7/9/11 - Busy, Busy Bee's

Today was a pretty busy day for all of us. Turns out, Olivia didn't sleep all that great at my mom's last night (nor did my mom), so she had a pretty long night (and a pretty crabby day). Amelia slept well though, all night again. But, she was still crabby today anyway. While all 8 teeth are out, two of the top ones are not quite all the way out yet, and I think those are really bothering her. I feel so bad for her, I just hate teething so much!

We hung out and relaxed this morning, ate some breakfast, then got some stuff done. Dishes, vacuuming, cleaning the kitchen...it was a regular party!! Amelia napped, we got ready and then were off to run a couple errands. Home Depot to FINALLY buy some plants to repot that LONG dead pot of plants and the auto part store....IMAGINE THAT! Christian has been taking my car to work to save some gas money, and the first day he realized my car is shaking...really bad. I knew it was, but I guess I'm just used to it. So, he picked up the piece he needed to fix that.

Shortly after we got home from shopping, my mom showed up to deliver our toddler to us. And, she was up to her usual shenanigans right away. Throwing fits, throwing stuff, making a mess....just another day! Amelia did receive a very special package in the mail today...my July 10 due date group did a birthday gift exchange, and she received her present today. It was a very cool little toy, with lots of gadgets and fun stuff on it. She LOVED it. Thank You to our special "elves", Yadira and Sebastian!

We ate a quick dinner, then Christian was off to his parents house so his dad could help him with the car. I was off to meet my BFF and her family for her nieces annual birthday balloon launch. As I mentioned last year, her niece passed away a few years ago, after battling a brain tumor for several years. So, every year on her birthday we get together and send her some birthday love. I'm honored to be a part of it every year, and the girls actually let their balloon's go this year...YAY!

After the festivities, I stopped over to his parents house so they could see the girls. I'm sure it's a nice little break with me being home, but they definitely miss having then around. I was a little offended by my mother in law tonight though. She kept going on and on about how it's "time" for me to stop nursing Amelia...that she needs to learn to go to sleep without food/nursing, and that it's basically making her too attached to me. I guess I don't understand why it's anybody' business really. Amelia has always taken the bottle great, no issue going between, so it's not like it affects her in that way. She's taking her sippy cups great now, so we should be able to wean her from the bottle pretty easily, by just putting her "bottles" into the cups instead. What bothers me even more, is that of course Christian just sits there agreeing with his mom, because like usual "she knows best". I guess Christian and I have never really discussed it, but I don't really have any intentions of "cutting her off" completely any time soon. I'm hoping to stop pumping by the end of the month (well, if I ever go back to work that is), but I just planned on letting her wean herself when it comes to bedtime. It's a special relationship, a special bond, and I don't feel ready to give that up yet. And, for that matter, I don't think Amelia is either. Either way, I don't think it's anybody else's concern.

Here are some pictures of Amelia opening her very first ever birthday present, and from the balloon launch.

7/8/11 - Hangin' With the Fishes

Today was a very fun day! The girls slept in AGAIN until 8:30! Man, I love it! Amelia was up in the middle of the night again last night, I hope it's just her teeth and not some horrible sleep regression going on!

Thankfully I took the initiative to back the diaper bag, lay out the girl' clothes and shower last night (hoping they would sleep in again), so we just ate a quick breakfast, got dressed and were on our way. There is an aquarium at the Mall of America, and they were offering free admission to laid off state employees this week. The girls are both free anyway, and we've never taken then, so I had to take advantage of the offer. My mom and a friend of ours, both also laid off, went with us and we all had a great time. I hadn't been there since it first opened, YEARS ago, and they've made a ton of changes to it, including a super awesome new jellyfish exhibit, so I was excited to get back there and check it out. It was so great of them to have this deal going on.

After the aquarium, Olivia went with my mom to spend the night with her. While a little peace and quiet is nice, it never feels quite right without that crazy girl running around the house! Amelia and I just headed home. She passed out on the way, and took a nice long nap. So, I had time to watch a little TV, eat some lunch and just relax. Christian worked late again, and picked up some dinner on his way home.

After Amelia passed out, Christian and I watched a little TV together and hung out. And with that, my first week of playing the stay at home role came to a close. It's basically what I expected...actually went a little better than I anticipated. Olivia had a few rough moments here and there, but nothing too bad. We kept ourselves busy, slept in, took nice long naps, got stuff done. I'm excited for a weekend of little chores...YAY!

Here are some pictures from our trip to the aquarium.

7/7/11 - Lucky 7

Today I was reminded of one of the many reasons I am a very lucky lady. I've mentioned it here and there in the past...but when I became pregnant with Olivia, I joined the "community" on babycenter.com, specifically the January 2009 birth club. Within that club, each week had it's own "due date" group, where I was able to make a lot of personal connections with several ladies. It was great having this group of women, literally going through the exact same things that I was, through pregnancy, delivery and beyond. Over time, we became friends on facebook and were able to become even closer over the past few years. Well, I did the same thing with my July 10 "due date" group. It's a much smaller group, and we really bonded (I think because it's such a small group). We did a secret santa exchange for the kids this past Christmas, and we're doing a birthday exchange this month. The mom that "drew" Amelia's name went WAY above and beyond, and actually bought me a gift! I was so shocked when I checked the mail today. There was a package from Amazon in the mailbox, so I just assumed it was Amelia's gift. As I peeked inside, I was surprised with a beautiful necklace. Our little group was named "Little Rubies", and the necklace is a an angel shape, lined with little rubies. It was so sweet, and definitely a bright spot with everything going on right now. Lucky, I am, indeed!

The girls slept in again today, YAY! Luckily, Amelia slept all night last night. I'm guessing the Motrin we gave her last night helped with that. Stupid teeth. After some playing, eating and showering, we were off to tackle this weeks shopping, so, to Target we went. The girls did really well...I had treats to keep them busy, and we took our time. After shopping, I quickly put the groceries away, then we were off to meet my dad and stepmom for lunch. They offered to come down, hang out with us and take us to eat, so I couldn't pass that up! The girls were pretty exhausted by the time lunch was done (probably because it was WAY past nap time), so they passed out pretty fast..another loooong nap! DOUBLE YAY!

By the time the girls woke up, dinner was just about ready, Christian was home doing some yard work and I was VERY worried about what kind of mess we were in for at bedtime. Christian and Olivia hung out in the yard for a bit, while Amelia and I watched a little TV (the Big Brother 13 premiere to be exact!!). Then, it was off to bed...a little later than usual, in hopes of them actually going down. Which, they did! Yippie!

Here is a picture of the necklace I received today, so beautiful! And, Amelia has officially mastered her straw sippy cups now, and she is OBSESSED with them. She always has a cup with her now, carries them everywhere she goes. Her are a couple shots of her...with her cup, and so proud of her ability to suck the water out finally.

7/6/11 - A Day At the Park

Well, it's just another day around our house. Christian continues to work early and late, probably will through next week too catching up from the busy holiday. The girls slept in again, which was great. I'm hoping that continues for as long as I'm home, that's for sure! Amelia woke up in the middle of the night and would not go down. She ended up staying in bed with me for a little while, until she finally passed out.

Once the girls were up, we ate some breakfast, got ourselves dressed, and were off to the park for a while. Olivia flocked right to the other kids at the park, which is good and bad. Good because she's outgoing and loves to be around other kids, bad because she likes the older kids, and likes to do what they do. I don't like to hover, and I like that she experiments, tries new things and isn't scared, but at the same time, it's hard to watch her do things that could injure her. Amelia and I hung off to the side, did a little swinging, and she explored for a little while. It was way too hot out though, so we didn't stay super long. Even though she was all sweaty and gross, she still didn't want to leave, and threw a fit. That was fun..I was dying from the heat, carrying Amelia in her carseat, and trying to wrangle Olivia up. Oh, the joys!

We all ate some lunch, and the girls were off for another nice, long nap. YAY. I never knew how truly amazing nap time was until now! Christians' mom has told me she has the girls nap at different times, and I really don't understand that one bit. That is MY time...and the house is nice and peaceful so they both get some good sleep. I love it.

I started dinner shortly after the girls woke up, Christian arrived home again just as it was getting done, so we didn't have much family time tonight. The girls were SUPER dirty from our park fun, so they got a good scrub down, then we were all off to bed. Even though I don't have to get up early, I'm still ready to pass out as soon as the girls go down. LOL

Here are some pictures from the park.

7/5/11 - Now It Feels Official

Well, I really feel like I'm laid off now. Friday would have been my Friday home with the girls regardless, and yesterday was a Holiday, so today it really sunk in that I'm laid off. Ouch. And with that, my morning was spent on the unemployment website. Not fun!

The girls were VERY exhausted today after their long weekend. They slept in until 9:30! Olivia even went back to bed after she got up to go potty this morning...you KNOW she must have been exhausted to do that! Once they were up, I made them some breakfast and filled out my "paperwork". We played for a little while, but the girls barely made it to nap time they were so tired, so after a quick mini-lunch they were off to bed again. And, took the worlds longest nap! I'm continuing with our usual weekend routine...having Olivia nap in our bed, and Amelia in their room. They sleep much better on their own at nap time for some reason, so until Amelia is a little older, I think that will be our usual routine.

So, I had plenty of time to myself. I continued working on moving pictures from our old computer online. Almost done with 2009 finally!! I'll be happy when that's done, and we can sell that desk and the computer accessories! Clean Up, Clean Up! Once the girls were up, we picked up from our day, made some dinner, and waited for daddy to get home...of course he worked some OT after the Holiday, so it was a bit of a late dinner tonight.

After dinner we took a nice long family walk through the neighborhood. Then, it was time for baths and bed. Christian cleaned up the outside once Olivia was in bed...between that, and my cleaning earlier, you'd never know we had a house full of people yesterday! YAY.

Amelia was rocking some pretty crazy bed head all day today, so I just had to snap a picture of that!

7/4/11 - Happy Independence Day!

I hope everybody had a wonderful, safe 4th of July today!

Our day was hectic, as every 4th of July is. While I wavered for the last couple of weeks, I ended up giving in and agreeing to have people over to celebrate like we usually do. So, we spent the morning cleaning up and making sure the house was presentable. We all got dressed in our 4th of July best, and waited for our co-partyer's to show up. Then, we were off to the parade. Like usual, it was very hot and steamy out, but we survived the whole parade this year (it helps when you're not 9 months pregnant!). So, we made our way back home, Christian fired up the grill, I put Amelia down for a nap, and the party started. Olivia had a ton of fun playing with Andrew all day, we got plenty of time to catch up with some friends, hung out with our parents for a bit, and tried to stay cool....which was near impossible.

Once it started getting dark, we lit off some fireworks, started up the fire pit and ate some s'mores. It was a very long, very hot day, but so much fun! Now I have to prepare for the reality of being laid off, and being a stay at home mom tomorrow! On the exact 10th anniversary at my work nonetheless! That must be at least be a little bit ironic!

Here are some pictures of our 4th, including one of Amelia, ONE of the times she ended up in the pool fully clothed! She's sneaky!

7/3/11 - E.X.H.A.U.S.T.E.D

Our household is definitely exhausted after our long day today! First, we were up and at em' bright and early this morning. Scarfed down a quick breakfast, threw together a bag, and were off to spend the morning with a couple of my cousins, some of their friends and family, and lots of little rug rats for a play date. We took all of the kids over to a park, played some sports, played at the playground, and let out lot of energy. Then, went back to my cousins house for some sprinkler fun and grilling for lunch. Olivia had a BLAST with all of the other kids, and got to play some princess dress up with my cousins little girl, which with her new found LOVE for princesses, was a dream come true for her!

Finally, we were on our way home. Amelia passed out on the way, and Olivia passed out as soon as her head hit her pillow. Christian and I relaxed for a while, and before long, we were on the go again.

Shortly after the girls woke up, we were off to the local family fun night. We had so much fun there last year, and knew Olivia would be in heaven. We started off, of course, with the animals. She was a little more nervous about them than last year, but she warmed up after a while. She loved the bunnies and the ducks...but of course the ducks just kept running away fro her. We tried feeding the goats, but they were way too crazy...Olivia kept getting mad because they kept "stealing" the food from her. LOL. After the animals, we checked out the fire truck, grabbed our free ice cream, then hung out at the dance party for a while. Amelia thought that was pretty funny. Once we were danced out, we grabbed some dinner, then were off to the rides. Of course, the bounce house was our first stop, followed up by the big bounce slide they had. Olivia was obsessed with the slide, she had so much fun. But, then a group of bigger kids came along and pretty much took over. I was really annoyed by it, so we just moved on. We took a spin on the carousel, and she went through the fun house all by herself. Such a big girl!

Then, it was time to head home. We stopped for a quick pony ride on our way out, of course...she sure does love her pony rides! We ended up getting some pretty good coupons in the mail for some fireworks, so we stopped to buy some on our way home. Then, it was time for baths and bed. A VERY long day behind us, and another long on on the way tomorrow!

Here are some pictures of our adventures today!

7/2/11 - Two and a Half

Well, we had big plans today, but none of them panned out. It was actually beautiful outside today (you know, that day or two of great weather between the unseasonably cold and the ridiculously hot kind of weather), but we really didn't take advantage of it. The girls slept in a little, but were quite crabby most of the day. I have no idea why. Christian and I ended up cleaning the house most of the day. I picked up the basement and cleaned up down there....we scrubbed the play mats and the dog kennel, vacuumed the upstairs and picked up toys after toys. How we managed to accumulate so many toys over the last few years, I have no idea! Before we knew it, it was already getting pretty late. We spent a little time outside before bedtime, then Christian was off to hang out with my cousin for a little while, giving me some peace and quiet, all to myself! YAY!

Today, Olivia officially hits the two and a half mark! It's so crazy to me. I don't think you can truly understand how fast time goes, until you have children, and you watch them blossom right in front of you. I am constantly amazed by what Olivia can do, what she can understand, what she is already capable of. She loves to help (sometimes, to a fault). People are usually pretty shocked by her conversation skills...she talks so much. She has ALWAYS repeated everything people around her say, and I think that's why she's become such a great talker so early. We never have any trouble figuring out what she wants, what she wants to do, and she loves to sit down and have full blown conversations. I just love it. It's kind of funny, but we get a lot of comments on her great utensil skills as well. LOL.

She has been fully potty trained for a couple months now, with virtually no accidents. She took to it like a moth to a flame, thank goodness! She's been in her toddler bed for a few weeks now, and she loves it. She's still a little bit of a picky eater, but I stand by my "if you don't eat it, you go 'hungry'" philosophy, and it seems to work for us. She is still the same rebellious, care free, dare devil that she's always been...climbing up and on everything, jumping off of anything, talking to and playing with anybody. She just seems to LOVE life, and everything the world has to offer so much. I just love living through her.

She does not go back to the doctor until she turns 3, so I don't have much for stat updates. I know she's still hovering around the 30lb mark. She wears mostly 3T clothes because of her height. She usually has to wear adjustable shorts or a belt though because of her waist. She uses regular cups (unless we're on the go), and pretty much insists on it. Her love for everything Mickey Mouse seems to be coming to an end, an she's moving quickly onto the world of princesses. So, looks like we'll have to start collecting some princess stuff now! She may be rough and tough, but she's a girly girl at heart, that's for sure!

So, here is a picture of my 2.5 year old....it's truly hard to believe! Love you bunches baby girl!

7/1/11 - LAID OFF

Ugh, it breaks my hard to even mutter those words. I am laid off. Wow, it still seems to unreal to me. I never thought this would happen!

Today is my regular day home with the girls, so I don't think it's even truly hit me yet. The shutdown is all over the news though, but just like anything else, the media surrounding it will start to die off, and people will stop caring as much. Now, we just wait, and wait, and wait. The Governor has decided he wants everyone to "have a break" over the Holiday weekend to "cool off"...so they don't even have any talks scheduled. Awesome.

It's pretty hot today, our weather has been so inconsistent lately. S0, other than spending a little time playing in the pool and sprinkler, we pretty much stayed inside most of the day. I woke up with a massive headache, and Olivia was acting out all morning, so she was sent to her room a couple time. The day was pretty much just a normal day around the house...playing, picking up, eating, naps. Nothing too exciting. I got caught up on the blog and spent some time on the computer. Christian worked some OT today, typical for Friday. His mom bought us all some take out for dinner, and stopped over to eat with us. The, it was time for bed. So, it was a fairly low key day for us. Just, letting reality sink in!

Here is a picture of the girls in the sprinkler. Cuties!

6/30/11 - Today is the Day

I'm about to turn in for the night, and I'm filled with so many emotions. The day has come...our final chance of avoiding the shutdown and layoffs has come and gone. I am, officially, laid off (along with 35,000 other state employees, including my mom, my aunt and two cousins, along with friends and co-workers I care about deeply). I don't like this feeling. I can honestly say, I never in a million years thought I would be in this position. I was fortunate to get a temporary summer position at my work shortly after graduating high school. I was even more fortunate to be asked to stay on permanently, and 10 years later, here we are. Working for the government is no cake walk or free ride by any means, but it's nearly impossible to get fired...yet, here I am. Essentially fired. I won't even be there to celebrate my 10 year anniversary with the Department, which is next Tuesday.

Today was a very difficult day. The building was full, but there was an eery silence echoing through the building, you could see the stress and emotions on the face of everybody you passed. While a majority of employees worked hard to keep a positive attitude, keep a sense of humor about themselves and work through the stress, it was a very somber day. As I got ready this morning, I honestly felt like I was getting ready for my last day of school. Like I was about to say goodbye for the summer to all of my friends.

We pretty much knew this morning that it was a done deal. The [democratic] Governor and the republican leaders have been meeting in secret for a while now, and once they finally come to an agreement, they will need to call back the entire legislature, vote on each individual bill and pass them into law. That all takes time, so there was no way it would happen. Our Department started shutting down rest areas yesterday, construction sites have been working on closing down for several days now...the wheels have been in motion.

As quitting time approached, I set my out of office reply on my e-mail, recorded the standard voicemail we were instructed to use, and I dropped my badge in the office envelope on my way out the door. As I walked to my car, I watched a sea of employees leave the building with their boxes and bags of personal belongings, their plants...each with a slightly lost look about them. I got in my car and pulled out of the lot, for the last time in who knows how long, and all of the emotions finally erupted. I let out a few tears and all of the fears started to set in.

What's going to happen now? How long will we be out of work? Once we go back, what will the future agreed upon budget have in store for us? Are we going to make it? I have a never ending stream of questions running through my head, and they just won't stop.

For now, I choose to focus on the silver linings. I get the chance to spend some much needed quality time with the girls. I have the chance to focus on myself a little bit, get in some nap time work outs and get myself back on track. Depending on how long we're out, I'll have time to get ready for our upcoming Duluth vacation and for Amelia's birthday party, without running around like a chicken with my head cut off. If there was ever a silver lining, this is definitely a good one!

So, that's where I'm at right now. I'm a big ball of emotions and not quite sure what to do with them right now. But, here's a picture of my little baby girl...Olivia was sharing grass with her. Awesome!