She won't want to hold my hand in the store, Grayson won't thing my saying his name is funny and Ethan won't want me to read to him. All this stuff is OK. It's part of growing up, but man, am I ever going to miss it!

Back To Blogging Day 1:: My First Post

I'm taking part in the SITS Back To Blogging series this week. Each day there is a different prompt. It sounded like too much fun to pass up, so, here I am, taking part. Want to take part too? Head on over to SITS and check it out. Also, check out their sponsors for the challenge: Standards of Excellence, Westar Kitchen and Bath, and Florida Builder Appliances. You're probably thinking, "What? Sponsors?" Yeah, because you can win Thelma and Louise. No, not the movie. The washer and dryer that are FREAKING FABULOUS!

So, if you want to do something fun..Do this!

Today we're supposed to write about our first blog post.

My first post was entitled "We are 4, Ethan is 6". Why? Well, because we were a family of 4 at that time, and Ethan was 6. I started the blog 5 months before I found out Grayson was on the way. What did the blog say? It went a little something like this:

The obligatory first post..Oooooo.....Ahhhhh...

My family is wonderful. David and I are happy to have two beautiful children. They make me smile everyday..Even on those days where I want to pull my hair out because Ethan's not listening and Claire's teething has gotten the best of her. I can't help but look at Ethan with "Spiderbob" and Audrey tucked into bed next to him, and Claire with her little fingers curled around her binky and smile. This is the life.

I'd like to post birth stories for both the kids, so one day maybe they can look back on it and say, "Oh, so that's how it is." Ethan has tons of questions now, especially since Claire's birth, and I've tried to tell him the story many times, but he just can't seem to sit still for a "When you were in Mommy's tummy and..." story. He is six after all. Besides, both birth stories may require their own posts, and I am exceedingly gifted in bringing on the detail.

What do I like about this post?

*It's short and sweet.

*I'm awkward. Yeah, I said it. It's awkward.

*It reminds me that they were both tiny.

What I don't like about this post?

*It's short and sweet. I should have added pictures.

*I didn't add pictures.

*It makes me sad that Claire isn't so small and doesn't need a binky anymore.

I also think it's hysterical that I am exceedingly gifted in bringing on the detail, but didn't go into detail once about much of anything.

What would I have changed about this post? I would have added pictures. I would have introduced myself better. This was my hello to blogland, and I didn't give a very big shout. Oh well, I guess we all start somewhere!

And In The Tenth Month...He Slept!

You know what the one thing I've been craving ever since Grayson was born is? You said beer right? I know that's what you were thinking, but WRONG.....I've been craving SLEEP. You know, that thing where you lay your head on a nice soft pillow, in your nice, soft bed with some warm covers pulled up under your chin and you just pass right on out. Man, do I ever miss sleep.

Well, for the past two glorious days, I've gotten just that. Grayson has taken to sleeping through the night!! YES!! I usually stay awake until he wakes for his night feeding at about 11:30PM or 12AM. Then I go to sleep, where I pass out and am awoken between the hours of 4 and 5 for another feeding. I go back to sleep, and am awoken by an alarm reminding me that, no, it is no longer summer. I need to get up and make sure Ethan is ready for school and he isn't trying to sneak out the door sweater free with grungy hair and dirty teeth.

So, on Friday, I'm waiting for Grayson's mama to ring out, and I realize that, "Hey, it's almost 1am, and there's been no cry." I quietly sneak in to look over him and he is fast asleep. In fact, he's flipped over to his tummy, stuck his tush up in the air and is happily sucking on his little fist and snoring. I drag myself to bed, where I promptly fall asleep and am awoke at 6:45AM by his mama. On Saturday, I put him to bed and lie down myself at 10PM. I lie awake for some time waiting for his cry, but it never comes, and I fall asleep, and am awoken at 7:30AM by the cry of mama and giggles. I go in to find him happily playing with his feet. Is this the beginning of overnight sleep for me again? Do I no longer have to stumble around rubbing sleep out of my eyes? I am very excited about this possibility. VERY excited. Just in case you didn't catch that, that was VERY excited.

Now, I'm off to sleep.

Also, now that I've written this post, I bet he'll wake up. Only one way to find out. GOOD NIGHT!

Writer's Workshop: Movies!

I'm back to Writer's Workshop. I haven't been able to do it for a few weeks because my MIL was in town, we had birthday's and we were just BUSY! But, I love it, so I'm back to it. Do you want to write something? Head on over to Mama Kat's and link it up!

Today, I chose the prompt What was it about that movie? Describe A movie you once had memorized.

Alright, so, here's the thing with me and movies. If I like a movie, I will watch it...A lot. I used to drive my grandmother NUTS with some of my movies. She would take me to Blockbuster to rent a movie and I would pick it up and she'd be like, "Look, if we have to rent The Craft one more effing time, you're going to buy the damn movie."

What movies have I watched in annoying quantities?

**Flight of the Navigator--My grandmother had to replace 4 cassette tapes when I was 3 or 4 because I watched it so much I kept breaking the tape. I watched it all day, everyday. I mean, time travel, funny spaceship, weird alien...COME ON!!! It's awesome.

**Dawn of the Dead--Probably my favorite zombie movie. David gets annoyed whenever I put it in.

**28 Weeks Later--My second favorite zombie movie. While David can stand this one a little bit more, I've still watched it so much it annoys him.

**50 First Dates--Super funny.

**Moulin Rouge--I know ever word and every song in this movie. Ethan and Claire call it the "dance and sing movie". I watch it at the very least, once a week.

I honestly don't know what it is about these movies, I just love them. I haven't seen flight of the navigator is FOREVER, but I love it to this day. I wish we owned it. I think Ethan would like it.

Random Memories Or Why Toddler's Don't Shop For Wedding Dresses

Picture it....

It's a beautiful June day in Arizona. My cousin has elected me to be her wedding dress shopper helper (EXCITED SQUEAL!). I find out the day before that David won't be able to take Ethan for the day. Damn..That leaves me without a car. My MIL kindly offers hers, but she won't be able to watch Ethan either. Damn...Looks like he'll be stuck with the gals on a day filled with white and tulle. It's OK, Danni has to bring her son too.

We head out in anticipation of finding her the perfect (and pocket book friendly) dress. I know just the place! The Arizona Bridal Warehouse! I bought my dress there for a freaking STEAL ($200 anyone? Hell yeah!). I thought, "Yeah, we can get her an awesome dress there!" We head to Mesa to take a look.

Now, let me set the scene for you a little. When you walk in, there are racks of dresses and two risers full of mannequins that are wearing some of the stores best gowns to the right. To the left are dressing rooms, veils and other items. Directly in front of you is a desk and a cash register. We are warmly greeted by two women who promptly start talking to Danni about what she's looking for in a gown while I tend to the boys. Once they get that she's just looking, we're off on our own. We had to the back of the store, grab a few gowns she likes and pop into a dressing room to try them on. We find one she looks BEAUTIFUL in, and are surprised by the $600 price tag. We decide to head farther back, to the clearance section to see if they might have one similar with a smaller price.

The boys are getting antsy, and on the way to the clearance section, Ethan is saying to his cousin, "Hey, Brandon, watch this..Watch..Brandon, are you watching?" While doing little jumps and scissor kicks and turns. And then, it happens.

On one of Ethan's jumps/scissor kicks he hits a mannequin wearing a $4,000 dollar gown..Yes, I saw the price tag. You remember these things. Danni and I both make a grab for the mannequin. It slips past our fingers, and in mouth open shock, we watch as the mannequins domino across the store. Down they all go, falling against each other in all their thousands of dollar, sequined glory. It was easily 40 mannequin brides. We looked at each other. We looked at Ethan, who was oblivious and had gotten Brandon to join in on some air guitar. A sales clerk came rushing around the corner. I apologized. She said, "Oh, it happens all the time." Really, does it happen all the time? Does a 3 year old routinely come into your store and drop all of your merchandise with a scissor kick to the plastic thigh? I hope that doesn't happen all the time.

After we apologized, we collected out children and got the hell outta there. We went to another bridal store 6 miles down the rode and bought the same dress for $300. After dropping it off at her grandmother's house (my aunt's) we drove back to her place to giggle the story out to her fiance.

And that is why you should not take a toddler shopping for wedding dresses.

9 To 5

Nine years ago today, David took me on our first date. We saw Bubble Boy. We ate Wendy's. We took some obscure trip up a hill that we didn't think would lead anywhere but ended up being a pretty cool lookout over Phoenix where you could see lots of lights and stars. I kissed David for the first time, and he told me he had to pee. I know, you're totally blown away by the romance in that comment, right? And, if you're wondering if it's true...Yes, yes it is.

Four years later, we were parents to a 3 year old, and my grandmother's backyard was decorated for the event of our lives.

(See that altar? My grandma made it out of scrap metal. Yeah, she's crafty.)

I stared out the window, patiently awaiting the arrival of David. I watched the car he was riding in pull into the driveway.

And then we shut the blinds so he couldn't see me, and I couldn't see him.

He stood outside, patiently waiting for the wedding to begin.

(My grandma gave all the groomsmen and David one of those washcloths because it was hot and they were all sweating...A lot.)

At 6PM, I made my down the aisle, to clasp the hand of my husband.

(Please, ignore my goofy grin. I was delirious with heat....And maybe a little bit o' love.)

Our justice of the peace read a beautiful piece that my mother fawned over for months, and still remembers kindly (although all you can hear in our video is the June bugs buzzing away). He placed my ring. I placed his. And just like that, we were married. I kissed my husband, and I heard my mother sob in the background.

We took pictures with Ethan.

(Ethan was quite uncooperative when it came to pictures. There was candy to be eaten, bubbles to play with and grandma's to be spoiled by.)

And then, I stared into my new husband's eyes and hoped for a wonderful future. I couldn't have asked for a better husband or a better father.

Happy anniversary honey! Here's to another wonderful 5 years!

Conversations With Ethan: The First Day Of Third Grade

What did you do today?

Stuff.

What kind of stuff?

I sang some music with my teacher because she had a big guitar. Then I did one sheet of paperwork. I had two recesses. I got two drinks. Maybe that's my whole day.

Did you have any other classes?

Art and gym. I had gym first and than art.

What was your favorite thing about today?

My favorite thing to do was second recess because that was the longest recess.

Did you do fun things during recess?

I played with this guy named Bart.

What was least favorite part of the day?

What does least mean?

What was not your favorite part of the day?

I didn't like doing the paper.

What do you hope happens tomorrow?

I hope we get 10 points for a third recess.

Why do you get points for recess?

In case we be very good we get more points.

Do you like third grade?

Yes. It's fun.

If you didn't catch it, today was Ethan's first day of third grade. He left full of excitement. He couldn't wait to get on the bus. He dressed for a day of fun. He came home with not much to say, which I was expecting. He pretty much stopped telling me about his day at the beginning of second grade. Apparently, that fits in the same bag with I'm too old to call you mommy, now you're just mom. I thought I had at least another 2 years before he got tired of telling me about his day. I guess I was wrong.

Hopefully, third grade is a grade he loves. After this one, he's only got two more years until he gets to junior high. Holy crap, I think my heart just skipped a beat. Can I go backwards?