8/27/10 - D-Day

So, today was the day I've been dreading for a while. My first day home with both girls, all day. I seriously thought I was going to have a panic attack there for a while. I have such little patience, and Olivia gets to be such a handful, I didn't know how I would handle it. BUT, I must pat myself on the back, because it went SUPER well!

Amelia woke up first, so I fed her and got her settled in. Olivia woke up shortly after. We ate some breakfast and did some playing for a while. After Amelia ate again, I got both of the girls dressed, loaded up the brand new double stroller and we were on our way down to the park. Amelia slept the whole time we were there, so Olivia and I ran around. She loves to climb up all of the stairs and poles and go down all of the slides...she MUST do it by herself though. She does not want any help...that's my girl! She eventually noticed the gaggle of geese at the other end of the park, and took off after them. So, once I finally caught her (after taking some pictures of course), it was time to head off. We took a nice little walk and were on our way home. Olivia had a quick lunch and played while I fed Amelia and put her down for a nap. Olivia went down shortly after, and they both slept for about 4 hours...FOUR HOURS! It was amazing. I cleaned up the house, took care of the checkbooks and bills, ate some lunch and had plenty of time to relax. So, our first time all alone went amazing!

Christian took straight to the yard when he got home from work. After naps and yard work, we all ate some dinner and just took it easy for the evening. It was a long day, and I am exhausted!!! it's going to be a very busy (and hot) weekend as well, so a good nights sleep is definitely in order!

8/26/10 - 1 Month...and Out and About

First of all, my sweet baby girl turns 1 month old today...I cannot believe it's already been a month! She's doing really well. Her crying and fussiness has not been nearly as bad lately, I'm sure the pacifier plays a big role in that. She still sleeps very well at night, she always gives us 3-4 hour stretches, sometimes longer! She was able to hold her head up a little bit even when she was born, but she's very good at it now. She's focusing more and more, you can tell she's actually looking at you now and trying to figure things out. And, I have managed to get a couple of REAL smiles out of her this week. It's amazing how quickly they develop and grow. She's still a little peanut, and of course cute as can be!

As far as today goes...I decided today was a good day to finally be productive! We have so many little things that need to get done, it's time I get on it. Amelia and I woke up...she ate (a couple times), I ate, then it was time to get ready for the day.

First up, we had to run up to "the city" to deposit some checks, then right back to our neck of the woods. We made a quick stop at the post office to mail some medical bills (which by the way are a million times cheaper when you don't have surgery...YAY for that), we stopped to get some gas and much needed Diet Dew, picked up some drive thru for lunch and finally we were home. After lunch, Amelia went down for a nap and I jumped on the computer. I was able to find a replacement lamp for our stupid TV for pretty cheap, and ordered that. I also made up Amelia's birth announcement and ordered those. I scheduled Amelia's 2-month check-up appointment for next money and talked to a church down the road from us about having her baptized there...and scheduled that! It felt SO good to finally get all of this little stuff done and taken care of...It felt good to finally do some productive stuff (other than cleaning and taking care of Amelia of course).

Once Christian and Olivia were home, I made some dinner, he played outside with her for a little while and it was an early night for the entire house! Doing stuff makes you tired...

8/25/10 - Low Key Wednesday

Today was just a pretty low key day for all of us. Amelia and I spent the day around the house. She was VERY good today, not really fussy at all (thank the lord!). We went on another nice long walk this morning, she took a nice long nap. It was great. While she napped, I quickly cleaned up the dishes and the kitchen and grabbed some lunch. I headed downstairs to spent some quality time with the DVR...only to find out the stupid TV wasn't working...the lamp in the TV blew out...again...for the 3rd time in 6 years. UGH...I hate that TV.

When we finally broke down and decided it was time to get a "big" TV, LCD TV's were the new big thing. But, the guy at Best Buy introduced up to this brand new technology that was on the rise..DLP TV's. We though, wow, let's be super cool and jump on this band wagon right away. Of course, the technology never ended up taking off, and the TV's are basically obsolete. Why you might ask? Oh, maybe because they are CRAP! The TV's are powered by one lamp (vs. many lamps)...and this will be the third time we've replaced ours. Luckily the other two times the TV was under warranty. Also, because the technology never took off, the lamps are not sold in every day stores, and are super expensive. Directly from Toshiba, they are over $200.00! I was able to find one online for about half the price, but we haven't decided where we're going to order it from. STUPID TV!

So, it was back upstairs for me. I decided it was a good reason to just take a nap instead, so I did! Amelia later woke up, Christian and Olivia got home, and we did the usual...play a bit, have some dinner and just hang out. Just another day at our house!

8/24/10 - Thank You, Mother Nature!

Today was a beautiful day! The weather has taken another turn for the better...cool temps, nice wind, sun. It's great! It's beginning to feel like the start of fall, and I'm loving that. I was never one for "fall activities"...just not my thing. But, after having Olivia, I just love it. I love doing all of the fall stuff with her...going to orchards, going tot he corn maze, carving pumpkins, Halloween...all of that fun stuff. Amelia won't be too into it this year, but Olivia will have a blast! I just can't wait!

This morning Christian finally remembered to get the stroller out of his truck and leave it for me, so Amelia and I went on our first walk today. It was a REALLY long one, all around our neighborhood, and it felt so great! It's nice to get active again, that's for sure! I ended up gaining 27lbs during Amelia's pregnancy (which I'm very proud of). I just have a few more pounds to lose (also very proud of that)...but, I have a little left to lose from Olivia's pregnancy, then some extra baggage I was carrying anyway, so I'm anxious to get to my 6 week appointment in a couple of weeks and get the clean bill of health to start exercising again! I'm ready to get this show on the road! Being pregnant for two years definitely takes a toll on your body!

Other than that, I just did my usual cleaning up around the house, watched some TV, relaxed and just hung out. Christian and Olivia got home and, like usual, we just ate and hung out around the house. Nothing too exciting going on over here!

8/23/10 - Demanding a Day of Rest!

Today I decided to grant myself a day of rest! It was such a busy weekend, and I have a week of errands, chores and activities ahead of me, so today will just be a day of nothing!

Amelia has still been pretty fussy and crying a lot. We've tried everything, and it's just not helping. I couldn't take much more of the crying, it was driving me insane, and it was constantly making us worry that something is wrong with her. So, tonight, Christian and I finally gave in...gave in to the pacifier. We are not fans of pacifiers...I worry about trying to break the habit in the future, I don't like the effects they can have on children's tooth/gum development, and I despise the idea of getting up during the night to replace a lost pacifier. But, we've spent 4 weeks trying everything we can think of to make her happy, and this was our last resort. And, to mixed emotions, it did help. She seemed to calm down immensely when we gave it to her. And, she did well keeping it in, until she would fall asleep or get hungry. So, for now we'll just thank our lucky stars something is helping. And, pray that it's an easy thing to get away from her in the future!

Other than that, it was just another day. Once Christian got home, I took Olivia with me to do some much needed grocery shopping. We ate some quick dinner when we got home and it was just about bed time already. Boy, the days sure do fly by....

8/22/10 - Another Busy Weekend, Over!

Well, Sunday has come to an end. It was another busy weekend for us, but it was a good one!

Today was another pretty early morning for us. Olivia seems sleeps through Amelia's middle of the night crying well, but not her early morning one. She was up bright and early this morning when Amelia woke up to eat...so our day began. We did some cleaning around the house, Amelia and I hung out together and Christian and Olivia did some playing outside. We got them both down for naps (NOT an easy job today) and got ourselves cleaned up and ready.

Once the girls were up, we were all on our way over to Christian's parents' house for some grilling. My mom met us over there as well, so it was big time family time. Olivia had tons of fun showing off for all of her favorite people. Amelia seemed to enjoy spending some more time outside and napped the afternoon away. We had some yummy grilled Mexican food and it was a great way to finish off the weekend.

We got home around bedtime. Watched the Vikings game...it was Favre's big 2010 debut. They lost...to the 49er's...NOT OK. Oh well, it's just pre-season right?! Can't wait for the real season to being!!!

Early today Olivia decided to give the car seat a try...I think she's outgrown it since she first used it :) Dad, Chuy and Amelia also took a late night nap together, had to snap a picture of that.

8/21/10 - Party Party

Today was a very fun day!!! We spent the morning hanging around the house, being lazy! I love lazy!!

Then, we were all off to a birthday party!! Today was my friend Melissa's daughters first birthday party! Melissa and her family and friends are all so friendly and welcoming, and we couldn't wait to celebrate Payton's big day with them!! It was pretty warm out, but the party was lots of fun...I'm totally jealous of their planning abilities, the party was great!

Olivia was the biggest kid there (one of the kids was slightly older than her, but was born a little early so she's pretty small for her age). She was NOT a fan of that in the beginning. She just doesn't know what to do with kids smaller than her...she likes big kids that she can run around with and rough house with. Eventually, she warmed up to everyone and had a blast though!

After the party, we stopped over to Christian's parents' house so they could finally finish up my car. Christian was able to find the little "clip" he needed for the remote starter, so they got that installed and everything should be good with the car..for now anyway. We had a quick bite to eat afterwards, then it was just about bed time, so we were on our way home! Busy day, but very FUN!!

Here's a few pictures of the birthday girl, and the kids playing :)

8/20/10 - Good Day!

Today was a good day..a very good day. I'm exhausted and worn out, but I have a smile on my face. Amelia was a trooper today. She took a couple of nice, long naps. She hung out by herself on the couch for a while, without crying. I actually got to each breakfast AND lunch today, AND get some cleaning done. She was a completely different baby that she has been, especially compared to yesterday.

The day was made even better when my BFF stopped over for a visit!! Kari and Andrew came over after dinner to hang out and catch up. It was so nice to talk to her and get some girl talk in for a little while. And, Olivia just LOVES playing with Andrew...she's able to be rough and tough with him since he's older, so I think that is very enjoyable for her. Kari said he got very excited when she told him they were coming over to play too...he loves her.

After they left, the girls went to bed and we are not far behind...I'm pretty much heading there as I type!

Kari and I long ago decided that Olivia and Andrew would be married some day (even though he's much older)...tonight they went on their first romantic horseback ride :)

8/19/10 - Long, Long, LONG Day

Today was just about the longest day of my life!

About a month ago, before Amelia was born (AKA, before we knew how difficult she as going to be), a friend of ours invited Christian to a Twins game with a couple other guys. He "asked" if it would be OK, and of course at the time I was perfectly fine with it. Well, tonight was the night of the game...and I wish I'd never agreed to it! Luckily, I was thinking ahead, and asked my mom to take Olivia over night tonight, since she watches her tomorrow anyway, because I knew I wouldn't be able to handle her.

Today was definitely the most difficult day I've had with Amelia so far. She cried, and cried, and cried...all day long. And ate...all day. If she wasn't eating, she was crying. She refused to sleep or take a nap. I couldn't eat, I couldn't get anything done around the house. Man, I've never been so stressed out.

Breastfeeding is going really well still, thank god. Luckily I was still able to get a few pumping sessions in with all of the chaos today. It's so important that I stay on top of that, so I NEED to find the time to do it.

Christian worked, like usual, then was immediately off to the game. So, it was just me and Amelia, from Dawn to Dusk. I was an emotional wreck today, so I'm praying with all of my might that tomorrow will be a better day. PLEASE!! Rico seemed very perplexed by Amelia's sadness today...in one of the rare moments I was able to set her down, he snuggled up next to her...

8/18/10 - Blah...

Today was kind of a blah day. Amelia was somewhere between her fussy and angelic sides today. I just wish there was a way for these little ones to just tell us what's bothering them! I know she gets really gassy, and I think her stomach bothers her...I just wish I knew why...and knew what to do! We've been using the Mylicon drops here and there, but who knows if the help. The bottle seemed to help tide her over again today during her cluster feeding time, so at least that's one plus!

Christian picked up some McDonald's for dinner tonight...Olivia loves her cheeseburgers lately! After a quick dinner, he took to the yard and got that taken care of. Even though they lie a lot, the news claims we're in for rain and some more REALLY hot weather, and we have a busy weekend coming up, so he had to do it tonight.

Other than that, just a low key night for us!