Pictures of Chloe

Long time no post

Well I've been a bit lazy in my posting since Christmas. I've been feeling run off my feet and a bit stressed. Have been having many, many problems with a certain person and it's been stressing me out an awful lot.

But we had a good Christmas and New Year and have vowed the 2010 is going to be the total opposite of 2009 - which basically contained a LOT of hurt and being walked all over and laying my dreams at the door. But 2010 is going to be full of happiness and love (hopefully) and getting my and Chloe's life back on track.

I know this is a very short post but I'll definitely be posting more frequently from now on. I'll leave you with some pictures of my little lady at a recent trip to W5 with a friend and his daughter. Chloe absolutely loved playing in the water pools and the sand boxes. xx

Christmas Day

We had the most wonderful Christmas Day. I, of course, went totally overboard with presents. But it was so worth it to see the look on Chloe's face in the morning. She loved her presents and I really enjoyed seeing her play with them. I didn't wrap her presents this year as, firstly, she would struggle to unwrap them, and secondly, I am teaching her not to rip the pages in books. So to tell her to rip paper would confuse her.
Neil came and spent an hour with Chloe in the morning and then he left and we had lunch. Every year we have an elderly lady called Pat for Christmas Dinner. Pat is well into her 80's and used to live across the road from us with her husband, Les. Then about 5 years ago Les died and, as they have no children, we invited her to dine with us. And she has been coming every year since then.

So we had a good feed and then Pete's girlfriend Amanda came round with her Mommy. Amanda's Daddy died a couple of months ago and so this was their first Christmas without him and I think they found it very difficult. So it was good for them to get out of the house and round to see us.

Well this is quite a short post but I've put up some pictures.
Lisa xx

Visiting Santa

Tonight Neil and I took Chloe to see Santa. This was her first ever Santa visit and we both wanted to be there, so decided to put aside our differences for an hour to take Chloe together. We went to Santa's Enchanted forest trail at Donegore Garden Centre - it was fabulous (we went after dark to get the full effect). I'll walk you through the whole thing.

Basically when we got there we waited beside some live reindeer for Santa's Elf to come and get you. While we were waiting another elf came and stuck a sticker with Chloe's name and age on it - we figured out it was so that Santa knew the names and ages of the kids, lol.

When the elf called us we were taken into a big tent where they served mulled wine and cookies. Then Santa's 'helper' 'Barney the dinosaur' came to show us the way to the forest. So we were ushered out of the tent and into the forest. It was a sight to behold! Fir trees everywhere, covered in fairy lights from top to bottom. It is all arranged in a trail so you wind in and out of these trees and there are other lit up things like lifesize snowmen, etc. You pass donkeys and pigs and geese and ducks throughout the trail. There are elves giving out toasted marshmallows. Then you get to a 'junction' where another elf directs you down a specfic path (I presume because there is a number of Santa's). We only had a short wait and we went into the log cabin to see him.

This Santa was very good - he actually looked like a proper Santa Claus. Chloe was totally fascinated by him. She didn't cry, but just couldn't stop staring at him. He was very nice and gave Chloe a lovely book, some sunflower seeds to plant and an apple.

After you walk out of the cabin you go down another trail a bit and they are handing out sausages done on an open fire. And there were more animals and a Merry-go-round. Chloe went on the carousel (I sat beside her holding her). Then on your way out you see lambs and a tiny Shetland pony.

It really was an absolutely magical experience - and to complete the perfection it started to snow as we were walking out. It really did take me back to childhood I cannot wait to take Chloe there for years to come - especially when she will appreciate it. I videoed most of it and will upload one later.

Happy 1st Birthday Chloe!!!!!!!!!!

Well my little darling Chloe, you are one year old now. I can remember our first night together after you were born. I was very groggy but a nurse helped me latch you on and you slept in my bed all night and nursed. I couldn't believe I'd finally got my girl.

You have grown so much since then. That helpless little baby has been replaced by a burly toddler. I can't believe how fast this year has gone, but also how much has changed since that first night with you. But I wouldn't change it for a second. Every hardship I have faced has been lightened by your smile. You bring such joy to everyone around you. You are a total delight to be around and I couldn't have asked for a better daughter.
Here are some of the things you do at this age:

You're still breastfeeding on demand, although this has greatly reduced. When you feed you either try to perform acrobatics or you lie still and just stroke my arm. It's really loving and sweet. You still have only 8 teeth but another 6 are about to burst through.You are going through a very fussy eating stage at the minute and it's tough to persuade you to eat solids at times. You will happily try anything but then you get bored and shake your head to indicate you don't want any more. Your favourite foods are pesto, olives and parma ham. Really salty and unhealthy for a baby, but shows you have good taste. You always offer me your food.

You are much more vocal now, happily babbling to yourself. You love to pretend to be on the telephone, holding it to your ear and saying 'Hiya' repeatedly into it. You lift your teddies and dolls, rock them back and forth saying 'Aww aww' presumably because I do that to you when you're upset. You always have a toy in your mouth, usually a Little People person or animal. I don't know why, you just play happily with it in your mouth. I wonder if you're copying Missi(our dog). You love to put things into a bag and take them out again. So you love the 'my first purse' that I bought you for your birthday.

You point at EVERYTHING and ask 'utts dat?' (what's that?). You're so curious about the world. I can see you noseying at everything with an inquisitive look on your face. You miss nothing. You love to point at the cat and say 'Cat' really loudly. You can point to a nose, eyes, mouth, feet and hands in a picture. It's amazing how much you know. You can also say hiya, bye, nana, papa, dada, mama, baba (for boobie), missi (which comes out like 'Issth') and yuck. You wave hello and goodbye unprompted now.

You love to dance and sing. You sing along to music all the time (albeit to your own tune). You like to push things along (your pram/footstool/trike). You are learning to run at the minute so you keep tripping over your feet and getting a bump on the head. Although thankfully we haven't had any dreadful bruises yet.

You LOVE books and will happily sit and look through them yourself. Then if you want me to read them you bring them over and set them on my knee. This is such a wonderful quality. I am so pleased you like books. You always share toys. You like to give me and others toys to hold. You have just learnt to throw a ball (albeit only a foot or so to me) and then I throw it back to you. You love that.

You like to pick pretend/invisible things off the floor and hand them to me. Then I have to hand them back. You have just learnt how to rock on your snail rocker. You can now climb onto the bed and sofa yourself. You love to sit in the dog/cats bed for some reason. You also like to find a wee nook and sit in it, like the alcove beside fireplace or under the coffee table.

You keep trying to dress yourself. For instance you will get a pair of tights and open the waist and then try to get them over your foot (unsuccessfully). Or you will get a sock and set it on your foot to see if it magically goes on. You try to pull tops over your head, but end up wearing them like a scarf. It's the sweetest thing, and shows how much you are maturing.

You squat to do a wee. I discovered this when I noticed every so often you would just squat down for a min then get back up and carry on. You also will bring a clean nappy over to me when you have a poopy nappy.

You try to wipe your own bottom with a baby wipe if I give one to you. You are totally obsessed with belly buttons. You stick your finger in mine asking 'utts dat?' You can point to it when I'm dressed if I ask you where it is. I recently showed you your belly button and you now keep poking your finger into it.

What surprises me most about you is how independent and secure you are. For instance you are not remotely bothered by the dark or being on your own. You will happily walk from our sitting room into the lounge (no lights on) and get a toy. It's wonderful that you will do this. You happily play with Lucy (your little friend) alongside you but you just as happily play alone while I am watching TV. It seems as long as you know I am about you are happy enough, and you can regularly get cuddles.

You are a very content little girl, you have such a gentle, caring nature and like to cuddle on my knee just watching TV sometimes. You truely have completed my life and I can't wait to live the rest of it with you. You are a dream child and you really will never, ever know just how much of a miracle you were. It was like God answered every single little bit of my prayers when he blessed me with you.

Happy Birthday little one. I wish you many, many more happy birthdays in your life. You deserve them.

Love always,

Momma xxx

Chloe's 1st birthday party.

Today we had Chloe's official birthday party, even though her birthday's not until Tuesday. We just had it here at the house and it was just the family. My parents, my brother & his girlfriend Amanda, my grandparents, Neil and Neil's parents. And Chloe and I of course.
I put up balloons everywhere and birthday banners. I had a gorgeous cake made for her. It was white with green decorations and a ladybird sitting on some 'grass' at the top. Really lovely little girl's birthday cake. We had pies, salad, various breads, olives, and cocktail sausages. Then for dessert there was strawberry roulade and mince pies with brandy cream. And the cake to finish.

Chloe had a wonderful time - she knew the day was for her and you could see her delighting in everyones attention. I put a gorgeous satin party dress on her and it has little sequins and a design stitched over it. She looked so cute.
She got some brilliant gifts. I'll try to remember them all but I'm sure I will leave some out. I got Chloe the Baby Einstein DVD box set and a Fisher Price My First Learning purse. Neil's parents bought her a hand-made wooden trike and trailer. The type she can sit on and scoot about in - and tow your teddies (or the dog, lol) along behind you. Neil bought her the Little People farm (you can see in the top photo she climbed into the box it came in) and some clothes. My mom and dad bought her the VTech Alphabet Train Station (by far her favourite toy). My grandparents bought her some clothes and a book. My brother and Amanda bought her a lovely skirt and top set. My Aunt Heather bought her two fabulous word books. The kind with lots of pictures of various everyday items on each page and the word written beside it. This is excellent as she constantly asks 'whats that?'. So already she has been looking through it and asking. Neil's Great-Aunt Amy gave her money and his Aunt Roberta bought her a toy telephone and a Little People car. The car is the cutest. It's obviously based on a people carrier and has a mommy in the front and a baby in the back seat. When you push the car along with the mommy in it it plays music and the mommy turns from side to side - very cool. But the thing that cracked me up most about it was that in the boot of the car there is actually a pram that you can lift out and set the baby into. How cool is that? We pretend that all these toy's are for our kids, but seriously, admit it, you love playing with them as well! (or is that just me?)

Her wee face was a picture when we brought the birthday cake in to her while singing happy birthday. She is so happy. You can see it in her wee face, and her smile is priceless.

It was a little uncomfortable having Neil and his family there and trying to play happy families for the sake of Chloe, but all in all a very happy day with lot's of wonderful memories to look back on. Happy Birthday chick!! xx

The Ark Open Farm

Today I took Chloe to the Ark open farm for Chloe's 1st birthday. My best friend Claire-Louise came with us and brought her daughter Lucy. Lucy is 16 months old and she and Chloe love each other. As tomorrow we are having a family party I thought it would be nice for us to go somewhere today with our friends.

We had a wonderful time. I am a total animal lover and if I could afford it I would buy a farm. So I had a blast feeding the animals. We saw reindeer, cows, calves, horses, sheep, alpacas, goats, chicks and chickens, pigs and probably a few I've forgotten. I of course, being an avid horse lover, made a beeline straight for the HUGE cob who was stabled due to a leg injury. He was so lovely, a very gentle nature. Chloe also really enjoyed him and was happy with him nuzzling her head and petting him.

It's funny how kids pick up on their parents emotions. I was obviously comfortable around all the animals, feeding them, stroking them, talking to them etc, and encouraging Chloe to do the same, and Chloe was very happy doing so, and roared with laughter when the Alpacas where eating out of my hand, and then one stole the food container. But my friend Claire-Louise just stood back and wouldn't touch anything, clearly uncomfortable touching them. Her daughter Lucy then screamed anytime she got too close to the animals. So hopefully Chloe will end up without a fear of any animals.

But we really did have a wonderful day. We had lunch in the coffee house at the farm and it was lovely. Claire-Louise and Lucy bought Chloe a xylophone for her birthday which is great as Chloe really loves them. Then we came back to mine for coffee and then I dropped them home as I was gong out to my Scoobyireland Christmas do in Belfast this evening (which turned out to be rubbish).

So all in all an excellent first birthday.

Love you Chloe, xx