What a day.

Yesterday was Presidents' Day so Shane had the day off.  We decided to do something fun as a family.  We had heard about this place called Jump N Play where they have the blow up jump houses and other fun things for the girls to play on so we decided to take them there.  We walked in and it wasn't too crowded so we thought we had made a good choice.  The girls immediately wanted to start playing.  They ran over, got in the bounce house, and  were jumping, jumping, jumping! 

After a little while, everyone was hungry.  We ordered some food and while we were waiting the girls continued to play.  Shane sat at a table to wait for our food so that we didn't lose a spot to sit.  This is where our day got interesting. 
While Shane was sitting, this mother came over and asked if her 2 little boys could sit there while she ordered food.  Shane said, "No problem."  As soon as the mother walked away, the older of the 2 boys (about 5 years old) starting punching his younger brother (2).  The mother finally came over and picked up the younger boy and brought him over to the food counter with her.
About this time, I came to sit down.  As I sat down, I could immediately smell this little boy.  He smelled of feces and urine.  He was pounding on the table with his fists screaming.  Shane and I kept looking at eachother, trying not to stare at the boy, but of course, Addie and Annabelle were staring and pointing.  He then starting putting his hands in his sleeves and smacking people with it as they walked by.  The mother, from time to time, would come over and say "Stop it Michael."  Then he started spitting across the table at Addison.  That's when I couldn't take it anymore.  I looked at Shane and said "Let's move..NOW." 

We moved over to the table next to the little boy.  The boy continued with the behaviors, screaming, pounding, and spitting.  Annabelle kept pointing at him saying "Mom, that boy goes AHH!  That's not nice."  I just wanted to look at that mom and say "Figure it out lady." 

So after we switched tables, we finally got our food.  We are sitting there eating and Annabelle looks at me and says, "I don't feel good."  Right as I am asking her what hurts, she vomits all over the table and herself.  Great!  We got cleaned up and left.  I felt so bad for Annabelle.  When we got home she just layed on the couch and didn't move...a very rare occassion for a 2 year old.  I took her temperature and it was 101.  I turned on Dora, gave her some 7 up and she ended up falling asleep.

After all that comotion, we finally let Chloe out of her cage.  We noticed little spots of blood on the floor.  We thought maybe she had gotten into something so we checked her over looking for any scrapes or sores.  Nothing.  So of course, we put 2 and 2 together....she is in HEAT!  Awesome.  Shane goes to PetsMart to get her some "diapers."  He got the biggest size they make, brought them home, try to put them on, and of course, they are too small.  So, me, being my crafty self, get an old pillow case.  Shane cuts out a hole for the tail and we duck tape it around her.  She looked like a Jedi Knight, but hey, it worked! 

Oh What a Day!  I'm so glad it is overwith.  Hopefully today will be much better.  Happy Tuesday!

2 Girls 1 Room

Sorry I have been M.I.A.  For the last, well almost 2 weeks, I have been working on a major project in our house, moving the girls into the same bedroom.  We have been comtemplating this move for a while, but have been putting it off.  So, the other day when Shane came home from work I was looking at furniture on the internet.  There was a storage bed that I really liked on the JCPenny website.  Shane was sure he could build 2 beds for half the price that Pennys was asking.  That night, we went to Menards and priced everything out.  He was right, we could do it for about half the price of those other beds, but he would have to spend a whole day on each bed putting them together.  The next day, Shane was talking to his mom and she said that she got her storage bed at Big Lots.  We hadn't checked there yet, so we got online and sure enough, they had twin sized storage beds for $99.  Ding, Ding, Ding!  We have a winner!  Although I'm pretty sure I shattered Shane's dreams of building the girls' beds with his bare hands, this seems to be the most logical and cost effective choice for us!  We sold Addie's old bedroom suit on Craig's List and bought new furniture, bedding, and paint for the room.  I spent the majority of last week painting...changing the room from purple with white polka dots to green with a pink stripe.  It actually turned out pretty good!

pink and green!

 Owls!

Cute Lamp!

Once Shane got all the furniture together and in place, I put the vinyl up on the walls. 

And, then today, since it is so nasty out with the ice storm, we decided to upholster our own headboards for the girls' beds.  I think they turned out really cute! 



I know it would look much better if their beds were made, but this is as good as it gets for now!

Annabelle has slept in her "big girl" bed for the past 2 nights now.  The first night was a little rough.  She got in and out of bed about 6 times until I finally threatened that she would just go back to her crib.  She kept talking to Addie and Addie was getting mad (which was kind of funny considering Addie is usually the talker).  I told Addison to roll over and pretend she was asleep.  I stood by the door and listened as Annabelle first quietly saying "Addie, Addie" and then it quickly turned in to a yell "ADDIE!"  Addison still didn't say anything and after a couple minutes all was quiet.  Yesterday, Annabelle went right to bed and fell right asleep.

This afternoon was the first time I had to put her down for a nap in there.  It was challenging but after several trips of Shane and I going in for kisses and hugs, she fell asleep.  I hope that tonight is much smoother!  Take another look at the full view of the girls' new room.  I still have some decorating to do, but I think it is looking really cute!

Have a great Tuesday and be safe in this nasty weather we are supposed to be getting.  Hopefully, we will still have power!



Rotten to the Core

I've been trying to get back into my workout and eating-right routine in the last couple weeks.  The holidays really did a number on me and I feel so much better when I am exercising and eating healthy. With that said, I talked my friend Amanda into trying Pilates with me.  I have never done Pilates before and I have really been wanting to work on my core muscles and know that Pilates focuses on the core. 
So, yesterday Amanda and I walk into this Pilates class.  There are about 5 other people sitting on their mats on the floor barefoot.  Amanda and I look at eachother, go get our mats and sit on the floor to take our shoes and socks off (WEIRD!)  We informed the instructor that we had never done this before she she proceeds to take out this binder of Pilates "notes" and reads them aloud to us.  She was saying something about pressing your lower  back to the floor and imprinting as you roll down, I really had no idea what the heck she was talking about.  So we start our warm up and I knew from that point I was in for it.  I had gotten myself (and Amanda) into something I was not prepared for!  The instructor was doing all this moves that I didn't even know your body could do...

And while this was all going on, this is what I was doing...

After Pilates, I had to get on the Elliptical machine so I could get my workout in for the day.  I didn't think laying on a mat for 30 minutes out of the 45 minutes probably constituted a workout.  Needless to say, I will not be going to Pilates again..

New Years Eve 2010

We had our 2nd Annual New Years Eve Party last night.  We are a big game playing family, so of course, we spend the majority of the night playing games.  The highlight of the night was Catch Phrase.  If you haven't played this game, I am going to give you a little taste of what it is like.  I am going to give you the Top 5 STUPIDEST/FUNNIEST clues from last night and I want you to see if you can figure out what I am talking about....

5.  "The state next to us, Ohio"
4.  "Kettle, Stove"
3. (Jim clapping his hands)  "Johnny"
2.  "It takes"
1.  "Oh, I really like these.  When a girl has big Ds and then you win something"













5.  Bravo TV Network
4.  Cincinnati Reds
3.  Bottled Water (I really have no idea what a kettle or a stove has to do with this?)
2.  Two to Tango
1.  Boobie Prize

I wish you could have seen Doc's face when he got the words Boobie Prize.  His face just lit up and his eyes got really big and the first thing that came out of his mouth was "OH!  I REALLY LIKE THESE!"  So he is giving us all these clues (See Above) about "girls having big Ds" and "winning something" and everyone is looking around like "What the heck is he talking about" and all the while, the beeping from the game is getting faster and faster. Then Norm (my 80 year old grandpa) pipes up out of nowhere "BOOBIE PRIZE!"  I could have died!  I have never heard anything so funny!  I can't think of a better ending to 2010 than to hear my grandpa yell out BOOBIE PRIZE.  Come on 2011, can you top that?

Santa Claus is Coming to Town...

Addie and Belle both woke up last night vomiting.  So, Shane and I spent our Christmas Eve today bleaching and lysoling the house, keeping our fingers crossed that neither one of us will end up with it.  I am so anal about getting sick.  I swear I followed the girls around all day with handsanitizer and lysol.  Everytime they ate something I made them wash their hands afterwards.  Everytime they opened a door or touched the counter, I was behind them to spray with the lysol.  In fact, my hands are red and a little swollen from having them in bleach water for most of the day.  So needless to say, our Christmas Eve wasn't exactly relaxing and stress-free...until tonight.
Remember when you were a little kid on Christmas Eve and your parents told you it was bedtime.  You got all snuggled in your bed and just laid there, listening, and anticipating the morning.  There was no way you were going to sleep.
I feel the same way now, as a parent, but instead of anticipating Santa's arrival, I AM Santa!  I could not wait for my girls to go to bed tonight so I could drag all of their gifts out of the car (yes, they've been in the trunk of the car for the past month) and start wrapping and setting up their huge Christmas morning display.  In fact, I might be more excited to be Santa than to actually get gifts from Santa.  There is nothing better than on Christmas morning seeing your children's faces as they gauck at all the "stuff" Santa has brought them.
Although it is not always about receiving, and I had a very proud moment when I overheard Addie talking to Shane this morning.  Shane asked Addie, "Are you going to be upset if Santa doesn't bring you everything you asked for?"  Addie replied, "No."  Shane said, "That was a good answer."  Addie then looked at him and said, "Well, that's the spirit of Christmas, Dad."

Check out the girls' Christmas morning surprises!  I can't wait for them to get up already!

Even Chloe got in on the Christmas surprises!

Merry Christmas to All and to All a Goodnight!

"Stinky" Leg

Okay, so let me paint this picture for you.  Shane, Addison, Annabelle, and I are all laying on our bed in Shane and I's bedroom the other evening.  Annabelle stands up and starts jumping around on the bed.  She was looking mighty fine too, dressed in nothing but her diaper and her Ugg boots...

Then, out of nowhere Annabelle starts singing..

"Do the "stinky" leg, do the "stinky" leg, do the "stinky" leg..."
"NOW STOP!" (This said with a little hip actions too)
"Do the "stinky" leg, do the "stinky" leg, do the "stinky" leg."

As she is singing, she is moving her leg around and around.

Shane and I could not stop laughing.  I was basically in tears I was laughing so hard.  I tried to get her to do it again so I could record her, but she would not do it..

Here is a clip of the real song, so you can REALLY appreciate how funny this was.  And, just for the record, the song is called Stanky Leg!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewufRwrayTI

Extreme Sugar High

So tonight was the night that we decided to make Christmas cookies.  This is the first year that Annabelle has participated, as last year, she was too young.  Of course, Addie was all about helping.  She dug her hands in the flour, rolled out the dough and of course used the cookies cutters to create the Christmas trees, stars, snowmen, ect.

I guess I just had too high of expectations for Annabelle.  I thought she would be all about getting in the flour and rolling the dough, but she wanted NO part of it.  Every time she got a tiny dot of flour on her she screamed!  She was way too busy shaking the jars of sprinkles and putting the food coloring in and out of the boxes. 

 On the otherhand, once the all the cookies were baked and cooled down, she did get somewhat excited about decorating.  She didn't really care for the icing, same thing as the flour, everytime it got on her she screamed...well that's until she figured out that if the icing got on her she could just eat it.  Then, it was okay!  But, she was ALL ABOUT the SPRINKLES!  She shook those containers to her hearts content.  And, if she would get too much  (which was on ALL of them), she would yell "WHOOO!"  

Tomorrow we are doing Christmas with my immediate family because my parents are leaving for a cruise next weekend which goes until after Christmas Day (I know, right?)  So, we may be on an EXTREME sugar high after all the icing and sprinkles on the cookies!  That's okay though.  I love starting these traditions with my girls...even if it means that my cookies are a little extra crunchy!