The Neighborhood Watch

This Sunday morning, Colby and Katy are checking out the neighborhood.

Christmas Holidays

Kevin, Shelley, Nicholas and Sveta

Saturday before Christmas, my uncle Kevin and Aunt Shelley and their beautiful family had everyone over for a party and white elephant gift exchange!  It was a lot of fun to see everyone, and many of them hadn't seen Colby since my cousin Christopher's wedding.

The Kenneth Butshceks, complete with new additions - Luke and Mita!

Colby got in the Xmas spirit with his outfit and played outside

Angela playing with Colby

Amanda, Colby and me!

The White Elephant exchange - there were over 40 participants!

Papa's feeling daring!

!

 

And the next day Amy came into town to visit! 

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!