6/25/11 - Game Day

Today was a day I look forward to all year long...Game Day! Every year my dad's side of the family gets together at my Grandparents' house for a croquet tournament. We play other outdoor games and just spend the day together as well, but the tournament is the main attraction. Of course, it rained today. But, we play rain or shy (it's serious business). It never got too bad, but I was quite wet from time to time, that's for sure.

Olivia was in heaven with all of the other kids. Just playing the day away. Amelia was so well behaved, I couldn't believe it! I thought for sure she'd be attached to my hip from the minute we got there, but she was quite a social butterfly.

Neither Christian nor I had a very impressive croquet day. But, that's OK. We got to eat lots of yummy food and spend time with everybody, so that was good enough!

We headed home, a little past bedtime, and the girls went right to bed. They were beyond exhausted, so this better mean a nice long night of sleep! Christian was off to hang out with my cousin for a little while, so I had a nice, quiet night to myself.

Early this afternoon my mom called me with some news. She's heard that a friend of mine from high school was killed in a car crash this morning. It was so surreal to me. Christine and I were not best friends by any means, but she was a great person. So caring, the nicest person you could ever know. I don't think in all of our school years I'd ever heard one bad thing about her. She was engaged to another guy we went to school with, they'd been together since 8th grade! Can you imagine, to be so young, having spent over half of your life with somebody, and lose them this way? I just can't even fathom the though.

Reports came out later that she was driving on a two land road, and was hit head on by another vehicle. The other driver was 19 years old (minor injuries), and it's being reported that she was drunk. I can't tell you how much this enrages me. There is no excuse for drinking and driving, NONE, but even worse, at 19 years old, at 8:3o in the morning?!? It just breaks my heart. The accident itself is so tragic, but to find out why it happened in the first place, makes me so angry.

So, my thoughts and prayers go out to her family, friends and the many people who's lives she's touched. She was taken WAY too soon, and it's truly not fair in any sense of the word.

6/24/11 - Finally Friday

Yes, it's Friday again. FINALLY. The end to another long, very stressful week. Today was a pretty low key day. Some people at work are starting to have pretty bad attitudes. I feel like there is no excuse for that. We are ALL in the same position right now, and we don't have any control over what's going on, so what is the point in coming to work with bad attitudes, throwing fits, pouting and just all around acting like a toddler. I get enough of that crap at home, I shouldn't need to put up with it at work. Too bad you can't get reprimanded for being crabby! LOL

I did get an awesome facebook alert halfway through the day that Old Navy facebook fans could get tanks for $2.00 today, so a coworker and I made a quick stop on our lunch break. Can't pass that up! So, that turned things around for me a little bit!

After work, it was apparent that my mom had a LONG day with the girls. Olivia was up to her usual ways, acting out towards Amelia. I took the girls to Target, did a little shopping, and we met up with Christian back at home for some dinner. After dinner we headed over to my BFF's new house to check it out. Olivia burned off some much needed energy playing with Andrew and his cousins, and we got in lots of laughs with Kari, her sister and the guys. The girls passed out right away on the way home, and we were not far behind.

Here is a picture of Amelia, after devouring some cookies. Lucky duck!

6/23/11 - Double Congrats for by BFF!!

Today was just a typical Thursday for me. Work, which included a meeting that turned pretty ugly. We had a little group meeting to talk about some processes and make sure things are working well within the office...I knew before the meeting even started that it was going to turn ugly just because people take things so personally and want to act like everything is an attack on them. So, just as I expected, that's exactly what happened. I swear, half the time I truly feel like I never left high school with the drama that goes on at work!

Today was an ultra amazing day for my best friend though. She closed on her first house today, and was so excited about it. I'm so proud of her! Then, to top it off, her boyfriend FINALLY popped the question, so she got engaged on top of it!! I'm so excited and beyond happy for her. Things are going so amazingly for her right now, and she definitely deserves it! So, I feel like I'm going to have quite a busy year ahead of me helping her wedding plan, but I wouldn't have it any other way! YAY.

We just hung out around the house tonight. Nothing too exciting. Here is a picture of Amelia...you can probably guess what we had for dinner tonight!

6/22/11 - And, Repeat

Yeah, today is pretty much just a repeat of yesterday. Nothing too exciting going on, again. Work was work, the girls were the girls, and home was home. Just the usual.

I don't know if I've given a teething update lately, but Amelia has her 8 front teeth now. YAY. Hopefully that means we'll get a little break from teething for a while. The last 2 top ones still have a little ways to come out yet...she still gets a little crabby, and she'll nibble, or even BITE me, so I think they get a little itchy still. It's crazy..it took her SO long to get her first tooth, and then they came in like a lightning bolt!

So, that's my pretty boring update for the day. Here is a picture of Amelia, in my shoe box. LOL

6/21/11 - Just Another Tuesday

I don't have a ton to report on today. Work was pretty crazy, catching up after being gone all day yesterday. But, I feel "caught up" now. I have just the right amount of work in my inbox (and nothing has been sitting there for 2 months), I've been keeping up on my e-mails and routing. It feels great! There have been rumors here and there about Christian going to work in Wisconsin again, but it sounds like that probably won't be happening again. Sounds like they are finally getting everything straightened out and are on top of things. I think he's a little sad about it, but I think it's for the best. It's just not the best time for him to be traveling around and doing all kinds of stuff. The OT sure is nice though! Hopefully they'll find some more projects for him, closer to home. I know he likes having the chance to do and learn new things, that's appealing to him.

We haven't been up to a ton at home lately. The weather is hit or miss every day. Lots of rain, so hot days, some cold days. The girls are doing about the same. Amelia is walking more every day, and definitely starting to fight back when Olivia picks on her. She puts up quite a fight when Olivia tries to take things from her or push her around...and for being so small, she's freakishly strong! Olivia gives her lots of love and help these days, and is sharing more and more every day, but when she does act out, it's worse than ever. More violent and over the top. Maybe because she sees Amelia fighting back, she things she needs to be tougher? I'm not sure, but I hope it's just a really long phase and she does get over it at some point.

So, that's pretty much up update for today. Not really anything going on with us, so we're pretty boring right now. We played outside for a while tonight, so I snapped some pictures. Christian was trying out the sprinkler, of course the girls couldn't resist, and he and Olivia planted some grass seed.

6/20/11 - Training...Blech

So, today I had an all day training class. Talk about torture. I seriously hate training. Probably because I really don't learn well in that kind of atmosphere. I'm definitely a hands on, throw me into the fire, kind of learner, so it's seriously like death for me to sit there, ALL.DAY.LONG listening to somebody talk and try to teach me something I know absolutely nothing about. Thank god a few other people from my office went with me, so we were able to entertain each other. And, we it was a online training, so I was able to check my work e-mail and get some work done while I was there! Probably frowned upon, but since my supervisor was sitting right behind me watching me the whole time, and didn't say anything, I'm guessing she didn't mind too much. LOL. And after training, she ended up just sending us home even though it wasn't quite quitting time yet. So, bonus!

I made my trip home, and was able to get all of the laundry put away and do a little cleaning. After Christian picked up the girls, he stopped at an auto body shop to have them check out his tires. One of his tires is bulging, so he wanted to talk to them and has been getting some price quotes. Little does he know, he is NOT replacing any tires until one actually goes out. While he did that, I was also able to order the last of Amelia's birthday party stuff that I needed to. We're basically ready...I'm going to stop into the dollar store and party supply store sometime this week to pick up table cloths, silverware, order some balloons and pick up any final little decorations I need. Then, we'll just need to get food and we're set! I can't believe it's just over a month away!

Finally, they all arrived home. Christian fed them some dinner while I finished up dishes and all that usual stuff. Then, it was time for baths and bed! There was such an amazing breeze tonight...the way our windows face, we don't often get a breeze in the house, but tonight it was just perfect. We are supposed to get some pretty bad storms overnight, so I'm a little worried that we have a sleepless night ahead of us. Fingers crossed that's not the case!

I FINALLY got a decent video of Amelia walking. It takes a little time for her true talent to show, but it's cute. She's getting better every day!

6/19/11 - HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

First and foremost, I must with my dad, a very happy Father's Day! Even though we don't see each other daily, or spend a ton of time together, he's always there for me, and is such a great man! So, I hope you have a great one, Dad!

Of course, I also have to pay tribute to my other half, the most amazing baby daddy I could ask for. Christian is definitely my rock, and when it comes to parenting, we MOST definitely complete each other. Is the the calm, when I am the storm, he is my support, when the days get too long. He is the push when I get too overbearing. He is such a great male figure in our girls' lives, and I honestly could not ask for more. Neither of us are perfect, but together, we make the perfect match. I love you, and the amazing provider, husband, father and caretaker you are!

Olivia was up bright and early this morning. But, she did AMAZINGLY in ber big girl bed last night. She didn't get out of bed at all, I'm so proud of her! I must share a funny story though. After Christian put Olivia down, I was watching her on the monitor while I fed Amelia. She was sitting there, talking to herself, like usual. I panned the camera over to look at Amelia's bed, just to see what it looked like, and when I panned it back to Olivia, she was sitting there, staring up at the camera. She slowly crawled over to her pillow, laid down, covered up and went right to sleep. I was cracking up, she obviously noticed the camera, and her reaction was just priceless. So, this morning, she brought me into her room to tell me the camera moved. Poor thing, I'm sure it scared her a little bit, but it really was hilarious.

Anyway, Amelia decided to sleep in today, so we spent the moning watching cartoons in bed with Olivia. She also gave Christian his Father's Day cards and gift...tickets to today's Twins game was his real gift, but I picked him up a new, heavy duty, grill brush because he's been whining about getting one forever. Finally, Amelia was up. We had omlets for breakfast, showered, got ready, packed up a bag and were on our way to the game.

Our seats were really good, in the outfiend, up under the 2nd level so the girls were out of the sun, close to the commons so we could get up and walk around when they got antsy, and right on the ailse which of course is ideal with little ones. The weather was great, the girls were relatively well behaved, and entertained the people sitting around up quite a bit, and they WON, which was just icing on the cake!

After the game, Christian dropped me off at home so I could finish up some laundry (yippie), then headed over to his parents house to spend some time with them. I eventually met them over there for dinner, then we all made our way back home, to bed. Our very exhausted little girls went right to bed, and we were not far behind. Hoping for another successful night in the toddler bed, that's for sure!

Here are some pictures from the game! Als0, note, the dress Amelia is wearing is the same dress Olivia wore to her first Twins game. However, Olivia was just over 5 months old (picture at the end)!

6/18/11 - New Love...And New Milestone

I have a new love...working on the weekends. I'm sure that sounds completely disgusting to most people, but I think I would honestly switch my schedule if possible to work on the weekends!

We were up bright and early this morning. I was hoping for some sleeping in after our late night last night, but I definitely got my hopes up too high there. After a little "waking up" time, and a quick shower, I was off to work. I finally had a free weekend day, Christian didn't have anything going on, I was off yesterday and I'm gone at training all day Monday, so it was the perfect time to go in and get some stuff done.

No ringing phone to ignore. No constant stream of e-mails coming in (enhanced greatly with the recent shut down notices that went out). No noisy coworkers. No cubicle crashers interrupting me. Just me, my radio and my computer, putting in some good, hard hours. I only ended up staying for 3 hours, but I got SOOOO much done in those 3 hours.

The rain rolled in just as I was leaving the building. I headed home, with a quick stop at the post office to buy some stamps and mail Amelia's birthday invitations out (YAY, more party progress!). Then, I pulled into the garage, it was definitely nap time, and I was excited for some peace and quiet....only to be met with the little baby squeals and giggles from Amelia as I walked into the house. Even worse, Olivia, while in her crib, was wide awake talking to herself as well. Grrrr. So, I took Amelia and nursed her to sleep, and Olivia eventually dozed off.

Christian spent the rest of the afternoon napping as well...apparently when it rains, he doesn't have anything to do. I spent the rest of the afternoon doing laundry, paying bills and having a little quiet computer time all to myself.

We made a big switch today....Olivia is no longer in her crib as of tonight! AHHHHHH. I swore I wouldn't do this until I absolutely had to, but after the other nights middle of the night accident because she couldn't get to the potty, it is time. So, we mounted the new monitor (LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it by the way), and changed her bed from the crib to the toddler setting. We're attempting the no side rail thing right now, so we'll see how it goes. She is VERY excited about her new big girl bed. I, am not. Praying that we don't have a long stream of long nights.

So, that's our Saturday!! Here are some pics of the big bed switch, including our awesome monitor, I just had to share! Of course, Olivia had to help take the bed apart. And, the girls already had to have a little party in the new bad together. It warmed my heart to see that actually. I can't believe my baby is big enough to be in a big girls bed! So sad!

6/17/11 - Day of Randomness

So, here are my facebook posts from today:

"is spending the morning watching baby shows on TLC...awwwwwww, ♥ me some baby shows. BABIES!!"

"It's hotter outside than it looks. Payday Friday means take out for dinner; repeat craving for Thai going on. Chicken nuggets and fruit all around for lunch! I've resorted to having the toddler nap in mommy's bed on my day off just to get a nice, LONG naptime. We are officially pulling the plug on one of our potted plants, RIP. I need to stop watching baby shows because it's making me have bad thoughts. That is all."

"I love my weeble wobble walker. I love that my girls took LONG naps today and are actually getting along. I love that my honey is bringing me Thai food for dinner. I love our new kickass baby monitor. I love that I finally caught up on SYTYCD today. I love that I still have DQ cake in the freezer. YAY for ♥!"

And, that about sums up the day...lots of randomness. It was my Friday home with the girls. Olivia was shockingly, curiously good today. She was actually nice to Amelia, played with her, listened well. I was pleasantly surprised. After the girls were up, we all ate some breakfast, hung out for a bit, watched some TV and got dressed for the day. My maternity leave obsession with baby shows was back in full force today, so I spent the morning watching them. Man, it makes me want a baby so bad. Nothing like baby shows, pregnant women, new babies, etc. to throw your baby fever into full effect! I often worry that I'll never get over that desire to be pregnant again. I'm sure, it will one day pass though.

After all that excitement, I loaded up the stroller and we were off on a walk to the park. I decided to try out a new park, and it ended up being a much further walk than I anticipated. On top of that, it was incredibly humid out....I was not expecting that. By the time we got there, played, and got home...I was sweating like it was going out of style, my feet were killing me because I definitely wore the wrong shoes, and we were all very exhausted. So, I heated up some chicken nuggets, cut up some fruit, and that was our lunch. The girls quickly went down for their naps...Olivia in my room, Amelia in her crib. I was longing for a nice stretch of alone time, and this usually does it for me!

While the girls napped, I caught up on some DVR wonderfullness, cleaned up a little bit, and ordered some takeout Thai (again) for Christian to pick up on his way home. I got a surprise text from the BFF asking if she and Andrew could stop over for a while, so we had some fun guests make a surprise appearance. We quickly ate some dinner, then spent some time in the back yard. I realized a few things. 1) We definitely need to re-pot one of our plants, the dead flowers in it make me sad. 2) Chuy needs to be fixed, like REAL bad. 3) There are an ungodly amount of bugs around our house, and it's grossing me out.

After they left, we put the two dirtiest girls I've ever seen in my life into the bath, and then they were off to bed. It was quite late by the time they went down, so I'm hoping for a little bit of sleeping tomorrow! Our new monitor came in, and I was really hoping to get it up tonight, but of course it has to charge and all that jazz. Boo, can't wait to try it out tomorrow!

So, that was my day of randomness. Here are some pics from the park today.

6/16/11 - I'm Too Old...

Going to a concert, on a week night, definitely reaffirms the fact that I am, indeed, Old.

I fully intended on going in to work late today. I was going to get up just in time to drop the girls off, then go home, and sloooowly get ready and head in to work. However, my loud sleeper of a husband had different plans. He decided to keep me up most of the night with his snoring/loud breathing, so as I laid there, awake, at my usual time to get up, I figured it was pointless to go in late at that point. Not to mention the middle of the night event we had...Olivia had to go to the bathroom during the night, and didn't call out for us in time, so we had a little accident. Her first accident in a LONG time, and first ever during the night. Poor thing.

So, off to work I went, barely awake, semi-zombie, and that fact was very obvious to everybody at work. I spent the day doing some catch up from my early day yesterday, and was given a few rush items to get done, which didn't, so I think I will for sure be heading in for a while this weekend to get some stuff done.

After work, I stopped into Target, again, because I forgot to get Christian some new socks yesterday (seriously, the man goes through socks like crazy). I checked out the kid clothes while I was there and picked up a few clearance stuff for Olivia. Finally, we all met up back home for a spaghetti dinner and some family time. A pretty low key, very tired Thursday. But, I was on cloud 9 still after the great night last night, so that kept me going :)

Christian laid down some fertilizer tonight, so we played outside for a little while. I got a cute picture of Amelia checking out the flowers :) Love her cute face!