Money

This is a tough subject for many. We are spending around $1,000/month for food, gas, clothes and toiletries, diapers, cleaning supplies etc. Dave thinks it is too much. I want to know what everybody else spends per month and see if I am really overspending or we are about the same. If you feel comfortable leaving a comment for me privately I'd love some feedback on what your house spends...if not that's okay...Dave and I will still argue every month about who is right:)

Just a few random thoughts

I very rarely blog about everyday life, but hey maybe someone out there wants to hear about it. Ash says funny things right now.." Mom don't step on cracks they break your back" She really does avoid every crack on the ground.. "Mom watch out for the muddles ( muddy puddles)" " Mom does she have ammonia (pneumonia)?" " Mom you are sooo beautiful" not funny but downright touching:)
Life has been a bit crazy with Ash starting preschool last week. She is in heaven and barely says goodbye as she bolts out of the car. She seems to be enjoying it so far and it is great for me to have some alone time with Maddie. I started Little Gym with Maddie yesterday, we are going to the same location I went to with Ash. The teacher, Mr. Braden is AWESOME and I think it is great for the kids to see a male role model for a change in this type of setting. I was practically in tears watching Maddie run around for an hour climbing on everything and smiling and giggling...she was so happy!!! Teething in my house has been rough the last 2 months. We are not giving her the binky like we did with Ashley to get through the day. Maddie only gets it at nap and bedtime...therefore my life is pretty much a scream fest all day long as she gnaws on her fist and even bites herself so hard she cries louder!!! Maddie is a screamer and I'm at my wits end!! Is it because she is the 2nd child and Ash picks on her all day or is it just Satan in my cute child's body and she has no control???
Here is a quick run down of our typical day on school days. I get up at 6:30am to shower and get ready, wake up ash at 7:15am, get her dressed, brush teeth and do hair ( but not like the Grinch she says..). Then I get Maddie up and dressed. We go downstairs, heat up 2 sippy cups of milk and feed the dog. We eat breakfast quickly so we can leave by 8:15am. I pick up Ash at 11:30am and we usually run one errand and get lunch somewhere. Maddie falls asleep on the drive home and I put her in her crib. She doesn't transfer well so she wakes up and plays until 2 or 2:30 pm then falls asleep again. I put Ash in her room to play quietly and watch a DVD while I nap for an hour and do any computer stuff I need to. Both girls out of room by 4pm. We have a snack and then I force them to go outside in the backyard while I start dinner. Some days they play really well outside together, other days they scream and cry every 5 minutes over toys. I feed the girls and eat with them around 5:30 or 6pm. Dave is home around 6:30-6:45pm. He entertains Maddie while I clean up the days dishes and load the dishwasher. I no longer do the dishes after every meal. I stack them during the day on the counter and load them all after dinner...this helps me feel like I'm not doing dishes all day in the kitchen. After cleaning up it's time to get the girls ready for bed around 7:30pm. Ash goes right down at 8pm now that we have cut out her nap. If your 3 year old fusses at bed time and doesn't go to sleep until 10pm it is time to give up the nap...I promise you that 1 week of cranky transition is worth it!!! By 10pm I am DONE for the day and go to bed to read for a few minutes before it's off to la la land.

Swim lessons

This summer has lots of fun new activities for including swim lessons! We booked private lessons with Walkers Swim Kids, a company many of my friends have used. It's not cheap but we went 3 times per week for a month and 12 lessons later Ash is no longer fearful of putting her face underwater or floating on her back! She cried hard the first 2 lessons and screamed for me but I just turned the other way and by the third lesson she was over her fears. She even jumped off the diving board during a few lessons. I wanted to continue another 12 lessons but it is expensive and time consuming to do 3 lessons per week. We'll have to continue next year, then Maddie can do some lessons at the same time.

4th of July fun

Well we did our annual trip to Jackson Hole this year for the 4th of July. My bright idea was to use our flight benefits and fly up to Idaho Falls both ways and have Dave pick us up there instead of spending 4 hours in the car with kids. The flight is only 30 minutes and the girls slept both ways. It is only another hour and a half to our condo in Driggs where we stay each year. I love free flight benefits:) The bad news about the trip is that both girls had bad colds and were pretty cranky the whole trip. The first night was very sleepless as Maddie could not be consoled not matter what. Ash kept saying "Mommy tell her to stop crying I'm tired!" We did manage to swim one day and ride the chairlift at Grand Targhee. We also did our annual hike at Jenny Lake to the waterfall, it is so pretty! The day of the 4th we went to Jackson to picnic and watch the fireworks. Maddie was dead asleep when they started but woke up and giggled and pointed. Maddie loved it......Ashley is still afraid. She didn't cry this time but she had earplugs in and sat with her eyes closed on my lap the whole time. We are making progress!