9/20/11 - "Me" Time

Today, I had some "me" time. It was GREAT!

I did get up and head in to work this morning. I had a few things I really needed to take care of, and it forced me to actually get up and at it early, so it worked out well. It rained on and off all night, and all day today...kind of gloomy, but much needed. There was a beautiful rainbow this morning that I basically followed right to work, and as I drove around a curve on my way in, the sun was rising right in front of me, and it was seriously one of the most beautiful sunrises I've ever seen. Made up for yesterday's super crappy drive a little bit!

I finished up some rush work, tied up some loose ends, then left work around 10:3o.

I stopped home to do some cleaning, a little relaxing, went through my coupons and made out my shopping list, then I was on my way to run some errands. First up, I stopped into USA Baby to check out the car seats. Turns out, they don't have much of a selection, and they are just a little too pricey, even with the gift card. So, I'm not sure what we're going to do. We really need to get Amelia a new car seat, SOON, and we don't need anything else from there. I'm thinking that I'll try to sell it, but we'll see. Next up, Target, for my usual, weekly shopping.

Finally, I was home. I unloaded the car, put everything away, and made dinner just in time for the rest of the house to arrive home. The rest of the evening was pretty low key. Olivia watched a movie on the computer, Christian and I watched a little TV, and Amelia had free reign over the toys. It was a good night for everybody!

Here are a couple of bath photos from tonight. My girls will sure love me for all of the bath photos I have :)

9/19/11 - Holy Traffic, Batman!

This morning's drive SUCKED. Yeah, I said it, it sucked. The highway I take to get to work was closed this weekend, and they didn't have it opened back up all the way in time for this morning's rush hour...one lane, WAY TOO MUCH traffic, made for a 2 hour drive for me. Ouch.

Work was pretty crazy. I had a long meeting that took up most of the day...between that, and being late, I pretty much spent the day going through e-mails and voicemails. Makes it kind of hard to be productive.

Apparently Christian will be working a little more OT than usual this week. Works for me! We don't have many plans for this week. A couple of birthday parties this weekend, but that's really about it. It's supposed to be pretty chilly and rainy this week (fall is definitely coming), so I dug out the girls' warmer clothes and fall coats! Crazy, I can't believe how fast this summer went!

Well, that's about it. Nothing to great to write about today, just a little random recap! Here is a little snap of my baby, giving me kisses! She LOVES kisses!

9/18/11 - Another Great Weekend, Check!

Well, I received a call, bright and early, this morning from my stepmom, asking if I wanted to bring the girls over for a little play date today. I hadn't seen my dad for a while, and it's always good to get the girls around other kids, so I took her up on the offer. We ate a family breakfast, then it was time for us girls to get ready. Lucky dad gets to rest off his late night all on his own!

We got over to my dad's around noon, played, ran around, had some lunch and ice cream and caused a little chaos. The girls started getting pretty tired, and I think my dad and stepmom were too, so we were all on our way home a few hours later.

The girls fell asleep on the way home, and proceeded to nap for a while. I planted myself in front of the TV to rest for a while and take advantage of the quiet. Once the girls we up, we all just hung out for the night. Ate some dinner, watched some Disney movies and had a laid back end to the weekend. Another good one in the books!

9/17/11 - Kick off to Fall

Today, we officially kicked off the fall season! In the first of many fun activities, we spent a good part of the day at the Apple Orchard :)

The girls slept better last night, but still not great. They were up VERY early, but luckily we tricked them into going back to sleep (after a short time anyway). Once we were up for the long haul, we ate some breakfast and spent some time relaxing and hanging out. It was a little gloomy all morning, so we had our fingers crossed that the weather would cooperate for our big day outdoors.

Finally, it was time to get ready, and hit the road. In tradition, we were off to Aamodt's Apple Farm, and like last year, we met up with my BFF and her son Andrew. Of course, Olivia couldn't get enough of him all day, like usual. The kids had a blast riding the tractors, picking apples and just acting like goofy kids. We filled up our bag, picked up some yummy apple crisp and cidar in the shop and were off on our next adventure...Teddy Bear Park in downtown Stillwater. I've wanted to visit this park all summer, but we never made it out. The kids had so much fun, it was great. And, being in Stillwater reminded me of our summer vacation to Duluth. I don't know why we don't spend more time in Stillwater...it's such a great little down, right on the river.

The kids were pretty worn out, so we finally packed in it, and made the long haul home for the night. Christian went out with a friend to watch the UFC fights, so the girls and I hung out. It was a rough start. I think lack of napping got to Olivia, because she was MAJORLY acting out. With a time out and a good talkin' to, she finally calmed down and distracted herself on the iPod for a while. It was nice when the girls were off to bed, and I had the whole house to myself. Just me, and my words with friends addiction :)

Here are some pictures of our fun today!

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9/16/11 - Sweet Friday

Friday, hear that overwhelming sigh of relief....

First, it was a pretty long night. It's getting pretty cold around here, but of course not cold enough to resort to heat. The girls' room got a little cold overnight last night, so Amelia had a hard time staying asleep. She was up a few time, needing a little comfort and recovering. It made for a rough morning. It was a LOOONG, busy, but very productive week at work this week though, and I'm happy to see it come to an end though. I need a weekend like nobody's business! Today was another hectic day. Meetings and trying to get some big projects sent out. I was sure happy to see quitting time come around, that's for sure!

In other good news, it looks like we may finally be able to take away another of Amelia's bottles! YAY. We've continued giving her a bottle of warmed milk before naps and bed, to help fill her up and help her fall asleep. Well, my mom got her down for her nap today without a bottle, no problem. Awesome! And, I'm thinking she probably doesn't REALLY need her bedtime bottle if she's just going to goof around and chat with Olivia before bed anyway. So, hopefully that one won't be far behind!

Christian worked late tonight, of course, so the girls and I just hung out, waiting. It was a pretty boring night for us. We were both pretty beat, and pretty much passed out as soon as the girls went down. Just another exciting Friday night in our house!

Here is a picture of Olivia watching a movie on the computer...one of her new favorite activities. With supervision by the cat, of course.

9/15/11 - Progress, Finally

Today was a pretty standard day. Well, except the fact that it was actually below freezing when we woke up this morning! There was actually frost on the ground! LOL. I'm not QUITE ready for all of that yet, but that fresh, cool air felt really nice this morning. It's hard to believe, but I think fall is really knocking on our door now!

Work was work...Christian is starting early all week, so he's been getting up bright and early with me (and I've been having to get the girls up and loaded in the car by myself....). I ended up leaving a little early today because we FINALLY have some people stopping over to buy some of our sale items, so I wanted to tidy up the house and make sure the stuff was clean and ready to go. We've been trying to sell some baby stuff (swing, bouncer, changing table) on Craigslist for a while, with no bites, so I keep reposting them. And, we're trying to sell our old desktop computer items now too. Well, tonight we finally sold the swing and the computer monitor! Yes, finally making some progress. I sure hope we can get the rest of the stuff sold, and next up I'm going to try to sell our old DVD's and CD's. I figure, it's time to start getting rid of some of this stuff we never use. I go back and forth on selling the girls' clothes as Amelia grows out of them. I just can't bring myself to do it quite yet though.

So, Christian hurried home as soon as he picked up the girls, we ate some dinner amidst the sales, watched The Little Mermaid for the 10th time this week and took it easy the rest of the night. The girls have been goofing around and chatting for a while before they finally fall asleep at night lately. It's fun to watch and listen to them, but I sure wish they wouldn't stay up so late! LOL

The girls were taking turns wearing the camera tonight; I managed to get a cute picture of each of them. They thought it was pretty funny.

9/14/11 - Randomness

Today was a pretty exciting day. Anyone who knows me, knows that TV is a big part of my life. I don't know why, but it always has been. I've never been into reading, the outdoors, or any of those past times, I love TV. I just love getting lost in the character of it all, and just being able to really enjoy something, without having to think too much about it. Tonight was a great night of television too! The finale of Big Brother (and, the person I wanted to win, did, YAY). The finale of America's Got Talent (like usual for this show, the talent that should have won, did not). The Premier of Survivor (yes, I STILL love Survivor) and the Premier of a new show, Up All Night, about two new parents. The previews for this one just cracked me up, and I could see myself in so much of it. It was actually really good too, so hopefully it stays good.

I received our photo CD from our family session a few weeks ago today, which was super exciting for me. I just love them, I can't wait to actually print some of them off and get our photo walls done. A few weeks ago a company that makes those vinyl word decals for the wall had a big sale, buy 1 get 2 free, plus free shipping, so I ordered some. I can't wait to actually get our walls [started] finished.

And, exactly one month from today, I will be in Chicago. Away from life for 3 wonderful days, getting to know some of my mom friends and having a blast. YES!

As far as our actual day, nothing too exciting happened. Hence, my love for TV. LOL

Here are some of my favorite shots from the photo session.

9/13/11 - Ramblings

My day did not start off too fun. The next little paragraph will probably be TMI for some readers...so feel free to skip over it.

I started the day off heading to the doctor for my "yearly" check up. NOT exciting, not in the least bit. Honestly, as horrible as it may be, I would not go if they didn't hold my birth control hostage when I was overdue. So, in I went, and everything went fine. We talked about nutrition and my midwife was fairly confident that my breastfeeding, then stopping, has been a big part of my weight loss disappointment. I talked about (TMI alert) the fact that my period has not returned yet. She was a little surprised since it has been a little over a month since I stopped nursing. But, assured me that there is no "normal" time frame for it to return after having a baby. She said to wait another month, and if it still hasn't returned I may need to go in for a progesterone shot (which does not sound like fun). She actually had me take a pregnancy test, just to make sure (even though I was 99.9% sure that it was absolutely not possible). Of course, that came back negative. So, all in all, everything went well. I was on a special birth control pill for nursing, and am now switching back to a regular pill. However, I can't start that until my period returns. Nothing is ever easy...LOL

SO, other than that, it was just a pretty standard Tuesday. Work, chasing around the girls, the usual chaos.

I'm thinking that I'll finally get my head above water at work this week. I have a few meetings and projects due this week, but I should be able to make a lot of progress on my inbox, and I'm pretty excited about that. I hate, hate, HATE needing somebody to help me get my work done, it makes me feel like a failure, or like I'm doing something wrong. I'll be happy to get through this week and get myself caught up (well, as caught up as possible anyway).

The girls have been doing a lot better lately. While the incidents are still pretty severe, they are less and less often as time goes on. I still think we really need some help on how to deal with her. Our methods of discipline obviously do not work for her, and we're still at a loss. I'm worried that with winter approaching, things might get worse. The more they are cooped up in the house together, the more challenging it seems to get. Hopefully some kind of light switch flips in her soon, and she realizes that it's actually a good thing to have a built in playmate around, and not the end of the world.

Olivia has a new habit of cuddling up on the glider in her room...I've actually found her sleeping on it a handful of times during the night. LOL. She was laying around on it tonight, so I took a picture quick. Ha.

9/12/11 - Another Monday

Today was just another Monday in our world. I made a lot of progress at work, and while I've typically been leaving early on Monday's to do our shopping, I didn't feel like ruining my progress at work today, so I just made a SUPER fast run to Target after work.

Other than that, we didn't do too much today. We just are not very exciting people during the week, that is for sure! Christian and Olivia watched some video's on the computer while Amelia and I harassed the dog. That was about the extent of our partying tonight.

9/11/11 - 10 Years...

It's hard to believe, but it's been 10 year since the 9/11 attacks. I can remember everything about that day as if it just happened yesterday. All of the fear, sadness, anger.

I recapped that day in my post last year, so I don't think I need to get into it again this year. I didn't lose anybody in the attacks that day. I don't personally know anybody that has perished in the wars resulting from that day. But, I can still feel all of the pain that day has inflicted on the country as a whole. As I watched the anniversary recaps and stories on TV today, I was filled with all of that emotion again. Similar to that day, but rather than being overwhelmed with fear, I was overwhelmed with sadness of what has become of the world, of our country since that day. All of the changes, from flying to trying to enter a sports arena; changes that leave you a little intimidated to even enjoy those events. The massive recession we are experiencing, due in large part to the wars going on in the middle east. It's a day that is just never going to stop leaving it's mark on this country, or its citizens.

After spending the morning watching news coverage, it turned into football Sunday. It felt nice, because it shows that even though we've gone through and experienced this horrific event, we are strong, we do persevere, and we will continue to enjoy our lives as we are supposed to.

The Vikings as the late afternoon game today, so it was nice to have a little time before kick off. Christian's friend, Lorenzo, came over to grill and watch the game. Unfortunately, the game did not go well. The Vikings were in the lead most of the game (though, not impressively), but gave it up and lost in the end. Dang! Hopefully that was not a sign of the season to come!

After the game, Christian and Lorenzo ran over to his parents house to pick up the old snowblower, then were off to Lorenzo's to throw it in his apartment garbage. The girls and I hung out, attempted to paint our nails, and headed to bed. Another week down, and another week to come. Life definitely goes on; but the past is never forgotten.

Here are some pictures of the girls, sporting the Purple Pride!