Date With The Bug

Yesterday morning Dale and I took Riley on a date.

We figured that she hasn't had any time with just Mommy and Daddy since Makenna was born and she has been having a hard time with it!

The movies are Riley's favorite place to go so we decided to take her to a movie! It was perfect timing since Shrek 4 came out on Friday and Dale and I have also been wanting to see it!

Here she is (with her piggy OF COURSE!) staring at all the movie posters that are on the wall as we walked by!

I tried to get a picture with her looking but there is so much in a movie theater lobby that its really easy for a 4 yr old to get distracted!

Again.. No way on earth she was gonna look at the camera but she was SUPER excited!

We get into the theater no kidding 5 minutes before the movie was supposed to start and there was NOT ONE PERSON in the theater!

Here's a hint... Go to the movies on a Monday morning at 10:50. No lines, no people, REALLY cheap tickets and you WILL get the best seat in the house!

Anyway, she was really excited to be at the movies and had a hard time with the volume of the previews but when they movie started she was as happy as could be and totally into the movie!

Dale and I thought it was so cute and funny and Riley couldn't stop talking about it all day so I am SURE she agreed!

We will be doing more Riley Dates from now on.

Mission accomplished

So remember that nasty closet I was telling you about?

Here is the before...... Disgusting huh? Its really hard for me to show this picture.....

This is the during.....

This isn't even all of it. We hadn't touched the top shelf yet!

I felt soooo overwhelmed by all this junk!

The after!!!

I have a space for just my bags and Dales lunch bag that he takes to work with him everyday!
That THING is always in the worst spot and it gets in my way everyday.

But lets just say that diaper bags aren't to much fun to trip over....

There is still a couple things i want to do with it.
I want to get one of those cloth shoe holders that people can hang in their closet to utilize all the space to the right of the shelf. and find something else I can hang from the rack to utilize all the space above the shelf as well!
(The shelf was only 16 bucks at Target... I was happy when I saw that!!)


So about a month ago I ordered a panoramic picture from my sister Jamie. It took me a few weeks to find a frame for it that wasn't 50 bucks and when I finally found it I brought it home and put the picture in it IMMEDIATELY.
It sat in that dang closet for a couple weeks before I actually had the motivation behind me to put it up.
I was NOT gonna put the picture back in the closet after I cleaned it all.
So I had Dale help me center it and
VOILA!!
You Like?

I feel very accomplished!

And at this very second Dale is outside in the garage organizing that nasty mess! I will post pictures of that too! The before picture is REALLY scary!

Holy Cabooses!

Riley has a new obsession!

It is this movie .... Hello Dolly!

At first she was drawn to it because "THEY SING THE WALL-E SONG MOM!"

After that she was sold by seeing all the pretty dresses and hats and watching everyone dance.

I showed it to her for the first time a week ago and she is already singing along!

She LOVES the singing!

She asks for this movie at least once a day!!

I will only put it in once despite her asking! Have you seen it? Its long....

I hope to be able to get more classics like this and make them part of Riley's collection.

I think she will love them all just as much!

Bitter Sweet

I just realized... Although Makenna is MY baby, she really isn't a baby anymore!

When your "Baby" is just about in size 5 diapers and she is starting to stand on her own... She really isn't a baby any more....

This makes me sad and happy all at once!

Potty Song

At this very moment I am listening to a very cute potty song by a very cute Bug.

Here's how it goes..

Potty, potty, potty!
Toe-let paper, toe-let paper, toe-let paper!
Wipe, wipe, wipe!
Panties, panties, panties!
Belly, belly, belly! (not sure what that has to do with it..)
Close, close, close!
Flush, flush, flush!
Run, run, run!
Hop, hop, hop!

Glad she knows the order!
Cute song Bug!

The word of the day..

CLEAN
This week has been horrible and also horribly productive!

Monday- As always this day is super fun! Dale has Mondays off. Its the only day out of the whole week where there isn't something we have to be to like work or church. I have my girls and Dale with me ALL DAY!! We went to the mall and looked around. I bought a shirt and some CHEAP clothes on sale for the girls! I LOVE SALES! The we had dinner put the girls to bed and had some time alone!

Tuesday- I think HONESTLY this was the worst day I have ever had in my entire life. There is nothing worse than feeling like you are the worst mother and wife on the planet. Feeling like you don't deserve a thing you were given to really screw up a day! Lots of crying and tears ended that day!

Wednesday- A SERIOUS turn around! The girls were awesome! We played on the floor all day and read book after book after book!! The girls were happy, I was happy! I got SOOO Much laundry done and was able to put IT ALL AWAY! This is a HUGE accomplishment for me! I can do the washing, no big deal. When it comes to putting away, unless Dale does it, it doesn't happen!

Today- I got up, got Riley dressed and off to play group then I came home played with Makenna a bit then TRIED to get her to nap while I CLEANED!!! I finished the laundry I started yesterday and put everything away! (every piece of laundry in my house is clean right now!) Then I came downstairs and decided to clean up my own personal oil spill from the horrific Tuesday night. SPLATTERED OIL EVERYWHERE!!!!! You could have ice skated on our floors...... I filled our sink with bleach water and went to town on my kitchen!! It has never been more clean! Every dish in our house is clean and everything is sanitized! You could probably eat off our floors right now, although I wouldn't ask you to!

Mak wont nap so that's the only down side to today but I will live!

I LOVE having a clean house! My next project is my coat closet! aka My "Stuff whatever you can in there" closet! Its like a cartoon I am always afraid to open it because I don't know what will fall down on me!

Secret Agent

My Mothers Day was the best!

Who else had a Mothers Day that had a secret agent deliver flowers to you at your very own house?!

I sure did! She was small adorable and had the prettiest eyes. She is also almost 4 and was so excited to be sneaky and surprise me with beautiful flowers. She was only allowing people to call her secret agent though!

Its times like those that remind me why being a Mother is so awesome!

(I don't have pictures because remember when I had a camera I hate taking pictures with?)

Like Mother,

Like daughter.



That's how the saying goes and it could not be more true where Riley and I are concerned. Two peas in a pod, we are.

More cliches? Naw, I'll stop!

Anyway, Riley shares my affinity for sleeping in. We get along great in this area in life. When she was a baby this made my life so much less stressful. I was already having a serious case of "Baby Blues" and sleep was one thing I needed to have a somewhat decent day! It sounds bad but there it is.

I still have sleeping issues and I really don't know (or want to know) what 6am looks like from anywhere than the comfort of my own bed.

Riley Bug is the same.

Makenna is NOT! She is my early riser......

For now Dale works from 12:15 to 9pm so he is home in the morning and will get up with Mak in the morning so I can fall back asleep. (He is pretty amazing!)

Riley shares a room with Mak (poor girl) and she is not a happy camper when Mak wakes up in the morning.

This morning Mak woke up right on schedule at 6 o clock. I wake up to it, Dale sleeps right through it until I wake him up to tell him Mak is awake and ask if he can get her.

But Mak woke up and she does this screaming thing where she isn't really mad, she is actually pretty happy, but she wants to be hard so she "screams."

Riley is not a fan of this. So this morning when Mak started up Riley says to her..

"Mak, Stop it..... Stop it! STOP IT!" The she grunts rolls over and says "FINE" and sits up and starts talking to her!

I thought it was the funniest thing!

It has already started. The sisters sharing a room getting at each other for doing something they don't want done. I can already hear it!

"Turn your music off I am TRYING to do homework."
"Can you be quiet I am TRYING to sleep!"
"Why is YOUR side so messy"
"STOP BOTHERING ME!!!"

Can't wait......

Anyone?

Does anyone know how to organize really well. To make use of all the spaces I have?

Especially my kitchen? Its a skill I never learned......

I need help!

The true story.. To all moms out there!!

I LOVE this!! I just died laughing when I saw this! SOOOOOO TRUE!!

My favorite part....

"Now you are Chuck E. Cheese and I am Dora Explorer."

Hahahahahahahaha

Just thinkin'

Today I have been thinking a lot about how the girls have grown and how big they are and how fast they are growing.

Its a little too fast in my opinion but I think I say that every time!

I decided I was going to do a comparison for myself and I cant believe what I have come up with!

It even surprised me...

A LOT!!

This is Riley at almost 2. Its the earliest picture I could come up with at this point. I have baby pictures printed but I don't know where the photo box is to find one to scan!

(This shirt Riley is wearing is a 12 month shirt... at almost 2 years old... Mak is wearing it already at 8 months!!)

(Oh, and the shorts she is wearing were 18 months she got them early because she has the (cutest) biggest pum. But she wore them into shorts until after her 3rd birthday! Finally her bum got way to big for even the stretchy and we had to retire them to a bag to wait for Mak.)

I just have a hard time comprehending that Riley went from that adorable little girl all happy in her pigtails... to THIS.......

An amazingly beautiful almost 4 yr old!

I honestly am having the hardest time with this!!! She has grown so so so much!

Now Makenna.

It is amazing how much a baby can grow in just 8 months!

From this amazingly sweet infant, someone who relies solely on others for her complete happiness but is content just to be held and comforted, to this....

To an 8month old that loves to crawl and pull herself up and dance. Independent but still very attached. Loving and cuddly but still very much wants to learn and explore. She can do just about anything that she wants to and I am afraid she is gonna start letting go of furniture too and get herself ready to walk! She is growing up so fast and I am missing my baby!

Now they can laugh and play together and both of them love each other very very much and it is such a blast to watch them laugh together!!

I cant wait to see them grow together and watch their relationship grow.

(that picture up top was supposed to go on the bottom but I messed it up and now its not working!)

Is it alright....

Is it alright that I just am so so sick of renting crappy apartments that I think would work out well for us then turn into a nightmare at every turn??

YES

Is it alright that I haven't had air conditioning in my house since last Thursday and no matter how many times I call no one is coming to fix it?????

NO

Is it alright that I had to foil up (ghetto-fy) every window in my house to keep as much sunlight as possible out of this place so that I didn't feel like I was in hell all day everyday??

Sure it is but its really annoying!

Is it alright that my kids have been in a constant sweat since last Thursday because no one is fixing the problems I have here???

NO it sure isn't!!!

I have been so so frustrated with our living arrangements since the second we moved in here and the problems just keep getting worse! I thought this move was gonna be a great one for us and I was really excited about it but it has just been a nightmare!!! I have spent A LOT of money trying to make my crappy situation feel like home but right now all I want to do is pack all of it in a box move it into storage and move somewhere where we can save up money so we can finally become homeowners. Then I can put the stuff in a permanent place. Make it really feel like home because it will be. I know being a homeowner comes with its own set of issues and financial responsibilities but I am so ready to take on whatever part of that I have to face!

I think people really need to rent out in the first couple years of marriage to really appreciate what being a homeowner means! People take it for granted!

Sorry for the venting session but I am at my breaking point!!!!

The eyes say it all

I guess my camera works pretty well when there is some natural light coming through my windows. I don't know there is still something weird about it. Even if its just on automatic setting. I really can't figure this thing out!

I take better pictures with my phone! Sad!

These eyes get me everyday!!!! I never could pin point the color of her eyes. If you ask her what color her eyes are she will tell you purple.

Shes cute!

Really though, there is some yellow some blue some green. Some days different colors stick out more depending on what she is wearing.

Dale a few weeks ago said something about her Hazel eyes....

THAT'S IT!

She has amazing Hazel eyes!

Since Mak was born her eyes kept going darker and darker. They started out a crazy blue color and slowly turned a little more green. The only thing is that in every picture that we take they always come out looking more brown. Her eyes are actually a gorgeous shade of green. Almost an olive green.
I keep thinking that maybe they will still keep changing but I haven't noticed any change in at least 2 months!

I always wanted babies with green and hazel eyes but I never thought it would happen.

Turns out green eyes run in both sides of the family

My girls got the luck I guess!!

My collection

Yesterday I took the girls and myself over to a friends house to learn how to make felt flower hair clippies and to let riley play a little!!
I was able to get the giraffe print and the yellow and black one done while I was there and had patterns. It was so fun!! I am so glad I have learned how to make these cute things!!

When I got home I wanted to make some more and I found a few traceable patterns online but of course my printer is out of ink! But while I was looking a saw a picture of cute bow-tie looking clips and cute circles with initials on them! I hand traced the bow tie in two different sizes to make the cute black and white ones with my own special touch and of course a circle isn't too difficult I just had to make it the right size to cover the clip!

I am very very proud of these cute things and I cant wait to stick them on the girls hair. (and Mak's headband since she lacks hair!)

Of course they aren't perfect but I think it adds a little too them.

Perfect in their imperfections!

Please....

Just look....

HERE

And HERE

And HERE

My sister is awesome!!!!!

We have been taking pictures lots lately trying to finish some projects around the house!

My girls are amazing models, if I do say so myself!

AND I DO!!!!!!!