Valentines Puppy Dogs

Here are the pics of the Valentines Puppy Dogs that Mike left for Olivia and Peter. Olivia has become quite attached to her dog but more on that later! I know my kids have some serious bed head!

I love this man!

So Mike left this morning. I heard him quietly close the front door around 6 am and I just wanted to sleep until it's time for him to come home.

When I did finally drag myself out of bed I found the cutest surprise in Peter's bassinet, a stuffed valentines puppy dog. In Olivia's room she also had a valentines puppy dog and I got a cute picture frame. It absolutely made my morning!

I took some really cute pictures of Olivia and Peter with their early valentines presents but I can't find the cord to download the pictures from the camera so they'll have to wait till later. Instead here's our engagement picture, it was only 7 years ago but we look really young!

Sometimes I really miss my job!

I absolutely never thought that I'd say this! But sometimes I really miss my job!

According to the speech therapist Olivia has started to "withhold language" from me. In her toddler world she wants things that she can control and the amount of food she eats and the words she uses are pretty much the only things she can control. Of course this is happening this week because I've been doing my very best to let her make her own decisions about little things all week long! She gets to choose what she wears, she gets to choose what book to read, she even got to choose who gets out of the car first, her or Peter. Apparently now she's chosen not to talk to me. This makes me want to choose to have a glass of wine at 10:30 in the morning (but I haven't actually done it)!

I haven't been able to take a shower all day and despite numerous changes of clothes I still smell like baby vomit.

I caught myself telling a girlfriend the other day that I liked doing our taxes because it made me feel smart. Who likes doing their taxes! What am I an accountant? Anyone who knows me knows that I hate dealing with money. I am seriously lacking intellectual stimulation here if I'm enjoying doing the taxes!

I can't remember the last time I went to lunch with a group of girlfriends, oh wait yes I do, it was my last day of work, back in NOVEMBER!

I miss having deadlines and meetings and due dates! Instead my calendar is full of doctor's appointments, speech sessions, and playgroup dates.

I'm tired of wearing stay-at-home clothes when I have a closet full of business casual attire that's just sitting there.

I know that I definitely didn't take the easy way out when I decided not to go back to work after Peter was born. I am so blessed to be able to stay home and enjoy this time with them. I keep thinking about how Peter is having to go to daycare for a couple of hours on Friday when I take Olivia for a hearing exam and that terrifies me! I haven't been able to stop thinking about it all day. I know he'll be fine but I just hate having to leave the little guy! If only I could find the perfect part-time job with great pay that was intellectually stimulating!

Even though Peter will be in daycare I am really looking forward to spending some one-on-one time with Olivia, maybe she'll decide not to "withhold her language" and talk to me :)

Library, why didn't I think of that

I've always loved going to the public library! As a girl I remember going there often in the summer. I loved picking out books all by myself. I'd participate in the summer reading programs. I still remember the day my mom took me to get my very first library card.



The library in college wasn't nearly as exciting and to be honest I didn't spend much time there. I spent a little more time at the library in grad school (though not nearly as much as my brilliant roomie who practically lived there).



When we moved to Colorado I happily got a library card and fell in love with the online request system. I'd get books on cd to listen to during my hour long commute from Colorado Springs to Denver. I loved that I could renew and request books online and they'd be waiting for me at the library!



Now that I'm at home all day with Olivia and Peter I'm always looking for new ways to keep everyone occupied. Last week we took a trip to the library. I can't believe that I didn't think of this before! We had a great time. There's a library at the front of our neighborhood so I loaded everyone into the stroller and we took a walk. On the way there I explained to Olivia that she would get to pick two new books. The library is pretty small but it had nice kids area. Olivia picked her 2 books and happily played with some of the other puzzles and games they had. When it was time to check out Olivia was a little confused that I handed her books to the librarian but her face lit up when the librarian handed them back to her to take home. Olivia happily announced that she had two books and then ran for the door. She held the books on her lap very carefully all the way home.



This week we'll try story time for toddlers. I'm just not sure how Olivia will react when she has to give the books back.....