Happy Halloween!

Hope you all got your fair share of Ghouls and Goblins this year!! We sure didn't. Although I'm certain it could have been a much worse holiday---I heard it rained in CLE, and even snowed in some other locations???--- it simply didn't feel like a Holiday to us. I suppose this is something we will have to adjust to for a little while.

Audrey looks ridiculously adorbs in her Wonder Woman costume- I'm thrilled to say that as of 8:41pm (CST) I still haven't seen another Wonder Woman costume!!! We love being unique :) Daddy was a gem and only worked a half day so that we could take part in Audrey's Halloween Party at Daycare. I was pretty stoked- super antsy to meet other parents, dare I even say potential friends? WRONG! I love A's teachers- but they totally mis-lead me. We weren't just the only 2 who showed up in costume.....We were the only 2 who showed up. Apparently it's not that big of a shindig. So after 20 awkward minutes, we finally packed A up and left.

Our Apartment complex e-mailed everyone yesterday (yesterday) and informed us they were going to host some Pizza and Goodies in the clubhouse for us neighbors. We decided to hit that up- Auds loved it! She was running around- and running up to everyone. She tried to steal several beverages and countless boxes of candy being left unattended. She snagged her first full sized adult cookie and demolished it! She was quite a riot. We didn't stay too long, not a whole ton of kids- especially not her age.

I'm very happy to report that she just finally is starting to get back to our baby girl tonight :) The other night- when we put her down to nap at 4:00pm? She didn't wake up until 7:16am the following morning! I only brought her to daycare for 1/2 day, when she got home- she went down for another 3 hour nap! The amount of sleep she has been consuming this week has had us really nervous, especially because she's been SO moody when she actually is awake. But this afternoon- she refused a 2nd nap, and was an absolute joy to be around again! YAY!!! I always feel like I should get a merit badge or something when we successfully accomplish yet another barrier with that munchkin of ours. A Badge of honor or something, right?

I have a rather funny story to share. This past Wednesday morning, I discovered my ID was not in its specified location. It is now Friday night- I have turned the apartment and BOTH our cars inside out (several times) in desperate search for it. I very VERY rarely do anything to which my license is needed. I don't get drinks when if we go out to dinner, I am usually not the one to buy any alcohol for the house, and I typically have my receipts when I make a return- so trying to think of the last time I used it has been an absolute nightmare. After clearing through the apartment again tonight, I gave up. I did my research on all the hoops I would have to jump through to avoid having to re-take the driving test to get another license; I had everything mapped out for Monday......

..... then BAM...

... As if hit by lightening- I had a vision of myself handing my ID to a woman at Target. 'There is no way...' I thought to myself- but since I had checked everywhere else, I gave them a call. Sure enough, they've had it.... for TWO WEEKS! How did I manage to not have my license for 2 weeks and have no clue?! My grandmother would be proud though- only about an hour before I had this epiphany, I said a little prayer to St. Anthony; so I really shouldn't be surprised about this discovery. What a putz I am.

On that note- Rob and I are going to try to ignite some Holiday Spirit with a little scary movie; House at the End of the Street.

XOXO

It's time

Yep, that's right- it's time!! Time for me to get into shape--and NOT the round shape I've become accustomed to.

I was blessed when Audrey was born. I lost every pound except TWO within 1-2 weeks of A being born. I know, I know- some of you Mommies out there probably want to kill me. Well, I took that gift- and threw it far FAR away. When A was born- we would go on daily walks and take naps together all day; if we weren't doing either of those, I was tending to my wifely duties of dishes, laundry and cleaning.

Then Winter came.

Winter came, and I started watching Conor as well. Do you know how easily it is to eat when you are watching TWO infants on entirely different schedules? It's not! Parents of multiples--KUDOS... especially single parents of multiples. Heavens to Betsy. So I resorted to snacking. What a horrible mistake. Majority of my day spent sitting/laying on a floor with babies- and snacking on all my favs (which are all the absolute worst foods for you). Imagine my surprise when my jeans started feeling snug? Imagine my surprise when I started to only feel comfortable in yoga pants, leggings, baggy shirts and hoodies. IMAGINE MY SURPRISE! I could kick myself for not focusing on the need to take care of myself. It got to a point where I didn't even want to go out with Rob because I didn't want to put real clothes on. I just felt so uncomfortable with myself and my body.

Now here we are- in St Louis, all alone and the chilly weather is around the corner. What better way to spend any extra time, than at the Gym?! Added Bonus? Our Gym has a daycare so I can drop A off for an hour of playtime while Mommy tries to bust her butt! The offer a crazy amount of classes which are my fav- because it would be so embarrassing to walk out in the middle of it (for me! It would be embarrassing if I did it). They also have a lot more 'Family swim time' for us to do all together.

So, with the help of our good friend, and Beachbody Coach, Courtney Bell- I have invested in some Shakeoloy (which are shockingly DELICIOUS!) and am a determined to turn this hefty frown of mine, upside down :) Wish me luck! If you try a new workout, let me know; If you ever have a delicious healthy dinner- send the recipe my way; because my husband is on his own path of healthy happiness, so we are in this together! Half the reason I am posting this to help my accountability. How mortifying would it be to post this publicly- then see a handful of ya'll at the Holidays and I still look like a pudgy pancake? If only you could use Instagram filters on your real life image, ugh.

In other news- our poor A is yet again under the weather! How do you working parents handle babes in Daycare? She got another ear infection, then last week she started throwing up her meals, then stopped eating her meals, but kept throwing up; she finally kept her food down starting Friday night, but ever since Friday morning- we can't get her to stay up longer than 2 hours at a time! And when she IS up, she is rather unhappy. She's very clingy which I love (if you remember, I mentioned a bit ago that she won't cuddle us anymore)- now she loves to cuddle! TONS OF CUDDLES! But it's so evident she's unhappy/uncomfortable. I'm chucking it up to growing pains (for you non-parents, it's a legit thing, not just an epic vintage TV show). I brought her home from daycare today at 4, put her down for a nap because she was so clearly exhausted; and with advice from my trusty mommy friends- I'm letting her sleep. I changed her-as she slept- into her nighttime needs and she didn't move. She has officially slept through playtime, dinner and-in 3 minutes- bath time. Cross your fingers this wont result in a cranky, hungry baby waking up at 2am wanting dinner, lol.

Has anyone else started their Christmas shopping yet?! I was so happy to waltz into Target today and see their Xmas display up! I was in such a jolly spirit that I picked up 2 new Santa jammies for A (forgetting that I already have 3 at home.... so please- no more, haha). I cannot believe Halloween is this upcoming weekend. We had a great little homemade costume ready for A, but we don't really have anywhere to trick-or-treat, so we are going to hold off until next year when we are in a neighborhood and she can go around. There is nothing going on at our Complex; but Rob is going to take a half day so we can attend Audrey's daycare Halloween part, then take her to the mall for some 'safe trick or treating'. When you see her costume next year, you'll understand why it just wouldn't work this year. But I ran out today and was able to grab the cutest little Wonder Woman costume today- and even picked up some Superman Tees (with capes!) for Dad and I. I'm excited she's going to be Wonder Woman-- her Great Aunt, Mary Jo, is a huge fan of the Wonder Woman costume!! HUGE- In fact, I think I can remember several different occasions where it has been worn! Aunt Mimi, if you're reading this, I would love a pic of each time you wore it. No, seriously, I really would.

Alright ya'll- time to call it a night.

XOXO

** BEWARE: Snuggles overload below **

Tearing up the Doctor's Office

Shame on me

I'm so sorry, it's been 11 days- how dare I. I'm not going to sugar coat this, I've been embarrassed to update you all on what has been going on over here. Remember that job that I was a little too excited about? Turned out to be nothing that I thought it would be. I felt (and still feel) like such a fool. I thought it would be so great stepping out of my 'hospitality' comfort zone that I've grown to love over the last ELEVEN years- biiiiig mistake.

I think at the end of the day, they mean well. Selling final expense insurance to Senior citizens; during the training- they told us heartwarming stories, I choked up on several occasions. I was so excited to make sure families were taken care of- to be that person who would look out for the elderly. And I was good at it- really good at it, actually. But that's what kept sending up the red flag; I was really good at this job- but I didn't love it, something didn't feel right. My part was to basically read thru a script, connect with them, then 'patch in' an actually Insurance salesman. Sounds easy enough. But after making a few calls, and receiving some feedback; I started to realize they wanted me to be pushy and deceiving. 'Make up a story...' , 'Pretend to connect to them....', 'They only need to think that you care about them....'. That last comment was the response to me when I told my 'team leader' I was really having a hard time with these calls morally. One of the questions we were supposed to ask was if they had been diagnosed with Dementia or Alzheimers-- having gone thru that with my grandfather, I asked 'what if they don't realize/understand/remember that they have been' and I was told 'That's not our problem'. Now I'm sure there is some background they run-- but all I could picture was my poor sweet Grandpa picking up one of these calls and getting suckered into dishing out more money than he even realized because I was distracting him with sweet talk. I came home crying that night. Luckily, I have the amazing husband that I do; he knows me, he knows that job was not for me. So I stayed home the next day with my sick babe, then dropped off my stuff.

This all happened last week (Friday). Since then, I've been keeping busy with the fam, the apartment and sending out a bazillion applications....However, Rob and I finally had a 'sit down discussion' - ya'll know when it's a 'sit down', that means business! Anyway, with the holidays coming up- our need to be able to head back to Ohio to see family, and have enough time to hopefully meet up with the Buffalo folk too.... and with the thought of expanding the family again at some point; getting a job for me right now is just an absurd idea. Maybe for the holiday season? Lord knows I can't control my spending for Christmas- but we'll limit my availability to only evenings and weekends until we fly home.

Poor Audrey, that kid is obsessed with her Daycare. When I go to drop her off, she gets all smiley and starts bouncing in my arms to see her teachers. It's going to kill me to tell her that she's stuck with me again--luckily she has no idea what I'm saying still (I hope!). On the other hand- this kid has been to the Dr weekly since she's started (yes, that is only 3 times, but still). Daycare has given us 2 ear infections, a virus and a stomach bug--in only 3 weeks!! I've done laundry three times since last night so that the apartment doesn't have random vom stained items laying around ..... I do really love the snuggles though ;-)

On a good note- we went to Trucktober last weekend. A gather of a ton of Food Trucks, and our pal Kelly joined us. It was a B-E-A-utiful day! Perfect amount of sun mixed with a crisp chill breeze. I'm disappointed that we only tried 1 truck (tacos...shock!!!) but that 1 truck was seriously devine. Next year I am determine to expand my horizon!

Audrey is walking now- she literally came home 1 day, took her first steps and then was running the next day! We've decided she refuses to do anything until she's perfected it, haha.

Rob and I have been entertaining ourselves with Jeopardy episodes and playing Blokus- I know, we are gonna have a ton of friends in no time, right? lol. I am determined to get out there now that I am officially back to SAHM and get into some mommy groups.

Ok- now that I've overcome my fear of broadcasting my huge 2 week mistake...I promise to be back more regularly :) I've missed ya'll!

XOXO

My lil' craft project. Do I have a problem?

BIG GIRL car seat!!

Whew

YES- we are still alive! Unfortunately, I think is going to have to start becoming the norm- posts on Saturdays or Sundays.... for the next several weeks at the very least.

The first week of work- and A's first week of daycare- have come and gone in the blink of an eye and man, they were successful! Audrey adapted to daycare incredibly fast- by the third day she was taking a 2 hour nap and bouncing in my arms with excitement at the site of her teacher, Ms. Amy. I should've been happy- but it broke my heart because I'm a sad sap of a mommy, lol. We've gotten really good reports; BUT I will say that I could do without the snot river she's had. Everyday, it's so gross- just snot snot snot running down her nose. She also a developed a really mean cough. It doesn't seem to bother her in a painful way, but I can tell it just annoys her. I suppose it's better to have her sick now then to have her be one of those dainty kids down the road who gets sick when someone opens a window!

Work has been interesting. When I'm alone- or along side folks who have worked at the company for awhile (or even a couple weeks), I feel really good about the job. But when I am in my orientation / training class; I'm a little confused as to how we all got hired...if you catch my drift, lol. I feel like such an awful person saying or thinking that- but I'm a general upbeat and optimistic person; these other folks seem to be searching for 'problems' then they just roll with it and try to get other on board. I think everyone thought I would be an easy girl to get behind them.... WRONG! It's just entirely petty. It will be interesting to see who actually lasts throughout this entire thing. We've already lost 2-it sounds awful, doesn't it?? I come home thinking I'm missing something, I suppose only time will tell.

The other slightly overwhelming aspect is that I've been placed on that 'fast track', which will allow me a MUCH shorter time with my training group, but is requiring a lot more time from me than I was looking to give for a job. I know it sounds bad- but after the hotel life, and having A, I'm not looking to exhaust myself during the day. A simple/easy and happy job that I can clock in/clock out and get home to my baby girl is all I want. Selfish and delusional right? Who doesn't want that? The difference is, I'm OK with not making the big bucks. I want to work- for my sanity as a mother and wife. It's hard staying at home. Even harder in a new city where you don't know anyone or anything. RMG (my new company) is paying for me to get my insurance license so that I can get over to Sales ASAP. It's awesome honestly! But the test is Friday. And I'm studying material that is basically written in Japanese to me! It's incredibly frustrating as I'm reading the info- and Auds is crawling around- without a mommy on the floor to play with. Isn't this exactly what I didn't want? I just keep telling myself that once I pass, it will change. In a couple weeks, I'll get into my groove and it will all change. Oh heavens I hope that is true.

We were so excited for this weekend- we had our first date in lord knows how long!! We joined Care.com in the hopes of finding a babysitter for 11/11- when the Sabres are in town to play the Blues; since they will be responsible for making/feeding Audrey dinner, bath time, bed time and play time- we figured we would take an opportunity to pre-meet a couple girls and enjoy a couple random nights out for a little bit. Our first one was incredible, but I thought she was a good start. Sweet girl, but very quiet.... and the poor thing didn't realize that A can sleep with her bedroom light off? Silly me for not being more clear- I just assumed that was a given, lol. But we had a nice time together- and really enjoyed Gone Girl. Having read the book- I have to say that I thought it was incredibly well done and very much like the book! Kudos, David Fincher, Kudos.

Then Saturday came and, well, it was the worst day we've experienced in STL thus- which I actually think is pretty good! I raced out early to get my hair done at little salon I read about. WRONG! I've never had the feeling I had there. I had a huge anxiety breakdown. It was the sleaziest place I've ever been in. Everyone looked dirty- everyone's hair looked awful, they couldn't even figure out who was supposed to be doing my hair because they don't have a scheduling book? What the heck?!? When they figured it out, the told me the girl was running late- until I saw her get out of a truck with another client- both throwing back red solo cups. Classy ladies, let me tell ya (oh, also- it was 10am). This woman had blonde hair with a HUGE chunk of red right down the middle on top. The minute I saw that, I freaked. As a person, I bet she's awesome. But there was no way I could trust her with my hair if she thought her decision on her own was a wise one. So, I played the mommy card for the first time ever. I text Rob to call me, and made a big scene that there was an emergency with my daughter and I had to leave. Don't judge me, I feel bad enough-- but I would feel just as bad and have awful hair had I stayed!

Next, the big O'Fallon Fall Fest (again, we LOVE fests!!). I had read up about it and it seemed it had everything we would love- crisp fall air, adult beverages, over 70 craft vendors (I specifically read that), even a moo-gician! WRONG! Talk about false advertisement. Maybe 15 craft vendors? They were spread out so badly over this beautiful and big park that it was almost sad. A+ for the adult beverages- but I could have paid less, stayed home and walked A around our development. We only ended up staying maybe 45 minutes because we just kept walking in circles, then goofed around with A on the play ground.

We ended the night with dinner. It was delicious- granted, it was just a standard juicy burger, but it was exactly what I was craving. We took a chance and tried out a 'non-chain' restaurant. Well, sort of. It's a tiny chain- but only in STL. Either way, the atmosphere was outdated (think teal and purple décor. yuck) and the service was SOOOOOO awful. Again, thank heaven the food was delicious.

I'm sure it goes without saying that the Dolphins loss today didn't add any extra smiles to our weekend. I've got to hand it to them though, it was a really great game; it just would've been better had they won, obviously.

So, wish me luck- it's going to be another crazy week; but I have a feeling we're going to have a great weekend next week and I'll be itching to share it with ya'll!!

XOXO