Well today ended up being a pretty terrible day. I got the news this morning around 9 that my dad had to put the family dog down. While this was very expected, it's still very hard to deal with. Silver was 15 years young. He was an amazing dog, pretty much like a little brother. He was good to me when I was growing up and he was good to my Allie the first 3 years of her life.

About two weeks ago Silver came down with something. He started acting like he wasn't feeling well. He usually does this about once a month. He gets into something, his stomach hurts for a couple days, and then he's back to normal. This time he just wasn't shaking what ever it was. Dad noticed he had a large bump on the side of his mouth so he took him into the vet thinking he got bit by something (the dog loved the woods and was always being attacked and sprayed by some sort of animal). The vet took one look at him and knew right away that he had mouth cancer. I was hoping that wasn't the case at all, but over the next two weeks, it just got worse and worse.

I hate that he's gone, but I hated seeing him as sick as he was even more. He was my little buddy. The cutest dog I've ever seen. While it sucks really bad that he's gone forever, I know it's best. I would never want my Silver Dog to suffer. He gave us amazing memories. He was a huge part of our family and I know we'll be talking about him forever.

Loren and I have been at each others throats lately, and even with our negative attitudes towards each other, I feel like we finally had a weekend where we got some important things done. AND without killing one another.

We had my parents watch the kids for a couple hours so I could do a couple photo shoots and Loren could get the babies crib put up. After I was done with the shoots, I came home to help Loren finish up and afterwards we both went to Walmart to get some quick grocery shopping done. Allie was super excited that she was going to be sharing her room with the babies from now on. I love how everything turned out and (crossing my fingers) I love that they are all sleeping really well.

I still have a couple more projects that need to be done before I'm completely satisfied. Allie destroyed the carpet so I really need to shampoo that, I also need to fix the drapes/drape rod, I used to have really long drapes hanging so the rod is up high and now with the shorter drapes it just looks goofy.

So anyway...The first night went great. All three of them slept until about 9am and they all woke up happy. I was nervous about Allie possibly trying to climb in the crib with the babes but Loren taught her how to look at them through the bars so now it seems like she isn't even thinking about trying it.

Sunday Loren watched the babes while Mom, Sarah and I took Allie Mae to the Disney Junior Live Pirates and Princess Adventure show in Rosemont. Allie freakin loved it! I'm pretty sure she was stunned for the first 10 minutes of the show. She sat on my lap with her mouth wide open in awe. During the intermission, I took her to get a souvenir and she picked out a light up Jake sword. I also got her two banners to hang in the kids' room and she got the take a picture with Jake and Izzy. Afterwards we went out to lunch at Toby Keith's I Love This Bar and Grill. It was just ok. The place was huge and while the pickle fries and honey bbq sauce were amazing, the ambiance was sub par. I feel like the place needed more decor or something. It was all very bland. All well though, the food was good so I guess that's all that really matters.

Well, now it's Monday night.

It's supposed to be near 60 degrees tomorrow so I'm thinking about taking Allie to the park. She will freak if we get to do that. I also need to stop at Sally's Beauty and get some hair dye and also make a quick run to Walmart for some randoms that we forgot to get over the weekend.

The rest of the week should be pretty easy going. Nothing else is really planned. I've got Zumba on Wednesday and I'm sure at some point Loren will be bowling with Adam. No plans for this coming weekend and hopefully it stays that way. Easter is now less than a month away so I really need to start getting the kids' baskets together. Maybe I'll start that this weekend?

Sitting here on the couch trying to type as fast as I can because I'm sure one of the babies will wake up any second. I feel like that's all my life is these days. Hurry Hurry Hurry. I feel like I never have time to just sit down and relax. I try to take the time to do whatever I want but it always comes down to trying to get something done that is long over due. 

My life is jam packed lately but I do feel like Loren and I have been making an attempt to actually have a life outside of our children. I do my Zumba every week and Loren does his bowling. It's working out pretty well. 

Last weekend was a good weekend. Loren went out bowling with a couple of the guys while I stayed at home, folded some clothes, watched a movie, and had a text date with one of my friends all night. I got drunk by myself and it was fantastic. Saturday Loren and I went out to dinner with Kevin and Jessica to Kyoto. Dinner was awesome and the company was even better. After dinner and everything, Loren and I just weren't ready to head home just yet so we went over to Wes and Rebecca's for a while. We ended up staying for hours and my parents ended up watching all three kids over night. Things went great and the babies did super awesome for my family. 

Sunday morning Loren and I picked the kids up and went home to hangout for the rest of the day. Even with the massive hangover, I was still able to get a ton of stuff done around the house. 

Today is already Friday and this week has gone by pretty smooth. Loren and I signed up for 2 separate term Life Insurance policies and I've been trying to figure out who to talk to about getting a Will set up. I also talked to my old boss this past week and I'm hoping to be able to go back to work soon. Plus things are picking back up with the photography so things are going pretty decent and they're falling back into place nicely. 

This weekend is going to be a pretty busy one. I've got 2 photo shoots booked for Saturday and Loren and I are planning on moving all three kids into one bedroom. So we'll be working on rearranging the room for a good portion of the day. Sunday I'll be taking Allie to a Disney Jr. Pirates and Princess show and I'm beyond excited for that. Loren will be watching the babes for most of Sunday by himself and I'm really hoping it goes well. Raymond likes to give Loren a hard time because he's a major Momma's boy. 

Sitting here with not one but TWO sleeping babies in my lap while the oldest is passed out for the night in Loren and I's bed. The silence is amazing.

It's been an easy going week so far. It's only Tuesday so it definitely has the potential to go South but hopefully it doesn't.

I had my first photo shoot since having the babies on Saturday. It went awesome! I was super nervous going into it, but everything went perfectly.

The ladies I took photos of were gorgeous and just wanted a fun ‘Best Friend' photo shoot so it went super smooth. I forgot how much I enjoy taking photos.

So far I have two shoots booked for this coming weekend and possibly a couple more. Hopefully I'll be busy. 

Loren and I finally got everything we needed into the tax guy so we should be getting our return back soon. I've really been trying to concentrate on saving money and getting some shit paid off. I’m sick of the debt. We still have about $4000 we need to pay off and then we’re in the clear. Now if we would just stop buying dumb unneeded junk, we would be good.

My dad had to take Silver Dog to the vet over the weekend because Sarah found a lump on his face that looked pretty bad. At first we thought he just got bit by something, but the Vet seems to think it’s cancer. He gave my parents some antibiotics that are supposed to clear up his face if it’s an infection. It’s supposed to work within a week, but so far it’s not looking good. In fact it’s getting worse. The lump has gotten bigger and all the hair is starting to fall off his lip. We’re about 95% sure It's mouth cancer at this point. It sucks because he's the greatest dog I've ever had. I just need to keep reminding myself that he’s lived a long happy 15 years. I hate to talk about him like he’s dead already but I really don’t think he’s going to last much longer. We decided we’re going to wait it out though and see how he does with it. He old, deaf, and almost blind but is still trotting around the yard and bossing 85lb Duggan around like he’s the king so we’re just going to see what happens. He truly is the best dog.

Nothing big is planned for the rest of the week. I've got some errands to run tomorrow and then Zumba tomorrow night. Thursday Loren with be out bowling with Adam and I think we have a dinner date set up with some friends for Saturday night. Loren mentioned Kyoto, fingers crossed that that's where we go! 

Ah! Everybody is asleep for the night so I finally have sometime to sit and relax. This week has been quite a crazy one. It seems like we've been doing something everyday and I'm already over it. It's nice to get out, but it's so much work with the babies. I just want to stay indoors for the rest of the week and get some stuff done around the house.

It's been cold but at least Allie finally had some quality outdoor time. She's been itching to go outside and play for a while now so I finally said screw it and let her bundle up and play.  I swear this child is just like her dad, as soon as she gets some fresh air, her mood sky rockets. Now if spring would just show up already we'd be good.

I've been doing a little bit of shopping lately. Ray and Allie Mae grew out of their clothes so I've been rushing trying to find some clothes for them. I found some pjs on the BST sites but no outfits like we need. I made a trip to Carter's last weekend and got the rest of the outfits I needed for Raymond. I also picked up a cute Spring outfit for Allie. I have another $20 in Carter's cash to spend so I think I'm going to make another trip out there tomorrow.

The baby's heads have been doing much better. I did some reading and I guess flat heads with twins are more common than I thought. I found these Boppy Noggin Head Support Pillows and have been using them for the past couple of weeks now. Every time they're on their backs, they're laying on these. I'm already seeing a big difference and hopefully the doctor is pleased when we see her next month.

We are officially done nursing! While I do miss it every day, it is so much easier bottle feeding right now. I was producing plenty of milk for them, but it just wasn't filling the babies up enough. I literally was only getting about an hour break from nursing a day. It just wasn't possible anymore. The time I got to spend with Allie was minimal and we just cant have that! I need my time with my babe.

Two of my Groovebooks came in the mail this week. I like them, I think they're cute and convenient but I think the pictures printed too dark. I'm just not as happy with them as I thought I would be. I was hoping it was just a mess up with one of the books but then the other one came and the print quality was the same. The prints I get from Walgreens are much better, even for my phone pictures, but the Groovebook is so much easier so I think I'll just stick with them. I'm just throwing the books into my photo box anyway. I'll just have to get whatever I want framed printed from the store from now on.

Speaking of pictures, I finally got some framed and hung in the house. I replaced some of the older pictures we had up with new ones and everything is now up to date. Now I just need to make sure I continue to switch the photos out.

I finally opened savings accounts for all three of the kids last week. We've been saving change for a while now and decided everything we save will go into the kids' accounts. I had a huge mason jar full of change and was surprised to find out that we had just about $175 worth in it. It was the perfect amount to split up and deposit. I'm hoping to put at least $10 in each account every week, including whatever is saved up from the jar. It's not much but it will add up!

It was Valentine's Day this past Saturday and Loren and I had absolutely nothing planned. We never do. We decided to go bowling with some friends and just hang out at home for the rest of the day. We were really lazy and it was awesome.

Sunday my mom and I took the kids to the mall for the day. It was the babies first time at the mall and they did pretty good. Way better than Allie did. Allie was an absolute terrorist. She was running around like an animal. She kept running away from me and no matter what I did, I just couldn't get her to calm the F down. It was beyond annoying and embarrassing. It was easier caring for the twins than her. I can't wait until this Spring. She needs some major outside time. She has tons of built up energy that needs to be released.

Yesterday and today has been pretty easy going, but busy at the same time. Yesterday morning we went out to brunch with my mom, sister, aunt and cousin then came to my house afterwards to hang out with the kids. After they left Melanie and Ella came over to play for a while. Allie and Ella ran around and wrestled the whole time and Melanie helped with the babies so it was a nice little break. It was great to be able to talk to another adult for a couple hours!

My mom came over to watch the babies today while Allie and I went out and got all the grocery shopping done. This past week has been terrible with her 3 year old attitude. She was being a savage this morning so I thought for sure Walmart was going to be hell, but it pretty good. She actually listened for a change and wanted to sit in the cart. Shocker.

We don't really have that much planned for the rest of the week. Tomorrow I have Zumba again and Thursday and Friday I'm just planning on hanging out and getting some cleaning done. My vacuum cleaner took a crap on me a couple days ago and I ordered a new one that should be here tomorrow, so I'm sure I'll probably vacuum about 80 times this week. New vacuum cleaners are my favorite things ever.

Besides all that stuff. We really haven't been up to much. Same old, same old. Hopefully it starts warming up here soon. I'm really starting to get the winter blues.