BLAH, BLAH

Friday night we actually we out to eat! The weather was kinda crappy but we had a nice family dinner at Applebees!

Saturday we didn't do much, got up, took the Christmas stuff down, and then went to the mall....and didn't buy anything! I was in the mood to spend some money but I feel bad taking time to try things on and just looking when both kids are with us. Then Steve and Presley went to buy an Ipad Mini, we had talked about getting one and Presley has become more interested in playing games on the laptop or my phone and we got some Christmas money so we decided to break down and do it (come on, all the cook kids are!). Basically, what this comes down to is me getting the laptop all to myself and Presley and Steve fighting over the Ipad! Works for me!





Today I decided to take Presley shopping. I was still in the mood to spend money and really need some new clothes. She was so good! She listened and decided that she wanted to walk instead of ride in the stroller (she has always been one of those kids that you DON'T have to worry about her running from you b/c she is so scared of other people!). She helped carry some sacks, she didn't fight when I would say no to buying something. She was good, it was nice!

Then we headed to my parents house for the Packer game, which we won't talk about. But as always it was a good time to get together with everyone! We got home about 7 and both girls were asleep in their beds by 8:30!

Now time for us to get to bed.....this getting up at 5 a.m. shit is DUMB! :)

Presley Pie

 

Presley, you can be so fun and so nice and so funny. You can love your sister so sweetly...........

then you squeeze Pipers cheeks and she doesn't cry, so you do it just a little harder.  Then you hear something you don't like (like NO! or stop that!) and you snap. ! The attitude comes out and you are a totally different person. There is no listening, no compromise, it is either your way or YOUR WAY! I think this change came when we moved into this house and when Piper was born. We all have tried very hard to make you feel just as important as you were before (and as you are and always will be!) We make notice of all the good things you do, how sweet you can be, how helpful you are but in 'those moments' you don't care about anything but getting what you want. For example, Saturday morning you wanted to play with markers in the family room (sorry, no markers on the carpet), you refused to sit at the table with them so I got up to take them away from you and you hit me. There is no hitting in this house, so off to time out you went. Not without a struggling, screaming fight...of me putting you in your bedroom, putting you in your bedroom, putting you in your bedroom and finally just holding the door shut until you calmed down enough to listen and apologize to me. Unfortunately these time outs don't seem to really make a difference but we need to just be consistent and not give in to what you want...probably like you are used to us doing over the last 3 years. YOU ARE NOT THE BOSS! At least you are not like this in public. At preschool, at the mall, anytime it is just YOU with us, you are great! We'll cherish those moments for now, b/c my darling daughter....you WILL realize that you are NOT the boss.

Two Years Ago

Brendan. Two years ago I got a call from my friend Colleen on my way home from work. There was  car accident and you hadn't made it. My first thought was that this was going to break Holly's heart, how in the world was she going to handle this? I called Steve and my mom. I COULD NOT call Holly. I couldn't be the one to tell her. I wouldn't be. She was in KC with a friend for New Years, what should we do? I called my friend Shannon asking her opinion (Shannon and I don't talk alot but we always seem to share all of our problems and complaints or just to vent, good friends are like that!) As it turned out one of Holly's friends had called and broke the news to her.
I remember we went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner and I could hardly eat, my appetite seemed to disappear. I remember giving Presley a bath that night and kneeling on the bathroom floor in tears, Presley asking me why I was crying and Steve lightly squeezing my shoulder to comfort me.
You were always a good time and a good laugh! That is how I will always remember you. You were in love with my sister, even though you would never admit it....we all knew it. That day forever changed my sister, broke her heart....she is finally picking up the pieces and learning how to love again and how to be happy!
You have given all of us SO many great memories that we will never forget!
http://mysocalledlife-holly.blogspot.com/2012/12/2-years-ago-today.html

2012 Goals - I kicked ASS!!!

Here were my goals for 2012....I kicked some serious ASS with these! I'm almost excited to do my goals for 2013!


1) Spend less money on going out to eat. I'm hoping I can just compare our banking 'spending report' every month to last year and see how we are doing. We did great on this! So I'm very happy. We still need to get better about planning actual meals instead of having pizza rolls or something like that!


2) Get Presley signed up for gymnastics or dance class. We did this in February and she has loved it! I do want her to continue with this b/c I think it helps her wear off some energy and she got a leotard from Grandma and Pa for Christmas, I'm sure she'll look freakin adorable!

3) Get Presley signed up for part-time pre-school. She started in September, going 2.5 hours, 2 days a week. It was a hard adjustment for her but she is doing much better and rarely cries when we drop her off now! Hopefully that will continue as she gets more comfortable there!

4) Read more. I love reading and I really want to make more time for it, giving up some TV time shouldn't be that hard....so I'm starting a book list. These are books friends have read or I've heard about and have been interested in reading. Hopefully, I can cross some of these books off my list this year! Holy cow, I kicked the ass out of this goal! I read 24 books in 2012...and all of them before October! Hopefully, as we get settled into me working and getting on a regular schedule and routine, I can get back into reading again. I'm sure I'll never read as much as I did this year!

5) Save, save, save!!!! If I could double our savings in the next year it would be awesome...a girl can dream. Surprisingly, we did save! Even with the purchase of our home and buying everything for that, having a kid and not getting paid for 5 weeks, we still have more in savings than we did last year at this time! That is AMAZING to me!!!

2012 in Review

Man, I don't know where this last year has gone but it has been a wild ride! I think about where we were just a year ago and can't believe all the changes in 12 short months!

January - we went to the Dominican Republic for Nick and Sarah's wedding!
February- put our house up for sale by owner, went to Baconfest on a Saturday and found out the next day we were pregnant
March - had a great girls trip to Chicago for St. Patty's day (hopefully we can do that again!) and sold our house!
April - moved out of our house into our wonderful apartment!
May - Our house got started and we found out we were having another baby girl!
June - Kept busy! Swimming, working, playing outside, enjoying our time!
July - Flew to Texas for my family reunion, SO many 'firsts' for Presley on this trip (plane, bus, taxi, ocean). Had Steve's family vacation in Okoboji which was cut short due to our overwhelming work schedules
August - Started preparing for baby and house
September - Presley started preschool and we moved into our house! Yippee!
October - Miss Piper surprised us by coming early!
November - I became Targets #1 shopper and actually enjoyed my maternity leave! Presley became 100% potty trained (even at night time!)
December - Back to work, snow storms, Christmas...back to the usual routine

Hoping for a less eventful, more fun, less stress 2013! :)

Five Question Friday

1. If you had to give 1 million dollars to just one person (not your spouse), who would it be and why? Probably my parents (they count as ONE person, right?). I always told them once I got out of school and got a good job that I would payoff the student loans they took out for me....well of course, those are paid off now but I would still like to be able to do something nice for them for EVERYTHING they have done for us! I really hope they know how much they mean to us and how much we are thankful for having them around for us and the girls!

2. What bathroom stall do you typically go to FIRST? The last one, which is usually the handicap one. I don't feel bad using it when I have Presley with me (those other stalls are too little for two people!) but even when I'm by myself I do find myself using the last stall...whether it is handicap or not.

3. How do you prefer to shop: In-store or online? In store. I LOVE the thought of buying online but I just don't do it very often. I don't want to pay shipping costs to get it, or if I have to return it! But I do love getting things in the mail, so maybe I should try to do that more often!

4. What's the weather like in your neck of the woods? Well, today it is a nice 25 degrees with some light snow falling. It's crazy how much 'warmer' 25 degrees is than the 5 degrees we had a couple days ago! YUCK! I DO NOT LIKE THE COLD!

5. Do you own a pair of Tom's and what do you think? Overrated, underrated or about right? UMMMM.....Am I so out of the loop that I don't know what Tom's are?! Damn, that makes me feel old and sad! Is there a teenager I can hang out with so I can be cool again?
Yes, I will be Googling it.........

http://www.toms.com/
Hmm...it seems this is not a teenager/young person fad. It's a shoe and not even that cool of a shoe.
Really, this question has wasted my time.....but I guess I know what Tom's are now!

Random blah blah

- I'm irritated with myself! We never took Piper to see Santa, I know she won't remember but it's just one of those things parents do with their babies on their 1st Christmas and we never did.
- I also didn't get a picture of Steve and I before his work xmas party, or at our ugly sweater party and didn't get a family picture on Christmas. I take SO many pictures how come I can't remember to take any with ME in them!
- So Boston's dad didn't see him on Christmas. Didn't call, no presents, nothing. Not even anything from his grandparents. Nice huh? But I guess his loss is completely our gain b/c we don't really want to have Christmas without Boston. So thank you douchebag for making our family Christmas complete, at least you are good for something.

Santa Claus is coming to town!!

We weren't sure if Santa was going to come. Presley even admitted that she wasn't good this year (LOL)! But those sneaky elves must have been watching her on her good days!

She got a Minnie Mouse cash register

and a Barbie convertible car to go with her new Barbie house (plus some accessories!). This house was donated by our family friends the Riders. Andrea is now 16 and wanted her things to go to someone they knew who would enjoy them! This is maybe 1/4 of the Barbie stuff that we got from them! So guess who will be getting Barbie clothes and furniture for her birthday! It truly is the gift that keeps on giving! Thank you Andrea!

She even asked if two of the girl Barbies could marry each other. I said "Of course!". She said they wanted to get married b/c they were pretty.

 

My baby girls. Piper gets to wear the Santa hat while Presley wears a candy necklace!

The three grandkids

The quilt that we had made for my mother. Some of our old T-shirts! Love it, so many good memories!

P and her new microphone! She loves it, as long as no one is watching her sing!

Presley and Piper got some great presents! They are very happy and spoiled! Thank you everyone! Our not-girlie toddler has turned into a very girlie preschooler! Minne Mouse, Tinkerbell, Barbie......I never imagined having this much pink around! LOL! I'm sure there is only more to come as Piper gets older too!

We had a great day with my family, a little drinking, alot of eating, played games. I hope everyone had a wonderful, merry Christmas and was able to spend some nice quality time with your family!

Earlham Christmas

We had Steve's family Christmas Sunday afternoon and we still had to get one last present for it. Steve got up about 7:30 and headed to Walmart and when he got back the three of us girls were still sleeping!

We ate a lot of good food, talked, the kids opened their presents and the adults had the white elephant gift exchange where Grandpa Jerry got a toilet piggy bank, Jordans girlfriend Sarah got Ricky Martin CD's and Steve got ISU socks, Ironman underwear and a couple other crappy things! I ended up with a cube picture frame thing.

Then we had our family pool tournament! Steve won!

(Can you tell this family like the Hawkeyes?)

Presley and Ava didn't take long to get warmed up and start playing with each other. They lock themselves in a room and play, occasionally they came out to say hi! This was the best picture we got of them....b/c you can't see the market across Ava's face and Presley sore lip (from being chapped!)

Dance Party!

Saturday night our friends Brock, Jackie and Miss Ava came over to hang out! It has been forever since we've seen them and since the girls have played together! Ava is Miss Independent! She came right in, went straight to Presley's room and started playing! I think Presley felt a little invaded there for a while! They had some problems sharing toys but when it came to dancing....they had too much fun! They dressed up and shook their booty's!

Germ infested Christmas cookies! Yum!

We always decorate Christmas cookies, even when there were no kids we still wanted to do it. Maybe tradition, maybe a reason to get together for a sugar high, maybe a reason for Holly to behead a reindeer and make him bleed with red frosting?!

Presley is very into Christmas this year, more than I thought she might be. She helped Gamma (previously Ga, most would say Grandma) stir the frosting.

She was very precise in her decorating, unlike years before where we would just have a pile of sprinkles on top.

Boston was less than thrilled to decorate and just wanted to eat. He did not like being dirty though.

One big happy family shares all their germs right? Boston was licking the knives (butter knives, no worries, no children were harmed in the making of these cookies!), Presley had a runny nose, Mary(Jerry's daughter) was coughing on everything! So if someone gets a cold in the next week or so, we will know why and will only have ourselves to blame!

Grandma was showing the kids how to be naughty (like any good Grandma would do) and pouring the sprinkles directly into their mouths! Thanks Grandma for setting a great example! :)

Snowday!!!

So as I'm sure everyone knows....it snowed! Really snowed! Wednesday on my way home from work the rain turned into snowflakes and we prepared for the blizzard! I had my fingers crossed that work would be cancelled on my 2nd day back! I already knew I would be waiting for the sun to come up before I was going to leave the house for work in the morning. The roads to our house are long and curvy (which I have noticed the deer like to come out in the snow!) and I just wasn't sure how well they would be plowed plus there are no curbs....just ditches!

We lost power about 4 am and by 6 am work had been postponed until noon. Steve had been sick all week and he was slowly feeling better, so he stayed home with Presley and I took Pipers to my moms on my way to work. The roads SUCKED!!!!!! I left work about 4 (again, I didn't want to drive in the dark) and we decided that b/c we still didn't have power that we were going to have to get a hotel room for the night. Presley was excited, the house was a 59 degrees and when I got home from work after 5, the power came back on! Woohoo! Though Presley still wanted to go to a hotel room!

Friday morning on my way to work I won tickets on the radio to go see Easton Corbin at the 7 Flags Event Center! Of course, we had no babysitter but grandma pulled thru! We are so extremely lucky to have her around and have her willing to watch the girls even more than just for daycare! So Steve and I had a last minute date night! It was nice! We made our way around town (Steve still not feeling that great) had some dinner and drinks (tried to get our last xmas present bought, but Walmart was closed b/c they didn't have power!) and then enjoyed the concert! We weren't out too late, not hungover! Overall, a great night! Thanks again mom!

Preschool Christmas

Presley had been talking about playing the jingle bells at preschool over the last couple weeks....in preparation for their Christmas gathering at preschool today. I was SO looking forward to going and seeing her participate but prepared myself in case she just sat there and watched the other kids! (like my mom said I did when I was in preschool!)

The parents got to help the kids decorate a Christmas tree and then we went into the classroom for their 'performance'.

Here is her class (13 of the 16 kids) She's on the far right. The girl sitting on the left front side was SO funny. After every song she would say 'thank you! thank you!' Very outgoing and loud, completely opposite of P!

They did a couple songs with bells (which she did), they sang (which she didn't) and they gave us our present, an ornament with their school picture! So cute! It was so nice to see her in preschool! She even gave her teacher Miss Cimberly a hug! She loves Miss Cimberly!

 

I had my first day back to work after dropping P off at my mom's after preschool. It was so hard to walk into that building. I know it will be fine. Everyone was so happy to have me back, it was nice to feel that welcomed! I spent the entire afternoon reading thru 1119 emails! No joke! I was able to delete probably half of them without reading them. The other half was skimmed over and filed away

 

Now we are sitting at home, hoping for a serious, terrible blizzard so they will call off work tomorrow (which they rarely do!). I know if they don't cancel work, this girl isn't going in until the sun is up and the roads are plowed! There is lightening, thunder, blowing snow....it's fun....if you don't have to go anywhere!

This is it.

The countdown to work has begun...it's depressing. Maternity leave this time was WAY better than with Presley. I think I was much more comfortable, I was definitely busier and Piper is just an easier baby! I enjoyed it this time! I didn't take a nap, I didn't read a book. I was busy around the house, running errands, shopping, trying to spend good, quality time with both Piper and Presley, together and seperately and of course, spending time on FB (important stuff!).
The laundry is done, the house is 'clean', grocery shopping is done until this weekend, Christmas shopping is done (except for one gift that is Steve's responsiblity!), Christmas cards are mailed, bills are paid, the credit card has not been used but the savings account has! The diaper bag is packed, my mom's house is ready for Piper, we still haven't gone to seen Santa and there is snow on the way but the car is filled with gas and I'm 'ready' for work tomorrow.

I need to be thankful that I was able to take 10 weeks off, that I have a job to go back to, that I have wonderful daycare for both of my girls. And thankful that the next 3 weeks will be short weeks for me and I have a week of vacation in January! :)

Here are my 12 days of Christmas Maternity Leave....
12 weeks I wish I could've taken off
11 Packer wins (after Sunday!)
10 great weeks off
9 more pounds to lose
8 empty bottles of wine
7 weekly timeouts for P
6 paid weeks off
5 hundred pictures taken!
4 months successful months of preschool
3 weekly trips to Target
2 healthy daughters
1 great 2012

Ugly Sweater Party!

So we decided to have a party this year, good excuse to have people over to the house and see people we haven't seen in a while! The good thing about parties is making the house nice and clean before people come and scoring all the left over alcohol! LOL! Of course, the bad part of parties....cleaning up afterwards and never seeming like there is enough time to talk to everyone!

 Presley and I made little strawberry santa hats!

This was part of my mom's ugly sweater! Should we be insulted?!

Damien and Jen were able to make it! We haven't seen them in a LONG time so we were happy they were able to make it out!

Darren the ugly sweater winner! He even had purple socks with bright green shoes, it was great!

We had a great turn out! We figured this close to Christmas that alot of people would have other things going on so we were pleasantly surprised with the people that showed up! We had a house full for sure! Hopefully are neighbors aren't too pissed with how packed our street was with cars!

My parents were nice enough to take Presley, Piper and Boston home for the night! Our first night away from Piper, I was mostly looking forward to getting a good night sleep....and I didn't.  Piper slept thru the night for the first time....for grandma (there is something in the air at their house that makes kids sleep)! Which I'm happy about but don't expect it to happen for us tonight! Owell, I went and got the girls and watched the Packer game and then headed home to get ready for the week.

 Two days left of maternity leave. :(

Weekend Fun!



So Friday we had Holly's family birthday dinner (2nd birthday celebration) at my parents house. She got an awesome map that she can use to pin all the places that she has been!

 

Holly is a nerd....and slightly obsessed with Lord of the Rings (in that she uses quotes from LOTR ALL of the time!). I got her a movie gift card so she can go see The Hobbit since it just came out and Lord of the Rings pez dispensers! LOL! Samantha got her this awesome print that she can frame. She was so happy! (no drama with this girl at all!)

 

Our sweet Piper, with daddy's smile. Love it!

Week o' fun!

Well this has been my last full week of maternity leave. Boo hiss (as P would say)! And a busy week at that! Monday was our first day that Steve dropped Presley off at Aprils house for daycare. Mondays and Thursdays are going to be his days, I'm sure he is pumped for this new morning responsibility.  Presley seems to like riding in daddy's work truck!
Tuesday I met my mom at the mall so P and Boston could ride the train together, it was fairly early so Santa wasn't there yet, which was fine b/c neither one really wanted to see him. Then we all we to lunch at Perkins and then P went home with grandma for the afternoon. That night P had gymnastics, Steve wanted to take her this week b/c he hadn't seen her do it in a while which gave me the perfect time to get my Christmas cards done!

Wednesday I decided that Presley and I would have a 'big girls' day out, so we took Piper to grandmas and after preschool we headed downtown and had lunch with my friend Sarah and then we to the Science Center. I figured it wouldn't be busy (so she would like it!) and it would be something different than us just going to the mall. We had a good time! Of course she is too little to understand the 'science' behind everything but I think she had fun experimenting and trying the different activities. I think Steve would love taking her there so that might be a good idea for a father/daughter day in a couple months!
That night I met Holly, Sam and Colleen at Olive Garden for Holly's birthday 'friend' dinner. Anyone who knows Holly and her birthdays, she has about 5 different celebrations and this one was decided on last minute which is why there were only 4 of us....not b/c of Holly's lack of friends! LOL! She's been too preoccupied with her new beau that I guess she forgot to plan ahead!

Thursday, Presley went to Aprils and Piper and I did the grocery shopping for our party tomorrow and tried to do some cleaning but I wasn't very productive b/c Miss Piper as a little fussy and wouldn't take a good, long nap for me...unless I was holding her!
My wonderful, awesome mother came over to watch P and Piper for us at night so Steve and I could go to his work holiday party at Blue Moon piano bar! I should've taken a pic of us b/c we were cute! :) It was fun! His company seems to treat their employees so good, with as small as they are they have been doing a great job in the commercial construction business when a lot of companies are going out of business. We are very lucky!

Five Question Friday

1. If you bake during the holidays, what is your favorite thing to make? I don't do alot of baking but I do like to make puppy chow (not really baking, but I have to turn on the stove!) and the peanut butter blossom cookies!

2. Present giving: Gift bag vs wrapped box? Depends on the gift! I try to wrap Christmas presents b/c I think they are fun to open but sometimes I result to using bags if needed.

3. What do you keep your thermostat on during the winter/summer in your house? I like a warm house, my mom says my house is too hot but why should I have to be cold in my own home? :) Normally my house is set on 70 in the winter, is that normal? I don't remember what we have it at in the summer, but I'd rather I don't like it too cold so I'm sure it is set pretty high.

4. When thinking of your "Christmas to-do list" what percentage "done" are you?  80%, we have one more nephew to buy for and then we have a couple gift cards to buy and puppy chow to make....so I think we are doing pretty good.

5. Do you do the "Elf on a Shelf"? If so, is your Elf naughty and what shenanigans has he gotten into? We don't. I thought about it this year and wondered if Presley would like it. I think she would like 'finding' the elf, but I know for sure it wouldn't make her behave any better. And if she is 'bad' and the elf tells Santa, she would still get presents from Santa! So I'm torn, maybe next year if she cares about being good and the consequences if she isn't.
I do LOVE all the creative ideas people have for their elves! I'm not sure I could be that creative! I think I would have an elf that was good and not naughty (I wouldn't want to give P any other ideas on how to misbehave!) :)

Two months!

Ahhhh.....it makes me so sad! Piper is two months old and so sweet and cuddly that I just want to keep her this way forever! I remember with Presley being so anxious for her to get to that 'next milestone' and really with Piper I just want to freeze time! I think I now realize how fast time goes and there is no way to get that time back. I also realize the sweetness of a newborn soon becomes the not-so-sweetness in a 3 year old.

She had her two month appt today and she is a whopping 9 lbs, 14 oz (15%......Presley was 10 lbs, 9 oz) and 21.5 inches long (11%). The doctor seems to be impressed with how strong she was (though she might say that to all parents). She got her 3 shots and it was SO sad for me! She gasped and took the adorable, pathetic, best pouty lip ever came out and she started screaming.

Piper at two months:
- eats 5 oz every three hours
- smiles and coos with the best of them
- is on no real schedule with feeding or nap times. I hoping once we have a regular daily routine that this will fall into place. She does seem to be awake for a couple hours in the morning, an hour or two during the afternoon and then is our little night owl and is usually awake in the evening until bedtime.
- doesn't sleep thru the night, but I have no complaints (yet). She usually gets up between 2-5am and if we are lucky it only takes 45 minutes before she is back to sleep.
- is still sleeping in the bouncy seat next to our bed. I'm slightly embarrassed lazy but it is SO easy to just reach over and stick the pacifer in her mouth a couple times to get another hour of sleep! We'll be breaking this habit soon.
- still wears newborn clothes! I've been putting her in some 0-3 month clothes but alot of them just swim on her! We are making that first jump to size 1 diapers though!

First snow of the season!

Presley was super excited to see the snow this morning! It is so fun now that she is at the age where she understands a little more and can enjoy things!

The snow was minimal but Steve and P enjoyed it as much as they would've if there was 2 feet of snow!

The neighbors built a good size snowman, Presley and Daddy built a 'Piper' size snowman! They had such a good time and I loved just watching them having fun.

Look who has pictures!!!!

And getting them to work was way easier than it should've been, we'll see how long it lasts! It almost makes me mad for deleted so many pictures from my blog back in 2009!

 

Anywhoooo....................another comparison for you!

 

Miss Presley at 3 months

 

 Miss Piper at 2 months

 

My girls watching cartoons before daycare!

 

Steve and I still weren't feeling 100% yesterday, he left work early and after I picked P up from preschool the 4 of us just spent the day together not doing a whole lot of anything and were all in our pjs by 4:30!

Today we got out of the house for a couple hours and made our typical Costco trip....but since it is 3 weeks before Christmas everywhere was packed and I didn't want to attempt to go anywhere else and try to fight the crowds! Guess I better get my other shopping done during the coming week before I go back to work! :(

Five Question Friday

1. How many times have you moved and do you have any tips? Well, I have moved twice in 6 years....my tips, get a Uhaul for $75 for the day and have lots of friends and family to help. The most important thing of all....have a daddy that loves to helps his daughters! :)
2. Do you have a budget for the holidays, or just keep sliding the credit card and have a heart attack in Jan? I don't really have a budget, but I realize at this point the kids are little enough they don't really know any different so I really try not to go overboard or buy things that they will need eventually anyway. And at this point I haven't had to break out the credit card yet!
3. What is the one medical thing you avoid like the plague? Umm......this is a weird question to me....I don't normally have too many medical problems (knock on wood). My main concern is going to the dermatologist to have my moles checked, I know I have to go but I dread going b/c who knows what they are going to want to remove from my body! (Note to self...call to make an appt ASAP!)
4. What  is your least favorite Christmas song? I would have to say the song from the Grinch Who Stole Christmas movie, it's just creepy.
5. This Christmas are you spending more, less or about the same? Why? Probably about the same, Piper is just getting a couple things mostly for the sake of just having presents and/or things that I would buy her anyways. Presley was lucky enough to have an awesome present 'donated' to us that Santa will give her.

Success! (with no pictures!)

So Monday night Steve started to NOT feel good, by Tuesday night I could feel that I was catching whatever he had. NOT FUN! By Wednesday it had caught up with me but I had to function, so I did. When it was time for Presley to go to bed I laid with her and fell asleep before 8 pm! Steve got Piper to bed and of course, with both of us not being 100% why wouldn't both kids wake up in the middle of the night. Presley woke up at 2 having to go potty (in footie pj's, which makes it hard for her to go by herself!). Steve got up with her and for some reason she was awake, normally she is so tired and out of it but he said she was singing and talking to him.....first time for everything.
Then Piper was up at 3 for her bottle and like her sister wasn't too interesting in going back to sleep...so a little after 4 I was able to go back to sleep! And I was still up before 7 to take a shower before Steve left for work, go me!

Today Steve left work early and has been sleeping most of the day. I dropped Presley off at Aprils and did some errands and came home and got stuff done! Two days of me not doing anything around the house is not good!
So tonight was my first night as a 'single mom'....Steve felt like shit and slept downstairs, I got dinner ready, gave Piper a bath, got Presley ready for bed. The 3 of us girls sat in her bed and read a book and then I got Piper ready for bed....by 9:00 both girls were asleep (b/c of course, Presley read her Bible to herself for 1/2 hour after I left)! So success!

I just think as a mother you have a sense that you want to be able to do it all (or maybe it's just me), you don't like to depend on people, you want to prove to yourself and others that you can do it all! I'm sure this fads the longer you are a parent but right now I'm hanging in there! I feel like I have control over most things right now, the house is clean, dishes done, laundry done and put away! And being sick doesn't have a part in any of this, there is no time to be sick!

Of course, once I go back to work...that will be a different story. I already know I'll be working overtime and we'll be juggling two different daycares since Piper will go to my moms every day and Presley will still be going to April's two days a week, but both of them are so flexible about things that I'm hoping that will all work out! It will be an adjustment for all of us, what would life be like without change?! :)

Weekend blah blah

Saturday we had no plans! I love those days, which means usually I don't get out of my sweats! Friday morning my dad came over to help Steve dig the holes for our deck and then Saturday morning Jordan came to help Steve set the posts. We thought about not doing the deck until the spring but since the weather has been so nice he thought it would be nice to get it started. If we can get another couple nice weekends he might just get it done this year!
Us girls hung out until he was done and then Steve took Presley to run off some energy and get out of the house! She is her fathers daughter and CANNOT sit around the house and do nothing all day...unlike me!

Yesterday I took the girls to my parents for the Packer game while Steve worked on the posts and house some more. Presley was very good (she seems to act much better when we are NOT at home) she played with Boston and Mary (Holly's boyfriends daughter) and we all ate too much....which seems to be a Sunday trend with my family!
Then Kyle, Maggie and their two girls Sadie and Grace came over for a little while. Presley played so good with them! It is so nice to see her play with other kids, slowly but surely she is coming out of her shell....especially when she is on her own turf (at home or grandmas house!).

My maternity leave is slowly coming to an end....2.5 weeks left. It doesn't seem possible. There were so many things I was going to get done during this time and there is so much I still could do! I was so busy during the first 6 weeks (buying stuff for the house, organizing, unpacking) but the last week or so I've come home and sat......just sat....with nothing to do. Laundry, dishes, cleaning has all been done, so I'm trying to enjoy this time! I really should finish Christmas shopping but considering I'm not getting paid for the next month it makes it hard to go and spend money...guess that saving account will get some action soon!

Good-bye November!

Monday afternoon April called me b/c P had thrown up in the back of her car?! What? I've never seen Presley throw up before! I picked her up and went home, she threw up again in the garage when we got home. She had a low fever and kept falling asleep on the couch. We only gave her water and crackers to make sure she didn't throw up again! I decided to keep her home with me on Tuesday instead of going to grandmas. She had a low fever in the morning but by noon was back to her normal self.

Our little strawberry blond baby. I think she is done losing her hair for now!
(I deleted enough pictures from my blog that it finally allowed me to download ONE, what a waste! I need to figure something out about this whole picture downloading thing b/c it is driving me CRAZY!)

Thursday I took Piper to my moms and Presley went to April and I went to get my hair done! It had been 5 months since I've had a cut or highlight and it was very much needed!!
Yesterday I had dinner and drinks with my friend Cindy! It was nice to get caught up and chat and complain about our kids and husbands! ;)



Five Question Friday

1. What do you give teachers for gifts? Good question! This is the first year I've really had to think about this! We are just doing a small gift bag that has the Bath and Body Works holiday foam hand soap and then P and I are going to make puppy chow and give them a small bag of that too. Does that sound alright?!

2. Do you text? One finger texter or total pro? Of course I text! I'm not a total pro but I can hold my own when it comes to texting!

3. Do you give back during the holidays? I always want to, but I'm not very good at following thru. When I do it is minimal (taking a friend out to dinner, putting money in the red kettles at the stores). I do want to do more, especially as the kids get older to show them the true meaning of the holiday season!
 
4. If you would've been the sole winner of the 575+ million dollar Powerball jackpot, what would you have done with all that money? I've gone over this and I would so badly want to help many of my family and friends! And there are a couple charities that would see a pretty penny from me too! and I would want to travel as a family! Hire a nanny and we are gone! Really this list is never ending....so many options!

5. Will you please take just a moment to spread the word and pray about my friend's missing family members? There still is no news, and I can't imagine their pain and worry. Facebook prayer page: Prayers for Trista, Shy and Matt
.............I don't know these people but looked up the story, very sad! So I will help to spread the word!

Getting to know you

What is your dream job? Either a food, movie or television critic....those are all things I love so why wouldn't I want to get paid for this?!

Who is there in your life that you would take a bullet for? Well, the obvious answer is my children! I see stories on the new about missing or murdered kids and I can't even fathom what these parents go through!

Under what circumstances would you adopt a child?  If I had the money, time and patience. I have absolutely no objection to adoption. In fact, my dad and his twin brother were both adopted!

What charity are you willing to support? First and foremost, Cystic Fibrosis. There are so many other causes that I love but this is my main focus when it comes to charities!

What was the first thing you learned to cook? There isn't a whole lot of cooking going on with this girl, so I have no idea! I'm sure this question isn't supposed to include microwave cooking either!

What book can you read over and over again? It Sucked and Then I Cried: How I Had a Baby, a Breakdown, and a Much Needed Margarita...LOVE this book! Great for mothers, who don't think motherhood is all fun and games! :)

What was the first concert you went to see? New Kids on the Block! DUH!

Who is someone from your past that you are sorry you lost track of? I lost track of my college roommate from my sophomore year. She was an exchange student from Japan..Junko was her name. I was pissed off when I learned she was my roommate and even tried to get reassigned to a different room! But as it turned out she was the best roommate I could've asked for! She was so sweet, nice and it was a really good experience!

If you could see 24 hours into the future what would you do with this ability? Honestly, I would love to see what kind of mood Presley would be in! It would help give me time to prepare for what is to come! LOL!

 

What was your first paying job? Besides babysitting? I worked at Target from when I was 16 to 21 years old!


Reading is more fun if there are pictures!

Still no luck with the whole picture downloading thing (though it will let me copy and paste from Facebook?)! FRUSTRATING!

I guess I will just move on minus the pictures! The nice, long weekend was pretty good to us (even though being on maternity leave it seems like I always have long weekends!). Wednesday was so nice out, I was so happy with the neighbor kids came over to ask P if she wanted to play! I had to go with her for most of it but she was so happy and played so good with them! The boy next door who is about 6 years old has 3 younger sisters so he is so good with her, he makes sure she is included and always gives her a turn with whatever they are playing!
I was able to meet some friends for drinks Wednesday night, it was so nice to get out and catch up with them! It had been too long and I wasn't out too late which was nice so I could get home and help with bedtime!

Thursday we went to my parents house for Thanksgiving! It was a lot of fun, lots of laughs, played some four square, ate way too much good, yummy food! (Thanks mom!) and all the kids were pretty good! Presley loved the cranberry! She called it jelly, even though she doesn't like jelly normally but for some reason this canned cranberry she couldn't get enough of!

Friday we put up our Christmas tree and decorations, Presley was a big help (pictures to come). I love the holiday season and it seems that P is excited about it this year too! Basically we didn't do much else but hang out. Steve and P did take a trip to Walmart (on Black Friday? Are you serious?) and it wasn't busy at all! By noon on Black Friday, the stores and malls are all back to normal...thank you, Black Thursday?!

Saturday we did some hanging out and got ready to head to Earlham for another Thanksgiving! They do appetizers and we always have a family pool tournament! I was happy that I beat nephew Jordan and almost beat Matt! My pool skills have declined since we don't hang out at bars anymore! :)
We got there and I went with P to find cousin Ava, after 10 minutes they were off and playing. No adults needed and basically we didn't see them most of the night b/c they did so much playing together! It was awesome and just what we always hope for with Presley.

Aren't they cute!

 

Since we were up too late on Saturday night in Earlham, Steve and Presley slept in Sunday morning (9:30 for them, lucky)! Then we got up and ready to take P to Disney on Ice. Piper went to Grandmas and we hit up Buzzard Billys for lunch before the show. Even during lunch we could tell that P was still tired, she was moody! So we enjoyed the first half of the show. During the intermissions she took her shoes off, then she ate cotton candy and she wanted to go wash her hands....but didn't want to put her shoes back on. BREAKDOWN! She cried off and on for about 15 during the 2nd half of the show, good thing it was loud and there were plenty of other kids getting restless around us too! The show was really good, I wish they would've made the princess part longer and did less with Mulan and Pinocchio (b/c what kids have seen those movies?) So after another melt down b/c she didn't want to put her coat on (umm...it is 30 degrees out, this is not negotiable at this point) we picked up Piper and headed home....oh yeah, after we had wrestle her back into the car when we left grandmas. People in the neighborhood probably thought a child was getting abused in that car with the amount of screaming, crying and yelling going on! Heck even her shoes were kicked off during the situation!

 

She was much better once we got home and got settled down. She went to bed early and on a side note.....she is 100% potty trained now! #1 and #2 are mastered and she has been dry in the mornings! Woohoo!

 

Today has been relaxing. I dropped P off at Aprils house about 9 (I was up at 6:45 but didn't wake P up until about 7:45, that way she can eat breakfast here and we aren't in any real hurry...boy that will change once I go back to work...NOT looking forward to that!) and then my mom and godmother Cindy came over! Normally, I run to Target, clean, do laundry and honestly I haven't done any of that today! Maybe I should...........

Thankful for 2012

So I haven't blogged about this wonderful long weekend, b/c now my blog says that I'm out of memory to load more pictures on here?! WTH? We've tried to fix it but aren't having any luck....very frustrating! Any who........

I'm not big on doing the 30 days of being thankful thing that everyone is doing on FB, most of it is the same ole stuff we always say every year. Which is great, it is wonderful that everyone takes this time to reflect on how lucky they for the things in their life. I do think this is something that more people need to try to do more often.

So that being said.....we DO have a lot to be thankful for! We have had a busy, crazy, stressful year but we are very blessed by being able to sell our house quickly, having a great family that allowed us to store all of our stuff in their garages, being able to build a house, go on three vacations, watch Presley grow into a wonderful KID, having a healthy baby girl and family and friends who will spoil them both rotten!

P1 vs P2

Presley, a little over 2 months

Piper, almost 2 months

Presley, a little over 2 months old



Piper, a little over a month old

 

Basically, Presley had some cheeks and on her way to having some fat rolls at 2 months, Piper has 2 weeks to pack on some pounds. I do think they look very similar in some ways! Piper's hair is a little more reddish. We'll see how she changes over the next couple months!



Weekend fun!

Thursday Presley and I took a 'big' girls night out to my friend Lisa's house. They just built a house in Polk City so they are pretty close to us, hopefully we'll be hanging out more! Our friends Mistee and Erin were there too, it was nice to catch up. It has been so long since I've seen them! Presley was very good and just played! Thanks Lisa for having us over!

Friday we took a family trip to Costco, Kirklands and then out to dinner. Of course, both kids fell asleep on the way there....we sat in the parking lot of Costco wondering if we should just drive around a little longer or actually go in and hope we didn't have crabby kid. They were great, both of them! And we got some shopping done, we've been looking for things for the house and I think we are on our way to actually getting it decorated but we still have a ways to go.

Saturday Steve and Presley hung out alot, played outside and ran some errands while Piper and I hung out at home. Since it was so nice outside he actually got the xmas lights on the house! and Sunday we had the family over for the Packer game, it was a close one but they pulled off another win!  My mom bought Piper a Packer onesie so she was able to dress in her green and gold (even though the 0-3 month onesie is still too big for my 0-3 month old baby!). I really wanted a picture of us in our Packer gear but didn't think about it, maybe this weekend!

We were all exhausted by Sunday night, we tried to put Presley to bed early... She stalled over and over again, pooped twice in the potty, read 250 books, and then I asked her if she wanted to turn off the light and have me lay with her for a couple minutes or leave the light on and read for a little while...she said she wanted me to lay in bed with her. So I did, a couple minutes later she sits up and sighs....
P - "Mommy, I picked it but I don't know why I picked it"
Me - "Picked what?"
P - "For you to lay with me'
Me - " So you want me to leave?" She nods, geez...thanks kid!

2 hours later she was still awake (in bed, but awake), she called for me again (I was asleep in bed at this point) I went in her room and said it was time to close her eyes and go to sleep. She said "No, I don't want to close my eyes" I told her that was fine she just needed to lay in bed and be quiet. She again told me that was she was going to keep her eyes open. Fine, just fine...go ahead and keep trying that P. Good luck!

This and That

- So about the time we decided on Pipers name (about a week before we had her)...we learned there is another Piper in the neighborhood......with the same LAST name! NO JOKE!!!! She is 8 years old so it didn't really bother us.  As you know Presley went as Dorothy for Halloween...so did the other Piper! IRONIC!!!

- Also our neighbor was due to have a baby the end of October also, when she heard we named our baby Piper she told Steve that was one of the names they were going to use! Two of the names on their list....Presley and Piper...NO JOKE!!! Turns out they did not use either name! :)

- Technically my paid short term disability ends this coming Tuesday. I have 5 days of PTO to take after that and then however long I decide to stay at home after that is all unpaid. Right now my tentative return date to work is the 17th. I would love to take another week off but we'll have to see how our savings account looks after Christmas and no pay check for 2.5 weeks.

- Pooping.....so there is a little light at the end of this tunnel for us. After P going in her underwear the only way we could see getting around that was to sleep with her....to stop her before she started. We gave her Miralax for two days, finally on day 3 we had success (after multiple attempts to get a diaper and crying). Then two more days went by and on day 6....more success! She is still reluctant and hesitant but hopefully she can keep this up. Tonight is day 9 and since she seems to be on a 3 day cycle (LOL) maybe tonight will be easier than the first two and she'll be more willing! She is getting 'rewards' and she has been SO proud of herself! I just hope it continues!

- Preschool...we had P's conferences on Thursday.  We were looking forward to seeing what the teachers had to say about her. We knew the 'social' aspect would be what she needed to work on but the teachers were happy with her progress over the last couple months and she is SO much better when I drop her off now. Rarely any tears! And recently they have heard her voice! She actually talked...out loud! There are a couple girls she talks about playing with and the teachers are very good at encouraging her in all aspects to help her feel more comfortable.  She is right on track with the things she is supposed to know at this point (letters, numbers, colors, shapes) so that is good...the one thing she had problems with scissors. We've never had scissors in the house so she had no idea how to even hold them! HA! They said she follows direction and has a kind attitude?! What? Really?

Fell asleep reading her Bible :)

 Loving this neighborhood, the kids flock together to play and the yards are so open they can roam from swing set to swing set! HA! This is part of the view from our future deck...this is 2 of the 4 swing sets you can see from our backyard!