Baby's First Christmas

Ok so I have been a terrible blogger lately, but I plan to make up for it with a video and lots of pictures. I actually started this blog over two weeks ago and just got back to it today. So lets go back a couple of weeks. We decided to drive to Taos and surprise my family for xmas. Brody did really good in the car (did I mention it's a 12 hour drive to Taos). It was so cold in Taos, but there was tons of snow and it was very pretty. I love having a white Christmas. It wasn't only Brody's first xmas but it was his first time to see snow as well. Anyway we had a great visit. It was short but sweet, we were really glad we got to be with family for Brody's first Christmas, it was very special. Here is a video of Brody opening a present. He just loved all the gifts, he would wiggle his way over to them and rip off the bows. Of course I didn't get a video of that but this will have to do.

I might not have gotten the best video but I did get some great pictures from our visit. The first night we got there the Cowboy game was on, so Brody and Grandpa cuddled on the couch and watched the game.

Go Cowboys!

Then Brody and Grandma had some fun on the floor.

It was so pretty in Taos, I just loved it!

It was also very cold in Taos. We stayed in the casita so we had to bundle Brody up to take him to bed every night.

He just loved opening presents. He kept trying to eat the paper.

Brody and Auntie Tia.

Brody and Uncle Pete.

He just loved Christmas!

Me and my wonderful sisters, it was so good to have all three of us together!

So I promise to be a better blogger. We just got really busy the last couple of weeks and it's harder to blog when we are traveling. Ok no more excuses.

FBC

So about three years ago we started a tradition we call FBC (Friends Before Christmas). Everyone always goes away or spends the holidays with their family and we wanted to have a night where we could celebrate with all of our friends. We would do a special dinner and exchange gifts. Well we didn't think it was going to work out this year. We have had so much going on that we couldn't find a weekend where everyone was free. Well it didn't work out quite as we had planned but we definitely still got to have our FBC dinner, in fact we ended up having two. On Tuesday we went to Matt and Abbey's for dinner. It was a lot of fun, we exchanged gifts and Matt made these amazing fish tacos. I think I had four of them! We had a really great time. Matt and Abbey have a dog named Coltrane, him and Brody were completely fascinated with one another. They couldn't keep their eyes off of each other. It was really cute. At one point I was holding Brody and he spotted Coltrane and started leaning toward him, well Coltrane saw this and did the same thing. We were able to get a couple of pictures and I think it's just the cutest thing.

Towards the end of the night Abbey got her camera out and started taking some great pictures of Brody. I told her she would have to email them to be or do a guest blog. We'll have to wait and see what happens.

Then on Thursday night we had our friends Tim and Shara over for dinner. We made a yummy dinner and then watched the football game and played Left Right Center. It was a lot of fun. So maybe next year we will be able to have a big dinner and have everyone over together. But I was really glad we were able to get together with our friends before we all go our separate ways for Christmas.

Baby Talk

Brody was just being too cute this morning. He is always very chatty in the morning when he first gets up. It's so funny, he has so much to tell me. It's like he dreams all night and can't wait to tell me about it in the morning. Well I've been trying to get him talking on video and of course I reach for the camera this morning and it's completely dead. So I plugged it in and got the end of him telling me all about his night.

Christmas Shopping

We had a great time last weekend with Batman. For those of you who don't know Batman is our friend from California, his real name is Bernd but my nickname for him is Batman. He came to see our new digs and to help us finish the wine room. He got in late on Friday night and Saturday and Sunday we mostly did work around the house. He did the molding and finish work on the wine room, helped Mark fasten the bookshelf to the wall, hung our sconce in the outdoor living area, installed our water softener and did a few other little things we needed help with. It wasn't all work though, we took him out for Texas BBQ on Saturday night and then him and Mark went to a couple of bars in downtown Austin on Sunday. Overall it was a great visit, we really miss him and Thea.

So this was our first weekend in three weeks with no company. I had visions of a nice relaxing lazy weekend. Boy was I wrong. First I realized that Christmas was only about a week away and I had done no shopping. So we decided to run some quick errands on Saturday. That was quite the task and was definitely not quick. I tried to go to Target, after 20 minutes I finally found a parking spot. Then once I got inside it was so packed you could hardly even push your cart down the isle. Two hours later, feeling confident that I have everything I needed, I'm standing in line and realize I forgot to get Advil. Ugg it was so frustrating. Not to mention it was a cold and very windy day outside, I almost got blown away just trying to get back to my car. So after my wonderful adventure to Target I decided to come home and wrap the the presents I had. Mark was making cookies, which is something he likes to do for the people he works for. This reminded me I wanted to make my toffee. So Sunday I got up and ventured back out into the crazy world of Christmas shoppers. I had to go back to Target with a few returns and of course to get the Advil. Then I had to make a couple other stops which I can't talk about because it would give away some of my presents. So back to the house on Sunday, I was able to make my toffee (only 3 batches this year, last year I made 10) and more wrapping. I got a lot done so that is the good news. I hope everyone else is done shopping or planning on doing their buying online. Either way good luck. I'm definitely going to start earlier next year!

Wine Room

Well it is finally finished. I finished the touch up paint last night and the wine room is officially done! It feels so good to have this project finished. We owe a HUGE thanks to my dad and Mark for doing the building of the actual structure and installation of the wine racks. Thanks to Matt and Dr. for providing the necessary tools to complete the project. And a big THANKS to Bernd for coming all the way from California to do the finish work on the trim and the molding. We are so happy with the finished project. So here are the long awaited pics of the wine room process. I'm not sure if the pictures do it justice but it looks great and we couldn't be happier with the end result. We look forward to filling it up and enjoying all the great wine it will hold!

So we built the wine room into the corner of the office. It is at 4.5 X 4.5 square room. First we had to knock holes in our brand new walls (Yikes!) and tear up the carpet.

Then we framed and insulated the structure.

Then came the dry wall.

Then we lined the room with tongue and groove pine and had to cut a hole for the air unit that regulates the temperature and humidity.

My Dad had to wire a new plug, light fixture and light switch for the room.

We tiled the floor.

I did the grout which was a first for me but kind of fun to do.

At first we were going to finish the outside with cabinetry but Mark had a great idea to have the room tape and textured. So we hired someone to tape and texture the outside walls.

The wine racks are made of redwood and the room should hold around 500 bottles of wine.

Then came the trim moulding to finish it all off. I did the stain on the door which was a pain but worth it in the end and it was Mark's idea to do the ledge at the top so we could display all of our favorite wine bottles.

As you can see we have already started to add bottles and that is the end result.

So there you have it. Our first big project in the new house (and hopefully the last). Let me know what you think. It was a lot of work but over all I think we had fun doing it and are going to cherish having it for years to come.

Christmas Time!

I LOVE Christmas time. We started decorating the day after Thanksgiving. We decided to go with a fake tree this year. It was a very hard decision for me because I have always been such a huge fan of real trees, but with a crazy cat who eats the tree and drinks the water from the tree, it was time for the artificial tree. In the end I love our tree. I do the lights on the tree every year and it's always a stressful ordeal so it was amazing having the pre-lit tree. I also had a very Martha Stewart moment with my wreath and garland. I didn't really like anything I saw in the stores and everything was so expensive, especially the wreaths. So I decided to make my own. I got out my hot clue gun and went to work and I must say I'm very pleased with the results. I took pictures of all of our decorations. I might do a few more lights outside but overall I love the way everything looks.

My hand made wreath, I'm very proud of it :o)

Judy got us these stockings from Pottery Barn, I love them. We are missing one for Shasta, that's why they look off center.

Our Christmas tree!

I did garland all the way up the stairs.

And around the banister at the top of the stairs.

And here is the outside with our pretty lights. We decided to do colored lights because we always do white outside and color inside but the pre-lit tree was clear so we switched it up.

So those are our decorations. Like I said, I love Christmas. I will be doing the Wine Room post soon. Bernd is here this weekend and we are finishing up all the trim work and then I can take pictures of the finished product and do the post.

Family Visit

Mark's family was here over the weekend. His mom, dad and brother all came out to visit. We had a really good time. They hadn't seen Brody since September so they were amazed at how much he has grown and changed. We took them out for BBQ on Friday night and then just came back to the house and had a pretty mellow night. Then on Saturday Judy and I went shopping and Judy decided to cook dinner for us. We invited Matt and Abbey to come over and Judy made this amazing crab recipe that she got from Mark's aunt. We drank way too much wine and stayed up way too late, but it was a blast. We played Cranium and Apples to Apples it was a lot of fun. Then on Sunday we went into Austin and had dinner at Flemmings Steak House. Overall it was a great weekend, we really missed all of them. Here are some pictures from their visit.

I tried this new slide show thing, which is pretty cool but after the first two pictures it moves away from the slide show. Just click the x at the top right of the slide show and it will go back to the pictures.

Brody - 4 Months

Brody is officially 4 months old. We had his doctors appointment on Monday. We really liked the pediatrician, the entire staff was really nice. He had to get his second round of shots which I hate but he does so good with them. He cries when they first stick him but as soon as I pick him up he is fine. Such a good boy. Well here is the breakdown of where he is for his age.

His head was 43.4 cm which is in the 75th percentile

His weight was 15.12 which is also in the 75th percentile

His length was 26.5" which is in the 95th percentile

They said he looked very healthy and had no concerns. We are also allowed to start introducing him to rice cereal. I'll have to get a video of that, I'm kind of excited to feed him something other then breast milk. Although I don't plan to stop breast feeding for several more months.

So here he is eating for the first time. We only gave him a couple of spoonfuls but he did pretty good and it had to be one of the funniest moments. I promise to do a video next time we feed him.

Well that's it for now, I know we have had lots of requests for pictures of the wine room. I will start working on that post soon. I just want to wait until it's completely done before I post it so you can see the start to finish.

Surprises!

So my family is really big on surprises. In fact a few weeks ago when my parents came to visit they flew my sister Sydna in as a surprise. I was so excited to see her, she hadn't seen the house yet and has been so busy working I wasn't sure when I would see her again. Then on Thanksgiving day my dad left the house and said he had a quick errand to run. We were working on the wine room so we thought it had something to do with that, but it was Thanksgiving day, everyone is closed, we couldn't figure out where he possibly could have gone. Well an hour later he gets back and he isn't alone. He flew my other sister Kelley in to surprise us. My mom didn't even know she was coming, it was a fabulous surprise. We ended up having a wonderful Thanksgiving. It was actually very relaxing, my mom and I cooked dinner and we ate around 5:30 (half time of the Cowboy game) and just watched football and hung around the house all day. We were sad that Syd and Mark's family couldn't be here but it was a great first Thanksgiving in the new house. I kept my promise and took some pictures of the butt bread.


So the bread is frozen dough that you put in a muffin tin and let rise for 4-5 hours. The longer you let it rise the bigger the rolls get and the more they start to look like little butts. That's why we call it butt bread. Well I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Mark's parents will be here this weekend and then Bernd is coming the next weekend. He is doing the finish work on the wine room and then we will be done! I will do a post, I have pictures from start to finish so everyone can see what we have been working on.

Happy Turkey Day!

Happy Thanksgiving! We are spending today with my parents. Mark's parents are spending Thanksgiving with Ryan in Oregon but will be here next weekend. We are making all the Thanksgiving favorites with a couple of Mariani additions. Anyone who has spent Thanksgiving with us knows about butt bread, it's the best bread ever. I will have to take a picture so you can understand why we call it butt bread. Last time my parents were here my mom brought Brody this cute little Beanie Baby Turkey named Gobble. Well Brody just loves him, the first thing he did was stuck the beak in his mouth and start sucking on him. Here are some cute pictures of Brody and Gobble.

Another Weekend

I can't believe another weekend has come and gone. Saturday Mark helped me clean the house, it's a big job so I loved the help. Then Mark stayed home with Brody and I ran to the grocery store and to Costco. Then on Sunday we had some friends over to watch the Cowboy game. Thank goodness they won, I can't believe they are 9-1, go Cowboys! My parents sent Brody a cute little Cowboys onsie that had a matching bib and booties, it was too cute. I promised I would wash it so he can wear it again on Thursday. We have a pretty crazy schedule coming up. Mark's birthday is on Wednesday, Matt and Abbey are coming up and my parents should be getting here that night as well. Then we are having Thanksgiving here with my mom and dad. Then next weekend Mark's parents are coming to visit. Alan was going to come to but he recently lost a friend and the memorial is going to be that weekend, so he will be coming another time. Then Bernd otherwise known as Batman will be here the following weekend. We are still trying to schedule a game night so that might just be the next weekend and then it will almost be Christmas. Time is just flying by. Here are a couple of cute pics I took this week.

This is Brody with Mr. Bear, one of his favorites. He loves to suck on him.

Almost naked baby in his crib.

Sleeping in his Crib

So we had a pretty successful night last night. We moved Brody upstairs to his crib. I put him down at 11pm. I'm sure he woke up sometime in the night but he must have put himself back to sleep because I didn't wake up with him until 5am. Then he went back to sleep until around 8am. I'm so proud of him. He has even taken his last couple of naps up in his crib as well. I just took this picture of him, I almost woke him up so I must be crazy.

Nap Time!

These are his new PJ's I think they are so cute!

Well I hope we can have the same kind of night tonight. Wish us luck!

Overwhelmed

It's been a ruff couple of days. Brody decided he only needed to sleep an hour to an hour and a half the last couple of days. I felt like such a bad mom. I got so overwhelmed. Mark helped out in the middle of the night and it made it a little better, but then I got sick on Friday and that just made the situation so much worse. Luckily today Mark took Brody in the morning and let me sleep for a few extra hours. Let me tell you it makes all the difference in the world. We decided to finally move Brody up to his own bed in his own room. I'll let you all know how it works out. It's bitter sweet for me, because I love having him right next to me but in the same since I wake up with him every time he rolls over or makes any little noise. So in the long run I think it will be better that he is in his own bed. Here are some new pics of him and a fun video of him in his favorite new bouncy chair.

Fun in the Bath!

Drying off

Never too early for football!

Nap time with Shasta

Brody in his new chair from Grandma Judy

And here he his in his new bouncy seat that my mom got for him.

Crazy Week

Sorry there hasn't been any new posts lately. We had a very crazy week. My mom and sister flew in on Friday to visit. My dad got here on Sunday and we started construction on our wine room that we have been wanting to build. We had to knock out two walls and build a room from scratch. We are putting the wine room in the office so our computer was out of commission during the construction, part of the reason I haven't posted in awhile. I have pictures of our progress and will do a post once the wine room is finished. We had a great visit with my family. They loved seeing Brody and how big he is getting. My mom got him this fun bouncy chair thing and it is officially his new favorite toy. I will take some video of him in it and post it soon. I also have a bunch of new pictures that I need to load on the computer and post. I will try to do it this weekend. Mark got invited to go to the Texas Longhorns game on Saturday. That should be fun, he is very excited. Hope everyone has a nice weekend.

Rolling Over

Brody is officially rolling over. He did it for the first time on Tuesday night and then mastered it yesterday. Here is a video of him in action, he is wearing the cute little pumpkin hat that one of Mark's clients made for him. It was his second Halloween costume.



Also I just wanted to let everyone know I edited a couple of posts. Judy sent me the pictures of Brody with his Great Great Grandma, so I put one of them in the Great Grandparents post. Also Mark got to dress up for work yesterday. He decided to go as Clark Kent, so I added a picture of that to the Halloween post.

Happy Halloween!

So we LOVE Halloween. It was a huge deal in Santa Barbara where Mark and I met. We have been dressing up every year since our freshman year. I was looking through old photos and thought I would post pictures of our past Halloweens. I couldn't find a picture from every year but I did pretty good.

Here is me my freshman year, all the girls in my hall decided to go as devils. I don't have a picture of Mark because we hadn't met yet.

Then our sophomore year we decided to be cowboys.

I couldn't find pictures of our Junior and Senior year, but this was the first Halloween in our old house. I was a cop he was my prisoner (not our best costumes, we were on a budget).

This was our second Halloween in our old house, I was a fairy and that's my sister Sydna as a boy!

This is the same year, Mark was a dork, our friend Peggy was a French Maid and Bernd and Thea were sunburned skiers.

This was last year. Bernd and Thea were by far the best dressed they came as the Bounty Hunter and his girlfriend.

And here is Mark this year as Clark Kent

And I saved the best for last. Here is baby Brody as a Hotdog for his first Halloween!