Sunday Funday

Sunday started about 8 am in this house....I'm happy with anything after 7:30! We did alot of nothing! Steve needed to get out of the house so he took Presley to Target to get some things, Piper went down for her nap and I did a quick picking up and cleaning and worked out! I enjoyed my couple hours to myself but didn't really relax they way I had intended! HA!

Presley and I made banana bread (this girl LOVES banana bread to the point that she purposely won't eat bananas so they get bad so we have to make bread!) We played 3 games of Uno, (I realize this is always a risk) she won the first two games and I won the last (which she was NOT happy about, so good thing it was the last game!) We had to wake Piper up from her nap about 3 and then we just played! The afternoon actually seemed to last forever, which is good when the kids are being good and playing.

Today was another day for Piper at GN. She bawled when I dropped her off. I don't think it helps that she gets dropped off in the morning room which is not her 'normal' room b/c her teachers don't get there until about 7. (Yes, our kids get dropped off that early so that I can be to work by 7:30) When Steve picked her up, she once again had her pacifer in her mouth and was sitting on the teachers lap. They basically said she cries most of the day and wants to be held, which they obviously can't do all day and we don't expect them to. She does nap and eat for them and we can just hope that eventually it will get easier. :(
The good part about Monday's, Piper is exhausted and goes to bed early. She went down about 7:30, I worked out and by the time I was done Steve had Presley in bed!

Good start to the week, hopefully we can keep it up thru our busy, busy weekend!

Piper's first kiss

This smile.

This smile makes me SO happy!

This morning Steve had to work (which is very rare on the weekends!) I had the opportunity to meet the family at Mustards for lunch to meet my Uncle Ron! My dad's half brother who I've never met since they were adopted! It was so nice to have everyone together to meet Ron, his wife Cathy and my cousin! I hope that we get another chance to get together when everyone has more time and opportunities to chat and get to know each other!

We can home for a quick nap for Piper and then headed to Grace's birthday party at The Little Gym, which is where they had her party last year. Presley loved it last year and we were hoping they would both love it this year.

Piper ran around and just got into everything. We had to watch her 100% of the time. There are no pictures of Presley on here b/c she did VERY little. She was so concerned with Piper and what Piper was doing and keeping Piper happy and safe (which is exactly what she does at home most of the time!) that she didn't enjoy the party the way she should've!

We were excited to see our friends show up with their 2 yr old Sam and 1 yr old Charlie ( their newborn Hadley was left with the grandparents!)

and true love blossomed before our eyes! These two are about the same age (2 month difference) and they wrestled and had a kissing moment (more than once)! So cute (hope he doesn't mind her germs!)

The birthday girl Grace and her sister Sadie! They are so cute and outgoing and funny! Not scared of anything or anyone! Love it! Happy 3rd birthday Grace!

Tired

After having Monday and Tuesday off you would think I would be refreshed and ready for the three day work week. Wrong. Wednesday night I was able to meet my friend Sarah for dinner, I got home about the time it was ready to get the kids ready for bed. This week Piper does NOT want to go to bed! It's not about her being tired or not she just wants us to stand there and pat her back, which we do. But the second we leave the room she starts crying and screaming agin, so there have been a lot of Piper tears in this house this week.

Last night we decided to meet at Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner, the kids do so good at this place. I think b/c it is bright, loud and there is alot going on to keep them occupied! The house is destroyed (which is sad since Tuesday it was spotless, clean and wonderful) and of course this is the night one of our neighbors drops by to get my email and phone number, she is probably rethinking inviting me to any of her get-togethers after seeing our mess of a house!

Today, I have just been exhausted! I slept so good last night and just couldn't get motivated today. Steve had to work tonight so it was just us ladies in the house. Of course, we had waffles for dinner....my specialty! HA! After an hour of Piper crying she finally gave up and fell asleep. Presley had popcorn, which seems to be becoming our Friday night tradition....which I like, I just wish we could've cuddled a little more instead of me going to pat Pipers back every 10 minutes! Maybe next Friday!

Tuesday funday

Today I was lucky enough to have the day off again and to be able to take both kids to daycare again!  Steve took Presley to preschool and then Piper and I got up and moving slowly. I took her to my mom's about 9 and then went to an appt at 10. After that I went to Target (yes, again), got home and went to work on the miscellaneous crap I had to get done around the house. Got some stuff in the mail, renewed my drivers license (online!), laundry, cleaned, went thru baby clothes to give friends (#7 on my 2014 goal list), made dinner (crockpot chicken recipe from Pinterest, #8 on my 2014 goal list), worked out, showered and picked up Piper by 4.
Another productive day, which I desperately needed!

By the way....2 weeks from today I have to sign my baby up for kindergarten. Tear.

Weekend Update

This weekend was boring and not in a bad way. We just had no plans and didn't do much of anything!
Unfortunately both girls were up too early for my liking on Saturday, at 6:50. Not cool, hope this isn't becoming a really bad habit......if it is, we might have to teach Presley how to get Piper out of her crib, change her diaper and feed her breakfast for us! HA!
We hung out, played. Presley and I watched a movie while Piper napped and Steve went to the grocery store.  We did get out of the house and ran to the mall, for no reason but to get out of the house and let the kids run around. Then we swung by Applebees for dinner on the way home....I'm beginning to think there is a reason restaurants always puts us in the corner by ourselves?!

Sunday was another day of the same. Piper was up early (2 DAYS IN A ROW!), Presley got up a little before 9 and we did nothing. The girls play SO good together and in the basement they just play and play, it's great! We finally decided to get out of the house and ran to Bass Pro Shop, we figured we check out some of the animals and fish. We weren't there nearly as long as we thought we would be but came home and spent some time outsides since it was pretty nice.

Today was MLK day so  I didn't have to work. I had a list of places to go and things to get done so I took both girls to daycare (Pipers dropoff at Generation was perfect, too bad her whole day wasn't like that). I went to Target, Hobby Lobby, Whole Foods, World Market, Nobbies, Valley West Mall and Davids Bridal and was home by 2! We both went to pick up the girls about 4, Piper was sitting on one of the teachers laps with her pacifer in her mouth! They must have been looking for any way to calm her down b/c they never give kids their pacifers other than naptime! UGH!
I got alot done but still have some things I need to get done tomorrow (since I'm taking another day off to myself!)

Long week

This was a long week. Three nights I got home after 7 pm which just makes for a messy, unorganized house and me feeling out of sorts trying to get everything in order. Monday was my late night at work, Piper had her 15 month doctor appointment in the morning....three shots for her and she was NOT happy! I don't remember Presley crying like that, I couldn't take her to Generation for daycare knowing she would continue to cry all day...I just couldn't so, Grandma to the rescue! Thanks again mom! and next Monday I promise I won't call you. :)
Tuesday was a short night just b/c everyone in my house was asleep by 8:00! I worked out, did some wedding shower stuff for Holly, watched some of my DVR'd Dr. Phil episodes and enjoyed the quiet!

Thursday. UGH Thursday blizzard. This was by far the worst drive I have ever had in an Iowa winter. For those family and friends who don't live here and understand what I'm talking about........it takes me a 1/2 hour to get from work to home.  Oh no, not this Thursday! This Thursday it took me 1 hour to get to my mom's house to pick up Piper....her house is almost 1/2 way home.
Now if I would've planned ahead or knew the roads and traffic were going to continue to be bad, I would've just stayed at mom's house.....however, I didn't plan or know what I was driving into. With Piper, during our normal dinner time, we drove into a standstill of cars. It took over an hour to go 4 miles. Piper ate some goldfish I had, some fruit loops I found....though I had nothing for her to drink. We sang songs, she WAS DONE! I gave her the pacifer (which she hasn't had during the day, except for nap time this week!). I was willing to put a movie in the DVD player (that we never use) but we didn't have a DVD in the car! I got on my not-so-smart phone and Youtubed Baby Mcdonald for her and that kept her happy for the last 1/2 hour. We finally got home 2 hours later than we normally do, about 7:20, which is usually bedtime for her. She was starving, I was stressed. It was awful.

Steve's brother tried to drive home to Earlham, that wasn't happening so he drove here and stayed for the night. Our f'ing neighbor decided at 4:30 in the morning he was going to take his snow plow and scrap the snow down his driveway.....you know right outside our bedrooms! I was pissed and of course, I didn't fall back asleep (which is becoming a bad habit for me!)

So today was my other late night for work. Which I was thankful for, I didn't want to drive with the rest of the crazies into work. I got to work a little before 9 and got home about 7:30......but I have a 4 day weekend, which I'm really looking forward to! And really need!

15 months

Oh Miss Piper...or Little Lady, as we like to call her alot of the time. She is the funniest, weirdest little lady around. She is 30 inches tall (51%) and 21.5 lbs (31%)....smaller than P was!

Miss Piper :
- still doesn't really talk, says dadda. And is forming more babbling words in the last 2 weeks but no real 'words'.
- can roar like a lion, make a fishy face, wrinkle her nose like a bunny, moo like cow, waddle like a penguin, sticks out her tongue like a frog and sounds like an elephant with her arm in the air as the trunk. There are no basic doggy, kitty, sheep noises from her. She loves animals so much and is obsessed with Baby Einstein Baby McDonald. She pulls on the computer and whines until she can watch it. She gets SO excited and intense when she watches it!
- loves her baths again! Thank goodness!
- has 11 (or maybe it's only 9) teeth...still working on the lower right molar.
- is slowly moving on up to 18 month clothes, can still wear most of her 12 month stuff though. Wearing size 4 diapers and size 5 shoes.
- is clumsy! This girls walks around like she has had a couple beers! She should be steady on her feet by now but this girl falls down ALL the time, bowlegged, walking crooked and she likes to spin in circles and just fall over and over again. Weird, I tell you.
- will walk around with a bucket on her head or something in front of her face so she can't see where she is going and then walks into walls or people and falls down?! I mean seriously, weird.
- knows her nose, belly and feet.
- will 'sign' for milk, but recognizes bath, more, eat, mile and all done!
- loves her sister Presley. They play so good together. Presley loves to be the boss and Piper doesn't know any better!
- is finally off ALL bottles and is forward facing in her carseat! But still loves that damn pacifer. And I will admit, she has been sick twice in the last month and it is just so easy to give that thing to her so she stops whining....good parenting huh?
- understands most of what we say. It's crazy the amount of things she can understand when she doesn't communicate back to us very well.

 

I LOVE THIS SWEET, CRAZY, FUNNY LITTLE GIRL!

 

Presley at 15 months......was similar in most aspects!
http://www.thegoodlife-jgo.blogspot.com/2010/05/15-months.html
Presley at almost-16 months, was so much chunkier than Piper is!

Germs!!

UGH. So of course, after my last post my mom started to feel bad too. By morning both her and Steve were sick. So with no options for daycare I stayed home with the girls and with a puking husband. I really didn't want to miss work but really at this point my priorities were at home puking, shitting and whining.

Thank goodness Presley was starting to feeling better and was GOOD! She colored and drew pictures (nothing makes this girl happier than being artsy). She kept asking what she could clean?! She swept the floors and wet swiffered them, she volunteered to clean her room and make her bed. She wiped off the counters and dining room table...so I gave her $1 for doing so much cleaning without having to be asked. She thought that was pretty cool.
Steve stayed in the bedroom away from the rest of us. Piper was just whiny, not eating and gross diapers. I tried to give her some Pedialyte so she wouldn't get dehydrated since she was only eating fruit and drinking milk and was going on day 3 of diarrhea. She gagged on that and threw up everything, all over me and her. I took off her clothes and mine in the kitchen, Presley went to go get Steve and he came out between throwing up to keep Piper out of the kitchen so I could clean everything up. Fun times in our house!

Saturday Steve wasn't puking but was just exhausted and tired, don't blame him. Once the girls were up and starting to get restless we got ready and headed to Target. Taking both of them is always a risk, so I was ready to get in and out and hopefully with no screaming fits. It was the opposite. The whole way there, they didn't make a sound. At one point I thought they were going to fall asleep in the shopping cart! They were so quiet, it was odd. PEOPLE, I HAD THE QUIETEST KIDS IN TARGET! It was the best trip I could've asked for from them! I don't think either one of them is fully back to 100% which probably helped me!

Both girls were asleep by 8:30 and then Steve and I decided to watch one of the movies I had DVR'd from our free weekend of HBO and Cinemax.....This is 40 with Paul Rudd. I thought it was f'ing hilarious! Not like its a great story line or award winning movie, but I was laughing ALOT!

Today, I got up and went to work. I had to. I knew there were too many things I needed to wrap up before Monday (which I'm late night tomorrow, so I won't even get there until 10). I got home about 11, Piper was already down for a nap and Presley and Steve were coloring.
Presley then decided she really wanted to wash the windows to the patio door.....for 45 minutes she sprayed and wiped down those windows! LOL!
We did find about 20 minutes to take a walk to the mailbox and spend a little time outside since it was in the 40's today! Woohoo! Other than that we haven't done much but try to make Piper happy and try to get both kids to eat something.
8 pm tonight and both kids are asleep, and I have a feeling that Steve is headed there soon too.
Hoping for a healthier week for everyone! Fingers crossed!

Icky

We called it. Piper isn't right. Must be a stomach bug of some sort b/c she hasn't eaten hardly anything all week and now has runny diapers....over and over again. Gross! Her sleeping as been better since the 3:45 Monday wake up call and the 4:30 Tuesday wake up call.

Then this morning I got a call from Generation Next. (Second call this week! After no calls for 7 months!) and Presley had thrown up and was lethargic and wasn't playing like normal. UGH! So Super-Grandma to the rescue! She went and picked up Presley and took care of both sick girls all day. Throwing up Presley and diarhea Piper. They both took naps so that was good and Piper still went to bed early (mom is adjusting Pipers nap to be earlier and more like Generations schedule which is only a nap from 12-2. Piper is used to sleeping from 1-4!) So it is really fun in our house! Be jealous!

Random

Sunday was our last Packer party. Boo. They lost but honestly these close games are too stressful for me to watch. I cover my eyes, peaking thru my fingers, leave the room but peak around the corner. Can't handle it.

American Idol starts soon...are you excited? I AM!

I might have the opportunity to travel for 2-3 days for work. Not sure where but hopefully somewhere warm (my luck it will be Minnesota). I haven't traveled for work since I started in this department 4 years ago. I just don't like leaving Steve to do it all b/c I know I wouldn't! LOL! We'll see, it probably won't happen anyway.

I did a college bowl game pick contest thingy....all you have to do is pick the winners....well it is obvious that I know VERY little about college football.

Manic Monday

Of course Piper woke up crying this morning from 3:45 to 4:15, my alarm goes off at 5 so I never went back to sleep. Oh well, honestly I didn't any more tired than I do any other day! It was a bad morning for her to not sleep good with her first day at Generation, I know they don't give morning naps (which she rarely gets anyway, but every once in a while she needs it). I knew she wouldn't have her pacifer during the day (which is good, but when you are scared and tired a pacifer would be comforting, at least for a 15 month old!)
She didn't eat breakfast for me, wasn't interested in anything. They don't eat morning snack until 8 and she is used to having breakfast at 7, with probably a follow up morning snack by 8 (the girl likes to eat!). So of course, I was worried about her being hungry too.

Presley and I dropped her off at her room and she screamed and cried. This was the hardest drop off for me. This one made me sad. I knew she would be fine. I told Presley that she should ask to go visit her during the day and she did. Once when Piper was sleeping and other time she said Piper was not happy to see her and just cried.
I called them about 9:15 and they said she was emotional off and on and they were trying to do some cuddling. They said she seemed tired....as I expected. I got an email from the director twice, once to tell me that she was having a hard time adjusting and another to tell me that she was content sitting on Miss Stephanie's lap during their music time.
Then I got a phone call from Miss Stephanie letting me know that Piper had broken out in a rash. Oh great. She said it wasn't a big deal but wanted me to know. So I told her to let me know how it goes and we would come get her if needed.....I never heard anything back so assumed all went ok.

Steve picked them up about 4:15. They said she wanted to be held all day, but they can't do that...which we don't want them to. She did nap for almost 2 hours ON A NAP MAT! (they are lucky she was so exhausted and slept for them) And all she ate was applesauce and animal crackers. But she survived and it will only get better. It took Presley 3 months and she went every day. Since she is only going on Mondays it might take her a little longer. Time will tell!

Piper was asleep by 7 tonight but has already woken up, so something is not right with her. Maybe her last molar is coming thru?

Friday/Saturday

So Thursday night I worked a little late but was still home by 6:30 to help give the kids a bath and get them to bed by 8. Friday I got off work at 3:00 to take Piper to meet her new daycare. Started Monday (and only Mondays) she will be going to Generation with P. I originally did this to give my mom Mondays off again, not realizing that Sam would be putting Boston into the daycare in Bondurant. But this will be good for Piper, mom thinks she get bored at her house so at least this will be one day of keeping her busy!
Her teachers will be Miss Cheslea and Miss Allie both younger girls but obviously with alot of patience to have a room full of 12-18 month olds. It will be interesting to see how Piper does and how in the world they will get her to take a nap on a nap mat!

It was nice getting home at 4:30, the evening seem to last SO much longer! Both girls were so tired and were both asleep by 7:45! Piper did wake up in the middle of the night for about a half hour, which rarely happens anymore so I'm wondering if she is getting a cold or something. Either way the 30 minutes she was up, allowed her to sleep in! I woke up at 9:15 and didn't hear either girl being awake. P was awake and just playing in her room and Piper was quietly talking to herself in her crib. I wish every morning was like this! HA!
We got ready and headed to the mall, I had some gift cards to spend and since I hadn't been to the mall since before Thanksgiving I figured I was due to make a visit! We weren't there very long but I got my purchases done!
We came home and did our usual Saturday stuff. It's so nice b/c Presley and Piper will just go downstairs and play without us! We quietly sneak down to check on them, but of course don't want to interrupt them!

I'm sure you have heard it is cold around here. Really cold. Might as well be cold now so by March we can have a nice spring!

New Years

Miss Piper and her computer addiction.

We were invited to join some friends on a party bus around town to some dive bars for New Years Eve, it would've been a blast to go out on the town but the babysitter situation didn't work out for us so Steve decided to see if anyone wanted to come over. I got off home from work about 5:30 and friends started arriving about 6. We had 3 families join us...a total of 9 kids (8 girls and one boy), Presley was the oldest and 2 babies under 2 months old!

 

Piper was SO interested in the babies.

Just watching baby Chloe

Brody, Piper, Presley, Ava, Sadie and Grace

the missing sibling Samantha, didn't watch to join the picture!

All the kids played pretty good together. Presley thought she was the queen of the kids, Piper traveled around the house by herself. At one point I found her downstairs by herself! Oops!

I think the last family left at 10:30 which was pretty good considering the amount of kids. Piper went to bed about 9:30 and P fell asleep about 11! Lucky for us they both slept in. Piper was up about 9 and I had to wake P up at 10:30 b/c we were getting ready to have people over to watch the Iowa game!

 

Steve decided to get some people over to watch the Iowa game and we got all different people on Wednesday than we did on Tuesday night! So a good variety of friends and family over these two days!

Presley had Mary and Maggie to play with, all 3 of these girls are very type A and all wanted to be in charge so many times they would each go off on their own in hopes the other girls would follow them! Mr Max wanted to make Piper smile so badly (she was grumpy from being up too late) eventually she gave into him, they were too cute!

Then Max decided to wrestle his sister Maggie down to the ground!

It was another great day with people that we don't see often enough! We were exhausted by 5 pm and and I'm pretty sure we were all asleep by 8:30!

Thank you to everyone who stopped by and spent time with us! Happy New Years and hoping everyone has a great 2014!