2015 - Week 50

Well, Monday started our newest family normal. It was Christian’s first day on his new shift. So, first up, this change meant I had to drop Eliza off in the morning. Normally, on Monday’s, I drop the big girls at daycare, and Christian drops Eliza off at his parents’ house. Since he stays home now during the day (but, needs sleep/rest since he works later), he can’t really logically bring her over there. So…now I have two drop off’s on Mondays. No fun!!! I showered, got ready, packed up, got the girls ready and loaded up the van. First, I dropped the big girls off at daycare.  Next, I dropped Eliza off at my in-laws. I was actually making really good time, I was super proud of myself. Then…I got to my exit ramp to work, and it was backed up to the highway. The lights were all wonky and only letting a couple cars through at a time. SEEEEEEEE, it’s always something. I’m ALWAYS late for some off the wall reason. Ugh. After working all day, I was back on the road for two pick-ups…first Eliza, then the big girls, finally settled in at home for the night. We had dinner, and the girls spent the rest of the night having a little “dance party” in their room. They crack me up…they blast their little radio and turn on their little pink light and dance around like crazy. It’s so fun to be 5/6/1. Christian was off to his 1^st night on the overnight shift, and I caught up on a little Hulu. I was able to get the girls off to bed a little early, but Eliza kept waking up, screaming and crying. I’m trying hard to let her “cry it out” and stop running into her, but man is it hard. I’m not a big fan of letting infants cry it out, but I do believe once they reach a certain point in toddlerhood, it’s time to cut that sleep cord a little bit. That’s definitely not always easy though. Especially when I have to worry about her keeping the other two awake. So, needless to say, my hopes of getting to bed early did not quite pan out. For Buddy Day 7, the girls found him swinging from their doorway tonight. Such a fun guy!

Swinging Away

I was putting their new Santa photo in the frame at work, and saw Olivia's first Santa photo. Can you believe how much she and Eliza look alike?!

Today, Eliza also turned 19 months old…19 Months! She weighs in at 28.6 lbs and she’s 31" Tall. She's switching between 24 month and 2T clothes, wearing Size 5 Shoes and Size 5 diapers. She drinks from a cup great, she’s a terrible eater and she needs constant attention and entertainment. She’s had a rough month of teething (just waiting on those last 4 to come in) and illness, but she’s still the sweetest thing. She loves taking pictures now, we just need to work on staying still for more than 5 seconds, and she's working on building her first sentences now - her favorites are “I want milk” and “I want candy”. Ha. Other than when she isn’t feeling well, she only uses her pacifier for sleep now, so we’re getting there. She started stacking blocks really well in the last month or so, loves to help pick up and throw things away and she's the nosiest person I’ve ever met - always has to know what's going on and be in the middle of everything. She’s been leery of the snow, still warming up to it, loves to help find “Buddy” every day and copies EVERYTHING we do or say (so, be careful!). I can't believe we'll be ringing in her 2nd Christmas this month, so awesome.

On Tuesday, I was up, ready and off with the girls. I had a really busy day at work, but I’m feeling completely unmotivated again. It’s so hard this time of year…between Christmas/Holiday stuff, Olivia’s birthday, our friends coming to town for a visit later this month – I just can’t focus on anything else. I feel like we should just get the entire month off of work – wouldn’t that be amazing?! After work, I picked the girls up and we made our way home. The girls got their party up and running right away. Christian was so exhausted – I hope he’s able to adjust to this new schedule quickly, poor guy. We had dinner and hung out for a little bit before he was off for another night. The girls and I hung out, did some reading and had some TV time before bed…which was MUCH more successful tonight. WOOT! Hopefully we’ve turned that corner. For Buddy Day 8, he brought ornament making supplies. We made the same glitter ornaments a couple years ago, but I used plastic ornaments, and the glitter didn’t hold up too well. Hopefully the glass ones fare better.

On Wednesday, we were back at it again. I wasn’t feeling well today, at all, so it was a pretty rough morning. But, had to get up and going. I dropped the girls off and Eliza was SOOOOOOO crabby. She makes the mornings so difficult, she doesn’t want to cooperate with anything, and once she’s up, I can’t get ANYTHING done, so I have to try to make sure everything and everybody else is ready to go before she gets up. Thankfully, she still goes right to the teacher when we get to daycare, happy as a clam, so hopefully she does better there than at home. I was finally off to work…I’ve been late, like usual, this week, but actually much closer to being on time than usual. Maybe I’m actually pulling my act together after all! I left work briefly for a doctor’s appointment, then made my way back to finish the day out.  I picked the girls up after school….Olivia was SO excited to see me, and tell me that she’s going to be on the “news” next week for reading 150 books. I had to verify that she’s talking about the SCHOOL news, LOL, but it was amazing to see her so proud of herself. She also received a little award from her teacher today for mastering all of her 1^st grade words. Only 3 months in and she’s already accomplished so much. She’s doing amazing!! We made yesterday’s Christmas ornaments as soon as we arrived home, and had dinner before Christian was off to work. Otherwise, we had a pretty quiet night, and another early bedtime. Another night of great sleep, thankfully. For Buddy Day 9, he was found atop the Christmas Tree tonight…I think he feels bad that our topper broke. So sad.

Thursday was my Friday, and so very welcomed! I dropped the girls off at daycare and was off to work. Had a busy day catching up on everything before the weekend. I picked the girls up after work and we settled in at home for a pretty quiet night. Dinner, some TV, baths, reading…Christian was off to work, the girls had another little dance party. It’s seriously hilarious. Nothing too exiting, nothing too crazy – that’s never a bad thing. For Buddy Day 10, he hung Christmas Lights up around the girls’ bunk beds. How fun!

On Friday, Christian arrived home as I was getting the girls ready. He’s officially finished his first week on the overnight shift, and he survived. YAY!!! We still have a lot of adjusting to do…so far I’m taking on a lot more of a burden than I expected (he basically goes to bed as soon as he gets home [anywhere between 6:30 and 8:00], and doesn’t get up until we’re home at night – which leaves me to do everything). That’s not going to fly – but I’m letting him get his body adjusted to everything before we nip that in the bud. I brought the big girls to daycare, grabbed some breakfast, and settled in at home. Christian was off to bed, so Eliza and I hung out for the day. We played, watched some TV, ate some meals, did some snacking, just hung out. She ended up taking  an earlier than usual nap today – she was just exhausted, so I enjoyed some alone time catching up on Hulu, playing on my phone and doing a whole lotta nothing! Once Eliza was up, she had a late lunch, we played some more and I worked on doing some cleaning in the kitchen. When Christian woke up, I left to get the girls from daycare, and we stopped home to get ready for gymnastics. Christian stayed home with Eliza, which saved me a little bit of chaos. While they were in class, I signed them up for the next session. They’ve been doing so well, and they just LOVE it, I think we’ll stick with it for a while. Christian had dinner ready when we arrived home, so we ate quick and the girls were off to bed shortly after. We watched “Interstellar”, which was SUPER weird, but pretty interesting, before I passed out for the night. For Buddy Day 11, he hung up paper snowflakes all over the house. It’s a winter wonderland in our house!

Saturday was a busy day! I was up and showered right away, getting ready for the day, while Christian got the girls settled in with breakfast. And I was off to do pretty much all of our Christmas shopping (all by MYSELF!!!). At this point. I hadn’t really done anything, except make and order our 2015 photbooks, so I had a TON of stuff to do. First up, I stopped at the Mall of America to go to the Disney Store and Children’s Place, and grab some lunch. Next up, I stopped at Hallmark for Olivia’s “7” figuring, and maybe some grandparent nic-nacs, but it was a total bust. I stopped in Ulta, and finally Target. Oh man…bags, upon bags, upon BAGS of stuff. I was so exhausted, but other than a couple gift cards, I was pretty much done shopping. Such a relief!! The rest of the night was pretty quiet. I hung out with the girls, we watched some movies…Christian took Eliza on a run to his parents’ house to pick up some tamales that his mom made. When he arrived home, we had dinner, watched some more movies, until Amelia fell asleep on the couch. She and Eliza were off to bed, while I let Olivia stay up with us for a while. Spoiled girl. What an exhausting day! For Buddy Day 12, he decorated the kitchen cabinets with bows. Holiday, everywhere you look!

Look at the cute canvases the girls made at daycare! Love them!

Sunday was a pretty quiet day around the house. I slept in, which was wonderful. Worked on laundry throughout the day, and packed up all of the Christmas totes back under the stairs. And, I finally unloaded the gifts/bags out of the van. What a task! We had breakfast, watched TV, did some picking up around the house. Just the usual chores for the most part. Eliza took a nap, as did Christian. His work has him working Sunday’s through the Holidays because they’re just so crazy busy, so he had to get some rest in before his shift. Once everybody was up, we got ready and met my mom for a (very) belated anniversary dinner at Mama’s – so delish!!! Christian went right to work from dinner, while the girls and I made our way home. We worked on their homework and reading, everybody got into their jammies, and it wasn’t long before it was time for bed. The girls were up late laughing and goofing around – which both entertains, and annoys me, knowing how exhausted they’ll be in the morning. The finally fell asleep around 9:45. Dang kids! I managed to get in some TV time before passing out myself – I guess it’ll be a rough Monday for everybody! For Buddy Day 13, the girls found him reading to some friends. Awwww.

Until Next Week! XOXO

2015 - Week 49

Week 49 – winter hit and we entered another month. The final month of 2015 – INSANE!

On Monday we woke up to snow. Lots and Lots of snow. Of course, that meant a LONG drive to work. It took me nearly 2 hours to drop the girls off and get to work. NO GOOD! I ended up leaving work a tad early, just in case traffic was terrible on the way home too. I also had to stop at the DMV to get new tabs for the car. DMV on the last day of the month – I don’t recommend it. There were some serious characters there, that’s all I know. I stopped home before picking the big girls up from daycare, to finish up, and order, our 2015 photobook and do a little cleaning up around the house. I picked the girls up around closing time, met up with Christian and Eliza at home…we had dinner, watched a movie and had a quiet night. Olivia stayed up late with us to have some hot chocolate with me before bed. Love that special one on one time with the kids every once in a while. FINALLY, time for bed. It ended up being a much more chaotic night than I expected.

Snow and the Lit Up House - starting to feel like Christmas around here!

Somebody was stealing sips of my hot chocolate tonight

On Tuesday we welcomed December, and I worked from home. They were predicting another night of terrible snow, and Olivia has an afternoon appointment, so I figured I’d get the most work done possible just working from home. Well, it didn’t end up nearly as bad as they thought, but I still got way more work done than I would in the office anyway. I picked Olivia up from school a little early for her latest eye appointment. Today they did a full exam, dilation and all. The muscle reaction they were concerned about seems to have corrected itself, so that was a relief, and the swelling she had is gone, so they are pretty sure all of the issues at her last appointment were related to her injury and/or the Iritis from a few weeks ago. No glasses and perfect sight, WHEW! We made our way home for a while and watched some TV, so she could relax on her own for a bit. They said dilation in kids’ eyes is a lot stronger than adults, and takes a lot longer to “recover” from. She started complaining of a headache as the evening went on, so she took it pretty easy. We picked the other girls up and met Christian at Perkins for “kids eat free” night, before settling in at home and heading to bed shortly after. Eliza is still completely miserable, and would not sleep for anything. She kept gagging from coughing and it just breaks my heart. Poor thing. Of course, December also marks the return of our elf, Buddy. Per usual, he arrived with some cookies and a note for the girls. They were so excited…and Eliza just wanted to get her hands on the treats!

Yay for a successful eye appointment!

Dinner with my favorite people.

Welcome, Buddy

On Wednesday, we were up and off to work. The girls and I are all super stuffed up and coughing like crazy. It’s starting – the winter horribleness and constant sickness. HATE IT! Eliza finally fell asleep for good last night around 2:30AM and then she didn’t want to get up, so I felt terrible forcing her out of bed so early. She was happy again once we got to daycare and she could snuggle up with her teacher though, so I think it will do her some good to be there and out of the house. All I know is, this house is beyond exhausted right now. Somehow, I ended up having a pretty productive day at work, illness and all. My workload is out of control again, and I feel like I’m constantly playing catch up. Then, I got a call from daycare in the afternoon. She didn’t need to be picked up, but they were really concerned about Eliza. She was wheezing in her sleep, looking pale and her cough was out of control. They weren’t sure what it could be, but wanted to let me know. I finished out the day, and we made our way right to Urgent Care after I picked the girls up. I was sure it was nothing, but better safe than sorry. They checked her over…strep test was negative, no ear infection or croup, lungs sounded good. Just a bad viral cold, getting her all blocked up and giving her a sore throat. It’s of course reassuring to know they don’t have anything serious going on, but sometimes it really sucks when there’s nothing you can do for them, except wait it out. For now, lots of clear liquids, a cool mist humidifier in her room and some Benadryl to help loosen things up and help her get some sleep. We arrived home at the same time as Christian, and had some dinner. Olivia started complaining that her stomach hurt, how she was SOOOOO tired and that her SUPER loose tooth was hurting her (but she “can’t” pull it out – and I won’t, teeth disgust me). Then, Amelia claimed that her tongue hurt and she was SO exhausted too. Seriously, they’re all a mess. Needless to say, it was a pretty early bedtime. For Buddy Day 2, he brought the girls their Christmas tree to set up and decorate. Funzies!

On Thursday, we all woke up exhausted again. The Benadryl didn’t seem to help Eliza too much. She still woke up a ton during the night, just miserable. But she was actually falling back asleep, which was a change. Hopefully every day is a little better. She was miserable again this morning, but, again, perked up once she got to daycare. I was off to work, another busy day that flew by. I stopped at Walmart after work to pick up our Christmas cards, and seriously, it was a NIGHTMARE! The do layaway and ship to store items at the same place as the photos, and it’s just terrible. I was in line FOREVER, and it seemed everybody else was there to pick up items, that were apparently nowhere to be found. So frustrating. Then, I finally checked out and arrived to daycare to find Olivia crying and upset. I was sure she had gotten in trouble, but as I got closer I could see a little cut on her face, right below her “good” eye, and the teacher informed me that another child had punched her in the face. Like literally punched her in the face. Apparently they were playing a game, Olivia was winning, and another little boy was upset, so he decided to pack up the game and put it away. When she tried to take it back, to continue playing, he threw the game cards at her and punched her. I’ve never been so upset before. After EVERYTHING she’s been through, the thought that something else much worse could’ve happened was just too much for me. I had the big girls pack up while I went to get Eliza from her room. There, I came upon the director, on the phone with the puncher’s parents and apparently it was not his first incident of the day. And, according to Olivia, the behavior was not out of the norm for him. We’ve encountered a few of these kids in the 4 years they’ve been there, and I get a little frustrated wondering “when is enough, enough?” We pay a lot of money for our kids to be in a safe, learning environment, and shouldn’t have to be worried about them being “assaulted” by kids that consistently act out in that way. I was relieved to hear them dealing with it though, and not just trying to brush it under the rug. Definitely helped me cool down a bit. I’m just thankful that I pick them up, and not Christian, because I can’t even imagine what he would have done/said! We finally settled in at home, and I was so over the day. Christian made dinner, we watched some Christmas movies on TV, the girls took their baths and we were all off to bed. Hoping for a better night! For Buddy Day 3, he showed up with the girls’ 2015 Christmas Ornaments.

Finally Friday arrived – man it’s been a long week! Eliza did indeed sleep much better last night, but she’s definitely still not herself. Poor thing. Now I’m pretty sure that I’ve caught it and seriously cannot breath. So gross. Winter – sucks! I dropped the big girls off at daycare – they don’t have school today (shocker) and Eliza off at my mom’s for the day. It was a quiet day at work, which was really nice. A lot of the office was out at training, so it was a productive end to the week. My mom stopped in with Eliza for a little afternoon visit, which is always nice. I also got a few “personal” things done today…sent our Christmas cards, booked Olivia’s birthday party and sent her invitations. Checking things off the list!! I picked Eliza up after work, and she was quite a handful. I think just exhausted – she didn’t nap too well today. Of course she passed out once I finally got her in the van and on our way. We stopped at Hallmark quick, picked the big girls up, and stopped home to change and get ready for gymnastics. While we were there, Christian arrived home and made dinner. We ate as soon as we got home and watched some TV movies before sending the girls off to bed. I caught up on  some Hulu before passing out myself. For Buddy Day 4, he brought the girls their 2015 Hallmark Singing/Dancing Snowman. I love those!

The cut from yesterday's punch. Thankfully it wasn't any closer to her eye.

On Saturday, we had a busy start to the day. I was up early, showered and got ready for the day. The girls were up, had some breakfast and got ready. I packed up some stuff, packed the big girls up in the van, and we were off. I dropped Chuy off at the vet first, for his 6 month check-up, we stopped at Target for a few things, and then were off to my friend Michelle’s for a Christmas Cookie baking party with some of her family and friends. The girls had fun helping, and watched some movies in between. I had a blast chatting and laughing and baking away, catching up with friends and getting a little break from the usual routine. Meanwhile, Christian hung out at home with Eliza – basically did nothing all day long. Shocker – multi-tasking is definitely not one of his skills. Once we were done baking like crazy, we packed up our goodies, I packed the girls up, and we made our way home for dinner, some movies and a quiet night. Christian left to have dinner and hang out with a friend for a while, so it was just us girls for the night. Eliza ended up falling asleep on my lap, which never happens, so the other girls cuddled up next to us and we watched “The Santa Clause” before bed. Once the girls were tucked in, I caught up on a few shows and was in bed pretty early myself. For Buddy Day 5, he made it snow inside. Very exciting!

Let It Snow!

Sunday was a pretty typical busy day around the house. I put up most of the Christmas decorations, which is always quite a task, and did some cleaning around the house. And, of course, laundry ALL DAY LONG. We had Breakfast, and Christian took Olivia with him on a tip to Menard’s. Eliza ended up taking a SUPER long nap, so Amelia and I worked on her “Star of the Week” stuff for school tomorrow. She started acting up, and got in big trouble. While throwing a fit on the couch, she ended up falling asleep and taking a nap as well. I swear, she’ll never grow out of needing to take a nap! While she slept, I worked on our giant mound of dishes, and then Olivia and I went on a target run. After getting home, unloading the van and putting everything away, I started dinner and helped Olivia with her homework. I finished dishes after dinner and finally settled in for the night. Eliza didn’t want to go to bed, so we cuddled for a while before she finally agreed to lay down. LOL – she’s the boss, that’s for sure. I couldn’t believe the weekend was already ending. Life is just way too crazy and chaotic! For Buddy Day 6 – he wrote little messages all over the bathroom mirrors. It was pretty funny listening to the girls when they woke up and found it. Funny guy!

Until Next Week! XOXO