2014 - Week 34

Here we are, another week! Eliza was off to my mother in-laws for the day and had a wonderful day! She said Eliza seems to be getting better and better every week, and adjusting well, so that’s great news. I picked her up after work and took her with me to the clinic to pick up a prescription, while Christian picked the big girls up from school and met us at home.  Tomorrow is Olivia’s kindergarten assessment, and I didn’t realize we have to bring her supplies with….which I haven’t purchased (really, we give them $10 for supplies, we just have to bring a few things…like tissues, disinfectant wipes, antibacterial soap, etc.). We also needed a few groceries. I ended up making up a list for Christian, and having him go do our shopping, while I took the girls to Amelia’s soccer practice. I even made him use cartwheel, use reusable bags and reminded him to get generic (which he never does, and it makes me so mad!). Ha, I’ll train him in! Amelia’s practice was even worse this week, with only 4 kids there. The coach and his two kids are out of town this week, so it’s going to be pretty dismal. I’m getting a little worried about her team. She did pretty well though. Christian started dinner when he finished shopping, so we ate when we arrived home, took some baths and the girls were off to bed shortly after. Eliza was pretty crabby tonight for some reason. Just an off night I suppose.

Somebody wasn't too excited about soccer tonight

Tuesday was a pretty standard day. Work, school, daycare for the babe. However, when I picked the girls up, it was sheer chaos. I got Eliza from the infant room, and got out to pick up the big girls just as they were coming in from playing outside. Olivia was already in the room, and Amelia was just walking in, and I could tell she was starting to cry. Her teacher was still outside, wrangling up all of the kids, and I saw him run past the window after one of them. When I asked Amelia what was wrong, she said a little boy (the runner), had punched her in the face because she was the line leader and he wanted to be the line leader. This is not the first pretty serious incident we’ve had with this little boy, and I have to admit, I’m getting a little aggravated by it. I know kids fight and throw things and get in trouble, but this little boy is SERIOUSLY violent…just a couple weeks ago he bit her so hard in the back, he FULL bite was visible on her back for a good week or so. And, the teachers even admit, it’s usually not provoked when he does these things. As I was getting the story, her teacher was taking the little boy into the office, and it sounded as if this may have been his last chance (I found later that he had actually punched another little boy as well, and that was what he was actually getting in trouble for…they didn’t even know what had happened to Amelia). I don’t want to be that helicopter parent and get over involved…I do have faith that the center deals with these issues appropriately, but I do want to know at what point, enough is enough. After that chaos, Olivia had to skip her soccer practice tonight, because we were off to meet her Kindergarten teacher. She had to do her assessment (so the teacher can talk to her and get an idea of where she’s at with the basic skills), while Christian and I filled out some paperwork and got her school calendar and all that. We dropped off her supplies and her medical paperwork…her teacher seems super nice and really friendly. Olivia seems to be pretty excited again, so hopefully that sticks with her the next couple of weeks. I still just can’t believe this is happening. I started this blog just as she turned 1, and here we are, 4½ years later. That’s just crazy, time goes way too fast! When we finished her assessment, we made our way home for some dinner and everybody was off to bed.

It's official, the watermelon/pumpkins are actually pumpkins. Whew!

We got this little doozy of a poem at Olivia's assessment tonight. Tears galore.

Apparently we hadn't checked the zucchini for a while. Whoa!

Wednesday was a rough day. Well, it started off OK…the girls were off to school/daycare, Christian was off to work, and it was my telework day, so I was settled in at home, working the day away. We’re pretty well caught up on stuff around the house, so I didn’t have to squeeze in any chores during my breaks. It was nice to just be able to relax a little! Tonight when I picked the girls up, each of them had incident reports because of their overall behavior. They were both acting up, not listening, talking back, spitting at the kids AND the teachers. Just pretty much out of control. These girls can act up, but I’ve never gotten a report strictly for their behavior before. Needless to say, I was pretty upset. To top it off, as we were leaving, Amelia booked I out the door, into the parking lot, before I had even left the classroom. When I got outside, she was just dancing around, not a care in the world, and it pushed me over the edge. I pulled her around to the side of the van and she got a spanking, right there in the parking lot. She was pretty much in shock after that, and was pretty quiet the rest of the night. We went to her soccer practice after, and she did participate (which I was kind of surprised about after getting in trouble), and Olivia was forced to sit on the ground right by me the entire time. When we arrived home they had a nice boring dinner, and were right off to bed. Oh man, it was just one of those nights. My frustrations had reached their limit, that’s for sure.

Eliza's first art project, OMG! (PS, the sandals have her actual footprints in them, it's hard to see)

Thursday started off on a bad note, following yesterday’s issues. I had the most “infuriating” argument with Olivia as I was trying to remind them of how upset we were and about their punishments. I reminded them that today was water day and they would not be allowed to participate, she tells me “Good, the water is cold anyway”. I tell them they’ll be having cereal for dinner again, she tells me “Good, I love cereal”. This went on for about 5 more “punishments” until I had reached my mental capacity for the morning and gave up. We left; I dropped them off, and headed to work, not sure how the day would pan out. I was ecstatic to pick them up and find out that all of the kids had a great day…Olivia and Amelia were listening, were helpful and did a million times better than they had been acting. Eliza was happy and content and loving her people watching. I felt like a huge weight had been lifted. So, even with the arguments and snippy attitude this morning, apparently what I said actually got through to them. The evening was topped off by finally catching Eliza rolling tummy to back on video, so fun!

My Throwback photo was a shot back to Eliza's first picture. I can't believe how fast it's going!

Friday was my day off. Olivia was off to daycare as usual, while Amelia, Eliza and I were off to Amelia’s 4-year check-up. Now, the day, again, started off infuriatingly. I purposefully schedule their appointments as the first appointment of the day…I LOVE our doctor, but he is a chatty Cathy and the later you go in, the more behind he is. So, you figure first appointment of the day, you should be good to go. Nope, I got there a few minutes before the appointment, was called back pretty much right away, and then sat in the room for almost 30 minutes waiting. Thankfully Eliza slept through most of the appointment AND I didn’t work, otherwise I would’ve lost it. Anyway, her appointment went well. She is up to 40% for weight and 45% for height, so she’s catching up and pretty much average now, which is a relief. We found out that they changed their previous “5-Year Kindergarten” shots to be done at 4 years old now, so she had to get 2 shots and was not too happy with me. I discussed her habits with him…actually, I’m not sure that I’ve ever discussed them on here before. Amelia has these series of ticks…she squeezes her ears constantly, she has a hard time dealing with light (sun, camera flash, etc.), she sniffles all day long – even though there’s nothing there, and she has this coughing/throat clearing thing she does all day long, which is by far the most annoying thing I’ve ever dealt with in my life. These things have been going on for months…well, her ear thing even longer. We’ve never been too sure if it’s all just coincidence, if they are nervous ticks, if they are allergy related, or what could be causing it all. So, I talked to her doctor (who was able to witness pretty much everything while we were there in his office). He said to first try to eliminate an allergy issue, so we’re going to start her on a daily dose of allergy medication. If that doesn’t seem to help, they could be ticks, motor or nerve caused. Apparently the difference is that with motor ticks, your body really does THINK there is something wrong (your ears hurt, your nose is running, you have something in your throat), even though you don’t. So, we’ll see what happens, and hopefully we can get it all to stop. After her appointment, we stopped at McDonald’s for breakfast (her reward for being “tricked” into getting shots), I dropped her off at school, and Eliza and I made our way home. She took a nice LOOOOONG nap in the afternoon, I did some dishes and a little cleaning up, but overall had a pretty lazy day. Christian left work a tad early and met his Dad at the house to change the oil and a sensor in the car. I picked the girls up and we hung out at home for the evening. Christian and his friend Lorenzo were nominated to do the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge that is going around, so they completed that tonight. Olivia decided to join in and do it as well, LOL. Crazy kid. I spent the evening making a couple batches of salsa from the garden…YUM!

Brought out the jumperoo tonight. LOL!

I LOVE HER!!! Hanging at the doctor's office with sissy!

My little  BFF, handled her appointment like a little champ.

Salsa time!

Saturday was a pretty long day. We decided to take advantage of the nice weather (not too hot, not too cold) and head to Como Zoo for the day. Our friend Sara and her little guy came along with us. The state fair started this week, and it was kind of sprinkling when we got to the zoo, so we thought for sure it wouldn’t be too busy. Not the case. But, we managed to find parking and had a great time anyway. We checked out the animals for a while, had some lunch, then the girls hit up rides for the rest of the afternoon. Like usual, I was able to snag a buy one wristband get one free deal on a local Steal site…always helps to save a little! We started Amelia on her allergy medication, but we only had benedryl in the house right now, so she was definitely drowsy from it most of the day. We’ll be getting her some Claritin before her next dose, that’s for sure. On top of that, Eliza seems to be coming down with a cold. She was getting so stuffed up, and then it would drain she she’d have a coughing fit. Poor thing, I sure hope it passes quickly! Between the activity and the illnesses, it was definitely a long day. We hung out for a bit, had some dinner, and the girls were all off to bed shortly after. Christian and I were searching Netflix for a movie to watch, when we came across “Sharknado”…I’d heard all about it, so decided we just HAD to watch it. Oh boy, it did not disappoint.

Zoo Fun!

On Sunday, we all actually slept in a little bit, which is always a wonderful treat. We had a quick breakfast, then Olivia and I were off to finish up some school shopping. I mentioned before we don’t actually have to buy supplies, we just give the school $10 and they provide everything. We dropped off the Kleenex and stuff like that a couple weeks ago, so we just needed to finish getting her some clothes and shoes (Amelia needed new tennis shoes too). We found some good deals at Target, and stopped at Payless to finish up the shoe shopping. She’s officially ready for Kindergarten, OMG! Once home, we all got ready, packed up a bag, and headed to Northfield to my Grandparents’ house for lunch. My aunt is in town from Utah, so my Grandma invited everybody over for lunch. My Stepmom was there….none of my sisters could make it, and my Dad had to work, so it was just us from our family. It was fun catching up though, and they finally got to meet baby Eliza, so that was exciting. Funny story…as we were getting ready to leave, Eliza was by the door in her car seat while we said our goodbyes. My uncle came into the house, into the kitchen and asked “Whose baby is that?” to which Christian replied, “Ashley’s” while pointing at me. Telling, right? Very telling. Yes, she’s MY baby, and she’s sweet as can be! My stepmom follows us home to get some goodies from the garden, and the girls jumped in the pool as soon as we got home. Until a storm came in out of nowhere and we rushed into the house. Our friend Sara and Bella stopped over for a bit before it was time to get everybody ready for bed. What a busy weekend, sure makes it go even faster than usual! We did start Amelia on Claritin today and she had a much better day on that. Now, let’s see if it actually helps anything!

Ready for her first school year!

Until Next Week! XOXO

2014 - Week 33

Monday started off a little tough, saying goodbye to our friends from Indiana. Christian and Eliza were off bright and early, as he had to be to work on time. I slept in a tad, got the girls ready, and went in a little late so that I would have the chance to say goodbye. They weren’t quite ready to hit the road, so they finished getting ready and packed it up while we were off to school and work. Still so bummed our weekend with them is over so quickly. One good point in the day is that my mother in law had a much better day with Eliza this week, so that’s a plus. Hopefully she adjust quickly to all of the new caregivers. After work, our new chaos began….SOCCER! Olivia and Amelia are both playing this year (Pre-K and Kindergarten “leagues”), and for the next 3 weeks we have soccer FOUR days a week. Good Lord, we’re going to be mighty exhausted, that’s for sure. Tonight was Amelia’s first practice. For both of them, their teams are supposed to have 8 kids…the play 5 on 5 games, so they like to have a few extra to substitute in and give them little breaks. Tonight there were only 5 kids there, and two of them pretty much refused to do anything. It’s the first practice, so I’m trying not to get too pessimistic, but I’m hoping it’s not a sign of things to come. Amelia did pretty well with the actual soccer stuff (kicking the ball, running, etc.), but she was not the best listener, and often got off into her own little world, like usual. Again, hopefully that is not a sign of things to come. After soccer, we all rushed home for a quick dinner and to clean up before bed.

On Tuesday, I signed the girls up for the next session of swim classes. Apparently I’m just a glutton for punishment. Their next session will be on Sunday evenings, because they will have soccer games on Saturday mornings, but they only overlap for a couple weeks. It will again be pretty chaotic there for a while though. I left work a little early today because they were having an open house at daycare, so I wanted to make sure the girls could join the festivities for a while. They had some watermelon and juice to snack on, a few little carnival games for the kids to play, and a dunk tank. The kids have been voting for the last couple weeks on which teachers they wanted to put in the dunk tank, and the “top” 3 got the honors. It was pretty funny to watch all of the kids try so hard. Of course, all of the parents had to try too, and the kids just thought it was the best thing ever when the teachers would get dunked (of course, I got to put my softball skills to use and dunked Miss Crystal on the first throw!). After some playtime, we loaded up the van and were off to Olivia’s first night of soccer. Again, only 5 kids were at her practice. I don’t get it…why do people sign up for activities, and then not show up? Or only show up sometimes? Why even sign up? Hopefully it’s all just because it’s the end of the summer and people get busy fitting in last change summer activities, and things will get better by game time in a few weeks. Olivia did well, but she really didn’t have her listening ears on either. She was a little over-rambunctious, so we need to reel that in a little bit. Once home, the big girls were at each other’s throats ALL NIGHT LONG. They weren’t listening, they were fighting non-stop, talking back. Needless to say, it was a busy, stressful evening, and bedtime could NOT have come early enough.

Wednesday was my first official telework day. So, we were all up at our usual time, I showered to wake myself up, got the girls ready and dropped off at daycare, and made my way back home. Back into my PJ’s, fired up my laptop, and got to work. It was SO wonderful. I would seriously work from home every day if I could. I had my shows on in the background, plowed through a TON of work, used my break time to get some dishes done and do a few loads of laundry. I was up SUPER late folding clothes, since I really didn’t have time to do that, but it was worth it. When I finished work for the day, I was able to cook dinner – an ACTUAL meal, so it was ready when we got home. Seriously, PERFECTION! Finally, I was off to pick up the girls, and we made our way to Amelia’s last practice of the week. She was a little more loopy tonight than Monday, but we made it through. There were 6 kids tonight, so that was at least better. Hopefully she calms down pretty soon and starts cooperating more…though, she is only 4, so I guess it’s not super likely. LOL

Amelia wrote me a little note at school today!

Thursday was a pretty standard day. Work, school, daycare. Everything went pretty well, and Eliza had another pretty good week at daycare. Her napping is still pretty hit or miss…she’ll either cat nap all day, or take one nice long nap on the rare occasion. She has been eating well though and really seems to enjoy being there. After work, I picked them all up and we were off to Olivia’s last night of soccer for the week (YES, FINALLY a few days with a little less on our plate). She did much better tonight, listening and cooperating, so I think the initial excitement has worn off and she’ll do better now. She was also up to 6 kids tonight, so also promising. On our way to the field, Eliza went to the bathroom and we had a DISASTER! I mean, complete blow out. I pretty much missed the entire practice trying to get her cleaned up and changed. Ay, always something! Finally, we made our way home. I finally had time to put away all of the laundry from Wednesday…my in-laws sent home dinner for us, so that saved us some time (YAY!).

My Throwback photo this week was in honor of the state fair kicking off in ONE WEEK (I cannot wait!!) - Olivia and Amelia's first trips to the fair. Time for Eliza!

Olivia is a Pharaoh!

Friday was a pretty quiet day. It was my mom’s day to watch Eliza, so I was able to just leave her sleeping while I got ready, got the girls ready, and left for the day. This week Friday could definitely not have come soon enough…I ended my first real, full week of work, and between that and soccer, boy was I exhausted. I was looking forward to a fairly quiet weekend, that’s for sure. Eliza was a little difficult for my mom today…I think she may miss the activity and all of the chaos with all of the kids at daycare, or even just having her sisters around. After work I picked the big girls up, and we made our way home to relieve my mom. Christian had to work late, so we girls hung out and had a pretty quiet evening. I made quick run to Target once Christian was home, and Eliza was sleeping, but that’s about it.

This Face, to die for!

On Saturday, we had a pretty low-key, quiet morning around the house. The girls took a tad-early nap, while Christian and I watched a quick movie, then we all began getting ready for today’s event…my cousin, on my dad’s side of the family, was getting married today! We packed up our bag, got everybody dressed and ready to go, and made our way out to Stillwater for the day. The ceremony was pretty quick to the point, so we were in and out of the church pretty fast (and, we timed it pretty perfect to where Eliza got a bottle pretty much as soon as the ceremony started, so she never made a peep!). The reception wasn’t far from the church, but wasn’t scheduled to begin for an hour or so, so we joined my dad, stepmom and aunt at a bar down the street to pass some time. I wanted to take the girls down by the river and hang out for a while, but it was just too dang hot and humid out. Eventually we made our way to the reception…had some dinner, chatted with family, danced for a bit. The usual. Eliza started to have a little meltdown around 8:30 or so, so we had to call it a night and head home. The girls were EXHAUSTED, passed out pretty much immediately in the van, and went right to bed when we arrived home. Eliza and I weren’t far behind them…what a day!

Sunday was a busy day around the house. We were going to go to a little festival one of the local churches hosts every year, but there was rain in the forecast so we decided against it. Sure enough, DOWNPOUR right about the time the festival was supposed to begin. So, instead, it was chore day. I got the house picked up, washed dishes, got the girls closed ready for the week and washed a load of laundry. Whew! Christian did some work in the yard, and left for a bit to help out a friend. When they returned, they kept the big girls outside for most of the day, and out of my hair, so I was able to get a ton of work done around the house. It was a busy day, but it was nice to just be around the house, getting some things done. We did have a pretty exciting moment tonight, when Eliza rolled, tummy to back, for the first time! She proceeded to do it a few more times, so she proved it was not just a fluke, LOL. So exciting, but boy is is growing too fast!

(mid roll)

Until Next Week XOXO