30 Before 30 UPDATE: Go into my 31st year with no back pain.

I think I may have achieved this!  The pain began after I fell while I was carrying Kai down the stairs...  

He was four months old and already a chunker.  I had just gotten out of the shower and needed something downstairs so I trudged back down, baby in-tow and my foot slipped out from under me on the last step!  I couldn't let go of my bundle of joy so I landed smack on my tailbone.  I'm pretty convinced that I broke it and didn't know it.  It also seems I knocked some nerves out of alignment because when I did certain stretches, it really aggravated the issue.  

I had some x-rays a few months after I fell, and they showed no signs of a fracture, but I was told it could have not shown up, healed enough, or scar tissue remained and made things painful etc.  I wrote a post about all the other things I have tried, and the PT was what I could tell made a difference.  It took a while, but when we found the stretch that really tweaked the nerve, I started to notice a difference.

I still have a moments of pain if I sit poorly, but on the whole, I'm going to put this in the "W" column.

Mowing The Yard

Last night I mowed our yard.

For the first time.

Like I MOWED for the first time...EVER.

The advantages of getting married at the ripe-old-age of 22 means that you go straight from rental house with roommates to apartment or home with a husband!  So, I never had to do the lawn.

Here's some pics:

Our yard...
It's huge!  Scotter did the edging.

 Scott always wears tall socks when he mows, so I had to follow suit, of course!

Here are a few things I learned:

1.  I don't know why my dad never made me mow.  I would have if I were him.  I was thinking last night in the heat that if we have a daughter, (**someday**) I definitely want her to learn how.

2. How to start the lawnmower.  This made me feel weak.  Also, don't put your toe under the sides or front of the lawnmower, ever.  Scott reiterated this with me quite a few times.

3. You get a lot more done in the yard with two people!

4. Making pretty lines is hard, and downright impossible at the corners.

5. When you see someone with a leaf blower and think, "why is that man blowing the leaves that way? He should just blow the other way and it would work way better." Yeah, the leaf blower has no sense of direction.  It's a bit chaotic, just like Britney and K-Fed.

Tummy Bug

Kai got it.

Scott got it.

Then I was taken ill.

What a loooong two weeks!  I won't go into too much detail, but we have suffered over here at our home the past fourteen days.  I'm drinking my first cup of coffee in what seems like forever, so you know that this has been uncomfortable.  I don't know if this was a bug or we all ate something bad, but I'm hopeful no one else got sick.

On a brighter note, I got the iphone 5 yesterday.  The lock button on my 4s stopped working a few weeks ago, but magically in the past few days, it started working again so I rushed to my local RadioShack, and turned it in.  They give you $210 store credit for a fully functional 4s, and the 5 was just lowered to $149, so I was able to get a cute purple cover and a screen protector, with money left over!  This is a great time to upgrade if you are eligible, so go do it!

Kai fell yesterday on the pavement in front of our house.  Can you see the bruise?  He's so manly.

2012 Year in Review

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***The book isn't showing up right, but the link works!

Dear Kai,

You have a 103 degree temperature tonight.  So, I'm thinking that another ear infection is in our future. I'm hoping that is not the case as that would be number four in the recent Hatter history, and I'm not too keen on getting tubes in your ears.  We will see how the next few days go, little one.

These days:
29-ish lbs. (85th percentile)
18-24 month size clothes
Size 5 shoes
Size 5 diapers

A few of the words you are using: caaaaaaaar, vroom vroom, bus, dada, mama, ball, yay yay! (that's for Wheel of Fortune, which you still love), Nana, Hudson (ish), please, thank you, more.

We are amazed that you know lots of letters! You can identify about 10 letters now, and the number 2.  We keep these foam letters out that go in a puzzle mat, and you have just started picking them up and bringing them to us and saying the letter.  I'm so proud of that, and hope you keep a love of letters and reading!  You still love to "read" while you take a break from playing.  I love to watch you sit and flip through a few books, and point at pictures or talk like you are reading a book.

You recently had your first haircut and it was really traumatic...for me!  I thought you were going to freak out, but you did great!  I think it was only because you got to sit in a car, or as you say it, "caaaaaaaar."

You are starting to throw some fits/tantrums, but nothing too bad yet.  It came out pretty nicely when our friend Huddy came over to visit.  You wanted the toy he was playing with and he wouldn't give it to you (That's right, Huddy! Good boy, he can't just steal things from you.) You immediately collapsed into face-to-ground, arms-over-head, wail mode.  I was speechless.  That happened about three times in succession and then we all went about our business.  Other than that, you play really well with other kids, especially kids that are at least a few years older than you.  Recently, we have met some new neighbors and every time we are outside, you get so excited to play and run with everyone.  People keep telling me we need to have a baby brother or sister for you to play with, but Daddy and I just aren't ready yet.  (So, LAY OFF! *polite grin*)

Kai loves the ladies.  I catch you checking out gals in the supermarket, or grinning ear to ear when a lady even glances in your direction.  But, my son, they always love you too.  Those baby blues, a girl can't resist!

I think that sums things up pretty well right now.

February photos...

I picked the wrong album and am starting with February.  The month for lovahs!

...a glimpse into what we have been up to (I will cycle back around to January.)

Valentime's at the Driskill.  There was a proposal right next to us!  squeal!
(I got bangs too....which I love!)

Been trying freezer cooking.  I think I've narrowed it down to doubling 2 GOOD recipes a month.  I've been trying all these different new recipes and most of them come out BAAAAAD, so I have to toss out all this food that is not good.
I'm better at chopping up extra stuff and saving it though.  Now I want a food saver!

The kiddo in his new Cozy Coupe truck!  He was scared at first, but now he's a pro! 

I'm waiting on some pics from my dear friend, Cecily, but here are a few from  the shower that I helped toss for the loverly Cecilia Fritts.  Ainsley is now here, and I get to meet her on Saturday...finally.

Guessing game from the shower.  Cici added a couple of our friends guesses after the shower, and the big winner is....Erin!  I need to send her a prize.  

This looks fancy, but it was a snap! Plus, it was a great gift for AJ and decor for the shower.  
Cici loves elephants, and babies love taggies. I'd say, win win.

The little mister.  I can't even handle this grin.

And this.  I get it from my grandmother, people.

April?

Yikes, it's April!

Kai has pink eye, and another ear infection.  Which makes three ear infections since December.  Come on kid, let's get it together.  No talks of tubes or anything yet, just treating each one as it comes and moving on!  Luckily, this time it did not include a fever.  Last time, he had a virus as well that was a 6 day fever fest.  

Build up that immune system little boy.

Things I'm enjoying these days:

1. rain
2. thunder
3. Sonic runs
4. Getting pictures of my newest goddaughter, Ainsley Jane.
5. Wheel of Fortune (never gets old)
6. Cross word puzzles
7. Friday Night Lights (we are on the last season!)
8. Kai's new haircut
9. Candy Crush

Things I'm not enjoying:

1. Candy Crush
2. Applying for jobs
3. Wanting to create Shutterfly albums, but being overwhelmed by the fact that the last one I made was Kai's baby book.
4. My lack of blogging
5. Pink eye (which I'm eleventy billion percent sure that I'm going to get...)

Christmas 2012

Christmas this year was fun, and tiring...but fun!  We hosted my side of the family at our house on Sunday.  It was the year that we did things super simple, with sandwiches, queso, dips, and salad.  Usually, we do every other year with a ham and all the sides alternating with a sandwich tray from the grocery store.  It worked out well that the sandwiches fell this year because everyone had a lot going on.

I decorated our living room with Mutti's Christmas tree (we lost the top half of ours in the move) and lit garland so everything looked super nice and cozy!  I was also able to get out my Pottery Barn dishes and other decor which is fun.  I love kitschy Christmas stuff!!

The next day, we left for Katy.  That night we had Christmas with Scott's dad's side!  I got schooled, and do do mean SCHOOLED at dominoes by Scott's cousin, Cody.  It was made doubly embarrassing due to the fact that Scott got me a set of dominoes for Christmas that has the TCU logo on it next to the words, "Jane Always wins." He added that phrase because Scott and I have played dominoes many many times and I think he has won once.  Cody, however, knows some serious strategy... I had no chance against him!

The next day we celebrated at my sister-in-law's house.  We didn't get to see Scott's mom's side because his sweet grandfather is in the hospital.  Scott did get to go visit and I kept Kai back and got to spend some great time with my niece, Erin.  I'm always impressed by how smart and grounded she is at age 11.  What a great gal.  There is a little 'tude in there, but what tween girl isn't feisty, right?  I really hope Erin decides to be a horned frog.  She is on the path!

We also got to spend a lot of time with my other sister-in-law, Kelly (and her husband Bogdan) and she is pregnant!  We had some great convos and I really hope I didn't overwhelm/annoy her with advice.  Once someone asks me a question about pregnancy/babies/items to purchase, it's hard to shut my mouth.  There are so many products and ideas/theories out there!

We also got to see the Frittses, Red, Becky and our friends the Turcos took us on a great tour of lights in their neighborhood.  We went to the Trail of Lights at Zilker, enjoyed a great Christmas service with local Austin artists at our church and Kai took a cutey pants picture with Santa!  We went to a church group white elephant party and then two work parties for Scott.  We tried to go to an Elf quote-a-along at Alamo Drafthouse, but something came up and we couldn't go.  Maybe next year!  We also got to swing by a family friend's party that we have been going to for many years! Scott and I really got in the spirit this year.  Hopefully, Kai will be ready for some good lights and fun parties next year!

Good times, and we hope you had a very merry Christmas!

P.S. I have pictures, but I'm sorting through my iPhoto album right now, so I can't find them!  Maybe I'll come back to this post, and add them in.

Deal or Disaster?

Mutti (my grandmother) and I made scarves for a few family members for Christmas this year.  I have been wanting to spend more time with Mutti ever since we moved back to ATX, and sewing seems to be the perfect fit!  That said, after we finished the scarves, I decided that we needed another project to get to work on...CURTAINS! One of my 30 Before 30 goals is to have curtains for our the entire downstairs of our house.  I went ahead and bought some Target curtains for our dining room as the whole world can just peak right in if they are curious, so that one was a need.  

However, I want to flex my creative muscles for the kitchen and the living room.  For the kitchen, I simply decided to create a straight valance for each of the three windows.  The tutorial I found is simple, so I went ahead and dove in for some fabric!  I found this little number 50% off at Joanne's Fabric, had a 10% off coupon, and the last part was a remnant so that 7/8 of a yard was another 50% off!  With the rings and the fabric it came out to $34.67!  I told the lady at the register that this could either be a super deal or a disaster!  She said she had good feelings about my project, so hopefully she is right!  

Window #1.  This one may be a little difficult because the window is wider than the width of the fabric, so we may sew on some blocks of solid fabric on either side.  That was Mutti's idea.

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Windows #2 and 3.  I love these windows and I can't wait for them to be dressed!

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*I would apologize for the mess in our kitchen, but I'm not going to.  I am, as the Pioneer Woman says, "keeping it real."

30 Before 30 Update #1: Go into my 31st year with no back pain.

Chiropractor.  Did nothing.

Acupuncture.  Did more nothing.

Spine Clinic.  Told me to come back when I need pain management (ie: shots/surgery)

X-Rays. This was my second round just to make sure there were no broken bones, which their weren't

Physical Therapy- I have been going since September!  We have been going at the problem like it's a disc that had slipped.  Today, my therapist was working with me and she tried something new!  It sure did tweak my hip/back pain and now I have a new exercise.  We are now working toward relief of nerve pain.  It's not quite sciatica, but we think there is a nerve out of line in my back and hip.  I have to do my new exercise four times a day for 4-6 weeks!  I just made myself a check list to make sure I check it off everyday.  I hadn't been super motivated before because I hadn't seen any results from any other exercises they gave me.  So I would do the work for about four or five days and then quit.  I am really hoping that since I really notice the work that I'm doing this time, maybe I can stick with the program.

I'm supposed to keep exercising, lifting Kai, and doing all my normal chores (can't I get out of those?).  I did tell my therapist that it is on my list of goals to have this figured out by my 30th birthday (July 25th) so she does have a deadline.  She laughed.  She did tell me however, to not stress too much about getting pregnant (which is always something in the back of my mind, we are waiting a few years, but you never know people!) Also, she said to try not to think about my future with back pain like the expense of an MRI, shots in my back, and or surgery.  My problems are not to the point that she is super worried about me. I guess that is easy for her to say, but it at least made me feel a little better for now.

Status updates

Scott bought some new bibs for Kai and this one made me think, "If Kai had Facebook/twitter/instagram what would his status updates be like?"  

• Hey peeps, just eatin some cheerios.  Don't hate.
• Mommy and Daddy just put me to bed, they think I'm asleep, but I'm sitting here making my plot to rule the world from my crib.
• Bath time? More like splash time!
• Where's your nose?  Where's your ears?  I'll show YOU where my ears are!
• khjbkjyg.  Learning to type is hard, especially when my fingers only reach to the letters, GHTYJ and K.
• My fingers taste like bananas.  My hair tastes like bananas.  It's probably just a coincidence.
• Mommy said 3 cuss words today. She doesn't know that I know.  For shame!

Kaaaaaaaai, siiiiiiiiiit down

The kid is learning to climb!  So, in our home we are now saying, "Kaaaaaaaai, siiiiiiiiiiiit down." quite frequently.  Otherwise, he just stands on something, takes a step backward and collapses an extra 8 inches downward onto the floor.  Luckily, his big boy chair is on carpet...

on the other hand...

The bottom stair that was left over past our baby gate is a great place upon which our dude likes to climb. I caught him standing straight up holding on today and said the requisite, "Kaaaaaaaai, siiiiiiiiit down."  He looked at me, and just slowly squatted down like the example below.  He did not turn around slowly onto his bum as I was hoping for, but just into a nice squat.  What did you say?  My toddler isn't a drone just waiting to comply to mommy's every wish?  

Way to test your limits, child.  I'm bracing myself for your inevitable future of falls and bruises from climbing up to much higher and much more dangerous feats.

Happy 2013!

Last night, we welcomed in 2013 with our friends Cecily and Marcelo!  They just returned from 100 days of backpacking around South America.  How fun are they?  They even camped out on the beach one night in Columbia.  I'm just glad they made it home after that decision.  : )

We had a fun night hearing about their travels, meeting some new people, and toasting the new year.  I pray that 2013 is as fun as my past 29 years have been, as I shall be turning the big three-oh this year!  yikes.  I'm assuming it will be pretty great, as we have an amazing son, a trip to Vegas in the early planning stages, and lots of other adventures just waiting to be had!

CHEERS!

A few more pics (Credit to Cecily, Marcelo, and Karen too!)