Quick Note

So, I promise that I will post pictures tomorrow of the house...

I have a camera that needs an overnight charge.
Until then.

Our first play date at the house!

Who doesn't love girls in tutu's!!
Even when one of those girls thinks it looks better as a bikini top

Brooke & Jack sharing the play food. By sharing, I mean Jack politely asked for every piece that Brooke brought out...which she happily gave in to :)

Caroline loves our new house!
She also loves when mom puts her hair up in a pony :)

LOVE this Monkey Girl :)

Move In Day

The day had FINALLY arrived and we were MORE then ready. We had spent the night at my in-laws and the girls had done fairly well over night. 90% of our belongs had already been moved in to the new house (or at least the garage) thanks to Gary, my brother-in-law Mike and my father-in-law. I seriously know that we could not have done this move without them. My mom was also a HUGE help and had the girls in her care. My mother-in-law was an all around team player both helping us move, clean the old (and new) house and watch our kiddos. My Dad was the hero coming in with a last minute save (being able to move our dresser upstairs...master mover for sure!) and being incredibly awesome by picking up our new box spring (more on that later). Thank goodness for family right?

Over-all, everything went fairly smoothly. We had a few hiccups-as I am sure everyone does. First, there was the refrigerator disaster that happened as we were closing. Gary had measured our kitchen for the built in fridge we needed to order. When it was delivered, though, there was no way it was going to fit. Apparently, according to the delivery man, this happens all the time. Long story short, it wasn't going to work-and I wasn't happy. After closing, we headed to Home Depot to find one that I could get immediately. I was pleasantly surprised at the customer service at the HD. Not only did we get a new fridge, but they gave us a discount and free delivery-2 hours later!! Amazing. Problem #1 = solved.

Problem #2 wasn't so simple. Gary and I have a queen size bed and apparently when this house was built, you either had a twin or a king. There was no-way that a queen box spring was going up the stairs. After many attempts by master movers, it was determined that we would have to splurge on two separate box springs. Many, many phone calls later I found one store in town that had them in stock and didn't require a two week special order. Day two of home-ownership and we have a bed!

All-in-all it went great. We still have TONS to put away...LOTS to organize and decorate and one very important room (Brooke's) to paint. For an impatient person like me, I think that I am doing pretty well. I cannot wait to show you all pictures and I promise them in the next post-just needed a bit more time to put a few more things away :) Friends are welcome to visit anytime!!

Check In

Well, it is Sunday and time to check in on my Couch to 5K progress. This week has not been as easy as the last. With the move happening this week, I only got two runs in out of the necessary three. The move itself brought along lots of weight lifting and cardio, but I am going to repeat week two in order to keep myself on track.

Still not noticing too many changes, but that is not a huge surprise with everything that has been going on. I actually went crazy for a minute and got on the scale at the new house. Who knew that having a scale on carpet could make such a difference! It read 99.2 lbs!! WHOA...forget this 5K business I should probably eat something! Then reality set in and I brought that scale into the kitchen and weighed in on the hardwood floors. I am not going to fill you in on that number but it was 1lb higher then the good ole tile at our old house...so, maybe if I weigh in next somewhere in-between the first floor and the second I will get the number I want :)

Until next Sunday!

My Girls

Amid all of the chaos of boxes and tape the girls have been taking it the best that they can. Caroline is pretty indifferent. Brooke is having a harder time. She doesn't like her things to be packed up. I can understand this considering I used to make my parents take pictures of all of our old houses before we moved. I even took pictures of the inside of closets...I was a weird child. After we would move, I would even go back to our old homes and inform their current residents that I used to live there. I then would proceed to ask if I could come in and take a look around. What??!!! Who does that...and who's parents let their child do that??!! Again-weird child.

Tonight when it was time to go to bed, Brooke wanted Caroline to join us to read a story. She was concerned that Caroline was cold-which is understandable since she as pj-less at the time. So, under the covers they both went for a little Brown Bear, Brown Bear. It was too cute of an opportunity to not take some pictures :)

Makes me melt...

And...introducing our latest little Catholic...my Godson Caden!! Isn't he a doll?? Gary and I are lucky enough to be his Godparents and we had a great day celebrating his Baptism. We are so excited to live closer to the little man...and his mom & dad too :)

High pants and over sized rosary's are the BEST!

SLICK new look

All babies have a few 'issues' that come up in those first few months right? Brooke was colicky and refused to sleep. Caroline...she is all about smiles and naps...but the girl has some dandruff-or cradle cap as its called in baby world. After consulting with other mom's, I went with the method my sister-in-law recommend-Olive oil and a baby hat.

It worked WONDERS. Not only did it rid Caroline of dry, scaly skin, but it left her with a TON of body.

Looks good right?

She loves it.

Permanent / Tick

I had new experience today. One I hope that I will not have again. As I was petting Bella, I noticed something 'odd' under her chin. It felt like a piece of dirt. She has a tendency to play in our yard so I figured no big deal. As I pulled on the clump of dirt to get it out of Bella's fur I realized that we were dealing with much more then dry mud. It was a Tick. Disgusting.

Luckily, it had not completely made a home on Bella's skin. I was able to pull it off with no problem.

End of story right? No.

Today Brooke, Caroline and I were out on the deck blowing bubbles. When we came inside I put Caroline in her beloved stationary jumper. When I came back to check on her 2 minutes later I noticed a speck of dirt on her shirt. You see where this is going right? Nope-not dirt. A Tick. Even more disgusting (and frightening) then the one on Bella. It was not even on her skin-just the sleeve of her shirt but STILL!! I stripped both girls clothing to check their entire bodies. We were clear. I grabbed Bella, she was good too. I am also tick free-so GROSS! I am cool if we never have to deal with that again.

Oh-and while I was tending to Caroline, Brooke found my permanent marker and drew all over her body. Awesome.

FYI-Shaving Cream and Hair Spray work pretty well. Neither gets 100% off, but they both do a decent job.

3 More Days...

Friday cannot get here soon enough.

Separated

Lately Miss Caroline has started to remind me more and more of her cousin Lily. Both girls have so many similarities!! Both girls were born with full heads of hair...and both began to lose their hair right around 4 months. I now know what my sister meant when she said it looked like she had a cat when Lily was younger. They both also have these phone operator raspy voices which just crack me up. Lily is still working hers at 2.5 years and I hope that Caroline will be too.

There is still no mistaking Caroline and Brooke as sisters (when looking at old pictures) but Lily could easily join the girls as a third sister...if the Kallers would let us have her for awhile :)

Brooke & Lily at 4.5 months

The girls with Jack-just b/c I came across the pic and could not help but re post
This is my plea to Amy to let Jack grow is hair back out-it is so cute!

And the girls today

Lils-working the bubbles

and Brooke

AND-back to Caroline

Don't you love the 'no neck' phase?

Life Changes

Lately I have been making some changes. I know that I have written on here before about trying to get back in shape-or-better yet..getting into better shape then I was even before I was pregnant 2x in the last three years.

I saw a few pictures today that were taken of me recently and I can honestly tell you all that I was totally unhappy with what I saw. Maybe it was my pale skin or maybe it was the zero color, tons of dead-ends that I am rocking but it reminded me (right in my face) of what others are seeing on a daily basis and I was not too pleased.

I started a workout program called The Couch-to-5K. I have only been a participant for a week and a half, but that is a week and a half that I have been sticking to it. I feel better when I come home and I have gotten a work out in. I don't see too many changes yet, but maybe that is also due to the other stresses and craziness going on in my life right now. I hope to get some real physical changes soon.

I am going to plan on updating on Sunday as my 'check-in' that I am still working the program and (hopefully) getting a hair cut, color and some much needed color on this light reflecting skin.

Sick of me Yet?

Are you sick of hearing me go on and on and on and on about moving yet?? We are almost there.

Today we received word that our new buyers want to do a final walk-through of our home on Monday. Seriously? Monday! I was under the impression that we had to be out of the house before the final walk-through. I did have plans to clean the house top to bottom..but I don't see that happening amongst the plethora of boxes we have right now. Not to mention that I really cannot pack up any of Brookes room because it upsets her so much. Oh well. Not too much that I can do except direct them around the boxes so that they can see what they need to see.

I have grown a serious pain in my back and neck. I don't know if it is from packing 20 boxes a day of every belonging we have collected the past 28+ years or if it is from being SO stressed out I can barely take it. Maybe both. I am in serious need of a massage for Mothers Day (the one time I really hope Gary is reading my blog). Oh well-nothing that a glass of wine and some dark chocolate cannot fix :)

PS-Does everyone know that Walgreens is now selling wine...and pretty good wine! I mean, where else can you go and purchase wine, chocolate, conditioner and stamps?? Maybe we won't move after-all?

PPS-It has been too long...my little monkey Caroline


PPPS-and Brooke too!!

and the Worst Mom award goes to....

ME.

Today was the day from Hell.

It began at the religious goods store. I needed to pick up a gift and Brooke thought that we were at the the coolest store ever-even better then Target. She couldn't help but want to touch everything-and I mean.everything. There are only so many times that one can say, "Brooke-stop touching Jesus"..."Brooke-Mary is not a toy"..."Seriously, I am not buying the WWJD bracelet-put it back.....ok-I'll buy you one" before you have to just laugh at how you must look to co-shoppers.

The biggest mistake of my day was forgetting my diaper bag. Did you all just gasp? Maybe this wouldn't be too bad if you didn't realize at your first errand stop that your 4.5 month old had a diaper that looked as if it had been submerged in water for five minutes. To top it off, she then moves on to having a huge blow out in soaking wet diaper. Wait...could that be all? No-not for this Worst Mom award winner!! Why not have your 2.5 year old inform you that she too had a dirty diaper!! Luckily, we were at my work when this all went down. Good thing I got a hold of Gary to drop off my bag before he headed into work.

I guess I should have been a little more specific when I asked him to bring my diaper bag to work. It was pretty empty. Those aforementioned dirty diapers...well have you ever used damp paper towels to clean off your kiddos? Don't. I guess he should have checked the wipe supply huh?

Onto Target-my favorite store. The girls were good, until it was time to leave. Caroline was mad...really mad...and when she is mad it only means one thing...chunky monkey wants to eat-Immediately.

Insert situation #3-no bottle in the diaper bag. Luckily the grocery store is nearby and I had just gotten formula at the store. Too bad the store only has cheapo bottles and you know Caroline is a diva. It took a good five minutes to get her to take the $2.00 bottle when she is used to her Dr. Browns! Oh, and did I mention that Brooke was screaming at the top of her lungs for Caroline to PLEASE STOP CRYING the entire time?? All I could do was laugh...I mean, at least she said please right?

Finally we get to our final destination-the bank. As I pull up to take my turn at the ATM I realize I am in our car that currently does not have a working drivers side window. I cannot convey to you how 'thrilled' the people behind me were when I had to get out of the car to use the ATM. You know that I couldn't hit the screen correctly at least seven times making the uncomfortable staring last way too long.

We are finally home and I just cannot wait to tackle the disaster that is my house. Anyone want to come over and help me pack? Anyone know of any wine delivery services?? I am willing to pay top dollar (for the wine)!!

Bachelorette Weekend

This past weekend, I relived my youth at my good friend Katie's bachelorette party. There are many reasons why mom's like me do not attend bachelorette parties anymore.

Let's go over a few shall we?

1. Compulsive need to inform anyone that will listen to you that you have two adorable children at home. When you start to sense that they may not be too interested, you move on to plan b-pictures on phone and in camera. (note to self: as cute as your kiddos are, not everyone wants to hear their entire life stories).

2. Loving the live band. Loving.The.Live.Band.
I should totally know better-I mean, Gary comes home with stories all the time about 'those girls' who totally 'love' his music. Yes people, I was that groupie. No matter the song, I was their biggest fan.

3. Dancing. I think that after you have a couple of kids under your belt, the rhythm starts to disappear. This is one occasion where you really wish that digital cameras, phones and videos were still not invented.

Oh well-everyone loves a good girls night out bachelorette party right??!!!
Now, lets just keep all those pictures to ourselves shall we?

The End of A Trend

So, today I made the fateful decision to end a long term relationship with a good friend. I had to make a clean break as this friend was a bad influence. There are some things that just cannot last forever and as much as I hate to say goodbye it was time.

Off to the Tan Company to cancel my $5.00 a month commitment. I mean, lets be honest, have you seen this girl? I haven't seen a tan since it was chemically sprayed on me maybe two years ago. While I may still be hitting up the spray for a few upcoming weddings, the financial commitment of $60 a year is a waste that I am willing to get rid of.

While I was thinking of making this 'oh so huge' decision in my life (sense the sarcasm please) I decided to take a trip down memory lane so see what other trends I have parted ways with...and for good reason.

This is a big one folks.
Purple lip stick, bebe shirts and intense highlights.
I am not going to lie...the purple lipstick was hard to part with-I think Brooke would totally love me to bring it back.

There is that proof of extreme tanning again..
I am dissapointed that my acrylic nails and favorite red pants (borrowed from a great friend) did not make this picture. However, my awesome Gamma Phi Beta engraved bracelet did-b/c I was one proud G-Phi.

And maybe the hardest of all....
Blonde curls, khaki pants and taking a senior portriate with your boyfriend
WHAT??!!
At least we got married right?

(if any of my sisters send this to awkward family photo they are disowned)

Mommy Questions

Ok moms-I need some advice here. As my previous post have demonstrated, Caroline is a big strong girl. Brooke didn't roll over until almost 5 months..Caroline? 3.5 months. Needless to say, it is her most favorite thing in the world to roll over on her tummy. The problem is, when she gets to her stomach...she freaks out. She may be ok for a few minutes of fun and then...face goes straight into the ground and she loses it. She does not turn her head to the side, but rather goes face down screaming for someone to save her-which we do without hesitation.

I started to think to myself that when I lay her down to sleep in her crib she was most likely going to flip to her tummy. I was feeling good about this scenario because I knew from play time that if she went face down into the mattress, she would cry out for me to save her-no worries. Wrong. Yesterday, must to my delight, Caroline went down for her morning nap in her crib (vs. in her car seat or on me/dad). We had an appointment with Parents as Teachers and after about 45 minutes later, I peeked in her room to check on her...face down...no screaming, no tears, nothing except EXTREME FEAR for mom. Of course she was a-0-k. I, on the other hand, was not. Why wouldn't she turn her head...or cry out like she does during playtime on her tummy? I tried to quietly turn her head to the side (for my own sanity). First to the right...as that is her preferred head turning direction..no go. Immediately back to face down (but still asleep which was a plus). Next try...to the left. We had a winner. She stayed in that position for maybe 30-45 minutes at which time she went back to face down.

On the plus side, she ended up napping (in her crib no less) for almost 3 hours!! The downside, I was about to head to Babies R Us to purchase a video monitor, breathing sensor (have you all heard of these? Are they just gimmicks to be people like me to spend hundreds of dollars??) and anything else on the market that would let me sleep at night. My other concern is that when Caroline is playing on her tummy and I do try to help her turn that little neck she gets so upset...real tears and all. We had been taking her to a PT but they gave her the all clear a week ago. Maybe I should go back? Besides thinking that I am overly paranoid and crazy...what do you moms/dads, aunts/uncles, babysitters or anyone with kiddo experience think? All ideas/advice is greatly appreciated.

Decision Day

Today is the day-a big day. By the end of the day we will know if we are moving to our new house or continuing to search for a place to live. After multiple negotiations and conversations and headaches we should officially have word today that we agree on the terms set...or we walk away. Both options make me nervous. Even though I have been packing and living amongst boxes for days and days the idea of actually buying a new home...and moving...and-scariest of all-having the girls sleep adjust is mentally exhausting. If we do get word today that the home is ours, I think I will finally post pictures of the new place. If you just cannot wait that long-feel free to email me for the link :) And the clock ticks....

The Stats...

Caroline did great at her check up today. She was all smiles for the doctor and was putting quite a show on for the nurse as well. The scale entered the room and Caroline confirmed that she is in fact our chunky monkey. She weighs 16.75 oz. Yeah-you read that right! The baby that we were so concerned wouldn't gain weight when we brought her home from the hospital is now in the 79% for weight and the 93% for height (25 1/4 inches). She also has a fairly large head which we expected after seeing her next to her cousin Caden last weekend. The good news is that she is completely proportional...and healthy too.

I am not sure who's daughter I brought home from the hospital! We certainly don't have tall genes on my end, but Gary's mom is tall so Caroline must have inherited her height from Grandma Mary Anne :) She is ahead of the curve when it comes to motor skills. As previously mentioned, I would not be surprised to see her crawling across the room weeks before Brooke did.

The doctor also let me know that we can start her (slowly) on solids. What?!?! Dr. J said that most of the time they wait until 6 months, however, in special circumstances where the baby is already the size of a 6 month old we can jump start at 4 months. While this may freak some parents out or make them sad that their baby is getting bigger so quickly-it is not the case in our household. I LOVE buying baby food. I actually have a good time picking out which new fruits and veggies our child will get to try out and sometimes I sneak a few bites in too (have you had baby food these days?? delicious). We picked up some rice cereal today and let her try it out at lunch. She wasn't the biggest fan, but she did think the spoon was pretty cool. Just wait until she gets pears, I have a feeling she is going to squeal with excitement!!

What fun it will be at her 6 month appointment-anyone want to place bets that Caroline and Brooke will weigh the same :)

4 Months

Caroline is 4 months old! It is crazy how fast these first four months have flown by and to think how fast the next four will go by as well. Caroline is such a good baby. She is learning so much and everyday she is doing something new.

Her current favorite activities include rolling over from back to tummy and (sometimes) tummy to back. She has grown very fond of her many 'lovey's' and is not really into the pacifier...more of a thumb/full hand sucker. She smiles ALL the time and loves to give us a HUGE grin first thing in the morning. She is obsessed with watching Brooke at all times and loves when big sis gives her attention. Yesterday she started to try and sit up on her own and did great! I think that she is super strong for only four months and wouldn't be surprised if she walked before Brooke (who started at 10 months...mom was a 9 month walker..but I digress).

Caroline will only sleep in her car seat or in dad's arms for extended periods of time, although today she has been snoozing in her bouncy seat so this could be a new sleeping location as well :). She is sleeping through the night from 9:30 - 7:00 a.m. She has her 'off' days of a 3 a.m. wake up but we cannot complain. I am not sure how much she weighs, but we have our four month check up tomorrow and I will be back to let you all in on her stats!

Just home from the hospital-this was her bird leg stage

2 months-still pretty small

Looks like someone up'd Caroline's formula!
What a difference a month makes!
3 months and the cheeks are in full force!!

The Fabulous Four Month Old

Easter Weekend

How was your Easter weekend? Ours consisted of family, friends and chubby babies-what could be better? We started off our weekend on Thursday. Brian and Lisa came in from Florida to celebrate Easter and the upcoming arrival of baby Fleming (coming July 2010). We were able to get in lots of family time and had so much fun!! We cannot wait to see them again and meet our new (maybe) niece/ (maybe) nephew-cousin!!

Caden & Caroline
Totally chubby and totally fabulous

Grandma MaryAnne and her babes
Not pictured-Brooke...WAY too busy soaking up both her uncles and Dad's attention outside

Easter weekend continued with the Easter Bunny stopping by our house on Sunday morning. Both girls got some goodies and Brooke enjoyed having chocolate for breakfast. Later on, we headed to Innsbrook (our first time since last August) to celebrate with the Johnson family. Brooke had a BLAST with her cousins....but only after peeing on Aunt Maggie-what are Aunts for right?

Brooke may have only gotten one egg, but she had a balloon and she was A-OK with that.

Who's the best mom in the world? The one that remembers to bring bubbles to Innsbrooke.

Caroline is the strongest 4 month old ever.
She is already trying to sit up by herself-such a happy girl!

All four kiddos...and Maggie's arm.

Brooke may have her moment, but what a good big sister!
As soon as Caroline sat down, she reached out to hold her hand-how cute!!
Then, she went back to the bubbles...

Hope you all had a Happy Easter!

Signed our Life Away

Well, we did it.

We bought a new house.

I am almost more nervous on the purchase of our second home then I was on the purchase of this one! It is a big step for us and has definitely been an experience. I would say that having been through it, it will be so much easier the next time-but it you ask me today...there will not be a next time!

The new place offers an additional bedroom, full bathroom for the kids and more updates then our current house. It has great potential for us and we are very excited. The move is set to take place on April 23rd and all help is welcomed. I didn't realize how expensive moving companies are! We are going to try and rent a tuck and do it on our own-are we crazy?? I am SO looking forward to May and being settled into our new place an planning a housewarming party for all to attend.

I was going to post pictures of the new place, but i felt a little strange putting it out there for all in the world to see. Once we are officially moved in and have our things in place, I will take pictures and post. Email me if you want me to send you think link :)

Again-let us know if your free on the 23rd!