The Madness Began
The madness began this weekend…
It’s a happy madness though. I couldn’t wait to put my Christmas decorations out. They’re out now and I sat in my living room last night with just the light of the tree illuminating the downstairs and I swear I smiled out loud…if there is even such a thing. My smile had sound. A sonic boom kinda smile.
Guess who’s coming to town.
It’s like Liv’s first Christmas all over again. She’s so fascinated by the tree and the lights. I’ve heard “MAMA! It’s so beautiful!” from her many times and also many complaints if I turn off the tree to give the lights a break for a bit. This kid, she’s gonna be like me…at least I hope she is. Hannah’s already lost interest with decorating and sat in her room while the tree went up. But not Livie. She was right there behind me wanting to help. I spaced my kids apart just perfectly. One is enterting the “I’m too cool for anything” phase while the other is just getting old enough to help and be excited about things. Being a parent means reliving your childhood and giving your kids better and more than you had…at least for me it means that. Mission accomplished 100 times over. When I see her face as she looks at that tree…puddle of mush on the floor. That’s me.
Still found time for relaxing coffee breaks and welcomed nights with friends that I’ve missed for way too long.
Looking forward to a hectic but good week as we get ready to head out of town. Hope yours is good too.
Caught Fall
Here in Texas when fall comes it’s more like what late spring or late summer feels like up north. When the temps dip under 75 degrees we all freak out because it’s “chilly” and we love it.
A cold front blew in yesterday. Monday it was 90 degrees. Today? 70. My first thought? We gotta pick out pumpkins! Hannah decided she’s too old for that and so Liv and I went on our own to the makeshift aka fake pumpkin patch at the nearby church. I won’t even get into how I miss Ohio falls and real pumpkin patches everywhere and HELLO, the metroparks. Google it if you don’t live in Ohio. All I need is some Ohio fall leaves sent to me and I’d be golden.
As soon as we walked in she said “OOOH, I LOVE pumpkins!” and I think back to last year when she didn’t even know or really care what they were. She’s changed so much in a year.
She was so happy when she found one she could actually lift.
She’s got her pumpkin and she’s a happy girl.
Other happenings:
More backyard time
Happy car rides
And happy evenings just me and her while Dad works and Sister stays the night with Nana.
Can’t believe it’s already Wednesday. Happy midweek!
Things I loved today
My morning coffee IN my new, festive cup.
Cleaning underneath my couches.
I’m not joking. I had no idea how filthy it was underneath my couches nor how many old, useless toys were under there until I dropped something and happened to look underneath. I was disgusted. Now it’s all clean and I feel better.
Catching up on my favorite blog while Livie watches cartoons.
Her hair.
Watching her be silly.
Knowing she’s sleepy and just can’t fight it anymore.
Knowing that although some days will be hectic with both girls home, the fact that I GET to be home? I love that.
Did some…left some
Hannah stayed at The Man’s mom’s house last night so I laid in bed last night thinking about sleeping in without having to get Hannah to school. Then I got up this morning and while I wanted to just sit around and relax I decided I’d tackle some things I’ve been putting off for a bit.
Like my oil change that I needed two thousand miles ago. And while I was at it, I got my car washed and detailed.
I also went ahead and finished my Mother’s Day shopping. Got these for The Man’s mom and his step mom and I wish I had more money cause I wanted to get them for myself.
I also successfully made my little girl crack up with something as simple as a baby wipe, or as she calls it, a “bipey” (wipey).
I also caught her being sweet to Paco.
What I didn’t do today?
The dishes.
Take away the tortilla chips.
That’s ok though because she’s happy today. And so am I.
Happy Friday!
What we’ve been up to
At 4:20 today I looked at the clock and thought to myself that I only had 5 more minutes until I was free again. Having Tuesday off was so awesome, even if Hannah had to go to school that day. I got up early and got all 3 of us ready for our day. Livie and I ran errands and went to the park and watched a lot of TV. It was awesome. And? I get to do it all over again tomorrow AND Friday. I’m rarely off work and not sick or not going out of town…I’m never just home when the rest of the world is on a regular schedule. So we will continue to do more of this
Some more of this
And definitely more of this. 
Stay tuned Friday for lots of pictures AND I get to go to Hannah’s horseback riding lesson again tomorrow. Yee haw!
Sickies
We are still dealing with the sickies in my house. I’m finally feeling better and went back to work yesterday but now Livie has it. Yesterday was beautiful weather and I wanted to go outside and take fun pictures but she wasn’t feeling up to it. Luckily Hannah has been gone all week and has avoided all of our germs. She finally comes home today so MAYBE we can have some fun outside if Liv is feeling better.
Praying for the germs to leave my house soon and hoping for some fun pictures tonight.
Our time
Every Tuesday night Hannah stays at her Nana’s house. It’s their thing and I love it because it’s a break from homework with her for a night. And it’s the only time it’s just me and Liv at home together without Hannah or The Man. We eat dinner. We play. We catch up on my dvrd shows. She falls asleep next to me in the dark on the couch and I love it. She’s growing up so fast and before I know it she’ll be at Nana’s house during the week too and telling me things like I embarrass her.
That’s exactly what Hannah told me Saturday as I drove her to her friend’s sleep over party. “Mom, are you going to walk me in?” For the past 8 years, any time she’s stayed with anyone that’s not family, she asked me this and every time I would reassure her that yes, I’d walk her in and stay for a bit til she was okay. I did the same thing this time and she said “Oh.” And I asked her what was wrong and she told me “I don’t want you to walk me in. You’ll embarrass me.”
Talk about being hit by a ton of bricks. I told her I was going to walk her in anyway to say hi to her friend’s mom but I realized that there is a big difference between 7 and 8 with this kid. My 7 year old wanted me to walk her in. My 8 year old does not. I thought girls get to this point at like 11 or 12…right? The other night she told me she could tuck her own self in. I realize she still needs me and she’s still my baby and sometimes she’ll even tell me this because she can tell that I’m just hating how fast she’s growing up.
Needless to say, her being this age makes me appreciate Livie being the age she is so much more because she still needs me for everything and won’t even go to sleep without me next to her. There was a time Hannah was the same way and I see where she is now…well we always say it but yes, time goes by too fast.
So Tuesdays are our night and I embrace them. Last night, like most nights, Livie dug herself in between the couch cushions to watch TV. We haven’t figured out exactly why she loves doing this so much but we quit even trying to keep the couch semi decent looking. It’s her spot and we let her have it.
And how sad will I be when Jessie and Woody aren’t her best friends anymore. They’re already not Hannah’s when they just were a couple months ago around Christmas.
Hannah’s hair was pretty crazy like hers too. I wonder if it’ll go away too?
Feeling a bit sentimental today I guess.
Something I’m very estatic about though? I finally made the 25 pounds lost mark. FINALLY after starting this journey in June. I have 10 more pounds to go and I hope to make it there by May. I have a post coming on Friday all about this including old pictures of me that make me wanna throw up and kick myself BUT it’s important to remember where I was just a few months ago so I can keep trucking along and continue to take care of myself and maintain a healthy weight. It’s not always about being thin and looking awesome…if you’re overweight you need to lose weight to be healthy! It’s not healthy to strain your body like that and I learned that the hard way with all of my blood pressure problems. I still have them now even with the weight loss but I feel that is stress related and I’m hoping once I quit this job and find something a lot less stressful I can ween myself to a lower dose of my meds. We shall see. Either way, I’m at least doing what I can and it took A LOT to get where I am today…and I still have some work to do.
That was totally off topic lol but yeah, stay tuned.
Until then, happy Wednesday.
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