Blah

Another week gone. It's been a blah week, nothing real exciting, nothing real fun....which I guess should be good but I can't say the stress isn't there.
Steve is very busy at work, very stressed and I think it is catching up to him. So Tuesday he took a guys night and went and drinks with a friend. Good, he needed it. I was pretty proud of myself this night. I picked up both girls, got home about 5:30, made my typical waffles (with the waffle maker, give me a little credit!) and had them eating by 6. I did the dishes, gave them baths, got them both to sleep by 8:30 and picked up the house and relaxed by 9! :)

I actually walked on the treadmill both Monday and Wednesday nights. When it is 8:30 and both girls are in bed, I really don't have good excuse NOT to! And it is a good stress reliever!

Thursday, Presley had an early out day though she still went to KTC. And little did we know, they got to go to a movie! We had no idea and still question the validity of P's story! But they had an in service day today so again, she went to KTC all day. I don't normally feel bad or guilty about being a working mom, but I felt bad for her having to go to daycare when it seemed most kids were at home with a parent. So lesson learned and I will have to plan ahead and start taking off some of these days so we can spend some time together!.....and today they went bowling! Wouldn't you think we would get a schedule or information about these things? I'm sure we are probably missing information somewhere!

Today was my late night, I took Piper to GN at 7:15, I headed to the grocery store, took that stuff home and then headed to work. I worked until about 6:15, I got home in time for Steve to go meet Jerry out for a couple drinks (and then P decided she was going to be a brat. She was TERRIBLE for the first 45 minutes I was home......I was almost hoping I could just go back to work, where it was quiet and I didn't have yelling and whining all around me!) So the girls got a bath when I got home, I got them both to sleep by 8:45. I've picked up the house and now relaxing!

On the up side: Presley had a great week at dropoff! Finally! There were bribes with gummy bears and a pair of slippers, but she did it! So we'll take it!

Piper on the other hand, loves going to GN. She might give me a hug goodbye, but then she just goes on her merry way with her teacher Heather. AND the fun part....she now runs from me when I pick her up. She hides in the corner and I had to carry her out kicking and screaming! I mean really? Let's talk about two different ends of the spectrum with these kids!

We went out to dinner last night and a couple sat down near us. Piper stood up in her chair, looked at them and said "Hiiii!". They thought she was cute at first....then she started babbling some story to them and I'm sure they were not impressed! HA! But man, that girl is freakin cute!

Weekend Update

Friday was a weird day. Presley started off the day complaining that her throat hurt, but we can never take her seriously b/c of the drama with her. Then her throat, head, stomach and boobs hurt. Um....really? I told her that if ALL of those things REALLY hurt that I needed to take her to the doctor. She did not want to go to the doctor so she found some internal strength to suck it up and just get dressed and go to school. See drama!

However, that night she was just out of it. She didn't eat anything and was just off. She went to lay in our bed and watch Full House (her new obession) and was sleeping by 6:30. Needless to say her and Piper were up early at 7:30, boo. But P seemed fine, played good, ate breakfast and we went on our day. We had over some friends to watch the Iowa game, Kayson is about 6 weeks older than P and Cora is about 6 weeks older than Piper! All the kids did pretty good playing with each other and we got in some adult conversation along with watching the game!

That evening we decided to head over to where the army tanks and planes are just to get out of the house for a little bit.

Within 5 minutes P fell and scraped her knee. You would've thought she cut off her leg with the amount of crying and screaming and sobbing she was doing. We had to put her in the car b/c her voice was echoing around us! So she cried in the car and Piper ran around and enjoyed a couple more minutes of fresh air!

P spent the next 24 hours with her pant leg rolled up over her knee and wouldn't let anything touch it b/c it would hurt. Of course, she wouldn't put a bandaid on it either and at bath time Sunday night she sat with her knee out of the water so she wouldn't get it wet, b/c if she got it wet it would hurt. See, more drama.

Sunday we did have a pretty lazy day, which was fine with me.  Steve worked on building a kids picnic table for a charity fundraiser this coming weekend, while he did that Piper took a nap and P and I watched the Packer game! (Well I watched, Presley played on the ipad and looked at me like I was crazy when I was jumping up and down in the kitchen after a touchdown!) But my parents were at the Packer game and I think that made it even more fun to watch and even more fun to win!

 

Tonight I was the last one awake at 8:30....and guess what I did? I actually got off my ass and walked on my treadmill for 1/2 hour! Some laundry done (not put away of course), dishes done, toys picked up, blog updated....pretty good night!

Random Reader

Well we might as well stick with L names.......Lisa R! Small world in that Lisa C (random reader #1) and Lisa R's kids go to the same daycare! Anyway....Lisa and I met 11 years ago when she started at the same employer as me. Lisa is one of the most outgoing and friendly people I know, so we hit it off! We talked every day, got coffee every morning, ate lunch together, then our boyfriends (now husbands) became friends.
We have been thru alot together even though we don't talk as much or see each other as much as we used to...and now we live closer to each other than we ever have! When Lisa is in her party mode, watch out! She knows how to have a good time. And Lisa is the one person I know that might like sleep more than I do!
We try to look past the fact that she is a Husker fan. I guess since her husband, Jared is a Hawkeye fan AND a Packer fan makes up for that downfall! :) Hopefully with her 2 little boys getting older and our girls growing up it will make it easier for us to get together more often!

Updates

- So right after I said that Piper wasn't close to potty training, she actually pooped in the potty at GN! I'm guessing it was a fluke and one time, random thing, but good for them for getting her to go!

- I emailed Presley's teacher to see how things were going. Presley still cries (screams, kicks) at dropoff most days and says that kindergarten is boring, but I know she is a drama queen so I wanted to see what Mrs. Kuhlman said about her.......
"Hi there! Presley is doing great!!! I can't believe the amount she is reading!!! She totally shocked me on our reading assessment:) she did awesome! I haven't seen her upset at all when she has gotten to the classroom, so my guess is shortly after you leave KTC she is fine. :-) But, like I said, she seems very happy at school! She has a ton of friends and seems to enjoy all of our activities." So it was nice to hear that she is doing good, as we thought she was!

Piper

 

 My sweet Piper

 Proud big sister

1 year old

 

Piper:

- is 27 lbs and about 33 inches...smaller than P was at this age but about average. 

- is talkative which is funny since she didn't talk until about 5 months ago. But now she says everything, all the time. The doctor was super impressed with her talking especially when Piper pointed out she was wearing a futterfly shirt (or butterfly). Piper had to have a lead test done today, they literally take a vial of blood out of her finger. She watched, whined a little bit, but for the most part just watched the nurse and never cried! My tough girl!

- says she-shu (thank you) mama....ALL the time! She is the most polite 2 year old EVER.

- will come running (as she does for everything) when she has hurt something b/c she wants you to kiss it! Momma, kiss. Kiss, momma.........but she hates bandaids!

- does awesome at her ABC's and 123's. We are impressed since she really only started learning them in the last 2 months. They are working on the days of the week and the first letters of their names in daycare too.

- has to have 2 pacifers at bedtime now. Somehow we have regressed, from one to two?! She likes to have one in her mouth and hold the other one in her hand.

- still LOVES animals.

- doesn't cry at dropoff in the mornings. The girls at GN love Piper, she must really entertain them and I love getting the notes that says 'Piper forgot her listening ears today!' Love it! And of course comes RUNNING to me when I pick her up....trips over everything, pushes kids out of the way just to get to me and give me a hug!

- will copy every.single.thing Presley does, which means we expect Presley to act good, for this reason.

- will get scared at random things. The vaccum, the pounding of a hammer, a goldfish in a fishtank swimming towards her, bandaids.....weird things.

- is nowhere near potty training, which is fine with me. Just seems like a pain in the ass, so until she is ready I'm not pushing it at all.

- eats pretty good! There isn't much she will refuse, but does have days where she won't eat anything b/c all she wants is blueberry greek yogurt (which she LOVES, but she usually ends up smearing it all over everything!).

- has nicknames of Piperoni, Piperoo, Pipes, Monster

 

There is nothing in this world that melts my heart more than this sweet thing.  She is funny, friendly, spunky, smart, adorable, goofy, demanding and amazing. It is awesome to watch her grow every day and I can't wait to see what she has in store for us in the years to come!

Happy Birthday Baby Girl! We love you!

You are my sunshine!

So Sunday we decided to have the Packer party at our house before Piper's birthday party.   Steve got up and started smoking some pork on his smoker, making mac and cheese and I headed to HyVee to pick up some last minute items and to Nobbies to get the balloons.  Of course, then they didn't televise the game. Oh well, we still had my family over and had some snacks while watching the Packer highlights during the other games that were on TV.

 

Then we turned the Packer party into a You are my Sunshine party....Piper's favorite song. My mom has taught both kids this song b/c my grandparents love (loved) it too.

I did step out of my comfort zone with this party theme...can't just go to Target and buy decorations or invitations..so we had to be creative, and I think it worked!

I ordered the cake from Creme Cupcakes, they did a great job and it matched identically to the paper plates and napkins we bought!

I got cookies from Confections by Kelly b/c I know my kids don't always like cake and I LOVE her cookies!

Piper was not impressed when she I opened her presents but she had just woke up from her nap too. (I was shocked she wanted to go down for a nap and that she actually slept with everyone here!)

Then we did cake....well she didn't cry, like Presley always does. But she did hide her face from everyone. Too cute!

P and Mary helped her blow out the candles.

By the time she got ice cream and cake she was a happy camper. She sat next to Grandma Kathy and was happy happy!

Cheese! (see the plate matching the cake!)

The party was a success! Piper said thank you and gave hugs to almost everyone and we were all exhausted by the time it was over, so we all went to bed early!

10/10/12....I'm Two!

My baby is 2 years old! She woke up Friday KNOWING it was her birthday! I swear! She was in a good mood, she was happy and excited to wear her cupcake birthday girl shirt! I had taken the day off of work b/c we are slow and I had all sorts of stuff I wanted to get done. So Piper got some powdered donuts for breakfast and then I took her to daycare.

I dropped both girls off and then headed to Target....Oh yeah, I was THAT person waiting in the parking lot at 7:45 for them to open at 8. I quickly spent too much money, headed to Hobby Lobby when they opened at 9, then got an oil change in the car and was home by 10! Then I got started on the house. I cleaned and I cleaned. I cleaned things that I haven't cleaned in 2 years since we moved in. The bathrooms, kitchen, dining room and family room were CLEAN. The other rooms weren't TOO bad, so I was happy!

Steve met me at our normal El Mariachi for margaritas and cheese dip (I might be addicted) before picking up the girls. We got home, got packed up and ready to head to Earlham to watch cousin Derek play in their homecoming football game.  It was chilly but the girls did great! Piper entertained everyone around us and Presley was actually pretty interested in the actual game, asking questions and such.

 

Saturday we watched the Iowa game, the girls played, Steve mowed the yard (one last time?), went to the grocery store, I took the girls to pick up Piper's birthday cake, and we hung out and got ready for our busy Sunday!



Random

 

- Piper has been fighting a cold/cough for almos 2 weeks, for the last week she hasn't been sleeping thru the night. Annoying.

- Presley has had some rough dropoffs at KTC in the last 2 weeks....they are now starting a star chart for her. For every good drop off she get a stars...5 stars and she gets a reward at the end of the week. Yes, she is the only kid that has this. Yes, she has to be bribed to behave. Awesome.

- Both girls are completely obsessed with Daddy right now. I think Presley only does it b/c Piper does and she realizes how annoying and inconvenient it is (b/c that is how she operates). I think Steve is totally annoyed with it, but so am I. I can't do anything for anyone but I do realize this is just a phase.

- The girls LOVE bath time. They blow bubbles and 'swim' and like to splash water everywhere. Fun.

 

I promised Presley I would only take pictures of her face, then she agreed to smile for me!

Cheese!!

Pumpkin Patch Sunday

So we decided to venture out on Sunday to the pumpkin patch, the kids got up at 9:30. Holy buckets, I knew they were both tired on Saturday but didn't realize we would get them to sleep in like that! We got to the pumpkin patch and waiting in line to get in, the girls were very patient. Piper refused to wear a coat even though it was chilly unless the sun was out.

I took about 100 pictures in hopes to get a couple good ones......I only got a few b/c neither girl would cooperate at the same time!

The corn pool!

The jumping pillow. Presley LOVED! She was willing to go jumping without Piper and away from us, we were so proud! :)

And she tried to help Piper, but Piper didn't want to leave Daddy.

Steve took them both down the big slide...Presley liked it more than Piper did.

Finally one kid agreed to a picture!

We were there from about 11:30 to 3:15 and the girls were actually really good about 95% of the time! We got our pumpkins, the girls had some ice cream, Piper didn't get a nap but didn't really need it since she slept so late! Good Sunday!

Present

Friday night we got Piper's birthday present, so we put it together and gave it to her.....she is 2 years old, she doesn't know that she got it a week early!

No, the box was not her present....but it was almost just as fun!

We got her the Tidy Cottage...or something like that. She loves playing in the neighbors school house that is similar to this, so we bought one and put it in the basement for now.....maybe it will make its way outside (where it should be) in the spring.

They mostly like ringing the doorbell and just going in and out of the door...over and over again!

Random Reader

So I'm thinking about starting a new 'segment' called Random Reader about you people! Just a post about someone I know or someone I heard that reads my blog! To give them a shout out and a short summary of how I know them. If anyone is NOT a fan of having your name (first name only) posted here please let me know and I will NOT talk about you or delete the post. I know some of you might like your privacy and don't want your name or info out there.....in which case I'm going to question why you are probably on Facebook!....but maybe you are in the witness protection program and need to keep your identity a secret, because maybe...JUST MAYBE....the person/people who are looking for you, read this blog too?! (It could happen, right?)


Drum roll please........
Random Reader #1, Lisa C!!!!! I heard recently that you are an avid blog reader and I'm one of the blogs you read! Woohoo!
Lisa and I have known each other for.....13 years?! We worked at Von Maur together! Then we were both dating people that we worked with and that is frowned upon there so we both had to find new jobs. I believe we both got temp jobs working for Palmer Staffing and shortly after we both got on with our current company where both of us have been for at least 10 years (now in different departments) She married a shoe salesman and I married a shoe salesman!
Her husband Kevin is the leader of Steve's fantasy football team. I think Kevin eats and breathes sports! At anytime you can go into Von Maur and ask for an update on the fantasy football league or who still owes him money from 2 years ago and he will literally pull out a piece of paper from his pocket and give you the information you want. It's crazy. I'm sure he is not this organized in other aspects of his life! LOL!
Lisa and Kevin are two of the nicest people I know and it is crazy that we have known them for this long when it seems like just yesterday we were watching Monday Night Football at the Valley West Pub after work!

Week in review

The week was kind of blah. Presley spends every night at bed time and every morning when we wake her up arguing and fighting with us. Piper has been pretty good, but is battling her cold and cough still so hasn't been sleeping the best. Steve hates his job and is ALWAY stressed out about it right now. Just fun times in our house these days!

Thurday I did get a chance to get out of the house and have our pumpkin beer night with some girl friends at Rock Bottom! So good and so nice to get out. The Packers played this night too and Sam and Scott were actually at the game! From the looks of Facebook they had a pretty good time!

Friday, since work has been kind of slow I was able to get out early on Friday and burn the two hours of overtime I had....at 1:45 I left work and went to the mall by myself. I'm in desperate need of fall and winter clothes and this was the perfect chance to get some shopping done. Yeah, I spent some money and was pretty excited about it! Steve and I had an hour before we normally pick up the girls so we met at El Mariachi and had some cheese dip and a couple margaritas. We needed that hour!Since my mom was watching Boston while Sam and Scott were gone, they decided to have Presley spend the night with Boston for a sleepover! So we dropped P off at grandmas and then we went up to our friends Jared and Lisa's house to hangout for a bit with them, Colton and Jett and Scott and Amanda and their two boys! So Miss Piper was the only girl, which never happens to us! She was pretty good and so we stayed until about 9, it was good to hang out and and chat with everyone.

Today we had planned on going to the pumpkin patch, but it was chilly and windy and honestly both kids were tired and so were we since Piper did more coughing than sleeping! We ran to Burlington Coat Factory to find P a winter coat b/c we just realized that she doesn't have one, but both girls just wanted to run around instead of behave, we found one coat she likes, but they didn't have her size. Figures. So we headed home for lunch, and on that ride home Presley literally cried THE ENTIRE WAY HOME. It was so fun, don't be jealous of the fun we have!

We had the chance to go to a friends house tonight, but everyone was so tired and cranky that we passed on that opportunity to show off our awesome kids. Steve put together  Piper's birthday present, Presley and I played games and we just tried to get thru the day/night! HA! but now at 8:30 Piper is in bed talking to herself and Presley is reading books to Steve in bed. I just hope everyone get some sleep tonight so we can hopefully enjoy the pumpkin patch tomorrow!