2014 - Week 3

Alright, here we are. Playing catch up. And, another round of "oops, I forgot to take pictures" this week. I blame it on pregnancy brain...

Monday, I was home with Olivia recovering from her fever. She had a pretty good day. She did sleep in, but was pretty exhausted from her lack of REAL, good sleep. She took some medicine, got a new fever patch, watched some videos and actually ate some breakfast. She was more herself, talking more and never had a significant fever (nothing over 100°), so things were looking up. While she perked up, I finally packed up all of the Christmas decorations, and the totes are ready for Christian to put back in storage. YES – it’s official, our house is finally clean, back in order and I love it! Next weekend, I’m hitting the basement, and trying to get all of the new Christmas/Birthday toys mixed in with everything. We were really lacking in the food department, so we ventured out to Target to do some shopping. I got some necessities, stocked up on some snacks and got groceries for the week. Olivia was doing well, but I could tell she was draining and tired. She had lunch once home, then went down for her nap. I finished up Sons of Anarchy (now, I just wait for Season 6 to be released on Netflix), and started Dexter Season 8 (which is FINALLY streaming on Netflix)…until I fell asleep myself! Olivia ended up sleeping for a good 3+ hours, which isn’t usual for her, so I was happy she finally got some good rest. I quickly started dinner once we were up, and Christian and Amelia arrived home. We ate, watched a movie, took a bath and the girls were off to bed. The snow started just as we were going to bed, so I was dreading the drive to work in the morning. Please, please bring on an early spring this year!!!

Trying to dry sissy's hair - you have to do it from a distance, LOL

Tuesday started off rough…the overnight snow made for a long drive to work. Another hour of leave time bites the dust! Ugh! I really wish there was a way I could KNOW how much I’ll be getting from my short term disability while I’m off with the baby. I wasn’t eligible for short term when I had the girls – I was born with heart disease so I was denied for having a pre-existing condition. When I was pregnant with Olivia, I had a check-up and they basically gave me the “all clear” – I’m not healed or anything, they just don’t feel continued monitoring is needed anymore. Because of the time that has lapsed, I was able to get short term shortly before getting pregnant this time around. HALLELUJAH! I will be taking the full 12 weeks off this time around, but I’ll probably only have about 9 weeks of leave time saved up – so, I’m really depending on my short term to get us over that 3 week hump. For now, we plan on keeping the girls in school through my leave – we may take them out for the first two weeks, so we’d only have to pay ½ their tuition, but that’s the only “vacation” they are allowed. If it were any other time, I’d consider pulling them, and re-enrolling when I return to work, but they do so many fun, awesome things during the summer program, I really don’t want them missing out, just to sit at home with me and baby. And, I think Olivia will get to go on actual field trips this summer, since she’ll be moving up to the school-age room, getting ready for kindergarten. BUT, if we have to pull them for financial reasons, we’ll just have to suck it up and do it. Being the obsessive planner that I am, it really does drive me nuts that I can’t just KNOW, like have an exact figure to work with, and work into the budget. Today I did get my W-2 at work though – still a ton of paperwork to wait on (Christian’s W-2, our bank statement and the daycare expense report), but I can’t wait to file, see what we’re getting (after a full year of higher claims) and make sure we’re still on track to buy the mini-van in a few months. Again, the planner coming out with full impatience! Work went fast, and Olivia was feeling well, so that was promising. The owner of Christian’s company passed away this past weekend, and they were having a service for him tonight, so Christian stopped home quick to change, and was off. The girls played in the toy room for a while, we had dinner, got ready for bed and watched a show together. The nights fly by way too fast!

Wednesday was a pretty standard day. Work and school went well. The evening was a little more chaotic…the girls were at each other’s throats, from the moment I picked them up. Ugh – I hate when our short time together in the evenings is spent with them fighting, and us getting angry with them, and them getting in trouble. Their iPad privileges were taken away quickly upon arriving home, and it wasn’t long before they weren’t allowed to play in their room either. It was finally dinner time, and Christian arrived home to pitch in with the chaos. We ate, and tried to spend some time together. There were some laughs and playing amongst the fighting, so I’ll say the night was not a complete loss. Once Amelia was in bed, I spent some time resting on the couch, watching Christian and Olivia harass Siri on his new iPhone for work. Olivia thought it was HILARIOUS that the phone talked back to her, and it was actually pretty entertaining. Oh, the little things that bring us joy! Olivia was back to deciding she needed to sleep in our room, so we headed off to bed…I watched a show while she dozed off, then passed out myself. Snow moved in this evening, with blizzard/windy conditions expected tomorrow. So, the drives tomorrow should be interesting again. Winter, ugh!

Thursday was kind of a mixed bag. Well, the drive was slightly annoying after a small snow overnight, but not as horrible as usual. The work day FLEW by! I was getting a ton done, and cleaning up messes left and right – I LOVE days like that. When you actually feel productive and feel like your time was well spent. Christian had a dentist appointment this afternoon, so I was hopeful he’d be home early (well, on time really), and would be able to help with dinner and all that. Turned out, the dentist was running late and his appointment ran WAY late. So, per usual, after work, I picked up the girls, we made our way home, and I started dinner. They had another rough night…fighting over EVERYTHING and just driving each other batty. I don’t know what’s going on with them right now…if they’re just tired, if it’s a phase, or what, but I’m SOOOOO over it. It didn’t help that I was really uncomfortable tonight. The baby positioned “himself” right up at the top of my ribcage for some reason, and I couldn’t even sit without it being hard to breathe. I think that’s a first from all of my pregnancies. I’ve noticed, this one also really likes to kick organs (bladder mostly) and I don’t remember actually feeling that with the girls. It’s very strange. After dinner, Christian gave the girls a bath, and it was another pretty early night for me. I haven’t even been able to stay awake through one show at night lately! I’m falling WAY behind, LOL.

Friday was a pretty good end to the week. The work day flew by pretty fast, so that was refreshing. Christian was off for the day, still using up his leave time. I actually made him bring the girls to school (I usually do, even when I’m off work), because they were exhausted and not waking up for anything this morning. It was SUPER refreshing not having to fight with them all morning (get dressed, finish brushing your teeth, put your shoes one – each shouted about a million times) or listen to them fight with each other, not having to stop to drop them off, getting to work on time. Seriously, so lovely! I also left him a list of things to do…which, he actually knocked out! He called to switch our internet providers (finally!). We currently pay around $65 a month for internet, and we got in with a new company at $30 a month – awesome!! The equipment should come next Wednesday, and I’m excited to save some money! He was also tasked with bringing all of the Christmas stuff  downstairs…he did that, AND even put it all away under the stairs! Finally, he had to fix the TV in the bedroom…it wasn’t picking up many stations from the antenna, and the few we were getting, kept going out. So, he had to re-run the wire and get it set up more stable. Wahla, we have all the channels now – my hero! On top of those duties, he took it upon himself to empty the dishwasher AND wash the dishes in the sink and vacuum the upstairs AND put the vacuum cleaner away. I was pretty blown away when I arrived home…he is either setting me up for something, or he just doesn’t want to face my hormonal pregnancy rage for a while. Either way, I’ll take it! Once I arrived home, he showered and got ready, while I packed up a bag for the girls. We stopped at school to pick them up (and OH BOY, you can’t imagine the excitement when BOTH of us are there to pick them up…it’s like they’ve won the lottery!), then were off to my mom’s for dinner. Of course, as soon as we walk in the door, they ask us when we’re leaving…they don’t want us raining on their fun with Grandma apparently. So, we ate, got them settled in, and were off. I settled in to watch some shows and relax, while Christian was off to hang out with his friend Lorenzo for a while. I suppose we could’ve planned a little date night, but I’m so lazy and tired right now, doing nothing is just the more appealing option. Oops.

Saturday was an always welcomed quiet day in our house. The girls spent the night at my mom’s, and she didn’t bring them home today until around 3:30, so it was a long, quiet morning for us. I didn’t really sleep in, but I did keep my lazy butt in bed all morning, watching some shows and relaxing. Christian slept in…BIG time, so he definitely caught up on some sleep. Once up, he was right out to plow the new snowfall we received overnight. We showered and got “ready” for the day, watched a little TV together, and waited for the tiny tornadoes to return home. My friend from work, Brad, is also a choreographer at a local dance studio. This weekend, they put on their annual show, which he was in charge of this year (they rotate between the different teachers). So, tonight I was off with our other co-worker, Kelly, to watch his show. This year it was a story based on the music of “Queen”. They do such a good job, it’s hard to believe the performers are just kids! So talented. After the show, I made my way home. Everybody was asleep already, so I cuddled up with the TV for a while. A nice quiet end to a low-key day!

We spent some time watching the animals fight...one of our most entertaining pastimes.

Sunday was a pretty busy day. The girls slept in to a pretty decent time, so we got a later than usual start. We got ready right away and went to Perkins for breakfast (YUM!). We made a quick stop at Target to get a handful of groceries and some cough medicine for the girls, and then, stopped to get Christian a haircut. Once home, we spent some time playing outside. We got another decent round of snow overnight Friday, so we thought we’d attempt a snowman. Again, the snow was too light and fluffy, it wasn’t working. So, we just played instead. I was shocked by how much snow we had in the backyard, it was WAY deeper than we anticipated. It was sunny, and actually fairly warm, so the girls played for quite some time. Once inside, they went right down for their naps, we watched the NFL championship games, I did some light picking up around the house, and Christian started getting ready to grill some dinner. Bella and Mariano stopped over to have dinner with us and play for a while, and it was basically bedtime when they left. I don’t work tomorrow, but I was still pretty exhausted, so it wasn’t a very late night for me. Another week down!

Kicking back, enjoying the sun, while we wait for Great Clips to open.

Snowy Play Time!

Meanwhile, today marks 24 weeks in the pregnancy. Entering the 6^th month already, so crazy. I’m still feeling pretty good…the kicks and movements are getting a lot stronger, which is pretty awesome. As long as I don’t eat a ton at one time, I feel pretty good most days. My new wardrobe has definitely boosted my spirits this last week, so I’m glad I finally splurged a little! The girls are getting more and more excited, ALWAYS asking when baby is finally going to be here. Today, they asked what we were going to call “him”, and I told them we didn’t know yet. Olivia suggested “Sparkle”, but I don’t think that’s going to stick. Every day, we get more and more excited, and we just cannot wait to meet this final member of our family. But, for now, I’m enjoying having “him” all to myself!

Until Next Week!! XOXO