7/7/12

Happy Saturday!! The weather has finally broken, and it was a gorgeous day. Amelia seems back to her happy, goofy self. And we kicked off a fun-filled weekend!

The girls actually slept in a little today, until 8:30. I was up at 7:00 to workout, shower and start getting ready for the day. Once we were all ready, fed and good to go - we made our way to Como Zoo to meet up with our friends for the day. A while back we bought a Star Tribune Steal for the the zoo's amusement park - buy one wristband, get one free. Amelia can go on quite a few of the rides now, so it was a great deal. And, the zoo itself is free, so it's a cheap, fun day. And, perfect weather for it.

We arrived at the zoo around 11:00 - walked around for a while, saw all of the sleepy animals (I'm sure they've just been miserable, poor things), ate some lunch, then made our way to the rides. Olivia and Annabelle went on a ton of rides, having the time of their lives. Amelia and Finley got to go on a few too...Amelia spent most of the day relaxing in the stroller, but did get on a few rides and loved it.

We finally left the zoo around 5:00 - LONG, fun day! I think the girls were sleeping before we got out of the parking lot, they were exhausted! They went down for a nap when we got home, and I took advantage and napped myself. The sun took it out of me today for sure - I need to start using sunblock, my shoulders are getting out of control! Christian rested for a bit, then was off to hang out with a friend for a while.

The girls had a late dinner once they woke up, and we played for a while. Amelia seemed good as new by the end of the night, so I'm hoping her little heat exhaustion has passed. I got them to bed pretty easily - very late, but easy. I spent the night editing some pictures, watching some TV and relaxing. Perfect end to a great day.

Now, I'm really for my SUPER exciting day tomorrow - Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney - so excited!!!

7/6/12

Today was a little more successful. Mostly, because it's my mom's day to watch the girls. Amelia was still pretty warm this morning, but she seemed more happy and alert, so that is progress at least. I dropped them off and headed to work. Amelia spent most of the day resting and cuddling with my mom. Hopefully two days of lots of sleep and rest will do the trick!

Work went well today. I made some good progress through my inbox, so that's always a good day. I feel like I mastered one of my newest tasks...it's hard to really explain to people that don't actually work with us - but basically this task involves entering a lot of data, in a few different systems, and hoping everything matches up. It's not really channeling, just a lot of steps to remember. I can finally do it from memory, without my cheat sheets, so I feel like a success! Next up, mastering our website. YAY for new stuff!

After work, I picked up the girls, and we made our way home. It's still crazy hot out, so we sweat our butts off again. Amelia just kept yelling out "I'm so hot" the whole way home. LOL - she really doesn't like the heat, just like her mama. Olivia still just laughs and has the time of her life in the backseat wind tunnel.

Amelia and I cuddled most of the night, and Olivia entertained herself well. Christian picked up some dinner, we ate and hung out for a bit, took a nice cool bath, and headed to bed. Hopefully a nice, quiet night of sleep, and really hoping Amelia wakes up feeling refreshed in the morning. Fingers crossed!

7/5/12

Well, an attempt to get back to normal today, was an epic fail.

I was exhausted this morning, just could not get out of bed at all. I even took my shower last night in an attempt to save some time. I was finally ready to go, got the girls up and dressed, and they were just miserably tired. Whining, not moving or cooperating.

So, I decided to let them lay around for a little while. I finally got them up, loaded into the car, and got to work an hour late. Amelia felt warm still when I dropped her off, but I figured she was hot from the house/car/outside still. I took her temperature before we left the house and it was up a little, but not in the fever range. Well, before I even arrived at work, the school called and her temperature had gone up. They had pretty low attendance today, so they told me to just take my time getting there, and they'd just have her resting in the infant room. I took care of a few e-mails, and gathered up some work to take with me. Then, I was off to pick her up, and work from home.

Amelia was fast asleep still when I got there. She cuddled up next to me on the couch for a couple hours, sleeping on and off.

She did drink a ton of water, and ate her lunch well, so I think the heat of the last few days just really took it all out of her and got to her. Poor thing. I ended up putting her down for a real nap a little before 1:00, and finally opened the door to her room so she could wake up a little before 6:00! Tired for sure!

Christian took Olivia over to his parents house after work so that Amelia could just have a restful, quiet evening. We ate some dinner, cuddled and played a little bit. She seemed a little better, and more playful, so hopefully that's a good sign!

The girls were right off to bed when Christian and Olivia arrived home. I got my workout in, watched a couple DVR'd shows and was off to bed myself. Tomorrow is Friday, for the second time this week, and I'm very excited about that! Ready for the weekend - the REAL weekend :)

7/4/12

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!

Well, as assumed, it was indeed a long, hot day. But, a very fun one.

The girls were up bright and early, like usual. Once I was finally mobile and awake, I headed right downstairs to get my workout in. Then, jumped right in the shower and got myself ready for the day. Christian ran to get the last of our grocery needs for today, got the girls fed, filled up the pool. Finally, I got the girls ready, and the celebrating could commence!

My mom showed up, followed by the BFF, her hubby and son, and then my mother and father in law. We all drove down right next to our parade spot, set up our chairs, and were ready for parade fun. This year, we had the canopy, some spray bottles and a HUGE cooler of ice water to get us through the heat. The parade was definitely a little shorter than usual, but it was still a lot of fun. Lots of candy and goodies, good music and a great time. You could tell the heat was really getting to Amelia, the poor thing just seemed miserable by the end. She does not take the hot well, that's for sure.

After the parade, we hurried back home. Christian fired up the grill, and I got the girls fed. Amelia went right down for a nap, she was so hot and exhausted. Olivia and Andrew hit the pool, and all of the adults hung out, trying to cool off and relax a little. Basically, impossible. But, we made the best of it. Including, lots of water.

As the sun started going down, the fireworks started up. The kids did some sparklers, and we lit off a bunch of small fireworks. We did splurge on one big "finale" firework, and it was pretty exciting. Amelia didn't last through the whole display, but Olivia thought it was pretty cool. Another great 4th in the books.

7/3/12

Another quick day. Work zoomed right by. We're off tomorrow for the 4th, and then I think a majority of the building took Thursday and Friday off, so it's going to be a very quiet there after the holiday. I'm really looking forward to it. I'm so mega swamped again, it's getting stressful.

I left work an hour early today because we had a ton of stuff to pack in tonight. First up, the prints I ordered for the girls' princess area downstairs came in, so off to the post office I went. Again, it's hotter than the surface of the sun, so it was another sweaty, disgusting drive home. I never realized how amazing the car AC was before! I picked up the prints, and they are PERFECT! I love them. I'm trying to move away from the Disney Princess chaos...it just won't carry well as the girls get older so I don't want to decorate too much in that, or buy too much. When we finally finish the basement, I'll take some pics of everything. They're super cute though. Etsy, of course.

Next up, I stopped home to do some picking up around the house. We'll be having people over tomorrow, so I wanted to get a start on making the house presentable. I got the kitchen, living room and bedrooms picked up. Still hot and sweaty.

After that, I was off to pick up the girls from school. Christian had to work a little late, so I wanted to get them and have us all ready to go for tonights events by the time he arrived home. We ended up getting home at the same time, Christian changed, my BFF Kari and her son showed up, and off we went.

Tonight we were off to our local 4th of July carnival. It's so gross and hot out, but we braved it to have a little fun. Unfortunately, it was so hot, that there was no petting zoo at the carnival this year. That's always my favorite part, but I'm glad they weren't out there suffering. The girls went on a couple rides, Andrew played a few games, we all ate some dinner and ice cream, and hung out for a big, but it literally felt like we were standing on top of the sun, so we didn't stay too late. It was fun while it lasted though.

After the carnival, we stopped by our reserved parade spot (yes, you must reserve your spot the day before - things get crazy around here!) and set up the canopy for tomorrow. It's still supposed to be crazy hot, so we borrowed a big canopy to shield us from the sun a little bit. THANK GOD!

Finally, we were home. The girls went straight to bed, Christian went out with some friends for a while, and I slipped into bed to watch a little TV and rest. Ready for a long, hot day of fun tomorrow :)

7/2/12

Today was pretty good, for a Monday anyway.

Work is still super crazy, and the day flew by. I'm looking forward to being one of the few losers at work Thursday and Friday...it's going to be quiet and I'm going to get a TON of work done. Wishing I had it off, but oddly, looking forward to it at the same time.

I took a long morning break, and made my way to Minneapolis to pick up our Brothers of the Sun concert tickets. Thankfully, I didn't get lost - going there, or getting back. YAY! I ended up getting a fun little Mall of America prize pack along with the tickets...a couple cowboys hats, 2 unlimited ride wristband for Nickelodean Universe, 2 free games of mini-golf and a big coupon book. Super cool! Our seats aren't the best, they are actually pretty far away from the stage...but, on the plus side, we should have a lot of shade up there. And, I'm sure they'll have a lot of those big monitors, so we should be able to see everything just fine Beggers can't be choosers, and I'm just super excited to be going! And, the girls were super excited about the cowboy hats (Amelia's face CRACKS ME UP!)...

I ended up leaving work a little early. I stopped in to Target to spend some of my birthday money, and pick up some summer pieces. I found a cute dress for the concert (yes, a dress - it's going to be HOT!!!), a pair of shorts (it's miserable out) and a couple cute tank tops, nice enough for work. YAY, new clothes!

I finally made my way home. I was so hot and miserable (remember, no AC in the car - and it was 102 outside). I decided to suck it up and get my workout in while I was already all sweaty and gross. I was exhausted, but it felt good to get it done.

Christian's dad came over again, and they installed the new water softener (this went much faster). The girls and I hung out, ate some dinner and took care of bath time. Another day down.

Today also marks Olivia's half-birthday. I can't believe she's going to be 4 in 6 short months!! WOW! She's so smart, so funny and so full of life. She loves everything, she picks things up so quickly, and she just growing by leaps and bounds in school. I'm so amazed by her, all the time. Such a big girl!

7/1/12

Today was kind of rough, but really fun at the same time.

I was really, REALLY tired this morning. Olivia was up a few times last night...I think extra tired from our late night, and maybe a little too hyped up from her sugar fix. So, I didn't get very good sleep at all. I finally made Christian take her out on the couch to sleep, so I could get a little sleep, and poor Amelia could stop getting woken up. They ended up sleeping in after all of that, until around 8:30! I stayed in bed, resting, while Christian got up with them, and started breakfast.

After breakfast, the girls got their swim suits on, and we headed outside to the pool for a while. I had a little headache, but not too horrible. We hung out and played in the yard, while Christian and his dad were slaving away next door. Our neighbor is moving, and is selling us her water softener (ours is horrible, and has destroyed most of our pots, pans and dishes). It took them a while to get it unhooked and lugged over to the house. I got the girls lunch, put them down for their naps and got my workout in all while they finished up next door.

So, speaking of - I'm officially back into the 30 Day Shred. Day 1 down, and I'm determined to finish it  out this time. No pain, no illness and no excuses! I started back on Level 1 for the first 10 days, and it seriously feels like I started all over again!

While the girls were napping, I got a call from my BFF...they were at a local waterpark, and invited us to join them. Christian wasn't interested, but I agreed to bring the girls out and meet up with them. So, I started packing up and getting ready. We ate a quick dinner when the girls woke up, and we were off. It was still pretty hot, but it had become pretty cloudy, so that actually worked out pretty well. The girls had a BLAST. They both went down one of the water slides, and Olivia went down a bigger, tube slide with me. She was laughing and having the time of her life. We rode down the lazy river a few times and just had a good old time.

After a couple hours, my headache became a full blown migraine, and I was in a lot of pain. Shakes, nauseous, utter pain. Christian had to come out and get the girls out of the car for me. I went straight to the couch, took some pills, and didn't move for a few hours, when I finally drug myself to bed. Worst headache I've had in a LONG time.

By the time I went to bed, Christian had gotten the girl in their jammies, and off to bed. Sad to see another weekend come to an end, but at least we made the most of it!