Monday I was off for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. My mother in law "had" to work, so the girls were home with me. And, Christian took the day off (he has to use up some time by the end of the month), so, we planned a family day! The girls slept in a little bit, which was a great start. We had some breakfast, showered and got ready for the day, and then we were off to spend the day at the Mall of America. I won some passes to Sea Life (the aquarium) a couple weeks ago, so we used those and sent some time in there. We've been there a few times, but the girls were SUPER into it this time. They were so excited by all of the different fish, sharks, turtles and sea creatures. They were so cute :) After our sea adventure, we stopped into Nickelodean Universe so the girls could go on a few rides...of course, loving every minute of it. This was the PERFECT way to spend a fun, family day together. And, a good chance to get out of the house, even though it was FREEZING. And, I mean FREEZING. Today was the coldest weather we've seen in 4 years, with a low of -32 Wind Chill! That shouldn't even be possible! After some rides, we made our way home, ate some lunch, and the girls went down for their naps. Meanwhile, I had developed a monster migraine through the course of the morning, so I took some medicine and put myself down for a nap! I was feeling a tad better by the time the girls woke up, so we had some dinner, and spent the night watching some videos and cuddling. Wonderful way to end a long weekend!
Some pictures from our trip to the Aquarium and Nickelodeon Universe.
Tuesday was back to reality. I've been managing to stay up on my work fairly well the past couple weeks, which has been great. Such a relief to be busy, but not swamped and drowning in work! Christian has been doing great in his new position and is really getting into the supervisor side of it lately. Not as much OT now that the Holiday's are over, but I'm hoping it will pick up again. The girls have been doing great at school. Amelia continues to progress with her Potty Training and is doing so great! I'm so proud of her. Olivia has still been spending time in the Pre-K room and loves every minute of it. Today I also ordered a new Workout Program. The very first program I did was a "Mom's into Fitness" 60-Day Slimdown program, by Lindsay Brin. It did wonders for me, and I just LOVE Lindsay's style. Well, not long ago she came out with a new program, "Pretty Fierce". Today, the program happened to be featured on a daily deal site, for half off, so I HAD to snatch it up. I bought the "Weight Loss" series (vs. the Lean Out series that I'm nowhere near ready for) and I'm excited to start it. I'm actually going to start up the 60-Day Slimdown again on February 1st, then progress to Pretty Fierce. YES! PS - the weather is NOT getting better. I honestly can't remember the last time it was this cold. It's torture going outside, and I'm much more of a winter person than summer - but even I can't take much more of this. It's BRUTAL!
Wednesday was still freezing, and Amelia had one accident at school. She's still doing great though. She's staying dry during naps and at night (for the most part), she's going on her own now and telling us when she needs to go. GREAT strides. I think her accident today was during her nap - so I'm thinking they didn't put a diaper on her for her nap and that's why she needed to be changed. Not sure though. I also got our daycare year-end statement for taxes (OUCH), so now I just need our bank statement for the house and I can get our taxes going. I can't WAIT! I'm hoping what I've estimated our rebate will be is correct and we can move forward with our plans...paying off the Visa (the last of our debt) and starting the girls in daycare full time. Fingers crossed!!!
We got a little snowfall overnight, and I just LOVE the way a new snowfall glitters and shines...
Thursday I left work a tad early, got my workout in (and it was P-A-I-N-F-U-L!) and then I was off on a date night with my BFF! It had been way, WAY too long, so it was great to see her. We went to a screening of "Warm Bodies" and got to spend lots of time catching up and laughing the night away. The movie was actually really great, one of the best I've seen in a long time. It was super funny, and had a really cute story line. I would highly recommend this one. After the movie, I dropped her off at home, and got home just as the girls were falling asleep for the night. Christian and I both had Friday off work, so we cuddled up and watched "The Avengers" - which was also really good. Happy Day, and looking forward to a weekend of no plans!
The Red Bull Crushed Ice competition is in St. Paul this weekend. As I pulled up to work this morning the Cathedral was all lit up for it and I thought it looked pretty cool.
Friday was my normal day off from work. I started the day off with my weigh in and I was down 1.8lbs - FINALLY a GREAT week!!! Down a total of 33.6lbs to date. YAHOO - gaining some traction again. Christian was also off again, still using up the last of his time before the end of the month. I spent the morning doing my usual weekend chores a little early - dishes, cleaned the kitchen, swept the floors. It was nice to get it out of the way early! While the girls napped, I finished going through their clothes to sell. I have gone through everything, premie through 18 months, sorted, organized, inventoried, photographed and priced - AND, pulled out a few favorites to pack away. I actually have a couple friends on facebook pregnant with their first girls, and showing some interest, so fingers crossed - it may be easier to sell than I expected! I'm still having a hard time letting go, but I feel better now that I have my box of favorites all packed up. We spent the evening hanging out around the house watching some TV and playing with the girls. Christian went out with a friend from work for a while I caught up on the DVR a little bit, and started going through the girls' toys and other stuff I plan on selling. Time to free up some storage space!!! Today I also got a visit from our insurance agent. I was FINALLY able to get approved for some better life insurance. My medical screening from a couple months ago went well, and with the letter from my cardiologist basically "clearing" me, they approved me! YAY, maybe I can get some short term disability from work next....
This is what 18 months worth of clothes looks like! Everything in the back is for sale. And, that is the 1 lonely box of stuff I can't part with. Besides that, I kept all of the girls' holiday shirts and dresses, because I REALLY don't want to buy more of those if we have another girl.
Speaking of clothes - I just HAD to photograph the interesting outfit Olivia put together for herself today. What a fashionista!
Saturday was week two of Swim Class for Olivia. She was still a little uneasy at the start, but she warmed right up to it. By the end of class, she jumped off of the ledge (holding the teachers hand) into the water! Awesome! After class I picked the girls up their Saturday McDonalds for lunch...they took their naps, and I got to work. Now that I've finished going through the girls' clothes to sell, I moved on to gathering up everything else we want to sell. High chairs, a pack n' play and a bunch of toys. A friend of mine from school is going to buy a few sets of the girls' clothes, and another friend is thinking about buying a couple others. Fingers crossed! I still haven't received our mortgage statement from the bank, so I STILL can't file our taxes. Ugh. I was really hoping this weekend would be it. Once the girls were in bed for the night, Christian and I cuddled up and watched "Men in Black 3". We love all of those Will Smith movies, so it was a good one.
Sunday proved to be busier than I anticipated. I did a little more organizing around the house, made sure the house stayed picked up and spent the day doing laundry. And, we ran a few errands. We stopped into Kohl's because I needed (really, mine were breaking, LOL) some new jeans - even though they're a tad tight, I was able to buy them a size smaller. YAY! Next up was a quick stop at Menard's for some boring "man" house stuff. Then, Target for our weekly shopping. Side note, Target has been having some AWESOME samples lately. Today, we got bags of pop chips, and a coupon for some free dog food - the new, "fresh" refrigerated kind - a whole log of it. WHOA! With my sample and free stuff addiction, it's like paradise for me! The girls were getting super antsy and crabby by the time we left, so we had a quick lunch and the girls went down for their nap. The weather was pretty crazy all day. It wasn't too bad in the morning, but then it started raining, then hailing/sleeting, then snowing - BIG TIME. It was really slippery and freezing by the time we settled into the house. Looks like it's going to be a tough travel day tomorrow! I was kind of bummed though, because by the time the girls got up from their naps, it was too dark - but I REALLY wanted to take them out to finally try their sleds. Maybe next weekend! They took a really late nap, so it was a quiet night around the house. Dinner, some videos and a little play time. So not ready to start another week, but here it comes!
Chuy cuddled up with us to watch the movie tonight - he didn't last long though...
The girls and I had to show off one of our newest traditions - Sunday night nail polishing. Love girl time with my girls!
So ends another week in our house. Amelia continues to ROCK at potty training - we don't even bring extra clothes or diapers with us when we go out shopping or to eat or anything, and she's been going on her own at home, which is even better! I've seen some major changes in Olivia the past couple of weeks. She's always despised having a sibling, and has been really rough on Amelia the last couple of years. Lately, she's REALLY opened up to it. She helps Amelia go to the bathroom, she's been playing with her and really just helping her in general. I can finally see a big sister shining through, and I absolutely LOVE it. I truly never thought I'd see the day I could say that. It's wonderful - and hopefully it continues!
See you next week!
No comments:
Post a Comment