2015 - Week 19

Monday showed up like a lion, and I was battling a headache big time. I showered, I started getting ready, I got the girls ready to go, and I gave up. I knew there was no way I could spend the day looking at the computer, so I called in and called it a day. I dropped the girls off at daycare, and turned right back around. I had a small breakfast, to take some medicine, and rested on the couch for a while. I slowly started feeling better, and while not quite 100%, eventually forced myself to get up, and get to work. I plowed through the basement…got the toy room and spare room cleaned up and organized, I cleaned up the entry way and the closet (with all the shoes….oh, ALL the shoes, it’s out of control!) and I did some laundry throughout the day. Oh man, so much to do, but we’re getting there! Next up, I did a little Walmart shopping to grab a few groceries and picked the big girls up from daycare. I quickly packed up some snacks while they got changed for base/softball, and as soon as Christian arrived home, we were off. Today was Olivia’s first night of practice…so, our first night of divide and conquer duty. Christian took Amelia to her practice, and I took Olivia (and Eliza). She was a little nervous, being her first night, but she was excited. And, she warmed up quickly. It helps that a little girls from her kindergarten class is on her team, which is great! Olivia’s team/league is ALL girls now, which is awesome, and she actually did REALLY well at practice. Her throwing is really coming along, and she worked a lot on batting. I’m excited to see where she’ll be at by the end of the season. Christian arrived home before us, so he started dinner…we ate as soon as we arrived home and by the time we finished, it was basically bedtime. These ball nights are going to be pretty exhausting, that’s for sure! Eliza did go to bed MUCH easier tonight than she has been, so at least that is getting back on track.

Tuesday, was lost in my lack of blogging. I was back to work, I know that much. And, it was a non-base/softball night, so much less stressful!

This day, one year ago, kicked off THE most stressful week of my life!

As one baby is turning 1, my other baby hit a milestone today!

Wednesday was a busy day. I dropped the girls off at daycare and was off for a busy day of meetings and catching up at work. I did take a break in the day to go to lunch with my friend Gini. It’s so great getting a rare chance to catch up with friends and have real adult time! Doesn’t happy nearly enough, that’s for sure! After work, the chaos began! I stopped home to let the dog out and pack up some snacks, booked it to daycare to pick up the girls, and get the big ones changed for ball, and we were off to Olivia’s practice. Christian met us there after work, to take over for me, and Amelia and I were off to her practice. She didn’t start until 7:00, so it was a SUPER late night for all of us. We had a quick dinner once home, and settled in for the night. Then, the emotions started setting in.

Snuggles and Kisses and Laughter as we get ready to ring in the big ONE!

As we put the girls to bed, I couldn’t help but swell up a little. It was officially the last time I would be putting a “baby” to bed. Sweet little Eliza was turning 1 at the stroke of midnight, and I just could not believe it. As I was putting her to bed, I thought back to exactly one year ago, as the contractions were starting up and becoming more and more real as the night went on. It seems like it was just yesterday. Yes, she’s ONLY turning 1, and yes, she’ll ALWAYS be my baby (which I’m sure she won’t always be too happy about!), but it’s so hard to say goodbye to those baby days. That first year, those first months, those first weeks, those first days – they are hard, hard, HARD work. Things change at rapid pace. Just as you think you have a handle on this new little person, a growth spurt hits, a tooth starts poking through, a new infection settles into a little immune-building body, and it shakes your household to the core. The nursing, the never-ending diapers, the long, LONG nights, the struggle to adjust to bottles/pacifiers, the pain of returning to work after maternity leave, the crying. All of those hard things, seem like a lifetime ago, and mean nothing compared to all of the amazing firsts. The first smile, the first laugh, the first roll, the first food, the first word, the first time sitting, crawling and scooting, the first steps, the first hug, the first kiss. Watching them discover the world around them and figure everything out. Watching their amazing, individual, unique personality start to shine through, more and more with each passing day. It’s all such a blessing. Such a complete and utter, amazing blessing. The good, the bad, the hard, the joy, the pain, the emotions. It’s all just plain amazing. I went to bed Wednesday in awe of my sweet baby girl, and flooded with every emotion possible.

Then, Thursday came. Thursday, the BIG day. Eliza was officially one. ONE!!! We have a one year old folks, can you believe it?! She’s 24lbs (76%) and she’s 29” long (46%)….up from 7lbs14ozs and 20” long at birth. She’s tripled her weight, isn’t that crazy?! She’s still my short, stocky lovemuffin, and I wouldn’t have it any other way! She has 6 teeth and we’re pretty sure she’s teething again. She’s been in her convertible car seat for a few weeks now (though, she’ll be rearfacing, of course, for quite some time yet), and my arms thank me for that change! She’s wearing 12-18 month clothes, which are already starting to get snug in the leg roll area (and, don’t always cover that wonderful belly), and she’s in Size 4 diapers now (which, I think Amelia maxed out at when she was 2 and potty trained!). She’ll be sporting dresses most of the summer I think! She babbles the day away, loves to laugh, clap, wave, play “so big”, give hugs, blow kisses, and loves when we chase each other around the house. Mama and Up remain her main words…with more coming up next. She eats pretty much everything we eat, but surprisingly, she doesn’t eat much in a sitting. We’ll start transitioning her to milk, and the sippy cup now and hopefully that goes smoothly. She zips around the furniture and is crawling at lightning fast speed, and she stands on her own for a good period of time now. AND, she is officially “taking steps” now. They’re rare, teeny tiny baby steps, but THEY COUNT! She’s shy and cautious about it right now, but it’s only a matter of time! One, holy moly! Today, she arrived at daycare to a special “Happy Birthday” sign from her teachers, which is so sweet. I was grateful to know she still gets a little bit of special on her big day, even if I have to be away from her. I had a quiet day at work, and got a TON of stuff done, so the day was quite successful. After work, I picked the girls up, and we met Christian and his friend (Eliza’s Godfather) Lorenzo at Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner. We ate, laughed, played and Eliza got a special birthday ice cream bowl. YUM! Finally, we made our way home to give her some gifts, hang out for a big and head to bed. Her gifts from us this year is her “1” Precious Moments figurine, just like her big sisters get, and her Hello Kitty bedding, to match the other girls. Hopefully in the next few weeks we can get their room painted and redecorated! The day went by in the blink of an eye. The big girls were SO excited that it was Eliza’s birthday, and were so happy to help celebrate, which warms my heart. Sweet Eliza, forever our baby girl.

On Friday, I ended up calling into work. Apparently turning 1 is really hard work, because Eliza was up ALLLLLLL night long. I was so exhausted, there was no way I was going to be able to function all day. I think she’s been battling some allergies, taking after Amelia, so she’s been pretty miserable. Watery eyes, sneezing, sad face. Poor baby. Between that, and her birthday party coming up tomorrow, it was the perfect day to take off. I dropped the big girls off at daycare a little late, drive in to drop Eliza off at my mom’s house, and made my way back home for the day Even though all I wanted to do was crawl into bed and relax, I got right to work. I cranked some music, and cleaned my butt off, all day long. I got our bedroom cleaned, got the girls’ room cleaned, and started replacing the stuff in there (the window valances, the lightswitch cover, put Eliza’s new bedding up), and I got started on the kitchen. Before I knew it, it was time to head back to my mom’s to pick up Eliza, daycare to pick up the girls, and back home for the night. Christian and Lorenzo came home after work to start working on the yard…Christian mowed the lawn, they washed down all of the tables and chairs and the deck, they weeded the gardens so they didn’t look like such a mess and everything was looking good, and ready for the big party. Finally, they ran to the store to do the last of the party food shopping, while I hung out with the girls and got them to bed. Parties stress me out to the max, but I couldn’t wait to celebrate my sweet girl!

Saturday finally arrived! It was swim class day, but we decided to keep the girls home. It tears me apart to “throw money away” and keep them out of class, but we just had way too much to do. I threw a load of laundry in, and got to work cleaning the last of the kitchen and the dining room. Meanwhile, Christian cleaned the bathroom and the entry way. Lucky for us, Eliza took a nice LONG nap, so we were able to get everything cleaned up and ready to go. One by one, we all showered, got dressed and got ready for the big event. Christian and Lorenzo set off to do all of the running around…pick up the a balloons, the cake and the sandwiches, then finished getting the tables set up. My mom arrived and helped me set up the rest of the decorations, and our friends and family started to arrive. We ended up blessed with AMAZING weather, which was such a relief, and the kids all had a blast! I set up a table of fun stuff for the older kids…bubbles, hula hoops, silly string, jump ropes; we put up the bounce house (which I think may be on its last leg) and everybody had so much fun running around and acting like a bunch of crazy kids. Such a good time. Meanwhile, we got to catch up with our friends and parents, while running around like crazy moving the party along. We ate, opened gifts (thankfully, she got pretty much all clothes, because Lord knows we don’t need any more toys in our house!), had cake and let the kids take down the piñata. The party was a complete success!! But, all good things must come to an end. Slowly, everybody started to leave. We gave each of our mother’s a bouquet of flowers on their way out – because THIS Mom is taking tomorrow off! While Christian saw the last of our guests off, I gave Eliza a quick bath and got all the girls settled into bed. Everybody was complete beat, exhausted, worn out and everything in between. What a day!

 

  

Sunday was Mother’s Day! I’m pretty sure I’ve noted it every year, but I’m not a big “Hallmark Holiday” kind of person. Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Valentine’s Day. Not my thing. I mean, it’s nice to acknowledge it, and feel a little special, but I hate the whole gift giving, stress-inducing part of it. So, we try hard in our house to keep them low-key, because we don’t want our kids growing up thinking they need to go all out or make a big deal. For me, I just want Mother’s Day to be a quiet, family day, and I love the little handmade stuff they make at school for me. And that’s really all I need. After the long day outside yesterday, everybody was exhausted, and the kids started the day off great by sleeping until 8:30! How awesome! We spent the morning relaxing and hanging out…the girls gave me a card, that Christian bought for them, and Olivia gave me her gift from school (a handmade card and a little “flower pot” coupon book thing), it was sweet and perfect! The big girls played downstairs for a while, while I snuggled with baby and Christian made waffles for breakfast. YUM! I did a couple loads of laundry throughout the day, and while Eliza took a nice nap I went through all of her gifts and got them ready to put away. Olivia came with me on a quick Walmart run. I have a new obsession with maxi skirts, so I bought a couple. They don’t look great on me, but they are comfortable and probably look better than squeezing into my regular clothes at this point. We made our way home to watch a movie and relax, while Christian whipped up some taquitos for dinner. Before it got to be too late, I took some Mother’s Day pictures with the girls and the rest of the evening was pretty dang lazy, which was perfect. Eliza started getting pretty crabby, so I gave her a bottle and put her to bed, while the big girls took a shower and were off to bed themselves. Another week down, boy do they go fast!

Until Next Week! XOXO

2015 - Week 18

Monday…started off pretty typical, depressed over the fact that it was month. Back to reality for everybody. But, the day went quickly. And, the evening was chaotic. After work, I picked the big girls up from daycare, and we stopped at Walmart for a few items…we needed “snack” items for baseball nights, and some quick dinners to make, as this week kicked off the start of baseball/softball, and I was not prepared. After rushing through the store, as quickly as possible, we stopped home to get Amelia changed, pack up some food, and head to her first practice. I had a little heart to heart with Amelia on the way to practice. She was excited, but noticeably anxious. She was worried that she wouldn’t do well, and that she wouldn’t know what to do…I just told her that everybody would be there to learn, so all she had to do what listen and try her best. It must have helped, because she did really well! She listed, she actually participated and tried hard, she even hit the ball! She was really, truly trying, and I was so proud! It helps that her coach was Olivia’s coach last year, and the coach of the team we played with during soccer, so she felt more comfortable than I think she would have otherwise. After practice, we rushed home to meet Christian and Eliza, ate some dinner, and settled in for the night. Eliza was in a great mood – so happy and fun, laughing and playing all night. Like I always say, life is so much easier when baby is happy! But, she fell apart a little bit at bedtime, and wouldn’t fall asleep for anything! She hasn’t really been falling asleep to her bedtime bottle like she used to, so it’s been a bit of a challenge getting her to actually go to sleep. Hopefully that’s just a phase…though, I guess it’s just preparing us for taking the bottle away. Other than that, it was a fairly normal evening…the girls went to bed, I watched a little Sons of Anarchy as I turned in. The usual. We did receive some bad news today. My mom has been battling some health issues for some time now…extreme exhaustion, some stomach and leg pains; she just never seems to feel good, and always run down. They’ve done test after test, scan after scan, and never seem to find anything. Well, her latest scan showed that she has a blood clot in each lung. Pretty scary stuff. She called me, obviously upset, so I tried to calm her down, and just try to relax until we talk to the doctor and find out more information. She asked me to go to her appointment tomorrow where she’ll find out what she needs to do to get rid of them and what the plan is moving forward. I guess they’ll be giving her a lot of information, so she wanted somebody there with her. Talk about stressful!

Let's Play Ball!

Snuggles with my mini-me, while watching Amelia play

This one can't  keep her belly in her shirts!

Tuesday was a fairly standard day. We were all off to work and school, as usual. My mom picked me up mid-morning so that I could go to her appointment with her. The appointment went well, but it was indeed a lot of information. She’ll have to give herself a shot, twice a day for the next week or so, and she’ll be on a daily pill for the next 3-6 months, until they figure out what her long term plan will be. They said the clots aren’t anything you can deal with surgically, but once they get it under control right now, they can run some more tests to try to figure out what caused them in the first place. Hopefully they can, but it sounds like that’s pretty tough. In the meantime, she’ll be going in for regular blood draws to make sure the medication is working, and her levels stay where they need to be, and it sounds like she’s pretty lucky they caught it when they did. A lot of information to take in, a lot of scary, overwhelming information at that! After the appointment, I was back to work to finish out the day. Already feeling exhausted, I stopped home after work to let Chuy out, clean up the house a little bit, and sit down for a few minutes. Nothing like a few minutes off of your feet and life is just go, go, go! Then, I was off to pick the girls up from daycare, and meet Christian at the elementary school for Amelia’s Kindergarten Open House! I still can’t believe it. Kindergarten. My baby. Wow! She was so excited to meet the teachers, and it was so cute watching Olivia show her around…such a proud big sister, showing her sister off to the teachers, and showing her teachers off to Amelia. Amelia is really excited, but I’m still so nervous! She still has A LOT of maturing to do, and I really hope she can control herself come next fall….her sassiness and her attitude. Ay! FINALLY, we grabbed some dinner, and we all settled in for the evening. Eliza went to bed much better tonight, but it’s pretty hit or miss these days. Every night is a mystery.

Ready to meet the teachers at her Open House!

Oh Wednesday. Wednesday was a morning from hell. STRAIGHT FROM HELL. Everybody in the house was beyond exhausted. I overslept, the girls refused to get up for anything. I was so frustrated and the day literally had not even started yet. I finally got everybody up and ready, and loaded into the van. We were already late; even more than usual. UGH! Finally, we were off. We got to daycare, and things just kept unraveling. Olivia forgot her backpack at home, and didn’t realize until we were walking in the door at daycare. Knowing that she didn’t REALLY need it, I refused to go back home to get it, which threw her into a tailspin (more because I think she thinks she’ll get in trouble if she doesn’t have it, which isn’t the case). Meanwhile, Amelia was crying, randomly, and when I asked her what was wrong she claimed that I had yelled at her (which, is somewhat true…to put her damn seatbelt on for the 15^th time). Then, I brought Eliza into the baby room…she was crabby and tired, and as soon as I sat her down she threw herself face down on the floor and started bawling. So, leaving all 3 kids at daycare, crying and upset for varying reasons, while running incredibly late, was NOT a good start to the day. At all. I finally settled into work, where I then got to proceed with holding consultant interviews and a selection committee meeting at work. People…all day long…meetings, talking, meeting new people. NOT MY THING. So, basically icing on the cake today. As things started to calm down this afternoon, my supervisor called me into her office. The department is working on developing a new database, to track everything contract related…which will replace several other databases currently used by different offices. They have developed several pieces to the database so far, but they’re now moving into the meat of the contracting stuff. My supervisor has asked that I now start sitting on the committee for the database, as the “senior contract administrator” – boy did I suddenly feel super old! While it’s interesting, and it is a bit of a pat on the back to be offered the role, it’s going to be a major headache. The committee meetings EVERY morning, for at least a 15-20 minute check with the developers to get updates on where they’re at. Then, every other week or so, they have user training, “next steps” planning and review meetings. Again, meetings…constantly. I can’t stand it. This is why I could never go far in the department…I can’t stand the thought of spending that much time in meetings. So, we’ll see how that goes! Finally, after what had already been the longest day ever, it was time to kick off a chaotic evening. I stopped home to let the dog out, pack up snacks for the girls and grab Amelia’s baseball stuff. I picked the girls up from daycare, got Amelia changed, and we were off to meeting Christian at her practice. Tonight she didn’t have practice until 7:00! So late!! We let Olivia play at the park for a while. The park was a little bit of a hike from the field, so we were pretty nervous about letting her run over there on her own, but we were able to keep a pretty close eye on her. And, one of the other parents from the team was there, so that helped. Eliza has been doing really good watching Amelia play so far…no meltdowns or having her fall apart on the sidelines…yet. Amelia did really well again, but wasn’t paying attention quite as well. So, I went out on the field and helped her for a while. That seemed to help. I don’t want to be that crazy mom that hovers over her, but I want her to actually learn and try, and NOT drive the coaches crazy by spending the entire practice twirling around. So, whatever, I’ll be that mom. After practice, we rushed home, got the girls changed and ready for bed, and spent a little time hanging out, winding down for bed. One by one, the girls were off, and I wasn’t far behind. Meanwhile, Christian vacuumed the stairs and the bedrooms downstairs, where the carpet has already been pulled up, and sealed them. What a week it’s been already!

Hanging at the Ball Field Again

Thursday was a little less chaotic. Work was work, I’ve started attending the database meetings as of this morning, yippie! I picked the girls up and we made our way home. STRAIGHT HOME, with nowhere to go. So awesome! However, our night was not quiet. Christian was home earlier than usual, with his friend Lorenzo, to rip up the last of the carpet we’re replacing. So, while the big girls played in the backyard, we had to clear out the living room…moving all of the stuff into the kitchen and dining room. It was hard to keep Eliza under control and away from the mess! Once all of the carpet was pulled up, removed from the house and the floor was vacuumed up, things got a little bit better. We had dinner, Christian and Lorenzo went out to grab a beer, and then we all called it a night. Christian and I are both off tomorrow, and it’s carpet installation day! Can’t wait. Seriously, I never thought I’d see the day when home improvement crap would be so exciting!

This week's Throwback, what a difference a year makes!

Ripping up the Carpet

Supervising is Hard Work

Friday was the big day! As mentioned, Christian and I were both off work (my normal day to be off, he took it off). I dropped the big girls off at daycare while Eliza was still asleep, and Christian started preparing for the carpet guys to show up. They were over bright and early, around 8:30. There were two installers, but it was clear only one of them actually knew what he was doing. Christian later told me the other guys had literally just started this week. I was a little annoyed with the process. We were getting a lot done, including stairs, which I know are a lot of work, but they were there doing the carpet for about 5 hours, which seems pretty extreme. The one guys was working his butt off, as fast as he could, but for the most part, the other guy was just standing around, “fetching” things for him. Now, I know everybody has to start somewhere, but come one! If you’re going to send a two-man crew, and one of them really can’t do anything, you really should be sending another person until the new guy is up to speed! Luckily (for them), Eliza still took two pretty good naps, amidst all of the noise and chaos. I had to keep her trapped in our bedroom for most of the morning though, when she was awake, and that was a bit of a pain. As soon as they left, we got to work, starting to get the living room back together. This will take a bit, since we’ll be cleaning and organizing as everything goes back. Lorenzo stopped over again after work, to help get the big stuff back in place, and get all of toy room/spare room stuff back in its place. I still have to actually clean and organize those rooms, but at least it’s a little bit of a head start. We ended up setting up the living room a little different, to give the girls more room to play, and I really like it. The carpet looks SO GREAT too, I just love it! I picked the big girls up from daycare right around closing time and we grabbed some dinner on our way home. I also FINALLY got Olivia’s softball information…and, sure enough, she plays the same nights as Amelia. GOOD LORD, now we have to figure out how that’s going to go. What a headache. Next year, they’ll be playing on the same team, which will be a huge relief! Once all of us girls were all settled in for the night, Christian and Lorenzo were out to grab dinner for themselves. This week has been one heck of a busy week, full of all kinds of stuff! Life can sure get crazy sometimes. Our weekend will be full of birthday party planning stuff – but not nearly as busy!

Snuggles for Kitty

Baby Approves of the new Carpet

My Playmate Passed Out!

Saturday kicked off a fairly low key weekend. Christian didn’t have to work, which is always nice. It sounds like his Saturday shifts will be pretty rare for a while. I’ll miss the OT, but it will be nice to have him around. So, we started to day with a snack, and we were off to swim class. Swim class is about a million times easier when Christian is there to handle Eliza, while I get the other girls in and out of the pool, that’s for sure! After swimming, getting cleaned up and dressed, we stopped at Walmart…the big girls needed new shoes and new sandals – oh my gosh do they go through shoes like crazy! Then, we grabbed some breakfast and we were off to my mom’s house. She asked to take them overnight, and they certainly never argue with that, so we dropped them off for the day/night. Before heading home, we stopped to get Christian’s haircut and stopped at Party City so that I could order balloons for Eliza’s birthday party and get the last of the party decorations. Eliza was getting cranky and tired, so I dropped them off at home, and I was off to Walmart to pick up a few weekend groceries and order sandwiches for the party. Finally, we were settled in at home for a while. Eliza was sleeping, we ate lunch… I did some picking up and cleaning around the house, still getting ready for the party, while Christian hung up the sound bar in the living room (it’s like surround sound). That ended up taking way longer than we expected! After dinner, Christian was off to his friend’s house to watch the big boxing match…on one hand I wanted to see it too, but I didn’t really want to deal with Eliza there all night, so she and I stayed home. Once she was in bed, I finished Sons of Anarchy (sad!) and folded some laundry. A nice quiet end to the day.

Baby had her first sucker while we waited for Daddy to get his haircut. Mommy made the unfortunate choice of a blue sucker...oops!

On Sunday, we actually got to sleep in a little. Without those other two there to wake her up, Eliza got to catch up on some beauty sleep! Once we were up and functioning, we got to work. I got the kitchen cleaned up and got some more laundry going, then watched some TV and hung out with Eliza while Christian worked in the yard. It’s been so nice, there was no more putting off the yard work! He trimmed, raked and mowed, and did a little cleaning up around the yard. My mom brought the girls home around 3:00…right away, we were off to order Eliza’s birthday cake – which was the final task for the party (other than the rest of the food next weekend), WOOT!! As we were at the store, a HUGE storm rolled in…crazy rain, hail, wind…thunder and lightning. It was an interesting drive home, that’s for sure! At home, we watched a movie with the girls, had dinner and enjoyed a little peace and quiet. Eliza was back to fighting her sleep…so frustrating! Just when everything starts to settle and get easier, she reverts! Baby’s…they definitely keep you on your toes!

The big girls kept bringing out more and more toys, eventually surrounding her. Then proclaimed she was bored and needed more things to play with. Yup, looks pretty bored to me!

Until Next Week! XOXO

2015 - Week 17

(Disclaimer, lame photo week ahead)

Monday. Ick! Back to work, back to school, back to daycare. It always comes way too fast! Olivia had a rough night, complaining that her stomach hurt. She woke up feeling much better though, seemed to be back to normal, and insisted that she go to school. I guess I should be glad that she loves going to school so much. I still haven’t received her softball information for this season yet, which is getting really frustrating. I don’t quite understand why they’re waiting for very last minute! I know it’s either going to be 4 days a week, like soccer, or both playing on the same nights…either way, ouch! After work, I made a Target run. I thought I pretty much had Eliza’s wardrobe set, but with her constant blow outs, and my limited time to do laundry, that was not the case. So, I grabbed her a couple more outfits, and a few groceries. Finally, I picked the girls up and  we made our way home to make dinner and settled in for the night. Eliza was in a GREAT mood, all night. Life is so much easier when baby is happy, that’s for sure. Olivia wouldn’t eat dinner tonight, and started complaining that she didn’t feel well again. I’m starting to worry again…she’s acting similar to how she was when we removed milk from her diet. Hopefully it’s just a fluke. She ended up going to bed pretty early tonight though. The rest of us finished up dinner, I did the dishes and cleaned up the kitchen, and everybody else was off to bed, one by one. Eliza took some convincing, but with a little work, she finally went down. Whew, exhausted!

On Tuesday, everybody seemed to be happier and healthier and feeling better, and everybody was off to their appropriate location. Work has been good….I haven’t been overly swamped, but busy enough to keep the days going fast. I picked the girls up after work, and, like usual, Eliza had leaked through all of her clothes. Seriously, I cannot wait for the day that I don’t have to scrub out clothes every day! Today, she used up all of her extra clothes, and came home looking like a hot mess in some extras they threw together for her. Good Lord. She’s on her last box of Size 3 diapers right now, and we’ll be moving her up to 4’s. Hopefully that will work better. Once home, I did some cleaning up around the house, we had dinner, and then all hell broke loose. The girls started fighting about everything and bugging each other, they weren’t listening to either of us, and were both sent to bed, kicking and screaming and throwing a complete fit. They were seriously out of control. Eventually, Amelia had to be moved into our room because they wouldn’t stop. They finally tantrumed themselves to sleep, and not a moment too soon. Deep, deep, DEEP breaths. Once they were finally asleep, we got Eliza down, and I went straight to bed. Again, exhausted!!

This is how she came home today, what a mess!

Wednesday was a much better day. After a typical, low key day for everything, Christian and I met at Lowe’s to pick out some carpet. We finally made our choice, and started checking out, when they noticed an inconsistency in the measurements. Even though I was there, and saw the guy measure both sets of stairs, only one was included in the paperwork. So, now we have to wait until tomorrow to officially place our order, and schedule the installation, after Lowe’s talks to the guy who measured the rooms. Nothing ever seems to go smoothly, I tell ya! We’re already up against the clock, trying to get this done, and get the house back in order before Eliza’s party, this doesn’t help. We’re still not completely sure what we’re going to do yet. We for sure need to do one flight of stairs, and the two bedrooms downstairs, but we’re debating also doing the other flight of stairs and the upstairs living room/hallway (we’ve already replaced the downstairs living room/hallway)…it’s turning out to be a little more expensive than we thought, but I think it would be easiest to do it all at once. Decisions, decisions. After Lowe’s I picked the girls up, Christian picked some dinner up, and we met up at home for a much more peaceful evening. Eliza was exhausted, and off to bed early, and the other two were in much better moods.

Miss Sassy Pants

Thursday was a busy day at work...full of meetings. Meetings after meetings. As anybody who knows me, or has read my blog over time, knows…I HATE meetings. I can fake it like a master, but I am not a people person, at all, so meetings take me completely out of my comfort zone. I try to focus on the silver lining though, that they make the day go fast. Before I knew it, I was picking up my girlies from daycare. Eliza…sweet Eliza, she is so funny at pick up. Picking her up from daycare is pretty much my most favorite time of day. When I walk in the door, and she spots me, she gets the biggest smile in the world across her face, drops to her hands and knees, and crawls to me as fast and her little body will (she  narrowly escapes a face plant or two every day). That joy….it’s a joy that I think only a mother can ever really understand. Knowing that I make her happier than anybody, and anything, in the entire world...that seeing me can bring her so much happiness and joy, it is just amazing. Even my big, almost too cool, girls will grace me with a giant hug at pick up some days. Ugh, warms my heart. Today, Eliza literally crawled over another baby, who was playing on the floor next to her, to get to me. I had to quick run and pick her up before she smooshed the poor thing. LOL, so funny. Once home, the carpet saga continued. Lowe’s finally got in touch with the measurement guy, and finalized the order….we came to an agreement to go ahead and do the entire plan (which, will just leave us with our two bedrooms to do down the road), and he took our Lowe’s card number to place the order (they have an 18 month 0% financing deal going on right now). At that point, we were just supposed to wait for a call from the installer to schedule a date. Next thing you know, Lowe’s is calling me back, telling me that our card had a $0 balance on it, likely due to inactivity. So, Christian had to call the credit card center to straighten it out. Apparently, if you don’t use your Lowe’s card in 6 months time, they put the balance down to $0 for safety reasons. This honestly makes no sense to me, whatsoever. We were already upset, and then they told us to get approved for the carpet payment, they’d have to re-run Christian’s credit history. Another check on his credit, because of their ridiculous program, and I was beyond upset. We’d had a $6,500 limit there, and here we are, starting all over again. After some argument and choice words, we agreed to do what needed to be done, and SHOCKER, they came back with a $6,500 credit limit. At this point, we couldn’t hang up with them fast enough we were so annoyed and upset. FINALLY, the payment went through, and it was time to wait for the installer to call. What a pain!!! Everything is always such a hassle! With that mess taken care of, we were finally able to have some dinner, and settle in for the night. The girls are obsessed with the “Penguins of Madagascar” movie, and watched it for the 100^th time before bed. This has been an exhausting week, have I mentioned that?!

When they actually get along. It's a rarity.

Friday, FINALLY Friday! And, with being held up in meetings most of the day yesterday, today flew by I was so busy.  And, I had another meeting this afternoon, so I was clocking out before I knew it. I picked Eliza up from my mom’s, picked the big girls up from daycare, and we all made our way home for a quiet night. Christian was able to schedule the carpet installation for next Friday…I’m off that day, and he’s taking the day off, so it should go pretty smoothly. That will give us basically just that weekend to get the house back in order after the installation, so we’re ready for Eliza’s party the next weekend. Down to the wire folks, that’s what we do! Our evening was low-key and just what we needed after a busy, chaotic week. Dinner, some movies, and lots of R&R

Saturday was a busy day. Christian was off to work, like usual. I got the girls a mini-breakfast, got everybody ready, and we were on our way to swim class. This session, their classes are at 9:00AM…why in the world I thought it was a good idea to schedule 9:00AM classes, on Saturday morning, when Christian works most Saturday’s, is beyond me. I whipped out the umbrella stroller today, to keep Eliza contained, which worked pretty well. Other than trying to get it and all of our stuff up and down the observation deck stairs, while carrying her. I must have looked like a hot mess, that’s all I know. I got the girls dried off and dressed after class, we stopped at Target for some groceries, and settled in at home. Eliza took a nice, long nap while we ate some dinner and watched a couple movies. Christian’s friend Lorenzo came over after work to help him clear out the downstairs bedroom and rip up the carpet in there right now, ahead of the carpet installation. Getting a head start, for a chance. We won’t be able to do the upstairs until the night before, so it’s nice to get something out of the way. We ate dinner and watched some TV, just hung out. The girls were off to bed, one by one, and Christian and Lorenzo wandered across the street to the neighbors’ house for a couple of beers. I settled in with Netflix, and I just realized that the final season of Sons of Anarchy is FINALLY available. SO EXCITED!!! Perfect way to end a day.

I had to bribe her with treats to get her to accept the restraints at swim class.

Sunday was another busy day around the house. Christian wasn’t feeling well most of the day, so he spent a lot of it resting on the couch. I got laundry going, did my usual cleaning up, and made a nice big breakfast. The girls played with all of their Monster High stuff for a while, played in their room for a big, did some coloring and drawing. They were actually getting along…REALLY well, and keeping themselves pretty entertained. Always a welcomed surprise when they actually behave. While Eliza napped, we watched a couple movies on Netflix and relaxed. After some rest and lunch, I finished my cleaning duties, getting the kitchen in order, and finished up laundry, while the girls played outside for a while. Amelia started getting snippy and talking back, ruining a perfectly happy, peaceful day, and was sent to her room, kicking and screaming (sound familiar?!) That kid, I don’t know what we’re going to do with her! She finally calmed down, we had dinner, and we started to wind down for the day. Once the girls were in bed, Christian was off to a friends’ house to watch the soccer game (miraculously feeling better!), so I settled in to watch some more Sons of Anarchy. And with that, another week came to an end. We’re heading into a busy week, and I am not ready for it.

Until Next Week! XOXO