Shopping Day

Today started my hubbys 96 (4 days off for the holiday). We all slept in, then after breakfast Jeremy thought he should retutn his running shoes, get a different pair and get me a pair. I've been wanting to take up running for quite some time now, but what with having a new baby and all I really haven't been able to. Plus, I had no running shoes. Well, I do now! Zero drop, barefoot Merrells.

I can't wait to start!

We went to Panera's for lunch and Natalia had some avocado from Jeremy's salad. I'd squish it onto my finger and she'd suck it off. Made it difficult for me to eat, but she looked so proud of herself *smiles*

From there we went to Target, I wanted to get a toy bar for Natalia's carseat for our upcoming looooonnnnggggg journey, plus a few other things. Leilani got a new pair of shoes

and I got a new diaper bag, my old one was all raggedy and falling apart (it is five years old!), and my new one looks designer-ish and definitely not diaper bag-ish :).

Last night Natalia and I ran to the store while Leilani got ready for bed with Jeremy. The redbox actually had the Hunger Games so I grabbed it, I also got the new VegNews magazine...I'm super excited to read it - Vegan Cheese issue!!!! And the city we're moving to is incredibly vegan friendly, so I imagine finding these cheeses there is going to be fairly easy!

Thursday

I'm having trouble coming up with creative blog titles. So for now, we'll just go with the day of the week *smile*

We switched back to a lightened school workload today, and things went So. Much. Smoother. Natalia had a nice go at Leilani's homework

I found my lesson planning book (thank goodness) so I've planned out next weeks school. Fortunately, my hubby called earlier and reminded me that Monday's a holiday. Otherwise, I'd have completely forgotten.

We're still trying to eat through all the food in the pantry, fridge and freezer, so my shopping list is basically just fresh produce and milks. It does make shopping easier and quicker! I really should make it a habit to shop my pantry all the time, instead of just sometimes or when we're gettin ready to move.

I have no idea how to get Leilani to go to sleep at night, we've tried so many different routines, but it just doesn't seem to work. The past several nights, she's not gotten to sleep until around 11pm, and has a low-grade fever today. She just hates sleep and I've no idea how to help her drift off. This has been a problem, though, since she was a baby. And Natalia seems to be the same exact way.

Wednesday

Today was some better than yesterday. I still have a headache trying to emerge, but thus far I've managed to stave it off, with a mixture of tylenol, tons of water, and sleep. I just hope it waits until the weekend when Jeremy will be home all day, that way I can curl up and not need to do anything.

There wasn't as much fighting about school, but I think the increased workload isn't going to work. Oh well, nothing ventured, nothing gained. We'll go back to the regular workload next week, and at least we're a week ahead *smiles*.

Natalia definitely does NOT like being set down, but needs to be held almost all the time. And while I love holding her, it certainly doesn't help the housework. I just keep remembering that poem "quiet down cobwebs and dust go to sleep/for I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep". And really, in 10 years, who's going to remember the mess? But the kids will remember the love and the cuddles. And that's the truly important thing.

I also can't believe Natalia's nearly 4 months old! She's a big baby, too - 26 inches long and 17 1/2 pounds. Apparently, I make really good milk *grin*. She's already wearing some 6-9 mos clothes.

After I weighed Natalia, I set her down on the bed to run and do something, I came back and saw this:

Leilani may not be able to read it, but she had it memorized enough to tell it to Natalia. I love it when they have little bonding moments :)

Can I Have a Do-Over?

Today looked like it was going to start off well – Natalia and I had a nice lie-in while Leilani watched movies. But then I felt a headache trying to rear its ugly head – I took some Tylenol to head it off (I don’t want to take anything harder, since I’m nursing). It seemed to help, we all had some breakfast, then Leilani and I tackled school. We butted heads quite a bit, she had absolutely NO interest in school today – AT ALL! Natalia was super clingy and fussy. All in all, not too great. I didn’t keep the best lid on my temper, either.

This evening we went to the ballgame. Thanks to MarineWeek we got a suite. There were a few Marines including my dh,plus my daughters and me, and a few other people. The Marines presented a bunch of the Indians PR with some certificates of appreciation, which was pretty cool. I must say, if I ever go to a game again, it has to be a suite. Not being much of a basrball fan, I'm sure I didn't appreciate being on the field or anything :). I kept thinking how much my sister would have LOVED to be there, on the field, at the game, in a suite...

Anyway, we got home and Leilani's exhausted, so had a complete meltdown :(.

I'd really like a do-over....anyone know how to get one? Oh, and the headache's back.

Monday

Today, despite Natalia and I sleeping in a bit, we managed to have all our school done – even with the increased workload – by noon. Leilani did fantastic with the extra work, really, it didn’t take us that much longer than the “normal” work! We’ll see how the rest of the week goes, but I’m pretty optimistic at the moment. Of course, my optimistic mood may have something to do with the rain. It’s been off and on all day, and when it’s been on, it’s been a downpour!

After she got all her school done, Leilani watched our newly found Cars movie. Despite the many scratches and pauses, she enjoyed watching it.

I’ve been reading Color Me Vegan, to learn more about nutrients in plants. As the author, Colleen Patrick-Goudreau says, why go through animals to get the nutrients found in plants? So I’m learning more about all the different phytonutrients and antioxidants in the different colors. It’s really exciting!

Tomorrow we're going to the ballgame, it should be interesting since Natalia really does terribly in crowds. Yesterday was a friend from church's graduation party and Natalia had a complete meltdown. It took me a loooonnnngggg time to get her calmed and eating. She's never really liked crowds, even in utero she wasn't too crazy about the loud noises and all at Awana and other places. So we'll see how it goes.

Humor

Forced Fun

If you have anything to do with the military, you probably know what the post title means. For everyone else, well, it's basically what it sounds like. The "official" name is Family Day, and it's for all the members of the unit and their families to get together, mingle, meet new friends and have fun. Only it rarely works that way. Usually it looks more like all the members of the unit playing some sort of ball, the spouses with kids watching after the kids, and the ones without sitting off to the side texting. We stayed for a little over an hour, Leilani enjoyed the bouncy thing and the playground. There was food, but it was more a meat-atarian paradise than anything else. I'm glad Leilani and I ate before we went.

After we got home, Leilani and Jeremy were going to go swimming, so Natalia and I ran to the store to get some nursin pads, daipers, produce and a few other baby foods. Leilani and Jeremy were still home when I got back, having decided to try this other pool and needing my car to get there. While they were gone, I made yummy cassoulet. Leilani ate quite a bit of hers, then the girls took a bath and I made some peach-blueberry-almond milk sherbet. Both girls loved it. Also, Natalia loved the broth from my cassoulet. It may be cheaper feeding her than I thought *grin*.

Enjoy the pictures!