8/7/11 - Recovery!

Well, today was definitely a day of recover for the Duran household!

Starting off with a REALLY late wake up call...I mean a 10:15AM wake up call. How nice is that?!? I didn't think I'd ever get to sleep until 10:15 again in my life! It almost made up for Amelia being up every hour on the hour until I gave her another dose of Motrin at 3:30AM. Poor thing.

So, after that, we whipped up a nice big breakfast/lunch, and hung out for a while. Amelia was feeling much better this morning, but still didn't eat a ton. As the day went off, her fever came back though and she was not a happy camper. Man, I just hate that. I want my poor baby to just be better!

Shortly after breakfast, Christian took to the yard work. It was actually really nice out today, which was very exciting. We turned off the air and opened the windows. Fresh air was a nice change of pace! I was worried about naps with the late wake up, but I managed to get the girls down by 3:00 for a few hours. So, I took to my chore...going through kid clothes again. I wanted to get out all of our 9-12 month clothes so I could see what we had. And, I had a bunch of random clothes in the spare room that needed to be put away. I finished up that task right about the time Amelia woke up. So, she, Christian and I hung out for a bit and waited for Olivia to wake up.

Before we knew it, it was time for dinner. And, after dinner we spent a little time in the pool. It wasn't super hot out, but Olivia still wanted to play in there, so we let her for a little while. Then, before we knew it, it was already time for bed! Another week down, another fun filled weekend behind us, and back to work tomorrow. Just another Sunday!

I left my camera at the birthday party yesterday, so no pictures today! I'll just share a couple from this time last year! Olivia taking Chuy down the slide, one of her favorite games last summer, and Amelia's first "not really real" smile. My what a difference a year makes!

8/6/11 - What a Day!

Exhausted and worn out doesn't even begin to describe us today. And, it doesn't help that Amelia fought her sleep last night, making it a later night than anticipated.

First up, the car AND the truck went in for some work; bright and early at 8:00AM! So, we were up getting ready at the crack of dawn. Amelia was up early...she was burning up still, and seemed worse than last night. I nursed her, but other than that she wouldn't eat anything all morning. We had to wake Olivia up to go, and I hate doing that. But, finally, we were off. We picked up some breakfast on the way, but I still couldn't get Amelia to eat any of it. The truck went in for some tire stuff...one of the front tires was about to burst, so we got a new one, and swapped the spare for the other front tire to keep it even. So, that was done and everything was balanced. The car....as usual, is a complete mess. It's been shaking really bad for the last few weeks. We were thinking it just needed to be aligned from the last time Christian and his dad worked on it (they replaced one of the front tire rods). Turns out the other front tire rod needs to be replaced, and the front two tires are shot because of the shoddy tire rods, so they didn't and up doing anything. Christian and his dad are going to replace the other tire rod, then I need to get it back in for two new tires and an alignment. Awesome.

After that fiasco, we were back home for a while. I did a little cleaning up and started packing our bag for the day. Amelia went down for a nap, so Christian and I were able to shower and get ready.

Next up, Meeka's birthday party. We arrived there a little after 2:00, and it was HOT, HOT, HOT out! Amelia was still not feeling well at all, so she pretty much just clung to Christian and I the whole day, very sleepy and uninterested in everything. Olivia had a blast running around with the kids and playing. The heat didn't stop her, that's for sure. After some playing, eating, presents, pinata and general party excitement, it was time to pack it up and head to our next event.

Last up, we were off to my BFF's housewarming/engagement/semi birthday celebration. We got there around 6:30 and spent the evening there. Again, lots of kids for Olivia to to run around with. Amelia's 2nd dose of Motrin kicked in and she actually played and ate a little bit, finally. Christian hung out with the boys, doing dumb boy things, and I hung out with the bestie and her mom and sisters. I just love getting together with them...always lots of laughs and fun.

FINALLY, we arrived home around 10:30, the girls quickly passed out and I was not far behind. Hopefully Amelia will get in some good sleep and wake up feeling better. There is nothing worse than watching your sick baby and not being able to do anything. We are pretty positive that she's teething...again, already. Boo.

Here are some party pictures from today. Olivia BFF is three already, I can't believe it!

8/5/11 - YAY Friday!

Another week down! Hallelujah, Friday is here again!

Today went by pretty quickly. We had a big meeting at work today, so that took up a good portion. It wasn't very fun by any means...our office had to report a lot of not so fun changes to the district offices, and that never goes over too well. It was time to head home before I knew it, and that is always the best feeling!

Olivia was still napping when I arrived home, and Amelia wasn't feeling too hot. She was burning up, pretty crabby, and hadn't been eating well. Not sure what's going on there, but hoping whatever it is passes quickly. I did end up getting her down for a short nap, so I had a little time to relax.

Christian grilled some pork chops for dinner and we all went on a walk through. After the girls went to bed, Christian and I fired up the bonfire, had some smores and spent a little time together. We have a busy day tomorrow, so our quality time came to a semi-early end, but it was nice while it lasted!

Here is a picture of Olivia and HER Chuy after our walk today.

8/4/11 - Another Boring Day

I again don't have much to report today. We are getting far too boring!

I must give my very best friend a shout out today for her birthday. So, Happy Birthday, Kari! Love ya!

Today was just a pretty standard day for us. Christian is back to randomly working and hour or so of overtime. I was back to work after a lovely day off, so I had some catching up to do. We all met up at home after work for the usual evening activities...play time, dinner, play time, bed time. And....that's about it.

The house across the street from us is for sale. It's been up for a month or two, so not long. We see people randomly come through to look at it. I finally looked it up tonight...and was a little disturbed to see what it was going for. Seriously, the housing market is NEVER going to recover at this rate. I mean, the house is slightly smaller than ours, but I can't even bare to tell you how much less it's going for than what we bought ours for. I sure hope we don't end up with a bunch of people moving out of the neighborhood and selling for so low...we can't have our house dropping much more in worth than it already has. I understand this is kind of the case everywhere, but WOW!

Well, that's my rant for today. LOL. Here is a cute picture of my Amelia Badelia!

8/3/11 - YAY for a Day Off

So, I am off today. Christian's had to work at her regular job today, so I took the day off. Honestly, any excuse to take a day off is really fine with me. And, I get to spend time with the girls, so BONUS! She has to work next Wednesday too, but Christian is taking that day off (good luck to him) since next Friday is my day off and I just cannot be off work twice in one week right now. WAY too much to do.

So, it was great sleeping in again. And, brace yourself...the girls were SO GOOD today! I know, I'll give you a minute to let that sink in......They played together, ate their entire breakfast, played together some more. I took them to the park for a while and they had so much fun. Unfortunately, there were way too many kids there, but it was a really awesome park. It was deceivingly hot out today, and I wasn't expecting that. Once we'd sweat enough, we packed it up and headed home for some lunch and naps.

While they napped, I relaxed for a while and took advantage of my day off! Once Christian arrived home, we ate some dinner and hung out for the night. Nothing too exciting, the girls were pretty tired from the heat and play time, so they were pretty laid back tonight. Nothing wrong with that!

Here are some pictures from the park today...including my new favorite picture (the one of both the girls)...talk about perfect timing!

8/2/11 - Exciting Stuff...Or Not

I honestly don't have much to report today. I know, it's hard to believe with how absolutely edge of your seat exciting our lives are that could be true, but it is. The highlight of my day was FINALLY getting through to our trash company (after 1.5 months of trying, and with a bill a month overdue) and talking them down on our bill. GO ME!

Other than that, work was work, we all arrived home for some dinner and hanging out. Christian's mom sent home a Cinderella dress today that belonged to our niece. Olivia is still in love with Mickey Mouse, but she is really getting into the princesses these days, so she just loves it. It's actually a really beautiful dress too...that gets glitter all over the house. She loves it though. Now we have some leverage for when she's acting up! She doesn't like the threat of taking her dress off and putting it away. LOL

So, here's a picture of our pretty princess (and, Cinderella just happens to be my favorite princess).

8/1/11 - Hello, August; Goodbye, Friend

It's August! WOW, I can't even believe it.

Today was pretty much Monday as usual. We did have some pretty crazy storms early in the day, which made things interesting. Our building was shaking from the thunder! I haven't seen a daytime storm like that in a long time. I ended up leaving a little early to get some stuff done. I stopped into Target because, per usual, I forgot a few things on our trip yesterday. Big surprise! After Target, it was home to do some cleaning. Everything was back in it's place, I did the dishes and then had a little me time and uploaded our latest pictures while I waited for the rest of the house to arrive home. Pretty exciting stuff!

Finally, I whipped up some dinner and and we took a nice family walk around the neighborhood. I try to make this a nightly thing, but something always comes up...or Christian ends up working too late and we just don't get time. It's nice and relaxing when we do though. Except as we pull up to the house, Olivia always exclaims "I don't want to go home". Apparently living in a Toys R Us outlet is not appealing enough for her.

My big news for the day...I am no longer pumping. It kind of breaks my heart. I'm having a lot of mixed feelings about it. I feel guilty for stopping, but proud that I made it 1 Year+. I feel free from that "little" black bag, but kind of lost with out it. I am disappointed that my extra special bonding with Amelia is coming to an end, but joyed to have experienced that closeness with her. In the end, it was the right decision. Last week I barely pumped enough for one of her two bottles every day, so I was already dipping into my freezer stash. As hard as it is, I'm ready. I'm trying to focus on the positives (which, are all pretty selfish, but valid reasons)...I can diet now without worry, I can use my breaks at work to walk, and my lunch to actually eat, I have a little extra free time which will come in handy. I am still nursing Amelia before bed, but that will probably only last through this week so that I don't explode. So, goodbye to my friend, my pump. Maybe we'll meet again in the future ;)

My mom recently sent home a wooden grill for the girls. We put it together (which was a much more lengthy process then we anticipated), and the girls LOVE it!

7/31/11 - Family Fun Day

Well, we had a fun filled family day today, even though is was, yet again, disgustingly hot out.

We had some breakfast, hung out and spent the morning getting ready for the day. In my attempt to start shopping the sales, I spent some time going over the grocery ad's, and then was off to Cub and Rainbow to do part of my shopping while Christian got the girls dressed. Then, the girls and I were off with my mom again in another attempt to check out the apartment she was going to look at yesterday. Today's trip was much more successful, so that was good.

Once home, we were all off on a family trip to Target to finish off our shopping. The girls started getting very antsy by the end of the trip, so lunch and naps were not far behind. During nap time, Christian filled the pool and was off to his parents to drop off some stuff, while I started on laundry and did a little cleaning up in the basement. Once nap time ended, we headed outside for some more pool time, Christian grilled some dinner and we just spent the evening hanging out, folding clothes, watching some TV and trying to keep the girls from killing each other. Olivia was yet again at her evil ways, and Christian and I were yet again at our wits end. She seemed to be getting better when I was home with the girls, but since I went back to work, she is worse than ever. It's getting beyond frustrating, and we're both still at a complete loss of what to do.

Here are a few pictures from our outside play today. The pool felt like a hot tub about 30 minutes after being filled up. It was actually kind of gross.

7/30/11 - A Little of Everything

Saturday...a Saturday more like I'm used to!

Olivia was up to her old tricks times 10 today, and was harassing Amelia all day long...starting pretty much from the minute they woke up. She's either being downright mean to Amelia, or she just won't give her any space, and Christian and I were both at our wits end with her today. Like normal, I didn't get a chance to get to the grocery store this week, so we were off to Perkins for breakfast today. YUM! After that, the girls and I went with my mom to check out an apartment (for her), while Christian took to yard duty. Unfortunately, the person that was supposed to be showing my mom the apartment didn't show up (she later called and explained some unfortunate circumstances came up, so we'll be going back).

Once Christian finished up his work, we played in the water for a while. I couldn't take much more of the heat, so inside we went for some lunch and naps. I fully intended on going to grab a few groceries while the girls napped, but as soon as I sat down, I realized just how hot I was, and that I really wasn't feeling too hot. So, I ended up taking a little nap myself.

After naps, we played outside for a while longer...we blew up the bounce house and just spent a little time goofing around. It was a pretty low key evening...dinner, watched a little TV. Olivia again started acting up, now towards up on top of it, so it was definitely off to bed. I swear, some days I just don't know what we're going to do with that girl!

Here are some pictures from today's play time!

7/29/11 - Check-Up

Today was Amelia's 1 year check-up. Her appointment was 9:30...I know it doesn't really sound THAT early, but when you have to get up, get ready and get two little girls up and ready and loaded into the car, plus drive the 25 minutes into the city because you refuse to change clinics...its early. I have to make their appointments early though, because our pediatrician tends to get very behind, and it's better than waiting in the waiting from for an hour. It sucks when you are the one waiting for him, but it's nice once you are in with him, and he takes the time to really answer all of your questions and develop a personal relationship with you. So, you just have to take the bad with the good sometimes.

I woke up shortly after Christian left for work to shower and get ready. The girls remained passed out after their late night. I actually had to wake them up to get them ready to go. I felt so bad, but they cooperated pretty well.

The appointment went well. Amelia weight in at 18lbs9ozs, which puts her in the 10% (and she's up 3.3lbs since 9 months). Honestly, I find this extremely hard to believe. They had her sit on the adult scale rather than using the infant scale, so I think the read is off a little just because of that. I just cannot believe that it took her 9 months to double her birth weight, yet she packs on over 3lbs in the next 3 months? Not likely. She only measured in at 27.5", also in the 10% (and only up .75" since 9 months). So, she's just a petite little flower all around.

Everything else went well. Her lungs are still clear, so he's still not too concerned about her breathing or snoring. Her ears, eyes and everything else looked great. She's meeting and exceeding all of the developmental milestones and is doing well. She got her shots, and did NOT care for them in the least bit. But, both the girls got stickers and lollipops out of the deal, so I guess it was worth it. So, that was it until 15 months. Hard to believe 15 months is really just around the corner!

After the appointment, we ate some lunch and took some naps. This was the best nap time in a LONG time! We ate a little dinner while we waited for Christian to get home, then were all off to the park for a while. It's still super hot out, so we didn't last too long, but it was nice to get away for a while. Then, we all played downstairs for while, until it was time for bed. Now, we're just looking forward to a weekend of no plans. YAY!

Here are some pictures from our evening.