2013 - Week 30

This week brought us Amelia's birthday, party, and ended with some bad news...

Monday was a pretty standard Monday. They're never fun, it's just a fact, folks! The girls were off to school for their first Monday...it still won't quite be a full week for them though...we both have Friday off, so we'll be spending it together for Amelia's birthday. After work, I got some final cleaning done, and the house is basically ready for the party. Now, we'll be spending the week not touching anything. And, eating everything in the fridge we can making room for party food. Good times!

3 babies now. I have a feeling #4 didn't make it...

Our first picks from the garden. They are SPICY too!

Menards had these solar butterfly lights on super clearance so we got each of the girls one. They love them!

Tuesday was kind of a stressful day at work. We use all kinds of funding sources to pay for the Contracts we write....and, each has a little difference requirements. One of the funding sources I have to deal with is a federal program. This program gets audited every couple years and it's pretty stressful. We don't actually manage the program, so we don't have to do any prep for the audit....but my supervisor was off today, and my lead left early, so I got called into this meeting out of the blue this afternoon and basically had to defend our processes. Not fun! Other than that, I made some good headway with my inbox today. I was feeling pretty "caught up" for a while...not so much anymore. After work, we were able to pick a few strawberries from the garden. The plant is doing well, we just aren't getting a ton of berries...next year should be good. And, in other exciting news...the FINALLY started painting tonight. HALLELUJAH!!!!!!!!!!!

The birds are growing fast!

So proud of the strawberries....

We're fairly certain this is a weed...but it was so big, I had to leave it. We're going for the world record now. HOWEVER, see that little plant with an arrow??? That just started, and it does not feel like a weed. I'm fairly certain it's a cucumber plant...fingers crossed!

Let the painting begin!

Wednesday was a typical day...school, work. My mom asked me to come over to a farmers market by her house with the girls...they have a HUGE market, and tonight had a popular band playing.  figured, why not...Christian was painting, my cleaning was pretty much done...so, I picked the girls up and off we went. Then...I was stuck in traffic forever and just about lost it. I just had to keep reminding myself "construction keeps me employed, construction keeps me employed, construction keeps me employed". We stayed for a big, had some food, danced, then made our way home.

Thursday was a low-key day. Last work/school day for all of us, and our last day with a 2-year old! Crazy. I can't believe 3 years ago right now I was at the hospital, in labor, ready to welcome our little Amelia Grace into our lives.

Friday was Amelia's birthday - HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BABY! Amelia is such an amazing addition to our family - we definitely would not be complete without her. She's such a free spirit, has the most amazing personality. She's so funny, so full of life. Always on the go and always up to something. There's so much life in that little body. She started out being such a difficult baby...colic, acid reflux, severely attached to me. It broke my heart (and, stressed me out beyond belief!). She's grown into the happiest most easy going little girl - it's pretty crazy. We spent the day celebrating. The girls and I had some breakfast and were off to "Pump it Up" to play for a while (I bought a groupon a while ago). We grabbed some McDonald's for lunch and met Daddy at home...he was busy mowing the lawn and doing some final outdoor prep for the party. We had lunch and gave Amelia her big present....their new riding jeep. They were so excited! Next up, naps. Yup - naps on your birthday, how mean! After naps were off to Noodles & Company for dinner, made a quick stop at Menards, grabbed some Dairy Queen for dinner and finally called it a day. Growing babies! It was an emotional day for me.

Saturday was a busy, busy day. We had some breakfast, then Olivia and I were off to swim class while Christian started filling the pool and setting up the yard and getting it ready for the party. Swim class was awesome...Olivia was swimming...like, face in the water, arms and legs going, REAL swimming. She was so proud of herself, and I was so excited for her. So awesome! Once home, I started prepping the food...making pasta salad and sloppy joes, filling the crockpots, cutting up watermelon...and, did some final laundry and picking up. Christian picked up the balloons and cupcakes. Unfortunately, the weather did not want to cooperate. It was chilly and windy...then, the rain rolled in. We had to move the tables into the garage (which also meant, moving the mowers and stuff out to make room, and set up the food and everything. So, the pool party was nixed, but we still had a great day. The kids had a blast and couldn't have cared less. It was a busy day, but a wonderful one!

Sunday was not a great day. The girls were being pretty mean all morning - telling me how horrible I am and I never let them do anything just because I don't let them do something. Usual kid stuff that I know they all do, but it was just out of control today. Then, I got a call from my dad. My grandma's health has been declining for years. Last summer they moved her to a nursing home because her dementia was getting worse. She was moved to the hospital overnight...apparently she developed a urinary tract infection that went un-diagnosed for to long...the infection spread and there isn't anything they can do. So, she's basically been sedated on morphine, just to keep her comfortable. But, they gave her about 72 hours until she passes. It was a pretty heartbreaking conversation. My mother's parents both passed away while I was in high school...I was very close to them, especially my grandma. While that was very hard, I don't think even at that age the finality of death really hit me. I spent a lot of the day thinking about them, missing them. Wishing they would have had a chance to meet my girls and get to know them. I'm not ready to go through it all again. It's going to be a tough week. I spent the day with the (bratty) girls. Christian was off to help our friend move, so nap time couldn't come soon enough. I got Amelia's presents unpackaged and put away, and got the house back in order. I, of course, developed a headache through the course of the day. We spent a little time riding bikes and playing in the yard, and stopped over at Bella's to have cupcakes for her birthday. It was a long day, and quite a week!

Olivia has been fighting her naps tooth and nail. As I put her down she exclaimed "I'm not tired! I'm not taking a nap, and you can't make me!"

Amelia rocked her new helmet tonight!

So, that was another week in our lives. Next week will bring us some polar opposite events....most likely some heartbreaking news about my grandma, and a visit from our Indiana friends.

Until next week!