No rest for the wicked! ( so I must have been REALLY good!)

We'd pretty much decided to spend the day doing as little as possible today!!!  I know we must sound like we do as little as possible most days, but we really WORK at doing as little as possible on the weekends!! ;D

I had a pretty rough night with Millie again... urgh... every 2 1/2 hours up and feeding.  Tsk.  So when morning finally arrived I wasn't over keen to get up and at 'em!  I lay in bed with Millie and hubby and we just chatted and dozed.  I heard some noise downstairs so thought it was Jack looking for something in the kitchen.  I called down with the intercom and Jessie answered!  I hadn't even realised she was up!  A few minutes later she knocked on our door and came in with a big mug of hot tea for me and coffee for hubby.  Oh yes.  THAT'S how you start a day!!  I came downstairs a bit later to find she had made me toast with lemon curd AND she and Jack had emptied the dishwasher!  Oh boy!  I am so TOTALLY spoiled with my kids!!! :D  So my day had a lovely gentle start to it!

Hubby went out for a while to run some errands and came back with glazed donuts for all...!!  LOL!!  And you thought my day couldn't get any better!!   I cut my donut into small pieces, curled up on the couch with another hot mug of tea and ate, drank and watched Raising Hope whilst Millie napped in her swing and the cat sat on Jessie.

Herman, the cat.  If he weren't so hairy he'd be adorable!

Jessie had her "Thinking Cat" on...!!

I did get a little crochet done, played with Millie, quizzed Jessie on some Brain Quest questions...( at her insistence by the way) and played many games of Words with Friends with her.  She is quite the competitor!   I did later drag my sorry butt out with the dog and went for a walk around the neighborhood!  It was a reasonable day and what with the donut ( oh, and the sea salt and dark chocolate bar that hubby surprised me with too....) .. I felt some exercise might be in order..!! :D
All in all a rather simple, yet super day...

**life is tough eh?!!**  

This smile makes all the sleepless nights worth every exhausted minute! 

Hopelessly Raising!

Today started out awesomely...!  Despite having a three hour nap at 7 pm Millie went on to go straight to sleep at bed time and she slept for four hours in a row!!  I know it may not seem like much, but those four hours.... oh wow... bliss!!!  It felt like a full night's sleep to me!! ;D  After that she went back to sleep for another three hours and then it was time to get up and get the day started!!!  I felt I could pretty well take on the world!!

It did end up being a really odd day though!  The Meteorite hitting in Russia was kind of amazing and spooky all at the same time (which reminds me... "Oh, I guess we didn't get hit by that big ass Meteor and die"!!  Awesome..er !!! :D )  The entire day just had this aura of expectation to it.  I felt like we were waiting for something all day long and nothing ever really happened!  It DID snow, which was entirely unexpected to me ( heck I'm so ready for Spring I have practically put away all the winter gear!! ) so I counted that as The Thing We Were Waiting To Happen and used it as an excuse to light the fire and watch the TV... again!!!  This time we decided that Nanny 911 is just too dang depressing so we put on Raising Hope instead.  I hadn't seen any of the shows before but I LOVE it ... it was so sweet and funny!

Playing the Opposite game.

We watched several episodes of Raising Hope and then I worked with Jack on Opposites.  He didn't quite have the concept down, but once I printed out some cool cards from a blog I follow and we learned what opposites are!  We set them together to show, for example, hot and cold.  Jack had to read the first word, then guess what the opposite might be then we played a matching game where the cards were all upside down and he had to find a pair.  It was good fun and got the idea across really nicely I think!! :D  He enjoyed playing so much he asked to do it again and again!!

Science is hard!!

Jack playing outside....

 I also used our Brain Quest cards and quizzed Jessie with some science questions.  I was quite shocked at how few of them either of us got right so will come up with a game to play to learn some of the facts!  I find I enjoy making the games as much as the kids like playing them and it's such a fun way to learn!

Between snow falls Jack decided to go out and play... he took out his toy hammer and drill and put them on the swings where he pushed them back and forth!!  Bless him!!!  Jess and I tried to get a picture of him but he'd stopped by the time I found my camera...!

He saw me!! :D 

Millie had several good, long naps today and seems to be getting the hang of going to sleep "by herself" meaning whilst not nursing at the same time.  I'm really glad as this will help her fall back to sleep if she starts to wake up in the night thus longer nights of sleep for Mama....!!!  She's currently fast asleep in her little bed upstairs and Rex is watching her on the iPod!

What a wonderful sight for Mama's eyes!

So basically that was today!!  Rex cooked dinner and stoked the fire so it's blazing away!  The kids are all in bed and I'm going to put the dishes into the dishwasher and then sit with my hubby and do some more crochet!! ( he's just called through asking for a dish of ice cream so I'll be getting that too!!!)





Until tomorrow, friends! ;D

Happy Hallmark Card Day! :D

My Valentine's / Hallmark Card / Chocolate Day card!!

My day started out just lovely with a handmade card from Jessie and Jack!  Jess had used flavored lip balm to adhere the glitter to it so it smells lovely too!! ;D  

Millie was 6 months old yesterday!

Millie had slept really quite well last night... not awesome by any means, but much better than of late, so that was helpful!  

Hubby had booked a table for lunch for us at The Venue and I had to meet him there at 11:30 so at 9am I started getting ready!!  I remember in days of Yore when I would spend HOURS getting ready to go out...!  Shaving my legs, painting my nails, having a bath, faffing with my hair, putting on make up, choosing an outfit etc etc etc!  This time I did take the time to redo my finger nails, have a shower, put on make up, that sort of thing. Since my vast clear out and minimalization kick I realised I had practically nothing to wear!  I managed to find a black and white dress and some high black heels to wear... I also took a change of clothes with me incase I needed to nurse Millie since in that particular dress the only way I would be able to nurse her would be to take the dress off completely.  Hmm.  Not exactly "discreet" nursing.....!! ;D   I got Millie dressed in her Valentine's garb and headed out!  The two big kids were more than happy to get an hour or two to themselves and Jess does a great job of looking after them.  

The restaurant and lunch was lovely!  Millie woke from her car induced nap only moments after our arrival ( I had naively hoped she might sleep through!) so we had to contend with her a little.  Rex brought me a single red rose and a sweet card, I ate Lavosh for lunch with cheesecake for dessert... oh so good.  We were able to linger over lunch a bit and then he headed back to work and I headed home.  I picked up the kids and we headed out to the co-op Drama class.  My friend Shawna was there with her daughter and I hadn't seen her since before Christmas so we had a lovely long chat.  She's such a lovely lady, I really enjoy her company and Jess and her daughter get along great too! 

After drama it was back home to find the mail lady had been!  I had a package from my Mum and the mail lady had left a little gift bag with three boxes of candy hearts in... one for each kiddo!  I ate Millie's of course... she'll get them later! :D  It had started to get cold so I put on my heart covered pj pants and the kids and I loafed in front of Nanny 911... actually I didn't loaf as much as I would have liked as I spent a great deal of time getting Millie to go to sleep in her swing.... Once I got her down she napped for THREE HOURS!!  I told her she was tired!  

Dinner was delicious... I made ratatouille.... obviously the recent movie watching got  me thinking about it!  It's so yummy though!  After dinner we watched Big Bang and Jess and Daddy made paper airplanes!  

Now everything is as it should be...!  Kitchen is cleaned up, dishwasher is set to go, the kids are sleeping and the kettle has just boiled..... time to relax until tomorrow!  BOY these weeks go by fast! :D 

Trivial pursuits!! :D

I'm keeping it together here!... it's not easy given that I'm SO DANG TIRED!  Poor Millie... maybe it's teeth, or her six month growth spurt, or teeth AND a six month growth spurt, but whatever it is it means she does. not. sleep.   ... and that means I don't sleep either!!  I'm still following Flylady but for the last week or so I've not done the extra missions, just the daily stuff... all the decluttering I was doing made up for that and the lack of sleep lately has pretty much put me off!!  I'll be back to it as soon as I get a good rest!! :D

Today was a pretty lovely day though all in all! ;D

The morning began slowly as I was so worn out, but I did manage to make up the pancakes that we didn't have for dinner last night.  I don't know what it is about my making pancakes but I always manage to fill the house with smoke!!  I get the pan too hot and the butter scolds... and I'm always so busy cooking I don't notice the smoke until I see it filtering down under the light fixtures....   oops!  The kids and I watched some Nanny 911 again and congratulated ourselves on having a (relatively) sane household!  I guess we watch it for the same reason as people watch Hoarders!!!  At least we aren't as bad as THOSE guys!!! :D I always run a load or two of laundry if I watch TV during the day, that way if people call I can always say "I'm doing some laundry!! "  Ahhh... I'm so glad we don't have to do the laundry on the banks of the river anymore... wouldn't THAT suck!? :D

It was a balmy 54 degrees after lunch so naturally a walk was called for !  I wrangled Millie into the sling  ( not much of a wrangle as she loves it, but the Storchenweige is a trickster and it's been a while since I used it. )  I NEARLY caved and got out the stroller but I managed to hold off and sling her instead!!  It's totally worth it, I love her little baby head under my chin!  The kids and I marched down the street singing Pink songs and a Cher Lloyd song....  When we got home I tried to get Millie to have a nap in her swing.  She fell asleep ( after a bit of work.... ) and so I thought I would like to get some sleep too... I putzed around a bit......   yes.. did you see that...??  I putzed around a bit...  IDIOT!   I'd no sooner texted hubby that I was going for a nap, I mean, I literally hit send.... and what happened???  She woke up.  30 minutes she napped for.  You know how you feel when you are so tired the backs of your eyeballs get scratchy??  and your head hurts??  and you think you could just fall asleep RIGHT THERE...  yeah, that's how this afternoon felt!!  Jessie SO sweetly offered to play with Millie whilst I napped on the couch so I dropped like a rock and slept for about 30 minutes until Millie woke me up.   I felt a bit better so the kids and I made up and played a game using the Trivial Pursuit board and Brain Quest cards!  We've got all different kinds of Brain Quests... math, science, trivia, American history and all different grades so it was a lot of fun, the kids really enjoyed it and the questions were suited for each of us.  Jack won, clever kid!

Once our game was over Millie was growing tired again ( I can't think why!?!?:D ) so I put her back in her swing and sang to her until she closed her eyes so I would stop fell asleep and I decided I'd try for a few more minutes myself!!  I shoved some garlic and sea salt coated potatoes into the oven for baking, stuck on a timer and headed to my bed!!  I climbed in, fully clothed and.....  slept like a rock!!  The next thing I knew, hubby was home with a packet of Ferrero Rocher for me and it was time to get up and watch The Middle!  Jess and I played a game of Battleship ( where we made up our own boats, added sharks and swimmers ) and decided we should make up a new version of that too... either that or a smaller board!?! :D

Anyhooo.. the lack of sleep is starting to get to me again and so I'm soon headed to my bed!  Millie is all ready for bed and snoozing away in her swing...  Oh pleasepleaseplease may she sleep for a few hours in a row tonight... pleasepleaseplease!! :D

Happy Valentine's Day to you all for tomorrow... I hope you have a wonderful day full of whatever you hoped ...!!

Night night.....!!!

Pancake flinging day! ;D

Happy Fat Tuesday, Pancake Day, Mardi Gras and all that jazz!!!  What an awesome day today has been!!!  Millie slept a little better last night after our long nap yesterday but still only managed 3 1/2 hours as her longest stretch!  Never mind... for some reason I felt really rested when I woke up ( despite craaaaAAAAAzy dreams....!!)  but feeling rested makes a HUGE difference to my day!!!

I was thrilled to discover that it was pancake day TODAY instead of last week as I originally had thought!  I was in just the right mood to quickly whip up some pancake batter and cook pancakes for breakfast!  We all took a turn at flipping them and not one landed on the floor!!! :D

After breakfast I took the kids out to Target and for me to get my hair cut.  ($10 Tuesdays!!!).  Once we arrived at the hair cut place it was packed ( I guess I'm not the only one to think of these things!!!) so I left the kids there and headed next door to Target really quick to pick up a swing for Millie.  I had only a few minutes which was perfect really because I am HORRIBLE at making decisions!  The fact that I didn't have TIME to ponder too much meant that I ran in, looked for the swing that had everything I wanted and didn't make me faint when I looked at the price tag, picked it up, and headed out!  I got my hair cut and Jessie decided she'd like her's doing too, so that's what happened!!

Once home we set up the swing, put Millie in it ... and .... she slept for nearly two hours straight!!!!

Sleepy babies are ALWAYS adorable!!

AWESOME!!!  During her nap I got one or two things done and Jack and I made some more cranberry and orange scones.  We weren't sure whether our friend, Marsha, was coming to visit so we made the scones just in case.  ( She didn't, they were delicious!!)

In a frenzy of activity I pushed through three loads of laundry ( washed, dried and folded...!!) did math with Jack... ( more money activities...)

Counting to 100.  He figured out for himself that it was quicker to use four coins at a time!

Showing how many coins make a dollar.

had Jack read me a book ( just an early reader, he's still learning), mailed a ton of coupons for the military at the post office, put dinner in the crock pot (barbeque chicken) and rice in the rice cooker, whisked up a batch of pancake batter for dessert (which we ended up being too full to eat!) I even set out green beans in a pan ready for when Rex got home.  Jess and I sat and watched some Nanny 911 whilst I folded laundry!  Seemed like a nicely productive day!

Right now I'm showered and ready for bed.... ( I've not been able to do that lately for one reason or another and it does make SUCH a  difference in the morning ... )  Millie is fast asleep, swinging away, and has been since 7:15.  We'll see how tonight goes..!!  Jackster just came up to me and whispered "it's time to go to bed...!!"  so I guess I know what's next on my agenda!  I'll clean the kitchen up when I get back from putting Jack to bed and then I may get to sit and crochet for a while!!  I love a good, busy day! ;D






 

Math, money and Millie! ;D Oh, it MUST be Monday!

Oh my......!!  Not much more sleep last night....  but I have a plan....More naps are a part of it!!  I tried to get Millie down for a nap this morning, she napped for 20 minutes and woke up again.  I went up to her and held her, rocked and nursed her and she fell back to sleep.  I decided it was more important that she sleep than that I get anything done, so I held her whilst she slept for an hour.   She had a lovely nap and was well rested when she woke up.  I came downstairs to find the children scurrying around to put away the duster and the vacuum!! They had cleaned up the house for me including putting the bedding in the washing machine, cleaning the kitchen, picking up toys, tidying off the dining table and dusting the place!  They only didn't vacuum because they didn't want to wake the baby!!  

How awesome!! :D

I made the kids some vegetable and lentil soup for lunch and then worked on some math with the Jackster.  We worked on money today and I had a fun idea to teach him his coins and their values.

Spent a lot of time playing with Millie and watching her getting better and better at sitting unaided...  yikes... they grow
so bloody fast....!!

Awesome balance! She looks about TWO here!!

Going.....going.......

Gone.  Oops!! 

I should point out in the above pics that they are of two separate incidences of her tippling over!  I didn't just sit there taking pics of her falling down!!  I accidentally caught the last one!  I generally try to catch HER!!


.....and then, what do you know it, it's time for another nap.  This time I thought I would just lay down with Millie since I was exhausted. We slept for two hours!!  Man I needed that nap!

I woke up to find hubby home from work and then the usual night time routine began!  I had considered a run out to Target but even though it was only 6:30 it was so dark it just didn't seem worthwhile.  I really need to get out the house more, I'm turning into a hermit! ;D

Simple Sunday.

Hmmm.....  How can I describe the sleep I had last night?!?!?   How about......  NON EXISTENT?!? :D   Well that would be an exaggeration, but if you know me, you know that's how I roll...!! :D  I went to bed with a migraine about 10pm. 10:30 Miss M was awake.  I fed her, put her back to bed, crawled back into bed myself... and about 12:00 Millie was up.  I fed her etc.  1:30 Millie was up.  And at 2:30.  And 3:30.... and then 4:00.....  and then 4:30.... at which time I just put her in bed with us and she nursed constantly as I slept until 7:30ish.  I'm not sure what the poor little girl's deal was, I mean she was good as gold, she didn't cry or make a big fuss when she woke up and she went right back down after a bit of milk, but clearly she wasn't sleeping well!  I HAD been to Michele's and had drunk a fair amount of caffeine and eaten a lot of sugar so maybe that was it???  eeesh.  I haven't had any caffeine today so I'm crossing my fingers really hard that we get a better night tonight.  Seriously once it got to her waking every 30 minutes I had no idea if I were awake or asleep, I would dream I was sitting nursing her in the chair and couldn't figure out if I was awake or what....  We HAD been getting 4 and 5 hours straight so this is freaking me out!!  

Anyhoo... despite a lack of sleep we still had a good day.  Millie and I went out this morning to a photo shoot at Images for a Lifetime in Lincoln. They had advertised on Facebook that they wanted some models ages 6 months and up, to use with their new backgrounds.  I took Millie along and we had a really fun time.  She was a great little model, all smiles, and she seemed to really enjoy herself!  I can't wait to see the results!  

It was much colder today than it had been yesterday and it even rained a little which is so rare here.  It rained in the night and both Rex and I woke up wondering what that noise was!!!  It was RAIN!!  Anyway, once I got home I thought it was another perfect day for a fire.  Jessie and I put on our PJ's, lit the fire and sat and watched Nanny 911.  I love that show if only because it makes our lives seem so peaceful and organized!!! :D  Once hubby returned from the Home Show we put on Ratatouille so we could get a feel for Paris!!! :D  It's such a fun movie and also makes us hungry!  I must admit I cooked our dinner tonight with a little more panache than usual !! :D LOL!!

So now, as I type, Millie is snoozing away in her bed.  I have an awesome baby monitor that Rex got for us.. it's a video camera that works in pitch darkness and I can watch the feed on any computer... right now Rex is watching it on the iPod in the living room and I have it on my iPad in the dining room!  It's amazing!  Our last monitor all those years ago was just for sound.  It worked fine but it's so awesome to be able to watch her!! ;D   We are all so thrilled with our little girl... We got so very lucky!!