1/11/11 - <- Check out that Date!

Another busy day for me! Christian’s work has really slowed down since the Holiday’s. He hasn’t had any overtime and it’s been nice! Me on the other hand, things are busier than ever! My main job is writing Contracts (which entails many steps). Typically, the administrators (like me) have maybe 20-25 different types of contracts in process at any given point. I counted mine up today, and I have 53! Way more than anybody else, and way more than I usually have. Ay, it gives me a headache just thinking about it!

Of course, traffic was a nightmare today. We had a fairly small snowfall yesterday through the morning. It wasn’t much, but it’s been VERY icy out. So, of course I was very late for work. Awesome. After work, and after finally getting home, I did my exercising. Christian’s drive also took forever, so I had time to clean up the living room, the kitchen, make dinner and do some other odds and ends around the house! That was a pleasant surprise.

Because it was so late, we didn’t get much time with the girls. We ate dinner (which, by the way, Olivia was been such a great eater lately, which makes me super happy) and then it was basically time for the girls to take their baths and head to bed. I hate days like this…days where we don’t get any time together. But, come the weekend I know to cherish that time, that’s for sure!

I did manage to snap a couple pictures. Amelia, getting even better at sitting, playing with her Choo Choo. And, Olivia pretending she likes Amelia, giving her a little kiss.

1/10/11 – A New Me?

It’s Monday! Not really that exciting, but it’s here, so why not make the best of it!

Today I started off the new me! I started logging my food and eating better. It’s only Day 1, but hey – you have to start somewhere! And, I did really good. After work I headed right home and decided to try out the Jillian Michaels Wii game that I have. I did NOT like that. I won’t be doing that again. I think I’m going to go back to my Pilates video for now. Last time I lost weight, all I did was that, and walking on my breaks at work. The video will be good for getting some flexibility back too, so I think that’s a good place to start.

After I finished exercising, I started dinner and waited for the rest of the house to get home. I was pretty exhausted, and already in pain from exercising! So yeah, there’s no question just how necessary this is! It’s been snowing all evening, so I’m not looking forward to tomorrow’s drive.

After dinner, we all played for a while, and then just headed to bed right after the girls. Amelia was not going down for anything….finally at 10:30 (after nearly two hours of eating/comfort nursing); I had to have Christian take over and get her to bed. Every once in a while we have a night like this, I’m not sure why though. I was able to get a peek inside her mouth today, and she has some VERY white gums in the front, so I’m hoping those are teeth, and hoping they come through soon!

Here’s a picture of Olivia tonight, stacking her blocks! Of course, this was followed by violently demolishing the tower…

1/9/11 – Typical Sunday

Well, we are finally back to having “Typical” Sunday’s. And, I like it! The day started off on a VERY cold note…12 BELOW 0 to be exact. Brrr.

Olivia and I were off to Target as soon as she finished her breakfast. Olivia is a very good shopper, so it’s a nice way to get her out of the house, and spend a little time together, just the two of us. We got our weekly groceries, picked up a couple other necessities, and were on our way home. Once we got everything packed away and picked up, the girls had a quick lunch, and were down for their naps. Christian and I spent the day watching football (and wallowing in our sorrow at the lack of Vikings) and cleaning up.

I have finally decided that enough is enough, and I’m ready to shed these pounds! I’m going to be doing it slow and steady so that I don’t affect my milk supply, but it’s time to get to it! So, I made sure to pick up my fruits, veggies, yogurts, Oatmeal, frozen lunches, etc. and got it all packed up and ready to go to work for the week. I have our dinners planned out for the week. I set up my account on myfitnesspal.com to track my food and exercise. Christian is going to pick the girls up after work from now on (well, at least until his work gets crazy again and he starts working late again) so I can go home and get some exercise in before the rest of the house gets home. I’m ready to go. I’d like to eventually add in a work or two while I’m at work, but I’ll be working up to that. One step at a time!

Here’s our little munchkin, just hanging out with her toes!

1/8/11 – Yet Another Busy Saturday

It will never end. Busy Saturday’s. I dream for the day of a weekend with ZERO plans. Will it ever happen again?

Today Amelia and I “slept in”. Well, we were actually up from about 4:00-5:30, but THEN, we slept in until about 9:30...it was AWESOME! We spent a little time together, ate some breakfast, but then Christian was off. His friend (that he drives to and from work) bought him a remote car starter for Christmas! Lucky duck!! So, today he was getting it installed. While he was gone, I got the girls down for their naps, did a little picking up and relaxed for a while. He got home right after they woke up from their naps, so I got ready and we were all off.

Today is my father in law’s birthday, so we were off to celebrate. His parents made a big dinner and we hung out with them for a few hours. The girls started getting antsy, and tired, so we headed home for the night. I had all the intentions in the world of watching Saturday Night Live, but, like most Saturday’s, I passed out on the couch about 10 minutes into it. Boo.

Here is a picture of little Amelia, happy as can be!

1/7/11 – Surprise Girls Day

Well, today started off quite hectic! Today was my mom’s Friday with the girls…but, now mom’s sick! I woke up to a voicemail that she was still battling a cold, and didn’t want to pass it on to the girls, so she couldn’t watch them. While I, of course, completely agreed and understood, this threw me into a panic because I have so much work to do, including a pile of stuff I left specifically to get going this morning. Christian doesn’t really have any leave time at work (until June!!), so he couldn’t stay home. My mother in law was already at work for the day, so that wasn’t an option. I contemplated calling up my dad/stepmom, but they just live so far away, I just didn’t think it was a great option. So, in the end, I decided to just stay home. Actually, knowing that my office has MANY willing babysitters, I decided to bring them in to work with me for a short time, just so I can clean up some loose ends. I ended up at work for about 1½ hours, the girls got in some play time with my co-workers, and I felt much more relieved.

It was time for a quick lunch and naps once we got home, and I actually took a nap myself! I haven’t done that in a VERY long time. It was much deserved if I don’t say so myself!

Christian had his monthly ear appointment today. He has one more before his next (and hopefully FINAL) surgery. Hopefully all of this will finally work. After some dinner and play time, the girls went to bed, and we watched a movie. A WHOLE movie. We watched “The Other Guys”, and it was HILARIOUS. It was definitely what we needed. Some cuddle time and a good comedy.

Here’s a picture of my girls today. I love this one.

1/6/11 – Daddy/Daughter Day

Another normal day here. Everybody is feeling even better, dare I say pretty much back to normal in fact! YAY. Olivia continues to act out though, and her behavior seems to be getting worse. We’re at a loss of what to do. We are finally implementing “Time Outs” now for hitting and throwing (her main issues). She is NOT a fan of time outs, but hopefully the process will work. Her new thing is also hitting the wall/floor when she gets upset…basically, when she’s upset she just doesn’t know what to do with her “anger”, so she acts out. But, she acts out violently, and I don’t know what to do about it. I’m really starting to think she needs to be in a real daycare. When we’re around other people, or when she has other kids to play with, she usually does really well. I think she needs that stimulation and interaction. We’ll see, but I’m thinking we’ll need to start researching some daycares pretty soon, probably just for her though.

After work Christian ended up taking Olivia to the mall to give her some time away from the house, and away from the baby. Some, alone time if you will. Horrible as it may be, I was excited to get a little peace and quiet and spend a little time with Amelia, but I did miss my crazy toddler, that’s for sure. Christian seemed to enjoy his alone time with his daddy’s girl too. I just spent some time playing with Amelia, got some cleaning and dishes done, and once they got home, it was basically bed time.

Here’s Amelia – pretty annoyed that I am, yet again, in her face with the camera!

1/5/11 – Blah

Well, besides work and the usual chaos that involves, we took it pretty easy today. We’re all feeling slightly better, and hoping to be fully cured very soon. Amelia seems completely normal again, so I’m not even sure she was sick. I really do think she’s just teething, and those dang teeth just don’t want to pop through! One of the many benefits of breastfeeding at its finest, otherwise I’m positive she would have been just as bad as Olivia!

I actually have a topic to write about today…There are reports coming out, debunking the original study that linked Autism to vaccines…and this makes me very happy. I know there are multiple reasons parents choose to skip/delay vaccinations in their children, but this supposed “link” always seemed to be the main. This always seemed absolutely ridiculous to me…to think that vaccinations, that EVERY child gets, could somehow cause a child to be autistic. I mean, I understand that it’s a heartbreaking, confusing disorder, and parents just want answers. But, sometimes there just aren’t answers. Look at cancer, there is no rhyme or reason to why one person gets cancer, and another person doesn’t. This is the same, there is no reason, and I wish that was better understood. Anyway, I’m hoping this will result in a rise in vaccinating families. Personally, like many others, I would LOVE to see the MMR vaccine split up, but that’s not going to stop me from protecting my children the best I can at this time.
Here’s a picture of Amelia, chilling in her chair!

1/4/11 – Toughing It Out

We’re all still sick, BOO! Today I was about 10 times worse than yesterday, and would have LOVED a little time off, but things at work are way too crazy right now. So, I toughed it out and headed in. The girls seem to be doing a little better though, which is the most important thing.

After work, I had a second wind of energy for some reason, and tackled the house. I got all of the party decorations down and packed away, finished washing the dishes and getting the kitchen back in order, and cleaned up the living room. I feel like the house is finally livable again! LOL

We are getting pretty excited because it’s no longer PITCH black anymore when we get to work, or when we leave work. I mean, it’s still “dark”, but not like before. It’s like you can see the light at the end of the tunnel. It’s crazy to think that in about 2 months, the snow is going to start melting away, we’ll have a ton of daylight and we could possibly be able to get outside again!

Here is a picture of Christian and Amelia; I just think it’s a super cute one.

1/3/11 – Duran’s Down

It’s official…our entire house, is SICK. Olivia still has her horrible cough, and just seems out of sorts. Amelia has her super runny nose and a little cough herself (not nearly as bad as Olivia). My head is completely stuffed and Christian is just a mess. He says his whole body aches. He even left work early today to go home and rest, so you know it’s bad! So, we have a very sick household all of a sudden. It’s weird that we all have different things going on though!

My day was pretty typical. Not feeling well made for a pretty long day, but I got through it. Christian made us enchiladas for dinner with the leftover shredded chicken from Olivia’s party yesterday. YUM!!! He must have been feeling a tad better after taking a little nap, because he even cleaned up some of the decorations and dishes from the party. I was pleasantly surprised when I got home from work, that’s for sure! Other than that, we really didn’t do too much. Trying to take it easy. Olivia is all over the place. Again, I think she just doesn’t know what to do with herself when she isn’t feeling well, so it makes her act out. We did finally find some cough medicine that she can take, so hopefully that helps!

Our friend Tracy took pictures for us at the party yesterday; here are some of our favorites!

1/2/11 – Our Baby Is TWO!

Our sweet Olivia Rose is 2! It’s hard to believe, it’s gone by so fast. It’s so hard to even imagine life before she came along.

Olivia is the most entertaining little girl I’ve ever met in my life. She’s tough as nails, but sweet as sugar at the same time. She’s brave and strong and incredibly independent. She always has been. When she was a baby, she loved to be on her own…checking out the world around her, learning how to play with her toys and how to get around. She was always exploring and learning, laughing and smiling. She was just happy as can be, all the time.

Olivia is the definition of a Daddy’s Girl. In one way, this makes me incredibly jealous. But, at the same time, it warms my heart to see them together and see how much she adores him. She is really warming up to being a big sister. She likes to track down paci’s, she gets very concerned when Amelia cries, she likes to show her toys and how they work (but, gets very upset if Amelia actually touches said toys)…she’s getting there, slowly but surely.

Olivia amazes us every day with how much she learns and takes in on a daily basis. To think that 2 years ago, she barely existed, and now you can sit down and have actual conversations with her, just blows me away. She has great problems solving skills, and just LOVES to put on a show for anybody around. She’s rarely shy, and when she is, she quickly warms up. She hands out more hugs, kisses and “I Love You’s” than you can imagine, and is such a joy to be around. We count our lucky stars every day, and are so grateful that she is in our lives.

Today we had Olivia’s [Golden] Birthday party, and it was so wonderful to have a house full of people who love and care about us. Olivia had the time of her life running around with all of the kids and ripping open her presents. Our friend Tracy even took pictures for us with her fancy camera. I asked her to come and do that after realizing we have pretty much NO good pictures from Olivia’s 1st birthday.

I was off to Target as soon as we woke up to get the groceries and a few odds and ends. As soon as I got home, I was in the kitchen, making the pasta salad, cutting up fruit, cooking the chicken and getting the tables set and ready. Christian spent the morning watching after the girls, cleaning the bathroom (I am VERY grateful he happily takes on this duty) and picking up the party balloons. The guests started pouring in around 1:30, and it didn’t take long for the house to fill to the rim. The house ended up in a complete disaster, but it was WELL worth it. After some chatting and lunch, Olivia opened her presents, and had quite a blast doing so. Then, it was cake time! She seemed to be a bit freaked out by the singing, she didn’t want anything to do with blowing out her candle, and only took a tiny bite of her cupcake, but she still thought it was pretty cool. After cake and ice cream, the guests started heading out, one by one.

Finally, we all just sat down, and breathed a HUGE sigh of relief. The Holiday’s are over, the birthday party is over…we can finally just take a break, and life can slow waaaaay down. After a little more playing, it was finally time for Olivia to go to bed…and she passed out the second her head hit the pillow. Amelia and Christian were not far behind. I did a little final picking up, and joined the rest of the house in sweet slumber. Hopefully Amelia will be back to sleeping well tonight...fingers crossed!