Difficult and Strengthening Day

Today was tough.

Nothing else I can do or say would sum it up better. But even in tough days I see the light. The Hubs and I pull together, put ours heads down and know tings will get better. And the girls....aw....they make EVERYTHING okay!

I try to keep things super positive here but sometimes I can't avoid it. Before anyone worries too much. Nothing life threatening is happening. Just a challenge, a hurdle...or whatever you want to call it.

Things will get better. I know that. But it may become difficult first. But we will overcome...God gave me this life because he knew I was strong enough for it. I need to remember this!!!

here is a way he shows me....

Emily and Abby are loving each other. Then Emily and I snuggle right before bed...she wrapped her arm around me and pulled me in close....ahhh...life is perfect again!!!

A Long Night

Poor Abby. She's teething again and was up from 10:30 to 12:30 and then every hour after that. She woke Emily up every time too! What a night!

She's been obviously sleepy all day and so has Emily....and I'm not going to lie, I am too.

So I'm hoping that these two will FINALLY take a nap. It's been a long day on top of a long night but that's okay. I just want Abby to be okay. She has the worse time with teething, the pain and awful diaper rash...she dreads diaper changes right now.

On a better note...here are some fun pictures from the week:

Yogurt faces! These girls will eat 32 ounces between them in one sitting! 

 Gottca

Painting

 After we paint, we bathe

Enjoying Popsicle...Abby's first. Helps with the teething.

Have a great weekend!

-Amy

What's Going On

Sorry for being so absent, lots of things are going on here. Some great, some just good and a couple I would rather not be dealing with (so I won't bother you with them)

I'm so grateful that the girls (knock on wood) are both healthy. Finally! It seems like one or both were sick during the month of October. Yikes!

The girls continue to play, entertain, laugh and enjoy each other. It's so, so, so much fun to witness. Abby is about to be 1. 1. WOW, she is almost 1. I can not believe it, I have so much to get together.

I've been so busy. My shop is really busy. I took on a large order (60 pairs of pants) on top of my Shop orders....and the extra money was a huge blessing but it really has been hard. My family has been very supportive and My Mom has been awesome (as normal), she's stopped by on a few occasions with Diet Cokes from Mc Donald's...my guilty pleasure...and even watched the girls to let me make runs to the post office. She then gave me hugs and told me to basically breathe. I realize that I bit off more than I could chew...well almost. But I've learned and now know better. I will keep these big orders for non-holiday times when I'm a bit slower.

I would have been able to fly thru the large order if I ignored the girls, but that would defeat the purpose of being home. So I get up early, work during naps, and stay up late to get it all done. But I'm BEYOND grateful for this HUGE, GINORMOUS blessing that has been handed to me. Nothing worth having is easy, and dreams don't come to those that don't push themselves.

I'm struggling with keeping my work/bedroom area separate and organized but as soon as I get caught up on my orders that will be the very next thing on my list.

Okay enough about me. The Hubs is working away from home right now and we miss him, but he will be home soon. So I'm taking advantages of the extra time to get some stuff done. Emily was hoping every noise she heard this evening was him coming home. So sweet. She loves her Daddy!

So there is our update, some info/pictures and the such. I have to end this with some things I'm thankful for.

Hubby's car broke down 2 days ago. He was on the interstate and I had to round everyone up to go get him and have the truck towed. But God was watching over us and had it happen in a safe spot, and near our friend who was able to fix it over night so it was ready for Hubby's work trip. This would have been a disaster had it happened far away from home!

I'm so thankful for my life, my Hubby, and kids. It's not always easy but that's okay. I'm strong enough for this life that was given to me!

I will be doing another post on Homemade Christmas but I really want to share my dear friend's new Etsy shop:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/KHBPrintShop

She is adding stuff all the time and I love everything. I wish I had more walls that she could design pieces for!!!

A Family Photo

I don't think we have had a picture of all 4 of us since Abby's newborn photos. Someone is always left behind the camera but we have a new one. While at the pumpkin farm on Monday the Hayride Driver jumped in and offered to snap some pictures...so sweet!

I think I may have this one blown up and placed behind our couch. I have had a few adorable ones of just the girls and I but feel to guilty to make it our big photo minus the hubby.

The girls had so much fun...it was both cold and windy but they both tolerated it better than I did. This was the first time that Hubby could join in on the fun and he had fun. Honestly had fun!

He took full charge of picking out the family pumpkin and jumped right in later that night to carve it up. I love seeing him get into the holidays, even one as simple as Halloween!

And to finish this post up...my favorite picture of my baby Abby and me!

Love,

Amy

Sometimes you need some time

We are so blessed that my wonderful sister-in-law gives us her awesome hand-me downs from her little girl. My niece is just about 18 months older than Emily and she has some of the cutest clothes. But this also means that for a few days after we receive the bins (yes BINS!!) the girl's room is a mess.

But its all in good timing, since the seasons are changing and Emily and Abby have outgrown many of those items hanging in their closet. The funny thing is that both girls insist on "helping" me while I tear apart and reorganize the closet. Their way of helping is unfolding everything I just folded and making a huge pile to 

jump into. It's fun the first time for me but after 5 or 6 times I sometimes want to cry.

But a bag full of plastic balls and a crib will provide our girls with a bunch of fun! The girls are never in their cribs unless they are sleeping so they find this super fun!!

 This helped me out big time. I was able to get Abby's side of the closet done and about 50% of Emily's.

Oh yeah...check out our raspberry theif!!!

On The Road Again

The little ladies and I have been spending a lot of time of the road this week. Typically we are in the car once or twice a week, for very short trips. But this week we had fun traveling around (in Ma-Ma's car...that Emily loves!) We spent a day visiting the girl's auntie and dear cousin and then got together with some of Mommy's friends yesterday. Emily made sure to pack her bag for our trips!!

So the girls actually worked with me on these trips and slept! Emily even took a pillow from our friend's house yesterday...how funny is that?!

The great thing was that both girls had playmates to hangout with during our outings. It was a fun (granted...a buys week)!

We hope you have a great weekend!

-Amy

Make it Monday....it's Back!

I love this time of year. The holidays are bunching up...Halloween, Thanksgiving, Abby's 1st Birthday Christmas...it's fun. And it's even more hectic fun with the kiddos. I'm making it a point to do fun activities with them and here is our first one. I can't take credit for the orignal idea...that's 100% Pinterest. I am getting better at actually doing all those pins I pin, I think that is an accomplishment in it's own.

Okay...back to our craft. How cute is this?

It's super easy...here is what you need

1 Egg carton (you can make 4 of these)
Black paint
String/ribbon, something to hang when done
Scissors
Eyes

1. Start by cutting the egg carton into 4 - 3 egg holder lengths. From there I made some "v's" on the sides to make the wings look more real
2. Have the kiddos paint the cut up egg cartons black. See this happy little one happily work away?!
   

1. Once it dries (ours took all day, Emily used almost a bottle of paint on it!) glue on some eyes and add it the ribbon. I decided to pop a hole in the top and tie the ribbon.
2. Hang and enjoy!!

My Score

On my trip out earlier this week (to Target for get well supplies) the ladies and I stopped at Marshall's on the way back. My intention was to just run in and pick up a baby feeding kit...cup, plates, bowls for Abby. Grandma has found one for her over the weekend and the cup/sippy that was included was a HUGE hit. Abby refuses cups, sippy cups, bottles you name it. But she loves this one. So I want to collect as many as I can find. Seeing that she is now 10 months old she need to have some other fluid source than just me...otherwise I fear I will be that TIME magazine mother still nursing her child.

Anyways...Emily wanted to browse. I honestly don't shop much with the girls. I do most online and our outings to stores are either Jo-Anns/Hobby Lobby or the Grocery Store. So a real store is a special treat. As we wondered I told Emily that we could get something to play with over the next few days. I knew this nasty cold would have us locked up for most of the week.

Emily and I agreed on some new Play Dough. She loves it plus we use it for her "school" work too. While we were weeding thru the Play Dough options I stumbled across this!

Emily received Your Baby Can Read from Grandma and Grandpa for her 1st birthday. She loves it. She knows many words because of it and if I was more dedicated to it I think she would know all of them. Now I am using that program with Abby and I'm excited to start this one into the routine as well.

It's the next addition that works with colors, patterns, music, shapes and more. It has the 6 flip book and 3 DVDs. Online it's $120...I got it for $12.99!! Yes, $12.99. I love a deal, and one on educational items is even that much more exciting for me.

This is a gift for me too. I know that repetition is key to learning for a child...but it's boring for the Mommy. Sorry, buts it's sometimes true.

Whoo hoo on more learning!

Love
Amy

Emily's Video Debute

This is my first time loading a video and I hope it works. While Emily has been battling this cold we watched Madagascar 2 before bed...the entire movie...which is rare. Typically its just a few minutes of a movie but she was sick and wanted to snuggle. Who was I to deny her.

If you have ever watched the movie it's the scene near the end that Alex and his Dad are dancing to distract the lost NY tourists. I started "Filming" have way thru the dance...Emily did the whole thing including summer-salts  I had no idea that she "knew" the dance!!

Please forgive me for the video I was trying to keep quite, and get her whole "routine" in!

Love
Amy

Update on the Girls

Emily is already a little better today than she was yesterday. Her leaky-like faucet has turned into a slow drip and she took a great afternoon nap. She's just dying to get out and do something, she really does enjoy getting out. She lit up the moment that Grandma came over. But I'm going to try and stick around home tomorrow as well so that she can really feel better fast. Maybe we will go for a quick Museum trip...maybe.

Abby is about a day behind on this bug so today her nose was that nasty leaky faucet and her checks were rosy. But even with that she was a cutie. She's just struggling to sleep. Poor girl.

 Distracting the girls with a Halloween craft...step 1 here,
we will finish it off tomorrow and show off our creations!

Last night went so much better than expected. Emily was up early but came into bed with me and was passed back out right away. She even stayed in bed after Abby woke up and I went to get her. That has never happened.

My baby, rosy checks and a runny nose but still a cutie!

My girls are so tough when it comes to colds and the like. I'm so lucky. Plus having a super Grandma like ours is HUGE. She took our grocery list and picked it all up for us. The girls dug into the fruits she picked...Emily  ate up a clementine and Abby ate a whole Avocado in minutes! Grandma was amazed at how they ate it all up! (I promise I do feed them!).

'Tis the Season!

(Title compliments of our friend Sarah!)

I swear my kiddos are not ALWAYS sick...but if you've followed along this blog you may think that they are. In actuality, they are rarely sick...and when they are they quick, I mean super quick to heal and are back to their normal life.

Well today they both are sick. Our dear niece/cousin had her birthday party (which was amazing) and my sis-on-law let us know that yesterday she feel ill...and our girls will probably be next. Welcome to 5a.m this morning....Emily was in our bed trying to sleep while sitting up. Then later in the day Abby fell victim too. The culprit?! Major runny nose, Emily just got a fever and the girls can't get comfy enough to sleep.

Emily started the day great...even putting on a Halloween mask while she ate her breakfast.

Then I knew I HAD to get out to pick up supplies for this oncoming cold. I thought I still had some left over from last year but of course when I need them I can't find them. So instead of tearing the place apart I
decided to go and get some more.

On our trip there Emily fell asleep within moments of leaving home. This is not like her, she hardly ever sleeps in the car. She insists on seeing everything but I have to imagine that her cozy seat made her comfy enough (and she could breathe). Both girls were asleep when I parked at Target so I decided to stay in the car and wait until they woke up...45 minutes later.

Once everyone was awake we made our way inside. Emily was becoming more and more miserable by the moment. Others looked at me like I was crazy (you know...get the heck out of here with those sick kids look), but what else could I do? I had to take the girls with me to get the stuff we needed. I kept them in the cart to avoid them touching everything and they did decide to open a box of graham crackers and share. How adorable...even when they are sick!

So what is on my list when the girls are sick? I like to be prepared for anything...because well,

1. I have 2 kiddos 17 months apart, so both will probably be sick. 
2. Hubby works insane schedules and I can't count on him to be around for me to run out if I need something else.

I approach colds, flus and the such a few different ways...one with over the counter and the second more of a "natural" way.

Here is my OCC supplies:

Infant Generic Tylenol, Toddle Advil, Saline Spray, and Boogie Wipes

*while writing this I realize that the saline spray and boogie wipes should be in the natural section. Oops.

The Boogie wipes are awesome (I bought 3 big containers today!), no red/chapped noses in this house! The Advil/Generic Tylenol is for fever and pain. Emily almost always gets a fever when she is sick. And it's hit or miss on the Saline Spray, Emily hates it but if she is getting really dry I figure out how to give it to her. I recommend the swaps, I should have gotten those today but I didn't. Neither girl minds those and they work just as well.

Here is my natural supplies:

Peppermint Oil, Sweet Echincea,  Chamomile Oil, Tea Tree Oil, Rosemary Oil, Lemon Oil

Okay, I had ALL of this on hand. I add to our collection a little at a time. Here is how I use it.

Peppermint Oil  (just 1 drop) diluted in Grapeseed Oil or unscented lotion...rub this on the bottom of your feet and put on some socks...you will be breathing easier in just minutes!!

Sweet Echinecea...1 ml in the girls water. Helps to get that immune system in overdrive! I try to give this to them before events that they be around other people who are sick, and I really believe this is part of the reason they don't get sick too often.

Chamomile Oil...I need to do a full post just on this, we love this oil and use it everyday...multiple times a day. But for colds I put some in their vaporizer mixed with tea tree and it helps sooth the girls to sleep. It also goes in the oils for nightly rubs and their bubble baths!

The last three (tee tree, rosemary and lemon) oils is a recipe from our old nanny. Mix 1-2 drops each of this with grapeseed oil (about 1/4 cup) and rub all over. This makes enough for a few rubs. The mixture helps to draw out the nasty mucus.

You may or may not believe in this method, but it works for us!

The last on our list...is a mixture of what I forgot to take a picture off. Hehe.

Bubblebath, bugger sucker and good ole vicks

We love California Baby Bubble Bath and they have a eucalyptus version especially good for stuffy noses. The girls enjoyed a nice, warm relaxing bubble bath before bed then the buggies were sucked out (eww...Emily hates it...Abby enjoys it!) and then a little Vicks on the chest.

In their room the vaporizer is going and the girls are all snug!

On top of all of this is making them comfy, happy and distracted. I treated them to Chinese tonight which everyone loved. We painted, colored, read books, sang and danced all day! And Emily and I watched Madagascar 2 before bed. We even danced during the movie. I have the most adorable video of her doing one of the dances that I hope the share soon. Yes, this sick little girl was dancing up a storm (a few different times mind you). These girls are just so sweet, even when sick!

The result?! It's 10pm, Abby feel asleep around 8:30 out 1.5 hours later than normal and Emily went out around 9:30 also about 1.5 hours later. I'm watching them on the monitor and they seem peaceful. I'm sure I will be up tonight but that's okay.

And believe it or not, I did ask for help. I called my Mom tonight to ask her to do a very light grocery run for me tomorrow. My sis-in-law says day 2 is worse than day 1 and I have a feeling that Hubby has it too. The girls are craving fruits right now and our fridge is pretty empty. I should have gone today but didn't ( I don't know why). Grandma offered to come over to watch the girls while I went out but I doubt they will let me out of their sights. So it looks like I will need to make a list for her and thank her a millions times for all that she does for us!!!

Love,

Amy

Princesses from Ma-ma

Emily has become very interested in Princesses from Disney. Which I love...nothing beats a good princess movie! This week, starting this weekend Emily fell ill and she quickly recovered for the most part on Sunday but these past few days she has still has been a little off. So we've remained home for the most part, just making small trips to the post office so I can mail out orders.

So Ma-Ma (Grandma) has really been helping us out. She's brought over juices, popsicles, food and goodies for Emily. Yesterday she bought Cinderella movie (my favorite Disney movie) and a matching Barbie doll. Emily was asleep when she dropped them off but when she work she fell instantly in love.

The first photo is about a second after she came out of the box...Emily hugged and kissed the doll. Then she danced with her, I wish I had that on camera but I jsut stopped to enjoy. I told her it was a gift from Ma-Ma and she kept running around saying Thank You Ma-Ma..I asked her if we should call her and she said yes...but when we called she ran away from the phone.

Then she cozied up with the doll and some pillows, she tucked her in and said "night night".

Later on it was time for dinner and Emily made sure to feed Cinderella too!

And to finish the night we all got cozy, and watched the first part of the actual movie!

Aww...so sweet! Thanks Ma-Ma!!!

-Amy

Goodbye September!

I started this month with a long list of To-Do's for me. I knew I wouldn't get thru everything and I was okay with that. I just needed to have them all written out...so for #1 I could get them out of my head...and #2, I like being able to look back, cross off, and see what I accomplished.

So here is my month update:

Mommy: (It's first because let's face it, its the most important)

1. Plan play dates with friends - Nope, didn't plan one for September...but have one next week. I think that kind of counts!
2. Visit the big park, pack a picnic, take pictures of the girls  Did it twice! Score!!!
3. Visit the zoo, another picnic...and feed the giraffe We had a blast too!!
4. Ride the trolley (E calls it the train) and go to the dinosaur museum  Feeling good, another one complete!
5. Take 9 month pictures of A Done!

*I feel really good about what I set out and did as a Mommy!!

Wife: (Close 2nd to being a Mommy)

1. Plan a date afternoon (lunch together...dinners just seem to hard, maybe we can sneak away during nap time...obviously with a babysitter at home with the girls) - Even better we did a quick dinner...only bummer Emily threw up as we were leaving! So it was a quick night...more about that to come!
2. Work on Hubs Christmas gift...its a very time consuming gift, sorry can't share don't want him to know what it is - Didn't even begin...and I need to!!

* I still feel good about this...getting a night out is a big deal, and we had a few really nice dinners together after the kiddos fell asleep. But we really do need more couple time. We both realize this, and hopefully if Hub's schedule stays more normal we can do this! It was a crazy, tough summer!

Home:

1. Follow JustMommies cleaning schedule (I know it's a little OCD but it's detailed and I love it) - I did it religously for half the month, then I fell ill and the wheels came off. But I'm giving myself half credit.
2. Finish the Masterbed Room...hang items and find a duvet cover - Haha...the room is exactly the smae, oh well there is next month!
3. Organize girl's room (closets) - Done!! Just need to bring the too small clothing to storage,
4. Canning those awesome veggies coming in from the garden!!! - Done, still have more to do in October!

Shop (Etsy):

1. Update with new Marekting (whoo hoo) - Done!
2. Meet with Emily for guidance and some support - Well, kind of thru email and a birthday party.
3. Have total 25 items listed - Almost, ended with 20 but will be at 23 or 24 by the end of the day today, so that's good enough for me.
4. Ship out first custom order - Done
5. Print business cards - Done, arriving Wednesday!
6. Make outfits for girls, take pictures, post to Etsy - Done, twice!

Me:

1. Paint my toes nails...aiming to do this once a month. - Done
2. Email friend/old coworkers that I haven't spoken with in months
3. Watch a movie that I want to (no Disney, Pixar, etc)
4. Clean out my closet - Done

Wow, that was a busy and productive month! I'm going to do this again for October. No one probably care but me...but that's okay.

-Amy

Days of Pretend and Reality

Emily is all about taking care of her babies. Within the past few days she has been so focused on caring, feeding, changing, and playing with her baby dolls. Its so adorable. Last night she had to put her doll and Winnie the Pooh in Abby's highchair and feed them spaghetti...it was messy but too cute to stop her!

And Abby is just growing right before my eyes! She is walking with some assistance of her toys and feeding herself. I have to admit her feeding herself breakfast is great. She sits at the counter with her Cheerios and Bananas as I sip my cup of coffee and prepare Emily's breakfast. It's nice to feel so productive in the morning.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!!
-Amy