2015 - Week 21

Monday showed up, and it was back to the grind.  Everybody was back to work and school/daycare. Some of us more exhausted than others, because some of us didn’t want to sleep. Oh Eliza, one day, you’ll sleep all night, every night and I may just miss these middle of the night cryfests. Maybe. This week, our main goal is to work on getting Eliza off the bottle/formula. So, today she only had two bottles at my mother in-laws, and one before bed. Hopefully we can keep decreasing that, and moving to the sippy cup and milk. So far, she doesn’t seem to be a big fan of milk, but we’ve been trying since her birthday, so we’ll keep on it. I left work early today for a Target run, picked the big girls up, and got them ready for ball. After Saturday’s heat wave, the temps have been dropping, and it was another freezing night of ball. Olivia just had practice, and only ½ her team showed up, so they cut it a little short. Luckily I remembered sweaters and blankets this week! Amelia had her first game, and I was so bummed that I missed it! Poor Eliza had to sit out and watch her game in the cold – but, I dug out some gloves and winter gear for her. Boo!!! We all survived the deep freeze, but I’m sure hoping this is the last of this cold weather! Finally, we all met up back at home, had some dinner and settled in for the night. Eliza took a spill today at my mother in-law’s house, and it makes me so sad. She hit her forehead right on the edge of a door, leaving a big cut on her head. I’m hoping it doesn’t leave too bad of a scar, otherwise she seems to be in pretty good spirits about it. My poor baby.

Poor Olivia, fell asleep on the way to softball. These long days get the best of them sometimes.

Ouch!!

Look at my big babies on their Timehops today! Can't believe they're getting so old!

Tuesday was a pretty good, much less chaotic day. Work, daycare, school…the usual. We’re working hard to start selling off the baby stuff, and other stuff that we don’t need, and it’s really been making me mad lately. I’ve been using craigslist and those garage sale sites on Apple Valley. We’ve sold a few things, but the number of cancelations and no-shows and people who just plain don’t follow through, is just ridiculous. It’s so frustrating. I choose to do this, vs. having a garage sale, because I want to actually make some money off of our stuff, but I just wish people weren’t so flaky! Ugh! Vent over. Eliza had a really great day at daycare – she was in a great mood, and she only had ONE bottle! Then, she was in the best mood all evening, such a relief! She had one more half milk, half formula bottle before dinner. We may just be able to wean her quicker than we were expecting! The big girls played in the toy room for quite a while tonight – AND, they have actually been cleaning up after themselves lately, which is really great news. Growing up, they’re all growing up!! The rest of the evening was pretty standard…dinner, baths, bed. Yippie!

Picked up some clearance dresses for the girls' pictures in a couple weeks. So cute!

Wednesday was a super busy day at work for me. The day seriously flew by. I had a couple long meetings, we had our annual health fair, where I got to stock up on some super fun freebies, and we had a plant sale, where I grabbed a few more things for our gardens. It was time to “punch out” before I even realized it. I rushed home to get the dog out, grab some snacks and the girls’ ball gear, and picked them up from daycare. The big girls changed in the van, and we were off to Olivia’s game, where Christian met us. Amelia had a late practice, so she and I left from there to meet up with her team. Thankfully it was a much nicer day out! FINALLY, we all met up back home, changed, had a late dinner and we were all off to bed. These late nights, they definitely take a toll on us.

I was missing my girls today. Blessed to be surrounded by their pictures and artwork all day though!

Another night at the fields!

Olivia in action.

Thursday was a much better day, more relaxed day. It was pretty quiet at work, so I was able to plow through a ton of things in my inbox. I barely made a dent, but it’s nice to actually feel productive. After work, I picked the girls up, and it turns out Amelia has been acting up a bit, and had a really rough day today. Ugh, so frustrating. I know kids will be kids, but man, I feel so bad for the teachers having to put up with it when she gets in her moods. Once home, the girls played outside for a while, while a couple people stopped by for some craigslist sales. Yes, actual sales, that people actually showed up for! We’re getting close to having our “buy a shed” money! After some play time, we had a pretty low key night…dinner, some TV and baths before bed.

My little monkey's enjoying some outside time.

Friday was a pretty big “entertainment news” day – the Duggar Family molestation news broke, and it was seriously disturbing. And disgusting. I’ve always had my own issues with the Duggars. I can’t stand them. I think they’re fake, I think they’re addicted to having babies, to the attention it brings, to the paycheck they started collecting and the lifestyle that came with it. I think it’s irresponsible to our world and the environment for one family to use up so many of its resources. I just don’t agree with it…no, it’s not REALLY my place to care, and I get that, but I do. Then the news today, that the eldest son had molested several young girls years ago, including his own sisters - and the family covered it up (with the help of a later jailed himself police officer), honestly did not surprise me one bit. And, I think it’s just going to open the floodgates to all of that families secrets. So horrible, just absolutely horrible. I think what was worse for me was seeing some of the response on facebook....watching people actually defend this man, almost like a “boys will be boys”, “kids will be kids” attitude. I mean, I couldn’t believe it. I mean, seriously, I don’t care how long ago it was, I don’t care how old he was, I don’t care how “sorry” he claims to be, it’s not OK. I was pretty excited to see TLC act quickly and take the show off the air (eventually canceling it all together, thank goodness)…at least one good thing will come out of that disaster. What a world we live in, what a world.

Back in our world, it was a pretty busy day. Work was pretty crazy for both of us. I left early for Olivia’s kindergarten “Celebrate Our Learning” program. Seriously, I can’t believe she’s almost done with kindergarten, it’s gone by so fast! At the celebration, there were four stations … she showed me their reading station, where she read a few books to me, their science station, where they had worms and baby chicks and she had a “report” on worms to read me, the listening station, where she showed me how they use the iPads to listened to different lessons, and their writing stations, where she read some of the class books they had written together. She was so proud to show me around, and so excited that I was there. It just warms my heart, I love that girl. After showing us parents around, the teachers showed us a little slideshow they put together of the class, and then handed out award Certificates. Olivia got an “Amazing Artist” award for her love of drawing. So fun! After the ceremony, she finished off her day at school and I was on my way back into town to pick up Eliza from my mom’s. We picked the big girls up from daycare, and made our way home. Eliza and I hung out inside, while the big girls played outside. When Christian arrived home, he set up a “sprinkler system” in the garden…he bought this set of 4 sprinklers last fall on clearance, and it actually works out perfectly for the garden. We had some dinner, and the big girls went across the street to their little BFF’s house for a movie night. It was nice to have a little bit of a break, that’s for sure. I cleaned up the kitchen with my downtime, and settled in with some Hulu for the night.

Celebrate Our Learning Day with Olivia

Saturday was a pretty quiet day. We didn’t have swim class this week, so it was nice not having to rush out the door right away. Christian was off to work for a while the girls and I hung out at home. Olivia slept in, Amelia watched some videos, and Eliza was all over the place. She’s walking more and more, every day which is pretty exciting. Exhausting, but exciting. She was a little cranky today, so after some breakfast and playing, she fell asleep on my chest for a little nap. Oh man, I love me some baby naps! My mom picked the big girls up around 1:30 for a sleepover, Christian went to his friends’ house after work to help him put up a fence, so Eliza and I had a pretty quiet evening at home. A day of rest and quiet is just what I needed!

Cuddles with my little love.

Sunday was a rainy, gloomy day. But, the quiet and atmosphere just have helped, because Eliza slept until 8:30! Sleeping in, I sure do miss doing that on a regular basis! I spent the day doing laundry and just hanging out around the house. I went through the clothes that Eliza has grown out of, getting ready to sell the first year. So crazy. It makes me sad to get rid of the kids’ stuff, but I’m pretty excited to see it all go…cleaning up space in the basement, and saving up for our shed. Slowly but surely, we’re getting there! My mom brought the big girls home around dinner time, and we had a quiet evening at home. Tomorrow is a holiday, and I’m off next Friday, so we’re heading into a 3-day week. Which, is basically the perfect week!

Until Next Week! XOXO