...is a new word in our family lately, one Alivia is finding the meaning to quickly. This evening, the nanny called and quit. Yes, the nanny that was to begin on Monday called and quit before she even started. Seriously, did she think she had to clean? Now we are back to the Grandmas to get us by until we find someone else. Can you say, "The handwriting is on the wall"?
Friday, June 29, 2007
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Addison's Going to Be 1 Year Old!
Join us for fun under the sun,
As Addison Rose turns ONE!
Sunday, July 15th at 3pm
Well, the invitations have been snail mailed out! It is difficult to believe that Addison is going to be 1 already. We are having a party with family to celebrate her big day (which is actually on the 12th). We plan on having sandwiches, salads, a Big "1" cake, and icecream. I will, of course, post tons a pictures! Hopefully Addison can open up a bit and enjoy her party.
On July 12th, you can see Addison on Channel 6's 1st Birthdays at 5:45 and 6:45am. Until then, Addison will continue to have us all chasing after her, up the stairs, around the house, around the park, and around the yard. One day after turning 11 months, she got her first tooth on the bottom. She is trying to do a lot of chewing with the one tooth that is barely showing! Unlike her sister, she is a picky little eater. She pushes food away, or, if Mommy is persistant, she will take the food and then toss it. That is always a lot of fun (imagine a bowl, which was to stick to the table, full of homemade mac n cheese tossed on our wood floor. YUCKY!). She is a little lovebug, coming up to us just to give us a hug several times a day. We love that! We love this stage, as with every stage of our girls' lives. You have to enjoy every moment while you can.
Monday, June 25, 2007
"I need help!"
That is a phrase that it took me years to say. I am the first to admit, I am quite stubborn. But, with 2 kids and being quite tired and many times sick with our third child, I am finding it difficult to keep up with it all. Although there are many Moms of 2 or more kids that work, I do not personally know of very many that I can talk to on how they juggle it all (believe me, if I could, I would be an at home Mommy cleaning during naptime). Anyway...a couple months ago, I finally started calling about getting someone to help with the household cleaning. By the time I get home from work, get dinner, clean up, play a bit with the girls, bath time - it is 8:30 and I am exhausted. I then have to study for my job (new products coming out in August), and do my other at home work for my job. Then, about 9:30-10, I have to clean up a little bit. If I am tired or something and skip it...there is just more to do the following night. You get my drift.
I thought finding a cleaning lady would be simple. No. The first one cancelled before even showing up for an estimate. The second one (the one I have now), did a HORRIBLE job on her first clean, the next time she did not show up until 4:45 (giving her 15 minutes to clean our home). Needless to say, I had her go home. I have tried to get others between these 2, all charging too much for me. Remember, I am quite a conservative spender, but try to be very particular about a clean house. For a family without cable because I think it is a waste of time and money, devoted any money to a cleaning lady is a big splurge.
So, I now know why it took me so long to say, "I need help." Sometimes it is just better to try and do it all myself. :) Happy cleaning.
Friday, June 22, 2007
Success
Success at first meant getting my Bachelor's Degree in Nursing. The next thing success meant to me was to be married to my wonderful husband, Chris. Next, success was getting a job in pharmaceutical sales. Success then had to be being the best and achieving president's club for top sales. If that was not enough, success meant getting my MBA. After all that was said and done, success was to finally become parents. Now, as a Mommy to 2 and soon to be 3 babies, success has taken on a much different meaning.
Today, success means ALIVIA IS STAYING DRY AT NIGHT! I wake her at 10pm every night, she goes potty, and then is dry every night. This is her success...but as a Mommy, it feels good to have less laundry to do (and this is actually success...the other stuff was just stuff leading to successes as a Mommy!)! Yeah, Alivia!
Now, doesn't success feel good?
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
A Year of Change
Oh, where do I begin? Well, I will start on April 26. 2 weeks prior to this date, I started running with my neighbor, Beth. Running has always been a passion of mine. I also had some things to tone since having Addison 9 months prior. I was having fun with our new evening activity, but I had begun to have what I thought to be low blood sugar in the evenings and in the mornings. This would not have been uncommon since I was still pumping extra in the evening, was running, and was now skipping the evening snack (because I was running where I was spending the time snacking before). I did not think anything of this until my friend, Heidi, called on Tuesday, April 24, to announce they were expecting their third baby. As excited as I was for them, I then began to think to myself...could I be PREGNANT?! No way! After all, my body was not functioning correctly since I was still nursing. I could not be. Right? So, Thursday morning (April 26), I stopped and picked up a test. Sure enough, it was positive almost instantly! Oh my goodness, I had to call Chris at work. I was in shock. Chris just did not believe me!! He was shocked (and still is) to say the least. I called and scheduled blood work and an ultrasound. Since baby's due dates are typically figured by the woman's cycle, our due date is more of an educated guess. My blood work at that first appointment had me at 7 weeks. My ultrasound was conflicting. So, I did not get a due date. I guessed it to be December sometime so we could announce our surprise in the end of photobooks we were giving the Grandmas for Mother's Day.They were surprised as well! At the 8 week appointment I was told my due date would be right around Christmas, but still no exact due date (although they are only estimates anyway). At my supposed 12 week appointment last week, I had another ultrasound and my due date was set - December 27, 2007. Alivia was born at 36 weeks and Addison was born at 37 weeks. I am hoping for a somewhat early arrival so we do not have a Christmas Birthday. How have I been feeling, well better after being placed on Zofran. This is a drug used for nausea in chemo patients. I was on it with Addison, and I could not have made it without it! I was quite sick on Zofran for a couple weeks this time. It is slowly improving, but I still know when a pill is due. Maybe in a few more weeks (I was on it until week 16 with Addison). I am now 13 weeks. After mailing out the announements last week (to everyone except my work, unless they read this blog), we told Alivia. She, at first, said she wanted 2 sisters. Then, changed her mind and said she wanted a baby brother like her baby cousin Henry. She has not said much since. I really do not think she knows what is going on yet. I do think she will be Mommy's little helper this time. Addison, is just figuring out what babies are. For the most part, she thinks "babies" are dolls. At 11 months, she is still a baby herself!
We are so excited to have another baby. We found out that God definitely has His way of planning things. Chris said at the beginning of 2007, "This is going to be the year of change." We had NO IDEA what that meant at the time. I just thought he was going to get a new job! So far, we just hired a nanny (which we are so excited about), we are looking for a bigger car (oh boy...do I dare say MINIVAN?), we are trying to decide if we want to remodel our office and move that space to the spare bedroom in the basement so that each of our kids can have their own room, and we will be having a new bundle of joy joining the Austin Family in December (and I am not even listing off every change)!!
Now, that is a year of change!
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Happy Father's Day
Our Annual Father's Day in Iowa at the flight breakfast was exciting this year. Daddy was able to get a test ride in a plane Grandma Bill is considering. The girls had a good time, too. Happy Father's Day!
Thursday, June 14, 2007
God's Blessings
God's Blessings come in many shapes and sizes,
Some even come as big surprises.
We were happy with our family of four,
But God thought we would be happier with just one more.
December 27, 2007, is now the approximate date,
For a baby girl or baby boy, we will just have to wait.
Love,
Chris & Krista
Alivia, Soon to be "Crowned the Big Sister" again &
Addison, Soon to be "Crowned the Middle Sister"
Thank-you, God, for your surprises!
(I am now 12 weeks)
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Addison turns 11 months old!
Our little baby is growing into a little girl. She is setting her own pace, as both of our girls tend to do. Unlike Alivia at this age, Addison gets around by crawling and cruising well. Outside, however, she moves like a spider, never allowing her body to touch the ground. Addison can stand alone - but refuses to take her first steps. She has perfected crawling upstairs and up the slide (the baby one at the park and the toddler slide we have in our basement)! She shows no interest in climbing the steps and going down the right way on the slide in our basement, either. She is quite vocal, mostly squeeling to get her needs met. Her only words: Mama, Dada and Piper (our cat). I am strict with words though. I have to hear her say something twice for me to count it. Unlike with Alivia, I am not allowing others to convince me that there is something wrong with her because she is not talking nor walking. As a nurse by education, I realize babies set their own pace. Addison has yet to do any signs. Alivia was signing at 8 months, but I have not had as much time to focus on this with Addison. She waves, does the whole SO BIG, and shakes her head yes. But as far as signing milk, more, eat, etc...she just has not shown interest. I am hoping in the next month she will begin to communicate by signing.
Addison's favorite things continue to be her taggies and her favorite toy is her little piano that her big sister colored green today. She also loves to play with rocks outside, but I am waiting for her to try and eat them. Inside she has found the pantry, the towel drawer and the storage containers. Letting her go crazy while I get dinner can get rather messy. One of Chris and my favorite things about Addison is her sleeping habits. We lay her down at night with her taggie and she goes right to sleep without a peep. When she wakes in the morning, she lays, sits or stands quietly until I check on her and see she is awake! The same thing goes for naptime! Gotta love that!
In one month, she will be 1 year old. That is so hard to believe!
Addison will have her 11 month pictures taken on this Thursday. Check out proofs at http://www.capturetoday.photosite.com/. Look for Addison's proofs to be available Friday or Monday of next week probably. I will post her picture from today as soon as I get it loaded.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Yummy chicken toes...
I know...that does not sound good! Call them whatever you want, they turned out yummy. I have been hunting for new, fun things to make for dinner around here. Alivia and Chris like chicken nuggets, but I refuse to buy any of the unhealthy versions in the store. I found this recipe in my April issue of Parents Magazine, which adapted the recipe from "Cooking Rocks! Rachael Ray's 30-minute Meals for Kids." That is a book on the top of my want list! What working Mom has more than 30 minutes? (or Mom in general for that matter).
Okay, here it is.
Crunchy Oven-Baked Chicken Toes
1 c. cornflakes cereal, crushed
1 c plain bread crumbs
2 Tbs. brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp allspice
3 Tbs. vegetable oil
1/3 c. flour
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 lbs. chicken-breast, cut into 20 pieces.
1/4 c honey mustard
1/4 c barbecue sauce
1. Heat oven to 375. In large bowl, combine cornflake crumbs, bread crumbs, brown sugar, salt, pepper, and allspice.
2. Drizzle vegetable oil evenly over the cornflake mixture. mix well to combine. Place flour and beaten eggs into separate bowls. Dredge the chicken toes in the flour, then the eggs, andthen the cornflake mixture. Pat to form an even coating. Arrange the chicken toes about 1 inch apart on a nonstick baking sheet. Place the chicken in the oven and cook until crisp and brown all over, about 15-20 minutes.
3. In small bowl, mix together honey mustard and barbecue sauce for dipping (We just had bbq sauce).
Makes 4-6 servings.
I served it with grilled vegetables (peppers tonight) and cubed watermelon. Alivia loved the grilled peppers. This is a girl that until recently would not dare to eat a vegetable (which started when she was about 12 months old. Interesting considering she nursed for just over a year and I eat mostly fruits and vegetables).
Sunday, June 10, 2007
A week gladly over.
What a week. After all that went on last week, it is no wonder why our entire family now has a cold. I am now just getting the sore throat...so I guess it's my turn. After the whole daycare incident (and the 2 prior ones) Chris and I are done with childcare. We are going to utilize family for the mean time until we can figure something out. Chris will maybe consider a nanny type person to just watch our girls and maybe ours with their own children. But, that is it. And, that is a big maybe, too. We just had no idea the evil in this world until this week. It is really sad. Why can't we live closer to my friend, Heidi? :)
Today was our nephew Henry's baptism. Chris is honored to be his Godfather. We already marked it in the calendar so we can be sure to recognize his baptism day yearly. Chris wants to be the best Godparent and uncle he can be. I will post pictures when I get them loaded.
We are praying for a nice, peaceful week this week. I really do not think we can take too many more twists, turns and surprises. But, you never know...
Friday, June 08, 2007
Pathetic Baker
Okay, let me explain. I am not THAT pathetic really. After all, I had a job in high school making cookies everyday for a local business. I loved that job! With that said, I will get to the pathetic part. I love oatmeal cookies. I have this recipe that came from my now 92 year old Grandma. However, the recipe only works if you use lard. WHO USES THAT ANYMORE? Anyway, I had this big craving for oatmeal cookies and I did not have a good recipe. So, while doing my Friday evening grocery shopping, I actually bought one of those Betty Crocker Cookie in a bag things. I often wondered when I saw those, "Now who would buy those?" Oh, I would! Let me tell you, they are NOT homemade. But, they were okay and I guess I filled my craving a bit. Next time, I will look on the web for a recipe though - not one through Betty Crocker.
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
What a day!
My day started out wonderful. I woke up to sunny skies. Went downstairs to prepare for breakfast and was greeted by the flowers Chris got me yesterday. The girls were in good spirits and easily got ready to go. We arrived at daycare and our provider was clearly in a bad mood. She was quite rude to me and not so nice to Alivia. I was NOT HAPPY when I left there, but decided not to say anything until my return. I returned to pick up instead of Chris so I can ask her about her behavior. I asked, "Is there a problem that I need to be aware of?" Without getting into the story, I will summerise with...we are looking for new care. They are going to Grandmas house for now. This is just proof that you can not trust your children with just anyone, not even someone who calls herself a Christian. Stating it is one thing, acting as God would is another story. As Chris said after she hung up on him tonight, WE NEED TO PRAY FOR HER!
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Happy Birthday, Grandma Bet!
Last night, we had a small gathering for my Mom's 60th birthday on Monday, June 4. It was just our family, Marsha, Nikki, Mom and Dad (of course), and Char & Jan (close friends of my parents). It was a fun night. Alivia loves parties. I guess we must too since we have so many it seems. :) Mom got a lot of nice things. We gave her a nice locket from Von Maur (my favorite store) and put 4 pictures of the girls inside. I think she liked it. Jan bought a champagne cake from The Cake Gallery (where we normally get our cakes), & it was a huge hit.
Happy Birthday, Mom (aka Grandma)! & many more...
Saturday, June 02, 2007
A Dry Bed...
I really don't think that before Chris and I were married that we would think that one of our biggest desires now would be to sleep alone together in a dry bed! Alivia has gotten out of bed and snuck into our bed in the middle of the night since shortly after Addison was born. She was 100% potty trained until she started daycare, then reverted to wetting at night. The combination of sleeping in our room and night accidents are a big problem. Last night Alivia was in our bed when I came upstairs for the night. I admit, I ignored her until I was ready to crawl into bed 1 hour past the normal time (so I was good and tired). I went to pick her up and she was soaked, along with many layers of bedding on my side of the bed (including a silk comforter). I was not happy. I gave up pull-ups just last week when I asked her if she wanted to wear panties or pull-ups and she picked panties. It is just not working.
So, the DRY CLEAN ONLY silk comforter was washed along with all our bedding including the pad. Now, I just have to come up with a plan so we can have our clean dry bed back!
Monday, May 28, 2007
Welcome summer!
Oh, why can't every day be a day off? Topher and I have loved the last 4 days at home with the girls. I would be lying if I did not say that Alivia and Addison loved having us home, too. Everyday, Alivia would wake up and ask if Daddy was still at home. Then, when I said yes, she would excitedly ask, "Do I get to stay home with Daddy and Mommy today?" It is so nice to see how excited she is to stay home with us, but at the same time sad that she is so upset to be left at daycare. I am sure there will be a lot of tears tomorrow as they are left for breakfast.
What did we do all weekend? Oh, we rode bikes (Daddy has this new toy that he pulls the girls behind his bike. It was an early Father's Day present that I think Alivia loves!), swam in the girls' new pink pool, played on the swingset, changed Alivia's baby's diapers more than 100 times, and went to the park. The sprinkler park is now open, so Alivia is looking forward to going there when the weather warms a bit more. Topher took her up there to look on Sunday, but it was just too cool to go play. Today we went to Iowa for the Memorial Day service and then the annual family picnic. I would post new pictures, but I left the camera in Iowa! What will I do without my camera all week! Luckily, Grandma and Grandpa are coming on Friday to babysit, so I will get it back then. Alivia can not stop talking about all the fun she has on the farm. Chris is looking nonseriously, I think anyway, at land to build a house on. What would Alivia do without being able to go to gymnastics?
I finally signed up Alivia for Swimtastic swimming lessons. We will see how she does. It is an independent swimming class with just 4 kids maximum in her class. She went to gymnastics alone, and she thinks she is ready for swimming alone. For the price of these lessons, we have high hopes. She begins in 2 weeks, so we will keep you posted.
So, tomorrow is back to the daily grind. Nothing like being thrown into the fire, either. My boss will greet me at my breakfast appointment at 8:30. Okay, what was I thinking making a breakfast appointment the day after a Holiday (the boss coming is completely out of my control)? So, it will be a big rush to get the girls up, dressed and at daycare early so I can rush to pick up my breakfast and get there in time. My hands hurt just typing that out. Thank goodness I have that SUPER WOMAN cape stashed away for just the occasion.
With that said...Happy Summer! Our family has a busy month of June planned with something every weekend, I think. Then, in July, Addison will be turning 1 with her big birthday bash on July 15th. I am sure there will be more Austin excitement up our sleeves as we make our way through summer.
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Going Private...kind of
Okay, those of you on vox know that when you post a message, vox shows other users that just posted updates. One from a person named Stace, I don't know why, caught my attention. Scary, this woman had pictures/videos of her daughters stolen and placed on someone else's blog as their own pictures! Creepy! So, I will continue to keep most of our posts public, but I will no longer post the pictures to the public. That is way too disturbing for me. Sorry, if you want to see updated pictures you will have to sign up to vox and I will add you to our neighborhood (which is an easy process). I hope everyone understands and keeps visiting anyway.
Friday, May 25, 2007
Happy 3rd Birthday, Alivia!
Oh, what a 3rd birthday it was, too. Alivia woke to fresh chocolate donuts...her favorite but an extremely rare treat. She opened her presents: A Barbie big wheel that she will have to grow into, a wooden bake set, and Dora colorforms. She was mostly excited about the donut and told me, "Mommy, now that was a good donut!" After checking out her presents, we packed up for our trip to the zoo. It was a nice day to be at the zoo. It was busy as it usually is for our annual birthday trip. Alivia noted "there are a lot of kids here," to Grandma Bet when we called her while at the zoo. Alivia was actually afraid at first, which was weird considering we were just at the zoo 6 weeks ago and she was fine. She soon got over that. We visited the aquarium, bears, elephants, tigers, monkeys, gorillas, rhinos, and the giraffes just to name a few. Alivia liked the sharks best, as she thanked God for the "Sharkies" in her prayers tonight. We brought a picnic lunch from Little King. We stayed just a bit longer after lunch then made our way to Zestos for icecream. Alivia had her first chocolate shake and Addison helped eat my cone. Yummy.
Alivia came home and played until heading to bed. After thanking us for her birthday, she went right to sleep. What a sweetheart!
Happy 3rd Birthday, Alivia! Thanks for 3 great years (and many more fun years to come!).
Monday, May 21, 2007
It's Time to Celebrate...
...Alivia's 3rd Birthday! On Sunday we had Alivia's 3rd Birthday party with a few family. We try to keep the parties to close family that she knows well. Alivia had a lot of fun this year. Her cousin Lucas came, so she had fun playing with him. She needed help blowing out those 3 candles on her Dora cake (she asked for a Dora cake with Dora presents :) ), but she had no problem opening her presents. She has been enjoying playing with some of those tonight.
On Friday, her actual 3rd birthday, she will open her presents from Chris and I, and then it is off to a day at the zoo. She is really excited about that.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
The Cost of Living...
Seriously, Chris and I are finding out how much our cost of living is going up lately. Perhaps it is the cost of living in our house! The first of May started with the installation of the fence. We love it and would do it agian in a heartbeat. It was needed! Next came carpet. We have rather yucky carpet throughout the dining room and upstairs (we replaced the family room carpet last year and the basement carpet is new). So, it had to be replaced. Chris and I are dragging our feet to call the store to set up the installation. Why? We have to move all of our furniture, take down the beds, move dressers, clear closets, etc, etc. I, for one, just am not interested. Oh, and to top things off, our computer crashed last week. Chris had a hard drive just for me to save my pictures on. Luckily, I load them every month at Shutterfly, but, I lost most of them from our computer. Needless to say, I am quite upset about this. Chris is always telling me to back them up on a CD, but I am admittedly too dumb to do that. I will learn when this new Dell arrives. Now, don't anyone tell me that Dell produces bad computers because it is too late - it is on its way. After 2 crashes in 2 years, this one better last longer. That is all I am saying. So, this is the final warning for Microsoft and then we are going to Mac.
So, now you know what I mean when the our cost of living seems to be on the rise THIS MONTH. Oh, and to top it off, I have never seen gas prices so high! Seriously!
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Happy Mother's Day!
Happy Mother's Day! We went to Chris' parents home last night to wish his Mom a Happy Mother's Day. Today we are making the trip to Iowa to wish my Mom the same (and Grandma's too). We are looking forward to a relaxing day on the farm. Alivia, having spent the night there this week while I was out of town, is excited to get to play with Grandma's toys, playset, and Tiper, their cat.
Happy Mother's Day!
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