Monday, April 28, 2014

Weekend Update

Both girls stayed up fairly late on Friday night, when they are good and we don't have to get up early, we just go with the flow. Which paid off Saturday morning when I was the only one up at 8:00. It was nice out so I ate some toast on the deck and read some of my book (Home by Rachel Smith, if you haven't read it yet...please do so!). Then the monsters got up about 9:30 and we hung out.
A co-worker had a family friendly bacon party that we went to once Piper got up from her nap. It was good! There were lots of kids, Piper made herself at home and P hung out with the adults instead of the other kids until it was almost time to leave...then she started playing with the 'babies' (5 kids under the age of 2!) The weather was good so we could be outside, and the kids were worn out!

We got home about 8, got the kids ready for bed. Steve went out for a couple drinks and this girl went to bed! The storms woke Presley up and I just brought her into bed with me (she isn't normally afraid for thunder but at midnight, out of the blue, she was!) Then Steve got home about 1 am, which is when Piper started waking up....she was awake off and on from 1-3:30. UGH.

Presley and I were the first ones up at 9:30! Steve and Piper didn't get up until 11 am! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
It was such a gloomy day, we did nothing. We watched Frozen (again), played preschool and house and just tried to keep the entertained. Piper got grouchy and we put her down for a nap about 2:45 and woke her up about 3:45! This girl is crazy. She gets made and finds the closest table and just starts throwing things off of it! When she gets hungry she climbs up the side of her highchair and sits in it, one of these days she is going to go falling off of it! If left in the highchair too long, she just climbs on the table. MONKEY!

She had a 'great' day at Generation today! No pacifier when I picked her up so she is doing good! Especially since she wasn't there last week.

In the last two weeks, Presley has kissed boy at school, showed her 'boobs' to her cousin and last night drew a 'P' tattoo on her wrist  (thanks for the idea Holly and Samantha!). I'm thinking my 5 year old is confused with being 15 years old? How do I correct this problem?

Friday, April 25, 2014

Random

- I love when the weather is nice. The kids just play in the neighborhood, Piper throws sand in her hair and runs into the street and we spend the night chasing after her.
- Too many babies being born : Congrats to all of them! (and there are a bunch more babies to come in the next couple months) :
our neighbors Matt and Kari had baby Bara
my friends Sarah and Aaron had baby Lincoln
our friends Brent and Shannon had baby Blake
a coworkers had a grandbaby Layla
our friends Josh and Erin had baby Eden
- I do have the best husband ever. He is handy, he cooks, he likes to shop, he cleans the bathrooms, he got the two girls ready for the wedding, he took them hom and put them to bed that night...I think the people at work are tired of me talking about how much he does! But really, I'm lucky! (now if we can only get him to be more romantic!)

WTH

So as Sunday night ended Piper was breaking out in a rash and just not herself. My mom had asked for this week off since we had family in town, totally understandable! Piper was up most of Sunday night. So Monday I stayed home in the morning and we took Piper to the walk-in clinic. We thought maybe it was a reaction to the amoxicillin (from her ear infection the week before!), the doctor there took a strep and mono test....at this point I knew he was grasping for anything to explain her terrible rash.
She switched her off the amoxicillin and said we could give her Benedryl to help. We did. Monday night the same thing, not happy, wouldn't eat, rash was terrible and wouldn't sleep. We were all exhausted. My mom (my superhero!) said she could watch Piper if needed. So Tuesday morning Steve took her over there about 10 and I picked her up about 4. No changes.
Tuesday night, we had a little better sleep...as she was only up for less than 2 hours (still sleeping in our bed, with one of us sleeping on the couch). You could tell her legs were just itching the hell out of her. Wednesday, Steve took her to mom's about 7:45, still no change. The rash was gone from her face and had decreased in her arms but her legs were still terrible.
We had kindergarten round-up in the afternoon so we both had 1/2 days for this. P was SO excited! To the point that she couldn't contain herself, non-stop talking, could hardly write her name b/c she was so pumped up. She is excited for kindergarten but I'm not sure she knows exactly what she is getting into! HA!
I made a dr's appt for Piper that afternoon with her normal doctor, she basically said it was a reaction, turned into eczema. The Benedryl itching gel we were putting on it, was probably making it worse (which we didn't know) but she gave her a steroid of Prednisolone, which after learning about the side effects, we weren't that keen on giving her. So Wednesday night we did our normal Benedryl oral medication and she slept ALL night! OMG! This is totally what we needed! So Thursday we didn't give her anything and it seems to slowly be going away and now we have had two good nights of sleep!

You can tell she is just feeling better now. She is back to her orny self now, getting into everything, making a mess, climbing on any table she can find...now lets just hope the rash continues to slowly go away!

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Easter

Then we had Easter Sunday. Piper was NOT into it, but really at 18 months she shouldn't know what is going on.
Presley was so excited...she was on a mission to find all the eggs and she did a great job!
We then met the family out for brunch at Mama Laconas! It was crowded but it was good. We knew something wasn't 'normal' with Piper when she sat on our laps and then was laying on Pa. This girl doesn't sit still.  I love this pic!
So Steve took Piper home since she wasn't feeling good and Presley and I went to moms for the Easter egg hunt and to hang out with the family some more.
I got a couple pictures of them in their Easter dresses, neither one of them was in the best mood for pictures but a picture was needed anyway!
Mom and the aunts had scattered the eggs ALL over the yard and drive way for the kids to find. There were SO many eggs, I'm still not sure we got them all! They had a blast!
The weather was wonderful! We were outside in the sun all day, playing, talking. I feel bad, but it is just so much easier to worry about Presley and not have to follow crazy Miss Piper around!  I know it will get easier as she gets older and obviously I'm just lazy! HA! We even had Boston come over afterwards to play for a while. We got out the water table and they had a blast playing.  Steve and Piper were both able to take naps while we were gone, but by that night we knew Piper was not 'right'. A sick kid is NOT what we needed after the busy week.

Saturday

Steve got up early Saturday to smoke some more meat. We were having over the whole family for dinner that evening. So we got up and did some cleaning, cooking, laundry and got ready for the family. Steve did an AMAZING job getting all the food prepared!  We had the perfect weather, we all got to squeeze outside on the deck together and eat, drink, talk and just hang out!
The 6 siblings : Danny, Ellen, Dave, Cindy, Becky and Ann
Best mom and dad ever!
We watched Holly and Jerry open some of their presents and then we had a mini-celebrations for Matt's college graduation from Purdue (such a tough guy holding that cookie!)
and Aunt Debbie's 50th birthday! I hope I look as good as she does at 50!
The girls were good! They stayed up too late and our neighbor Todd stopped by with bottles of wine to win over my aunts and uncles for the night!
Thank you everyone for coming over and having a great night! It was nice to be able to talk and hang out all together! We will see you all in Colorado in August!

The Big Day (part 2)

Presley hurt her foot about 8 pm....the drama, the tears....there was no fixing the situation. Originally Steve was going to take Piper home when she needed to and Presley was going to stay and party with me. That didn't happen. So Steve took them both home and I continued on with the wedding. I felt so bad that he had to leave, but honestly they were both ALL over the place, hard to keep track of, and hard to make happy. So once they left I was able to get the camera out and take some pictures.
 
Cousins Matt and Luke doing their Party Rockers dance....so awesome for two tall, skinny white guys! They got the attention of everyone!
The kids had a blast on the dance floor!
I caught Susie and Holly being inappropriate from across the room!
Aunt Ellen and Uncle Dave doing some dancing.
Jerry LOVES singing. Jerry loves attention. So this was perfect for him. He said My Girl to Holly, it was SO sweet. They really are as cute as they look, kinds sick huh?
Samantha and Scott
 
 
 
We are all so happy for Holly and Jerry. Holly deserves every bit of happiness that that comes with this relationship! We love you guys!
 

Monday, April 21, 2014

The Big Day (part 1)

Friday was the day we had been waiting for. I'll get into the sappy stuff later but  we had hair appointments at 10 AM in Ankeny, the photographer was going to be at mom's around 1 to take some pictures. We hung out, talked, laughed, drank a little and kept busy!
Steve's job was to have both girls ready and be at the church by 3:30. We took some family pictures, the ceremony was immediate family only, so there wasn't more than 20 of us there and the ceremony was short and sweet (yes, she walked down the aisle to the shire music from The Lord of the Rings)!
By 4:30 we were all at the reception place to help set up and get things ready. The reception was casual and fun. It was SO good to see all our famiy and friends that we haven't seen in a long time! I was so happy to see so many people show up to help Holly celebrate her day!
The nice weather was perfect for letting the kids play on the nearby playground and letting some cool air into the building!
P and I doing the cha-cha slide
The grandkids, aren't they freaking cute!
Piper and Jerry's niece are about the same age.....Piper was dancing, Carmen just watched her. I think Piper liked the attention!

Catch up time

So last Monday (which seems like forever ago), we knew we had to plan ahead for the busy week and weekend. Tuesday we dyed eggs. Presley had a good time being creative (shocker), Piper wanted to just get into everything so she did not participate.
(had to put a dress on before we started!)
My pretty girl
I found Piper with my cell phone, holding it up in front of her face...saying 'cheese!'....18 months and trying to take her first selfie! LOL!
Wednesday I picked up the girls from daycare (both at Generation since mom needed the days off to get ready for the wedding!) and then I headed out to meet the girls for pedicures for the wedding! This was the start of the wedding festivities for the week!
 
I had Thursday off since we didn't have daycare and I knew I would have stuff to get done. Presley went to preschool and Piper and I hung out. I got some cleaning and organizing done (since we knew we were having company Thursday and Saturday nights). We had the non-rehearsal gathering (other people would have a rehearsal dinner, but Holly wasn't having a rehearsal or a dinner), this was a chance for all of our family to get together and hang out. We had family from Texas, Wisconsin, Indiana and Colorado in town for the wedding! We got Carlyn from Generation to come watch the girls for us for the night and we headed out for a good family gathering! It was SO nice to see everyone! The last time everyone was in Iowa at the same time was our wedding 6.5 yrs ago!

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Presley

I don't know what it is, but the nice weather is turning her good behavior into a bad attitude. I'm just so tired of it. I feel like we need to start being more strict with her so things don't get out of control.
Besides her terrible play date experience, she totally cheated when playing Memory with me (and she still won't admit it), she got in trouble at school yesterday! Her and another girl Iris, can't seem to get along and Miss Colleen had to seperate them, she said that she saw a side of Presley that she has never seen before! I told her that is the Presley we see at home! LOL!
Today another girl told me that Presley kissed Kaleb at school today!!! WHAT? Presley said she kissed him b/c she is going to marry him! And that if I tell her to not kiss him she will anyway! Seriously Miss Attitude! I told her that we don't kiss boys even though Kaleb is cute, but that boys are gross and have germs. She didn't seem to care.

She has had a cough too, she is very adament about only liking bubble gum medicine. So Steve bought 'clear' medicine, and let her add her own flavor (otherwise known as food coloring), she'll drink it then! LOL

For the most part she is still pretty good, she can be SO helpful with Piper. I just love watching them together!

Her infected ear has been healed. Our dedication to getting it back to normal has paid off!

Next week we have kindergarten roundup!

Ever day when we get home from preschool, the first thing she does is put on a dress and starts walking around in a pair of my shoes.

Two big milestones for her...she can tie her own shoes and wipe her own poopy butt! LOL!

Stats

Piper had her 18 month appt today, not a shocker that she has an ear infection also. I predicted that would be the outcome with her recent cold and less that perfect attitude! The attitude consists of basically not eating anything and proceeding to take handfuls of food and throw them on the floor. And then get mad at us for saying she is done and taking her out of the highchair. She hasn't wanted to go to bed, she just hasn't been that happy....so hopefully little miss will be better by the wedding on Friday.
Steve took her to the appt this morning, he wasn't very good at remembering her height and weight but supposedly she grew 3 inches in 3 months...doesn't that seem completely unbelievable? That would put her about 33 inches (75-90%) and gained 1.5 pounds which would be about 23 pounds (25-50%).  So who really knows, 2nd child syndrome for her again.

Basically she is normal. She isn't worried about her not talking, since she babbles like a mad woman. She said we can give her skim milk, which might help her eat more (maybe she'll eat more than she throws on the floor?). She can jump, go up and down stairs...all the typical stuff. I guess we need to introduce a toothbrush to her and start trying to brush her teeth! She just seems too little for that.

Monday, April 14, 2014

Weekend Update

We had great weather last week and that continued into Saturday. We were up, showered and outside playing by 11...that is totally NOT us! HA! The girls were even lucky enough to eat lunch on the deck!
 
Presley had her first play date with a girl from preschool. They had invited her over to play at their house but P was just not comfortable with that yet, so we had Leah over to our house instead! Presley was less than friendly. It was almost embarrassing. If Leah didn't want to do exactly what Presley did, she would pout and say that she wasn't playing with Leah b/c she wasn't her friend! Really? The play date lasted two hours and an hour of that was forced by us to make sure Leah wasn't just bored by watching P pout! Not a successful play date. UGH!
 
After that we got out the water table that Steve made (way cheaper than buying one!) and the girls LOVED it. This is the key to stopping Piper from just wanting to run into the street the whole time we are outside!
 
Saturday was also Steve's birthday! He decided he wanted to smoke some pork and have some friends over that night, so that is what we did! We had a great meal, some good drinks and good company and of course, the weather was gorgeous until about 8 pm (when the rain started). We'll take it though! At one point, Presley and I sat in the garage and watched the lightening!
 
Piper went to bed at her normal time, but P was up until almost 11 and I snuck off to bed about midnight! Piper woke up a couple times during the night, she hasn't been eating, had a snotty nose and started getting a cough this weekend. Presley was the first one up on Sunday morning at 9....I had to wake Piper up at 10!! I went in there just to make sure she was still breathing! You could tell she just didn't feel good, so cuddly and sad! :(
Sunday was a rainy, spring day...perfect for us tired parents and a sick Piper. Steve went to the store, but other than that we didn't leave the house!
 
We have a super busy week ahead with family coming into town and Holly's wedding on Friday!

Friday, April 11, 2014

Spring!

I think spring is officially here!  Finally! Now if we can just get it to hang around awhile!
Piper had another good day at Generation! They even did her hair in pigtails! So cute!
 
Both Monday and Tuesday Steve had to work at night...boo. The girls were pretty good for me and we had a little time outside which helps! Piper basically doesn't want to go to bed anymore. Presley was asleep before her every night this week, which sucks for the mornings.

Work has been on the slow side recently, so I decided to take Wednesday off and get some stuff down without the kiddos! I took them both to daycare about 9 and then I headed out to Old Navy, Jared's (to get my ring cleaned and then I had a loose diamond so they had to keep it to get it fixed), the mall and then to Target. I headed home and Steve was already done working, so we headed out for one last errand and then to have a late lunch before picking up the kiddos! I didn't sit down in my house until 6:15 on my day off! I got some stuff done but nothing done at home!

Thursday we got back to everyones 'normal' schedule, Steve made a great dinner and we spent alot of time outside! Steve got to meet the new neighbor behind us (we are not impressed! Maybe they are very nice people but first impressions to make a difference!). Steve also had some time to chat with the another neighbor about woodworking....oh boys and their toys!

Piper just sits in the sandbox and throws sand on top of her head, over and over again. Down her shirt, in her diaper, in her hair....with the occasional eating sand off the shovel...disaster in the making!

Tonight, another wonderful night outside! Piper basically entertains the neighborhood as she walks with us. Talking, growling, screaming, running...running. And Presley has an infected ear!! I came home and noticed right away that her left ear was red. It isn't bothering her....but it bothers us! So worried we might have to take her earring out or something! UGH!

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Dear Piper-oni,

Eighteen months. Every month you get a little more weird, funny, cute and just adorable. You are loose canon, you have such a personality and you love your daddy!

You:
- are wearing 18 months clothes and size 5/6 shoes
- LOVE animals. You have always loved animals and now when we walk around the neighborhood, you growl at any dog you see. You have no problem running out into the middle of the street (bad habit!) to go pet a dog.
- still have 12 teeth but we think you are slowly working on the eye teeth, which is not helping your sleeping or diaper rash issue
- are not going to bed as easily as you did 2 weeks ago....we are lucky if you are asleep by 9 these days but we still try for 8 every night! Normally you sleep in pretty good though, so I shouldn't really complain.
- eat like a champ! Tonight you had broccoli, grilled chicken, mashed potatoes (which is awesome when she just eats it by the fistful!), raspberries and blueberries!
- still don't talk. Babble, yes. Say actual words to actually mean something, no. Ok, I'll give you credit for 3 words that you say consistently. Daddy, shoes and ga-ga (for grandma). We occasionally get other 'words' out of her but it's so inconsistent I don't even want to giver her 'credit' for them! HA!
- love bubbles, running down the driveway, climbing the rock wall to go down the slide on the playset (which you should NOT be able to do at this age), throwing sand everywhere (especially in your hair), and eating sidewalk chalk!
- have nicknames of Piper-oni (like pepperoni), Monster, Pipes, and Mini-P

I just asked Steve what I should add to this list....his response "She is a pain in the ass!" LOL!

You really are SO sweet! We know that if we tell you no to something, that is going to be the ONE thing you are going to want to do more than anything! You love your sister and want to do everything she does!
Your smile makes me smile, there is no better feeling than having you run up to me and give me big Piper hugs, sometimes with the added slimy, snotty kisses!
We love you sweet girl, keep being the little firecracker that you are and keep that determination going baby girl!

Sunday, April 6, 2014

Weekend Update

Another weekend gone. Ugh. Finally we had nice weather (that wasn't windy) on Saturday! We got up and all 4 of us went to the mall. This is the first time we have taken Piper in months, but it was an overall success. I got what I needed, the girls were pretty good, Piper had some time to walk (run) thru the mall, everyone smiling at her as she went by (or as she ran into them).
 
That afternoon went spent a long time outside. At one point we had 7 little girls in our driveway, half of them singing Let It Go from Frozen! It was so freakin cute! They all tooks turns on the trampoline (without fighting or help from us), we got the sidewalk chalk out and went on a couple walks.
 
That night my mom came over to watch the girls so we could go out for Steve's birthday (which is the 12th). It was so nice for all of his friends from highschool to be able to make it out, they rarely are all able to get together any more so it was nice to see everyone!
Of course the problem when Steve, Brandon and Nick get together....they will not go to bed early. We got home about 12:30, I was asleep by 1:30 and the boys.....didn't go to sleep until 4! Are you kidding me? Guys, you are not 25 years old anymore! So of course, when Piper got up at 7 and Presley at 7:30 (which is early for them) I tried so hard to keep them quiet as long as I could! We played in Presleys room for a long time to contain noise but by 9, I didn't have a choice but to let them loose.
Needless to say, we did alot of NOTHING today. We were both just so tired, neither one of us really got a nap (not for the lack of trying though). Finally the weather cleared up in the late afternoon and Presley got to spend sometime outside playing with Layla.
 
A proud Presley moment for us : after dinner, she wanted to play with Layla again. Of course, that meant she would have to walk down the block 3 houses and actually ring the doorbell of a house that she has only been inside once (she always makes Layla play at our house). Steve stood at the front door and watched her....SHE DID IT! We thought she would walk down there, look around and come back b/c she would be too chicken! Once again, this girls shocks me!
 
Clean Piper cheesing for me



 Sunday morning cinnamon rolls.....they just couldn't wait! HA!

Thursday, April 3, 2014

Random

Piper had ANOTHER good day at Generation on Monday! They said she cried when they came in from being outside (not shocking) and then cried when she saw Presley b/c she thought she was leaving. She isn't sad that she has to leave, but seriously overcome with joy that she cries! She can't get to her locker fast enough to get her coat on!

So Presley had a dentist appt on Tuesday morning. Now I don't know if I posted about her last dentist appt but it was less than fun. She wouldn't sit in the chair, we had to hold her down and force her mouth open. She cried. Terrible.
Well, since Steve hasn't been busy at work I thought it only made sense for him to take her instead of me missing a couple hours of work to take her. So off they went.
Her appointment was at 8:30, they got in a little early and were done by 8:40! She had xrays done, she got to watch Frozen in the chair and was perfect according to Steve! The dentist said 'she has a picture perfect mouth for a 5 year old'! Woohoo!

Speaking of Frozen, they play 'freeze dance' at school and the teachers right now are playing the Frozen soundtrack. So Presley knows most of the words to most of the songs. It is SO FREAKING CUTE! I love that she loves to sing!

Today was my late night, I took both girls to daycare late. It is kind of nice to let them sleep in and not rush around! Though neither girl wanted to go to bed tonight. I think our problem is that I normally take Piper into our room to have her milk and spend 15 minutes away from P to calm down before bed. Steve usually gets P her fruit and she gets to watch a cartoon and then he lays with her.
Well when we switch it up and 'change kids'....it doesn't work. The routine gets thrown off and chaos occurs! LOL!