Here's the run down of our day. We got up early this morning to go J's doctor's appointment. While J was in with the doctor the kids and I road up and down the elevator. They had these really cool elevators with windows. GG talked to everyone that came on the elevator. It was very cute. Monkey really liked going up and down and he was less scared than GG of going down. We had to get off a few times because it was making me a little sick but we didn't stay off long. It was a great occupier while waiting for J. It went good and they are very hopeful that they can fix the problem. That is good. Then we came home and J called his first choice about the position I guess there are five people ahead of him. So we will see in time what happens with that. Tonight after we ate dinner we went for a walk with Kailey and Kim then played at the park. GG took a bath at their house because she didn't want to go home yet! Then we came home and I gave Monkey a bath and GG stripped down and got in too. (another bath I know) Now it is late and I am really tired because last night J sneezed and blow his nose all night long. It is very loud.

Before I write about our day I want to take a few minutes to write about my wonderful children. I was looking at both of them today and realized I am the most blessed person in the world. Watching GG turn into an incredible young lady that is intelligent, well adjusted, behaved, loved, and happy is the best gift a mother could get. Especially when she tells me she loves me, out of the blue! Sometimes I think that she is two going on twenty the way she talks and acts with not only us but with other people. She is growing up so fast. I am just glad to be able to watch her and guide her through it. And I still don’t know what all this fuss is about the terrible twos?!? Brae does a great job listening to us and very rarely gets in trouble. She is a complete joy and blessing. Then we have our handsome little boy Monkey. He is just the sweetest baby ever, next to GG of course. I love when I pick him up and he hugs me. He has also started giving kisses too. They are really wet and I don’t mind. He does this cute thing where he puts his face as close to mine as he can get. He usually has his little hands on both sides of my face pulling me to him. I can’t wait for him to start communicating like GG does now. But I can already see his personality coming through and let me tell you we are going to be laughing a lot in this house. I can tell he has his father’s sense of humor, which is great because that is one of the many reasons I love J. I think he is going to be just as smart, well adjusted and behaved as GG. But he is a boy and boys do tend to get into more things than little girls so I guess time will tell. I have talked about the kids enough for one night cause I could definitely go on! So GG got up at 9am and spent time with J while Monkey and I slept until 10:15am, that was nice. But we had a very late start this morning with getting ready because our neighbor, the smoker lady, left her water running for over three hours. There was absolutely no hot water. We called the landlord and they had to come over and shut it off. Then we waited for the hot water to come back. GG didn’t take a nap today and I really didn’t push it but I think that she needs to at least rest on the days she doesn’t nap because she was getting a little cranky around 5pm. But she is fine now. We went over to Joanna’s house to see how her presentation went today and then went on to the hospital to have dinner with J. But he was too busy so we ate without him. Now we are home and they are reading books while I am on the net. Next stop is the bed :)

Wow it's late...anyway we got up this morning and got ready to start the day. GG did the smartest thing today. She learned how to put her shoes on without our help. She said she wanted to do it by herself so J handed her the shoe. She couldn't get it on sitting down so she stood up and put it on. No one ever told her to stand up to get it on. What a little smarty. Getting back to the day the first thing we did was go to Wal-mart Monkey was completely out of diapers and we were almost out of toilet paper. Then we went to the grocery store to get a few things Milk being the major emergency. Then we went to the butternut store to get bread. It is so much cheaper there. We came home and it was lunch time. Today GG took a nap until 4:40 a little over two hours of sleep for her. After she woke up we played candy land twice while we waited for J to get home for dinner. After dinner Monkey and I went to my friend Cheryn's baby shower. While we were there J and GG went to the park to play. J dropped us off at the shower so he could have the car (we only have car seats for the car) and take GG places. When he came to pick us up GG informed us she wasn't ready to go home and we asked her where she wanted to go and she said Ted and Joanna's house. So we went there. While we were there we ate sour patch kids and we gave Monkey a taste. He made the funniest face but he still wanted to eat more! I think Monkey is teething again his face has been drenched in drool for the past couple of days. Now we are home and just relaxing watching do I even need to say it? COPS.

What a full and fun filled day we had. This morning we got up and got ready for church. I am so glad that we found a good church here. After church the kids and I went to the grocery store to got stuff to eat for lunch. J had to work right after church so we took the food to Ball Fore and ate it there. While we were there our friend Joanna came and told us that her sister-in-law is having a baby. They don't know the due date yet. Then we came home. When I got here both the kids were sleeping. I brought one in at a time considering I am not super man. When they woke up we went to the park and played. Monkey stayed in the swing most of the time but GG went down the slide along with swinging. Then we came in and got her chalk. We did that for awhile and she wanted to fly her kite. I got it out and it has a whole in it. We'll have to get a new one. Then we came inside because Monkey needed a nap. GG played in the toy room and I put away all of the kids laundry we did at Belinda's and my clothes from this weekend that J did at his parents house. J is now home from work and he and GG are in the shower getting cleaned up. Then we are going to have dinner and go from there. I did want to mention that last night GG was singing the itsy bitsy spider while she was half awake and half asleep. It was cute and funny at the same time.

I am going to start out by saying that my husband is the greatest! We came from the weekend away at 8pm. I was hungry and so was GG. We walked in the house and J had pizza from Domino's ready for us to eat. It was great. While we ate he unloaded the car. As I was eating I noticed that some dishes were hand washed in the sink so I looked in the dishwasher. (we started it before we left Thursday) He unloaded all the clean dishes, too. Then yes he still does more to make my life easier. He went to the gas station to fill my car up because it was low on gas. I love this man! Now about the rest of our day. We got up at Nana's house and packed up the car and ate. Then we left for Rockford. Today is GG's friend Carlie's birthday. Before we left I filled up with gas it was 1.29 :) The car that pulled in behind me was a dad of a friend of mine from high school. It was a little weird seeing him and having kids of my own! It made me wonder if his kids have kids. We are the same age. Carlie's party was fun. The drive home wasn't. Monkey fell asleep and GG woke him up about 45 minutes into the 3 and 1/2 hour drive home. I stopped twice to feed him but that didn't help. So I just let him cry. He did finally fall back asleep and slept the last hour and a half. Now we are home and spending family time well once I get off the computer. Right now we are of course watching COPS!

Another day! We got up and got ready. We went out for lunch which was fun. This afternoon I hit a gold mine in Garage sales. I got Monkey a spring jacket, winter hat and gloves, two pajamas for winter, a shirt for GG, about 15 summer outfits for Monkey, and 10 winter outfits for him. I only spent $1.00. Yes I said one dollar! I am so excited. We played outside today. And now it is after 10pm and time to get the kids to bed. Oh yeah GG didn't take a nap today so she is really tired.

Today, we got up and packed for the trip to my mom's. J got called in to the hospital and was there for about 2 hours. I was so mad. I needed help at home getting things done. Oh well. We left @ 2:20 and got here at 4:55. We made great time. The kids did marvelous in the car. They slept most of the way and when they were awake they entertained each other. GG said some funny things in the car about cows but I am too tired to think what actually she said. Well since we have been here we have gotten to catch up and GG has been having so much fun with her uncles! They treat her like a princess, very cute! Monkey has had fun too but he has gotten a little overwhelmed being in a strange place. We also got to talk to J after his interview. He doesn't think it went as well as his first choice, I guess we will see. That is it for us today I am going to bed!

Here goes. We woke up this morning and got ready. J got paged and took two transfers to Peoria, long day. We just kind of played until it was time to eat lunch. I made GG a cheese sandwich because that was what she wanted. I made myself a salad. She wanted to try a bite. I gave it to her and she spit it out. Then asked for another bite. I told her no because she didn't like it. Meanwhile Monkey had thrown the toy I gave him to play with on the floor. So I bent over to get it and when I looked back at my food GG had my fork and had eaten some lettuce. What a little stinker! I guess she only likes soft lettuce that isn't crunchy. The first bite was a hard piece. Anyway, Monkey had his 9 month doctor's appointment and everything looks great. He weighed in at 20lbs 8oz and is 28 inches long. While we were waiting for the doctor I decided to measure GG. She was 35 inches! Three months ago at her 2 year appointment she was 32 1/4 inches. I can't believe how much she grew in such a short time. We came home and Monkey took a nap. I wanted GG to take one but she wouldn't go to sleep. I was ok with it because she rested on the couch and watched tv. So I went upstairs and did some more scrapbooking. I have one page left and then Monkey! After Monkey woke up we went outside and colored with chalk on the side walk. This annoying lady came over and talked my ear off. She is the "neighborhood babysitter." Well she is never going to watch my kids. Anyway she has no kids of her own and while she was talking to me proceeded to tell GG what she couldn't do. I was like I am standing right here I think I can handle my own child. The thing about it was she wasn't even doing anything wrong! I know best what my child can and cannot do I AM HER MOTHER! Some people. GRR! I am just glad that right after that Belinda got here. No telling what I might have said to her. I invited Belinda over for dinner because her new stove isn't working. It needs a piece that J said he would get for her and like I said he was gone all day. It was great to have the company so it worked for the best :) Belinda left around 6:45pm. As soon as they left GG wanted something to eat. She didn't eat dinner because it was turkey. So I gave her some chips, healthy I know! Next thing I know I look over at her and she is sitting on her chair hands folded, one hand still holding a chip and SLEEPING! So I of course took a picture :) Now we are all sitting here watching Cops, at least we are doing it as a family.

Here we are another day in our lives! We got up this morning at 9:30am two hours after J got home. I felt so bad for him, today was not the day to get any sleep here. The neighbors kids goes to a catholic school and had the day off. So they were outside all day yelling and screaming. There were people at the shooting range all day which is right in our backyard. Also the grounds keeper mowed the yard today. And then of course Monkey kept bonking his head and crying. He got about 4 hours of sleep. Back to our day. We got up, ate, showered and got dressed. When I got GG out of the shower and watched as she dressed herself socks and all. (I think that socks are hard to get on!) She looked at me and said, "You're name is Tonya, but I call you mommy!" I told her she was right. Then I asked her what mommy calls daddy. She said, "You call him Jeff." I was so amazed that she knew that and understood it. I have never met a 2 year old that knew their parents names and still called them mommy and daddy! Everyday she and her brother amaze me by the things they do. If I have learned anything from having two kids it is this: NO TWO KIDS ARE ALIKE! Monkey has done some things physically before GG did and GG did some things before Monkey did. Also they have such different personalities. GG is more bubbly, out going, and super friendly where as Monkey is more laid back, easy going, and takes more to warm up to people. Well at noon I took my stuff into the consignment shop. Came home and got everyone lunch. It is weird now that Monkey is eating oatmeal. One more thing to do before I eat! Then the kids and J (he tried) took naps. I did some more scrapbooking. I have four more pages to do before I get to pictures of Monkey. Then I will be 9 months behind :) Tonight for dinner we went over to Belinda's she also let us do laundry. While we were there GG kept saying, "I want to go outside and look for eggs." I can't believe she remember that from last week. She's too smart for her own good sometimes. Anyway I did the kids laundry because they had no clothes and we are going away for the weekend. J is going to do our clothes at his parents this weekend while he is their for his interview with the second choice place. So if you think about him on Thursday please say a prayer for him. Then at 7pm I went to the LLL (La Leche League) meeting with Monkey. J and GG went to Ball fore to hit golf balls and do a little putt putt. When we came home GG and I went back over to Belinda's to finish the laundry. We came home and J headed back over there to help move a stove and refrigerator. It's a long story! Now it is bed time.

Let's see what did we do today? We got up around 9am and we all got ready. J was on pager today and he only went in once. We had a picture appointment for Monkey at 1pm. When we got home from that the kids took naps along with J. (he also has to work in house tonight from 7pm to 7am) Of course right as he fell asleep is when the pager went off for the only time today! While they slept I did some more scrapbooking. I am really going now. But today at Wal-mart we turned in another roll of film to be developed so just as I start to get caught up we get another roll done! That is about all that was exciting that happened today. J is off tomorrow so who knows what we will do! Oh I have a funny story for you, that J told me. I guess he had a big hole in the butt area of his pants. GG went up to him and said, "daddy you have a hole in your butt! A really big one." She of course was referring to the pants but it was still pretty funny. Since I will not get to sleep much tonight I might do some more scrapbooking. Now I am going to get the little ones to bed.

Happy Easter Everyone! This morning we got up and colored Easter eggs. All of us got so messy with the paint! So we took showers afterwards. I planned on getting messy with the eggs so I thought we should take showers afterwards boy was I right. My fingers still have paint on them and I have been washing them all day. But Easter is only once a year and we all had fun doing it so I don't mind. After we showered we gave the kids their Easter baskets. GG was very excited because it had more candy in it! The girl has been on a sugar high for the past two days. Monkey liked playing with his basket and didn't really care about the things inside of it. Then we went over to the hospital to give our friend Ted (and Joanna) a chocolate Easter bunny. He had to work all day. We also called all the grandparents that are in the US right now to tell them Happy Easter. I think that when I am done on the internet I am going to have GG call Grandma and Grandpa A. and leave a message for them. They are in Italy right now on vacation. Must be nice! For our Easter dinner J made prime ribs and rice it was very yummy. Unfortunately I didn't get to scrapbook today but the day isn't over I might sneak away and do some. We'll see.

I had a very productive day :) We got up and went to Ben's birthday party. Before we left the mail man came to the door with a package for the kids. It was there Easter present from Nana and Grandpa K. GG was thrilled so we called Nana to tell her thank you. Right before we called I let GG have some of the candy and on the phone GG was telling Nana how she bit the candy and chewed it all up. She made movements with the words. It was pretty funny to watch. Monkey got a toy duck! Back to Ben's party...while we were there the kids did a Easter egg hunt and the eggs they got were for there goody bags. I thought it was really a neat idea. Mary gave each of the kids a different color to look for so they all got the same number and toys! We had a lot of fun even though it rained. We came home and the kids took naps while I did some more scrapbooking. I am catching up! I am almost to when Monkey was born :) I think I figured it out to about 6 more pages in GG's before I start Monkey's. I am trying to get all the pictures done so I can show my mom when I go home. She scrapbooks too and we like to look at each others they are nothing a like which makes both of them great! After dinner we went grocery shopping, I know we normally do that on Sunday but with tomorrow being Easter we decided to do it early. We aren't going to church tomorrow because it starts at 6am which would mean that we need to be up at 4:30am, no thank you! I am ok with it because we aren't people who only go to church on Christmas and Easter even though I am sad we aren't going to be able to go. Then tonight I went threw a bunch of stuff to take to the consignment shop on Tuesday. We are trying to keep as little as possible considering we might be moving very soon. J just went to let our friends dog out. The kids are playing in the toy room and being so good. Oh yeah we bought Monkey some oatmeal at the store and gave him some tonight, he loved it. I now feel a little better about leaving him with J for longer periods of time because now he can feed him. Well that was it for us I hope that everyone has a wonderful Easter!

Today we got up and didn't have playgroup today. That was a little weird. Anyway we went and rented movies. I got One Hour Photo and GG got Toy Story. We watched them both and I think that my movie moved a little slower than GG's. It was ok but I wouldn't recommend it. Then J worked at Ball Fore tonight. Oh yeah he got home at 10:45pm last night. Nothing really exciting happened today. We are watching Cops right now and GG was in the toy room when the theme song came on. She came running in here saying, "COPS! COPS!" What a goof ball. I think that my kids are the greatest on the earth. It is awesome to know that no one will ever be like GG or Monkey who are the coolest kids ever! If you are reading this and have kids of your own I am sorry. No seriously if you do and you don't think that about your kids I feel sorry for you.

J worked at the hospital today supposed to work from 9am to 7pm. Well it is now 9:30pm and he still isn't home. I miss him. Anyways, We got up at 9:45am. My kids are the best. They sleep in for me all the time. The earliest they get up is 8:30am and that is if Daddy is making noise. If he is and he wakes them up he then takes care of whichever one is up and lets the rest of us sleep. So by the time we ate, showered and got dressed it was 11:30am. I tried something new this morning. All three of us got in the shower. I think that I like this arrangement. We are going to be showering together on the days daddy is gone! At noon we ate lunch. At 12:30ish we decided to go visit daddy at the hospital. We got home around 2pm. Then the kids took naps. Boy do I love naptime. I don't ever want them to stop taking naps. While they slept I did some scrapbooking. Monkey woke up first at 3:45pm and GG was awake at 4:15pm. At around 5:00pm Kailey came over while her parents went to work. Her normal babysitter canceled on them this morning. It was an easy $10! The girls played great together. I stayed with them in the toy room for about 20 minutes and then Monkey started getting tired. So I took him downstairs to put him to sleep. I turned on the baby monitor in the toy room so I could listen to what they were doing. They sounded so cute. Kailey is 6 months older than GG but they have the same vocabulary! When Monkey fell asleep I took the camera up stairs to take some pictures. They were helping each other put on the baby dolls clothes. I just watched them where they couldn't see me and I was just amazed how they were handling playing with each other so wonderfully. Speaking of the word wonderful. GG this morning asked me what I was doing and I told her I was cleaning. She said, "oh wonderful, Thank you mommy!" It was funny. I love my little girl :) Getting back to the two girls, I will say that I am so glad that GG isn't in a daycare. Kailey was kind of pushy with GG over toys. GG is really good about it too. She tells her no pushing or to stop. She doesn't push back like most kids do. I have noticed that she really only pushes in defense, for instance the kid is going to knock her over she pushes to balance herself. (but sometimes she just falls) It is mostly her boy friends! Kailey's dad said that every morning when he drops her off all the kids fight over toys. She also liked to tattle on GG which was funny because I was right there and GG wasn't even doing anything wrong. For example I was blowing bubble for the girls and Kailey was squealing really high pitched (GG doesn't normally do that) and GG started doing it too. I asked the girls to stop. Kailey did it again and I told her not to do it again. Then GG started laughing and Kailey said she is screaming. I told her that she was laughing and that was ok I just didn't like the high pitched scream and then I demonstrated. She understood and didn't scream again, thank God. Well she left at 8pm. Right before she left she peed in her pants. I forgot what dealing with that was like, GG hasn't had an accident in a really long time. After they left we just waited for J to come home and he still isn't home and it is now 9:54pm. GG is reading books to Monkey right now! Too sweet. Well I am going to end this.

Here is our day...we got up at 9:30am! Ate breakfast and got showered and dressed. J played playstation and I did some scrapbooking. GlamorGirl was laying on the couch watching daddy play and Monkey was sleeping. Then it was time to get our pictures at Wal-mart. So this means that I am now 7 rolls of film behind in scrapbooking, but I am slowing going to catch up. On the way back from Wal-mart J dropped us off at Stacy's house. While we were in the car I asked J a question twice. He then snapped at me. GG said, "daddy you mad at Tonya?" Then J asked her what my name was and she said mommy. Then she said it again, "daddy you mad at mommy?" J said no she just keeps asking me the same question. I said only twice I asked it. Then GG said, "you only ask it twice mommy?" I said, "yes, only twice daddy was just being snappy." She asked J, "you being snappy daddy?" He said, "no mommy is being annoying." She then asked me if I was being annoying. I told her no that daddy was just being crazy. She said, "no you being annoying." Then J told her I was just being silly and that was the end of that. It was hilarious the way she carried on a full conversation with both J and I. We played with Nick (11 months) and Rebecca (7 months) both babies around Monkey's (9 months) age at Stacy's house. GG also had fun with the babies! She keeps telling me she wants me to have another baby but this time a sister. Then we had dinner and J saved Monkey's life. He started chocking on a cheerio. J got it out very fast. I didn't even know what we going on. After dinner we went over to the B's house so GG could play with Kailey. We left there at 9pm. So here we are getting ready for bed. Goodnight :)

Yesterday, Monkey had food for the first time. I gave him some cheerios and he ate about 4 of them. He wasn't too sure if he liked them. This morning we got up and GG and I took my brother to his doctor's appointment. His car hasn't been running right. We came home and ate lunch and then it was time for naps. After there naps our friend Joanna came over while we were outside trying to get GG's kite in the air. It wasn't windy enough today. Then J went to work and Joanna left. I made dinner for GG and I we had cold pasta it was easy and not hot! Then we went over to Belinda and Ellie's house for a Easter egg hunt in the backyard. There was 48 eggs!! GG had a lot of fun finding them but she had even more fun eating the candy in them! After that we went out to see J at work to give him some candy from the Easter egg hunt. We came home and the kids took a bubble bath and then we read books. Now they are playing and I am here. They are both tired as am I. Oh yeah J has a interview with his second choice Thursday and he found out today that he is 3rd on their list. So we'll see what happens.

Well today was another beautiful day we even turned on the AC for a while to cool it off in here. Since yesterday we were so busy having fun and didn't get groceries we went today. J was on pager...we got to the store and about 10 minutes after being there he got paged. From that point on I was a lost puppy wondering around the store trying to think of food ideas by myself. I guess I really like doing the shopping as a family. We did fine though. Came home and got the mail I was happy the electricity bill was under $20! Then we ate lunch and the kids took naps. When they woke up we went swinging at the park. Then J came home while Monkey was taking another nap so he and GlamorGirl went outside and flew the kite. He started up the grill for dinner, just as he put the food on the grill he got paged. So for the first time in my life I grilled steaks. They turned out great...J told me how long to cook them! After dinner we decided to go to the Ball Fore and hit some golf balls at the driving range. It was cute J hit some then GG hit some. While J hit GG was his personal little cheerleader shouting out encouragement! My favorite was when she said, "That was a good one!" She also said, "Good job, daddy!" "yay you hit the ball!" "that went far!" I thought it was sweet that she was so proud of her daddy even though he has a hurt thumb and can't hit the ball that good! Then we came home and had some ice cream now it is time for bed. I hope that everyone has a wonderful night :)

We had a very active day! Got up this morning and went to church, after church Belinda invited us over for lunch. We got home at 2:30pm to have a message on the machine telling us to come over to Joanna and Ted's for a bbq and to hang out with a bunch of EMS people. So J went to work and the kids and I went over to the Ted and Jo's. GG took about a 30 minute nap! She was so funny at the house. J taught her a new thing to say! It goes like this; I got my good looks, my big brain, I'm going places, seeing faces and doing things! She had our friend Joe wrapped around her little finger. When we left there we went to see J at Ball Fore. GG was excited because Joe was there going to hit golf balls he was just waiting for some friends. So he played with her at the park. I forgot to mention this the other day...when we were at Ball Fore Joe was there too and GG got him to go through the tunnel at the park twice! Now Joe isn't a small guy but it was cute to see them play together. GG really likes him and she isn't usually that comfortable with guys. He even offered to babysit for us if we ever needed him too! We might take him up on it because Monkey also seemed to like him. At least he let him hold him without crying! By the time we left Ball Fore it was 6pm. We went home and ate some dinner and then just sat and relaxed at home for the first time today! Now we are getting ready for bed :) Oh yeah Monkey only woke up once crying and I gave him Tylenol and he was fine the rest of the night. I will say that this morning came very early.

I had a miserable night. Monkey cried non-stop from 11pm to 1am, both J and I tried everything! (singing, rocking, standing, nursing, listening to music...etc) Nothing calmed him. J thinks that he was teething but I think there is some else going on too. At 12:30am J went to the hospital to get something for his hurt thumb. Well he was gone I finally got Monkey to sleep at 1am. J came home at 1:15am not even a minute later Monkey was crying again. I decided that one of us needed to get sleep or we would both be too tired to take care of GG. So I told J to go to bed. The rest of the night went something like this. We rocked in the chair until Monkey fell asleep, then I would recline it so I could sleep. Right as I would fall asleep Monkey would start crying again. Then we would do it all over again. It usually took me between 10 and 20 minutes to calm him down. The longest time period he slept was 30 minutes. I was going to wait until 9am to bring him to J but I was so tired that my body was shacking and I was so sick to my stomach that I was dry heaving so we went up at 8:15am. By the time J go up and going with the kids it was 9am so I didn't go to sleep until 9:30ish and slept to about 11:30am. So that was my night and morning. When I got up and ready we ran some errands; we had to drop off film at Wal-mart and made Monkey's 9 month picture appointment. While we were there GG saw the Easter Bunny. She gave her a high five and a hug while she was holding on to me for dear life! Then we paid a bill and went to the hospital again for J's finger. We came home and tried to get the kids to take naps but that wasn't very successful. Right now Monkey is sleeping in my arms and GG is being really quite in the toy room. I am going to go check on her. Well the reason she is quite is because she is sleeping on the reading chair. I would go to sleep too but if I do I won't wake up in time to bring J dinner at work. The rest of the night we are going to take it easy. We have plans to go to ball fore for dinner and maybe play a while then come home bathe and go to bed. I am praying I have a better night tonight. If you think about it please say a prayer for us, that we all sleep good tonight!

A beautiful and fun day here! I got up and got ready while the kids slept. They were so cute, Monkey was holding GlamorGirl! After I was ready I got them up. I told GG what we had to do before we left the house. She is so funny she said, "that sounds like a good plan!" We went to the DUI scenario that was canceled last week. GG loved it and Monkey fell asleep. While we were there GG helped Ted pass out prizes to the high schoolers that answered questions right. Her favorite part though was watching the helicopter land! For a small town it has a lot of family oriented things here. We are never hurting for fun things to do. After the DUI we went to BK to met with our playgroup. We left there at 1:30pm and came home. J was back from the DUI so he spent time with the kids before he had to work at 3pm. While he was playing with them I did some more scrapbooking. I am really going on it now. I knew I just had to throw myself back into it and ideas would start flowing! After the kids woke up from there naps we decided to go see daddy at work. They have a really cool playground and GG can do everything on it with no problems or help, which is wonderful since I don't want to put Monkey on the ground. I actually let Monkey go down the slide (many times) and he loved it. J and I were talking about having his first birthday party at ball fore. The playground will be prefect for his one year old friends. Nothing is decided yet. Then we came home and I made dinner for GG and me by this time it is after 7pm. So after we ate I gave the kids baths (Monkey was crawling all over the tub, the crazy man) this morning I didn't give them one because they were going to be outside most of the day and get dirty. So now they are clean for bed! Right now they are playing in the toy room together. Actually every time GG comes in here Monkey starts crying, then stops when she goes back in there. They play so great together, surprisingly GG is very gentle with Monkey. J is now home from work so I am going to talk to him about tomorrow.

I will start by saying that I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. The first thing J said to me today was, "I was nice yesterday and let you sleep in but today I am mean, get up!" I slept a half an hour yesterday longer than everyone else. So we got up and got ready. GlamorGirl and I went to get the mail. (exciting, I know) We laid GG down early for her nap because we had to be at Mac Aurther at 3pm. We did the schools screening to see if she would be able to go there when she turned three. The lady said she pasted with flying colors for a 27 month old and she even went through some of the 30 month old things, which she could also do. She told me somethings to work on so she would pass when the time came. While we were there I had them do Monkey and he is at a 10 month old stage of development. I'm not really concerned with him right now because it is a while before he goes to school. I forgot that while GG was sleeping I did another page in the scrapbook. Well it isn't completely done I got the pictures cut and in position I just need to glue them down and write. But I did look through the pictures and know what I am going to do with the next six pages. Those should go very fast! After Mac Aurther we came home and soon after daddy was home with his cashed paycheck! We went to Wal-mart to get a ton of things. (I got more scrapbooking stuff!) I will not reveal how much we spent because it was way too much. GG picked out Ben and Carlie's birthday presents. When we came home and started unpacking she pointed at them and said, "Ben's present and Carlie's present!" Another thing that happened today was that Monkey pulled himself up to a standing position all by himself. I have helped in the past but he did it! Yeah :) Soon he will be walking but if it is later that will be fine with me. After dinner we went over to see if Joanna was home and she wasn't so we went to ball fore. J hit a bucket of balls and GG played at the park and colored. Daddy was nicer tonight, he let GG hit one of the balls! She thought that was the coolest. Then he let me hit one. I think that I impressed him with my ability! We are home and it is late. I am going to crawl into bed now and get some sleep because tomorrow we have an early morning. We have to set the alarm!

What a fun and productive day we had. This morning Grace and Julie came over for a play date. Grace is a year younger than GG and six months older then Monkey. All three of them had a lot of fun playing, they even ate the pizza we had for lunch. It seems when GG has a friend over during mealtime she doesn't eat as well but today she did great. GG got a letter in the mail from her friend Ben inviting her to his 2nd birthday party. She was so happy she carried the card around yelling, "the train! the train!" The card had Thomas the Train Engine on the front. Then the kids took naps and I did some scrapbooking. It has been forever since I have done a page. I got one done in an hour. I need to get my creative juices flowing and the pages will go faster. But I still had fun and got to relax at the same time! I had to stop because J had to go to a meeting for his new job at the Park District. So we will get discounted swim lessons this summer. Very cool. Then we grilled out for dinner. I like grilling because there is less dishes to clean. Before we ate dinner I was nursing Monkey and trying to get him to fall asleep. I asked J to lay out a blanket on the floor, which GG helped J do. After they were done she excitedly said, "I made it just for you, Mommy!" She was so happy that she helped make Monkey a bed for his nap. After dinner J and GG made homemade banana bread. It smells so good I can't wait to eat it. It just came out of the oven so we have to wait for it to cool for a while. Oh yea I almost forgot GG went to sleep with no problems at 9:45pm. It was great but Monkey decided that he wanted to play from 11pm to 12am. So I still didn't get to sleep before midnight. I hope tonight goes better and they both go to bed at 10! At least that is what I am shooting for :) One last thing. HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDPA TRAIN!!!!!!!

Well last night was a little better getting GlamorGirl to sleep. She was asleep by 11:45pm 15 minutes earlier! So this morning I tried something new. I let her sleep as long as she wanted to she ended up waking up at 11:30am. From there I made the executive decision that she wasn’t going to get a nap. That was quite a challenge!!! After she got up I got her bathed and dressed because Monkey and I were already done getting ready. Then we headed over to the hospital. We brought daddy some treats for the day. Then we came home and ate lunch at around 1:30pm because we were going to be eating a late dinner when daddy came home at 7:15pm. This afternoon I put Monkey down for his nap and GG and I played games we played candyland three times. Also J's second choice called and said that he will be getting an interview around the end of April or beginning of May. That was good news. Around 6pm when Monkey takes his evening nap GG was getting really tired and climbed up next to me while I was nursing Monkey and almost fell asleep but I stopped her, which wasn’t easy. Needless to say Monkey didn’t get his evening nap because GG was so tired she was crying, “I want to sleep, please!” She made it though and J came home and she was a whole new person. We ate dinner by the time we were done it was 8pm so GG and I jumped in the tub and took a wonderful bubble bath while the boys had fun together. I know this because I could hear them laughing from the bathroom. GG made me the Bubble Queen and she was my Bubble Princess. We were both covered with bubbles. We had fun in the tub. When we got out J went downstairs and got us all some ice cream what a perfect treat after our bubble bath! I was thinking today and I have come to the conclusion that my absolute favorite sound in the whole wide world as of today is the sound of both kid's laughter. I love it. It is music to my ears. I can be in a bad mood and they start laughing at each other and I can’t help but smile at my two little sweethearts. Children are the greatest gifts in the world. Ok I am done. I will let you know how tonight went getting GG to sleep in tomorrow’s post.

one more thing for today, in the shower this morning GlamorGirl started singing, "bad boys bad boys what'cha gonna do what'cha gonna do when comes for you" can you tell she watches COPS?!?

Boy oh Boy did the time change affect GlamorGirl big time. She didn't go to sleep last night until 12am but she did sleep until 9:45am this morning. After GG fell asleep J and I did get to talk which was nice it was just really late. Hopefully she will get back on her schedule tonight. I just want to say that my husband is the best. He got up this morning and went to Belinda and Ellie's house to watch Ellie so we could sleep in. While he was there he did 3 loads of laundry. I love him so much. He is the greatest! At lunch when Belinda came home J came home and then Belinda dropped Ellie off here for the rest of the afternoon. This time Ellie, Monkey, GG and J slept at the same time :) It was nice to have peace and quiet for about an hour or so. Then when Belinda came to pick up Ellie she took us out for dinner. That was great after watching Ellie I was tired and didn't really want to cook. We went to Rocky's were GG ate a whole kids meal. I guess she was hungry. Of course GG made friends with our server and she thought all three of the kids were the happiest babies she has ever seen, I think she liked our table! We don't usually have the server come to our table as much as she did! It might of been cause GG kept calling her name, what a memory she has! Then we came home and my mom called and I got to talk to her for a while. Now we are at the time when J reads to the kids (GG loves reading Bible stories) and I do things on the internet. Then we are going to bed. At least that is the plan!

Remember how I said that we were going to go to church this morning? Well we got up at 10 to 9 only to realize that we didn't change the clocks for daylight saving time. Needless to say there wasn't enough time to get three people ready in 10 minutes. Oh well we WILL get there next week! So we had a lazy day. My maid of honor called today and we got to talk for a long time. She is my longest friend. We have been friends since 5th grade. Anyway after dinner tonight we went grocery shopping. Speaking of dinner J liked my dinner (Virginia) we had turkey, gravy and green beans, but GG didn't eat it so don't feel bad! GG did learn a new word yesterday. It was nipple. Just image this little sweet 2 year old pulling up her shirt and saying this is GG's nipple! I can't tell you the story of how this came about but it did. Tomorrow we are watching Ellie, J is going there in the morning and then Ellie is coming here after lunch. Well it is getting late and I am going to try and get the kids to bed so J and I can talk in peace. That doesn't happen very often. Any one that has little ones knows how true this is :)

I remember what GlamorGirl did yesterday. After I got off the phone with Joanna I told GG that she was coming over. She started screaming, "Joanna is coming over, Yea Joanna is coming over." Then J came home and GG told him, "Joanna is coming home." I thought it was cute. Then this morning when we woke up after telling us all good morning she said, "where is Joanna?" Well today we got up and went to the YMCA for the kiddie carnival. We had a lot of fun walking around booth to booth. They had this booth for getting your kids finger prints, weight, height, current picture and a kit for getting a DNA swap. I loved it because of the fact that I am so paranoid of someone taking them I now feel prepared if it does happen. Which I pray it never does. They had other arts and craft there that GG absolutely loved but her favorite was the parachute she got to run under. We came home and had lunch and they both fell asleep pretty easily for their naps. Then J came home from taking a transfer around 4pm. We grilled out dinner but it was a little cold out so thank you to J for grilling in the cold. We had friends come over for a play date. It was Crissy, Bill and Carlie. The girls played upstairs and us adults talked downstairs with Monkey. As far as I can tell both the girls had a great time playing. We will get to see them in a few weeks for Carlie's birthday so that will be nice. Now we are getting ready for bed. We are going to church tomorrow morning, hopefully. I say that because if J gets paged out it will be hard for me to get them ready on time. But we are planning on it.

Woke up this morning to major rain. It stopped at around 8am and got really nice out. So I got us ready with plans to go to the DUI scenario but it was canceled. So we went to playgroup instead, we were all ready to go. Today we all got to take a nap which was wonderful. GlamorGirl is getting a new molar the doctor told us yesterday. Poor little girl is in pain and doesn't feel good. She did run a small fever today probably from teething. But she is fine now. Then tonight Joanna came over for some homemade pizza. We had a lot of fun playing, talking and watching tv. Now it is late and I am tired. So I am going to go to bed because tomorrow is another early day with the kiddie carnival. GG did something funny today that I was going to share but it has escaped me. If I remember it I will write it tomorrow. Goodnight!

Another early morning for us, we got up and went to playgroup. Then we came home and had lunch. This afternoon the kids had doctor’s appointments. Monkey is completely better! I am so happy for that. GlamorGirl is on some benadryl to clear her up. She shouldn’t be on it that long, maybe a day or two. While we were at the hospital J got his x-rays done again. As we were leaving Life Flight came and both the kids really enjoyed seeing the helicopter land. Monkey liked it better though. GG didn’t like all the wind! By the time we got home it was 3:30pm and shortly after J got paged, we didn’t see him until after 7pm. Tonight the EMS crew came over and hung out for a while. Now we are getting ready to watch ER then we are going to bed. GG is playing in her toy room and just came in here with a toy and said, “I made a fire truck!” She used mostly red blocks too. Goodnight.

Well this morning we got up and went to J's doctor's appointment. We got kicked out of the room because J didn't want us in there anymore. Which was fine because there was two babies in the waiting room which GG played with. This girl loves babies! Then we went out to eat before we made the trip back home. We were going to go shopping but J wasn't in a good mood and just wanted to go home. The doctor didn't tell him anything because the x-rays were too dark. So he has to get them done again then see the doctor with the new ones on April 14. When we got home it was beautiful out so GG and I went to the field across the street and flew her kite again. The boys stayed inside while J played his new game Grand Theft Auto Vice City. After the kite was done we went to the park to swing. Then Monkey started crying so I brought him outside too. He loves being outside just like big sister. J went into work from 5:30 to 7pm covering for a friend there will be some money for sure on the next paycheck. While he was at work we walked over to the Baxter's to see if they wanted to go for a walk but they were going to look at a house. Maybe next time. Then J came home we ate and then the kids and J took a bubble bath then a shower to rinse the bubbles. Then I did some emailing while J read books to the kids. Now I am doing this and I am really tired. Being outside makes me tired. So I am going to get the little ones to bed so I can go to bed. We are going to playgroup tomorrow instead of Friday because J is in the DUI scenario on Friday and we are going to go watch him. Goodnight!

Today was the best! Monkey woke up at 8 and I took him to J and went back to bed with GlamorGirl until 9. While I was sleeping J got him bathed and dressed. So when we got up I ate and J and GG took a shower when I was done eating they came downstairs and ate while I showered. It was so nice to just take care of myself and let J deal with the kids. When I was ready we went to run some errands. We went to the square to do something but the store didn't open until 12 so we had an hour and a half to kill. We went to Chandler Park and the kids played. Then we walked around the square and I got money from the consignment shop $21! Then we went to the pet store after that store we walked back to the car. (parked by the park) J took 4 games in and came out with a new ps2 game and four extra dollars! We made $25 today doing nothing!!!! Next we went to Wally World (wal-mart) and got Monkey some summer clothes (we got 5 outfits) and looked for an Easter dress for GG but didn't find one I liked. On the way home we stopped at the grocery store for lunch food and to Adam's to pick up J's scooter. We were home for lunch and naps. While they napped I took the opportunity to go through their clothes and get out summer clothes and put away winter clothes. Now they are ready to play! I did leave three winter outfits out just incase it gets cold again. It did snow this weekend :) When they woke up there were tons of kids outside playing at the park and so GG wanted to play too, so outside we went. J went to get gas in his scooter and when he came back we got out the kite that we bought GG at Wal-mart today, it was only 88 cents. She absolutely loved it. I am so glad that she likes things that don't cost a lot of money. She does like the big things we buy her like the kitchen, which she loves, but I am ok with her liking the smaller things in life like the 88 cent kite we got her. It is easier on our wallet. Actually you could give her a rock and she would love it. She likes getting things from the people she loves no matter how much they cost. That is a quality in her that I hope she has for the rest of her life. I am getting off track after we put the kite away we went to the grocery store to get food for the week this time. Remember that was the only thing on the agenda today. We came home unpacked and made dinner, which at this time it is already 7:15pm. I can't believe we ate so late. It must be the nice weather. I always find that when it is nice out I don't eat as much, I just drink more fluids. Now it is 9:40pm and I am ready for bed and Monkey is already sleeping. I think that I will leave GG for J to deal with and get myself to bed like Monkey. We have to be out the door tomorrow at 9:30am. So good night everyone, sleep good.