2015 - Week 14

Here we are, week 14! This week brought us a new month, a big transition for Eliza and Easter celebrations!

On Monday, I ended up staying home with Eliza after a long, rough night. She would not sleep for anything, and in the middle of the night, ended up throwing up all over me, all over herself, all over the bed. Just, all over. It was horrible. I stripped the best, got both of us changed into clean clothes, got her cleaned up, and settled back in to bed. But, she refused to be put down…she’d just cry out in misery and pain if I tried. So, I “slept” sitting up with her the rest of the night. Poor thing – and, ouch! Before Christian left for work, I dropped the big girls off at daycare and stopped at Walmart quick for some medicine before heading home. She ate a little breakfast, took some medicine, and napped on my chest for a while. She’s becoming such a busy be, it was nice to cuddle with her for a little bit. Little lovey! She seemed to be in much better spirits when she woke up, but she was stop burning up. She ate lunch and played pretty well for a while. I did some laundry, and then she finally went down for a real, LONG nap. Whew! While she was napping, Christian returned from Iowa, and I developed the worst migraine, out of nowhere. Talk about perfect timing! I loaded up on some medicine and laid on the couch with an ice pack for a while, which pretty much did the trick. We had somebody come by to buy the girls’ old exersaucer, so I was pretty excited Christian was home to deal with it. I was finally feeling a tad better, peeled myself off of the couch, made a quick Target run for some groceries and picked up the big girls. Christian made us a taco dinner while I started folding the mountain of laundry I did over the last couple of days. Still not done. Ugh, so.much.laundry. All.The.Time! It sure is amazing the amount of stuff you can get done when work doesn’t get in the way, that’s for sure! Needless to say, I was beyond exhausted by the time I climbed into bed. And praying for a peaceful night. Eliza hadn’t had any more incidents, and was playful and happy all evening, so fingers crossed it was just a quick bug!

Snuggles with my sick baby!

The animals can't ever give us our personal space!

Starting to feel better! Hanging out in her favorite room, the bathroom!

She was searching high and low for her sisters all day.

Tuesday was a MUCH more peaceful day indeed. Eliza slept well and seemed to be back to her normal self today. So, everybody was off to work, school or daycare, as applicable, for the day. I TOTALLY missed being away from my little monkey all day though after a cuddly day home with her. Olivia has another loose tooth – ay! It’s just barely loose though, so I don’t think it will be coming out any time soon. Thank goodness, I need some more time to recover. Work was pretty standard, the days have still been going pretty quickly, being so busy, so with this being an extra short week for me, it should just fly by. After work, I rewarded myself for the chaos we’ve been dealing with, by using my last Halloween free blizzard coupon at Dairy Queen. I literally sat in the daycare parking lot, watching the girls play, enjoying my secret treat. It was heaven. Finally, I gathered the girls up, and we made our way home. Between dinner and bedtime routines, I spent the evening posting a few more things on craigslist for sale. It’s so hard to finally part with all of the baby stuff. Knowing that it’s all going to be gone forever. Tear!

Feeling better. I sure missed her today!

Wednesday = April. APRIL! It’s already APRIL! I just can’t believe it. And, no April Fool’s Joke, the day started off with amazing news from my sisterfriend Dawn, in Indiana, letting me know that they are moving up their annual summer visit to June. Just over 2 months, and they’ll be coming to town and staying with us for a week. I’m SO excited! Christian and I both are taking the entire week off, and I cannot wait. A whole week with my family, a whole week with the Steveson family. Bonding, fun, catching up. It’s going to be amazing! And, being that today was my first Wednesday back in the office since losing my telecommuting privileges, it definitely brightened the day for me. After work I picked the girls up, and we made our way home to play outside for a while. It was over 80F today…on April 1^st, that’s just crazy! I sure hope that means we’re in for a real spring this year, and lots of fun outside! I finally drug the girls inside for some dinner, baths and bed.

First time playing in the grass.

My girls!

Thursday was a pretty standard day. Work, daycare, school. It was my Friday, so my short week was officially over! Thursday also brought the start of a big transition for us. We put the crib railing up on Olivia’s bed for Eliza and dug out some old crib bedding from the girls. She’s crawling and rolling and moving more and more every day, and that results in me getting little REAL sleep, because I’m so worried she’ll fall off the bed. So it’s definitely time. But, it’s SO, SO, SO hard to let her go. At bedtime, we did attempt to have her sleep in there, but she really wasn’t having any of it, at all. We’ll try again tomorrow…I’m off of work, so maybe having her take her naps in it will be an easier transition for her. I have to admit – I love that little chunk to pieces, but she has been a BEAR this week. When we get home from work, she’s so unhappy, so grumpy, so miserable. I texted Christian tonight, before he got home from work, so upset. It makes me feel like a failure, like she hates me or something. They say she’s happy as can be at daycare…she plays, she eats, she’s all smiles and laughs. Then we get home, and she’s miserable. Logically, I know that she barely naps at daycare, so by the time we get home she’s just exhausted and over-stimulated, but I convince myself that I’m just a horrible mother and she hates me. Mom guilt, isn’t it awesome?! Life, it’s exhausting! Add in Amelia’s CONSTANT temper tantrums lately, and Olivia’s annoyance over EVERYTHING (suddenly, she’s a teenager), and I’m just over all of it. Most nights, bedtime just cannot come soon enough.

Her crib railing is up!

All the girls, checking out the crib.

Friday was a pretty good day. I was my Friday off, so YAY for that! I let the big girls sleep in a little big today, which they always love. As soon as they were up, I got them dressed and ready, packed Eliza into the van, and dropped them off at daycare. Eliza and I had some breakfast, took a trip to Target to get some stuff to fill Easter baskets. We didn’t do baskets last year, and it was actually super freeing. The girls didn’t notice, at all, so I’ve been debating just not doing them anymore. But, it really is fun to get them something…it’s nice to have a reason to buy them a little something special. So, what the heck?! Eliza “helped” me pack their baskets when we arrived home, I cleaned up a little bit, and got Eliza down for a good nap. Then, spent the rest of the day relaxing and watching my shows. We picked up the big girls, made some dinner and hung out for the evening. Watched a movie with them, played for a bit, the usual. Once the girls were in bed, Christian and I settled in to watch “Gone Girl”. We started off strong, but both started dozing off about halfway through. Lame.

Helping me pack the Easter baskets. It's fun when they're so young they have no idea what's going on!

Well, Saturday we woke up, after Eliza’s first full night in her crib. It was sad and heartbreaking, but completely successful! She’s getting too big, too fast!! Hopefully it will bring all of us some better sleep though. Christian didn’t have to work today, which is a rare treat. He cleaned up the entry while I made some breakfast, fed the girls and did a little picking up myself. I also had somebody stop by for another craigslist sale this morning…the ring sling I won in a facebook contest when Amelia was a baby. I loved that thing, but Eliza has never been an attachment baby, she doesn’t like to be confined, so there’s no use in hanging onto my carriers. Our task today was to dye our Easter Eggs…the Easter Bunny hides them in the yard for our egg hung Easter morning. This year, I decided to try these “minion” themed eggs, so I ran to Walmart to get a few supplies, and we got to work. First, we had to dye some of them all purple, and some of them all yellow. So, we did that, and let them dry while we all showered and got ready for the day. Next up, we had to dye half of the yellow ones Blue, and half of the purple ones Black. Now, while they dried, we were off to my mom’s house for an early Easter celebration. She made some ribs and tater tots and cut up some watermelon…the girls’ favorite foods! We chatted, ate, the girls played for a while, but then started acting up big time. They were fighting and not listening to anything, so we packed it up and headed home. Brats! Once home, we finished decorating our eggs…gluing on some eyes and hair, drawing some mouths, and they were done! I’m not the most creative or crafty person, but they turned out pretty cute. The girls LOVE the Despicable Me movies, and the minions, so I knew they would think they were pretty awesome. That was a lot of work though, I was happy to finally be done! After cleanup was complete, and Eliza was in bed, Christian was off to have a couple beers with some friends. The big girls were at it again, fighting like crazy, talking back, not listing AT ALL. Amelia ended up waking Eliza up and that was the last straw for me. I lost it. Big time. I sent Amelia to her room, to bed, kicking and screaming. I had to lock myself in my room and take some deep breaths for a few minutes. I called Christian, flipping out. It was one of those shining parenting moments. Ugh. Amelia finally cried and yelled herself to sleep, and things started to quiet down. Olivia finished a movie on the couch before heading to bed, I fed Eliza and got her back to sleep, and I settled into bed to catch up on a few shows before bed. Peace and quiet, and I felt like I could finally breathe easy after along, stressful day. It was one of those days. One of those no good, terrible days.

Day 1 of Easter Weekend Activities

Sunday was Easter Day. We all woke up, feeling refreshed and ready to kick off a new day. Eliza slept great in her crib again, so it looks like that transition will go pretty smoothly. The girls found their Easter baskets right away, and tore into them. I snuck outside to play Easter Bunny and hide the eggs, before getting the girls bundled up and heading out. They had so much fun, running around the yard like a bunch of crazies, filling their baskets with eggs. I love it, I think that’s my favorite Easter activity. We had some breakfast and everybody showered and got ready, one by one. Amidst all of the chaos, I made some potatoes for Easter dinner. I knew I wouldn’t have time to make my usual cheesy potatoes, so I tried a new crockpot recipe, and they actually turned out really good. Whew! Finally, we took a quick family picture before loading everybody, and everything, into the van. This year, my sister in law was hosting her first holiday, in their new home, so we made our way over there. Her three kids, along with her two step-kids were there, and the girls were SO EXCITED to see them. I was a little bummed when we arrived and some of her husband’s family was there as well. I’m not a big fan of mixed holiday meals like that – it’s awkward and super uncomfortable. Especially when you don’t know the other people at all. To top it all off, none of his family brought any food to contribute, and didn’t help in the kitchen – so that really rubbed me the wrong way. And, to top THAT off, I walked into the kitchen when we arrived to find out that my sister in law is pregnant. I couldn’t help but be a little upset and a little jealous, knowing that we “can’t” responsibly have any more children, so right now it hit me hard. I felt ambushed by it, especially when I found out that Christian already knew and didn’t tell me, so, the day was pretty rough for me. I pretty much just kept to myself and hung out with Eliza most of the day. The girls had a blast playing with all of the kids though, and we got to eat some delicious food, so that was a silver lining in the day. After dinner, my in-laws gave the kids their Easter baskets, which is always super exciting, and then all of the kids headed outside for an egg hunt. Oh boy…it was complete chaos with all of those kids running around, but they sure had a blast! It was so funny to watch them. Shortly after the egg hunt, people started leaving, one by one, and last but not least, it was our turn. They gave us a small, high-top table and stools from their kitchen, for our kitchen, that they don’t want anymore, so we loaded that into the van along with everything else and made our way home. The girls fell asleep on the way home, and were exhausted! They watched a few videos and ate a small dinner when we arrived home, before heading to bed. Eliza slept for a little while in her car seat, then refused to go to bed later for anything. Christian eventually laid with her in our bed for a while, until she was asleep and he could finally move her into her bed. Finally, after a long, busy weekend, I settled in for some peace and quiet. I started looking through the pictures I had taken over the weekend and realized that, while I got a family Easter picture, I didn’t take any of just the girls. I’m seriously slacking on my photography! What a bummer!

Easter, Day 2

Until Next Week! XOXO

2015 - Week 13

Another week! This week brought me a little solo parenting time, a big milestone for Olivia, a busy weekend and some major excitement for the big girls.

Monday kicked off spring break week for Olivia. So, she’ll be spending the week at KinderCare. Which, of course, she’s SUPER excited about since that’s where all of her actual friends are. Life otherwise was pretty standard for a Monday. I have resorted to bribery to try to get the girls to behave. So, before school, I told them (well, Amelia) that if they behave, and get good reports from their teachers, we’ll paint their fingernails. And that tomorrow, we’d paint their toenails, and the next day they’ll get some tattoos. I have to come up with some more ideas, some more little rewards for them, but Day 1 was a complete success. Meanwhile, while they work on their behavior, I’m back at trying my hardest to eat better…again. As we get closer and closer to Eliza’s 1^st birthday, my “excuses” for my current weight state are going to become inexcusable anymore. Seriously, this is so hard for me. I LOOOOOOVE food. I love GOOD, satisfying, filling food. Most healthy food, just does not fit that bill for me. But, I have to work on it. I have a long road, a long battle ahead of my, but slowly but surely, I WILL get there.

Ugh, Snow!

Treasuring my final days with this little lovey in my bed!

On Tuesday, we were all off to our appropriate places. But, Eliza and I woke up rocking some pretty seriously horrible heads. Oh man, I thought my head was going to explode. Eliza was coughing and just seemed to congested. Of course, that means little sleep as well. This up and down weather doesn’t help anything, and I’m sure that will stick around for a while. But, we all survived the day. Tonight, we took down Amelia’s bed/crib, 1) in preparation of them getting their bunk beds; 2) because my sister is buying it this weekend, for my niece, who is due at the end of May. It was so crazy taking it down. They’re room is going to be so different, I just can’t even believe it. But, lickity split, down it came, and we put the mattress on the floor for her, for tonight. Of course, Olivia was super jealous, and decided she needed to sleep on the floor as well. So, she drug her mattress onto the floor, right next to Amelia’s, and there they slept. They’re so funny. Next up, the bunk beds go up, and Olivia’s bed will be converted back into a crib for Eliza. Tears!

Slumber Party!

Wednesday. Wednesday was my final work from home day. I’m so mad. I’m so ANGRY. I’m so bitter. I’m so overwhelmed. I’m not going to get all into it, again, and drive you all crazy, but I’m so frustrated about this. I just can’t even explain what that ONE day meant for me, and my sanity. I’m so, utterly, beyond bummed. So, I worked the day away, and logged off at the end of the day with a giant tinge of sadness. Next Wednesday is going to be REALLY hard. One good thing about the day is…..the BUNK BEDS were delivered. So exciting. It kind of cracked me up though. I knew they were going to be delivered today, and I was really excited that I was going to be home for it…I figured the boxes would be pretty heavy, so I thought being home I’d be able to catch the delivery guy, and have him put them in the garage, so they weren’t sitting on the front step. Well, apparently we had the master ding-dong-ditch FedEx guy delivering the beds, because between hearing a knock on the door, and getting to the door, he was already in his truck pulling off. Luckily the boxes weren’t horrible heavy, but I was pretty upset about it. Now, I laugh about it…I mean, it was two boxes, so he brought them up, one by one, and had to have literally RAN back to his truck after the “notification knock”. That just does not seem OK to me. After work, Christian’s friends Lorenzo came over to help put together the new beds, and they are officially up, and FANTASTIC! We didn’t want to spend a ton, so we ordered them from Walmart, and I was a little worried. But, they’re actually super cute, and look really nice. The girls were SO excited, I mean EXCITED! My mom had given us some mattresses a few weeks ago, and their old bedding from her place, so we were able to get the beds made and all ready for them. Olivia loaded up her bed with all of her animals and toys, they climbed in, and they passed out. Those two drive me nuts, but seeing them so happy and so excited just melts my heart. It’s the best. We have a lot of work ahead of us with their room. We’ve decided to keep Eliza in the room with them for a while, once we move her to the crib, so we have to do some redecorating and figure out how to fit everything in there. Right now, their dresser is in our room, but I think we’re going to sell the glider chair/stool that’s in their room, and move some stuff around. And, we’re going to redecorate….we’re going to get Eliza some Hello Kitty bedding to match the other girls’ bedding, paint and do a little moving stuff around. It will take a while though. One step at a time!

Putting together the Bunk Beds - Eliza is locked out.

They're loving the beds!

Thursday was Christian’s birthday!!!! Yes, for the next 2.5 months, we’re the same age!!! The big 3-1. It’s so crazy to think that he was just barely 17 years old when we met, as we started dating and getting to know each other. And now, 31. Wow, time seriously fly’s by, in a blink of the eye. So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY Hubby! Meanwhile, because it’s Spring Break this week, they do a little “spirit week” at daycare. The girls hadn’t participated the last couple days, but today was superhero day, and I found them the cutest little superhero shirts at Target. LOVE! I thought they would put up a fight about them, but they actually loved them. YAY! I ran into a bit of a problem at work today. Basically, one of the people I was writing a contract for, gave her consultant the go ahead to start work, before the contract was even executed. Like, the work is literally DONE now, and there is still no contract in place. When I confronted her about it, and let her know what we need to do now to cover that time period, she totally tried to turn it around on me…on my supposed lack of communication, and basically just tried to blame me, for her error. This is not the first time this has happened, and unfortunately, comes with the territory of what I do. Luckily, I’ve worked here for a VERY long time, and I’ve learned the importance of communicating via e-mail, so I was able to through my written proof back in her face. Really, right now, DON’T MESS WITH ME at work, because I am NOT in the mood. Ugh! Alas, I quickly moved on from that drama, and onto much more fun events. After work, the girls and I met up with Christian and Lorenzo at Applebee’s for his birthday dinner. YUM! Lorenzo gave him a card and Chipotle gift card. Lucky. I gave him “his” Kevin Hart tickets and he was SUPER excited. OMG, I can’t wait! It’s still so far away. After dinner, Lorenzo headed home, we made our way home for some cake my Mother in Law sent home, and settled in for the night. Birthday’s sure aren’t quite as exciting the older you get, especially when they are in the middle of the week.

Superhero Day!

Happy Birthday to my Hubby!

Friday was a pretty quiet day. Christian was up super early and was off to Iowa for the weekend. He’s helping get their new warehouse in order, get their inventory stored properly and all that. It makes for a LONG weekend of work for him, working pretty much sun up to sun down every day; and it makes for a long weekend of solo parenting for me. But, it all pays off in some pretty great overtime pay, so we can’t really complain. And, when he goes to these other warehouses to help out, they actually ask for him by name, which is a pretty big deal. So, he’s definitely making a name for himself in the company. The sacrifices pay off in the end, that’s for sure. Meanwhile, back at home, my mom was over to watch Eliza for the day, the big girls were off to daycare and I was off to school. Olivia’s last day of spring break, and it was pajama day at daycare – can’t really beat pajama day! After a long day of work, I picked them up, relieved my mom from babysitting duties and settled in for the evening. Overall, we had a pretty quiet evening...dinner, some playtime, some movie watching. Everybody went to bed with little fight, so overall, it was a pretty successful night.

Hanging their Easter Window Clings

Saturday was a pretty busy day. The girls were all up…BRIGHT AND EARLY! Ugh, so tired. Pretty much right off the bat, Olivia pulled out her loose tooth. Guys, I’m not gonna lie – the pulling out of the teeth is so gross to me. Like, SO gross. I don’t know what it is. I remember pulling my teeth out like it was yesterday, and, I LOVED it. I’d tip those bad boys out and something about that final tug was just the best. Now, as an adult, it just sends shivers down my spine. She woke up this morning and the tooth was literally sideways in her mouth. I told her she needed to just yank it out and get it over with, and that she did. So, we all survived tooth #1. Many, MANY teeth to go. We spent the morning watching some TV, eating breakfast and playing some games. I gave Eliza a bath, got her dressed and down for a nap. The girls took a shower and took a short nap as well. I showered, got ready for the day, packed up our bags, got the big girls up and ready and as soon as Eliza was awake, we were off. We stopped at Target for a couple things, and Party City for some decorations, and we were off to my stepmom’s 60^th birthday party. My sister found a little bowling alley you could reserve for private parties, and it was PERFECT! All of my sisters, nieces and nephews were there, Renny’s parents and a few of her friends. It was a ton of fun, the girls had a BLAST (and, Olivia won the kids’ game, WOOT!) and I spent some time catching up with my dad. It was busy and chaotic, but a great time. My sister ended up buying the crib we took down the other night, for her upcoming grandbaby, so we transferred that from the can to her vehicle, and then made our way home. It was super late when we got home, so it was pretty much pajamas and straight to bed for everyone. Exhausted kids should equal a peaceful night, fingers crossed!

It's out! No more loose tooth!

Eliza is a bath toy hoarder!

Bottom Teeth!

Happy Birthday, Grandma Renny!

Getting ready to hide her tooth...

The Hole

Tooth in the box, ready for the tooth fairy!

Sunday was a pretty low key day.  Everybody did indeed sleep in a little bit, so that was a pretty awesome way to start the day. Olivia woke up to find that the tooth fairy had brought her a gold dollar. I told her she must have a pirate tooth fairy, and she was pretty excited about that. The big girls played downstairs in the toy room/disaster area for a while, while I hung out with baby. We had breakfast, I did some laundry and I put Eliza down for a nap while the big girls and I settled in to watch “Big Hero 6” and “Frozen”. They kept fighting and yelling, and waking up Eliza, so I reached my limit, my patience was gone, and they were abruptly sent off to bed for a nap. I swear, something always seems to happen to ruin the day or try my patience, and that is so dang frustrating. While they napped, Eliza and I hung out, she cat napped a little bit, and I caught up on some shows. I started to get a headache as the day went on and I was just exhausted. But, had to push through to keep laundry going and clean up the kitchen. A mom’s job is never done, right?! Finally, the girls were all off to bed, and I used our friends cable log-in to watch “The Walking Dead” online…LIVE! I’ve never watched it live before, and this week was the season finale. After my long weekend, I decided I wasn’t waiting for Christian to get home, I was treating myself to spoiler-free enjoyment of the finale! So awesome, but so sad it’s done now until October. That’s a LONG wait man! It was late to bed for me, but it was so worth it. Kind of. Maybe. We’ll see tomorrow.

Snuggles with my big girls.

Tooth Fairy Came!

Until Next Week! XOXO

2015 - Week 12

Kicking off another week. And, overall, it was a pretty quiet week. Always pretty welcomed.

Monday came, all too fast as it usually does. We were all up and off for the day. Eliza continues to go to my in-laws for the day on Monday’s, which she’ll do until she moves up to the toddler room and her tuition goes down a little bit. Olivia and Amelia were off to school, Christian and I off to work. And, as usual, I was looking forward to my short week…I think I’d go absolutely crazy without my flex day Friday’s, that’s for sure! I did leave work a little early today to run and do some shopping. The girls have Spring Picture day at daycare on Friday, so I finally stopped into Carter’s to get them some Easter dresses. And, I just LOVE them! I got the big girls less formal dresses, so they can actually play in them and wear them regularly, but they coordinate with Eliza’s puffy little dress. So dang cute. Then, I stopped at Target to do our weekly shopping before picking up the big girls and making our way home. I made dinner while Christian finished up work, picked Eliza up and made his way home. We ate, hung out and played with the girls for a while and relaxed before bed….well, before watching this weeks The Walking Dead, and then going to bed. Only one more episode left this season, I can’t believe it! But, I’m interested in the spin off, so I’m pretty excited for that to start.

Doesn't matter how many girls I have, I'll never get sick of buying cute little girly dresses!

Tuesday was St. Patrick’s Day. I honestly could not care less about St. Patrick’s Day. I think it’s such a ridiculous “holiday”, it drives me nuts really. Every year around this time that meme floats around Facebook of how people celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in the United States vs. how people celebrate it pretty much everywhere else, but particularly in Ireland, and it just clearly demonstrates the ridiculousness of the day to me. But, of course, I had the girls dolled up in their green so they could celebrate at school. We had an “appreciation” pizza lunch at work today, which was super delicious. Even though I wasn’t much in the mood for celebrating with our bosses right now, I partook. If it had been anything but delicious pizza, I may have done otherwise. After work I picked the girls up, and received yet another bad report for Amelia. Seriously ya’ll, I’m about to LOSE my mind with that girl, and I don’t even know what to do. Today, she and a “friend” decided to take a bunch of paper towels and clog up one of the toilets in their bathroom. I mean, WHO does that?!? So, yet again, she was sent to her room when we got home for a while, which she was not happy about. I just don’t even know what to do, I’m beyond frustrated. After some time to cool down, the big girls played downstairs for a while. Eliza was very crabby and clingy tonight, so Christian had to make dinner when he arrived home. We haven’t been eating dinner until around 7:00/7:30 lately, and I don’t know what to do about that either. But, Christian doesn’t usually get home until 6:30, and when Eliza is crabby, she is CRAAAAAAABBY, and will not let me do anything. Sigh, this too shall pass. Right?! So, finally, after a late dinner, lots of crying and whining in the house, and a rough evening, it was bedtime. Not soon enough today.

I bug her, so much, but I don't care!

The girls were ready to party!

Wednesday was my work from home day. Only one more work from home day left after today, so depressing.  But, it was a long, busy day, catching up on a lot of the stuff I put off until my work from home day. Not sure how I’m going to fit all of that stuff back into my typical day. I did a little cleaning up after I finished working, and picked the girls up from daycare. I was just feeling completely drained today. Just plain exhausted. So, I ordered pizza and Christian picked it up on his way home (I can’t bring myself to have things delivered anymore…tips, delivery fee, no thank you!). We ate, showered the girls, sent them to bed, watched Empire and basically called it a night.

Thursday was a pretty quiet day. It was my Friday, which is always a huge relief. Seeing the end of the workweek tunnel is always a great feeling. It was a really rough morning in our house with Amelia. She wouldn’t get out of bed, wouldn’t get dressed, wouldn’t put her shoes on , wouldn’t zip her coat , bitched about her morning snack, had to be drug to the van, where she still refuses to buckle herself in. By the time I got everybody and everything loaded up in the van, I was just absolutely exhausted. She just continues to make life harder for everybody, and I am EXHAUSTED!!!! Did I mention that I’m exhausted? I laid into them when I got into the van, basically in tears from the frustration of it all (while Olivia wasn’t being difficult, she’s an instigator when Amelia is worked up, and just makes the situation so much worse), begging them to stop making the mornings to hard. Pleading with them to just listen, just get along, just HELP US SURVIVE. I’m sure it was all in one ear and out the other, but neither of them said a single word on the drive to daycare, promptly put their stuff away when we arrived there, and gave me a hug goodbye. I can’t even explain how I feel by the time I go through all of this, check Eliza in, and get to work. It’s just this jumbled up mix of  frustration, exhaustion, being utterly overwhelmed and just wanting to give up. From the nonsense that I deal with all morning, over Christian’s refusal to get up and actually help me with the kids, over being late to work EVERY.SINGLE.DAY. I can’t even dry my hair, I can’t even do my makeup at home, I can’t even actually get ready, because I’m too busy dealing with everybody up. Dragging myself out of bed, exhausted and sleep deprived, pumping, showering, getting dressed, getting Olivia and Amelia up, getting them dressed, getting their hair done and teeth brushed, getting them their morning snack, getting Eliza up and dressed and in her cat seat, packing Eliza’s diaper bag, my pump, my food for work up, loading everything and everybody up in the van, dropping them off at daycare and filling out Eliza’s morning sheet, battling the traffic into work. It’s just TOO MUCH!! So, yeah, that’s pretty much my post for the day. Thankfully, everybody seemed to have had a good day after the morning breakdown. We had dinner and a fairly peaceful night at home, so at least something seemed to go right.

Evening snuggles, the best! She was super cuddly at bedtime today.

I love how much these two love each other.

My throwback this week...Amelia and Olivia's 1st Birthday's. I can't believe we have another one coming up!

Friday was my day off, and it was oh so very needed. Christian was off to work. I let the girls sleep in a little, but got them up to get them all dolled up for spring pictures. Thankfully they were on my Friday off, so I was able to bring Eliza in to get her pictures, and sibling pictures, done too! Luckily they start early, so we were able to get in right away and get Olivia in for sibling pictures before she left for school as well. Eliza was a little annoyed with the whole process, but she started to warm up. I sure hope we get some good pictures, I can’t wait to see them already! Once Eliza finished up her photos, she and I made our way home. She fell asleep on the way and took a nice nap, while I settled in for some TV time. YAY! Once she was up, we went to Walmart for some house stuff, grabbed some lunch, and headed back home for a lazy afternoon. She took another great nap, and I was as lazy as possible. I picked the girls up a little before closing time, and thankfully they again had a great day. Olivia is on spring break next week, and she was bursting with excitement over the thought of spending every day at KinderCare. She LOVES school, but other than a couple little girls, she really hasn’t made an effort to make friends there. She is just stuck on her KinderCare friends, and she can’t wait to spend an entire week with them. I sure hope she starts branching out soon! Christian brought home Thai food for dinner, which was a wonderful treat, and we had a pretty quiet night. He works early Saturday, so it was an early night for all of us.

Ready for picture day!

On Saturday, Christian was off to work early. While I was up with the girls, early. We had some breakfast, hung out, watched a few movies and relaxed. I played a few games with the big girls while Eliza took her early nap, and they just LOVE when we get a chance to do that. After lunch, Eliza and Amelia both took naps…Amelia ended up taking a SUPER long nap, which was much needed. She was getting a little sassy and obviously tired. When Christian arrived home from work, he took Olivia outside with him to clean up the garage some more and take down some of the Christmas decorations (yes, SOME, we still have our lights up. Ugh.). Finally, we had dinner, watched some TV, I did a couple loads of laundry and we had  quiet evening.

At it again, best friends!

During one of her fits, Amelia cleaned up their room today. Silver lining?

On Sunday, I slept in….after a loooooooooong night with Eliza. She was just miserable, all night long. I’m guessing from her teeth, but good Lord, I was exhausted! I finally got her to sleep in the late morning, and we slept in together until around 9:00. MUCH NEEDED! Meanwhile, Christian and the big girls watched some shows and had breakfast. I started some more laundry, and then one by one we all got ready for the day. Then, we were off to the mall. We stopped to take pictures with the Easter Bunny…there was NO line, which was an amazing surprise, and pictures actually went pretty well. A million times better than Santa pictures did, but poor Amelia was still really bothered by the flash, even though there was a lot of natural light from the mall to counteract it. I wish there was something I could do for her. Per our new tradition, we let the girls pick out a post-Easter Bunny toy from the mall…they were given an option of a Disney Store gift, or a Build a Bear My Little Pony. Of course, they chose the opposite of each other, so we made trips to both stores. Olivia wanted something from the Disney Store, where I get full veto power (no stuffed animals, no clothes, get a fun toy dammit!). She ended up picking out a super cute Merida doll. Next up, Build a Bear…where, they’re only allowed to get My Little Ponies. Amelia picked out the new Luna pony, filled her up, and gave her a bath. Whew, finally done! We stopped at Walmart on the way home so I could run in for a few groceries and made our way home for a late lunch. Eliza napped, the big girls played downstairs for a while, and Christian made taquitos. YUM!!!! And, of course, we had to hit the weekend chores….finished laundry, mopped the kitchen, washed dishes and some general picking up. I was definitely ready to pass out by the time I got a chance to sit down. Right around dinner time, the snow started flying….and, we got A TON of it, 7” to be exact. Gross. We finally got the girls off to bed, except Eliza, who fought going to sleep with every ounce of her being. It was looking like another long night…which is always pretty fun before heading back to work. Or not.

Easter Bunny and Shopping at MOA

Until Next Week! XOXO

2015 - Week 11

Here we are, another week. This week was pretty low key, nothing too exciting to report really.

Monday started off pretty rough. Eliza has a BAD night, and was up much of it, and I was just plain exhausted. I got us all up and ready for the day, but gave up at the end and decided to take a Mental Health Day, and stayed home. The girls were off to school/daycare, Christian was off to work, and I had the house to myself. I watched some TV and relaxed away the morning, seriously – just what the doctor ordered. Then, I started getting to work. I spent the afternoon doing some laundry and cleaning up around the house. Our “organized chaos” task for this week is for everybody to stop leaving their clothes all over the house!! Everybody will be talked with putting their clothes, specifically their dirty clothes at the end of the day, in their hamper, where they belong. Now, you’d think the girls would be the hardest to get on board with this. But, no. It’s Christian. Christian seems to think the entire house is his closet. On just about any given day you’ll find some article of clothing from him in the entry, the kitchen, the living  room, the bathroom and ALL OVER the bedroom. And, it literally drives me insane. So, it will be nag city at our house all week, until I drill it into all of their heads! After finishing up my tasks for the day, I made a quick run to Target for some grocery shopping, picked the big girls up from daycare, and we made our way home. Christian arrived home with Eliza shortly after and made dinner while I finished folding laundry and put everything away. Finally, it was time for showers, and bed for the girls, and some “The Walking Dead” for us. Ugh, back to work tomorrow, and I was not looking forward to it. It’s amazing how much you can get done when you’re actually home!

Tuesday and Wednesday, are honestly completely lost on me. I know Eliza was still not sleeping well. And, work was work. Pretty much just the usual. According to my photos, we went on a walk Tuesday though, so the weather must have been pretty good! Thank goodness for photos, right?!

Amelia is too cool to take group selfies with us.

I love baby cuddles before bed, my favorite part of the day!

Thursday was a busy day at work, the day just flew by. My attitude at work has not changed much…I’m still pretty bitter about my telecommuting day being taken away, and the recent changes, but I’m trying to push through and change my mood. Christian was supposed to go to Iowa for the weekend, starting tomorrow, but found out today that was canceled. Hopefully they reschedule, because those weekend trips result in some pretty kick-ass overtime pay! Eliza had a great week at daycare this week…showing off her new crawling and cruising skills, and eating everything in sight. She hasn’t been napping well tough, which I hope changes. She fell asleep on the way home tonight, and actually stayed asleep…all night long. I couldn’t believe it! Meanwhile, Amelia has been acting up, worse and worse every day. She actually got written up today because her attitude has been so bad. So, I let her have it when we got in the van, and she was sent to her room when we got home. She threw a fit, before eventually getting over it, and taking the time to clean up their room (seriously, what kid gets in trouble, and as a result cleans their room?!). I’m so frustrated over it all though; I’m at my wits end. We try yelling, we try sending her to her room, we take away her tablet…we try everything and nothing seems to make her change her attitude. Ugh, that middle child, I tell ya! To top that off, when we arrived home, I let the dog out, as I usually do. For the first time ever, he decided to go rolling in some mud before coming in, and I seriously just about lost it. Instead of starting dinner and doing everything else I need to do, I had to give him a bath instead. UGH! Needless to say, it was a rough night. I think my only saving grace was Eliza being so exhausted, and sleeping right though it all. Finally, Christian was home, we had some dinner, and a pretty quiet night from there on out. Early to bed for all!

Olivia's Spring School Photo, cute (the braid in her hair was a risk, not too bad though)!

The muddy dog. Ugh.

On Friday I was off to work…two Friday’s in a row, gross! My closest work friend were gone much of this week, so it’s been a pretty quiet week over all, but I definitely got a lot done. I’m feeling pretty caught up for a change…that really never happens. After work, I picked the girls up, relieved my mom from babysitting duties and settled the girls in with an early dinner. As soon as Christian was home, the big girls and I were off to see “Cinderella” . The movie didn’t start until 7:30, so the girls were pretty exhausted. But, they seemed to really like it. The movie was actually pretty cute, it was a fun take on Cinderella. They were straight off to bed when we got home, and Christian and I weren’t far behind.

Movie Date with my Girls!

On Saturday, I woke up with a pretty bad headache. No fun! Thankfully, Christian dealt with the girls for a while and got them some breakfast while I rested. Then, it was time to get up and head off to swim class. After class, I dropped the big girls off at my mom’s for the day, grabbed some lunch and made my way home to hang out with Eliza, relax and catch up on some TV. Christian spent most of the day outside…doing some yard clean up and cleaning the garage. We ate dinner and my mom brought the girls home right around bedtime. Once all of the girls were in bed, Christian went out to grab a couple beers with a friend, while I watched some more TV. Both of us, doing what we do best!

Another Swim Session Done!

Happy Baby!

Sunday started off pretty rough. Eliza has another horrible night, and I was EXHAUSTED!! Oh man, I know it won’t always be this way, but I can’t wait for fairly constant, sleep-filled nights again! We decided to splurge on breakfast and headed off for a late breakfast at Perkins. YUM!!!! I did laundry throughout the day, and once home from breakfast, we hung out for a while, watched a movie, and then everybody took a nap. EVERYBODY. It was heaven. Olivia just recently found out that we own a Wii, and went crazy. They have one at daycare, in the schoolage room, that she gets to play with some days after school, and she couldn’t believe we actually have one at home. We hooked it up tonight and played for a while, well, until the little battery the removes had was gone. We’ll need to invest in a few kid friendly games so they can play with it more. Suddenly , we’re the coolest! After that died, they made their way outside to play for a while. Most of which was spent fighting with each other, and driving each other crazy. Oh Lord, I’d do anything to make the constant fighting stop! Finally, we had some ribs for dinner, I cleaned up a little, did the dishes, and took the big girls off for a late frozen yogurt run – I’d bough a Groupon a while back and finally used it. So dang good! Overall, it was a pretty good weekend. I’ve done pretty well on our current goals…keeping up with the dishes/bottles, and getting everybody to put their dirty clothes away. Now, my goal is to get back into getting the girls’ clothes for the week together on Sunday night. I finally bought these awesome “day of the week” clothing bags, and put them to use tonight! These will be our main focuses for a while here, and then I hope to get back into meal planning and Sunday grocery shopping next, in the coming weeks. Every little bit helps!

Giving the Wii a Test Run

Frozen Yogurt Date

My New Clothes Bags - Love!

Until Next Week! XOXO