Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Our Anniversary Weekend

Mike and I celebrated in a BIG way for our 5th Anniversary on Dec. 11th. We got in our car and drove the long way from Hurst to Grapevine to the Great Wolf Lodge. After the endless drive, we checked in early, got upgraded to a whirlpool suite, and headed straight for the waterpark. Last year when we went I was preggo so I couldn't go on any of the waterslides. This time, it was another story. The only problem with the waterslides is the billion steps you have to climb to get there. Yes, it's a billion, I counted. I suppose on a typical trip you take the steps 1 at a time with a 3 minute wait between each one. But given the timing of our trip, there were no lines and we could dash up the billion steps to the top. I had to have oxygen before going on each of the rides, it was more than my legs could handle. They were super fun, though.


Even though there were no lines at the slides, you can see from the photo below that the wave pool was so crowded it was hard to find a spot.

Every night they have a puppet show thing and sing Christmas Carols and Santa comes and it snows. The snow is really cool, it's a foam machine that spits out tiny pieces of foam that looks like snow! I didn't get a photo of Mike in Santa's lap. We had to elbow some lady and her kids out of the way so we could cut to the front or we would have been late to dinner. In the craziness I didn't get the photo.
We went to the Gaylord for dinner at the Old Hickory Steakhouse. It was really yummy although for the price, I don't know that it was THAT yummy. One of the main reasons we (I) wanted to go was because there is a guy who wanders around with a cart of cheese and picks the perfect cheese for your meal. Well, that guy was sick the night we went (the loser) so we missed that and I was sad. Also, our waiter seemed to become less nice when we told him we were splitting a steak. Whatever.

I didn't get a photo of our room at Great Wolf and I have to be honest, the rooms are not that great. I mean, they are huge and very clean so that's great but as far as luxury linens and lots of extras... not really. It's no Ritz Carlton, although I haven't stayed at the Ritz the picture I have in my head is much nicer than Great Wolf. If you are a child, I have a feeling it's super nice, kids love the sort of thing Great Wolf is all about.
Oh, also, we ordered this special thing where they brought us cookies and chocolate milk at 9:30 (way past my bedtime). It was a lot of fun, we watched a movie and had cookies and milk.
The next day we packed up and went shopping in Frisco and headed to a hotel called NYLO. It was super cool, very modern, and VERY affordable. I think our room was $68 for one night. It's totally my kind of style too- concrete walls, concrete ceiling, concrete floor. The rooms were pretty small but we didn't really care. The bed is comfy and they even had a little single pot coffee maker and free bottled water. Awesome!

Here's a shot of the outside. The one we stayed at is in Plano/Frisco and there is another in Los Colinas.
I'll have more photos on my other blog that I'm working on... more on that later!

Saturday, December 26, 2009

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

9 months old!

Wow, time has flown by! I can't believe it's been 9 months, he's been out the same amount of time he was in. Crazy.

He was "officially" 9 months last week but our appointment was today. He's doing great, nothing out of the ordinary. He's almost 19 lbs and 29" long which means he's tall and skinny. His hair also seems to be getting lighter so I have called the hospital to find out what other babies were born at the same time and see who he was switched with.

Cason is such a great baby. I've never had another one so I truly don't know if he's good or not, but to me, he seems great. He's happy all the time, just about. He smiles and waves. He is content being held by whoever. He gets cranky when he's hungry and tired (he comes by that naturally) but even then he's not terrible.

Today was a big day. I had asked Cason to please not learn to crawl until after Christmas. I didn't want him opening presents before it was time. He made it to two days before so that's pretty good. Yes, today we learned to crawl. It's crazy how fast it happens! Yesterday, he could get to his hands and knees and he took two forward movements then to the belly for some army scooting. Today, he just crawls across the room. What?! He also started going from laying down to sitting yesterday. One day he couldn't, the next day he could. It's time to lower the mattress and babyproof the house. Darn it. Also, he's been waving for awhile. It's really cute- sort of a choppy hand turned backwards wave. Today, we discovered that he will wave when he hears "hi" or "bye". Before the wave was usually prompted by someone else waving first or a random burst of waving at a perfect stranger for no reason.

These days are fun. I'm enjoying being home and seeing all of this development. Maybe God delayed his crawling so I would be able to experience it on my break. I appreciate that!


If anyone has any suggestions on what kind of cabinet locks I should get for babyproofing I would love to hear. We have no idea where to start!

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Gift Wrapping Ideas- On the Cheap

My concept for present wrapping this year (yes, there was a concept) was "use what you got, creative, and consistent". So, what did I have: Papers left over from the last few years, some heavy brown paper Mike and I got at Lowes for painting and a bunch of misc. ribbons from the past years Christmas. I'm the girl collecting all the leftover ribbon and tissue paper as presents are being opened and stuffing them in my purse to use again.
This is the fist one I wrapped. I love the dot paper and want to use it year after year so I don't want to use too much of it. Here I just used and extra piece as an accent. The "bow" isn't a bow but I just wrapped the ribbon around my hand and tied it on. Easy way to add an accent without tying a bow. Jingle Bells. Cute accent and they let you know when the kids or dogs (or husband) are going after the presents.

That green ribbon- I can't say enough. It's beautiful, It's perfect. It was expensive (but I got it 1/2 off). It doesn't go all the way around the package because I don't want to waste it. I just love it. The "W" is a plastic scrapbook accent that I highlighted with paint and wired on to the package. I didn't even know I had it until I started digging through my scrapbooking stuff.


Another "bow" from leftover ribbons. Wrap them around your hand in a circle then cut each end and you have a little puff ball bow. Totally easy.

I love raffia. A messy bow can still look great. Notice the cute dotted ribbon on the package behind. I found it at Hobby Lobby and loved how it carried out the dot theme.

The great thing about this brown paper is you can stamp on it. I used some circle stamps and quickly created a pattern. More non-bows.


Hello beautiful green ribbon. I find cute tags in the most random places. The dollar store, 75% off at Target, even some old Christmas cards from work. Keep your eyes open- tags add a little extra sparkle.


The ribbon around the package on the left is super glittery, so obivously I love it. This was my only real attempt at a bow. It's not terrible, I've done better.
On the right, more non-bows. Pretty sure I will be doing that from now on. The "tag" is actually a rub on that I found in my supplies.
Moral of the story:
- Use what you have
- Small accents of pretty stuff make even boring brown paper look good.
- Steal ribbon and trimmings as your family and friends open gifts
- If the gifts look good on the outside, maybe no one will notice what's on the inside.
Just kidding on the last one. I can't wait to show you what is on the inside. I found some great stuff for some great bargains.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Christmas Home Tour 2009

The Nester is hosting a home tour of Christmas Decorations. Since it's my favorite thing to decorate for, I thought I'd join in!

Can't show my decorations without showing this cutie! I think the likes the tree a little too much though!
This is the tree in my guest room. it's the first year to make an appearance and most of the ornaments came out of a kit to get it started, I'll collect more (on 50% off sales) as the years go by.



I got this wreath last year at Target for 75% off and I just love it. It sparkles like most everything in the house now so how could you not love it?



My favorite Christmas word. I have a set of these plates- each a little different that I put in my "tea bar"





I got the idea for this wreath at The Nesters web site. I made it a few weeks ago and it's my new favorite decoration. I don't know how the entry hall ever went without it. Can I leave it up all year long?



The first set of cone trees at the house flank the fireplace. I love these and I'm always excited to get them out. They are made of silver string and covered in glitter.




The Noel is a sticker from Uppercase Living that I applied to a tile. I love working at a place where I can get tiles for free. It's a really cool tile although you can't tell that from the photo!



I found a kit one year for this JOY but of course, I only used the letters from it, the paper and accessories in the kit just wouldn't do, it needed some jazzing up. I really like how they turned out!


My kitchen centerpiece. I usually have a kitchen tree that's all blue ornaments but with a baby this year I couldn't do another tree. I like this new use for the ornaments.


These trees represent everything that is good in life. Not really but they are fabulous. Totally covered in white and silver sequins. I found them for 50% off at wal mart of all places. It makes me want to go back to wal mart after christmas this year to see what I can find... well, that may be a little extreme, 1 year at walmart is enough.


Random decorations in the kitchen. What you can't really see is the complete disaster that is the bench below these nice decorations. oh well, as long as eye level looks good. The pinecones were supposed to be spraypainted silver but that might be a 2010 project.


A little silver tree to hold all the Christmas cards we get. Yes, I realizes that it looses some festivity when there's piles of junk around it but it's the thought that counts.


More cone trees. Yea! This is how I picture baby Jesus coming into the world. Sparkly cone trees and really cool stars in the sky. Well, maybe not really but this is the reason for the season (baby Jesus, not cone trees & glitter). We are talking a lot about the book of Luke right now in church so if you need a refresher on the Christmas story... the REAL Christmas story, I recommend starting with the book of Luke in the Bible.


I wish this picture had gotten turned properly. But, it's the super cool advent calender I mowed someone down for the day after Christmas last year at Target. My mom filled each day with a paper and a piece from the manger scene I have in Cason's room and we read them together each day. Our stockings are below. Can you tell which one belongs to who? Well, I purchased the white one for Cason but I am secretly jealous he gets the one with the big sequins. Then Mike says guys can't have sequin stockings so i guess I get 2. Maybe he can just put a sock out for Christmas morning.

Here's the den tree.

I got this ornament tree at CB2 after Christmas last year. They said it was an ornament tree but when it came in it was actually a photo tree. I'm going to convert it to that when Christmas is over.

The dining room.

Just a fun accent to the china shelf.

















Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Our Big Weekend!


Just a little photo to make you smile. This was taken during out Christmas Card photoshoot. Not exactly how I envisioned it going but we made it work.
Friday is our 5th wedding anniversary! To celebrate we are dropping the baby off at grandmas for 2 yes TWO whole nights. I haven't been away from him for one night yet so we will see how it goes. To be honest I'm looking forward to sleeping in the most. Mike and I are headed to Great Wolf Lodge for a romantic getaway among thousands of children pushing their way to the front of the line to see santa after having spent all day at the waterpark splashing me as I float through the lazy river. Then, we are spending the second night at NYLO hotel in plano. I'm excited! I'll take lots of pictures and report on the cool hotels when we get back.
Just kidding about Great Wolf. It wouldn't be most peoples idea of a romantic vacation but we went last year and it was a lot of fun. On a Thursday night in December it wasn't crowded at all. On friday at 4:00, all the crazies started showing up. And by crazies I mean people like I will be in a few years and Cason is old enough to enjoy seeing santa and being at a waterpark in the middle of winter.

Monday, December 7, 2009

My Grown Up Christmas List

I'm pretty sure most of you are not interested in what I want for Christmas. BUT because this is my blog and I get to post whatever I want, I'm going to post what I want for Christmas. This way, Mike can pick one (or many) things from the list and I'll be surprised. I'm not posting this to try and get gifts from anyone who wasn't originally going to buy me a gift but, I mean, if you want to buy me a gift, I'm not going to stop you.... Gifts are my love language so it would be wrong to stop you.

In no particular order:



This is a devotional book. I read another of the same series and I loved it. It challenged my faith and strengthened my faith in a way no other book has before. I highly recommend anything from this group. This is one of the books on my very lengthy Amazon wish list. If you are ever super bored you can read through my entire list. It's mostly composed of architecture books and cookbooks and a few wii games. Very Exciting.


















These are Sketchers Shape-Ups. I've read some really good reviews about them but they don't come cheap. I think Reebok has something similar with a highly inappropriate commercial with a girl and her butt. Anyways, this is another version and it's supposed to improve posture, strengthen legs and butt just by walking. Well, I could use the extra help so these sound good.



Totally random. I need a gravy boat. It's hard to host thanksgiving without one. We had to use a plastic container and just spoon the gravy on this year. Everyone should have a gravy boat just in case you have to host Thanksgiving.











This is my favorite brand of tea. Pretty much anything on their web site would make me super happy. If you like tea and haven't tried their tea, try it. You can even order little sample sizes. I like the loose tea but if you don't want to mess with it they have the bags too.







I love lip gloss. On any given day there are no less than four in my purse... that's a low day. I am on a personal lifetime mission to find the glossiest lip gloss. I think that if my huge lips are super shiny it will detract from the rest of my face. This is one of the best. As an added bonus it smells like mint so it freshens breath. AND on top of all that, it tingles on your lips and I like that too. You get this at Bath and Body works and right now it's buy 2 get one free.






This is the most important one. I want a bra fitting at Nordstrom. As crazy as it sounds, they are supposed to be the best place to buy a bra. They will measure you and find the perfect one for you. Anyone who has had a baby and breastfed knows exactly how important this is. If you haven't, just trust me. It's not good. I have a hard time paying more for a bra than I do for jeans but sometimes you have to do what you have to do. Hopefully they still make the water bra, that's all I have to say.



Does anyone else use Bobbi Brown? If not, you should. I could go on and on about how much I love this makeup. If you want me to, let me know, then I'll take you to go get a makeover from them. It's so much fun. If you have seen me lately and I haven't looked completely exhausted and like I have been drug behind a truck, it's due to the bobbi brown concealer. If I do look exhausted, it's because I didn't put concealer on that morning in hopes that someone would feel sorry for me and my exhausted self and come over and do my laundry.

Back to the subject. I want one bobbi brown creamy eye shadow. It looks so good on but I have never purchased it because I always spend my money on other items I need more. I figure Christmas is a time for asking for things that you don't buy yourself. I think the color here is soft gold.


These are slippers from the target web site. I also like the ones that look like a sweater. I have a wierd thing about being barefoot so I'm almost always wearing shoes of some sort, even to go to the bathroom at night. So, some great house shoes would be awesome.

I'm sure I could think of more but I'll stop there. These are all things I really want but won't buy myself and probably won't buy if I don't get them for Christmas... You might see them on the list next year. Hope everyone has fun shopping for the holidays. Post your wish list on your blog... I'd love to see what everyone else wants!

Thanksgiving!

We hosted Thanksgiving at our house for the fam. Good times and great food. That's all you need!
I added a new chalkboard to the kitchen. I just got a frame at Aaron Brothers and painted the back with chalkboard paint and removed the glass. Super easy. Soon it will have a weekly memory verse but it can also carry seasonal messages!
My brother, Chris proudly displays his cookie placecard as a nametag.


Sister Caylin entertains cason.


Cason enjoys his first thanksgiving. He even tasted a little turkey!



I was in charge of the cranberry sauce (thank you Pioneer Woman) and I made Brussels Sprouts. Mainly because I wanted to see if people actually liked them. I roasted them with pears and shallots and they were delish. I think my mom and I were the only ones who actually ate them!


Pumpkin brown butter cupcakes. Super Yummy!





The dessert table. Most important table at Thanksgiving!






Here's how I did the table. The placemats are a piece of scrapbook paper and the placecards are pumpkin cookies that i wrote everyone's name on. I used my china (for the first time) and re-arranged my fall table arrangement. Pumpkins are donated by my friend Dina since I needed to fill a few holes.








See how cute those pumpkins are! I didn't make the cookie- it's from this great place in Fort Worth called J-Raes. They sell cookies and cupcakes and cheesecakes. I could live there.







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