2016 - Week 23

Here we are, kicking off another week. This week brought us into a new month…it’s officially June, ya’ll!

Monday was a Holiday, Memorial Day, so we got to start the week off on a pretty low key note. The big girls had spent the night at my mom’s, so the rest of us got to sleep in a little bit. I got some laundry going, we ate some breakfast, I got myself and Eliza ready, and we were off for a BIIIIIIG Target run. We were critically low on groceries, and needed lots of home goods. Elia did really well, but the cart ended up being WAY too full, and being oh so pregnant, I couldn’t carry her to the car and push the cart, so somebody had to help me get everything to the van. I felt so guilty, like a big ol’ needed pregnant lady. While we were gone, Christian worked on the pumpkin trellis and did some yardwork. Once home, Christian unloaded the van, and then was off with Eliza to visit his parents for a while, while I put everything away, continued on laundry, did the dishes and started on some corn and ribs for grilling. Everybody was finally home around 2:30, and my mom stuck around to grill with us and spent some time together. Christian fired up the grill, the girls played in the sprinkler for a while (even Eliza, woot!!!), played with some water balloons and their water guns. We may just be in for a real summer this year, so I see many water days ahead of us. We finally ate, and got to open up some gifts from my mom (a few late birthday gifts, and some stuff for the baby). My mom left for home, we got the girls dressed and stopped over to our neighbor, Sara’s, BBQ for a visit and some playtime for the kids. We dragged the girls home, Olivia did her homework, Eliza helped Christian cleanup around the yard, and the girls were all off to bed. Well, technically Eliza passed out next to me while I watched “Age of Adeline” and folded laundry, which I just loved. Back to work tomorrow…but, at least it’s another short week!

Memorial Day Fun

  

On Tuesday, we were all back to reality. But, it was a 3-day week for me, so I couldn’t complain. I had a terrible night of sleep…it was so hot, Eliza kept waking up crying (until I finally brought her into bed with me) and I kept having back spasms all night long. Needless to say, sleep was at a bare minimum, and it was a rough morning. I finally pulled myself out of bed, got ready, got the girls up and ready (who were also quite exhausted) and we were off. I was so unmotivated at work…exhausted, uncomfortable, crabby and just not interested in anything. This end of pregnancy stuff is not a pretty sight! After work, I picked Eliza up, we met everybody else at home and I had a pretty lazy night. We ate dinner, the girls played the night away (Eliza has pretty much just been following them around, playing with them, which is awesome), Christian was off to work, and I basically just watched some shows and relaxed. I was off to bed pretty much as soon as the girls were, in hopes of some actual sleep…

It's JUNE!!! I can't believe it! Wednesday was a morning heaven sent…not only did I actually get some sleep, but so did Eliza! HALLELUJAH!!! I showered, got ready, got the girls up and ready, and we were off. I have an ALL day meeting tomorrow, so between that and the short week, I had to really buckle down today and get some work done. So, I plowed through my e-mails and as much of my inbox as possible. I picked Eliza up after work and we stopped home to get the big girls ready for softball, and eat a quick dinner before heading off to the field. They only ended up playing 2 innings tonight, which is getting really annoying. Since they didn’t have many practices before the season started, the coaches wanted to continue practicing before games to work on basic skills. While that is good in essence, it doesn’t leave much time for the actual game, which I think is also very important for learning. Hopefully soon, the games start to last longer. They did change one thing this week…instead of having the “outfielders” just standing around in the field, they worked on batting, so at least they get a little more action. Olivia got to play pitcher tonight, which is obviously the most active position at this age, and she did SUCH a great job! Amelia got to play 3^rd base…and, after a few batters, she started to get the hang of it. She’s been saying that she LOVES softball lately, so hopefully it really is growing on her (them). I helped “bench coach” again tonight, while my mom hung out with Eliza…tonight the girls on the team were asking me lots of questions about the baby and trying to help me pick out a name. It was pretty funny. Christian left early to head to work, so the girls and I made our way home after the game for baths and bed.

32 Weeks, 5 Days. Getting there!

Thursday was a very hectic day at work. It’s my last day for the week, and my in-box is seriously OUT OF CONTROL. I had an all morning meeting, which I had not been looking forward to at all, so I really couldn’t even get much else done at all. It’s so frustrating! I just want to feel focused, and have time to just work without interruption. But, alas, the day flew by, and I was off to pick Eliza up and meet the rest of the family at home for dinner and a quiet night before bed. I’m excited for another long weekend, but I’m honestly pretty nervous about tomorrow. I’m chaperoning Olivia’s all-day fieldtrip to the farm. 8 months pregnant, and all-day on my feet, walking around, watching the kids…what was I thinking?!

The kids' picture outfits are here. SO CUTE!

Eliza decided she needed some barrettes today. Lots of them.

Friday was the big day. We had a busy morning, getting the girls up and ready, dropping the big girls off at daycare, and Eliza off at my mom’s, and then heading back home to eat quick, do my makeup and get to school for the fieldtrip. I met up with the class, got our directions, and then we were off to load up on the bus for the LONG drive to the farm (45 minutes…on a HOT, humid school bus, with lots of screaming 1^st graders). Once we arrived, we separated into our groups. This fieldtrip was much different than Amelia’s…each group had a larger number of kids, but several parents, and a farmer leading everybody. So, the chaperoning part was much easier. We got our instructions, and then started on our tour of the farm. Of course, it started raining shortly after we arrived…and, we got nice and wet for a little while. We went on a long walk to visit and feed the pics, checked out the gardens…even got to make some salad dressing and pick some veggies to try it out and we visited the chickens before having lunch. Next up, we met the dairy cows, saw the goats, the kids did a craft, and we started getting ready to head back to school. With the rain and the rush-hour traffic starting up, it was a MUCH longer ride back. And, Olivia was too cool to sit with me this time, so I was all on my own. But, it worked out well…we grabbed her stuff from her classroom, drove back to the pick-up area, and not much later Amelia came out. They watched a movie while we drove up to pick Eliza up, and finally made our way home. Christian got ready for work…thanks to Monday’s Holiday, he had to make up the time lost tonight. He picked up some dinner for us before heading off to work, so we ate and settled in for the night. I was beyond Exhausted, and right off to bed as soon as the girls were. What a day! 

Fieldtrip Time

On Saturday, we had a nice lazy start to the day. Well, I almost had a heart attack in the middle of the night. Chuy was acting weird…growling and half barking (which he never does), and I heard some rumblings. When I got up to investigate, Christian came around the corner and I just about died. He was home WAY early…and it was not expected at all. He ended up sleeping until about lunchtime, so the girls and I had breakfast and hung out. Eliza was whiny and crabby, the big girls were fighting, and I was pretty sure that I was going to lose my mind. Until I FINALLY got Eliza down for a nap and was able to take a nice long shower, while the big girls watched some videos. Amelia was acting up, running around, and ended up spilling an entire glass of pop in our room (my pop, from yesterday). After getting in trouble for her behavior, she snuck into her room and fell asleep, taking a MUCH needed nap. So frustrating. Shortly after, my mom arrived for a pedicure date, and we ended up bringing Olivia with. Now that relaxation was also MUCH needed. After our relaxation, my mom was on her way home, Christian showered, and we got the girls ready, one by one. I finished getting myself ready, we loaded up the van, and we were off to our friends’, John and Michelle, for the little baby shower our friends are throwing us. It was just a small gathering of our little circle of friends, and we had such a great night. We chatted and spent a lot of time catching up, we had a big taco feast, and she even had a piñata for the kids to do. We opened presents, and they had a little birthday cake for my upcoming birthday. YUM!! It was a great time, and we didn’t end up getting home until 11:00! Exhausting!!! We got so many great things, we’re so blessed! The girls were right off to bed, and we watched a little TV before I fell asleep…which is basically like every night.

Pedicure Time

Baby's Shower

 

 

 

On Sunday, we were exhausted, but up bright and early. We immediately got ready, packed up, loaded up the van, grabbed some drive-thru breakfast, and were off to my mom’s house for St. Paul’s Grand Old Day parade. Parking is terrible around the parade, so we parked at my mom’s house and walked. The walk was MUCH longer than I anticipated….especially back to the car after the parade! We found a spot to watch the parade, just as it was starting, and the girls got SOOOOOOO much candy, it was pretty ridiculous. I guess it pays to be seated at the beginning of the parade route. We walked for a while, got some food and lemonades, checked out some of the vendors, and finally made the long walk back. The girls were miserable once we finally go there (and, Amelia lost her balloon in the process) and I was swelling up really bad. It wasn’t a pretty sight. The girls stopped inside for a potty break before we hit the road and made our way back home. We watched a little TV, the big girls played for a while, and I attempted to get Eliza to nap, but she wasn’t having any of it. He was SO crabby, but fighting it with all of her being. Christian took the big girls over to his parents’ house for a while, while I cleaned up the living room, went through the baby’s new goodies and put everything away, played with Eliza and relaxed. Once everybody was home, they played outside for a while before baths and bed. My whole body was so achy and I was beyond exhausted. 6 more weeks…just need to make it 6 more weeks!

Grand Ol' Day

I was using my phone camera to check out my sunburn (ouch), and Eliza snuck behind me thinking that I was taking a picture. Haha, my little ham.

Until Next Week! XOXO

2016 - Week 22

Here we are, kicking off another week. The last full week of May. The year is just cruising right by!

On Monday I woke up feeling so exhausted. Christian was out late with some friends, and I woke up in the middle of the night super overheated. It wasn’t too bad outside, but burning up in the house. I ran around the house turning on fans and opening windows, trying to cool the place down a little but (I wasn’t sure if the AC unit was OK to turn on yet with some issues we’re having with the furnace). It ended up being a long night, and a slow, tired morning. But, no rest for the weary. I got the girls up and ready, dropped the big girls off at daycare and Eliza off at my in-laws, and settled into work. Eliza was feeling pretty warm this morning, and ended up throwing up shortly after I dropped her off, but thankfully she seemed fine after that. I think it was just a result of our hot house overnight. The weather guys were threatening bad weather all day, but the rain ended up holding off…so, after work, it was a rush to pick Eliza up, stop home to switch laundry and get the big girls ready, and make our way to softball. Olivia was complaining of her eyes watering, and was blinking non-stop, so we gave her some allergy medication and eye drops in hopes she’d survive game night. She doesn’t usually have those issues, so hopefully that won’t be a new regular thing for her. She played Left-Center, Short Stop and Right Field tonight, while Amelia played Right Field 1^st base and Center Field. Olivia has been hitting REALLY awesome lately, and Amelia is actually working really hard. I’m so proud of them both! Christian left for work, and my mom kept track of Eliza while I helped “bench coach” again during the game. After the game, we stopped to grab some dinner, ate and watched a little TV, and the girls were off to bed. Per usual, I attempted to stay up and watch some of my shows, but passed out.

On Tuesday, we were up and at it. Eliza was a little crabby, but with a lot of perseverance, I got her up and ready to go. I dropped the girls off at daycare and made y way to work. My in-box just keeps piling up more and more every day. Its’ seriously getting pretty crazy. But, today I did manage to finally clear out my “issues” box, which is HUGE! At this point, I think my co-workers are going to end up taking on A LOT of extra stuff when I leave, because I just can’t seem to make any headway on my workload. After work, I picked Eliza up, and stopped at the store for a quick grocery run before settling in at home. I started dinner and did some cleaning up, and hung out with the girls while Christian took over. He’s been surprisingly helpful around the house this week…between yesterday and today, he washed a sink full of dishes, cleaned the entryway, put away his MONTH’S worth of clothes in the bedroom, went through his pants (step 1 of his clothes cleanup), planted the last of the flowers, helped the girls play in the sprinkler after school, helped make dinner AND cleanup after, and cleaned up the garage. He’s been in the dog house, so I know he’s only doing it to try to make up for some stuff, but I sure hope this side of him sticks around, at least a little bit. It’s amazing what actually gets done around here when he pitches in too…and how much less stressed out I am! After dinner, he was off to work, the girls played for a while, I worked on the computer for a bit and watched some TV before bed. We finally broke down and turned the Air Conditioner on today, which is thankfully working just fine.

Wednesday…just another day in our paradise! Everybody was up, but we were all pretty slow getting ready. So, we were all a little late. I dropped the girls off at daycare and zipped into work….and, it was a LONG day. Our database is down, as we convert to a new, department wide, database, and not having our database definitely changes how we can do our work. It really limits our access to information, so everything is a bit slower, and more difficult. I left work early to do some (real) grocery shopping, and arrived home just in time to get the girls into their softball gear and rush off to Echo Park for their summer program orientation. In an effort to save some money, we’re taking the big girls out of KinderCare when the schoolyear is over, and they are moving to the YMCA program. In the summer, they’ll be at this other elementary school, and then once school starts in the fall, they’ll go to their own school for the before-school program. I’m nervous for the switch, but I know it will be much more age appropriate for them, and it’s MUCH cheaper, and we need to save money anywhere that we can right now. I thought at the orientation we’d actually meet some staff, see where/how we drop them off/pick them up, get some more detailed information about how the program works…but, we basically just got their shirts and a packet of information. So, we were in and out, and I was still just as nervous about the switch. Since we had so much time, we let the girls play at the park there for a little while, before picking Eliza up and making our way to the ball field for a picnic before the game. The girls both played outfield and shortstop tonight. Amelia’s short attention span was making an appearance tonight, and seriously getting on my nerves. They didn’t end up getting much action in the field tonight, but they both did a pretty great job batting. It was SOOOOOO hot tonight, so we were all pretty overheated but the time the game was over. I’m guessing the heat and the lack of action played a big role in Amelia’s short attention span, so I tried my hardest to keep my annoyance under control. Eliza decided to dump water over her head throughout the game to cool herself down…funny in the moment, until she has to get into her car seat soaking wet. Oy! Christian left for work, and we girls were on our way home for baths, showers, a little TV time and bed.

Thursday was a late morning for us. Apparently I decided to turn my alarm clock off and got back to sleep this morning…oops!!! So, I called in late, showered, got the girls up and everybody ready, and we were finally off for the day. Everybody was much more chipper this morning, so apparently the extra sleep does the body good. It was a busy day at work…getting used to the new database, catching up from our slow day yesterday, and getting ready for the long weekend. I again had to leave work a tad early today…this time to get the girls ready for their softball pictures and get them to the location on time. Amelia was being ridiculous during the pictures, so I’m not really sure how those are going to turn out. That kid, I swear, she drives me nuts! We picked up some pizza for dinner, and settled in at home to eat. When we arrived home, we found Chuy sitting outside on the deck. Apparently Olivia had let him outside before we left, and….he DIDN’T run away! Seriously, that’s amazing. Maybe he really finally has calmed down! After eating, Christian was off to work and we had a quiet night at home before bed.

Friday was my day off. YES!!!! I got the big girl dressed and ready, and dropped them off at daycare, and then stopped home to get myself ready for the day. I took Eliza in to get her labs redone, and then waited on pins and needles until the results came in. She took the blood draw like a champ, again, and never even made a peep! Thankfully, the results were MUCH better than they were a couple of weeks ago. Her White Blood Cells are still a little low, but not concerning. They want the levels to be between a 6-17 (which seems like a huge range to me)…she was at a 2.7 last time, and a 5.9 this time. Much better! We made our way home for some breakfast, and Christian settled in to sleep for a while. A little while Later, Eliza and I were off to meet my Mom for lunch. We ate and chatted and hung out for a bit, and eventually Eliza and I were off to run some errands (in the rain, no fun!). We stopped at my friend Kelly’s house…she gave me her virtually new breast pump, along with a some accessories and a practically new boppy pillow. Yay! Next, I stopped into Bellies to Babies, hoping to find some used summer maternity clothes to get me through the end this pregnancy. Of course, they have A TON of smaller sized clothes, but not much in my size, so I pretty much had no luck there. Finally, we got back home. I ended up ordering some clothes from Target online, because I am seriously desperate for some cooler clothes right now. I also found “photo outfits” for all 4 kids, which I was SUPER excited about!  It’s amazing to actually check things off the list. Christian picked the big girls up from school, and we all had a pretty quiet night at home. We played outside for a while, had dinner, watched a little TV. Great start to a long weekend.

Saturday was a busy day around the house today. I did laundry throughout the day, and finished washing all of the handmedown clothes that we have received from people. Even sorted it, packed away the bigger stuff and got all of the baby stuff organized and put away. Woot!! 7ish weeks to go, I figure I better get started on doing some stuff to prepare for this little guys arrival! The girls played outside for most of the day, while Christian worked in the garage and in the yard, and cut the grass. Definitely not my idea of a good time. Later, his friend Lorenzo came over to grill with us and hang out for a while. I’ve been craving a steak like nobody’s business, so that was on tap for tonight. I settled into bed to watch some TV all by myself when the girls went to bed…I’m starting to get SUPER uncomfortable, especially by the end of the day, so I think I’m going to have a lot of early, lazy nights in my future.

On Sunday, we were up and at it. The girls actually slept in a little after a fairly late night yesterday, but of course I was up before everybody. So, I watched some TV in bed for a while, before everybody else was up and running around and turned the place into a mad house. I did some cleaning around the house…getting our room, the girls’ room and the kitchen all cleaned up. I finished up the last of our laundry. Eventually, my mom picked the big girls up for an overnight, which enraged little Eliza. She was so upset that she was left behind, so we decided to load her up and take her to the Mall of America to fill up her Build a Bear Care Bears. She was pretty leery of it at first, but eventually helped stuff them and got into it. We stopped at Rainforest Café for dinner…which was a mistake. We somehow lost our spot on the waiting list, so it took forever to get seated, it’s way too expensive, I think even more that it was before, and Eliza HATED the storms and animal noises. Lesson learned there! We finally got home for the night. Eliza took a late nap, and eventually joined Christian out in the garage, cleaning up and playing for a while. He ended up passing out with her, trying to get her to sleep, so it was an early night for everybody. Thankfully, tomorrow is a holiday, so our weekend isn’t over yet!

Until Next Week! XOXO