IKEA!

Guess who was tall enough to stay at Ikea's Smaland (the kid play area)? Logan! He was just barely tall enough. Brian was measuring him and he was standing on his tip toes. It was so cute. He really wanted to play with big sister. We dropped them off for an hour of browsing. Brian just wanted to go sit down and eat their 99 cent breakfast, but I wanted to make sure we got what we needed as soon as we could in case the pager went off indicating that one of our kids a) pooped their pants b) beat someone up or c) all of the above. We picked up what we went for (storage bins) and walked around kid free for an hour. Nice!!!! I went back right at the hour time limit and they were in the process of paging us because Logan was starting to cry for Mommy.

Now I'm in the process of reorganizing the pantry and laundry room for the 100th time.

I'll leave you with pictures of the car seat box slide and what happens when Logan finds the red stamp pad.

Friday at McDonald's.

Back to the regular routine. We dropped Logan off at therapy and then I went to the gum with Isabel. She's been once before and really likes it. Unfortunately the gym has a new $5/visit / kid policy. It used to be free. After picking Logan up we headed to McDonald's for a quick bite and some play time on the play structure. It's actually pretty big and we had it all to ourselves. I'm not a picky eater. At all. But I just can't find anything on the menu that's edible. The thing I had today was so gross I tossed it after a couple of bites. What a waste.

Beds! Visitors!

I just said goodbye to M, big A and little A. :(. We had such a great visit. We did absolutely nothing besides go to P. Terry's for a burger yesterday. I felt bad, but just hanging out at home was sort of amazing. The weather was beautiful on Tuesday so we played in the back yard a lot. Her girls are so ridiculously sweet and well behaved. Big A was so great with Logan and really looked out for him. Of course Isabel was just excited to be around some big girls. She played well with them until last night when she was hopped up on sugar (M made cookies. If you didn't know- she makes the BEST cookies. 2nd only to GGB) and decided to give little A a nice push. Other than that it went great. M even froze cookie dough in little balls for me to bake later! Can she move in?

Before getting burgers at P. Terry's Isabel had dance class. It was cold and a little rainy out so I didn't take Logan to the nearby playground like I normally do. I tried to wrangle him and run around with him outside the studio while waiting for Izzy. M caught a catty bitch talking shit about Logan and almost threw down. It was so awesome. I had no idea what was happening. She was like 'if you didn't have to come back here next week....' Haha. That girl has my back! It was hilarious listening to her retell it to Brian. My favorite 'what? Are we training for the Olympics here?' The 2 classes going at the time are a 2-3 year old and 3-4 year old creative dance class. Real competitive.

We took a couple of pictures but I'm not going to post them because I know M is super private and doesn't like photos of the girls online. She looks exactly the same as she did when we lived in CA 5 years ago. When she tells me about a beauty product I immediately go out and buy it because I want her secrets to looking amazing! The girls are beautiful and have really grown up. Big A has always been super sweet and caring and seeing her reading and talking like a little lady is such a trip! I wish Viv was able to hang out with her and trade 1st grade gossip. We didn't make it out to the cemetery and I feel terrible about that.

Last weekend Grammy and Papaw came over for a visit. We spent almost the entire weekend looking for a bed for Isabel. We had the hardest time. There was no way I was spending $1200 on a bed and I wasn't about to pay $500-600 for a non solid wood bed. We hit up some resale and consignment shops and still didn't find anything. I found the perfect bed online at a store in Houston and my parents were nice enough to check it out for us. Unfortunately it was off white, not white. Long story long we bought one at overstock.com and it will be delivered on Monday. I think it's the same thing we have in the guest room, but in white and a full size.

I bought a mattress Monday. It was sort of a debacle. I bought a kind of cheapie one and then they didn't have it in stock so let me have the nicer one for the same price. Brian went across Austin to pick it up and while he was filling out paperwork the guy loaded it in the truck. We get home, unpack everything get Isabel excited about it, and we have a full size foundation and a queen mattress. Since it was Presidents' Day the store was open late. So Brian called and said we needed a bed that night since we were having company in town. They called around and finally called back and said he could come pick up a new one (across town again). So we ended up getting a pretty nice mattress when it was all said and done. Since they didn't have the one we purchased in a full we got a nicer one. Mattress sales are such a racket. The markup is crazy.

I'm looking forward to cleaning today while the kids are at school. So much to do. I decided to relax and enjoy the short time I had with the CA crew and pretty much didn't do any cleaning while they were here. It was so nice.

I'll attach a picture M took this morning before Brian took them to the airport. It's a great "you look nice and I look like shit picture." Also one of Logan because he's so cute I could just eat him up. And yes, those are princess heels. :)

DONE!

Valentine's Day 2013

It's Valentine's Day!  I'm not one of those overly crazed V Day people, nor do I hate the Hallmark Holiday.  I just think it's a sweet day to remember and remind people you care and love that you do in fact care and love them.  What's the harm in that?  We had a rocky start today.  Logan was just miserable.  Not sure what was going on, but I was not sad to say bye to him at preschool this morning.  Of course his teachers said he had a great day and that he actually followed friends around and wanted to play.  This is huge people....HUGE!  His class didn't have an official party, we just made Valentines for his friends and sent his teachers a little gift and flowers.

Isabel was very very excited about Valentine's Day.  She loves the little conversation hearts.  I went to 4 different stores trying to find her some that didn't have the dreaded peanut/tree nut allergy warning.  I looked online and Target supposedly carried the brand that is safe.  After a couple of attempts I found some!  I bought 24 boxes because her teacher wanted 14 boxes for the kids for a graphing project.  I think I might have yelled out YAAAAYYY and YEEEESSSS in Target when I found them.  She had a little V Day party and handed out Valentines and had a cupcake.  She is on a massive sugar rush right now.

I ran about 6 miles and then did some yard work today.  After a super quick shower I headed back to the school for Izzy's party.  The hardware for the cabinets came in today (holla to the USPS....LOVE them!) so I'm anxious to get that put on.

A sweet friend from Isabel's class is moving to Ireland next week and his mom is hosting a play date tomorrow to say goodbye.  Logan has 2 hours of therapy, so I'm hoping Izzy and I can swing by in between.  After the play date Isabel is having her school BFF come over for a couple of hours.  Should be fun!  Grammy and Papaw are coming this weekend too, so we need to finally get the sheets back on the guest bed!

Almost there! *an out of order post*

I'll be starting the LAST section if our cabinet project tomorrow! Instead of taking it slow I've been going non stop. I use every single 'free' moment in my day working on them and then beg Brian to hang cabinets/remove cabinets/help me glaze, etc etc after the kids go to bed around 9 or 9:30. Yes, bedtime is being slowly pushed back these days. I'm still keeping the naps for as long as I can, so a later bedtime is ok with me. As soon as this last installment if cabinets is dry after the protective coat it's on to the last section!!! The easiest part is the painting and the hardest part has been the deglossing and the final protective coat. It is so hard to put on and make look good. It's really thick and will get tacky after being put on in about 30 seconds. You have to move fast and absolutely cannot go over a section you've already finished to try and touch it up. I do this almost every single time. You would think I would learn 'NO touch ups with the protective coat!' But no.

Logan has been doing really well with OT. He has stopped stuffing his mouth! Yay! I've been doing facial sensory exercises with him and it seems to be helping. He also seems to be done with his potty regression. Thank god! That was so frustrating.

Isabel has been growing up way too fast. She's so smart and funny. It just kills me to hear what comes out of her mouth. She's also getting so much better at saying 'hi' 'bye' 'please' and 'thank you.' She was having a really hard time with shyness and it seems to have made almost an overnight improvement. We'll see. Izzy climbed all the way across the monkey bars by herself at the playground!!! It was pretty amazing. She did it about 3 times and I got a video the last time. She was making the boys a little jealous. It was so funny.

Cabinets and hutch

The cabinets are mostly finished! It feels sooooo good to not be racing around in a filthy house trying to get that next coat if paint on before doing A, B or C. The house is getting a deep clean and laundry is getting put away. I don't want to see a paint brush again for a long time! Brian ordered the hardware for the cabinets online and got a stellar deal. He got it all for about 1/3 of the retail price with free shipping and no tax!

So now we 'just' need to put all of the knobs and pulls on, but that can be done when Brian has some time a little bit at a time. I won't even attempt to install them. Things that require measuring and precision are not my strong points anymore. Which is weird because that's all I used to do in the lab.

I also ordered Isabel's hutch for her dresser. Way back in 2009 we purchased a very expensive dresser from a baby boutique here in town. We couldn't afford to buy the hutch at the same time (and we needed the space for the changing pad) so we were assured that after registering the furniture we would get an email at least 6 months before anything was discontinued. As I was searching online for a bed for Isabel I searched the site that manufactured her dresser to see if we wanted a bed from the collection I came across the hutch. It was cream (her other furniture is white) or blue and about 60% off. I got excited thinking we could fine the hutch in white elsewhere on sale. No such luck. Even if we were willing to pay full price no one has the hutch! It was discontinued. Grr. Unfortunately the store we bought the dresser from has gone out of business and there are no other stores in town who sell the line.

After searching online and through Craigslist we decided to buy the cream color and paint it white. Darn, there might be another paintbrush in my future! I called the manufacturer and she wasn't sure why we didn't get an email, but is sending us out a wood sample of the color of our dresser so that we can take it to a paint store and get it color matched. I didn't have to pay tax and they are going to 'white glove' install it. Basically set it all up in Isabel's room and take all if the packaging away.

Even with having to paint it the price was so good that I think it was the right decision. We really like the hutch and that was the reason we bought this dresser!

Still no bed for Isabel. I'm going to keep shopping Craigslist and maybe hit up some stores in Houston the next time we're there.

While I was showing Isabel how to use the peeler it got caught in my fingernail about 1/2 way down the nail. Ouch! It did not feel good. That was the end of our lesson.

We had a play date valentines day party yesterday. Here are the kiddos.

Speech Therapy

Today we had Logan's speech therapy evaluation after his usual OT.  The evaluation went really well.  The main areas of concern are, surprisingly, muscle tone in his mouth/face and his sucking vs pushing reflex when eating.  The therapist noticed that he would push his tongue forward when eating (rather than it going back and sort of 'sucking').  She also noticed that he sounded 'wet' and coughed right after a bite.  Honestly, I'm not sure if the coughing is due to all of our colds or if it's something that he usually does.  She said that that is a sign that he is getting food and liquid stuck in pockets in his throat.  Since he hasn't really been choking, she said it's not a huge problem, but needs to be addressed.  She said the tongue going forward usually causes lisps when the kiddos are old enough to enunciate the r's and s's.  Since we're working on correcting it now it may help deter any future lisp.  She said his vocabulary was average to above average for his age and his pragmatic speech seemed to be on target.  All good news.  She said she saw progress just in the 90 minutes they spent together today, so she didn't think he would need speech therapy for that long.  Yay!

Occupying Isabel for 2 1/2 hours was a challenge, but she did GREAT!  She was so helpful and cooperative.  I was impressed.  I can't imagine that sitting in a waiting room while her brother got to play on some fun equipment was easy for her.  After OT Logan gets a 'candy cane' (a peppermint) and Isabel gets a starburst.  Logan decided that he wants a starburst too so Isabel bites off half of hers and gives him the other half.  Every time.  It is so stinkin cute and sweet.  She is really starting to look out for him in public situations.  Privately she still likes to terrorize him, but it's getting a little better.  She has grown up so so much in the past couple of months.

We are on the last section of kitchen cabinets.  We glaze tonight and then seal tomorrow and that should be it!  We still need to put on new hardware, but we're having a discussion about which handles to buy.  I just want it done.  It has taken up so much of my life and time.

I went looking for some ballet shoes at the resale stores in town and found the cutest little cowgirl boots.  Isabel puts them on and pretends she's Jesse.  Might have to take her to the Houston Livestock Show this year!  I know Logan would love it too.

Video of Isabel going across the monkey bars!

Super Bowl Sunday

More cabinet painting in the am and then a 6 mile run, playground, cleaning, more cleaning, subway picnic on the floor and watching the game.

Monsters Inc. Faces

Wanted to post a few pictures. These are the kids doing 'Monsters Inc.'. Tough day in mommy land. All of this therapy/research/homework, etc has gotten me stressed and down.

We went to Isabel's playgroup for the first time in months and it was brutal. Any plans after OT usually are. Logan spent most of the time screaming on the ground throwing mulch on his face and Isabel pooped her pants. She said she needed to go potty and I said 'ok, we will go home' and then she assured me she could hold it. This happened a couple weeks ago at the playground and she did actually wait about an hour to go. Not today.

TGIF. For real. A phone call from a friend who might come visit in a couple of weeks makes me super excited! My patience has officially run out this week. I'm tired and cranky. Looking forward to a low key weekend looking at carpet and cabinet hardware. No plans in the immediate future to replace carpet, but someday soon. We're going to have to bite the bullet and replace the carpet rather than replacing everything with wood like we had planned. Just too costly right now and our carpet is getting really nasty.

We'll get our traditional Subway subs for Super Bowl Sunday and have a picnic in the family room watching it.

It's a certain someone's 80th birthday tomorrow!!!!!! We finally got a little envelope in the mail today and hopefully the Shutterfly card we made is there. We've been practicing our Happy Birthday renditions.