Dear Grayson

Dear Grayson,

Today you turned one. In the past year you've gone from this:

To this:

You're gray eyes turned to a big sparkling blue. You never lost any of your hair you were born with, and it still sticks up right in the front just like it did in the hospital. You started crawling at 10 months. That's two months later than your brother or sister! You give great, big belly laughs for lots of things, especially when daddy pretends to be a doggy and chases you barking through the house. You have 10 teeth. And you are still the smallest baby out of all three of you. You swim in size 12 month clothes and are closer to a 9 month size. That's OK though, you'll grow soon enough!

People always ask, "Who was the best baby?" The answer is easy. Ethan was the easiest baby, but the worse sleeper. Claire was the hardest baby, but is still the best sleeper. You landed right in the middle. You hate sleep, especially naps. You are the only one that cared about teething. You are the only one who thinks mommy rocks the world. And you're right, I do. Ethan and Claire were all about daddy. Claire still is.

Yesterday you had your very first birthday party. I worked hard to make it something special for you. I made decorations:

We ordered a pumpkin patch cake:

You opened tons of presents:

And you got messy in cake!

Tonight, after a long day of having fun with all your fabulous new toys, we took your brother and sister Trick Or Treating. You dressed as an alien from Toy Story.

As you can see, you didn't like the hat part of the costume, but you were darn cute!

Now, you are sleeping peacefully, and I am sad and happy all in one. You had an incredible birthday, and I'm so happy. I'm also sad, because it was the last first birthday I'll ever get to plan. Now I'm excited. I can't wait to see what year two brings to you.

I love you baby boy,

Mommy

Creepy, Crawly Creations

I'm taking part in the SITS Halloween linky. Three days of Halloween fun. There is also a freaking fabulous prize. Want to see?

That, my friends, is a Cannon Rebel T2i. That is my dream camera. Isn't she beautiful? I want her.

Today the topic is Creepy, Crawly Creations. Post about crafts that you made for the holiday.

Now, we all know I've been getting my craft on. Grayson's party was yesterday, and I had my hands glued (literally and figuratively) to everything craft related.

I made this fabulous banner.

It turned out pretty great I think. David, of course, was a butt about telling me it looked good until the last minute. He likes to be indifferent and watch me get frustrated until the last minute. I really don't know why I keep asking him for his creative opinions.

I made these hats.

The bottoms are crooked and they aren't perfect by any means. I mean really...They are not perfect. The bottoms really are pretty crappy looking. But, I think the kids enjoyed them, as made evident here.

I also made the favor bags, which are nothing special. A brown paper lunch sack, a bit of paper and a pumpkin on the front and a bit of ribbon and VOILA...Favor bags filled with sugar and fun!

I really enjoyed getting crafty for this party. Sure it got stressful at times, but I really LOVED it. I think I'm going to keep doing things like this. Practice makes perfect, right?

Ghosts Of Halloween Past

I'm taking part in the SITS Halloween linky. Three days of Halloween fun. There is also a freaking fabulous prize. Want to see?

That, my friends, is a Cannon Rebel T2i. That is my dream camera. Isn't she beautiful? I want her.

Today the topic is Ghosts of Halloween Past. Create a post that includes a picture that describes a memorable Halloween. I think we all know where this is going.

Just last year, I had the most memorable Halloween in my life. Why? Because I got to meet the newest man in my life.

For some reason, I just knew he was going to be a Halloween baby. On the 30th, my labor started. I waited as long as possible before heading to the hospital. Once there I looked at my belly and said, "Just 7 more hours baby. Just 7 more hours." He swirled in reply. David and I sat in anticipation. We finally came up with two names we both could agree on, since we had no idea Grayson was a boy yet. We watched the clock and my contractions, taking bets on when he would be born. At midnight, I was told it was time to deliver. Guess who won those bets?

At 1:35AM, Grayson made his very loud entrance in to the world as David proudly announced that he was a boy, and added, "In your face!" since I was so sure he was a girl. Then they laid him on my chest, were he calmed and we studied each other. Here he was, the Halloween baby I knew we'd have.

At 10AM that same morning, I got a visit from my own personal Ghostbuster, who was all too excited to tell his new brother the stories of his Ghostbusting adventures.

And from a timid little sister, who wanted nothing but to hang onto her mommy and not share her.

I spent Halloween quietly snuggled up in my hospital bed with my newest addition to our family. It was the best Halloween, and the most memorable for me.

I Don't Think I'm Ready

Last year I was writing open letters to my oven and to labor fairies wishing to meet my little bundle of unknown gender. Now, his first birthday approaches, and with it comes yet another milestone.

Ethan had goldfish crackers. Grayson wanted them, quite terribly. He gave his mightiest excited squeal, pulled with all his might, and there he was, up on two feet, reaching for the bowl. I dropped everything and came running to snap a picture seconds before he dropped back down to his knees.

I clapped and giggled. Grayson squealed with delight (mainly because I was squealing) and came crawling at lightning speed to offer me a drooled on goldfish cracker, all 9 teeth showing during his giggles.

I'm not ready for this. I'm not ready to put that number 1 candle on his cake and watch him smash his own special cake. I don't want him to get bigger. As challenging as he has been, I want him to stay my baby. He's my last baby, and I want to enjoy every second of it, all over again. I miss his new baby smell, his new baby cry and watching everything happen for the first time. I know he has to grow up though, and there will be lots of other things I get to see for the first time, but this...I'm not ready to let go of yet.

Man, where's the Delorean when you need it?

Amazing

I went to Anytown a girl named Becca. We became instant friends. Something about her just made thing think she was amazing. Want to know what Anytown is? Read my post here.

She made this video and shared it on CNN. It's making rounds. Will you share it too?

Dear Dryer

Please enjoy my new open letter addressed to my dryer.

Dear Dryer,

We had some good time. I washed clothes. You dried them. I fed you fabric softener sheets. You ate them. I vacuumed out the lint trap in an overly obsessive way, I'm pretty sure you were thankful.

And then you became a bitch.

You see, a few months ago, whenever I started you, you made this sound that made it sound like, well, my ears wanted to bleed. It's insanely loud. It's insanely squeaking. It's insanely hard to ignore. It finally became too much.

So, now what do I have to do? I have to wash all of my clothes and then drive to the laundromat to dry them. I have to spend my money to dry our clothes when I have a dryer at home. That's me, sitting for 20 minutes, bored as hell missing my $2.25. You know what the only semi OK thing with that whole scenario is? Dry clothes. If it wasn't so close to winter, and snow, I'd demand a clothesline in my yard. It's a good thing I hang all the cloth diapers to dry in the bathrooms, otherwise we'd be screwed.

So, dryer, shape up, or you'll be headed the way of the oven. Which, ironically, I was writing letters to at this time last year while I was waiting to pop.

Peace out dryer,

Chantel

Countdown To The Party

It has suddenly hit me that we are having our last first birthday party in two weeks. Well, less than two weeks I guess. My house is a disaster that I've tried cleaning, but with a toddler that makes it her life's mission to throw toys everywhere and an 11 month old who enjoys nothing more than crawling after me and whimpering mama until I pick him up, cleaning and having thing actually stay that way has become quite hard. In fact, I'm pretty sure I could compete on the latest survivor. Survivor: Townsend Living Room. Ethan could take over the host's duties, and I'm pretty sure David would vote me off the island on the first episode. Oh well, it was a good run.

Anyways, I've been busy creating things for Grayson's party. Me and my Elmer's BzzKit taking over paper supplies across the....Living room!! It's the most crafty I've ever been and I'm thoroughly excited about it. I've finished the 'Happy' part of the 'Happy Birthday Grayson' banners I've been working so hard on. Want to see?

The party hats have proven difficult. I thought they'd be easy. I mean, really, how hard can it be to make a cone out of some paper, right? Well, as it turns out, pretty darn hard! But, once I did it, it was so freaking easy I don't know how I didn't get it before I turned a bunch of my paper into scrap for the kids to glue to stuff. All I did was cut a circle out of a 12x12 piece of card stock, cut through to the middle, overlap the to side and roll until the cone took shape and turned into this.

All I need to do now is add the finishing touches, which isn't much. Just a circle, a number one and some elastic so it will stay on little heads. Oh, and some ribbon. The bottom of the hats look a little funky. I'm OK with it though. It gives them character and let's me know that I worked hard to make it happen.

I still need to order the cake. My SIL and her hubby are making a pasta salad for us. We're buying some chips and veggies to make a veggie tray with. We need to get some pop and some juice as well as ice to keep it all cold. Cheese and crackers. I'm also going to make cake pops that look like pumpkins. I've read that they are super easy and lots of fun to make. I'm confident I can do it. I'm also making Mummy Dogs for everyone to enjoy.

I am 100% excited about this party. I am 100% sad that my handsome little man is turning one. I don't want him to be one. It makes me want more babies. It's a good thing I've got friends who are expecting. I can live vicariously through them because my uterus is totally closed for business.

Potty Training Update

I know you are all on the edge of your seats with anticipation. How's it going? I know that's what you are all thinking. Well, here's your answer.

Big girl underpants were worn on day one. They were dry for one hour. We went to the potty. She sat. She used the iPod. We sang songs. She said, "All done mommy." She did nothing. We put underpants back on. They were dry for another hour. We went to the potty. She sat. She used the iPod. We sang songs. She asked for cookies. I said no. We sang more songs. She said, "All done mommy." She did nothing. We put underpants back on. We came out into the living room. She promptly peed. I rushed her back to the toilet. She looked at me. I looked at her. She looked at me and said, "Pooper." In case you didn't catch that, 'pooper' is Claire's word for poop. Yes, she did, in fact, poo a little in her big girl underpants. And yes, it was SUPER fun to clean up. The rest of the day she spent in a pull-up. We spent sometime on the potty every hour with her doing nothing.

Day two...Well, let's just say that was a repeat of day one, only longer since we put underpants on right after breakfast since we didn't go to the grocery store. She still did nothing, even knowing cookies were waiting for her as a reward. Seriously, cookies get her to do ANYTHING.....But use the potty apparently.

Day three was a bust. She had an upset tummy today. Diapers were a must.

So, tomorrow is a whole new day. We're going Halloween costume shopping tomorrow afternoon, but we have a whole morning free. We have a date with the potty and underpants. It will happen. I am determined, and I know she is too. She hates her diapers now.

You know, this is why I'm happy that Grayson uses cloth at home. I hear cloth babies potty train faster. Fingers crossed!!!

The Diva Is Getting Potty Trained

About 4 months ago, Claire expressed a small interest in the potty. We bought her an Elmo potty. We bought her big girl underpants. Her interest went away. Shockingly, almost immediately. Now though, she's decided that the word "potty" is her code word for "naked". She fights, and fights hard during diaper changes.

So, I've made the decision. Clarie is getting potty trained. Starting tomorrow, after our trip to the grocery store, Operation No More Diapers will start with Claire. We're going all out. She will not wear diapers for the rest of the day tomorrow. A timer will be set on the stove for 45 minutes. When the time goes off, we'll go to the potty. Hopefully, she'll do something while sitting there. She likes to use the I-Pod, so I hope that she'll be occupied with that. I found an App awhile back from Pull-Ups that I downloaded. It gives her a "sticker" whenever she uses the potty. Well, she figured out how to get stickers just for the sake of getting stickers, so that didn't work out too well. I'm hoping I might be able to find a small calendar just for her to put stickers on when she uses the potty. And, maybe a little cookie bribe won't hurt either.

So, wish me luck as the diva and I start this journey. I'm pretty sure I'm going to need it.

Night Terrors Are....A Terror

Sleep has been.....Rough, to put it lightly the past few days. Grayson is having night terrors.

What are those? I know, that's probably what some of you are thinking, right? Night terrors happen in deep, non-dreaming sleep. Eyes can be open, they can be talking, they can actually get up and walk around.

What does Grayson do, you ask? It starts with whimpering. He whimpers, kind of hiccups, in high pitched squeaks. This is how I know it's starting. I hear it over the baby monitor. I check on him. He's asleep. After about 15-20 minutes, he either starts screaming or crying extremely loud for about 10 minutes. His eyes have only been open twice during these events. During his first one (or maybe the second one) I tried to rub his back to soothe him, and it made him cry louder. Now I just sit next to the bed quietly and wait. It's heartbreaking. All I want to do is pick him up and comfort him, but everything I've read says to not fully wake him while he's in the episode. So, I sit until the whimpers and screaming stop and he's peacefully quiet again.

I didn't even know that he could be having night terrors at this age. I thought they started around Claire's age. I guess I was wrong. I'm also exhausted. He had them twice last week, but almost every night this week I've been up waiting through them, and then he's up at about 5 to nurse and then asleep again until 7. Once his Night Terror is over, I have a terrible time getting back to sleep because I'm worrying. Is he OK? Should I go back in and check on him? Is he too hot? Is he too cold? Is that why it's happening? How do I make them stop? Is he whimpering again?

I'm hoping he grows out of these, and fast. I don't know if I can sit and listen to him cry for much longer.

Sometimes Pictures Speaks For Themselves

And mine say my babies are sweet, beautiful and that it just might be impossible to get all three of them to take a picture together.

The Countdown Begins

I have 28 days left to call Grayson a baby. I'm working hard to get the house cleaned and organized because I've had shockingly little time to stay right on top of everything, but I'm not making excuses. Why? Because I have 3 kids, two of whom demand attention from sun up until sun down. It's unrealistic for me to say, "Oh, yeah, today I vacuumed, scrubbed, folded, washed, made beds, picked up toys, waxed the car...My house sparkles." It doesn't. I have clothes waiting to be folded, my sink is full of dishes, and don't even get me started on the toys. The car? Yeah, that's hasn't been washed since we bought it.

I've still been feverishly working on the decorations for Grayson's party. I've come to the conclusion that I need a hot glue gun. That's not that bad though. They are relatively cheap and I don't need anything fancy. My SIL and her husband are making me a pasta salad to serve at the party, along with the mummy dogs, chips and I'm not sure what else yet. I still need to order Grayson's cake. I'm not really sure what to get put on it though. I didn't choose Ethan's cake, David did, and it turned out to be Spider-Man. Claire's cake was a princess cake, complete with a wand and a crown on top. Yes, and actual wand and crown. It's was cute. But Grayson..Well he's a little different. He is the Halloween baby. I want his cake to be fun and Halloweenish, but I don't want it to be scary. All I can think is pumpkins. Will that be too boring?

And, now, since I've bored you with all my mundane party planning and non-cleaning happenings, here's a taste of fall from my street to your computer: