Life is good here. Busy, but good. I'm enjoying a quiet Sunday at home with the girls while Hubby works. He recently switched his days off to Fridays and Saturdays, which has been nice so far. We were able to go to the county fair Friday afternoon and take our time getting back without having to stress about getting Hubby home early enough to get some rest. Even so, we were home by 9pm (but we went to the fair pretty soon after I got home from work, so we were there for quite a few hours). Yesterday was a rainy day where Hubby slept in and then I was able to grab a nap later in the day.

The girls are doing great. Renee is growing fast, we've had a few rough nights in the sleep department, but she's also had a lot of changes to go through lately...trying new baby foods, a new routine for daycare...lots of adjustments for a little person. Rachel's in Pre-K and thriving.

I am working for the time being...waiting to see if the contract vote goes through...hopefully it's a good deal and we can move forward and not go on strike. We will hopefully have some answers in the coming days on that.

Rachel turns 4 on the 20th. She also starts dance that day and I think I am just as excited as she is!

We've had such a busy run of things lately. We had our trip to Vegas in late August which was a blast...and last weekend we were able to head up to see my inlaws and hang out and Hubby's aunt's cottage nearby. She just bought it a few months ago and it is a fixer-upper, but it was nice to chill out by the river. Hubby did some fishing, I relaxed and just enjoyed the company of loved ones. I am hoping we can get back to the cottage again before they close it up until next year.

Life is good. We had a few rough weeks in there...but I'm getting through it...and focusing on the positive. Trying to get out more with the friends I have here...playdates and all that. Good times.

For some reason, I can't accept comments right now. I am trying to figure this out...basically, when I do allow comments, I end up with 150 spamming porn responses that just clog the site and jam up my email inbox. Not good. But when I tried to prevent that from happening, I made it so that no one can leave a comment. I thought I set up a TypeKey account but I must have goofed somehow...because I can't even leave a test comment.

So keep reading the new stuff...when I manage to post...and hopefully I will get this comment thing worked out soon. In the meantime, if you need me...email me at allietudeATcomcastDOTnet.

Busy, busy. But life is good. Renee's creeping up on being 3 months old. Rachel's growing like a weed. I've been able to take some much-needed time for myself and see some friends (and go to a really awesome concert). And while there are moments where I feel so busy, like the world is moving too fast-there are days, like today-where it just rains and rains and I am so grateful for the excuse to stay home and chill with my girls.

Things have been busy 'round these here parts. Just trying to enjoy summer vacation with my girls...but so many things keep popping up...lots of fun things, but it keeps us moving and sometimes I just need a break-a REAL break that involves doing NOTHING.

Right now we're on a forced break...Rachel is under the weather with some weird viral thing that I had never heard of before (and pretty much everyone I've asked in real life has never heard of it either). This mystery illness comes complete with a lack of appetite, a fever that comes and goes (and goes up as high as 103), funky ulcer-y looking things on the back of the throat, and general misery for the victim (and the victim's caretakers). Fun times.

This means Rachel staying home from school today...and let me tell you, keeping Rachel away from her baby sister has proven to be a challenge. She LOVES Renee. She hates not being able to kiss her or touch her. Yesterday, she felt so crummy, she slept a lot and wasn't in the mood to play much. Today, after spending most of the morning sleeping, and then curled up in our bedroom watching tv, Rachel is up and is currently dancing around the living room. Her fever has (hopefully) broken, and if we can just get past the throat pain, we should be good.

Renee is her usual happy self. We've had a few decent nights of her sleeping well (I am knocking on every bit of wood within reach). Last night she zonked out at around 8pm and slept until 2:30...I fed her and then she was good until 7, when she needed a diaper change and went back to sleep until NINE. Had I known she would go back to sleep for that much longer, I might have crawled back into bed myself-but I was sure she was up for the day, so I got up and started my day...oh well. I did manage to get a decent amount of things done around the house while both girls were snoozing.

I am battling a weird rash myself...hoping it will pass with the use of some antibiotic cream I have left from Rachel's most recent mystery rash a few months ago...or else I will be making a trip to the doctor for myself. Ugh.

Life is good. Hectic, but good.

Sunday we went to Sam's 3rd b-day party (seriously...how is he already THREE?). It was a pretty quick trip for us, since we had to get back home. We were having friends and family crash with us so that we could all get up in the morning to head to Knoebel's for the day.

All. As in all 11 humans that were sleeping in our house. 6 adults, 4 excited children...and an 8 week old baby.

Happy Father's Day to my Hubby-the best father two girls could ever ask for.

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there. :)

Hope you are all celebrating and enjoying your very special day...we are!

I am on summer vacation. I went back to work last Thursday and finished out the school year (full day Thursday, half day Friday and half day Monday, half day Tuesday with no kids, and a whopping half hour yesterday). Not a bad deal. It was good to go back. It was kind of nice to get out of the house, and Hubby got to stay home and spend Daddy-Daughter time with his girls...and we were both able to see what it's like to be in the other parents' shoes for a few days. I learned that it's hard to be the one to go to work and come home and be expected to jump right in and help, and he learned that staying home and taking care of kids on very little sleep is challenging as well. So we have a newfound appreciation for what we each bring to this parenting gig-and from this, he has offered to help out more with the night shifts and I have offered to not attack him and throw a child (or two) at him the second he walks in the door. It's all good.

We had a major heat wave here...but it broke yesterday and now we have nice temps in the 80s...perfect for sitting out on the patio with a sleeping baby while the older one chills in her kiddie pool. Also perfect for putting kids to bed at a reasonable hour so one can enjoy a glass of wine out on the patio between feedings...even more perfect if the Hubby joins her (with a beer instead of wine, of course).

I have had a pretty great run of things lately...this two kid deal isn't easy...but it's certainly not the nightmare I was envisioning. I know, give it time. I am still learning...getting out of the house with two kids is just not easy-it's do-able...but not easy. Saturday I managed to get us out to the library for a little while (luckily Renee napped the whole time), then out for ice cream (where Renee continued to snooze), stopped for gas (she woke up for that, but was quiet), and then a formula run (where she started to fuss a little). Two hours later I was home and completely wiped out.

But I am doing it. And loving it.