ready, set, holidays!

we've been busy.

here's the rundown.

we had family pictures taken the sunday before thanksgiving.

it was a last minute thing that i had been meaning to do 

since reid turned one in july.

i guess a christmas card looming over my head finally

gave me the motivation i needed.

it was chilly, but sunny and right at sunset.

it made for gorgeous photos.

i've only seen these three, but i'll get the rest of them

in a week or two.

i can't wait.

thanksgiving was easy, which is so nice to say.

we made our way to my parent's house late morning

and hung around all day eating, drinking and 

catching up with family.

i actually had the girls looking super cute, but

5 minutes after arrive at mimi's brette had on 

dress-up play clothes and we didn't even get a picture together.

wah wah.

and then finally today.

my bff, kass, called and asked if we would meet them

downtown kansas city at union station so i could 

take pictures of her family for their christmas card.

we had nothing going on and it sounded like such a fun

thing to do for the holidays - so  we packed up the girls

and headed out.

we walked around union station and took lots of fun pictures.

then we took the sky link over to crown center.

they had a gingerbread santa house and somehow

we got there early and santa was already on duty.

we walked right in and got our picture taken.

no line.

best. thing. ever.

although, reid didn't think so.

she was scared of poor ol' santa.

but i had to do it.

i needed the photo. 

after, i talked everyone into having lunch at frisco's.

i had never been, but i knew a little train delivered

your food so i thought the girls would love it.

and they did.

they thought it was so cool.

unfortunately the food the train brought was 

not very good.

live and learn.

choo choo.

we had such a fun day and

decided we want to do it every year.

i just love the holidays.

they're busy and crazy and fun.

just the way i like it.

thanksgiving prep

and just like that,

we're two days away from thanksgiving and

then the holidays will be in full swing. 

we're heading down to my parent's on thursday so 

it's nice not to have to pack to stay or madly start

preparing my house for guests.

i'm taking corn and baking a pecan pie and that

basically completes my list of to-do's.

i love easy holidays.

brette, reid and my parents actually already had one

thanksgiving dinner at brette's school.

of course it was the week i had to work and no one

could come in to help cover, so i had to miss it.

my parents were impressed and brette looked so cute.

i'm already looking forward to next year, so

i can see it for myself.

THIS is why i'm a stay-at-home mom, so it

feels like really bad luck that i missed it.

(notice on brette's headdress it lists what she's thankful for? 

apples and ice cream! who knew.)

and another little fun thing, right before thanksgiving,

we had some house guests for one night last weekend.

margie and todd drove in for a chiefs game and

stayed with us.

we met up with shannon and drew the next day for brunch

and tried to get in as much conversation as possible before

marge had to leave.

but luckily, she'll be back in a month to visit the new glover baby,

who is only 3 weeks away from arrival.

it's going to be a fun december.

i need to start decorating and shopping and baking,

but i'm not starting any of that until next weekend.

black friday, here i come!

have a wonderful thanksgiving!

i hope you eat a ton.

so are the days of our lives

i have been working all week long.

working, as in:

three 10 hour days.

two 8 hour days.

and of course, its my saturday to work too.

tack on another 4 hours.

f i f t y  h o u r s.

i haven't worked a full week in 

probably three years, let alone 

more than forty hours.

i'm tired.

brette's been sleeping like shit.

(i want to pull my hair out.)

i've been getting up by 5:30 and

i'm not back home until after 6:00.

i'm over it and i can't wait for

next week when things are back to normal.

you want to know the worst part?

it's hasn't even been that hard.

my parents stayed up here to watch 

the girls since i don't have full-time childcare, so

it's not like i've been running the kids around

and trying to figure out dinners.

THAT would have made things 800 times worse.

and it makes me extra appreciative of

the last three years i've had at home.

i can't imagine trying to work full time

eight weeks after having a baby. 

it's hard enough to leave my three year old and

one year old as it is.

i guess i like my kids after all.

sometimes i forget that.

okay, i'm off to bed. 

tomorrow is another 10 hour day.

blah. 

where the wind comes sweeping down the plain

holy lord.

it's half way through november and

i've posted once.

we've been a little busy around here

with reid being sick, working extra hours

and going on a quick getaway to oklahoma.

that's right.

we packed up our things, picked up the

turnbow's and headed out west.

kind of.

we headed to pawhuska to see the pioneer woman's

new store, the mercantile.

it was so fun to get out of town, even if it's just for a night.

we decided to all ride together, because we decided 

the amount of fun you have

on a road trip directly correlates with 

the number of people you have in a car.

(we learned quickly this is not true when almost

half the people in the car are children.)

not that i could say one bad word about willa, linsday and

turnbow's little girl,

she's only 8 months old and goes back and forth between 

sleeping or cooing in her car seat.

meanwhile, my two hooligans in the back are screaming

like a bunch of banshees.

begging for food, drinks, movies and acting

like they've never ridden in a car before.

we arrived in bartlesville at 9:45, not a moment too soon.

 thankfully even reid had given in by then.

brette however, was still partying in the backseat.

she whined or watched youtube clips of 

the Troll movie the whole way there.

sweet. 

thankfully, both my girls passed out pretty much as soon as they

hit the pillow and we made it until about 5:30 the next

morning before they started stirring again.

a whole TWO HOURS earlier than i anticipated.

those mother effers.

we started our day early and were showered, dressed,

ready and repacked before 8am.

turnbow's had a rough night.

they didn't have a pack-n-play for willa and she

was not happy sleeping in a big girl bed.

they spent most of the night walking her around

the room and getting her settled.

we made for a cheery bunch.

breakfast helped.

we found a little diner on our way to pawhuska and

after biscuits and gravy, pancakes, eggs and coffee,

everyone felt better.

the sun was out, it was a brisk fall morning and we had arrived!

we knew there would be a line to get in, so the boys dropped

us off and went to find parking while linds and i got our spot on the sidewalk.

i think the waiting went really fast.

i was busy chasing reid and taking pictures.

oh and i won a free plate because i answered 

a pioneer woman trivia question correctly.

(a little something they do to keep guests happy while waiting outside.)

i. am. awesome.

i know we were in the door in under an hour.

of course, this line just accessed the bakery and general store.

if you wanted in the restaurant, that was another line and

it was over a three hour wait.

i just couldn't do that to my girls.

they would have had meltdowns.

i couldn't BELIEVE we were visiting the pioneer woman's store

and not eating.

it seems sacrilegious. 

(linds and i have decided a second trip is in order: girls only and no children.

we'll have all the time in the world to stand in line, because if you're going to go

visit the pioneer woman, your should at least let her feed you.)

but the general store was cool.

filled with stuff that i would love to have, but didn't buy.

i did pick up her book, a tshirt and a bassett hound puppy for reid.

if you're familiar with ree, then you know her love for bassett hounds.

while we were shopping we saw her daughter, paige, walk through the store.

it was like linds and i had seen a celebrity.

we get excited easily.

after shopping we went upstairs to let the girls run free for a bit.

we scored seats on some amazing leather furniture and i spotted

another pioneer friend, hyacinth - - which a creepily took a picture of from afar.

i was feeling pretty good about seeing TWO of them,

when out walked her oldest son, bryce.

i guess this is a small town where they all just hang out with 

each other and 300 admirers.

AND THEN REE WALKED OUT.

there is no guarantee that you'll get to see anyone.

let alone, the actual pioneer woman.

since we were literally right there by her, i hopped up and

joined the line that was forming to say hello.

she signed my book, met my little redhead, took a picture and 

my trip to pawhuska was complete.

(ps- i did not tell her my daughter's name was reid. all of sudden i realized introducing my redheaded baby named reid, to a celebrity redhead named ree made me look like a crazy stalker.)

oh and her youngest son came out to say hello while i was waiting to see her.

so now i pretty much know the whole family.

bff's for sure.

we decided to head out to get some lunch and start making our way

back to kansas city.

our gps said we would arrive around 5:00.

oh god, i prayed these girls would sleep.

but no, we never got all three down at one time and

by the time we hit olathe, reid had enough.

four hours in a car seat after doing it the day before was too much.

my poor baby barely made it back to lee's summit.

i felt horrible for her and i felt bad for everyone in the car that

had to live through that.

i was happy to be home and learned a valuable 

lesson about traveling with one year olds:

never do it.

they're not babies anymore where they can just go to sleep and

they're not old enough to color or play games or watch a movie.

all they want to do it get up.

so miserable. 

but honestly, besides a few tense moments in the car,

we had a lovely time and i'd do it again in a heartbeat.

the ups and downs with reid

a little ditty on reid.

first, the good news.

she said "mama!"

oh yeah.

of course it was AFTER she said:

dada

louie

leia

brette

baby

drink

book

and 

ROCK.

who says rock before mama?

ridiculous.

but i love it when babies start to pick up

on the language.

it's this magical time where they can talk,

but not talk back.

i'm telling you, i really really love it.

and i kinda wish it stayed like this forever.

all too soon they are a never ending chatter box

filled with so many words and questions, you 

wonder why you thought it was so important to teach

them these things at all.

oh hey, brette.

and the second update on reid,

the one that is not so good.

as you know she had been running a temp

since sunday and i was blaming it all on her teeth.

then she sprouted a "pimple" on her chin

monday night.

hmmmm,

by wednesday morning she has another one and 

i noticed a few on her tongue.

real freaking great.

i called the pediatrician and they got us in that afternoon.

Hand, Foot and Mouth disease.

yep, this disgusting virus has hit reid hard.

she had five days of fever (which is now thankfully gone)

she has been sleeping two naps a day along with 13-14 hour nights.

and she has five blisters on her chin, a few on her tongue and two in her throat.

my poor baby.

thankfully, she has not had any on her hands or her feet and

i'm just hoping we can contain this and get it cleared up fast.

the doctor said it can last up to two weeks, but once her fevers is

gone then she's no longer contagious. 

i've been super freak about brette and our house.

i've been disinfecting and cleaning everything.

brette has either been in school or at my parents to try

to help her avoid catching the same thing.

so far, no one else shows any signs.

(this is tuesday night, just one blister on her chin)

(this morning, she has seven on her lips and chin)

my poor little chicken looks and feels rough,

but i'm hoping she's going to turn a corner this weekend.

halloween

halloween is one of my favorite holidays now that

 i have small children to make it fun again.

brette told me she was going to be Buzz Lightyear, literally

since last halloween when she saw someone else with the costume.

she brought it up all year long...

december? march? july? 

she always said: buzz for halloween!

i had it all worked out. 

brette would be buzz and reid would be jessie, another lovable redhead.

perfect.

until sometime in september when brette changed her

mind and decided she'd rather be a ballerina.

then she wanted to be a super hero ballerina.

and then back to plain ballerina.

i told her once i bought her costume, that was it.

no changes.

and then she went and picked out a gymnastics outfit, but

still called herself a ballerina.

we just went with it.

whatever makes her happy.

i picked up a traditional ballerina leotard for reid,

along with some flower crowns and legwarmers and

called it a finished.

on saturday morning we went downtown lee's summit where

they have a costume parade and contest.

all the local shops give out candy and the streets are shut down,

so it's totally safe and super sweet to see all the littles in costume.

we didn't go last year since reid AND brette were still so young,

but i'm pretty sure this will be an annual event.

my parents dropped brette off to me at work around 10am so i could take her 

to school for an hour for their halloween party.

even though brette isn't normally at school on mondays, i still 

wanted her to get to go to her party.

i was sweating balls, but i think the kids had fun.

AND i might have had to regulate on some kid that

gave brette a dirty look and took her pumpkin.

um, no.

oh and i was the only mother in costume.

awesome.

but besides that - totally fun.

halloween fell on a monday, one of the two days i have to work,

so of course, i missed out on getting the girls dressed, which i hate.

 but after work, i met my parents and ronnie with the girls at my 

brother's old neighborhood.

i've never seen another neighborhood do such a good job

with making halloween awesome.

EVERYONE decorates.

and not just a pumpkin and a mum on their front porch (like me)

but there are lights, gravestones, ghosts, fire sticks, spiderwebs.

it's so cool and so kid friendly.

reid has been running a temperature for the last few days 

because of teething, so i was worried she'd hate life, but 

she actually did a great job of walking

around and keeping up with brette that went door to door.

and i was so surprised by brette! 

since she didn't have madeline and eden with her this year, 

i thought she might be too scared to go up to people, but

she was loud and proud with her "trick or treat!" and "thank you!"

i mean, someone still had to go with her, but 

at least she did her own talking.

once it started getting dark, we hit the road.

a three year old only needs so much candy (and her mom too).

which, yes, we ate for breakfast.

i'm excited to see what brette and reid will pick out for next year!

i'm already pumped.

hope you had a happy halloween!

i'm here to pump, you up.

 

i started a new workout program.

i know.

it's been awhile.

like maybe years?

oh sure, i diet all the time,

but actually getting up and doing

some exercise?

well, like i said, it's been awhile.

this might not be accurate, but the last time

i remember working out consistently was when

i brought the treadmill upstairs in my old house

because i was pregnant with brette.

let me repeat: PREGNANT WITH BRETTE.

four years ago.

 

but my friend, marge, told me about this cool

thing she's been doing for awhile now through facebook.

(which means, yes, you can do it too!)

it's called 2 Fit to Quit, and it's a closed group so

if you actually want to join me in this little endeavor,

let me know and i can add you.

here's how it works:

you pay $30.

$20 goes in the pot and $10 goes toward administrative fees.

and then you make a commitment to

workout 30 minutes a day for an allotted term.

the last round they did was 60 days.

the one we're currently on is 75 days.

in this specific round, we get 8 rest days of our choosing

and all holidays off including black friday.

everyday you log into facebook and post proof of your workout.

you have to take a picture of your FitBit, or treadmill screen,

or workout video - - just something that proves you

worked out for 30 minutes.

along with that you also  

have to take a "sweaty selfie."

if you take more than 8 days of rest, then you

forfeit the money you paid in.

at the end, the ladies that make it all

the way through split the money in the pot.

the last round they had 140 ladies sign up and
88 challengers that completed all 60 days.
the total $$ in the pot was $2800, so the 88 ladies each

got $31.80 back.
so it's not like you're winning big money, but if you

stick to it then it pays for itself.

 

i've really enjoyed it so far because you can get some

good work out ideas and its so motivating.

i don't want to be that person that can't make it.

plus it forces me to think about my day and figure out

a way to get 30 minutes of free time to exercise.

it sounds easy, but honestly, finding 30 minutes with no kids is hard.

just today i managed to get 15 minutes on the treadmill before

they woke up and i did a 20 minute arm exercise off youtube while

the girls crawled all over me.

luckily, most days i can get it done during nap, but on

mondays and fridays is gets tricky.

this also started the week i lived with my parent's so

one day i had to go to the community center and

the other two days i drove up to lee's summit to get on the treadmill.

(i was there for other reasons too, but still...)

 

so yeah, i'm excited.

i'll let you know if i make it.

the 75 days are over on new year's eve.

hopefully, i can see some real results in time to ring in the new year.

and for those of you that want in on the next round,

you'll have to wait until 2017, but honestly,

i think you should do it.

come join me and marge, my already skinny friend who still insists on working out.