17/30 Chloe's Reaction to Me Trying to Take Her Picture...

16/30 Hair

How do all you mom's (or dad's) out there get your child's hair to lay flat?

Chloe's hair is always all over the place. I very rarely leave her hair down because I can't get it to lay straight...it's always going in 5 different directions!

But then, on the other hand, I feel like by me having it up all the time, it doesn't get the chance to train to lay the way it should!

Help? Suggestions!?!?!

15/30 Failure!

So I know I've missed a few days. I've sort of been in a funk this weekend. I just couldn't bring myself to write any entries. Anyway, I'm going to cheat and go back and write posts for those days. So be on the look out.

Today I became the proud new owner of a 2009 Silver Nissan Altima. It really all came down to what could fit in my budget. There were some other cars that I liked, but I don't really like any car more than the others enough to want to spend any extra money. So there you have it. I had a horrible time at the dealership. I had the good guy salesperson, and then the sneaky finance chick. I can't tell you how many ridiculous extra fees they kept trying to sneak in there. In the end, I walked about with having to have them take off about 1,500 in extra fees, as well as convince her that I was serious that I didn't want the $1,000 extra credit insurance policy, life insurance, etc. It only look me calling her out on those things 5 times, then threatening to get up and walk out unless she fix the paperwork and stop adding extra hidden fees. (I loved the fact that I got a GREAT deal on the car, a $1,500 rebate, and put 20% down on the car, and she still insisted that I needed a $500 gap insurance coverage.)

It makes me feel bad that they are able to pull those things over on people!

So I had one of those weekends where the bad news just came rolling in. Some significant, some not so much in the grand scheme of things, but still. One being that my camera got left outside over night and had to endure I nice thunder storm. Seems to be taking pictures still, but it's definitely not quite right.

At any rate, I'll leave you with a few pictures:

12/30 Not Much to Report...

I think I'm going to go with the Altima. For the sake of not having to make anymore decisions.

I was almost a thief...

So my car got totaled on a Friday, the following Monday night, I lost my wallet, by Thursday I was resigned to the fact that I wasn't going to find it, so I canceled everything and reordered my credit/debit cards.

Fast forward to this morning when I REALLY need gas. I was 10 miles to empty. I leave a bit early for work, knowing that I would have to write a check since none of my credit/debit cards had arrived yet.

So I pump my gas (all 20 gallons of it!) and go in to pay. I get my drivers license out and everything. Apparently this was one of the gas stations where they have to hand key all the check information--I assume they are doing it as an electronic check.

Five minutes go by, and she finally looks up at me and tells me it's been declined. What!?!? I tell her to run it again because there is no way that check would be declined. She does so. Says it's still declined, so she's going to call it in. In the mean time, people are lining up behind me. Getting frustrated. I really wished I had some other form of payment I could use, but what do you do? My bank was next door, but it was too early to go over there. She finally gets off the phone and tells me that it's been declined as a "code 2" and there's nothing they can do. I ask her what a code 2 is...she has no idea. (But she did give me a nice number I could call to find out.) Finally, I remembered that I got my Healthcare Savings Acccount card in the mail the day before and never took it out of my car. So I call and activate it and use that for gas. That ordeal only took a half hour. I'm very surprised that it even went through, given the fact that you aren't allowed to use the money for anything not relating to healthcare, and I'm not sure gas qualifies. So I need to get that paid back before the IRS comes knocking at my door...

But wait. It gets better.

I call the number and after giving her my name, address, phone number, checking account routing and account number, driver's license number, and location, the lady tells me that my check was declined not because of anything relating to my account, but the check clearing company didn't have enough personal information about me to guarantee my check, I had never run a check through them before, and wanted to "protect me from fraud." How thoughtful. Given the fact that I had just given her almost all my personal information and the fact that I have been using checks for the last week, I wouldn't think that would be a problem.

Ugh.

She did tell me though that if I wanted to have my checks be accepted, they could send me out a waiver to release all my confidential personal information to them.

Hmm...I think I'll just go across the street to Speedway for now on.

I was a little disappointed that I didn't get to find out what happened if you can't pay for gas...

10/30 Rainy Day

9/30 Expensive Taste

Gosh. I’m a slacker. I admit it.

I was so busy yesterday that I forgot all about posting!

But I am making up for it now.

This car buying business has been so stressful! I just can’t seem to make a decision. I wish I loved a particular car that I could afford…that would make my life a whole lot easier.

Chloe was rather partial to the show room fully loaded Cadillac Escalade whose front end is almost as tall as I am and costs close to what I paid for my house! I told her that she was officially disqualified from having an opinion…

8/30 That Child...

So Chloe can be a very stubborn child. She pretty much likes to do what she wants to do, when she wants to do it. And she doesn't take too kindly to being told what to do. She prefers things to be her idea.

And I've never met a child who could ignore quite the way she does. It's more of a matter-of-fact ignoring rather than a defient ignoring. You could totally scream at her and she won't even respond in the slightest. If I didn't know any better, I'd almost say she was deaf!

Sometimes I really do wonder if she's just completely ignoring me, or just super good at tuning everything around her out.

So last night she's sitting on the living room floor playing with all her horses. I ask her to come over to me so I can change her diaper and put on her pajamas. She continues playing with her horses. I ask her again, with a slightly raised voice. Still, nothing. I ask her again, and again, she just continues playing, never moving a muscle in any kind of acknowledgement that I said anything.

This is a daily occurance.

So out of pure frustration, I walk over to her, get down two inches from her face, and say, "CHLOE, WHY ARE YOU NOT LISTENING TO ME!?!? WHAT DID I ASK YOU TO DO!?!?"

Finally she looks up at me. I'm still two inches from her face. She just gives me this blank look, reaches forward and gives me a kiss, and then goes back to playing with her horses.

Gosh. I know I should have not let her do that, but how can you be made at that???

Picking Strawberries

6/30 This is harder than I thought...

Blogging every day, that is.

Have I mentioned that Chloe very rarely takes naps these days?

Throughout the week when I am working, she is known to sleep until 10am. Sometimes later. So it's a little understanding that she doesn't nap.

But let me tell you, it's a different story anytime I am at home when she wakes up. Every day I look forward to possibly being able to sleep in a bit. Or at least be up a little bit before her so that I have time to shower. Nope. She's up by 8-830 on those days. And it's not just the weekends. I wasn't feeling well this past Wed, plus I had some shopping to do, so I took the day off work. Sure enough, I hear her little voice at 7am.

I guess I can't complain too much. It is pretty cute to be woken up every morning by, "Mama? Mmmaaammmaaaaa! Mama!".

That girl.

5/30 Apology

Gosh. I don't really have it in me to come up with a good post.

I've been dealing with the insurance company all day. If you want to know which insurance company NOT to ever do business with, let me know!

So Chloe has started making this face. It's so funny to me. She just randomly will walk around doing it. She scrunches her nose up like a pig and then will do it over and over again. She especially likes to do it when I'm about to take a picture...


Chloe is such a stubborn child. You can ask her to do something, she'll start to do it, then realize she is listening and put a stop to it. This next video will illustrate my point:



I finally got to her to somewhat cooperate, but it involved bribery. And it didn't work for long, as you can see...

4/30 Picture Drop

It's so hard to get any decent pictures of Chloe these days. If I'm not RIGHT there, she's getting into something she shouldn't be. Or else she runs and hides when I have the camera. Or more often than not, she's not dressed. This girl. The second she gets into ANY residence, she's trying to take her clothes off!

Anyway, here are some from the day!

3/30 Adventures in Car Shopping

Last night I wasn't feeling too hot. I felt really achy like you do right before you get the flu. Only I didn't know if it was from the flu or the car accident. I felt bad enough that I emailed in a sick day for today last night. I was quite excited to see what the morning would bring...

Fast forward to this morning at 6.30 am. I wake up. I lay there for a second contemplating whether I have the flu. Nope, doesn't seem like it. Instead I'm pretty sure that I have a killer kidney infection.

My first thought? Well, my wallet is MIA, therefore no insurance or HSA card. Out of luck there. I need to go car shopping. Only no driver's license or source of cash. Ok. All this is going to make my day a little inconvenient, but I'm willing to work with it. So my mom comes by and we pack up Chloe and take off.

Stop #1: License branch for a new license. Rather painless.

Stop #2: Chevy dealership. Checked out a Malibu and somewhat looked at the Impala. Both cars were decent. Chloe was a pretty big hit running around like crazy. (I'm not sure how they felt about her putting handprints all over the demo cars...)

Stop #3: Nissan Dealership. Checked out the Nissan Altima.

Now. This is where I bought my last car in January. I was VERY unsatisfied with their service. I ended up paying an additional 1,500 for an extended warrenty/roadside assistance that was supposed to be included with it. The sales guy only gives me one key and when I inquire about a second, tells me that its the type of key you can take anywhere to get copies made. Turns out not. Then they want to charge me an additional $100 for a second key. After arguing, I get them to agree to give me one for free, but the service guy never gets back to me with a an appointment. Last, a few weeks back I lock my keys and cell phone in my car. Along with my above mentioned roadside assistance paperwork that I paid an additional 1,500 for. So I call the dealership for the number and they give it to me. Only it ends up not being the right company, so I end up having to pay $70 for someone to unlock my car.

But I digress. So the first salesperson who walks up to me asks me if he can help me. I tell him I'm looking for a car and have been VERY unsatisfied with their customer service in the past, so he's going to have to pull off a miracle for me to buy from them. We'll see.

Bad Salesguy #1 certainly wasn't happy about me working with someone else.

Anyway.

Stop #3: Lunch

Stop #4: Ford Dealership. Checked out the Ford Fusion.

Stop #5: Volkwagen Dealership. Checked out the Pasaat. Which I do love. But happens to be at the VERY top of my price range, if not over.

Stop #6: CVS Minute Clinic. Which I love. Hopefully they have made me better.

So that's how we spent our day from 9-4. Chloe was such a little trooper. I must admit that I brought the previously blogged about Sponge Bob CD. And I played Best Day Ever! over and over again. Just to hear hear sing...it makes me laugh that much.

So question: Which of these cars do you like the best? I pretty much don't care. I'm a little disappointed that I can't line each of them up side by side to look at in person at the same time. I know you can do it online, but it's just not the same...

2/30 Best Day EVER!!!

Not really.

Well, unless maybe you are Sponge Bob and Chloe.

Chloe LOVES sponge bob. I don't know why. Even more than Dora, if you can believe that.

A while back I happened to buy a Sponge Bob CD to listen to in the car. Turns out it had a music video hidden on it. Not just any music video mind you, but the music video for Best Day Ever!

I have to admit it's one of those catchy songs that you find yourself bobbing your head to, then look around and make sure nobody was watching...

Anyway--Chloe LOVES this particular song. She always sings along to it at the top of her lungs. Unfortunately she only knows the chorus real well, the rest of the song she mumbles through.

I apologize for the crappy video quality, but I wasn't thinking about the fact that I was basically recording her in the dark. And I just mainly wanted you all to hear her sing anyway. Not sure if it's just because I'm her mom, but I find this absolutely hilarious. (Don't worry, I spared you the whole video and trimmed it to only include the very last chorus... :) )

(Oh. And she obviously got her singing ability from me.)

1/30 Potty Time

Gosh! Can you believe it's June already!?!!?

So I've been thinking a lot about potty training lately. Only I have no desire to start until she at least shows a little bit of interest. And I'm content to wait until then.

But that doesn't mean I'm not encouraging her. We went out and bought the Potty Time Elmo Doll. He says random phrases and praises you when you get him to the potty on time. He apologizes if he doesn't make it. And we bought the Potty Time Elmo DVD and watch it every few days. We talk about going potty a lot. But she has no interest in sitting on the potty chair or anything. So whatever. We'll wait.

We're shopping at the store today and I decide to let her pick out some panties to start with. She picks out a pack of princess and a pack of Elmo. The following conversation ensues:

Me: Chloe, do you know what these panties are for?

Chloe: What, Mama?

Me: They are for when Chloe goes potty in the big potty like Elmo.

Chloe: Like Elmo!

Me: Yes, like Elmo. And you won't have to wear diapers anymore!

Chloe: No Diapees!

Me: That's right, no more going potty in the diaper.

Chloe: I no go potty in diaper. I potty on Mama! Ha, ha, ha!

(She is in fact correct. When I got home from work she was napping. When she finally woke up I went up and got her...she was only wearing her diaper. We went down and watched TV for a few minutes while she woke up. She was sitting on my lap. All of a sudden I felt like I peed my pants! At first I thought I was imagining it, but sure enough, after a few seconds, I jumped up...my shirt and pants were soaked! I laid her down on the couch while I went and through my clothes in the dryer and my mom changed her diaper. She was in that dazed-I-just-woke-up state. What do you do???)

Anyway.

Me: That's right. You did. You should not do that!

Chloe: It's ok Mama. Accident's happen.

Me: (At a loss for a response) That's right baby...

Elmo would be proud.