BLAH, BLAH

Friday night we actually we out to eat! The weather was kinda crappy but we had a nice family dinner at Applebees!

Saturday we didn't do much, got up, took the Christmas stuff down, and then went to the mall....and didn't buy anything! I was in the mood to spend some money but I feel bad taking time to try things on and just looking when both kids are with us. Then Steve and Presley went to buy an Ipad Mini, we had talked about getting one and Presley has become more interested in playing games on the laptop or my phone and we got some Christmas money so we decided to break down and do it (come on, all the cook kids are!). Basically, what this comes down to is me getting the laptop all to myself and Presley and Steve fighting over the Ipad! Works for me!





Today I decided to take Presley shopping. I was still in the mood to spend money and really need some new clothes. She was so good! She listened and decided that she wanted to walk instead of ride in the stroller (she has always been one of those kids that you DON'T have to worry about her running from you b/c she is so scared of other people!). She helped carry some sacks, she didn't fight when I would say no to buying something. She was good, it was nice!

Then we headed to my parents house for the Packer game, which we won't talk about. But as always it was a good time to get together with everyone! We got home about 7 and both girls were asleep in their beds by 8:30!

Now time for us to get to bed.....this getting up at 5 a.m. shit is DUMB! :)

Presley Pie

 

Presley, you can be so fun and so nice and so funny. You can love your sister so sweetly...........

then you squeeze Pipers cheeks and she doesn't cry, so you do it just a little harder.  Then you hear something you don't like (like NO! or stop that!) and you snap. ! The attitude comes out and you are a totally different person. There is no listening, no compromise, it is either your way or YOUR WAY! I think this change came when we moved into this house and when Piper was born. We all have tried very hard to make you feel just as important as you were before (and as you are and always will be!) We make notice of all the good things you do, how sweet you can be, how helpful you are but in 'those moments' you don't care about anything but getting what you want. For example, Saturday morning you wanted to play with markers in the family room (sorry, no markers on the carpet), you refused to sit at the table with them so I got up to take them away from you and you hit me. There is no hitting in this house, so off to time out you went. Not without a struggling, screaming fight...of me putting you in your bedroom, putting you in your bedroom, putting you in your bedroom and finally just holding the door shut until you calmed down enough to listen and apologize to me. Unfortunately these time outs don't seem to really make a difference but we need to just be consistent and not give in to what you want...probably like you are used to us doing over the last 3 years. YOU ARE NOT THE BOSS! At least you are not like this in public. At preschool, at the mall, anytime it is just YOU with us, you are great! We'll cherish those moments for now, b/c my darling daughter....you WILL realize that you are NOT the boss.

Two Years Ago

Brendan. Two years ago I got a call from my friend Colleen on my way home from work. There was  car accident and you hadn't made it. My first thought was that this was going to break Holly's heart, how in the world was she going to handle this? I called Steve and my mom. I COULD NOT call Holly. I couldn't be the one to tell her. I wouldn't be. She was in KC with a friend for New Years, what should we do? I called my friend Shannon asking her opinion (Shannon and I don't talk alot but we always seem to share all of our problems and complaints or just to vent, good friends are like that!) As it turned out one of Holly's friends had called and broke the news to her.
I remember we went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner and I could hardly eat, my appetite seemed to disappear. I remember giving Presley a bath that night and kneeling on the bathroom floor in tears, Presley asking me why I was crying and Steve lightly squeezing my shoulder to comfort me.
You were always a good time and a good laugh! That is how I will always remember you. You were in love with my sister, even though you would never admit it....we all knew it. That day forever changed my sister, broke her heart....she is finally picking up the pieces and learning how to love again and how to be happy!
You have given all of us SO many great memories that we will never forget!
http://mysocalledlife-holly.blogspot.com/2012/12/2-years-ago-today.html

2012 Goals - I kicked ASS!!!

Here were my goals for 2012....I kicked some serious ASS with these! I'm almost excited to do my goals for 2013!


1) Spend less money on going out to eat. I'm hoping I can just compare our banking 'spending report' every month to last year and see how we are doing. We did great on this! So I'm very happy. We still need to get better about planning actual meals instead of having pizza rolls or something like that!


2) Get Presley signed up for gymnastics or dance class. We did this in February and she has loved it! I do want her to continue with this b/c I think it helps her wear off some energy and she got a leotard from Grandma and Pa for Christmas, I'm sure she'll look freakin adorable!

3) Get Presley signed up for part-time pre-school. She started in September, going 2.5 hours, 2 days a week. It was a hard adjustment for her but she is doing much better and rarely cries when we drop her off now! Hopefully that will continue as she gets more comfortable there!

4) Read more. I love reading and I really want to make more time for it, giving up some TV time shouldn't be that hard....so I'm starting a book list. These are books friends have read or I've heard about and have been interested in reading. Hopefully, I can cross some of these books off my list this year! Holy cow, I kicked the ass out of this goal! I read 24 books in 2012...and all of them before October! Hopefully, as we get settled into me working and getting on a regular schedule and routine, I can get back into reading again. I'm sure I'll never read as much as I did this year!

5) Save, save, save!!!! If I could double our savings in the next year it would be awesome...a girl can dream. Surprisingly, we did save! Even with the purchase of our home and buying everything for that, having a kid and not getting paid for 5 weeks, we still have more in savings than we did last year at this time! That is AMAZING to me!!!

2012 in Review

Man, I don't know where this last year has gone but it has been a wild ride! I think about where we were just a year ago and can't believe all the changes in 12 short months!

January - we went to the Dominican Republic for Nick and Sarah's wedding!
February- put our house up for sale by owner, went to Baconfest on a Saturday and found out the next day we were pregnant
March - had a great girls trip to Chicago for St. Patty's day (hopefully we can do that again!) and sold our house!
April - moved out of our house into our wonderful apartment!
May - Our house got started and we found out we were having another baby girl!
June - Kept busy! Swimming, working, playing outside, enjoying our time!
July - Flew to Texas for my family reunion, SO many 'firsts' for Presley on this trip (plane, bus, taxi, ocean). Had Steve's family vacation in Okoboji which was cut short due to our overwhelming work schedules
August - Started preparing for baby and house
September - Presley started preschool and we moved into our house! Yippee!
October - Miss Piper surprised us by coming early!
November - I became Targets #1 shopper and actually enjoyed my maternity leave! Presley became 100% potty trained (even at night time!)
December - Back to work, snow storms, Christmas...back to the usual routine

Hoping for a less eventful, more fun, less stress 2013! :)

Five Question Friday

1. If you had to give 1 million dollars to just one person (not your spouse), who would it be and why? Probably my parents (they count as ONE person, right?). I always told them once I got out of school and got a good job that I would payoff the student loans they took out for me....well of course, those are paid off now but I would still like to be able to do something nice for them for EVERYTHING they have done for us! I really hope they know how much they mean to us and how much we are thankful for having them around for us and the girls!

2. What bathroom stall do you typically go to FIRST? The last one, which is usually the handicap one. I don't feel bad using it when I have Presley with me (those other stalls are too little for two people!) but even when I'm by myself I do find myself using the last stall...whether it is handicap or not.

3. How do you prefer to shop: In-store or online? In store. I LOVE the thought of buying online but I just don't do it very often. I don't want to pay shipping costs to get it, or if I have to return it! But I do love getting things in the mail, so maybe I should try to do that more often!

4. What's the weather like in your neck of the woods? Well, today it is a nice 25 degrees with some light snow falling. It's crazy how much 'warmer' 25 degrees is than the 5 degrees we had a couple days ago! YUCK! I DO NOT LIKE THE COLD!

5. Do you own a pair of Tom's and what do you think? Overrated, underrated or about right? UMMMM.....Am I so out of the loop that I don't know what Tom's are?! Damn, that makes me feel old and sad! Is there a teenager I can hang out with so I can be cool again?
Yes, I will be Googling it.........

http://www.toms.com/
Hmm...it seems this is not a teenager/young person fad. It's a shoe and not even that cool of a shoe.
Really, this question has wasted my time.....but I guess I know what Tom's are now!

Random blah blah

- I'm irritated with myself! We never took Piper to see Santa, I know she won't remember but it's just one of those things parents do with their babies on their 1st Christmas and we never did.
- I also didn't get a picture of Steve and I before his work xmas party, or at our ugly sweater party and didn't get a family picture on Christmas. I take SO many pictures how come I can't remember to take any with ME in them!
- So Boston's dad didn't see him on Christmas. Didn't call, no presents, nothing. Not even anything from his grandparents. Nice huh? But I guess his loss is completely our gain b/c we don't really want to have Christmas without Boston. So thank you douchebag for making our family Christmas complete, at least you are good for something.