Spring Preview

As soon as the kids got home from school today, we headed outdoors to enjoy the warmer weather. While it reached 56 degrees today, it was still a little on the cold side.

Ryan and his friend that comes over after school played a game of baseball.

Both of them impressed me with how well they were hitting each other's pitches.
Both Ryan and his friend are moving up to machine pitch baseball this year, so this is very promising to see.

Ryan slams one out of the backyard.

Running to second base.

This kid is ready to learn how to slide!

Quick "cheese" for mom.

Chloe was happy to get outside for awhile, too.

She is determined to graduate to the big girl swing.

After Ryan's friend got picked, Ryan and I took Chloe and the dog for a walk.

Camera oops.

I tried to get a picture of Ryan and Chloe walking, but the dog had other ideas. Every time Ryan would get ahead of Chloe, she would run with her arms out, trying to catch up with him, yelling "Eye-an!"

After dinner Ryan really wanted to see if any of his friends were out playing so we went for another (much longer) walk. No one was outside and now the sore muscles are really kicking in. I may have overdone it today, but I really needed that second walk after taking a second helping of spaghetti tonight.

Is it bedtime yet? It's all hitting me now.

$1.75, But It's Not My Fault!

Ok, it is my fault. I agreed to pay myself a quarter every time I say a bad word, but at the time I didn't know that I would soon be dealing with the effects of winter and my own stupidity. *Sigh* My minivan is sitting in the middle of a parking lot right now, waiting to be towed to the car dealer.

At 10am this morning, the snow started coming down and I thought I could get up to school in time to collect the dinner ticket money before it got really bad outside. I loaded Chloe into the van and away we went - until I wrecked the van going a wimpy 20 miles an hour. Just kidding - I didn't "wreck" it, but I slid making a turn and we nailed a curb. The wheel and rim were dented, but it seemed fine, so I continued on to school.

Ten minutes later, I was leaving school and noticed that alignment was way off and there was a rubbing (I'd say grinding - but it wasn't that loud) noise coming from that area of the car. I pulled over into a parking lot and called my husband. (I am so in the dog house right now!) Remembering that the warranty included road side assistance, I called GM and put in a request for help. I probably could have driven on it, but with my luck the wheel would have fallen off and we'd be *#$@ a creek. Or in a ditch.

So, I'm sitting in a parking lot with an 18 month old in the car who is crying and unhappy while I'm trying to figure all of this out. I have no car seat to transfer over to another car because she is in the car's child integrated seat, so requesting a loaner is not an option. (We don't have coverage for that anyway.) I have no diaper bag - because I'm an idiot - so all I have to bribe her with is my iPod. This makes her happy for awhile and we sit and wait for my friend, Teri, to grab a car seat and diaper bag from my house and pick our butts up. The tow truck wait is 3 hours and I am so not sitting there for that long with a toddler who hasn't had lunch or a nap yet.

We're home now and I'm really wishing that school would dismiss early because it's getting considerably worse outside. I should receive a phone call when the tow truck gets there. Hopefully the van will still be there since I had to leave a key inside. I'm really not looking forward to getting the bill for this.

Oh, Lovely Day

It's suppose to warm up here, but it's not looking like the kids will get to go outside and play anytime soon.

Chloe and I ran to school to take care of some school carnival stuff and then ran to the craft store to get more supplies. Let's just say it was slow going...

...and wasn't much better on the way back to our neighborhood - where the road drops a good 6-8 feet off the side of the road. Hmm.... Fun....

....at least Chloe thought so anyway.

I Tried

She wasn't expecting me when I came around the corner and caught her pretending with my purse.

And if she drops it and isn't touching it, then she's pretty sure she's not in trouble. LoL.

I actually made dinner last night. I was looking for some new ideas last night and found a Betty Crocker recipe and thought I'd give it a try. Bret and Ashley scoff at anything vegetable (and I knew not to even try with Ryan) so I figured they could just pick out the cheesy meatballs and be fine. When Bret came home, he requested that I just make a batch of meatballs in barbeque sauce for him. I was disappointed that he wouldn't even try it, but did as he asked anyway. We've had too many meals here where I've tried to make something new and they've not liked it because it had more than one ingrediant in it. (!!!!) So, like I said, I did as he asked. However, the only barbeque sauce we had on hand wasn't the sweet and tangy kind he was expecting. It was just plain ol' regular Open Pit and very strong and spicy. He forced it down, but admitted he liked the cheesey meatballs better. Ha.

The meal was pretty good (I love vegetables and cheese) but a little on the bland side. I also have yet to make a decent batch of minute rice. I know - who messes up minute rice?! Apparently, I do. It's just never as light and fluffy as it looks on the box.

Inventory

Body parts that hate me for making it to Body Pump at Gold's this morning: biceps, triceps, shoulders, back, abs, quads, calves, knees and even my rear end. I think every muscle group was put through torture at some point over the course of that hour. Does anyone have a handicap bar they can install in the bathroom for me? Tomorrow is probably going to feel worse. However, if you're going to do it, do it all the way. Right?

Tomorrow I have two babies here, so I may not be able to swing a visit to the gym in. If I'm still really sore, I may go in as soon as the kids are off to school to walk it out on a treadmill before baby Luke gets dropped off. Chloe did great in the daycare there again. There was another little girl around her age that she attached herself to when we walked in. She loves other kids, so this is perfect for her. (I still wiped her down with antibacterial wipes right before we left, though!)

During my two visits to the gym this week I noticed a difference since the last time I went when I was still smoking. I'm (hang on...have to go look it up...it's amazing how I don't really keep track lately) 35 days into my quit and already see a difference. Yesterday on the elliptical machine, my heart rate was lower than it use to be when I first started and I didn't tired as quickly as I expected myself to. Then during Body Pump this morning I definitely noticed having more energy. But the biggest change since quitting? No cough and no shortness of breath or wheezing while working out. That is huge! I may just plan on going back early tomorrow morning regardless of what the day holds.

Motivated

I kept my word and dragged my butt to the gym this morning, even after both of my gym buddies had to back out. It was torture, but I got through it. I wasn't brave enough to endure Body Attack by myself (who was going to laugh with me if I made a complete idiot of myself?) but I did do two miles on the elliptical machine. I burned 247 calories. Not bad for the first day.

Chloe amazed me today. She hasn't done well being left in the daycare there in the past. More times than not they've had to come get me because she's crying and they can't console her. Because of this I've not pushed her to go, which results in not pushing myself to go, either. However, today she walked right in and didn't even notice when I left to go work out. She didn't cry at all, played with the other kids there and didn't want to leave when I came back to pick her up 30 minutes later. I am so proud of her! Hopefully tomorrow will go as well since I'm planning on going back to do Body Pump.

The kids went back to school today and were actually excited about it. Chloe and I are off to make a run to the Post Office and then I'm going to try and reclaim my house (and the remote control) while she naps.

Cuties

Chloe is back and still cute as ever. Ryan was really excited to see her today.

Ashley is going to start taking offense if Chloe keeps doing this to her, though.

Score Card

Number of cute babies who were insanely well behaved at the car dealership this morning: 1

Hours spent waiting for an oil change, tire rotation and DVD player problem at said car dealership: 2 and a half

...

Number of tractors stuck behind on the way home just today alone (in a no passing zone too, of course): 3

Number of corn stalks surrounding our neighborhood: too many to count

Idiots using the camera on their cell phone while driving: 1

I guess that's what you get when you move out to a neighborhood in the middle of farm country.

Happy 1st Birthday Chloe!

Today is Chloe's very first birthday. Her Mom and Dad had all of their family and friends over to help celebrate. Chloe was as cute as ever.

The kids all had fun jumping from pool to pool. Can you believe how big Cecelia has gotten this summer?

Ryan had fun on the slip n slide...

...as did Cat and Kelly. Can't blame them though as it ended up being pretty hot out today.

Let Me Out!

Nine months old and already begging to go outside and play.

The Girl's Got The Moves!

You can't argue with talent. Especially her little "shaking of the head no" move.

Top Four Reasons Why My Husband Is Not In Charge Of Decorating Our Home

Over the past couple of days, Chloe has almost mastered the whole crawling thing. Out of fear and knowledge of what could happen, my husband and I moved Ryan's Lego table into Ryan's bedroom. Moving this table will also make room for Bret's Grandma's China Cabinet (or whatever the proper term for it is) that I've managed to talk Bret into getting.

.

Luckily for Chloe and Cecelia, they're cute so they'll be forgiven for whatever they get into.

Taking advantage of the temporarily free wall space, Bret tried his hand at decorating. He says he wanted more space in the livingroom.

.

So, let me give you:

The Top Four Reasons Why My Husband Is Not Allowed To Decorate Our Home:

.

Reason #1:

Reason #2:

Reason #3:

Reason #4:

Yes, I know. You never thought you'd see my house filled with baby toys again, but where did my hallway go?

Am I wrong to change it back and break his heart? LoL

Why Can't They Stay Little?

Chloe is now 7 months old and Cecelia is now 6 months. Where has the time gone? Can they get any cuter?

Chloe hams it up for the camera.

Cecelia is always full of smiles.

Chloe: I'm getting such a headache from all of this picture taking stuff. Do you think she's about done, already?

Cecelia: Who knows. Here let me massage your headache away.

Chloe: Okay, but I get to play with your head next.

Cecelia: Um, I don't think so. I saw what you did to that teddy bear's head earlier.

What Day Is Today?

I'm not quite sure what day of the week it is anymore. It's all been quite a blur. I did indeed end up with that horrible cold that's been going around. The kids got it, too. While we're feeling much better than we did last week, we're still not quite over it. I did finally getting around to unloading the pictures that have been sittting on our camera for the past month.

* * * *

Cecelia and Chloe, who keep me so busy that I'm not sure what day or time it is anymore. I'm not complaining though, because it's been great watching these two grow and discover new things. Chloe is sitting by herself now and Cecelia is almost there herself. They love being together during the day and really amuse each other. This afternoon we even ventured out to Sam's Club since they have such huge carts. The girls did great and since Cecelia's car seat takes up so much room in the cart, she kept me from throwing too much stuff in. Chloe got most of the boxes thrown in around her up front though. She wasn't going anywhere, even if she wanted to.

Ashley's been keeping busy with homework. She and I spent Saturday morning with Shawn getting quite a bit of hair cut off and my much needed highlights redone. Maybe I'll get around to getting pictures of our new do's sometime soon.

Both kids are such a big help when they get home from school with the babies. They look forward to getting down on the floor and playing with them. Ryan is nuts for Chloe and she's quite attached to him, too. Ashley and Cecelia seem to have bonded, too. I guess they've picked their favorites.

Well, I'm off to go get round three of feeding time ready for the girls so they can take their afternoon naps. Might take one myself.

Long Lost Update

It's been a long 5 days since I've updated this blog and I admit that I've been slacking quite a bit. I'll try to do better in the future. Life has been very busy since the holidays. I'm now watching two infants during the day and they keep me very busy. As soon as I think I've got a free minute or two, it's gone in a flash.

Bret is doing better now since his visit with the stomach flu. I've been deathly afraid that myself or the kids might come down with it, but I think enough time has passed that we can all breathe a sigh of relief. Bret was locked in the bedroom in a mandatory quarantine for a good 12 hours until he was feeling better and I stayed in the bedroom downstairs until it was safe to return to my own room.

Then, a day later Cat and Tom (baby Chloe's parents whom I watch during the week) came down with the stomach flu at the same time. I took Chloe off their hands so they could get some rest on Sunday afternoon and kept her overnight and through the next day while Cat tried to go back to work. Did I mention that I'm absolutely done having babies of my own? I got up with her once in the middle of the night and while she did go back to sleep right away, I'm not sure I could ever get use to that again.

I did have quite a few bouts of queasiness during the week and was afraid the flu was coming to get me so maybe I did have a slight strain of it or maybe it was more Migraine related. Who knows.

I'm heading out tonight for our neighborhood Drunko, um, I mean "Bunco" or "Ladies Night Out" night. Unfortunately, it's not going to be a very late night since I've got to get up at 6:15am in the morning for Cecelia to arrive.

I promise to blow the dust off of the camera and get some new pictures of the kids on here soon.

Hapy New Year!!!

Last night we joined the rest of our friends out here in our neighborhood for a progressive New Year's Eve party. Starting at 7pm, we arrived to our first party where jello shots were flowing freely. (A bit too freely!) We watched the Chicago Bears get their butts kicked and then headed over to another party where our bartender was mixing all kinds of homemade shots that most of us stayed away from. By midnight Ryan was half past tired and I had to bring him home. I'm amazed that he lasted that long. He wants to know if he gets to stay up "really, really, really late" again tonight. (He was up by 7am this morning, so I think not). Bret and Ashley stayed at the party across the street for another hour or so and then headed on home. Can you believe that my ten year old daughter outlasted me last night? However, it's 11:30am right now and she's still in bed.

Chloe comes back tomorrow after being gone over the holidays. It's been about three weeks since I've gotten to love on her on a regular basis. Cecelia starts full time on Wednesday and I'm looking forward to bonding with her, too. The kids go back to school on Wednesday and normalcy will reign. (When did 4 and 5 month babies become my norm?)

Guess I should go clean and get ready for the babies to come back. All of the baby stuff is being stored in the bedroom downstairs and it's time to get this house clean and bring it all back up.

Happy New Year, Everyone!

Look Who Cut Her First Tooth Today!

Chloe cut her very first tooth today and she handled it like the little trooper that she is.

Has anyone been wondering where I've been lately? Shopping, shopping and more shopping and I am officially done buying and wrapping everyone's Christmas presents. (Even my own - ha!)

First Day Jitters

Today is the first day that I've had both Chloe and Cecelia here together for the whole day. They've been here together at the same time for half days before, but never a whole day. I have to admit I was a little nervous this morning because starting in another month Cecelia will be here full time.

So, are you ready for this? It's gone so well today! I must have been nuts, because when Bret's mom called last night and asked if I could take her to the doctor this morning, I said, "Sure, why not?" So the babies and I piled into the minivan and off we went. They did great! We spent over an hour in the waiting room, complete with double stroller and an overflowing diaper bag and Sally and all of her bags. (What a sight we must have been walking in...lol) Two bottles and two dirty diapers later we were leaving with two of the best behaved babies ever. It's like having twins, but I thrive when I'm busy because once I sit down, I'm done and tired.

The girls like each other very much. Chloe was all about trying to get Cecelia's attention. She's become so social in the last week or so.

Chloe, trying to get Cecelia's attention.

Game on, though. Chloe saw Cecelia's purple blanket and just had to have it.

Cecelia didn't seem to mind too much.
"Got it!"
Before heading off to school this morning, Ryan introduced Chloe to Sponge Bob. He informed me that she likes it very much.

Diabetic Coma Anyone?

The kids rushed in after school today, excited to decorate the cookies we baked last night. A total of three cans of frosting were used for two dozen cookies. Any bets on what the time the kids will finally fall asleep tonight?

* * * *

Ryan dangles a cookie in front of Chloe. She wants it, but 4 months is a bit too young for cookies. Wait a few months and we'll sneak you a few bites, Chloe.

Ryan couldn't get the frosting to come out of the can so we had to decorate them for him while he instructed us on what to do.

The final product. The kids have each already wolfed down 2 each, already.

And....did anyone see the change in our forecast? 6-12 inches of snow predicted by tomorrow night. Woo-hoo! We could live without the freezing rain tonight, though. Which would be why our family fire drill is being postponed - even if Ashley still wanted to do it in the freezing rain. Sorry, honey. You're on your own with that one.

Falling Behind

I am aware that it is now Thursday and that I haven't posted anything since Monday. Finding the time lately has been very difficult. I have Chloe here Monday through Wednesday and it sometimes feels like I'm the exhausted new mom. I've taken more naps in the last three weeks than I have in the last year. But really, who doesn't love a good nap during the day? I'm loving every minute of Chloe being here. I feel like I'm more organized and that I have a routine again. (Eat. Play. Sleep. Change a diaper. Eat. Play. Sleep. Change a diaper...lol.) Aside from some painfully gasy days (Chloe - not me!) she's been a delight all the way from her cooing and babbling language to her all out cheeky smiles. I love her. My kids love her. They come home from school and run straight to her. It's Thursday and we already can't wait for her to get back here on Monday. (And come January there will be two!)