12/24/10 – Let the Chaos Begin!

Well, today was a very busy day, including the first of many Christmas celebrations.

I was up pretty bright and early, outting some final touches on the handprints. YAY, we actually got them done on time! By the time I finished, the rest of the house was up and running around. Olivia and I baked, frosted and sprinkled some sugar cookies. She was very into it, but also made the process a very long one, so she eventually got kicked out of the kitchen. Ha!

After we cleaned up and got the girls fed and dressed, we were able to get ready, and then we were off! Today’s party stop was Christian’s parents’ house. Since his sister moved, it’s just going to be us this year. Pretty low key! We had a nice big dinner, listened to some Christmas music and opened LOTS of presents! Because it was so low key, the girls even took their naps like usual, which was nice. Olivia had so much fun opening all of the presents. Of course, she was much more into Amelia’s presents than her own…goofy girl. Finally, she started acting up and bouncing off the walls because she was so tired, so we packed everything up and were on our way home. The girls passed out right away, so Christian and I watched a movie! We used one of our free pay-per-views and ordered “The Town”. It was actually really good, and I even stayed awake through the whole thing! Now it’s time to gear up for Day 2 of celebrations!

12/23/10 – Thank Goodness!

Well, I finally got a little sleep last night…no thanks to Amelia, but thanks all to Christian! He got her down to bed (she continues to refuse going down at night), and got up with her during the night and just heated her up a bottle. I hate dipping into our freezer stash, but I must say, it was a great break! It was nice to actually get some sleep.

Work was very quiet, and very productive. It was just my supervisor and me at work, so I got quite a bit accomplished…AND, she let me go home early! YAY.

So, I was off to the Dollar Store and the party supply store, and ended up getting just about everything we need for Olivia’s birthday party! I can’t believe it’s next weekend, it’s really snuck up on me! Not much time to get ready! We just have a few odds and ends to grab, and the food of course. I am getting nervous though…I ordered her the cutest outfit from Etsy.com (on black Friday), and it hasn’t come yet. I contacted the seller earlier this week and she assured me it will be here next week, before the party. Man, I’m going to be VERY upset if it doesn’t get here!

Christian actually got off work on time today, so he even picked the girls up! He must be sucking up for something big time! So, after shopping, I was able to sit down and relax for a little bit before they got home. We all just hung out, ate some dinner and had some long overdue family time. We are making clay handprints of the girls’ hand for my mom and Christian’s parents for Christmas…we got the prints done and drying…I can’t believe Christmas festivities are going to start tomorrow! WOW.

12/22/10 – Girls Day

Well, another sleepless night for me! We’ve honestly tried everything…different noises, positioning her bassinet differently…everything. She just won’t sleep! She ends up in our bed most of the night, but I still don’t sleep well. Ugh! I need sleep like CRAZY!

Anyway, I was home today with the girls because my mother in law had to work, so we had a girls day in. It was a wonderful day too! We all just hung out, and both girls were very well behaved! I got the dishes washed, the kitchen cleaned up, the trash and recycling together. The girls went down for their naps at the same time, and naps for 4 HOURS! So I was able to work on some projects on the computer and get some me time in.

Christian ended up working for 12 hours today! Poor guy. He finally got home with just a little time to spend with the girls. We gave them their baths and put them to bed. We wanted to see what Olivia would do if we put Amelia in the bath with her…so Christian held Amelia in there and Olivia just thought it was hilarious. I think we’re going to get one of those chairs that sit in the tub so we can put them in there together on nights when Amelia doesn’t get soapy baths. I think they’ll like it, and it’ll save on water! After the play time, we tried out some of Olivia's Christmas presents (a little early). LOL. We got her this little "fountain" that just floats in the bath, and some water color tablets. She LOVES them.

12/21/10 - Another Blah Day

Well, nothing too interesting happened today. I’m off tomorrow, and Friday, so it’s a pretty short, packed week for me at work. Today my supervisor brought in her annual Christmas breakfast for all of us. YUM. The roads weren’t as bad as I expected…I was only 30 minutes late for work! Ha.

Christian’s work is beyond busy being so close to the holidays now. He’ll be working early and late for the next couple of weeks! Christian’s mom sent home a big pan of pasta for us…so between that and Christmas celebrations, we shouldn’t have to make dinner this week. Big YAY for that!

So, it was just a pretty low key, boring day for us! I’ll take that! Today's flashback photos are of our Holiday photo session last year! I love looking back at this pictures. I was barely pregnant with Amelia, and Olivia was such a little sweetie. So fun.

12/20/10 – More Snow, Really?!

So, as if the 21 inches of snow we got last weekend wasn’t enough, on top of the initial blizzard we had in November…we had to get MORE snow today. My work actually sent us home early today…that NEVER happens. So, I left work like 40 minutes before I usually would, and was still late picking up the girls! We ended up with another 4-5 inches I think. Seriously, there isn’t anywhere to put the snow anymore! I don’t know now people without snow blowers do it! This is officially the snowiest winter on record here, and it's not even over yet!

Besides the snow, it was just a regular old day. The Vikings played tonight, and it was quite a joke, as expected. The Metrodome just keeps getting worse and worse after last week’s storm, so they ended up getting the U of M’s outdoor stadium ready to play in. Although, since it’s not meant for cold weather play, it was still a pretty hard, icy surface. And, the new layer of snow didn’t help. In the end, the Vikings lost…BIG TIME. Only two more games left…it’s sad!

So, that’s about it. Work, traffic, and Vikings. Pretty exciting! Of course, we skipped baths and the whole ritual so we wouldn’t miss the game. Priorities, right?!

I must admit...I will probably have a few flashback photos this week. With things being so crazy and hectic, the camera will probably be the last thing on my mind! Here's one from last year. Olivia so little, as big as a bag of chips! LOL - now, she'd have that bag ripped open in now time!

12/19/10 - Busy Day of Nothing

Today was a pretty busy day.

After getting up with Amelia, feeding her and getting her back to sleep, I was off to Target to do our weekly shopping. I like Holiday time because it really cuts down on our grocery needs, knowing that we'll be well fed by others for a couple of days! So, the trip was quick, and the list was short!

After getting everything put away, and eating some breakfast/lunch, I was off to wrap Olivia's birthday presents, and put the final touches on the Christmas presents. YAY...task DONE! We (or, apparently I) planned on going to watch the Holidazzle parade today. Being that it was the last day of the parade, I REALLY wanted to take Olivia. Of course, earlier in the week I asked Christian to talk to his mom about watching Amelia while we go (it's way too cold to bring her), but of course, he didn't, and by the time he called her today, she was off doing her final Christmas shopping. Apparently he can't be trusted with one simple task...MEN!

So, we just hung out the rest of the night. We didn't do much, Amelia slept most of the day, but then was up most of the evening. I think her relux is really acting up these days, she cries and writhes, seemingly in pain. Poor thing. I can't wait for that to be done! I did snap a "good" picture of Olivia's black eye...it's getting worse every day and it makes me want to cry.

12/18/10 – First Christmas Celebration

Today was a very great day! Well, maybe not completely for Christian…who had to work. Luckily we had plans, otherwise I think he would have been stuck there all day and night! He worked until about 12:30, then he and his dad worked on the car a little bit. They have decided to throw in the towel, for now at least. It’s just too cold to really put the time in and the weather just isn’t conducive to auto repairing. So, they’ll check it again in a few months and see what they can do. Until then, I guess it’s check the fluid levels and top it off as we go. Boo. I did get all of our Christmas presents wrapped while they worked on the car, so CHECK that off my list!

After that, we all ate some lunch and started getting ready. We were off to see Santa!! And, very excited about it. We made an appointment this year with Santa at the Mall of America. With two small kids, it’s nice to know we wouldn’t be standing in line for hours. Santa went well…Olivia was pretty shy about it, but didn’t freak out or anything. Amelia did REALLY well, until just as they were finishing up, then reality set in that I was not holding her any more. We got some great pictures though, and that’s all that matters.

After Santa, we were off to the Madrid’s to exchange presents. We got Meeka a Dora Backpack, she seemed to really like it…Olivia and Amelia each got a pretty awesome toy…and Olivia was very into both of them. HA. After some catching up, playing and snacks, it was WAY past our bedtimes, Amelia’s reflux was acting up and it was time to head home. At the party last night, Dan and Skaar gave us a couple of gifts for the girls. Olivia opened them up before bed. They got her an “Olivia” doll, which she took to bed with her. Lucky girls!

12/17/10 – Schedule, What Schedule?

So, at least when I’m home, I’ve had the girls on a pretty decent schedule for a while now. Usually Olivia gets up before Amelia, we hang out and eat, and then Amelia joins us for a while. Then, they both take a nice long nap at the same time and I can actually get some stuff done. That does NOT seem to be the case any longer. Amelia has decided she needs to wake up for the day nice and early now too. And, then refuses to take a REAL nap. I’m hoping this is just a phase…maybe the 4 month sleep regression hitting a little late mixed with the swaddle weaning. I liked having a schedule…

So, not much was accomplished today. I managed to wash the dishes and clean up the kitchen while the girls played. Amelia has to be in her jumper or in her chair now if left unattended because she rolls herself all over the place.

Once Christian got home, he quickly showered and got ready because we went out tonight! YAY. Tonight was our friend Skaar’s 30th birthday celebration (rescheduled from last weeks thanks to the blizzard of the century). My mom came over to watch the girls, our other friend Gini kindly chauffeured us to the casino and we had a blast. Unfortunately, my mom had a pretty rough start to the evening. Amelia wouldn’t stop crying when we left, Olivia was acting a fool, like usual, hit her face on the table and gave herself a nice cut, swollen and very black and blue eye, and the dog escaped from the house. CHAOS…our house is CHAOS. Well, everything finally calmed down for her, thank goodness. It does bum me out to think that all of Olivia’s Christmas and birthday pictures are going to have this big black eye in them though…BUT, it could have been much worse I’m sure, so I’ll just be grateful for that!

Here's a picture of me, Skaar and Gini...I miss hanging out with these girls!

12/16/10 - Potty Dance!

Today was a pretty low key day. Christian actually got off work on time, and picked the girls up today…I LOVE when I get a break from doing that! We all met up at home, and just took it easy. We have a busy weekend of friends and Christmas festivities ahead of us, so we’re gearing up for that. My to-do list is growing rapidly, but between the girls, the Holiday’s and Christian’s work schedule, I have no idea when I’m going to get anything done! I have no presents wrapped (birthday or Christmas), we haven’t purchased a single thing for Olivia’s birthday party, other than her presents, the house is a mess, the general “to-do” items are stacking up. It’s so frustrating! There just are not enough hours in the day, ever! I really hope that life slows down a little bit after the Holiday and Birthday rush is over!

We do have some exciting news today though. Total TMI for some people, but Olivia used the potty for the first time today! YAY. We aren’t planning on actually potty training until after her birthday, but we’ve had her potty in the closet for a few months now. She’s getting more and more into the potty and understanding what it’s for. Tonight she wanted to “see” her potty, so we put it down in the bathroom and she played with it for a little while. We got her undressed to get into the bath, and while filling it up, she sat down on her potty…she stood up incredibly excited and laughing. We looked over only to find out that she had peed in the potty! We couldn’t believe it. We gave her some M&M’s, gave her lots of high fives and we all jumped around excited. She seemed so proud of herself, I loved it! We’re still not going to really hit training for a couple of weeks, but I’m excited to know that she’s at least interested in the potty!

I do have a picture of the whole potty experience, but I'm sure she wouldn't appreciate me sharing that! LOL. So, instead, here is a picture of her, and "her" puppy, hanging out. Man, these two just LOVE each other!

12/15/10 – Where’s The Dad?

First of all, last night was a million times better on the swaddle weaning front. Amelia woke up once, like normal, to eat and slept the rest of the night, unswaddled! YAY, hopefully it just took her that one horrible evening to adjust!

Today was a pretty good day. Except that my drive to and from work was HORRIBLE! How is it that it’s getting worse with each passing day…shouldn’t it be getting BETTER as the snow clears and the roads clean up? Between my drive and picking up the girls it took me 2 hours to get home! This after a horrible potluck incident at work…we had our holiday potluck today, and while standing in line some guy went to shake a salad dressing bottle and the cover was not on and of course it got all over me. I was a wreck the rest of the day. Ummm…can you say “still full of pregnancy/baby hormones”?!

Christian is back to working early AND late…super late in today’s case. The extra money sure is nice, but it would be nice to get some help with the girls/around the house. I hope things go back to the way they are supposed to be after the holiday craziness! So, us girls just hung out at home for a while and ate dinner while we waited for Dad, then it was basically time for baths and bed when he got there. So much for time together these days!

Amelia is really getting into her toys these days. I think she is going to be quite the mover...she really wants to go, go, go! She's already starting to rock when on all fours, it's hard to believe.