Weekend Update (part 2)

Happy Easter to all!

We headed over to mom and dads for Easter. We all love family get togethers and since the Packers aren't playing any more, these weekends have been minimal! We did a little of everything....well, except eat, we did ALOT of that!

We cuddled....

We were cute, some of the time (minus the snotty, sarcastic, crying by some of the kids, some of the time).

 

We spun Holly around in circles?!

We cuddled some more.

 

We had a great Easter egg hunt!

We played four square!

 

 

We were sad.

We were monsters (though P looks smiley)

 

We loved each other! (it happens occasionally!)

We were sleepy,

 

We had a wonderful, family-filled Easter and hope you all did too. We got home and P ate some dinner (Steve and I were still too full to eat) then I took her on a walk (to get some more fresh air and burn some calories!). Both girls got baths and we got ready for bed.....early! And by 8:30 both of them were sleeping! Steve went to bed about 9 and I'm headed that way too. I'm hoping this good Sunday is a sign of how the week ahead will be! (fingers crossed!)

Weekend Update (part 1)

Saturday was a day of rest for me! I got up with Piper at 8 am! Woohoo! We were hoping to hit up an Easter egg hunt, but it was dreary and rainy so we decided to skip it this year. Presley and Steve didn't get up until almost 9 and we just hung out. Steve took a trip to Walmart and then came home and put on the storm door in our front entrance.  It's great! It lets in so much sunlight and will be great to open up for a nice breeze!

Presley and I literally didn't get dressed until about 3 pm and that was because we were getting ready to head to Lisa, Jared and Coltons house for dinner and drinks! It was so nice to let Presley and Colton play. They seem to get along really well! And of course, it was nice to catch up with Lisa and Jared! Thank you guys!

 

Today we woke up and the Easter bunny had come to our house! Presley was SO excited to find the eggs! She found them WAY too easily, guess next year the Easter bunny will have to step up his hiding game!

 

The girls got dressed up (we just put them in dresses they already had instead of buying something new). Poor Piper is already experiencing the 'second' child syndrome....with Presley we went out and bought a new dress and sweater to put over it....for her to wear one time. Oh well, they still looked cute!

 

They were even cute in the middle of a crying fit. :)

TGIF!

Thursday we were able to play outside for a while after work which was so nice. It keeps Presley so happy and occupied...and wears her out! Now if we can just keep these temperatures!

She is pretty much always willing to have her picture taken and likes to give us cute smile, cheesy smile, goofy, sad. I love it!

 

 

 

 Thursday night Piper was hard to get asleep again. A good hour of just crying and screaming before she finally gave in an slept. We put her back in her crib b/c obviously nothing else was working and she slept better. She was still up multiple times for her pacifer but there were no crying fits in the midde of the night.

We wanted her to go to the doctor to make sure there wasn't anything wrong before the weekend started. She had a cold we thought maybe it had turned into an ear infection even though she acted fine all day long...until bed time. So my mom agreed to take her to the walk-in clinic for us on Friday (while my dad staying with napping B and P). And sure enough, infection in her right ear. I was actually happy that we had an answer to her issues!

 We got home and enjoyed more time outside! At one time we had 6 additional kids in our yard, kicking soccer balls into the cul-de-sac and chasing after them. I even got out there and did some running...and yes, I was out of breath!

Piper had a much better night last night, still up a couple times for the pacifer but she slept till 8 this morning....so I'm not complaining!

Mon-Wed

Love this messy smile! (and the mohawk!)

Oh man! It is Friday! The last week of the month, which is always hectic at work and having fussy-bedtime-Piper was just.....UGH! Monday night we went to dinner at Applebees...I will say, with our new house we don't eat out nearly as much....it just isn't as convenient! Which is a good thing! This is when our Piper problems started....just waking up more than usual, ok.

Tuesday Presley went to soccer and there were alot more kids there, not just her and Boston as it had been most weeks......and she still did good, despite the chaos of the other kids!

Piper WOULD NOT go to sleep, she would just scream. We tried some 'screaming it out', rocking her, giving her a bottle....nothing. Steve slept on the couch with her in the bouncy seat (which doesn't work since she just wants to roll out of it). He didn't get a lot of sleep and neither did I even though I was in bed alone. I couldn't sleep! I was wired...it was like I had drank a couple Red Bulls before bed and it sucked! It was one of those nights that I just wanted to be over...I wanted it to be time to get up!

Wednesday it was Presley's last snack day at preschool, which means that Steve was able to join her class today! I was so excited (and jealous) for him! He said that she did good for 3/4 of the class and then got a bellyache.....so much she was crying and they ended up leaving early! I felt so bad, but he seemed to think it went pretty good anyways!

Wednesday night we went to my parents to dye Easter eggs! It was nice because everyone was able to join!

Proud Presley

even Jerry got some Piper time!

 

Mary dying the Easter eggs

We decided this night to NOT feed Piper any of her cereal or food, thinking maybe that was the cause of her restless nights...that didn't work either. I was up with her by 11:30, we slept on the couch together until about 2.....then she was restless until about 3:30 when she had a freak-out-screaming-fit...once she finally calmed down from that I was able to get her asleep and actually sleep myself!

It was a Red Bull Thursday morning for sure!

Five Question Friday

1. How often should adults have birthday parties? Real, huge blow out parties? Only on the main ages....like 35, for me, next year.....Mexico? I think so!

2. What was your room decorated like when you were a child? I moved into the basement a couple  years after Samantha was born, so maybe when I was 8 (?) yrs old? (man, that seems too young!). Basically my room was wallpapered in posters! Bop, Big Bopper, 16....I would buy the every month and have the hotties cover my walls! Leo DiCaprio, Edward Furlong, Jonathan Brandis, Bon Jovi, Kirk Cameron, Marky Mark, New Kids on the Block and even some girls made my walls.....Debbie Gibson, Tiffany, Tiffani Amber Theissen. I think I even had big posters on my ceiling of Jordan Knight and Donnie Wahlberg....yeah, I was that cool!

3. Do you have any traditions for Easter? If so, what? and do you have a why behind that? Family time! Maybe some cinnamon rolls, an Easter egg hunt and then some lunch....and most importantly four square playing! Feel free to stop by my parents house on Sunday if you want to show off your skills!

4. Do you get Good Friday off? If so, any plans? No, and I always think it is weird that companies give their employees this day off!

5. Did you wear hats & white shoes to church on Easter? (Or was that just in the South?) We don't do church....and white is definitely a color I do not like in my house. I have a hard time buying anything white.

MIA

I have been MIA this week...wanna know why? Well, Miss Piper has decided that she likes to scream most of the night. We don't know what is wrong or what the problem is but she can't or won't fall asleep...and when she does it is short lived and we get another screaming fit.
So Steve and I are living off about about 4 hours of sleep each the last couple nights....it's been fun. There may be a doctors visit tomorrow...but what do I tell him? She won't sleep? Sounds like a typical baby, right? Well, not this baby and I don't like it!

Presley funnies

-  When Layla was over yesterday they were playing and P came out and said "Daddy, will you be a monster? or like a ghost or dinosaur?" She wanted him to come in and scare them and try to get them...but not sure where she got ghost or dinosaur!
-  Whenever she wants you to hand something to her she'll say "Can you grab that to me?" I don't correct her, I just say 'Of course I can hand that to you!'.....hoping she'll catch on.
- She had two hangnails the other night that she wanted to put bandaids on...and I said something about us not chewing our nails. She simply said that she didn't do it, Boston did it......Right! I'm sure you sat there and let Boston pick at your hangnails?!
- I can't remember if I told this story on here, but a couple weeks ago I asked P how preschool was and she said that someone hit her. I asked her who it was (even though I strongly doubted this was true). She said everyone. Yep, I'm sure EVERYONE in preschool was hitting you Presley!

Weekend Update

Besides Presley being brave and going to Layla's house on Friday night, it was your normal night for us. I worked a couple hours late and we just hung out. I took a nice bath with some wine and my book and went to bed! Then I actually got up and went to work on Saturday for a couple hours but I got a lot done so it was worth it.
Once I got home Steve went to Walmart while Piper took her nap and Presley and I did crafts and cuddled on the couch (while I read my book).  By the time Steve got home P was getting restless, which was good timing since the kids in the neighborhood had migrated outside. Steve took her outside and it wasn't too long before her and Layla made their way down to Laylas house to play! Then after a while they came to play at our house! Which I love b/c then I can see how Presley is with other kids. P is VERY bossy with Boston but Layla is the bossy one with P, I kind of like to see the tables turned. Layla is one of those kids who just says whatever she thinks, mainly b/c she is 5 years old and doesn't really know any better....but the brutal honesty that comes out of her mouth is SO funny!

Today Piper was up at 6:30. Of course, during the week I have to wake her up at 6:30 but on the weekends she is ready to get up by then. She SO badly wanted to fall back asleep after her bottle but she just couldn't/wouldn't. It is SO hard for her to get comfortable enough to fall asleep, it's frustrating. She wants to crank her neck so far back and she just can't do that in our arms or the swing and she wakes right up if you try to lay her in the crib. I think we eventually need to let her cry herself to sleep b/c this process sure isn't working!
I also think she might be working on a tooth! My mom said last week that her gums looked wider and now drooling, gnawing on things and now has diaper rash (which I remember the doctor saying that teething can cause diaper rash...weird, huh?). Time will tell.

Her eyes look blue, don't they?

I actually took a nap this morning once Steve got up...it is really only my second nap in the last 6 months and I sleep good! I got up showered and took a trip to Target by myself! Other than that, we didn't do a whole lot today, which was nice! Hung out, played, watched Piper jump like a crazy girl in her jumper! That girl gets jumping away and you think she just might spring herself out of it! HA!

Crazy

Two crazy things have happened this week. My dad met his sister! Let me back up a bit.....my dad and his twin brother were adopted around the age of 8. My dad really hasn't wanted anything to do with his 'real' family. He hasn't kept in contact with them, didn't know much about them and didn't really care to. However, my uncle has. So it just worked out that their sister Mary was in town on Wednesday and wanted to reunite with my dad. Both of my parents went to meet and chat with her at my aunt and uncles house. My mom said it went really good and that Mary said her life is now complete after meeting my dad again. Isn't that so sweet!

So here is my Uncle Leslie, Mary and my daddy!

 

Crazy incident #2.....the infamous neighbor girl Layla stopped by tonight to see if Presley could come to her house and play.....P has a hard time playing outside without one of us with her, so there was no way she was going to follow Layla to her house (where she has never been) by herself. However, because Presley likes to shock the hell out of us.....she went! She said she wanted to go, so she put her shoes and coat on and followed Layla down the street to her house! WHAT?????? I was at work and Steve called to tell me this was going on...he was standing in the front door just watching her (benefit of living at the end of the cul-de-sac, you can see down the whole street!), figuring she would come back. She didn't! WHAT????? Steve gave Laylas dad a call just to let him know that she needed to be home by 7 and that she probably wouldn't say much or do much and to just let us know if she was freaking out and we'd come and get her. NOPE. Chris said that Layla wanted her to play XBox, which of course she doesn't know how to do (but give her the ipad and she is a whiz!).....do we have the only kid out there who doesn't know how to play on a gaming system? He said Presley was quiet and did alot of watching but that it went good. Steve watched as Layla and Presley sprinted back to our house at 7. It was awesome and a little sad, our little girl is growing up and she is only 4 years old and it breaks my freakin heart!

Five Question Friday

1. What advice would you give a newly married couple? Don't lose yourself and don't stop having fun! Many couples get married, have babies and you never see them again....they become lost in that life. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing but if you spend so much time being a wife or a mother you start to lose yourself. Steve and I try very hard to make sure we are still doing the things we love, which is hard with kids! We don't go out together as much as we used to but we still get our nights to go have fun with and without each other and I think that is very important! Time goes too fast, enjoy it now!

2. Who does more laundry around your house? Me. I would say we are at a 75/25 ratio. Steve will do a load of his laundry about once a week (he goes thru ALOT of clothes) but I'm usually the one that does a majority of our laundry, the girls' clothes, towels...which is fine b/c I LOVE our new washer and dryer and do laundry twice as much as I used to!

3. What items, if any, do you prefer to buy organic or make yourself? We don't buy anything purposely organice, occasionally I'll buy organice fruit but only b/c it looks better than the other stuff. Other than that, I take the regular ole, filled with artifical yummy-ness food.

4. What book/TV series would you recommend for a friend on bedrest? I'm still a sucker for the Twilight series books and movies! TV series depends on what you like but I love the show Revenge and Parenthood...two completely opposite series'!

5. So, they say it's Spring now...what does your "spring" look like at this very moment? UGH, spring is completely different than last year. Last year it was beautiful and warm...this year cold and snowy. We are just ready to spend some time outside, burn off some calories and get our deck built...consisten 50 degree weather would be very welcomed!

Pink!!

So I have been dying to see Pink in concert for years and finally she was coming close to the area in St. Paul, MN! So Tuesday morning we dropped off Presley and Piper at mom's, picked up Holly and Jerry and headed north!  We stopped at Ikea before heading to the hotel to take a look around and see if there was anything we needed to have for the house....we didn't buy anything. Owell.

Then we headed to the hotel, which was close enough to the Xcel Center so that we could walk to the concert. Steve and I got a room on the 13th floor. I thought most hotels avoided the '13th floor superstition' and we were 'lucky' enough to grab room #1313 on the 13th floor. Beat that!

 

We grabbed a bite to eat and some drinks at American Burger Bar....it was really good! A nice, dark, comfy place that was perfect to hang out at until the concert!

 

 

Pink was amazing! I love all her songs, she is very acrobatic and SO strong. It was 3 hours of non-stop singing and entertainment! Near the end she was flying out over the entire crowd, it was awesome! I told Steve I was ready to chop my hair, dye it blond and get some tattoos!

Good thing she is now coming to Des Moines in November, guess we'll have to go see her again!

Weekend Update

So a week ago I was told to cut off working overtime at work...not that I have really been working that much anyway. I knew it was going to be short lived, usually March is the month it starts to get busy again and there is spring break so many coworkers have next week off. Sure enough, Thursday morning I was told I could work some overtime if I wanted to. I actually have two days off this coming week and I knew I had a lot of work to do so I worked a couple hours late on Friday night. I thought about going into work on Saturday too but we already had a busy day so I dismissed that idea about 6 am!
Saturday I had a bridal shower to go to for my sister-in-laws sister, Steph. It actually wasn't too bad. Most people hate these things but they made it nice and simple, mimosas and no games! :) I got home about 1, picked up Presley and ran some errands while Steve did some cleaning before our company came over.
Matt, Brandon, Kyle, Nick and Sarah all came over to hang out and have a couple drinks before they went out on the town. Presley was SO good. She talked to them, played games and soccer with them...it was surprisely nice to have her be good and social! Piper on the other hand.....was not as pleasant. I don't think she enjoys the excessive talking and laughing that goes on when there are alot of people around and I think she was having some stomach issues (which would explain her blow out today!). She whined and cried alot, didn't want to eat or go to sleep. Steve and his peeps left a little before 9, Piper didn't go to sleep until 9:30 and P about 10:15...but she was good so I was fine with it! :)

Piper woke up at 5:30 this morning! 5:30?! Of course, Steve and his friends didn't go to sleep until almost 3 so there was no way I could have her out in the family room where she could/would wake up everyone! So I kicked Steve to the couch and Piper and I hung out in our bedroom. She had a bottle and surprisely fell back asleep about 6:45! Thank goodness! A little before 9 she woke up again but I was thrilled to get another 2 hours of sleep AND everyone else in the house was still sleeping, including Presley!
We got ready and headed to the mall/Target. The Easter Bunny was there and P said she would sit on his lap if Piper did.  We didn't even try b/c I knew it would never happen, maybe next weekend...she does keep surprising me! She did however ride the train! People, she rode the train without me (or Boston) being with her! By herself, she gave the girl her dollar and climbed in! I was SO proud, I had tears in my eyes! This is just not the Presley Pie we are used to and she has grown up so much and become more independent and social in the last 6 months it is crazy! I love it....but it makes me so sad b/c I realize how much she is growing up!

Anyway the last couple hours have included Piper and daddy taking naps, Presley playing and watching a movie and me doing laundry and watching Love it or List it (one of my new addictions).
One day of work and then we are off for two days! Can't wait! and an early thank you to my mom for taking the kiddos while we are gone!

Love, Love, Love

Thank you Janelle for sharing this with me!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/allison-tate/mom-pictures-with-kids_b_1926073.html

Five Question Friday

1. What is one thing you wish you did not have to teach your children? About disappointment, heart break, death, sex, mean people....you know everything that has to do with the 'real' world!


2. What are you going to use since Google Reader is going away? What is Google Reader?

3. British comedy; Hilarious or strange? You know the show Who's Line is it Anyway? Well, that was originally a British comedy show and I thought it was pretty freakin funny...however, like everything, I really think it depends on the person, situation or act.

4. Do you prefer card games or board games? Why is online games not an option here? I guess I would choose board games unless we are talking Uno or War, then I pick card games.

5. Will winter ever end? My educated guess is YES. I think we have officially turned the corner into spring. I think the temps we'll begin to tick up and we'll be happy...and then everyone will complain b/c it is too hot and we'll start the never ending cycle of Facebook posts bitching about the weather again.

Random

- Did you know that it is 'laid' not 'layed'. Just saying, I didn't know the write verbiage so I looked it up!
- The two coworkers I talk to the most are going to be gone next week! What am I going to do without my Amy and Belinda?
- Robin Hood : Prince of Thieves and The Count of Monte Cristo are two of my FAVORITE movies!
- It is a proven fact that Steve and I have one bad DNA combination. We do not produce good toenails in our kids. Presley has always had jacked up toenails. Instead of growing 'up' (the way normal toenails grow) they grow out..like at a 90 degree angle from her toe. I don't know why or if she will grow out of it, but it is weird. I've noticed Piper's toenails growing the same way. SO moral of the story is.....Goodrich/Moeller DNA produces abnormal toenails.
Guess I'll take it. Could be worse. :)

Ahh....Thursday

TGIT! I will take Thursday this week! It has been a tiresome week for sure. Mostly due to Presley being up as late as she can possibly hack it. Finally, last night she went to bed better than the last 3 nights, she was asleep by 9. Of course, Piper was up a couple times around 1 am and 3 am...then P woke up around 3:45 to go potty...then my alarm went off at 5! BLAH! I just have to remember with Presley we would still be feeding her a bottle in the middle of the night so I really can't complain about a 30 second pacifer fix!

 

Miss Piper taking some time trying to sit up.

Some quality sister time with the Ipad.

 

Miss Piper's new face...sucking on her bottom lip. She looks so much like Presley did when she was little when she makes this face! Love it!

 

April said that Presley acted very tired today (I wonder why?), she asked to go to sleep at 7:30 this morning! Though she didn't, I'm sure she didn't want to miss out on anything with the other kids. She did take a nap and she was surprising pretty good tonight. She went to sleep pretty good...we did backbends all the way to her bedroom (our nighttime distraction to get here there!). We read Twas the Night Before Christmas...her choice and then I left. I was in there for about 40 minutes (longer than I like, but I'll take it after this week) and I'm pretty sure she is asleep now.

Wish us luck for a good weekend with more happy, healthy girls!

Update

So even though P went to bed good last night she was up until 10:30. Finally, about 10 we made her turn off her light and kept reminding her that she needed to lay down instead of continuously playing. Steve and I were in bed while she was still awake! I woke up about 11 and she was actually asleep and she actually got up and got ready fairly good this morning.
However, she was NOT good at grandma's today. We have started a 'star' chart, she can get two stars a day...one if she is good during the day and one if she is good a night. She got two yesterday but I don't think she is going to get any today.
She has only been in her room for 20 minutes....after her screaming NO at us for 10 minutes. She finally said I could lay with her if I didn't talk to her. Fine. So I laid in her bed for about 5 minutes, not saying a word. She said I couldn't touch her books. I told her if she wasn't good I would take her books away from her. She said she was going to put them up high where I couldn't reach them....ok.
Then she ordered me out of her room. I told her I would NOT lay in bed with her again tonight. She didn't care.....yet. So all bets are on.....how long before she is quiet? how long before she falls asleep?

On to another subject....a more delightful subject...Miss Piper. She really is so happy. She is pulling herself and turning herself around to play with different toys, she reaches out to find toys and she is sitting up with her boppy! She did surprisingly good tonight sitting up by herself! I have found we are going to struggle with her 6 months clothes. Most of the clothes we have are Presley's old clothes which were summer clothes (it was August when she was 6 months)....so I'm finding that we are going to have quite a few clothes that Piper will never wear b/c the seasons are off! I guess that gives me a good excuse to buy a few new things for her! Ooorrrrrr.....maybe the weather will get really hot soon and we'll be able to wear some of them!........ A girl can dream.

Super Sunday

Warning : this post is long....only covering 2 hours of our life. Feel free to skip unless you want to hear how fun bedtime can be at our house.

So Sunday night started at 8....time for P to go to bed. We always have to distract her from the real reason we are going to her room, we have to think of some ploy to convince her to head towards her room.....does she want to be carried like a baby or pretend to be a puppy? Should we skip or hop on one foot? Who can get there faster?
She informed me that I didn't get to read her a book, she was going to read me a book and then I had to leave.
I was not able to pick which book and she told me I would only get to listen and not look at the book. Ok. As you wish.
She read me the book and then decided I could read it to her. It was one of her 'big sister' books. We read it and before we got to the end she told me that she didn't want to be a big sister any more. She wasn't going to talk to her or make her laugh anymore! Ok, fine.
I told her it was time for me to go, she screamed NO and started hissing at me (this is her new 'thing' which I can't STAND!). Then she clung onto me b/c she wanted to cuddle, but it was time for me to leave. She freaked out.
Threw herself on the floor of her room, screaming, crying....waking Piper up. I went back in after a while. I said if she could be quiet for a couple minutes that I would come back in and check on her. She refused.
At this point it's after 9. We did this a couple more times. I told her I would lay with her for a couple more minutes if she turned off the light. She refused.
Then she kept screaming that she wanted to talk to me! So I asked what she wanted to talk about....she had "a cough. A really bad cough!" (her words).
Piper kept waking up with all of P's screaming and crying too. I listened to Presley call for me for what seemed like eternity. Mom. Mom! Mommy! Where are you? Mommy? Where are you? Mom, come lay with me! By this point, Presley had been crying, Piper kept waking up crying and I was crying...........she finally agreed that she would turn off her light if I layed with her. I got her calmed down and we 'talked'. She didn't want to go to sleep. She wanted her teddy bear and puppy. I was going to leave again and she was finally alright with that...but she couldn't decide what book to read to her teddy bear! Big decision!
I finally got out of her room about 9:45. UGH! She finally fell asleep about 10.

Then she was up at 5:10 this morning. Because she was scared of the dark. What? We had the same bathroom light on that we do every night!
Tonight, she went to bed about 8 with Steve. Getting her there was a little easier, there was minimal hissing. Steve got out of there about 8:30 and she has been in there for an hour, playing, singing and having a good time.....now if we could only get her to sleep! I guess we won't push our luck. Having her in her room not screaming at us is the first step.

Weekend Update

Friday, man that seems like a long time ago! Steve went to the grocery store after work and bought Candy Bar UV Vodka. Oh man. With a little half and half it is the perfect yummy drink! Steve went out with some friends that night and it was just us girls! Once Piper went to bed, Presley and I finished watching her Tinkerbell movie and then we went to bed.....again I fell asleep in her bed about 9! What a Friday night! :)

 

Saturday we got up and went to Panora to see Jason and Christie's new vacation house on Lake Panorama! It is nice! It will be the perfect summer home, right on the beach. They have it set up for lots of parties and with plenty of room for people to stay the night! We already plan on spending many weekends there!

We got home from their place about 2 and all 'rested' before heading to Holly's (otherwise known as Jerry's!) They had us and Sam and Boston over for drinks and dinner. It was so nice! We ordered pizza and laughed! Presley and Mary play so good together...and Boston follows them around! It was nice! Thanks Holly, Jerry and Mary!

 

Sunday the girls slept in (sure we had to set the clocks forward an hour but still...). Piper woke up about 9 (or 8 oclock in real time) and Presley got up shortly after that. We got up and ready and headed to my moms b/c my cousin Molly was coming to town. She lives in Texas but had been visiting a friend in Omaha and was going to road-trip it to DSM for a few hours to see us. So we got to mom's and there were no other cars there, the blinds were still closed....hmmm.....no one informed us that Molly wasn't coming due to the weather. Nice. It had actually just started sleeting like crazy, so we just headed home!







 

Piper looks a little scared and Presley has her 'purse' which hasn't left her side all weekend. This purse was actually a gift from Lisa when I was in her wedding (> 6 years ago?)

 

 

We tried to keep Presley busy by vaccuming.....

 

and we even made chocolate covered strawberries. The girl will eat chocolate chips but will NOT eat melted chocolate chips, so she didn't eat any of the strawberries!

She did a great job entertaining herself today! She went on vacation, played babies, played sharks, made up song after song! Piper took a good 2 hour nap while Steve and Presley played on the computer and I worked out! (twice a week is better than never, right? b/c that is the exercise program I'm on right now!)

The weekend went good (with limited time-outs) until tonight. Bedtime was a DIS.AST.ER.  In fact, 8-10 pm tonight just might get its own post on here.

Five Months Old

Miss Piper is 5 months old. Piper :

 

- is wearing 3-6 month clothes. Most 6 month clothes are still too big, but we are almost there!

- is rolling over with the best of them! She will still pull herself around but not very far or very often before she gets pissed.

- has a strawberry birthmark on her left side that is a little smaller than a dime. The doctor said this will grow over the next year or so but then will begin to fade and shrink.

- smiles for everyone!

- has hazel eyes....they just aren't ONE color so we'll see what happens! Her hair is growing in a little darker than the reddish hair that she has been sporting.

- is all over the map with her napping and eating. We seem to get a long afternoon nap out of her, she'll have a (partial) bottle around 4, we have dinner around 6 and then try to hold her off until 7:30 or so for her last bottle.

- has tried peas, carrots, squash and sweet potatoes! She is eating about 1/2 baby food thing a night, mixed half and half with cereal and she seems to like all of it!

- seems to rarely finish a 6 oz bottle?! So she has us all confused with her eating habits, but she rarely spits up anymore so that is nice!

- is still sleeping all night. She will wake up for her pacifier a couple times a night, but we aren't complaining!

- still gets swaddled at night...but it doesn't take long before her arms are out so we might have to retire the swaddle soon.

- does a fantastic job dealing with Presley. She is tough, patient, calm and only occasionally cries or gets scared of her!

 

 

Five Question Friday

1. Does your family coordinate clothing for church on holidays like Easter? Well, considering we don't go to church....no. At this point getting them in the color scheme is a success! I hate buying matching clothes that they will only wear once. I would like to have them in cute matching clothes in the future though...but I have a feeling as Presley gets older, she'll have even more of an opinion than she does now!

2. How do you get out of a funk? Eat and drink...duh. Is there another option?

3. Online friends - real friendships or not? I would say real! There are some people I only follow by their blogs. Now, if I've never actually met these people or emailed or chatted....then no, those aren't real friendships. Because I have some blogs that I read of people I don't know, I would love to be their friends but I don't think I can count them as true friends!

4. What is the one food you must eat in a restaurant (not make yourself)? Ummmm....I don't cook. So just about anything. One thing I do eat that we never have at home is hamburger. Steve HATES hamburger, so we NEVER have it. So if I feel in the mood I will get a nice, juicy cheeseburger or sausage pizza! (b/c sausage isn't allowed in the house either!) Don't even get me started on his hatred of ground meat. You won't believe it anyway.

5. What would happen in your home if you ran out of ketchup? Honestly we have never had ketchup in the house until about a year ago....and mainly b/c occasionally Presley would eat it and Steve started making his own barbeque sauce. So we could survive without ketchup, we did it for 9 years. Honey on the other hand....Presley is addicted to honey. It started with her eating honey with her McDonalds chicken nuggets. Now she eats everything with honey!

This and that

- I see that someone from Nora Springs, Iowa checks out this blog. I didn't know where that was at so I looked it up to see it is between Charles City and Mason City. I'm not sure who this is, but thanks! Here is my shout out to the Nora Springs neighborhood!
- Of course we had a break down with Presley tonight. Out of nowhere she bounces up, grabs Piper hand, squeezes it as hard as she can and screams in her face. For no reason. Of course, we get mad and tell her to stop and she kicks. She kicks again and gets her movie turned off. She freaks out and starts throwing anything she can grab. Time out. Steve has to sit in the doorway of her room to keep her from leaving. We shut the door she starts kicking it, over and over and over again (I'm surprised there isn't a hole in this door). Finally, she breaks down and grabs on to me. She wants to be comforted. I get her to calm down, take a deep breath, stop crying and screaming. Eventually she is able to come out and help pick up the things that she threw. Then dinner was served, she didn't want to eat anything we had. After a while she ate her broccoli (weird child), no steak, no potatoes. Whatever.
- On top of Presley, Piper is so hard to get to sleep these days! She usually falls asleep with her bottle, but if she isn't hungry....what do we do? She seems to only be cat-napping most of the time, so you know she should be tired. Tonight she spent a good 1/2 hour crying and screaming b/c she was tired (or so we think). We are hoping this is just a phase. We might have to try some 'crying it out' this weekend.
- American Idol update. I don't really have any favorite boys.....yet. But my 2 favorite girls made it thru! Yes!
- I'm getting ready to watch a Dr. Phil episode on Ferocious Teens. Hmmm.. wonder if this will give me some insight to my future. God, I hope not. I'm so mean but this is what I want to prevent!
- I want ice cream. Think I can convince Steve to get me some?
- I'm always amazed at the amount of the stupid people in this world. A.MA.ZED.

UGH

Man, this week has been exhausting and it is only Thursday! Sunday, Monday and Tuesday we have just had a rough patch with Presley! She is just mean, throwing fits, snotty, intense. She won't leave Piper alone, she purposely tries to irritate Boston, she just needs to calm down and take her whole 4 year old attitude down a couple notches! She's had about 7 time outs in those days, she had to go to bed alone (no mom or dad reading to her), no Ipad time....I don't know what her problem was. Tuesday she was terrible for my mom, that night she was better for us (still not good). Steve layed with her and she cried. I went back in there about 9 pm and she was crying again b/c she missed Pa! I'm talking DRAMATIC tears and sadness b/c she missed Pa! I consoled her but it was SO funny! You would've thought the world had just ended and that she would never see Pa again!
Wednesday she was better for grandma, went into preschool by herself (which we think is mostly just to keep Boston from being involved with her drop off, b/c that is how she thinks! She is way smarter than we give her credit for!). She didn't take a nap but she had her quiet time. I think at this point it is better if she doesn't sleep during naps anytmore b/c when she does she is awake later at night and then harder to get up in the mornings! Bad cycle!
We decided that since she is doing soccer on Wednesday nights that we won't be doing gymnastics on Tuesdays this month...it's just too much for her right now. So soccer last night went good, again it was just her and Boston. We are hoping other kids will be joining too so she can get used to a group setting. She was fairly good last night for us and went to bed early! Of course, it probably helped that I went into read with her and fell asleep in her bed by 8:15. I kept waking up thinking that I should leave and go do something, but I just couldn't. I just didn't want to. I just wanted to sleep. It was so nice. Steve finally came and woke me up at 10 to come to bed. I was just exhausted.

So I'm hoping we have crossed the nasty, mean Presley bridge and now we'll have my sweet P back. (and you might be wondering when she was ever sweet? It does happen, sometimes, not often, but occasionally we'll see the nice, helpful, sweet side and we enjoy every single second of it)

Weekend Update

So Thursday night we all went to Appare for a Cystic Fibrosis fundraiser! The four of us went with mom, Sam, Boston and our cousin Kelly. I love sushi so this was perfect for me! I'm a bad mom and didn't realize we didn't have a bottle for Piper, so instead of irritating the whole restaurant with her crying Steve took her home before we even got our food! Sorry baby!

When Presley and I got home Piper decided she was going to start rolling from her back to her tummy. She has been SO close for the last week, where you just want to poke her to give her that extra nudge that she needs...but now she is a pro. Every time she is on her back she rolls right over!

 

Friday Presley had mismatch day at preschool in honor of Dr. Seuss' birthday. We had picked our her outfit the night before but when it came to actually putting on these weird clothes, she was NOT having it. We tried to convince her that everyone else would be dressed wacky, but she didn't really care. She wore a prettyoutfit, added a black tutu and then wore black socks with her red 'Dorothy' shoes. So in her eyes she did try. Steve was very disappointed in her b/c he gets so excited about these types of things and wants her to be excited about it too. Though the entire time I actually understood Presleys feelings about this....it would've been my same reaction, hesitation. The one thing Presley gets from me and it frustrates the heck out of Steve! Sorry again baby!

I picked the girls up from my mom's and she told me that Piper was rolling over and even pulling herself forward a couple feet!

That night we had a good family night! We put Piper to bed and the three of us layed on the couch downstairs and watched a movie. I think Steve and I feel asleep while Presley stayed awake!

 

Saturday I got up with Piper, too early at 6:30 but I did get to see her pull herself about 6 feet across our family room! Crazy and a little sad! I got to meet my friend Colleen for brunch, it was so nice to sit and talk with no kids! Thank you Colleen!

By the time I got home it was time to lay Piper down for a nap and then Presley and daddy went outside to play in the snow with the neighbors. I did some laundry, dusted, and actually filled out pages of Presley's and Piper's baby books!

Later that afternoon we made a trip to Valley West mall mainly to get Presley's hair cut, she hasn't had it cut since June and the fuzzy mullet was due for a trim! We got home and then I got ready to meet some friends for dinner and drinks at Dos Rios! I met Amy (who I work with), Rachel and Amanda (who I haven't seen in years!) and Laura and Kate (who I didn't know), it was fun! Lots of laughs, stories about kids (I think the jury is still out on who has the worst kid, I think it's possible that Preston and Berkley have Presley beat there) and husbands and even vacuum cleaners! :)

 

Today I got to sleep in for a while and when I got up, Steve and Presley had made hashbrowns and pancakes for breakfast! Thank you guys! We watched the movie Bolt on tv, Piper fell asleep on the couch with me and Steve and P headed downstairs (b/c she CANNOT leave Piper alone when she is sleeping!) The movie was actually pretty cute!

When the movie was over Steve headed to Walmart and Presley and I got out her craft box to keep her occupied and away from sleeping Piper!





 

After Steve got home he took P outside to burn off some energy b/c that girl gets crazy if she is couped up too long. Piper and I hung out, did more laundry, paid bills...you know, really fun stuff!

 

 

Three oclock hit and we started to lose control of Presley. She was tired. She was up at 6:30 this morning, which is way too early for her on the weekends. A couple time-outs for hitting, kicking or just screaming at us. She was allowed to come out after 4 minutes and apologize. One time she came back out and said she wasn't going to talk to me ever again. Ok. Then she decided that she wanted some quiet time in mommy's room while watching Rio. Deal!

 

We ordered pizza tonight and Steve made some chicken wings on the grill, you know how embarrassing it is to have your four year old screaming no at you when the pizza guy shows up. Awesome.  She refused to eat most of her dinner and then we saw some deer in the backyard and that distracted her even more.

Early baths and then some play time before she once more screamed at me and hit me. Goodnight. I was done dealing with her and her attitude. Piper was asleep by 7:30 and Presley resisted, cried, screamed, pouted and sleep finally took over about 8.

So here is to a brand, new week of good, happy,and healthy kids!

Five Question Friday

1. What was the most productive thing you have done this week? Oh geez. Productive is such a broad term! I think I've had a pretty busy week, which doesn't mean that I have actually accomplished much! I worked 40+ hours, took both girls to gymnastics, took both girls to soccer, went to Appare for a good cause, have been working on my Shutterfly book, finished reading my book. I remembered to pay April and preschool this week (which for some reason I forget to do sometimes!) So I have been productive, but I don't really have anything to show for it!

2. Enjoying the winter or ready for spring? So ready for spring! We are just ready to get our deck built, grill out, enjoy some adult beverages, watch Presley play with the neighbor kids! Come on spring!

3. Are you an introvert or extrovert? Is your spouse the same as you? I would say I'm an introvert. I don't like to be the center of attention, I don't usually cause conflict.....and Steve is an extrovert. He loves attention, he likes to socialize, he likes to meet strangers and voices his opinion all the time. I will say, I am less introverted since meeting Steve. I think he brings out a little extrovert in me.

4. Would you rather go without music or television for 1 year? Oohhh,,,,,good question! Television! I would give up my American Idol, Biggest Loser, Parenthood nights before I could give up music. I love music, I love singing (though not in front of people), I love outdoor concerts, I love watching Presley 'sing' along and dance to music....I couldn't give that up!

5. Have you ever been truly scared of someone? Is it sad that sometime I'm scared of Presley? She can be so mean and vicious sometimes! I'm afraid of her as a teenager!
But other than being a terrible mom and saying that I can be afraid of my own kid, I can't really think of anyone that I have been REALLY scared of. I think everyone has those 'moments' when you are afraid of the situation or the person in the moment, but not for the long term.
There was a girl in highschool that put gum in my hair twice b/c she was dating my ex-boyfriend (shouldn't it be the other way around?) and she didn't like me for some reason. She was bigger than me, and very white trash so I had my 'moments' with her....but last I knew she was working at Burger King!