5/26/12

The girls were both up pretty early today. And, they were driving each other crazy. All morning long. Nonstop fighting, arguing, pushing, tattling. Good times all around. My mom offered to take Olivia overnight so they could get a break from each other...we welcomed the break at this point. But, we had some stuff to do first.

Christian fed the girls while I made my way down to the basement right away to clean up the living room, playroom and laundry room - and at least get the spare room in a state that you could actually enter it. I finished up just as the appraiser showed up to complete our modification appraisal. It didn't take him long. Turns out, he actually appraised the house when we bought it, so he didn't have to take measurements or anything. He was in an out pretty quickly, and hoped to get the appraisal in by Tuesday. Fingers crossed! It sounded like the appraisal really doesn't matter in the end - it's just a formality of the process, but we can't move forward until it's done, so LET'S GO!

Next up, we all got ready and headed to IKEA. One of our tasks this weekend is to make some good progress on the basement makeover. We have the TV hanging now, so we needed a new table to go underneath it. Of course, IKEA had just what we were looking for. We also grabbed some lunch while we were there - turns out they had a special "eat for free" thing going on this weekend - whatever you spent on lunch, was taken off your total purchase. So, yay for free lunch :)

After shopping, we dropped Olivia off at my mom's for the night, and Amelia passed right out in the car, and took a good nap once we got home. Christian ran to his parents house to get some tools, and we started putting together the new table. Now, anybody who has shopped at IKEA knows how ridiculous their "instructions" are, so that took longer than expected. I ended up having to take a break from the building to take Amelia over to Urgent Care. She still wasn't acting quite herself, and I decided to just make sure she didn't have an ear infection. Better safe than sorry. Her ears, lungs and mouth were all clear and fine. So, it's just another goofy virus. Funny enough, about an hour after we got home, she seemed right as rain, and we never had another issue. Perfect timing...

We ended up getting a "floating" table, so after we finished putting it together, we had to mount it, and on top of that, get all of the TV, cable box and DVD player cords run behind the wall/table. Turned out to be a much more time consuming project than I imagined! Christian's friend ended up coming over to help us out, and I eventually escaped to bed. Ha. In the end, they got it up, and it looks great! And, it was rainy and gross out all day anyway, so it was good way to pass the day :)

Today's Photo a Day in May is 12 O'Clock. So here it is...noon, strolling through IKEA, and midnight, still hard at work...

I also snapped a picture of the girls trying out their umbrellas before out shopping trip :)

Finally - Amelia turned 22 months old today. I cannot believe she's going to be 2 in 2 months! Whoa. She is turning into quite the diva, with a lot of attitude to boot. She has such a vibrant personality, it's just crazy. She talks more and more every day, and is becoming her own person with every passing day. It's so fun to watch!

5/25/12

Friday!!!!!! You all know how much I love Friday's!

Today started off with my weigh-in. Much to my shock, I was actually down. Not much, only .4, BUT considering I had my little vacation binge earlier this week, and haven't worked out all week, I'm pretty happy about that! I'm now down a total of 24.6lbs, in 4 months, and I'm happy with that. I'm really to get myself back on track this weekend, and push through!

Work was pretty good today. The day went by pretty fast, so that always helps. My friend Kelly and I ran to Carter's on our lunch break to do a little shopping. They are having a big Memorial Day sale right now, and I had a coupon...so we had to take advantage. Olivia needs pants/shorts, jammies and summer shirts...I picked her up some jammies and shirts - and found out a friend of mine is sending me some shorts/pants, so YAY! I picked Amelia up a couple one-piece outfits as well.

We grabbed some lunch, headed back to work and finished out the day. I ended up leaving a little early because we have our appraisal tomorrow morning, and I wanted to get some cleaning and picking up done. I was able to get quite a bit done...dishes, cleaned the kitchen and picked up the entire upstairs, and swapped out Amelia's closet. Yes, we are finally moving up from 12-18 months, to 18-24. My big girl. One thing I LOVE about switching out her clothes, is that I get to see all of Olivia's old clothes again. It brings back so many amazing memories to see those outfits, and watch Amelia bring new life to them. This set of clothes is from the time Amelia was born, seems like a lifetime ago!

My mom brought the girls home to me just as I was finishing up the upstairs. Christian arrived home shortly after and we ate some dinner together. The girls were having a rough day today - fighting, not listening and just not acting like themselves at all. Amelia was very emotional, and after dinner, she actually asked to go to bed, and climbed into bed herself. Poor thing. She didn't have a fever again or anything, but that exhaustion still seems to be there. So, we took our changes, and just let her go to bed early (side note, she actually did sleep all night long too....)

After dinner, I was off to my dress alterations appointment. My BFF is getting married on June 16th, and a woman I work with is doing the alterations....I was anxious to go in and see the results of the last few months. I ordered my dress when I first started dieting and exercising. I shudder to share these numbers - but I will anyway. When I was originally measured, they wanted me to order a 24. I decided to go with a 22, and thought I'd lose 20lbs by the wedding, which would give me another couple dress sizes to alter it down. Well, it has to be taken in at least 4 inches, and she said I could've ordered it another dress size or two down. That was so exciting to hear! YAY for positive news :)

When I arrived home, Olivia was laying on the couch. While I was gone, she had developed a fever. Again, I have no idea what's going on with these mysterious fevers! We gave her some tylenol and sent her off to bed. Hopefully she can sleep it off, whatever it is. Christian and I had grand plans of watching a movie or two tonight, but we were both so exhausted, we just relaxed on the couch for a bit, and then headed off to bed.

Today's Photo a Day in May is Unusual. Definitely unusual, my 22 month old asking to go to bed, and passing out at 6:00PM!

5/24/12

Today was a little bit back to normal. Both girls were up and off to school with minor issue. Christian and I were both able to work [long] just-about-full day of work. Happy to have some normalcy again!

We did each have to leave a tad early because we had our first ever parent/teacher conferences at school! YAY, I was so excited to really sit down with their teachers and find out how they were adjusting.

First up, we met with Olivia's teacher. It turns out, Olivia is one of the youngest in her class. She started there just after she turned 3, and her class goes up to 4.5-5 years. She has mastered a lot of things already - listening, manners, interacting with her peers. All SUPER great things, so I'm really proud. Especially that she's so good with the other kids when she wasn't exposed to that much before. The main things the teacher will be working with her on is writing/arts. Which, doesn't surprise me. We've never really been into coloring, arts and crafts, writing. They aren't really my thing, and she's never shown much interest in it, so we never really worked on it much. The teacher said she's certainly not behind in anything, but they were going to try to focus on that. She did say that Olivia is fairly shy at school, especially in group settings. It doesn't surprise me - since she was in infant, she's been a very independent child. I think she'll always be that way. All in all, a glowing report. She loves reading time, and the teacher is very impressed with her manners - that she always says "please" and "thank you", and said she's her only student that actually sits and eats without getting up or moving around. YAY, my girl!

Amelia was up next. Obviously you can't report a ton on an almost-2-year old, but it was nice to chat with the teacher. Amelia is pretty shy at school too. But, she is starting to stand up for herself more and interact with the other kids, which is great to hear. She loves story time, puzzles and baby dolls :) The teacher said she's such a sweetheart and loves having her in class, YAY! And, said she seems like she'll be ready to potty train any time now. We'll be starting that up in the next month or two - probably closer to her birthday. Apparently one of her classroom's aides is a WHIZ at potty training, so hopefully that will make things easier!

After conferences, we headed home with the girls. We had some dinner, played a little bit and took off to bed. Another day down!

Today's Photo a Day in May is Something New. While, not "new"...this is an old pair of my jeans, that are being given some new life. They don't fit perfectly yet, but they are wearable, and I'm very excited about that!

5/23/12

Well, Amelia still didn't seem herself this morning. I got up and ready for work like usual (again, too tired to drag myself out of bed to workout - seriously need to get back on track!!!!). Got Olivia up and ready for school. Then, checked on Amelia. She was still warm, and still sitting around that 100 temperature mark. Not serious by any means, but I just didn't think it was worth sending her to school and wanted to keep an eye on her.

Christian dropped Olivia off at school, and I stayed home with Amelia. I was able to get some work done so I didn't lose a whole day, or use a whole sick day. Amelia slept in a bit, then hung out in bed with me. After a little breakfast and cuddling, she fell asleep on the bed next to me for a while. She woke up a little refreshed and actually wanted to play. She still wouldn't really eat much, but she was running around, laughing, playing with her toys. Like my baby was finally coming back. She took a really long nap, so I worked and finished up for the day.

Christian and Olivia arrived home shortly after Amelia woke up. The girls ran around and played - I'm hoping Amelia is finally rested up and feeling better. I didn't give her any medicine today, trying to just let her body work itself out. Maybe that helped.

After dinner and a little chaos, it was time for baths and bed. Pretty low key day, and I will definitely take that!

Today's Photo A Day in May is Technology. Like most families, we have a lot of technology running through our house....TV's, a laptop, an iPod, a tablet, my smartphone, some gaming consoles (though, they never get played - useless). We love technology as much as the next person. Olivia has always loved it as well - she gravitated to the iPod at an early age and loves playing her apps. We don't get her any game or entertainment apps really, just the education ones. She doesn't really show much interest in TV, we don't plan on introducing her to video games for a long, LONG time, and she certainly won't have a TV or phone of her own any time soon - but she plays on the iPod and tablet a lot - it's fun watching her learn that way.

5/22/12

Well, today was definitely a very long day! The girls were exhausted this morning, so I decided to just get ready for work, let them sleep, and go into work late once they woke up on their own.

Olivia woke up pretty bright eyed and ready to go, so I got her ready. Amelia just did not want to get up, She was a little warm, and clearly beyond tired...and, Christian clearly did not want to go to work, so he decided to just stay home with Amelia today and let her rest. I dropped Olivia off at school, and headed in to work.

The day dragged on. I'm pretty sure the rest of the week is bound to do the same. I need a vacation from our vacation!

After work, I picked up Olivia, we stopped in to Target for a few things, and then made our way home. Amelia was still pretty tired, but perked up a bit and spent some time chasing her sister around. We ate some dinner and then Christian was off to his parents house because he forgot the dogs food and blanket there, and his mom had some leftover food to send home with him for work. I got the girls washed up and ready for bed. Amelia passed right out, poor thing slept the day away! Olivia wasn't far behind...after she wrangled some ice cream out of me :)

Another day down. Hopefully this week flies by! We have a 3-day weekend coming up, gardening and yard work to do, a basement to work on and a to-do list a mile long!

Today's Photo a Day in May is Pink. YAY, my favorite color. And, this house is definitely not lacking in pinkness...

5/21/12

Another fantastic day - well, except for everything coming to an end of course!

The girls slept in until 8:30, wouldn't that be nice if it were always the case! We had breakfast and started getting ready/packing up. The Stevenson crew was all up earlier than us, so they were packed up and ready to start the day as we were starting off. Lucky for us, they were gracious enough to come help us out so the fun could commence!

Once we had everything packed up, and loaded into the truck, we were off and running again. Back to the Indoor Water Park for a few hours.

We were finally all water logged and ready to dry off, so we headed off for some lunch, and stopped back in to the theme park for a few more rides, a few more games, and a lot more laughs and chatting.

After some final play time, we grabbed one last meal together, got in our final words and lots of hugs, and we all took off. It was really hard to say goodbye again, but I think knowing that we made another meet up workout makes me know that we'll be able to do it again in the future. Like I've said before, I LOVE having my mom groups online, they are my sanity savers, but it's hard knowing that I may never see most of them, and if I do, it's not likely to happen often. At least we always have the wonderful world wide web to keep us in contact!

So, off we went. Amelia had fallen asleep at dinner, and slept the whole way home. Olivia passed out before we hit the highway, and also slept the whole way home. YAY!!! Once darkness hit, I wasn't far behind :) Poor Christian was left to fend for himself. We had to pick the dog up on our way home because he hadn't been eating since we dropped him off. Big baby. So, we picked him up, and finally got home around 10:45. The girls went to bed, I quickly unpacked and rolled into bed. It's going to be a LONG day tomorrow - definitely should have taken it off!

Today's Photo a Day in May is Where I Stand. This is where I stood for a great portion of the day today :)

5/20/12

Dells Day!!!!

Yes, today was finally our first family trip to Wisconsin Dells. Not only that, but meeting my friend, Dawn, and her family there was the cherry on top. I was so anxious the whole way there, it was ridiculous!

I was up before the girls this morning...hopped in the shower to start getting ready. Christian was right after me, then we were able to get the girls ready, do the last of the packing, load up the truck and head out. First up, we had to drop the dog off with my in-laws. He's such a big baby, I'm sure he'll be miserable the entire time we're gone. Next up, we stopped for a quick breakfast at McDonald's (yes, starting off on a very healthy note...). Finally, we gassed up, checked the tires and fluids, filled the cooler with ice and hit the road at about 9:30. Olivia was so excited to finally be on our way to "vacation", but she passed out for a short time right after we took off. Amelia fell asleep a little while later, for a lot of the ride...

We arrived at our resort around 1:00.

We were able to register, but not actually check in yet. We purchased a Living Social deal last month for half off a family suite, and our stay included passes to the indoor and outdoor water parks, and the resort theme park. After registering, we headed to the theme park to wait for the Stevensons. The girls went on a few rides in the kiddie area, and played a few games. The swings were a HUGE hit with them, and they LOVED their first Ferris Wheel Ride :)

Finally, the Stevenson's arrived and we were all reunited! We all sat down for lunch right away and started catching up. It was so great to be together again, and the kids all got along right away, like they really remembered each other. Our families blended together perfectly, just like the last time we got together!

After lunch, we were finally able to check into our rooms, so we split, checked in, unpacked a little and changed into our swimsuits. We headed down to the Outdoor Water Park for a while, but most of the water was still a little chilly, so it was short lived...

Next up, we hit the Indoor Water Park, where we met back up with our friends for some fun. The girls were OBSESSED with the water slides. Amelia found one out in the middle of one of the kid areas, and probably would've gone up and down it all night long if we would've let them. They were so cute, and just had the time of their life. Olivia and Dawn's little boy, Spencer, really started hitting it off and started to become inseparable, which was SUPER cute.

Finally, we were all watered out and exhausted, so we headed to our rooms. We all got changed, relaxed for a bit, them met up back in our suite for dinner. We ordered in pizza, the kids played for a while, and we spent a little time chatting and catching up. Until we were so exhausted, we were practically falling asleep where we sat! We called it a night. The girls went down with little effort, and we passed right out after them. Such an amazing day, can't wait for more fun tomorrow!!!! But, not looking forward to the drive, or the good-bye's!

Today's Photo a Day in May is Something You Can't Live Without. Of course, my little family fits this one. We aren't perfect, and certainly would never pretend to be. We are real, we have problems, we fight, we drive each other crazy...but we love, and we are there for each other, and we live life to the fullest. We never pretend to be what we're not, we never lose sight of reality, and we love each other, in all of our faults! I think too many people try way too hard to look, act and pretend to be perfect - and I think that's sad. I say, relish in your faults, and help each other grow and evolve!