Staying Afloat

A while back, I told Laura that I did not wear shoes when I got married.  Instead, I just went barefoot.  Tonight in the car on the way to Hudson, she brought this up again.  She then elaborated on it.  “Mommy, you need to get white shoes to match your dress.  Then you need to get married again with shoes that match.”  Apparently to her my wedding didn’t quite cut it since I was barefoot.

I love my wedding.  I loved being barefoot (feet killed me the next day, but that’s besides the point).  It is something fun that I remember from that day, other than being so hot.  I find it amusing how Laura views it.

I took the kids to the library this morning.  It was the first time I had taken Warren.  Laura hadn’t been there in a long time.  The last time I took her she threw a fit because she couldn’t stay and play with the toys.  This time went much better.  We made it for LEGO club today.  Even though we had never gone before, Michelle (librarian) welcomed us in.  Laura had a blast building with the LEGOS and games.  She and Warren both loved the snacks (wafer cookies).  After LEGO club was over, we picked out some books.  I think Laura was a bit overwhelmed with how many books there were.  I did the picking for her this time.  Hopefully when we go back she will do more choosing for her self.  We picked out 4 books and 2 movies.

This afternoon was amazingly quiet around here.  Both kids went down for nap at 1:15.  Warren got up at 4:45 while I woke Laura up at 5:10.  We’ve had a nice quiet evening together as a family.  Time to eat some dinner. 

The kids were begging to go outside this morning.  It was starting to warm up quickly.  I decided to pull out the sprinkler.  Laura loved it.  I was a bit surprised that she would.  She didn’t like it at all last year.  Warren didn’t like it at all.  I think it was a combination of the cold water and it spraying unpredictably.  I thought that he’d maybe like the pool better since he loves his baths.  Thank goodness for an electric air pump!  It took no time at all to inflate it.  Laura had fun with the pool.  Warren was still very hesitant.  I didn’t want to rush him.  He did eventually splash in it a little bit.  I am hoping that with sitting in the sun the water will warm up a little bit, and he’ll go in it this afternoon.

When we came in, I let them pick a movie to watch.  I told Laura that she and Warren had to agree.  I figured it might take a bit, but they chose rather quickly.  Warren picked Strawberry Shortcake.  Of course Laura liked that idea.  So they are enjoying a movie with lunch.  I know that there will come a day (very soon) that they won’t be able to agree on a movie.  I’ll enjoy it while I can.

This weekend has turned out much better than I had imagined.  We ended up selling our U2 tickets we had for Saturday night’s concert.  Robert was worried about getting heat exhaustion again (had a mild case of it on Friday).  The concert was at TCF stadium, which is outdoors.  With selling our tickets, we were able to go to the Anderson family reunion.  It was wonderful seeing the family, the kids playing with cousins, and being outside on a gorgeous day.  Last night was just a quiet evening at home.  Laura took a bath as soon as we got home.  She was able to play for a long time in the bath.  Usually it is a rush to get her in and out so she can get to bed right away.  Since neither of them had a regular nap, they were both exhausted by 7:30.  Bedtimes were super easy.

Today has been great.  We made it to the 8am church service.  The kids were wired so I was out in the front with them.  Robert was able to enjoy church.  We came home.  I made pancakes for brunch.  After we finished eating, Laura helped pick up the living room and dining room.  Warren did a fine job of emptying the toys out all over.  Since the toys were all picked up, I took advantage and vacuumed.  I was even able to vacuum Laura’s room.  The dishes are totally done up again, the island is cleared off, the table is cleared off, and everything is wiped down.  It feels so good to have a clean house!  I just need to scrub the bathroom.  Other items on the agenda for today include mowing the lawn, moving things in from the garage, and getting groceries.

Time to keep moving.  Hopefully update again sooner.

I’m not dead.  I just haven’t had the time/ambition/motivation to post much lately.  I need to write tonight to get things out of my head.  I should be in a great mood.  I had a day out with my two best friends.  We did a beginner’s pole dancing class together.  I loved it and had a blast.  I wish we had the money so I could do it more.  Afterward, we went out to lunch at Pier 500.  The food was great.  We opted to skip the planned movie and ended up back at Mandy’s to watch a movie.  Much less crowded, cheaper, and able to drink booze while watching!  Sounds like a winning combination to me!  Jess left after we watched Burlesque.  Mandy and I watched The Ugly Truth together.  We then had a deeper conversation.

We started talking about having confidence in ourselves.  I am starting to build confidence.  I don’t have as much as I would like.  I still look to other people to reaffirm my feelings about myself.  I don’t know why I can’t feel like my own feelings are good enough.  Why do I need the approval of others?  Isn’t confidence not needing that?  I also compare myself to others.  I see what they look like.  If I am not similar, I feel like I’m not good enough.  I am jealous of what they have.  I have been working hard at losing weight.  I’ve gained a bit of confidence in my body.  I am liking how I look.  Yet I still doubt myself.  I brought up a few memories that were less than pleasant.  I thought I was over them, but I guess I’m not.  It has put me into a funk again tonight.  I wish I knew what the answer was.  I think I just need to force myself to go work out on a more regular basis.  I’ll force myself to go tomorrow morning.  Something tells me that even working out more won’t solve this one though. 

I have a text editor open at the moment of various blog topics I wanted to touch on.  However, that isn’t going to happen right now.  I am exhausted.  We’ve been pushing really hard this last week on getting the bedrooms in the basement done.  It really all started with carpet shopping last weekend.  I had intended to just start looking.  I fell in love with a carpet at Lowes.  I refused to pay the $35 fee for them to even write us up a quote.  I found the carpet at Menard’s.  Wouldn’t you know, it was on sale only through Sunday (found it Friday night).  After getting home, we called an installation guy.  He said he could come and install the carpet on Wednesday afternoon if we wanted (as in 5 days away).  We hadn’t even started painting yet.  We purchased the paint, but it was still sitting in sealed up cans.  Earlier in the week I had made an appointment for Empire Today to come and give us a quote on Saturday afternoon.  They do not carry the carpet I am in love it, and they didn’t have anything similar.  Plus they couldn’t beat the price.  So Saturday evening we go back to Menards and place our order.

Sunday started off with lots of painting.  Thankfully we had not committed to a date for carpet install yet.  We were leaving it up in the air until we knew how much painting we could get done.  We started with putting a flat off-white paint on the ceiling and walls as a primer.  I knew the first coat of anything would just soak into the fresh walls.  We did this in both bedrooms.  Then we painted the ceiling white.  We have a 5 gallon bucket of the stuff since we have so much to paint downstairs.  Once the ceilings were done, we moved on to the tinted primer.  We are doing very bold/dark colors, so we opted to have the tinted primer.  Our bedroom has two colors while the guest room is a solid forest green.  The primers were the last thing we did on Sunday night.  We finished at 10:30.

Monday I was home during the day with the kids.  They were wanting lots of attention since they were more or less on their own on Sunday while we painted.  Once Robert was home from work, we started on putting the regular paint on the walls.  We manged to get all the walls done.  It was once again 10:30.

Robert used a vacation day today so we could finish painting the walls.  He started off the day with a dentist appointment at 8am.  When he got home, we packed up and all headed back to New Richmond.  We needed to get another gallon of the forest green.  We were also going to get the gray that will be in the hallway, family room, and computer/scrapbooking room.  The cost of the paint shocked us a bit (we were going to get a 5 gallon bucket), so it stayed on the shelf.  We ran a few other errands in New Richmond and returned home around 11:30.  I made a mad dash to Hudson to finalize some details with the carpet that is coming tomorrow and to get groceries.  Once back home, it was a quick lunch, put the kids down for nap, and start painting all over again.

At first I wasn’t sure if a second coat of paint would cut it.  The walls were still looking a little blotchy with the wet paint.  Thankfully as it dried, it all evened out.  Two coats would cut it.  Technically speaking, there are 4 coats of paint on the walls.  We finished painting around 5:30.  Dinner tonight was strawberry shortcake.

As a result of all the painting and running involved with getting us to the point we are at with the basement, the house has been totally and utterly neglected.  I would embarrassed if anyone walked into our house right now.  The living room has toys all over.  The kitchen has dishes piled high.  The kids have been doing really well with letting us do the work.  They are ready for more attention though.  Tomorrow will be spent with them.

While I’ve been working on this post, Robert has been working away at the dishes.  He has to make rice crispy bars for tomorrow.  I feel like I should help him.  I can’t seem to get my butt off the couch though.  Hmm… What to do??

If Laura had her way, she’d still be celebrating her birthday.  She had a blast, minus the minor fall.  The poor girl has my grace.  For birthdays 1, 2, and 4, she has fallen and gotten serious bumps.  Her first birthday she fell off the bed onto the concrete floor in the basement.  Her second birthday she fell going out to the garage and scraped up her face on a box.  Last year she was highly supervised so she didn’t get injured.  This year, she was standing on a chair helping me cut up the fruit.  She held the bag while I cut and put it in.  She turned around for whatever reason.  She went off the edge and ended up landed on her head.  :(  She had a big goose egg.  Now it is just a slight bruise.  By the time the party started, she was feeling a little better.

Guests included:

• Gwen
• Caitlin
• Ryan
• Owen
• Mandy
• Joe
• Johanna
• Grandma Joni
• Papa Scott
• James

The weather was gorgeous so we were able to play outside for a while too.  Laura got several dresses, some Snap Dolls, and books among other items.  Her cake this year was an ice cream cake.  She wasn’t as crazy about it as I had hoped.  She loved that it had princesses, but it was a bit cold for her tastes.  Oh well.  Most people had left by 6:30.  Both kids slept VERY well that night.

Sunday morning we went to 8am church.  Afterward we came back and had egg bake.  While it was baking, Laura opened her presents from us.  We gave her a hula hoop, jump rope, Frisbee, toy boat and sprinkler, a ball for outside, and a shirt.  We need to take the shirt back and get a bigger size.  Tonight we are going to go shopping and get some accessories to go with her Snap Dolls.

Today has been a great day so far.  Laura had her 4 year check at the doctor.  She did well except for the 3 shots.  Her leg is still sore from the tetanus shot.  We were able to play outside for about 2 hours this morning.  I would have gone back out after naps were over, but Laura’s been complaining her leg hurts.  I figure laying low is good for now.  The house is still clean and picked up from the weekend.  I even have kept up with the dishes so it isn’t too bad.  During their nap time I watched two episodes of Bones and then read some of my book.  No stress at all really.

Time to get things pulled together for tonight.

We are having Laura’s 4th birthday party today.  It’ll be a good size crowd, but there aren’t many other kids coming.  Caitlin and Ryan will come with Owen.  Joe will bring Johanna.  I debated inviting one of her friends from daycare, but I decided that we’ll hold off for one more year.  She hasn’t been invited to another birthday party yet, so I’m going to wait just a little bit longer.  Other guests include my parents, Gwen, Mandy, and maybe Jess and Travis.  Jess told me earlier that she’d be here, but on Facebook she said maybe.  I’ll have to wait and see.  We are doing a princess theme this year.  I have an ice cream cake ordered at Dairy Queen.  I haven’t come up with any games.  I figure we’ll just let the kids play.  We will have helium balloons up, and hopefully can play outside.  Later this morning will the the rest of the food prep.  I was going to do the fruit last night, but ran out of space in the refrigerator.

I am also going to work out this morning.  I have decided that today is the day to get trained on the weight machines.  I can do cardio easily.  Now I want to do some weights to tone my muscles.  I want to make sure I’m doing it correctly to avoid injury.  Ya know, just a minor detail there.

I know I had a 30 day challenge going.  I know that I’ve missed quite a few days in there.  However, the overall goal of it was to post more often, which I am definitely doing.  I am proud of that.  I am trying to change my outlook on things that even if I don’t succeed at something 100%, I have to look at what I did do, and not what I left undone.  Seems like I’ll be happier that way and not getting down on myself as much.

Today was another good day for me.  Warren had a follow-up appointment with the ped. urologist.  Robert just took the day off so he could be at the appointment and have a day with us.  The appointment went well.  The cream worked, but the foreskin is still a bit tight.  We aren’t going to continue the cream for the time being since it is a steroid.  It wouldn’t be surprising if he needs it again later on.

The original plan had been to go to the zoo with the kids (since we do have the membership).  However, with highs forecasted for 98°, we opted to skip out on that.  Instead, we went to Sea Life at the Mall of America.  Laura loved seeing all the different sea creatures.  The sea horses and jelly fish really held her attention.  She thought the sharks were cool, but still rushed through.  I could have spent a lot more time in the tunnels where the fish/sharks/creatures swam over head and on the sides.

After one trip through we stopped for lunch.  Kids had McDonald’s while the adults had Steak Escape.  We managed to get in a little bit of shopping after lunch.  Gymboree had a sale going on so I picked up 3 pairs of shorts for Laura.  The little boy was exhausted and fell asleep sitting in the stroller.  We had the umbrella stroller with, so we couldn’t recline his seat.

Laura wanted to see the fish again.  Robert did a few errands with Warren while I went to see the fish with Laura again.  I remembered that I had a gift card to Build a Bear in my purse.  Our friends gave it to Laura when Warren was born.  We haven’t had a chance to use it yet.  I verified the amount and that it was still good.  I took Laura in.  I tried to get her to make a bear for the amount that was on the card.  She insisted on making a pink teddy bear (no surprise there really).  The difference wasn’t much, so I let her make it.  She did really well.  I wasn’t sure if she’d push the pedal to do the stuffing or not since it is a bit noisy.  She did do it though.  I kept my foot on so that there was enough pressure to keep the machine running.  She did help type in the information into the computer for creating Pinkalicious’s birth certificate.  Something is telling me that she and the bear will be inseparable for a while.

Once we finished with Build a Bear, it was time to head back home.  Not even 5 minutes later, Laura was passed out.  Warren was babbling away in his seat since he had snoozed in the stroller.  Once home, we made our menu for the week, created a shopping list, and headed back out into the heat.  Groceries were put away, dinner is done, and the kids are winding down.  They are going to bed a bit late tonight, but sometimes you have to break the rules.  Tomorrow I am planning on working out again.  I had wanted to go tonight, but I figured Robert needed the help with grocery shopping with two tired and hungry kids.  I haven’t decided if I am going in the morning or after work.  We’ll see how I’m doing at 4:30 am I guess.

Time to get kids in bed.  TTFN!

Today was one of the best days that I’ve had in a very long time.  We decided to skip church this morning since we had so much we wanted to get done around the house.  Robert started off our day with making waffles.  I had one with 2 strips of bacon.  I decided that I’d hit the gym this morning before our day got going.  That way I wouldn’t have to stop what we were doing later on to go.

I pushed myself to see how quickly I can go 5k (3.1 miles) on the elliptical machine.  The first time I did it, my time was 38 minutes.  I’ve been getting better.  Today I made it 3.1 miles in 28 minutes!  I am so proud of myself for doing this.  One of these times soon I am going to get some help with the weight machines.  I think I could figure it out, but I don’t want to take any chances of hurting myself because I didn’t ask for help.  The assistance is free, so I might as well take advantage of it.  I’d like to start toning my muscles.  I used to think people were crazy when they said they would work out for an hour or more at a time.  Now I am becoming one of those people.  It is amazing how different I feel when I go and work out.  I need to force myself to do it more often.  Last month I just barely had the 12 visits.  My goal is 13 visits this month.  Not sure if I’ll make it, but I have to try.

After I was finished with my workout, I noticed I had a text message from Robert.  He told me to meet him at Mary Park (just up the road in New Richmond).  Turns out he made plans to meet up with his aunt Michelle and her two kids (Natalie and Samuel).  They had some delays in getting there, so the kids and adults played together for a bit.  It worked well to divide and conquer instead of one person trying to wrangle both kids at the same time.  Once Michelle arrived, we decided to hit DQ for lunch/dessert.  Neither of the kids ate much, but oh well.  Robert ended up bring Warren home since he was so tired.  I kept Laura at the park to play with Natalie for a while.  Laura has been asking about Natalie and when she can play with her again.  The girls were having so much fun together.  We even ventured down to the water and waded in.  The girls went up to their knees while Michelle and I stayed a little more shallow (up to our ankles).  We called it quits after a while.  After a quick stop at Walmart, Michelle stopped here on her way home to get a box of boy clothes for Samuel.  I have a feeling that I could get her another full box after I go through Warren’s dresser.  I think he only wears about half of what is in there.  I also need to see what I have in garbage bags (full of clothes).  I can probably pass along some of that stuff too.

Once the girls made it back home, it was time for Robert to work outside again.  I managed to get Laura down for a rest (which of course she slept through) and Warren down for a nap.  Something woke up the little boy.  He was MAD.  I managed to get him calmed down enough that he slept on me for a little while longer.  The decision was made that Laura needed to be woken up at 5:30.  The concern was she wouldn’t sleep tonight if she slept much longer.

We did the ultimate lazy man’s dinner and ordered pizza from Dominos.  I picked it up and brought it home.  Rather than trying to get the kids to sit at the table while watching the Strawberry Shortcake movie, we did a picnic on the floor.  Robert spread out a blanket an the kids sat on that to eat.  It worked out much better than I expected.  We may have to try this more often (as in more than once every 4 years).  Both kids ate a good dinner, then took baths.  The rest of the evening has been low key and pleasant.  I am just wishing we had one more day to the weekend.  I’m not ready for Robert to go back to work tomorrow.  I had so much I wanted to get accomplished this weekend, and most of it isn’t.  Oh well.  It will be there all week long.  I’ll poke at it while I’m home, and Robert will do what he can in the evenings too.

I can’t believe that my little girl is going to be 4 next week.  4 years ago, I was put on bed rest.  I couldn’t get up unless it was to go to the bathroom, take a quick shower, or go to bed.  I also had to lay on my left side.  Talk about being uncomfortable!  After that brief amount of “suffering”, I received one of the best gifts ever.  She makes me want to yell, scream, smile, laugh, and celebrate each day.  I have been a stay-at-home mom for the majority of her life.  I’ve work part-time for most of it.  There was about 5 months of working full-time while I was pregnant with Warren, but otherwise I’ve been around.  I still can’t believe how fast the time has gone.  She will be starting half days of 4K in the fall.  She is growing up so fast.  I do see so much innocence in her yet.  I’ve seen some kids at 4 doing things that I would expect a 10 year old to do.  Thankfully my baby hasn’t done that yet.  I want her to keep that childhood innocence as long as she can.  The world is cruel and will take it from her before I am ready as it is.