Here we are, off on
another week! We were all off to work and daycare, as appropriate. The day
progressed pretty smoothly…until Christian was on his way home with Eliza, and
she threw up in the car. Again. UGH! I don’t know if she gets car sick or what
the heck is going on, but it breaks my heart (and it’s SO gross!). Poor thing.
After that, she was perfectly fine though. So weird, so very weird. Christian
met me at daycare and took Amelia with him to baseball, while Olivia and I were
off to her softball game. After ball, we settled in at home for a quick dinner
and bath before bed. We held our breath all night hoping that nothing else
would hit Eliza, that she’d keep her dinner down and that she didn’t start
acting ill. Luckily, we made it through the rest of the evening without issue.
Whew!
Sissy's Biggest Fan!
Tuesday, of course,
Eliza was completely normal. Not a single issue at all. I may have to just
mention it to her doctor, and see what he thinks might be causing it. So, we
were all off to work and daycare. I plugged away most of the day, but I did
leave a bit early for my hair appointment. Yes, a hair appointment for ME! It’s
been well over 2 years now since I’ve done a single thing to my hair, so I was
more than looking forward to it. Of course, in true fashion, I cut off all of
my hair! I think it was about 18” gone when all was said and done. I went way
shorter than I’ve ever gone before too. I love the big change, but it’s going
to take time to adjust, that’s for sure. I also got my hair colored…it’s noticeable
and drastic enough, but should blend well since lord knows I won’t be back in
the salon anytime soon. Oh man, it was so nice. Then, chaos (reality) hit. We
were told Olivia’s softball pictures were going to be on 6/19. I thought it was
strange…a Friday, so late in the season, so much later compared to Amelia.
Then, suddenly last night, our coach hands out the picture order form and it
says 6/9, NOT 6/19. I was so upset. There was no way I was canceling my hair
appointment – I never do ANYTHING for myself, I wasn’t risking canceling and
putting it off forever again. With all of the construction going on, and my
salon being so far away from home, I knew that I would be cutting it short (pun
intended). I had Christian leave work “early” and pick the girls up from
daycare…and get Olivia as ready as possible (brush her hair, have her borrow
some of Amelia’s gear [since I had Olivia’s with me]) and I had to leave my
appointment early – I wasn’t able to get my hair styled after my cut, but I had
to get on the road. I raced home as fast as I could, trying to avoid as many
construction zones as I could, and just barely made it. Mind you, it’s a good
45 minute drive from the salon to our house under normal circumstances. Today,
I had to make it there in rush house, amidst the construction, in that same
timeframe. I was exhausted when all was said and done! They took everybody else’s
pictures first, and then quick got Olivia’s done and the team picture when I
arrived. What a relief! FINALLY, we all made our way home, had some dinner and
settled in for the night. BIG news was that Eliza went the entire day without a
bottle! I mentioned to them this morning that we were working on weaning her
off now, and they just ran with it and held strong. I couldn’t believe it. So,
we just continued at home. She isn’t a HUGE fan of milk yet, but we’ll work on
it. We’d been doing part milk/part formula for the last couple weeks, working
on transitioning her, so hopefully she’ll accept her milk soon. But, I’m pretty
excited this no more bottle thing may be easier than anticipated!
Chop, Chop!
The Bottle-Free Babe!
Wednesday was my birthday. WOOT! The big 3-2. 32 Years Old. I can’t believe it. I swear I was just graduating high school yesterday. Now I’m creeping up on my mid-30’s. Unbelievable. But, alas, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! It was a pretty dang good one too. My friend at work brought in bagels for breakfast, and everybody else chipped in for taco dip, fruit and brownies for lunch. YUM!!!! The girls made me some cards at school and made me some jewelry. Super cute. They were so proud, it warms my heart. Christian surprised me with a new charm for my bracelet and took us to Applebee’s for dinner – got myself a perfect margarita to complete the day. The girls did have ball tonight, but they both just had practice, so we decided to skip it. It was seriously a perfect day…mix in all of the texts and facebook messages from my friends and family, and I am truly blessed. Birthday’s aren’t half bad! After dinner, we settled in at home and the day came to an end. Flew right by!
Happy Birthday to Me!
On Thursday I
discovered a new local radio station. This new station plays all old school
R&B and Hip Hop, like late 80’s and 90’s. Every song brings back so many memories
from my school days, I just love it. I posted about it and all of my school
friends are just in heaven too. It’s so funny – I’m not the biggest music
person – I’m much more of a TV/visual person, but it is amazing how music can
transport you. Bring back so many memories and feelings. So, that was pretty
darn exciting. I also sold the last of Eliza’s “too small” clothes today. So
emotional. I love making the money and saving up for these things we need, and
cleaning out the space, but those clothes also hold so many memories –
especially the items all 3 girls wore. And, realizing that we will never, EVER
have baby clothes in our house again was pretty heart wrenching. I’m so incredibly
torn on the subject. Don’t get me wrong, we’re done having kids. But, it’s
hard. I know that we cannot financially responsibly handle a 4th
child, and I don’t know that I have the patience to start over again, but I
still can’t imagine NEVER having another baby. So, that transaction brought up
a lot of emotions, that’s for sure. AND, in some final exciting news, “Orange
Is the New Black” Season 3 was released early tonight, and you better believe I
hopped right on that train! As soon as the girls went to bed tonight, I binged
a few episodes. Tomorrow is my day off, and you better believe that I will
finish it up! What a day! However, as of quitting time today, I was heading
into 10 GLORIOUS days off, and that was such an amazing feeling. It was chaotic
getting prepared to be off for so long, but absolutely worth it.
This Week's Throwback, a look at all of my visits with Dawn!
Friday was a much
less emotional day. It was my day off, thankfully. Christian was off to work,
the big girls were off to daycare, and Eliza and I spent the day hanging out at
home. I binged the rest of Orange is the New Black, of course finishing it up,
we played, ate, and Eliza took a nice long nap. While watching my show, I did
get a lot of cleaning done. Our friends from Indiana arrive tomorrow, and while
we’ve managed to keep the house pretty clean and picked up this week, I had to
do some final stuff today…dishes, the basement. The usual. I can’t believe
their visit is finally SO CLOSE!!! After Eliza’s nap, we ran to Target for some
snacks, pop and general stuff for the house, then picked up the big girls.
After work, Christian and his friend Lorenzo ran to Menards to buy the new shed
for the large. That’s the first big item we have been saving up for. Our garage
is just exploding with stuff, SO MUCH STUFF, that we can hardly park in it
anymore. So, we really need to get it cleared out. The shed was on sale, and we
had more than enough saved up to buy it, so we took the plunge. Now, hopefully
we can get it up soon! And, now we have to start our savings all over again! Next
up, we’re saving for our Duluth vacation next month…otherwise, we may need to
cancel it. Fingers crossed! The rest of the evening was pretty low key. Dinner,
some TV, finished some picking up.
Hanging out with the babe...she loves kitty and her shoes!
Saturday was a
great, BUSY Day! Christian was off to work bright and early. The girls and I
were up and off to swim class right away as well. We were stuck with another
9:00AM start time session, and even though they just finished last week, they
were right back into class today. The girls did well, but we definitely still
need to work on their listening skills. So frustrating. Thankfully, my mom was
at class today, so it wasn’t quite as hectic and exhausting as usual. She was
able to help watch Eliza and keep her entertained while I got the girls
showered and ready after class. WHEW, big time! After class, we were all off to
Perkins for a late birthday brunch. YUM!!!! While we were eating, I received a
text message from Dawn, my Indiana friend, that they were already WELL on their
way, and would be arriving around 7:00. While I was SUPER excited, it was way
earlier than they usually get here, so I was all thrown off. We still had a
party to attend and stuff to get done around the house. Panic mode!!! I texted
Christian right away, to prepare him so that when he got home he could clean up
the entry way and make sure the bathrooms were in good shape. After brunch, we
stopped home and I got Eliza down for a nap. Then, the big girls and I were off
to a birthday party, for their little friend Rio – he was on Olivia’s baseball
team last year, Amelia played soccer with his team here and there last fall,
and he’s on Amelia’s baseball team this year. His mom is super sweet and I can
see us becoming good friends with them. She rented a big bounce house for the
kids and had all kinds of scooters and cars for the kids to ride. Piñata, face
painting, food, cake. It was a really fun party, with a TON of kids. The girls
had such a blast. They were really upset, but we had to pack it up and leave as
soon as the party ended. Once home, we did some final picking up and cleaning,
and before we knew it, our friends were pulling up. It was so weird to actually
be able to spend some time together after they arrived, rather than heading
right to bed. The kids ran around and played and it warms my heart how they
just jump right into it, as if they see each other every day. So amazing. We
adults chatted and caught up and laughed and were just so relieved to finally
be spending some time together again. Seriously people, it is beyond unfair to
live so far away from people you are so close to! We did eventually have to throw
in the towel and head to bed, but I can’t even tell you how much I was looking
forward to our time together!
Celebrating Rio's Birthday
My Awesome Face-Painting Skills!
Sunday was our
first busy day. We were all up, eating and getting ready, one by one. Then, off
to spend the day at Canterbury Park, a local live horseracing track. All of the
kids were free to get in, and we bought a groupon a while back so us 4 adults
got in for the price of 2. Cheap, fun day! I learned that Sunday’s were family
fun day at the track…so the kids were able to do some free face painting, ride
ponies, check out the petting zoo and they had a big park for them to play at.
We grabbed lunch, watched a few of the races, let the kids do all of the fun
stuff. It was scorching hot out, and we were all sweating up a storm, but it
was a ton of fun. We even watched one of the races from right down by the
track, which was pretty cool. We had never been there before, so it was a fun,
new experience for all of us. After Canterbury, we were off to “Minnesota’s
Largest Candy Store”…again, we had never been. And, WOW was that place candy.
Every kind of candy every, pop, root beer, etc. ever made. It was a gigantic
barn just packed full of everything you could imagine. And, for the most part,
everything was pretty reasonably priced too. We each picked out some goodies,
checked out, and packed back into the vehicles. Brooklyn, their 5 year old, has
moved her booster seat into our van for the week, which is super cute. She
wants to ride with the girls (and, I’m sure the DVD player is equally as tempting,
LOL). We dropped the families off at home, Dawn and I made a trip to the store
for dinner supplies, and settled in back at home for dinner and a night of
chatting and relaxing and hanging out…well, as much as you can relax with 6
kids running around anyway. Wonderful Day 1!
Until Next Week!
XOXO
