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Sunday, November 10, 2013

2013 - Week 45

Here we are, Week 45. It's hard to believe, 7 short weeks left of 2013. This week was a long week of unexpected illness. Ay.

Monday, did not start out as expected. I was just about to hop in the shower to start getting ready for work, when I heard Olivia crying out. I ran into their room to find her throwing up on her bed (sorry, a little graphic start to the post). I got her up and into the bathroom, and Christian helped her while I got her bed cleared off...and trust me, the heightened pregnancy senses were in FULL MODE, and I barely kept from losing it myself. Clearly, she wasn't going to school. She didn't have a fever or anything, but complained that her tummy hurt. So, I got her set up on the couch, got Amelia up and dressed for school (she couldn't stop talking about the fact that she did NOT throw up on her bed all morning, a little funny to lighten the mood). Christian dropped her off, and I settled in to work for the day. With Olivia not feeling well, I knew she'd just be cuddled up on the couch, watching her videos and relaxing, so I figured I'd save the leave time and plow through some work. She seemed to be doing a little better by the end of the day, so I packed her up to head to school for conferences, and to pick sissy up. Conferences went well. Olivia is doing great in Pre-K. She loves music and art (my little creative bee, I love it), she gets along with all of the other kids, helping everybody and getting everybody involved in different activities during the day. She's a leader in her own way, and that excites me. However, she does get a little aggressive, and is still learning to use her words with the other kids. She's pretty much still in an emerging state with most of the Pre-K skills, but I'm not too concerned since they didn't really start the curriculum until September. Amelia is also doing great. Her teacher just loves her and her crazy personality, which warms my heart. She's actually mastered almost all of the Pre-School skills already, which is pretty fantastic. The main goals for her now are getting her to write her entire name, and count to 30. She loves art and Spanish, and she's a great teacher's helper. Another great round of conferences, I'm so proud of my babies! Post-conferences, I picked up some dinner, we met Christian at home to eat, and the girls were off to bed shortly. We watched this week's "The Walking Dead" and pretty much passed out ourselves. Quite a day.

The Healers were hard at work today

Tuesday was a long day at work. I spent most of the day catching up on e-mails, and getting the work I did at home up and going. The day went pretty fast, but it was long nonetheless. I picked up the girls, and they had a decent day. Olivia's teacher said she woke up from her nap complaining that her tummy hurt again, and she wasn't feeling too hot the rest of the night. My friend Sara ended up coming into some last minute tickets to tonight's Wild game. I felt horrible leaving my baby, but Christian insisted, and the thought of a little mom's night out was pretty exciting. So, Bella and her dad stopped over for dinner and to hang out with Christian and the girls, while Sara and I were off. She'd never been to a Wild game, and it had been a while since I had, so it was pretty fun. We had some stadium food and enjoyed a pretty good game. The Wild ended up winning 5-1, so that's pretty exciting! So fun!! As we were leaving, it had just started snowing. Like, the most massive snowflakes EVER. It was like we were driving through a snowglobe the entire way home. It's so pretty, but I'm SOOOOOO not ready for it. It was a pretty late night, but worth it.

Hockey Time!



On Wednesday, Olivia woke up still not feeling well. She was very upset, and we decided she should stay home and rest. So, Christian offered to stay home with her this time around. Meanwhile, I had to quickly dig out Amelia's snowpants and boots out for school in the rush this morning. Ugh, I always wait until the last minute!!! I was off for another busy day of work, feeling bad for my poor baby all day long. By the end of day, I wasn't feeling too hot either, so we had dinner, and I hit the couch for the night. I think the winter bug is hitting our house...hopefully just a mild case though!

SNOW, but I'm not giving up my shoes yet!

Thursday was another hectic day. Olivia seemed in better spirits, but was still complaining that her tummy hurt. She never had a fever, or any other symptoms, and she hasn't thrown up since the Monday morning wake-up incident, so we decided it would be best to send her to school...hoping the distraction and activity would keep her mind off everything and help her feel better. She did make it through the day and wasn't complaining about anything, so hopefully that did the trick. Meanwhile, I did NOT make it through the day. I had a pretty busy morning, but woke up with a headache that just got worse throughout the day. I finally left work around 1:30, took some Tylenol and took a little nap to rest it off. What a week, at this point, I couldn't wait for next week's 3-day work week! I finally picked up the girls, Christian picked up some pizza for dinner, and we settled in for a night of play and football. The Vikings were on Thursday Night Football, and they actually WON! So exciting, hopefully the tide is turning! As exciting as it was, bedtime couldn't come soon enough.

My Girls, My Life

Friday FINALLY hit, and it couldn't have come soon enough. The girls were off to school, we were off to work, and the week was winding down. One of our main systems at work went down for most of the afternoon, so that didn't help make the day go any faster. I picked the girls up after work, and Olivia seemed to be doing even better today. Hopefully she's officially on the mend! We spent the evening watching movies, coloring, playing some games and having some family time. Always much needed. We were all to bed fairly early today, not the most exciting Friday night ever, but I'll take it!

Saturday was a pretty busy day. I woke up with a headache....again. I swear, if it's not a headache, it's a stomach ache, stretching and uncomfortableness. It just always seems to be SOMETHING, and i's driving me nuts. I can't wait for a day when I feel GOOD! I did get up and moving, and brought the dog in for his booster shots. With his reaction last time, I was pretty nervous. The vet asked if I waned them to give him an injection or not, and I decided to just see how to day went, and consider that next time. So, he got his shots and we were on our way. I spent the day keeping an eye on him, and he did NOT have any reactions, so that's good. However, it's a little frustrating not knowing what it might have been last time. Christian spent the day mowing the lawn and mulching the leaves in the front yard. Then, moved the fridge and toolbox from his parents' garage to ours, and our old fridge over to our friend Sara's house. I babysat the girls' BFF, Bella for a while, so the girls played in the playroom for a while and colored. We had some dinner, and Bella was on her way home. Christian left to hang out with his friend, Lorenzo, for a while, while I got the girls to bed and spent some time watching my shows and relaxing. Pretty much my favorite way to end a Saturday night these days.

Never a moment alone. Ever!

On Sunday, I started Week 14 of this pregnancy. Officially 2nd trimester, by all accounts. I'm still not feeling too hot, but it could definitely be worse. I'm getting very anxious for my next appointment, to finally hear this little ones heartbeat, and I can't WAIT to start feeling some movement. Hopefully soon!!


Otherwise, it was a pretty lazy Saturday. I did the dishes and made some breakfast this morning, and spent some time relaxing with the girls. Christian's dad stopped over to help him re-adjust the brakes they replaced last week. The girls played outside...pretty much just ripping apart the garage piece by piece, for a while. It's been chilly, but the sun was actually out today, which made a huge difference. We were hoping to get the Christmas lights hung tonight, but Christian was pretty tired, and the sun dropped quickly, making it pretty dang cold out, so we nixed that plan. I showered, we had some lunch and the girls took a nice long nap. Not long after naps, we were all off to swim class. We got there, settled in and class begun...and then, about halfway through the class, the kids were pulled out of the pool, and class was canceled. For a "bio-hazard" in the pool. I'm sure you can guess what that would be. Officially grossed out. I gave the girls a nice scrub down in the showers before we made our way home. I whipped up dinner quick and we had some Sunday family time before heading to bed. Ecstatic over the fact that I didn't work the following day. Thank goodness for Holiday's!

Little Sissy got the brunt of Big Sissy today. Ugh.

With that, another week ended. Some more random sickness, and a weekend of much needed R&R. Ready to head into another week, especially considering I only work 3 of the days!

Until next week!

Sunday, November 3, 2013

2013 - Week 44

Here we are, another week. This week brought us tons of Halloween fun, the beginning of a new month, and some much need alone time for mom!

Monday, it became official. Facebook official. I started the morning off announcing our pregnancy. I spent the day enjoying the well-wishes, congrats, and "OMG NO Way"'s. It was fun, and I love being surrounded in the love and support of our family and friends. It feels good to have it out there, and be able to share that part of our lives. I am an avid Facebooker, so it's hard to keep something so big to myself. Other than that, i was a fairly typical Monday. The girls were off to school, we were off to work. For a Monday, it went by pretty quickly, so that was a promising start to the week. After work, we were off to the girls' Halloween party at school (well, excuse me, "Harvest Party"). Christian wasn't able to get off work in time, so the girls and I played some games, collected some candy, and decorated some cookies. They had a blast - even though they were pretty upset with me for not letting them wear their costumes. Yes, I'm cruel. But, I didn't feel like rushing to get them changed when I got there. Evil mom! They did have their Halloween shirts on though, so I redeemed myself a little bit. After partying it up, we made our way home for dinner, baths and bedtime. Good start to the week.

The Facebook Announcement

Halloween Party at School


Tuesday....well, I don't have much to report on. It was just a pretty regular day of work and school for everybody. Our friends Bella and Sara stopped over for a visit after school. Turns out she doesn't work tomorrow, so we made plans to go to a local "Harvest Fest" together. YAY!

Wednesday, I made the final pregnancy announcement, letting all of my coworkers in on the news. Some of them are pretty close friends, that already knew, and of course my supervisor. And, a couple are on my Facebook, so they found out that way. So, it was time to get just everybody on the same page, so nobody felt left out or anything. It's official, I'm out, and there's no more hiding (well, not that it was physically possible at this point anyway, LOL). The rest of the day went well. I rushed home after work to pick the girls up, and get them dressed and ready for the "Harvest Fest". Sara and Bella came over to get ready, and we made our way out as soon as Christian got home from work. They gave out TONS of candy, had a bunch of games for the kids to play, they had fun music playing all night, dinner, desserts and refreshments. It's such a fun night, and the girls had a blast. Last year they had this party ON Halloween, so we weren't able to make it...I'm glad they changed that, because it's always such a blast. A bonus, free dinner, and the girls are exhausted and ready for bed when we get home. YAY! They were over the moon when we told them tomorrow is FINALLY Halloween, for REAL Halloween. We couldn't wait to take them out.

Ready for the Harvest Fest. They're do cute!

Thursday finally arrived. Halloween! I was never a big Halloween fan. Sure, it was fun when I was little, but as an adult, I never really got into it much. Now that we have the girls, I LOVE it. They get so into it, and everything about it is so exciting for them. Every year just gets better and better, and this year was no exception. The girls go to wear their costumes to school today (well, minus their tights and only part-day with their wigs). They had a great day, and were so proud to show off their costumes. I left work a tad early to pick them up, get them some dinner, and get them in their full costumes before our trick-or-treating crew showed up. Christian arrived home and got ready quick, Kari, Jay and Andrew showed up, and finally, Sara and Bella arrived home. We hit the road, and ended up with ridiculously overflowing pumpkins. And, I do mean ridiculously. I couldn't believe how many houses were handing out candy, the kids were in heaven! All of the kids went door to door together, all on their own, which was a fun change this year. Little Amelia in her awesome costume kept falling behind, but it was so fun watching her bouncing from house to house. The weather was actually pretty nice...until he last road we went down, when this wind hit and I swear the temperature dropped 20 degrees. But, it was a great night nonetheless. We were out for a little over an hour, before making our way back home. Everybody else made their way home right away (school night, you know), and we made our way to bed. Another wonderful Halloween in the books!

All of our Halloween's. They're Awesome.

Checking out their Hauls

See, Ridiculous.

Welcome to November!!! Friday could not have come soon enough this week. Work was pretty busy, and we've had so much going on, I was ready for a break. PLUS, it was supposed to be my Friday off work, so it was even harder to be at work. Since I have to save up as much time as possible for my leave, I'm using my flex day off for my sick day last week. No fun. One benefit that will come with this being our last baby, no more worrying about saving my time up! Although, I did just recently learn that I now earn 7.5 hours of vacation per check, which is pretty exciting (I also get 4 hours sick leave, that never changes though). I forgo it went up .5 at 12 years of service (which I hit this pas July). Man, I've been there forever! One bonus did come to me working today....my mom took me to Boca Chica for lunch. Mexican Buffet...need I say more?!? Nope, it was delicious. I entered the girls in a little contest in October...the swimsuits I an obsessed with, are from "SnapMe Swimwear". They are fantastic. The creator posted on Facebook for customers to post pictures of their girls wearing her suits, and she'd pick her favorite, and name a 2014 suit after them. I posted one of the girls wearing their suits in the bathtub, getting year-round use out of them, and she picked it! So, Amelia will have a suit named after her, how exciting! I can't wait to see what it looks like. She also expanding her sizes to include 5T next season, so I can get Olivia a new one! YES. After work, the great news continued...my mom asked to take the girls over night, so I picked them up from school, packed up their bags (and, changed them into their costumes, one last time, because she really wanted to see them in them), and dropped them off. Christian was heading to his parents house to help them pack up some stuff, and load it up in his truck to drop off at their new place tomorrow, so I got a nice period of time at home, all to myself. I caught up on some Hulu, and went through the girls' Halloween candy (only eating a few pieces along the way...). Once Christian was home, we watched "Pain and Gain", and called it a night. At that point, I was hoping Mr. Sandman would actually let me sleep in.

Saturday was a pretty great, relaxing day. Christian was off to work (and then, unloading the truck at his parents' new place), and my  mom had the girls until around 1:30, so I had the entire morning, early afternoon to myself. And, YES, I did actually sleep in today (until 9:00, FOR REAL sleeping in). I spent my alone time watching TV, doing some cleaning and getting some much needed R&R. I LOVE ALONE TIME!!!!! Amelia was off for a nap as soon as they got home, and Olivia and I spent some time cuddling up on the couch. Until Christian arrived home, and took Olivia over to his parents house to change the brakes on his truck. I finally woke Amelia up from her name around 6:30, and we spent some time together. We colored, she watched some videos, we ate dinner. I love getting a little one-on-one time with my girls. Olivia was off to bed as soon as they arrived home (no nap, busy day, CRABBY 4-year old). Amelia wasn't too far behind. I spent the entire day watching "The Killing" season 3 on Netflix. And yes, I mean the ENTIRE season. They canceled the show, which really sucks. I love it, and it did not end in the best place. Ugh.

I kind of got alone time this morning. Kind of.

I walked in on Amelia, with our friends' family photos spread out. Looks like she misses our friends as much as I do.

Spending time with my Twin.

Sunday, I hit 13 weeks in this pregnancy. By some accounts, entering the 2nd trimester. I'm still not feeling too hot. Very nauseous, mostly in the evenings, plenty of headaches. The usual. I'm showing more and more every day, and I can't believe how uncomfortable I am already. NOT complaining, but dang, it's gonna be a long 6 months ahead of me! I can't believe how fast it's going already. So exciting!


In other Sunday news, we had a good day at home. I got my morning chores done and started laundry. The weather was actually pretty great, so Christian cleaned up the garage and did some picking up around the yard while the girls and I played in the leaves for a while. It was pretty windy, so my attempts at raking were futile, but it was still fun. The girls had a blast. I got the girls down for their naps after lunch, and dealt with the usual whining and complaining. Seriously, they throw the biggest fits (well, Olivia way more than Amelia), and then nap for 3 hours. Clearly, there is no question they need their naps. Kids. While they napped, Christian was off to get a haircut, and help his parents with some more packing. When he arrived home, I made a quick trip to pick up some photo prints (some new collages for work, and FINALLY some family photos for the living room). Then, the girls and I were off to swim class, while Christian finished his garage cleanup and made dinner. We ended the weekend with some dinner and Sunday night family time. I can't believe how fast the weekends go.

Fall Fun!!


 
















With that, another week came to an end. I can't believe it's already November! It will be Thanksgiving before we know it, then Christmas, and we'll be ringing in another New Year. Crazy!

Until next week!

Sunday, October 27, 2013

2013 - Week 43

This week was pretty up and down. Amelia and I were both hit with some illnesses, but we did kick off Halloween festivities this week, and spent some quality time with friends!

Monday, we had another winter snap it. It was FOR REAL. I mean, I left the house this morning and the wind chill was 25. TWENTY-FIVE! Ouch. Gonna have to get a coat out pretty soon, that's for sure! Today, I hit 4-years of being smoke-free, and it still feels just as amazing as Day 1. I swear, I will never, EVER get sick of bragging about this accomplishment. It feels amazing, every day. I still think about it constantly...and when things get hard, or stressful, I do have to bring myself back to reality from that urge, but I would never throw away my hard work for another cigarette. Go me! Other than that, it was a pretty standard day. The girls were off to school, with winter gear in tote. We were off to work, kicking off another week. After I picked up the girls, they spent some time coloring and watching videos, while I got to folding the PILES of laundry I didn't get to this past weekend. Christian whipped up some dinner when he got home, while I finished up. We ate, hung out, and the girls were off to bed. We settled in for some Monday night football to watch our Vikes. It was a pretty painful game though...we were on our THIRD quarterback of the season, and it did NOT go well. I couldn't take the pain any longer, and ended up passing out. It's been a pretty heartbreaking season so far...

Coloring, snacks and videos in their new favorite spot.

Tuesday was a pretty exciting day. Work was pretty standard. Although, I did finally get my 2nd computer monitor today. I always refused it, and didn't really understand why people liked having two monitors. Then I was forced to use a co-workers station last week, and fell in love. It's going to take some adjustment to get used to, but I already LOVE it. Hitting the big time, folks! Christian was on Dad duty tonight...after work, I was off to my friend Gini's house to meet up with her and our friend Michelle. We were off to Carbone's for dinner (delish!) and then off to see "Wicked". Yes, WICKED! Finally. And, it was so worth the wait. I loved it...even though I was out WAY past my bedtime. Such a fun night!

Wicked!!

Wednesday did NOT go as well. I woke up with an all out migraine, and seriously felt like I was dying. I called into work, got the girls up and ready and off to school, and made my way back home for the day. It wasn't long before I threw up and things got real. Thank God I decided to stay home. I spent the rest of the morning laying on an ice pack and resting it away. I spent the afternoon relaxing and watching some TV, finally starting to feel better, but it never did go away completely.I finally took a shower and got ready, not sure when Christian would be getting off work. As I was leaving to pick up the girls, he walked in the door. Alone. I was so angry!! Seriously, he knew what I had been dealing with all day, and the thought didn't even pop in his head to just pick them up. Men!!! So, I grabbed my keys and rushed out the door, angry and still feeling crappy. About 3 blocks down the road, I got myself pulled over. In my rage, I didn't put my seatbelt on (which, YES, I do wear). On top of that, I didn't bring my purse with, so I didn't have my license or my insurance card on me. UGH. The cop asked me why I didn't have my seatbelt on...I honestly responded "Honestly, I've been home very sick all day long, and I was just in a hurry to pick my kids up from daycare and get home". He seemed pretty sympathetic...he ended up letting me off for my license and insurance, and just ticketed me for the seatbelt (which, I honestly think he would've let me off for if I had had my documentation). Ugh, great end, to a horrible day. The girls and I made our way back home, and I didn't leave the couch the rest of the night. We had some leftovers for dinner, and shortly after the girls were off to bed. We finally watched this week's episode of The Walking Dead, and I was off to bed immediately after. Hoping for a better day tomorrow!

This was in my face All.Day.Long!

LOL, a girl and her snack!

Thursday did not really go much better. I was feeling better, and I was back off to work. Which, of course, was crazy after being gone yesterday. I caught up on as much as I could, and had a meeting to go to. I got back to my desk from my meeting to missed calls on my cell and work phones, and an e-mail, from the school. Apparently, Amelia got up from naptime to go to the bathroom, and they discovered she was covered in a fast-spreading rash of some sort. I mean face, arms, chest, back, stomach, legs. EVERYWHERE. So, I packed up, picked them up and we made our way home. She seemed in good spirits. She said they didn't hurt or itch, and they had gone down since they were first discovered. She had a snack, I gave them a nice warm bath, and got them in their jammies. I gave her some Benedryl, to see if it would help, and they cuddled up on the couch together to watch some videos. It didn't take long for her to pass out, so Olivia and I made some dinner. She slept right through Christian coming home, and dinner, so we just put her to bed for the night (assuming the Benedryl wore her out). We were all pretty exhausted, and were in bed soon after. WHAT NEXT?!?

Some pictures of Amelia's rash, the school took.


Aww, sissy fell asleep.

Friday ended up going better. Amelia slept through the night, and woke up ready to go. She did have a little breakout on her cheek and arms. I gave her a small dose of Benedryl, and they were off to school. I spent the morning playing Dr. Google, and came up with my own conclusion. After reading a ton of stuff, and looking at some pictures, I think she got a hold of Olivia's amoxicillin (not DRANK it or anything, but maybe touched the spoon or bottle and got some on her), and she had a reaction to that. She has only had it once herself, about 2 years ago. From what I read, you can be exposed to something, and not react, but that exposure can "awaken" an allergy, and you may react in the future if exposed to it again. The pictures and descriptions I saw on it really sounded and looked like what she had going on. So, I'm going to mention it to the doctor and see if they can test for a penicillin allergy. She did get through the day, with no more issues though, so that was a relief. Everybody is healthy, and happy and things were looking up for the weekend. Christian ended up going to dinner with his friend, Lorenzo, so the girls and I hung out. Once they were in bed, I caught up on some Hulu, before calling it a night myself.

Olivia helped herself to a bedtime snack...

Saturday was a pretty busy day. Christian was off to work, so it was just me and the girls. They spent the morning getting ALL of their pillows, blankets and stuffed animals from their room and setting then up on little picnics all morning. And, of course, dressing up in some pretty interesting outfits. We had breakfast, played, relaxed, watched some movies, had some lunch and took some naps. Christian came home while they were down for naps, and we got ready for the night. Once they woke up, we were off to the Como Zoo Boo (I won tickets, YAY!). I used to go to this all the time when I was younger, but we hadn't taken the girls to it yet. The weather was nice when we stared out, but got pretty chilly by the time we left. Not too bad though. The girls had a good time, and Amelia was a pretty big hit. They had some free pizza, so the girls had some dinner, and they got plenty of treats and goodies. After that, we were off to our friends, John & Michelle's, housewarming party. Her family, a few of their coworkers and some of our friends were there, so we spent the night catching up, eating TONS of food and laughing the night away. The girls had a blast playing with the other kids and it was a pretty fun night. Finally, we made our way home. The girls passed out on the way, and went right off to bed. We didn't make it much later.

She asked me to take this picture, and send it to Daddy. LOL

Our tree is finally turning colors. It's sad, but beautiful!

The girls and their picnics...


Ready for Zoo Boo!












Sunday, I hit 12 weeks! We were gearing up to go public with the pregnancy, even though I was still pretty anxious to FINALLY hear the heartbeat in a few weeks. Still feeling pretty nauseous, and growing every day, I felt pretty comfortable finally letting the news out.


Otherwise, it was a pretty standard Sunday. I spent the morning doing my usual chores and cleaning up. Got plenty of laundry washed, but folding will have to wait for another day! The girls and I baked and decorated some Halloween cookies before having lunch and sending the girls off for a nap. While they napped, Christian finished up our fall yard cleanup, and I was off to Target for our weekly shopping. By the time I got home, and got everything put away, the girls were walking up, and it was just about time to head off to swim class. The heater at their normal pool was out, so we had class at a different school this week...so, we left pretty early to make sure we could find it OK. The girls were pretty excited that Christian was there to watch them this week. We picked up some Chipotle on the way home and settled in for the Vikings on Sunday Night Football before bed. It was another rough one, so painful.

Baking Some Cookies!








With that, we ended another week. Coming up, HALLOWEEN! Can't wait :)

Until next week!