Well my decision is made...

....I am starting back at work on the 13th. WOW does that seem close now! I was fully intending to take off until the middle/end of November, but I talked to Emily, and she's going to help watch the girls during the week, which takes a big load off of my mind! I will be going back so I can bank some more money for the uncoming "Big 5" Livi Birthday, and Christmas, and V will be with someone who loves her and will take great care of her. :) She'll be in daycare too, but not full time, which really helps my heart. And, doing this before with Livi, I know the first week or two will be the hardest, but then we'll all fall into the routine that so many of us Mothers have to do. And by going back the 13th, it's only a 4 day work week, so YAY for that! I still think about my decision....a lot....like probably twice an hour on average. !! BUT I know rationally thinking, that it's the best decision, since I'm starting to really go stir-crazy at home anyhow. Lol.

It's been a great weekend for my scrapbooking and that makes me happy! I got a few more pages done, and am starting on V's first year scrapbook as well as finishing up my pregnancy one of her. I have to order some more pics for it though so it'll be waiting for them to come in the mail :) But it was really nice being able to sit down and get some creative juices going again, even between V's feedings and awake time. But atleast with Mike home it made it easier :)

Wordless Wednesday

Just some pics

Here are some pics from the Peach Festival and the Falls from last weekend...

The girls watching the parade....waiting for candy...

running out to grab all that they can!
the cutestl little dancing girls!
Princesses!
Mommy and Livi at the Falls

First family pic at the Falls

Rolling Over so soon???

So last night at my parents house we were playing with V (tummy time) and she actually rolled over and started laughing! My Mom and I just looked at each other dumbfounded, and put her back on her belly....and she did it again! We called the guys in thinking maybe we're going out of our mind, and she rolled over a THIRD time! Of course we wanted to keep seeing it but she was getting a bit upset at this point so we stopped torturing the poor child, lol, but I was shocked. And she rolled over this morning too so it wasn't like a fluke-type thing right? I looked in Livis' baby book and she never rolled over until 4 months! V is 5 WEEKS old!?!

I actually MISS work???? wth....

Ok. I know I've always said that I'm not "stay at home mom" material....and I've always thought that maybe I wasn't being 100% honest with myself. Afterall, it was never a true possibility that I would be able to stay home all the time and be comfortable on Mike's income alone. But ever since we started talking about having baby #2, Mike's brought it up. On how nice it would be for me to stay home, take care of the kids, etc. Be that "soccer mom" lol. And throughout my pregnancy we talked about it, and talked about it, and I convinced myself that ok, I would go on maternity leave, finish it out, go back, and put my 2 weeks in. It's something that got me through a lot of rough patches at work, and I became excited about it. Once I got home from the hospital with V, I had a BLAST! I LOVED staying home with the girls! We went out to socialize, visited with people, had dinner prepared, house clean, etc. I was so excited that I was going to be able to stay home full time. Well fast forward to this week....that joy is gone, lol. My patience is depleted, my motivation for keeping the house clean is gone, and I actually MISS being at work. I miss the responsibilities I had there, the people, the adult conversations, the feeling of really being important. (so, ok, being a sahm is very important...but there's not appreciation, lol) So now I'm torn.
I can't imagine leaving V at daycare....it tears at my heart just thinking about it. But then I try to be rational about it....I know she'll be fine there....Livi will be there....we know the ladies there....work will make me more sane....etc. So I *know* it's a good decision to go back to work, I just can't commit to it. ::sigh::
Everytime I talk to them at work, there's that question, 'when are you coming back?' At first I said the end of September, then I moved it to the first week of October, then just the other day, I said the middle of October. Ugh. When I was talking to Mike about it last night, I think I decided on October 5. But looking at the calendar that just seems way too soon! V will barely be 6 weeks old at that point....can I really take her to the daycare when she's still so young? I don't have to go back until the middle of November....should I just wait until then? I'm actually afraid of going back. Wth? I'm afraid that I won't like it when I get back there, I'm afraid that it'll be way to hard to leave V, I'm afraid that we'll have to switch to formula full time (one of the MAIN reasons that I want to wait it out...), I'm afraid that I'll regret it. We're losing our Manager to another office, so chances are when I go back, he'll be gone. Which leaves me with a whole new set of responsibilities and jobs that I just don't know if I want right now.
Well I guess I have to go in to the office today to talk about a few things, and we'll see how that all goes. Ugh. Who would have thought that I would miss that place????......

V's one month checkup

No shots today, yay!! V did excellent today, and so did Livi :) The entire time the Dr was poking and proding her she just looked around, smiled, and was super content! Never cried at all, it was awesome! She's doing perfectly well, and the little oinker is now up to 9 lbs 5 oz! She's measuring 21 1/4 inches, which is only 1/4 inch longer then when she was born. Short and chubby, lol!

Afterwards we went up to Target to get Livi a new gymnastic leotard, and of course the one that I had in mind was sold out of all the smalls. Arrrr! So I bought an XS in hopes of squeezing her into it, lol, and then a S in a blue one. Of course after trying them on, I'm more sold on the smaller one (sparkly butterfly print "biketard")and it's just the right size now. So I want to keep it, but I'm afraid after about 2-3 weeks it's going to be too small. ::sigh:: And because I'm anal retentive on most things...I found a pic of it online...... and the blue one, LOLOLOL

One Month Old!

Where does the time go??? It really feels like yesterday that we were bringing V home from the hospital, and she's now a month old. !?! Well we jumped on the ADM bandwagon and are taking monthly pics with a big stuffed animal, lol. In this case, Livi loaned "Big Puppy" for the pics. Notice the head control already?? She's insane with it and has been holding up her head for about a week already. Wow

People are too anal anymore

I think people and their parenting have just become way to freakin anal anymore. Mike and I are extremely relaxed with the girls, always have been since Livi was born. I didn't spend my time refusing to give Livi a blanket when it was cold, or how the bumpers on her crib were going to somehow jump out at night and suffocate her. I didn't care if she watched tv, I didn't sanitize bottles and binkies every.single.time they left her mouth. I fed her mashed potatoes at a few weeks old and gave up formula well before that magical time of a year. She was allowed to play in sand, and in dirt, and fall down. She's never had the flu shot (never will), ate peanut butter early on, had formula for several months, and slept on her belly. (**GASP**)
One would probably be surprised on how she has made it so long into life.....

People take things to the upmost extremes anymore....can't do this until a year....can't do that until 18 months....can't do this until they are 2. Is there a magical thing that happens when they hit that particular milestone?? On the eve of that day does a sudden change come over them?? Seriously....am I completely missing something?? I get crazed when hearing the question "When can I give my child a blanket? Crib bumpers? Cow's milk?" People have been raising kids for centuries...I know my parents didn't even have car seats for us, and yet the world is populated with billions of people that have survived being able to drink milk before 1 year.

Livi is almost 5 and you know what? She's incredible. She's extremely polite, she behaves in public, and she's healthy.
::end vent::

Ahhhh September!

Yay for September! It's my favorite month of the year....which is probably why it's our wedding anniversary month too :) (September 20th!! 6 years!) AND it's when all the pumpkin flavors come out....like the pumpkin spice frap at Starbucks...can we say WONDERFUL???
V's hearing test today went wonderful! I wasn't really sure where we were going in Hamot, but everyone that I ran across was so friendly and helpful. :) It's things like that that make me like Hamot more and more. But V slept great while they administered it, and I was so happy that all is well. Go V!
We got our package from Gap today of a bunch of things that I forgot I ordered, lol...it was like Christmas! I forgot about all the wonderful things that I ordered :) There were 5 pairs of jeans for Livi, 2 for V, scarves, hats, shirts, onesies, socks, etc. YAY. Livi's wearing her one sweater and coat around the house now she loves it so much. Go me!
Here's a pic of the little one :P

Gymnastics...

Tonight was Livi's first day (night?) of gymnastics and she was SO excited! And ok, I'll admit it, I was too....I've always wanted to be in gymnastics....it just never worked out that way. ;) Anyhow, Natalie put Gaby in it as well, and the girls just had a blast! I was really impressed with how Livi did, and how much she really enjoyed it! She went right into the gym, and did great. Natalie sat out in the waiting area, playing with V, watching the girls. Afterwards we went to DQ (and yes, I RESISTED!!! GO ME!), and when we got home, I even hauled my butt to the gym. Yes, believe it, lol.
V is 3 weeks old already, wow, wow, wow! Tomorrow is her hearing test for her right ear, and I'm really hoping and praying that everything is fine with it. The nurses didn't seem too concerned with it, so I'm hoping that it was just the fluid, and everything is fine now.