Here we are, off on
another. Week. A BIIIIIIG week at that! Labor Day, the first day of school,
plus short Friday…makes for an exciting, and short week. Add in a busy weekend,
and this entire week was gone in the blink of an eye.
Monday was Labor
Day – no work, no daycare – all day together with my little family! Plus, since
we spent all day yesterday (and Friday, really) with my in-laws, I didn’t get
pressured into having a BBQ! Best news ever! Last night I agreed to let the girls
sleep in our room with me, in hopes of everybody sleeping in a little bit
(really, DON’T WAKE THE BABY!). And, it totally worked! We all slept in, Eliza
latest of all, and got a nice slow start to the day. Christian did a lot of
yard work today, and the big girls were outside with him pretty much all day
long. Taking FULL advantage – that cold weather is going to be here before we
know it. Eliza was in and out all day long – we each got our share of baby
duty. We had a late breakfast, and I spent much of the day working on laundry.
Eliza took her usual long nap in the afternoon, so I had plenty of time to
myself with everybody else outside. I emptied the dishwater (and filled it
right back up, of course), did some blogging and watched my shows for a while. I
mean, seriously, talk about a perfect Holiday! I did finally have to drag
myself out of the house to be productive, and go on a Target run. I wish I
could have just wandered aimlessly for a while, but I knew Eliza would be up
soon – and, even though we weren’t having a BBQ, Christian still wanted to
grill. Of course, while I was away, he got to talking to our friends across the
street, and invited them over for dinner! Seriously – he cannot be trusted…if
it were up to him, we’d be having parties and people over every dang night! But,
it’s still less trouble than a full blown BBQ, and we didn’t have to provide
for everybody, so it’s all good. So, I rushed through the store, got home, and
finished putting everything away just as Eliza woke up. She had a snack, and
went back out with the rest of the family, while I finished folding some
laundry. Finally, our friends were over…so, I called it quits, and made my way
outside for a while. The girls played the night away, we chatted and laughed
and had some fun. And, of course, I had to get the big girls’ “1st
Day of School” chalkboards ready. Tear!
We eventually had to pull the plug on our little party, and call it a night.
But, as our friends were leaving and saying goodbye, their little guy got a
little too aggressive with Eliza (he had been trying to hug her and play with
her all day, and she was being quite rude), and he ended up biting her on the
arm. Really bad…like full mouth print left behind. Poor thing. She recovered
quickly, and our friends were seriously mortified – so I felt pretty bad for
them. Needless to say, she was pretty easy to get to bad after we got her
calmed down and settled in for the night. Thankfully, there wasn’t any skin
broken or anything, so I’m sure you won’t even be able to tell within a day or
two. After that incident, we got the big girls showered and off to bed….all
ready for their big first day tomorrow!
I took Tuesday
morning off, so I could be there for the girls’ first day. Christian was off to
work at his usual time, while the girls and I all slept in for a while. I
finally got the big girls up, dressed and ready to go. And, of course, I took a
bunch of “1st Day of School” pictures. By the time we finished up,
Eliza was up, so I got her ready, and we were off. I dropped them off at
daycare, and there was sure a lot of excitement going around. Everybody was
pretty excited for their first day of school, which was really cute. And, it
was Eliza’s first full day as a toddler. CRAZY!! After dropping them off, I
made my way back home to showered and get ready for work, and then I met the
daycare bus at school to take a few more pictures of the girls, and get them
settled in for their day. I stayed pretty strong this year, but sending my
mini-Best Friend off into the real world was definitely no easier than sending
my first baby off last year. Oh man, these girls are growing way too fast! Then,
I was off to work for the day. And it was a long, distracted day – I couldn’t
stop thinking about my sweet girls, and what they were doing. So excited to
hear all about it. Quitting time couldn’t have come soon enough today, that’s
for sure. I stopped home after work to let the dog out and pick up snacks and
the girls’ soccer stuff, then made my way to daycare to pick them up and get
them ready. We no longer have Thursday night soccer, which I’m super excited
about. We now have Tuesday and Saturday, so I’m happy to have another weeknight
back. As the girls changed for soccer, we chatted and they told me all about
their day. Amelia went to the library, loves Mrs. Eisen and recess was a big
hit with her. Olivia read a book, enjoyed lunch and also agreed that recess
rocked. AND, little Eliza did wonderfully in the toddler room all day. So,
overall, it was a successful day. Olivia’s little school best friend is in her
class again this year (and I’m sure a couple other kids from her class last
year as well), along with a boy she played soccer with last year, and a girl
from her team this year. So she was pretty comfortable going into the day.
Amelia of course doesn’t know anybody, but she’s much more outgoing than
Olivia, so I’m sure she’ll have some friends in no time. Christian took Amelia
to practice tonight, and I was off with Olivia. She practiced for a bit, then
had a little scrimmage within her team – she even scored a goal again! Now, if
she could score in real games, we’ll be in business! It’s exciting either way
though, of course. She’s getting better and better, every week! After soccer,
we all made our way home, the girls had a bath while Christian fried up some
taquitos, we ate, and everybody passed out. What a day!! It’s now officially
official – we have a 1st Grader, a Kindergartner, and a Toddler!
Whoa!
Wednesday was a
rough day. I was dragging, SO DANG TIRED, and the girls were all of course
pretty exhausted too. We were running a little late, so our morning was pretty
rushed as well. UGH – I needed a nap
before I even left the house! I finally got the girls dropped off at daycare,
and Eliza was just cracking me up. She is just large and in charge now when we
get to the center…she walks in by herself, walks right by everyone to her room,
like she runs the world. It’s so funny. I had another long, unmotivated day at
work myself. I’ve just been feeling so “blah” at work lately, so out of it. I
need to get my head back into it! After work, I picked the girls up, and we
made our way home. Eliza was in a terrible mood, all night long. Crying,
throwing fits, everything. On top of that, Olivia was out of it and just not
feeling well at all. I think she’s just overtired from the adjustment,
hopefully! We had dinner, and she pretty much just laid on the couch the rest
of the night. Bella stopped over to play, but the girls were pretty exhausted
and did not provide much entertainment, so her visit didn’t last long. It ended
up being a pretty early night for all, my poor girls!
Thursday was
another pretty long day. We were all off to work and daycare, as usual. Eliza
was a total crab in the morning, which never really happens, so I’m hoping
she’s not getting sick or anything. She was also out of control crabby all
night tonight, and her evening crankiness is starting to get really
frustrating. I have no idea what could be wrong with her…they say she does so
well at daycare…she plays, she eats, she naps, and she always seems cheerful
when I get there to pick her up. Then, we get home, and she falls apart. She’s
just miserable, and I have no idea why. The girls play with her, she has snacks
and water when we get home, I play with her and hang out with her – NOTHING
helps. It’s so hard to see your little ones so upset, and not be able to tell
you what’s wrong – and it’s equally frustrating and exhausting. PLEASE let this
be a phase, that’s all I can say! I ended up having Christian pick something up
for dinner because I just could not do it, or get a moment away from Eliza to
make anything. Thankfully, she didn’t fight bedtime – she ended up passing
right out pretty much. Overall, it was kind of a crappy day. Other than being
my Friday – hopefully I’ll head off to work next week with a better, more
motivated attitude! I did also receive Eliza’s newborn collage print today as
well, which is pretty fun. Dawn made the collage, to match the other girls’
newborn collages hanging up in the basement, after she did her newborn shoot
last year. I’ve procrastinated so badly on ordering it, and FINALLY to the leap
last week when the website had a sale on the size I needed. Sweet! It’s so
gorgeous; I can’t wait to get it hung up!
Friday arrived…Christian was off to work, while the girls and I slept in a little bit. Not too late though…because it was picture day at daycare today! So, I got them ready, one by one, and we made our way to daycare. The big girls will obviously get pictures taken at school, so Eliza was the main focus today. And, of course, some sibling photos. WEEEEEEEELL, of course Eliza had other plans for us, and would not cooperate. At all! I thought with the teachers around and in a comfortable environment she’d actually play along, but she was not having it, at all. I don’t remember the other two ever being this difficult to get photos of. And poor Olivia and Amelia – when we were trying to do their sibling photos, they had to just keep getting up and moving around and getting next to her wherever she landed in an attempt to get one shot. They were the photographer’s first photos of the day, and let me tell you, he was literally sweating by the end of it. We finally had to call it quits, but he was pretty sure he got one individual and one sibling photo that should work, so fingers crossed! Hopefully eventually I can get her trained in as well as her sisters. After that chaos, she and I were finally on our way – I dropped her off at my mom’s, and I was off to work for the rest of the day. The day was short, and flew by, for a change. I picked Eliza up, and we stopped at Target on the way home for a couple groceries, and I picked up some flowers and dessert to celebrate the girls’ first week of school. Then, finally, I picked the big girls up from daycare. They were so excited to see their flowers, and they both had a wonderful first week – I’m so proud of them, and how well they are both adjusting – so quickly too. We played outside for a while, Christian arrived home, and we settled into the house for dinner. After diner, Christian was doing some work in the garage, and everything started to fall apart. The girls started picking at each other and fighting, and driving me crazy. I think the long week just caught up with both of them, but I was fed up, and they were sent off to bed early (not early enough!). I know the back to school thing takes some time to adjust to, but you’d think being apart now all day would make them get along better! It ended up being an early night for all of us after that.
Saturday was a busy day. Christian was off to work early, and it was our first Saturday soccer game. On Saturday’s, Olivia plays at 9:00, and Amelia at 10:00. At different locations. Seriously – they kill me, over and over again! With Christian working most Saturday’s, I obviously had to recruit my mom to help us out when she could. After showering, cleaning up a bit, and having breakfast, we were off to meet my mom at Olivia’s game. I’m not sure what was going on with Olivia, but she was playing REALLY aggressively – she pushed a couple of girls over and just would not keep her hands to herself. I would yell out to her every time something happened, and our coach was trying to talk to her…but eventually the other teams coach commented on it, and made a big ordeal about it. Now, yes – she was pushing and that’s not OK. I was making it clear that it was not OK. However, she wasn’t being violent or really doing it on purpose – she was just being aggressive and trying to get to the ball. She was crossing a line that they all walk along. When the other coach got involved, and made a scene in front of everybody – making it seem like we’re all just letting her do it, it was really embarrassing – to me, and to Olivia, and I lost it a little bit. I basically just yelled out that I’m handling it, that WE’RE handling it. It was dropped after that, but I was worked up from the way it was handled, I was upset with Olivia for crossing that line, and embarrassed. Thankfully, I left a little early to take Amelia to her game, while my mom stayed with Olivia. A couple of deep breaths and a change of scenery, and we turned it around. Amelia’s game started, and she wouldn’t really cooperate at first. As the game went on, she warmed up more and more though, and ended up doing pretty good. We stopped at the playground for a few minutes, before heading home and getting ready for the next event. I got the girls bathed, ready, and fed…and we were off to a birthday party for my friend, Kelly’s little boy. He’s a couple of months younger than Amelia, and the party was at an inflatable play area. Of course, the kids all had a blast. Eliza even ran around and played a bit on her own. It was nice to be at a party where she could actually run around and play, without being in the way or completely left out. After playing, cake and presents, we were on our way home. All of the girls fell asleep on the drive home…when I pulled up, it was so quiet and peaceful and I sat there for quite a while contemplating just staying there for as long as they would sleep. No, really, I almost just stayed in the van for the rest of the day. But, alas, it was time to exit the vehicle. Eliza stayed asleep, so she went down in her bed, while the big girls woke up, and played outside for a while, while Christian cut the grass. While all of them were out of my way, I did some cleaning up around the house, made some dinner, and we settled in with a movie while Christian was off to a friend’s house to watch the fight. The girls all went off to bed with little fight tonight, the house was all mine, and I enjoyed some TV and relaxation time before bed. Perfection!
Sunday was a pretty
busy day again. We all slept in a little, which is always quite lovely. We had
breakfast, cleaned up al title, and then one by one we got ready for the day.
Olivia and I were both fighting headaches, but the show must go on. Today, we
were off to the apple orchard. It was a pretty last minute decision, the
weather was so beautiful that we had to take advantage – so, we spent the day
together just the 5 of us. The girls played on the playgrounds, climbed the
tire mountain, jumped in the bounce houses and got their faces painted. We
watched the “Dock Dogs” jump for a while, had lunch, and finally took a hay
ride out into the orchard to pick some apples. I’m gonna tell you, you all
should be quite jealous that you weren’t on that hayride with us, because Eliza
thought it was the funniest thing on the face of the planet, and it was so dang
cute watching her laugh and smile and look around – having the time of her life. So sweet! After picking
some apples, the girls played for a little longer, before we loaded up the fan
and made our way home. Eliza napped for a while, and the big girls played
outside, but Olivia still wasn’t feeling too hot, and just seemed to get worse
as the night went on. Christian and I were in the kitchen, cleaning up and
making dinner, when Olivia fell asleep on the couch. I woke up her up eat, and
she seemed completely out of it and miserable. Poor baby; makes my heart break
to see my sweet girls sick. She ate a little bit before we got them showered
and off to bed. Christian and I finally ate, I put Eliza down and we watched “Fear”
before bed. I had Olivia sleep in bed with me just in case she got sick during
the night – I was really hoping it was just a fluke thing though. While Eliza
went to bed pretty easily, as she has lately, she was up SCREAMING every few
hours, all night long. I don’t know what in the world that was about, or why I’m
the only one in the house who seems to hear the middle of the night screaming,
but it sure made for a long, exhausting night! Should make Monday even more
exciting than usual…
Working on her Princessing
Until Next Week!
XOXO






























































































