Haircut Woes

So, I got my hair cut today. And, while its okay (definitely better than it was), I am not in love. I really hate going in to get a haircut because apparently I can't communicate what I want. Or maybe my hair can't do what I want. If so, couldn't someone just tell me? Please? See, I have very very thick, straight hair. And I think that most haircuts are designed to make thin hair look thicker. When you already have thick hair, it just looks poofy. No texture. No shape. No edgyness. No fun. Not memorable. Just poof.
Any suggestions? Do I just give up, grow it out, and wear a ponytail? (I think I may have used that solution a time or two in the past...Does that seem vaguely familiar to anyone else?)

I (Kate) am 4 months old.

Shhh - mommy thinks I'm sleeping, but I am actually hijacking her blog for a little while. She hasn't been doing a very good job keeping you all posted on my amazing progress. I know she's busy, so I thought I'd help her out.

I went to the doctor yesterday. I am 15 pounds, 12 ounces. That is almost DOUBLE my birth weight in only 4 short months! See if you can beat that! What? You don't want to double your weight in 4 months? Really? Huh. I don't understand why not! I mean, look at these thighs. Aren't they about the cutest thing you've ever seen? Triple rolls. And dimples. That's got to be a record.

The doctor says I am healthy and perfect. She tested my neck strength and my back strength (I am SUPER buff, by the way). Then she asked mommy if I was sitting up. She said "no." The doctor said "let's try it." Yeah, I am TOTALLY sitting up. And mommy didn't even know! This is JUST THE BEGINNING of what mommy doesn't know I can do. Bwahahaha!


Mostly, I spend my days working on looking my best for pictures. The people here seem to take a lot of them. Lots of beauty sleep, lots of eating (I am eating solid foods, which I LOVE unless they are too cold) and drinking (I can hold my own bottle...for a few seconds at least), and lots of practice smiling and squealing and laughing. I have given my big brother and sister the job of making me laugh as often as possible. They are pretty good at it, but daddy is the master. Nobody is as funny as he is.

All in all, it's been a pretty good 4 months. They still think I need to take naps, which I (yawn) totally (yawn) disa(yawn)gree with, and they don't feed me enough chocolate (although I'd get a lot more if daddy had his way. He is WAY nicer than mommy about that kind of thing), but I can work on those problems. I'll check back in in a few months and let you know how I'm doing.

Over and out.

Kate

Grateful Tuesday: September 27, 2011

Tonight, I am grateful for a happy evening cooking with Travis (okay, so I actually just peeled the potatoes). And for the sleeve of Girl Scout cookies in my freezer. What a great night!

Grateful Tuesday: September 20, 2011

Today I am grateful for:

A busy morning and quiet afternoon.
A cooperative (napping) baby.
A silk eye mask.
A snugly blanket.
A gloriously indulgent afternoon nap.

What a great day!

Megan's Room

For Megan's birthday, instead of presents she wanted to redecorate her bedroom. She said "I want something more grown up....What about MERMAIDS?"

Mermaids. Okay, I can work with that. I tried to choose the solid colors for the main pieces so that someday, when she is tired of mermaids, we can just take those elements down and not have to start completely from scratch.

Since I was working with a fairly small budget, I actually went all crafty and made a number of elements.

I started by making these posters for her walls because as a digital scrapbooker, that's what I was most comfortable with. They turned out cute, don't you think? All of the artwork is available HERE. I had them printed at Office Max on tabloid sized paper for like $0.75 each. Can't beat that!

For the other piece of wall art, I found a drawing of a mermaid online that I liked, cut it out, and then cut it apart (so I cut the tail off of the body, the hair, the rock, etc.). I traced each piece onto the appropriate colored felt and cut that out, and then glued all of the pieces to another piece of felt in the correct places. It was sort of like a puzzle. I stuck it in a frame I already had, and since I already had the felt and the glue, it was free! I'll probably repaint the frame at some point, but here it is:

After I made the first set of posters, I started looking for bedding that coordinated with it. This is what I found from Target:

I liked it because someday when she outgrows the mermaid theme, the bedding will probably still work.

Pulling colors from the posters, I knew I wanted to use green, dark purple, light purple, and sand (that's a color, right?). I brought those colors in as throw pillows and curtains. I really wanted to bring in some textures as well, so I  looked for those when I was shopping. I found the green pillow and purple curtains at Walmart, but I couldn't find the purple or sand pillows anywhere, so my ultra-talented friend Laura made them for me. I love the sequiny, sparkly sand colored pillow.

To add another layer of fabric to soften up the room, I got a canopy from IKEA to go over the bed. Since it was plain white, eventually I'll sewed on some large sequins randomly to give it a little sparkle. I'll probably also add some pieces of Infatuation Yarn because I think it looks a bit like seaweed.

I looked and looked for a lampshade to replace the pink one that Megan had before, but I couldn't find one that was the right size, shape, and price. So I painted the pink one with turquoise acrylic paint.then I glued on a glittery fish applique, with some small white buttons for bubbles.  It looks FABULOUS when the light is off, but when you turn the lamp on, the shade blocks out pretty much all the light. So you only get lamp light coming out at the bottom and the top. It makes for a dramatic lighting scheme at night. I used Infatuation Yarn around the top and the bottom of the lamp to tie it together with the canopy (and because I was too cheap to go buy more ribbon.)

I looked for a mermaid doll to put on Megan's bed, but couldn't find one I liked, so I bought a regular doll from the craft store and gave her a tail. I don't have a sewing machine, so it was all hand sewing on felt (I would have used hot glue, but I wanted it to last a little longer.)

There are still several more projects to complete - I would like to repaint the letters above the window to match the color scheme, and I would like to get coordinating bedding for Kate's crib, but those will have to wait.

Oh! Although I haven't done much to make Kate's crib cute yet, I did make a mobile. I took a medium sized embroidery hoop and wrapped it with purple ribbon. Then I colored some drawings of seashells in PSE, merged all layers,  made a duplicate of the document, flipped the duplicate horizontally, and sent both documents in to Office Max. They printed them back to back. They don't line up perfectly (they are pretty close, though), but since I didn't cut them out exactly on the lines, it doesn't matter. I attached the shells at different lengths to the hoop using invisible thread. Fishing line would probably be easier, but I already had the thread so that's what I used.

All in all, I am really pleased with how everything turned out.

Thoughts on turning 30

As my birthday got nearer, people kept asking me if I was freaking out about turning the big Three-O. And I didn't think I was. I didn't feel any different, any older. I thought that it would be just another day, another year. For the past several birthdays, I've had trouble even keeping track how old I was turning. People would ask and I'd throw out a random number (Travis was always nice enough to keep track for me, hehehe). I thought this year would be the same.

And then, my birthday hit me like a mack truck.

It started out well. The kids got up without a fight. We had cinnamon rolls for breakfast (and I didn't even burn them!). They didn't miss the bus, forget their lunches or homework or anything. I think that makes for a pretty successful morning.

The middle was good. I drove over to the Galleria to go to lunch with Travis. We went to Chuy's for lunch (their jalapeno ranch dip is Ah-ma-zing!). Thanks Amy for watching Kate!

The afternoon was great. When I got home from lunch, my friend Jen showed up with a big bag from Ritters. Does life actually get any better than that? (If you haven't heard about my love affair with Ritters, you must not be a regular reader of this blog. Or you must not have ever met me. Or met anyone who has ever met me... Seriously, if you live within a day's drive of Ritters, it's worth it. I promise.)

When the mail came, there was a package from my good friend Holly. A Hakuna Matata mug filled with Godiva chocolates. Mmmmmm. Dinner was yummy. Life was good.

That's when old age caught up with me. We'll just call the first part dementia. Somehow, I thought Megan's dance class started an hour later than it really did. Yeah, so I dropped her off and left to run some errands. 15 minutes AFTER her class ENDED. Thanks to Amy for saving the day. I sent Travis and Jared off to buy Jared a new bike, but I took the van. Did I think about how they'd get a bike in Travis's car? Um, no. Where did the calm, well planned, organized, put together Anna go? Apparently all good things go with old age. (Or with three kids. Jury's still out on that.)

Add to that, I found a white hair. And a big gnarly zit. Really? Couldn't I at least have one or the other? Can't I either be old or young? I could deal with one or the other, but do I really have to buy acne cream and hair dye in the same shopping trip? Happy 30th to me.

Actually, in retrospect, it was a pretty darn good birthday. The whole dance fiasco worked out - they let Megan attend a later class, so she was happy - although on the way home, she asked if kids usually grow up to be like their parents. I said yes. She said that she'd rather be like daddy than like me because he doesn't forget things. Umm, okay then...

Aside from the whole zit/white hair thing, I'd say the day was just about perfect. I think I'll like being 30. And best of all, the celebrating isn't done yet. We've still got chocolate cake to eat (after Travis makes it, hehehe).

Better than Christmas

Jared is completely obsessed with Star Wars right now. Today he took his allowance to the store to buy a Star Wars toy. After we had looked and looked, and he lamented and lamented that he didn't have enough money to buy everything he wanted, Travis caught up with us and said to me, "You know I have some Star Wars toys out in the garage, right? Why doesn't he save his money and I'll just give him what I have?"

I knew that Travis had some Star Wars stuff. There's been a box in the shed or garage labeled "Travis - Star Wars collection" since we got married. But I didn't really realize just what that meant until today. When he started unpacking the box, Jared's eyes (and mine too) got bigger and bigger and bigger. Turns out, Travis's Star Wars collection is pretty complete (what's a word that means "more than complete"?). He and Jared sat and reenacted all the movies. It was hard to pry either of them away for dinner.

Megan's Birthday - Post #1

On Megan's actual birthday, we were too busy with the baptism to celebrate much, so we had her birthday dinner (broccoli and cheese stuffed chicken and chocolate cake) on Sunday. She and Travis had found a recipe that called for 8 sticks of butter (that's 2 lbs!!!!!) between the cake and the frosting. Um, no. There is unhealthy (which I'm okay with in small amounts) and then there is just plain ridiculous. The cake they ended up making was plenty yummy and decedent.

 We will be having her friend party next week, so I'm sure there will be a post about that later

Swimming and a BBQ

After the baptism, we went to the Boyers for a BBQ and some swimming. The kids had a wonderful time and it was fun to just hang out and relax and enjoy all of the company.

Travis, doing what he does best:

Kate and Me:

Kate and Grandma Suzanne:

The evening was gorgeous, the sunset was perfect, the water was warm, the food was good. Does life get any better?

Bluebell Ice Cream Factory Tour

Mmmmmmmm. Bluebell Ice Cream is beyond yummy. On Tuesday, we drove up to Brenham TX to go on a tour of the Bluebell Ice Cream factory. It was a lot of fun.

Bubbles, bubbles, everywhere!

Megan and Jared had a great time blowing bubbles and drawing with sidewalk chalk with Grandma and Grandpa and uncle Phil. The weather finally cooled down a bit and we all enjoyed being outside for the first time in months.

Katelyn's Blessing

Kate was blessed on Sunday, September 4, 2011. We were so thankful to have so many family members and friends to celebrate the day with us. We are so happy to have this beautiful daughter of God as a part of our family.

Megan's Baptism

I meant to get this posted a lot earlier, but things have been a little crazy around here. Megan was baptized and confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Saturday, September 3. We are so proud of her choices.

Here is her testimony, in her own words:
I know Heavenly Father is real because I can see the beautiful world He made. When we went to Bear Lake, I saw a beautiful rainbow and it made me think of Heavenly Father. I know Jesus is real and He loves me. Joseph Smith is a prophet. He started Jesus's church and he translated the Book of Mormon. President Monson is our living prophet. He tells us what to do.

Things I want to remember about Kate

Kate is growing up SO fast! She is literally changing before my eyes. Here are a few things she's doing now or that she likes now that I don't want to forget:

She still really, really REALLY likes to be swaddled. But she's getting too big - she wiggles out of her blankets while she's sleeping, which wakes her up, which wakes me me up, which makes for a grumpy mama. So today I bought a straight jacket swaddling blanket. She loved it at nap time (until her diaper leaked, which made me do an emergency batch of laundry), we'll see if it helps her sleep better at night.

She makes the funniest sound when she is frustrated. It makes me laugh every time I hear it. She only makes it when she wants something or when she wants to be picked up.

(It was hard to make this video because what she wanted was to see me. I was doing the dishes, and every time she'd start making her sound, I'd come out with the camera. She'd see me and suddenly be all smiles.)

She loves to hold things - blankets, toys, fingers. And she is starting to hold her own bottle. 

 

Grateful Tuesday: September 6, 2011

Goodness this week has gone fast. My in-laws came last Wednesday and uncle Phil came on Friday. They will all be going home tomorrow. My sister and her family came for the weekend. We have done so much in the past week, it will take me a month to recover! I feel like I am buried in blessings and gratitude.

This week I am grateful for:

1. Megan getting baptized on Saturday. The day was perfect.
2. Kate was blessed on Sunday. Again, the day was perfect.
3. Being surrounded by family. I am so grateful for my wonderful family - the one I was born into, the one I married into, and the one I live with now.
4. Friends who are like family. 
5.  Travis. He works so hard to take care of all of us and I can't imagine life without him. And although he works hard, he still takes time off to have fun with us.
6. Chocolate cake for breakfast. 
7. My digital camera - it's so nice to be able to take as many pictures as I want, and then to email them to whomever/share them on facebook/post them here on the blog. Be looking for lots of pictures in the near future.
8. A baby who decided to start sleeping through the night again.
9. My wonderful in-laws, who are the best example of generosity I can imagine.
10. A clean kitchen and empty laundry baskets (thanks Suzanne!).

And now, I am going to take my grateful little self and go to bed. I'm grateful for my down comforter and cotton sheets and soft, snuggly pillow. Good night all!

Sightseeing in Galveston

We had a fun day playing tourists in Galveston on Labor Day. It was a little more crowded than it has been other times that we've gone there, but not too bad. Travis, Grandma Suzanne, Grandpa Mark, and Phil hadn't ever been there before, and I think everyone had a great time.

We spent a little time on the beach. The weather was wasn't too blistering hot and the water was pretty warm, but it was too windy. Everyone got sand in their eyes before too long. Jared and Grandpa Mark had fun looking for shells. Megan's hat blew away and we had to chase it down the beach into the water. It was Kate's first time in the ocean, and she wasn't very impressed.

After the beach, we went to the Galveston Railroad Museum. It was a lot of fun. Inside the museum, they have all of these statues of passengers waiting for trains. Megan and Jared had fun posing with them.

Out behind the museum are LOTS of trains - engines, passenger cars, dining cars, mail cars, etc. Most of them are open so you can get in them to explore. Everyone had a great time.

Periodically as we were walking through the museum and around the trains, we saw signs marking the high water mark from Hurricane Ike. It's crazy to be there in person, and to realize just how high the water really was. Some of the train cars were FLOATING in the flood waters. These huge cars were actually lifted off the ground. Crazy!

That sign way up above my head is the high water mark inside the museum. Here's a close-up:

After the museum, we went to lunch at The Original Mexican Cafe. It was really yummy. I ate way too much, but it was worth it. After lunch, Suzanne, the kids and I headed home while the guys went down to the harbor to get a closer look at some of the drilling rigs and ships.

All in all, it was a wonderful day.  Thanks to Mark and Suzanne and Phil for suggesting it!