Day 31 - 1/31/11

Well, I made it a month. Sometimes the posts weren't "on time" or were missing a picture, but I'm still going!
The pictures also weren't always great...some were blurry, most of the time Katelin's hair was a mess and in her face... But that's okay!

In project news... The two new shelves are up in the closet and another box has been unpacked. We chopped off part of the lower rod so I have room to hang my longer clothes/dresses. Tried to hang the extra supports for the rod but they weren't the right size.
We attached the top & bottom trim on the cornice and filled in the nail holes. Progress!

Day 30 - 1/30/11

We had a busy day today but that is nothing new. I was able to put another coat of paint on all my boards outside this morning and then we checked out the 11am service at a church nearby. We're looking for a church but haven't had a lot of time to try them out. This one was a little small and a little bit of an older crowd but they have 2 other services on Sunday mornings so those might have been more of our age group. It was nice though and everyone was super friendly (unlike a large church we went to where no one really even said hello). The next two weekends we'll be at the boat show so maybe after that we'll check out a different church or one of the earlier services at this one.

After that, we went to lunch and then it was nap time, for the kids a least. Chris went up to the shop to pick up a boat. I rested for a little bit (trying to get rid of a bad headache all day!) and then I got back to my projects in the garage.
We hung out at the house for a little bit after Chris got home/kids got up and then Chris and I each drove a boat to Dallas. We have 15 to get there for the boat show. It was on to dinner, bedtime routine for the kids and then back to projects in the garage/our closet. We moved the safe out to the garage and anchored it to the wall. I brought in one of the shoe racks from the massive stack of boxes in the garage. One more thing out of there and it allowed me to unpack one more box that was sitting on our closet floor. Small little baby steps, but I'll take them!
Hopefully we'll get the shelves put up tomorrow night. The (fingers crossed) last coat of paint is currently drying on the shelf boards.

Day 29 - 1/29/11

Drew tried carrots today. He seemed to like them.

The kids both actually napped today so I was able to get some work done on a few projects. Nothing was completed while they were asleep, but multiple projects were touched. We have several things that we needed boards cut/primed/painted so I was working on that.

After the kids went to bed, Chis and I finished cutting the trim pieces for the cornice we're making for Drew's room.

We're working on the following:

- New gate for the downstairs - the hallway is 55" wide so our current gate wouldn't fit. Drew started trying to climb up the stairs this morning so it was time to block them off. Project DONE!

- Cornice for Drew's room - all pieces/sides are primed and all trim work is cut. Still need to paint everything (probably 2 coats), put the border on it, put the trim pieces on, and hand it. Oh yeah, I need to make the curtains too!

- Two of the rods in our closet need extra support. We have the new brackets but they need a trim piece added to the wall first. These needed to be cut/primed/painted before we could install them. All that is left is for them to be painted (probably 2 coats).

- We're adding 2 shelves in the closet. More cutting, priming, painting, installing to do.

- Chris' gun safe needs to be relocated from the closet to the garage. This means 2 of the shelves we hung need to be cut down to it'll fit in the corner.

Yikes.. and that is barely the start of my to-do list!

Day 28 - 1/28/11 - UPDATED

Coming soon! Choosing some much needed sleep over posting a picture tonight! I do have a pic on my camera though.

UPDATED - Drew is trying to pull up on everything these days!

Day 27 - 1/27/11

No kid pictures today. Why? Because I didn't see them today :(

They were sleeping when I left for work (I leave before 7 and they don't get up until at least 7). I had a Mom's Night Out today after work and by the time I got home, they were back in bed. I get all day with them tomorrow though so it is all good!

Tonight was the MetroMom's Best & Hottest Products event. http://www.metroplexbaby.com/MetroMoms/2011/20110127_BestHottest_Feature.htm

They do this one once a quarter and they are amazing! I've been getting a VIP ticket which gets me earlier access, better seating, and a better gift bag. We get a good dinner, a giftbag, and everyone draws a number for a raffle where we get to pick an awesome product to take home. They have $600 strollers, $300 car seats, portable cribs, travel cribs, carriers, slings, pumps, toys, games, shoes, expensive diaper bags, you name it! I drew number 56 today (out of 108, I think). I ended up picking a Phil&Ted's Lobster Hook-on Highchair. Not bad!

http://store.philandteds.com/phil-and-teds-lobster-high-chair.pro

The VIP giftbag had a Tiny Love Playmat in it! I wish I knew someone having a shower soon because I'd totally re-gift it! I guess I'll be selling it on Craigslist instead. This is my gift-bag loot:

LOVE IT!

Day 26 - 1/26/11 - UPDATED

Gah... Another night with no picture! I didn't have much time to take one tonight. I tried to get some of the kids sleeping but their rooms were too dark for my phone. Maybe I can lighten them up tomorrow and post them.

I still owe you yesterday's picture. I have one... I promise. It is on my camera though so it takes a little more effort to post on the blog. I'll try tomorrow but Friday at the latest!

Updated - So the quality of the pictures didn't work too well in when I auto-corrected them but at least I have pictures for day 26!

Day 25 - 1/25/11 - UPDATED

UPDATE:

Drew tried peas. He wasn't a big fan. I'm not sure if it was the texture or if it was the taste. I can't blame him though, I don't really like them either!

Day 24 - 1/24/11

Drew is 10 Months Old today! Sheesh.. time has flown by. The next thing you know, he'll be turning a year old. It is getting harder and harder to take his monthly pictures. The little man does not want to sit still anymore!

After Drew's monthly pictures... Katelin wanted to be silly in some pictures. I'm not quite sure what she's doing here. I know she was dancing around with the bunny on a stick and then decided to throw it when the camera pointed to her. That's my crazy girl!

In health news... the virus has hit everyone who has come into our house in the last week or so. Chris mom and my parents all got it. Hopefully everyone recovers quickly and we don't keep passing it on to each other!
Chris still has his chest junk going on. He can't seem to shake whatever it is. He's giving up on the 'doc in the box' at Care Now and has finally decided to find a primary care doc. Someone he can go to repeatedly... that might know more about his history. The big Dallas Boat Show is in a couple weeks and he needs to be better by then! Hopefully he can get into this new doctor soon and get better!

Day 23 - 1/23/11

Today was a recovery day. Still a little uncertain about eating after yesterday!

Katelin was going to help Chris give Roscoe a bath but then she got scared and didn't want any part of it!

Day 22 - 1/22/11

Ugh... Chris and I got the stomach bug that got Drew on Thursday and Katelin had Friday :(
My parents watched the kids today so Chris and I could get some needed rest.

Day21 - 1/21/11 - UPDATED

Good news & bad news today.

Good News...
Drew felt better today. We didn't give him any big bottles today. I think the most he had was 3.5 oz at a time but he managed to keep it all down.

He decided he liked playing with Katelin's laptop. He was having a ball with it!


We went out to lunch and since it was a little chilly out, I took the hood off his heavy winter coat and he was wearing it like a hat. He was giving me lots of cute little looks from behind the hood. Of course, none of the pictures were as cute as the real thing.




Bad News...
Katelin ate a nice good lunch, went down for a nap, and woke up with Drew's stomach bug.
She seemed to do okay the rest of the day and even felt up to helping build the cornice for Drew's room.

Day 20 - 1/20/11

Drew was sick today and the poor thing couldn't stay awake thru dinner! Hopefully his tummy will be better tomorrow.

Day 19 - 1/19/11

Bath Time!

Another long day at the office means not much time with the kiddos :( I get dinner and bath time with them and that is about it.

Day 18 - 1/18/11

The kids spent a lot of time with Grandma and Grandpa today. I dropped them off this morning and went to the ENT with Chris. He has a lot of allergy and sinus issues and he snores so he went in about a month ago. He was in the verge of a sinus infection then so he got on meds and they wanted to see him again. The he ended up with bronchitis and something (viral?) that 3 weeks of antibiotics couldn't knock out. Good news is that his sinuses are mostly clear. They identified what he's allergic to and prescribed some new meds to try. Also recommended several surgical procedures that we may look into next year.

After the doctor, I went back to my parents and the five of us went to lunch. Ran some errands and it was back to my parents for naps (unfortunately only Katelin took a nap). I left for bowling around 5 and they were going to meet Chris for dinner. See.. Quite a day with grandma & grandpa. Hope they aren't too worn out tonight!

Drew decided to try and pull himself up in the crib at my parents house. He almost had it:Their crib has one more level to lower the mattress... Time to move it down!

Day 17 - 1/17/11

Chris sent me this picture while I was at work. Chris said Drew was playing under there for a little bit before he pulled him out.

Day 16 - 1/16/11

No picture tonight, but not a fail.. I have a really cute one on my camera that I'll post tomorrow.
We got a few things done today at the house, still a lot to do but any progress is a step in the right direction! We picked up the new shelves for the garage and put them up and we hung the new clothes bar in the laundry room. We also planne out some changes for our closet and picked up some new paint.
We had another showing on the house today and according to the feedback we got, ours is one of their top three. Fingers crossed that it turns into a decent offer!

UPDATE - Adding PictureKatelin loves here little brother! (And he loves his bottle)

Day 15 - 1/15/11

Drew trying apples for the first time. Yes, he did like them.

UPDATE - Adding another picture. This one was just too cute to leave off! And yes, it is January 15th, and I still have Christmas stockings hanging by the fireplace. One of these days I'll put them away!

Day 14 - 1/14/11

We had a great time at the Dallas Children's Aquarium this morning with Metro Moms. I've met some great moms through the group and they host some fantastic kid-friendly and moms only events.

In the lobby, they have a tank with several different kinds of crabs that the kids can touch and pick up. Katelin wanted nothing to do with them (including the horseshoe crab in the picture). She did want to touch the rock though!


Ohhh... rays!



Katelin checking out the fish. The aquarium raised the floors when they remodeled so everything is at "toddler" height.

Drew had fun... my smiley boy

Day 13 - 1/13/11

Drew was pretty tired by the time I was able to get a picture!

Thursdays are hard! I start the day out tired and it doesn't ease up. Left the house before 7am (should have left at 6:30) and didn't get home until after 7pm.

Chris went back to the doctor since he still isn't feeling good. More meds for him. He's already met his $200 prescription deductible and we're probably getting close to using up all our FSA funds. Guess we should have put more in there!

We have a fun morning planned at the children's aquarium so hopefully I'll have some good pictures tomorrow. :)

Day 12 - 1/12/11 - UPDATE

Fail! No post for Day 12.

UPDATE - forgot... I took a picture before I went to work. This is the view from my driveway in the morning!

Day 11 - 1/11/11

My little frequent travelers! The kids racked up another 4 flights this weekend. Katelin is up to 29, Drew is at 6!
We made it back to Dallas finally! It was a long weekend and while it was nice to see som family... It sure is nice to be home!

Work is gonna be rough the next couple of days. I'm wipe out and I still have some things to do before I can hit the sack! Alarm goes off at 5am (I'm not even going to attempt 4:45!). Yuck.

Day 10 - 1/10/11

Katelin was finally able to go out and play in the snow today. She's been looking forward to it all weekend. Unfortunately, Dallas had more snow this weekend and there wasn't much left here at my parents by the time Katelin got up from her nap today. We made he a little pile from what was still in the driveway and she made a couple snow angels where she found enough snow.

It was officially Drew's first snowfall so of course, we had to bundle him up for a few pictures too. The kids got winter coats for Christmas since we're going to Tahoe in March. Glad to see them getting a little more use out of them. Hopefully they won't need them too much in Dallas!

We're headed back home tomorrow. It was a nice getaway, but we're all wiped out. It'll be nice to get back and see Chris again. We all ditched him!

Day 9 - 1/9/11

Katelin didn't want her picture taken tonight.

We had another busy day in Chicago-land. From everyone back home's Facebook pages, it snowed in DFW today. Looks like we probably got 4 or so inches. I'm sure it'll all be gone once we get back though. There is a little snow on the ground here so I guess I need to let Katelin play in it before it melts.
We had Jen's baby shower today. Saw some family and Laura (my longest friend.. Since first grade!). Laura brought her 7 month old daughter Zoe. I'm pretty sure some of my family was trying to hook Drew & Zoe up. :). I'd be okay with that except I don't know about the long distance relationship!

This was our third day in a row that Katelin didn't get a nap so she's been getting pretty crabby around 6pm. Hopefully she won't get too used to not napping!

Day 8 - 1/8/11

Just a blurry picture of Drew today.

Day 7 - 1/7/11

Well, we made it to Chicago and the huge pile of my stuff (along with my parents' stuff) all fit in the full size rental car (Dodge Charger). The trunk was packed full and my mom and I both had bags on our laps but we fit! There was even a decent amount of room in the back seat for the 2 car seats and me. We took the narrowest car seats we had and they are wedged in pretty good though so I wouldn't recommend it full time! Katelin had 2 more good flights (DAL - STL - MDW) and was only a "problem" for a little bit when we were getting close to landing in Chicago and she wanted to be held. It was past nap time and the cranky-ness had set in. Drew did good but he only slept for a little bit. The flights were not completely full so we took the last row and we were able to have the outside & window seats on each side and left the middle seats open. Nice and comfy, even with Drew as a lap child. And to anyone who flies with a toddler more than just once in a blue moon... I recommend the CARES harness. It is pretty much the only harness system allowed during take-off and landing and it is SOOOO much easier to lug around than a big car seat. Katelin loves it.

By the time we got the rental car, stopped for lunch, and got back to my parent's "old" house, Drew was tired of being confined. He liked checking out all that the floor here had to offer!

Katelin was going around to each room asking where things were... "Is this the living room? Where is the TV?" opening the pantry... "Grandma, where is all your food?"... in my old bedroom "Where is the bed?". She didn't quite grasp the fact that when they moved to Texas, they took most of their stuff out of this house. Luckily, there are still a few beds and places to sit. We just might be a little bored in the evenings after the kids go to bed since we have no TV and a really crummy unsecured wireless connection that we're "borrowing" from someone nearby. Thankgoodness for the 3G phone!

Day 6 - 1/6/11

Almost packed and ready to go! I still have to finish packing a medium tote bag and my laptop bag in the morning. Traveling with kids sucks! Actually, a lot of this is for my sister. We're (Katelin, Drew, my parents, and myself) flying to Chicago in the morning for my sister's baby shower. She's getting/borrowing a lot of this stuff.

The pile consists of:
- Car seat bag - Katelin's seat, extra base from Drew's infant seat that Jen is getting/borrowing to go with her seat, my winter coat, Drew's winter coat and our gloves/hats.
- Car seat bag - currently has Katelin's seat and a bag of diapers. Drew's seat will go in once we get to the airport.
- Stroller in a bag - Happy baby shower Jen!
- Snap & Go Stroller - lending to Jen since Drew is probably using the infant seat for the last time this weekend
- Diaper bag - full of stuff got both kids
- Large tote bag - Travel light pack n play (that Drew will use at my parents old house and then Jen will get), kids stuff

Not shown:
-Medium tote - my clothes and more kids stuff (will include homemade baby food for Drew)
laptop backpack - laptop, headphones, Katelin's DVDs, snacks for the kid
- Pump - hopefully the last time I'll need to travel with that!

Sheesh! Hopefully the pile coming home will be much smaller!

Day 5 - 1/5/11

Finally, a Drew day! We gave Drew a Baby Mum Mum tonight (rice cracker). He was a little confused by it at first but then started nibbling and sucking on it and all was well.

Give him something to eat and he's a happy baby!

Another long day for me. I left the house a little late this morning so I worked later than usual. Didn't get home until almost 7:30 and then it was time for dinner, putting the kids to bed, and then a little this and that. Few more things to complete before going to bed and starting it all over tomorrow!

Yawn

Day 4 - 1/4/11

Only one picture tonight. I really was going to post two to make up for last night but I didn't take a picture of Drew. :(. I'll get one of him on here yet! Drew had his 9 month checkup today and everything is as it should be. He's getting big! 30" tall (92%), 20.2# (40%). We went to Gatti Town in Frisco today since we had an errand to run up that way. Katelin loves the drum game and I love it because she just runs up to it and starts banging. No money spent :). Tuesdays is 1/2 price games so we only used a couple dollars off our $10 game card. My mom found a coupon online for 1 adult + 1 child (only under 2 is free) + $10 game card for $16.99 so we got a bargain :)

It was my bowling night.. Shot 567. Only one game was above average :(. We were off for two weeks so I'm going to blame that!

Chris got my parents to watch the kids all night do he could come home and crash. He has bronchitis and has already had 2 breathing treatments at Care Now. He needs all the rest he can get but unfortunately, he signed up for a hunting/fishing show this weekend. No rest for him! Sell some boats!

Day 3 - 1/3/11

No photo today :(. Long day at work and then an evening at my parents house did me in!
I guess I failed this blog already! Maybe only half failed since I am still posting. I could take some random photo around the house but everything is a mess and the kids are much cuter! I'll post two pictures tomorrow.

Day 2 - January 2

Katelin hamming it up for the camera. Her hair is always a mess these days!

And the tree is down.

I go back to work tomorrow and unfortunately I didn't accomplish very much :(.

I did finish Katelin's curtains though. They aren't perfect, but they look cute. Maybe I'll get a picture tomorrow.

New Year... New Start! - DAY 1

This is the state of my life... January 1st.

Tree is still up.

Christmas lights are still up.

The garage is still full of boxes.

The house is still a mess.

Oh, and I'm posting this after midnight so it isn't even still the first! Sigh!

Katelin is 2 years, 8 months. Drew is 9 months and both are still alive and doing well (I guess I can do something right!).