2013 - Week 11

Week 11. This week brought us Daylight Savings Time. Enough said. We also ended every day by watching a couple episodes of The Walking Dead before bed. By Friday, we finished Season 2, and broke down and purchased Season 3 on iTunes. OBSESSED!

Monday started off ROUGH. My phone/alarm died during the night, so I woke up way late. We were one of the only areas to get hit with snow over night, so traffic was horrible. I got to work and realized I left by work badge AND all of the work I had done at home last week, at home. Not a good run for me. The rest of the day was pretty standard. Work went by pretty fast and the evening was low key.

The view, while stuck in traffic. Snow, snow and more snow!

Tuesday, we were all still dragging and adjusting to the time change. The girls did NOT want to get up for anything in the morning. Poor things. Also, it's freezing. It's feels like winter is NEVER going to end - Spring hits next week, but there's no sign of a warm up, and still plenty of snow in the forecast. Gross. This has been a long, LONG winter. One slightly entertaining tidbit from today - when I picked the girls up from school, Olivia's coat was SOAKING wet, CRAZY wet. I felt something in her pocket and went digging. She had her pockets packed full of ice. Apparently she was going to save it. Oh dear, there's plenty to go around! LOL.

The girls were twinsies for school today!

Wednesday brought exciting things for Amelia - she spent part of the day in preschool, starting to get acquainted with the room, the teacher, the flow. I can't believe it....my BABY, in preschool. How is it even possible?!? Olivia loved showing her around the room and apparently embraced the big sister role like a champ, which was really encouraging. Today also marks the 3 week countdown until we're spending a few days in Wisconsin Dells with our friends from Indiana. I CANNOT wait!

Thursday brought us MORE snow. Yes, MORE snow. Even Olivia was really upset about it - she just kept saying "mom, it's NEVER going to stop snowing" in the car. I think cabin fever is starting to hit the school pretty hard core too. Today I snatched up a StarTribune Steal for the circus, coming in a few weeks. I had also received a $5.00 off per ticket offer in the mail. My friend from work and her family are coming with us - combining the deals, we only paid $79 total for both families to go. YAY, love me some good deals! The rest of the day was pretty standard. The girls had a good week in school - Amelia is excited about her upcoming transition to preschool, and Olivia is still anxious to be in Pre-K full time. We haven't received any bad reports for either of them for quite a while, so that's AWESOME! Work has been the same ol', same ol' for Christian and I.

Amelia was very focused on her video tonight before bed.

Friday was a really busy day at work, so surprisingly, the day flew by. My mom and I visited for a bit when I picked the girls up and we made our way home. Christian picked up some Pizza Hut for dinner and we settled in for the night.

On Saturday, Olivia had her last swim class of this session. She actually did REALLY great. There are 10 skills she needs to demonstrate to move onto the next level - she mastered 7 of them, which I thought was pretty darn good for her first time ever swimming or taking a class like that. She's all signed up for the next session, of the same level, which starts in a few weeks. Christian had to work today, so Amelia came to class with us. This time she was pretty jealous that she couldn't swim, so I felt pretty bad for her. After class, we met my mom for lunch, finally took her out for her birthday lunch. Neither of the girls ate very well though - Amelia seemed to be exhausted, and I wasn't sure what Olivia's issue was. So, we packed up our leftovers and made our way home for naps. Christian got home right about the same time, and we both crashed for naps on the couches - exhausted household, that's for sure! After naps, we just had a low-key night at home. Watched some movies, ate dinner, did some coloring and relaxing. Olivia started to feel pretty warm, and was complaining that her stomach hurt again. We sent her to bed with a cooling pad on her forehead and some Tylenol - hoping she wasn't coming down with something....again.

I had to get a shot of Olivia's mad drawing skills at lunch today. I thought it was pretty impressive! My little perfectionist!

Sunday morning it was clear that Olivia wasn't feeling well. The girls woke up SUPER early. She was really warm, but no fever. She wouldn't eat and said her tummy hurt. I put a heating pad on her stomach, a cooling pad on her forehead, gave her some medicine and she slept on the couch for a while. She woke up bright eyed and seemingly ready to go. So, we all got ready and went about our plans for the day....we met her BFF's family at the Mall to get some pictures with the Easter Bunny and go on a few rides. We got some great bunny pictures - Amelia was terrified of him last year, so I didn't know what to expect, but she was a rockstar! The girls went on a handful of rides and had a blast. We all grabbed some lunch together and finally made our way home. During lunch, I could tell Olivia's energy was draining and she wasn't feeling well again. To make things worse, she burnt her tongue pretty bad while eating, so she was emotional over that. We were going to skip naps, but both of the girls passed out on the way home, so we let them take a short nap. We had some dinner, took baths and hung out for a while when they got up, then they were right back down for the night. Olivia was pretty miserable, so I'm not sure what to expect for the coming week...

The extent of our St. Patrick's Day celebrating - wearing green clothes!

With that, a fairly low-key week has come to an end. For some odd reason, I haven't posted much regarding  Amelia's potty training. She is doing FANTASTIC! A few weeks ago, after using the potty pretty regularly for a couple of weeks, she told her teacher she wanted to wear underwear like sissy. So, we decided to give it a shot, and try life without diapers. We went day and night, diaper free, to see how she would do. She did great, 100% dry all day, and all night. We kept thinking it had to be some kind of fluke, but continued on with no diapers. Here we are, weeks later, and she hasn't had a single accident, day or night, naps or bedtime, playing or relaxing at home. I'm still in awe, and her teachers are SO proud of her (which always warms my heart). Diapers have never been a huge burden to me, but it's definitely nice to be rid of them after 4 years straight. She's such a big girl, we're so proud of her!

2013 - Week 10

Another week down. This week wasn't 100% on the healthy scale, but much better than the last!

Monday brought us [hopefully] our final snow storm for the year. It snowed all day, all night, into Tuesday afternoon. In the end, we got about 9" of snow - not too shabby! Definitely ready for spring, and hoping it really is just around the corner! The morning snow did make me a tad late for work, but that was to be expected. I'll be out of the office all day tomorrow, so it was a chaotic day getting caught up on some work. It made the day go fast though.

After a whole day together at my in-laws, they still wanted to cuddle up together and watch a video before bed.

Tuesday was quite a long day. We have an annual conference at work, which was held today. I was on the planning committee for the conference this year, and I worked registration, as I have for the last few years. It's not the most exciting day, but it's nice to get away from the office once in a while. The down side - the snow storm made for an interesting day. Under normal conditions, the drive to the conference is close to an hour. So, that wasn't the most fantastic start to the day. The best part about it is that it ends around 3:00, and our boss lets us clock out for the day then, so that's a little bonus. I used my extra time off to run to Target. Picked up a few groceries, some odds and ends, and FINALLY, storage for the girls' arts and crafts supplies. As I was checking out, I got a call from school that Amelia had thrown up. I thought for sure we were on to round two of illness - but, thankfully, it never got that bad. It did result in a quiet night at home though - I did lots of cuddling with Amelia, who was exhausted and wouldn't eat. Poor thing.

Olivia had some love for her sick sissy.

My baby just wanted cuddles and love. Still goofy as ever!

Wednesday everything seemed back to normal. Work was hectic, catching up. Christian recently has his annual performance review, and found out he was getting a small raise - YAY! They approached him again about working him even more into a supervisor role, and asked about the possibility of moving to nights again - and, again, pointed out he would likely move to a salaried position at that point. They seem to understand that the pay will definitely need to be worth the move, especially with the kids and everything. I'm still not sure how I feel about it, so we'll have some major talking to do if the opportunity does present itself. Christian will be a lifer at the company, just like I am at my work, so we have to think about that, think about the future. If he wants to grow and move up in the company, we'll have to consider the sacrifice. I'm just not sure how ready I am for that. The girls had a pretty good day - Olivia has been excited to be back in school, and has been back to her usual, well-behaved self. They informed me that Amelia was running a small fever this afternoon - not high enough to be sent home, but they were keeping an eye on her. After hearing that news, I packed up a bunch of work to bring home, in anticipation of not being able to work Thursday. What chaos!!!!! So, we kept it pretty low key for the night.

When I picked up the girls. this guy was sitting right by the front door, and wouldn't move. I'm guessing he was hurt, poor guy. Ducks must mean spring is on the way though!

Thursday, Amelia seemed back to normal. I decided it was dumb for me to head all the way into work when I had everything I needed to get through the day with me, and with the way things have been going, knowing there was a chance I'd get a call about Amelia. So, I dropped the girls off at school, gathered up my work and spent the day plugging away. I actually got a ton of stuff written, probably more than I would have in the office, so that was a pleasant surprise. And, in the end, no calls from school. Amelia appeared to back to her usual self and everybody was happy as could be. I picked the girls up and met Christian at home. We had some dinner, watched some TV and relaxed. Much more successful day!

Friday was my day off, so I was home with the girls. Christian's work installed a new inventory system this morning, so he started later than usual, waiting for the system to be up and running. Which meant, he worked really late. So it was just me and the girls all day, and all evening. We had some breakfast, played some games, watched some movies, did some coloring. The usual. I did the checkbooks and paid some bills, again, the usual. We have yet to close Christian's bank account, but his check goes into our joint account now, and all of the bills have officially been transferred to withdraw from it, so we're all set to close it any time now. I can't wait to officially be down to one account to track and deal with. A couple week ago I started watching "Parenthood" on Netflix and today, I caught up on it. So tonight, when the girls went to bed, Christian and I started watching "The Walking Dead". I've been hearing great things about it, and it seems like everybody is obsessed with it, so I figured it was time to jump on the bandwagon. It was really good too - I can tell we'll be caught up on that in no time, definitely addicting.

I attempted to get a cute picture of Amelia tonight. Unfortunately, the flash does not agree with her, and I ended up with a gallery of these...

We had a fairly low key weekend this week.

Saturday I did my usual chores...dishes, sweeping, etc. We all had some breakfast and watched some TV. Olivia and I were off to swim class - it a good thing I double checked the schedule. I could have sworn this was her last class of the session, but it's actually next week. She's all signed up for the next session though, which starts in April. She and I stopped into Kohl's after class to pick out an Easter dress for her. Lucky Amelia is always stuck with the hand-me-downs - good thing she doesn't realize it yet! We made our way home, had some lunch and the girls went down for their naps. Christian and I watched a couple more episodes of The Walking Dead (and, a few more after they went to bed - we're already a good way into the 2nd season...). The evening was pretty relaxed - just spent some time together, watched some shows and took it easy.

Twinsies in their Hello Kitty shirts! FUN :)

Sunday, the dreaded Daylight Savings Time hit. Ugh - not really looking forward for a few days of adjustment. Christian was off bright and early, over to his parents house, to work on my car...yet again. The back, drivers side brakes are still messed up, and have been for a while. I really don't see the point in working on it anymore, but he felt the need. Now, we just hope once again, that it did the trick and gets us through another year or so. I spent the day with the girls. Did laundry, some minor cleaning and picking up around the house. I had a list of chores to do, but was not in the mood for it. Oh well, there's always next week, right?! We spent the night hanging out, playing...the girls chased each other around until they were both exhausted.

I got a much more successful photo of Amelia today - what a doll!

With that, we ended the week. A nice relaxing weekend was definitely in order! You may have noticed that I have not posted any weight loss updates for a while. I'm still having a hard time finding, and keeping, my motivation. When I started this journey last year, I had hoped to hit my goal by this month. I'm no where near meeting that goal. It's pretty devastating. I just can't figure out what to do to get myself over this hurdle. To get past my own road blocks. To find the discipline I so badly need. I can't figure out how to keep myself out of my own way. But, I won't give up. I still have goals to meet, plans to keep and changes to make. I'm heading into a new week. and every day is a new chance to get back on track. So, that's my little update for now. Hopefully I'll have some good news by the end of this coming week!

2013 - Week 9

Well, this week brought us March, and our first ever round of the stomach flu!!! AWESOME...

Monday started off pretty standard. Us off to work, the girls off to my in-laws for the day. I ended up setting up a craigslist sale, and had some shopping to do, so I left work a tad early. I ran to do our weekly shopping quick, made my way home to work out, put everything away, start dinner and do a little cleaning up. A couple stopped by to buy our travel crib (basically, a smaller pack and play, which we kept at my in-laws house). Finally, the family was home for dinner, baths and bed. Everything seems pretty normal...then, at 11:00, I was just dozing off and heard Olivia crying out. Obviously, very strange coming from her. I ran in to find out what was going on, and found that she had thrown up all over her bed. Christian took her into the bathroom, I threw her bedding and everything into the wash and brought her into bed with me. My stomach started turning, but I thought it was just from dealing with her, and didn't think much of it. She woke up again a couple hours later and we barely made  it to the bathroom. At this point, my stomach was not good at all, and it wasn't long before I lost it as well. We had a rough night of tossing and turning together.

Tuesday morning I knew we weren't going anywhere. I called into work, Christian took Amelia to school and Olivia and I spent the day pretty miserable together. She watched many episodes of My Little Pony on Netflix while I tried to relax as much as possible. Luckily, neither of us could eat or do anything, so we got the rest we needed. But, weren't feeling much better by the time we went to bed. Health wise, it was a crappy day...but, today was also my mom's birthday, so HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Mom! Not the best way to mark a loved ones birthday...

Today was mismatch day at school. Poor Olivia was bummed, and would've put together the PERFECT outfit. Amelia held it down for the family though!

These two were by my side ALL day long. Maybe they could just sense the sickness. I was just hoping they had healing powers...

Wednesday, we THOUGHT all was back to normal....just a 24 hour thing. I dropped the girls off to school and made my way to work. As I got closer to work, my stomach started cramping and hurting again. I tried to eat some breakfast, thinking that was the problem. Nope - didn't help at all. Not long after, I got a call from school that Olivia was laying on the cot, miserable, and had a fever. I had taken her temperature before school, and it was completely normal, so I was pretty surprised by that (and, I took it again when we got settled in at home, and, again, it was completely normal - very strange). So, I packed up some work, just in case I got the energy to do some, picked her up and we made our way home. She was clearly miserable, and I felt so horrible for her. So, we spent the rest of the day resting and being lazy again. Christian took Amelia to his parents' for dinner to give Olivia and I some peace and quiet for the night - much welcomed!

What a smile for a sick girl!

Finally feeling a tad better, Olivia did some coloring to end the night.

By Thursday morning, Olivia was completely back to normal. Like nothing had every happened. Because of her fever on Wednesday, she couldn't go to school though. I really couldn't miss any more work, and was feeling much better, as long as I didn't eat much. So, Christian stayed home with Olivia and I made my way to work. I survived the day pretty well, with a few small meals. I wasn't feeling 100% yet, but getting there.

Friday was a much better day for all. The girls were off to my mom's house, and had a great day (until I picked them up, and Olivia started acting out like a mad woman). I had a SUPER productive day at work - not much of an option after missing most of the week. I made up a lot of work though, so that was good. We had a pretty low key night at home. Christian had to work pretty late. When he got home, we had a little bit of an argument. Anybody who reads my posts, knows that Christian goes out with his friends quite a bit. While it bothers me, he never spends any money, so I don't made a huge deal of it (he either goes to a friends house, or his friend from work buys him a few when they go out [he's spoiled]). Also, we're completely opposite in that I'm a TOTAL homebody, and I'm happy to curl up with the TV or computer and relax, while he's much more social and outgoing - so I try to respect that. But, it still bothers me. So tonight, when he "asked" to go out with his friend from work, I kind of put my foot down and we had it out a little bit. My main point in the conversation was that he's married, with a home and two kids, and it's time that he start realizing that those things change you, change the way you live your life. And, that there's going to be a lot less going out. He definitely spent the night pouting and pretty upset, and I know it's going to be hard for him to adjust that side of his life (not that he'll NEVER be able to go out for anything, but still....), but it was time. It felt good to get that issue off my chest though - it's something I've carried around for a while, especially with my stunning lack of communication skills, so I was pretty proud that I brought it up at all!

Saturday morning I was still pretty touch and go for a while. I spent the morning relaxing and taking it easy while Christian made breakfast and the girls played for a while. I took Olivia to swim class, we had lunch and they went down for their naps. I was feeling a tad better, ate some lunch and was off to meet a friend from school to sell some more of the kids' clothes. YAY - it's hard to see stuff go, but I sure like making the money!  I slowly started feeling better and better and getting more energy back. Once the girls were up, I was able to start cleaning our disaster of a house. Mom out of commission for a few days - you can imagine the toll that takes on a house! I got the kitchen cleaned, dishes done, floors swept. Cleaned our room and the girls' room and picked up the living room. It felt good to get some normalcy back. Once the girls were in be, Christian and I settled in for the night. We played our new game addiction, Candy Crush, for a while and watched Saturday Night Live (yes, we actually stayed up for the WHOLE thing!). Then, passed out. Man, it feels good to feel good again! Hopefully it doesn't lump to anybody else in the house...

Post Swim Class, what a honey!

Sunday was a very busy day around the house. After breakfast, Christian was on dad duty for the day - he took the girls outside to play in the snow for a while, they colored and did some arts and crafts and hung out around the house. I continued my cleaning mission, and started tackling the basement - an even bigger disaster. I started with the spare bedroom (aka, the dumping grounds). Since we sold the bed a few months ago, we have a lot more room, so I wanted to clean it up and use the space. I went through our clothes and linens in the closet, I organized all of our "sale stuff" and all of the baby gear we're actually holding onto and got everything in order. Next up, the playroom and "princess area". This, of course, took forever. But, for the most part, I got it done. Next, I went through the hallway closet and the storage under the stairs and got everything packed up and in order. Finally, I packed the clothes that are too small for Olivia and stored them away for Amelia. In the midst, I did laundry throughout the day and managed to make dinner. It was a LONG day, but productive, so it felt good.

So, that was our week. Welcomed March, battled the plague, wished my mom a happy birthday, and now we're just hoping a praying for a much healthier week coming up!

2013 - Week 8

Already 8 weeks into a new year! Pretty crazy! This week WELCOMED a 3-day work week for me, and a full weekend of fun.

Monday I was off for Presidents Day. AWESOME! Christian had to work, my mom kept Olivia overnight last night, and Amelia was off to my in-laws house (per usual), so I had the house all to myself for the morning. Instead of working on my mile-long to-do list, I spent the morning lounging, catching up on some shows and relaxing. Olivia got home around lunchtime. I let her skip her nap today, so she watched a few videos while I got my workout in, showered and got ready. Then, we were off to do some grocery shopping. Once I got everything put away, we picked up Amelia, and made our way to Applebee's to meet Christian and our friends, Nate and Gini, for dinner and some catch-up time. We hadn't seen them in FOREVER, so it was great to spend some time with them. We finally made our way home, sent the girls to bed and relaxed for a bit.

My shopping buddy!

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were pretty standard days. Work, exercise, dinner, baths, playtime. All of the usual. Olivia has been a bit trying lately. Just overly aggressive, not listening well, whining A LOT. I know it's all pretty standard preschooler stuff, but everything is just over the top. It all came full circle on Thursday. Thursday marked 1 year since the girls started at KinderCare (seriously, the best decision we've ever made!), and, it also marked the first negative report we've ever received (other than Amelia and her partner in crime getting into it). Of course, it was Olivia. I guess he was just completely out of sorts all day - pushing, pulling and hitting the other kids, running around, she kept taking her shoes off and chewing on the laces, she wasn't listening and was just not herself, at all. We had a LOOOOONG conversation about it when we got home. I explained how disappointed I was in her, and she enjoyed a nice long timeout. She had no reason or explanation for her actions - it just doesn't make sense. My best guess, is that 1) I don't think she's been taking a nap, and while many 4-year olds no longer need them - she does, and 2) I think she's getting incredibly bored with the preschool atmosphere. She is definitely ready for Pre-K, and needs the challenge. I did chat with the assistant director a little bit, and she said they are hoping to move her up in the next month. So, HOPEFULLY it happens, and hopefully it helps.

 Olivia helping Daddy cook dinner!

 My new workout crew!

A rare moment of sitting together and bonding!

On Tuesday I did get some fairly good news. As most people know, I work for the state. We've been working outside of a Contract since July 2011 (it's negotiated every 2 years). On Tuesday, the Governor finally signed off on our Contract, which includes a 2% pay raise. Great news, and I'm excited for the backpay that will come with it. But, it's pretty crappy that after years of no raises (just like a majority of the country) they finally pass it, and it's going to end up getting taxed to h-e-double-hockey-sticks. THEN, our Contract is up again this coming July, and I'm sure they either won't pass a contract in time, or put us back on no raises. So, even though our "leaders" look like the good guys, it really ends up working in their favor in the end - and since everybody hates state workers as it is, makes us look even worse, because lord knows, we don't deserve a raise in anybody's eyes. It's a no-win situation. BUT, I'm definitely not focusing on the bad - anything extra, at any time, is so appreciated.

Friday was my day off, and it started with another great weigh-in. I lost 1.6lbs this week, for a total loss of 33.6lbs to date. I was hoping for another good number, but I wasn't feeling super confident. It felt GREAT to see that number! A new round of snow storms rolled into the area overnight, so we woke up to a fresh, mega-coating of snow. It continued to snow throughout the day - but the majority came overnight. The girls played for a bit while I did the usual checkbooks, bill paying, fun stuff. We had some breakfast, got dressed and bundled up, and headed out to play in the snow for a while. We found a park down the road with a small hill, so we played, and took the sled down the hill a few times. The girls LOVED it, and it was some pretty great exercise running around in all that snow! Who says you can't go to the park in the winter?!? And, bonus, the girls had some lunch when we got home, and passed out for some SUPER long naps! AWESOME. I got some very exciting R&R. Christian stopped home from work to shovel and plow the driveway, shower, and was off to his "holiday dinner" for work (yes, at the end of February)...which, is employee only. Lame. So, it was just me and the girls for the night. We had dinner, played some games and had a pretty low-key night. Pretty good start to the weekend.

Saturday started off typical...breakfast, sweeping, dishes. Fun stuff! Olivia and I were off to her swim class. She's getting better, and more brave every week. It's fun to watch her develop week to week. After class, we had some lunch and the girls went down for their naps. I got my workout in, got ready and we were on our way to my Grandpa's house for his birthday. The girls had so much fun playing with all of the other little kids and it was great to catch up with our family. We were all pretty exhausted when we got home...the girls went to bed, Christian and I watched a little TV and passed out.

Amelia, [literally] digging into he cake and ice cream. YUM!

We started Sunday off at the bowling alley with Olivia's BFF and her family.  It was so fun to get out and do something we haven't done for a while and hang out with friends. The girls were all SO excited to see each other, it was so cute. We bowled a game, played in the arcade for a while and made our way home. The girls took their naps while I worked out and we rested for a while. We spent the night playing around the house, doing laundry and doing some cleaning up. What a fun day!