Monday showed up
like a lion, and I was battling a headache big time. I showered, I started
getting ready, I got the girls ready to go, and I gave up. I knew there was no
way I could spend the day looking at the computer, so I called in and called it
a day. I dropped the girls off at daycare, and turned right back around. I had
a small breakfast, to take some medicine, and rested on the couch for a while.
I slowly started feeling better, and while not quite 100%, eventually forced myself
to get up, and get to work. I plowed through the basement…got the toy room and
spare room cleaned up and organized, I cleaned up the entry way and the closet
(with all the shoes….oh, ALL the shoes, it’s out of control!) and I did some
laundry throughout the day. Oh man, so much to do, but we’re getting there!
Next up, I did a little Walmart shopping to grab a few groceries and picked the
big girls up from daycare. I quickly packed up some snacks while they got
changed for base/softball, and as soon as Christian arrived home, we were off.
Today was Olivia’s first night of practice…so, our first night of divide and
conquer duty. Christian took Amelia to her practice, and I took Olivia (and
Eliza). She was a little nervous, being her first night, but she was excited.
And, she warmed up quickly. It helps that a little girls from her kindergarten
class is on her team, which is great! Olivia’s team/league is ALL girls now,
which is awesome, and she actually did REALLY well at practice. Her throwing is
really coming along, and she worked a lot on batting. I’m excited to see where
she’ll be at by the end of the season. Christian arrived home before us, so he
started dinner…we ate as soon as we arrived home and by the time we finished,
it was basically bedtime. These ball nights are going to be pretty exhausting,
that’s for sure! Eliza did go to bed MUCH easier tonight than she has been, so
at least that is getting back on track.
Tuesday, was lost
in my lack of blogging. I was back to work, I know that much. And, it was a
non-base/softball night, so much less stressful!
This day, one year ago, kicked off THE most stressful week of my life!
As one baby is turning 1, my other baby hit a milestone today!
Wednesday was a busy
day. I dropped the girls off at daycare and was off for a busy day of meetings
and catching up at work. I did take a break in the day to go to lunch with my
friend Gini. It’s so great getting a rare chance to catch up with friends and
have real adult time! Doesn’t happy nearly enough, that’s for sure! After work,
the chaos began! I stopped home to let the dog out and pack up some snacks,
booked it to daycare to pick up the girls, and get the big ones changed for
ball, and we were off to Olivia’s practice. Christian met us there after work,
to take over for me, and Amelia and I were off to her practice. She didn’t
start until 7:00, so it was a SUPER late night for all of us. We had a quick
dinner once home, and settled in for the night. Then, the emotions started
setting in.
Snuggles and Kisses and Laughter as we get ready to ring in the big ONE!
As we put the girls
to bed, I couldn’t help but swell up a little. It was officially the last time
I would be putting a “baby” to bed. Sweet little Eliza was turning 1 at the
stroke of midnight, and I just could not believe it. As I was putting her to
bed, I thought back to exactly one year ago, as the contractions were starting
up and becoming more and more real as the night went on. It seems like it was
just yesterday. Yes, she’s ONLY turning 1, and yes, she’ll ALWAYS be my baby
(which I’m sure she won’t always be too happy about!), but it’s so hard to say
goodbye to those baby days. That first year, those first months, those first
weeks, those first days – they are hard, hard, HARD work. Things change at
rapid pace. Just as you think you have a handle on this new little person, a
growth spurt hits, a tooth starts poking through, a new infection settles into
a little immune-building body, and it shakes your household to the core. The
nursing, the never-ending diapers, the long, LONG nights, the struggle to
adjust to bottles/pacifiers, the pain of returning to work after maternity
leave, the crying. All of those hard things, seem like a lifetime ago, and mean
nothing compared to all of the amazing firsts. The first smile, the first
laugh, the first roll, the first food, the first word, the first time sitting,
crawling and scooting, the first steps, the first hug, the first kiss. Watching
them discover the world around them and figure everything out. Watching their
amazing, individual, unique personality start to shine through, more and more
with each passing day. It’s all such a blessing. Such a complete and utter,
amazing blessing. The good, the bad, the hard, the joy, the pain, the emotions.
It’s all just plain amazing. I went to bed Wednesday in awe of my sweet baby
girl, and flooded with every emotion possible.
Then, Thursday
came. Thursday, the BIG day. Eliza was officially one. ONE!!! We have a one
year old folks, can you believe it?! She’s 24lbs (76%) and she’s 29” long
(46%)….up from 7lbs14ozs and 20” long at birth. She’s tripled her weight, isn’t
that crazy?! She’s still my short, stocky lovemuffin, and I wouldn’t have it
any other way! She has 6 teeth and we’re pretty sure she’s teething again.
She’s been in her convertible car seat for a few weeks now (though, she’ll be
rearfacing, of course, for quite some time yet), and my arms thank me for that
change! She’s wearing 12-18 month clothes, which are already starting to get
snug in the leg roll area (and, don’t always cover that wonderful belly), and
she’s in Size 4 diapers now (which, I think Amelia maxed out at when she was 2
and potty trained!). She’ll be sporting dresses most of the summer I think! She
babbles the day away, loves to laugh, clap, wave, play “so big”, give hugs,
blow kisses, and loves when we chase each other around the house. Mama and Up
remain her main words…with more coming up next. She eats pretty much everything
we eat, but surprisingly, she doesn’t eat much in a sitting. We’ll start
transitioning her to milk, and the sippy cup now and hopefully that goes
smoothly. She zips around the furniture and is crawling at lightning fast
speed, and she stands on her own for a good period of time now. AND, she is
officially “taking steps” now. They’re rare, teeny tiny baby steps, but THEY
COUNT! She’s shy and cautious about it right now, but it’s only a matter of
time! One, holy moly! Today, she arrived at daycare to a special “Happy
Birthday” sign from her teachers, which is so sweet. I was grateful to know she
still gets a little bit of special on her big day, even if I have to be away
from her. I had a quiet day at work, and got a TON of stuff done, so the day
was quite successful. After work, I picked the girls up, and we met Christian
and his friend (Eliza’s Godfather) Lorenzo at Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner. We
ate, laughed, played and Eliza got a special birthday ice cream bowl. YUM! Finally,
we made our way home to give her some gifts, hang out for a big and head to
bed. Her gifts from us this year is her “1” Precious Moments figurine, just
like her big sisters get, and her Hello Kitty bedding, to match the other
girls. Hopefully in the next few weeks we can get their room painted and
redecorated! The day went by in the blink of an eye. The big girls were SO
excited that it was Eliza’s birthday, and were so happy to help celebrate,
which warms my heart. Sweet Eliza, forever our baby girl.
On Friday, I ended
up calling into work. Apparently turning 1 is really hard work, because Eliza
was up ALLLLLLL night long. I was so exhausted, there was no way I was going to
be able to function all day. I think she’s been battling some allergies, taking
after Amelia, so she’s been pretty miserable. Watery eyes, sneezing, sad face.
Poor baby. Between that, and her birthday party coming up tomorrow, it was the
perfect day to take off. I dropped the big girls off at daycare a little late,
drive in to drop Eliza off at my mom’s house, and made my way back home for the
day Even though all I wanted to do was crawl into bed and relax, I got right to
work. I cranked some music, and cleaned my butt off, all day long. I got our
bedroom cleaned, got the girls’ room cleaned, and started replacing the stuff
in there (the window valances, the lightswitch cover, put Eliza’s new bedding
up), and I got started on the kitchen. Before I knew it, it was time to head
back to my mom’s to pick up Eliza, daycare to pick up the girls, and back home
for the night. Christian and Lorenzo came home after work to start working on
the yard…Christian mowed the lawn, they washed down all of the tables and
chairs and the deck, they weeded the gardens so they didn’t look like such a
mess and everything was looking good, and ready for the big party. Finally,
they ran to the store to do the last of the party food shopping, while I hung
out with the girls and got them to bed. Parties stress me out to the max, but I
couldn’t wait to celebrate my sweet girl!
Saturday finally
arrived! It was swim class day, but we decided to keep the girls home. It tears
me apart to “throw money away” and keep them out of class, but we just had way
too much to do. I threw a load of laundry in, and got to work cleaning the last
of the kitchen and the dining room. Meanwhile, Christian cleaned the bathroom
and the entry way. Lucky for us, Eliza took a nice LONG nap, so we were able to
get everything cleaned up and ready to go. One by one, we all showered, got
dressed and got ready for the big event. Christian and Lorenzo set off to do
all of the running around…pick up the a balloons, the cake and the sandwiches,
then finished getting the tables set up. My mom arrived and helped me set up
the rest of the decorations, and our friends and family started to arrive. We
ended up blessed with AMAZING weather, which was such a relief, and the kids
all had a blast! I set up a table of fun stuff for the older kids…bubbles, hula
hoops, silly string, jump ropes; we put up the bounce house (which I think may
be on its last leg) and everybody had so much fun running around and acting
like a bunch of crazy kids. Such a good time. Meanwhile, we got to catch up
with our friends and parents, while running around like crazy moving the party
along. We ate, opened gifts (thankfully, she got pretty much all clothes,
because Lord knows we don’t need any more toys in our house!), had cake and let
the kids take down the piñata. The party was a complete success!! But, all good
things must come to an end. Slowly, everybody started to leave. We gave each of
our mother’s a bouquet of flowers on their way out – because THIS Mom is taking
tomorrow off! While Christian saw the last of our guests off, I gave Eliza a
quick bath and got all the girls settled into bed. Everybody was complete beat,
exhausted, worn out and everything in between. What a day!
Sunday was Mother’s
Day! I’m pretty sure I’ve noted it every year, but I’m not a big “Hallmark
Holiday” kind of person. Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Valentine’s Day. Not my
thing. I mean, it’s nice to acknowledge it, and feel a little special, but I
hate the whole gift giving, stress-inducing part of it. So, we try hard in our
house to keep them low-key, because we don’t want our kids growing up thinking
they need to go all out or make a big deal. For me, I just want Mother’s Day to
be a quiet, family day, and I love the little handmade stuff they make at
school for me. And that’s really all I need. After the long day outside
yesterday, everybody was exhausted, and the kids started the day off great by
sleeping until 8:30! How awesome! We spent the morning relaxing and hanging out…the
girls gave me a card, that Christian bought for them, and Olivia gave me her
gift from school (a handmade card and a little “flower pot” coupon book thing),
it was sweet and perfect! The big girls played downstairs for a while, while I
snuggled with baby and Christian made waffles for breakfast. YUM! I did a
couple loads of laundry throughout the day, and while Eliza took a nice nap I
went through all of her gifts and got them ready to put away. Olivia came with
me on a quick Walmart run. I have a new obsession with maxi skirts, so I bought
a couple. They don’t look great on me, but they are comfortable and probably
look better than squeezing into my regular clothes at this point. We made our
way home to watch a movie and relax, while Christian whipped up some taquitos
for dinner. Before it got to be too late, I took some Mother’s Day pictures
with the girls and the rest of the evening was pretty dang lazy, which was
perfect. Eliza started getting pretty crabby, so I gave her a bottle and put
her to bed, while the big girls took a shower and were off to bed themselves. Another
week down, boy do they go fast!
