Combined Average

Cabinet and Hutch need a good home

2012-01-12T12:11:00.000-08:00

I've got a big piece of dining room furniture (cabinet + hutch) that needs a good home. I love this cabinet...I bought it thinking it would be perfect in a breakfast room with my grandmothers dining table that we refinished and painted black. It's a work horse too...storage galore. It's safely stored ALL of my wedding china, crystal and flatware for the past four years, with space to spare. Unfortunately we just don't have a good place for it in this house. We're using the dining room as a study, and while we do need some storage in there, this piece is just too big for that room. You can see, we can't even get the doors open right now. So, as hard as it is to get rid of it, I can't hang on to a giant piece of furniture in anticipation of having room for it in some future house.

It's got a really interesting, concave front to it, and it's a little on the traditional/country side right now, with the two-tone finish, but with new hardware and a coat of paint it and it could go with just about any decor.

I have no idea what to ask for it, so I'm pretty much just selling it fbo, preferably to a family member or friend so that if/when the time comes that you don't want it anymore you give us a call and let us make you an offer before you sell/donate/toss it.

The deets:
57" wide
88" tall (cabinet 36"; hutch 52")
Bottom Cabinet is 16.5" deep, Hutch is 13" deep

Give me a shout if you are interested!

Cake balls

2011-12-07T20:37:00.000-08:00

Tis the season for sweets, and I recently tried my hand at cake balls for a holiday party (also known as cake pops if you add a stick). I don't think I would have ever attempted them had I known what I was getting myself into (I am not a baker. not even a little bit), but after ~~a little~~ a lot of trial and error, I think I've gotten the hang of it well enough to do it again with out quite so many tears.

So, in case you were interested in trying your hand at a little balling this holiday season, here's the cake ball recipe I used with tips/tricks I've thrown in for the baking-challenged.

1 box cake mix (including oil, water, eggs, and anything else necessary to make the cake)

1 jar frosting

1 package bark (candy coating that I found hiding out by the chocolate chips on the baking isle)

Mix up the cake mix and bake according to package directions.
While the cake is still hot (or at least warm), dump it back into the mixer, and turn it on 'low' (essentially destroying the cake you just baked).
Spoon anywhere from half a jar of frosting to a whole jar depending on how 'cakey' you like your balls (I used about 2/3 - 3/4 of a jar).
Let the mixer go until your cake/frosting mix is the consistency of crumbly play-doh (you should see a big ball of dough forming at this point in the bowl).
Turn the mixer off, form the dough into a big ball (any residual dough on the outside of the bowl will be hard to work with and essentially wasted if you don't scrape it off and let it join the big party ball happening in the middle).
Cover and chill (I popped it in the freezer for an hour, and that seemed to work fine, but if ice crystals freak you out, try the fridge for a few hours)
Using a melon baller or a 2Tbs cookie scoop, make all your dough balls. I used the cookie scoop to get a consistent sized ball, but would also hand roll each ball to get a nice shape.
You want to work pretty quickly because I found the dough harder to work with as it warmed up. If things get too impossible, toss it back in the fridge or freezer for a while and then return to balling.
Once all your dough is balled, freeze the balls over night (4 hours minimum). I put all my balls into a big tupperware container and separated the layers with wax paper since I don't have room for a cookie sheet in my freezer.

The next part was my biggest challenge since I'd never worked with candy coating before, and you may have your own method, but after ruining TWO entire batches of bark and at least a half dozen cake balls, this is what worked best for me.

Working with a half of a package at a time, I would heat the candy coating in a small sauce pan over low heat until melted, then turn the heat off but leave the pot on the warm burner.
One dough ball at a time, I'd plop it into the melted bark then use a silicon spatula to spoon the coating over the top two or three times until the ball was completely coated.
I used a plastic fork, that I broke the middle two tines off of, to scoop the ball out and move it over to a sheet of wax paper to dry.
To get the wet coated ball off the fork with minimal damage, I would set the ball and fork down on the wax paper, place my finger behind the ball (where the tines were broken off), then pull the fork back, while my finger held the ball in place on the wax paper. That probably makes no sense, but seeing as I'm the only one that will read this, I'll hold off on the youtube video for now and just let you use your imagination.
I had a bunch of bark left over, so I drizzled it on top for decoration, and to help hide how lopsided and unevenly coated a few of the balls were.
All done with beautiful cake balls that looked a LITTLE like this....

and this...

(images courtesy of bakerella and the cereal baker)

The combinations are pretty endless with cake mix, frosting and bark, but here are the ones I made:

Lemon: Duncan hines lemon supreme mix, lemon supreme frosting, white bark

Red Velvet: Duncan hines red velvet mix, creme cheese frosting, chocolate bark

And the ones I want to try next...

Carrot Cake: Carrot cake, creme cheese frosting, white bark

German Chocolate: German chocolate cake, coconut pecan frosting, chocolate bark

I have a mom-friend who bakes professionally and her cake ball combinations are insane...french toast with bacon (yes bacon!), churro, candy cane red velvet, margarita, strawberry lime, mexican chocolate and bacardi coconut to name a few. Yea....I'll stick with my beginner combos for now, but if you live in the Houston area and want to try the real thing, you can check out Word of Mouth cakes in Spring, TX.

Guess it's time to get a camera.

2011-11-04T20:32:00.000-07:00

The only camera we use these days are our iphones. We've got a little Canon power shot, but I think it's time to invest in an SLR. As excited as I am about the idea of (finally) getting a decent camera, it's coming at a price. Our amazing photographer, Mackenzie Wheatley, of chubbyfoot photography, is leaving us to move to Europe. :(

We were able to squeeze one last mini session in with her, and just to give you an idea of what a loss this is, I've included pics from all the sessions she's done for our family.

Carter in the womb:

Carter 2 weeks old:

Carter 1 year:

Jack in the womb (Carter 17 months):

Jack 1 week old (Carter 18 months):

Jack 6 months; Carter 2 years;
Married 5 years:

Carter 2.5; Jack 1 year;
Our new house (in 1 month when these pics were taken):

Most recent session
(Carter 3.5; Jack almost 2; Stephen and I married 6 years):

We're going to miss you Mackenzie!!!!! Thank you SO much for capturing these precious moments in our life. These pictures are priceless, and mean the world to us, and it has been such a pleasure working with you and getting to know you over the last 4 years. I don't know what we're going to do without you, but wish you all the best in Europe!!!!

Paint it White

2011-11-04T19:39:00.000-07:00

This summer we tackled (and by tackled, I mean paid a professional to tackle) the monstrous brick fireplace in our breakfast/dining area. We considered white washing it, painting it black or a deep charcoal grey, painting it the same or a lighter shade of the wall color, and what we ultimately opted to do, paint it white. Here are the "why's"

Why not white wash?

Finding a local pro experienced in true white washing (with lime) was impossible. I did a lot of looking, and lots of guys were willing to give it a shot, but I figured that was no better than us doing it ourselves (which we didn't have the time or desire to do).

Why not grey or black?

That dark red/black brick and grey mortor was sucking the beautiful natural light out of the room during the day, and making the place look like a dungeon at night. As a result, painting it a solid, light-sucking dark color seemed counter-productive.

Why white?

The other end of the kitchen is choc full of glossy white cabinets, so it seemed to make sense that a nice bright white painted brick fireplace would balance things out better than the taupey grey we used on the walls.

And the moment you probably scrolled down for:

Before:

During:

After:

Dude

2011-10-27T20:58:00.000-07:00

I've gained a dozen pounds (no exaggeration) and I've quit blogging. I'm not sure if I'm going to ever get it together, but I guess I need to give it a shot.

Updates:

Jack is talking up a storm. Carter heard us say that and one day busted out at the breakfast table, "Jack's just talkin like a storm!" Ok, back to Jack. He's so stinkin' cute, but he can be a stinker. He's really developed a little attitude. He doesn't like being told "no". Like, at all. Maybe it's because we really didn't tell him "no" for the first 18 months of his life. Like ever. But now we do, and it results in drama, drama, drama. He can throw one impressive fit. It's all we can do to keep him from hurting himself in the heat of the moment. So, he's a little of a loose canon, but 80% of the time, he's awesome, and hilarious. He's learning his colors, shapes and his letters and can identify about 25% of the alphabet and a few numbers. He really does not like the number four because his counting goes like this "one, two, three, five, six, seven..." No matter how many times we correct him. Who needs 4 anyway, right? He loves books. LOVEs them. We've been bad about reading bedtime stories to him like we used to do with Carter (i.e. unlimited numbers until he was practically asleep in the chair with us), but have really been forcing ourselves to spend more time on that. We've gotten him off the paci except at night time and nap time, and I think that's really helped with his talking, not having a constant plug in the pie hole. He's a good eater, but pretty picky. He doesn't like vegetables or fruit or pretty much anything that remotely looks like it grew from the ground. He's a meat and cheese and bread kid. We're getting there though. The other night he ate a huge serving of green beans, and he does like carrots and apples. Baby steps. He's a climber. He's been throwing a leg over the side of the crib and scrambling up cabinets and tables for the past few months. I foresee a toddler bed and lots of furniture straps in our near future. We're about halfway through his first semester of pre school (two days a week) and he's doing fantastic. He was a little quiet/shy/reserved for the first couple of weeks, and there is still some separation anxiety happening at morning drop offs, but other than that, he's really coming along like a champ. His teachers LOVE him. I can hardly get away when I go to pick him up because they love telling me how wonderful and sweet and cuddly and cute he is. It's a tough life :)

Carter is 3 going on 30. He's started sounding out words, which is just mind blowing to me. He's been "reading" for a little while now, but it was more memorization. He would see the letters d-o-g and know that it spelled dog, but not because he was sounding anything out. Just in the past few weeks, he's really gotten good at sounding out and figuring out words he's not familiar with. He's still a very early reader, so consonant clusters (ck, sh, th) are tricky, as well as vowels that don't say their long or short sound (like the silent 'e' or the 'a' in ball), but he's getting there. He's really intuitive and sensitive when people around him are upset, so I have to be careful about wearing my feelings on my shirt sleeves. He loves music and watches more TV than he should. He memorizes things he hears really quickly. He will recite entire versus to songs he's only listened to once, but that I don't know after hearing a dozen times. As a result, I have to REALLY watch my language these days. He also has the ability to outsmart me. A lot. Not on purpose, I just get stumped on how to answer him sometimes. I gave him a spanking when he was about 2 and a half and sent him to time out. He was sobbing and told me "Mommy, we don't hit!" I haven't felt good about spanking ever again. That's not a recent example, but it's stuff like this that just make me really have to think before I interact with him sometimes. We had a slew of flys in the house after having a window replaced. As I'm up on a chair swatting them, Carter asked me what I was doing. I told him I was swatting flys. Later that night, he said, "Mommy, can I ask you a question?" When I said, "yes", he said "why did you kill those flys?" I told him I didn't want them in the house. He told me "Mommy, we don't squash bugs. They just want to go to their home." Seriously!?! I think a lot of kids are like this, but Carter amazes me because he is our first. You just don't think that a little human that has only been on this earth for 3 years can put things together like that, but they do. He also can do some basic math, make patterns, recognize patterns, recite the planets (in order from the sun), and tell you the colors of the rainbow. After lots of back-and-forth, he's using his left hand enough that we are 90% sure he's left handed and 100% sure he's left-footed. Did I mention we think he's a genius? I know, we're really unique, thinking our kids are super special and super smart.

Stephen is doing well. He likes his work. I like him. He puts up with me. It works. Oh, I ran my first half marathon last Sunday. Came in at 2:28 which was a few minutes under my 2:30 time goal. yippee. I'm running another half in November, and my goal is to run the whole thing (I only ran 10 straight miles of the aforementioned race before stopping and walking periodically). I'm training for a full marathon in January, and, fingers crossed, will see the finish line in one piece. My time goal for the full marathon is 6 hours, and I have no intention of ever doing a marathon again. I just want to cross it off the ol' bucket list. I do like half marathons, though. I might keep those up. Half the distance, twice the fun.

Off to bed. I've been cheating on blogger with Kindle. It's awesome. I wonder how many times I said awesome in the course of this blog. Probably not enough. Have an awesome night. I'm out.

Perspective

2011-09-26T19:16:00.000-07:00

I was reading through blog posts of yore last night, and I came across this little gem as well as this bittersweet post.

I'll let you take a sec to read them. I'll wait. No seriously, go ahead, read them.

Ok, so I just have to say that a lot of what I was worried about came true...Carter didn't really understand what was going on when Jack showed up. He did have to grow up faster than I would have liked. I do have to split my time, and there were more days that first year than I care to admit when I was still in my pajamas (and still hadn't brushed my teeth) when Mr. C got home from work. Between conflicting nap schedules, feeding schedules, or because someone always seemed to be sick, we didn't get out much, and a mental breakdown always seemed to lurk in the shadows of laundry piles waiting to pounce. BUT, there was a light at the end of the tunnel, and I could have never foreseen was how much joy, love, laughter, discipline (good discipline...like self discipline), and perspective Jack would bring to the table. Our little family and just life in general is so much better because he is here. SO much better. He is just awesome.

Our family is so blessed. My heart is so full. I love both my precious boys so much, and I can't imagine one without the other. 2 under 2 was no cake walk, but it certainly wasn't the unbearable nightmare I envisioned. In fact, now that they are older and we are on the other side of the baby days (pretty soon, I won't even have ONE under two...sniff. sniff.), I just love how close they are in age, because they are each other's best friend. I might even venture to say it has been a dream come true for this stay-at-home mom. Ok, not when they are fighting, but the rest of the time, it's pretty great! :)

Setting Up the Pins

2011-09-05T16:29:00.000-07:00

Recently had the privilege of seeing musician and song writer Sara Groves in concert. I fell in love with her music and just her personality in general. This song especially captured my heart since in speaks to our life and really the whole idea behind this blog. The song is by itself is great, but the music video is just so darn cute, I had to include it.

man in a silk tie heads downtown
setting up the pins for knocking em down
people in cars all rushing around
setting up the pins

let's get rich find a way around
setting up the pins for knocking em down
we'll get gadget with a whirring sound
for setting up the pins

everyone everywhere some way some how
are setting up the pins for knocking em down

you can find joy in the fertile ground
setting up the pins and knocking em down
you can try to fight it till you're anger drowned
setting up the pins

everyone everywhere some way some how
are setting up the pins for knocking em down
it can feel simple but it's really profound
setting up the pins

rent a tent, build a stage, throw a party, get a gown
buy a ticket, rent a car, pack a bag and leave town,
cook a dinner, clean the kitchen hit the light
brush your teeth, read a book, say a prayer good-night

everyone everywhere some way some how
are setting up the pins for knocking em down
it can feel simple but it's really profound...

my grandmother had a working song
hummed it low all day long
sing for the beauty that's to be found
in setting up the pins for knocking em down

Hope you all are enjoying this beautiful Labor Day. We haven't done a whole bunch, just mainly setting up the pins for knocking them back down tomorrow :) Have a great week!

Work in Progress

2011-07-05T08:21:00.000-07:00

We've had some big things happening around our house lately. We replaced all but one of the windows this past week, and had a carpenter/handyman do a little bit of work including building a new mantel, removing the runner from the stairs, adding crown to five rooms, replacing lights in the kitchen, replacing the front door and adding french doors to what used to be the dining room (we are using it as a study).

In the midst of all the construction zone mayhem, Carter had to have some dental work done. Nothing major, just a filling and some sealants, but because he's three and not cooperative with a teeth cleaning let along a drilling session, they had to put him under general anesthesia to do the work. So there was a whole day in there that had some added stress with all that mess, but luckily Mr. C's mom was here to help with the boys and the house and just generally be amazing, as always.

I didn't really get any 'before' pics, but here are some 'progress' pics.

New windows and mantel...and a really messy kitchen table.

Room with a view, we love these big windows

New door from the inside (buh-bye leafy glass!)

New door from the outside - I love the brass hardware.

Trim in progress, still needs another piece, paint and our house numbers! :)

New french doors keeping munchkins out of the office

Last window to be replaced is the big one above the door, but it's taking longer to arrive than the rest.

Stairs minus the carpet runner. Next step, sand and paint!

New windows/door - curb shot.

Painters arrive next week - I promise more pics when they finish!

Slipping Through the Cracks

2011-06-23T08:10:00.000-07:00

No new posts lately because we've been incredibly busy, and because I'm desperate to get to a stopping point so I can print the blog. A few posts seem to have slipped through the cracks over the past three years, and this post is purely to remind myself of events I want to document with some date-adjusted posts before printing. I'll try to update this with hyper-links as I get the new/old posts up for the few of you who actually read this (i.e grandparents).

Carter's 2nd Birthday Party Pics - Pancakes in Pajamas Theme
Jack's Baptism
Stephen's Surprise 30th Birthday Party Pics
5th Anniversary trip to Seattle/Portland Pics
Running/Broken Toe
Jack's 1st Birthday Party Pics - Tough Cookie Theme
Carter's School Picture
Carter's 3rd Birthday
First Family vacation to Galveston
Stephen's 31st Birthday
Stephen's New Job
Granddaddy
6th Anniversary/Trip to New Orleans
New House - 'Before' and 'Progress' Pics (haven't quite gotten to the 'afters' yet).

Easter 2011

2011-05-04T12:38:00.000-07:00

It's May?!?! Where did April go?? Ok, let's play catch up. Easter with the little guys was low key (theme around here) and fun. Jack really got into Easter eggs once he figured out they had treats inside and Carter was all over those plastic eggs like white on rice.

We started the day by digging through the Easter loot, then celebrated with our Church family and then headed to LJ for a fun afternoon/evening with my parents. The boys had some good ~~clean~~ dirty fun and wound up needing baths before we could head home. Not wanting to put them back into their dirty play clothes, we were faced with taking them home in the buff, or waiting an hour while Grammy R laundered the offending textiles. As luck would have it, we didn't have to do either. My mom found these two old shirts that had been my brother's when he was little that said "My Granddad was a Paratrooper" It was awesome. My Granddad's paratrooper story is one that deserves it's own blog post, but just know, it was way cool that she had them still, that she happened to have two different sized AND that both sizes fit the boys perfectly. Of course we had to get a picture (or 12).

So here's the day, Easter 2011, in photo form.

Like a hole in my head

2011-05-04T08:34:00.000-07:00

I need another DIY project like I need a hole in my head, but seriously, how cute is this little wreath?? Last minute mother's day idea?? Maybe! :) (Moms, hope you are not reading this!)

Isn't it darling? Project is courtesy of flowerpatchfarmgirl.blogspot.com and you can see this image in a full page (printable) layout in the new (and completely FREE) e-zine at theletteredcottage.net (if you haven't checked out their blog yet, wait until nap time...you'll need at least an hour).

No words...

2011-04-21T22:30:00.000-07:00

well, maybe a few because JACK WALKED TONIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just am so overwhelmed with emotion right now. I am extremely disappointed I didn't get to see it - Mr. C had that honor. I'm also secretly in disbelief that maybe it didn't happen at all, just because I can hardly believe it finally happened!

Ok, so I have to back up...Jack has had lots of minor motor skill issues (for unknown reasons) since he was tiny. He is right on target for all the cognitive milestones, but has been in physical therapy for almost a year now to help him learn to sit, stand, pull up, etc. Honestly I am so glad he is our second child because I have been able to take the delays more gracefully that I would if this were my first rodeo.

Anyway, I had gotten so used to Jack needing to be carried everywhere, that I think I kinda forgot he'd eventually walk. I know that makes no sense, but it's like waiting for a package that takes so long to arrive, you forget about it, until it lands on your doorstep. Well, when Mr. C called down to me this evening to tell me that Jack walked, I was in complete shock! I was so relieved and happy and in disbelief and also a little sad to be reminded that Jack is actually growing up (despite my best efforts to convince myself he'll be a baby forever), that I just started bawling. I sobbed...and I'm sobbing now...there are just no words...well, maybe a few...like "we love you Jack!!" and "we are so incredibly proud of you and grateful to be your parents...may all the shocks we get from you in life be as wonderful as this one!!! :)

It's a sickness really.

2011-04-18T13:30:00.000-07:00

Pinterest.com

It's basically the most dangerous thing I have gotten involved in on the internet to date. It's just wonderful, and did I mention dangerous.

You really must try it out. It's free, and easy, and terribly addicting. Just don't say I didn't warn you :)

Jack's song

2011-04-14T08:58:00.000-07:00

As promised :)

Lullaby
-The Dixie Chicks

They didn't have you where I come from
Never knew the best was yet to come
Life began when I saw your face
And I hear your laugh like a serenade

How long do you wanna be loved?
Is forever enough, is forever enough?
How long do you wanna be loved?
Is forever enough 'cause I'm never never giving you up.

I slip in bed when you're asleep
To hold you close
And feel your breath on me
Tomorrow there'll be so much to do
So tonight I'll drift in a dream with you

How long do you wanna be loved?
Is forever enough, is forever enough?
How long do you wanna be loved?
Is forever enough 'cause I'm never never giving you up.

As you wonder this troubled world
In search of all things beautiful
You can close you're eyes when you're miles away
And hear my voice like a serenade

How long do you wanna be loved?
IS forever enough, is forever enough?
How long do you wanna be loved?
IS forever enough, 'cause I'm never never giving you up

How long do you wanna be loved?
Is forever enough, is forever enough?
How long do you wanna be loved?
Is forever enough, 'cause I'm never never giving you up.
Is forever enough, 'cause I'm never never giving you up.

Godspeed Little Man.

2011-04-13T08:41:00.000-07:00

I used to sing this song to Carter when he was in my tummy...every time I hear it I cry. It will always be 'our song'.

Godspeed (Sweet Dreams)
-The Dixie Chicks

'Dragon Tales' and 'The Water is Wide'
Pirates sail and lost boys fly
Fish bite moonbeams every night
And I love you

Godspeed little man
Sweet dreams little man
Oh my love will fly to you each night on angel's wings
Godspeed
Sweet dreams

The Rocket racer's all tuckered out
Super man's in pajamas on the couch
Goodnight moon, we'll find the mouse
And I love you.

Godspeed little man
Sweet dreams little man
Oh my love will fly to you each night on angel's wings
Godspeed
Sweet dreams

God bless mommy and matchbox cars
God bless dad and thanks for the stars
God hears "Amen" wherever we are
And I love you

Godspeed little man
Sweet dreams little man
Oh my love will fly to you each night on angel's wings
Godspeed
Godspeed
Godspeed
Sweet dreams

Jack's song tomorrow.

A Season

2011-04-12T20:05:00.000-07:00

Last week I made a difficult decision. I broke up with friends. I was reluctant to admit that's what I did, but in hindsight, that's exactly what I did. Not because I don't love this group, and not because I don't hope to run into these people again, but because I realized our season had come to an end.

When I made up my mind that it was time to move on there were tears, followed by sadness, and then just a deep feeling of lonliness. But then my wonderful husband reminded me of this incredible poem.

Reason, Season, or Lifetime

People come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime.
When you figure out which one it is,you will know what to do for each person.

When someone is in your life for a REASON,
it is usually to meet a need you have expressed.
They have come to assist you through a difficulty;
to provide you with guidance and support;
to aid you physically, emotionally or spiritually.
They may seem like a godsend, and they are.
They are there for the reason you need them to be.
Then, without any wrongdoing on your part or at an inconvenient time,
this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end.
Sometimes they die. Sometimes they walk away.
Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand.
What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled; their work is done.
The prayer you sent up has been answered and now it is time to move on.

Some people come into your life for a SEASON,
because your turn has come to share, grow or learn.
They bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh.
They may teach you something you have never done.
They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy.
Believe it. It is real. But only for a season.

LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons;
things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation.
Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person,
and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life.
It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant.

— Unknown

Strawberry Picking

2011-04-11T14:14:00.000-07:00

Ever since we went blueberry picking last year, I've been itching to try out more pick-your-own places, and our trip to Froberg's in Alvin, TX this past weekend did not disappoint. We had a great time, the strawberries were plentiful and delicious, they have a farmer's market with an incredible produce selection (and some amazing fried pies), and they have a nice shady picnic area to enjoy lunch. We will definitely be back, if not this year, then next!

Vegetarian Lasagna

2011-04-11T13:51:00.000-07:00

Love this recipe...it's my take on the classic no-boil lasagna, minus the ground beef. It's cheesy, delicious, choc full of veggies, and the best part? Your family won't even miss the meat. I promise.

Ingredients

1 Tbs olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 pint (8oz) fresh sliced mushrooms
1 zucchini, chopped
1 yellow squash, chopped
1 carrot, grated
1 cup fresh spinach chopped
1 (26oz) jar Ragu Organic Garden Veggie Pasta Sauce
1 (16oz) package 2% cottage cheese (small curd)
4 cups shredded Reduced Fat Italian Blend cheese
2 eggs, beaten
1 or 2 Tbs Italian seasoning
1 16 oz package whole wheat lasagna noodles

Directions

Heat olive oil in large skillet over med-high heat. Saute garlic, onions and green pepper for 3 minutes. Add mushrooms, zucchini, and squash and continue cooking until veggies are tender but not soggy. Wilt in spinach, and add Pasta Sauce, reserving 1/4 cup of sauce for the first layer. Stir to combine, and remove from heat.

In a large bowl, combine cottage cheese, shredded Italian Blend with the eggs and Italian seasoning reserving 1/2 cup of the shredded Italian Blend for later.

Spread the 1/4 cup of reserved sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch pan. Layer with uncooked lasagna noodles (break them off to fit), cheese mixture and veggie mixture. Repeat layers twice, or until all ingredients are used, ending on the veggie mixture.

Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup of shredded cheese on top and bake for an additional 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted and bubbly. Remove from oven and let stand several minutes before serving.

Note: because there is a lot of water in the vegetables, sauce may boil over as they cook down. Place a large baking sheet under the pan to prevent spilling in your oven.

Clean-Out-the-Fridge Quiche

2011-04-05T20:12:00.000-07:00

This crustless quiche is my own take on this recipe. It is a cinch to fix, it's very forgiving, and the options are endless!!

3 - 4 cups of any of the following (imho, a combo of 3 to 4 ingredients is best)

Onions (finely chopped OR sauteed)

Spinach (shredded OR sauteed OR thawed from frozen)

Peppers (finely chopped OR sauteed OR frozen)

Mushrooms (sliced, diced and/or sauteed)

Bacon (cooked, drained and crumbled)

Sausage (cooked and drained)

Lunch Meat

Peas

Carrots

Broccoli

Squash

Zucchini

Diced Tomatoes

Green Onion, finely chopped

Corn

Chicken (cooked and diced or shredded)

Diced Ham

Black Beans

Shrimp

Crab

Leeks
Celery
You get the idea, right?
Pretty much anything...

seriously, throw it in.
Just make sure all meats are cooked before adding and
if using canned veggies, rinse and drain well.

1 cup shredded cheese (whatever goes with your theme...mexican blend with peppers, onions and tomatoes, swiss with spinach and mushrooms, cheddar with ham and broccoli...whatever floats your boat or whatever you have in the fridge!)
2 Tbs Oil or melted butter
6-8 eggs, beaten
1 cup all-purpose flour (can also use pancake mix or bisquick)
3 cups Milk, Cream or Half-n-half (or a combination - just clean out the fridge!)
Salt, pepper or any other seasoning to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat oil or butter in a dutch oven or oven-safe skillet over med to med-high heat. Saute any vegetables (if sautéing), then add any frozen vegetables, then any cooked vegetables. When vegetables are cooked/heated through, remove from heat and add the meat (if using) and cheese. Stir to combine everything, then press the mixture evenly into the bottom of the pan. In a separate bowl combine eggs, flour, milk and seasoning. Pour egg mixture over meat/veggie mixture. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until set.

Serve hot or cold, for breakfast, lunch or dinner!

Makes 8 servings.

SuperMoon

2011-03-30T21:57:00.000-07:00

After Mr. C and I put the kids to bed the other night, we sat outside on our amazing deck and enjoyed the brightest full moon the earth has seen in 18 years. You can read more about the 'supermoon' here. Tried to take a few pics, but my point-and-shoot camera isn't really designed for that kind of low-lit, far-away shot.

The beautiful moon aside, it was the first time we've taken an opportunity to enjoy our deck in the evening. We're usually trying to finish dishes, project or just zoning in front of the computer or TV. It was so nice to unplug and sit with each other for a while. The weather was amazing, and the candle light, wine, and conversation were wonderful - so relaxing and peaceful. We definitely need to do that more often.

Couch potato

2011-03-30T21:42:00.000-07:00

Hand in the snack trap and all...

Zoo day!

2011-03-30T21:38:00.000-07:00

Took the boys to the zoo today all by lonesome. I was very proud of myself. Only regret was not bringing the ergo. We took the wagon, but since the wagon isn't the best vantage point to see all the animals, I ended up carrying Jack all. day. long. Ouch!

Picture day

2011-03-29T11:41:00.000-07:00

Picture day at little C's school. Got to wear a little of daddy's hair gel and his new crocs (which are a size too big, but there was no talking him out of it once he tried them on). He's such a sweet and handsome little guy, I just wanted to hug him to pieces but he wouldn't let me because he didn't want me to mess up his hair.

I feel sick.

2011-03-28T15:02:00.000-07:00

I was trying to take advantage of Mpix's 15% off prints deal going on right now, and ordering a few prints from Jack's first year of life for a scrapbook I had planned to do in lieu of a baby book (that clearly has not been done yet). I was flipping through December 2009 and loading all of the pictures of his birth and NYE and of course his very first Christmas.

Jack's first Christmas was incredibly unceremonious. I was still reeling from his early arrival, and while a bunch of planning had gone into that day for Carter (it was, in our minds, the first Christmas little C might really get excited about), pretty much no planning had been made for Jack...his stocking was there (thank goodness for my impatience to order it!), but it was empty...no presents under the tree for him, and in fact we didn't even have a tree! It wasn't Carter's first Christmas, and since we didn't think it would be Jack's and didn't really want to be taking down a tree and coping with a newborn, we opted to skip the tree.

On Christmas morning we took tons of pictures of Carter receiving the present 'Santa' had brought and going through his stocking, but only one picture was taken of Jack...a joking picture where we stuck a cheap bow on his head teasing that here was another present for Carter. It wasn't a great picture, but in hind sight it was pretty poignant. I mean the most amazing gift our family received that Christmas was most certainly our precious baby boy, whose life was spared in that horrible car accident.

As terrible as all that was, it isn't even what has me upset. This next part is the kick in the gut and what that has me crying as I type. At some point I deleted that picture. That one and only picture of Jack on his very first Christmas. Either in the transfer process or in the process of clearing out some space on the camera to make room for other pics, I deleted that picture. I have no idea what I was thinking. I probably thought we had taken other pictures of him that day, or maybe in my haze just didn't realize that it was his first Christmas morning when that picture was taken. Who knows, but feel sick.

I am so sorry my precious baby boy...I'm sure as easy going as you are, you will just laugh and tell me it's no big deal when I apologize time and time again, just like your daddy would, but I want you to know how much I love and that you truly were the best gift we could have ever received that Christmas.

A little privacy?

2011-03-24T21:30:00.000-07:00

When Mr. C is home to keep an eye on the boys, I get to enjoy a rare treat. Closing the door. It's a little thing, but since there is not much (see: 'none', 'never', 'pipe dream') alone time with kids around, closing the door is a cherished luxury.

In an attempt to set up a few boundaries, we've been working on the concept of "privacy" while potty training. But, when I first offered Carter some privacy to do his business, it became clear he thought I was offering him some super special treat he was going to get in lieu of an m&m. To no avail I tried to explain (in toddler-terms) that privacy is a state of being alone, not an object or thing, but it all went over his head.

So, when Carter waltzed into the restroom I was occupying this evening, I decided to seize the moment.

"Mommy would like to have some privacy" I told him before gently nudging him out the door and locking it behind him.

"Ok mommy!" he shouted through the closed door before running off.

"That was easy" I proudly (and prematurely) thought to myself.

Two seconds later the doorknob was rattling. "I brought you some privacy mommy!" he was shouting enthusiastically through the door.

Finishing up, I open the door to see Carter proudly holding out a bouquet of colored pencils.
"Here you go mommy! Here's your privacy!"

"Um, thank you?" What else could I say? I'll take whatever privacy I can get these days.

Jack Jack and more Jack

2011-03-23T21:40:00.000-07:00

I just love this little guy. He just hit 15 months and it's blowing my mind how quickly the months are flying by. Recent developments include, but are not limited to: showing attitude (yes, my sweet easy going guy is giving me some major 'tude these days), babbling in THE most adorable fashion, saying "buh-bye" "hiiiii" and "uh-oh" and blowing raspberries with tremendous frequency. He has cut three molars, bringing the teeth total to 9 soon-to-be 10 with two more bottom teeth poking through any day now. We're cruising a little, but not as much as I would like, crawling or knee-walking is the main way we get around. A trip to the grocery store is not complete without Jack flirting with and charming the pants off of every person he comes into contact with, and being called a 'beautiful little girl' at least once due to the fact that I refuse to cut his lovely locks (on top of the fact that he really is a beautiful baby). He's a huge daddy's boy and cries when daddy leaves in the morning and shrieks with delight when daddy gets home. I won't lie, it hurts my feeling a little, but I also love seeing the bond those two share. We're about 70% weened off the bottle - he still takes one in the morning and after nap and occasionally one before bed. He's pretty consistent about waking up at 7:30 (30 min before Carter), and I love our morning time together before big brother gets up. He's a picky eater...dislikes include all vegetables, berries, citrus, and yogurt (staples in our house) so it's kinda throwing me for a loop. He loves to swing, and his favorite books are currently 'goodnight moon' and 'I love you through and through.' He's a paci-aholic and soothies are his drug of choice, and we take full responsibility as enablers of this addiction. He can blow on a recorder and stack a few wooden blocks, and 'sing' into the toy microphone. He likes playing with cars and the car garage. He's also a pretty good shot on his fisher price basketball game. Turning the light 'on' and 'off' is a favorite pass-time, along with squirming during diaper changes to the point I've had to move things to the floor so I can pin him down with one leg to take care of business. I'm sure there's more, but it's so late, my brain is barely functioning, and the cat just threw up on the rug, so here are a few of the many pics piling up on our hard drive.

Just chillin' in the swing.

Teeth!

Love this little guy!!

See the attitude?? I'm not making it up!

Missing daddy.

Squirmy McSquirmersons

Playtime outside when dad gets home is our favorite time of day!

Sippy cup!

15 months already?!?!

Biting and Kicking

2011-03-22T19:32:00.000-07:00

Biting

C is apparently very sensitive to mosquito bites. This is not new information...a bite behind his ear looked like a goose egg before deflating. Still didn't take the shock out of seeing this shiner swell up after getting bitten on the corner of his eye last week.

Lovely, right?

Kicking
In other news, there was a kicking incident at school. After being pulled aside to discuss the afore mentioned incident with his teachers (can you say 'mortifying'?), I asked him why he kicked this poor child (repeatedly while she was trying to sleep). His response? "I kicked her. Can I have my snack?" What?! I was expecting my sweet boy to be so remorseful, but he seemed to be completely unconcerned with the fact he hurt someone. With all the violent tendencies in teens making headlines, you can see where this whole series of events had me more than a little worried. When we got home, I started looking for resources on aggressive tendencies in toddlers. I just couldn't figure out what was behind this. Luckily, before I could hit the panic button, I came across this article on msnbc.com that discusses how parents should respond when their toddlers act aggressively and what it means. Don't get me wrong, this behavior is NOT something I'll be taking lightly, but at least I have a place to start, some reassurance that this is a normal developmental phase and a little insight into what might have been behind 'the incident'. I can almost guarantee you he was bored and not wanting to take a nap and acting out for attention (which unfortunately he got in spades from both his teachers and me...sigh).

Here's a (not-so-short) summary of the of the article for my re-reading pleasure should the link above ever stop cooperating:

Q: My 3-year-old nephew is extremely aggressive and shows no remorse for harming people or animals. He yells, kicks, hits and takes toys from other children. He laughs about hurting others. His parents dismiss the problem as him being a baby but I’m appalled. I think he’s a meanie. What should be done? Is this kid likely to become a violent, destructive bully — or worse?

A: ...it’s actually normal for toddlers to bite, hit, grab or otherwise act out aggressively. And, no, this doesn’t mean your toddler will become a teen who saves his allowance for the gun show.

...a study tracked 440 children and adolescents over seven years to determine what causes children to become aggressive and violent. They found that violence in the home, including physical punishment such as spanking, was the strongest predictor of aggression in children. Inhibited temperament — the reserved kids who "fly under the radar" — was the second strongest...

Dr. Robert Sege, chief of pediatrics at The Floating Hospital for Children at New England Medical Center and associate professor of pediatrics at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston says, “Toddlers are looking at the world and trying out many of their newfound abilities. One of these abilities happens to be aggression." Even though biting and other aggressive moves are developmentally appropriate, the behavior, of course, isn’t pretty — or acceptable. “When you see this behavior it just means it’s the perfect time for grown-ups to start teaching children important lessons about aggression." All children have a peak of aggression around the age of 2 and parents can help them make the transition from aggressive toddlerhood to socially acceptable kindergartener by laying down the rules for your child each time beforehand. “Tell your child here are things you can do and here are the things you can’t do. Give him the rules. Be concrete.”

When kids are successful at getting along, pay attention! Attention to a toddler is like money to an adult; they can’t get enough of it. “Toddlers will go to extremes for attention even if it’s the negative type, so make sure they’re getting plenty of positive attention. Give them a nod, wink or kiss on the head. Tell the child, ‘I love it when you play so nice with your cousin.'” It’s crucial not to just pay attention when it’s bad behavior.

When there is a slip-up, correct the behavior immediately, but don't give them too much attention for unwanted behavior. “Just tell them ‘no biting’ and do a short time out — one minute per year of age. Afterwards, make it simple. Tell them, ‘I don’t want to see you biting again, now go back to playing.’”

As far as the 3-year-old having remorse, developmentally abstract concepts such as empathy and remorse don't start until around kindergarten age. What you can do in the mean time is build a vocabulary for emotions. Many children don’t have the words to express what they’re feeling, so they act out. Talk or read books like “C is for Curious: An ABC of Feelings” is one example — that teach the child how to identify and express complex emotions such as disappointment, confusion or frustration. “If children hurt another child, show them the child crying and ask them, ‘how do you think you made Suzy feel?’ Get them to start thinking about how their actions impact other people. That’s the beginning of empathy.”

Furthermore, don't just pay attention to the noisy, attention-seeking children...also look for the quiet, withdrawn and inhibited kids. “Inhibited kids don’t connect with people or make friends easily,” says Fischer. “But with these kids one peer or one adult connection can often make a huge difference.”

Wonderful Women Wednesday

2011-02-23T21:11:00.000-08:00

I had a FABULOUS weekend away with my bestest of best college girlfriends at the Inn Above Onion Creek. It was just what the doctor ordered. I rejuvenated my soul with fantastic conversation, laughter (like the gut-busting kind that makes you almost wet your pants) and wine. Lots and lots of wine. I was reminded once again what amazing women I have in my life. I seriously am surrounded by a wealth of female amazingness.

Fueled by a glut of estrogen, I'm sure, I have decided that I am officially making Wednesdays "wonderful woman" day on my blog. Who will read this? Who cares! I love the ladies in my life and I am picking one every Wednesday to dote on (and possibly rip on a little). No worries, aliases will be used to protect the guilty.

Since this is the inaugural Wonderful Woman Wednesday, I am not going to pick anybody (Whaaaa?!?!?!). Yea, yea, yea, I know...not the *bang* you might have been expecting, but I need some time on this one. The lady I have in mind is worth some thought, so stay tuned. Hump day just got a little more worthy of looking forward to!

DIY Art Idea

2011-02-01T13:29:00.000-08:00

I am always on the hunt for great original art. I toyed around with some craft projects in Jack's nursery (like an origami mobile and scrapbook art you can see here), but alas, I'm not sure I have the patience to craft on a regular basis. Unfortunately, that doesn't keep me from brainstorming new craft projects daily! :)

I spied this piece at World Market and couldn't help but think about recreating it on my own. I mean, it would take a little patience to measure and sketch out all the circles, but after that, the sky's the limit. You could create a textural piece by applying varying thicknesses of paint to different sections, or create a mixed media by decoupaging fabric and/or paper pieces into other sections. It could be made to work for any color scheme or style. The original is a little eclectic because it's colorful, random and unfinished, but this basic pattern could take on a very polished and modern look with glossy solid paints in a thoughtful pattern, or a very patch-work quilt look (great for a nursery!) with some patterned paper, and best of all, it could totally be done on the cheap since you don't even have to invest in a canvas, you could do this on a smaller scale on a piece of card stock, and everything else could be scrounged up around even the least-crafty of homesteads! You could use anything to fill in the sections from map colors to left over wall paint, scrap paper, like newspaper, magazine or even old maps or wrapping paper. I'm definitely going to give this a try....probably start small, and maybe work my way up to the full canvas size.

What about you guys? Are there any DIY art ideas you've come up with or been itching to try?

A face only a mother could love

2011-01-31T18:28:00.000-08:00

Clearly that statement does not apply here.

Bottoms up

2011-01-31T18:19:00.000-08:00

Happy Monday! :)

Brain Dump

2011-01-30T16:25:00.000-08:00

Nothing new to report on the home improvement front, and not much going on with the kids, but I've been having a lot of deep thoughts lately. This post is definitely one to skip if you are not...well...me because, you probably won't be able to follow my leap-frog like thought process; but, it's my blog, and I'll brain dump if I want to.

I've recently become familiar with the term Naturalism. According to wikipedia, Naturalism is a philosophy that posits a particular picture of reality, being, and existence that typically excludes the supernatural. In lay-man's terms Naturalism is the belief that being and existence do not occur outside natural law and the observable universe.

Does that mean no heaven?? How depressing.

The afterlife aside, I am confused by scientists that dismiss the supernatural so easily. Not because I believe in the loch ness moster, and not because I believe in ghosts or even creationism, but because I believe that the only consistent and unchanging thing about science is the fact that we continue to prove we do not know everything. Daily the unseen becomes seen. Daily the observable universe expands. Natural law is not a finite set of rules guys. There isn't one concrete set of rules you can reliably hang your hat on for the rest of eternity because pesky little things like space, time and gravity have been shown to be inconsistent thanks to all your hard work, no less!

It's just sad to me when people say they don't know everything, but act like they know enough to say there is no God or afterlife. What a subject to come to a conclusion on. I mean, genes, molecules, viruses...these are frontiers that no scientist in his right mind would say we've seen it all. Yet, the frontier of an afterlife or higher power is wrapped up; the book is shut.

I'll be the first to admit the supernatural, and religion are slippery slopes. There are a lot of stupid, fanatical and superstitious people out there that give spirituality a bad name. I believe whole heartedly in a God. I believe whole heartedly in an afterlife. I'm not 100% on any of the details, but it seems in the history of man, no other belief has been so universally held as one in a deity and an afterlife. It takes many shapes and forms in many different cultures, but every continent, every race, and just about every society from the smallest tribe to the largest empire believed in a higher power. That says something to me. That says that something deep down in our make-up wants to believe (maybe even senses?) there is something bigger than us out there. That this life is not the end. To take it one step further, it is a yearning that does not seem to diminish with time or scientific discovery. Religion has not died out since the discovery of the cell, the atom, evolution or even DNA. Every one of these discoveries, and countless others like it, should have profoundly negated religion, but religious beliefs have persisted in the face of every major scientific discovery. Everything that should have convinced us there is no God, hasn't. My point is, there are observable things going on here....just not under the microscope.

The trouble with God is he is judged by the most vocal of his followers, and sadly, the most vocal are often the least educated. As much as I admire the spirit of anyone speaking up for what they believe in, I wish a few more smart Christians would speak up from time to time. I don't claim to be the smartest of Christians, but I am smart enough to realize the world as we know it was not created in 7 days. The whole idea of a 'day' wasn't even created until around 3500 B.C. with the advent of obelisks that tracked the sun's movement, and the whole idea of a '24 hour' day (or even an hour for that matter) wasn't created until 1500 B.C. (or later) with the advent of sun dials. And even if God, for some reason was privy to the current form of time keeping, the sun wasn't created until the fourth 'day' of the creation story, so how then, if it were a literal story, would the first three 'days' be marked? So, no, the creation story in the bible is not a play by play on exactly what happened at the dawn of life much the same way Revelations will not be a play by of exactly what goes down if an asteroid ever hits the earth. It doesn't mean God didn't create the universe or earth or everything else, it just means the story is not a literal translation of how it happened because you have to remember, the target audience was the illiterate commoner of 1400 B.C., not the 21st century scholar. But, if you ask me, the creation story does correlate very closely to what we do know about evolution. Eerily so for a document that was written thousands of years before Mr. Darwin came along. I mean, for a writer (or writers) who knew nothing about natural selection and gene mutation, primordial soups and such, the author or authors of Genesis did a pretty good job explaining to the common folk how we could go from nothing to something.

Anyway, I don't know where I'm going with all of this, I just know that everything I believe about God and Christianity has been wavering lately. I believe in God, I am just having deep issues with the whole Christ thing and I don't like such huge aspects of my belief system being up in the air, and I'm eager to reconcile these uncertainties, but not sure that I will like what I find if I go looking for answers. Other thoughts have been heavy on my mind, like what I want to be when I grow up (I'm leaning towards flight attendant), or how it is that I can be 30 years old with an amazing husband, house and kids and still find a zillion reasons to be insecure, but I think that's plenty of brain dumping for one day.

The best six-bucks I ever spent

2011-01-25T14:32:00.000-08:00

Our kitchen island is the only logical place to store pots and pans, but it's just a mess under there. It's one big open shelf with this huge venting tube running down the middle and conduit cables running everywhere (our cook top is in the island). Anyway, it's hard enough keeping the pots and pans stacked, but throw in the lids sliding around, and it's just chaos.

I took a trip to Ikea to check out their built-in kitchen storage solutions, but I was just window shopping. On my way out, I spied a cheap plastic drying rack and decided to give it a shot. I can't believe what a difference $6 made!

Baby steps

2011-01-23T22:24:00.000-08:00

We finally had some free time last weekend to jump start a few projects, and I wanted to share the finished product.

I have been toying with the idea of painting our bedroom the color in this photo:

but I was worried it would be too dark (we don't get much natural light in there), so I decided to try it first in the smallest room in the house, the powder bathroom.

The color we chose was Sherwin Williams Deep Sea Dive (the middle color). It's a dark teal that has a little more blue to it than the teal in the inspiration picture.

We took the swatch to Lowes and had it color matched in their Olympic Premium paint with no VOC's. It's about $5-$10 cheaper than a gallon of SW paint, and has almost no odor - very nice when working in tight spaces and around small kids.

Our powder bathroom before (sorry about the angle, it's tight in there):

And after (ignore the arm):

Here's a better shot of the color

Notice anything different other than the paint? I'll give you a hint....it rhymes like packsplash. It's hard to tell because the picture is so dark, but the backsplash is gone. The idea came from a blog I am not-so-secretly obsessed with called young house love (thanks Lindy for getting me hooked!). I do not love our bulky built in sink/cabinet in that tiny room and have been pricing out pedestal sinks. I decided if we'd be demo-ing the whole buit-in someday, it was worth removing the backsplash to see if it made the sink look any less built-in. Plus, it gave me a little room to hone my DIY skills (catch the pun?). I must say....we hit a few road bumps like the hole that was hiding behind one of the pieces of granite.

It took three tries, lot's of cursing and questioning if it we should just put the backsplash back on, but I finally got the hole fixed. You can check out the tutorial I wish I had watched before my first two unsuccessful attempts here.

Between the backsplash, hole repair and paint job it's shocking how many lessons were learned in updating such a tiny room and I'm glad it's over with, but I'm also glad we took a leap of faith and tried something ourselves for a change instead of paying someone to do it. And the verdict on the color? Well, I love it, but it's way to dark for all four walls of our bedroom, so I'm thinking of trying it as an accent wall much like this photo.

Stay tuned! :)

nO Meat Goodness

2011-01-20T18:33:00.000-08:00

If you're anything like me, you are constantly on the hunt for filling, tasty meatless dinners. Well, we've had some hits and misses, but we tried a winner tonight and I just wanted to share.

Lentils and Spinach over Rice
(got the original recipe here, but my version is way better if I do say so myself)

2 cups brown rice (and any additional ingredients required by pkg)
2 TBS vegetable oil
2 med-large white onions, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup lentils
3 cups broth (I used low sodium chicken broth)
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 tsp cumin
2 carrots finely chopped
1/2 of a 14.5oz can diced tomatoes (I used fire roasted with garlic flavor)
3 handfuls of fresh spinach (a little more than 4 cups, I think)
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Cook brown rice according to package directions. (Usually 1:2 ratio of rice to water...mix it together in a pot with a pat of butter (optional), bring to a boil then stir, cover and simmer on low for 35-45 minutes.)

While rice is simmering, heat vegetable oil over medium high heat in a stock pot. Add diced onion and garlic, saute until tender and a nice golden color (about 5-7 min give or take). Add a splash of the broth and stir, scraping the bottom to loosen any cooked-on garlic/onion goodness. Add the rest of the broth, lentils, salt and cumin, give it a good stir, then cover and turn down heat to simmer for 35 minutes. When there are *20 minutes remaining, add the carrots. When there are 10 minutes remaining, add the tomatoes. When there are 5 minutes or less remaining, wilt in the spinach. Season to taste and serve over rice.
*15 minutes or less if you prefer your carrots al dente

I failed to take a picture of the final product because my cooking endeavors are usually not photo-worthy, but the final product looked something like this, only less soupy and with tomatoes

(p.s. the pic is from a lentil soup recipe I found here. Will have to try it, it looks tasty!)

Christmas Card Contest!!! PLEASE VOTE!! :)

2011-01-19T22:24:00.000-08:00

Clearly I am not above begging for votes for our family Christmas Card in order to win a free photo session (first place) or mini photo album (second place) from our amazing photographer Mackenzie Wheatley in her Christmas Card Contest! :)

PLEASE help us out - casting your vote is as easy as 1. 2. 3. 4.!

Step 1:
Become a Chubbyfoot fan on facebook by clicking HERE and then clicking "Like" at the top of the page

Step 2:
Open up the Christmas Card Contest 2011 photo album by either clicking on the link in the news feed, the Photos tab or HERE

Step 3:
From the Christmas Card Contest 2011 album select our card (8th pic in the album last I checked)

Step 4:
"Like" our Christmas Card to cast your vote!

Still confused? Here are some visual aids to walk you through the process. Dad, these are not actual screens, just pictures of screens, so take mental notes, then go back through the above instructions to actually cast you vote :)

Thank you so so much for taking the time to vote! If you feel so inclined, feel free to share these links with friends and family! :)

My what bold colors you have.

2011-01-17T08:38:00.000-08:00

Still not sold on the brown tones, but, we're getting closer!

Not pictured is this color scheme are surprise color(s) I have in store for our interior doors :)

Rome wasn't built in a weekend.

2011-01-17T01:17:00.000-08:00

This is the what I have to keep telling myself when it comes to the ever growing list of things I want to do to the house. Here's just a slice (in no particular order)

Add crown molding in dining, powder, master bath, upstairs bed rms and baths
Add recessed lighting in master, master bath, game rm, living , kitchen and laundry
Add/move/remove light switches in living, dining, game rm, master bed and bath
Add fence extension in front
Add gutters
Replace pulls in cabinets throughout
Replace windows throughout
Paint every rm in the house
Paint and repair exterior siding
Replace upstairs carpet
Replace heating and cooling unit that are original to the house
Add insulation in attic
Add plywood surface in attic for storage
Add plywood fire block in breezeway opening
Add additional back porch light
Replace light fixtures throughout
Replace stair runner
Refinish stairs
Add pocket doors to upstairs bath
Replace or add curtain rods throughout
Remove and replace upstairs blinds
Install blinds or shades in kitchen
Install built in baby gate at top of stairs
Add a lock to Carter's door
Extend tile to the sink areas upstairs
Replace tile in master bath
Extend wood flooring into laundry and back entry areas
Replace any white quarter round with stained-to-match quarter round
Scrape ceiling texture, and paint all ceilings the same color white
Trim out windows throughout
Remove wallpaper from baths, texture and paint
Paint upstairs trim
Build desk for kitchen
Repair or replace broken cabinet hardware in kitchen and baths
Sand and touch up all downstairs trim and cabinets
Adjust trim around fireplace
Paint and reenforce mantle

The kicker is, these are all just some of the *small* projects on the list. Bigger projects include gutting the master bath and completely re-doing it as well as the kitchen.

When I look at this list I get so discouraged, especially after a weekend completely devoted to house stuff...I mean we nearly killed ourselves just to get two or three thing done before thie kids are back.

Anyway, just have to keep telling myself it will all happen, just not in one weekend.

While kids are away, parents will play!

2011-01-16T13:24:00.000-08:00

At the last minute, my parents volunteered to take the kiddos this weekend, which we totally jumped at because there have been a number of projects we've been dying to tackle that require a little bit of demo (not easy to do when little kids are all up in the mix).

Here's a little preview of the fun stuff happening around here:

Like that last pic?? That was dinner last night. Yea, those are plastic ice cubes in box wine, and those are frozen red baron pizzas in the background. We are classy like that.

West Elm has it out for my New Year's Resolutions

2011-01-12T13:37:00.000-08:00

So nothing original happening here in the way of New Year's resolutions. Save more, spend less, exercise more, eat less. Same ole, same ole. Well, we're not two weeks into the new year, and West Elm is just tugging at my heart strings (aka my purse strings) already. I mean, love, love, love and LOVE:

Versatile Aluminum side tables? Yes please, I'll take 2. One in white (which is powder coated for outdoor use) and one in silver.

These lovely pewter dupioni silk panels were something I combed the retail world for about a year ago before settling on some beautiful hand painted linen panels, and apparently I was just ahead of my time, because a year later, viola. Thanks West Elm (not).

They are also having a sale on their blue sage dupioni panels - 50% off with free shipping. Seriously! I am trying to figure out how to work them into the budget as I type. update! Port, a beautiful deep red, is now also on sale for OVER half off with free shipping.

Here's another thing I am convinced W.E. is messing with me on. I searched HIGH AND LOW for something just like their new white slip covered sectional (that was less than 2k) before settling on a large slip covered sofa from JCP. Alas, West Elm, I am just ahead of your time again apparently.

P.S. The coffee table in the pic? Yea, want that too.

I think this chair would look amazing in our bedroom, or pretty much anywhere in our house.

My new bedding obsession are pin-tucks. I love love love this square pin-tuck bedding because it is a lot less feminine than the diamond counterpart which I also love, but less frills means it's more likely to pass the Mr. C test since he tends to veto bedding choices he thinks are girly.

Can I also tell you how much I am in love with the cowhide on the floor?? Yes, I day dream about stepping out of bed onto a dead animal, and no I'm not joking. I'm from south Texas, ok? Lucky for me they sell them at Ikea.

And if a brown and white cowhide is too hee-haw for your tastes, how stunning is this white cowhide???? It's more than twice the cost of the one I'm saving up for at Ikea, but soooo elegant, and in the decorator-world pretty reasonable for a rug of its size.

I have a serious weakness for pedestal tables and this lovely with its salt and pepper wood grain is just stunning. And the mirrored top? Well lets just say I'll be ~~stalking the WE site~~ keeping my eye on this beauty in hopes of a sale.

P.S. I am in LOVE with the paint color in this photo. Anyone have a clue what it is?? I am picturing it our bedroom with our new white pin-tuck bedding our espresso bedroom furniture and a beautiful brown and white dead cow on the floor. Can you see it???

If dead animal hides aren't your cup-o-tea, there are plenty of other rugs I am loving from WE like this beautiful zig zag number:

Which is also available in Espresso:

And this beautiful orange number:

Also available in green:

And I can't forget this yellow beauty which is also available (though much less tempting) in brown.

So there you have it, West Elm is out to single handedly trying to undo my resolution to be thrifty. Ok not really, but it feels like it some times. I'm just having to remind myself that as much as I love all these beautiful things, I love my children more, and would really like to send them to college someday. And until then, little things like new windows and gutters are taking precedent with any cash we can eek out for the house. Guess I'm gonna have to get creative! And maybe bust out a sewing machine. I mean how hard could a pin-tuck be? Don't answer that.

Where does ______ come from?

2011-01-09T15:10:00.000-08:00

Carter has found a new favorite passtime, asking were anything and everything comes from (thankfully he hasn't asked about babies yet).
So, here's a sample of today's contestants in the "Where does ____ come from?" game.

Soup
Time Out
Naughty
Unruly
Fancy
Coke
Pasta
Juice

I try to use these questions as teaching opportunities, but I'm usually the one getting schooled. Take the latest conversation.

Carter: Where does juice come from?
Me: It depends on the type of juice. Orange juice comes from oranges. Pear juice comes from pears. Grape juice comes from grapes.
Carter: Grape juice comes from grapes.
Me: So Carter, if grape juice comes from grapes and orange juice comes from oranges, where do you think apple juice comes from?
Carter: Apple juice comes from the kitchen!

Maybe I should just take Mr. C's approach, and just tell him that everything comes from God or HEB.

It's beginning to look a lot (less) like Christmas.

2011-01-05T09:01:00.000-08:00

Taking down Christmas stuff, but wanted to take a few pictures of the decorations in the tradition of our little Christmas house. I didn't want to put a ton out this year because we were still in the throws of getting settled in, and Christmas Eve and morning were going to be at my parent's house. I did splurge on some real garland, a few potted plants for the front porch and some gold ribbon I can use again (from the Container Store of course :). All-in-all I liked how it came out...not overwhelming, but enough to feel like the holidays, and room to improve and add on next year.

I love our willow tree nativity. It's risky to put it out with the kids, and I'll admit a lamb and a shepherd have had to be super glued back together, but I put the Fisher Price nativity under it to keep the kids from messing with it, and it works as a good distraction about 90% of the time. I do occasionally walk by and notice things moved around, though, like a wise man in the stable with Joseph and Mary and baby Jesus would be hanging out over by the camel. :)

Still torn on the final destination for a tree in this house, but for this year, we hedged it into a corner to limit access to little exploring hands.

This is actually a garland I used to put on our dining table, but our dining room is becoming an office so I wrapped it into a wreath. I liked it so well, I think I may keep it like this for good.

The garland used to light up, but this year one of the strands went out We opted to put it up anyway, and re-evaluate the outside lighting plan next year. Mr. C just LOVES outside lights (ok maybe not so much, but I love outside lights, so he humors me :)

I know it's a little cheesy to decorate the mailbox, but I loved it and hopefully the postman did too. :)

One lucky little booger

2011-01-03T08:06:00.000-08:00

We celebrated the first weekend of the new year with a trip to Austin to visit Mr. C's three living grandparents. We decided to have dinner on Saturday evening at the Black Eyed Pea given it was New Years and black eyed peas are supposed to bring luck if eaten on New Years Day (for a really delicious way to get your yearly dose of good fortune, click here). Plus, they were one of the few restaurants open because it was a holiday.

Well, I don't think we were the only people that had this clever idea because the place was packed and there was a 15 minute wait for a table. Knowing it would take at least 15 minutes to load two kids back into the car and find another open restaurant, we opted to camp out and do our best to corral the kids while we waited.

They had a little display of two champagne glasses filled with uncooked black eyed peas (toasting the new year, and the prosperity back eyed peas bring and what not). It was cute, but Carter kept playing with it. I was so worried he was going to knock the glasses over and spill beans and broken glass everywhere, I failed to notice he had taken a few of the little peas for souvenirs when they finally called our name.

As we were walking to the table, Carter kept sticking his finger up his nose. I kept trying to nonchalantly nudge his finger out of his nostril, but he was very insistent on keeping it lodged right were it was, and to make matters worse, the entire trek to the table, he proceeded to get more and more upset. When we finally got situated at the table, he was in a full-on tantrum. He kept screaming for me to wipe his nose, which I kept doing, but it didn't seem to alleviate whatever had set him off.

Carter had a runny nose for the week prior to all of this, and being prone to nose bleeds, it did not startle me too badly when all of a sudden his nose started bleeding during this chaos. Figuring that was what had been bothering him so badly, I took him outside to try to calm him down and mop up the mess, but he just would not calm down, and I finally just decided to abort dinner and take the kids home.

Once home, the little guy had calmed down, but he was not interested in eating, so figuring he was just tired from a long day of travel and visiting, we changed him into his jammies to get him ready for bed. As I reached for the toothbrush to brush his teeth, he flipped out again. He kept screaming "it hurts" every time I tried to tilt his head back to brush his teeth. All of a sudden, he let out a big sneeze, and out of my son's nose comes........yea, you guessed it. A black eyed pea.

So, if black eyed peas are supposed to bring luck on New Yeas Day, then I think it's safe to say, Carter definitely ~~had~~ is one lucky little booger!!!

Happy New Year! :)

Final Draft

2010-12-31T15:45:00.000-08:00

Because of that pesky Christmas card curse the adorable 2010 Christmas cards my sister-in-law designed for us didn't make it out in time for Christmas, but here are the Holiday/New Year themed cards we opted for as a last minute solution. They came out really well I think!

Here's to having a fun, safe night and a fantastic start on 1-1-11!!!

Hair today, gone tomorrow

2010-12-30T11:16:00.000-08:00

Carter got a much needed hair cut this week.

Before:

After:

Is it just me, or does he not look so much older now? It's breaking my heart how fast he is growing up.

Oh What Fun!

2010-12-30T10:50:00.000-08:00

Christmas Morning 2010

(a photo essay)

Merry Christmas!

Merry Merry!

2010-12-25T09:07:00.000-08:00

Better late than never :)

2010-12-25T09:02:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas circa 2009!

Welcome to the world baby Jack!

Christmas Card Curse

2010-12-20T21:52:00.000-08:00

Our house is where Christmas Cards come to die. We are 0 and 3 for successful Christmas Card mailings at our house. Last year I was on a mission to get our Christmas Cards out before Jack arrived, and was so single-minded in my determination, I actually pulled an all-nighter which caused some serious sleep-deprived consequences which you can read all about here.

So, ironically my obsession with getting our Christmas cards out rendered our Christmas cards (that featured our smiling family of three) quite useless considering we were suddenly a smiling family of four. Oops. No biggie, I just scheduled a newborn session with the photographer, hopped on the computer and put a rush on holiday-themed baby announcements that were the exact size and in a complimentary design to our previous christmas cards. A christmas card addendum so-to-speak since I just stuffed them into the envelopes right along with the original cards.

Sadly, even then, the cards never made it into circulation. I could throw out excuses all day about the difficulties of juggling daily activities with a newborn, let alone a stuff-and-stamp session, but they would just be excuses. Sure, a few choice family members (who happen to stop by) were handed their cards, but other than the few cards that were handed off or stuffed into a shoe box (you know, for the baby album that is still in cellophane), the majority of the christmas cards and christmas card addendum/baby announcements wound up in the recycle bin along with my pride.

It's hard to say what was more upsetting, the fact that I wasted all that money (not to mention paper and ink) on cards that didn't go out, or the fact that I basically never sent out a baby announcement for Jack. I had vowed to never be one of THOSE moms that gypped baby #2 out of any of the pomp and circumstance baby #1 received, and here I was, barely a few months into Jack's life, and was already falling down on the job.

Fast forward a year to our Christmas Card endeavors this year. I had grand visions of tying in a belated baby announcement in the form of "our 7lb 1oz, 19 and 3/4 inch baby boy is now a year old!" (with a cute excuse of why a proper baby announcement never went out), along with a "we've moved and here's our new address!" announcement. I was well on my way to achieving half of my goal too - I gave up on the baby announcement and tied our Christmas card into an address update, but alas, the Christmas Card curse struck again.

The cards were designed by an amazing sister-in-law which left only the printing end of things up to me. Just FYI, copymax and vistaprint SUUUUUCK! Do not, I repeat DO NOT use them for anything you need to look like it was professionally printed. Seriously I could do a better job on a dot matrix, blindfolded and standing on my head than these idiots. So, strike one, strike two. And since I can now no longer get anything printed in time for Christmas, the beautiful Christmas cards we had designed for us are now a bit pointless. Steeee-rike three, you're out! ***heavy sigh of defeat***

I ordered new cards directly from minted.com since I have heard nothing but wonderful things about their quality and was in need of a 'happy new year' themed card along with a reliable printing service that could put a rush on things. All of this is coming at a price of course (sorry Mr. C), but I did get 15% off thanks to their current promotion (15% off holiday cards using HOLIDAY15 at checkout) so here's to hoping we'll get SOMETHING out this year even though it may be the death of me, and here's to hoping next year we can end the curse of the Christmas Card once and for all.

Happy Birthday Jack!

2010-12-12T19:22:00.000-08:00

We had the absolute pleasure and privilege of celebrating Jack's first birthday this weekend with the help of friends and family. We had a cookie-themed first birthday party on Saturday, and were reminded once again just how blessed we are by the people in our lives. Mr. C's parents and my mom and sister were on hand to represent all the amazing grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins that have been by our side this past year, and we had some of my favorite mommy friends on hand with their absolutely precious children to represent our amazing network of friend support that has kept us sane (especially me!) this past year.

Jack's first year flew by even faster than Carter's first year, even though I didn't think that was possible! It really snuck up on me, though, and I turned to Etsy to help me with some of the party planning, ordering a birthday banner for Jack and some cute little favor tags. Unfortunately, they were all sent to our old address, and I was stuck at the eleventh hour with nothing. My amazing family came to the rescue, though. Mr. C took over with the kids Friday evening, and then, after they were in bed, cleaned, straightened up the house and did dishes, and basically secured his title as husband-of-the year for the 6th year in a row. Mom was amazing, as always, baking cookies (which I had planned to do), so I could focus on printing and cutting and glueing away with my sister who was an absolute life saver, staying up with me until 4am creating a new birthday banner and favor tags, and even a door sign and birthday garland. We had so much fun catching up and talking and visiting that I can honestly say, despite the stress and lack of sleep, I wouldn't have had it any other way.

One of the best parts about Friday night was recounting everyone's version of the story from the year before. Since we all had different perspectives on the car accident and the events that transpired, it was interesting to look at the clock periodically and say "well, one year ago at this time, I had just been checked into my room and the phone rang. It was Jenny (my best friend from HS) who was calling to see if I was ok because she had heard about the accident on facebook!" Stephen would chime in with "one year ago at this time, I was rifling through your underwear drawer trying to find the random things on the list you had told me to get from the house for you" and mom would add "Gary and Alice were just getting to the house to watch Carter so I could come meet you at the hospital." Funny little memory points would pop up like the amazing chopped beef sandwiches the Childresses brought from Hinzes Barbecue for Stephen, that they sent with Mom to the hospital, and that Stephen shared with me as my first meal in 32 hours after Jack was born (may have been the best thing I've ever eaten in my entire life). Or the fact that Memorial Herman has a floor that's not on any of the elevator buttons (it's used for storage), but of course Stephen was initially told I was on that floor. Surrounded by the warm smell of cookies, and the sound of laughter, and the wonderful feeling of knowing Jack was safe and sound and healthy and thriving and sound asleep in his crib upstairs, it was just the perfect way to remember how incredibly lucky and blessed we were by the miracle of Jack's birth.

So thank you (!!!) to our friends and family that helped us a year ago when we were coping with the unexpected arrival of our little guy and helped again this year to celebrate, and Happy Birthday to my sweet precious baby boy. You are such a light in our lives and our family wasn't complete until you came along.

My Year in Status

2010-12-08T22:43:00.000-08:00

2010 Facebook Status updates (well, most of them). What a fun little trip down memory lane :)

Because it never gets old.

2010-12-02T14:54:00.001-08:00

Ever.

A Nice New House.

2010-12-02T10:08:00.000-08:00

So, I never officially posted that we have moved!

At the end of October, we bid farewell to our wonderful first home,

and hello to our beautiful new-to-us house!

We told Carter about the move about two weeks before it actually happened, which in hind-sight might have been a little soon because every night after we'd put him to bed, he'd say "tomorrow we move to a nice new house!" It was adorable, but then we'd have to try to explain to him that it wasn't actually happening the next day. I think it did help him to know it was coming, though. We'd have the cutest conversations about what all we were going to take with us to the new house. He'd ask, "take the chair?" ("yes Carter, we'll take the chair"). "Take the shows?" ("yes Carter, we'll take all your shows"). "Take Daddy?" (yes Carter, we'll definitely take Daddy). We also really tried to talk up the new house so that he viewed the move as a fun and exciting thing.

The move went really well thanks to LOTS of help from our family. I took the boys to Mr. C's parents the day before closing, and they watched the boys on closing and moving day. After dropping off the kiddos, I headed home just in time to do our final walk-through on the new place. The next day was closing day (we set up back-to-back closings), and then last minute packing (we worked out a 24 hour lease with the new owner to buy us some time to move sans kids). While we finished up, I had a few of my mommy friends over for one last wine night in the old house for old time's sake. :)

The next day we hit the ground running. Mr. C went over to U-haul at the crack of dawn to pick up a moving van, and I headed to starbucks to pick up some caffeine to fuel the day. Then the fun really started! My uncle was a life-saver. He volunteered at the last minute to help us, and we couldn't have done it without him. He came with his flat-bed trailer, and all his moving knowledge (he's a bit of an expert after moving once or twice in the last few years). My mom and my dad also came with their two vehicles and loads of moving boxes and packing materials. With five sets of hands, five vehicles and the trailer, we were able to get almost everything except for the big furniture pieces over the new house by mid-afternoon. At noon we arranged for a team of three movers to come do the heavy lifting, moving all the furniture into the U-haul. Then, they followed us to the new house to unload all the furniture. Best money spent for-sure...all we had to do was point to where we wanted everything, and they did the rest!

We tied up a few loose ends at the old house (cleaning and paint touch ups mainly) before saying one last teary good bye, and locking up. It was hard to walk away from the house we created so many wonderful memories in, but so exciting to come home to our 'nice new house' as Carter would say :). We ordered pizza and cracked open some champagne and toasted to new beginnings and making new memories.

Good Evening Sky

2010-12-01T20:37:00.000-08:00

Benjamine Moore Evening Sky 833 that is. According to House Beautiful:

"This is a deep, dark inky blue that can look almost black in the shade, but it turns into a rich, deep blue in the sun. It would look just as great on a stone house in the mountains as it would on a faded, silvery-shingled Cape Cod at the beach." -ANDREW FLESHER

Let's hope the same holds true for a traditional red brick wanna-be colonial in south Texas because I have high hopes that this is the color that will take our front door from ho-hum to ooo-la-la!

Stay tuned for pics.

Jack's first Thanksgiving

2010-11-30T14:54:00.000-08:00

Spent the day with my mom and dad and little bro and sis eating, napping, and eating some more. We also got to spend some time with the in-laws celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas (Thanksmas or Chrisgiving we like to call it). It was the perfect warmup for Jack's second first Christmas (because let's face it, he and I both deserve a do-over for his first Christmas since he was SUPPOSED to be in the womb last year on Christmas day).

Next big event on the runway.....Jack's first birthday!! Eeeek!!! Can't believe it's only a week and a half away!

Giving thanks. Showing thanks.

2010-11-28T19:17:00.000-08:00

We celebrated a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend with family and in-laws. Considering Jack's favorite activities in the whole wide world are eating and socializing (not necessarily in that order), he truly enjoyed his first Turkey Day!

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I couldn't help but reflect on just how abundantly blessed I am, have been and continue to be.

I have the most amazing husband in the whole wide world. I know in my very soul we were meant to be together and that God made us for each other. I am a better person because of my husband, not only because of his calming and loving influence, but because he inspires me to be worthy of him and his unconditional love.

I have two absolutely incredible children that have made my life so much more wonderful than I could have ever imagined it to be. Any mom can tell you how hard being a parent is, but in that same breath they will probably tell you just how worth the work it is. Nothing humbles you and delights you quite like parenthood, and to have two healthy children that are growing and thriving is just an indescribable blessing.

I have the best job on the entire planet. For me, nothing could be more rewarding and fulfilling than being a stay-at-home mom, and I am blessed to have a husband that not only supports my job financially, but emotionally, physically, and spiritually.

I live in an amazing home. Every day I wake up and marvel and the beautiful home we are blessed to live in at such a young age. It was made possible by my husband's hard work, the sacrifices of our parents and grandparents, but mostly God's grace.

Those are just the biggies, I could go on for days. With each one of the blessings comes a sense of profound gratitude and indebtedness to God in heaven. Healthy children, a loving spouse, a beautiful home...none of these things are 'earned' or 'deserved', they are gifts from God. I have to remind myself of that every day, but especially on this very wonderful Thanksgiving day. I love the spanish translation of Thanksgiving: 'Dia de Accion de Gracias.' Day of Acts of Thanks. Not just a day of saying 'Thank You', but a day of action...a day of doing. A day of showing God just how thankful we are for his blessings. What did I do to show God my profound gratitude this Thanksgiving? Ate a bunch of food and did a lot of sleeping! :)

Luckily the season of Advent is upon us and the time to start preparing for the arrival of our savior. Acts of hope and examinations of conscience have always been at the heart of the Advent season. Despite the abundant blessings in our own household, it's impossible not to be troubled by the number of people currently out of work, the number of homes being foreclosed on, and the investment funds drying up. The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently reported that over 50 million Americans were members of households that struggled to get enough to eat last year...that number included 17 million children. I think it's safe to say, fear has eclipsed feelings of hope for many Americans these days. So this Advent, my goal is to show my thanks by giving hope to someone around me in need. I missed an opportunity on Thanksgiving to act, but luckily I woke up to a new opportunity the very next day, and the day after that.

If you, like me, have been abundantly blessed, I challenge you to give more this holiday season than ever before. For us that means putting some decorating on hold, and scaling back on our Christmas budget. It's hard to see the plethora of to-do's and want-to-do's around the house and turn the other way, especially when you know you will be expecting guests. It's hard to see the perfect gift for someone and opt for something less expensive in order to stick with your tighter budget. But when those moments strike, I'm going to have to remind myself of the parents that are struggling just to feed their children this Christmas. I can't imagine the stress of being in such a situation, and the thought of giving a mother or father relief from that stress for just a brief moment is my inspiration. If Advent is all about acts of hope, then I can't imagine a more hopeful act than one that promises a struggling family that God hears them, and that His love and grace abound for them, even in their time of trial.

Happy Thanksgiving and Thanks-showing! Love and Blessings,
The C Family

I shoot from the hip.

2010-11-28T17:07:00.000-08:00

I'm a straight shooter. I call a spade a spade. I'm scrappy and I don't take kindly to BS, or being taken advantage of. If you mess with my family, you mess with me. I'm loud and opinionated and full of unsolicited advice, and I absolutely pride myself on the fact that I don't let me people walk all over me. You're either going to love me or hate me, but the way I see it is, if God wanted me otherwise, he would have created me otherwise.

My immediate family is more or less the same way. We're loud and abrupt, and fiercely loyal to one another. Family gatherings are always entertaining, and there is usually drama or fireworks at some point, and that's just how I grew up. We embrace conflict as a part of normal familial relations. It clears the air and makes us closer and stronger. I like to call it the, 'Lather, Rinse, Repeat as needed' philosophy.

You know that old saying, 'opposites attract'? Well, let's just say Mr. C's philosophies on airing family grievances are a tad more reserved. For five years I've worked really hard to keep my scrappy side in-check especially around the in-laws because I've learned the hard way speaking without thinking is like shooting without aiming.

While I don't foresee hanging up my hat or turning in my badge anytime soon, I have some advice for all you fellow quick-draws; happy trails with in-laws are paved by keeping your side arm holstered and your mouth shut. Remember, their ranch, their rules. So happy trails to you, until we meet again. Happy trails to you, keep smilin' until then.

Don't worry, about a king.

2010-11-20T17:32:00.000-08:00

Enjoy :)

Possession is 9/10ths of the law

2010-10-14T11:31:00.000-07:00

I have no idea where that saying originated, or even what it truly means, but going through the home selling and buying process, I'm getting a better idea.

When we first put our house on the market, I went through a period of time where it didn't feel like it was ours anymore, it just became a showroom we were living in. Now that we have a contract (yes a contract!!) on our home, these overwhelming feelings of possession are surfacing.

When Little C first learned the idea of possession, it was cute, especially because he would refer to himself in the third person ("carter's blanket", "carter's cup", etc.). When Little C later started projecting this possession onto things like playground equipment, it wasn't so cute. I'll never forget a day at the park when he shoved some poor little girl off the slide steps and into the dirt. "These are Carter's steps!," he yelled at her. I swooped in as soon as I could to intervene and removed him from the steps he was so fiercely guarding, and I did my best to explain to him playground toys were 'sharing toys'. With his little jaw jutted forward, he refused to meet my eye the whole time I was talking, and when our little discussion was over, he walked away, I could here him talking to himself under his breath saying, "mine. mine. mine." It was certainly an eye opener to see how strong this need to possess things was.

Well, I can say, I get it. I feel just like Carter these days. Inspections, appraisers, the buyer wanting to move in the second the keys are in her hot little hand. I find myself thinking, mine. mine. mine! This house is MINE! This was our FIRST house. This is the house I brought my babies home to! How on earth can this house belong to someone besides us?!

Then, Mr. C, in his very gentle and loving way, reminds me that it's just a house. A few walls and a roof. What made it so special is coming with us, our family. So, as much as it kills me to turn this house over to someone else, and as much as I can not imagine it actually belonging to someone else, I take comfort in knowing that my home is not a house, it's where ever my family is.

Life Explained with Scientific Graphs.

2010-10-07T11:06:00.000-07:00

Just another day at the office.

2010-10-01T17:44:00.000-07:00

After some long sleepless nights and 10 clearly ineffective days on an antibiotic, Baby J headed back to the doctor because his single ear infection from last week had became a dbl ear infection this week. Armed with a new antibiotic, we turned our attention to the two showings that popped up that afternoon. Because the laundry had piled up to the ceiling with the kids being sick, we just loaded it into the car and headed to the laundry mat. Couple rolls of quarters and a few hours later, I had the 10 plus loads completely knocked out. Once the laundry was done, house was shown and children were adequately medicated, we called in reinforcements. My mom arrived just in time for me to take Mr. C to the ER with a 105.6 fever. Verdict, pneumonia. Turns out I wasn't the only one getting run down by all the sleepless nights and craziness. On the upside, we got an offer on the house. Not a reasonable one, but it was encouraging. And the absolute high point of the week was last night when Jack CRAWLED!!!! Grammy noticed when we put his long-legged pjs on and he was on the carpet, his knees were more padded. So look for the little guy to be in nothing but pants from now on in hopes that the four point crawling will continue even on the hardwood!

Jack FOUR PT CRAWLING - WOOO WHOOOO!!!!

It's always darkest before the dawn.

2010-09-27T20:46:00.000-07:00

The past few months have been rough, and part of why I started running is I am not very good at it so it hurts. There is something profoundly purifying about the discomfort. I like to run at night so I can crank the music up and just pound the day away one step at a time. Tonight was especially hard. I could just feel the negative thoughts creeping in until this song came up. I've had a thing for Alpha Rev's lead singer since high school. To say he is talented is an understatement, more like he was put on earth to sing. This video is a Rorschach inkblot, and for many reasons this song has been my soundtrack this past summer. It's just a reminder to me that life should not be measured or defined by the material and inconsequential, and that a beautiful new beginning can be embraced at any moment you choose.

9 months!

2010-09-27T14:02:00.000-07:00

Jack is 9 months old! He is army crawling, sitting up, babbling, taking 2 naps/day, and he's eating three meals of baby food with lot's of little bites of table food thrown in. We are trying desperately to get on a solid schedule of 4 x 8oz bottles/day, but coming from nursing on demand, we are not there yet and if Jack had his way, he would get 8 x 4oz bottles/day.

3/4 of a year old!

Carter wanted to help with the photo shoot :)

Seems like yesterday it was Carter's 9 month birthday!

We've had some big developments this month. Jack is seeing and occupational therapist from Texas' Early Childhood Intervention program for weakness and delayed development on his right side, and the other big development is Jack's pressure helmet. He has a combination of plagiocephaly and bracheocephaly. He was in the gray area as to whether to helmet, and after a couple months of debating we decided to bite the perverbial bullet and put him in a starband helmet. He wears the helmet for 23 hours a day, and only gets to take it off for bath time when we douse it with rubbing alcohol to keep the sweaty gym-sock smell at bay. He goes in every three weeks for follow-up scans and they shave portions of the helmet off as his head grows to direct the shape of his expanding skull. We started the process a bit late, so there's a chance he could be in the helmet for up to 9 months, but because his case is very mild, we are extremely hopeful it won't take that long. He adjusted really well and doesn't seem to mind it too much, but it is so hard not to be able to snuggle his little head under my chin and in the south texas heat, it's definitely not the most comfortable thing to wear all day long!

Another shot of our happy boy - what a blessing you are!

Tuft Luv

2010-09-27T12:45:00.000-07:00

I'm currently, and for while now have been, in love and obsessed with all things tufted. When shopping for a couch for our living room, I had to restrain myself from getting a red leather chesterfield I found on craigslist (which lasted for about a second before some other lucky dog snached it up). Anyway, I think the practical side of me and the not-so practical side of me have been in an uneven battle on this front because as much as I am smitten with tufted furniture, I currently own zilch - something about cat hair and kid dirt and those beautiful wells created by those beautiful covered buttons just don't seem to go together. But lo and behold, while aimlessly surfing the web I stubbled across the perfect marriage of form and function at my new favorite online destination ZGallerie, their willow couch.

The three reversible cushions are ideal for max amount of seating and hiding dirt, the tufting is only on the back of the sofa, not the arms or the seat, so it's less likely to collect dirt and the icing on the cake.... polyester microfiber! A super kid-friendly fabric I love as evidence by the fact that my dining chairs, breakfast chairs and glider are all covered in it. I can just picture two of these lovelies facing each other decked out with some beautiful cushions on either side of a fireplace. Throw the cow-hide rug that I have been craving for over a year down in the middle under a big square glass top coffee table, and you are looking at my dream living room. Now, just gotta sell our house, buy a new one and win the lottery :)

Ask me for my work number and you'll get my home number and a dirty look.

2010-09-23T00:33:00.000-07:00

I hate it when people ask me, 'do you work?' Yes. I work very hard. This week for example, Carter has pneumonia, Jack has an ear infection, they both have pink eye, Jack is teething, and neither of them are self-sufficient or potty trained or sleeping for that matter. Just to get kids up and dressed and medicated takes an act of congress, then the real fun begins. Jack takes bottles, Carter uses sippy cups, which means loading and unloading the dishwasher takes the better part of a day. Entertaining two kids who are under house arrest and on conflicting nap schedules is a goat rodeo. Meals are a nightmare. Carter is at that picky eater, everything has to be cut up and most ends up in his lap or on the floor stage; Jack is between baby food and finger food which means everything has to be cut up or pureed and most end up on the ceiling, walls, floor, in his hair, on his clothes or mine. Laundry, for the afore mentioned reasons, is staggering and I haven't seem my husband since August thanks to his hectic work schedule. The icing on the cake? The house is still on the market which means at the drop of a hat we could have a showing. Sheesh. Do I work?? Heck yea I work! In fact, I'm thinking of getting a job in order to take a break from this madness.

August 2010.

2010-09-07T22:41:00.000-07:00

Well, this August was about as crazy and emotional as May 2010.

Happy birthday Grandmommy!
Stephen's Grandmommy celebrated her 85th birthday and we were lucky to be there to celebrate with her. We had a good time in Austin and stayed with Stephen's Papa. On Sunday we even had the chance to poke around the UT campus. Definitely brought back memories and made me realize just how badly I hope Carter and Jack will go to Texas someday!

House for sale
After some serious intervention from a cleaning crew, a landscaper and a storage unit, we finally got out house on the market. But as we found out, when putting a house up for sale with two small children, cleaning up and staging is only half the battle, keeping the house clean and being on-notice for showings at the drop of a hat is draining. Our solution?? Keep the kids out of the house as much as possible! We have been eating out a lot these days and trying to stay gone on the weekends.

Last visit to Granddad
My mom's father turned 90 back in June, but because he was undergoing radiation treatment for lung cancer, his birthday celebrations were postponed to August when he would be finished and have some of his strength back. The actual celebration weekend coincided with Grandmommy's birthday celebrations, so we made a separate trip the next weekend to wish him a happy birthday and let him meet Jack - who is named after him (John). I knew something was not right when I got a call from Grammy while we were still on the road. She just said that Granddad wasn't feeling very good and to call once we got there and see if it was a good idea to bring the boys in or not. I tried not to read to much into the phone call, and when we got there I called like she had asked. She said to go ahead and bring the boys in for a short visit but that it might not be a good idea for them to stay long because Granddad was in bed and resting. He was very tired and weak when got there and he was oxygen and having trouble catching his breath, but we brought the boys in one at a time to say hi, and then Stephen took them to the hotel and I stayed behind to visit with Grammy. I had no idea that would be the last time they would see their great Granddad.

While I was there, I sent a text to mom asking what I could do to help since Grammy seemed like she was pretty much on her own taking care of Granddad. Mom didn't get the text until later that evening while we were on our way to have dinner with friends, but she immediately called to ask me what was going on. I told her what I saw, but didn't think it was that big of a deal...I hadn't seen him since December, before he was diagnosed with the cancer and before he had undergone the radiation, but mom's concern was palpable, and it turned out to be very founded. He was back in the hospital by Monday, and I made plans to come back to see him the second weekend in September, but by the end of the following week my mom and her family were making hospice arrangements. It all happened to fast, I never guessed that this weekend would be our last visit.

My baby sister the Aggie
Because Mom was in Dallas helping out with Grammy and Granddad, the boys and I headed to College Station to help Becca move into her dorm. It was so funny to see how tiny the dorm rooms were and reminisce and just be excited for Becca as she starts this new chapter. I'm not sure how much physical help we were, but hopefully we provided some moral support; Jack was our little move-in mascot, he had a blast playing in the boxes!

Supper Club
Because our infamous waterbaby group just can't get enough of each other, we started a monthly supper club a while back to give us a chance to socialize as couples. I absolutely love this group of women and hope our husbands continue to put up with our shenanigans! :) Great memories are made every time we get together.

Seattle and (almost) Portland
It was a trip two years in the making, and it was well worth the wait. We have so many pics, I'll put them in a separate post. Mr. C and I had a fabulous time in Seattle and a fabulous day in Portland. Our trip was cut short when we got the news that Granddad had passed away. While we were dissapointed we didn't get to meet sweet Caroline who we had been so excited to visit, we got to have a great dinner with Caroline's mommy and daddy and are definitely planning for a Portland do-over next summer! :)

I'm 30??
Our last night in Seattle, Stephen and I had dinner at the top of the Seattle Space Needle, and on our way to dinner, we stopped off at the flagship Nordstroms to pick up my birthday present - a new pair of boots!

It was just a perfect night, but the next morning was when I got the call about Granddad, and the following day we were on a plane back to Houston. As we touched down, Stephen leaned over and whispered "Happy Birthday!" It completely caught me off guard because in all the chaos of changing our travel plans, I had totally forgotten about my birthday. I had plenty of opportunities to celebrate, including a delicious italian dinner at my in-laws when we arrived to pick up the boys, but the actual day-of was just very emotional and surreal.

I missed the boys SO much...the trip had been the longest I had been away from either of them, and I definitely underestimated how much I would miss my little guys. At the beginning of our trip, Jack decided he didn't want to take a bottle and that didn't help things, but Grammy C had it under control and worked her magic. By the time we got home, Jack was taking the bottle beautifully AND he had packed on some weight! And as it turned out, I got to see the boys on my birthday, and truly whatever the circumstances were, there was absolutely no better birthday present imaginable.

Jack's First Tooth!
As if getting to see my happy and thriving boys ON my birthday and to see how much fun they had been having with Grammy and Grandpa was not amazing enough, Jack cut his first tooth on my 30th birthday. What a special milestone, and I'm so glad I was there to catch it.

S aying goodbye to Granddad.
Reeling from a whirlwind month, we loaded the car up for one last road trip. I wish I could say we ended the month on a happier note, but it's never easy say goodbye to a loved one.

So, between our crazy May and our emotional August, I can say we are eager to put summer behind us and move forward into fall and all the comforting routines and holidays that come with it.

Second first-day-of MDO (or third?)

2010-09-06T22:00:00.000-07:00

Well it's back to school time again which means it's time for MDO! We're trying a different school this year that is a little closer to home, and we've bumped C up to two days a week. We missed his first two days of class because we were on vacation, but Thursday was his first day, so we made a big deal out of it. He was SO cute, handled drop-off like a pro, and it broke my heart walking him to class because seems like yesterday we were doing this for his first first-day-of MDO.

What a handsome little guy!

Saying Goodbye to Granddad

2010-09-01T23:51:00.000-07:00

Granddad started out as 'Granddaddy' if I recall correctly. He wasn't a very feely-fuzzy kind of man, though, and the shorter title he later took on seemed more of a fit. Growing up, I hesitate to say he got stuck with me during summer visits, but because I didn't have any brothers or sisters for the first 7 years of my life, and because Grammy was often busy in the kitchen, Granddad was usually left in charge of entertaining me.

Granddad may not have been in-tune with the girly princess scene, but he sure knew how to make a summer afternoon interesting. He would take me to Lake Meredith to feed the carp (trash fish, he called them, and it was true, they'd eat anything), or to the park to see the birds at the 'bird prison', or if it was near the 4th of July, he'd pick up some black cats and then we'd drive out into the country and set them off. He'd use old shot gun shells as mini-cannons and tell me stories of a cousin that blew off his thumb playing with fireworks irresponsibly, and stress that safety and caution had to be used (as we held shot gut shells loaded with small artillery in our bare hands). Even days spent at their small home where they raised my mom and her four siblings were fun. He'd don his work coveralls and we'd spend the mornings at the breakfast table where he would do crossword puzzles in ink without breaking a sweat, and I would eat cereal and drink orange juice out of the same bowl and cup my mom used when she was a little girl. The afternoon would be spent in his small garage workshop where he would let me sit and visit with him while he worked on all sorts of interesting pet projects, usually making his own bullets or rebuilding some small appliance. I remember he had this old mason jar filled with spare typewriter letters that I loved to play with, and in the evenings we would play cards and he would let me have one hershey kiss for every ten points I scored from the glass candy dish in the living room. When I was a little older he would take me shooting, and always let me stand a little closer to the target in order to get a 'perfect shot'. Always the jokester, we had a running dialogue for years and years of pg rated jokes, many of them directed at aggies, that we would trade back and forth via birthday cards, letters and phone calls.

He was full of spunk and had a unique sense of humor that often came across as sarcasm (which I totally inherited). He wrote countless letters to editors, politicians and civic leaders that were direct and hilarious and could make up a book they were so funny. To this day I call my honey 'bee spit' and call the cool whip 'shaving cream' on my pumpkin pie. Granddad's taste in food definitely reflected his unique personality. Fruitcake, black licorice and all things sour were favorite 'treats' (yuck). I half believe he might have trained his pallet to embrace the unpopular just to spite the majority. He'd always opt for a slice of cherry pie or some other fruit-themed dessert instead of something sweet and chocolatey, but we did share a love for Root Beer!

I loved the stories my mom would tell of him from her childhood. How he worked on all of their cars, which he would buy used and nurse along to save money (he was very good at saving money) and how he was color blind and would put together interesting outfits for church. Or how he would get so mad at the family cat when he would run over some prey left in the yard with the lawn mower and go stomping around like he was going to take away one of her nine lives only to blow a big puff of air in her face when he finally found her, before resuming his chore.

As I grew, I learned to admire him for more than his wit and intelligence. He was a very devout Catholic and his strong faith and dedication to the church were undeniable. He was never one to compromise his moral compass just because a situation or circumstance made doing the right thing difficult. In fact, I imagine that when it was a challenge or when it was unpopular might have been when he most enjoyed standing up for what he believed in.

So while Granddad will never be remembered by me as a feely-fuzzy granddaddy, I can say without a shadow of a doubt, I know he loved me, and he will always will be my very special, one-of-a kind Grandad, and I will miss him greatly.

Give 'em hell up there in heaven Granddad, and tell uncle Johnny that I can't wait to meet him.

Fun with Photo Booth

2010-08-18T09:22:00.000-07:00

Carter and I had fun playing around with the photo booth application the other day while Jack was napping. In addition to the traditional photo booth style photos you can choose all sorts of backgrounds and effects and what not, but one of the most fun features is the video. It's not the highest quality, and if you run too long, the sound and picture get off, but seeing yourself while the camera is rolling is the height of instant gratification for a toddler!!

May 2010.

2010-08-13T17:27:00.000-07:00

Note: This is a really old post that never was published due to the craziness surrounding the month, but I wanted to get it up for that blog2print book I am going to do *someday*.

This month has been crazy. A month of high highs and low lows for sure. We celebrated Carter's second birthday, with a pancakes n pj's themed party (post to come) followed by a little family celebration on his actual birthday. It was a wonderful day, so joyful and heartwarming and nostalgic for us as parents, but we got some very sad news that same week about Stephen's beloved Grandma. She passed away the morning before Carter's birthday, and the loss hit us all very hard. She was direct and sharp and warm and loving all at the same time. I can say that she was one of those incredibly strong and amazing women that left a lasting impression on every life she touched, and mine was no exception.

Stephen's surprise 30th birthday party was planned for the weekend following the funeral services, in conjunction with a college friend's wedding, and we opted to keep to the plan even though it meant two trips to Austin in the span on a few days. It worked out really well, and I was just reminded once again what an amazing man I married along with what an amazing family I married into. The weekend couldn't have happened without the help of my in-laws and my parents, but it was such a success thanks to Stephen's friends and family and we totally caught Stephen off guard! He was super surprised, to say the least, and it was just a wonderful party even though the celebration was a tiny bit bitter-sweet, all things considered.

Then, we had the absolute joy and pleasure of ending the month on an amazingly sweet note, when my sister-in-law married her prince charming exactly one year to the day after they were engaged. It was a hot summer day, and to say Carter was not on his best behavior is the understatement of the century, but we survived and the bride and groom were picture perfect and so in love. You can see a few of their absolutely amazing wedding pictures here.

And last but not least (and I can add this part now that the news is public!), we found out there will be another little baby joining the family in January!! Stephen's older sister and brother-in-law let us know they were expecting baby #3 during family time together at the funeral, and it was just a reminder that life goes on, and the sad times make the happy times just that much sweeter.

All-in-all it was a month of so much joy, and even though Grandma's passing was and is a tremendous loss, it is a celebration in its own right because she is at last in paradise.

6, then 7, now almost 8 months!

2010-08-13T16:55:00.000-07:00

So, Jack has apparently not stopped growing despite my lack of recording his monthly milestones, which means I have some catching up to do!

6 months - I am honestly already foggy on any major 6 month milestones (shameful, I know), but I am noticing from pictures, that somewhere between 6 and 7 months we stopped swaddling him. That was a big step!

7 months - He sat up for the first time ON his seven month birthday. He is still a little wobbly, though :) Bath time became a big hit once he could sit up, as he LOVES splashing.

With 8 months around the corner, I can say we've definitely seen some of the biggest changes in the last month. Jack has gotten onto a pretty set routine of 3 naps a day, and he's eating more and more solid food at feedings. We are still working up to 2oz, but he also really loves teething biscuits and mum mums. We avoid cereals like the plague because as it is, his little digestive system moves VERY slowly. He's definitely 'talking' more, but still just a lot of 'ahhh' sounds with the occasional raspberry thrown in :) He loves kisses and hugs and people to smile at him. He is SUCH a flirt...he'll smile and giggle at all the ladies he sees when we are out. He's a ladies man for sure.

Red White and Blueberries

2010-08-13T16:52:00.000-07:00

Fantastic low key fourth of July weekend. Saturday we made a whole event out of our trip to the apple store to pick up our new computer!! The purchase was over a year in the making, so a little celebratory Starbucks and Cinnabon was definitely in order along with a little playtime at the mall's indoor playground to keep the two year old from self-imploding after an hour in the stroller.

Sunday we had the pleasure of enjoying the baptism of Jack's future wife (yes, I believe fully in arranged marriages now that I am a parent). Then my dad came over and we grilled some hot dogs and set off a few fireworks. I discovered I am a bit of pyromaniac. Not overly surprising to anyone that knows me, I'm sure.

Monday was equally fantastic. We slept in a little, then took a trip out to Moorhead Blueberry Farm. It was AMAZING. Definitely check this place out if you are in the Houston area! It was exactly what you picture a pick-your-own blueberry farm to be...quaint, picturesque, oh and did I mention it's FREE to go?? Absolutely no admission cost, and the delicious, organic blueberries are all $1.50 a pound! They also do not discourage 'sampling' and welcome kids of all ages...translation: when your two year old eats more blueberries than they pick, you won't getting anything but a beaming smile from the owners.

Word power

2010-08-13T16:48:00.000-07:00

Carter's first (correctly pronounced) two syllable word was cookie.

First three syllable word: Banana

First four syllable word: Galileo (thank you baby einstein)

First five syllable word....drum roll please......CONGRATULATIONS! As in 'congratulations to Aunt Bethany and Uncle Joe' (yea, I know we're a little late, but I swear, we've been working on it since before your wedding!) So a belated congratulations to the newly weds!

Working on a video to add soon, promise :)

In other news, I enjoyed a wonderful getaway weekend trip to Dallas where I met up with friends to relax, dine and lounge poolside at the fabulous Casa de Riddell and it was here that I witnessed the adorable Miss Reeses Pieces bang out the 'may I's' like nobody's business. Seeing another toddler capable of such politeness, I decided it was time to hold Carter to a higher standard with the manner words. I can say that he is now totally able to get anything he wants from me with his, "May I have some....you name it,...puhlease mommy?? (insert adorable smile to melt your heart and seal the deal)." He even managed to sweet talk me into letting him have oatmeal AND yogurt on the morning that the realtor was coming to photograph the house. (half an hour later, I am scrubbing gunk off the wall as the realtor is ringing the doorbell). So there you have it, I am a ~~gigantic sucker~~ victim of my own success :)

Busting at the seams

2010-07-28T22:51:00.000-07:00

Once again, I apologize for the lack of posts. We are in the throws of putting our home on the market. With two growing boys, and all the accessories that seem to come with them, we are just completely out of room around here!

Yes, it seems, we have outgrown our cozy little 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 1900sq ft. bright, airy and open home (and might I add immaculate and loaded with upgrades like hardwood floors and granite counter tops). Sooooo, if you know of anyone that would like to take this beauty (that is conveniently located within walking distance to hiking trails, a fantastic elementary school and TWO parks) off our hands, please have them contact our amazing Realtor, Brenda Williams of Houston Fine Homes!!

Here is a video of my adorable children as a consolation prize for putting up with my shameless plug. I will warn you, if you are not of the grandparent persuasion, you ~~may~~ will find this incredibly boring. I promise fireworks next time. No really, fireworks. I have pictures for a 4th of July post I need get up before it's August!

Weaning 7 month old (?!)

2010-07-20T10:45:00.000-07:00

In the next 6 weeks, I need to wean Jack who currently nurses on demand throughout the day and he currently eats just a bite or two of baby food at each sitting and only takes a bottle if REALLY hungry.

This is a loose interpretation of our typical day. If any of you have any advice (ie: step-by-step directions) on how to go about this, please share!

7:30 to 8 a.m.: Everybody is up and Jack nurses.

8 a.m.: Jack is offered cereal and/or fruit baby food (which he eats very little of) while Carter eats breakfast. Then, I offer Jack a 4oz bottle of formula (of which, he currently drinks zilch).

8:30 to 9 a.m.: Jack plays on the floor while Carter watches cartoons and I get dressed. Then, Jack nurses before going down for a nap (should this be the first feeding I drop??).

Between 9:30 and 10 a.m.: Jack goes down for a nap and I try to spend time entertaining Carter and squeeze in some laundry and cleaning. Exceptions are trips to the gym a few days a week...everybody gets packed up and Jack naps in child-watch (poor second child).

Between 11:30 a.m. and noon: Jack wakes up from his nap and nurses. I prepare lunch for the kids. Jack has a few bites of veggie baby food and he also gets finger foods to play with and a sippy cup of water. Then I offer him a 4oz bottle (usually the same one from breakfast) which he thinks is comical.

1 p.m.: Carter goes down for a nap and I spend some one-on-one time with Jack.

Between 1:30 and 2 p.m.: We try for our second nap. Jack usually nurses before sleeping (should this be the first feeding I drop??).

4 p.m.: Everybody is up, and Jack nurses while Carter has a snack.

4 to 5:30 p.m.: The boys play or if need be, we run quick errands.

6 to 6:30 p.m.: We have dinner. Jack has a few bites of baby food with finger foods from our plates (which he hasn't quite gotten the hang of yet). I also offer him that same bottle of formula before dumping in down the drain.

7 to 7:30 p.m.: The kids have some playtime while we clean up from dinner then bath time.

8 p.m.: Pj's are on all the kids, and Carter is read stories.

8:30 p.m.: Carter goes to bed.

9 p.m.: I nurse Jack and put him to bed.

You might be wondering why I am so clueless having weaned before. That is because the last time around we weaned in the span of about 2 weeks, not 6, and Carter was wolfing down the solids. Not so much this time around, so I am not sure where to begin.

I must write.

2010-07-11T22:41:00.000-07:00

Something...gotta write something, I am so behind, though, I don't know where to start.

Carter's vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds. He is a parrot in every sense, and I will admit, hearing what I say coming from the mouth of my child is very self effacing. He is smart. REALLY smart. He knows all his letters, upper and lower case. He knows the sounds they make and to take it a step further, if you ask him "what words start with 'P'?" he will rattle off a dozen appropriate words. He knows all of his colors and dozens of shapes including octagon, hexagon, trapezoid and parallelogram. He is still shaky on numbers, but I have no doubt he will master those in short order. He is a good sized toddler with incredibly wide feet. He does somersaults with perfect form and is tall enough to reach anything on the counters. He can climb on top of any surface in the house and does if I am not paying attention. He kicks with his left foot and throws with his left hand, but he hammers, eats and writes with his right hand. He is getting pretty good at catching, and throws pretty well. We haven't tried batting yet...I am fearful of indoor batting practices. He loves puzzles, blocks, large legos and balls. His favorite activities are reading, coloring, dancing and sadly watching TV. I am trying to get better about limiting that last one as it has become a crutch during the hot months (which in south Texas are Feb - November). He has recently started to 'read' some of his favorite books. "I Love You Through and Through" was the first one he 'read' us, and "Teddy Bear Teddy Bear" was the second. It's so cute to hear him.

Jack is a joy. He is definitely figuring out that he needs to speak up or his older brother will get all the attention (as in the squeaky wheel gets the grease, not as in we ignore him because we love Carter more). He is getting his little hind end up under him like he might crawl, but no forward progress just yet. He does get around quite well rolling and scooting (mainly backwards). He is the smiliest baby to ever exist, and the cuddliest. He will actually hug you...it's the best feeling in the whole wide world. He is babbling more, but mainly vowel sounds. Just in the last day or so, I have heard some 'mmmm' sounds, but other than that, it is just lots of different pitched 'ahhhhhs'. At the moment, he takes three naps a day, but I have a feeling we will be dropping one of those in the next month or so. We have started solid foods, mainly a little baby food at dinner time, but he's not too interested yet. Oddly enough, carrots and peas have been the two biggest hits. Peaches and prunes the least popular. Still concerned about some discrepancy between his motor skill development on the right vs. left side, mainly in his legs. ECI is coming out to evaluate this month, but I am worried they will just see a bright happy thriving child and not see what I am seeing. In re-reading that last sentence, I realize how strange I sound, but while he IS happy and thriving, there IS something going on with his motor skill development and while it may be something that will just correct itself with time, as a parent I want to make sure I do everything I can to be proactive about the situation. He is not sitting up yet, but he is getting there. He is pretty steady in the Bumbo and with enough pillows around him, he can sit propped up for a few minutes before tumbling to one side or the other. He doesn't bear his weight on his legs except for a few seconds, which bothers me, but he is strong and I have no doubt he will be running after his brother as soon as he possibly can. Already, he just lights up every time he sees Carter. He gets so excited and starts wiggling and flapping as if he is just trying to will himself after him.

Carter is becoming more and more aware of Jack too. The other day, I was fixing dinner and Jack was fussing. Not being at a point where I could walk away, I asked Carter to go 'talk to baby Jack'. I didn't actually think he would do anything, but it was worth a shot. A few seconds later I realized Jack wasn't fussing anymore. I peered into the living room to see Carter laying on the floor next to him and they were just smiling at each other. Another time, I was rocking Jack and he was crying and Carter brought me a pacifier for him, which was just what he needed. And Carter loves to come with me to check on Jack when he is sleeping. When we tip-toe into Jack's room, Carter will hold his finger up to his mouth and say 'shhhh baby Jack is sleeping' :)

I think I always assumed I would have a favorite...not one that I shouted from the rooftops was my favorite, but one that I secretly favored. I mean, honestly, how can you love two people the same amount? Yet, I can say, I love them both infinitely. I love each of them for their very different strengths, and I love each of them more for their relationship with one another.

So, lots of rambling, but I needed to capture a snapshot of life as we currently know it before my mushy mommy brain lost the memories for good. If you kept up with me, thanks, if not, no hard feelings :)

Promise to have more pics and videos in future posts.

Sun drenched

2010-07-07T12:32:00.000-07:00

Recently did our bi-annual family photo session with the fabulous Mackenzie Wheatley of Chubby Foot Photography. Note to self, 9am is not nearly early enough to beat the south Texas heat. We were all DRENCHED with sweat minutes into the shoot. The fact that I got overly ambitious and had Mr. C haul furniture into a field did not help things in the slightest. Still, Mackenzie's talent won out and I was just blown away, yet again, by what she captured.

Here are a few of the highlights!

On second thought...

2010-07-03T12:57:00.000-07:00

Un-privitizing the blog. Turns out the 'rents don't have gmail accounts and didn't really feel like creating them, and since they comprise well over 70 percent of my 'avid readers' list, we've opened the blog back up to the viewing public (cue deafening applause, or crickets, whatever, it all sounds the same on this end :).

Don't worry, if you haven't been able to view it, you haven't missed anything. I have been choosing sleep over blogging the last few months (craziness, I know), but I've got my priorities back on track as we are now the proud owners of a new.....wait for it....MacBook!! So I foresee many an irrisponsibly late night in my future playing around and catching up on my blogging.

Peace out my home skillets. Check back soon!

Between you, me and the fence post

2010-05-20T22:36:00.000-07:00

Privitizing the blog. Lots of reasons, and I know it makes it a bit of a pain to follow/visit, but thanks for understanding :)

Love our lovies

2010-05-15T21:55:00.000-07:00

Don't know if anyone besides me remembers this sweet picture of Little C with his lovies...
In honor of Carter's lovie obsession, Grammy C hooked Jack up with a precious lovie of his very own which he has recently started to enjoy. He loves the soft fabric and it's become a must-have when we are in the car. My boys certaintly love their lovies! :)

Nursery Magic

2010-05-14T23:36:00.000-07:00

You'll have to excuse the poor photo quality, it was late! :)

Mirror I found at Marshals

The origami mobile I made

My 'wall flowers' as I call them that a lot of craft-love went into

Each one was made from scraps of scrapbook paper (same paper I used for the mobile)

Wall letters I painted, drilled then strung together with floral wire (also left over from the mobile project)

Lamp and table were two more Marshals finds.

And when Jack outgrows his nursery and we convert it into a big boy room, this little yellow table will look great in my living room! :)

Big special thanks to Mr. C for putting up with all my 'little' craft projects, and for using his handy laser level to help me hang the wall flowers (at 11 o'clock at night!)
I couldn't help but put a little extra effort into this nursery since my initial decorating plans came to an abrupt halt after the car accident that led to baby Jack's miraculous but early arrival. The room will undoubtedly morph and change in the near future seeing as we are already short on storage in there, but in the mean time, it was important for me to create a beautiful, calming and magical room that reminds me of just how precious and lovely a baby is and how important it is to cherish those fleeting moments of childhood. And I also hope that maybe, just maybe, we'll be able to use this relatively gender neutral decor again someday (three to five years from now) :)

Mobile Madness

2010-05-14T06:13:00.000-07:00

I have been working on a special project for Jack's nursery...an origami mobile. I started and finished it this week, and (unlike many of my recent craft projects) was pleasently surprised how easy this was to make. I got the idea from a post on one of my favorite blogs, younghouselove.com. Jack even enjoyed watching it while it was a work in progress hanging in the living room.

5 months and the big switch

2010-05-13T22:37:00.000-07:00

Jack is now 5 months old! I can't believe it. He is my little peanut and just a light bright spot in our lives. He's THE best baby ever, and is sweet as can be and just the happiest little guy. He's chunking up and has these precious little baby thighs. He has rolled from front to back a couple of times and from his side to his front/back a few times, but for the most part, he's pretty content wherever you set him down. I have to really work at playing with him as dilligently as I should, because he is so un-demanding, it's easy to get caught up in laundry or a phone call and just let him hang out in his jumper or on his activity mat. We are still in the bassinet, but will be making the big switch just as soon as the nursery is done (which is should be by this weekend!). I am honestly finding myself reluctant to let him leave our room. He's been sleeping through the night like a champ for a while now, but he's just my little buddy and his happy smiling face is such a treat to wake up to. Plus, I just like having him close by.
We've gradually been working up to the move, though. We moved the baby monitor out of Carter's room a few weeks ago which was probably harder on me than on Carter. There have been one or two mornings he was up before anyone else and we didn't hear him, but nothing terrible or traumatic has come from that. I still make Mr. C leave our door open so I can hear him in case he crys at night, and I check on him at least once in the night to make sure he is ok.
We have had some other big changes around here recently...we have started transitioning to cloth diapers. Cost/Savings and environmental impact were the two big motivators for me, and it is something I had been wanting to do since Carter was really small, but was just very intimidated by the idea. So far, so good, though. I can guarantee you, it's not what I imagined. I think I pictured beating cloth rags against a rock down by the river or something, but the new generation of cloth diapers is nothing like the days of yore when our parents put us in the plastic pants and secured the cloth lining with those giant safety pins. There are a ton of websites and blogs and such that are completely devoted to the subject so I'll spare you the details of how we came to our product decision, but if you are interested, we are using the bumgenius 3.0. We invested in 18 of them, and have started with diapering Jack, and hope to have Carter in cloth diapers by the end of the summer.

Up top is a shot of our happy sweet 5 month old boy and his adorable earth friendly tushie :)

Funny Face

2010-05-13T22:03:00.000-07:00

Jack has been making some pretty cute faces these days...

I know I'm starting to sound like a broken record, but the number of times during the day I have deja vu with flashbacks of Carter doing something identical to what Jack is doing is astounding. This little photo shoot was no different. Seems like just yesterday, I was posting this post of our Little C making his own funny faces! Breaks my heart how the time is flying by.

Big hug for mommy!

2010-05-12T20:29:00.000-07:00

Tonight Carter made an absolute mess at dinner. He's taken to throwing food when he is done, and even threat of death doesn't seem to deter him from doing this every.single.night. Tonight while I was cleaning up the mess, I felt these little arms wrap around my legs and squeeze me tight. 'Big hug for mommy!' Carter chanted while rubbing his food soaked face into my pants. It was one of those moments that makes it SO hard for you to stay mad.

The face of the stomach flu

2010-05-06T21:38:00.000-07:00

The stomach flu swept through our home the week after Easter and was a milestone we had previously managed to avoid. Sure, we had had the occasional spit-up that bordered on puke, and then there was that one strange incident during a visit to Austin when Carter got sick out of the blue and then was completely fine, but never had we dealt with an actual tummy bug before, and let me tell you, it ain't pretty!

I'll spare you the details, but let's just say it struck in the middle of the night after Little C had spaghetti for dinner. I was so thankful we still were using the baby monitor otherwise, I'm not sure I would have heard the strange coughing sound that preceded everything.

As first-timers we made some classic mistakes. We foolishly though the first round would be the last round and put little C back to bed in his carpeted room after clean up was completed. An hour later, we were dealing with round two, and the scrubbing/bathing/washing frenzy re-commenced. Then we (maybe in exhaustion??) repeated our put-Carter-back-to-bed-in-his-room insanity. An hour later? Yea, you get the picture (we called Stanley steamer shortly there after to cover our bases). We finally wised up and (since we were out of clean sheets and pj's at that point) set Carter up on a pallet of old blankets and towels in the living room in an old t-shirt of mine (big neck hole, mean easier removal without dirtying the hair). By the end of the night, Carter was still having episodes, but had emptied his stomach, and it was heart braking to watch his little body shake and heave and not be able to do anything but hold him. Morning came, though, and we survived.

The next day we took it VERY slow eating very little except the occasional cracker dipped in applesauce. Then, for dinner I thought chicken and rice soup might be ok. Notsomuch. Apparently we were dealing with a 48 hour bug, not a 24 hour bug. Luckily, we were pros at that point, and Mr. C whisked Carter off to the bath while I got busy scrubbing and the mess was contained and cleaned up in no time flat. By the third day, Little C's appetite had returned and he was back to being the little Tasmanian devil we know and love.

Mr. C shined as the amazing husband he is throughout the whole process. He got up during all three rounds that first night to help me with clean-up despite the fact that he had work the next day. We even managed to laugh about things in the heat of the moment, which just goes to show you when you're with the right person, average and ordinary becomes memorable and special.

I ended up with my own stomach flu souvenir which thankfully hit over the weekend, so i was able to take a sick day while Mr. C covered for me (again, he is just amazing!). Sadly, we had to miss out on Aunt B and soon-to-be Uncle J's wedding shower, because of all the illness, but I know they had a blast without us and our germs :)

Spring Fever

2010-05-06T21:30:00.000-07:00

Well we've been busy busy busy around here! Of course with the beautiful weather outside, I've had the itch to spring clean. At one point before Easter we took three truckloads of stuff to Goodwill. I kept joking, if it wasn't nailed down, I was going to toss it out!

As part of the cleaning process, I've been trying to get some big lingering projects wrapped up like finally painting and hanging the frame I bought off Craigs list over a year ago!

And of course, I've been busy trying finish Jack's nursery since he has almost completely grown out of the bassinet so stay tuned for a post with pics soon!

We had a wonderful Easter that started the weekend before in Victoria at Grammy C and Grandpa Gary's house where little C had his first Easter egg hunt! Easter morning enjoyed a visit from the Easter bunny (spoiler alert :),

followed by an amazing breakfast and worship service at our home church of Kinsmen Lutheran. We've been members at Kinsmen for a little over two years now, and it really has become an amazing part of our lives. We are loving raising the boys among their church family and are eagerly looking forward to Jack's baptism there next month!

Jack has become so much more interactive since hitting the 4 month mark in April. He is laughing and giggling more than ever, and loves to squawk and shriek just to hear his own voice.

He and Carter continue to bond daily and Carter is really starting to be more aware of Jack's feelings. As a mom it is so touching when Jack will be crying to see Carter run over to check on him. Here they are playing one of mommy's least favorite games called 'pick a paci up off the floor and put it in our brother's mouth!' :)

At 4 and a half months, Jack hit the infamous Bumbo milestone, which was just another reminder of how quickly time is flying by since it feels like yesterday I was posting pics of Carter in this same little contraption! Of course with the reappearance of the Bumbo, Carter had to try it out. Amazingly enough, he still fit!
My mom (Grammy R) has been back and forth between her home and Dallas caring for my grandfather who got some bad news last month. He was diagnosed with lung cancer just a few weeks before his 90th birthday. He is not your typical 90 year old, and he is mentally sharp as a tac, so to see him so rapidly decline was alarming to all of his family. Prayers for John Ronayne (Jack's namesake) are greatly appreciated as he is undergoing some pretty intensive radiation at this time to try to shrink the cancer and restore some of his lung function.

Despite her time on the road, mom was able to stop by on Easter Sunday for a quick visit and to drop off Carter and Jack's first MATCHING outfits!! Needless to say, I have become obsessed with dressing them in coordinating outfits. Never in a million years thought I would be 'that' mom, but I just think it is adorable, and Mom indulged me by taking me shopping at Carter's (the store) for a couple more coordinating get-ups. I mean seriously, have your ever seen anything so cute?? :) Then again, they are adorable in just matching diapers :)
We have some big events ahead of us this May. We will be celebrating Carter's second (yes SECOND!) birthday next weekend, and Aunt Bethany's wedding shortly there after with another fun wedding and Mr. C's 30th birthday in-between. Stay tuned for pics and posts about all of our May Madness, as I plan to be better about blogging this summer. Then again, if I'm not, it's because I'm chasing after this little toot! :)

'Wait and See'

2010-04-03T10:19:00.000-07:00

As a parent, 'wait and see' is about the most frustrating phrase you can ever hear from a doctor when it comes to the health of your child.

Jack has been having some problems with his right arm. It is weaker and less coordinated than his left arm. We started noticing it about a month and a half ago when Jack began grabbing and reaching out for toys. It is especially noticeable when he is playing on his back on his activity mat. His right arm has a tendency to lay straight out from his side or, more recently, resting on top of his head, while his left arm does the bulk of the exploring. As a result of the uneven activity, the right arm is not growing as quickly as the left. It's a very subtle difference, but as a mom, it's definitely cause for concern.

A trip to the pediatrician did not alleviate my fears. After a brief physical exam, and some questioning regarding his birth, I was told there was a notable difference, but that the doctor could not really identify what was behind the difference in arm movement. He threw out Erb's Palsy as a possible diagnosis, but ultimately shrugged his shoulders and felt we should 'wait and see'.

I was heartbroken. I realized just how badly I had wanted the doctor to tell me I was crazy and that it was all in my head, and that Jack would be fine. After a mini-meltdown, and a lot of googling on Erb's Palsy (Jack most definitely does NOT have Erb's Palsy), I had a long talk with Mr. C and we both decided that we felt very uncomfortable doing absolutely nothing when we still didn't know WHY our son was struggling to develop his right arm's coordination.

So, after some additional encouragement from friends and family to follow my mommy gut, we got a referral from our pediatrician and took him to a neurologist that he recommended for a more in-depth evaluation.

I can not even begin to tell you how discouraged I was by that appointment. The doctor did an even less in-depth physical exam than our pediatrician did! His response was "I am not impressed by the difference, let's just (you guessed it) WAIT AND SEE!"

I know many of you reading this probably feel I should be encouraged by this response, but as a mom when you KNOW something is wrong and you see your child struggling, you have an overwhelming need to identify the problem so you can fix it. Doing nothing goes against every fiber of a parent's being. So one good thing did come out of that appointment, it has inspired me to keep searching until we get some answers!

Jack has another check-up with his pediatrician in two weeks. I WILL be getting a referral to a different neurologist (one that was recommended to us for diagnosing Cerebral Palsy).

I know Cerebral Palsy would be the worst-case scenario, but Jack fits enough of the criteria, including his traumatic birth experience, and a possible seizure when he was a few weeks old (we couldn't be sure at the time), that we recognize it is a possible explanation for what is going on.

So I am forewarning any other doctor that tells me to 'wait and see', you will be promptly dismissed as an arrogant a-hole and you will be lucky if I don't tell you just where you can stick your 'wait and see' recommendation. I am a mom, there IS something wrong with my child, I am not crazy, and YOU are crazy if you think I'm just going to 'wait and see'.

Videopalooza

2010-03-18T23:39:00.001-07:00

We recently taught Carter the concept of toasting, and he's a natural :) Cheers!

He's also gotten pretty good at naming his body parts

And he loves dancing! :)

Nothing says 'hilariously adorable' quite like a droopy diaper and the tired sillies!

The Fauxby

2010-03-18T23:10:00.000-07:00

I needed a hands-free way to keep Jack securely attached to me while I chased after Carter, and thus we have become BIG fans of the Moby Wrap (stay tuned for a 'review from a mom' post on the Moby).

The Moby is essentially made out of sweat-shirt material, though, so it is pretty warm. Luckily, I found this amazing bamboo wrap (I call it the Fauxby :) made by Loveyduds. It is incredibly light weight, and the organic bamboo material is the perfect alternative to the Moby's jersey knit in warm weather climates!

As you can see, we're big fans! :)

The only complaint I have is it is cut a little long for an average frame. I can easily wrap it around my waist to tie it in the front and I'm STILL constantly tucking in the ends so they don't drag or get caught on something.

Tip with the bamboo wrap: DON'T FOLD wrap when you put it on. Tie it on as tight as you can completely unfolded otherwise the lightweight fabric becomes bunched and twisted because it doesn't have the bulk to keep it laying flat in the folded state (if you use the Moby, you know what I'm saying).

Christen and Jed

2010-03-18T22:56:00.000-07:00

I had the incredible honor of being in the wedding of my good friend Christen a few weekends back.

Christen and I met freshman year when we were moving into our off-campus dorm across the hall from one another at UT. I thought she was amazing and was absolutely thrilled when I discovered we pledged the same sorority (DG!! :).

Christen is one of those women that is so unique and wonderful, you just smile when you think about her. I am so so glad she is my friend, and she's not just beautiful, she's smart and talented too!! She's finishing up her residency in Ob-Gyn and it's wonder she found time to be THE most beautiful and laid back bride ever!!

Her wedding weekend was SO much fun. The rehearsal dinner was at the County Line BBQ (yum!). And then her wedding was Friday at Barr Mansion. Friday started off with lunch then hair and makeup (and lots of m&m's and iphone music :) and then champagne and toasting before heading to the amazingly unique ceremony and stunning reception.

Christen and Jed even had an Elvis impersonator sing their first dance song ('I can't help falling in love with you') and 'marry' them Elvis style! I can not WAIT to see the pictures from their beautiful day. In the mean time, here is a shot of the stunning bride and her handsome hubby from the rehearsal dinner.

Congratulations you guys!!!!!!!

5 Star Weekend

2010-03-18T20:35:00.001-07:00

We've had a string of 6 travel weekends that actually started back in February with my friend Christen's Bachelorette Party weekend and what a weekend it was! Carter stayed with Grammy and Grandad while Mr. C, baby Jack and I headed to Austin.

We kicked it off with a much needed date night Friday at Flemmings Steak House in the Woodlands (courtesy of a gift certificate and an amazing Grammy that provided childcare!)

Saturday was filled with fun visits from Aunts and Uncles at Grandmommy's and Granddaddy's (who played the French Harp for baby Jack!),

Jack with Grandmommy

With Aunt B and Soon-to-be Uncle Joe :)

While the boys were busy visiting, I was busy supporting the bride-to-be lunching and shopping at the Domain :)

Then we all met back up for a visit to Grandma and Papa

Then it was off to our hotel to check in.

We were able to use some points we had accumulated on an anniversary trip some years prior to score an awesome room at the Hyatt. We didn't just have a good view of downtown Austin, we had THE view (this photo was not doctored, I swear!)

The concierge even brought Jack his own baby toiletries when they brought up the pack-n-play! Talk about the life!

Of course, I dragged myself out of our luxury digs long enough to enjoy a fun dinner and night out with the bride-to-be and the other amazing bridesmaids :)

We wrapped the weekend up with an amazing lunch with my dad's sister and her family where we made the swap back in Houston to retrieve Carter.

Such a fun weekend, and Jack was the perfect travel buddy! Special thanks to Mr. C for watching the little guy while I went out with the lovely ladies.

Falling in Love

2010-03-18T20:00:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the blogging absence. Laziness, and nothing more is to blame.

So what have we been up to? Not a whole lot other than completely falling in love with our little family of four. Jack is such an integral part of our family unit now, I really can't imagine life without him. He is THE sweetest baby and I just feel so lucky to be his mommy. Carter is just a phenomenal big brother and I can't wait to see their relationship blossom.

It's amazing how much I love Jack and how all that love doesn't take away even in the slightest bit from my love for Carter. I could never have imagined how my heart would just grow to include Jack, but it has, and what's strange is how much more I love Carter for being Jack's big brother.

As much as God gives you all the room in your heart you could possibly need to love another baby, I have found that He doesn't do the same with the hours in the day. I think the hardest adjustment from one to two kiddos has been splitting my time between them especially with them both being so young and needy. If I could double my days to devote all of myself to both of them, I would gladly do it, but instead, I find myself constantly having to choose who needs my help and attention more. And every time I am with Jack, I find myself missing Carter's cute sense of humor and his budding communication skills. On the other hand, every time I am with Carter, I find myself missing the simplicity of Jack's needs and his cute cuddly easy going baby personality.

My greatest joy comes from those moments when they are effortlessly interacting and I don't feel like I'm having to choose - when Carter is making Jack laugh and laughing in response to his new found audience, or when they are both mesmerized by bubbles. I'm getting better about finding ways to keep one occupied/distracted while I attend to the other, but it is definitely a challenge.

Ok, enough talk, here are a few pictures of my boys! :)

Jack's World (Part 1)

2010-02-08T16:21:00.000-08:00

Apparently I never posted this...sorry about that. Better late than never I guess!

So Jack turned one month old on January 12th. And before I could wrap my head around the fact that my baby was already a month old, he up and turned 6 weeks old old me!

Jack still likes to sleep a lot, but he's spending more and more time awake.

We're starting to get some big smiles!
We have tummy time

Here's a pic of Carter when he was about the same age (Talk about Deja vu!!!)

Jack's had breastmilk jaundice, which can linger for up to 12 weeks. After having countless complete strangers tell me how yellow my baby was, I started dressing him in colors that downplayed the sunny hue of his complexion, but (FINALLY!) the jaundice is starting to subside, so I've been able to start dressing him in the forbidden color yellow once again!

Today Jack is 8 weeks old and Friday he'll be TWO MONTHS! (Note, as of today, March 15th, he's over THREE months old, yikes!) It's so strange how with kids time flies and yet a few months can feel like a lifetime.

Bear with me

2010-02-07T01:31:00.000-08:00

Attempting to convert to a three column layout. It's a work in progress.

Mommy's little helper

2010-01-24T12:39:00.000-08:00

Carter took it upon himself to help out feeding the cats the other day! He sampled quite a bit of cat food in the process, and made a huge mess, but the whole process kept him entertained for the better part of an hour.

On a sad note, our little grey and black tabby went missing last wed. night. I adopted this little cat after college and she has been with me when I moved to Colorado, got married, moved back to Texas, moved into our first house and had our first two babies. Cats don't adjust to change well, but she's been quite a little trooper and she and Carter were fast friends. The day she went missing they were playing in the back yard and she was loving every minute of it. Cats are surprising little creatures, so I'm still holding out hope that she might come home, but she was never one to roam, so I just feel in my heart something has happened to her.

Jack's 'first' baths

2010-01-24T12:14:00.000-08:00

First sponge bath

Those of you that know what I'm using to wash Jack's hair will probably crack up, but those things are great for baby baths!

These next pics were actually of Jack's third tub bath, but so goes life with the second. The first two happened after some messy situations while Mr. C was out of town. Since I was flying solo cleaning up the messes, documenting the bath was the last thing on my mind.

Man, it feels like we were just doing this yesterday. Oh wait, we practically were!

Carter's first sponge bath and tub bath.

10 years ago today...

2010-01-23T06:16:00.000-08:00

I met an angel. She changed my life and I just want to wish her and her family a very Happy Birthday! Lots and lots of love.

Our little Christmas house

2010-01-19T18:22:00.000-08:00

We FINALLY got our Christmas lights down this past weekend. And yes, we were the last house on the block to get them down, but cut us some slack, we've been a little busy. I have to say, I hate putting out Christmas decorations. It's such an involved process considering you just take it all back down a month later. We didn't even put a tree up this year because I knew taking one down would be the last thing I wanted to do in my limited spare time with a newborn. Unfortunately Mr. C did not get off so easily. I talked him into putting the Christmas lights up on the outside of the house in order to keep up appearances with the neighbors. :) Anyway, they were so cute, I just had to share. And unless we can afford to pay someone to do it next year, it may be our last year with lights on the house since Mr. C has refused to do it himself ever again. It's a shame we couldn't just leave them up all year ;)