Weekend Update

Saturday morning we got up and headed to Lake Panorama for the day. It was a Goodrich reunion and so good to see everyone! Presley and Ava played SO good together, it is nice to have someone to keep her occupied during these family gatherings....they will have a blast at the family reunion next week together!

They tried swimming...it was cold and neither one was that fond of actually GETTING in the water!

Miss Piper hung out, she'd walk around and just check out what everyone was doing. She took a great nap there (4 hours!) and we enjoyed some time just sitting, drinking and talking!

The weather held off for the most part....until of course, they decided to take the boat out. They got stuck in the middle of a down pour! We all stood under the covered patio and just watched! LOL!

They have a great lake house, near the water, near the playground, we played bags (while fighting the cicadas off of us! GROSS!)

We got home about 10, which was late for the girls but they slept until about 8:30 so it worked out.

Sunday we did nothing, we were all tired and it was dreary in the morning. We hung out, cleaned, Presley had a terrible attitude about everything (more ridiculous stories that I can't even type).

Trying to get Piper away from her pacifer all day is proving to be a challenge! Since she has been sick, we just give it to her...now she wants it all the time. I don't normally care, unless we are in public but she is addicted. So she spent a lot of the day running to her bedroom door or the diaper bag, crying 'Paci! Paci!'. Fun times!

The girls did play good together, Piper MUST do everything that Presley does....whether she can or not, she sure tries!

Love these two crazy chickens (and their attitudes)!

Dinner out

So Friday Steve decided to have a date night with Presley, but before they left they were nice enough to invite us to a quick dinner at Applebees. A quick dinner is about an hour, that is about the maximum amount of time we have to occupy the kids, feed them and NOT have the neighboring customers complain about it. The people in the booth behind us had 3 kids, about the ages of 4, 2, and 6 months. They were good, they sat still, they ate and we never heard a peep from them.....our hour consisted of running once thru the restaurant after Piper, two bathrooms trips with Presley, occupying Piper with crayons, then goldfish crackers.....then her trying to eat goldfish with a fork (which does NOT work, but kept her busy for a good 5 minutes). We brought out the cell phone to watch Baby McDonald on Youtube, we gave her the pacifer, she stood up reaching for the food at the table behind us (sorry parents of the good kids, my baby wants to distract your perfectly behaved kids, please give her a piece of that chicken strip so we can keep her from screaming!) we only had one high-pitched scream which captured the attention of everyone around us and we only had to chug our drinks and shovel in our food to get out in a managable amount of time

This is typical, this is not relaxing, this is hardly worth the yummy food.....but I really like food so we'll keep torturing ourselves in hopes that eventually this will get easier and more fun!

Monday

Piper was up alot of last night, we knew we couldn't take her to Generation. UGH. Steve had a busy day at work, mom and dad had a day planned with the older grandkids, so I had no option but to stay home with Miss Piper. We got up and took Presley to swim lessons, she is getting more comfortable but is still hesitant....but she did blow bubbles! We dropped P off at grandmas for their fun-filled day at the strawberry patch, lunch and a movie! Aren't they the best grandparents? Presley, Mary and Boston had a good time!

I couldn't get Piper into a walk-in clinic within a tolerable amount of time, so I made an appt with our normal doctor for later that afternoon. We went home, had some lunch and then she went down for a 4 hour nap! Thank you baby girl!

Blowing her nose on a dryer sheet? She thought it was a kleenex! HA!

She doesn't look sick, does she?

I got some stuff done during her nap.....I didn't nap like I wanted to but oh well! We went to the doctor, ear infection. This poor girl is always sick.....I'm blaming the other germ infested kids at Generation! :) The doctor made the comment that she didn't act sick and that she was 'such a good kid!' :)

We met Steve and Presley at Applebees for a quick dinner and then headed home. I'm hoping for a good night sleep, though I'm not counting on it considering she hated the taste of the medicine so much she gagged multiple times until she threw up.

Poor baby!

Presley was jealous of the pictures I was taking of Piper, so she did some cheerleading poses for me and man, this girl is just photogenic (even if I do say so myself!) :)

Weekend Update

Friday I got off work early to head to Creston for the Relay for Life walk. Steve's step-sister Emily found out she had skin cancer about 6 years ago and is finally cancer free. Super ironic that I got a call from my dermatologist that afternoon about a mole that came back abnormal. UGH. I've been thru this twice before but really it sucks. So I'll go back for them to remove a larger area in hopes to get all the abnormal cells removed. Hopefully that will be the end of it......in Emily's case, that was not the end of it, but I'm trying to NOT think that way. I was very happy we went to the walk, lots of people, a good set up, got to see the family and the girls were good. We got the hint that Piper was NOT feeling good b/c she didn't do any running off and just wanted to be held, we got home and she had a fever. Boo.

 

This weekend was Johnston Green Days, so Saturday morning we got up and ready and headed to the parade. The parade is perfect! Not busy, no fighting crowds or fighting other kids for candy. It was only an hour long and we got a TON of candy!

Another sign Piper was not feeling the best. So sad, sat in her stroller for parts of the parade and we found out this girl is SCARED of mascots!

We promised Presley that we would swing by the carnival before we headed home. She loves these rides, thank goodness there aren't a TON of them or we would've been there all day and spent too much money! I rode the tilt-a-whirl with her...I love this ride, however, my 35 year old body does not! I was SO ready for this ride to be over, Presley laughed the entire time and loved it!

So Steve was the lucky winner of riding the next 3 rides with her. The spinning apples (I couldn't even watch them, barf) then this rocking boat, where she wasn't scared at all and didn't even hang on!

And the ever popular merry-go-round.

It was hot, Piper was not happy so we headed home, ate some lunch and then Piper went down for a nap!

 

 We had a babysitter for the night! Carlyn from Generation came over about 5 to watch the girls so we could go out for the night with our friends Brock and Jackie. We met them for dinner at Dos Rios downtown and got a seat on the patio....the weather was perfect and the food was great! Then we headed to the Iowa Cubs game, after the game we went to the High Life for another drink. It was a lot of fun and so good to get out for a 'date night'! The girls were perfect for Carlyn but then Piper woke up in the middle of the night HOT! 102 degree fever. Tylenol, a cold wash cloth and sleeping in bed with daddy would help right? Steve and Piper slept until 10 am! Presley came and woke me up on the couch about 8:45 so we cuddled in the quiet.

 

Today we did nothing. It was rainy, Steve and I were tired. We had been busy the last 3 days so we were happy to just hang out at home. Of course, Presley thought today was 'boring'....she thinks most things are 'boring' right now....she is like a snotty 13 year old girl. We did have my parents over for dinner, Steve made shrimp tacos which were super good! We chatted and watched the entertainment from Piper and Presley for a while and then we worked on getting them to bed early! Presley did, Piper is still awake.....I just don't think she is feeling the best yet which is not cool with our busy week ahead. So hoping for good sleep and a healthy girl tomorrow!

Random

- In one of my fights tonight with Presley, she told me I broke all the bones in her head. And no, I hadn't even touched her....I took away her cell phone, that was obviously too much for her head to handle.
- Last night she said something about how my hair is always up. So I took out my pony, shook my head and let the hair down....scary. I asked if my hair looked big and she nodded and said 'but you still look beautiful!...heart melts!
- Swim lessons went good, we have another 4 days next week so maybe we can get her to blow bubbles!
- If I had twins I would name them Scarlett and Violet, if triplets I would add Hazel.
- There were 4 people laid off in my department yesterday. Sucks. We are doing great, hitting goals, getting bonuses and even working some overtime....but obviously it's not enough for the department as a whole and it sucks.
- Piper does talk now...mostly gibberish but she says Presley perfectly and over and over again. Yesterday on our way home she just kept saying 'mama, mama, mama'......'What Piper?'.....gibberish...'mama, mama, mama!'....over and over and over again, the ENTIRE way home.

UGH

It has just been one of those nights.....we had planned on seeing the Nadas play at Jasper Winery, as we do every year. Rain was on the way, then looked like it might miss us, so we went. In the 20 minutes we were there, I spent half the time in the bathroom with P while she pooped, we chugged one beer and chased Piper back and forth over and over again, then it started sprinkling so we decided to NOT risk it and just head to get dinner. We ended up at Zombie Burger, but it was a 1/2 hour wait so we went to the fast order side......which was not fast. We had brought food for the girls, they didn't want it. Piper wanted to run thru the restaurant and not sit still, shocker.
Pouring rain, busy restaurant, food the kids won't eat......again, we chugged a beer, shoveled our food in our mouths and headed home.....well I did. Steve went to go meet his coworkers out at the Cubs game, b/c the rain conveniently stopped for that!

We got home a little before 7, neither had eaten dinner, so it was cereal night. Piper did good, ate fast. Presley ate one bowl, wanted another but then didn't like the milk (we used our 2% milk we bought from Zombie Burger). So I got her ANOTHER bowl with our normal skim milk, then she was full. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

Then it was just battle after battle after battle and finally got them both to bed. I hate having those nights where you are just glad they are over. I don't want to feel that way, but when I want to strangle them and yell at them....it's just not good for any of us!

Frozen

Ironic title for a post when it is 90 degrees out!

So Monday I got an email from our neighbor that her 4 yr old daugher was having a friend birthday party that afternoon at 4 (yes, 4 pm on a Monday afternoon) and she wanted Presley to come. Talea loves Presley and Piper and Presley has become SO comfortable with their family since we moved in! (considering last summer she wouldn't go in their yard!)
The party was Frozen themed and they had an Elsa princess, coming as a surprise for the girls! Steve got P to the party, she was willing to stay without him there and she participated and didn't want to leave when it was over!

I got home and she ran out and said "Mommy! I got to meet a real live Elsa princess who lives in Urbandale!" She went on to tell me that Elsa is friends with all the other princesses too and how when she turns 6 she wants a Frozen birthday so Elsa will come! (no pressure!) She said she doesn't want a Hello Kitty birthday b/c Hello Kitty doesn't come to birthday parties! HA!

Tuesday we had bad storms overnight so my mom was without power that morning, so she was nice enough to just come out to our house. I quickly 'picked up' the house, so she couldn't see how messy we normally are and let the girls sleep in! She had to wake both of them up at 7:45, to get them up and ready for swim lessons at 9. Presley did good for her, did everything she was asked but blow bubbles! She'll put her face in the water but she won't blow bubbles (I think she is afraid to get water in her nose or mouth!) Piper was a maniac as normal.
Mom was nice enough to take P to preschool after lessons, do our dishes for us and clean the stove! LOL.

Today she did about the same at swim lessons, which I'm happy with. I'm happy that she got in the water and that she is actually participating, really that is more than I expected! HA! We just hung inside tonight, it's hot out but my problem is the freakin cicadas around! OMG! They are so loud and they are just flying everywhere! It makes me NOT want to be outside!

Weekend Update

So I had been invited to go with some girlfriends boating on Saturday! I knew with Steve out of town it was going to be hard to find someone to watch them all day for me. My parents had plans so Holly volunteered! Mary and P play so good together and Holly was willing to take on the challenge of Piper, so Saturday morning I got us all up and ready, packed the car and headed to Ankeny to drop them off. It's amazing what I had to pack for 10 hours of being gone. The pack-n-play so Piper could nap, the carseat, stroller, plus all the other crap like diapers and such! Piper is at th stage where she cries no matter who I leave her with so I warned Jerry when I handed her over to him......she didn't cry!

So I headed to Lake Panorama! The weather actually turned out pretty good despite the rain prediction. They had rented a pontoon boat and the driver just took us around the lake while we talked and drank and had a good time! Then we met up with another guy they had met who owned this awesome house on the lake and he took us all out on his nice boat! It was a lot of fun! It was nice to get away with a bunch of girls doing something other than a girls dinner. I left about 4 and picked up the girls about 5 and we headed home! They said the girls were great! Piper napped good and didn't cry at all until I showed up to pick them up.....figures!

Presley and I cuddled up in our bed about 8:30 to watch a movie and both crashed! Piper was up over and over again, so I thought for sure she would sleep late (please sleep late!) NOPE. 7:30...ugh. P slept until a little after 9 and then we headed out about 10:30 to have fathers day brunch at Mullets. We got a table on the patio, the weather was perfect. Piper was entertaining for everyone. We went home, Piper napped, Presley and I hung out and painted her toe nails, rode bikes up and down the block and did some cleaning before Steve got home! Steve got home a little after 5:30 and Piper was SOOOO excited to see him! At that age you wouldn't think she would really react to him being gone...but man, she was laughing, smiling, would stop hugging him....it was SO cute!

Today Presley started swim lessons. Our neighbor gave me the # of a lady who does private lessons and is very good with kids. This is what we needed for Presley! The main problem, the lessons are in the morning (hello! working parents here!). So this Monday and next Monday I'm working my late nights so I can take her, then my mom agreed to take her T/W/Th for me! Thank you mom! She woke up this morning and started crying b/c she didn't want to go to swim lessons. We didn't even have her swimsuit on yet! She said she was scared of all the people that would be there. I told her there are only 3 other kids in the class so there wouldn't hardly be anyone there. I told her we would just go check it out and see if she felt comfortable. We got there early and I sat on the edge of the pool with her talking, the water was warm, the teacher has a bunch of toys that we played with....she was very hesitant, but she got in the pool and did it! She only had one break down when they were supposed to blow bubbles and she said she couldn't.....well she can, I just don't think she liked the water splashing in her face. So hopefully tomorrow will be good for mom and we can get thru these two weeks with a 5 yr old who is more comfortable in the water!

I was going to add pictures but I'm working (shhhhhh) so I don't have that capability right now! HA!

Daddy is away!

So Steve went with his brothers, dad, uncles and a couple nephews on an all boys fishing trip for 4 days this weekend. He left Thursday morning and we started our girls weekend! This is the first time he has been away for this long (which is lucky for us) so I'm just crossing my fingers that they are good for me and I can handle them! HA!

 

Thursday The Nadas were playing at Camp Dodge, about 2 miles from our house. I wanted to go, we went last year, it's super casual, bring chairs, blankets, snacks, drinks....so I packed us some stuff and headed up there about 6:30. Occupying Piper for more than 5 minutes is hard to do, so we did very little sitting. P and I basically followed her around. She ran everywhere, wanted to play catch with the big kids and tried to get on stage a couple times. Even the man sitting behind us commented that 'she likes to RUN everywhere!' Yeah, there is NO walking. They were overall good, I really couldn't have expected or asked for anything more from them. We left about 8 and I still got both girls asleep by 9.

 

Today was donuts with dad at preschool....since Steve is gone Grandpa was going to go in his place. He took her to preschool and then I got the phone call.....she was crying. He thinks she was overwhelmed with all the people there and wanted her 'mommy and daddy'. I think she really just wanted to go to Grandmas for the day! Soooo being the awesome Grandpa he is, they stopped at Casey's and got donuts! And Grandma being awesome, watched both girls today! Thank you guys!

I took a half day of PTO today, I got a pedicure and then ran some errands by myself. Tonight we just hung out, played outside, P played with the neighbors while I put Piper to bed....so I would say it was overall another successful night!

 

My little ladies!

Weekend Fun

 

Friday night we got on the road and headed to Lake Panorama to hang out at my bro-in-laws house for the weekend. They have a great lake house there and weren't using it, so offered it up to us to use!

We hung out, drank, sat on the patio and enjoyed the weather. However, Piper did not sleep worth a crap. She ended up sleeping with me in bed and Steve and Presley took a different room so that at least half of us would sleep good. She was up for almost 2 hours, which helped her (and all of us) to sleep until 9:30!

We asked our friends Lisa and Jared if they wanted to join us Saturday night, the kids could play and we could hang out. We met them for lunch and then headed back to the lake......it was still raining but we made the most of it and soon enough the skies cleared and we were able to enjoy the afternoon in the sun while the babies slept! :)

 

Jett, great eyes and smile and such a happy baby!

The highlight of the weekend, the golf cart!

Presley and Colton did great playing together! We got the glow sticks out and they raced up and down the sidewalk over and over again (really they didn't want to go to bed, so they kept busy knowing we would let them stay up if they were good!)

The humidity took control over P's hair!

The funny faces! HA!

 

Piper again, slept like crap so we were up early. Boo. But this help in a good early nap from her too. The weather was cool but nice so we slept most of the morning hanging out by the lake. We slowly picked up our crap, cleaned up and ended up getting home avout 3. It was good weekend away despite Piper's crappy sleep, she showed Lisa and Jared her attitude and why we rarely take her anywhere! LOL! Both girls were good, so that was nice and it was a good weekend hanging out with friends that we don't get to see often enough (considering they live < 10 miles from us!) Thanks guys for joining us!

Funnies

- Yes, Presley called me an English bum...she said she heard it from a book at school. ok.
- P and I were talking about Memorial Day and I told her that we remember those people who have died. I asked her if she knew anyone who has died (just to see what she would say)....she said "Jesus!". Well, yes you are right. Which is funny b/c the only place she has really learned anything religious is from her preschool last year, so I was impressed that she remembered that!
- At the horse races Friday night, the tractors were out raking the track. Piper immediateley started saying 'choo choo'! Close baby, I'm sure it looks like a train to a 20 month old. It was too cute!
- I have a problem. I went thru some of P's old clothes this past weekend....the 2T-3T stuff....most of the 2T stuff fits Piper no problem......my baby. Some of the clothes have shrunk so much that she is able to wear some of the 3T stuff! MY BABY!
- P does a lot of playing by herself and it is SO funny to listen to her especially when she thinks we aren't listening! She tries so hard to act like a grown up! She is bossy, she was singing the Lego Movie song tonight (EVERYTHING IS AWESOME!), I just wish I had a video camera on her at all times so I don't forget all this! It goes too fast.

Catch up

I love the pigtails!

P and Layla from the neighborhood playing with water guns!

 

Sunday I got up early and went to work for a couple hours, by the time I got home Steve already had the slip-n-slide built, the water table and baby swim pool filled up with the girls enjoying every second of it!

 It might be the most white trash slip-n-slide but we didn't pay anything for it and it was a huge success!

She was so excited to pick the red strawberries from our 'garden'!

We enjoyed the afternoon, Presley's friend Allie came over to play for a while and then we headed up to Big Creek, just to waste some time outside. Both girls were NOT into it, P was tired, Piper just wondered around...didn't want to play or anything. So we quickly walked around, got dinner and then came home.

Sunday nights in this house are always hard. They usually get to stay up late on Friday and Saturdays nights so trying to get them to bed at a normal time on Sunday is difficult. But kids are resilient and adaptable to change right? :)

Both last night and tonight we have spent inside! Weird when the weather is nice, but it was needed  for us to get stuff done around the house since we won't really be around this weekend!