Mundane Monday: October 25, 2011

Before I forget. Violet was dry all day! She peed in the potty all day long! She had one poopy diaper, though. So it wasn't completely a "one diaper day". (One diaper days are when she uses the same cloth diaper from morning until bedtime, never soiling it once.) She has had one diaper days before, maybe two or three. I'm happy because it was a one diaper day, but I didn't obsessively take her potty all day. She just did a great job of waiting until I took her. She is getting so big!

Monday got off to a good start because I drug myself out of bed before the girls and got ready before they were up. I haven't done this in a while. Getting up before the girls always helps. Always. I have trouble convincing myself of its usefulness when my alarm goes off at 6:30, but later in the day I'm always glad I did it.

The girls slept late. I went in to their room to get them at 8:30. Violet was awake, just being quiet. Nola was sound asleep. I nursed Violet and then got some breakfast for everybody.

Since I had gotten up early, I had time to get a grocery list made before the girls got up. Right after breakfast I got the girls dressed and we made a quick trip to Wal-Mart. The trip was amazingly smooth. No calamities to report.

We came home in time for Violet's morning nap. I messed around the house and Nola watched tv while Violet slept.

When Violet woke up I said, "Let's go have a picnic!" I grabbed leftover Little Ceasars and a couple of yogurts and we jumped in the car.

This is where I wasted a half an hour of our lives trying to find the playground I wanted.

We live near Lake Zorinsky. It's a small lake but it has several picnic areas and more than one playground. It has a million zillion entrances on two different streets. I gambled with the 168th Street entrances and I was wrong. Four times. I finally made it to the entrance I wanted at 156th Street. I should've called Ryan. But maybe I will remember next time. Nola kept saying, "Where are we going?" every time I turned around.

We finally made it. Nola played while I nursed Violet on a bench. Then Nola came and sat wtih us on the bench and we all ate lunch. Then we all played. Violet loves the slides. They had a very big, swirly one and she would just giggle when we rounded the last corner at the bottom. All three of us got on the tire swing, and Violet giggled and giggled on it, too. It got surprisingly warm and I stupidly wore a sweater without a normal shirt underneath. We left before it got too hot, though.

We went home for nap time. Usually playtime outside equals a crazy good nap for the girls. Totally backfired today. Don't know why. Violet slept for an hour and a half (that's short for her) and Nola never fell asleep at all.I let them get up around three. Nola was hyper. It was a little annoying. Violet was fussy. It was a little annoying. When Ryan came home I smiled my most sarcastic smile and said, "We're awake! All of us! We're all awake!"

A little while later I tried to lay Violet down again, but that never works. I think it helps her a little to just lay in her bed, but she doesn't sleep. When Nola ran into the room to get her (we did not ask her to do this), we decided to get out of the house. I find tired, fussy children easier to handle outside of the house. You'd think it would be bad taking them to a store. Sometimes it is, but usually my girls are content looking around at things while we were out. As opposed to fussing about every little thing at home. It distracts them from their fussiness to get out.

We went to Lowes to look at shower heads. Ours has kind of bit the dust. I love shopping for home stuff with Ryan. It's just one of the little things that I dreamt of when I was single. Shopping for shower heads with my husband, with our little baby in the cart, and our preschooler tagging along behind us. It's a simple little dream come true for me.

We came home shower head-less, but grateful for an outing. We ate leftovers for dinner. Dinner time can be stressful with two small children. The stress of it has forced us to always eat at the table. I love that. We all sit down together, and Ryan makes conversation with the girls. He has this prayer that I love, "Thank you for the food we have to eat, the house we have to eat it in, and the family we have to eat it with." Isn't that so beautiful? Did he make that up? We're not sure. Either way, I love it.

Nola watched Diego after supper, and then the girls went to bed. The one benefit of no naps is early bedtime! After the girls were all tucked in, we watched Transformers 3. Yeah, there's a lot of metal clanking and crashing in that movie.

All in all, it was a pretty good Monday. Mundane and all.

Mundane Monday: October 17

This day did not start well. Nola woke up and puked twice at 2 a.m. Yay.

We had a very full weekend. Nola didn't take a nap Friday, Saturday or Sunday. And Saturday she stayed up until 10:30 p.m. Not just awake, but dancing like a party animal at our good friends' wedding (Congratulations Drew and Kate!). The cuteness of Nola on the dance floor was overwhelming. After a song ended she would run up to us and say, "I want another one!" Unfortunately, her immune system couldn't quite handle the lack of sleep.

Nola never puked again during the day on Monday. I guess it was a fluke puke. (Did I just make up that clever little rhyme?) So grateful for that. While Violet took a morning nap, Nola and I crashed on my bed. It took Nola a while to fall asleep, but she finally snuggled up against my back and drifted off. So cozy. I snoozed a few minutes myself.

Violet wasn't sick at all, but exhaustion got the better of her. She had only brief moments of happiness. She cried on and off all day. We survived through lunch. Everyone ate something. Then we sat on the couch together and watched Diego. Violet was pretty content as long as I held her and she could suck her fingers.

Both girls took a really good afternoon nap. Thank the Lord. They both woke up happy. Ish. Happiness didn't last long for Violet. And Nola had a fever. Diego came to the rescue for Nola. She watched more of his animal salvations while I nursed Violet. After Ryan got home from work he took Violet out to get some things from the store, then came back and fed the girls dinner. While he did that, I got ready to go out with him to the Dead Hour release party. (It was a blast to see everyone Ryan works with. They just released the second season of their web series.)

Ryan's parents graciously came over to babysit while we went out. We had planned a sleep over at Grandma's which would have been infinitely more fun. But Nola was so under the weather, and they were both so exhausted from the weekend we decided it would be too much. Tom and Nita are such good Grandparents to come over and stay with the girls while they sleep. Not much bonding time, just unconditional Grandparent love.

So today was one of those days that I pretty much did nothing except hold my girls. Which is fine with me. Mondays are always recovery days for us, even after normal weekends. Super busy weekends followed by sickness make for an even more recovery oriented day.

Wow. That was boring. And no pictures. But someday, years from now, I'll get all sentimental reading about our boring days. As someone, I don't know who, says...The days are long, but the years are short.

Mundane Monday Madness!

It was not a banner day. While I nursed Violet it was very, very quiet upstairs where I'd left Nola. Once discovered, Nola said, "I sorry, Mommy" for the first time in her life unprompted. She knew it needed said and she said it. She said it about ten times in a very low toned, sorrowful voice.

Does anyone know how to get red lipstick out of carpet?

Mundane Monday: July 25 2011

It was hot yesterday. The a/c works in our car, but on reeeeally hot days it can't keep up very well. I decided to live through it though. I knew Ryan was going to be gone all day. First at work, then at a film shoot in the evening. When I know I will be alone with the girls that long, getting out of the house for most of the day helps me keep my sanity.

We had a very busy weekend so I let Violet take her morning nap. When she woke up we zoomed out the door to have lunch with Ryan at Hy-Vee. Hy-Vee? Yes. It's very cheap. And I needed to go grocery shopping after. Ryan was kind enough to go there with us so I didn't have to do one more in-and-out-of-the-car routine with both girls. Does anyone else find that one of the most exhausting things about motherhood? Buckles and straps, and watching out for cars in parking lots. I usually reach back and unsnap Nola when we arrive somewhere. She is now able to get out of her seat, open the car door, and shut it behind her. It's a blessing and a little worrisome.

After lunch Ry left us and we went shopping. Ten minutes later I realized he had left with our grocery cash. Blast. I called him. He cursed. He said he'd come back. I didn't hear my phone when he called me to say he was back at the store. I suddenly see him rounding an aisle, looking like I had just stuck needles in his eye. So sorry about that, baby.

I put both girls together in one of those race car carts. Violet loved it at first. She grabbed the steering wheel and smiled past both ears. The girls looked super cute sitting side by side in that thing. But about halfway through our shopping trip it was too much for Violet. It was too close to nap time, and she had exercised her tiny little muscles long enough. She kept slumping down in the seat and laying her head down on the side of the cart.

We made it through the heat back home. The girls laid down. Violet fell asleep instantaneously. I could hear Nola talking and singing and being a little restless. After an hour of hearing her mess around, I went in there to lay the law down. When I walked in, she was getting new panties (there was nothing wrong with her old ones) and Violet was awake. I started to give a speech about letting her sister sleep and going to sleep herself, but instead I said, "Well. Want to go to the library?"

I gave Violet a quick snack and off we went. Nola loves the library which makes me so happy. She does get bored around the time I want to find books for myself, though. And she couldn't read books in the stroller because there's not enough room in the "bottom bunk" of the stroller to open up a big children's book. So she followed me around the boring aisles and generally annoyed me. She grabbed two empty book holders and they had a little conversation. One was falling off the shelf and needed rescued. "Help me! Ayudame!" At one point I let her lag behind a little, only to turn around and find she had climbed on TOP of a large table. Yep. I was that mom. It was at that point I decided it was time to vacate the premises.

We almost went to see Ryan at his film shoot, but decided it might not be a good time for my little hungry, cranky hooligan to visit a set.

I tried to tell her that the reason she was having a hard time being happy and obeying was because she was tired. She didn't seem to think so.

We headed to Wal-Mart for what I thought would be a quick trip. When we were leaving I couldn't believe it was already six o'clock! Since Nola hadn't napped, and Violet took a shorter one than usual I was totally planning to put them to bed at seven. Yeah, we didn't quite make it. We got close though. By the time we got home, unloaded, fed, and satisfied with a mini episode of Wonder Pets the girls got in bed by seven thirty.

After the girls went to bed I forced myself to pick up the house before I crashed on the sofa. It didn't take long and I was so glad I did. It's so much easier to wake up in the morning with a clean kitchen. I watched a movie on Netflix called Shades of Ray. It was a romantic comedy interesting enough to keep me intrigued. It stars Zachary Levi, if you're a fan.

When Ryan is gone I have a hard time going to bed. Especially if I know he'll be coming in around midnight. That's just early enough that I could stay up and still be a human being the next day. So I tried. Around twelve thirty I just couldn't make it anymore and I crashed. His shoot ran a little late and he came home around one thirty.

One more mundane detail about the day. Violet pooped in her diaper twice! Twice! The first time it was because I didn't take her potty after nursing like usual, the second time I don't know what happened. I just missed her signals, I guess. Also, I've recently added iron fortified cereal to her breakfast. The last time I did a diet change (adding solids) she took a few days to figure out her new system. Maybe that's what it is...

How mundane was your Monday?

Marvelous Monday!

Nothing mundane about this one! Fourth of July! Woohoo!

I love holidays. I love having something to celebrate. I love traditions. I love the marking of time even though it makes me sad sometimes. I love them so much that I occasionally get a little uptight about the festivities. I'm not a perfectionist at all whatsoever. What we do doesn't have to be perfect, but we have to do SOMETHING!! I think it was when I realized that this was Nola THIRD Fourth of July that I sort of freaked out on the inside. She's already had three of these! We only have fifteen Fourth of July's left with her! (Assuming she magically turns into a complete adult overnight and leaves our home at the age of eighteen never to be seen again.) I was scrambling for traditions.

Since the Fourth of July was Monday this year, the whole weekend felt like a holiday to me. We left Nola's kiddie pool outside the whole weekend. We left it in the driveway which looked a little ghetto. Sorry neighbors. But this way it got soaked in sunlight and was practically a hot tub for the girls. Violet doesn't seem to be a huge fan of the water, but I think we may have been catching her too close to nap times every time we took her out. Nola doesn't like to put her face or head in the water, but she loves playing with toys. She spent most of the time getting in and out of it. She would grab her floatie, which she called "rescue boat", throw it out of the water and then go get it yelling, "Say Rescue Boat!" Followed by a pause while she waited for the audience to respond and finishing off with "Good yelling!" Thank you, Dora and Diego.

The girls slept late on Monday morning. It really felt like a holiday. After breakfast, which included an appetizer of a popsicle for Nolie (This was a last minute purchase while I was scrambling for traditions to make this the best Fourth of July ever since we only have fifteen left), we went for our last swim of the weekend. The water had turned a little cloudy by Monday. Eeew.

We had scrambled eggs and sausage in tortillas for lunch. I'm getting better at making home made tortillas, and faster. I was proud of how quickly I rolled them out.

Nola and I made a Fourth of July treat. We dipped strawberries in white chocolate and then dipped them in blue mini m&ms. The m&ms were a little too big and heavy, but they still tasted good. I was supposed to use blue sugar crystals. Guess who was out of all things red and blue for cake decorating? Hy-Vee the night before the Fourth of July. So I bought a bag of mini m&ms and sorted all the blue ones out like a maniac.

The girls took naps in the afternoon and Ryan and I fought about vacuuming. I'll spare you the details. But we were both wrong and we said we were sorry and we forgave each other.

Once the girls were up we headed to Ryan's parents for dinner. I brought along some flour and a huge star stencil to make patriotic stars on their front lawn. It worked pretty well. Next year we'll do a bigger stencil. We were copying these people.

We did a few fireworks at Ryan's parents house, and then everyone followed us back to our house. We put Violet to bed and then proceeded to shoot loud fireworks off right beneath her window for a couple hours. Poor thing. She slept right through it though. It was fun for Nola being old enough to stay up and watch the Fireworks. She liked them. Every once in a while she thought maybe they were scaring her, but then she'd jump right back into it. She loved the snappers. Of course. Who doesn't? Those things are awesome. And she loved the snakes.


When it finally got dark we took a little walk down the street and up the hill, while Grandpa stayed with Violet. Our neighborhood is just perfect for seeing the fireworks all across the city. We saw quite a few of those floating lanterns, too.

And that was the end. It was a good Fourth. How was yours?

Mundane Mmm...Wednesday

On Tuesday I could tell that sickness was creeping up on us. I went ahead and cancelled my Spanish class for Wednesday. Good call. Nolie was coughing all morning. She even said at one point, "Mommy, I sick." She layed on the couch all morning watching PBS kids shows. Wearing her hippo on a bicycle jams, cuddling boolah, and sucking her thumb.

I didn't get much done around the house either. I was sort of feeling the ache of sickness myself. Just yucky enough that if I had a job to go to, I'd be there. But since my job is mostly self imposed here, nothing much got done.

After lunch, we were going to try and get out to see Ryan at his office and breathe some fresh air. But Nola fell apart. She wanted to go, but she was crying and crying and she decided taking a nap was a better choice. Seriously. She got in her bed herself. Poor little honey. She fell right to sleep after I sang all four verses of "In Christ Alone" while stroking her knotted, curly hair.



Violet took a nap at the same time. Speaking of which, she's such a little doll at nap time and bed time. I just tuck her into her fleece sleep bag. You know the kind that zip up and leave their arms free? She pops her two fingers in her mouth and calms right down. Even while we do all the little things to tuck Nola in, Violet lays there contentedly in her bed. I love it when we come downstairs and they've both calmed right down, and all we hear in the monitor is the suck suck suck from Violet every few seconds.

The girls only slept an hour, but I decided not to fight it. So we jumped in the car and went to see Ry at the office. Nola really perked up when we go there. She was so happy to see Gamma (that's how she's saying it right now) and Papa. She likes seeing Daddy, but mostly she just wants to sit on Gamma's lap and watch Youtube videos of kittens and puppies.

We didn't stay long, but came home so Violet could have one more nap. Nola watched yet even more tv while cuddling on the couch. Ry came home. Violet woke up. Ry took Saint for a run while I played with Nola and Violet outside. At first I wasn't going to go outside, I mean, she was sick and all. But after she asked and I said no, she let out a heartbroken "Pleeeeeeease!" accompanied with huge, fat, disappointed tears. And I thought, what? is fresh air going to make her sicker? So out we went. We played with sidewalk chalk and checked out the baby bird in our clematis bush out front.



Ryan took Nola and picked up some Little Caesar's pizza for supper. That was so nice.

The girls went to bed early. When Nola was going through her night time rituals she was having trouble producing on the potty. Ryan said to her, "Are you sure? Do you need to go potty?" She answered, "Ummm...No thanks." When she got to me, I said, "Nola, you need to try. One more time." She said, I kid you not, she said, "Actuallyyyyyyyyy...I don't need to." Actually? That's a new word for her.




After another round of all four verses of "In Christ Alone", this time accompanied by Ryan on his rock star guitar, we said goodnight.

Now I'm surfing the internet and updating my blog, while Ryan watches Predators.

Wow. That's a lot of boring personal details in one blog post. (And yet you stuck with it. I tried to reward your heavy reading with lots of pictures.) Share the wealth. What's the most mundane thing you did this Wednesday?

Mundane Monday

We made the grocery shopping trip of a lifetime this Monday. I carried Violet in the BabyBjorn front carrier, Nola sat in the cart, and I loaded the basket full of stuff. I usually only shop for a week at a time. This helps us stay on budget, and it helps me to shop alone with the girls. With Violet's huge car seat in the basket I can't fit much else in the cart! But I realized that we were often eating out on the weekends because "we need to go to the store". Convenient excuse. It may not completely curb our eating out, but it will help to have two weeks worth of suppers and lunches available. When I went to check out I plopped Violet in the front of the cart beside Nola so I could get the groceries out faster. Violet was sitting kind of strangely in the cart. The mom behind me was having a heart attack, evidently. She finally said, "I'm sorry! Every time she leans over I'm like..." And I replied, "Oh, I know. Don't fall!" After I got the basket emptied I threw Nolie in the basket and moved Violet to the center of the front so she could hold on to the bar and balance better. That way the mom behind me could breathe.

Nola and I ate a snack on the drive home. It was a little past lunchtime and we were hungry. Once we pulled in to the garage, getting all the groceries and both girls out of the car is a feat, I tell you. I left them both buckled in while I took the frozen stuff in. Then I came back, closed the garage door so Nola wouldn't run outside. I let Nola out, grabbed the rest of the groceries and dumped them right in the entry way, and went back for Violet who was starving.

Nola watched some tv while I fed Violet. Then we had peanut butter and jelly. Followed by naps for both girls. They were asleep in seconds. It was awesome. Nap time is usually a little more stressful than that.

I cleaned up the house while they slept. With a little break for checking email, Facebook, and my newest time stealer Pinterest.

When Ry got home he tried to motivate me to work out with him. I was kind of a party pooper. So he went for a run, and then I took the dog for a walk when he got back. Kind of a weak workout, but better than nothing.

Nola went to Grandma Nita's for the evening. I'm sure she had a ball.

I tried a new chicken recipe for dinner. Peachy Balsamic Chicken. It wasn't superb, but it was different. Since Nola was gone we ate in front of the tv. (Believe it or not, we do actually eat at the table most nights. This is partly because we feel it's important to eat together as a family, and mostly because we don't have a table downstairs big enough for all of us anymore.) We watched an episode of the British Comedy "The IT Crowd". Violet was a little fussy, but we managed.

Nola got home around 7:30 and the girls went to bed. Bed time stresses me out sometimes. I get so DONE at the end of the day. I know the girls do better with a little routine before bed, but I just want to throw them in their beds, shut the door and be done with it! But, still, we powered through. We kissed Grandma and Grandpa's picture on the nightstand, said night-night to the blue birdy on Nola's lamp, prayed, and gave kisses and hugs.

Ryan and I successfully made it to the couch after saying goodnight. We watched more of "The IT Crowd", and an episode of "House". Then we both went to bed. We're such an exciting couple.

The weekend was far more eventful, as weekends usually are. We went to the Omaha Summer Arts Festival Saturday night with Ry's family. (That's what the pictures are from.) Sunday afternoon Nola and I went again with my sister Felicity, her husband Dan, and their three girls to see the Ballet Folklorico perform Mexican folk dances. It was pretty cool, I'm glad we went. The girls all got balloon bracelets and snow cones, too. Free. Sweet deal.

Hope your Monday was as Mundane as mine!

Mundane Monday, of course

We spent the morning at the zoo with some friends from out of town. (I had fun talking cloth diapers with them. I'm like a Jehovah's Witness for cloth diapers.) It was pretty hot at the zoo, but the humidity wasn't too bad. The a/c in our car isn't quite up to par, though. That's frustrating. After a few minutes in the car Nolie's little nose beads up with sweat. She's hot blooded anyway.

We had a long weekend with meetings at church. My mom came to help out with the girls and it was awesome. Nola really enjoyed her time with Gramma Kaffy. Violet even seemed to smile at her more "knowingly" this visit.

The girls shared Violet's room the whole time mom was here. They did great at nighttime. Naps were a little tricky, but doable. The are usually both napping at the same time in the afternoon, but Nola has been having a harder time with naps lately. She plays and plays, and we do our best to discipline her to stay in her bed but she just seems to take forever to fall asleep. And Violet thinks Nola is funny so her antics are occasionally encouraged. Never the less, we've decided to keep them in the same room. Maybe Nola will need to rest somewhere else in the afternoons.

I'm excited that they're together because now I will really finish decorating their room. Last night I moved the furniture around until I found a configuration I liked. Their room is small. The only things in it will be their beds, their dresser, the changing table with diapers, and a small nightstand with a lamp on it. I thought leaving toys out of the room might help encourage sleeping for Nola. Fingers crossed. And I would like to be more zen, like my sister Serenity.

No big plans for this evening. It'll be nice to hang at home with the family.

The girls still aren't asleep. It's 4:36. Should I give in? For Nola, maybe. For Violet, no way. I'm about to fall asleep myself, but it's much too late for that!

Oh, yeah, Violet hasn't pooped in her diaper since I posted about it last! About two weeks, I guess. But now that I've said that, she will probably wake up poopy or something. :) This blog always jinxes me.

And the picture is from our trip to the zoo on Memorial day. The sisterly love is overwhelming. And,yeah, we're zoo crazy here. We're going again this week with my sister Felicity. What can I say? We can't get enough of those tapirs and caymans.

Hope your Monday was as mundane as mine!

Mundane Monday

Memorial Day! Ryan was home with us all day. Gotta love that. We headed to the zoo first thing. When I asked Nola what animals she wanted to see at the zoo the first one she said was, "Tapir." Her love for Diego has been renewed lately so that must be why she had such a random animal on the brain.

Were we crazy? The zoo on Memorial Day? Well, a little bit. But we got there early and sort of beat the crowds. Grandma Nita and Papa Tom came too. That made it special for Nola. Ry and I were going to ride Skyfari for the first time, but it was closed! We think it was because it was so windy. Everybody went through the aquarium while I went to nurse Violet. As I sat down at a table in the shade I discovered I'd forgotten my cover. (By the way, I just found out it is now legal in Nebraska to breastfeed in public. Ummmm...send me to jail about a million times over. Did not realize it was illegal. Still, you won't catch me whipping Violet's lunch out for all to see next time I'm out. Covering up is still my preference.) So off I went to the bathroom to nurse. Standing up. In the corner. Not fun. I started out in the handicapped stall since I had the stroller with me. Then I overheard someone say, "Well, I'm going to need the big one." So I thought I'd better not hog the handicapped stall from the actually handicapped people. Out I came. I don't think anyone even really noticed what I was doing. I think they thought she was sleeping.

After seeing the cats, we left the zoo and went to Mai Tai for lunch. It's a Thai restaurant. I thought Nola would be a fan of pad thai. It's noodles! She tried it. But after a few bites she turned to me and said, "Mommy, I want some french fries." Little honey.

We came home for naps. Even I fell asleep on the couch. After everybody woke up, we had some leftovers for supper and headed to a party for our friend Britney who just graduated from College. Nola was happy to see a table full of cakes and desserts. She chose white cake with white frosting and sprinkles. She even told Britney "congratulations" to earn her cake.

We had to run to Wal Mart to get dog food and breakfast. I also grabbed a white hat while we were there. It looks quite stylish if I do say so myself. But don't be fooled. If you ever see me in it, it's because I didn't wash my hair. It's not because I was in the mood to accessorize.




This picture was taken Sunday afternoon after naps. That little blanket Nola's holding is "Boolah".