Natalie & Ryan: Never-ending

This week has been full of never-ending cooking, cleaning, and prepping...oh, and the continuation of the never-ending colds.

I had hoped that we'd be able to pick up with the gym routine this week, but as Lilly still seems to be sick, I had to hold off. Her congestion is breaking up and giving her a yucky cough. Ryan is still getting over his cold, too. He has a perma-deep-sick voice and cough, and I'm not sure whether to think it's creepy or attractive. The voice, that is. We've both set the goal to pick up at the gym on Monday.

Sunday was a dual birthday party for my step-brother, Andy, and my step-sister's son, Karder. It was superhero themed, so I wore a Ninja Turtle shirt. Ryan was politely uninvited, since he was sick, and we didn't want to get Tami (who's pregnant) sick. We helped decorate and prep food, and then we ate till we couldn't eat anymore, played until we were pooped out, and then headed home.

Since I've had the week "off," with no real intent to leave the house, out of fear that Lilly's weak immune system would fail her, I've busied myself with cleaning and prepping for Susan's bridal shower tomorrow. I'm hosting her shower at my mom's house, so on Monday, mom and I went out in search of decorations. Any excuse to shop! It was both mentally and financially exhausting for me, but I'm hoping the outcome will make Susie happy. After shopping with my mom, I still had to go grocery shopping. I spent all Sunday night on Pinterest, looking up recipes for the week. If there's one thing that Ryan and I are really bad at, it's picking a weekly menu. I just end up either picking meals myself, deciding when I get to the store and wander the aisles, or just grabbing the necessities, and then improvising with stuff in the pantry or freezer. I don't like any of those outcomes. Monday was homemade corn dogs, which Ryan loved. Tuesday was funeral potatoes, which I thought Lilly would love, but she won't touch them. Wednesday was baked Rigatoni with sausage. Thursday was leftovers. Tonight was pork chops. Ryan will be gone tomorrow, so I'll just have more leftovers. Sunday is going to be taquitos made from leftover Cafe Rio pork from the shower. I also made some yummy s'mores cups for dessert on Monday, and Lilly can't get enough of them.

On Tuesday, Susan's mom and Jack stopped by to grab some stuff and say hi to Lilly. Connie made sure to bring a bribe. Connie whipped out a package of pink Peeps, and Lilly was in a sugar-high heaven. After chasing Jack around the house for a bit, she was properly worn out for her nap. Wednesday's highlight was our evening walk. Missing out on the gym has been rough on us, me especially. I start to feel so cooped up, and not getting the daily endorphins makes me give into my depression too much, so Ryan suggested a walk. We packed Lilly up in her little car and set out on our adventure. Towards the end of the walk, we decided to take Lilly to see the horses that we always pass while driving. They came right up to the fence to say hi. Lilly loved getting to say "hi," and petting them. It was getting cold, so we hurried back inside. I think we'll need to go see the horsies more often.

On Thursday, I spent all day making cake pops and putting together take-home goody bags for the shower. Today, I spent ALL day cooking. No joke. At 8, I started by searing some pork chops before putting them into the crock pot. I was multitasking, and making cookies at the same time. Thank goodness I was able to focus, and didn't end up with pork chop cookies. Jack's bachelor party is tomorrow, and I wanted to send a few bags of cookies for the guys to munch on during their long road trip up to Brigham City.

After a few hours of baking cookies, and making salsa and sauces for the Cafe Rio spread tomorrow (and only slicing into my finger once! OUCH!!), I put Lilly down for a nap while I lugged stuff out to the car. 3 trips to the car later, I was ready to start chores. I didn't want to mop, but my hand was forced when I went to take the garbage out, and there was gross pink juice leaking out of the bag, all over my tile. I mopped the kitchen, laundry room, both bathrooms, did two loads of laundry, all without Lilly even noticing that Bear-bear and blankie were "taking a bath," did a few loads of dishes, cleaned bathrooms, and scrubbed random Lilly messes off every surface of my house. After cleaning the baby handprints off the TV screen, the first thing she did was run up and slowly drag her little sticky finger down the center of the screen. Ugh, this is why I can't have nice, clean things!! After dinner, I cleaned out the crock pot and put in pork for Cafe Rio salads tomorrow. Non-stop cooking, I tell ya!

I'm pooped and stressed out of my mind, but I'm happy that everything has been going so smoothly, and hopefully we can have a fun time at the shower tomorrow. I'll make a separate cake pop post.

Sunday

Ryan and I signed up to fast one day this week. Ryan kept texting me all day about how starving he was and how it was making him shaky. This was his break-the-fast surprise.