If I had to name one household appliance that I could not live without, it would probably be my vacuum cleaner (coffee maker would come in close second). With the exception of our bathroom and kitchen, our apartment has wall-to-wall carpeting. Oh, and did I mention that we have a dining room? That has carpet too. We eat in the dining room. So, I pretty much don't need to explain why I could not live without my vacuum cleaner.
We use our vacuum probably every other day. Though, after Lily arrived it has been harder to vacuum as often as we would like. The carpet looked pretty desperate last Monday, so I went right to it. The only problem was that it wasn't sucking up anything. I kept going over the mess, but specks were just being tossed around. I looked underneath the machine and saw no obvious signs of blockage. I decided to give up and call it a day.
On Tuesday the carpet was only getting worse, so I decided to get to the bottom of our problem. This time I took the vacuum apart. I quickly discovered what the problem was.
Who knows how long most of that junk was stuck in there! I was so excited by my discovery and quickly put the vacuum back together to get going on our messy carpet. I turned the cleaner on and, to my dismay, the green light indicating that the machine was working properly was not on. It turns out you have to put the vacuum cleaner together "just so" for it to work (I remember my mom and I having this problem before). I tried and tried again. Then I gave up and called it a day.
Yikes, three days have passed. I must vacuum this carpet! Vacuuming has turned out to be quite therapeutic for me. I love getting a fresh start during the week with a newly vacuumed carpet. I decided to search the internet for clues. I found instructions on replacing the vacuums belt. That, paired with using my brain, led to an actual successful result. I was elated!
I started with the girls' room. This vacuum cleaner was like new again! I was going to town. Then, all of a sudden, I noticed a bouncing spool of thread. The vacuum managed to grab at the loose end of the thread and was unwinding the spool (and simultaneously winding the thread around the brush of the vacuum). By the time I shut the machine off the thread was gone. Thankfully I was able to resolve this problem pretty easily. Phew!
Another great thing about our vacuum is that, while it gets the older girls wired up (they run around and give their girly-est screams), it instantly calms a fussy Lily. I'm glad I have it back in working order.
This weekend Jonathan and I celebrated 6 years of marriage. I was thinking about it and realized that for 3 of our 6 anniversary celebrations I was pregnant.
Anyway, we decided to celebrate the same way we did last year. Since we've been the only ones to put the girls down for the night we typically go out during the day. We had "fajitas for two" at a local Mexican restaurant followed by a round of mini-golf. I beat Jonathan by 10 points (to be fair, last year he beat me by 10 points). For those wondering what a pregnant woman (with 8 weeks to go) looks like playing mini-golf here you go:
And here's one of Jonathan:
We've got to spend more time with my niece, Bridget in the past few days. I managed to grab a few pictures of her and my girls while we were out and about.
On Friday we took the girls to lunch. Unfortunately, there was only one high chair in the whole restaurant, so Bridget and Sarah had a little more freedom in their big girl chairs. Though, only Sarah took advantage and kept getting down and up to roam and such.
On Tuesday we drove Nonna around to run a few errands and Bridget came too. I was surprised to see that my 3 1/2 year old and my almost 2 year old did pretty much all of the whining, and Bridget (15 months) was as pleasant as could be. Here are my girls being silly and Bridget just sitting along for the ride.
We bought Abigail her first bike a few weeks ago. While looking for one we gave Sarah the opportunity to check out tricycles. Sadly, her little legs weren't long enough to reach the pedals. So, whenever we take Abigail out to ride her bike Sarah has to play spectator. Though, lately, whenever Abigail runs off to "take a break" Sarah runs with all her might towards the big girl bike to take a try. This past Monday morning Daddy gave her a hand.
I think she liked it. Maybe next year!
Outfit 2: Big Sister's Jammies
Outfit 3: Lunch Attire
Outfit 4: Afternoon Casual Wear
Outfit 5: Big Sister's Dress (the dress big sister wore earlier in the day)
Outfit 6: Bedtime Jammies
It can get frustrating having to pick up discarded pieces of clothing as the day goes on, but my Mom said it best, "At least she has clothes on."
So Sarah wouldn't feel left out I thought I would attempt to give her pigtails as well. The hair in the back of her hair is growing nicely. The hair on the top though? Not so much. I managed two pigtails in the back, then Abigail suggested I put one on top. So, I can kind of put Sarah's hair up, but not really.
It's funny because when I was finally able to put Abigail's hair up I had to leave her hair in the back down because it wasn't long enough. I guess Sarah just wants to be different.
Oh, and a handy hint: to get the remaining wax out of your jar, place the jar in your freezer for 10 minutes or so. The wax shrinks up a bit and is easily removed from the bottom of your jar. I used kitchen scissors to break up the wax a bit more so it could fall right out of the jar.
Who knows how long most of that junk was stuck in there! I was so excited by my discovery and quickly put the vacuum back together to get going on our messy carpet. I turned the cleaner on and, to my dismay, the green light indicating that the machine was working properly was not on. It turns out you have to put the vacuum cleaner together "just so" for it to work (I remember my mom and I having this problem before). I tried and tried again. Then I gave up and called it a day. 
Another great thing about our vacuum is that, while it gets the older girls wired up (they run around and give their girly-est screams), it instantly calms a fussy Lily. I'm glad I have it back in working order.
2) Build a robot out of cardboard and call her "Abigail Robot". Abigail then took her new friend all over the apartment saying "Abigail Robot" in her perfect robot voice.
3) Watch Cinderella, attempt french braids, and have a picnic on the living room floor for lunch.
4) Dress Abigail Robot.
And so on...
And here's one of Jonathan:
On Tuesday we drove Nonna around to run a few errands and Bridget came too. I was surprised to see that my 3 1/2 year old and my almost 2 year old did pretty much all of the whining, and Bridget (15 months) was as pleasant as could be. Here are my girls being silly and Bridget just sitting along for the ride.
I think she liked it. Maybe next year!
