10/17/11 - Welcome to Reality

Well, it did NOT take long for life's reality to kick in. Back to work, of course more swamped than ever after being out Friday and 1/2 of Thursday. Back to arguing with Christian about the same stupid things, over and over again. Back to the crazy toddler's, yelling, screaming, not listening, telling us no and running around like crazy. I was all set to make lasagna for dinner, and really excited about it. Pre-heated the oven, put the lasagna in, good to go. When the timer went off I opened up the door only to find it cold, and the lasagna still pretty much frozen. I have no idea what happened, but it was pretty much my last straw on this very stressful day and I pretty much threw in the towel.

We did get a little bit of fun, family time in before the dinner fiasco. We took the girls outside and filled some of those pumpkin bags with leaves. They had a blast and thought it was pretty fun. It's been fun actually decorating for Halloween this year...it's been a long time since we've done that.

Here are some pics of our momentary fun...

10/16/11 - Home Sweet Home

Well, mommy weekend has officially come to an end. It was a strange mix of not wanting to leave the life of a tourist, and excitement to get home to my girls. You just never know how much those little beings consume you until you are away from them, and all you can think about is getting back to them!

Our morning started off pretty early. Emily and Kristy had to be to the airport by 8:30 or so, and Michie was anxious to pick up her girls, so we hit the road. I successfully made my way through the airport again, dropped them off for their flights, filled up the gas tank and I was officially on my way home. I was able to drive straight through this time, but the drive home seemed much longer than the drive there. Different kind of excitement I suppose. I made it home by 3:00, filled up the tank again (I'm such a nice wife), and was greeted at the door by two VERY happy girls. They were so excited to see me, that felt so good! After lots of hugs and kisses, I gave them their snowglobes from Chicago (and, of course Amelia broke hers 5 minutes later) and real life was back into full swing...

Soon after I arrived home, I was off to Target to pick up diapers and a few necessities and I grabbed some dinner. We ate, hung out for a bit, did a little raking and hanging out outside and just relaxed the rest of the night. Vacation is officially over, reality has definitely set in!

Here are some pics of the girls opening their gifts...

10/15/11 - Wandering the Big City

Well, it was definitely vacation today! After we took in a nice breakfast, and got ready, we were off to take in all of the sights today. We took the bug and the L-Train all over the city. Walked around taking it all in. We were going to attempt the Willis Tower, until we were told it was a 1.5 hour wait. So, instead we took a water taxi out to Navy Pier and spent the afternoon out there. The boat ride was slightly cold, but it was very cool. We got to see so much of the city, from a very unique perspective. I really loved it. We ate some lunch, had a drink, took in the shops, rode the Ferris Wheel. Yup, we were tourists all the way (I'm sure being from there, Michie was REALLY enjoying it. LOL).

Finally, we were on our way back to the apartment. We took the bus back, hung out at the apartment for a few minutes, then were on the road again, off to dinner. We ate dinner at a pretty fun diner, where the wait staff is rude and makes fun of you on purpose. It was pretty funny. We were all pretty exhausted by the end of dinner, so we made our way "home" for the night. We got into our jammies, ate some cookies and watched "Bridesmaids" (SO funny!). Now, that is quite the slumber party if I don't say so myself!

It was sad to think that vacation was officially coming to an end. But, I sure did miss my crazy toddlers, so I was pretty excited to be heading home in the morning. It was quite a refreshing vacation though, and it was SO nice to meet some of my mommy friends and spend some time with them. Even better that they were all normal, fun and very much NOT serial killers.

So, our busy day of tourism and girl time came to an end. Definitely worth the trip! Here are some pics of our big day!

10/14/11 -Welcome to Chicago!

It's here, it's here!! Vacation is finally here!!

I was on the road bright and early (well, 8:00 or so, early enough). I stopped in to give my sleeping beauties a kiss goodbye on my way out, which was much harder than I even expected. I quick stopped into fill up the gas tank. We decided that it would be best for me to take the truck. Even though it's a little more of a gas hog, it's much more safer than my car, so it was just the best decision all around. I grabbed some road trip snacks and off I went!

The drive went pretty well. I had to stop off for some Excedrin on the way. Reading all of those signs+Out of Date Prescription = massive headache! My first time dealing with the tollway went OK. I am not a fan of them, but they weren't quite as scary as I imagined. Two of the girls, Emily and Kristy, were flying in for the weekend, and the airport was on my way into Chicago, so I picked them up. I was a little panicked from dealing with the airport, but I ended up getting in, picking them up and getting out pretty well. I did have to skip the airport toll though...it was unattended so I needed exact change, which I didn't have. Oops. Better believe I'll be paying that off right away Monday morning! LOL

Finally, we arrived at Michie's apartment (where we're staying for the weekend...YAY free lodging!). It was so nice to actually be with these people I've known for so long live and in person! We settled in and relaxed for a little bit, then we were off to enjoy our first night in the Big City. We stopped in for some very yummy pizza and chatted for a while, followed up with a drive around the city taking in a few sights. We stopped into Target (why not?!), and then back to the apartment we went.

I was a little nervous about staying at her place. You just never know what people are going to be like in real life, and actually staying in somebody's place, all together, was a little nerve wracking. Luckily, everything went great, and everybody was seemingly normal. And, hello, vacation...no responsibilities, no whining, no watching after anybody...just solid adult time, all weekend. Yes, please!

10/13/11 - Vacation is Stressful

Who know, getting ready for a trip is way too stressful! Well, of course for me it is. I'm pretty sure everything is too stressful for me!

I was off to work this morning, only in an attempt to tie up as many loose ends as possible and get some high priority stuff done. After a few hours, I called it a day and I was on my way home for the night. Home to clean, pack and get ready to go! I wanted to clean as much as possible in an attempt to come home to fairly clean house on Sunday...so, I spent most of the afternoon/evening doing dishes, vacuuming, putting clothes away, washing a couple loads of laundry, cleaning the litter boxes and picking up the disaster of a basement. As exhausting as it is, there are very few things in this world better than the look and smell of a clean house!

Finally, I was able to start packing and getting ready. Thankfully it's just a couple days, because packing overwhelms me. I'm always afraid that I'm going to forget something life or death important...as if I'd really be taking anything of that magnitude on a trip with me. Again, everything stresses me out.

Once Christian and the girls arrived home, we ate some dinner and I just spent the evening with them. It's only 2.5 days, but the thought of leaving them is just so upsetting. The most I've ever been away from Olivia is just an overnight at Grandma's house. And, I've NEVER been away from Amelia, not even for a night. I am so looking forward to this little vacation...meeting my friends, getting some time away from life and responsibilities. But, it is hard to leave them. And, we've decided that it's best for me to take the truck for the weekend, so I'm even more stressed out! LOL

Here is a cute picture of the girls tonight. Christian was outside doing some stuff, and the girls were just watching him out the window the whole time. It was cute.

10/12/11 - My Project

Today was a pretty boring day. Work was pretty quiet, which gave me the chance to make a good dent in my work load. Always a welcomed change. After work, we all met up at home and just hung out for the night. There really isn't anything to report, it was a pretty sad and pathetic day in our world!

I do have to share this though....we have these 4 big pictures in our living room (decorative pictures, that go with our current "travel" theme), that we've had since our early apartment days, and I've wanted to replace them for quite some time. This week Walmart was offering free 11x14 collage prints, which is exactly what I've been wanting. My plan was to make a collage print of our family pictures for each season, and just replace them as the seasons come and go. That way, we'll always have an up to date collection of our favorite pictures. So, I was finally able to print the 4 pictures, and replace the prints - and all basically for free! I love the way it turned out, and It feels nice to finally complete a project I've been wanting to do for so long.

Here is the finished product....

10/11/11 - Halloween, Check!

I think we are officially ready for Halloween! YAY. I was able to borrow a little witch costume for Olivia from a friend at work, and today Party City had a 25% off coupon, so I picked up a little black cat costume for Amelia. I'm so excited, they are going to be SO cute, and we made out super cheap, which is even better! I have our Halloween events planned out...some crafts, carving pumpkins, a few Halloween parties and, of course, trick or treating. SO FUN! I swear, I could not stand Halloween for so many years, I did not see the point of it for so long. But, when you have little gremlins to celebrate with, it makes the world of difference.

Other than that excitement, today was a pretty normal day. Work, home, dinner, play, bed. Just another day in our exciting house!

Amelia has a new obsession with the little star fountain we have for the bathtub. She just discovered it tonight, and thinks it's hilarious. I didn't have the camera handy when she first noticed it, so I missed the excitement, but I still got a pretty cute picture of her.

10/10/11 - DEFINITE Case of the Monday's!

Today I was feeling Monday, HARD CORE. From start to finish.

I don't know what it was, but it seemed like everything that could go wrong, did. Woke up late, horrible traffic, including every stupid driver on the road surrounding me the whole way to work. Work was just one problem after another. I just cannot stand days like that. It's hard enough keeping up and just getting work done in general, but when everything you touch is a problem, and every 5 minutes you are getting a call or e-mail from somebody with a dumb question (yes, I don't care what anybody says, there is such thing as a dumb question), it's seriously impossible. It just instantly puts me in a bad mood when I feel like I'm not being productive. Which, is just kind of my general feeling these days.

About halfway through the day I realized that today is Columbus Day, and typically that would be a Holiday for us, but we gave that up for the day after Thanksgiving. I determined that that was why I was in such a bad mood...and that it was completely acceptable to be feeling that way...

The day started looking more typical once work ended. Met up at home with the rest of the family. Ate some dinner, watched a little TV, did a little playing. It doesn't matter how bad the day might start...it ends with kisses and hugs from the most beautiful girls in the world, and that can certainly make anything better!

Yesterday my stepmom gave the girls a Halloween sucker, some super cool Halloween suckers. Olivia was obsessed with hers. She finally opened it up tonight and was showing it off like it was the most amazing thing in the world. It was pretty funny.

10/9/11 - "Birthday" and Birthday

Today was a pretty fun day all around.

First up, we were up, eating breakfast and getting ready for the day, bright and early. We were off to church to celebrate Amelia's baptism "birthday". The church she was baptized at does an annual "birthday" party for all of the children baptized the year before. They gave each of the kids a little book, they all got to make a little bag (even the siblings to to make one too, which was nice), they had a special part of the service to honor the baptism babies and some snacks. It was really fun, and it was a nice thing to be a part of. I sure wish that we could get our lives a little less chaotic and a little more in order so that we could start attending church on a regular basis. We really need to make an effort to do that!

After the party, we stopped over to Christian's parents house. Our mom's were chatting one day, his mom mentioned that they were looking to get rid of their kitchen table and chairs, my mom mentioned that she was going to need a new set, so we were commissioned to pick up and drop off the set. So, we did that, then were on our way home for a while.

The girls fell asleep on the way home, took a nice little nap, then woke up just in time to head off to our next event. The girls and I were off to celebrate my Grandma's birthday (while Christian's lazy butt laid around the house). The girls had so much fun running around with all of the other kids...jumping in the leaves, following each other all over the place and just being goofy little kids. It's always nice catching up with the family too.

Finally, the girls were exhausted and ready to head home. We got them in for a quick bath and a little bedtime snack, and everybody was off to bed. Such a busy fun-filled weekend, you just can't ask for much more!

Here are some pics from my Grandma's birthday party.

10/8/11 - Annual Sever's Trip

Today was definitely one of my favorite days of the year.

It didn't really start out that way. Started off kind of crappy actually. The car and the truck each went in for an oil change. Oh, routine car maintenance, how I loathe thee. Luckily we had pretty decent coupons for them, so that was nice. But, while working on my car they said the coolant was low, so there may be a leak of some sort. And, while working on the trick, they noticed one of the tire rods was loose (the last issue we were having with the car). The truck is still under an extended warranty, so he'll just have to pay the deductible, but still. Ick. HOWEVER, it does make me laugh a little. He gave me SUCH a hard time about getting mine replaced, claiming it was because of the way I drive (taking corners too fast/too sharp, etc.). Now what?!? My car is 7 years older than his, yet his needs the same replacement? Jerk.

While he was off taking care of the vehicles, the girls and I ate breakfast, I packed up our bag, they took their bath and I got them ready for the day. Then, Christian and I quickly got ready, and we were off to meet my BFF's family at Sever's Corn Maze for the day. Like I said, one of my favorite days of the year.

I won 4 tickets to Sever's on facebook a few weeks back. The girls get in free, so with our 2 extra tickets, Kari and Jay only had to buy one ticket, for their son. Not too bad! Then, fun and chaos ensued! We ate some lunch, took a trip down the super slide, played in the corn pool for a while, jumped on the jumping pillow for a bit, checked out the petting zoo, went on pony rides (Amelia's first), took another trip down the slide and played in the pumpkin patch for a bit. The weather was ridiculously gorgeous, and it was such a blast, like usual. We were pretty sad to say goodbye for another year, but the girls were beyond exhausted, we were all as dirty as we possibly could be, and it was time to head out.

The girls passed out almost as soon as we left. Once home, they continued to nap. Christian was off to hang out with a friend for the evening. Since I'm off on vacation next weekend, I "let" him have a night out to escape for a bit. The girls were still napping 7:30 and I finally woke them up. They hadn't really eating anything but snacks since breakfast, Olivia hadn't gone potty for a long time and Amelia needed a diaper change. So, I knew I couldn't just leave them down for the night.

We ate some dinner and had many, MANY laughs playing and goofing around. It was nice to spend some quality alone time with the girls. While I'm very excited to get away for some much needed mommy time next weekend, it's going to be hard. I've never been away from Olivia for more than a night, and NEVER been away from Amelia. I know it's going to be difficult to be away, but it is only for 3 days/2 nights. I just need to remind myself of that.

Surprisingly, I did get the girls down to bed at 9:30, so not too bad. Hopefully down for the ENTIRE night. Only time will tell.

Here are some of my favorite snaps from Sever's. Too much fun!