10/30/10 - Getting Festive...

Today was a good day!

Olivia was pretty excited to have us and her grandparents there to play with when she woke up this morning...I don't think she quite understood what was going on. We were treated to a yummy breakfast by Christian's mom...YAY for that! Christian and his Dad did some work in the garage, hanging up racks and trying to get some stuff up off the ground (of course, to make room for more stuff....). I managed to get a few loads of laundry done and get the girls down for their naps. It was quite a productive morning!

Finally, his parents got the go-ahead to move into their new place around 1:30, so they were all off to get the truck unloaded, while I showered and got ready, and got the girls ready, for tonight's Halloween festivities!

Kari, Jay & Andrew, along with Kelly, Nixon and Meeka came over to carve pumpkins! It's our annual tradition, but is much more about the kids now, which is just that much more fun! Kelly brought some Mr. Potato Head like things for the girls to use on their pumpkins. Olivia was much more interested in running around with Andrew and playing. Of course, 6 year old Andrew is much more on par with her type of "playing" than poor little Meeka...Olivia is just far too rough for her liking! Poor thing. Eventually, everybody headed out for the night, which Christian and I cleaned up and relaxed. I actually stayed up and watched Saturday Night Live...I haven't done that FOREVER! Now we're all just SUPER excited for Halloween tomorrow....we just can't wait!

10/29/10 - Long Day

Today was a long day...but, at least it's Friday! Work was busy, for both of us, as usual. Today was my mom's day to watch the girls, so at least I did get a break from dropping them off and picking them up! And, she has a much more successful day with the girls too! She said Amelia was a completely different baby...thank goodness! The probiotics are definitely working!

After work I came home and took over kid duty. Poor Olivia has the worst diaper rash in the world right now. I have no idea what's going on, but she was just miserable. I cleaned her up and just let her sit around diaperless for a while...she thought that was quite fun actually. Then, I stuck her in a nice warm bath for a while, and that really seemed to help. After that, she seemed like a whole new little girl. She ate some dinner and was happy as can be again.

Christian went right from work to his parents house to help them pack up the last of their house (they are moving over the weekend). What we thought was going to take "a couple hours", ended up with him not getting home until 10:00. I had already gotten the girls to bed and cleaned up and was ready to pass out! His parent's are staying over at our house tonight because they can't move into their new place until tomorrow, so they hung out for a while...I could not hang though!

Right now, we are just VERY excited for Halloween weekend! The girls are going to be SOOOO cute in their costumes (and Olivia loves hers, so keeping it on won't be an issue). We're carving pumpkins tomorrow and spending time with friends. Sounds perfect to me! Here's a picture of Amelia in her milk coma after eating. I just love that!

10/28/10 - Another Lazy Thursday

Well, the trend continues. It's Thursday, and we weren't up to much! Christian had to work a little over time tonight, then headed over to his parent's house to pick a few things up that they are giving us. The girls and I just hung out at home and relaxed. Olivia was a perfect little angel for me too...she even ate ALL of her dinner! That never happens, I just about passed out. Amelia spent a really good amount of time on her play mat, which was a real treat. She even just about rolled over (back to tummy - the REAL kind of rolling over) while she was playing! It's WAY too soon that!

Christian finally got home, and picked some Taco Bell up on his way. So, we just spent the rest of the night hanging out. We watched "Scared Skrekless" on TV...Olivia loves Shrek so she was mezmorized! And, we watched Charlie Brown's "Great Pumpkin". She was more into that than I expected. Finally, it was time for baths and bed. I am so grateful that the girls love their baths...they are total water bugs, and it's wonderful. Even if we have to get Olivia into the bath by telling her she's going swimming...whatever works!

I thought I'd show off the cats tonight! I still think they're cute too :) Rico has his water beard because he likes to drink from the wrong side of the bowl. I just love Frank's baby blues, and Chloe, my sweet girls, was hiding out downstairs by herself. My poor loner, I don't know how she's survived all of these changes over the years!

10/27/10 - Taken A Turn For...Boring?

So, after months of adjusting and chaos and craziness, I think life has taken a turn for boring around here! I don't know if that's a good thing, or a bad thing...maybe a mix of both. It seems like since hitting the 3 month mark, Amelia is becoming quite "easier". She spends time on her mat, or just sitting on the couch watching TV. She isn't crying as much...it's more when she's ACTUALLY hungry, or needs her diaper changed rather than constant random crying. After a short bought of not so great sleep, she's back to sleeping right through to 4:00/4:30, which works for me! Olivia seems to be losing a little bit of her "interest" in the baby, which helps a ton too. If the baby is fussy or crying, she'll want to "help", other than that, she pretty much leaves her alone. She gets a little jealous still...I always have to make sure I say "hello" and give her a hug when I pick them up before I even think about looking at the baby...but overall, she seems like she's finally adjusting to this new world of being a big sister.

It's still hard to find time to do everything. Every night we get home, and Christian and I both have lists of things we need to do...but obviously one of us has to be on parent duty, so it's a never ending battle of who's stuff is "more important" and who needs to just wait...somehow I always get screwed into waiting though...not sure how that seems to be happening.

So, in the end, it was a pretty low key, normal kind of day. Work, dinner, play, baths, bed. Basically, the usual! You don't get more peaceful than this...ahhh, sleeping baby!

10/26/10 - 3 Months!

Oh boy! Our little peanut is 3 months old today! It's hard to believe, it seems like just yesterday I was in the hospital, now she's just this non-stop growing little thing!

Amelia is doing very well these days. She's been on her probiotics for a full week now, and I really do think they are helping. She's staying up for longer stretches during the day, still sleeping through the night - most nights - (barely qualifying for that title though). She's laughing and smiling up a storm now. She still moves non-stop, she can scoot herself pretty far across the room now, and she can roll over onto her sides. She'll be making the complete turn any day now I'm sure! It just seems WAY too soon for all of this to be happening! Her "hand eye coordination" skills are growing by leaps and bounds...she can follow us clear across the room, she watches us go around the corner, and will continue to watch, waiting for us to come back; she's grasping things/toys/string/etc. VERY well all of a sudden - she has QUITE the grip! All in all, she's doing just great!

She's still nursing like a champ, and I've still been able to pump more than enough every day. SO HAPPY about that! 3 months is the first big "goal" when it comes to breastfeeding, and I'm so proud we made it. Formula free for 3 whole months! YAY. Now, time to work on hitting that 6 month mark!

In other events...I was off to the dentist today. I hate the dentist! But, I actually have pretty great teeth, so it was a VERY quick appointment. I had to get x-rays today since I was pregnant at my last appointment. Everything looked perfect. So, whoo hoo for that.

After work, we all just hung out around the house. Amelia passed out on the way home and took a nice little nap, so we were able to spend some time with Olivia, and we were ALL able to heat a nice hot meal together! Success :) We're in the midst of our first fall/winter storm right now. It's been raining/snowing all night and day, and is supposed to continue on to tomorrow. It's been in the 20's in the mornings, and barley reaching 40 in the afternoons. WOW, it seems like things changed very quickly. It's supposed to get back up into the 50's for Halloween, hopefully that forecast sticks! But, yes indeed, winter is on its way! So, after dinner, Christian started the annual project of putting plastic on the windows. So far, only 3 are done, but we'll get there. Also time to drag out the humidifiers, the winter coats and the boots! Oh my!

10/25/10 - HORRIBLE!

Today, was horrible. Last night, was horrible. Amelia has been a really great sleeper, for weeks now, but completely fell apart last night. She's going through the dreaded 3 month growth spurt, and that definitely showed last night! After a late night watching the game, Amelia still wouldn't go to bed last night. I finally got her down around 11:30 (thank god it was Sunday, so I had time earlier in the day to make bottles for tomorrow and wash everything...my usual before bed chore). So, I finally fell asleep shortly after that....but it was short lived. She was up screaming around 2:30 and would not go back to sleep. She just wanted to eat and eat and eat. Finally, she calmed down, finished eating and I was able to take a nice 30 minute cat nap before it was time to get ready for work. Ugh...I REALLY hope there aren't more nights like this in our future!

So, I was basically dead woman walking all day at work. We had a birthday party for somebody at work...of course I forgot my contribution in all the chaos. Luckily, they let me join anyway. After work I was off to do the weekly shopping, and Christian picked the girls up. Thankfully both the girls went to sleep nice and early (and easily), so we will be able to pass out at a decent hour ourselves!

But, no matter how tired I am, how could you be mad at this face?!

10/24/10 - I Say Relax!

Well, we did not do a whole lot tonight. We were pretty exhausted by the long day and late night yesterday, so we just took it easy. Skipped most of the chores. Christian made us all a yummy breakfast, I hung out with the baby most of the day, Olivia was her usual entertaining self. The weather hasn't been too great, so we were stuck inside. Since the Vikings had the Sunday night slot, we were able to grab a nice nap while the girls napped today. It was WONDERFUL! I don't remember the last time I actually got to do that. After naps, we just continued our hang around the house doing nothing routine.

Olivia managed to ware herself out pretty well throughout the day, and actually went down to bed right as the game was starting. It was the big Vikings/Packers match up, so that's a pretty big deal around here! We didn't want to miss it! Well...turns out we probably should have just missed it. The Vikings threw away another game. They had countless chances to win this one (including a Vikings touchdown, ruled NOT a touchdown, even though it WAS a touchdown - and a Packers touchdown, ruled a touchdown, even though it was NOT a touchdown, but our lame coach didn't challenge it). So yes, between the bad playing and the REALLY bad calling, we lost....very reminiscent of the Saints game last year actually...

At least Olivia looks cute in her Vikings gear though :)

10/23/10 - Busy Busy Day

Today was kind of a mish-mash kind of day.

The day started off well. We all just hung out around the house. Christian trimmed some of the bushes outside, getting ready for winter! We just took it pretty easy. After nap time, we were off to a birthday party! My cousin Lindsey's little girl just turned 1, and today was her party (rescheduled from last weekend). So, we all got ready and were on our way. Olivia had the time of her life. There were lots of other kids for her to run around with and play with, she loved it. Amelia, did NOT share her opinion. She cried, and cried, and cried some more. We managed to make it through dinner and cake, but finally had to pack up and leave before present time because it was just too much. Once again, we were forced out of a party :( But, at least Olivia got some fun in, and we got a little time to catch up with some family.

We made the last minute decision to order tonight's UFC fight. Don't ask me why, but I LOVE UFC. It's weird, but I do. So, Christian's friend from work, and my BFF Kari came over and we all hung out and watched the fight. We managed to get both of the girls down to bed, and I was all geared up to have a couple drinks and relax...well, instead I kept falling asleep and my one drink lasted me through the entire fight! I'm awesome!

Of course our camera battery died shortly after we got to the party, but we managed to snap a couple pictures first...

10/22/10 - Oy...

Today started off VERY rough! It's my Friday off, so I spent the day with the girls. YAY for that. However, Amelia had a very hard night last night. She's always slept really well at night, so I don't know what was going on. But, at around 1:30 she woke up, and she and I fell asleep together in bed. I'm not big on co-sleeping, but sometimes it's just so nice to cuddle! She woke up again at the "usual" time, ate, and would not go back to sleep in her bassinet...so I kept her with me again. Finally, Olivia started waking up, and Amelia woke up, so we all ate and started off our day. At about 10:30 I had an "Oh Crap" moment when I remembered that Olivia had a Doctor's appointment...at 10:05! Dang. Luckily it was actually just a "nurse" appointment to get some shots, otherwise they would have charged me for missing it! They were able to fit me in this afternoon, so after lunch and naps, we all got ready and to the Doctor we went.

Now, this was my biggest challenge to date! The nurse was running late, so we ended up waiting in the lobby for about 25 minutes. Amelia started getting really fussy, so I took her out of the car seat and held her while Olivia played. Finally, they called her name. Here I am, holding the baby, carrying the car seat, trying to shuffle Olivia towards the door. She was NOT cooperating, and I looked like a complete idiot. Finally this sweet lady came and helped me get Olivia through the door. I had to put Amelia back in her seat so I could hold Olivia down for her shots, so Amelia started freaking out right away. Olivia started freaking out as soon as I sat her on the table, ended up getting her hand loose, grabbing the needle and scratching her leg pretty bad with it, but was fine as soon as it was all over. Finally, we were all on our way, and I was exhausted! NO MORE doctor's appointments when it's just me and the girls, that's for sure!

Amelia passed out on the way home, so Olivia and I took advantage of what is supposed to be our last nice day of the season, and played outside for a while. Coloring on the sidewalk, rolling on the grass and having a good ol' time. Finally Christian was home...I made dinner, did the dishes, we gave the girls their baths, put them to bed, and I finally had a chance to pay the bills and get on the computer for a while!

BEST NEWS OF THE DAY: Today marks my one year non-smoker anniversary! One year ago today I quit, and I can't believe I made it. It's been so hard..it's still hard. Every day I think about it and wish I could smoke. I guess in a way those feelings are always going to be there. But, here we are, I pushed through all of the stress and temptations and I made it! I'm so proud of myself!

10/21/10 - Yet Another Thursday

Today was just another ordinary Thursday for us. Work was busy, as usual. Christian has still been getting his hour or two of OT every day, which is great! We took it pretty easy tonight. I was just simply exhausted, and decided all of the dishes and cleaning up could wait until tomorrow! I love when I don't work the next day, and don't have to wash bottles/pump parts and make bottles for the next day. It sounds like a simple enough task, but it's nice to get a little break...makes me even happier that we don't have to worry about bottles :)

Here's a picture of Olivia trying to teach Chuy how to play the keyboard...poor Chuy...