Another busy week/weekend has passed.....

I seriously can't believe tomorrow is July 1st!  UGH! Where has the time and summer gone?

We spent Thursday and Friday nights getting ready for our brunch party on Saturday morning....grocery store, cleaning, prep cooking.

 

The party was great! So many friends and family came, it rained for about 5 minutes right away and then got nice! We got lucky! The food was good and drinks were flowing! We had a good turn out and so many kids, they all seemed to do a good job keeping occupied and getting along! We had kids in our house that I had never even met! LOL!

When you start a party at 11 am you never know how long people will stay, but I had talked my mom into taking Piper for the night! She offered to take Presley too but I knew she would be good and would want to hang around if there were kids still here.  Thank you everyone who came, I feel like I didn't get time to talk to everyone!

Presley some how became friends with Isabella, who is 7 yrs old and lives at the end of our street. Normally Bella plays with a couple of the other girls on the block but P has never really played with her until last night. P jumped in her Barbie Jeep with her and they were off having fun!

They played for a long time and we hung out and played bean bags with the remaining crowd. It was fun (and I'm sad to admit that it was nice NOT to have to worry about Piper for the night!) Presley and I came inside ate some snacks, cuddled on the couch and then eventually she went to bed with me while we watched a movie...we were both quickly asleep! Steve of course, pushed his limit and headed to the bar with one of the neighbors...finally getting home about 2 am.

The bonus about mom taking Piper for the night, we were able to sleep until 9 am! So nice! Steve was a hurting unit today! He is normally antsy to get out of the house, today all he wanted to do was sleep. I took P to pick up Piper from mom's, then once Piper went down for a nap (Steve was napping too) Presley and I hung outside. The weather was BEAUTIFUL! P then ditched me once she saw Bella coming down the street in her jeep again. They traveled up and down the block in that things over and over again! Presley would wave at me every time they drove by and I just keep seeing my future teenager driving away with her friend.

Overall it was a GREAT weekend! Presley impressed us and made us SO proud with all the socializing and playing and coming out of her shell, doing things we never expected her to do. It was great and we just hope it continues! Miss Piper is getting into everything, she is constantly up and down and under and over....I'm pretty sure she only fell and bonked her head or got stuck under something three different times today! She is going to be one tough cookie if she keeps this up!

Presley

I just love to document the girls growing and the things that they do since I'm obviously not very good at filling out their baby books, this acts as a baby book for me!
- She has been watching the movie Madagascar, however what she says sounds more like 'ghetto blaster'
- For crib she says care-ibe
- For bottom she says bot-jume
- For special she says sess-sel
- She told Steve he was coo-coo the other day! and today she said that I was cracking her up!
- If she doesn't wear a dress during the day, the first thing she does when she gets home is put on a dress. She is slightly obsessed!
- She LOVES being outside! Whether playing by herself, with the neighbors or just watching the boys next door play football. She will sit there and watch. Or she can make believe and play with her 'friends' too. As much as she wants to be included with other kids she is content being by herself too.
- She is very good about wearing sunblock and I love it!
- She has a bad habit when we take a walk at night to tell us her legs are too tired to walk. She sometimes ride her big wheel...and we end up carrying it home. It takes forever to walk anywhere b/c she stops and looks at everything and every driveway we stop for a 'red light'.
- She has attached herself to Miss Jessi at preschool, just as I thought she would. She's made a couple friends, sometimes takes naps, always cries when I drop her off but comes running for you when you come to pick her up. Time will tell how all this pans out!

Weekend Update

We had a good weekend! Saturday I got up nice and early and went to work for a couple hours, I hit up a couple garage sales on my way home. I got a couple things and realized that Johnston garage sales are not as cheap as they should be. But when I'm getting an outfit for $5 or $2 I still can't really complain. I got home and Steve has some errands to run, they had filled up the baby pool, P got her swimsuit on and we headed outside! She ran thru the sprinkler for a LONG time, it probably would've been longer if I could've stayed out there with her but there is only so long Piper will sit in the stroller and be content.

 

Saturday night we had over a family whose daughter went to preschool with Presley! We seemed to hit it off pretty good with Emerson's parents and we realized we actually had some mutual friends so we decided to have them over for dinner and let the kiddo play! It went so good, you never know how it is going to be when you get together with people you have never hung out with before. They were really easy to talk to and the kids got along great, it was a successful night!

Sunday Miss Piper didn't get up until 8 and Presley didn't get up until 9. Once Steve got up at 9:30, I went back to bed for an hour or so! Presley and I hit up the mall to do some shopping, she needed a new swimsuit and I need work clothes (since we are going back to business casual!). We had a good time, she was good and fun and we spent some money! We got home and Steve had some more errands to run so we got the sprinkler out again!

Layla got home and Presley ran down the street to tell her to get her swimsuit on! They have so much fun together!  They played outside with the neighbors for hours, I love it! Steve took the girls outside and for a walk so I could get some stuff done around the house, dinner, laundry and all that fun!

Five Question Sunday

1. Have you ever been robbed and how did you handle it?  NO! However, my parents garage just got broken into 2 weeks ago! They hadn't been locking the walk-thru door and they took some tools and stuff of my dad's. SUCKS! I'm surprised they didn't take more than they did and the police said they would probably try to come back since they know what he has in there. Needless to say new locks have been put on the doors!

2. What do you do at a kids function when Parents don't behave? Meaning they are the ones being impatient and rude.  It makes me uncomfortable! but I wouldn't say anything. I'm not confrontational at all, Steve is but I'll stay out of it!

3. Have you heard of a potty party? Will you/have you had one for your child(ren)?  Um, never heard of it... so no, probably won't have one for my kids. And it sounds awkward and weird.

4. How young do you think kids should be when they start taking swim lessons?  Well, I think the sooner the better! I think the more comfortable kids are in the water the better! We took Presley to water baby classes when she was one and two years old and though we spent a lot of time in the pool last year in our apartment, I wish she was a better 'swimmer'. She would finally put her face in and would let us 'dunk' her. She'll jump in if we catch her and loved sitting in her floaty thing. However.....I NEED to sign her up for lessons. I would love to find private lessons that are offered in the evenings so we can take her. Most places are during the daytime....well that is just great for parents who don't WORK!

5. What makes you happy? The number one thing that makes me happy is the smiles on Presley and Pipers faces! When they are happy, I am happy!

Exhausted

Needless to say I am glad this week is over. We basically had the same morning drop-off experience with Presley every day. She didn't complain about going, didn't cry when she realized she was going to preschool again but the minute we walked into the room and I hinted at leaving.....arms wrapped around me, crying for me. Every day got a little worse, to the point that she started to follow me out of the room. I want to think this is going to get better and I know it will with time, but my guess is that we go thru this until at least August (and this is me being VERY positive, deep down I'm thinking 2014). I hope she proves me wrong.
Steve has picked her up and it seems like she was happy and they said she did good. The one problem we see is that during snack time in the 'cafeteria' it is too loud for her liking and if they don't have food she likes, that makes it worse so she gets sad. I don't think she is eating as much as she would've before but the girl will eat all day every day if we let her.
They have done some fun things and I think she is learning new things already! They had water day on Wednesday with ice cream as the afternoon snack and she was excited to have pancakes for lunch on Thursday! So we are definitely keeping a positive attitude about it (at least around her!)

I worked late Wednesday night, calling it quits after 12 hours, which is too long for this girl! Then Thursday we headed to Jasper Winery to listen to The Nadas play. It starts at 6 which is nice and early, so Steve picked up the girls and met me there after work. They always have a great crowd, we brought our own chairs, food, drinks, Mary and Presley played good together and we got home about 9. These babies of ours are RARELY in bed before 9 and it is a pain. I'm hoping Presley will get worn out at preschool soon, right now it seems she has a ton of energy to burn off when she gets home. Probably b/c she spends 9 hours a day watching other kids play. :(

And tonight I'm just tired and I need to go to sleep b/c tomorrow is another day of working in the morning, cleaning and getting ready for some friends coming over for dinner! The weather is supposed to be nice, sunny and steamy....might have to water the yard and let P run thru the sprinkler.

Happy Fathers Day!

We were kind of at a loss on what to do for Fathers Day this year! There was an I-Cubs but dad doesn't really enjoy them all that much, we thought about a picnic but we did that for Mothers Day. So we decided to hit up the horse races. We had a very nice lunch at Jethros and then headed to the horse races for a while. It was hot and Presley had been WHINY! The girl slept until 9:45 and she cried over everything and nothing! We stayed for 3 races and then headed home, I won $1.80! Woohoo!

We didn't do much when we got home but clean and get ready for the week ahead. I had got tickets to the Hinder concert at Val Air, so Steve went with Brock....a fathers day gift for him b/c these girls were annoying! It took me 2 hours to get Piper to sleep and she was tired, probably over tired. Presley was actually good. Normally at 8 it's time for her to eat her fruit and calm down, but I was so focused on trying to get Piper to bed that she wanted to go outside....fine, great, go outside. She didn't come in until 9 but she went to bed pretty good, which was nice considering Piper was still bawling. FINALLY about 9:45 both of them were asleep! So I found a chance to eat dinner! HA!

 

Today was a big day for all of us. Presley started her new daycare/preschool and Piper started at Aprils. She'll be going there on Mondays from now on. We knew Piper would be fine, she didn't sleep much but they LOVED having her there!

Presley we didn't know about. Sure the last two days went good, for two hours each day. We got there early, hardly any kids and NOT her teachers. So we walked into the early morning room and sure enough, I had to leave her with a teacher she had never met, in a room she had never been in. I knew it was not going to be easy. Miss Heidi was great in taking her from me and comforting her when I left....as she cried and screamed for mommy. BROKE MY HEART!

 

I emailed the director about 9 to see how P was doing, about noon I heard back that she was pretty shy but warming up as the day went on. Right. I have never been so excited to go pick her up from preschool! Miss Jessica said she did good, didn't talk much, didn't take a nap (no shocker there) and P said that she had fun! So we'll see how tomorrow goes!

 

I'm getting to the point where I feel overwhelmed with everything. With work increasing our overtime and just the amount of things we have to do and prepare for on a weekly basis, along with keeping up the house and the things I WANT to do, I can't keep my head on straight. One thing, one day at a time.

Saturday Night Fun!

This picture has nothing to do with tonight but I love it anyway. P was shy and Piper, this is the only time in your life where it will be ok to have a dimply butt!

This is a picture of me and Miss Piper today with our matching shirts. Mine says, 'You are my sunshine, my only sunshine' and her says 'you make me happy when sky are gray'. My mom used to sing this to the kids all the time and then when my grandma died it became even more special and when we got these from my Aunt Debbie, of course, it made me cry.

Tonight we had our friends Janelle and RT over. Steve went to highschool with Ryan and really Janelle and I have become good friends! Kayson played on P's soccer team, (and he actually played!) so we thought we'd have them over to hang out. Kyle, Maggie, Sadie and Grace were able to join us too! It was a lot of fun, the weather ended up being good, the food was great and the kids got along and behaved! It was a good Saturday night! Thanks everyone for coming over!

Saturday Fun Day!

So it is Johnston Green Days....they have been setting up the carnival all week and we have been talking about it with Presley since we went last year and had fun. She wanted to go so badly. We thought about going last night but then it rained. She was so sad...it was almost the end of the world!

I got up and went to work this morning, way too early for this girl at 6 am. I got home about 10:30 so it wasn't bad and I got a lot done.

The weather seemed to have cleared up for a while so once Piper woke up and we got ready we headed to the carnival about noon. It was warm, humid and muddy but it didn't rain! And she was pumped to ride some rides! She did so good at Adventureland and the carnival last year that I just hope it would continue into this year.....she did great!

For a girl who won't play soccer with other kids.....

we rode the merry-go-round (she really wanted to ride with mommy this year since we had talked about how I couldn't ride rides last year b/c I was pregnant with Piper!

She wanted to ride the Tilt-a-Whirl....which I normally LOVE but didn't want to ride with her on her first time b/c I was afraid she would scream and cry! She LOVED it!

She did the big slide twice...and look who was there...Layla and her daddy!

We rode the Spin the Apple and the Pirate Ship thingy...she did great! So proud...but get this.....

they had a bouncy house and a bounce slide.....we gave tickets for both of them. She wouldn't go on them b/c she had to go by herself and we couldn't go up there with her! She is chicken on a blow up bouncy house but will ride the tilt-a-whirl? And she was devastated b/c she was too little for the bumper cars?! Even with an adult? Mr. Bumper Car guy you broke my little girls heart, she stood up tall so she could reach the yellow line to ride in a stupid little car with her daddy and you still said no!

Five Question Friday

1. What do you appreciate most about your children's Dad?  That he is active with them. He doesn't mind going shopping for kids clothes, he loves to take them for walks, he loves to help be creative, he doesn't mind acting stupid or going to daddy/daughter dances, he gets nervous for them.....he truly wants the best for them. He is awesome.

2. Do you always wear your seat belt?  YES. This was always a MUST growing up. My parents wouldn't leave the driveway until we had our seatbelts on and that's how it is with our family now! Even Presley will point out if you pull out of the driveway without it on!

3. Do you dream and do you remember them?  I dream a lot and most of the time I wish I wouldn't have woken up so that I could 'finish' it or just so that I remember them!  

4.  What is the one thing you swore you'd never let your kids do before having them, that you have now changed your ways about? Where do I start? I said I would never let my baby sleep in bed with me, that went out the window 4 years ago. And we do let her watch more TV than I would like but she is still very active also, so I can't really let that get to me. Having juice, is like drinking sugar and we have done pretty good not letting her have juice. She'll get juice boxes every once in a while but in general it's water and milk! 

5.  If you could be granted one wish, what would it be?  It would be SO hard to pick just one thing but in general I would have to wish for the health and well-being of everyone close to me. That's not too broad, is it??

A week in review

So the week started off busy, busy at work. Presley's last day at April's was Monday, they had fun at the zoo and got ice cream! April's oldest daughter Georgia was NOT happy about Presley leaving b/c they were buddies! I loved hearing that but it made me sad too. And Piper will be starting there on Mondays this coming week.  P's went to Grandmas Tuesday and Wednesday, her last daycare days there. The weather was nice so they were able to have some fun in the sprinkler outside, this always makes for a happy P! I know Grandma is sad to see P go (deep, deep down) but we all know this next step will be good for her!  A constant schedule, the same rules, never being the boss, and learning how to socialize...it will be good!

 

I had taken off Thursday and Friday from work to be able to take Presley to her new preschool for a couple hours to get used to things. So Thursday morning we woke up, got ready for preschool. I took her there, we got the quick tour again, we met her teachers Jessi, Bobbi Kae and the asst teacher Jessica! We got a lot good info and got to meet the class. I told P I was leaving and I would be back in a little bit. Bobbi Kae took her hand to lead her to snack time. She chewed on her fingers and went with her. I spied on her for a minute or so and left. Nervous. Proud. Confused. Shocked. Happy. Relieved.

I had two whole hours to myself. I went downtown and filed for our homestead tax credit and then went to get a long overdue pedicure! I was nice but the whole time I was anxious for time to pass by so I could go pick Presley up!

When I got there, she was right where I thought she would be. Right next to Bobbie Kae. They said she did good and they were happy she knew how to write her name...b/c at this point they have no idea what she does or doesn't know!

 

Then we went to lunch. It was the perfect weather so we hit up the patio at Okoboji Grill (mainly b/c I couldn't think of any other place that has a patio on our side of town). I've been telling Presley that I would take a day off work this year so that we could go swimming so we headed up the pool when it opened at 1 pm! It was busy for sure but it was fun!  Presley wanted to go down the waterslide, I was surprised but I couldn't let her down! My main concern was keeping her above the water when we got to the bottom. I kept slipping and was trying to hold her above the water, it wasn't pretty sight. Needless to say, we did not go down again....I think she would've but this mommy was done!

We stayed for a couple hours then got ice cream before we picked up Pipers from grandmas.

 

Steve's employer had their 5 years anniversary party that afternoon also! Congrats Edge Commercial! Steve got home from that about 5:15 and helped pack us up go to watch The Nadas at Camp Dodge, which was great especially since it was less than 2 miles from our house!

We packed some food and drinks in the wagon and stroller and again, the weather was perfect!

 

 

We stayed out a little later than we should've for having two kids that probably should've gone to bed but they were being so good!  Holly joined us along with Lyndsi and her friend Megan! This is the third time I've seen Lyndsi this week, that is more times this week than the last 6 months combined! LOL!

 

This morning I got up and took Presley to daycare again for a couple hours. Jessi told me she thought Presley was so sweet (yeah, yeah). I headed to JC Mall to pick up a father day present and to return something to Old Navy. I did a quick Target run, got gas and then picked up my Pster. They were in the middle of watching party of their Friday movie! She was pretty excited about it. She actually seems like she likes it! Let's hope that Monday goes as smoothly as the last 2 days have!

 

Wow. Was this long enough? Anyway, I'm off to bed, I hopefully getting up and working early in the morning so I can get out of there at a decent time!

8 months old!

Sisters 

 Trouble

Smiles

Miss Piper:

- is wearing 6-9 month clothes finally! I actually just packed away all her 3-6 month stuff, I don't care if she can still technically 'wear' it. At 8 months old, she should not be in 3-6 month clothes! LOL!

- is definitely NOT a pro at sitting up. She will sit up and play, but most of the time tips herself over to go play with something.

- doesn't 'crawl'. She does her army crawl, inch worm, butterfly swimming stroke and gets all over the place.

- wants to kneel up or stand up to EVERYTHING! It is actually a pain in the butt!

- she thinks her sister is pretty funny! and loves playing with her toys or in her room. P doesn't not love this.

- we've been trying to give her pieces of yogurt melts or puffs and she does OK. She tries to pick up pieces but doesn't really know what to do once she gets it in her hand.

- still plays peek-a-boo! This kind of surprises me, but she will throw a blanket over her head until you say "where's Piper?" Then she'll take it off!

- is SO smiley and curious and determined!

I went back and read Presley's 8 month post. As much as I think they are alike, this makes me realize how different they and all babies really are!

http://www.thegoodlife-jgo.blogspot.com/2009/10/8-months-old.html

Weekend Update

This was the only weekend for the next 6 weeks that we have no plans! and you know what we did? Mostly nothing! We thought about going to the zoo and such, but the weather just didn't cooperate......shocker.

Friday night we didn't do much, we had a terrible night with Piper. She was crying, screaming off and on until 1 am. Every time we would lay her down, half hour later she would wake up screaming. And now the problem is that she wants to kneel or stand up, but she can't get back down!  So as much as we want to just let her cry it out....we have to double check that she isn't STUCK standing up!

 Then I got up at 6:30 to go to work for a couple hours. I actually got a trip to Target by myself after work! Dangerous! 

Then we just hung out, cleaned, laundry. Steve started to mow the lawn and his mower broke, so he tried fixing that. He took Presley to the grocery and hardware store with him. I got a message from my friend Andrea, who was in town from Cedar Falls wanting to meet for dinner and drinks with our friend Lyndsi. Since I knew Piper was fighting a cold and whiny and just not 'normal', I decided to take Presley with me to dinner...for a little girl time! It was good to see and talk with Andrea and Lyndsi and P was pretty good too!

This picture cracks me up!

 P twirling in her new dress

 Today we did a little more nothing. Piper took her morning nap and then we headed to JC mall to walk around and waste some time outside of the house.

P was pretty excited b/c we stopped and got Dairy Queen on the way home, she never did eat it all!

 

Piper never took her afternoon nap and I think her cold is getting the best of her. Presley NEVER fell asleep in her highchair! Heck, Presley didn't fall asleep in her stroller until she was over a year old!

Presley was pretty good all weekend. We had a couple fits but nothing crazy. We have been telling her that if she is a really good girl that she could take a bath in our bathtub. What's funny is that back when we were trying to get her to poop in the potty, that was one of our bribes to her. She actually brought that up tonight! Saying that she has pooped in the potty a lot of times so she should get to take a bath in our tub! Eight months later she brings this up???

 

Another week gone

Well the weather is slowly looking more like summer is on it's way......eventually it will be, right?
We actually haven't done much this week! Monday I took P into her new daycare just to pick up some paperwork and look around, as we walked in she said "I like this preschool!". Ok kid, we'll see about that. On the way there, Presley stated that we never go to restaurants anymore! Which is true considering how much we used to go out to eat. So we met Daddy and Piper at Applebee's, as much as I do love going out to eat....two things I have realized, it is too tempting to eat high calorie foods and it is expensive! Good thing, we don't do this like we used to!

I worked late Wednesday. I know, I know....two weeks after I say we haven't had to work much overtime they have opened it back up. Figures, I totally jinxed myself! Oh well, I've basically dedicated Wednesday nights to be my late night.

Tonight Steve worked on his seating/shelving unit for the garage, Presley played with the neighbor kids for a long time, Piper and I hung out until after a late dinner....then we all went for a walk. And the girls didn't fall asleep until almost 10. Presley was up a little later, we tried to put her down at 9....I think she is now asleep.
Piper has been terrible to get to sleep this week! She just bawls! She is tired, we lay her down and she cries, cries, cries. Now she is standing up, the problem with this...she doesn't know how to get down!

Oh well, just one more obstacle we have to overcome. We need to figure out a good bedtime routine for both of these kids. I think once P starts her new daycare, she won't be napping anymore or for not as long as she does now (at mom's) and hopefully she'll get nice and tired there so she'll be willing to go to bed early!

Goodnight my friends and here's to hopes of a warmer next week!

Are they related?

 Presley (6 months)

Piper (7.5 months)

Presley has the dark hair and eyes and Piper has the reddish hair and blue eyes, but other than that.....

Lake Panorama

So my brother-in-law Jason and his wife Christie have a new house on Lake Panorama, they weren't able to use it this past weekend so they said we could go up there if we wanted. So Saturday morning we got up and packed. We had Presley's last soccer game, we would've just skipped it since she doesn't play but it was our turn to bring snacks so we had to go. At one point the coach and 2 of the other parents started chanting 'Presley! Presley!'....to try to convince her to go play. Yeah, that didn't work. She did give Coach Kelly a high-five after the game, he was shocked. Steve told him that he thought she was just excited that soccer was over!

 

We got to the house about 2 and Holly, Jerry and Mary were able to join us about 4 for the night too!The weather was less than cooperative. Windy, chilly...we tried to enjoy it but spent most of the time inside playing, drinking and talking!

 

We got up Sunday, hung out, ate breakfast, did some laundry, Piper took her morning nap and then we got home about 12:30. Finally, the sun came out and we enjoyed the outdoors! Layla came down to play with Presley, the hose, two buckets and a couple water guns and these girls were occupied and happy for hours!

Everyone in this house was exhausted. Presley fell asleep on Steve's lap, in the chair , watching Cinderella and Piper fell asleep in my lap drinking her bottle at 7:30! It was the oddest thing ever! I was able to go for a run/walk, Steve took a short ride on his bike, I took a bath while I read my book, it was nice and weird having that much time at night...and you know what? All the toys remained on the floor, the laundry wasn't put away and the dishes from dinner were still on the table when we went to bed.....and I didn't care!