9/24/11 - Party (1) & Housework

Today was a pretty good day all around.

With no time to spare this morning, we ate a quick breakfast, and got ourselves ready for the day. We were off, nice an early, for a lunch time birthday party. My cousin Jeff's little girl turned 4 this week, and they threw one heck of a party for her today. There were tons of "carnival" games and prizes for the kids. It was a lot of fun, and gave me some really great ideas for Amelia's birthday next summer!

After the party, we were off on quite an adventure to get home. The highway we had to take home was completely closed. THANK GOD for GPS, because while I've lived in the area my entire life, we were at a complete loss on the best way to get home. But, the girls were passed out pretty much the whole ride, and we ended up on quite a scenic route, which is great this time of year with all of the changing leaves. So, it wasn't the end of the world.

The girls continued to nap for a bit once we got home, so I finished up the laundry while Christian mowed the lawn...possibly for the last time this year. Once the girls woke up, we ran to Home Depot to pick up a few "winterizing" items they had on sale, and stopped in to Applebee's for dinner. We had plenty to time to just hang out as a family, and it was a pretty good time. The waiter talked me into ordering a "Perfect Margarita", which is really FOUR margaritas, and I drank them all! LOL. It was a well deserved "pitcher" of margaritas though!

Finally, we settled into the house for the evening. The girls were thoroughly entertaining tonight, it was one of those nights that reminds you why you have those crazy little rugrats in the first place. We re-hung the monitor (which, PS, we thought was DEAD this morning when we couldn't get it to turn on...until YOURS TRULY figured out how to fix it), I cleaned up the house (which, PPS, an invisible tornado must have made its way through), we put the girls down, and it was time for some much needed R&R! Saturday Night Live, the laptop, some Apple Crisp and Ice Cream...PERFECTION!

Here are a few pictures from the party. Fun, fun! Tomorrow is birthday party #2 of the weekend! What better way to spend a weekend, than celebrating the amazing little lives we bring into this world?!

9/23/11 - Mom Down, Again

Today was a tad rough, for me anyway. It was my Friday home with the girls, which is great, except when I wake up with a pounding headache. But, we toughed it out, and survived. Olivia actually "took care" of me this morning...she could tell I was not feeling well. She had me lay down, covered me up, and kept asking me if I felt better yet. It was actually really cute, almost worth the pain. The girls actually got along AMAZINGLY today. In some ways, it was a bad thing though. First, they were playing in their room...I decided to just let them be since they weren't fighting...until Olivia came running out with the [once hanging] monitor camera in hand, and the room was in shambles. Next, I heard a loud crash, found them playing in our room, and realized they had broken a glass cup that was on my nightstand. Finally, I gave the girls a bath because Amelia's diaper rash has flared up again...I did not realize that while I was getting them out of the back, they had plugged the drain back up, and I found them both later, splashing away in the little bit of water left in the tub.

I swear, you can't win. They are either fighting with each other, driving you crazy, or they are getting along, conspiring to reek havoc on the house. I guess, in the end, it's always better to have them getting along.

Once nap time came around, I started on some laundry, and caught up with the DVR for a while. It was time to start dinner right about the time the girls woke up from their nap, then Christian arrived home. We had turkey, cheesy potatoes and broccoli for dinner...Olivia kept asking for "more trees"....who's kid is that?!

After dinner, we played and goofed around for a while, then, it was off to bed for those girls. Christian and I sat around the bonfire for a while and chatted. It was nice, relaxing evening. Just what we needed!

9/22/11 - 4 Years

Well, 4 years ago today, Christian and I were married. It was such an amazing day, it's so hard to believe it was 4 years ago already. It's even harder to believe how much life has changed in those 4 years. Good, bad, easy, hard, fights, love, arguments, laughter. So many amazing memories, already made. Buying our first home, having our girls, struggling (like most of America) to live paycheck by paycheck, yet provide the best for our girls. Friendships lost as priorities shift, yet amazing friendships formed because of those changes. I think with every bit of bad, we get double that in good, strange as that may sound.

In the end, while it seems like just yesterday I was walking down that aisle to my groom, that day, that couple, that life, seems like a lifetime ago. Sometimes I look back and wish that we would have enjoyed our married life, just the two of us, for a while. But, then I see our amazing creations, and I know that I would not have it any other way.

In reality, today was just another day really. Work is getting crazy again, but I'm doing the best that I can to stay ahead of things a little bit. A local radio station, KS95, sponsored a State Employee appreciation lunch today on the Capital grounds, so a bunch of us stopped to check it out. We got free lunch from Subway, and they had a few games to play. I ended up winning a $25.00 gift card to a local restaurant in one of those blowing money catching games, which was pretty cool.

After work, I washed some dishes, cleaned up the kitchen and made dinner. The rest of the house arrived home just in time to eat, hang out for a bit and head to bed. Some celebration!! LOL

Here are some pictures, celebrating the biggest accomplishments in our relationship. Our wedding, 9/22/07, buying our first house, 11/15/07, the birth of Olivia, 1/2/09, and the birth of Amelia, 7/26/11. With each step, we become that much more complete.

9/21/11 - Nada

Today was a nada kind of day. I paid for taking the bulk of the day off yesterday...as if I wasn't falling behind enough already, I go and take a day off! Oh well, a girls gotta do, what a girls gotta do!

Christian's mom invited us over for dinner tonight..fried taquitos, rice...YUM. So, we ate and hung out over there for a while.

Amelia put on quite a show for us all tonight. She had all of these new, hilarious tendencies that just crack me up. She walks around like a little sumo wrestler, and randomly yells "baaaaa" (she thinks she's saying boo). She walks around like a monkey, just using her feet and fists, laughing and laughing. If you put a pillow and blanket down on the floor, and tell her to "go sleepy", she'll come running from wherever she is, lay down, and pretend to be sleeping. Also, if you ask her (or, anyone really) for a kiss, she'll come running, giving "kisses" the whole way over to you. If you lay down on the floor, and pretend to be asleep, she'll come over, crouch down right by your head, and stare at you, right in your face, until you react to her. Then she cracks up like she's the funniest person alive. She's seriously the cutest thing EVER!

Olivia has been doing really well lately too. She has this new found amazing talent for the game "Memory". The is really starting to get her letters and numbers (by sight and sound). She's helping out more and more around the house, picking up toys, helping us with Amelia, letting the dog in and out. I'm working on a new "reward" chart plan for her, hoping that it will get her to do these things more and more, and hoping to encourage her to be kinder and nicer to Amelia. Hopefully it will work! Though, she has been doing pretty good lately. Hopefully we've turned a corner with that sibling stuff.

Craigslist is finally starting to pay off for us. We've sold the swing and the desktop monitor, and we should be selling the portable swing and printer this weekend. Just have the keyboard, changing table, bouncer and now the USA Baby Gift card left! I REALLY hope we can sell that gift card, and soon! It's a lot of money though, so I know it's going to be tough. It's posted now though, so fingers crossed!

Anyway, that's my random update of the day. I got this super cute picture of Amelia tonight...my angel has that little bit of devil inside, that's for sure!

9/20/11 - "Me" Time

Today, I had some "me" time. It was GREAT!

I did get up and head in to work this morning. I had a few things I really needed to take care of, and it forced me to actually get up and at it early, so it worked out well. It rained on and off all night, and all day today...kind of gloomy, but much needed. There was a beautiful rainbow this morning that I basically followed right to work, and as I drove around a curve on my way in, the sun was rising right in front of me, and it was seriously one of the most beautiful sunrises I've ever seen. Made up for yesterday's super crappy drive a little bit!

I finished up some rush work, tied up some loose ends, then left work around 10:3o.

I stopped home to do some cleaning, a little relaxing, went through my coupons and made out my shopping list, then I was on my way to run some errands. First up, I stopped into USA Baby to check out the car seats. Turns out, they don't have much of a selection, and they are just a little too pricey, even with the gift card. So, I'm not sure what we're going to do. We really need to get Amelia a new car seat, SOON, and we don't need anything else from there. I'm thinking that I'll try to sell it, but we'll see. Next up, Target, for my usual, weekly shopping.

Finally, I was home. I unloaded the car, put everything away, and made dinner just in time for the rest of the house to arrive home. The rest of the evening was pretty low key. Olivia watched a movie on the computer, Christian and I watched a little TV, and Amelia had free reign over the toys. It was a good night for everybody!

Here are a couple of bath photos from tonight. My girls will sure love me for all of the bath photos I have :)

9/19/11 - Holy Traffic, Batman!

This morning's drive SUCKED. Yeah, I said it, it sucked. The highway I take to get to work was closed this weekend, and they didn't have it opened back up all the way in time for this morning's rush hour...one lane, WAY TOO MUCH traffic, made for a 2 hour drive for me. Ouch.

Work was pretty crazy. I had a long meeting that took up most of the day...between that, and being late, I pretty much spent the day going through e-mails and voicemails. Makes it kind of hard to be productive.

Apparently Christian will be working a little more OT than usual this week. Works for me! We don't have many plans for this week. A couple of birthday parties this weekend, but that's really about it. It's supposed to be pretty chilly and rainy this week (fall is definitely coming), so I dug out the girls' warmer clothes and fall coats! Crazy, I can't believe how fast this summer went!

Well, that's about it. Nothing to great to write about today, just a little random recap! Here is a little snap of my baby, giving me kisses! She LOVES kisses!

9/18/11 - Another Great Weekend, Check!

Well, I received a call, bright and early, this morning from my stepmom, asking if I wanted to bring the girls over for a little play date today. I hadn't seen my dad for a while, and it's always good to get the girls around other kids, so I took her up on the offer. We ate a family breakfast, then it was time for us girls to get ready. Lucky dad gets to rest off his late night all on his own!

We got over to my dad's around noon, played, ran around, had some lunch and ice cream and caused a little chaos. The girls started getting pretty tired, and I think my dad and stepmom were too, so we were all on our way home a few hours later.

The girls fell asleep on the way home, and proceeded to nap for a while. I planted myself in front of the TV to rest for a while and take advantage of the quiet. Once the girls we up, we all just hung out for the night. Ate some dinner, watched some Disney movies and had a laid back end to the weekend. Another good one in the books!

9/17/11 - Kick off to Fall

Today, we officially kicked off the fall season! In the first of many fun activities, we spent a good part of the day at the Apple Orchard :)

The girls slept better last night, but still not great. They were up VERY early, but luckily we tricked them into going back to sleep (after a short time anyway). Once we were up for the long haul, we ate some breakfast and spent some time relaxing and hanging out. It was a little gloomy all morning, so we had our fingers crossed that the weather would cooperate for our big day outdoors.

Finally, it was time to get ready, and hit the road. In tradition, we were off to Aamodt's Apple Farm, and like last year, we met up with my BFF and her son Andrew. Of course, Olivia couldn't get enough of him all day, like usual. The kids had a blast riding the tractors, picking apples and just acting like goofy kids. We filled up our bag, picked up some yummy apple crisp and cidar in the shop and were off on our next adventure...Teddy Bear Park in downtown Stillwater. I've wanted to visit this park all summer, but we never made it out. The kids had so much fun, it was great. And, being in Stillwater reminded me of our summer vacation to Duluth. I don't know why we don't spend more time in Stillwater...it's such a great little down, right on the river.

The kids were pretty worn out, so we finally packed in it, and made the long haul home for the night. Christian went out with a friend to watch the UFC fights, so the girls and I hung out. It was a rough start. I think lack of napping got to Olivia, because she was MAJORLY acting out. With a time out and a good talkin' to, she finally calmed down and distracted herself on the iPod for a while. It was nice when the girls were off to bed, and I had the whole house to myself. Just me, and my words with friends addiction :)

Here are some pictures of our fun today!

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9/16/11 - Sweet Friday

Friday, hear that overwhelming sigh of relief....

First, it was a pretty long night. It's getting pretty cold around here, but of course not cold enough to resort to heat. The girls' room got a little cold overnight last night, so Amelia had a hard time staying asleep. She was up a few time, needing a little comfort and recovering. It made for a rough morning. It was a LOOONG, busy, but very productive week at work this week though, and I'm happy to see it come to an end though. I need a weekend like nobody's business! Today was another hectic day. Meetings and trying to get some big projects sent out. I was sure happy to see quitting time come around, that's for sure!

In other good news, it looks like we may finally be able to take away another of Amelia's bottles! YAY. We've continued giving her a bottle of warmed milk before naps and bed, to help fill her up and help her fall asleep. Well, my mom got her down for her nap today without a bottle, no problem. Awesome! And, I'm thinking she probably doesn't REALLY need her bedtime bottle if she's just going to goof around and chat with Olivia before bed anyway. So, hopefully that one won't be far behind!

Christian worked late tonight, of course, so the girls and I just hung out, waiting. It was a pretty boring night for us. We were both pretty beat, and pretty much passed out as soon as the girls went down. Just another exciting Friday night in our house!

Here is a picture of Olivia watching a movie on the computer...one of her new favorite activities. With supervision by the cat, of course.

9/15/11 - Progress, Finally

Today was a pretty standard day. Well, except the fact that it was actually below freezing when we woke up this morning! There was actually frost on the ground! LOL. I'm not QUITE ready for all of that yet, but that fresh, cool air felt really nice this morning. It's hard to believe, but I think fall is really knocking on our door now!

Work was work...Christian is starting early all week, so he's been getting up bright and early with me (and I've been having to get the girls up and loaded in the car by myself....). I ended up leaving a little early today because we FINALLY have some people stopping over to buy some of our sale items, so I wanted to tidy up the house and make sure the stuff was clean and ready to go. We've been trying to sell some baby stuff (swing, bouncer, changing table) on Craigslist for a while, with no bites, so I keep reposting them. And, we're trying to sell our old desktop computer items now too. Well, tonight we finally sold the swing and the computer monitor! Yes, finally making some progress. I sure hope we can get the rest of the stuff sold, and next up I'm going to try to sell our old DVD's and CD's. I figure, it's time to start getting rid of some of this stuff we never use. I go back and forth on selling the girls' clothes as Amelia grows out of them. I just can't bring myself to do it quite yet though.

So, Christian hurried home as soon as he picked up the girls, we ate some dinner amidst the sales, watched The Little Mermaid for the 10th time this week and took it easy the rest of the night. The girls have been goofing around and chatting for a while before they finally fall asleep at night lately. It's fun to watch and listen to them, but I sure wish they wouldn't stay up so late! LOL

The girls were taking turns wearing the camera tonight; I managed to get a cute picture of each of them. They thought it was pretty funny.