10/21/11 - Oops

Well, I'm way, WAY behind in updating my blog. I've been writing when I can, but haven't had time to upload pictures. I'm seriously a good 3-4 weeks behind. Oops. I just realized that somehow in the midst of writing my posts, I completely missed today. There is NO way I can actually remember what we did today, other than I took the girls out to play in the leaves for a while. I only remember that, because I have pictures to prove it....

10/20/11 - Welcome, Weekend

Today was another pretty crappy day for me. I woke up late. I got to work and realized that I left my phone (dead) and my work badge in Christian's truck. Great. Work was one issue after another, e-mail after e-mail, phone call after phone call. I seriously don't know how I'm ever going to get everything under control, let alone keep it that way. I thought I was finally feeling better today, but nope. On my drive home this mystery illness took over me out of nowhere, and just got worse throughout the night. I ended up going to bed pretty early, and by that time my stomach was actually hurting pretty bad. WHEN WILL THIS STOP?!?

Olivia didn't take a nap today, so she was mighty crabby all night. That really didn't help things. We ate a fancy dinner of pizza and wings, gave the girls an early bath and send them off to bed. Unfortunately, they had other ideas. They were in their room, talking, yelling and acting crazy for what seemed like forever. After we each made an unsuccessful trip into their room in an attempt to lay down the law and get them to go down, we gave up and let them ware themselves out. So, I think they finally fell asleep about the same time I did!

That was about it for us today. Hoping for a semi-relaxing day tomorrow, and REALLY hoping that I finally start feeling better!

Tonight was a little deja vu - yee-haws. Hopefully I'll be feeling better soon so I can help entertain the girls, and give daddy's back a break! Olivia attempted giving Amelia a yee-haw, it didn't go over well though...

10/19/11 - Hectic Days, Hectic Nights

Today ended up being a pretty hectic day. Christian has been pretty busy at work these days, but he hasn't really been working any OT lately. It's nice not having to guess what his hours are, but that little extra on the paycheck is usually pretty nice.

Of course, like usual, things are still pretty crazy at work for me. I really don't understand it. Why I can't ever remotely catch up is beyond me. Maybe I've just lost my mojo or something. It's frustrating!

I was pretty excited when I received an e-mail halfway through the day letting me know that the car seats were in! YES, finally my baby girl can get out of her infant carrier. I think she's going to be pretty annoyed by it though. When we tell her we're going bye-bye, she walks over to her chair and sits down in it, ready to go. She's a pretty big diva, so she'll probably be upset that she doesn't get to be carried around everywhere now. LOL

So, after work I was right away off to pick up the carseats, Christian was off to pick up the girls, when we were meeting my mom at our house to load up the computer desk and bring it over to her new place (also very excited to be getting rid of that, but slightly sad that we didn't get to sell it for some extra money...). I thought I had it all planned out perfectly, but, of course, that was not the case. First, it took me FOREVER to pick up the carseats. I used site to store pickup at Walmart, and it was like total chaos there. They finally brought the seats up to me, and just left them there for me to deal with on my own. Awesome, thanks. I finally got them loaded into a cart (barely) and out to my car, only to realize there was no way I could fit them both in my car. Turns out the stroller was in the trunk...who knew?! Luckily my mom was already at our house (right across the street), so she came over and picked up the second one.

Finally, we were home and they were unloaded. Then, we got the desk up and loaded into the truck, dropped it off at my mom's, picked up some dinner, ate, and the girls were off to bed. The night just flew by. And, of course, I was feeling pretty rundown and sick by the end of the night. I don't know what's going on, but I am pretty sick of it!

Olivia demanded some "yee-haw's" (aka, pony rides) from dad tonight, so they all had some fun while I was laid up on the couch!

10/18/11 - Random Thoughts

Things have turned cold here, like REALLY cold. Like, changes of snow, frosted over windows and frozen grounds kind of cold. It's supposed to be this way for the next few days, but it's supposed to warm up again this weekend. Hopefully that's true, I think we need a little more outdoor play time before the snow flies! We definitely need decent weather for Halloween (please)!

I've recently realized that I'm definitely getting old. I've always listened to KDWB (a Top 40's kind of station) on the radio, especially at work. I LOVE their morning show, but I now find myself turning the channel to a KS95, "90's, 2K and today" station, for the rest of the day once the morning show ends. I just can't take a lot of the music on KDWB, and the fact that they play the same songs over and over again all day long doesn't help. I swear, I never thought I'd see the day that I'd make that switch!

And, speaking of the morning show, it was announced today that the female co-host on the morning show I listen to is leaving the station next week. I'm SOOOO devastated. Since I started working and listening full time this is the 3rd female co-host to leave, and all 3 have been so great. I feel like such a loser for getting so upset about it, but it feels like you really know these people when you listen to them every day. It's hard to imagine never hearing them again. It's just sad...that may be slightly pathetic, but still...

Finally, a few days ago, even before I left for Chicago, I started feeling pretty crappy. A little dizzy on and off throughout the day, bouts of nausea, headaches...it has not been fun, and I just can't kick it. I'm semi worried that it's the flu or something. I did get my shot, and you think after a few days I would ACTUALLY have the flu if that were the case. I'm wondering if maybe it's still dealing with stress and anxiety of the trip, and all of the eating out on top of it. Hopefully that's the case. I don't think I can handle anything more than that right now!

There is one member of the household that is happy about the cold snap...Rico. He's very excited because the cold means the heat is on (at least for part of the day), and his favorite thing to do is lay right in front of the vent. I don't know how he can do it, or, how he doesn't start on fire or something. Crazy cat.

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....