Sunday, March 29, 2015

Weekend Update

Friday afternoon Steve took the afternoon off to clean and organize the garage....this guy has been DYING to clean his garage for weeks. So I was happy that he could get it done! That night we didn't do much, I was willing to let the girls stay up late, but they were both grouchy and just wanted to fight all night so they went to be normal time.

However, Piper decided that 6:15 was an appropriate time to get up Saturday morning, WTF? And Presley was up by 7:30. Are you kidding me? This never happens in our house! I was not a happy person. But we got up and headed out for brunch at the Market Grill (yes, Hyvee again!), we knew the Easter bunny was going to be there, kids ate free and then they could decorate easter cookies too. Presley talked up like she is going to NOT be afraid of the bunny. She said she was going to give him five, give him a hug and have her picture taken with him. NONE of that happened, we were not surprised.

We had our typical weekend afternoon, Piper napped (after an hour of fighting it), Steve finished cleaning in the garage and started smoking some meat for dinner. I did some reading and Presley did some playing.
We decided to have my parents over for dinner. The food was fantastic and it was nice to have my parents around without the rest of the family. Limits distractions and makes conversations easier! :)

The girls went to bed a little later and Piper was up before 6 am Sunday morning?! This CANNOT become a VERY bad, horrible, terrible habit! Presley was able to sleep until 8:30 and then her and Steve decided to go see the movie Home. I'm usually the one who gets to take P to movies so I thought it would be nice to have a daddy/daughter day. Piper took a nap and I did some cleaning, organizing and laundry.....and of course some more reading! My typical perfect, afternoon!

Thursday, March 26, 2015

UGH

- Piper has been waking up in the middle of the night, whining, crying....and then going back to sleep. Of course, this wakes me up and I go in there. My sleep over the last 3 nights has SUCKED. On the positive side, she is still going to bed good and she isn't getting out of her bed!
- Tuesday I had to work late, Steve was ambitious and took both girls to Perkins for dinner by himself. He said they were good but Piper is SO loud with everything she says that she was a distraction to the few people in there b/c they could hear every word she said. Even her daycare girls commented on how she doesn't have a quiet voice, she has to yell everything and she has to run everywhere!
- Wednesday at work, they laid 3 people off. Talk about a crappy day at work....we only had 32 people in our department and we knew that volume hasn't been there but it was kinda unexpected.
- Holly planned an afternoon movie with Mary and Boston and invited us. Normally there is no way I would make a 4 o'clock movie, but my dad picked up P from school to meet Holly and Mary my mom met them there and so I figured I would cut out of work early and meet them too. So, we saw the movie and then all headed to dinner! It was a good night and Piper and daddy had some good bonding time too! :)
- Tonight we went to Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner (we are eating out a lot this week, aren't we?), Piper got out into the aisle and was literally dancing. One of the employees came by and started dancing too....we literally had a Piper vs BWW employee dance off right in front of our table. And then I told Piper, wave to everyone and say hi! She sat on my lap and waved and said hi...no one paid attention to her, but it is just SO weird how different she is from how Presley has EVER been. So funny!
- We are looking forward to the weekend, our last free weekend for a couple weeks and looks like the weather is supposed to be nice and the sun is staying out a little later every day...summer is on it's way! :) Right?

Monday, March 23, 2015

Weekend Update

Friday was not a good day for me at work, not very often do I have to get snotty or yell at people but this was one of those days. Then I got a call about 3, that Piper's diaper rash was really bad and she could hardly walk. They didn't know if we wanted to try to take her to the doctor. I called the doc to see what else we could do for her (a week of butt cream was not helping the rash), about 4:15 they called me back and said we should bring her in......b/c of course, we can't go ONE week without taking someone to the doctor!!!!! They could see her for the last appointment of the day at 5, for me to get off work, pick her up and get to the doctor in 45 minutes was sketchy, but we pulled into the parking lot right at 5 pm! They prescribed her an anti-fungal cream and that has helped!
Friday night we didn't do much, Steve watched basketball but that was about it. This was the first night we put Piper in her toddler bed. Talk about CUTE! We kept the crib up just in case it was a disaster having her in the bed....and honestly, so far it's been great! She has stayed in bed for her naps and at bedtime, even in the mornings she just calls for us instead of getting up and roaming the house! And she has gone to sleep pretty good too, fingers crossed this continues!

Saturday Steve had to go to work for a couple hours so the girls and I met him at Hyvee Market Grill (yes, we went to the grocery store) for brunch. It was actually pretty good and it was good place for us to take the girls for a quick, casual meal. It's amazing living this close to Camp Dodge how many men (and sometimes women) are in their camo uniforms when we go out to places like this. We might have been the only ones out of 30 people NOT in camo there!

That afternoon we didn't do much, I did some reading, Piper napped, Presley played with the neighbors, Steve ran some errands and then we just hung out, had a nice dinner and watched more basketball!

Sunday we got a late start on the day, we decided to run off some energy and head to a park. The girls had fun for that hour even though the wind was a little strong. That afternoon was similar to Saturday, which was relaxing for the most part! :) We had mom come over to watch the girls that night so we could go out and enjoy the Iowa and UNI basketball games without kids. We went to 1908, had dinner and drinks and watched some bball.....neither game ended the way we wanted it to but did end the way my bracket predicted! :)

And now here we are on Monday night! I think Presley was happy to go back to school today, KTC has the fun and playing that she likes, but this girl loves structure and schedules a little bit more!

Thursday, March 19, 2015

Random

- I love when guys open doors for girls. This just doesn't happen enough but when it does, I notice.
- We got our car back and let me tell ya....I purposely didn't clean it inside or out b/c I knew they would! I'm sure they were appalled by the smashed goldfish and kix in the backseat. They were probably shocked at the hair ties and random toys that were finding underneath things! I hope they got some good laughs at our expense while they were cleaning it.
- I need, for once a week, someone to tell me they might come over....even if they don't. If we think they MIGHT, we'll clean and this is the best way to get our asses in gear to do a quick cleaning without thinking twice. SO I would like all of you to get together and make a schedule of who is going to come and visit us....even if you never show up just make me believe that you MIGHT! :)
- Loreal tanning wipes....big fan. I've been using them about twice a week and it just gives me just enough color to feel not-so-scary white......and they won't give me skin cancer! Big win!
http://www.lorealparisusa.com/en/Products/Skin-Care/Self-Tanner/Sublime-Bronze-Towelettes-for-Body.aspx
- Our new favorite snack.... fresh guacamole mixed with some salsa and shredded cheese. Yum!
- For the last week, we have been giving Piper melatonin before bed....and the nights that we have given it to her....she goes to sleep SO much better! Maybe it's just coincidence. I'd rather NOT give this to her (but it is all natural) but the fight for over an hour every night to get her to sleep is just not working for any of us.
- Yes, I sometimes feel bad that Presley has to go to daycare during spring break and such. It's not like she get a 'break' like some of the kids who have stay at home mom's. However, they do so many things that I'm sure she is having more fun there with her friends than she would at home with me. This week they saw the movie Cinderella, went bowling, and to Playground for Kids and tomorrow they are going to a sports league place. It's awesome and I know she'll get to do so many of these same fun things ALL summer long too so I shouldn't feel too bad!
- I've been doing some more reading. Here are the books I've read in the last 6 weeks if you are looking for something to spark your interest
  • The Silent Sister - good drama, mystery, some good twists and kept my attention. Definitely recommend it!
  • The Silent Wife (not related to the Silent Sister) - this was good, it was written in a different way that was a little hard for me to get in to. But good twists also.
  • Big Little Lies - Holy cow....yes, loved this one too! Easy read with the drama and mystery that I love!
  • The Girl on the Train - I believe this going to be movie and is along the same lines as Gone Girl. Very good, read it!
  • Hey There, Delilah - an easy reading, young romance book (hey, I had to mix it up a little!). It was good too, it's part of a series, so I'm assuming I'll read the follow up books soon.

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Piper 2.5

Some how it passed me by that my baby is now 2 1/2 years old. I just completed my 2014 shutterfly family book and it is crazy how little she was just a year ago. Makes me so sad but this girl is SO funny and I can't wait to see what is in store in the years ahead of us with her!

Piper Rebecca :
- wears 2T clothes, but moving up to 3T shirts and size 5 diapers with size 7 shoes
- loves singing, and talking and talking and talking. She just repeats everything she hears ALL of the time.
- knows her colors, basic shapes, the days of the week, can identify some letters, knows her ABC's (that we have to sing every night), it's amazing the basic every day knowledge that she has of things.
- loves naps, but she hates going to be at night. This is our biggest struggle with her, it takes us over an hour to get her to sleep at night. We did buy her a toddler bed but haven't put it together yet. She's had a couple nights where she has fallen asleep in our bed so this might be our solution to getting her to sleep? I don't know, I'm not sure we should risk moving her out of her crib yet!
- loves her paci....still. She doesn't have it at Generation so we know she can manage without it, but man, it has become a very bad habit for her around the house, which we really need to get rid of!
- loves attention. If we are talking, she will do what she can to get our attention. She talks with her hands, she is SO expressive and repeats the same 'stories' day after day just so she has something to say.
- is our snacker....she'll eat chips, cookies, candy all day if we let her, she's even starting getting into juice which Presley didn't have until she was 4! Don't get me wrong she still loves fruit as much as Presley does but P doesn't do the junk food like Piper will!
- has to pick out her own outfit everyday and she decides how she wants her hair (one pony or two). She is not close to being potty-trained but she actually has gone on the potty a couple times in the last couple weeks.
- is bossy and demanding and it's just so funny to hear she around the house like an actual little kid!  So we have many crying fits with her when she doesn't get what she wants.
'Mommy....where are you??'
'I'm in the bedroom'
'ooooookkkkkkaaaaayyyyyy'......in the same tone Presley would say it to me! LOL!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

The times have changed from our St. Patty's Days 10 years ago, where we would take the day off work and go drinking! We'd enjoy the weather, cold or warm, seeing people we hadn't seen all winter long.
This St Patty's day started with very little sleep. I slept on the couch to get away from sick Steve, Piper was up multiple times throughout the night and I kept thinking which prevents me from falling back asleep quickly! Stupid thinking.
We slept a little late, I figured I would take them to daycare about 9 so we could just get ready without being in a hurry or anything. Thankfully at 7:45 am I double checked Presley's schedule for KTC...SHIT. They were leaving for a movie at 8:45! No one was up, no one was ready, we needed to pack her lunch and I was taking her to a different school on the other side of Johnston. So I ran around, encouraging Presley to get up and ready by herself....tried to convince Piper to get up happily. Rush, rush, rush....just what I didn't want to do with them. We made it to the school at 8:35, perfect timing! I dropped Piper off and then went home to regroup and get some stuff done.

I did some paper work crap around the house, took my bridesmaid dress to get hemmed, did a nice Target run and then ate lunch alone while reading my book! (It was nice and peaceful and I love these opportunities). I got home about 1 and did some more laundry and such, then laid down on the couch to read......and fell asleep for almost 2 hours!

I picked up the girls and came home and knew right away it was going to be a tough night. Miss Piper was SO whiny, clingy and cried over everything. We did dinner, early baths and Piper wanted to go to bed about 7:15 and then girl was sleeping by 7:30, which NEVER happens. Presley and I played some Uno, read a little and she was sleeping by 8:30. Steve is still in bed and I'm hoping he is feeling better tomorrow b/c my late night is tomorrow so I'm not sure how he is going to do having to pick them both up and such. Guess I'll keep my fingers crossed that it all works out!

Monday, March 16, 2015

Monday Funday!

I have today and tomorrow off from work, it is spring break and wanted to keep Presley home with me for at least one day. Tomorrow I'm hoping to have a day to myself to get some stuff done. Today, Presley and I slept in and got ready, we played some Uno while listening to some music and had a nice morning together before taking in our car to get fixed (from when I got rear-ended), we now have an awesome rental car with a small Sonic (I had never heard of this car!).
We then headed downtown to the art park. It was so nice out and I wanted to take of pictures of P, she was once again willing to do some smiling for me and we got a couple cute ones!
Then she decided to take the camera and actually got a good picture of me! HA!
Holly and Mary met us there for a couple minutes and took this picture of us! :) (yes, my hair is huge, but in my defense, it was windy!)
The four of us headed to lunch on the patio at El Bait Shop. Perfect weather and the girls were good, it was a nice lunch out. Presley and I headed home, she played with the neighbors some more (we love the neighbors) and I read my book and did some cleaning and laundry! It was another wonderful afternoon.
Once Steve and Piper got home we got ready and headed over to Sam and Scott's house for dinner with Jerry and my parents.  It was nice, the girls were good, even though they are both SO afraid of their huge dogs. Steve didn't feel good, he actually stayed inside lying on the couch! :( and we straight to bed once we got home! Poor guy! I hope he doesn't have a stomach flu, that is the last thing we need in this house!

Wonderful weekend

Thursday Steve had to work late so I picked up Presley and then Piper, Generation Next was having their 'Simple Supper' night, so they basically serve dinner! Perfect! So we had chicken strips and mashed potatoes, we got to see some friends there and then we MAY have gone to Dairy Queen on the way home! :) We got home and the neighbors were out playing so we had some time to play outside! It was a good night for us girls!
 
The weekend was busy, but a good one! Friday night Presley and I went to my friend Sarah's house for a little girls night. The weather was nice enough for us to sit on the patio and chat, Presley was very good. I was afraid she would get bored but she took a couple books and her ipad to keep her busy when she needed something to do beside listen to the big girls talk. :) We got home before 9 and Steve headed out to watch the Iowa State game with the neighbor......he didn't get home until 1:30 and was hurting unit Saturday morning.....you know, the morning of our family pictures! I didn't think he would be the one I needed to worry about when getting these long overdue pictures taken!
 
We met Tawnie, our friend and photographer at the Botanical Center at 10. We met her years ago when we started taking P to gymnastics and her dad we have known for about 10 years! She is SO good with Presley that I knew she would have the ability to make her comfortable and be patient with the girls. The girls actually did pretty good, we were pleasantly surprised....Presley did amazing! The little 'model' in her came out and she was willing to smile, pose and do exactly what Tawnie asked her. Piper did good for a while, then she was interested in stomping in the water, making funny faces and sticking out her butt....so those pictures should be interesting! HA!
 
After pictures we headed home. We were originally going to pack up and head to Lake Panorama for the night, but Steve insisted that Piper (and him) take naps before we left! :) We got to Jason and Christie's about 4, just to hang out and let the girls play. Steve helped Jason cut down a branch from one of their trees. The effort was not the safest tree trimming I have seen and yes, they put the ladder on the tailgate of the truck and then Steve climbed the tree. Even Presley had a hard time watching!
The girls were awesome. These two play so good together and it is so nice that they are comfortable together and comfortable running around the lake house!
Piper was good too, she would chase the girls around, sit on my lap, help herself to toys and food and even went to sleep in a big bed that night (after fighting us for over and hour to go to sleep, but that is typical even at home)
 
Sunday morning we got up and hung out for a while, getting home about 12:30. Piper took a good nap, Steve went to the store, Presley played with the neighbors and I did some cleaning and reading! (I'm on a reading rampage these days!) Steve then took the girls to the neighbors to play outside,  I did a quick run (not the smartess thing to do in 30 mph winds!), the girls ate a great dinner and then we had baths and got ready for the week ahead!

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Sooooo....

Presley woke up Monday night at midnight complaining that her ear hurt....which is not like her. She was up until after 4, tossing/turning, whining, crying, complaining about her ear. She wouldn't try to sleep more up-right and she wouldn't take Tylenol....so it was frustrating. I took her to the walk-in clinic Tuesday morning at 8 when they opened and sure enough double ear-infection...more than likely a result of her cold/sickness last week. I took her to school afterwards, I knew she was going to be exhausted but she had to go, she has missed too much school already.

Tuesday night we had P's conferences. My mom came over at 6 so we could make a Target run before going, alot of parents take their kids with them but I don't want the teacher (or us!) to hold back anything b/c she is there and I'm sure P would be uncomfortable anyways, plus its a bonus to get 3 hours to ourselves! :)
Her conferences went great as we excepted! She is reading above her grade level, she is 'such a sweet girl', 'she listens so well!' Nothing out of the ordinary (for her school behavior) which is good! :) This is her teachers first year teaching kindergarten and even she is surprised at how much drama is in kindergarten, so she totally understood when I told her about the drama at P's birthday party! HA!

After that, we of course, hit up El Mariachi for a nice, slow, quiet, dinner with just the two of us. We could actually carry on conversations and sit back and enjoy the hour! :)

Monday, March 9, 2015

Weekend Update

So Saturday we spent some time outside! The weather was great for melting the snow and getting some fresh air!
I got up and did my Target run and was home by 11. Piper took a nap, Presley played and complained that she was bored (are you kidding me?), Steve did some garage work, I read my book and then Steve left for Creston about 3 to watch Cross and a comedy thing. I was happy that he went to sleep by 1 am....usually when he goes back they don't go to sleep before 4! :)
Presley, Piper and I met my parents at Applebees for dinner. We never meet them out and it was nice! Of course both girls wanted to sit next to me, both girls acted like they didn't know them?! Whatever! Piper had QUITE the conversation with grandma about her dress, her shoulders and Target....ok, child!
I put Piper to bed about 7:30 and Presley fell asleep on the couch in the meantime before 8! I was able to finish my 2014 Shutterfly book and watch a little Pitch Perfect (love that movie) before I was exhausted and asleep before 10!

Sunday, with daylight savings, Piper slept until 9:30, Presley was after 10:30 (I went in to make sure she was still breathing....yes, even at 6 years old I do this!). Steve was home and took the girls outside. I did some laundry and I went thru Presley's old clothes. I found 3 totes of size 3T clothes for Piper to wear. It was so sad for me to go through! I remember Presley wearing these clothes when we sold our house, moved into our apartment and when I was prego with Piper! AHHH, WHERE DOES THE TIME GO???

Steve grilled out some steaks for dinner, which Piper is OBSESSED with! Then we decided to take a trip to Dairy Queen...you know, a celebration for the beginning of spring/summer! :)

Today I was able to take a long lunch and go watch Earlham WIN at sub-state basketball with Holly! It was so fun and very excited and even more nerve-racking.....no wonder I hate basketball....the time cannot go fast enough when you are winning!!! Derek had a good game and they play again on Thursday. Steve will be able to go on Thursday, I'm hoping for a win so I can attend the final game on Friday! Fingers crossed!

Saturday, March 7, 2015

P

Presley never stops thinking. I think I've said that before and I also mentioned how she is very much into asking questions, which is good! She told me yesterday that 'Dr. Seuss is not a cat, he is a person.' She is correct! Ha!

P : How do people die?
Me : Well....people die from lots of different things.
P : Do people die in their houses?
Me : Well.....yeah, I guess some people do.
P : Then how do they get to Heaven?
Me : Well................Heaven really isn't a place that we can walk or drive to so......they just go there. P : Is it farther than Iowa?
Me : Yep!
P : Is it farther than Colorado and Texas?
Me : Yep! It's so far that we can't just visit it. You know great-grandma and grandpa are in Heaven with Scout, right?
P : *rolling her eyes* I KNOWWWW!!!!!!!

Presley and I were reading a book and came across the word 'opportunity'...she looks at her hand and says "op-por-tun-i-ty....that is 5 syllables!".

This week she spent Tuesday and Wednesday at Grandma's b/c she didn't feel good. And she really didn't, not really a fever, but a headache, she slept alot and didn't really eat....by Thursday we had to force her back to school. We were ready to get a phone call from school to come pick her up but it never came.
As of last night she still wasn't 100%. We met Holly, Jerry and Mary out for dinner and Presley just sat there, eventually laying down in the booth. We got home before 8 and she went straight to bed. So far she seems to be feeling better today after we all got a good nights sleep!

Photo dump

Child labor
P learned about President's Day
Vote for Me
'I would make every body safe'
Daddy with Shaggy
Not the best picture, but this is the famous coat that she never wants to take off!
Cool dude!

Monday, March 2, 2015

Weekend Update

Thursday when I picked Piper up from mom's she had a little sass back in her attitude so we knew she was feeling better. She went back to Generation on Friday and Friday night we didn't do much of anything! The weekend was good, gave us some time to recover from Piper and Steve being sick.

Piper was up at 6:15 Saturday morning?! WTF? I was able to get her to lay back down until about 7 but then she was ready to go for the day. Presley was up by 7:30, which is really too early for her but oh well. We basically have to keep Presley and Piper away from each other at all times. They CANNOT leave each other alone, they have to pick, scream, fight, complain, whine.....ALL THE TIME! So Presley and I got ready to head out shopping, she had a gift card to Barnes and Noble to spend and of course, we needed a Target run. She picked out 5 books at B&N in record time! I really wanted her to get harder books to read, which she sorta did, but she isn't ready or willing to step up to chapter books yet, even though I think she could do better than she realizes! Oh well, she is only in Kindergarten! :)

We made our Target run bought Big Hero Six (I LOVE this movie!) and then we went home and watched it while Piper was sleeping. That night we went out for a quick dinner and then headed to Johnston High School to watch our nephew Derek play basketball, they needed to win to get to state and Earlham has never made it to state basketball before! They WON! The girls did great watching and behaving with the crowd and noise, Earlham had a fantastic turn out of fans and it was alot of fun to watch!

Sunday everyone slept in until almost 9! woohoo! That is what we all needed. Of course, Presley woke up with red cheeks and a slight fever, but she didn't act too sick. We stayed home all day, playing, hanging out, we tried to watch Big Hero Six again since Steve and Piper hadn't seen it yet....yeah, Piper is not ready to watch movies. Heck we can't get her to watch 5 minutes of cartoons. So we stopped the movie and decided to finish it when she was napping. Steve and P finished the movie, I put Piper down for a nap and I laid on the couch and read my book and ended up falling asleep too! It was a nice lazy Sunday!