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.

*

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

*

*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!)