Happy Birthday Grandma Liz!

Happy Birthday Grandma Liz!  We can't wait to see you at Christmas and even though we don't get to see you a lot, we love you SOOOOOOO much.  And we thank you for giving us the best daddy in the whole wide world :)

Love,
Kiley and Ella

Wordless Wednesday

A little Strawberry for your Wednesday :)

I was finally able to get a decent (and when I say decent, I mean two girls looking somewhat in the direction of the camera--I do not mean smiling and looking cute) picture of the girls in their Halloween costumes.  The only picture I could get of Kiley with Ella is if by telling Kiley to lie down next to Ella (and I maybe also bribed her with a box of nerds), however, a picture was taken are cards are now being made.  Now, I just have to find some time to get down to pick them up and mail them.  Who said Halloween cards need to actually get to their destinations by Halloween?

Halloween Pics

So I attempted to get some pictures of the girls in their Halloween costumes last week so I could make some cute cards to send to family, however, the girls had other ideas in mind.  Kiley refuses to put her costume on which I don't really understand why because it doesn't really look uncomfortable at all and Ella decided that everytime I put her in her costume she should spit up all over it.  So, after about 20 minutes of no success and cleaning up a lot of spit, I decided to say screw the picture and try again for another day. 

We'll see if I actually get the picture some day this week, but if not I can at least enjoy the Halloween candy I bought in the meantime.  Of course, I opened the bag with the Reese's peanut butter cups in the garage of Target immeditely after I bought it.  And I may or may not have already enjoyed 4 little peanut butter pumpkins-delicious :)  Hopefully I don't have to run out and buy more candy before Halloween even gets here, but I make no promises. 

But, I bet you thought that you would be getting some cute pics in this post so I don't want to leave you empty handed.  We went to the Museum of Science and Industry last week and saw the Dr. Suess exhibit.  It was pretty fun and I am sure we will be back there a bunch in the coming months withe family in town, but until then, here is a fun pic of me and the girls.  As you can tell, Kiley was not so cooperative. I can't wait for our family pics on Saturday.  I'm sure that we are going to get some amazing shots--of course I'm not being sarcastic, why wouldn't by almost 20-month old want to cooperate with me to get at least one decent shot :)

Jersey's Wedding

I had a great weekend in New Jersey with good girlfriends, good food and drinks, and tons of fun.  It was exactly what I needed and I am so thankful for my wonderful husband who stayed home with the girls all weekend--he was such a trooper even though he was feeling sick for the whole time.  Thanks babe!

The wedding was by far one of the most fun weddings that I have ever been to.  I ate my butt off due to a ridiculous amount of food--and then had to dance my butt off, due to consuming said amount of food.  It was a great weekend away, but I was also really ready to come home yesterday and thanks to my awesome friend Hursh, I was even able to get home a few hours early! 

It's amazing what a little bit of time for yourself can do for your outlook on things.  I posted Friday about being in a funk, but came back yesterday feeling a lot more refreshed and ready to get back into the groove and start tackling the week.  Thanks to all those who had kind words about hanging in there through my funk.  Here are a couple of pics from the weekend.  And again congrats to Jersey and Tom who are now off to enjoy their honeymoon.  Jersey made a beautiful bride and I am pretty certain that it was the most beautiful that I have ever seen her look. 

Oh--and if you have not tried cake vodka-you are missing out.  Go, run, buy it.  It was awesome.  It tasted like funfetti cake in a shot glass.  

In a funk

To be completely honest, I have been in a funk lately.  I think that I always knew that two under two (shoot, two in 14 months for me) was going to be hard, but I didn't realize that it was going to be this hard.  I heard that people say just to survive the first year and it gets better, then your kids will start to be able to play together, etc.  Man, I hope so!  I feel like ever since my parents left and I have had to do the day in and day out thing by myself, it has gotten so much harder.  Plus this last month with endless illnesses for both of the girls and myself has not helped.  And once you get into a funk, it's really hard to get out of it.  I haven't consistently been to the gym probably in over a month now, I rarely see the girls from my mom's group, Kevin's been working late and traveling a lot more, all in all, it's just been a tough couple of months.  Then add Kiley being in a major tantrum stage and Ella deciding that she no longer needs to take naps during the days and I am at the end of my rope.  It's time for me to get out of the funk!!!! 

In the back of my mind I know that I have so much to be grateful for.  I have two beautiful daughters, an amazing husband, my family, friends, health, etc, but sometimes it is so easy to get sucked into what's not going right and dwell on that instead of reminding yourself how great you do have it.  I know that two under two is hard, but I also know so many people who would do anything to have two under two (or even just one for that matter) and I try to remind myself of that when times are tough, but like I have said, it is hard.  A lot has changed for me in a short span of time and sometimes I miss my old life of going to work everyday, seeing work friends, going to the gym after work, walking the dogs, having dinner in peace, sleeping withougt being woken up a million times for someone needing to be fed or wanting a pacifier.  Don't get me wrong, I love my girls to death, but when all you have done all day is listen to a whiney toddler, a crying baby, getting food, cleaning up food, throwing ball to dog, taking dogs out, watching the mess around you spiral out of control--it's hard not to want a little ME time.  I must say, Kevin is awesome at helping when he is home.  He isn't one of those husbands that thinks that because he is the one making money that is all he has to do, and sometimes I take that for granted.  He works so hard to provide for us and I expect so much of him also when he is home, and a lot of times I forget to say thank you.  I'm really lucky that I have him and I can't even imagine what my life would be like without him.  But, it's also easy to feel lonely sometimes when he is at work all day and I am at home with just the kids.  Pre-Ella, it was so much easier for me to get out to playgroups and I met a lot of really great girls that I met up with a couple of times of week.  But since Ella, it seems like everyone has kind of gotten close to one or two other people in the group and they do things together on their own and even they they still do get together as a group sometimes, it's hard for us to get there with Kiley and Ella having different schedules and trying to juggle a tantruming toddler and crying baby is hard out in public, so we haven't really gotten out much.  Most of my other girlfriends that live in the city are still single and get to go out and do fun, child-less things, so I don't get to see them too much. 

So, with all of these things going on, it's easy to see how I am in a funk.  I'm ready to get out of the funk though and I realize that I have to make some changes to reconnect with friends, reach out more and ask for help when I need it.  I am looking forward to a fun weekend with college girlfriends.  We are celebrating Jersey's wedding and this is the first time that I am doing a girl's weekend in a couple of years and it couldn't come at a better time.  I am really anxious about leaving the girls and Kevin behind, but I know that they are going to be just fine, and I probably need this weekend away more than they need me at home.  And next week, I vow to get back to the gym, back to playgroups, and back to enjoying my kids and husband instead of being in my funk. 

Have a great weekend. 

Windy Wednesday

OMG--both of my children are sleeping, at the same time, during the day. I don't know what I did to deserve this today, but I will take it!!! Granted, I'm sure that it will only last for about 10 minutes so I will keep this short.  I swear, I should have never written that blog post on sleep because ever since then Ella is the worst sleeper during the day--as in maybe sleeps for 40 minutes all day long.  Oh well, I guess I should be glad that she sleeps through the night :)

The weather here has been beautiful, well up until today that is, when I was driving on Lake Shore Drive and thought that we were going to be swept into the lake.  We have spent a good amount of time at the park these past couple of weeks so here are some park pics. 

Oh, how I love fall!  Unfortunately, for me, I believe fall for us is on it's way out.

Ella's Baptism

I feel like every post I write these days starts we either, a. we have been busy lately, or b. we have been sick lately.  Well--today you get both!!!  We had a really busy weekend last weekend with family in town for Ella's baptism.  It was great to see everyone, but I will be the first to say that 4 adults, 4 kids under 3 and 3 dogs make for a chaotic household (but very fun!).  I'll try to go through all of my pictures today to get them ready to post, but for now, this one will have to do. 

I must say out of about 300 pictures from the weekend, this is probably the only one where both kids are looking at the camera--it's definitely asking way to much these days for a smile so I will just have to be satisfied with looking in the general direction of the camera. 

Everyone left by Tuesday and now we are trying to get back to a routine--or start a routine in Ella's case.  She hasn't been much of a daytime napper, but I think that it is time that we get her on a schedule.  I'm a little bummed because it means I must forgo my spin classes and morning outings, but hopefully it will make her a little happier during the day.  So for now, we are on the 9 and 1 nap schedule--so if you are looking for me, I will be at home since I will have about an hour of time to actually get out of the house.

Other than that--we are sick.  Ella has ear infections in both ears and Kiley has one in one ear--a different ear than last time. And I am just trying to keep fighting off whatever the girls keep getting.  So we are home on this rainy Thursday taking it easy and it is now 9--so I am off to lay this little lady down for her nap.

I promise to be a better blogger again.  Man--the end of September and beginning of October got away from me.

Until tomorrow--have a great day!

What we've been up to

Ha--the joke is on me!!!  I wrote the nice blog post about sleep training and guess what has been going on in our house--you're right, NOT SLEEPING!!!  Which made for a REALLY long week when Kevin was out of town last week.  But, we survived and had a fun weekend so now we are ready for a busy week/weekend ahead of us with Ella's baptism next Sunday. 

On Saturday we hit up the pumpkin patch.  It's an hour and a half outside of the city, and it feels like a completely different world.  We got some pumpkins, rode on tractors, rode ponies, petted goats (Kiley and Kevin, not I, I stood outside the fence), ate cinnamon and sugar doughnuts, played with Aunt Abby and Uncle Kerry, and got a lot of fresh air.  All in all, it was a great day.

Sunday, we were up early because again--who needs sleep.  We hit up Target before church.  Then had lunch at home and I went to do a little shopping. After being pregnant for the past two falls, I have absolutely no fall clothes--considering the ones from before being pregnant don't fit so well.  So, I had to go try to stock up.  Man, clothes are expensive.  I am still looking for some basics to mix and match to make up a least a couple of different outfits.  Anyone have any good suggestions.  Then I went to the grocery store, came home took the kids for a walk and to the park, and enjoyed dinner and a little tv. 

So that was our weekend.  Now I am just doing my to do list for the day/week.  It doesn't look pretty especially when I have two screaming kiddos.