8/1/12

Well, it’s our first day as a house of 9, and it was a great one.

Christian had to work, so he was gone long before the house was up and running. We had some breakfast when everybody was up and mobile, and spend a little time chatting and getting reacquainted. Olivia was SO excited to see her friends again, and it was great to have them here, live and in person.

After breakfast, we all finished getting ready for the day, and were off on today’s adventure. It was a little chaotic getting into the swing of it with so many people, but we finally got out of the house around 11:30, stopped into Starbucks for Dawn, and made our way to Hyland Park in Bloomington for the day. The kids had a blast running around, and getting soaked in the misters. It got really dark shortly after we got there, sprinkled for a couple of minutes, and that was it. The sun came out, it warmed right up and it ended up being a perfect day outside. We had a picnic for lunch, played a little more, and then made our way home.

The girls and I arrived home just as Christian got home from work. We started dinner while our friends stopped into Walmart for a few things. We all ate together, and then spent the evening relaxing, bathing the girls, watching the Olympics and chatting the night away. It was tough getting the kids to go to bed in the new environment, but they were all pretty exhausted and finally went down. Christian has to work again tomorrow, so Dawn and I caught up for a little bit before passing out as well. Day 1 down, and it was quite successful!

7/31/12

LAST DAY OF WORK FOR SIX GLOREOUS DAYS. HALLELUJA!!!

And, it was indeed a crazy day. I will be working a TINY big while I’m off…keeping up on my e-mail and trying to keep as much circulating as possible. So, I caught up on as much as I could, set up some draft e-mails to send out while I’m off and the day was over before I knew it.

My mom watched the girls today because I pulled them out of school for the whole week. They obviously weren’t going to go tomorrow or Thursday with our friends being here, and if they are out for an entire week, we only have to pay ½ of our tuition. So, YAY for saving money! I picked the girls up after work and got them fed, while Christian mowed the grass, then he pretty much took over. He watched them and got them to bed as I did some laundry, did some final picking up and cleaning and ran to the grocery store to pick up some snacks, beverages and meals for the week.

Christian was only able to get Friday and next Monday off of work, so he has to work in the morning. He and the girls went to bed while I finishing up some laundry and waited for our guests. They ended up arriving around 1:30AM and basically went right to bed. I can’t wait until the morning to see Olivia’s reaction. So happy they are finally here!!

Olivia is usually afraid of the lawn mower, but tonight she BEGGED for a ride with Daddy....

7/30/12

Well, Monday again. It definitely sucks, but a little less than usual seeing that I only have a 2 day work week. Things at work are going to be crazy today and tomorrow through, trying to plow through as much as I can before I’m off for SIX DAYS STRAIGHT. Man, I love the sound of that.

After work, Christian picked up the party leftovers and brought them over to his parents’ house so that I could clean up the house a little bit. I cleaned out the spare room and washed the bedding. Yes, you can FINALLY see the floor and bed in the spare room again. Happy Day! I picked up the tiny mess from the birthday party in the basement (thank GOD for summer birthday’s, and being able to be OUTSIDE, leaving the house nice and clean!) and then it was basically bedtime. One more hectic day, then our friends will be here, and we’ll have a whole new kind of chaos going on! Can’t wait!

Amelia did get in some play time with her new toys tonight, LOL. Headbands, a picnic and a princess book. That's what I call a pre-bed party!

7/29/12

Today was a pretty good day. Christian partied it up a little too much last night, and was definitely feeling it today. I can’t fathom the desire to feel like that, ever, especially when you have two toddlers running around the house. I just don’t get it.

So, the girls and I spent the morning together. We played with Amelia’s new toys, did a little picking up around the house and got ready for the day. Today, we were all off to Olivia’s BBF Bella’s birthday party. Bella turned 4 on Friday, and Olivia was SO excited to celebrate with her today and give her a present. They ran around all day, played in the pool and had so much fun together. Bella is a little more aggressive than I like, and I can see Olivia is pretty reserved around her, but she seems to love her to death so it must not be that bad. I’m guessing she was a little more aggressive than usual since it was her party, at her house, with her family and friends around, but I was a little put off by it. It was nice getting to know her parents though. Her mom is really nice, super friendly and welcoming. Really laid back. Her dad is actually from Mexico City too, so he and Christian hit it off really well. Hopefully we can spend more time with them. They live so close, the girls love each other, and we have a lot in common with them - as long as they can play a little nicer, I think it's a great match all around.

After the party, we made our way home for a relaxing evening. No cleaning, no people, limited noise. Just what we needed after the chaos of the last week or so. Tomorrow, we start getting ready for our houseguests, and I couldn’t be more excited!!!

Here are a couple pictures of Olivia and Bella, so happy to be playing together...

7/28/12

Today was an exciting day…Amelia’s birthday party! YAY.

The morning was hectic, getting everything ready. Christian cleaned up the yard and garage, got a quick haircut, picked up some ice, set up the tables and chairs and grilled the brats. I cleaned the kitchen and dining room, set up the food table, made some pasta salad, ran to Target to get the cupcakes, Party City for the balloons, got the girls ready, and did a little decorating. My mom came over a little early to help us set up and get ready, along with Christian’s friend from work. We were actually ready for the party, when it started, for pretty much the first time in history!

Just about everybody showed up right on time, at 3:00. The kids had a blast playing in the pool and bounce house. We also borrowed an inflatable water slide from a friend, and that was a hit with some of them too. We had water balloons galore and the most amazing weather ever. Hot enough for water fun, but not miserable. We had dinner, cupcakes, cracked open the piñata, opened presents and had a blast catching up with our family and friends. Everybody was so generous, and it was just a perfect day.

Christian’s parents and my dad and stepmom hung out for a while after the party to chat, clean up and relax. As they left, we put the girls to bed. Christian and his friend from work made their way over to the neighbor’s house to hang out for a while, and I cuddled into bed for some much needed relaxation. Another great party down, another spoiled little girl very happy. 2^nd birthday, officially over.