Ahhhh...

So I really should be doing dishes right now, but the house is quiet (both girls are napping at the same time!) and I don't have any work hanging over my head (it's the slow week at work, so they handle it all in the office!). I also should be doing dishes, but I've been wanting to get on here for a long time, so that's what I'm doing!

* Arianna is napping great these days, but still not going to bed - at all. When she got sick a month ago, it all started to go downhill and hasn't really stopped! She is down to one nap a day though, so it's longer, and she goes to sleep like an angel. But she just will not calm down to go to sleep at night. No matter what time I try - 8pm, same time as Marissa; 9pm, after some quality time alone with Mommy and Daddy; 10pm, when we go to bed - it's ridiculous! Sometimes she falls asleep well around 10 or 10:30, but sometimes I have to nurse her to sleep still. It's so frustrating, especially because Work is going to start having lots of extra work for me to do, and I would love to have the time to do it (and earn extra money for the COUCH FUND!), but if Arianna won't sleep, it really limits the time I have to work. On the nights she won't go to sleep (most nights), she is a complete and total monster for Dan - she ONLY wants me! She screams her head off hysterically, it's almost comical. She loves Daddy any other time of day, but after 8pm - no way! Hopefully she will continue to slowly fix herself, since we're sticking to a routine.
* She's still nursing - A LOT. I'm glad she's still nursing, and I don't mind it. But she figured out how to ask, and it's starting to get old! She asks A LOT, and isn't quite at a distractable age yet. But I'm glad to still be doing it - it makes me feel better about the tiny amounts of real food she's eating! She is also pretty upset most Sundays in the nursery at church, so I usually nurse her halfway through the morning still. Sometimes I can tell she's asking because she's bored (mainly when Marissa is asleep or busy playing by herself), other times I just wonder WHY? I'm not planning on weaning any time soon, I just kind of thought by 13 months we could go more than 3 hours between! Well, she can, especially if we're out and about, but still...At least she's been sleeping almost all the way through the night lately. Finally. Again (remember 0-5 months old? She slept 10+ hours straight from 1 week old on...those were the days!).
* Marissa isn't napping every day now. Not surprising, since she'll be 4 at the end of this month. How is my baby 4 already?! It seems like just yesterday she was toddling around and refusing to walk on the grass (like Arianna is now). Dan and I were talking yesterday about what it must have been like for Marissa as a 1 year old. We must have been playing around on the floor like fools all the time. Now, Marissa and Arianna play around on the floor together, and we watch and laugh! They have such a special bond, it's beautiful to see. Marissa loves to share her Cheerio snack with Arianna - she passes her one at a time across the back seat, and I love to see their hands meet in the middle for the exchange. They can just barely reach each other from their car seats! Marissa also always tries to fix "the problem" if Arianna is upset or crying. She acts silly, gets toys for her, shares Cheerios, gets Arianna's cup...it's precious!
* My parents are hopefully coming out to celebrate Marissa's birthday at the end of the month. We bought her presents off Amazon with Swagbucks gift cards - so they were free! I'm looking forward to seeing her reaction to the things we picked out!
* We just found out today that we get to buy at least one new car seat, possibly two. A while back, my sister was in a minor accident while driving Marissa in our car, and if car seats have been in an accident, you're supposed to replace them. I had totally forgotten about that fact til the other day, so Dan talked to the insurance company about it today. It's kinda fun to pick out new car seats, especially since if we end up getting two (I'm not sure how it all works) one will be a new infant carrier. Hopefully we can find one that's easier to carry (and hopefully we'll be able to use it within the next year or so ). The other one (the one for sure we'll be getting) will be a convertible one, since Arianna's still rear-facing (still under 20 lbs - she was 17 at her checkup), and I have a feeling that any future children will follow in Marissa's and Arianna's "weight footsteps"!
* It's gorgeous weather here, and I love it so much! Dan always says "If you love this weather so much, we should move somewhere that has this weather all the time" but I disagree. I think the reason I enjoy it so much is that we DON'T have it all the time! I call it "happy" weather, because I just can't help but be in a good mood! Yesterday I put both girls in some cute springy clothes and we went outside for a while. I took the camera and took 133 pictures in under an hour! The sun was pretty bright, so I couldn't really see what I was taking in the LCD screen. Lol. But we went for a long walk (every time Arianna came to a driveway, she tried to run into the road!) and wore the girls out! It was kinda too bad though, since they both kinda had to skip nap! We had a family dentist appointment at 2 (naptime for both! Ooops!). Marissa's and Dan's teeth are fine and great, but mine are a mess. I have 2.5 wisdom teeth and they're all too far back to reach with a toothbrush (even the hygenist can't reach them), so they're all gradually getting cavities. The plan is to have them out ASAP, once we figure out how insurance will handle it. I'm not looking forward to it - I've had enough teeth pulled (thanks to years and years and $$$$ of orthodontic appointments, retainers, and head gear! (Thanks Mom and Dad!)) that I know how bad it might be! At least my teeth are straight now
* My sister was here last week, or maybe the week before (I lost track) and we had so much fun! We went shopping A LOT! She has 3 and I have 4 weddings to go to this summer/fall, so we both "needed" some dresses for the occasions. I also have massive buyer's remorse about everything, so I ended up exchanging half the stuff we bought! I'm so indecisive, it's ridiculous! She got the cutest green/brown polka dot dress. I got a gorgeous dark purple dress, that feels like I'm wearing pjs. I also got a cute black ruffled neckline dress at Target (I LOVE Target!) for only $20 because a whole bunch of them were on the wrong wrack - it was supposed to be $40! Score! I also might buy a few more off Amazon with our gift cards from Swagbucks (www.swagbucks.com/refer/rccalyn - sign up! It's so easy to get free stuff!).
* We tried on so many dresses, it was crazy! One of the dresses I DIDN'T buy, I keep thinking about, wondering if I could make it. Hopefully this week, since I don't have any work (WORK work, of course I still have housework!), I will get to try some of the crafty/sewing things I've been wanting to do. I also plan to FINALLY paint the polka dots in Marissa's bedroom that I told her I'd paint LAST YEAR!


I was going to add pictures, but the external hard drive we keep everything on (from Marissa's birth to the present) is acting up, so Dan needs to take a look at it. I'm trying not to be too nervous about losing things, since he didn't seem worried. But oh man...*calm down* So anyways, maybe new pictures next time, hopefully before a month has passed again

Well, I can't think of much else to catch up on. Arianna might sleep for another whole hour, so maybe I can get in some crafty time before she wakes up!