#1

I have to sit back and laugh at the insanity surrounding the last week or so (and next week, ok, the next couple of months.) For me to sit here and type out all that is going on would be just the nudge I lack to completely lose it. But alas, I am a list-maker:

Cody's Birthday,
Registration for the 2011-2012 school year at Redeemer for Emma (due 1/28),
Cody's First Birthday Party (groceries, crafting, A GIFT, an outfit!),
Registration for the 2011-2012 school year at Redeemer for Cody-Early Childcare (due 2/7),
Marathon Kids completion paperwork (due1/28),
Yearbook orders w/dedication for Kinder graduation (2/17),
taxes,
Reservations and final goodies purchased for Emma's birthday party (early Feb.),
Scholastic Book orders (late Jan.),
homework (~daily),
"recreational" reading (as often as we can),
buying paint, etc. for the house (from now - March),
shopping for new furniture for the house (until we're done), packing, moving,
Girl Scout cookies, etc etc etc (jan - feb)

Ahh! And throw in a busy schedule at work, doing as much Battle4ACure as I can, trying to watch what I eat (again) and lay off sodas (again) = ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Not to mention most (if not all) of the above to-do list involve $$$ all.at.once. Boo!

I've mentioned a lot on Facebook lately that I have been emotional. I know I've scared David at times with the random sobbing. It's bizarre. I'm taking my meds like I'm supposed to and everything. :)

Cody's birthday hits me from many different angles. I feel sad because this is the last 1st birthday party I'll ever celebrate with my kids and this is the last BABY. He's growing up so fast. He was early to teethe, crawl, stand, walk, all of these things that make him seem more and more like a toddler. He's talking! He says Mama, Dada, Sis, Bahbaw (bottle), some form of PawPaw and uh-oh.

And of course we think he is so smart. He recognizes cause and affect. He knows that if he throws the remote across the living room = Daddy won't be happy w/me! I put his puffs on top of the TV stand so he proceeded to problem solve and climbed on top of his rocking chair...I caught him mid-reach. I'm trying to work w/him on "signing" like we did with Emma but he is slow to catch on (and I need to work w/him more). He has just skipped to speaking.

A few weeks ago, Ms Deb's helper at daycare met me at the door with, "Uh yeah, so we're done w/bottles." I was like what? Cody had bitten the nipple off of the bottle. I mean bit it in two. David and I had both noticed that he wasn't finishing bottles, had even refused them a couple of times and was mainly playing w/them. We had already tried giving him cow's milk and knew he did well w/that. So after a brief transition period of adding cereal and or formula to the milk, Cody is now 100% drinking whole milk from sippy-cups. Again, big boy!

That week that he decided to go all Hannibal Lecter on his bottle, he was teething. After 3-4 very rough nights, the teeth finally came in. Molars :) At least two of them. So Cody is up to 8 teeth, that I've been able to see- he bites.

This past Sunday the kids and I visited Amanda and Beau at their new place! They were sweet and invited us to their first family gathering at the new apartment. Beau is a chef and made the most fantastic food (and Amanda was a fantastic hostess and chef's assistant). One of the things Beau made was steak wrapped shrimp on the grill. While I was visiting w/Amanda, Cody was in my lap and I looked down and he had a shrimp tail hanging out of his mouth. He spit out the steak but ate the shrimp. That little stinker! So that was my clue that he's ready for meat! That weekend he also tried corn dogs, he ate 6 mini corn dogs!

Even though I'm wrestling w/the fact that the last year has FLOWN by, I know I am so blessed! What a happy, healthy, handsome baby boy God brought into our lives! I cherish every moment with my kids and 2010 was the most fantastic year. I'm so thankful to be married to an incredible man who happens to be an excellent father. Our family is truly complete and we couldn't be happier. Off to pick up the birthday boy, take Sissy to dance class and then celebrate w/some macaroni and cheese and fish!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Upcoming Movies in 2011

!!!Click here to watch the trailers!!!

Thor, really? You couldn't do better than Natalie Portman? She's so 2005.

Pirates, 4, 5? What are we up to now? No Kiera Knightley? But I'm sure we'll see it since we've seen all the others. And I'm sure producers are 'banking' on their loyal fans. AND I'm sure we'll buy the DVD since we have all the others. Again, preempted.

Transformers=YES! And I WON'T miss Megan Fox.

Final Installment of HP:7, can't wait!

Cowboys and Aliens, I'm EXCITED! "Han Solo and James Bond star in a Western about aliens. Do you really need to know more? It's a veritable tiramisu of Fanboy awesomeness. Jon Favreau of "Iron Man" fame directs." Enough said!

There is no trailer yet for Breaking Dawn, but of course, I AM IN!

Daddy's Home!

Last night was David's first night coming home after working all DAY. I know he is enjoying being out during daylight instead of sleeping the day away and of course the children and I love being home together in the evening.

I cannot believe that I am planning Cody's first birthday. His birthday is one week from tomorrow. Unbelievable. He is such a stinker but we love him so much. Sissy (Emma) is doing really well. We recently received her second report card and she got all E's (=Excellent). Last report card she needed to work a little harder in Spanish but this time it was muy excellente! So proud of her! She's gotten a couple of things lately so I forget which was her "treat" for her report card.

Overall we're still very busy with the children's birthdays and preparing to move.

Checking out!

I cannot believe it's been an entire month since I blogged! Well, actually I can because I'm so friggin' busy. Let's get the basics out of the way first: yes, David is still on nights, yes I'm increasingly busy at work, yes my kids are still crazy! Cody is walking and I am in denial that I am planning his FIRST BIRTHDAY! But that is the next blog entry :)

We're moving!!!

You've heard the saying, "When one door closes, another opens." Lori was referred to us by some of our friends at Redeemer to keep Cody. She had been keeping children for over 25 years and we fell in love with her right away. However, she started having some health problems in November and notified us that she'd be moving to Ohio to live with her daughter and be closer to other family. Luckily we were able to find another daycare for Cody that is working out really well.

One day when David was picking up Cody from Lori's (Nah-Nah's) house he asked her what she and her daughter thought about letting us rent the house instead of trying to sell it. They loved the idea and quickly agreed on an amount. Lori's daughter Vickie has a home in Ohio that she rents so I like the fact that she knows what she is doing. We met again the next evening, went over a contract and we're very excited; we love NahNah's house.

It's 3 bedrooms, two full baths with a very large living room, two eating areas, a very nice garage, new stainless appliances and a wonderful backyard with covered patio and outdoor stereo system. David and I are also excited about our closets- yes, David is excited too. We each have our own walk in closets and Lori had custom organizers built in, shoe racks, a dresser unit in each, shelving, etc. Each closet is bigger than the one we've been sharing for three years.

Lori's husband passed away about four years ago and she has taken excellent care of the house. It was always spotless and she had ABC taking care of her lawn, etc. We're very excited to be moving out of our duplex. We've been very confused about where to look. We've mainly looked in the Round Rock, Cedar Park/Leander area because generally you can get more house for the money and those are school districts we'd consider. Lori and Vickie would love nothing more than to sell us the house but David and I want to spend some time there before we make that decision. The house is currently in Austin ISD and I am NOT ok with Emma and Cody going to school there one day. We have been extremely happy with RLS and plan to keep Emma there as long as we can but it's a reality that at some point our children will be in public schools so we have to be conscious of that when buying a home. But for now, I am thrilled to cut my commute in half. The house is much closer to work, my parents, and our church/Emma's school and is almost exactly the same distance for David.

We're very excited to have a place where we feel like we can have our friends and family over! We were hoping that our current landlord would consider letting us out of our lease early since he's been so happy with us as tenants. The property management company got in touch with him (he lives overseas) and he is refinancing the duplex and cannot have a vacancy during that process. Our lease is up March 14 but Lori and Vickie are allowing us to begin moving in February. We already know our future neighbors as they came over often to be with Lori and hang out w/the kids she kept- they are great as well!

The house is mostly laminate flooring (which will be a breeze to keep clean), tile in the kitchen and baths. The only carpet is in the living room and Vickie offered to replace it (it was blue) so we'll be selecting carpet and having it installed before we move in as well as painting. We've been having fun looking at paint, furniture and fixtures. We're going to be very busy the next few months getting packed, having both of the kid's birthdays, hopefully having a garage sale (or two), working on the house and moving. But we can't wait to be settled and have everyone over!

**UPDATE**I found out by talking to our future neighbor that our street is in PISD and goes to Connally HS. I'm MUCH happier about this prospect even though we'd probably want to move before Emma goes to HS in 10years, but we'll see. Wahoo!