Picture Update

This was from a few weeks ago. Presley could NOT wait to get outside, but then of course Piper had to join her too....in her pajamas.

They were not out very long, since we didn't put snow pants on them and Piper wanted to drag out all her toys from the garage!

Tricycles do not work in the snow.

My sweet girl sat in the corner for the longest time......trying to poop. If I were a good mom I would've tried to put her on the potty, but I got the camera out instead!

Thanksgiving was good. We spent most of the day getting food ready and cleaning. Presley was a big help, she was excited to have the family over! The food was great! Thank you Steve! We even took in our neighbor Todd and his son Carson since they had no plans for dinner. I think our first Thanksgiving at our house turned out great and hope everyone enjoyed it as much as we did!

 

P tried to teach Boston how to play mancala....I don't think he was interested and neither one would smile for me.  Stinkers.

Weekend Update

So with Steve hating his job and just stressed and not sleeping, we decided to get away for the weekend. No time frames, no plans. I got us a hotel room in Omaha for the weekend, my mom watched the girls and away we went Friday night after work.
Our friend Brandon works in Council Bluffs so we met up with him at Texas Roadhouse on our way into town and had dinner and some drinks with him and his friend Beth. Then we went out to some bars and just had a good time! We even closed down the bar...WHAT???
I might have had a little much to drink b/c this girl had a HEADACHE Saturday morning. We actually didn't wake up until 9:30 (thank you black out curtains!), I decided there was no way I was going to get up feeling like crap, so we both went back to sleep for a nap from about 10:30-12:30!


We actually slept like we used to back in the day, before kids, when we would sleep late and stay up late! It was ALMOST like we were 25 again! LOL! We got up and ready (very slowly on my part) and then walked to the Old Mattress Factory to watch the Iowa game. We got a booth, some food, beers and made ourselves at home for the next 4 hours! I told Steve my favorite part of the afternoon was watching all the other parents taking their kids to the bathroom! It was just nice not having little people to worry about, to keep entertained, to not have to take to the bathroom multiple times. Peaceful.
After the Iowa game, we changed and headed towards the Old Market to check out the shops and food situation. About 8 pm, we found Plank (nice seafood place)....which we highly recommend! We sat at the bar and ate, the bartenders were helpful and friendly, and the food was amazing!


Brandon and Beth eventually came and picked us up....you never know what will happen or where you will end up with Brandon driving! So , of course, my ass is tired, I don't really want to drink anymore and Brandon......Brandon takes us to the casino in Council Bluffs! He lost too much money there too quickly and we left within 15 minutes and went to two other bars near his house, then he took us to check out his house. We were finally on the rode back to our hotel at 1 am! Seriously? This girl can't stay out that late 2 nights in a row!


At least we were able to sleep in this morning too. This morning we got up and ready and headed home! The girls were excited to see us for about 5 minutes and then they were off playing with Boston and Mary! I stuck around my parents house for the Packer game and Steve headed up to check on work and do our grocery shopping.
We got home about 4, unpacked everything, did laundry. We did an early dinner, early baths and early bedtimes! It was a good, fun weekend that was much needed! Thanks mom, dad and Holly for watching and entertaining the girls for us!


We are excited for the short week but have a lot to do since we are hosting Thanksgiving on Thursday for my family!

Presley

We had Presley's conferences tonight. We were both excited to go to see what Mrs. Kuhlman had to say. Mom came over to watch the girls and we headed out! Of course, we were not surprised to hear that she is a good student. She listens, she follows directions and she is doing great academically.
For her 'fall assessment' they want her total 'score' to be at a 40....she is at 51.

She exceeded expectations in all reading, writing and comprehension areas and meets the expectations for overall character and math areas. Her teacher was VERY impressed with how she is doing and seemed excited to challenge her over the next 6 months.

They rate their books from A (easy) to F (hardest).....she originally started Presley out with B books and she flew thru them. She is now in the D/E/F books. They bring home one book a day in their 'reading level' and they are supposed to read it to us at night. The last 2 nights she had brought home F books and does way better than I ever would have thought!

We weren't completely surprised by how good she seems to be doing academically. We are normally more worried about her socially. Mrs. Kuhlman says she has a lot of friends and she would've never known that Presley had rough dropoffs b/c by the time school starts, she is completely ok and ready for the day! She did see that Presley isn't always confident, which we figured so hopefully she can work with her in getting her more comfortable and not afraid to be WRONG!

They get 4 sticks a day for good behavior, they have to pull a stick if they are mean, not listening or disrespectful. They can earn extra sticks for being nice or extra helpful. I would say 90% of the time she gets her 4 sticks a day. 9% she gets an extra stick....and today was only the 2nd time that I'm aware of, that she only got 3 sticks! I'm almost proud when she pulls a stick b/c then I know she is acting like the 'real' Presley! (which isn't a thing good most of the time!) I guess she told another kid that she 'wasn't her friend anymore!'....when she thought the teacher wasn't listening! HA! Good for her for trying to do it when the teacher wasn't listening, good for the teacher for hearing her and 'punishing' her for being mean to her friends!

We are SO proud of how good she is doing and amazing at how much she is learning and how much she knows. She surprises us daily with the thoughts and information that come out of her mouth! As much stress as this girl gives us, we want nothing more than for her to be happy and confident in herself! Love you Presley Grace!

Weekend Update

Saturday was our normal hang out day. I kind of felt sorry for P, having been sick all last weekend and she is tired of Iowa football Saturdays. So once Piper went down for her nap, Steve's watched his football and we headed out to watch Big Hero 6!
She was bored before the movie even started. "Is the movie EVER going to start?", "When will the movie start?", "It's taking like 159 hours for it to start!". Note to self, don't get to movies early with her! But I thought the movie was super cute!

Saturday night, Presley ate dinner, laid on the couch and fell asleep at 6 pm. And she stayed asleep! We moved her to bed about 8 and she slept until 8 the next morning! I'm thinking she is not 100% healthy yet b/c this girl NEVER sleeps like that!

Sunday headed over to mom and dad's for the Packer party....It has been over a month since we've had one, so I think everyone was excited to get together. The girls played good with Boston and Mary, Piper took a good nap, Steve was in a quick witted, hilarious mood! It was a good afternoon!

Side note : Piper says everything all the time. She now calls Presley, Potty Pie (for Presley Pie) or sister. She is so freaking cute and sweet, I just love this child!

Sickos

So Monday I went downhill fast after I last posted. My head started hurting and trying to change Piper's dirty diaper made me gag and about throw up! I went to bed at 8 that night! I needed it and I woke up Tuesday morning (Veterans Day, my typical Christmas shopping day!) and I could hardly function. The thought of having to get up and get a kid dressed was just too much, Presley was still coughing a ton, so I kept her home with me and Steve took Piper to daycare)
I told Presley that I didn't feel good, there would be no playing school and no playing games. I told her if she could get it, she could eat it. So for lunch she had a Popsicle and popcorn! I did NOT care. My head hurt, my eyes hurt and my back hurt from coughing so much.

Thank goodness Steve was feeling good enough to take care of them that night without my help b/c once again I was in bed at 8!
Wednesday was my late day, I knew I had to at least go into work for half day to deal with an issue but as it turned out I felt WAY better when I woke up. Not 100% but good enough!

Then you know what happened? Wednesday night, Piper was up most of the night. Steve ended up on the couch and Piper slept in bed with me b/c  I was tired of going into her room every 20 minutes to pat her back and she was BURNING up! :(
Grandma to the rescue Thursday morning! We actually had her on stand-by for possibly watching Presley that day for us b/c she still didn't seem 100%....however, by Thursday morning we replaced Presley with Piper! HA!

Thursday night I had my monthly social committee for work and by the time I got home at 8:30, all three of them were in bed. Piper in my bed. So again, Steve moved to the couch and I slept in our bed with Piper who was up off and on ALL night. I MIGHT have got a total of 4 hours of sleep, so thank you Grandma for taking Piper again on Friday AND taking her to the doctor for us! And yes, she had an ear infection.

So here it is Friday night and I think we are all on the mends. We don't really have any plans on the weekend so hopefully we can do some cleaning and germ killing and feeling better!

Weekend Update

So Sunday was the same for Presley, she ended up basically sleeping off and on all day. Steve got up and had some energy and did some cleaning and laundry! :) We took turns laying with P and playing with Piper, and I got some reading done!
She didn't eat anything. She drank hardly anything. Her fever finally started to fade Sunday night, but she started throwing up about 1:30 a.m and then threw up 3 more times after that. She couldn't sleep and wasn't tired (from sleeping all day!) so we watched some movies.....we both fell back asleep about 5 am.
Today has seemed to last forever. We watched movies, three Full House episodes, we both napped, I read and did some laundry. We both took showers and she is talking about food....so I have hopes that she'll eat some dinner! So far today, she has had one Sunny Delight juice and 2 popsicles (I'm trying anything to get something in her system!)
I wasn't feeling that great this morning, both Steve and I have a cough that sounds fake and just feels like we have hairballs! So annoying! I'm feeling a little better now, Steve now says his stomach hurts. UGH!

Random Reader

Well, I thought I knew who this post was going to be about....but I changed it after this girl came to our rescue Friday afternoon! Shannon!!!!
Shannon and I started working together about 9(?) year ago! This girl is strong, opinionated, sarcastic, funny and we have been thru a lot together (kids, health, relationships, family craziness). These days Shannon and I bond over the drama of our daughters, she makes me feel better knowing I'm not the only one who lacks patience!
And because it is a small ass world Shannon's daughter usually ends up playing with or against Jerry's daughter Mary in their sporting events!
We don't get to talk as often as we used to but I can always count on Shannon for the random text messages or to send me a blog address that I might be interested in. AND we always fill each other in with the gossip of our families or mutual friends! :)

Garth

So the plan was to leave work Friday about 2 so me, Amy and Jen could leave about 3, get there about 6:30, we had dinner reservations for 7:30, doors tentatively open at 9:30 for the 10:30 show (Yes, 10:30! He is doing 11 shows in Minneapolis and there are shows at 6:30 and 10:30! Crazy!)

So we got about a mile from Amy's house in Ankeny.....and my tire BLOWS out! Thank God we weren't farther away or on the interstate! So after calling AAA to come fix it, getting a ride back to Amy's to get her car (thank you Shannon!!), taking my car to Holly and Jerry's for the night....we were finally on our way.....about 4:15.

 

We called the restaurant and pushed back our reservations until 7:45-8. Of course the traffic around the Target Center was bad, so we dropped Jen off about 2 blocks away from the restaurant so she could at least go get our table since it was almost 8! Amy and I went to the hotel, checked in and then booked it down to the restaurant! Kirsten met us there and we had dinner and drinks, then about 9:45 we headed out to get in line for the concert. We were dumb. It was 40 degrees, WINDY, COLD with thousands of people standing around waiting to get in....we should've waited inside, drinking, until the line diminished. So we froze our asses off for an hour, waiting to get inside.....FINALLY inside and seated the concert started at 11:30!



We had awesome seats! Garth was amazing! There were laughs and tears and SO much singing along with ALL of his great hits. The concert got over about 2....we finally made it back to the hotel about 3 and we were all exhausted. None of us stay up that late anymore!

 

So the rest of the trip went off without a hitch! We got up about 9, on the road by 9:30 and home by 1. Jen and I got my car from Jerry's, drove to a tire place in Ankeny to get a new tire. The guy there told me he couldn't sell me one or two new tires. I would have to buy all new 4 tires. WTF? We just got this car, the tires are fine. Steve talked to the guy and was NOT happy, neither was I. So we didn't get new tires from there, I dropped Jen off and finally got home!

 

Piper was napping when I got home, both girls didn't sleep good and were up early for Steve so Presley was tired too. Steve went to get the tire fixed (and we did get two new ones, not four) We decided to make some popcorn and watch a movie together downstairs. We watched Mary Poppins and Presley didn't eat hardly any popcorn! And then she fell asleep! So at that point, I knew she wasn't feeling good. She came upstairs about 4:30, laid on the couch with Steve and ended up falling back asleep! We took her into her bedroom where she continued to sleep until about 7, then she came back out on the couch, just watched the end of Up! and now she is sleeping on the couch next to me. She doesn't really have a fever (per the thermometer) but her face is red and she is really hot, she hasn't eaten since I've been home....so hopefully this is just a 24 hour bug and she will be back to her normal self tomorrow!

CRAZY

This has been one up-and-down week. My grandpa took a turn for the worse on Monday so my parents decided to head to Texas on Tuesday (getting there Wednesday afternoon). The whole week and weekend was up in the air at this point since we were supposed to go to Minneapolis on Friday for the Garth Brooks concert. We no longer had a sitter, so Steve was going to stay home with the girls. My sister-in-law Christie agreed to watch the girls overnight if Steve wanted to go, but it was just going to be too much of a pain in the ass trying to get her all their 'stuff' and having her pick them both up from daycare. So I was able to get my friend Amy to take Steve's ticket and be my date!

My grandpa ended up passing away Wednesday :( I was thankful that my mom was able to spend some quality time with her siblings during this time. All Wednesday we tried to figure out what we were going to do. Should I drive down with P and my sisters? Should we fly? Should we go now or after Garth? Plans changed about a million times and finally by 4:00 that afternoon Holly and Sam decided they were going to leave Thursday morning and drive down. I decided to NOT go, after talking to my mom she convinced me that I shouldn't feel bad for not going (hopefully she really meant it!), there wasn't a funeral or service for him, the family was going to get together Saturday night for dinner. It would've been awesome to see everyone but it was hard to justify driving that far for 1.5 days being there.
My grandpa couldn't remember from one day to the next, but he could always remember the words to You Are My Sunshine, so now every time I hear Piper sing it my heart breaks a little more.

Samantha found 2 people to take her tickets, but then we had Holly's tickets to give away. My friend Jen was able to go and then she was able to find a coworker of ours Kirsten that lives in Minneapolis to go with us too. SO things were coming together!

Random Reader

The lucky 'L' name..............Lyndsi! My girl Lyndsi! Oh my.....where do I start? It's been 9ish years?! She was dating a friend of ours, that didn't work out...but guess what? We got to keep her as part of the break-up (sometimes that is hard to do when you are friends with both)! HAHA! Win for us!
Then she became good friends with Lisa (Random Reader #2) and it's one of those awesome friendships where we see each other every couple months and it's always long over due and we get to catch up over dinner!
My first memory of Lyndsi, when I really began to think...'wow! this girl is a good time' was her birthday during the middle of a snow storm in February at Down Under and she smashed her face into her birthday cake! Then began my obsession to always be with Lyndsi at her birthday celebrations! Even after P was born on February 3rd, we went to Lyndsi's party at 3rd Base 3 weeks later!
Lyndsi, you are a amazing, funny, sweet and you gotta stop the glitter Christmas cards! :) I'm so happy that we have remained friends after all these years! More girls nights out are a must!!!!
When is our next Mexican night out?

Weekend Update

So Friday night, last minute, we decided to try to have another dinner night out without the girls. My mom agreed to watch the girls for a couple hours, so we headed to Jethros for a casual-sitting-at-the-bar dinner and then stopped by the Boat House for a drink before heading home.  Thanks mom!

Saturday we did nothing, well the girls did nothing and I ran to the mall for 2 hours alone! Except, in the moment of enjoying a nice solo Target trip all I hear around me....crying, screaming kids with parents yelling at them. Every where I turned there were kids and parents and ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh........everyone SHUT UP! It was stressing me out the amount of crying, screaming and yelling that was going on and MY kids weren't there!

Saturday we hung out, played, cleaned, I did 5 loads of laundry and put 8 loads away (you know, the 3 loads I didn't put away last weekend!).  At one point, Steve went ran to work real quick, Piper was watching Baby McDonald on the laptop, Presley was watching youtube vides on the ipad and I was reading my book....we had a nice 10 minutes of silence. Ahhhh.....10 whole minutes!

Sunday the girls slept until 8 (really 9 with the time change) and we decided to get them out of the house and ran to Costco. It's amazing how 1/2 hour out can change my mind in taking them anywhere and we headed home.
While Piper napped, Steve watched some football and got some stuff done around the house and Presley and I went to the basement and played (while watching The Wedding Planner, which she was actually really watching with me!). Good afternoon!

Presley and I had some issues Sunday, at Costco she was mad at me for something, then she was mad when we played games, then she was mad b/c it was my turn to put her to bed and she wanted daddy. So I decided that we would have a girls night and go to dinner together....no daddy, no Piper. So I picked her up from school and we went to Texas Roadhouse. She was good and we had a good dinner, just the two of us.

Random

- Miss Presley's kindergarten picture. Love this girl!

- Presley has had 2 full weeks of good drop offs, hopefully this continues (and maybe without having to bribe her)

- She is all about boobs lately, which I'm guessing is fairly normal for little girls. She told me that I had fat, chubby boobs. Well, no, I really don't but whatever. Then she says 'Look at my boobs!' and she even said 'I pledge allegiance to my boobs, of the United States of America'! OMG!

- Piper now doesn't want to leave GN when I pick her up. She sees me and runs and hides in the corner and then I have to carry her out kicking and screaming. I'm sure none of the other parents really think twice about it since they have probably dealt with the same thing before, but when she is screaming "Help me, mama" as I'm trying to get her in the car seat.....I literally have to get into the backseat of the car and push her body down to try to get her strapped in!

- The one day she didn't cry this week, she crawled out. With her tongue hanging out of her mouth said "I doggy! I doggy"....so she continued to crawl and pant on her way out of the building.  Awesome.

- My grandfather isn't doing very good these days. He's old, we haven't seen him in 2 years, he doesn't know who we are. It's sad. But honestly, I'm mostly sad for my mom.

- P had a dentist appointment this week, this is Steve's new duty as a dad since she was good for him last time. And she was good for him this time too! Woohoo! The dentist said she has perfect teeth! So maybe we'll be able to avoid braces with this kid (cuz I think glasses are inevitable for our kids).

Halloween 2014

 

Thursday, Beggars' night Boston came over for the third year in the row to go trick or treating with us. He looked awesome!

Presley was Elsa (along with almost every other 5 year old girl around, she even let us spray her hair white (though it looked gray) and Piper, refused to be Olaf, so we settled for a Hawkeye cheerleader (she has too much of an opinion about what she wears for only be 2 years old!)

This was the 3 of them from last year!

and P and B two years ago! Man, they are freaking cute!

Pumpkin carving

This was as close as Piper got to touching the inside of the pumpkin.

Presley loves it!

Like father, like daughter!

Our finished products! (yes, P was cold. It was cold outside and she had a tanktop on....what did she expect?)

Rewind

Man, where has the last week gone? I can't say that we have been that busy, but I guess some busy and me just being lazy. Anywho.....the weather last weekend was great, maybe our last weekend of great weather for 2014. We got up Saturday morning and headed to Adel for the cystic fibrosis waffle breakfast that we usually attend this time of year and after that we headed to Earlham for Brant's Great Pumpkin Race, which is a great race/carnival/fundraiser that we have attended for the last couple years too. Steve had actually made a kids picnic table for the silent auction and the girls played pretty good on the bounce houses! We are used to Presley NOT joining in on the fun, but once we could convince Piper to play, then Presley was more willing to also.  We got home, Piper took a nap and then we got ready to head to other Goodrich's in the neighborhood for a Halloween get-together. It was a lot of fun, the food was awesome, the kids played good (It was weird having both Piper's in the same house!) and it was nice hanging with others in the neighborhood that we haven't spent a lot of time with.

Sunday we got up and decided to get out of the house, we found a park and let the kids run around for a while. They had a blast! And I think we were able to wear them out a little too!

We actually had Carlyn come over to babysit the girls that night so we could go to dinner. Steve has been stressed at work and the weather was nice so we decided to just have dinner on the patio at El Bait Shop and then headed to Saints to watch part of the Packer game!