7/28/12

Today was an exciting day…Amelia’s birthday party! YAY.

The morning was hectic, getting everything ready. Christian cleaned up the yard and garage, got a quick haircut, picked up some ice, set up the tables and chairs and grilled the brats. I cleaned the kitchen and dining room, set up the food table, made some pasta salad, ran to Target to get the cupcakes, Party City for the balloons, got the girls ready, and did a little decorating. My mom came over a little early to help us set up and get ready, along with Christian’s friend from work. We were actually ready for the party, when it started, for pretty much the first time in history!

Just about everybody showed up right on time, at 3:00. The kids had a blast playing in the pool and bounce house. We also borrowed an inflatable water slide from a friend, and that was a hit with some of them too. We had water balloons galore and the most amazing weather ever. Hot enough for water fun, but not miserable. We had dinner, cupcakes, cracked open the piñata, opened presents and had a blast catching up with our family and friends. Everybody was so generous, and it was just a perfect day.

Christian’s parents and my dad and stepmom hung out for a while after the party to chat, clean up and relax. As they left, we put the girls to bed. Christian and his friend from work made their way over to the neighbor’s house to hang out for a while, and I cuddled into bed for some much needed relaxation. Another great party down, another spoiled little girl very happy. 2^nd birthday, officially over.

7/27/12

Well, today started off with my weekly weigh in. I was down 2lbs this week, for a total of 32.2 to date. 32 pounds in a little over 6 months. Definitely proud of that progress! YAY!!

Today was my Friday home with the girls. And they were HORRIBLE, ALL DAY LONG. I seriously thought I was going to lose it today – I’ve never been that stressed out for frustrated with them before. From the moment they woke up they were fighting nonstop, pushing each other around, stealing everything from each other, yelling, crying, whining, throwing things around. Olivia was being straight up violent on top of it…she bit Amelia 3 times (which makes Amelia want to bite her back), hitting her and just being incredibly aggressive with her. Amelia got a few timeouts, and Olivia was sent to her room a few times throughout the day. I couldn’t believe it – I had to give myself a couple of timeouts in my room to try to calm down and regain my composure. It was a trying day, that’s for sure.

One of my tasks today was to go to Target for the party groceries. With the girls acting up, I thought maybe taking them there would get them out of the house and acting a little different (I didn’t want to reward their horrible behavior with a trip to the park or anything fun like that). Well, my check card has been slowly cracking over the last couple of months. Amelia got ahold of it, and before I realized it, she snapped it completely in half. So, with no access to money, there went that plan. I just pushed through until lunch, fed them quickly, and sent them off to bed. Not a moment too soon.

While they napped, I got my workout in, showered, and sat on my butt and relaxed the tension from the morning away. Christian arrived home right as they were getting up. We loaded up in the car and went to Target. Got our shopping done, picked up some dinner, ate and before long, it was time for the girls to go to bed. They weren’t really acting any better this evening, so again, not a moment too soon.

Christian cleaned the downstairs bathroom tonight, then went to grab a couple beers with a friend. I cleaned the entry way, did some final picking up downstairs and in the living room and tucked myself into bed with the DVR for the night. STRESSED to the max today. I’m excited for the party tomorrow…time to catch up with some friends and family, and just have fun!

With all of the chaos today, I didn't get a chance to get any great pictures. The girls, while still being crazy, did pose briefly for me. Amelia now thinks its fun to drape across the couches, and Olivia begged me to take her picture, and this is what we got...

7/26/12

HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my sweet, dramatic, instigating, smart, beautiful mama’s girl, Amelia. I cannot believe she’s 2 today. I remember the day she was born like it was yesterday. Such an amazing, fulfilling day, so much joy and excitement (and, maybe a little pain).  It’s just unbelievable watching these girls fly through life already.

Amelia is such a happy girl. She’s dramatic about everything – fake crying, extreme happiness, torture when we’re not paying attention to her, everything has to be exaggerated to the max. She has more than enough cuddles to go around (and, might I say, give the BEST hugs ever known to man). She is a clutz, she talks non-stop, she wants nothing more than to be her sister’s best friend, but finds just as much joy in instigating as many fights as possible with her. She is stubborn, but wants to make people happy. She likes to clean, she loves to dance and she lives to laugh. It’s hard to believe our colicky, acid reflux filled, non-stop crying, no-sleep-necessary baby has grown into this happy, full of life toddler. It’s amazing, in every sense of the word.

We sent Amelia off to school with some cupcakes for her class (luckily Olivia’s BFF was bringing cupcakes in for her class as well, so Olivia didn’t feel left out). They sang to her, made her a SUPER cute little card and had a little afternoon fiesta to celebrate. After work, I picked up the girls, changed their clothes, and we went out to the Mall of America to meet Christian for dinner at the Rainforest Café. The girls LOVED it there, but were a little scared of all the noises and animals. They had fun though. I’d planned on taking them on a couple of rides while we were there, but they were acting up really bad, and just did not deserve that bonus, so we headed to the cars and made our way out.

Next up, we stopped into Dairy Queen for dessert and presents. Today is “Miracle Treat” day at Dairy Queen…where a portion of their Blizzard sales go to the Gillette Children’s Hospital, so it seemed like the perfect day to stop in! Amelia opened her (new) Precious Moments “2” figurine and her new doll toys, we enjoyed our treats, and finally made our way home. Amelia passed out basically right away, and the rest of us weren’t far behind. It’s exhausting turning 2!

Today was also my Biggest Loser weigh in at work. I lost 4.9 in the last two weeks! Awesome! This weigh in incentive was most pounds lost – the man and woman with the most won $15.00 each. I didn’t win, but almost 5 lbs is pretty dang good! Exciting stuff!!

Here are some pictures from today's celebrating....

7/25/12

Work has been pretty crazy…still. It seems like every time I get a Contract written, 2 more show up in my box. I keep thinking the chaos will stop at some point, but it doesn’t. At all. Transportation is really booming right now…it’s great for us, and the state, but definitely stressful! Christian’s work has been going well. He’s enjoying his new position, but hasn’t been working as much overtime lately. Hopefully that changes, because I enjoy the extra money, that’s for sure!

After work, I picked up the girls, dropped Amelia off at home with Christian, and took Olivia shopping. We went to Toys R Us to get Amelia a couple small birthday gifts, and find a gift for her BFF Bella’s party on Sunday. She helped me pick out a baby doll bath and medical kit for Amelia, and a My Little Pony for Bella. We grabbed some cards for them, and we’re good to go! Next up, we stopped into the big Burger King by the store so Olivia could eat and play in the Playland for a while. Then, we made our way back home in time for baths and bed. Another busy night down!

I got my workout in when the girls went to bed, and caught up on a couple of shows. I feel like I can really DO Level 2 now…I can pretty much get through the entire video now, with a couple short water breaks. I do still do some modified exercises, but that’s really because of my knees…I’d rather modify a couple exercises, than hurt myself and not be able to do anything. So, YAY me!

Since we'll be pretty busy the next few days, I took Amelia's 2 year photo tonight, and put together a little collage. So much change in 2 short years.

7/24/12

Today was just a pretty typical day. Work the day away, play with the girls, bedtime. Nothing too exciting. We did some random cleaning and picking up around the house, getting ready for the party this weekend, but nothing strenuous. We made some great progress yesterday, and plan to get a majority of it done on Friday and Saturday morning, so we're trying to take it easy when we can.

This is my final week of 30 Day Shred, Level 2. I’m getting really anxious for Level 3…nervous, but anxious. Excited to see how I progress through it, and if I survive! Although, I’m not sure when exactly I’ll start up Level 3. The party is Saturday, we have plans on Sunday, and then our friends arrive late Tuesday to stay for a week. I’m thinking that I’m just going to have to face the facts, and put it off until after our friends leave. Better to just plan that, than be disappointed in myself for not doing it.

Today we got a special birthday card from our online friends, Jenna and Nicholas. I can't believe this little girl will be 2 in a couple days! Love!

7/23/12

Monday again. They just show up, no matter how hard you wish them away!!

Today ended up being a short work day for me. The thoughts of everything I had to do at home just kept piling up on me. I’m still super swamped at work, but nothing was TOO pressing. So, I put in a few hours, got a couple piles cleared off my desk, and made my way home.

I grabbed a salad from Wendy’s for lunch, ate quick, then got to work on the basement. I put the toy room back together (which took up a majority of the afternoon), vacuumed the whole basement, put the princess area together, including moving around the little decals I put up a while back and I cleaned up the laundry room and laid down some rugs. Everything is really starting to come together. I have some laundry to move upstairs, otherwise the basement living area, laundry room and toy room are done! YES. Just have to buy the ottoman, clean the bathroom before the party, and clean the guest room before our friends come, and we’ll be golden!

Christian picked up the girls, and got right to work on the yard (before the rain!). He mowed and fertilized. The yard has taken quite a hit with the sun. We’ve stayed up on watering it pretty well, and even our plants are doing pretty well still, but there are some burnt patches around the yard. Ugh. TOO HOT! I made dinner, ate with the girls, gave them their baths and put them to bed. Christian went out for a beer with his friend after his yardwork was done. I got my workout in made my way to bed. Another day down!

Olivia was cuddled on the couch with her blankie, a bag of rice cakes, Amelia’s blanket and the dog watching some TV before bed tonight. I wanted to snap a picture, but of course, that was the perfect time to make a goofy face instead! LOL

7/22/12

Busy, Busy, Busy day!

Amelia was up fairly early this morning, but she played well by herself while we rested and Olivia slept. Olivia finally woke up around 8:30, we had some breakfast and I got them dressed and ready for the day right away. Today, they were off to my mom’s house so Christian and I could clean in preparation for Amelia’s birthday party next weekend.

I dropped them off around 10:00, stopped into the party store to order balloons and pick up a couple things, stopped into the Dollar Store to pick up a couple more things, then home to get to work, sweeping up the kitchen. Christian ran to Home Depot while I was out to pick up some yard stuff, a new toilet seat (VERY exciting stuff) and rent a heavy duty carpet cleaner.

We ate some lunch when he got home, and slaved away the rest of the day. I vacuumed the living room, stairs and bedrooms, then he followed up with the carpet cleaner. OMG it looks so great! He was also able to clean the couches with them (the k ids have DESTROYED them over the years) and they look brand new. SO EXCITING! I dusted the living room and bedrooms while he worked on the carpet. I also had to clear out the toy room and vacuum in there so he could clean that carpet too (this is the room the cats used to pee in a lot…we’ve had it cleaned before, but the smell was starting to come out again. I can’t wait until we can get new carpet in there too!) The girls arrived home right as Christian was finishing up, so perfect timing! He went to return the carpet cleaner while I packed up the girls’ bag…they were off to spend the night at my mother in laws. We still had so much to do, and she watches them tomorrow anyway, so it worked out well. Then, he was off to drop them off while I finished some final dusting upstairs.

Next up, I started on the kitchen. I cleaned out the junk drawers and random piles that have accumulated on the counters, got all of the recycling together, cleaned out the fridge and washed dishes. Still a lot to do, but that’s all I could get in before I was just too exhausted to go on. I had done a few loads of laundry throughout the day, so I folded the final load, and made my way to bed. Christian cleaned the master bathroom (I’m so grateful he is OK with cleaning the bathrooms!). He was beyond exhausted by the time he was done. BUT, the house is looking great, so at least it’s all worth it in the end!

Here's a shot of Christian, hard at work today. Love to see him cleaning the house :)