2015 - Week 24

Here we are, off on another week! We were all off to work and daycare, as appropriate. The day progressed pretty smoothly…until Christian was on his way home with Eliza, and she threw up in the car. Again. UGH! I don’t know if she gets car sick or what the heck is going on, but it breaks my heart (and it’s SO gross!). Poor thing. After that, she was perfectly fine though. So weird, so very weird. Christian met me at daycare and took Amelia with him to baseball, while Olivia and I were off to her softball game. After ball, we settled in at home for a quick dinner and bath before bed. We held our breath all night hoping that nothing else would hit Eliza, that she’d keep her dinner down and that she didn’t start acting ill. Luckily, we made it through the rest of the evening without issue. Whew!

Sissy's Biggest Fan!

Tuesday, of course, Eliza was completely normal. Not a single issue at all. I may have to just mention it to her doctor, and see what he thinks might be causing it. So, we were all off to work and daycare. I plugged away most of the day, but I did leave a bit early for my hair appointment. Yes, a hair appointment for ME! It’s been well over 2 years now since I’ve done a single thing to my hair, so I was more than looking forward to it. Of course, in true fashion, I cut off all of my hair! I think it was about 18” gone when all was said and done. I went way shorter than I’ve ever gone before too. I love the big change, but it’s going to take time to adjust, that’s for sure. I also got my hair colored…it’s noticeable and drastic enough, but should blend well since lord knows I won’t be back in the salon anytime soon. Oh man, it was so nice. Then, chaos (reality) hit. We were told Olivia’s softball pictures were going to be on 6/19. I thought it was strange…a Friday, so late in the season, so much later compared to Amelia. Then, suddenly last night, our coach hands out the picture order form and it says 6/9, NOT 6/19. I was so upset. There was no way I was canceling my hair appointment – I never do ANYTHING for myself, I wasn’t risking canceling and putting it off forever again. With all of the construction going on, and my salon being so far away from home, I knew that I would be cutting it short (pun intended). I had Christian leave work “early” and pick the girls up from daycare…and get Olivia as ready as possible (brush her hair, have her borrow some of Amelia’s gear [since I had Olivia’s with me]) and I had to leave my appointment early – I wasn’t able to get my hair styled after my cut, but I had to get on the road. I raced home as fast as I could, trying to avoid as many construction zones as I could, and just barely made it. Mind you, it’s a good 45 minute drive from the salon to our house under normal circumstances. Today, I had to make it there in rush house, amidst the construction, in that same timeframe. I was exhausted when all was said and done! They took everybody else’s pictures first, and then quick got Olivia’s done and the team picture when I arrived. What a relief! FINALLY, we all made our way home, had some dinner and settled in for the night. BIG news was that Eliza went the entire day without a bottle! I mentioned to them this morning that we were working on weaning her off now, and they just ran with it and held strong. I couldn’t believe it. So, we just continued at home. She isn’t a HUGE fan of milk yet, but we’ll work on it. We’d been doing part milk/part formula for the last couple weeks, working on transitioning her, so hopefully she’ll accept her milk soon. But, I’m pretty excited this no more bottle thing may be easier than anticipated!

Chop, Chop!

The Bottle-Free Babe!

Wednesday was my birthday. WOOT! The big 3-2. 32 Years Old. I can’t believe it. I swear I was just graduating high school yesterday. Now I’m creeping up on my mid-30’s. Unbelievable. But, alas, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! It was a pretty dang good one too. My friend at work brought in bagels for breakfast, and everybody else chipped in for taco dip, fruit and brownies for lunch. YUM!!!! The girls made me some cards at school and made me some jewelry. Super cute. They were so proud, it warms my heart. Christian surprised me with a new charm for my bracelet and took us to Applebee’s for dinner – got myself a perfect margarita to complete the day. The girls did have ball tonight, but they both just had practice, so we decided to skip it. It was seriously a perfect day…mix in all of the texts and facebook messages from my friends and family, and I am truly blessed. Birthday’s aren’t half bad! After dinner, we settled in at home and the day came to an end. Flew right by!

Happy Birthday to Me!

On Thursday I discovered a new local radio station. This new station plays all old school R&B and Hip Hop, like late 80’s and 90’s. Every song brings back so many memories from my school days, I just love it. I posted about it and all of my school friends are just in heaven too. It’s so funny – I’m not the biggest music person – I’m much more of a TV/visual person, but it is amazing how music can transport you. Bring back so many memories and feelings. So, that was pretty darn exciting. I also sold the last of Eliza’s “too small” clothes today. So emotional. I love making the money and saving up for these things we need, and cleaning out the space, but those clothes also hold so many memories – especially the items all 3 girls wore. And, realizing that we will never, EVER have baby clothes in our house again was pretty heart wrenching. I’m so incredibly torn on the subject. Don’t get me wrong, we’re done having kids. But, it’s hard. I know that we cannot financially responsibly handle a 4^th child, and I don’t know that I have the patience to start over again, but I still can’t imagine NEVER having another baby. So, that transaction brought up a lot of emotions, that’s for sure. AND, in some final exciting news, “Orange Is the New Black” Season 3 was released early tonight, and you better believe I hopped right on that train! As soon as the girls went to bed tonight, I binged a few episodes. Tomorrow is my day off, and you better believe that I will finish it up! What a day! However, as of quitting time today, I was heading into 10 GLORIOUS days off, and that was such an amazing feeling. It was chaotic getting prepared to be off for so long, but absolutely worth it.

This Week's Throwback, a look at all of my visits with Dawn!

Friday was a much less emotional day. It was my day off, thankfully. Christian was off to work, the big girls were off to daycare, and Eliza and I spent the day hanging out at home. I binged the rest of Orange is the New Black, of course finishing it up, we played, ate, and Eliza took a nice long nap. While watching my show, I did get a lot of cleaning done. Our friends from Indiana arrive tomorrow, and while we’ve managed to keep the house pretty clean and picked up this week, I had to do some final stuff today…dishes, the basement. The usual. I can’t believe their visit is finally SO CLOSE!!! After Eliza’s nap, we ran to Target for some snacks, pop and general stuff for the house, then picked up the big girls. After work, Christian and his friend Lorenzo ran to Menards to buy the new shed for the large. That’s the first big item we have been saving up for. Our garage is just exploding with stuff, SO MUCH STUFF, that we can hardly park in it anymore. So, we really need to get it cleared out. The shed was on sale, and we had more than enough saved up to buy it, so we took the plunge. Now, hopefully we can get it up soon! And, now we have to start our savings all over again! Next up, we’re saving for our Duluth vacation next month…otherwise, we may need to cancel it. Fingers crossed! The rest of the evening was pretty low key. Dinner, some TV, finished some picking up.

Hanging out with the babe...she loves kitty and her shoes!

Saturday was a great, BUSY Day! Christian was off to work bright and early. The girls and I were up and off to swim class right away as well. We were stuck with another 9:00AM start time session, and even though they just finished last week, they were right back into class today. The girls did well, but we definitely still need to work on their listening skills. So frustrating. Thankfully, my mom was at class today, so it wasn’t quite as hectic and exhausting as usual. She was able to help watch Eliza and keep her entertained while I got the girls showered and ready after class. WHEW, big time! After class, we were all off to Perkins for a late birthday brunch. YUM!!!! While we were eating, I received a text message from Dawn, my Indiana friend, that they were already WELL on their way, and would be arriving around 7:00. While I was SUPER excited, it was way earlier than they usually get here, so I was all thrown off. We still had a party to attend and stuff to get done around the house. Panic mode!!! I texted Christian right away, to prepare him so that when he got home he could clean up the entry way and make sure the bathrooms were in good shape. After brunch, we stopped home and I got Eliza down for a nap. Then, the big girls and I were off to a birthday party, for their little friend Rio – he was on Olivia’s baseball team last year, Amelia played soccer with his team here and there last fall, and he’s on Amelia’s baseball team this year. His mom is super sweet and I can see us becoming good friends with them. She rented a big bounce house for the kids and had all kinds of scooters and cars for the kids to ride. Piñata, face painting, food, cake. It was a really fun party, with a TON of kids. The girls had such a blast. They were really upset, but we had to pack it up and leave as soon as the party ended. Once home, we did some final picking up and cleaning, and before we knew it, our friends were pulling up. It was so weird to actually be able to spend some time together after they arrived, rather than heading right to bed. The kids ran around and played and it warms my heart how they just jump right into it, as if they see each other every day. So amazing. We adults chatted and caught up and laughed and were just so relieved to finally be spending some time together again. Seriously people, it is beyond unfair to live so far away from people you are so close to! We did eventually have to throw in the towel and head to bed, but I can’t even tell you how much I was looking forward to our time together!

Celebrating Rio's Birthday

My Awesome Face-Painting Skills!

Sunday was our first busy day. We were all up, eating and getting ready, one by one. Then, off to spend the day at Canterbury Park, a local live horseracing track. All of the kids were free to get in, and we bought a groupon a while back so us 4 adults got in for the price of 2. Cheap, fun day! I learned that Sunday’s were family fun day at the track…so the kids were able to do some free face painting, ride ponies, check out the petting zoo and they had a big park for them to play at. We grabbed lunch, watched a few of the races, let the kids do all of the fun stuff. It was scorching hot out, and we were all sweating up a storm, but it was a ton of fun. We even watched one of the races from right down by the track, which was pretty cool. We had never been there before, so it was a fun, new experience for all of us. After Canterbury, we were off to “Minnesota’s Largest Candy Store”…again, we had never been. And, WOW was that place candy. Every kind of candy every, pop, root beer, etc. ever made. It was a gigantic barn just packed full of everything you could imagine. And, for the most part, everything was pretty reasonably priced too. We each picked out some goodies, checked out, and packed back into the vehicles. Brooklyn, their 5 year old, has moved her booster seat into our van for the week, which is super cute. She wants to ride with the girls (and, I’m sure the DVD player is equally as tempting, LOL). We dropped the families off at home, Dawn and I made a trip to the store for dinner supplies, and settled in back at home for dinner and a night of chatting and relaxing and hanging out…well, as much as you can relax with 6 kids running around anyway. Wonderful Day 1!

Until Next Week! XOXO