Sunday

- Trains this morning
- Off to grandma and papas to see uncle zach and aunt kristen who just moved here and start their new jobs tomorrow
- stop by starbucks. my cup reads
"If you've got a dollar and you psend twetny-nine cents on a loaf of bread, you've got seventy-one cents left. But if you've got seventeen grand and you spend twenty-nine cents on a loaf of bread, you've still got seventeen grand. There's a math lesson for you."
Who can get a loaf of bread for twenty-nine cents?
- anna and carter play with the kitty cats that zach and anna brought with them. one of the cats kept hiding behind a mattress in the basement
- I head to Gymboree to spend my gymbucks on clothes for Anna. Also stop at baby gap and use my 30% coupon on clothes for Carter
- Eat lunch by myself at panera. Mom calls to ask how long it is ok to let Carter cry (he's down for a nap). I say 15 minutes. He's only at 10
- Head to Archivers. Pick up an album for this project, use my 30% coupon + get some page protectors with different sized slots + some white and brown bazzill cardstock
- Back to my parents house to pick up the kids
- anna had baked cookies with papa
- kristen had made lasagna for lunch
- chat with kristen about her new job
- pile the kids into the car
- phone rings, oh crap, i was supposed to be at a pumpkin run picture at 4pm. completely 100% forgot. i feel horrible
- head to the grocery store. meal planning in my head but i can only get through 3 days
- remember anna is supposed to take a white piece of poster board + pictures of all the family for a family tree project they are doing
- home, make chicken enchiladas for dinner after shredding a roasted chicken from the deli of the grocery store
- dishes. carter cries and tries to push me away, hanging on my leg
- locate all the pics for anna and label
- put carter to bed

Saturday

Today I took the most pictures of any day this week. I guess that isn't surprising since it was Saturday.

Today I took the kids to the zoo. Since I work nearly full time Saturday is really their "mommy day." We did good, getting there before 10:30. Sponge Bob Square Pants was there and he was our first stop. Which was a good thing because later the line was super long. We got to see the elephants paint and the kids ate sno cones. We went all the way to the back to see the Chimps and not a single one was out. Carter kept calling "mun-hee!" (translation monkey!). The weather was beautiful.

We left about 2:15 and all came home and all took a nap. Kevin thinks this is ridiculous but we were all exhuasted. Anna and I woke up about 4:45 and Carter about 5:15.

Anna and I went to the grocery store and picked up stuff to make home made cheeseburgers. Then I played outside with the kids while Kevin cooked. And it was delicious.

Anna had to call grandma and papa and also talk to uncle zach and aunt kristin. She is really in to dialing and talking on the phone.

The kids got baths to wash off all the sunscreen and Anna chose to read Curious George and the Donut Delivery which is probably only my 6th time to read that this week. I almost have it memorized and it's kind of a long book.

Tonight he is watching the MU football game and I am blogging and trying to plan my day for tomorrow. Plus did dishes and more laundry. One week I counted how many loads I do in a week. It is somewhere between 7 and 10 depending on if I was sheets and towels. This is a lot when you consider we have a High Efficency washing machine (how does anyone live without one? seriously) It cuts the # of loads in at least half. So if I didn't have that you can say I do between 14 and 20 loads - for all of you with a normal washer. It's my biggest deterrent for buying new clothes and for having a third child.

I'm also trying to plan my supplies for pulling this book together quickly yet still up to my standards. I'm pretty picky about my scrapbook pages but I do get that the fastest way to do these is to come up with a template and stick with it. I really like Ali's digital overlays but I don't have a color printer to use these. Considering getting one but don't want to make the purchase just for this. Would I use it more? Not sure.

Friday

Every Friday at work my day starts the same. We have a weekly internal scheduling meeting at 9:30.

This is usually followed by what I called DEGed, internal training of sorts, which usually lasts until 11:30. We didn't have the second meeting today so we were done early. At 1 I decided to have lunch from the cafe in our building. I usually get the grilled chicken wrap. Had a hard time deciding on which chips because they were out of Krunchers. I got Sour Cream and Onion Lays.

On Friday afternoons we have a "Jam Out" ritual where my cube-mate Ramsey plays music (he's a dj in his other life) and we rock out, trying to stay awake and pump up for the weekend.

After work I headed to my parents house to pick up the kids. I ate dinner there tonight because Kevin is working the football games. Here is papa carrying Anna out to the car.

Here is Carter once we got home.

Then we did the nightly ritual of flossing (ever since we found out Anna has a cavity) followed by brushing (the parent does this) followed by a drink followed by rinsing.

Then a book. No idea why she picked a potty training book. She's been potty trained for over a year.

Then she asked me to lay in bed with her. This is so hard because I don't like to set a precedent of laying down with her. Give her an inch and she'll take a mile and expect it every other night always. But I also think that she won't always want me to lay with her and what is the harm in the big picture. So we laid together for awhile. Tassie came up and peaked in the room. I could see her shadow in the darkness. Then she came right up to the bed and poked her face in Anna's. That gave us the giggles and we laughed for awhile as Tassie looked for trouble and then gave up and left.

I was sooooo sleepy today. Started off with Starbucks, still felt sleepy, had another cup of coffee at work and a donut. Then felt jittery, like I'd had too much caffeine. So I ate lunch with a diet dr pepper. after that I just felt like I couldn't wake up. I had two reese's peanut butter cups to try to get another sugar pep.

I'm sure it was because I was just staring at logged hours, looking at every email we'd sent over the last month and making sure we'd billed for every minute we can. Yawn. So boring. I hate billing. So does my cubemate. So we had a "we hate billing. with a passion. is it 5 yet? can we go home now" afternoon. Bleh.

Tomorrow morning we are going to the zoo. I'm taking the kids by myself which is a first. Sponge Bob Square Pants is supposed to be there, along with some Halloween/fall fun. Anna is super excited about SBSP.

She was asking me how he got out of the water to go to the zoo. And would Patrick be there. Very cute.

Thursday

Thursday is normally my day off but since I took a few hours to take Carter to the doctor yesterday I worked a few hours from home this morning from 9 to 12. Then I went to lunch with my BFF Candi who needed some girl time. She and her family are going to visit her sister this weekend so I won't see her for another week or so - which means in about 3 days I will have serious withdrawal of girl time.

I didn't take very many pictures today but I'm ok with that. Usually Thursday is my day to either run errands or spend time with the kids. Today I did neither. I did take a short trip to Target for no reason in particular and found some new jammies for myself and some scrapbooking supplies.

If you know me you know that I am obsessed with letters for scrapbooking. Here is my purchase from today. Perhaps it will make it into this album. I almost bought a 12x12 album there to use for this project. But I didn't. Now I think I'm regretting that. Hopefully it will still be there on Saturday. It was blue with big multi colored polka dots.



Instead of errands and spending time with the kids (who instead went to daycare) I did dishes and laundry and finally emptied the suitcases from our trip to Vegas two weeks ago and my business trip last week.

Dishes before


after


laundry before


I didn't take an after pic but it's all put away! Of course, I did another load which is in the washer and needs to be moved to the dryer.

After I picked up the kids we went through the car wash (that I bought when I got gas the other day but didn't use at the time) and then we went into the grocery store to get sausage and orange juice to have breakfast for dinner. Anna thinks this is so cool. Carter pretty much only ate a banana and two cups of oj. That'll be coming out later.

Then my parents stopped by. My aunt and her daugher are in town to spend the night to go to the airport in the morning. They stopped by as well. I put the kids in their pjs, we all chatted for a bit and then they all left to sleep and my parents house.

"Friday is grandma day" as Anna would say. Usually my mom would pick them up from daycare just before lunch on Friday, but today they are spending the Thursday night at grandma and papa's and will spend all day Friday there.

I thought it would be good to document some of the things I have been thinking about this week.

- Should I have a birthday party for Carter when he turns 2? When would I have it. His birthday falls the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I think my parents are going to be out of town. If I have it several weeks before is that weird? Wait, Kevin might be on a hunting trip if I have it weeks before. Hmmm.

- I'd like to paint the kitchen to look like a Starbucks

- Before I start a new project I need to finish off that list on the right of this blog

- I'm not ready to start potty training Carter. I think he's getting close but I'm not there yet. The only incentive that is motivating me right now is that daycare is cheaper

- I think I might take the kids to the zoo this weekend, one more time before it gets cold. It's supposed to be beautiful 76 and sunny.

- I also just remembered that I never took a shower today

- And I forgot to send something to school with Anna that started with the letter D for show and tell. oops.

Wednesday

Oh what a crazy day.

I had a really hard time dragging myself out of bed today and immediately decided it was a Starbucks day.

Kevin had to go to work early so I was taking the kids today. The kids must have been sleepy too because after Kevin left I took a shower and was getting ready before Anna happily pranced into our bathroom. I had to wake Carter up. He really didn't want to get up which is really unlike him. Usually when I turn on the lights he stands up for me.





He had some serious bed head today.



I think that's when Anna threw a fit about something completely trivial, meaningless and so much so I can't even remember what it was. I think she didn't want me to go downstairs yet but I wanted to get Carter started on breakfast because he's a slow eater and I was almost ready to go.



I debated whether or not to go up there. I didn't want to reward her for throwing a fit but I had told her I would come back up. I went up and miraculously she quit crying.

Shoes on.



Today I have the diaper bag because Carter has a dr appt. So the bags look like this.



My daily routine includes putting a chair on top of trash can to prevent Sonar from getting into the trash and strewing it across the house during the day (as he has been known to do).



Carter waves to the trash men. I buckle them in the car and retrieve the empty trash cans.

8:12 We pull out of the driveway to take the kids to school, Anna cried when I left.

8:23 And then I realized that I forgot to email myself the pictures of Carter's rash to take to his dermatologist appointment today. I debated whether to go back to the house to do this. It would mean I would be late to work. I've waited 4 months for this damn appointment (even though he doesn't have a rash right now). I'm taking those freakin pictures. Back to the house, email, leave again.

In the car on the way to work I hear that Tina Turner is in concert tonight at the Sprint Center. So their playlist "8 at 8" (8 songs at 8 am) is all Tina Turner. I am jamming out to "We Don't Need Another Hero" and sing at the top of my lungs. I actually think, what a good concert this would be. I should download this playlist. And then I immediately think, wow, I am really old.

8:55 Starbucks

9:10 Arrive at work. Only 10 minutes late, not too bad.



10:00 I print the pictures of Carter's diaper rashes from previous months and hope no one accidentally picks these up from the printer since his special place is front and center. It all works out. (we don't have a color printer at home)

10:40 leave for meeting.

11:10 arrive at meeting 10 minutes late, apparently this is going to follow me throughout the day.

12:00 leave meeting. drive all the way across town to pick up Carter. I stop by the house to pick up a sippy cup and snacks since I'm not sure how long we will be there. I talk to my brother Zach who is moving back to KC with his wife this weekend.

1:00 I have to wake him from his nap.

1:15 I'm starving. I go through McD's drive thru.

1:35 We arrive at the dr appt early. This is unheard of. Refreshingly I'm not asked to fill out ANY paperwork. And this is our first visit. Instead she asks me for all of the information and inputs it directly into the computer. Genius.

The appointment goes well and it was a really good thing I took the pictures. We get some instructions and a prescription and now if I need to take him when he does have a rash we don't have to wait very long.



3:15 Arrive at work to pick up my computer. End up staying 45 minutes to troubleshoot some issues for new clients. Thankfully Terese entertained Carter with toys, balls and more.




4:00 Leave. Carter falls asleep in the car. Get gas. Go pick up Anna. (I left Carter in the car since he was sleeping. I know this is a no-no but it's right in front of the daycare and right across from the police station, ok enough excuses I know this is wrong but it's so hard to wake a sleeping baby for a 5 minute in and out. It's not hot and I rolled the windows down about 5 inches). Swing by grocery store to get a few things for dinner. The kids insist on getting an apple. They actually pulled one out and several rolled off. They rolled all over the floor. I thought this was funny for some reason and laughed out loud. This old guy standing by his cart next to us wasn't amused at all. Live a little buddy. I let them each pick an apple. They each wanted to carry it in their own plastic bag (sorry earth). As soon as we got in the car they starting eating their apples. When we got home I sliced them and added a scoope of peanut butter.



Then, everyone worked on their laptops.




Then the kids were playing in the dining room with the trains while I was making dinner and Anna let me know that Sonar peed in there again. He does this. When he gets pissed off he pees wherever the kids play, either upstairs in their bedrooms or in the dining room. So I got to clean that up.

Eat dinner. Kevin says it tastes like cat food. I used a different recipe tonight and apparently it wasn't as good.

Carter to bed. Anna stays up and watches a little TV with us and I work some more trying to get caught up.

Technically I'm usually off on Thursdays but because my hours were a little short today and I'm behind I'll probably work a few more hours tomorrow.