Enjoying the sun....before it goes away!

We sent out the Birthday invitations this week to immediate family and a couple close friends. Because we are trying to save money, we opted to have a small party here at the house. Since we are limited for space and seating, we are will work some magic and be creative the day of the party. We may have to take turns sitting on each other's laps! Just kidding!

Becca enjoyed " Pajama Day " at daycare on Thursday. She wore her favorite Dora flannel pj's! Now, just as I predicted...she wants to wear her pjs every time we go out. Luckily she's pretty easy to convince otherwise.

Friday she had fun at Grandma Debs, and Xavier joined them because he didn't have school. I think they both enjoyed that. They don't get to see eachother as often anymore, with Xavier in all day kindergarten this year!
Tim went ice fishing to Brushy Creek with friend. He had a good time, and thinks he'll do more of it. And its good to know he's finding fishing spots closer to home. I think we'll have to do more 2-3 day trips in Iowa rather than a 7 day vacation in Minnesota for the next couple of years.

We decided to take a family trip to get haircuts on Saturday morning. I went prepared with Cheerios, a sucker, a book, her puppy, paper and a pen to use as distractions for her if needed. The last two times have not been very successful. But this time she didn't require any of it! She did very well! Perfect I would say!

Becca and I went Bowling with Wendy and Xavier! Ok, we used bumpers and becca watched mostly, but she did try to help a couple times. It was all in good fun and it was cheap entertainment. Mayma and Gaga (my mom and dad)came to watch the last little bit of our game, before we went to LongJohn's for lunch. What a fun date!







I did manage to get some cleaning and decorating done around the house. Yep...I put out my spring decorations! Positive thinking....before we have more freezing rain and snow tomorrow. (grrrrrr) With the sun shining so bright I had to take advantage of the energy I had!

Happy belated, lovey dovey day to everyone! Becca enjoyed a party at daycare, and shared some valentines with her friends and came home with just as many! I'm not ashamed to say that I enjoyed the gummy treats she came home with. That night, after coming home from work, Tim took us to Carlos O'Kelly's for dinner. That was nice. We were there by 445 and gone by 530. My sister often teases us that we eat early like elderly people often do. We plead the 5th. But its nice to dodge the crowds, especially on a night like Valentines Day.

Friday I spent the day in Davenport with my manager at the Grainger branch there. It was nice to finally meet the people that I have talked to for the last 10 years. It was also nice to experience the different culture there is in the branch world. We got done a little early, so decided to stop off at Coral Ridge Mall in Iowa city to do some quick shopping. That was nice. We found a little scrap booking store near the mall! I've added it to my links. Another store to add to my, daytrip file!

Yesterday Becca went with me to do my last weigh in for this weightloss challenge. I'm dissapointed with the fact that I gained 2 lbs back. Not suprised though. I honestly have not tried to eat well at all this week, no walking or anything!
After playing at home and waiting for Becca's 3 hour nap (yeah...we could hardly believe it!)...we headed to Lowes to check out water heaters. Ours is way past its prime and we're starting to feel the affects shortly after getting into the shower. We're hoping the tax return comes quickly!

Ok, so the cartoon from last Wednesday still stands. With at least 3 more inches of snow today, blizzard warnings with 50mph winds...all on top of 1/2" of freezing rain...yeah, I'm so over it! Needless to say, we stayed home ALL day. After supper, it was evident that Becca was stir crazy and I was ready for her to go to bed. Tim on the other had, was and still is engrossed in a movie that I haven't quite gotten into.

Well, here's to another week closer to spring! 32 Days until its official!

........Ok! We get it already!.....

Patting Tim on the back!

1 Month without a cigarette !

Way to go Tim! Wow! What an achievement! Keep it up!

Well, today Becca had a rough start to the morning. She was happily humming and talking to her bunny and valentine puppy from Aunt Wendy while still in bed and I got ready for work. All was fine and dandy until it was time for us to "get pretty" and brush her hair and wash her face. She had an unexpected meltdown and it only went down hill from there.

I thought we had it covered until she decided she wanted some Cheerios before walking out the door. Yep...cheerios spilled on teh kitchen floor and then she cried cause Maggie ate them.
We got that under control, coats and shoes on (much fussing and refusing to cooperate along the way) and out the door we went. Oh wait, back up.....She really wanted to take the bunny to school with us. I refused, because taking the bunny in the car, would then lead to her wanting to take the bunny into school. That couldn't happen, so I offered the puppy. Ok, she was ok with that.
So now we are out the door, with puppy in hand.
So we're in the car, and not even out of the driveway, and the meltdown continues, she realllly wants this bunny, and keeps saying".."Buh-buh".."Buh-buh".."Buh-buh". The puppy wasn't doing the trick. *sigh* So at this point, she now thinks I can't hear here and that Daddy will make it better....(keep in mind daddy is not in the car, not even at home, and he's already at work!) So then she calls for daddy until we get 1/2 block from school. I tell her that we'll call Daddy when we get to school so she can talk to him. That worked...
...For about 15 seconds! Then she decided " Nooooooo....GaGa! Gaga " So now she wants to talk to Grandpa Bob. ButI know already, that Dad is out pushing the additional 3 inches of snow we got last night (ok...I get it already, I'm sick of the snow!)

So after getting to school, calling Daddy (who she really didn't want to talk to after all....) and giving loves and kisses....she's crying again as I walked out the door.

Poor punk. I was sure I was going to get a call from Daycare today, telling me to come get her..she wouldn't stop crying...but so far so good. No calls as of yet! (knock on wood..someone please....I'm sitting at a make shift craft table as my make shift desk..I'm sure its made out of recycled plastic)

I'm waiting for someone to put their arm around me and say, " Smile..your on candid camera!"

Sunshine and Valentines!

Check out the new shades Becca got! Meet lil'Diva Becca! I can't even begin to tell you the "drama" she has every day! Must be the whole...turning 2 thing!



Last night I was able to get away to my friends to do our bi-weekly scrapbooking. It was a smaller than usual group, but it was still nice to get out and have Mommy time!
I actually worked on Becca's birthday invites! They are adorable. Each one different from the last with special decorations! I'm going to hate sending them out. I think the cutest will be kept for her scrapbook birthday page!

This morning we got out of the house early and made a family trip to Walmart. But it seems everyone else had the same idea. I guess we weren't early enough. We came home to have lunch and make some sugar cookies while Becca took an extra long nap! I had enough time to frost most of them, but left aside 5 cookies for Becca to do all herself! I had been looking forward to this all morning!
Here are a couple of adorable pics. She even had a little apron on! She was so cute! Check out the last pic. I failed to notice the size of the holes in the sprikles! Whoa! That was good for a definate sugar high!

Day Two

The snow only brought us about 4.5", of course which is plenty if you ask me! I know the more south and east you go, the more they got. They can have it. I'm so over this winter stuff! It was pretty up until and including Christmas...but I'm done now. Time for spring.

I keep thinking in the back of my mind that its only 4 weeks until Becca's birthday. The day after her birt and the day we brought her home, it was 70 and absolutely beautiful. It was that same way last year around her birthday. In fact, while driving home with Becca from the hospital, only 2 days old...we saw the first Robin! So I keep thinking that another 4 weeks and maybe we'll get our first peek at spring. Not that it won't still get chilly and possibly even snow again before spring stays...but a little taste always helps!

Becca and I are staying home again today. She's breathing better, and after a small fever again last night, which the Dr told me to expect, its back down to where it should be...but we're still doing breathing treatments every 4 hours to stay on top of it. I just hated the thought of taking her to Daycare where she might not get the attention needed, if she went downhill again.

Both of us were a little stir crazy already this morning, so we ventured out to stock up on Allergy meds and fever reducer. She did well, but just that little trip made her sleepy. She's laying down now for a much needed nap. Yesterday she took a 3 hr nap and still went to bed for the night between 430 and 5....I had to wake her up this morning at 630! Another sign she's not 100% yet. Another reason for spring to get here...to kill off all these colds!

I did take these two days at home to come up with some little ideas for Becca's Birthday Wish List. And last weekend I picked up some simple bday invites that I will be prettying up and sending out shortly. Still not sure where the party will be. Last year we had it at my mom and dads, just for the space...as we all know, my house is entirely too small for more than 5 people to be here at once! But Mom and Dad will be in the process of packing for their big move about a month later. I haven't discussed it with them yet. We'll see and we'll send out the invites in the next 2 weeks more than likely. Keep an eye out for them!

Sick and Snowed in

I guess if there was a day that I would want to be home sick..or rather because Becca is sick, it is today. This snow storm is a doozy! It hasn't stopped since Noon yesterday and its still piling high! Other than being exhausted from being out all night and all day...I'm sure my Dad is loving it! More snow = More money!

As mentioned, I stayed home with Becca today. Her cold has come back full force, this time causing coughing and breathing problems again. She's had breathing treatments every 4 hours since yesterday afternoon. Her fever broke about 2am this morning, but she's still having trouble breathing. Poor punk. I wish I could just make it all better. I tried by playing Playdoh, Little People, Coloring, having an animal parade and blocks...not to mention the 3 hours of Dora, Thomas the Train, Franklin and Sesame Street we've watched already. The last breathing treatment caused a meltdown. She actually asked me to go night night! lol...made me laugh, but of course I took her right up on that! So after putting her down, picking up the toys, washing down the table from playdoh mess, and hiding the remote (wink) I needed some connection to the outside world. Here I am. Its only 10:50am!

I do have a roast in already. Its killing me, it smells so good! I should use this down time to vacuum, dust and put away last nights dishes. But I too am just exhausted. only sleeping 4 hours on Monday night, and walking up at 9 and 2 and 6 this morning to check on my punk....All you parents understand I'm sure. And even those without kids...I'm sure you can imagine.

Yay to Tim...last night was 3 weeks! He's done fantastic.

Catch Up

I've had a hard time keeping up lately. Not that there is a tremendous amount going on around here...but mostly because I keep loosing track of time! Its getting harder to do anything around here when Becca is awake! So we play like crazy while she's awake, and as soon as she is down, I go walk at Young Arena, clean or honestly, sit my butt on the couch and don't move until bedtime!

Kathy asked me the other day if I had any new or recent pictures since Christmas to share of Becca...because we all know how much I love to show her off! Truth is...I haven't taken a decent picture for about a month! Becca understands now that she can see the picture on the digital camera. So she would rather take pictures and see them, than be on them. No matter how much convincing and explaining we do to tell her to be in the picture, and then see herself...it just doesn't work. The few pics we do have are of this awfully cheesy grin she makes when you ask her to smile. You know the one....eyes squinting, nose wrinkled up, all teeth! Tim loves it, cracks him up....I'm just fearing having her 2 yr old photos taken, and that they will all turn out like this!

I can report that Tim is now at 2 weeks and 5 days of not smoking! AWESOME!!!!! He's doing so well. Along the same "improving health" front....I've lost another 1.2 lbs. soooo that puts me at about 11 lbs in a month. I'm ok with that, as long as it keeps coming off.

Well, Becca had a slumber party with Gma Deb and Gpa Bob last night. We were over there for the SuperBowl, and decided rather than bring her home and right back over there for the day today, she was just going to spend the night. I haven't yet heard how the night went...I'll be sure to call in a bit to see how everyone is.

I'm in Birthday Party planning mode. I picked up invites this weekend. So now onto the date and goodies. Again, it will be family only, she's too young for "friends" and its just Xavier and her, so its more for the adults than anything...however, I am up for a pinata just for the pictures of the adults taking a swing at it! lol.....