passing out.

poor nola was so overtired last night. she got woken up from her nap by avery and even though we tried to put them both down early, it just didn't work very well. i came back from a run and saw her light on, but when i asked zane if he went up, he said no, but that he heard her for a bit but then all was quiet. i went up and saw this from the hallway. zane was able to get her back into her bed a little while later and she only woke up 4 times last night! sheesh. maybe we should have left her on the floor?

good news: irene didn't impact us nearly as much as it was supposed to and as much as it did other areas around here. vermont got hit bad. and apparently so did the town zane works in. he was supposed to start work on monday, but had school cancelled both monday and tuesday. as frustrating as it was for him to be all geared up for work, it was nice to have a couple more days that we weren't expecting to get things prepared for the new school year.

funny (?) news: tonight wasn't supposed to be a running night, but i'm trying really hard to get back into the program and after a brief setback last week of either bursitis or just inflamed/irritated joints around my big toe on one foot, i'm going all in. so i decided that i'd go easy tonight and take the dogs with me. they did well for the warm up and the first few minutes of running and then poor marley hit the ground like a ton of bricks. i could feel a little tug on the leash and looked back to see her front paws collapsing and her kind of rolling around on the sidewalk. it was only funny because she was/is perfectly ok, just a bit out of shape and didn't have a chance to let me know she was about to drop. i was close to my parent's house, so i took both dogs there and finished my run. do they have couch to 5 k for dogs?

so that's the news from here. yes, i still plan on getting photos from kansas, scituate, and the rest of the summer up. maybe i'll aim for a post a day in september to get me back on track.

gloria, bob and now irene?

i remember a few hurricanes when i was little. and it looks like the girls (avery at least) might have one to remember as well. it's still a few days out, so who knows the path irene will actually take, but for now, this is something to watch!

day 2-kc, ks.

here's an album of pictures--unedited (ie, many pictures of the same scene_ and free of captions for the moment. i'll add them later :) enjoy!

is it fall yet?

summer, you're been wonderful. truly. we've taken day trips, long trips, short trips, enjoyed the sun, heat, ice cream, pizza, barbecu-ing, playing, parking-ha, that doesn't sound right: trips to the park, made and ate peanut butter pie, fruit pizza, did a million loads of laundry and spent great time together as a family.

but again, we're exhausted. and it's not that i think the fall will give us a break from the sleeplessness and go-go-go-ness, but i think it will (and it better) give us a bit more routine. for as fun as our summer of "let it go", and "if they miss a nap/go to bed late, no big deal" has been, we really need to get back on track-for our sake but mostly for the girls. with all this traveling and having fun stuff, we're reminded of why we can be so stubborn when it comes to the girls days and nights and how things get done. it's all fun and games until someone is screaming on the floor because a dog ate her graham cracker that has been on the floor for an hour and then slams her head into the corner of the door as you're pulling away from her trying to bite you. or until someone has to be taken out of bj's because she and her sister can't get along in the car cart and both have been warned enough of the consequences.

that's not so much fun. and a sign that they either need to start sleeping through the night (it's like have newborns again!), sleeping in past 6am (again, newborns), or falling asleep when we put them down at night without hour long stalling sessions and talks of monsters and shadows :(

so, to this fun, fun summer. thanks, it really has been fun. but i can't keep up with it anymore. see you next year. fall, it's your turn to wear us out :)

(to do: nh balloonfest, york beach maine, kc trip, scituate trip, etc.)

i know, i know.

i haven't blogged about going to york beach. and i haven't finished my posts on our trip to kansas. and here i go throwing more pictures on here of a vacation i might get around to talking about in october. but, here you have it. our last and final "vacation" of the season. and maybe many seasons. (because "vacationing" with 2 toddlers that still need naps (especially when warm, sunny, weather has them running themselves ragged) but don't take them easily when they aren't at home are exhausting and just about as un-relaxing as you can get. they're also amazingly fun and we're aware of the fact that we're creating memories as a family and that's really neat to think about. but now we're home. and we're happy about it. let the routine re-commence.)

day 1!

i've managed to create albums for each day of our trip. no captions yet, but i figured getting this going would be better than not :)

friday, july 29!

HIGHLIGHTS (or what i can remember us doing ;))

-watching the girls rip through the big chest of new toys that mema had for them. dolls, animals, crafts, etc. it was like christmas morning!

-going shopping for some things we needed-diapers, benedryl, rice cakes. you know, essentials ;)

-stopping at SONIC on the way home for lunch! we don't have sonics out here and it's a shame. if we did, i don't think we'd ever go to mcdonalds or burger king again. avery had a corn dog, nola had their fries and zane and i scarfed down a burger each. yum.

-trying to nap. we didn't get back to mema's house and settled down until almost midnight the night before and then the girls woke up their usual time (aka EARLY), so they were way overtired and hard to settle down. in the end, nola fell asleep on me in the easy chair for almost 3 hours (i would have been bored, but i was simply happy to not have any homework to do ;)) and avery finally fell asleep with zane.

-mexican dinner at a small yet delicious mexican restaurant literally 2 minutes from mema's house. nola showed off how she does "cheers" to people before dinner, and avery showed off her coloring skills.

-i don't remember details about how bedtime went that night, but i do remember that getting the girls to sleep the first few days was awful. and even after it got better (thanks to mema!), the girls still wouldn't go to sleep before 9:30pm and got up between 6 and 7. more on that later ;)

welcome back, welcome back, welcome back

well! we went on an 11 day vacation to the midwest to visit zane's family! and now we're back and maybe more exhausted than before we left ;) so many good times, visitors, adventures, stories, memories. and pictures. i think i took about 600 pictures while we were gone and i'm still trying to sort through them. my plan is to post about each separate day and include an album with each post. now that my class is over, i'd like to think i have time to do things like this. though nola is truly in her 2 year old glory, and that combined with lack of sleep that she's slowly recovering, days and free time can be challenging. i'll do my best, and if it takes me until september to catch up, so be it. :)

just a few personal faves to tide you over :)

YEEHAW!!

WELL!

signing in from vacation.

just to say that i got an A- in my class!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! my vacation can now truly begin.

to say that i'm stunned is a terrible understatement.

holy.cow.

now if the girls would just go to sleep before 10pm and without the help of a warm body or benedryl, life would be near perfect right now ;)

friends!

it's still summer!! i haven't even touched on our trip to maine last week, but i want to get these pictures up first.

i had the chance to meet a blogger that i've been following for years!! neither one of us can remember how (or who) found each others' blog, but out of the random blogs i've read and lost interest in through the years, hers has stuck, and i'm so glad! she (diana) lives in california with her husband and 2 kids (kacey and david) and had to come out to the cape this summer for her husband's work. they also came out 2 years ago, right when nola was born and it rained and rained and rained and plans fell through and we weren't able to meet. when i heard they'd be out here again, i jumped on the chance to meet them :)

it was fun and weird and awesome to meet someone that i've been reading about for years and feel like i know already. the kids couldn't have been cuter. kacey is as smart as a whip and as beautiful in pictures as she is in real life. :) david is cute as a button and maybe one of the happiest and smiliest toddlers i've ever met! diana couldn't have been nicer and more accommodating. the kids all got along great. it was good. everything a playdate should be-stress free, low key, fun, and comfortable. (hope she feels the same way!)

enough of the chatter, let the pictures speak for themselves!

the girls.

fun with swimmies!

nola and david were content to stay on dry land for the most part :)

seriously. how cute are they together?!

:)


by the end they were playing "shark" and having a blast! the poor girls were practically turning purple from cold by the time they came out-about 2 hours after we got there!

back at the house, a chance to get everyone in the picture! (thanks nana ree ;)) ps, i love how kacey and david know to look at the camera, while my girls are both looking at the cute little boy :)

the girls got to take an outdoor shower and it might be the only reason it was AVERY that fell asleep for 10 minutes on the way home :)

david's trying to make a break for it, nola's happy as a clam, kacey's trying to share blueberries with avery and avery is...? who knows :)

it was such a treat to meet this family in person and get to know them a little more :) hopefully we'll get to meet up again...in california maybe?!

the LAST week!

so i handed in my projects yesterday and went shopping just because i could. we had a 2yr old birthday party at our neighbors and it was SO nice to be able to enjoy and relax, knowing i had no work hanging over my head. i still have a week left of class, which includes a google+ hangout, and who knows what else. i should listen to the podcast but i want to live in this happy place a little while longer :)

ps, trying to get our pictures sorted from our little beach getaway. it was awesome!! post more later.

closer and closer.

i'm SO close to being done with these final project. SO CLOSE. but close isn't done and it doesn't help that EVERYONE in the house is peacefully asleep right now and i'm not. even though i got up with nola at 5 and haven't had a nap in days and could barely keep my eyes open during dinner last night. (no joke, i told zane that i was so tired that i could have fallen asleep sitting at the table)

enough whining. back to work. and if i'm really good, i can get things finished today and have a nice, fun, enjoyable, nap-filled weekend!

updates!

before i get cracking on work tonight, just wanted to say a few things.

1. i want to throw all technology out the window. thus, why i'm absent on the blog. which i hate, because amidst the sleepiness and tantrums, we're having a really good summer! lots of sun, sand, walks, runs, parks, tacos, you know, the good stuff. maybe i'll do a recap in august when i'm free from extra stress...

2. so, the lack of routine around here has changed a bit. i've realized we (the girls, really) ARE on some sort of routine, it's just not one that i expected or hoped for. but now, knowing that there seems to be some sort of plan to the day might help us build our expectations around that.

our day looks like this:

wake anywhere from 5:15-6:20, when we hear nola rattling her door knob or avery singing the ABC's.

up and downstairs for some tv, email checking, milk cups, dry cereal on the couch or any other activity that doesn't require much brain power or physical activity.

breakfast anywhere from 6:30-8:00, depending on the girls and our excitement about making food :)

activity: park, walk to get donuts, res beach, errands, grammy and gramps', etc.

lunch: between 11:30 and 12:00, depending on what we did that morning.

naps (yes, BOTH of them): the last few days both girls have been sleeping anywhere from 2-4 hours. never saw that coming, though i should have, seeing that we're up so darn early.

afternoon is up in the air. taking them to a park and letting them run the track is a great way to tucker them out!

dinner: who knows, it could be at 5:00, it could be at 6:30.

bedtime: this is where things get tricky. usually, avery isn't nearly tired enough to go to sleep at a reasonable hour, but nola is. so, nola falls asleep fairly easily, and avery either is quiet looking at books and talking to the animals in her bed, or she's whiney and yelling to us that it's hard to go to sleep. chances are, she doesn't go to sleep until 9ish. which is pretty late.

and then we do it all over again! exhausting a bit, but at least now we're getting a little break in the middle of the day to regroup/get work done/nap (if you're zane. i tried today and couldn't settle down thinking of all the work i have due on sunday)/sit on the deck in the quiet.

3. nola got her bottom 2 molars (finally!) in the last week or so. she asks for 'teeth medicine' every.single.time. she goes to sleep and was constantly chewing on things. it's a relief to finally have something poking out of her gums!

4. avery loves to draw. LOVES to draw. and is pretty good at it! (her latest is drawing houses with a chimney and smoke coming out of it) we're hoping to get her into some sort of art class this year. can't wait to see what she'll do!

5. running is going...eh. i'm hoping it's a combination of the heat/humidity, the lack of quality sleep/rest, the lack of hydration (i try, i'm just not there yet with remembering or liking to drink water), and my brain being elsewhere. the last few times i've ran have been much better and i'm getting back into enjoying it, but the time off really screwed up my stamina. ah well, no rush. ps, foot is feeling great!

i think there was more, but i'm shocked that it's already 8 and i have so much to do. hope i can get back on here later in the week!

zzzzzzzz

*just realized that this never posted...from monday i think?*

i just need to get this out so i can feel like someone is listening and sympathyzing.

we are exhausted. truly, no one in this house is getting enough sleep. and we're exhausted.

that's just about it. we're trying to roll with it and enjoy summer and be in the moment.

but when we're waking up at 5, one kid isn't napping despite being tired, and then that one kid (and now sometimes the other) is fighting bedtime and then the other kid is waking up at least once overnight (out of habit? or b/c it's a 1000 degrees upstairs and she runs out of water), we're tired. and it's hard to rally when you're this tired.

we've tried earlier bedtimes. later bedtimes. early naps, late naps, no naps. any ideas are welcome.

did i mention we're tired?

oh, and i have 5 things due on sunday for class and zane is taking a teacher test on saturday.

ok, vent over. back to summer fun :)

the aftermath...

of a long week!

short story: we went out this morning to run some errands and the girls were beyond exhausted. they found some pillow pets at best buy, layed 'em down and curled up. can't say we were as successful during nap time, but that's an entirely different post!

ps, thanks for the positive feedback on the animoto video!!! it was much nicer than what my professor had to say! i'll post some of her comments tomorrow. tonight it's only 8, but it's already way past our bedtime. to showcase our desperation for sleep around here, i'll let you know that we gave both girls benedryl at 5:30 today. and for the love of pete, it worked! wish it would do the same for me!

my homework this week