12/19/11

Seriously, I cannot believe Christmas is THIS weekend! We have so many reasons to be excited. Santa is coming to make two VERY deserving girls very happy. We’ll be spending some much needed, much appreciated time with our amazing family. Experiencing the joy, happiness and kindness that come with this time of year, especially through the eyes of a 1 and 2 year old that just look at everything in awe. And, of course, the “reason for the season” is never forgotten. This is just such a magical time of year, I can't believe it's already here!

Today was a pretty low key day. My mother in law has to work a few days this week, so luckily my mom offered to watch the girls today so I wouldn’t have to take a ton of time off. We’re pretty excited because today voting in the “Happy Feet Contest” I entered Olivia in starts. The “Pump it Up” site on facebook is hosting this contest, and asked for videos of kids showing off their “Happy Feet”. I submitted a video of Olivia when she was a little over 1, and it’s seriously one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen. And, looking through the other video entries – she TOTALLY deserves to win. Not just being over the top, my kids the best, really – it’s the best video. So, guess we’ll see how it goes over the next couple weeks. YAY!

Tonight, Buddy showed up, hiding above the Kitchen door. He was pretty lazy today, and just put together little goody bags of snacks for the girls - stolen from our cupboards of course. That sneaky Elf!

12/18/11

Today we really didn’t do much. Of course Christian was dragging this morning after his late night, so we all just kind of hung out and took it easy this morning.

After naps, and dinner, the girls discovered that Buddy has shown up with a bunch of goodies – a gingerbread house, some cookie mix, sprinkles and frosting! Amelia didn’t really care too much, but Olivia was excited to help out with everything. I baked the cookies and we all did the gingerbread house together. It’s not the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen, but we got it up, and Olivia had A LOT of input, while Amelia just tried to eat everything. LOL. Once we finished, Olivia and I frosted the cookies, and man were they TASTY! I didn’t realize until I took a picture of them, but they ended up very Mexican Pride-ish. Ha.

By the time we finished up out Christmas activities, it was basically time for bed. Another weekend down, it’s crazy to think that next weekend, we’ll be celebrating Christmas!

12/17/11

Today was just kind of a typical weekend day around the house. Cleaning up, dishes and some laundry for me. Christian did some cleaning up in the garage. Nothing too strenuous. It’s always nice to get a chance to actually get some stuff done around the house. The girls took a nice long nap today, which helps too.

We ate dinner shortly after the girls got up, and then Christian was out for the night. He was off to help Lorenzo finish up laying down his flooring. I’m sure that’s not ALL they will be doing, and I was a little bitter that he got to go “out”, again. It’s so rare that I get out of the house, so I get a little annoyed by it, but I really shouldn’t. For one, it’s not his fault that none of my girlfriends ever ask to get together or do anything. And, it’s not his fault that I’m more of a homebody, and typically OK just hanging out at home by myself. He gets really bored just being at home, especially in the winter/colder months when there isn’t much you can do, so I get why he wants to go and hang out with friends. I still get jealous though…and probably a little hurt that he doesn’t want to just hang out with me. LOL

Buddy showed up this evening, hiding in the rocker with the girls’ stuffed friends, with some reindeer headbands for the girls. They thought these things were hilarious, and seriously wore them the rest of the night. It was cute.

12/16/11

Today was my Friday off, home with the girls. YAY. I ended up having to make a surprise trip into work though; because it turns out I left my wallet there. Oops. Everyone was pretty excited to see the girls though, and it’s nice to get them up and out of the house.After our visit, the girls and I were off to a late breakfast at Perkins. I love taking them out, they always have so much fun when we’re out to eat, and everybody always thinks they’re so cute. They were really well behaved, and ate pretty good, which is always a plus too.

It was basically time for naps when we got home from eating. The girls went down pretty well, and took a nice long nap. I spent nap time doing my usual, bills, checkbooks, DVR and R&R. LOVE it!

Buddy showed up with some “Create Your Own Crowns” tonight. So, right after naps, I got the girls in their chairs and we put them together. Really, I had to do it because the pieces were too small, but the girls watched and were pretty excited about it. They ended up being a lot more work than I expected though – I sure wish Buddy would have just put them together himself…Christian showed up as we finished with some take out for dinner. We ate and just hung out for a bit before it was time for baths and bed. Christian and I had a pretty relaxing night, watching some TV and just snuggling on the couch together after the girls went down. Pretty great day, that’s for sure!

12/15/11

Today marked another Thursday/Friday in my world. Seriously, there is no feeling like a Thursday at work when you don't work on Friday....and, even though it wasn't the best circumstances, ending up with a 3 day work week isn't too shabby either!

Work continues to be pretty good. I'm still managing to keep pretty caught up. A rush comes across my desk here and there, but for the most part I don't have anything too pressing on my plate. It's been a much needed break from the chaos. Christian worked a bit over overtime this week. He hasn't been getting as much OT as I hoped, or as he had last year. I'm hoping that picks up over the next couple of weeks as the Holiday's come and go.

On my lunch break I met a girl to make another craigslist sale. I have a hard time selling our stuff, and getting rid of it, but it's nice to have the extra cash. I think we'll finally be able to get Chuy in for a checkup, and to get fixed. Hoping that he'll finally calm down a little bit afterwards....and seeing that he escapes the yard often, it's the responsible thing to do. Poor thing...

After work, I ran to Target to grab some groceries and a few necessities. I was really excited....they had their kids coats on sale, 50% off, so I grabbed a couple of springy coats for the girls to have after winter. They are SO cute, and were super cheap on sale. Sad how exciting that "find" was. LOL

Finally, it was home for Taco Thursday, some play time, and the girls were off to bed. We're at a crossroads with the girls/bedtime now. We had a system down...Amelia went down, fell asleep, then Olivia went down. Easy peasy. Now, Amelia waits for Olivia, she just won't go to sleep until Olivia comes in. Then, they talk and yell and act crazy for at least 45 minutes or so. To top it off, a while after we put them down last night, we heard some loud noises...checked the monitor, and sure enough...Amelia had climbed out of her crib, and they were tearing apart their closet! I don't know what we're going to do. NO WAY is Amelia ready for the toddler bed, there is no way she would stay in it, and the girls would go on a rampage every night. We're going to see how it goes, or if she keeps doing it. I'm NOT ready for this, that's for sure!

Tonight, Buddy was hiding atop mommy and daddy's TV with some Princess and Winnie the Pooh tops for the girls. Seriously, you should see the way these girls react when they find Buddy, they LOVE him to death, it's hilarious!

12/14/11

Today was a pretty great day. Work was pretty relaxed...it was our annual Holiday potluck today, so everybody was pretty cheery and we got to eat a lot of yummy food all day long. Can't really beat that. Christian started the morning off with a check-up at the ear doctor. Apparently he waited too long to go back in, and the growth on his ear is clearly growing back....AGAIN....already. I guess they have him an "aggressive injection" to try to kill it back down again. I feel so bad for him. He's gone through this so many times, and I know that a) he hates the appearance of it, and b) it hurts, every time they do a surgery or injection. I wish they could figure something out for him.

I met somebody outside of my work to sell some movies (craigslist)...she ended up giving me an extra $5.00! It was so nice, and just made my day! Then, I met somebody close to house to sell some more. YAY! Next up, quick stop into the grocery store to pick up some dinner, than home to cook, clean and hang out with the family. I was surprised with an early Christmas gift from my grandma and grandpa...a VERY generous gift. I actually was brought to tears it meant so much. Just when you think you've hit bottom and it can't get any worse, these little things start lifting you back up, and helping you see the end of the tunnel again. It feels so good!

We also got a TON of Christmas cards today, I can't believe how many we've gotten already this year, with another + week left! I LOVE getting Christmas cards. Each one just warms my heart, we have the best friends and family!

After dinner, we played for a bit and just hung out. Buddy was hiding in the nook, with all of the singing snowmen tonight, with a Princess Coloring page and some Winnie the Pooh flashcards for the girls tonight. Another successful spot for Buddy! :)

12/13/11

Back to normal today. Thankfully nothing too crazy happened while I was out yesterday...just a few things to catch up on, but that just made the day go faster, so not the end of the world.

I really don't have a ton to report on today. Just the standard work, home, play, bed kind of day. Buddy finally found a pretty successful hiding place tonight, it took the girls FOREVER to find him with their new frisbees :)

12/12/11

VENT AHEAD!!!

Today was a bit of a frustrating day. Last week my mother in law told me that she had some appointments this morning. I don’t really have time to talk to her in the morning…I’m always running late, so I just drop the girls off, get them inside and go. So, that night, I asked Christian to talk to her and figure out what’s going on to see if we can figure out a way that I won’t have to take the whole day off. Well, fast forward to this morning. I woke up, showered, got ready – like any other day. Christian got up, showered, and came into the room to get dressed, like any other day. Then he asks “where are you taking the girls today”. I looked at him dumbfounded and said “your parents’ house of course”. And, from there, fight insured. Turns out, he had never talked to his parents, so no plan was made. God forbid I leave something up to him and trust it will get done. I was livid at this point, and he said “fine, I’ll stay home then”. We both know this isn’t possible – his work gives them leave time, but they frown upon actually using it, so it’s really not an option. So I said, of course I’ll use MY leave time, let MY work sit, like usual, and stay home.

He called me on his way to work and said he talked to his mom, and I could drop the girls off after her appointments. This wasn’t so bad, at least it was only a half day then at that point. So, that was the plan. The girls got up; I fed them and got them dressed so we’d be ready to go. Before I knew it, it was after noon and I hadn’t heard anything. Low and behold, she was STILL with the doctor, which meant it was going to be at least 1:00 by the time they got home. Obviously, pointless for me to go in. So, that was it. I was officially taking the entire day off, and very upset about it. Thankfully the girls were pretty well-behaved for me.

I know I should have been more proactive about checking with him to make sure something was planned, but I feel like I should be able to trust him to do it on his own. After I cooled down, I did explain to him exactly what my issue was – his lack of support and help, rather than having to take the day off. Hopefully he understands, and will be more attentive in the future.

It was a pretty early night for us all. I had exerted too much energy being upset, and the girls were just plain tired. Buddy showed up today, hiding in the fridge (I would call that cheating really), with some books. The girls thought it was pretty funny.

12/11/11

Sunday has arrived again. And, today was another end to another amazing weekend.

We started the day off bright and early. We ate some breakfast, showered/bathed, got ready and were on our way. Today’s big event was a trip to see Santa! I wanted to get there earlier in the day…before the girls got too crabby, and before the mall got too busy. It’s always a little nerve-wracking to visit Santa/the Easter Bunny – you just never know how the girls are going to react. Lucky for us, the girls LOVED Santa. They both sat on his lap and were smiling and laughing like crazy. They were so excited to see him – and we didn’t even have to wait in line, which was a definite bonus. Santa gave each of the girls a big package of Christmas Peeps too, YUM!

Since it was so early, we wandered the mall for a while. I ended up buying myself a little Christmas present…I’ve been seeing those head wrap-like things all over – they are basically a cross between earmuffs and a hat – neither of which I really care for. We crossed a kiosk selling these wraps, and I just had to have one. I’m super excited about it. Christian didn’t end up finding anything he wanted though…poor guy. LOL. We stopped in for a quick lunch on our way out, and were home for naps and some relaxing. I went through coupons and ads, and made my weekly shopping list. Christian was off to help his friend with the floor again, and the girls took a nice long nap.

After naps, the girls and I had some pizza, wings and a lot of play time. Christian came home as we were staring to relax and settle in for the evening. After some quick baths, the girls were off to bed, and the weekend was basically over. Tonight, the girls found Buddy hiding under Christian’s nightstand with some foam puzzle mats. Those kept the girls pretty entertained through the evening!

Here is today's picture of that sneaky little Elf, and the girls with Santa.

12/10/11

Today was a VERY busy, very exhausting day!!!

After some breakfast and showering, Amelia and I were off to sell some movies (off Craigslist) and do a little shopping. I had to pick up a few necessities at Target, and they had a special “Spend $50 get a $10 gift card” coupon good through today, so of course I had to use that! I wanted to spend a little alone time with Amelia since Olivia has a very special afternoon coming up.

The girls went down for their naps right when I got home, while Christian and I ate some lunch. I eventually had to wake Olivia up and get her ready…today, she and I were off, with my mom, Kelly and Meeka, to see “Disney on Ice”. My mom brought her, for part of the show, last year, but she was a little too young to really understand how cool it was. I couldn’t wait to take her this year and see how she would react. I picked my mom up, and we got to the show just in time. She was in awe of the whole thing, it was so fun watching her take it all in. Of course, we stocked up on a few overpriced goodies during intermission, but the whole experience was worth every penny – she was so amazed by the whole event, she deserved every bit of that joy!

While we were at the show, Christian spent some time at his parents’ house with Amelia. Olivia and I ate some dinner and hung out for a while until they came home. We spent a little family time, and it was bedtime before we knew it!

Tonight was my 10-Year High School Reunion. I’ve been debating going since the plans started. Outside of Facebook, the only person I actually talk to from school is Kari – and she couldn’t go to the reunion. I started making some tentative plans with a couple girls – but they weren’t able to go until later at night. I finally got a text from one of them, Emily, around 8:30 letting me know that she was going. So, I hoped in the car and was in my way to meet her. I was a little nervous…I didn’t know what to expect, or who would even be there…and of course, I was sure that nobody would even remember me. I was pleasantly surprised. I had such an amazing time catching up with a few people – and I haven’t laughed so hard in a long time. It was nice to get up, and I’m actually really happy that I didn’t miss out. High school, like it or not, is (and should be) such a huge part of your growing up experience. I think I would have been really bummed out if I would have missed out on it.

I finally got home around 12:30 (I know, but that’s REALLY late for me) and settled in for the night. It was definitely a SUPER busy day, but in the end, it was a pretty amazing one.

Today, Buddy was “hiding” in plain sight. He brought Olivia and early Christmas gift, her Rapunzel dress, and brought Amelia a little Winnie the Pooh figurine. Lucky girls to have such a generous Elf :)

Here are some pictures of today's events...only one snap from the reunion, but of course MANY from the show. LOL