Robert's Carpentry Job

Robert has been working very hard to complete a wall-to-wall bookshelf for a paying client.  He started working on it right after his friend, Mike, left from visiting just before Thanksgiving, and finally, the week that his mom and Rick were on a cruise, he finished!  He built a lot of the pieces in the garage in the evenings and weekends while I could watch Colby, and then toward the end of the project, my mom came over to watch Colby during the day so Robert could install the bookshelf at the client's house.

Of course it turned out beautifully!

 

I'm so proud of Robert.  We'd been talking about how he could make a living doing woodworking and carpentry - he's just that talented.  And this just shows we're right!  Of course, I know with another baby on the way, it'll be at least a year or more before he has the time to commit to doing these types of projects all the time.  But eventually he'll be able to do what he loves and what he's good at, and I couldn't be happier for him!

Colby's First "Christmas"

Grandma and Grandpa came to spend a weekend with us before they headed out on their cruise from Galveston.  We had an early Christmas for Colby so they could experience it with him.

 Colby was very interested in his giant frog...

 until he found the wrapping paper!  True to form, he was more interested in the cardboard and the paper than the present itself!

We also let him mouth some (wrapped) candy from his stocking.  Overall, a very successful event!

Home Improvement

My mom just finished up her master gardener courses a few weeks ago.  She's always been an amazing gardener, and her garden at home always looks beautiful, but she wanted to make it officia - she's (almost) officially a master gardener - she still has to put in a few more hours before it is truly official.  Part of her coursework was a landscaping class - let's be honest, the woman doesn't really NEED a class on landscaping, but it's always good to learn something new...and after that class, she came over and we crafted a plan for MY garden - such as it was. 

We had been living with the plants the builder had put in for over a year, and I was not pleased with how it looked.  I think I would've tried to do something sooner, but last planting season (Oct-Nov in Houston) I was 7 months pregnant, so that wasn't going to happen.  The weekend prior, my mom and I drove around the neighborhood looking at who had planted what where, and what was doing well, and we hashed out a plan for our tiny front yard garden.  Then this Friday, she went to a nursery picked everything up and we planted it!  It was a 3 day thing, as after we had planted everything on Friday, we realized we needed more!  So Saturday I went and picked up a few more things, and she went to another nursery to find more.  Saturday I tried to plant the rest of it, but 10 month old boys just LOVE small bright flowers like pansies, especially when they're just planted and easy to pull up!  So I had to wait for Robert to get home and I finished planting everything this morning!  Here's some before and after shots:

 Before

After

Big News!

Not sure which is bigger news, but there's this...

And this!

Example

I know there are several examples of Robert's giving nature, and his thoughtfulness.  And I know I don't tell him thank you enough, and sometimes these examples go unnoticed.  Well, not today!

Before leaving for the weekend to hunt, Robert hung up Colby's bouncy seat in the doorway to the master bath.  He did this for several reasons:
1) Because he knows it's impossible to take a shower with a very mobile 9 month old without it.
2) Because he knows the doorway is too high for me to be able to put it up there myself.
3) Because he thinks ahead.
4) Because he's constantly thinking of ways to make my life easier

I love him!

The Pumpkin Patch

Two weeks ago (actually the day after the beach) we took Colby to Dewberry Farm, a fall festival type farm just north of Brookshire, about 40 minutes away.  This was mainly to get some pictures with Colby in and around some pumpkins (because babies and pumpkins are never not adorable), but also because they always have a corn maze and so many other things since I'd been there last.  Here are some pictures for you.

Family picture!

Colby's lost in the corn maze that, cruel surprise, doesn't have an exit!  He's not amused.

More interested in the dirt than the pumpkins...

 

Signature worried look.

 

They don't make 'em any cuter than this!

 

 
Posing for GQ!

 Another family photo.

That's all for now!  Stay tuned to see what Colby will be for Halloween!

Gone Fishin'

Yesterday, I took a personal day, as work has finally slowed down!  It was a beautiful day and we decided to spend it as a family.  Robert wanted to go to Sargent (sp?) where he and my dad have gone on several occasions.  So we bought a tent, packed up and drove down in the morning.

Robert went out into the ocean to fish, and I let Colby sit in the sand and stick every shell he could get his hands on into his mouth. 

Gorgeous day, but a bit windy, and all the sun and wind wore Colby out!

We stayed for several hours and then packed up to come home.  On the way in (and out) we saw this lovely house that is for rent...we might take the owners up on that...  :)

Shooting a Movie in Hollywood

Last weekend, I went to LA to play a small role in an independent film that my twin sister, Amy is starring in.  Not every day that you get to film a movie in Hollywood - especially when you're an engineer, so I thought this was worthy of a blog entry...

I got into LAX Friday morning, and had to drop Amy back off at work, and then was told I'd have to find my way to her apartment and PARALLEL PARK all by myself!  It stressed me out immediately, and it didn't help that on the way there, I guess I was driving a bit slow, because a woman decided to pull up right beside me, flip me off and yell obscenities at me for a full five blocks.  Welcome to Hollywood...but I eventually found the apartment and praise the Lord was able to find a spot big enough to parallel park in. 

Amy got let off early from work, so after she took a quick nap (I swear that girl can fall asleep anywhere), we went for a run, and then out to eat.  I found out when I got there that everything I brought to wear to the shoot was inappropriate for the camera.  I didn't know this, but the camera doesn't like red, or black or white, or things with a sheen, or things with layers, or things with too much texture, or too bright of patterns, and the list goes on...SO we had to go shopping!  I ended up just buying a top at Urban Outfitters, that Amy deemed camera worthy.  And THEN we went and saw "Trouble with a Curve."  Apparently Amy's manager represents the young ball player in the film, so it was somewhat of research for her.

The next day we went to the shoot.  The location was a small theatre on a busy street in Hollywood.  When we got there, the director/writer/producer, cameraman, and sound guy were there, already setting up for the first scene.  There were three scenes they needed to shoot ahead of mine, so after I saw what was going on, met the guys, and saw them run through the scene a few times, I left to get my nails done.  It was 11 am, and I wasn't needed til 4.  I was back by 12:30, and did a coffee run for Amy.  It was interesting to see how they shot the first scene, a game show scene.  All they did was hang cardboard hearts from beams on fishing line, and ouila! with enough close up shots, you have a pick-your-lover-type game show!  The director wanted widescreen shots of everyone, but also needed closeups of everyone, and little partial-scenes, so they had different actors off to the sides, or front and center, and ran the scene multiple times, then moved everyone around and ran it again, etc.  It was amazing!  I could see how it could get exhausting, saying the same lines tens and tens of times with the same level of energy!  I could also see how the director had to have "a vision" by putting only what he wanted in the frame and making the audience infer the rest.

Then once that scene was over, it was time for "Krafty" or "Kraft Services," or the food provided to the cast and crew on a shoot.  I actually went with the production manager to go pick up lunch (at 3:30 pm) for everyone, which was fun!  We picked up this Greek Chicken sort of stuff - really good.  While we were gone, they shot a boxing scene, which they created by hanging lights to point into the camera, and had one blue and one red cloth strip to set in the foreground to act as the ropes.  It looked AMAZINGLY like a boxing ring on camera!  Amy and another girl were in a "cat fight" and they each had to deal each other a knockout punch, and then both pass out, so they both had to punch directly into the camera at one point, and Amy ended up hitting the camera and knocked a piece of it off! 

Once lunch was eaten, and the boxing scene wrapped, it was time for MY scene!!!  It was a New Year's Eve Party, and I was a little tipsy, telling Amy's character's boyfriend that though I didn't like him at first, he had grown on me and he was a good guy.  I took out all of the outfits I brought, and the director picked a couple, but the camera man had the final say on what I could wear, since he knew what the camera would "like" and you know what?  He picked a top I had brought with me from the start!  Ha!  I spent a few more minutes touching up my makeup, as did Amy, I got miked up and then we were ready to shoot.  To create the scene, they placed me, Amy and the main actor, Trevor, in the foreground, hung some lanterns from another beam, and put one guy in the background to create the illusion of a crowd.  One guy!  I couldn't believe it could be that simple!  Then they stuck some paper party hats on me and Trevor, and Amy and I were given those little cardboard, plastic blowy things.  Then we were told where to stand, which was very close to each other.  Immediately before the director called action, Trevor pulled up the script on his iPhone so I could memorize my lines one more time.  Then I said the line, Amy giggled a bit, I guess because I'm supposed to play the tipsy girl, and they're playing the indulgent sister and her boyfriend.  I didn't realize she was giggling in character, and I started giggling myself.  But the director liked it, because I guess we both came off a bit tipsy, so we went with it.  I said the line a few more times, and then we switched camera angles and shot again.  This repeated from a couple more angles, and basically I realized that to appear tipsy when you're that zoomed in on, all you have to do is smile and stare at someone without blinking.  So apparently I did very well...  :)  The whole scene took about an hour to shoot, and it was really only one line, so I can imagine how long the rest of the movie takes!

With my scene finished, I was ready to go home, so I took Amy's car to her place and was there not ten minutes when she called to get picked up.  We got home around 6:30 pm, and decided to take a nap and then go out.  I must have fallen asleep around 7, but woke up around 4 am, thinking, "I guess we're not going out!"  Amy was asleep by then so I went back to bed and slept for another three hours!  Woohoo!  I slept for 12 hours - apparently Amy said, yes, an all day shoot really takes it out of you.  She was right!

That's all, I guess.  Hoping to get some still frames at some point for documentation of my first real Hollywood movie shoot!

The First Illness

Over the past labor day weekend, Colby experienced his first fever.  It started Saturday morning, hovering around 99-100, and he was one cranky baby.  I thought he might actually be teething, so we didn't worry about it too much.  We even took him to the neighborhood pool for the first time, which he actually seemed to like.  After an initial wail from the first full body dunk, he began splashing and kicking like a champ.  

But the next day, his fever was more around 101, and he was lethargic and just wanted to be held all day long.  Then Monday rolled around, same story, and Robert and I (spoiled by the normally good nature of our baby) were pretty tired of the neediness.  We discussed taking him to the doctor, but thought they would just tell us he was teething, or that he had a virus, and there wasn't anything we could do about it, other than control the fever with ibuprofen (which we'd been doing).

On Tuesday, I went back to work, and early in the morning checked my pediatrician's webpage which said to call them about any fever over 101.  Colby had been hanging around 102 yesterday, so Robert called and made an appointment for that afternoon - our first doctor's appointment that wasn't a check up!  We also found out that our doctor does not believe that teething causes fever.  About an hour before we went to the doctor's office, Colby's fever spiked to 103, so I'm glad we made the appointment.  Of course, when we saw the doctor, the ibuprofen was working.  He told us what we thought we'd hear: virus.  But we did get a proper dosage schedule for ibuprofen, and realized that while we'd been controlling the fever, we'd been giving him less than half the recommended dosage!  We also found out that at eight months, Colby weighs a whopping 18 lbs 5 oz!  And for a $20 co-pay, the piece of mind that our son, though sick, is fine, was worth it.  No teeth yet, but as of Wednesday, Colby is much, much better - our doctor knows what he's talking about. And we can say we survived our baby's first illness!

 

Here is Colby - the one time he wasn't fussy while he was sick. 

Don't worry, you can't see it, but I'm holding onto him in the back!

In the Water: Part 2

This time we made sure the weather was warmer, as well as the water, and we put a towel down to make it harder for Colby to slip...much more successful!

First DIY Project

It's been a LONG time since I've done anything artsy-craftsy, but having spent a good three months on Pinterest, I guess it was only a matter of time...  

When I first joined Pinterest, I saw this pin of a chrysanthemum mirror made of plastic spoon heads, and it wedged itself in my brain.  I knew I would make something like it eventually, I just hadn't decided on a color, or where to put it.  I've only recently decided that I'm going to do our bedroom in dark grey and lime green, so I finally had a color - lime green.  It took weeks and weeks to buy everything I'd need to do this.  A trip to Michael's to get the frames and mirror, SEVERAL trips to HEB to get the spoons - you need a LOT of them, and then a trip to Lowe's for primer.  But I finally had the supplies and the time and the will power to get this done!

I was not very far into it before I realized the lady who initially wrote this "how-to" is full of it.  She put all of the spoons onto the frames and THEN primed them and THEN painted each spspoon individually?!?!  I could never do that without getting all sorts of paint in all sorts of places it isn't meant to be.  So I laid out each individual spoon and primed their front, then flipped them and primed the back, and THEN I painted each ever-loving spoon head the 7 different colors that this mirror requires...

I honestly don't know how you would do it any other way...

It took what felt like forever, but it was really only about 3 hours for 2 days.  1 day to paint, then dry over night, then 1 day to assemble.  And it turned out GREAT!  I can definitely see the imperfections; I'm certainly not that precise, but I love it!

What the lady also failed to mention is that you should mount the mirror to the FRONT of the frames, not behind the frames.  The mirror is too big and would have to be mounted behind the spoon handles, and then you can see not only the back of the spoons, but also the back of the frames and it doesn't look good.  So I think I'm going to hang it over our bed sans mirror, and put a "C" in the middle of it, for our monogram...what do you think?

In the water

Since Colby is now able to sit up by himself, pretty consistently, I decided that this weekend (today) would be the first time to try him out in the "pool."  Since our pediatrician is adamant about keeping Colby away from all of the chlorine and germs in a public pool until he's at least a year old,  we used a blow-up pool that Robert's cousin gave us.  

I was so excited to finally get my baby into the water; I was thinking: he's going to love it, he's going to want to spend hours just splashing around in it, and this is going to be the activity of choice on the weekends.  Wrong.

We filled the pool up with water around 9 am, before the sun got too hot, but the water was COLD.  So when we put Colby in, he immediately started shivering and his skin marbled.  The plastic was so slippery that every time he tried to move, he'd slip and fall backward or forward.  He kept trying to crawl out of the pool while we kept putting him back so I could get some pictures.  

I think the best pictures I got were him naked on the grass.  Ah well, try again in a few weeks.  

But we ARE going to transition him to the tub for bathtime...at least there we can make sure the water is warmer.

Milestones

I can't believe it's almost been a month since I posted.  So much has happened!  Rather than write a whole lotta nothing, I'll just concentrate on the milestones that Colby has just barrelled through in the past week!

Since the beach, he's been just rocketing through these things: first to get up on his toes, in a plank, then downward dog, then get his knees under him, then rock back and forth to find his balance, then falling forward, then falling forward in a controlled manner repetatively to sort of worm his way around, and finally, yesterday, real, honest-to-goodness crawling!  I was working out to Insanity, I think stretching, when I felt a little hand grab my ankle.  Colby had crawled all the way over to me from his play mat!  For the rest of the workout, Robert had to hold him, because we kept putting him back on the play mat, and he kept crawling back over to me, so I was afraid I'd step on him!  It was AMAZING to watch!  Especially thinking back to where he started, and now looking at what he can do.  He still gets lazy and flops onto his belly, doing the worm thing again.  But he definitely can do the hand-knee-hand-knee progression across the carpet!  He also really likes to crawl up into the coffee table.  Lord knows why - he's going to hit his head hard at some point...Katy's not so pleased with this development, as neither she nor her toys are safe from the curious grabby hands of my 6 month old!

And let's not forget that the day before yesterday he actually pushed himself to a sitting position and stayed there, without falling over!  We had been able to prop him up in a sitting position since visiting Alaska, and he was able to stay that way anywhere from 10 seconds to 10 minutes.  Then we could prop him up to play with his sound and light toy and he could stay there for even longer - this was only a week ago.  Now he can pull/push himself up from a crawling position and sit and grab at things!  So cool!

Colby's First Bites

This is just a quick post to let the world know that Colby has sampled his first "solid" foods.  Robert and I went to the grocery store yesterday and purchased organic sweet potatoes, bananas and avocados.  I baked the sweet potatoes this morning, and Robert blended them.  Then we assembled high chair and put the remainder in ice cube trays to freeze for later. 

Colby's first food is sweet potatoes!  He did so well - within two spoonfuls, he was making faces letting us know he was ready for more! 

More Please!

And since sweet potatoes are burnt orange, we decided Colby's "I spit up on t.u." was only fitting for the occasion!

I spit up on t.u.!

Alaska

Whew! We made it!  We took Colby, at 5 1/2 months old, to Alaska.  That's a 9 hour plane ride plus travel time to and from the airport both ways, 7 days and 7 nights spent in many different hotels, houses, and "strangers'" arms, 3 barbecues, and countless restaurants.  He did amazingly well...and then he started teething while we were there.  Needless to say the flight back was not quite as good as the flight up.

The trip was perfect; exactly what I envisioned.  The primary purpose for the visit was for Robert's family to meet Colby.  The secondary purpose was for our friends to meet Colby.  And if we had time, we wanted to fit a bit of Alaska sight-seeing in.  I consider all three goals to have been met!

We spent the first day in Anchorage, driving around our old stomping grounds.  We visited Robert's mom's work in the morning, drove by our old house, met Keith, Morgan, Emilie, and Joe for lunch (I finally got to meet Aubrey Bell!), then went over to Keith and Morgan's for a playdate, and stopped by Robert's old workplace in the afternoon.  After all the time changes, and dealing with Colby, I was in bed by 8!

Colby hams it up in Morgan's lap while Emilie looks on.

Little Aubrey Bell

The weekend was all about family.  Saturday, we drove out to the Valley, stopping first at Jenny's to drop off some steaks for the barbecue on Sunday.  So Colby got to meet Wyatt and Gunner for the first time, and of course Jenny.  Then we went to Grandpa's for several hours - where Robert introduced Colby to the wonders of the four-wheeler, then to Aunt Kim's, and we ended the day at Robert's moms, where we had barbecue ribs with Rick's family who was visiting as well.

Colby hanging out with Wyatt and Gunner

Grandpa showing Colby how it's done.

The inaugural ride on the four wheeler.

Sunday, we got up early to take Colby to the reindeer farm!  I had never been, and I have to say, I really enjoyed myself.  Those reindeer are like stupid, simple, gentle dogs.  You can kind of knee them out of the way, to get into the field, and then they'll eat right out of your hands.  I had no qualms of taking Colby right up to them to pet their coats and even antlers.  It was great!  After that, we went to Jenny's where the whole family met for a barbecue.  Everyone loved to see Colby, and Jenny held him in the baby bjorn for a significant amount of time - so sweet.  Wyatt and Gunner kept piling toys up in front of Colby to see if he would play with them, and about that time is when he started figuring out how to get his knees up under him...

Colby picked out the biggest reindeer on the farm.

Jenny has baby envy!

We spent the night at Jenny's so that Grandma could visit in the morning, and she loved meeting Colby.  She even got to rock him to sleep!  We went to BP for lunch, so that my coworkers could stop by and see Colby if they wanted to.  We got to see a lot of people, so that was nice, including Jenny J, who I was the happiest to see (and judging by her reaction, she was the happiest to see me)!  We met Storman and Nathania for dinner at their house, and got to see how much Aria has grown!  She was so cute, trying to get me to change Colby's diaper again and again (which ultimately resulted in several diapers being strewn across their living room).  She tried to sneak some mandarin oranges off my plate with a fork, and couldn't believe I caught her doing it!  And she climbed up into my lap twice, once to trace hands, and another to read her "Pat the Bunny"  I can't wait until Colby gets that age - it is so fun, and so tiring, I can imagine!

Grandma giving Colby some TLC.

Nathania feeds Colby, and Aria helps.

Tuesday we met Chris and Candace for lunch at Moose's Tooth.  And in the afternoon, Nancy stopped by the hotel to see Colby, and then we met Brittany and Pat for dinner, and got the grand tour of their house afterwards.

Wednesday, we went to lunch with Gwen, so she could see Colby one final time, and then I met Nathania for a walk, and then went to Jeff and Ericka's for a BBQ (so many BBQs)!  Thursday, we went back out to the valley and visited Grandpa - Robert helped him tear up the TundraTank and scoot it into a connex.  And then came back to the hotel with Chinese takeout and Eliot stopped by to visit!

Phew - so 1) see family...check, check and check.  2) see friends...CHECK and 3) Alaska sites...check (I'm counting the reindeer farm).  All this and now Colby can get his knees up under him, is teething AND has started sucking his thumb.  A VERY successful trip!

The Beach

Silly to be posting this the same day as the Alaska trip, but the weekends were back to back with little time in between.  So, the beach: We did it!  The one thing I wanted to make sure we did this summer since we are now in Texas again.  We went to the beach!  And not just any beach, we went to Corpus Christi - the beach where I was born, the beach that I spent at least 5 summers, watching my parents run, and then running myself in the Beach to Bay Relay Marathon.

Robert and I drove down Friday, and got to Corpus late afternoon.  We ditched Colby with my mom in the condo that we were all sharing, and spent an hour in the water, all by ourselves - it. was. awesome.  Then we spent another hour on the beach with my dad, drinking beer and watching the waves.  When we got back to the condo, Amanda had driven in from College Station, and we had brats for dinner and marshmallow creme and cookies for dessert! 

The next morning, Robert and dad went fishing early in the morning, and my mom and I took Colby down to the beach for some quick photos - the sun was so hot, we didn't want him out there for too long with his fair fair skin.

Angela got in around noon on Saturday, so we went back to the beach with her, and then had a birthday party for her that night.  We took her to (surprise!) a Pat Green concert out at Port A after dinner, since she's moving to NYC in August, and the opportunities to see Pat in concert will be few and far between.  Again, awesome.

Sunday, Robert and dad went fishing early again, then we all went to church.  Then I went to the beach with everyone, while Robert watched Colby, and then we headed home.  It was a great weekend - the weather was beautiful, and the waves were perfect for body surfing.  Loved it!

A Pinteresting Weekend

This weekend, it seems, all of the food I ate was inspired by recipes my mom or I found on pinterest.  If you're not a member yet, join!  It's amazing!  Very inspirational!

On Friday, we had Susana and David over for dinner (with Sam, of course) and we served chicken tikki masala and then baked apples with ice cream and caramel drizzle for dessert.


Then Saturday, I'm not ashamed to say, we did n.o.t.h.i.n.g.  A welcome break from the wedding of my cousin on my mother's side last week - Congratulations Chris and Mita! - and the baby shower for my cousin on my dad's side the week before, not to mention the beach this coming weekend and then Alaska the following week!  I made this for lunch/snack on Saturday.


Sunday, I did more nothing, but went over to my parents with Colby for lunch.  We had grilled chicken fajitas and this dip as an appetizer - thanks mom!


Everything was delicious - feel free to try them all and let me know what you think!

Sick

Sorry no pictures this time.  I'm SICK!  For the first time in I don't know when, I actually have a cold!  It started on Monday, but very slightly with a sore throat.  Then by Tuesday I was coughing and sneezing, but again, not that bad.  Well today I woke up a little drained, because it was a bit hard to breath last night, but I went to work anyway.  Ironically, I went for my Well Woman exam today, so I missed some work this morning.  By the time I got back to the office, my head was in a sinus cloud, and almost immediately, a pile of used Kleenex appeared in front of me.  So I decided to call it quits and go home.

When I got home, I realized my germ-aware husband was not going to let me hold, kiss, or hug my baby.  In fact, the only thing I'm allowed to do is feed him.  That's right, I tried to explain to my husband-with-a-biology-degree that my germs can and WILL get to my baby through breastmilk, but he won't listen.  Instead, he keeps Colby on his lap, and as I approach, he starts waving his hands over both of them, saying, "Safe zone, safe zone, Jenny."

Fine, since I can't hold my baby, I guess I'll go take a nap.  Which I did.  But instead of waking up feeling miraculously better, I woke up with a sinus headache.  One bowl of chicken soup later, and still feeling fuzzy - like Meg Ryan says in You've Got Mail.

This is so bizarre to me.  I really don't think I've had a cold in at least 3 years!

Here's hoping I can hold my baby tomorrow...

Picture Worth a Thousand words

At a Butschek (my mom's maiden name) family wedding over this past weekend, my uncle's girlfriend snapped this candid shot with her phone!  A true work of art.