Sunday, February 28, 2016

the weekend

holy mother.
i needed this weekend.
i started off friday night leaving straight from
work and heading downtown.
a friend of mine and i had tickets to see Newsies, live.
um... so. freaking. good.
i was singing along to every song and
amazed by their dance numbers.
it took me right back to all our grade school sleepovers.
and personally, i think this is christian bale at his best.
who need batman when you have jack kelley?
 
saturday was beautiful.
the weather was in the 60s and 70s
and that just makes everything better, right?
we pushed brette's naptime so we could have an extra
couples hours out in the sun.
we went furniture shopping and actually
found something we really like:
a new sofa sleeper.
we didn't buy it, but i wouldn't be
surprised if we went back sometime to pick it up. 
then, it was so nice, we took brette to the park.
we might have pushed our luck a little too long because
she was a hot mess for the rest of the day.
way. too. tired.
 
sunday morning we took our time getting around.
once we actually made it out of the house, it was lunchtime,
so we stopped in at mcallister's.
reid ate dill pickles. whaaaa?
she loved them just like brette.
we ran a few errands and then i went back out
to finish up our list while the girls took a nap.
it was nice going into a store solo.
people, you don't realize how good you have it until
your lugging a car seat and a two year old everywhere you go.
enjoy the moment.
by the time i got home, everyone was already up, so
we took brette outside to try her hand at riding a trike.
she sucks.
ronnie and i didn't realize it would take such practice.
but i'm hoping she'll be a pro by this summer.
 
 
 
 
 
it was a nice weekend with just the four of us.
no working on the house,
no plans or parties or events.
just relaxing and enjoying our time together.
loved it.
 


Wednesday, February 24, 2016

girls and pizza

it was another fun pizza night with friends.
this time, at our house.
even better.
no traveling involved.
i ordered a few pizzas and
made some cookies.
i was ready.
and BONUS,
it turned into a fun little
gender reveal party for my bff, kassie.
she wanted to make it a surprise, but nothing big.
her and chris brought over a cheesecake.
strawberry toppings meant girl and
blueberry toppings meant boy.
kassie asked everyone to wear either pink or blue
as a guess to what we thought it was.
we gave ronnie the results and everyone else
went to the front room to wait.
 
STRAWBERRIES!
another little lady on her way.
which means another little best friend for
reid to grow up with.
 
this is such an exciting year.
next month we will welcome another two
little girls into our ever-growing group.
the poor boys are completely outnumbered.
 
i also told them that we are no longer having get
togethers in the winter.
especially after all these new babies are born.
after this summer our pizza nights will have grown to
11 adults and 10 children.
holy mother.
i decided that with that number of people we needed
to be able to throw some of them outside.
just waiting on spring...
 
 
BLUE TEAM
 
PINK TEAM
and yes, that's ronnie's attempt at pink.
 
 
 strawberries!
 
so excited for a girl!
(they're skyping with chris's family in Michigan)


 
it was another real fun night.
i love these people.

 


 
 

Monday, February 22, 2016

reid: seven months

 
you guys, it's the 22nd already.
time is flying.
literally. flying.
and our little miss reid is
s e v e n   m o n t h s  o l d.
summer seems right around the corner
and just like that i'll have a one year old
and a three year old.
i'm looking forward to it.
 
 
now more about reid...
 
growth:
we're actually going to the doctor tomorrow
because she has to get her second round of the flu shot,
but the last time we went she weighed 17 lbs.
i'm interested to see how much she's grown in a month because
ronnie was just saying that he thought she seemed heavier.
i can never tell.
she's right on track for clothing,
wearing a size 6 month or 6-9 month things. 
she's also in a size three diaper.
i have no clue about shoes because i
never put them on her.
shoes at this age are pointless and a pain.
her hair is red and growing exactly opposite of brette's.
B had long hair in the back, like a mullet.
reid had long hair up top and hardly any length around her neck.
it'll be interesting to see if it grows in as
great as brette's did.
her eyes are still a gorgeous blue, thank goodness.
both my babies carry their weight in their
cheeks and thighs.
and yes, reid has an abundance in both those areas.
she's a cute little squishy baby.
 
 
sleeps:
oh geez.
the dang sleeping issues.
she was doing so well.
literally after i wrote last month that i was tired of her getting
up once a night, she stopped.
just like that, she started sleeping through the night.
it was glorious!
it was refreshing!
it. was. short. lived.
she did it for about two weeks.
and then back to the once a night thing again.
and then this week, its even worse.
4 out of the last 5 nights,
she's been up every 2 hours.
i don't nurse her or anything.
i just go in their,
roll her over and pop her pacifier back in and
she'll drift right back off.
but it sucks for me because i'm up
four times a night and i want to kill myself.
actually, i want to kill ronnie who sleeps through the whole thing.
i'm hoping some teeth pop through soon and i
have something concrete to blame this on.
as for naps,
they've gotten so much better.
she is taking at least one 2 hour nap a day
and sometimes she'll even take two.
there are those days where i can't get her to stay asleep,
but most often she stays down.
unfortunately, it almost always her morning nap,
which means i get no break.
i'm with brette while reid sleeps and then
i'm with reid while brette sleeps.
i'm looking forward to having them both down together again.
i live for those few moments every afternoon where
i can just chill for a minute.
 
 
 eats:
i am not as restrictive as i was with brette.
brette's introduction to food was very planned.
she would only have one or two foods a week so
i would know if there were any allergic reactions.
with reid? not so much.
she's had jello, yogurt, carrots, applesauce, bananas,
mashed potatoes, peas, pudding, spinach packet,
zucchini, oranges, green beans.
basically, if we have something soft,
i'll let her try it.
she doesn't seem to be loving much of anything though.
she'll take 4 or 5 great bites and then she's pretty much over it.
i'm assuming her appetite will increase once she's older and
she gets teeth and can actually eat more things.
i'm dying for her to get teeth.
i think it makes things much easier.
she's still exclusively on breastmilk, which is a difference from brette.
brette always had formula at least once a day.
reid is never hungry like brette was and
she would always pass out before i could give her a bottle so
she's never had it.
i'm trying to pump enough to keep up with the demand while
i'm at work, but my stash is getting pretty slim.
we might have to introduce formula before she turns a year
if i can't keep up.
hopefully she likes it okay or we might have a problem.
 
 
plays:
she hates laying down now.
she always wants to be sitting so i've concocted
a few different ways to keep her sitting up without me holding her.
 it frees me up and makes playtime more fun for brette.
she still loves lights and sounds or
anything that crinkles.
and everything goes in her mouth.
everything.
and it drives brette crazy, so i try to
always have something of her own that she can chew on.
brette's not a big fan of slobbery toys.
reid is also a yeller.
she is constantly talking in the loudest voice ever.
its just one long yell over and over.
and yes, brette mimicks her, so that's fun.
i've tried working on her crawling but
she seems to be a long way away from that.
right now she also spends time each day in her
exersaucer and jumper.
she loves that she's not laying down and i love
that i have use of both my arms.
she's also a pacifier girl.
she seems more dependent on it then brette ever did.
i'm worried we might have a harder time breaking her of it
so i've thought of taking it away in the next few months.
i always heard, the younger the better.
she never uses it during the day, but always when she's sleeping.
in fact, she can now find it in her crib and put it
back in her own mouth.
hopefully she outgrows it on her own like brette.
 
 
firsts:
she had her first valentine.
she ate her first foods.
she had her first sleepover without mommy.
 
 



 
 
start from the beginning:
born 
 
 
 
 
 

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

house tour: part four

i'm going to go ahead and apologize.
i feel like my mind is all over the place in this video.
1. i refer to valentine's day as halloween.
2. brette is running around like a crazy girl in the background.
and 3. i don't really talk about the things we've done,
b u t
i'm not reshooting it, so this is as good as it gets right now.
please also excuse the flushing toilet you'll hear.
brette used the bathroom mid-shot. oh geez.
 
i am excited that we actually have complete rooms
done this time around.
the living room, dining room
and kitchen are all done.
that feels good.
we're currently working on the family room and
after that will be the entry way and back bathroom.
i tried to be sneaky and get a quote for a guy to
come in and do the skim-coating on the entry and
bathroom just to get it done fast but
once i laid out the price and the plan to ronnie, he
shut it down.
whatever.  just trying to help.
 
so anyway.
once again, here's our little house tour after
another five months.
 
 
 i get so excited to see the progress.
it's also trippy to go back and see how
much brette has grown and have reid be a part of it.
i hope these girls love growing up in this house.
they better, as much work as its been.
until next time... july.
 
 



 



Sunday, February 14, 2016

happy heart day

(my valentine)
 
 
when ronnie and i got married someone gave me
the book, The Five Love Languages.
have you read it?
i did... like 8 years ago, but it still resonates with me.
my love language?
quality time.
ronnie's love language?
words of affirmation. 
basically, i have to tell him nice things about himself and
he has to hang out with me.
then we're both happy.
so on days like today,
neither one of us are looking for a gift.
thank god, because i did not get him one...
he didn't get me one,
and we couldn't care less.
(ps- "gifts" is one of  the love languages so
this would be a big deal to some.)
instead, we spent the day together.
first, a breakfast date.
it was just the two of us because
my parent's had the girls.
reid had her first sleepover without me so we could go
out for ronnie's sister's 40th birthday.
then, to make things really romantic we came home,
laid in bed and watched the movie,
straight outta compton.
because there's nothing that ronnie likes more
than early 90's ganster rap.
then we met up to get our kiddos back and
spent the rest of the day with them,
cleaning up the house and doing laundry.
happy valentine's day to us.
i know.
we rock.
but you know what?
i got my quality time, so
i'm completely happy.
now i just have to go give ronnie some compliments
and we should be all good.
 
happy valentine's day to you,
however you want to celebrate it.




Wednesday, February 10, 2016

snapday

i said the other day that there is not much to share these days.
so i decided to do 10 second "snaps" of my life.
(a la snap chat)
here was our day.
 
 
miss reid slept all night and didn't get up
until almost 7am.
now if only brette would have slept that late.
 
 
it was cold and i was super sick yesterday
so i still not feeling up to fighting the grocery store.
instead, i used this awesome feature ONLINE GROCERY SHOPPING.
it's a life saver and totally worth the extra fee. (only $2)
 
 
getting ready to run errands and the girls were
playing so adorably together.
 
 
sorry this is sideways. i can't figure out how to turn it.
but once again, brette and reid are playing together.
i can't get enough of this.
 
 
nap was kind of a battle today.
this was 3 in the afternoon and brette just FINALLY
gave in and fell asleep and this was the 3rd time
i put reid down. whew.
 
 
reid after nap.
how cute is she?
not a video but still...
 
 
 and i had them take an early bath
before dinner since ronnie was home to help.
 
 
girls are in bed and ronnie went to the basement
to put together our treadmill.
time for me to start working out again.
and then we got to talking about what we want to throw away.
we're ready to clean this junk out!
 
 
there's my wednesday in videos.
 
 
 
 

Monday, February 8, 2016

super snack

i saw one of those tasty videos on facebook and
i actually tried out the recipe.
i meant to share this over the weekend so
you guys could use it for the super bowl,
buuuut i totally dropped the ball.
instead, just file this away for your next party.
i didn't make it for the super bowl either.
instead, my work had a food day on friday and
it seemed like the perfect recipe to try.
i ended up forgetting to make it so i rushed to the store and
put it together in the kitchen at the bank.
it literally took me 5 minutes.
so easy.
do you like chili cheese dogs?
i don't.
meat topped with meat just isn't my thing
so this wasn't for me,
but ronald loves them.
he's the guy that orders a footlong coney dog at sonic. (gross)
so i wanted to try it out because i thought this would
be something he'd really like.
 
you'll need:
a package of lil' smokies
a package of cream cheese
1 can of hormel chili
1 can of crescent rolls
topped with shredded cheese
 
pop the cream cheese in the microwave to soften.
then mix it up with the hormel chili.
set aside.
take the crescent rolls and wrap your smokies.
place them on a baking sheet in a circle.
pour your chili mix in the middle.
sprinkle with shredded cheese.
bake with crescent rolls instructions.
(375 for 15 mins)
 
wah la - chili cheese dog dip.
 
 
** wanna extra tip?**
my aunt shared this over the holidays.
if you're making pigs in the blanket with hot dogs,
then you can use the regular crescent rolls.
BUT
if you're using little smokies, then you
should buy the crescent ROUNDS.
they are already cut into strips and fit
the smokies better.
all you have to do it cut them and
half and they're perfect!
 



Thursday, February 4, 2016

ho hum

i feel bad for not blogging as much as i used to,
and its not that i'm running around with two girls
and have no free time.
(although, that does count for something.)
but no,
i still get a few free moments in the afternoon and
each night after they go to bed.
but really, i feel like i don't have much to share.
it's winter and we're cooped up a lot.
this week our highlight out of the house was storytime.
besides that, we cleaned, did some laundry, yada yada yada.
not a whole lot.
but here we go, my uninteresting week.
 
1 - we moved the daybed out of the playroom.
we were running out of space and my brother needed it,
so it was a win - win.
now we're in the market for a pull-out couch.
we need something for a guest to sleep on.
we also need another shelving unit to set up brette's "kitchen" properly.
 
2 -  reid is sleeping through the night.
i hesitate to write this because i might jinx myself,
but the day after i complained about her still getting up,
she stopped doing it.
she is now sleeping 7:30 to 6:00, give or take 30 mins.
and then she goes back down until about 7:45.
i'm loving it.
 
3 - ronnie came home wednesday night sick.
he swore he had what i had, only worse.
then he went to the doctor and they told him he didn't have
strep throat or an ear infection or a sinus infection... just a fever.
just goes to show that ronaldo is actually a big pansy.
(or another P word that i will let you fill in)
 
4 - i am obsessed with scandal right now.
does anyone watch it?
a girl at work let me borrow the first couple seasons.
i just finished season 3 and now i'm trying to track down season 4.
(so maybe THIS is why i'm not blogging as much...?)
 
5 - we had a small fire lit under our
ass to start working on the house again.
don't get excited, just a few small projects,
but progress is always a good thing.
i plan on having a complete house update next week.
 
so that's it.
like i said,
not a whole lot.
 
hopefully your lives are much more interesting.
 
 
 

Monday, February 1, 2016

what's next

oh my gosh.
this last week has been crazy.
i've been crazy sick
and crazy busy.
not the best combo.
last weekend i had a baby shower
for my dear friend lindsay.
so fun. and i got to hang out with
all my pregnant friends.
literally, everyone is with child.
 
 

 
but that night i was up almost all night
long with a killer sore throat and congestion.
i made ronald take me to urgent care the next morning since it was a sunday.
i had a double ear infection and strep throat.
sa-weet.
that was followed up with headaches from hell.
it was definitely a loooong couple days.
my mom and dad came up to help me,
because for real, i'm not sure i could have "parented"
for a whole day straight.
even now, 8 days later, and i'm still
not back to 100%.
lets just say we spent the majority of last week in our jammies.
 


 
and even though i wasn't on the top of my game,
i felt much better by the week's end, so
we headed over to dana's on thursday for our monthly pizza night.
the kids get to run around and eat cookies and
i get to hang out with my friends.
its a win-win.

 
i worked all day friday.
then i had my second baby shower on saturday morning, this time for jana.
it's such a nice treat to meet all my besties for breakfast on the plaza.
for real, i need more of that in my life.

 
 
 
saturday night we had my work holiday party.
the food was delicious.
seriously, i dominated dinner.
and sunday i got up and headed to st. louis to
visit margie and her brand new baby GIRL, clara sue!
(marge is a mother of two boys so this little girl was a complete surprise and
i'm not kidding when i say everyone is completely dying over her.)
 


 
now here i am,
another monday night.
we just got done with family dinner and
i am worn out.
this week should go at a much slower pace.
i need it.
 
 
now excuse me,
i'm going to go lay in bed and watch scandal.