PHOTO DUMP!

So we bought a house.  And started a job.  And Leo was sick.  So basically blogging has been at the absolute bottom of the list...but take this as a good sign that I am finally catching up in life enough to sit down and type for a minute!  (Warning: totally random...I'm sure this isn't cohesive, but I am starting somewhere!)

Leo had a fever that I just couldn't get to go away without tylenol...after a couple of days- one of which he was super lethargic- we went in to the pediatrician to find that he had a mild ear infection and a cold, not the flu.  Poor guy.  He always slept fine...except the napping which is a whole other story and luckily has improved lately. 

He isn't supposed to have his "nuk" except when he is in his crib so sometimes when it is quiet I come upstairs and find that he has pulled everything out of his bed.  He thinks he is SO sneaky!

This is one of my favorite shots lately.  Unfortunately the only pictures I ever take are on my phone so it isn't the greatest quality, but I just absolutely adore these two boys watching Cars.  We have definitely come to look forward to the weekends now that Nick goes to work all day every day!

It took forever to convince Leo to put these slippers on his feet- he has a real preference when it comes to what he wears on his feet that I contribute completely to his father :)  So when he finally put the football slippers on I had to get evidence.  And since he was sick Leo has gotten used to sitting on my bed to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse in the morning.  He has a special order the blankets go on his lap...I don't care- I am just happy I get to shower in peace!  Is it impressive or sad that I can shower AND get ready in one episode???

Here is our house.  I need to be better about taking pictures I know, but here is the outside for those of you who keep asking for pics!  (It's okay...I like blogs with pictures better too.)

And a few of our improvements so far... the entry way finally got our keyholder thing hung up and I hung a mirror in the little hallway by our room.  I know these don't seem impressive but just know that I have done it all myself!  Nick is busy at work and gets to come home to something new almost every day...it is a slow process, but a fun one too.

You can't really see it well, but I love the rug in the half-bath downstairs.  It in theory matches the living room that it is right next to...someday...if it ever gets decorated.  And this little closet is Koshka's space...unfortunately we have a litterbox!  Again, I know it doesn't look impressive but I hung those shelves myself- I hated not being able to put things in there but didn't want to pile things up on the floor so I could vacuum the litter quickly.  In fact I put that carpet down myself too...trying to keep the litter contained.  I have really come to love our little tool set. :)

Our bathroom got new towels and hooks and a long mirror...hung by yours truly and A LOT of help from Leo.  I can't keep him away from the power screwdriver!  I am just happy we don't have holes in our walls...yet.

And here is his room...we are getting ready to paint stripes but he only lets me tape a little before his "help" becomes just too much and we go play instead.  Someday I will get it all taped...and then painted.  At least I have started.  The same goes for our draperies in the living room...two 6 yard panels.  Yikes.  The bolts of fabric have been sitting in the dining room forever and I finally have just made myself start the process.  Sometimes it seems too overwhelming so I don't want to start because I know I won't be able to finish before I get interrupted...but I have got to start somewhere and am learning how to start a project and then not finish it right away.  It's a slow process but we are loving having a home to do with as we please :)

Hip hip hooray!

We closed on our home on Monday!  Woohoo!  It is a really long and frustrating story, but the point is that Nick started his new job on Monday morning and I went and bought a home without him!  Haha.  Thank goodness for sisters that can babysit short notice and a Power of Attorney that let me sign for Nicholas :)

We had 3 main things we kept having to reschedule as our closing date kept getting moved...the delivery of our stuff out of storage, the cable/internet guy, and the delivery of our fridge/washer/dryer (should have listened to the old guy at Home Depot that told us to not buy anything until we close...we bought it the night before and thought we were in the clear!)  Anywho I am sure we rescheduled each of those things like 5 or more times, each pushing it back just a day or two.  And now somehow they are all being delivered tomorrow...so wish me luck!  I keep teasing Nick that he just goes to work and is going to come one day to our house and it will be all furnished and set up.  I know he would love to be there to help with the set up, our grand plan just didn't work out :(  But we are going now...and we are into month 2 of Insanity. Yikes.

Stay tuned for pictures...I promise I will try to get some up soon! :)

I was trying to snap some pictures of Leo for our upcoming Valentine card...which hopefully gets done amidst all this buying a house craziness.  Anywho, most of them didn't really work out - toddlers move too much and too quickly - and I'm probably not going to use any of these on our card (so I haven't even taken the time to edit them)...but I just couldn't resist sharing this one right away.  Isn't he darling?  

Soon I will post pictures of his 2nd birthday, but for now this will have to do! :)

Waiting

Waiting is hard.  We had an incredibly busy month and now we are just sitting, waiting.  Waiting to close on a house that seems to get further away each day.  Waiting to start a new job.  Waiting to start a new routine. Waiting to get back to normal.

I am not good at waiting.  And to make it worse, it is the beginning of a new year- the time when you want to make goals and get things going...and I feel like my hands are just tied.  Sure I have started a few things, but I just feel like I can't get into a rhythm because everything is so not-normal right now.

And don't even get me started on Leo...I try to wrap my head around the thought that he is just not going to function normally until we get back to our own routine in our own place, but it is hard to let that sit. (Especially since it is looking like mid-February before we get settled in our new home now...ugh.)  Mentally I get it...I just can't not let it bug me!  He hasn't had a normal nap and night's sleep since December 18th and I am more than physically tired.  Plus let's add in that he is turning 2 this month...I could probably just leave it at that.  He is cute and smart and funny...and just so much trouble!

I feel like there is so much for us to do and yet I am bored because I can't do anything.  It is an extremely frustrating feeling.  And I know you are probably thinking that I should just relax and enjoy the break- believe me I am trying- but it is hard to enjoy living out of a suitcase, per se.  After a few weeks of "vacation" I am just ready to go home...but we are homeless!

In other news, Nick and I started INSANITY...yeah, like that is going to help my mood, huh?  Basically I am tired and hungry which makes me feel more whiny, but I at least have hopes that in 60 days I will be so buff you won't even recognize me.  Hey, a girl had got to dream...at this point it is about all I AM doing!

Dream on.

Once Upon a Time...

...I used to have a blog.  Lately our lives have been way too crazy for me to keep up on blogging.

Lately we have enjoyed Thanksgiving and Black Friday...Nick has been busy finishing up his last semester of graduate school and is graduating this week...we have been house hunting and are finally getting close to actually buying one I think...and we are looking forward to celebrating Christmas with Nick's family in Denver.  Those things sound really fun, and they are, however they also entail more tedious tasks like trying to get ready to move (thank heavens we have a relocation package and are NOT doing it by ourselves this time!) and buy all the Christmas presents (which is fun, but still work...especially with an almost 2 year old in tow).  It has just been a busy time and I am sure glad that we ran our half marathons in October and aren't trying to train for that anymore!

I am excited about the weeks to come...lots of fun and memories...however I am also looking forward to February when things have settled down and we are in a routine which largely consists of me decorating a new house.  Woohoo!  (On a side note: I will post someday perhaps about all the blah blah of buying our first home, however can I just say that I am so happy to be doing it in Texas?  Not only is it close to some of my family, of course, but home prices are great here and we are definitely going to be spoiled no matter what home we get!  We really are lucky for many, many reasons.)

Anywho, so wish us luck in all of our endeavors this next 6 weeks or so...and please don't think that we forgot your Christmas card- if you know me at all you know I only do Valentines! :) 

I sure hope we are NOT related!

Though I know Ben Franklin gets all the credit, the modern-day concept of Daylight Savings Time was introduced by George Vernon Hudson...and I am just saying that he better not be anywhere on my family tree because we are definitely NOT friends this year!  The whole time-change thing is great when you are in college or single or don't have kids...but it really bites when you have an almost 2 year old.  I am pretty sure that this week the first time I looked at the clock in the mornings the time starts with a "4".  So I lay in bed and let Leo talk til 5:20 or so....so Nick gets up and takes his turn and I get to sleep another hour some days...it still makes me grumpy and Leo grumpy.  Then I am frustrated that I am grumpy and not loving and patient and that makes me even more grumpy.  And this weekend we had 2 nights in a row with Leo in bed and built-in babysitters (we were staying at my parents') and we didn't go anywhere or do anything...we were just too tired.  That is lame.

I am hopeful that we at least get to sleep in til 6 soon so that when we go to Denver for Christmas we aren't getting up at 3-something.  Not only that- the kid is not his happy self when he is over-tired and try as I may I can't get him to nap longer than 90 minutes once a day...and no matter what time he goes to bed he still wakes up bright and early.  It is one of the greatest mysteries of the world to me...if kids are tired, why don't they just go to sleep???  Anywho, I just hope that I don't run in to Ben or George because it would not end well for them!  Here is to a better week :)

Happy Halloween Pumpkins!

We have been preparing for Halloween for far too long!  Leo enjoyed wearing his pumpkin shirt from Grammie and shouting "Happy Halloween Pumpkins!" multiple times a day.  We had a window cling that said "Happy Halloween" with a bunch of pumpkins on it and he really loved it.

I was more concerned about picking out a pumpkin than Leo was, but he obliged me.  We didn't carve one this year but decorated a couple with stickers.  Leo really just liked trying to roll them.

We started off the Halloween festivities by going to the Cosby's neighborhood party.  It took Leo a bit to get into it, but I think he enjoyed it after a few minutes.

He really liked throwing the balls for one game...

...and mostly Nick and I just ended up running after them.  At least he found something he enjoyed!  

To celebrate on Halloween day we hit up Chipotle for their $2 "boorito" when in costume.  Leo wore his farmer outfit (the best we could come up with this year...the kid won't wear anything on his head so our costume choices were limited.  He has been really into all things farm lately so it was a natural, albeit simple, fit.)  Anywho, Nick went as a Chipotle burrito :)

I made a make-shift witch hat out of construction paper and a headband this afternoon so I could get a "boorito" too.  Naturally Leo didn't eat any of his but Nick and I enjoyed it!  Plus it was fun to see the other costumes while we were there.

Who knew Leo would LOVE trick or treating?  He had no hesitation about going up to any door, knocking, and saying "trick or treat".

He got all too comfortable reaching the in the bowl and grabbing a handful...luckily he has little hands!

Below is his first ever trick or treating experience!  You have got to love Texas hospitality too...everyone was so friendly and cute with him.

His bucket got heavy quickly and we ended up carrying it most of the time...and him a bunch of the time too!  I thought about taking his wagon to pull him in but we only hit up 13 houses...he is still pretty little after all and it was past his bedtime.  He had a really cute Halloween bag my mom had made, however I was worried he would end up dragging it and so we opted for the bucket tonight.

He kept asking for "more" after each house and couldn't wait to enjoy his first Twix and Smarties as we were still canvassing the neighborhood.

We are so happy that he really enjoyed this holiday- it is really fun to celebrate the holidays with a kid!

I was pleased that I didn't have to coax him to say "thanks" and he told every house at least once.  Sometimes he would say "Happy Halloween" and "bye" too...I know it doesn't seem like it and this subject is a whole other post, however Leo is super verbal.

Leo's favorite part was this light-up projection thing that had these firework/flower things spinning and rotating.  He could have stayed there ALL night!

We got him in bed just about an hour late, without a bath tonight.  He thoroughly enjoyed this Halloween and I am really excited to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas with him this year!  And just for the record, Nick was so excited about going trick-or-treating with Leo tonight...far more than I anticipated.  It was cute to watch them :)  

And by the way he was the cutest farmer you've ever seen :)  Although I do hate when they figure out the whole "say cheese" thing because then all the pictures look like the above instead of a real smile.  Oh well.