The Week After

As week's after go this one wasn't too bad. Sometimes coming back from vacation is more painful than not going at all, but we've had a good week. Chris took off Wednesday before we left to help me get everyone ready to go and Monday after we got back to settle in again. It helped so much!

Our trip to Racine went great...the girls traveled well both ways and we had lots of fun while we were there. L had a bit of a set-back with the potty and peed her pants five times in a day and a half once we got to Granny and Grandpa's. I was beside myself. But a trip to ChuckECheese prompted a change when she chose to pee through her pants and onto the floor of the bathroom instead of actually going in the toilet. The wet pants required leaving for a while for clean clothes and she seemed to figure out that peeing in your pants is not such a good idea. From that point on we've been back to using the potty. Thank God. On Saturday we trekked up to the Children's Museum in Milwaukee and Ella had a great time. There are lots of cool exhibits and there were plenty of things Ella could get into. Loved it. All around. LOVED IT!

Heather brought home a Jumperoo from the daycare and both girls loved playing in it, even though L is quite a bit too big.

We hit up IHOP for pancakes and "hotdogs" (sausage) before hitting the road.

Thanks to Granny, Grandpa, Scott and Heather for sharing their home and to Heather for ceding her room to our little family. We had a great time and are looking forward to our trip back over Christmas.

It turns out we'd missed Addie enough that upon our arrival in Webster City we called them up and took her for bath and movie for the night!

Since returning we've been plenty busy. Monday Mia and I went to Ames to check out her 3 month proofs (which should be on-line soon for everyone's viewing pleasure) and a trip to Target. On Tuesday Peanut had a playdate with some friends while I power cleaned the house. I got most of the house clean and was able to (finally) get the Halloween decorations down in the afternoon. Ella wasn't a huge help, but it was fun trying to match the houses to the boxes. And by fun I mean Ella destroyed more than one box. :) Ella spent the day at Miss Patty's today so Mia and I could have some time together, but mostly so I could catch up on some housekeeping duties. It's always nice to have some bonding time with Mia, but when I pick her up I'm reminded of how grateful I am that I get to stay home with my babies and don't have to send them to a babysitters daily.

I am cashing in on the best Christmas gift Chris could ever give me this Sunday - he's watching both girls while I spend the day shopping with Leah in Minneapolis. I can't wait! We're planning on wasting the day at the Mall of America and doing more people watching and chatting than actual shopping! We also have dinner plans with Jess and Nic at the Japanese Steakhouse in the cities. I CAN'T WAIT!!!! Chris will, I'm sure, enjoy being King of his Castle. His only assignment is to get Ella to her full dress rehersal for the Christmas program at Church. Which, but the way she will be performing in on both Wednesday the 5th and Sunday the 9th. So exciting! My little girl's in the Christmas program - I'm so proud...yes, every kid is in the program...the 2 year olds have little lamb outfits and someone herds them onto the tage for one song before they're herded off before they have a chance to destroy too much of the set.

That's about it for us. Currently the girls are sleeping and Chris is at Fantasy Football. I'm blogging and watching Project Runway. I've dubbed Bravo and TLC my Guilty Pleasure channels.