11/29/11 - "My Dad" and 16 Months

First and Foremost - HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD! It may have seemed as thought I'd left my dad out of my "30 Days of Thankful" list all this time, but I really didn't! I was just saving him for his special day :) So, my "30 Days of Thankful" item today is, my Dad! We don't get to spend nearly as much time together as I would like, and we never have, but the little time we do get together has always been cherished. He looks to big and tough, but he's always been a pretty big softy. It's so great to see him with my girls, he's even more of a softy! He's the dad that knows everything, and is such a funny guy. Hopefully life will slow down a bit, and we can see him more than once a month pretty soon!

Today was a pretty low key day. The radio station I listen to does this thing called "Christmas Wish" every year. People write into them about family's that are in need, and the station grants their wishes. It's such an amazing thing to listen to. Every year, to kick off the Christmas Wish season, they do a "wish-a-thon", and grant a wish, every hour, all day long. It's amazing to listen to...it definitely opens your eyes up to how lucky you are in your own life, and it's really touching to "witness" the kindness in people all around...from the station for doing this, to the people who nominate families for help, to the listeners that donate money. It's incredible, a wonderful start to the holiday season, that's for sure.

We didn't do much today. With the chaos of the weekend, I didn't get a chance to get a picture of Amelia and write up her monthly update. Amelia is still the sweetest, cutest little thing in the world. She learns more and more every day. She still "talks" all day long, but still doesn't actually say a ton. She's learning to feed herself, and actually does a pretty impressive job. She has the fork down pat, but she's actually even getting the hang of her spoon...even cereal! It's crazy, she's growing up too fast. Her teething has been pretty out of control. She has 12 teeth, including her first molars, and is working on her eye teeth already. Poor thing, she's never taken well to teething, I just can't wait for it to be over! She seems to grow more and more every day. We'll soon be packing away her 9-12 month clothes soon, and moving her up to her 12-18 month stuff. Really, she's already worn a few things. They seriously grow too fast!

Here is Amelia's 16 month photo.

11/28/11 - "My Cats"

Today, my "30 Days of Thankful" item is, my cats. I was never much of a cat person. They just seemed, well, useless. When I moved out on my own, I decided to break down and get a cat. We found Chloe, 6 months old at the time, at a local shelter. Not long after, we decided that Chloe needed a playmate, so we got Rico. Well, Chloe pretty much hated Rico. Other than a few random snuggles over the years, that never really changed. Shortly after buying our house, we decided to get another cat, Frank - who got very sick earlier this year and had to be put down. While cats really are pretty much useless, they are also sweet, and warm, and do bring their own kind of joy to a family. We sure do love our kitties, as crazy as they drive us some days!

I haven't been much in a holiday, celebrating kind of mood lately. I think I get overwhelmed with money issues, budgets, planning and the overall chaos of life that I can't focus on just relaxing and enjoying everything. Today, it was like a switch went off. I did a little cyber Monday shopping, I ordered our Christmas cards (and picked them up, Walmart is FAST!), I left work a little early, stopped into Target for some grocery and post-Thanksgiving shopping, and by the end of the day, I was DONE Christmas shopping, and basically done shopping for Olivia's birthday as well. After shopping, I spent the evening putting up all of our indoor Christmas decorations. It was a festive, productive, very cheerful day, and just what I needed.

It's kind of old, but here is one of my favorite pictures of Chloe and Rico.

11/27/11 – “Birthday Parties”

Today, my “30 Days of Thankful” item is, birthday parties! I LOVE going to birthday parties. It’s such an important event in a child’s life, and I love being a part of it. And, just getting the chance to spend time with family and friends makes them even better. Kids are so innocent, and so full of life. Watching them experience a birthday party, not really understanding how amazing a birthday REALLY is, touches my heart. Surrounded by love, everybody that cares about them, fun and presents, they don’t have a care in the world. They don’t realize just how significant that day is, what an amazing gift that day is – especially to their parents. I don’t think I realized the true significance of a birthday until I had kids. Every year, on their birthdays, I’m brought back to the amazing day they came into this world, and how those days have transformed our lives completely. Yes, celebrating life is one of my favorite things to do!

We started today off in a bit of a whirlwind. We were off to a 4th birthday party for my cousin’s little boy. The party was pretty early, so we were rushing around like crazy getting ready and out the door. They had the party at a place called “Pump it Up”…the place is full of inflatable slide and jump houses – for kids AND adults to play in. It was SO much fun, and the girls had an absolute blast. Before we knew it, the party was over and we were on our way home with two very exhausted little girls. Christian and I talked, and are definitely going to check this place out for Olivia’s birthday. It was so much fun, for everybody, and it looked like their employees were very hands-on and helpful, which was nice. Yes, we'll definitely be looking into this place.

The girls went down for some nice, long naps. I did some laundry, and we did some chores around the house. Just the usual end to the weekend really. After naps, we watched some TV, played and just hung out. This was an amazing, long weekend, and I’m pretty sad to see it come to an end.

Here are some party pics to share.

11/26/11 – “Tradition”

Today, my “30 Days of Thankful” item is, tradition. Like most families, we have several things throughout the year that we do, every year, without fail. From places we go (Sever’s Corn Maze, Aamodt’s Apple Orchard, etc.), to special events (like, putting up our Christmas tree and our summer trip to Duluth). These traditions seem to grow and multiply every year. We find new exciting things to do, new events to share with our kids. It’s so fulfilling, and it amazing to see the changes in what we do, and what the girls think, from year to year as they get older. As they understand more, and start to form memories of doing things, it’s wonderful to watch the joy they experience.

We had another very low key start to the day today. Family time, hanging out eating leftovers, watching some kid friendly movies and just being together. After some long naps, we were off on today’s tradition. The Holidazzle Parade in Minneapolis, followed up by the Macy’s Christmas Display. This year, my BFF and her family joined us for the parade, which always brightens my day. This is the first weekend of the parade…we try to go as early as possible before it gets too cold. It was pretty chilly tonight, but we all survived. The girls LOVED all of the lights and music, it was so great watching them take it all in. After the parade, we rushed over to Macy’s to check out the display. Back, before Macy’s bought out Marshall Fields, they used to change the display every year – “The Wizard of Ox”, “Alice in Wonderland”…all kind so fun stories, coming to life. Macy’s did not want to carry on the tradition, so their “compromise” was to put up a display, and use the same one every year – “A Day in the Life of an Elf”. It’s cute, but very short, and not too exciting to see every year. The good thing is that the girls don’t know the difference, and they were s in awe of it this year, it was worth a repeat trip. And, the really good thing, is that it used to take forever to get through the line up to the display, but it seems most people are not interested in seeing the same display, because we were in and out in no time this year.

Finally, we were on our way home. Everybody was pretty exhausted…the girls went right to bed, and Christian and I were not far behind. What can I say, obviously too much excitement in our old age :)

Here are some pictures from today. We let the girls pick out their own little tree for their room, so we set that up. And, of course, pics from our Holiday night out.

11/25/11 – “Christmas Decorations”

Today, my “30 Days of Thankful” item is…Christmas Decorations! I’m in the most Christmasy of moods quite yet, but there is nothing like the colorful, wonderful memory-inducing Christmas decorations. They make the whole house look so bright and cheerful, and they bring back so many amazing memories. Today, like every year since I first moved out on my own, we put up the Christmas tree. We have a whole new look to our tree this year. Our tree was always very classic…white lights with red and silver ornaments. Very simple and elegant. We’ve now decided – what the heck, we have kids now! They like colors and fun. So, during the “after Christmas” sales last year, we stocked up on some new, colorful ornaments and a huge spool of multi-colored lights. The tree looks amazing, and the girls just loved it. Hopefully over the next week I’ll be able to get all of our other decorations up and fill the house with the joy it brings!

Other than that, today was a very relaxing day. We hung out together all day and took it easy. Christian and I snuck in some naps of our own during naptime, and spent the evening playing and hanging out with the girls. Even though we didn’t do much, the day still flew by. Before we knew it, the girls were off to bed. We made some nachos and settled in for another movie night. We only managed one movie tonight after our late night yesterday – “Horrible Bosses”. SUPER funny, another one I would highly recommend. We could not stop laughing through the whole thing. It feels good to finally spend a little time together, and catch up on some movies we’ve wanted to watch (and, of course, stay awake for them!).

Here are some pictures of our tree decorating fun, including a snap of the girls' 2011 ornaments. And, of course, we snapped our family Christmas photos right away so I can get to work on our Christmas cards soon. There's always something!

11/24/11 – “EVERYTHING!”

It’s here, HAPPY THANKSGIVING”!

Today, my “30 Days of Thankful” item, of course, is everything! I have so much in my life to be thankful, and grateful, for, and Thanksgiving Day is the perfect day to reflect on all of that. I am so incredibly blessed, from my great parents, to my wonderful husband, to my two beautiful daughters, to my entertaining furbabies. My amazing friends, whether we are close, or distant…whether I see them often, or never see them at all. My kind and generous family, immediate, extended and everything in between…whether I see them daily, or once a year. My warm and happy home, a vehicle that safely gets us from point a to point b and the means to provide for my family. We have our health, we have each other and we have our happiness – and with that, we are definitely rich with what is important.

Today was pretty amazing day all around. We spent the morning eating yummy cinnamon rolls and watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, our traditional start to the day. We spent the rest of the morning cleaning up and getting ready for the big day. My mom and Christian’s parents joined us, like usual, for the Thanksgiving feast. The mom’s and I did the cooking, and the running after children, while Christian and his dad were in charge of the Turkey (another successful year of not burning down the house!). We ate, spent some time chatting and catching up, we flipped the switch on the outside lights (and the house looks beautiful) and we capped everything off with some dessert. Perfection!

Olivia did not take a nap today, so as the night went on she got crabbier and crabbier. It was a pretty rough evening with her. The excitement of all of us being in one place, and a little bit of chaos, definitely does not help. We ended up putting the girls to bed fairly early because we just had had enough of it. Not the best way to finish off a wonderful Holiday, but also not too surprising in a house with a 1 and a 2 year old.

Once the girls were in bed, Christian and I settled in for a movie night. Tonight we watched “Source Code” and “Shutter Island”. Both were VERY good, I would highly recommend them. Every year I debate “Back Friday” shopping. Christian and I used to get up early the day after Thanksgiving, and do a ton of shopping – for ourselves, and for Christmas gifts – you know, back when it was actually BLACK FRIDAY. I did go out to Toys R Us last year, and it was horrendous. I went back and forth on going out this year, but just decided it is not in any way worth it. Really, the deals aren’t that great…you rush out to get this stuff, that over the next 3-4 weeks is going to end up on sale anyway (PS, keep in mind, I’m writing this post a few weeks late, so I actually know this for a fact as I’ve seen not only the same deals, but BETTER deals on “Black Friday” specials over the last few weeks). I’d prefer to get the deals online, or just randomly over the next few weeks, than deal with the chaos of it all. It’s not even just the long lines and the crowds that get to me, but it’s just the way people act period that I can’t handle. It’s sad really. We live right across the street from Walmart, and were watching all of the cars and chaos when the “doors opened”, and it was not a pretty sight. No thanks! A nice warm night, cuddled up with my hubby, watching some awesome movies was much more fulfilling for me!

11/23/11 – “This Weather….Maybe”

Today, my “30 Days of Thankful” item is, this weather. It’s so amazingly beautiful out, I can’t even believe it. This time last year was windy, and freezing and everything was covered in snow. This year, you don’t even need a coat, or a heavy sweater for that matter! It’s just been completely perfect fall weather, which is great. However, the only downside to it is…we’re a little worried about our turkey for tomorrow! We deep fry our turkey, which means it has to brine overnight in a big standing cooler. This usually isn’t an issue because we leave the cooler outside or in the garage, which helps it stay cool. This year, we’re a little worried that it might be too warm out! Hopefully the overnight temperature tonight is low enough to help us out!

Today was really a laid back day. Work was quiet, as expected, so I got a TON of stuff done. There were only a few of us in the office (basically my favorite people in the office, shhhhh), so we ordered lunch and spent some time chatting and catching up. LOVE days like that at work. Christian had to work a little late, getting ready for the long weekend, but he still picked up the girls, which gave me plenty of time to get the dishes done and a little picking up and cleaning done around the house. After dinner and a little family time, the girls were off to bed. We started brining the turkey, did a little final cleaning for the day, and were off to bed ourselves! I cannot believe tomorrow is Thanksgiving! The most “wonderful time of the year” is here, and in full effect!

Here is a picture of Amelia, working so hard to feed herself nowadays. Such a big girl already!

11/22/11 – “Technology & My Flexible Workplace”

Today, my “30 Days of Thankful” item is the wonderful world of technology, and my super flexible workplace. It’s hard being off work several days in a row. I care, probably too much, about my work and what the people I work with think about me to let myself get that behind. Thankfully, my work provides laptop computers and everything you would need to be able to easily work from home when the need arises. Of course, having a flexible workplace that actually allows me to do that helps as well. I’m very lucky to have an understanding supervisor that will not only let me do some work at home, but have enough trust in me to let me do it. It really means a ton!

So, today was another pretty good day home with the girls. They’ve been surprisingly well behaved lately, which is great. We spent the morning just hanging out and relaxing. We did have a little issue today with Chuy though. He seems to have gotten into something and spent the day trying to get it up. Not pleasant to listen to at all, and of course we were pretty worried about him. Olivia spent some time taking care of “her puppy” though, which was pretty cute.

The girls took a SUPER long nap this afternoon, which gave me a ton of time to get some work done. Christian arrived home shortly after the marathon naps ended, so it was on to dinner and the usual evening routine. It’s going to feel really strange going into work tomorrow, for one day, but it will also be nice to get out of this house for a while! LOL

I have a couple of pictures to share today. The first, of Olivia taking care of her puppy. The second, of my sweet girls coloring together. Thank goodness for color wonders!

11/21/11 – “Online Shopping”

Today, my “30 Days of Thankful” item is the wonderfulness of online shopping. I’m not a big shopping fan as it is, but my extremely limited time to actually do it makes it even worse. If I could, I would do every bit of shopping online. You can find so many deals and it saves so much time. Thanks to online shopping, I’m just about done Christmas shopping for the girls, and, thanks to some bargain shopping, they are getting way more than they otherwise would. I know Christmas is not all about gifts and what you spend, but it’s that one time of year these little ones deserved to be a little spoiled, so I like to take the opportunity to do so.

This week is a little odd, work wise. Christian’s mom works in a grocery store, in the bakery. So, of course, they get pretty busy close to the Holiday’s. She ended up having to work today and Wednesday – and with us being off Thursday and Friday, it made sense to just “give” her the whole week off. I was a little upset about this when the issue first came about, but it actually turned out to be kind of a good thing. It gives her a break, saves us some money (which we can put towards Thanksgiving dinner) and, of course, gives me a chance to spend some time with the girls. However, I just cannot take an entire week off work…that’s a lot of lost leave time, and the work would just pile up, out of control. So my mom will be watching the girls on Wednesday, which should be a pretty quiet day at work, giving me plenty of time to fly through some work.

The girls were pretty good today. We have an issue going on with Amelia lately that is pretty frustrating. Amelia is a big biter…she has chewed up her crib, she chews on anything and everything, and when she’s upset, she bites. She has only ever bitten Olivia…usually when Olivia won’t leave her alone, basically as a defense mechanism. Lately though, she’s started biting herself…to the point of breaking the skin. Then she cries and scream in pain. I don’t know what to do about it. We grab her hand, and sternly tell her “no”, but she keeps doing it. Of course I pick her up and baby her afterwards, because she’s in pain, so I suppose I need to stop doing that before it just turns into an attention seeking thing. It does worry me though nonetheless – it does not seem like a normal thing to do – at least not to the point of actually hurting herself. Ugh, these kids!

This morning the girls disappeared for a while, and everything got quiet. I went looking for them, only to find them cuddled up in my bed, watching TV. Seriously, they are too smart for their own good!

11/20/11 – “My One-on-One Time”

Today, my “‎30 Days of Thankful” item is my occasional one on one time with the girls. It’s rare that I get time alone with either of the girls. They each have such amazing, individual personalities, but don’t get much of a chance to really show them off. When I get time alone with them, they just shine, and remind me just how amazing they really are. His evening, Christian and Olivia went over to his parents’ house to help move some stuff around in the house, so Amelia and I had some time to hang out and bond. I seriously just love her to pieces. She's so fun, so incredibly smart and amazingly entertaining; it was nice to really see her personality come out. We just laugh the night away when we get our time alone.

The rest of the day was pretty low key. We just had the usual family breakfast, took some naps and relaxed around the house. Gearing up for a busy Holiday week.

I have to share Olivia’s new “thing”. It used to be, anytime you would call her something (honey, goofball, girly) she’d say “No, me no goofball, me Olivia Rose Duran”. Now, when we call her something, she says “No, me no goofball, me Pain in the Butt”. LOL. Like they say, kids don’t lie! She cracks me up!

Here is a picture of the girls, checking out yesterday's snow. They are so excited about it!