Mandatory Three Day Weekends

I would like to make every week a 4 day week because 3-day weekends are really nice - really, really nice.  I know, not a surprise to anyone.  Ours was a pretty uneventful weekend which also contributed.  No solid plans, and just kind of went with things.  Did our standard grocery shopping, laundry, etc.  but also just spent a lot of time chilling.  We watched movies, went for runs, played outside, did yardwork.  The best part is that none of it felt like a chore because there was no rush to finish anything.

That said, we did know that we wanted to get a few things done on the house this weekend.  We had ordered a picture for the living room a few weeks ago and it was delivered on Thursday.  Once that arrived, we finally got the bug to start hanging things on our walls.  In 11 months of living in this house, there's only one thing on the wall, and we didn't even hang it, we paid someone to do it for us!  So we headed out to the store in search of some picture frames for some recently purchased prints.  It was an eventful trip to the store with Sawyer wanting to run the aisles, and Isla wanting to push the cart.  Girl still can't walk on her own, but give her something to walk with and she's on the move...and stubborn.  I tried to pick her up and she cried.  I put her down and let her walk, and she was happy...until she fell and hit her head...and then she cried.  Ahh - such is life. 

This was my view as we motored through the store.

So the big project was hanging our gigantic picture above the couch.  Mark did not want to do it, so this girl took the matter into her own hands...measuring...re-measuring...having Mark help me hold it against the wall to check...and finally hanging the damn thing.  BUT - it looks great!  Can you tell that this thing is 70 inches long?!?  That's longer than me...so now understand this was no small project.

Doesn't it look great?  I love this room.

It only continued from there.  Mark hung a shelf in the living room for our new frame/print to sit on, hung pictures in each of Isla and Sawyer's rooms, and even decided to paint our bathroom a non-lime green color.  All in all, I actually feel like we're starting to make progress in making this house our home.

In between all of that Mark and I took a night out by ourselves.  We hit up a fave restaurant of ours downtown for some Columbian food and then hit up a show at Second City.  Was nice to get out without our little ladies.  I was distinctly happy about being able to eat with both of my hands, instead of feeding myself with one, and Isla with the other, and also being able to talk without being interrupted (by Sawyer).  We've now found a few different babysitters - two of which are teachers at daycare - so I do believe we may try to make this a more regular thing, rather than the blue moon thing it has been over the last year.

As for the girls, they were great the whole weekend up until about 4pm today.  I took Sawyer out on several of my errands, took her out for ice cream, had her do some crafts, help with yardwork and folding laundry throughout the weekend and she was happy as a clam...until she became a devil child who wouldn't stop crying, yelling, and hitting.  I'm typically patient but didn't take long before I had reached my max.  Even when she went to bed she was yelling downstairs at me, "Mom!  What are you doing down there?"  Ok - that one made me laugh, but seriously...where's the off button?

As I mentioned in my last post, Isla has found her voice and knows what she wants, when she wants it.  She is not patient and is no longer happy about sitting on the floor playing with toys.  Her attachment to me is starting to freak me out - and I'm starting to think Mark is using it to his advantage.  The minute he shows her to me, she cries for me to hold her, and so far, Isla gets what Isla wants.  If I'm holding her, she may go to Mark for a minute, but quickly insists on coming back to me. When I'm not holding her, she's climbing on me.  Operation cut the cord starts soon.  Other odd and ends, Isla still has no teeth!  She is 9 1/2 months and I still can't even feel where one is coming in.  I thought I could two months ago, but now I'm thinking I was dreaming because there is just nothing there.  Perhaps she's timing it strategically for Halloween?  Which reminds me - I am taking any and all ideas for Halloween costumes for Sawyer and Isla.  So far, I'm considering making Sawyer a cowgirl, and Isla a cow...but that seems a little mean.

Anyway, started to feel like fall here today, so we bundled our little girl up to play outside today: