Goodrich Thanksgiving

Friday we had our 'social committee' outing for work. We decided to go to the Iowa Wild hockey game! We went to Buzzard Billy's beforehand for some dinner and then enjoyed the game! It was fun and we had a good turn out!

Saturday we hung out and got ready for Steve's family Thanksgiving in Earlham. Presley was very shy at first (like always) but Piper joined right in. Grandpa Jerry is always very impressed that she is the first grandkid (out of 12 kids) that doesn't cry at the sight of him! LOL! They had a couple bonding moments, he would put his hat on her or she would hand in the stuffed lion...but this is the only crappy picture I got of them!

Jason and Christie got two new kittens....Piper loved them! She followed them, growled at them and was just overall excited to see them in the room. Presley on the otherhand was NOT impressed and didn't want them around her at all!

Even cousin Derek tried to play with Piper and she didn't mind....Presley ignored everyone that talked to her. Everyone kept commenting on how different Piper is from Presley! TOTALLY!

We got home about 9 pm (which is usually early for us) both kids went to sleep right away when we got home......and they didn't get up until after 8:30 this morning! It's one of those moments as a parent when you wake up and wonder if you should go check on them to make sure they are still alive! But I am not complaining!

We knew we had to get our Christmas decorations out this weekend since we won't have time before the weekend of the 13th and that is just too close to Christmas! Presley was excited and a very big help. She was excited about every ornament she pulled out, like she had never seen them before!

Piper, was NOT a big help. She was a pain in the ass! We basically took turns occupying her AWAY from the tree b/c all she did was rip things off the tree. When Presley was this age we had the tree in the living room at our old house, so it wasn't in sight! Out of sight, out of mind! Not with this girl!

Then me and the girls headed to my parents house to watch the Packer game. Originally we weren't going to go but then decided it would be easier to get stuff done around the house if the kids weren't there! So Steve stayed behind and did all the cleaning! (yes ladies, he cooks and cleans...bathroom floors, toilets, kitchen, oh yeah!) Piper took a nap all afternoon, perfect timing for me to actually watch the game without having her as a distraction. :)

We have a busy, busy week ahead but I'll try to post again before we leave for Mexico!!!! :)

More blab!

There are sometimes I feel like we have more control of this parenting thing. Other times, not so much. We went to Applebee's last night for dinner....I don't know why we keep trying to eat out. We do it about once a month and then realize that right now, it is not worth the stress, hassle and money! We thought mac and cheese for the girls to share, we had goldfish to keep Piper occupied while we waited.....Piper threw the mac and cheese on the floor, she wouldn't eat it. She loves the shells and cheese at home, is she really a mac and cheese snob??? So we ordered a corndog, she LOVES hotdogs so we figured this would work.....NOPE! She threw that on the ground too. So she basically had goldfish and applesauce for dinner. UGH! I guess we'll give it another try in December! HA!

Presley's bedtime routine has been awesome for the last couple months! They don't really have the option for naps anymore so school nights she is almost always asleep before 8:30 now! And most of the time she doesn't even make it until 8:15! It's AMAZING considering 6 months ago it was a struggle to get her in bed and asleep by 9!  The nights seem so long now....and I still get nothing done!

Parenthood (the show) I hate you. I hate you b/c there are always tears! Why do you do this to me? But I love you!
I'm excited about the live performance of The Sound of Music on NBC!
I'm excited about the Sing Off coming back to TV! I LOVE American Idol and The Voice...but the Sing Off, might be the best singing competition on TV!

I feel a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day if all the toys are picked up and the dishes are done. It makes the house seem a little less chaotic when I wake up or when I get home from work.  It never lasts long but I'll take what I can get!

Thankful

I don't like the whole November Thanksgiving posts on FB. It's the same people, same things, different year. Yes, I understand people are thankful and want to express themselves, we all get it. Day after day, we get it. Don't get me wrong, I'm thankful for all those things too....family, husband, kids....that 'great cup of coffee', friends who understand me...blah, blah, BLAH! (I'm a bitch and I know it!)

However, I wanted to take this Thanksgiving season and thank one person. One person gets all 30 days of thankfulness for me. My mother.
There is no possible way I can ever thank her enough for anything and everything she had done for us, especially when it comes to my children. I hope no one out there thinks I take advantage of my mothers kindness b/c I truly try NOT to.
My mommy has always hoped to do daycare for her grandchildren. This was always the plan for her and us and I don't think I could've ever realized how lucky we were/are! And probably still don't realize how lucky we have been!  Most of my friends don't even have parents who live in the same city as them and we are within 15 miles!
I don't think my mom realized how much work it would be to be daycare and grandma b/c she tries to separate the two which I think takes a toll on her. It's a lot of work and let's face it, she isn't getting any younger! (TOTALLY KIDDING MOM!!!!)
She has volunteered to watch the grandkids overnight one night a month, however we rarely do this. The last time she watched them overnight was in September when we went to the KC football game. And we are lucky enough that she is watching them when we go to Mexico. And I asked her if it was okay before I booked the trip, I didn't want to just assume that she would do it! :)
And she will say no! I think it takes a lot to say no to us (even though I always preface my request with 'you can say no!'). I think she has to hit her limit of 'kid' time but she will say no to us!

So thank you mom for always being there for us and mostly for Presley and Piper!  We are incredibly lucky to have you in our lives and to be such a close family. There is no way I can ever thank you enough (though I'm assuming you would accept a bonus? baked goods? random days off?)

Thank you!!!!!!!! (notice there are 8 exclamation points just for you momma!)

My brain doesn't stop

My lists of things to get done are getting shorter, but really my lists are only for Christmas not for anything between now and then. If I wake up at night, I think....I think....I think. I worry, I plan, I try to convince myself that I will remember everything if I don't get up and write things down. And sometimes I'll get up and write them down just so I can stop thinking about them.
Some day I just want to think like a boy.....you know minimal thoughts, not having to remember much and no worries b/c the wife does that for you. That is what I need! I need a wife! LOL!

Another kid post

- Piper is amazing. I just love seeing her learn. Little things, if I mention going on a walk and that we need to find our coats, she'll walk over to the coat rake and point. If I ask if she has a dirty diaper or a stinky butt, she'll walk to her bedroom for diaper change. If she's hungry, which is all the time, she'll tug on her highchair.
- Piper will put her arm up in the air when asked what an elephant does. She knows what a fish does, but her waddling for a penguin looks like she is shaking her head no and she scrunches up her face for a bunny (which is hilarious and I will get a picture!).
- Piper loves hotdogs, chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, green beans, broccoli, mandarin oranges, applesauce, strawberries, bananas, waffles, fish, mashed potatoes, goldfish, crackers, cheese...she does pretty good eating for a little girl!
- Our Ipad has that photo booth camera app and the pictures make me cry they are so funny! I'll just post two of the girls and none of me and Steve b/c it would be embarrassing! Only you, my blog followers get to see these pictures! Aren't you special?

Isn't this so bad and so funny and so wrong and Steve really wants me to delete them! But I'm here for entertainment purposes and you deserve a good laugh! :)

Day by day!

So my parents are out of town for my cousins wedding in Texas, Samantha had Friday off and watched Piper for us (thank you Sam!) so Steve took Monday off to watch Piper and I have today and tomorrow off! Today Steve didn't have much to do at work so he was home by 9 and was able to join me and Piper in our trip to Target and the mall to do more Christmas shopping (I WILL have this done before Thanksgiving!) .
We took Piper to the mall play area.......Piper is out of control. She is full of energy, not scared and on the go.  She ruled that play land like she was the oldest kid there and she was the youngest! Presley wouldn't go down that slide without us RIGHT next to her (and probably still wouldn't), Piper would probably leave with a different parent and not even think twice (scary, I know!) It's so interesting to see how different they are!
We came home, Piper took a good nap, Steve put up the Christmas lights, I did some crap around the house and read my book. Good afternoon!
Then Steve 'volunteered' to take Presley to cheer, since I refuse after what happened last week. She did good! So he has a new parenting responsibility by taking her every week now! LOL!

Tomorrow I have Boston, Piper and Presley in the morning. I'm being nice and taking Presley with me to her old preschool when we drop off Boston. In hopes that she'll remember her teachers and that they will remember her. Maybe now she'll actually talk to them?! Wish me luck in having these 3 kids in the morning! :) and then wish me luck in getting Piper and Boston to nap at the same time tomorrow afternoon! HA!

Lazy Sunday

Last night Presley was HOT by bedtime. We forced her to take some Tylenol, she had been coughing so hard and ended up throwing up in her bed in the middle of the night. It was sad. Just sucks when your baby doesn't feel good and there is nothing you can do about it.

This morning was my morning to sleep in! I always hope I can actually sleep in to take advantage of it. Both girls were up about 7:30 and Steve was nice enough to let me sleep until 9:30! Oh yeah! Today we did a lot of nothing! We didn't have any errands to run and with Presley recovering from her fever and cough we decided to just lay low! We watched a lot of TV, played computer games, cuddled, colored. Piper took a good 3 hour nap, we did a little cleaning, some laundry and just lounged around! Great lazy day!

Steve went to watch football with the boys tonight, I figured with whiny Piper and tired, sick Presley it would be a rough night for me. However, they were both great and were both asleep by 8:15. I've done some online shopping, working on another shutterfly photo book (I just ordered my 2012 photo book, another thing to cross off of my to-do list!), caught up on my DVR'd shows and will finish my glass of wine and head to bed. One day of work and then I have two days off! :)
Goodnight all!

2 Weeks

Two weeks from today I'll be having dinner and drinks in Mexico! The forecast for the next week is in the 80's......with chances of rain everyday, figures! Anywho. :)

Yesterday was my Friday 10-7 shift. Twice a month isn't that bad and I actually get a lot done more after 5 pm once everyone else leaves so it was kind of nice. Once I was done I had to swing out to the Jordan Creek Wal-Mart to help a friend, so I decided to swing into Costco and pick up the pictures I had ordered the night before. Worked out perfectly, I got Piper's pictures Tuesday, got my family orders and got them Friday. One thing crossed off my list!
Then I decided to go to Toys R Us to do some more Christmas shopping. I think I might actually have Piper done! We are almost done with Presley and Boston, Steve and my mom are done. And I think I might order my own Christmas present in the next couple days. So the Christmas shopping is probably 75% done with! Woohoo! Hoping to get the rest done in the next two weeks so I don't have to think about it!

Today we didn't do much, some playing, inside and outside since it was so nice out! We got our new mattresses, Steve has been complaining about his back hurting and we have had our mattresses for close to 10 yrs so we broke down and got new ones. We'll see how we like them tonight (our salesman, who used to be our bartender at Drink said we'll have to spend a lot of time 'breaking it in'.....Steve thinks he is getting lucky, I think the kids are going to get to jump on the bed a lot in the next couple weeks! LOL!)

Presley woke up this morning and said her head hurt. She got the cough that Piper had last week so I gave her some Tylenol and the day went on as normal. So an hour before another birthday party tonight, P said her head hurt again, I took her temp and it was 100 degrees. She still wanted to go to the party, I gave her more Tylenol and off we went. I'm a bad mom. So hopefully none of the other kids get sick from her! :(
The birthday party was a Backyard Adventures, it was pretty cool. It is basically a showroom for outdoor playsets and it is open for free play and birthday parties. So they spent hours running up stairs and rock walls and down slides and swinging on swings and Presley had a blast! It's also nice for us to get to know the parents! Most of these parents (and kids) have been together for years, so we are the 'outsiders'!

So I have been paying more on our mortgage every month so that when our taxes are reassessed on our house (not just the land) that the payment increase won't be TOO much of a shock to our bank account and monthly budget. Well you know that? That kind of backfired b/c today I got our payment adjustment. Now our payment is going down and I got a $1400 check for our overpayment! I really should just take the check and pay it back to our escrow account but heck with Mexico, new mattresses and Christmas coming up, this might have worked out ok after all!

Friday is almost here!

I had Monday off for Veteran's Day, usually I try to get most of my Christmas shopping done this day but this year I had Miss Piper with me. Shopping with a 13 month old who doesn't like to sit still ending with me hardly buying anything, getting frustrated, trying to keep her from climbing out of the cart and her eating a lot of crackers to keep her occupied. UGH! I HATE Christmas shopping after Thanksgiving especially if it is on the weekends, so I try very hard to get most of it done before then. Hopefully I can get some more done in the next couple weekends (or my other weekdays off!).

Tuesday Presley had cheer, she wanted me to take her. I was excited b/c she had 2 good weeks of cheer.....for some reason this class was different. We left early b/c she spent 80% of the class walking over to me crying. Her legs were tired, her knee hurt, she lost her place in line (yeah, b/c you were over complaining to me!), she didn't have a spot during their routine (yeah, b/c you were crying next to me!). It was terrible. We got in the car and were both crying. We have two more classes this month, if the next two don't go good, we are done. It's no fun and not worth it if she doesn't like it or have fun!

Steve has started his concrete countertop for his bar downstairs. Pictures to come when we have the finished product!

Miss Piper is still my sweet baby.....though she is becoming ornery! She is reminding me a lot of Presley, which is a little scary for me. She still has no fear, she is always on the move, she loves to play with Presley and jump on her bed, she eats like an animal and is cutting MORE teeth! We tried shoes for the first time today, well the first time that she kept them on for more than 5 minutes! She is clumsy enough as it is, these shoes add an extra layer of accidents waiting to happen!

Is it common in daycare centers for everyone to invite all the kids to every birthday parties? Goodness, it is going to be too expensive to keep up with 25 kids birthdays'! She's had 2 (we missed one b/c she didn't want to go), we have one this Saturday and we have a double party on the 8th! I love the social aspect of it but these kids really don't need the toys and crap they are getting from these parties! Any good ideas for gifts instead of getting all these kids a $10 present that they'll like for 5 seconds?

I have so many things in my head of stuff I need to get done and things I can't forget. I have lists all over the place. I take them every where, I add to them every day. Things for tomorrow, things for Christmas, planning for events in February, March and April! I can't think 6 months ahead but I am and it is driving me crazy!

Piper's 1 year pictures (one month late)

We had a rough photo session, but I think we actually got a couple good pictures!

Pink

 

So like everyone else in the greater Des Moines metro area we had tickets to the P!nk concert for Friday night. My mom had agreed to watch the girls for us (back in March when we got the tickets)(THANK YOU MOM!) so we made plans to meet some people right after work at Buzzard Billy's which is only three blocks from the arena. Of course, it was packed. Over an hour wait at 4:30 on a Friday night but it all worked out, and that place is smart and organized for nights like this!

The concert was once again AMAZING! She is AMAZING! I LOVE HER! And if given the chance, I will see her again! Have I expressed my feelings enough here?

This is when she was flying around and landed on a pole right in front of us. AMAZING!



This morning we had our first accident with Miss Piper. As all newly walking kids she fell and jacked her face on the corner of a cabinet, bloody nose, bruised head. I have a feeling this won't be the last time with this kid!

I had plans to go see Ender's Game with my parents, Holly and Jerry. We had all read the book and loved it and I rarely see movies so I was excited. It was good, though I still recommend people read the book over seeing the movie! So good!

Then I went with Holly and Jerry to meet our friend Andrea for a couple drinks but she wasn't able to show up by the time I had to leave to head home b/c Presley had a birthday party for a boy in her class. She was hesitant to go b/c he must have mentioned something about 'having girls' at his party, but we knew she would have a blast! And she did!

Artsy Fartsy

Presley loves art, drawing, coloring......totally Steve's thing. I'll color, but there is no art or drawing in this mommy. This is a picture of the type of papers, coloring, drawings she brings home EVERY DAY! Every day we have at least 10 pieces of paper, some colored, some writing, we even get other kids papers or BLANK pieces of paper! Awesome huh? Well 98% of these papers goes in the trash, is that bad? I keep the good ones, the ACTUAL projects!

 

 





Kid stuff

- Piper is full of snot. The amount of snot coming out of this girls nose the last 3 days is crazy.  This morning she woke up with dried, green snot everywhere. Gross huh? Yeah, I'm sure you are happy that I shared that information with you.
- Presley has been so good recently. It's awesome. We have our moments, she will throw a fit here and there but overall we just enjoy her more now! LOL! She says 'what the heck?' and 'oh my goodness' which just makes her sound like a little teenager.
- Tonight Presley didn't want to sleep on the outside half of her bed b/c she was afraid she would fall out. But she didn't want to sleep near the all either b/c she said her blanket would fall (between the wall and bed). So she pouted, fell to the floor and stated that she would have to sleep on the floor! She was legitimately sad about it. Then the pout lip came out, tears filled her eyes and she looked at me and said that she was scared of the monsters under her bed! She seems really sad and scared. (though she has never been scared of monsters before and we coincidentally have been watching Monsters Inc recently). I felt so bad for her. We cuddled (in bed, not on the floor) and eventually she fell asleep. My baby girl.
- Piper knows where her belly and nose are. She can go downstairs. She knows socks go on her feet. She knows to push the stool in the bathroom near the bathtub so she is able to climb in.  This girl is no dummy that is for sure. My baby girl.
- This is the 2nd week Presley had done good in cheer class. I might become a cheer mom, forget soccer mom! It is freakin adorable. The main problem is that there are 5 classes that go on at the same time, in the same big room. Kids get distracted so easily by a girl getting thrown in the air, by the dance music, by kids doing flips on the trampoline, by the wheelchairs of the girls in the handicap class.....but P is learning, liking and participating! Eventually I will have a video to share!

Weekend Update

So another weekend with minimal plans. Perfect! Friday night Steve made dinner then we just hung out. Playing and laughing.

Saturday both girls slept in (8 for Piper and sometime before 9 for P). Presley had her first 'friend' birthday party for a girl at preschool. The Playground for Kids in Ankeny, full of bounce houses and fun! I took her and the first 20 minutes sucked. She cried. She didn't want to play and when she did she would come back to my crying b/c someone pushed her. The kids were running around and excited and she just wanted someone to play with. Its weird to watch your child want to be included but don't know how to help. Finally they went into a bigger room with more stuff to climb on, jump on and run around on. She finally friended Alivia from her class, thank goodness. They ran around with each other, chased each other and just had fun.  And I got to meet Alivia's mom so that was nice to finally really meet and talk with one of the other parents!

Then they had pizza (and she ate a piece, she tells us she doesn't like pizza) and cake (she didn't want the frosting and normally that is the only part she eats?!) So overall this party was a success!

The rest of the day we hung out, Piper took a late nap, we played in the basement (well, P played and I napped) Steve cleaned the cars, we did laundry, took a walk, cleaned. Productive, family day!

 

You never know what is going to happen with daylight savings and kids. Well both kids slept until 7:45 (which would've been 8:45). However, Miss Piper woke up with a super runny nose and just whiny. She has been hoarse with a little cough for a couple days and we are pretty sure she is getting some molars and I think it all caught up with her today. Poor thing!

We got some time outside even though it was windy, both of our girls just LOVE being outdoors!

We did a Costco run, P got her hair cut, ran to Target, played more, made dinner, did baths and Piper was asleep by 7 and Presley by 7:30! WOOHOO! (Either I love this daylight savings time thing, or they will be waking up very early tomorrow morning!)