7/21/12

Today was fun for me, exhausting for Christian.

Christian was up bright and early to help our neighbor move. This was supposed to happen weeks ago, but she changed the date a couple of times. We had plans today, but I agreed to go solo while he helped her…ONLY because she was paying him and we can always use the extra money. Otherwise, I was pretty upset about the delays and several changes of plans. He ended up helping her from 7:00AM-7:00PM. Crazy. She didn’t plan well at all…it was just Christian, his friend and our other neighbor doing EVERYTHING. Poor guy.

The girls were up SUPER early today. I was upset about it, but we had a party to go to at 1:00, so it actually worked out well. We ate some breakfast, played for a while, and I was able to get them down for an early nap around 10:30. I showered and got ready, packed up our bag for the day, did a little picking up, then woke them up to get them ready. We stopped into Target, and made our way to the party. Today we were celebrating my BFF’s son, Andrew’s birthday. 8th BIRTHDAY. Wow. They had his party at Cascade Bay, and the weather was PERFECT for the waterpark. The girls had so much fun. Olivia went down the slides over and over again and practiced swimming…she actually puts her face under water and tries to swim. I don’t even know where she’s learned that! Amelia is not afraid of water at all…which is good, but bad at the same time. She’ll travel into water that’s too deep for her. She’ll sit down in the water, where the water can then go over her face, and just laugh like it’s the funniest thing ever. Terrifying. I try not to panic or go crazy because I don’t want her to be afraid of water, but it’s scary. Definitely need to get them into swim lessons!

After a few trips down the lazy river, some slides, some presents, dinner and cake, and lots of sun, we made our way home. We didn’t end up getting home until after 7:00. The girls were a handful most of the day…not listening great, fighting with each other and just driving me crazy in general. They were finally quiet and playing well together. I was working on their baby books to wind down a little bit (I FINALLY printed some pictures to add to them), and things were fairly peaceful. Then *CRASH* in the kitchen. I went to check it out, and they had gotten ahold of Amelia’s “2” figurine for her birthday, and broken it. I was furious…it’s not even her birthday yet, I didn’t even GIVE it to her yet, it was in a box, in the Styrofoam and everything. It was the last straw. They were both sent to their room, and they knew immediately this was serious. I called Christian, who was FINALLY on his way, and he rushed home to deal with them.

We all relaxed, composed ourselves and took some deep breaths. The girls finally went down to bed, and I was basically done for the day. I had grand plans of starting on our cleaning tonight, but I was way too worn out to even think about it. So, we all called it a night.

Here are some pictures from the party fun.

7/20/12

Today did not start off well. I weighed in, and I gained 2lbs. I knew it wouldn’t be a great week…I lost a lot last week, we had out little vacation and I’m just feeling heavy this week, but 2lbs seems extreme to me. BUT, I’m still down 29.6 total, so I’m trying to focus on that.
Work was good. This day, the week, flew by just like they have been for a while, so I can’t complain. Christian has been going into work around 6:00 to get in some extra overtime, so YAY for that!

I picked the girls up from my mom after work and we made our way home. We played in the basement for a while. Christian brought home some dinner and we all spent a little time together. Then, he hung out with the girls and got them to bed, while I got some work done in the basement. I got the last of the wall décor hung up and submitted the photo’s I needed to print for the walls, AND for the baby books (which currently don’t have any photos in them…oops). Christian went to bed pretty early because he’ll be helping our neighbor move all day tomorrow. So, I just did my workout, watched a couple shows and relaxed by myself before passing out. Fun, busy weekend ahead of us!

While I was cleaning up some downstairs, the girls were upstairs coloring and Christian ran outside to start up the sprinklers. I went upstairs to find Amelia crying and upset...Olivia had written all over her face with marker. It's fairly harmless, and pretty funny, except that she got REALLY close to Amelia's eye, and just the thought of what could have happened terrified me. Seriously, cannot take your eyes off of them for a second!

7/19/12

Today wasn’t a great day. I just felt kind of off, and emotional all day long. I don’t get like that often, but it seemed like everything was going wrong. I stepped on the scale out of curiosity this morning, and it wasn’t good. The girls were not cooperative this morning, we were running late, I forgot Amelia’s new package of diapers and wipes in the car when I dropped them off, then was late for work. I got e-mail after e-mail with problem after problem all day at work. My inbox keeps growing and growing and it’s stressing me out. The day just couldn’t end soon enough.

I picked the girls up after school, and they were in better moods, so that was nice. Christian could tell I was pretty stressed out, so he ended up taking them to his moms for dinner. I worked out, relaxed for a little while and enjoyed the peaceful time to myself. Did some laundry, folded some clothes.

The girls arrived home in time for bed, and we weren’t far behind. I did find them both in the bathroom, having a little potty party before bed though, which was an entertaining highlight of the day.

Hoping for a better day tomorrow!

7/18/12

Well, this week is flying by, again. Love it!

After work, I picked up the girls, we met Christian at home, ate some dinner and hung out for a little bit. I took to the basement and hung some of the frame and decor we bought. I can't wait for the basement to FINALLY be finished! YAY.

As I was hard at work, Christian and the girls were outside watering the plants and setting up the sprinkler...when, the Ice Cream truck drove by. This was the first time we’ve ever seen an Ice Cream truck in our neighborhood…Christian flagged them down and ran in to tell me he was there. I think he was more excited than the kids – so of course, they all needed a treat. LOL. Oh, good times.

Once the girls were finally in bed, I got my workout in and headed to bed. Another tiring day has come to an end.

7/17/12

Today was a very productive day. I plowed through some work, which felt great. Then, I left a little early to run some errands. First up, Michaels’ for some picture frames. Time to finally finish up the basement…I needed 4 frames for the princess prints and two collage frames. All of their frames were on sale, and I had a 25% off coupon, so it ended up being fairly cheap. And, I bought a HUGE collage frame for the hallway that I am totally in love with. YAY!

Next, I stopped into Hallmark to get Amelia’s “2” figurine. Both of the girls get the Precious Moments Train for their birthday every year, it’s so cute!

Next, Target. Grocery shopping, picked up the cool butterfly mirrors for the princess area in the basement, ordered Amelia’s birthday party cake, bought her a party outfit and made my way home.

I got everything put away, then I was off and running again…Walmart to pick up salsa ingredients (damn Target for not carrying tomatillos anymore!), then picked up the girls.

Holy Moly!!! Exhausted much?!? I started our dinner…salsa, tacos, rice. We ate, and then I finally sat down for a few minutes. We hung out for some family time, including putting together our little lego train models from Duluth (for their souvenir shelves), until the girls went to bed. Then I ordered the girls’ 2 Year/3.5 Year photo outfits, got my workout in and PASSED OUT. Whoa!

Also, I’m not sure if it was my outfit, but I had several people at work ask me if I’ve been losing weight today. YAY, best question ever!

Here is a shot of the girls with their Lego Trains. They were so excited to add them to their shelves :)

7/16/12

Back to reality today. Ugh. Oh how I wish we were still sitting by the beach…

It hit me this morning that I really need to start planning the girls’ pictures. I knew it was “coming up”, but holy crap Amelia is going to be 2 in 10 DAYS! And, Olivia is already over 3.5. Clocks ticking. We can’t afford to spend the money on professional pictures right now, so I was just going to take some myself. So, I posted on facebook for some location ideas (and, yay, got a couple). Right after I posted, I got a message from my friend Dawn, from Indiana, who’s family is coming to stay with us in a couple of weeks...who is a photographer. It never really dawned on me to ask her...not because she’s not talented (I LOVE her pictures), I just would never want to ask her and make her feel obligated to do it. But, in her message to me, she offered to take them, almost like it was a given that would be doing them. I’m SO excited. Works out perfectly…I bet the girls will cooperative for her really good, and this way we can actually get some family shots too. Perfect! Now, I just need to get outfits situated, and a location…more planning!

After work, I did a little picking up around the house and relaxed for a while. The girls always end up taking a late nap at his parents’ house on Monday’s, so they ended up eating dinner there and coming home late.

When the family arrived home, it was time for baths and bed. Olivia kept asking about vacation tonight, she misses the beach. As they were getting ready for bed, I was watching America’s Got Talent. There was a contestant named Spencer…which is the name of my friend Dawn’s 6 year old (the one we went to the Dell’s with). Olivia LOVES him, and got so excited when she heard his name. She looks at me and says “Mom, Spencer?!? I know Spencer! Spencer is my boyfriend” and she had the biggest, girly, lovestruck smile on her face. It was so cute. I can’t wait to see her reaction when they come for their visit in a few weeks! PS – I don’t know WHERE she learned about boyfriends…

I got my workout in after the girls went down. I started Level 2 today and OUCH. It’s SO hard, I can’t imagine making it to Level 3! But, I will…I WILL get there.

Apparently the animals missed me while we were away, because they all swarm me when I go to bed. I have a little body pillow of cats and dogs when I sleep now...awesome.

7/15/12

Sad day…final day in Duluth. There was NO part of me that wanted the leave, the girls were pretty sad about it too. It’s just so peaceful being up North, away from everybody, away from work, away from stress. I missed it before we even left!

We grabbed breakfast right away this morning, and them packed everything up, checked out and loaded up the truck.

We spent a couple hours in town before heading home…walked around canal park, hung out at the fun park we went to last summer, walked along the boardwalk and spent some final moments at the beach. Saying goodbye…until next Summer!

We made our way home. The girls had a little lunch and passed out pretty quickly. We picked up the dog from my dad’s around 4:00, got home around 4:30. Christian and the girls went over to his parents’ house for a while, and I started unpacking, cleaning up and did some laundry. I spent most of the evening editing our vacation pictures. The girls helped Christian put the sprinklers out when they got home, and then were off to bed. Back to reality tomorrow, and not looking forward to it!

Now that vacation is over, it’s time to focus on getting some stuff done around the house, Amelia’s birthday party and the Steveson’s visit! The planning seems never ending, but at least it’s always fun, amazing stuff!