The Best Days Of Your Life

New Blog

2012-07-31T08:20:00.001-03:00

I started a new blog.

I told a few people, mostly those who's email addresses I had somewhere within my mess of emails. So if you didn't get the email, I apologize. I wanted to tell everyone, but I didn't want to post the link here, and I'm still not going to. So if you'd like the link, either comment here with your email address, or send me an email (venassa_ @ hotmail . com).

It's basically the same blog, in a new spot, but with a little more honesty. I found more often than not I was holding back on here, and that's why I never wanted to blog. I still find myself not always having much time to blog, but at least I try.

So email me.

A long string of bad luck

2012-07-13T10:39:00.001-03:00

By the time this evening rolls around, I will have completed an entire week of bad luck.

It all started last Friday night. I had the flu. My biggest fear is getting sick and it happened. Several times. Once Saturday morning.

I honestly thought there wasn`t anything that could happen that would top that.

I tried to catch up on sleep, but that didn`t work out. Chloe`s been a bit crankier than usual, and has been waking up usually twice a night these past couple of nights. That I could handle, even though it hasn`t been fun, exactly. I made a 4 hour trip with boyfriend and two babies, which his mostly slept through and mine mostly whined through.

And still the week went downhill from there.

On the way to work Wednesday morning, my car started smoking. We thought it just needed anti-freeze. The anti-freeze leaks out fast enough to leave a trail when the car moves. Thus, I am car-less for now, and will have to pay to get it fixed.

I have less than a week before I have a lot of travelling to do for a wedding and its preparations. I have prescriptions to be picked up, we need milk, and the only person I have to rely on during daytime hours is my sister, who is about as reliable is a child.

Boyfriend has helped out in ways that he can, but his work schedule, while lovely for spending time together, has changed so that he`s gone early enough in the morning, and finishes work just as Chloe goes to bed.

I`m getting headaches just trying to figure everything out, and praying that it doesn`t cost so much that it uses up all my savings.

It`s kind of like the harder I try to get ahead, the further I get behind. I wish this streak of bad luck would end already.

Chloe is 8 months old!

2012-06-17T21:21:00.000-03:00

8 months old as of May 25

Weight: 14lbs 8oz as of June 5

Height: Will need to measure.

Diapers: Still in size 2s. It might be my imagination but they seem to be getting smaller on you

Feeding: You went through a spurt where you hated drinking your bottle, then went through a spurt where you hated your baby food. You seem to be finally getting over the baby food hate today (June 5th). As of June 4th we started you on half of your soy formula and half regular formula since it won't be long before you should be drinking regular milk anyway. You're adjusting well so far.

Don't eat more food as in quantity, but you've tried a few new foods. Mangoes, turkey, chicken dinners (which include lentils, parsnips, potatoes), creamed corn. You're still not a fan of any solid food like your baby treats, mum mums or even real banana. We'll try some again soon.

Sleeping: For a couple of weeks your were up twice a night, every night. Then you lowered it to once a night, which I prefer. Then finally, for the first time in a long time you slept through the night once or twice. You usually go to bed around 7:30-8:30 and wake up around 8 lately. It works good for us. You sometimes fight your second nap to the point where you've missed it twice. That makes for a long, cranky evening so hopefully you'll co-operate more for a little while longer.

Talking: You growl like crazy lately. You still say all your little words and squeals. Your talking hasn't changed much lately.

Moving: You're a great sitter now. I can sit you down almost anywhere and you don't fall. I don't leave you sitting on the floor alone, just in case, but I will leave you on your big foam puzzle pieces. You sit up on your own all the time now, by pushing yourself backwards until you're completely upright. You're usually sitting in bed when I have to go get you. When you're on your hands and knees you reach forward a lot, but no leg movement yet.

Social: Same as before - you're still a big flirt but sometimes still get scared of strangers.

Teeth: No new ones this month, but I've noticed and increase in drool and crankiness so maybe soon.

Chloe Plays with her Food

2012-06-05T20:13:00.004-03:00

There are so many big Chloe milestones happening lately, but I haven't even done her 8 month update yet, and they've all happened SINCE the 8 month cut off. So my OCD won't let me talk about them yet. But they are awesome.

Once thing that hasn't been awesome lately is her hate of baby food. For a few days, she decided she was done with her bottle. She would drink it through the night, but that was that. She got over that, but now wants nothing to do with her baby food. Today she is finally getting better, but it's been almost a week of fighting with her to eat.

Yesterday, after trying and failing to feed her supper, I gave up, stripped off her clothes and let her play with her food. I had hopes that she'd put her hands in her mouth and at least eat some of it, but no luck. She did have fun for awhile though.

The beginning - just a little mess

Hard at work

Having so much fun!

Making a mess is hard work

Good times all around.

Handmade card & Etsy Shop: VB Creations

2012-05-30T14:01:00.000-03:00

As of yesterday I officially re-opened my Etsy shop, VB Creations, selling my handmade cards. My inventory is still quite low, but features four never-been-seen cards, with a couple more to be added hopefully today.

For a limited time I'm offering a 20% discount to any readers of this blog with the coupon code "bestdaysblog". The coupon code will be available for use until the end of June.

I'm also interested in doing custom orders, which will also be subject to the 20% discount until it expires.

If nothing else, thanks for taking a look :)

Moving on to Bigger and Better Things

2012-05-23T22:02:00.002-03:00

No matter how hard I try, I'm just can't get into blogging like I used to. Maybe when I'm back at work full-time and have time at work, I'll get into it a little more, but for now I'm not going to force it.

I am still keeping the blog, of course, and I will continue to update maybe once a week. I love being able to keep track of what Chloe's doing and blogging about it is a million times easier than picking up a pen and paper. Especially since I type about 80 words a minute, where with a pen.. well it's sad how slow I am.

But seeing as how I did Chloe's 7 month update on May 17th and she turns 8 months on May 25th, I'm just not keeping up.

I am, however, going to be putting a little more effort into my crafting blog: VB Creations. I've been spending a lot more of my free time lately at my crafting desk. I've managed to pull a few new handmade cards out of it all, with the hopes of soon opening up my Etsy shop.

I'm also switching around my twitter account to reflect VB Creations, instead of this blog.
And that pretty much sums up what I've been up to.
That, and spending tons of time with my little cutie. She just gets cuter and cuter everyday and it amazes me to watch her sit on the floor moving around and playing with her toys. She's not a little baby anymore. But hey, more on that later. I mean I am supposed to do her 8 month update in two days.
But on a funny note, check out this post I did almost a year before I actually got pregnant - it shows a photo of what my daughter was expected to look like. Does she look like Chloe to you?

Cell phone mini photo-dump

2012-05-18T11:30:00.000-03:00

November 19, 2011
How is this the same baby I have now?
And I swear I'm not torturing her. She was taking a snooze mid-burp

November 20, 2011
The brief period when she sucked her thumb all the time

December 8, 2011
I miss when she used to fall asleep laying with me.

February 13, 2012

February 21, 2012

February 23, 2012
The joys of travelling with a baby

March 22, 2012
First time at the park!

April 18, 2012
I love my sheep

"The big story of a little sperm"
I did not know that they made children's books about sperm.

May 11, 2012
Sitting outside on a beautiful evening

May 12, 2012
Sticking my tongue out is my new favorite thing!

Chloe is 7 months old

2012-05-17T17:40:00.001-03:00

Weight: 13lbs 13oz

Height: Will need to measure.

Diapers: Sometime since the last update we moved you to size 2's. They aren't as huge on you as the size 1's were when we first did that switch, but much more room now.

Feeding: It took a long time, but now you enjoy eating baby food. You open your mouth, and you rarely gag. Your absolute favorite thing so far seems to be peas. At first you seemed to hate all fruit and carrots, but even those have grown on you.

Foods you've tried so far are: peas, green beans, carrots, sweet potatoes, pears, peaches, pineapple, prunes, apple sauce, bananas, chicken.

You eat a bit of cereal in the morning, a veggie and fruit at lunch, and since April 29th, have been having a tiny bit of chicken mixed in with your veggie. Sometimes you have a little bit of veggies around supper time, then cereal again before bed, usually with a tiny bit of fruit mixed in to make it more exciting.

You eat the solid food great, and usually do okay with your bottles, but you're super slow drinking them.

Sleeping: You've started sleeping through the night, which I should be happy about, but I'd rather you have your middle of the night bottle because of your weight. If I wake up in the middle of the night, I will wake you up to eat. If I let you sleep, sometimes you'll wake up around 6-7 and won't go back to sleep, so I try to get you up around 5, and then you wake up between 7:30-9. Your naps have been going pretty good lately too. You still have a fit sometimes, but once you're asleep sometimes you'll sleep for almost 2 hours, sometimes only 40 minutes or so.

Talking: You still say dada, baba, blahblah and sometimes rara and mama. You growl a lot, especially when you want attention. Sometimes you just love to make noise, other times you're content just sitting silent, taking everything in. You love to laugh and smile and charm anyone who comes near you.

Moving: Just during the second week of May, you've started being able to push yourself forward a little, and you can sometimes go from your hands and knees into the sitting position. You sit up quite well now, and almost never fall down. I think we'll soon have an active crawler on our hands.

Social: You still want to cry sometimes when people you don't know well try to hold you or get too close too quick, but usually you just smile, growl and flirt with anyone who pays attention to you.

Teeth: No new ones this month.

You are so much fun these days. I thought months 4-6 were fun, but it just keeps getting better. It makes me proud, but a little sad that you're already almost crawling. That you sit on your own. You're getting so old and I don't like it one bit. It seems like a million years ago that you were my little newborn, falling asleep on my chest. Now you're too stubborn to fall asleep anywhere but your bed, you even rarely sleep in the car anymore. You sure are growing up. Please slow it down a little.

The Bachelorette Party

2012-05-15T12:05:00.003-03:00

The Bridal Party

I had a pretty amazing weekend. Chloe stayed with my mother Saturday for the night so I could go to my friend M.'s bachelorette party. I'm a bridesmaid in her wedding.

Me and S. met up with her sisters before the party started to help set up our surprises and help decorate. We found a penis pinata, and a pin the penis on the man game.

After the decorating was done, we headed out to find our black t-shirts to decorate, then got back in time to watch the bride arrive. She was pretty excited.

First up, was a passion party. I think our crowd was a little too big and chatty, but the woman made it through. We had our drinks, snacks and played some games, decorated t-shirts, and eventually went to the bar. We had two bars in mind for the night, but ended up having so much fun at the first one that it got too late to make it to another. Shortly after 1 the party started breaking up.

A few of the girls headed home, then I think I bought the bride the shot that did her in. I was the last one to leave the bar.

I might have had a drink too many, because on the drive home I was having a hard time talking, but I made it to bed without a problem, and woke up with nothing more than red eyes and a slight headache.

I did 'breakfast' in the morning with S. and boyfriend. My 'breakfast' consisted of about 6 fries, two bites of a chicken finger, and an entire large glass of chocolate milk. Food wasn't really my friend. After that boyfriend went on his way, and me and S. made our way back to Chloe.

I had a blast and wish I could do it all over again. They are a great group of girls to have a night out with.

Since getting back from the party, I've been staying at my mom's, and had a quick visit with my grandfather, and a visit with a friend's parents. My time away is coming to end, as I have to be back for a night of work Friday. It's been fun visiting with everyone but it will be nice to get home and get back into our routine.

Almost Party Time

2012-05-09T18:49:00.003-03:00

I have every intention of posting at least every Monday. I realize it's getting a little far from Monday, but I've had a busy week.

Monday I went to the dentist, which is never a fun time. I'll have to make another couple of trips back, which is even worse.

Tuesday, Chloe went with her father and I had every intention of cleaning up the apartment and packing for our weekend away. Once again, intentions. I got a little bit done, visited with boyfriend a bit, then when I was going to finish, I had a run-in with my neighbor who full on accused me of stealing her cigarettes that she thought she dropped somewhere between her car and the apartment. I was the only to get home in the meantime, so obviously it was me who stole them. Except it wasn't. She slammed the door in my face then I could hear her cursing about me from my livingroom. After that I wasn't much in the cleaning mood.

Today is Wednesday. I'm at work for the evening, which is kind of fun.

The real excitement is the weekend. I was supposed to go away for a bachelorette party, which got cancelled, but is back on - except now in the city I live! That means it's a million times cheaper, and just as fun. I'm not sure if the bride-to-be reads my blog, but I won't post any fun details yet just in case.

Besides that, I'm just spending all my time with Chloe, who gets more and more fun everyday.

Her 7 month update should be coming soon. Hopefully before she turns 8 months old.

Strawberry Watermelon Smoothie

2012-05-03T07:30:00.000-03:00

I'm not really a fan of fruit. But I'll eat it in smoothie form. When I was pregnant, I experimented with a lot of different smoothie options, just to get the fruit into me, but none of them were ever so amazing that I would want to talk about it. Until now.

This one is very loosely based on this Watermelon Frosty recipe that I found. I just adjusted and used what I had and thought would taste good. It was the first time I ever drank a smoothie so quickly.

Ingredients:

Approx 1 cup of frozen watermelon chunks

1-100g cup of strawberry yogurt

A little less than 1/2 tsp of lemon juice

Splash of orange juice

Throw it all in the blender and blend until smooth.

It's that easy. I have more watermelon left so tomorrow I'm going to try another one with a tiny bit of kiwi. Either way, watermelon is going to be my go-to smoothie fruit from now on.

The Typical Weekend Recap

2012-04-30T07:00:00.000-03:00

There are lots of great comments on my last post, Parenting and Baby Truths, so go read and join in if you haven't already. Babies are fun.

You know what's not fun? Junk mail. I've been getting crazy amounts of it lately and it's really making me self-conscious about my penis size.

Another weekend is gone. I know I say this almost every Monday, but the way time speeds by is really leaving me stunned at times.

Boyfriend of mine moved on Saturday. To an apartment awesomely close to where I live. Close enough that if I liked to cross busy highways, I could walk there, but far enough away that I probably never will. He told me that since we are living a little closer, I'll probably see a little more of him. So get out now if I want. I definitely don't want out, and the idea of seeing him more than a couple of times a week for a few hours makes me pretty happy.

I was home Saturday night with Chloe, so after boyfriend was done moving him and his friend showed up to keep me company. For maybe the first time ever, I played an actual game of poker with live people, instead of just a phone game. I actually enjoyed it, and not just because I won.

Because he wasn't working Sunday, and didn't have his daughter we went out to eat at a real restaurant, and it was the first time that it was just us and Chloe. My little girl played happily in the high chair the entire time, flirting with the waitresses and throwing her toys around the floor for everyone to pick up. She's such a an amazing girl, but of course I would think so.

Now another wonderful weekend is over, it's Sunday night (or Monday morning by the time this will be posted) and I had a lovely Skype call with two of my oldest friends, and I'm finally off to bed.

How was your weekend?

Parenting & Baby Truths

2012-04-26T07:30:00.000-03:00

The harder you try to be quiet and not wake a sleeping baby, the more likely you are to knock something off a shelf or trip over a chair. Or anything really.

The less she naps, the more tired you are.

Bibs should be full body length. The baby will always find an uncovered area of clothing to spit the food on.

It would make more sense if babies absorbed food through their chin. Or nose. Or cheeks. Because really, more of it ends up there than in their mouth anyway.

The more annoying the toy, the more the baby will like it.

Picking baby boogers out will turn into a game.

Catching a bunch of spit up in your hand is no big deal.

You're probably going to think almost every little thing your kid does is adorable and want to gush about him/her all the time. This will eventually annoy others. They may think your kid is cute, but probably not to the extent that you do.

Throwing toys on the floor, out of their reach, and whining until you get that toy for them is a game that all babies learn. The most annoying game, but still a game to them.

So many babies eventually only want to cuddle when their sick. Soak up those newborn cuddles as much as you can.

Babies also eventually stop falling asleep in your arms so often. Soak up those moments too.

Add your own in the comments!

Another Monday

2012-04-23T15:10:00.002-03:00

Another weekend is gone. They just seem to go by faster and faster each time.

This was the weekend Chloe was at her father's for the night, so I had the entire day to myself Saturday. I did a little shopping, had some coffee, cleaned a bunch, and relaxed. That's pretty much a typical child-free day for me.

Saturday night I went to a party with boyfriend. I drank, he didn't. Drinking makes the night fly by and all of a sudden it was 3 am, then the next thing I knew we woke up and he was gone. I didn't leave my bed until 3pm, and was back in bed by 10. It was truly lovely.

Now it's yet another Monday, with a long week of nothingness stretching ahead.

Funny how nothingness seems to go by just as fast. I wish time would slow down.

Currently...

2012-04-19T06:55:00.001-03:00

This is me, currently. And by currently, I mean last night when this post was originally written. So maybe not everything is completely current.

READING: Bet Me - Jennifer Crusie

I've been reading it for almost a month but I'm just starting to get into it. I'm so slow to get into books lately, but once I do I get through them kind of quickly. This seems like it won't be an exception.

WATCHING: Gossip Girl. I'm watching season 4 right now, and can't wait to get caught up on season 5. I have no idea what's currently happening so if you do, don't say a word! Besides Gossip Girl, I've also started watching Dexter with the boyfriend. At first I enjoyed it because it was something we always did together, but now I'm really into it and would watch it on my own but I was told I'm not allowed to. We're just at the beginning of season 2. I also watch Mad About You on Netflix most nights before bed.

WORKING ON: Getting back into scrapbooking. I've been toying with a page using Chloe's picture with Santa, but I can't find something I like enough to glue it all together. I got more photos printed today to finish up all my pregnancy pages, and my baby shower.

THINKING ABOUT: What I have to get done tomorrow (laundry, not much else) and the weekend, and how much more cleaning I'll be doing while Chloe is gone this weekend. How it is exactly 6 months away from my 25th birthday. Crazy stuff.

LISTENING TO: The radio coming from the kitchen. I leave it on a lot now. It's better than silence, although I hate the repetitiveness that is almost any radio station. This particular one is country music, of course.

EATING: I just finished eating nachos, followed by a tiny bit of ice cream. And water.

WISHING: It was already the weekend. That Chloe doesn't wake up at midnight tonight like she's done the past two nights. I'd rather at least get a couple hours of sleep before she wakes up through the night. That way, she might also sleep later. One can hope.

ABOUT TO: Facebook creep one last time, go to my room and read and watch Netflix until bed.

The Things I Don't Blog About

2012-04-18T07:37:00.003-03:00

I thought updating my blog look a little bit would me start writing more. Still, I stared at the blank screen for quite some time, and still don't know what to talk about. I miss documenting my life, both in photos and in here. I feel like I could say that life just isn't exciting enough to write about, but that isn't really the case. My life is much more exciting now than it was back when I blogged full-time. I am so happy. But why is there never anything to write about?

Because I suppose it's not 'post-worthy' to write about how much I love waking up in the morning to the sounds of my baby girl talking to herself over the baby monitor.

Or how great it is to get her out of her crib and being her to bed with me so we can lay together for a little while before starting out day.

Or how much I loved this weekend, when I was finally able to spend an entire 24+ hours with boyfriend, without him having to leave.

Or how much I look forward to my morning cup(s) of coffee each day.

Or how much I love that the sun is finally coming out, and me and Chloe have been able to get outside.

Or how adorable it is to watch Chloe and my boyfriend's 15-month old daughter babble their baby nonsense to each other.

Or how nice it is to have my brother visit all the time, even if it is just to use me for my computer and internet.

Or how great it is have been able to spend so much time with friends lately.

Or how there are still a bunch of blue balloons scattered around my living room from boyfriend's birthday this past weekend. Or how much I wish there was still ice cream cake leftover.

Or how I finally have free time to do things I used to love - like puzzles, and scrapbooking.

No, I couldn't really come up with much of a post on any of these one things. But that's my life lately. While it's not all sunshine and rainbows, I've been pretty damn happy lately.

Romantic Things My Boyfriend Says

2012-04-16T11:48:00.000-03:00

"We just spent the entire weekend together and you didn't annoy me once."

Yeah, I know you're jealous.

Chloe's First Easter

2012-04-10T08:27:00.000-03:00

I think Chloe had a pretty good first Easter.

She woke up Easter morning at her father's, and I picked her up to take her right to Easter dinner, and after that she spent the night with my mother. So I never got a staged Easter photo with her Easter basket. I did, however, take a couple before dinner of her in her pretty dress that she only wore for her pictures with Santa.

She was the life of the party. She babbled, and growled, and smiled and laughed the whole time. She's little miss personality, that's for sure.

I spent my Monday without her cleaning our apartment. I sorted all Chloe's clothes, which is a job of its own. She has a dresser full, closet full, plus three bins full of clothes. I think I have a baby clothing addiction. I managed to sort it all, and in the process empty two of the three bins. This child has more summer dresses than she'll ever need.

I'm at my Mom's now for the week.

I'm just blubbering on because, as usual, I don't have a whole lot to say.

Chloe is half of a year old

2012-04-09T07:39:00.000-03:00

Weight: 12lbs 15oz

Height: 26 inches

Diapers: This is the last package of size 1's that I will ever buy you. You're moving on to size 2's as soon as we run out. They're getting snug.

Clothing: I think I need to move you up from size 6 month or 3-6 month pjs. You're too long for them. You're too long for 0-3 month pants as well, but most 0-3 month shirts are still a little loose on you. You have started fitting into a few smaller 3-6 month pants and shirts. It's about time.

Looks: Maybe it's an illusion, but it seems like your hair is filling out the tiniest little bit.

Feeding: You're easier to feed than you used to be, but you still like to push away the bottle, regardless of if you're hungry or not. You still have mostly 5oz bottles, with a few 6oz bottles thrown in here and there. For your middle of the night bottle it's usually about 6.5oz, but you don't always finish. You finally started cereal on March 15th. Just this week (first week of April) you've finally stopped pushing it out of your mouth immediately. While I do still have to force the spoon in most of the time, you usually finish the bowl. You're only eating about a tablespoon of the cereal each night either before bed or right before your bath. You've tried prunes (to try to help you #2, but it didn't seem to make a difference) and carrots (because Mommy wanted to see if it was just cereal you weren't interested in, or all food. Turns out you seems to dislike carrots more than cereal). You won't be eating any food other than cereal for a little while yet, because you need all the formula calories you can get.

Sleeping: You sleep like a champ in your crib, and have an even nicer, new crib coming this month. Lately you've started waking up around 7:45-8:30am every morning, regardless of when I put you to bed. I miss sleeping in, but this makes our daily routine easier. Now you nap around 10-11, and again around 3-4, and I usually have you in bed around 8:30-9. You wake up once through the night to eat. Sometimes you wake up, but a few times lately I've woken up around 4am and got you up myself to make sure you have your middle of the night bottle.

Talking: Finally, in the past week (first week of April) you've started babbling actual sounds - baba, mama, dada, rara. You still screech, growl and blow bubbles but your babbling is my favorite. You laugh quite a bit easier than you used to. You've been doing a funny 'panting' thing lately, more so if you're trying to get someone's attention and get them to play with you. For awhile you were purposely coughing a lot, and loved it when we coughed back but you seem to have stopped that a week or so ago.

Moving: You still don't care to roll over on your belly or from your belly to your back. You hate being on your belly, and don't always try to move much so you might be a late crawler. I'm in no rush. You've got some strong legs, and if you had the balance you could support yourself for a few seconds. You can sit up on your own with a little bit of support, no problem, but without something behind you, you throw yourself backwards almost immediately. You'll sit up alone a little longer if we can interest you in a toy.

Social: You still sometimes cry for strangers, but only if they get too close too quick. You recently cried because of your nurse, Jimmy, and Melanie. Usually you'll smile and flirt with strangers if they talk to you from your car seat. Maybe you feel safer in there. You're a huge flirt though, and it usually doesn't take anything at all to get you to smile. Sometimes people don't even need to be paying attention to you and you smile at them. Just because you're such a sweetie.

Teeth: My most exciting (to me) news. I noticed your first tooth on April 3rd (bottom middle left), and already on April 6th your second tooth (the other bottom middle tooth). You were a tiny bit fussier, but I never noticed any reaction to the teeth until April 6th. Usually you're a whiner, but this time you were actually crying a little. I gave you a little medicine and you were perfectly happy again until bedtime.

You're growing up way too fast for my liking. You're still so much fun, and I still sometimes feel a little sad when it's already time to put you to bed. I wish time would slow down just a little bit so I could enjoy you a little longer.

Happy Easter!

2012-04-08T08:01:00.001-03:00

Happy Easter everyone!

I miss pictures

2012-04-02T11:51:00.000-03:00

I never take pictures anymore.

I take a decent amount of Chloe, but that's to be expected, and even then I take less than I ever thought I would of her. But I never take pictures of anything or anyone else anymore.

I got depressed a couple of years ago when I broke my 'bar' camera, the camera I used to drag with me when I was drinking to document everything. I used to have photos of every drunk night I ever had. Every trip to the beach. Every. Little. Thing.

I think this is the last photo I took during a night with friends. More than 5 months ago, the first night I drank after having Chloe.

Usually, I don't even think about pulling out a camera. I have a camera phone for any photo emergencies, but even my digital camera is always in my purse but never gets any use. It makes me sad.

Sad, because I had a wonderful weekend and no proof of it. My friend was visiting for the weekend, and even though we said we'd take a nice picture of her and Chloe, we never did. Not one picture was taken of her the entire weekend.

I also went to a party with my boyfriend and his friends this weekend. I had so much fun, but again, no pictures.

I used to take pictures with everyone I met, strangers I'd never see again, anyone. Yet I have this boyfriend that I've been dating for two months and we have one picture together. That I didn't take. That I'll probably never see because it was taken about a month ago with someone's phone. It's so unlike me.

I miss having tons of photos of everything I do, but it's nice to finally be actually enjoying life, instead of simply documenting it.

My goal for the summer is to take lots more pictures. Of Chloe, but not just Chloe.

My baby is six months old

2012-03-28T07:46:00.001-03:00

I feel like I missed a huge milestone by not posting on March 25th.

March 25th, the day my baby girl officially turned a half a year old. Her official 6 month update is coming soon, but I feel overwhelmed with all the things she's been doing lately that I haven't written about.

More recently, she started making some real sounds with her babbling, (on March 25th) that sound kind of like 'bababa' or 'rarara' and sometimes kind of similar to 'mamama', or maybe that last one is just wishful thinking.

She's working hard on her balance, but still isn't sitting up on her own quite yet. She hates tummy time, so I don't know if she'll ever crawl, but the sitting up is sometimes really impressive. Sometimes I can't believe how strong she is. She's got a strong pair of legs, too. If she had the balance, she could almost stand on her own.

She can sit quietly for long periods of time, then all of a sudden she'll start squealing or humming or growling or babbling. Or her new thing - coughing. At first you may think she's sick, but she just loves to make the coughing sounds. She gets even happier when you do them back to her.

She's my happy little flirt and she amazes me more and more everyday. This age is so much fun.

And that photo? Not edited at all. Her eyes really are that blue.

Things I'm Grateful For

2012-03-26T08:23:00.000-03:00

Where did I leave off? Oh, right, I was about to get my taxes done the last time I was here. I got them done, and was praying for "oodles and oodles of money", well I did. I'm pretty low-income, so this was pretty much amazing to me.

I was planning on spoiling myself with my taxes and getting a new (used) couch and a flat screen tv. Instead, I had enough to do that, plus completely pay off my maxed credit card, order Chloe a nice crib, and get a few things we needed around the apartment. And more. I've never felt so lucky. I don't have my couch yet, but I look around my living room at my new tv and dvd rack, and curtains that are on a rod instead of tacked up, and I feel like we're doing great.

Things I'm particularly grateful for today:

- My bills are over paid, not overdue.

- My credit card owes me a couple of dollars, instead of me owing them hundreds.

- My bank account is doing great, my wallet has cash in it.

- I worked this past week, so I'll have even more extra money coming in.

- The fridge and cupboards are full.

- The apartment is clean.

- I have Netflix hooked up in my living room AND my bedroom

- I managed to keep a human alive alone in my care for 6 whole months!

- One of my best friends is coming to visit this weekend!

So basically, life is pretty amazing right now. They say money can't buy happiness? I was pretty happy before, but being financially ahead? Priceless.

This was my weekend.

2012-03-21T12:12:00.000-03:00

I've been busy, but I still feel like I have nothing much to talk about.

I just spend the weekend with my grandfather, and a few nights with my mother. It was nice to spend a bunch of time with family, but so much nicer to get home to my own bed and my own routine. It's hard with a baby on the road. But it WAS nice having someone to watch Chloe so I could run to the store alone and spend a couple of hours one evening with a friend.

My sister and nephew are currently staying with me while they look for an apartment. They're a bit of a handful but the first 24 hours haven't been too horrible. I'm not sure how much longer until I go crazy though.

I'm going to work tomorrow for one shift again. It's in the morning, which is hard on the head since I'm used to only getting up a couple of hours later with Chloe, but I look forward to it. It's some extra spending cash, and my sister is a free babysitter.

Today is also the day I get my taxes done (hopefully). I'm praying I get oodles and oodles of money back. Wish me luck.

Tell me about your weekend.

Family time

2012-03-18T06:44:00.001-03:00

Chloe and her cousin Braden

Chloe and mommy

Chloe and her great-grandfather