Thursday, June 16, 2011

Challenging week

I hate to be negative, but I have to say that this week has been very challenging.  Not only am I exhausted from the last few days, but I'm stressing out over the next couple of days.  First Gwen was sick, then CC was sick, and then another morning came and they both had a fever.  I couldn't go into work AT ALL this week.  And it isn't like it was a nice little vacation.  Being home with a sick kid or (shutter) two sick kids is like the exact opposite of a vacation.

This week has been filled with whiny kids, temper tantrums, multiple doctors appointments, fruitless efforts at trying to get work done while one or both kids try to get my attention, frustration over not being able to get the housework finished, exhaustion at the thought of trying to get everything done AND work on the party decorations for Saturday, and lets not forget stress related to the party in general.

This week I have been over worked, over tired and over stressed.  I feel like I'm being pulled in a million directions.  I want to take care of the girls and I want to work on the decorations for the party.  I don't want to do housework, but I know that it needs to be done.  I don't want to do work, but I need to get paid.  Multi tasking has always been my strong suit, so that helps, but now I can barely think straight just because of all the craziness this week.

I've also had a bit of bad luck this week.  Let's see . . . one of Gwen's hearing aids got lost; I lost my personal debit card and the debit card for our bills account along with our Costco card; an automatic payment for the IRS came out of our account even though we already paid them off with our last tax refund and that little IRS charge put us into over draft; and I discovered that we were out of pull ups just as I was about to dress CC for bed (she sleeps in pullups but wears underwear during the day).

So yeah, that is what my week has been like. How about you?

"I wanna go to New Jersey"

This is what I heard over and over again for days and weeks leading up to our trip to New Jersey, "I wanna go to New Jersey" and "We goin to New Jersey?".  We were going to visit family and friends and I wanted to get the girls excited about it.  We decided we were going to drive and with that meaning a minimum 14 hour car ride, that was a BIG deal and I wanted to start the girls off on the right foot.  Driving 14+ hours with two children under two . . . crazy, you say??  Yes, maybe.  But, airfare for four would break the bank and we hadn't been back to NJ since we moved almost a year ago.  So, a road trip was in our future one way or the other.

In no uncertain terms, the trip was awesome.  We successfully drove back and forth along the East Coast without losing a child or losing our minds.  The girls got to experience lots of new things, got to see lots of close family members, Nik and I got a couple of nights out, we got to visit a bunch of friends and we all had a nice vacation.  I was exhausted when I got home, but I guess I can still call it a vacation since we were away from home and didn't go into work (although I did have to put in a decent amount of hours in via my work laptop).

From driveway back to driveway, we spent 8 days away from home.  To give a detailed description of our entire trip would be way to tedious and probably boring for all of you following along.  So, I'll try to highlight some points of interest.

-Both girls got sick at some point.  This made it difficult (if not impossible) to visit all of the new babies that have been born recently.  We really wanted to see all of our friends, but in some cases it just didn't work out.  We couldn't risk getting the newborns sick.

-We took the girls to Six Flags and the Safari.  They loved it!!  Gwen really enjoyed watching all of the animals and went on a bunch of rides.

-Gwen stood up on her own for the first time, put her hands in the air and screamed in excitement!  Then when everyone went crazy getting all excited, she did it over and over again.  Unfortunately Mommy and Daddy were not around to witness it :-(

-I had my first trip to Belmar, NJ (totally over-due).  We went to Bar-A which is a really cool place.

-Thought we might go to A.C., but nope.  Next time though.

-My Step Dad who had just come home from the hospital after surgery was in great spirits.  He was able to participate in almost all of the fun filled activities during our visit and I don't think having my girls stay in the same house as him distracted him too much from getting his rest.  We were all really impressed with how well his recovery has been going.

-Went to the beach and boardwalk. Christina tolerates the sand now but still won't go anywhere near the ocean. Gwen loved everything and spent at least an hour playing in the sand.

-Auntie Rachel painted Christina's toenails with "sprinkles". She had been looking forward to having her toe nails painted again and loves to show off her "sprinkles".

-I lost one of my contacts. An hour later, Gwen hands me something and wouldn't you know, it was my contact! She wasn't even in the room with me when I lost it.


-We got to go to Danah's (best friend fron high school) surprise 30th birthday! We had to leave early, but still had a great time.

-We got to visit CC's old daycare, her old teachers and her old friends . . . CC didn't remember a thing! Even though her picture is still up on the wall of the infant room, Christina said she didn't remember anything about the place. Her teacher of two years was very sad that CC didn't remember her. Ms. Shamo really loved her and was very very excited when we walked in the door. Christina was a little scared that some "stranger" wanted to hold and cuddle her. I wish Christina could remember, but either way, it was cool to visit.

-Christina became more attached to Auntie Mackenzie (13 yrs old) and Uncle Alex (10 yrs old). It was cute. She kept asking where they were when they weren't with us.

-We almost got to see one of Auntie Mackenzie's soft ball games. Too bad the other team didn't show up.


-We figured out that Christina is officially scared of everything:  the ocean (screaming, shaking, desperately reasoning with us to take her away from the unbearably awful ocean), buffalo (the first animal she saw at the Safari  . . . she screamed and literally JUMPED into the backseat of the car), "scary" rides at Six Flags (this consisted of the tea cups and basically anything that was not the train or merry go round).  These new additions can be added to her other fears such as:  tunnels (like when we drive under an over pass), parking garages, people dressed in elaborate costumes (like a mascot, mickey mouse, etc), plastic animal shaped floatation devices, and the vacume (only when someone else is using it).  She is no longer afraid of falling in the potty though, so that is good.

-Some of CC's catch phrases for the trip: 
  -"Let's talk about the animals, I want to talk about the animals"
  -After going to the bathroom "I did a two piece!"
  -"I'm drinking my beer" as she held a baby wipe up to her mouth
  -She came running over to me with her arms in the air and announced, "I put yogurt on my arms!" (Daddy's deodorant)
  -"I'm shaking my booty." Christina even got up from the table at Jenks, just so that she could dance to the band while everyone else ate.
  -Grabbed my Mom's face and said "Do you hear me??" LOL  I guess I do that to her and that is where she got it from.
  -"I'm mad at you!" and when we ask why . . "because you spilled my beer!"

Let's see, what else did we do . . .  .
Family BBQ's, trips to Dads and Niks parents, stayed at Moms, visited old office and saw coworkers, had lunch with a great friend who I use to have lunch with all of the time during the work week, Bayonne bar hopping with long time friends .  . .

Ok, ok, I'm done for now.  Pictures to follow at some point .  . .

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Countdown to Gwen's First Birthday*

Gwen's first birthday is on Saturday.  I've been planning her party for a couple of months now.  As you may remember, we are doing an Alice in Wonderland theme.  I have put a lot of work into planning the party and making some of the decorations.  Take a sneak peak at what I have been up to:










I have lots of other ideas, but I'm not sure if I will get to them all.  I will make sure to take pictures the day of the party of course, but just in case I forget something, I'm trying to take pictures of everything as I make it.

Gwen has been sick for a few days, but luckily she is all better.  Now CC is sick, but I know she'll be just fine for the party.  3 more days until my baby is a year old!!!

And for a little fun, here are some memorable quotes from the original Alice in Wonderland (some I am incorporating into the party and some I am not). . .

"If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary-wise; what it is it wouldn't be, and what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?"

"Read the directions and directly you will be directed in the right direction."

"Curiouser and curiouser"

"Better read it first, for if one drinks much from a bottle marked "Poison", it's almost certain to disagree with one sooner or later."

"I'm afraid I can't explain myself, you see, because I'm not myself, you know."

"When I get home I shall write a book about this place... If I ever do get home."

"Of all the silly nonsense, this is the stupidest tea party I've ever been to in all my life."



*updated