So the kitchen project begins

At 7:30 and not one minute after, our contractor showed up to start our kitchen project.
Just like he told me he was going to. But somehow like a complete idiot, I assumed that my kids were going to wake up in the 5/6am hour like they have been the past 2 weeks and after going out with my Chicago cousins last night, past my normal bedtime, very unwisely did not set an alarm...

Hence, at 7:31 when Michael got back from his run and had to let these guys in, everyone was nestled all snug in their beds, no one had sippy cups of milk nor breakfast, nor makeup (me) and oh, that's right, I thought the guys were going to start outside, but they actually wanted to bust into a wall in my kitchen, first, therefore creating the need to get everything off my counters and off the fridge pronto.

So, this morning at 7:32, the Mr. and I were running around like crazy people trying to move stuff. JM and I were eating Nutrigrain bars for breakfast, since they unplugged our fridge and at 7:34 taped off the kitchen to contain the dust. At 7:40, the front door was slamming with people going in and out and power tools were hitting drywall. Holy shite! Ready or not. We are starting this thing!

In case I haven't mentioned it, last summer after putting together architectural plans for my dream kitchen and getting some preliminary bids that made our eyes pop out of our heads, we started househunting in a lot of other Austin neighborhoods. Ultimately we decided we didn't want to leave our big trees and old house for parks and pools and "new", but also didn't want to spend our whole remodel budget on just the kitchen. Hence, we're staying, doing the kitchen on the "cheap" (not knocking down walls) and plan to add more square footage elsewhere somewhere down the road the next few years.

Lesson learned this morning was that I need to communicate clearly with these guys exactly what the agenda is for the upcoming day/week so we're not caught with our pants down, again. We are staying here when they are doing their work, so I need to be in sync with what's going on. Sorry, Michael, about this morning. Ah, always an adventure being married to me!

If you are interested, we are keeping the current footprint of our kitchen, so as to keep costs low(er) and to not have to lose our brick flooring. Here is the plan, before and after:

Range wall now

After: Lose electric cooktop, add 30" gas range, add lazy susan corner. Add drawers to lower cab space instead of cabinets. Add apron sink. Add new kitchen window. Extend upper cabs to ceiling and add glass front ones flanking sink (I'm actually doing screens instead of glass so you won't see all my disorganization). Lose heinous 1960s laminate/wood counters. Add black quartz counters. Add new white Shaker-style cabs. Widen breakfast bar and add under-counter storage.

Fridge wall now

Fridge wall after. Lose double oven. Move microwave. Move fridge to where oven/mic are. Move pantry to where fridge is and add 16" height. Add small counter, upper cabs and lower drawers to current pantry space.

Microwave wall now

After: add pull-out trash/recycle. Seriously, that's all I care about on this wall.

We are doing some preliminary work now, but they aren't really cutting me off until Jan. 16 when I will hopefully only be without a kitchen with a 3 year-old and a 1 year-old for 3 weeks, like they said. I'm hopeful. This is fun. I ordered my apron sink and new faucet tonight!

Christmas Joy 2011

It was a trampoline and truck Christmas at our house.

Damn Art for introducing us/John Michael to the Bruder brand a few years ago. They really are the best trucks. Well-made and with realistic parts. Each boy got one. I'd rather have a big gift that they'll play with for years than a bunch of little stuff. Hopefully that trampoline will burn some serious boy-energy come summertime.


We are on hours of serious playing, now, and it makes me so happy.

Merry Christmas! The boys were very confused when we tried to sing Happy Birthday to baby Jesus this morning. We tried, but all this Santa and Jesus stuff is a lot to take in.

Hope you are happy and filled with Christmas love and cheer (yes, by cheer I mean both joy and if you are able, cocktails). Have one for me!

Merry Christmas!

Love this interview with John Michael about Christmas, dancing and general cuteness from he and Noah.
I guess Santa needs to make a last-minute run to Target to get something for H3... How thoughtful of JM to think that the new baby should also get a gift. Doh!

Anyway, sorry for the lack of blog updates. We spent the early part of the week in Dallas celebrating Christmas with my in-laws and our cousins and since then, have been all up in meeting with contractors and ordering stuff for our January remodel and Christmas baking and wrapping round here. I can't believe tomorrow is Christmas Eve! It snuck up on me! PF Changs and Mass in our new church!!!! (an 8-year undertaking!!!!) here we come...

Perfect, perfect lil H3

We got to see our new little baby today! Those 3D ultrasound machines are pretty cool. I could have watched the bugger all day. He looks great and so babylike, already, at 24 weeks. The ultrasound tech said he looks a lot more filled out than a lot of the 24 weekers she sees. I said that probably had something to do with the heavy intake of Christmas cookies from his mama. It hit me like a ton of bricks that in 3 short weeks, I'll be in the 3rd trimester!!! He's coming in 16 weeks! Oh, no! I'm glad we humans don't have the short gestational period like the chipmunk or squirrel whose babies come in 30 days, or the poor domestic mouse who has only 19 days to prepare her little mouse nest! In the next 16 weeks, we have a lot on our plates, specifically rehabbing our whole kitchen in January! Stay in there, out of the dust, little one! Seeing this little one that looks so much like a baby scares me a lot. I'm still not sure how I'm going to handle three such needy beings. God grant me strength! And, nannies! And, willing family members to help!

Look at this handsome (and sleepy!) babe...

Noah at 18 months

Oh, em, GEE! My baby is turning 18 months tomorrow! Which is kind of good, because I have a new baby coming in April, but kind of sad, because he is getting more and more grown up every day.

I am going to start off by probably damning myself. Noah from ages 12 months to about 17 months was.not.fun. He cried all.the.time. Seriously, y'all. I was about at the end of my wit with him. Yes, my nerves during that time? Completely frayed. I probably would have blogged about it, but I was too busy trying to get Noah to stop crying. I took him to the doctor. I put a pacifier in. I stood behind him when he rifled through my pantry pulling out multiple items trying to make him happy. John Michael and I would sing incessant songs to him driving in the car (where he was most unhappy). I turned his carseat forward-facing because I thought he was getting carsick. Nothing worked.

Don't be frightened, moms of 12 month-olds. JM had a difficult period around 15 months, but it was nothing like this. All kids are different, so your child may be fine, but my expressive Noah was an unhappy boy. Teeth may have played a part, as he got his molars and quite a few others, but I honestly think that being unable to communicate with us was the main thing. He would stand in front of the pantry and it was like he didn't know what he wanted. Drove me crazy! I am a pleaser and I wanted to please him! Granted, I am a pleaser within reason. I don't let my kids have whatever they want, but there is only so much crying that one can hear before you start getting desperate. At times, I gave him candy and he threw it on the floor. I gave him cookies and that didn't work, either. He actually spit out ice cream, on occasion. What in heavenly hooks was going on with this child? I blessed him with holy water, because for a time, I was worried that he was possessed! Who spits out ice cream? Aye yi yi! And, seriously, this phase happened when I was pregnant. It was terrifying to picture having a newborn baby (who if I recall correctly is no picnic with the sleep deprivation), a constantly crying almost 2 year old Noah and John Michael, who is sweet, but has his own issues, mainly like needing a lot of attention!!!

Thank the heavens, the past 6 weeks or so have been A BLESSED BLESSED CHANGE! Noah all of a sudden started cranking out new words every day. And, do you know what? He has been Mr. Sunshine!!! Mr. Easygoing!!! It's like a totally different kid. I swear his language has turned everything around. I'm back to enjoying being around him, rather than singing "it's only a phase... it's only a phase" in my head to keep from throwing myself in front of a bus.

One of my favorite things that he does is nod his head "yes" or "no." This is extremely helpful. The man knows what he wants. If you ask him if he's hungry, he'll sign "eat", go get out a plastic bowl from the drawer or stand by his high chair and say "up." He says milk, wa wa or juice if he's thirsty! It brightens my day when he comes up to me with a smile and says "dis!" if he needs helps with something, or says"nanny" for banana, "ice" with a lisp, "hi" when he walks into a room, "neigh" for a horse and "lights" for any Christmas tree lit or unlit. He loves to push things in the doll stroller, the most amusing being things you wouldn't think would be pushed, like a TV remote. He is still a pretty great sleeper, sleeping in past 7:30 on many days and taking a good 2-3 hour nap every afternoon. He loves to wave bye-bye to people when we leave places. The other week we walked down South Congress and he walked up to people in restaurant windows, waving to all and making people smile. Such a little flirt. He also loves to snuggle. This morning I asked him for a hug and he actually came up and put his head on my shoulder. Sigh!

Now despite all this wonderfulness, this child does have a few flaws. He has a really hot temper. If he gets mad, he will totally throw a toy across the room. He LOVES to throw food at dinner. When he is done eating, he is DONE. If we let him in the high chair even a second past when he is done, which sometimes is pretty quick!, we all risk getting hit in the head with a broccoli. He still has his nukkie, but we have pretty much curbed it to bedtime and hope to have weaned him completely by Baby H3's arrival. He refuses to hold your hand in a parking lot, so still needs to be held (hoping this goes away by April!). He also does not respect us if we say "no no" and actually thinks it's funny when he does something that elicits that response. Stinker! He also still does not watch TV. My kids really don't watch much TV compared to the US average and we don't have an Ipad or other media that they can use (late adapters), so I feel totally comfortable saying I wish my kid would watch TV!!! Sometimes mama needs to take a shower! He'll watch Elmo for about 30 seconds, but that's it.

Anyway, Noah, we love you, bunches. You have a funny personality and the warmest smile.

You like to make yourself comfortable in all places, in this case on Uncle Joe and Aunt Pam's bar stools.

You like to snuggle with your non-snuggling brother and crowd his space

You make your cousins laugh because you really like to lay in the grass. Not roll around, but just lay and look up at the sky.

We love you, Noah Charles!

Mint Chocolate Bark

Who doesn't like bark? I do. For some reason, this pregnancy, I love me some chocolate. This recipe totally is one of the reasons I'm dreading my 24 week appointment this week. Remember how I didn't gain anything at 20 weeks? This time, I am quite sure I've made up for it. I've been nesting big time (seriously, I've bookmarked about 100 home decor ideas) and with the cold weather staying home and baking every day, adding quite the layer of padding for the winter season. If they tell me I've gained 8 lbs since 20 weeks at the doctor, I won't be shocked.

This bark tastes like Girl Scouts Thin Mints cookies and is SOOOO easy to make. The original recipe calls to make this using a double boiler, but I don't have one, so I cheated and used my microwave to melt the chocolate(gasp!). It's easy to burn chocolate in the microwave, but keep an eye on it, stir often and you'll be okay. Another good find from Pinterest!

Mint Chocolate Chip Bark

From Bakersroyale.com

Makes one 8×8 pan | Preparation: Line pan with wax paper and spray lightly with Pam

• 14-18 Andes Mints, chopped (or they sell bags of chopped Andes this Christmas at our HEB)
  
• 5 oz dark chocolate
• 8-10 Nabisco chocolate wafers (found in the cookie aisle- big yellow box looks like this)
  
• 7 oz. white chocolate and 1-2 drops of green food color (dip toothpick in food color)
• or 7 oz mint chocolate chips (what I did)
• optional: 1/4 tsp peppermint extract
  

Instructions:

1. Chop Andes Mint Candy and set aside.
2. Place dark chocolate in a heat proof bowl and microwave for 1 minute. Stir. If not melted completely, microwave for 1 more minute until smooth. Pour melted chocolate into 8×8 pans. Using an offset icing spatula smooth out chocolate until an even layer is achieved. Place chocolate wafers on top and gently press it into the chocolate. Place pan in refrigerator for 5 minutes for chocolate to become slightly harden.
3. Place white chocolate or mint chocolate chips in a heat proof bowl. My mint chips melted after a minute. If using white chocolate, dip toothpick or skewer in green food coloring and then dip it into the white chocolate; stir to combine.
   
4. Remove pan with chilled dark layer and pour melted white chocolate on top. Using an offset icing spatula smooth out chocolate until an even layer is achieved. Sprinkle chopped Andes Mint Candy on top and return the fully assembled bark to the refrigerator for about 10-15 minutes or until bark is fully set.
5. Slice into smaller pieces (this stuff is rich!) and serve!

Notes:

• If you use regular white chocolate, but would prefer of a more minty taste (like I do), add 1/4 tsp of peppermint extract. Don't do this if you use the mint chips. :)

Santa 2011

We went to Breakfast with Santa this morning at church. Both boys were indifferent about seeing Santa. I tried to get JM to tell Santa what he wanted, but he was suffering from a severe case of sensory overload. Noah wasn't scared or excited, simply just looked around. There were a lot of candy canes, a lot of photographers (self-included), and a lot of people around. I love that our church hosts this. It's so fun to see the kids we know from church all seeing Santa together. For some reason, we've missed it the past two years, but managed to get the date on the calendar this year. Alan Graham from Mobile Loaves and Fishes is the best Santa. He has both a good beard and a non-vest costume, which I like more than than some of the mall Santas. In the north, where I grew up, Santa never wore a vest, but a full-fledged fur costume (I realize this isn't very practical in Texas, but I'm a traditionalist).

Both boys gladly ate a candy cane at 9:30am. Both boys also indulged in breakfast tacos. In fact, I would bet that if you ask JM what he remembers about seeing Santa this morning, it would be that he ate sausage breakfast tacos. Bubba ate two tacos and asked for a third!!! Holy growth spurt! We told him two was good. Santa= done for 2011. I'm glad to get some mileage out of their little Christmas outfits.

Family pics 2011

We did a mini-session with Jessica Otwell for our Christmas card pictures this year.
She is a friend of a friend and "friended" me on Facebook after I met her at our mutual friend's bachelorette party last year. How many times can I say friend in one sentence? Friendedy friend friend friendy McFriendster, friends. I have been admiring her photography on FB ever since. When I saw that she was doing holiday mini-sessions, I was so happy!

I could not be more pleased with the outcome of our shoot. Who knew that 30 minutes could get such great stuff?!!! Sometimes a family picture brings out the worst in me, worrying about everyone looking happy and seriously, trying to keep everyone clean! Oh, and now, everyone look like we love each other even though Mama is making you wear uncomfortable clothes and acting stressed! Right?!! For this one, we were all pretty chill and I think it showed. I love the natural feel to these. And, I love those boys!

Chestnuts roasting

We wrote letters to Santa, made sugar cookies and put up our Christmas tree today.
I'm not sure if it was JM's only nap in 5 days (grr, but hurray!), cabin fever (it's been rainy and cold since Friday), a sugar buzz or the spirit of the season, but he was SO excited tonight. He did spins to the Christmas music playing on Slacker Radio Classic Holiday (which rules). He helped us put ornaments on the tree. He pretended to be a cat and clawed at us (hilarious!). I said "no" when he first asked if he could bring down this yellow chair from his room. When he said that the reason he wanted it was to sit and watch the tree, my heart melted.

One of my favorite memories from childhood is laying underneath our Christmas tree with all the old school big colored bulbs aglow. When I hear Nat King Cole's "Christmas Song" I think about this. That song was on our family Christmas record and it simply is Christmas to me. It is trite, but there is something magical in being a child at Christmas. I miss my dad so much this time of year. I can't believe it's been 10 years since he's been gone. I can't hear "Holly Jolly Christmas" or any Nat King Cole without getting sad about my dad. Being pregnant, I am especially emotional this year, read: blubbering mess when I heard Nat King Cole this afternoon.

Anyway, watching JM get so into Christmas tonight totally rocked. This is the good stuff. Noah is excited, too. We'll see what happens tomorrow when he awakens to see the tree with all those sparkly decorations. Eeek!