Mission Accomplished

If you read the blog then you know that this last week I reorganized the entire basement. My blog "I'm Drowning" listed everything that needed to be done over the course of a week. Believe it or not I got it all done and even a little ahead of schedule and without any problems.

Last Sunday I was actually able to catch-up on my book work and was able to complete my 1099's. That was something I thought I was going to do Monday so that freed up that whole day, after Ava's library program, to start organizing the basement. I cleaned the entire basement, threw things outs, and reorganized in order to make room for the furniture that would be arriving the next day.

Tuesday the furniture arrived and I got all of that set up and by Tuesday afternoon I was completely done with everything that needed to be done in the family and playroom area.

Wednesday I cleaned out the office and got it ready for the new desk that would soon be arriving. The desk arrived that afternoon at 4:30. Scared that Brian would be home early I thought I better hurry with getting the 200 lb. desk downstairs. How did I do this?? Easy. I had the UPS man bring it inside the door. I opened them up and brought the large pieces downstairs one-at-a-time instead of all at once in large boxes that weighed more than I did. Worked out great.

Thursday morning I cleaned the house and waited for my parents who were kind enough to help with the desk assembly. They arrived Thursday afternoon. My mom stayed upstairs with the kids and my dad and I tackled the desk. The desk came with LOTS of parts and LOTS of hardware. In total there were 31 steps to the instruction booklet. Four hours later the desk was together and complete. Whewww.......thanks mom and dad.

Friday I was done everything except for getting the desk ready with all the new accessories and getting it ready to present to Brian on Sunday. Before all of that though I was able to enjoy a nice long visit from a friend and enjoy some downtime. After she left I got to work. I put all the new supplies and accessories on the desk...including a framed picture of the family!!! Got all his files organized and everything in its proper place. DONE!!! Friday afternoon I was officially done everything. The girls were so good for me this week and that helped so much in being able to get things done. They were patient with me when I was doing other things and they hung out nicely in the basement as most of my week was spent in that area. Thanks girls!!!

We decided to make our date day Saturday since Sunday was the NFL playoffs. Around 1 pm we dropped the girls off and we shopped and ate out until we picked them up at 7. What a great day. I must admit though I was pretty tired. Don't know if it was from the week and everything that I did or because when I don't have the girls my mind is able to relax some. When I am "on-duty"...I am constantly on the go and constantly having to remember things and be "on". Without the kids my brain kind of fizzles out and takes a break. I think that just causes me to be a bit more relaxed than normal making me feel tired. Anyway...

Sunday dawned Brian's birthday. After making breakfast we took him downstairs and showed him the completed office. He absolutely loved it. He said it was perfect and he was super excited. Glad he liked it!! The rest of the day was spent enjoying some family time together. We all went out for a nice lunch. Later started the playoffs and Brian was able to relax and watch some football. I made him his favorite meal of meatloaf and mashed potatoes for dinner and to round it all out we had chocolate cake!!! All-in-all it was a great weekend and a great birthday celebration!!!

Below you will find the before and after pictures of the rooms that I reorganized.

Office Before

Office After

Playroom Area Before




Playroom Area After

Family Room Area Before

Living Room Area After (minus 2 pictures we have hung since taking this picture)

Photo Contest

My goal this week is to get Ava entered into a photo contest. The contest deadline is this Friday and it is for children 6 months -24 months. The winner gets a 100K toward college and the 4 runner-ups get 25K. Wouldn't that be nice???

My mom and I have been working hard to take pictures of Ava over the last week or 2 and these are my favorites. Can you help me decide which one you like the best?? I need a picture that will pop out from the other entries and I need a picture that shows expression. Remember you can leave comments under anonymous if you do not have a blogger account. Thanks for your help!!!!

Noodle Nose

What an evening. I don't know whether to throw-up or laugh. Okay...let me just start from the beginning.

Brian got home early this evening...in time for a nice family dinner. I needed linguine noodles for the dinner I made...so I asked him to watch Ava while she ate and I would take Stef to the store with me. I was putting on Stef's coat when I heard a whole lot of chaos coming out of the kitchen. I grab Stef and we go see what is going on. There sits Ava in her high chair frantically rubbing her face and nose with food ALL over her face from rubbing at it so vigorously. Brian is at the sink...doing I'm not sure what....maybe he was wetting a wash cloth or something. I asked him what happened and he said she was eating and started making a funny noise. He thought she was chocking but didn't know why she was rubbing her nose.

Ava is now crying and still rubbing her nose. I just assume she has sucked food up her throat and it is in her nose. I take her into her room and get the bulby nose sucker thinger and start sucking out her nose. Nothing. We give her some milk to drink and she calms down and seems fine. I put her back in her highchair and she continues eating dinner. At this point I decided not to go to the store and just make due with the butter noodles that Ava was eating. Rest of dinner passes quietly and later we go downstairs to play. Ava then falls and is crying hysterically. I console her and notice her nose is really running like crazy from all the crying. I bring her upstairs to change her and clean her face. After wiping her nose she begins rubbing it like a crazy person again. Then she starts sneezing and rubbing it some more. I then notice what looks like a booger coming out of her nose. Nope...not a booger but an entire noodle. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! At that point I didn't know whether to gag or laugh. Instead I sat there in amazement and awe of what I just pulled out of my child's nose. How in the world did she finish her dinner and go about most of the evening with a giant noodle lodged between her throat and nose?? Anyway...the noodle is out and all is well. I guess what happened was while she was eating she either coughed or sneezed and it caused her to suck the noodle up her nose. ~sigh~ Never a dull minute.

Of course an occurance like this sent us in a bit of a tailspin because I didn't know if there could be more up there or what. So what do I do?? That is right my loyal readers...I Google it!!! There are other troubled parents out there like me who search answers out for EVERYTHING. Guess it is isn't a strange occurance for a baby to accidentaly suck food up their throat and out through their nose...seems to happen a lot. Guess it is better something come out of her nose than her stick something up it...I'm sure that day is coming soon enough.

I'm Drowning...

I see that I haven't posted anything since the new year. The last two weeks have been a bit of a blur as we have just been caught up in the new year organization frenzy, tax season coming to a close, and trying to get back to normal after the holidays. This is a tough time of year as I always feel like I am drowning...but even more so this year with the two babies.

The girls are keeping me hopping. Ava is teething and this time it is her molars coming in. They have been trying to cut through since November and they are really starting to become quite a nightmare. She will drool like a puppy and act terrible for a few days and then we will get a day or two break before it all starts over again. I feel like she has turned into a different child...this has been going on for so long...and is wearing me out. Let's just hope they break through soon. Stefanie on the other hand couldn't be easier to tend to. In addition to being the most even tempered baby and easy to tend to...she is now sleeping through the night. She is sleeping a full 12 hours for me!! She turned 3 months on the 8th and has been sleeping through the night for about a week now. Let me tell you...being able to sleep through the night gives me that extra boost of energy I have been lacking since...well I can't remember since when. I have been pregnant for 2 years and tending to babies nonstop that I can't remember the last time I truly felt rested. Oh well...that is either here nor there...I am sleeping now!!!!

Christmas came to abrupt halt at our house on January 1st. It was that day that we removed all traces of the holiday. The tree was taken down, ornaments stored, and decorations removed from through out the house. Felt good to be done with it all and have the house somewhat back to normal.

Why is it in the month of January we all get such a strong urge to organize?? Is it that we need to make room for all the gifts we got for Christmas or is that whole new beginning thing that comes along with the new year?? Regardless I am caught up in the organization frenzy. I am slowly doing a bit of organizing in each room. I have so much to do and so little time to do it that it may take me until 2011 to get done what I would like to get done. Thus far I have sorted through some bins in the storage closet, gone through Ava's clothes and pulled out what doesn't fit, organized the living room to look less like a play area and more like a living room again, started cleaning out the office, and got the spare bathroom cabinet cleaned out. Wow...now that I look at this pitiful list I see that it may take me until 2012 to get done what I need to. Ugh...

Don't worry...I have big plans for this week so I am hoping to get some LOTS done. I am surprising Brian with a new desk for our office. He has been working from this chintzy little corner desk that I have had since high school. The thing is falling apart and it is so little there is no room for all his paperwork. I ordered him a nice 60 inch L-desk that has shelves and drawers for his paperwork. In addition to the desk I have bought all the desk accessories to go with it. Nice right?? Well....I have given myself so much extra work...that now I am wondering what I was thinking. Sometime at the beginning of this coming week UPS will be delivering 2 boxes...one 98 lbs and one 102 lbs. How in the world am I going to get these boxes in the office and the desk assembled before his birthday on Sunday? Then once I get the desk assembled I am going to have to get rid of the old one and organize the office and his work space so it is all set up. Not a small undertaking I realize. Wish me luck. I will have to post some before and after pictures....when and if I complete this project.

According to the shipment tracking on the desk...I'm thinking it should be here around Tuesday. Is that all I have going on that day?? Of course not...I don't do things simply...I seem to make my life as complicated as possible. On Tuesday...I also have some furniture coming for the basement. I am so sick of Brian not buying any furniture for his man den and us using TV trays as end tables...that I had to take things into my own hands. I went on Friday and ordered two end tables and a console table. The end tables have some nice storage and match the word work we have downstairs. The console table will house our Keurig coffeepot and we will have a coffee bar of sorts set up. My sister got Brian some gorgeous logging pictures for Christmas so I am framing those and hanging them above the console table. Again...I will post some before and after pics.

Thought while I was putting the basement together...why not go big. I ordered 3 bookcases for the kids toys and books. My dad was nice enough to put all of those together for me. I have yet to get them in place and put everything on them...but again something else I am planning on doing this week. Also for the playroom my in-laws got the girls a table with 4 chairs. That will also need to be assembled this week. Wow...I think I need to skip sleep, eating, and blogging for that matter and get in the basement with my hammer and get to work. HA!!!

Sounds like I couldn't possibly squeeze anything else into my week right?? WRONG!! In addition to all this remodeling, building, and organizing I need to close out the books for 2009. I realized yesterday that I have 2 weeks in order to get the 1099's out. Are you kidding me?? I didn't even see that one coming...it just snuck up on me. January and February are stressful months for me as I work on closing out the books, catching up on the new year book stuff, and finalizing everything with my accountant. Not fun...oh and did I mention stressful??

Alright...as I type this I have that feeling of drowning again. Let me see...how am I going to get this done. Let's examine my week shall we??

Monday: My mom is coming to the house...THANK GOODNESS. I am taking Ava to her weekly library program while my mom watches Stefanie. When I get back I am going to hide in the office until I get my 2009 postings for the business done...I will need at least an hour uninterrupted. I will then figure out my 1099's and get in contact with my accountant to get the forms and get those filled out. I will resume Mommy duties and kiss my mothers feet for helping me out.

Tuesday: I will get the basement cleaned and ready for the new furniture. Hopefully I will get an opportunity to start organizing the office and getting it ready for the new desk.

Wednesday: I am hoping the new desk will have arrived Tuesday evening. I'm hoping I can still walk after trying to get those 2 massive boxes downstairs. If I have not killed myself or thrown out my back I will hopefully get an opportunity to start assembling the desk.

Thursday: I will continue assembling new desk, disassembling old desk and putting things in the office where they need to be.

Friday: Work on the playroom and get the shelves stocked with the toys and get everything moved around and where I want it to be. Put together the table and chairs. Stop long enough to have a friend for lunch and then get back to work.

Saturday: Not sure how that day is going to play out yet. I am hoping I have everything done by then because Brian may just be home that day. If he takes off Saturday then I will have a small birthday dinner for him at the house to enjoy with the girls and we will present him with the office surprise.

Sunday: I am dropping the girls off at my parents house and Brian and I are spending the day together ALONE...as Sunday is his actual birthday. We will be going out to eat and maybe a movie. It will be nice to have a break from the house and kids and spend sometime alone. We haven't had a day alone since a couple weeks before Christmas.

In addition to everything that needs to get done I still have 2 little ones to take care of. So in between diaper changes, snacks, making meals, bottles, naps, playtime, cleaning house, doing laundry, doing office work, etc....I am hoping to get everything on my to-do list done. Do not be surprised if you do not hear from me next week!!

2009: Year in Review

I got this idea from another blog that I follow...Diary of a Stay at Home Mom. At the end of the year you are to go back through your blog and write the first sentence of every month. I have also added my favorite pictures from each month. Here it goes...


January: Okay...I am going to make an attempt at this whole blogging thing.






February: Ava has discovered her voice box.






March: It is a new week and I am feeling refreshed and recharged.






April: We have got a crawler.






May: Ava has been doing so much over the past week...I can't seem to keep up.






June: We are having what looks like a healthy little girl.





July: Bear with me readers....it is summer and you know how that goes...busy, busy, busy!!!






August: For approximately 5 weeks I was down and out with some sort of nasty sinus/allergy thing that plagued my immune system.








September: I like to type up how Ava's check-ups go that way when Stefanie arrives I have somewhat of a guide on what to expect at this point of development.

October: Ava and Stefanie,
I thought I would compose a little something to let you know how very precious you are to me.

November: I just wanted to take a few minutes to recognize that Brian and I celebrated our 7th anniversary last week.

December: Thought I would share some pictures my mom took of our Thanksgiving celebration on Thursday.

Wow...what a year this has been. I would never in a million years have guessed that this would be how my year would play out. When January 2009 was upon us things in the economy were not good at all. We were not sure where our business would be in a couple of months or if it would even last. I was adjusting to the changes of going from being a career oriented woman to a stay-at-home mom. As I was adjusting to being a mom to one baby, helping my husband stay afloat in our business...I unexpectedly found out I was pregnant again. I now had to face the reality that I was going to be a mother of 2 under 2. I had to wrap my mind our the fact that more changes were headed my way and more than ever I needed to keep my faith in God and know that this was His will and He was going to carry me through all the challenges and blessings of life that He was presenting me.

I am happy to report that out of that unexpected pregnancy we got the most precious little girl. She is simply a little miracle and I couldn't have planned for anything in my life more special. She is the perfect addition to our family and our babies are truly the best thing in our lives!! From this whole experience I learned that God is the One who is in control...not me. Hard lesson to learn...but I am getting it slowly but surely.

Our business survived this economy and at the end of the year we can easily say we have had one our most successful years ever. This time last year we truly had to hand our business stress over to God and again keep the faith that He would see us through or see what else He might have had in store for us. Another lesson learned...keep faith in God and He will see you through.

I can't imagine how 2010 could possibly top the year we just had...but you know what...a laid back year with not being pregnant might not be so bad (as I have been pregnant for 2 years straight with only a 5 month break in between). I am looking forward to a year of getting to watch my little girls grow and to continue trying to be the best mother I can be. I have committed my life to my family and for the first time in my life am truly passionate about my "job".

I pray that Brian has continued success in the business and that this year is not as stressful as 2009. I don't think I will ever be able to put into words just how thankful I am for all his hard work . At the end of the day it is that hard work and dedication that provides for our family and allows me to stay home to take care of our little girls.

To those readers that have been on this "ride" from the beginning...I hope you will continue reading to see how the next year plays out for us. For those of you that may just now be reading...let me tell you there is never a dull moment and hopefully you will come back to see what I mean!!

God Bless you and may you all have a happy, healthy and safe 2010!!!!