How to feel full for 6 hours

We started our celebration yesterday at Mad Potter on Voss at Woodway. It was so much fun! We love Micah to pieces, but it was great to be able to sit down and work on something for two hours without having to stop to entertain and take care of him. I will explain more of what we were doing there when we get our stuff back and I can include pictures :)

From there we headed off to Taste of Texas to test the boundaries of just how much a human can eat in a single sitting while still maintaining the ability to stand up and walk out on their own.

The menu-

~ Stuffed mushroom caps with jumbo lump crab meat and toasted brie
~ Salad bar wherein I obtained a Spinach salad with mushrooms, tomatoes, toasted pecans and almonds, and Parmesan cheese
~ Two fresh baked loaves of bread (personal sized) topped generously with cinnamon butter
~ Two lemonades
~ One AMAZING 6 oz center cut filet
~ Sweet potato fries
~ Sauteed mushrooms
* Side note, as it was our anniversary and Nate's birthday, we got two complimentary desserts. We could have gotten champagne for the anniversary, but I can't drink and Nate was indifferent
~ One "Slice of heaven" which consists of white chocolate mousse and dark chocolate mousse encased in... well... chocolate (shared with Nate)
~ One serving of berries and cream (shared with Nate)
~ And, a white chocolate straw

Nate and I have decided that we are going to Taste of Texas for every Anniversary/ his birthday :)

Big Day

Two years ago today....

Thirty years ago today....

except smaller and more newborny :) Happy Birthday Nate!! Happy Anniversary Us!! Happy meal at Taste of Texas tonight to us... woo hoo!!

Micah's First Christmas

We weren't sure how much fun Micah would be for his first Christmas. Obviously, he didn't really know what was going on and didn't know to be excited and so we just weren't sure if he would even be in a good mood that morning. Well... he was awesome :) He was really happy and enjoyed playing with each new toy as it was unwrapped! Here he is on Christmas Eve, grabbing a little face time with Daddy~



Micah was a really big fan of his new football.... he is seriously ALL boy :)



To all of you who think that you need to spend a lot of money on a newborn, this 99 cent teething ring was one of Micah's favorite gifts~



Here is the Laugh and Learn table that we got for Micah (bad economy = fantastic deals on toys :) He really got into the piano section of the table~



My parents provided the star of Micah's Christmas in the form of this Micah-sized overstuffed chair. We figured it would be a long time before he was able to really use it, but we plopped him in there and not only did he love it, he stayed in the chair perfectly happy for over an hour... I almost cried I was so excited :) He has shown since that morning that it was no fluke... he loves to sit in his chair!~


and sit.....



and sit......



and laugh and sit.....

"For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore."

Isaiah 9:6-7

Merry Christmas Everyone! I am not sure if I will blog tomorrow, so I am taking this opportunity to wish you the best Christmas possible. Have an amazing time celebrating the birth of our Savior who came to take away the sins of the world.. praise God!

Lysol Christmas

Just in time for Christmas, I present you with..... the common cold :P Now I begin the mommy dance of trying to keep the germs from spreading to Micah as that would make everything 10x more miserable. Of course, I am having multiple flashbacks to kisses I gave him all over his face and hands yesterday before I knew I was getting sick.... sheesh. I just REALLY don't want him to be feeling pitiful and be in a bad mood on his first Christmas! So now comes the challenge of taking care of him while trying to not actually touch him. Hmmmmm..... I see an elaborate system of pulleys in my future :)

Glory Days

Yesterday was just what I needed. Gregg spoke in church about how sometimes we just go through the motions of worship without even considering the words that we are singing. Well, this had been me recently.... until yesterday. Shane and Shane led worship for church and it was so refreshing for me! It was like going back to college and a time when my passion for Christ was much more out in the open than I feel like it is now. Anyways, just a little breath of fresh air that I wanted to share :)

A Little Behind

In direct contradiction to the rest of the year, the Holidays tend to provide way more blogging topics than can be crammed into every week. It is nice in a way to be able to pick and choose topics instead of having to cling for dear life to whatever happens to enter your head in the early (and let's face it, not very lucid) hours of the morning. Now with that being said, I realized today that I completely forgot to write about our activities last weekend (for shame!)

Last Friday we hosted a gingerbread house party at our casa and we had a great time! We got to catch up with a group of friends that we don't see very often and people got really competitive with their houses (I can smell ours as I type this :) I think Christmas has by far the most entertaining and unique parties associated with it, and this was no exception!

Saturday night we went in town to go to Lights in the Heights. It was great! Micah loved it for sure :) I'm not sure if I will ever go back though... getting out was ridiculous as parked cars had turned all of the streets into very narrow one-ways with nobody directing traffic :P

Spoiler Alert

Now, I don't think that this will come as a surprise to any of my readers, but Santa is not real. While based on a real person, he does not exist. I apologize if this announcement leaves any of you feeling bereft or misled, but that fundamental truth is key to the remainder of my post :)

We aren't doing Santa. These simple words have elicited shocked, horrified, and distraught responses from people who are worried that not having Santa in his life will ultimately lead Micah to a life of serious crime... or something like that :) I guess I just don't get the deal with Santa. I wasn't raised with Santa, so it would never have occurred to me to raise my kids with Santa. My parents never made a big deal out of the fact that we didn't do Santa, we just.... well.... we didn't do the whole Santa thing. All of our gifts were marked "From Mom and Dad" and it never occurred to me that I might be missing something. I'm not anti-Santa, I'm just not going to make him a part of our Christmases.

People always ask me why we have made this decision, like I must have a defined and consequential reason. Well, it started as me just not thinking about doing it since it was never a part of my childhood. Only after the decision was made did I ever think about the reasons someone might have to cut Santa out of the mix. My parents made their decision because they simply didn't feel comfortable about lying to us. My mom thought it might cause confusion later when trying to explain that they had made up Santa, but God (who is also invisible and magical) was real and important. They didn't bash Santa, they just didn't include him either.

Anyways, I want to clarify that I don't think it is wrong to do Santa with your kids, I am just choosing not to. I am working on other traditions to make Christmas a time for the kid(s) to look forward to as really special and fun.... although I will miss hanging that naughty list thing over their heads as an inducement to behave :P

Two for One

Two posts in one day + a big 2 for 1 deal!! Ann Taylor Loft is having a promotion right now where if you buy any full price item, you get any other full price item (equal or lesser value of course) for FREE. That's right folks, I paid for my cardigan and I got a pair of jeans for absolutely nothing!! So, if like myself, you have a love for Loft, head on out and take advantage of this great deal!

Wish List

5 Months Old!

Micah is 5 months old today!! He loves to laugh, smile and flirt. He is an expert roller and he is working on the whole sitting up business. He likes to be read to and to turn the pages himself. He has started eating rice cereal (albeit, not very well :P) and is a big fan of Christmas lights and being outdoors. Happy 5 months Bubs!!

Fruitful and Multiply

Micah is good...... he's verrrrrrry good... and apparently it isn't just him; I was in Sunday School yesterday and Kristen was in there with Aubrey who is 10 weeks old. B'linda asked to hold her and as soon as she changed hands, Aubrey started pouring on the charm. She was nuzzling and being so incredibly sweet that only a heartless person could be around her and not want a baby of their own. Tricky, tricky.

Micah does this too... I call it his populate the world mode. Whenever we are around friends who don't have babies, he smiles, laughs, coos, flirts and makes friends. They never see him grumpy!I'm fully convinced that God does this on purpose to convince people to procreate. Apparently all babies do this while their mothers watch on with mouths open in awe, wishing that their kids were always like that with them too :)

Now, don't get me wrong, he smiles and laughs and is cute with us too.. but he ALWAYS does it with our friends who don't have kids. We were out to dinner last night and he was putting on a show, it was crazy :P So, if you really don't want kids yet, it is probably best if you maintain a healthy distance from my son... just sayin :)

I Killed the Internet

Hence, no post yesterday. Nate was able to perform a miracle though and here we are, back in business! So here are some things you missed....

It snowed in Katy!!! Only a little, but I got to see it and it was GREAT!!

My brother and sister-in-law were on tv several times outside the Today show! Gotta be honest, I'm kinda jealous :P

Yeah, that's about it.... the life of a stay at home with no internet access isn't all that exciting :P

An Exciting Announcement

No, not pregnant again (thank goodness... it's a little too soon for that), but I think it's a big deal. As of Sunday, I was officially back to my pre-pregnancy weight!! As Lillie said though, "It all goes back, just not to the same place." I am really excited though! A good percentage of my old clothes fit me now, and I'm feeling good!

You just don't see this every day

As I was driving along on I-10, minding my own business, I saw something that I have to say I have definitely NEVER seen before in my life. There was a woman in workout clothes power walking on the shoulder of I-10. She wasn't anywhere near an exit, there was not a broken down car within sight that she could be walking from or to. She had the definite look of someone who was just out for a good workout. My only thought for why on earth someone would ever want to do what this crazy lady was doing was that she must have issues keeping her heart in the "red zone". After all, I've heard that nothing keeps your heart rate up like the constant fear that you may get rammed from behind at any time by a car travelling at least 70 mph :P

Modern Marvels

Crayons, play doh, Legos, Hot Wheels, Barbie...... Old School. Seriously, do you remember the toys we had back when I was a kid? There were some cool things, not gonna lie, but it was NOTHING compared to today. If you have kids then you know exactly what I am talking about, if you don't and you pay any attention to commercials then you still know what I am talking about. For example~

Then- Crayons and markers
Now- Specialized markers that only write on special paper only and toys that will print out copies of whatever you draw on their screens (think Etch-a-Sketch meets copy machine).

Then- Ride on ponies attached to a metal frame with springs
Now- Ride on pony that hooks up to your tv and allows kids to play games and control characters on the screen with their movements on the pony

It's mind boggling what they have come up with. Seriously, between toy segments on the Today Show, commercials, and print ads, I am learning that it is really a whole new world out there for toys. A world of technology, a world where "interactive" is a buzz word, a world where everything possible is being done to keep kids from simply playing outside. I envision long Christmas wish lists in my future :)

Cruel and Unusual

Seriously, infants have the capability to take this common phrase to a whole new level. Micah's weapon of choice recently has been sleep. Before Thanksgiving he was going to bed at 8:30 and sleeping through the night (til 6 or so)..... since we have gotten back from Kansas, however, he has slept a maximum of 2.5 hours at a time, he won't go to bed until at least 11, and last night he topped it off by screaming his head off and refusing to sleep from 12-1. Oh, and he still gets up for good around 6. Poor Nate is currently using all of his strength to keep himself from passing out at work... I have the BEST husband.

This experience has led me to one conclusion.... life isn't fair. My friend's 2 month old is sleeping through the night..... life isn't fair. But hey, if life was fair there would be no saving Grace through Christ, so I think I'll leave things the way they are :)

We Know People....

...picture people :) My sis-in-law Rayanna (not to be confused with Amy... also my sister in law and also a photographer) took these pics of Micah over Thanksgiving. Thanks Ray!!

Done!

As of Thanksgiving, I still had a few stocking stuffers to buy but otherwise I was finished. Well, after an uber-successful afternoon with my mom yesterday, I'm done and so is she!! We are sort of the Dynamic Duo of shopping :) Some of you may think I'm just on the ball.... in reality I would do anything to avoid shopping in the holiday crowds... yuck!!

Oh Christmas Tree

Fact: Nobody carries their own Christmas tree home in Houston, TX. Well, maybe not "nobody" :P

That is my pitiful little segue into a Christmas Tree tale for the ages.... Now, I know that most of the people in my generation seem to have fake trees, but that is something I simply cannot go along with. I ADORE real trees and just wouldn't consider it Christmas without one. Pretty much the only thing I don't like about real trees is getting them home and then disposing of them after Christmas. I enjoy the smell, feel and look of a real tree as well as the process of analyzing every single one at the store to find just the right shape, size and fullness.

I am typically a Home Depot girl, but this year Nate and I decided to shake things up. Our main determining factor was that there is a Houston Garden Center across Peek from our neighborhood's entrance. SCORE! We decided that, in an effort to spare the paint job on the roof of our car, we would walk over and carry the tree back to our house. As it turns out, this is NOT normal tree buying behavior.

Anyway, we prowled the store until we found the "perfect" tree and brought it up front to purchase it and get a fresh cut. As we attempted to pick up our newly sliced tree, the all-Spanish speaking staff shooed us away and offered to carry it to our car for us.

"Oh, no.. we are carrying it home from here, but thank you!"

blank stares

"We live in that neighborhood over there, so we are just going to carry it home."

blank stares... "oh, ok!" one of the employees picked up the tree and started walking towards the house. Hmmmm, weren't expecting this.... was he going to carry it home for us? We had our answer quickly as he began to point at different cars with a questioning look.

"We are carrying it home from here."

blank stare

"You can put it down, we'll get it from here, thanks!"

blank stare

"Seriously, we are carrying it home."

The guy gives up and puts the tree down with a shrug.

We made it home with no issues and it turns out it wasn't even that difficult! It was helped by the fact that we bought a smallish tree due to our low ceilings in the bay window. We got some interesting looks from some neighbors who spotted us, but it was worth it and even kind of fun!

A little problem

At the beginning of this pre-holiday shopping season, I had two items in particular that I knew I wanted to find. I wanted to buy a nativity set and I wanted to buy an advent calendar. Easy enough, right? Well, I found a nativity that I really like at the Nutcracker Market... SCORE! Now I just had to find the perfect advent and I was good to go. Well, Target happened to put advents on sale yesterday, just in time for December 1st. I rushed out to get mine and found this little gem. It's cute.... maybe not the advent of my dreams, but I liked it and it came at the right price and the right time :)

As I sat filling the compartments last night and getting excited about my very first advent calendar, I noticed something a little.... off. Go back up and look at the picture... can you find what is wrong with this advent calendar? It is subtle, but it makes a bit of a difference :P Anyhoo, I will be returning it today and I have to say... this whole experience has sort of taken the fun and urgency out of my "need" for an Advent calendar. I think I am just going to wait until I find one that I am crazy about, even if it takes a couple of years :) I hope when I do find it that it has slightly better craftsmanship than the gem pictured above :P

For those of you non-Where's Waldo types that may be having trouble finding the problem in this picture, let's just say that I don't know what things December 15th will bring and I'm not sure I will want to live it twice :P

Great is Thy.... Thankfulness?

Funny thing about blogs.... there are certain givens when it comes to posting in the blog world. By this I mean that bloggers desperate for material have certain topics that they will jump on gratefully when the opportunity presents itself. That is why the vast majority of blogs had a voting post on November 4th and why now you are reading my Thanksgiving post :)

Nate and I are leaving this afternoon to go to Kansas to spend Thanksgiving with his family! We are taking Micah on a plane for the second time and we are braving the crazy holiday travel season. Because of this, I need to do my Thanksgiving post today as I will likely not post again until next week. So.... here goes~

I've always thought it was sort of corny to go around and say what you were thankful for. Well, I was wrong :) To be fair, I was also a kid and more concerned with the pie than the thought behind it. Now, I enjoy having a designated day that really makes you think of all that God has done for you and the ways that he has blessed you. I am challenging myself to remember more often what He has done for me and live my life out in gratitude to Christ. Anyhoo, here are a few things I am thankful for :)

~ God sent his only son Jesus to earth to be ridiculed, rejected, and murdered. All of this to save people who did not and will never deserve His grace. He provided salvation and He continues to extend His grace to us daily.

~ Micah! What a blessing to be given a healthy, (mostly) happy baby! He brings joy into our lives that we never could have imagined.

~ Nate! God has given me such a patient, loving, servant-hearted husband and I am so thankful for Him every day!

~ My amazing family whom I love and cherish.

~ I have to give special props to my mom here. She has provided support and friendship my entire life, and she is helping me learn how to be a mom.

~ I am thankful that in this economy, Nate still has a job and that the Lord has blessed us with the resources for me to stay home. I am grateful that he has continued to provide for us in a way that allows us to continue to care for others.

~ Finally, I am thankful for sweet potatoes with marshmallows baked on top.... mmmmmm, yummy ;-)