Monday was a pretty
busy day. Back to reality…well, for the girls and me, and I was feeling a TAD
better. They were off to school, I was off to work. Luckily, the day went
fairly fast. And, I found out we won the new born photography session, and am
BEYOND excited for that. It’s a free session, plus we get a CD with 15 edited
photos, and copyrights. We weren’t really going to be able to afford a photo
session for the baby….and even though my friend Dawn will be coming, and will
take some, she won’t have her props and stuff with her, so I’m excited we get
this chance. So awesome! Meanwhile, Christian had the day off…along with this
upcoming Friday, the last of his using up his leave time (which, I thought was
strange, since it’s February now, but whatever). He spent most of the day
working on the car. He got the censor replaced, the “check engine” light is gone,
so hopefully that will cover us for a while now. I’m so grateful that he’s so
willing to figure out how to fix stuff like that…he had to pay $60.00 for the
part, and that’s it. I can’t imagine how much it would cost to have gotten it
done in a shop. I left work a tad early, stopped at Target for a few things,
picked up the girls, and we were FINALLY off to visit my BFF, Kari and her new
baby, Addison. I’ve been dying, being so sick and not able to visit them, I was
so excited to finally get to see them and hold her. She’s just the littlest
peanut; it’s so hard to remember them being that small. The girls checked her
out, otherwise didn’t seem to care too much. But, later, as I was putting
Amelia to bed, she tells me she doesn’t want our baby to come home. I asked her
why, and she just said because. Then, she kept asking to sleep with me, and I
told her “remember, we all need to work hard at sleeping in our own beds
again”. She asked why, so I reminded her that the baby is coming, and the baby
will need to sleep with us because it will be too small to care for itself. So,
she came up with the plan that the baby can sleep in her room, with sissy, in
her bed, and she’ll sleep with me. LOL – I think the true colors are starting
to show as the time gets closer. I’m still not sure how she is going to adjust
to the change, being such a mama’s girl. And, anxious to see how Olivia reacts
this time, vs. when Amelia was born. It’s going to be interesting, that’s for
sure!
I officially can't see my feet anymore! I was feeling cute today...like my belly finally popped OUT, so I had to snap a shot :)
Visiting Baby Addison
Tuesday, I continued my climb to getting better. Still coughing, but that’s
about it. I can’t wait for this to be behind me! The girls did well in school –
we FINALLY got our daycare tax paperwork today, and their class lists for
Valentine’s Day – last year, I literally got their lists the day before Valentine’s
Day, and I was NOT happy about it, so I was proactive this year about asking.
So, I’ll be finishing up our taxes this week, and we’ll be doing their
Valentine’s this weekend. Work went well…it was a long day, but actually quite
productive. Things have been going pretty good…I haven’t been getting super
overwhelmed or under water lately, so that’s a good feeling. After work,
Christian was on pick-up duty, and I was off to meet my friend Gini for a quick
dinner at Potbelly…more for chatting and catching up than anything. It was nice
to get out for a short time, and catch up with her – doesn’t happen nearly
enough, that’s for sure! I arrived home as the girls were finishing up dinner
and watching some videos. I did a quick load of laundry, and I was off to relax
in bed as soon as I got Amelia down. We got them both to sleep in their room
again, so hopefully we’re over the hump of them wanting to sleep in our room
all the time. Oh, and, we actually got a money order today from the whole
Chicago taxi mix-up/scam – I did not think it would actually happen, so I’m
pretty excited about that. Finally, our friends Dan and Michelle welcomed their
first little one into the world today, little Brittany! I have 4 friends that
were expecting this year with me, and this was baby #2 to come. So fun! I can’t
wait to meet her!
Wednesday was a
long day. Any time my work week is shorter, it seems to just draaaaag on
forever – this week is no exception. I’ve also been battling some pretty sever
leg cramps during the night, and the pain from them likes to stick around all
day long, so dealing with that on top of the cold just is not fun, AT ALL! Work
was pretty standard. I picked the girls up, to find out Olivia didn’t have the
best day, eventually letting her temper get the best of her, throwing a toy at
another kid and hitting him in the cheek. So, she was on restriction for the
evening. When I asked her why she did it, she said because they were playing
and he hit the toy out her hand. So, like usual, it’s just a reaction that gets
the best of her, which is so frustrating. Seriously, how do you get through to
them, and get them to just walk away, tell the teacher, etc.?!? I’m at a loss
on that. When we arrived home, Christian was already home from work. He ran to
Walmart quick to grab a few groceries while the girls and I settled in. I was
feeling pretty exhausted, and my coughing fits were getting worse, so I pretty
much relaxed for the night – I did manage to fold yesterday’s load of laundry,
and get another load done, but that’s about it. After putting Amelia to bed, my
coughing was so bad it was making me gag/throw up, which was horrible, but
Olivia was so sweet and concerned about me. She rubbed my back, and then laid
down on the couch with me for a while…even though she was in trouble. They
definitely have a knack for comforting you when you need it the most. She had a
pretty bad cough going on herself, so I’m hoping it’s not the same thing.
Finally, she was off to bed, and so was I. Like every other night, just wishing
I’d wake up miraculously healed…
Thursday was my
Friday. As usual, I was VERY happy about that. It was also Christian’s Friday,
as he’s still finishing up his leave time. We were both looking forward to a
long, fairly quiet weekend, that’s for sure. Overall, the day went pretty
normal. I was busy clearing out as much as I could for the end of the week. I
spent my lunch break finalizing our taxes for the year. I’ve used TurboTax for
years, but decided to try a couple online programs this year to see if they all
came out the same. So, I tried TurboTax, TaxAct and H&R Block. Our State
refund came out the same on all programs, but the Federal refund differed.
TaxAct was about $200 more than TurboTax, and H&R Block was another $10
more. I’m not sure why there is a difference – seems very odd to me. I also
compared the costs of each program, with TurboTax and H&R Block each
costing about $68 to complete and file both returns, while TaxAct was only $18.
I kept waiting for there to be a catch, but we ended up going with TaxAct, and
sure enough, $18. We didn’t get back quite what I was expecting, but it wasn’t
far off, and we’re still on track to have a good mini-van downpayment in April.
In any event, I’m pretty excited that we don’t have to immediately turn around
and spend our entire return like the last few years. It will be nice to feel
like we have a little extra cash for a few months! After work, it seriously
felt like death walking to the car. This deep freeze has been NO JOKE, and I’m
beyond over it. A bonus on days like this is having to stop for gas. Ouch. When
I picked the girls up, Olivia was sure to immediately update me, and assure me
that she did NOT get in trouble today, so hopefully she’s learned her lesson,
for now anyway. I arrived home to find an appointment for Amelia’s early
childhood screening in the mailbox. I seriously wanted to cry…my baby, it can’t
possibly be time for her kindergarten screening!! Ugh – she thought it was
pretty funny that I was throwing such a fit about it, but it’s seriously just
so hard to believe. First this, now next week we have Olivia’s registration.
Time is moving WAY too fast! After I regrouped myself, we had some dinner and
had family night at home. Christian and I watched some of the first night of
Olympics after the girls went to bed. Figure skating, which I love and it
always reminds me of my Grandma, and the Moguls, which I do not understand
whatsoever, my knees hurt just watching them!
Olivia's Drawing from School today, I just loved it.
Our Early Childhood Screening notice for Amelia, can't believe it!
Friday started
pretty busy, and it came in handy having Christian off work. We started the day
off bringing the girls in for their dentist appointments. Amelia is still young
enough that they really just look at them, count them and talk to us about
care. Overall, they were happy and didn’t see any concerns. Olivia gets a
little more of an exam, and she got her first x-rays today. And, unfortunately,
it came back with FOUR cavities. All of them are on her molars, between the
teeth. Apparently, her molars are all very close together, so they’re going to
be really susceptible to cavities. They are going to let one go for now, but
she’ll need 3 filled, at two appointments. I’m nervous…they’re going to use
laughing gas to relax her, and aren’t sure yet if the area will need to be
numbed. My poor baby. They also said that Amelia’s teeth are pretty much the
same, so we need to really watch her. They are recommending we definitely floss
every day, and we use a fluoride rinse, at least with Olivia for now, to help
get between those tight teeth. Of course,
just needing to put her through that is hard enough, but then knowing we’ll
have to pay for it, hurts even more. These unexpected expenses, it just never
stops! After the appointment, we stopped at McDonald’s for breakfast and
dropped the girls off at daycare. All of Olivia’s little friends were so happy
to see her and crowded around her, which was really cute. And, they always
think it’s pretty cool when both of us drop them off or pick them up, so that’s
fun. Christian and I made our way home…I paid some bills and did some chores on
the computer, while he hung out and relaxed. I suddenly felt exhausted, so I
ended up taking a little nap. He was off to take his mom to lunch for her
birthday, so I spent the rest of the day doing pretty much nothing but snooze
on and off, and watch some shows. He picked the girls up on his way home, while
I ran to Target to get a few things for the house and a few groceries. Of
course, when he picked the girls up, they ran into Olivia’s BFF, Bella (like we
often do), and, like usual, they made plans to hang out for the evening.
Christian apparently doesn’t realize that is a daily conversation, and agreed
to it, so he invited Sara and Bella over for dinner and to hang out for a bit.
So, we suddenly had to pick up and whip dinner together quickly, unexpectedly. Men,
seriously. The girls were right off to bed after our friends left, and we
weren’t far behind. Christian had to be to work early in the morning, so there
was no partying it up for us.
Wearing my red for Go Red for Woman!
Dentist Check-Ups
Saturday was pretty
quiet for us. Christian was off to work bright and early, and worked until a
little after lunch time. The girls spent the morning watching movies and
playing…driving each other crazy. We had some breakfast, hung out, got ready
and were off to swim class. This week went better again. The crybaby kid was back
in Olivia’s class, but they handled it a lot better this time. Clearly, this
boys’ parents just placed him in that class, because there’s no way he’s been
through Level 1. Amelia’s class did MUCH better this week, thank god. Week 3
and we’re finally getting into some basics. After class, we made our way home
for some lunch, and the girls were off for their naps. The news has been
claiming these next few days will be the last of our bitter cold weather, and
then we’ll be getting back into the normal range. I’ll believe it when I see
it, but I’m pretty excited about it! We had a pretty lazy day around the house
after that. I made some Take-Out Fake-Out tonight (sweet & sour chicken and
fried rice), which we haven’t had forever, so that was delish. I was hoping for
a movie night, but the girls were up a little later than usual, and we were
just too tired to focus on a movie. There’s always next weekend!
Sunday was another
pretty quiet end to the week for us. The girls were up bright and early, as
usual. I started laundry and doing a little picking up as soon as I was up,
while Christian slowly started moving about, and made us all some breakfast. We
watched some movies and the girls played in their room for a while. It was a
pretty uneventful morning, which is always welcomed. After lunch, we were off
to meet the latest baby, little Brittany, and catch up with our friends for a
bit. Christian and Dan chatted, guy stuff, while I snuggled the baby, caught up
with Michelle and tried to keep the girls from destroying their house. Again,
the little babe just slept the entire time I had her, peaceful as can be.
Hopefully I have the same effect on our little bundle! The girls again weren’t
overly interested, but they had also never been to their house before, so they
were busy exploring…and annoying their cat, who HATES kids. We didn’t stay
super long, knowing what those exhausted early days are like, and made our way
home. I had dinner going in the crock pot, so we watched some movies together,
ate dinner and had a fairly quiet evening. Back to work…a LONG 5-day week at
that. Ugh – I hate those! LOL
My pretty pretty princesses!
Visiting baby Brittany
Also, today marks
27 weeks! By some accounts, entering the 3rd trimester (some say
this week, some say next…I have no idea why there would be different opinions
on it). It’s so crazy...it seems like just yesterday this little one was
something we were just debating. A decision we were contemplating, and
questioning all day, every day. Now, I’m in the final stretch, and we’ll soon
be meeting him/her. So amazing. I’m still feeling pretty good. Getting sporadic
Braxton Hicks contractions, but so far only the one day that got pretty
draining. Of course, more and more movement every day, and more powerful.
Somehow, I didn’t gain any weight this week, so I’m still sitting at 20lbs
gained. 3 months to go, and getting more anxious every day! And, just for
updating sake…no, we still have not talked names at all, and we haven’t made
any additional plans or purchases for the arrival yet. I feel like I’ve been
body snatched or something, because that is SO not like me!
