Diaries of a Single Parent - I served, barely!

Before I blog about Valentine's I'm gonna share some stories from last week. As I previously mentioned, Sean was in Memphis for training all week long AKA it was lady's week at our house. We had a lot of fun, just us girls and the van but there, of course, was some drama. First some pictures of this adorable little baby...

I can't get enough of that face and that crazy wild hair.

This girl loves the bath even more than Lexi did. She is a splasher and a squealer in the tub.

We took full advantage of having the van and went to the ABQ aquarium with my friend Lizi and her son Zach (who is just a few days older than Avery). Lexi loved the aquarium!

It's a small aquarium but the kids loved it! It think we're gonna get a zoo/aquarium membership.

I love this picture of my girls standing next to each other.

Avery is so small in comparison to this sting ray! I can't get over how big they were.

Two divers came and fed the fish while we were there. This driver was "attacked" by all the hungry sting rays.

A big "puffer" fish.

I of course injured myself while Sean was gone. As is tradition. I hit my head really hard on a cabinet (long story, basically I have the worst luck). Anyway, I am not sure if I had a concussion but my head hurt incredibly bad. I had my friend Emily come "watch" me and she and Sean called me through the night to make sure I was okay. Why do I always have to have something exciting happen when Sean is gone? Oh well, he's back now and I couldn't be happier to have him home. Parenting is not something meant to do alone.

Diaries of a Single Parent: Dying Computer

Sean flew out this morning for a week of training in Memphis. So it's a ladies week at our house. We will miss Sean but we will fulling enjoy the freedom of having the van. This week we plan to go shopping, to the aquarium, story time and getting Lexi's first hair cut!

You may have noticed that I haven't been blogging lately. Well that is because our laptop has seen better days, it's getting old and has a virus and has recently decided to stop letting me access my email and blog. Which is driving me crazy! But for some reason I was able to log into Blogger tonight, so I'm staying up late and chatting up. Which is fine with me since I'm avoiding going to bed since I hate sleeping alone.

So check back later this week and hopefully I'll be able to post about this week's happenings. If not, I'll make sure to upload pictures to Facebook.

Diaries of a "Single Parent" - The Joys of Actually Having a Car at Home

As I mentioned yesterday, I was involved in a hit-and-run yesterday morning. I was driving home on the freeway after taking Sean to work. As traffic switched from five lanes to three everyone slowed down. The guy behind me didn't slow down fast enough and hit me. We were in the right lane so I immediately pulled off to the side of the road and the other driver just kept going!!! I was soooo mad. I merged back into traffic and tried to catch up to him but couldn't. Luckily I saw his license plate. I went to the police station and filed a report for a hit-and-run. So hopefully the police will find that jerk and make him pay. I know I sound like a crazy angry woman but that is just so rude! And I'm frustrated especially after Sean's hit-and-run earlier this year. What is wrong with people. We are fine. We didn't get hurt. Lexi did notice the hit and seemed a little confused and scared but quickly said, "I'm okay." There is a little paint scratch but I don't think there is really any other damage.

I was so excited to have the van today. I took the girls to Explora. It's a kids' science center. It was so much fun. There is a lot of things geared up for toddlers.

When you first walk in there is a giant ball run. Lexi and Avery watched it for 10 mintues!

Playing with marbles. A first for Lexi.


Avery did so good sitting up in the stroller. She liked watching all the other kids and Lexi play.

There was a room just for toddlers. It was amazing! Lexi loved playing with the clear tubes on wall. They were another big ball run.

There were just so many fun things for kids to play with. Lexi liked playing with these light switches.

Tons of puzzles, books and games in the toddler room. There was also a rocking chair which was great because I got to feed Avery while Lexi played.

There was an art room.

Avery was such an angel!

And Lexi's absolute favorite thing of the day - the bubble table!

I think eventually I'll look at getting a membership to Explora. If anyone ever comes and visits us here we'll have to take them to Explora.

Sean gets home tonight!!! I'm so glad it was only an overnight audit. I don't do good at home by myself.

Diaries of a "Single Parent" - The Pick-Me-Up I needed

I've had a horrible day already! I'm still sick. Our AC is still broken. And today Sean leaves on a overnight audit. He's heading up North, to a town a few hours from here near the Colorado border. He'll be back late tomorrow night. When I first found out that Sean was going out of town, I thought to myself, I'll have the van! I'll be able to do playdates and go to the park! (Now I'm not so sure about that!) So this morning we took him to work (it was way too early, espeically after we all went to bed later than normal). On the way home this morning, I was involved in a hit-and-run! I'll share more details later. As you can imagine, I was pretty upset. When I got home I saw this list on my friend Britney's blog. It made me laugh and cheered me up. For some reason, I can't just copy and paste the list.

Diaries of a "Single Parent" - Painful Injury, Tummy Love and a Lot of Energy

Tuesday night I hit my bare foot with the front door (not a very smart thing to do but a very "Sam thing" to do). Anyway, it hurt SOOOOO bad. I instantly started screaming in pain and crying and bleeding like crazy. The right side of my nail was instantly broken (no long attached to my skin), gross, I know. I now am limping and am in constant pain. It's amazing how much you use your toes. Here is a picture of my foot the night it happened. And yes, I know this is gross but Sean isn't here to see it so I am forced to post pictures so he can see. Enjoy everyone else :)


And here is a picture of my foot today. As you can see, the nail is starting to die. I bet it's only a matter of time until I loose the whole nail. I'm afraid it's going to be so painful and ugly!

And now on to cuter things... I have mentioned previously that the girls now bathe together. Here is a picture of Avery from their bath tonight. You'll notice that Lexi is trying to help keep her little sister modest. And a side note: Right before I took Avery out of the tub, I sat her up next to Lexi and Lexi (on her own) just kisses Avery. It was so adorable! Lexi can be such a sweet big sister sometimes.

And here is a picture of our cheery "Baby Joy" (a nickname of her's) at 6:30 this morning. It's hard to be grumpy when you wake up to this face. And in case you're wondering, Avery is smiley all the time. She smiles so easily. I think she is the smiliest baby I've ever known!

Lexi get super jealous if Avery has anything. Example: Yesterday I put a headband on Avery and Lexi insisted that she had one too. She actually kept it on for a long time. Isn't she adorable!

And I just think this picture is funny. It's Lexi talking on the phone with her Daddy right after her nap. That's one big yawn.

Here is a sneak peak of two of the bows that I worked on today. I am supposed to be making a bunch of green bows for Andrea's wedding put got a little distracted with these new fabrics I got on sale.

And here is the reason I used the words "Tummy Love" in the post title... it's because Avery is ALWAYS and I mean ALWAYS rolling onto her tummy. EVERY TIME I lay her on her back she just rolls over to be on her belly. It's so strange. Most babies hate tummy time but Avery chooses to do it all day long. I took this video a few days ago. She is faster at rolling over now.

And here is a video of crazy, hyper, too much energy to keep up with Lexi...

And now some random "diary" thoughts:

I've really struggled this week. Not just because Sean is gone but because I have felt trapped at home. We've been having record heat and now I am having trouble walking. So I don't feel like going outside. I had big plans to take the girls out in my new double stroller and work out while Sean was gone but with my disgusting, useless toe, I can't do any of that.

I need to do laundry and I'm not excited because Sean isn't here to help.

Tomorrow the sister missionaries are bringing a lady they are teaching over for a lesson and then dinner. I'm so excited to have company!!! I'm socially deprived.

Sean is having a good time in Memphis. He is being super social but of course misses me like CRAZY! Actually, he REALLY misses Lexi. They're buds. Lexi really misses her Dad. Today she started scream and crying saying, "Daddy. Home. All done."

The good news is Sean gets home a week from tomorrow!!!

Diaries of a "Single Parent" - Surviving Check-Up's and Lots of Sweat!!!

Today is day three without Sean. Yesterday was a crazy day! It started off with me waking up the girls for their check up's (Why is it that my girls only sleep in on the days we have somewhere we need to be?). The doctor was AMAZING! She was so great with Lexi. And having Avery there made Lexi feel less scared. Little Avery got a shot in each leg and one oral shot. She screamed of course but after I held her she stopped crying pretty quickly. She was cranky for a while though. Both girls are healthy and perfect. Here are their stats:

Lexi @ 2 years old = 34 inches (50%) and 24 lbs 4 ozs (20%)

(1 year old = 30 inches (73%) and 19 1/2 lbs (25%)

birth = 19 inches and 6 lbs 2 ozs)

Avery @ 11 1/2 weeks = 23 1/2 inches (70%) 11 1/2 lbs (40%)

(birth = 20ish inches and 7 lbs 11 ozs)

Here is little Avery with her bandaids on her little chubby thighs...

Even though she got shots yesterday, Avery was still a happy, smiley baby...

Lexi was jealous that she didn't get bandaids, so as soon as we got home I gave her one too...

I wish I would have brought my camera to the doctor's today. They girls were so cute laying on the exam "table" with jus their diapers on. So here they are renacting...

Yesterday was a stressful day. Lexi wouldn't nap when she was supposed to. And I'm trying to train Avery to nap in her bed and not my arms which is a work in progress. And then for some reason I decided to change my dinner plans last night to casserole. I knew the oven would make the house hot but I just figured I'd crank up the AC... WRONG! Just after I finished cooking the power went out, in half of our apartment and the AC. I went to go ask the manager what was going on and I found at least a dozen people in the office already wondering the same thing. The power was half out all night with random blackout's through the night. It was one hot night. I had all our fans running on high but that didn't seem to do much because it was a REALLY hot day yesterday. We're going through a bit of a heat wave (again). When I took the girls to the craft store last night @ 6pm (to get in some AC), the thermastat in my van said it was 104 degrees outside. YIKES! Luckily the power came completely back this morning before it got hot.

I don't think I need to say it but... I MISS SEAN!!! And Lexi does too! Poor thing doesn't understand what's going on. I told her that Daddy went bye bye on an airplane to Memphis but she doesn't understand that he won't be back until next Friday. She'll go look out the window thinking he might be there. It's sad. And she misses having him to rough house with. Sean usually helps use up her energy at night. She was so hyper last night but I was too hot and tired to play. Here is a video of hyper, crazy Lexi driving me crazy...

I've been trying to keep myself busy crafting. I'm obessed with craft blogs and having been spending my nights getting lots of need ideas. Pictures soon to come of all the new bows I've been making.

Also, I want to share this link with all the women and moms out there. I read it earlier today and it really touched me. Enjoy!

Diaries of a "Single Parent" - Day 1

This morning Sean left for two weeks of training in Memphis. Yeah, that's right, TWO WEEKS!!! He went with his friend Chris from work who started at the same time. The girls and I are just going to be hanging out at home while he's done. I'm going to try to keep myself BUSY! I'm going to take the girls to the library and to the park and on walks in my new double stroller. And I have lots of crafts that I want to work on. Maybe I'll read a book or two.

I just wanted to share how proud I am of myself. I survived all three hours of church today, which is really amazing considering the fact that I was up to nurse Avery at 3, 4, 5 and 6 am. I think she is going through a major growth spurt because I also nursed her before we left for church and THREE times at church and as soon as we got home!

Here are a few pictures from the day...

I should have taken a picture of our living room before Lexi got to it. She makes the biggest messes in the shortest amount of time! This is pretty typical...

And here are some videos of the girls from today (for their daddy)...

And it's time for me to end this post because... Avery's hungry! Again! I think she is trying to beef up before her check up tomorrow. I'm really excited to see how big she is but not excited for the shots. Luckily Lexi isn't getting any shots. Wish me luck!