Archive for December, 2006
No, this post isn’t about Teletubbies or PBS programming… this is what Colby calls “Football”. Colby is getting his fill of boo-bah on “wee-tee” (tv). He doesn’t like watching much other tv, but when he wakes up from his nap, he asks for “num-num” (milk) and either boo-bah or “gaket-ball” (basketball) on wee-tee. Conversing with a one year-old is like learning a new language. He talks to us just like we talk to him, saying things that sound like sentences, but we can maybe understand a word or two. I am constantly amazed at how he picks up new words every day. What a parrot!
December 30th, 2006
Here’s my first video blog. This is the video that Jenna was referencing in her previous post about the video that I did for Christmas Eve at church. It was a lot of fun to put together because the kids just say exactly what is on their mind. But it was challenging because we started with 57 minutes of footage and worked it down to this 3 minute presentation.
Credit where credit is due…. Thanks to:
- Trey Holt from KBTX for filming this with his excellent xD cam
- Doug Sweet for his creative efforts from start to finish
- Julie Hamilton for interviewing the kids
- All the kids’ parents who probably had no idea we were doing this until they saw it Christmas Eve!
- Jackie Stephenson for the piano background track
It’s late… so I’m not going to write much more. Hope you enjoy!
December 28th, 2006
I hope everyone had a marvelous Christmas! We had many Christmases… I think the grand total of gatherings was 5? So that’s why I’m just now posting Merry Christmas wishes, three days After Christmas. Kevin made this wonderful video of kids at our church talking about Christmas. He’ll have to give the link so y’all can watch it… and I’ll let him set it up a little bit better too. 
Kevin and Colby and I just got back from DFW last night. We stayed a little bit longer than we normally do, because we wanted to see people that we normally don’t! A lot of his h.s. and our college friends live in DFW and/or have relatives that live there, so we got to see some of them… Jeff (and his bro and his mom), Kyle G., Dan, Trey.. and Jason & Kim Ledlie with their 15 month old, Tristan. It was so fun to see Colby and Tristan “interact”.. Colby got very mad about having to share his cars at dinner. We’re working on that!
Another thing we got to do was buy Kevin a new suit! Kevin worked at Men’s Wearhouse while he was in high school and during the summers in college, so back then he was able to have a nice wardrobe. (And, the employee discount was always a plus.) Fast forward 10 years or so, and he hasn’t had a new suit since we got married! He picked out a charcoal suit that will go with just about any shirt/tie combo he could ever want. That was his Christmas present from me! (Oh, and Colby and I played basketball in the store while suit shopping. There was a plastic goal there and everything! Colby calls it a “gakket-ball” or “khaki-ball”.)
Yesterday we had to return some stuff at Kohl’s that didn’t fit or we already had, etc. (You know why you return stuff.) We intentionally didn’t go to Kohl’s the day after Christmas because we knew it would be crazy busy. So, we walked in the store 2 days after Christmas and found the line from the front door all the way down one wall and then right-angled down another wall… We both just stood there looking at it, speechless. It was the longest line I had Ever seen. And I’ve waited in many lines at A&M! I could NOT believe what I was seeing. So, we have the gift receipts for everything, and we’ll just return things when we go to Bedford next time… in like a month or two, surely the lines will go down, right?
So right now it is 10:18 am and Colby is still sleeping! Usually he’s awake before 8 am, but he’s catching up on all the sleep that he missed while travelling/partying! He doesn’t like to GO to sleep, but he sure does like to stay asleep, thankfully. On Christmas he had so much fun playing with his cousin Ryan (3.5 years old).. they’d run to one side of the house and giggle, then they’d play chase to the other side of the house and giggle some more. Colby came out of that event with a black eye and bruises on his face, but he loved every minute of it. (Ryan had his share of bumps too!)
Okay, I guess that’s about it for now. We should have Christmas pictures up soon. And, if you didn’t get a Christmas card/picture from us, we apologize… we ran out this year! We didn’t really plan very well, but we had lots of extras last year, so we thought it would be the same this year. Anyway, I hope each one of you had a Great Christmas and will have a Wonderful New Year! Oh, and I hope the Aggies beat the hell outta Cal tonight! Whoop!
December 28th, 2006
Whether you read this on Christmas Day or not, I wish each one of you a very Merry Christmas! And, if you didn’t get a copy of our Christmas picture card, it’s because we ran out of them… sorry. !! I will bug Kevin to scan it in for viewing in our gallery.
Speaking of, if you can access our gallery, you are either a spy or a hacker… Kevin says something is broken and the link has been taken off for awhile. I’ll get him to fix it and then post when it’s fixed. It will be a Christmas miracle!
I’m trying to think of Christmas movie one-liners… And, it is late, so my mind’s not working. Feel free to add more to my list!
“God bless us, everyone!” (I guess that’s not so much a movie to begin with…?)
“Every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings.”
“Fra-jee-lay. Must be Italian.”
December 25th, 2006
How come when I think of good things to post, I’m never around the computer? And, how come when I AM on the computer, I can’t think of anything good to post? I seem to only talk about Texas weather, something Colby is doing, or how we can’t seem to find time to do anything anymore. (All of which I’ve already said before and I can’t really find new ways to say them.) I think I need Blogging tutorials. Whom should I call? 1-800-Blogger?
Okay, so here’s my post:
1. Weather is hot. I’m wearing a sleeveless shirt. May I remind you it’s December 18th, one week before Christmas?
2. Colby is funny. He says, “Night night, mama!” and when he’s in the bathtub he says “Pash!”, and then he does. Splash, that is. He gets more water on his face and the floor than back in the tub. He has some fun Sesame Street bath toys are like small kitchen utensils… 2 pots, a colander, a spatula, a spoon. I asked him to make me some noodles in the colander, so he took the spoon and stirred for a sec and then handed it to me. I took the colander and slurped up the “noodles”, and he thought it was SO funny. He kept saying, “Noo-nel, Mama!” so that I’d slurp it up again. So funny! He also gets giddy and laughs for no reason at all. Kevin plays the 1-2-3-drop game with Colby. Colby thinks it’s funny so he’ll say, “1, 2…” and then Kevin says, “3!” and drops him halfway and catches him. So much fun. He is a great kid.
3. Hm. I have resolved that we’re not hanging Christmas lights on our house this year. And by we, I mean Kevin. Although, he did fix my computer speakers… My honey-do list is always a mile long. One of these days we’ll get pictures of Baby Girl up on our site. OH! We DID order our Christmas card/pictures, so those should be arriving this week. I am impressed that we’re doing this Before Christmas instead of after. That’s ONE in a row!
Okay, new topic. I think I know what Baby Girl’s name should be. But it’s also the name a friend chose. I need some opinions. Should we go with the name I picked? We are having a hard time agreeing or even debating any other names; this is the only one that has really stuck around with us. Oh, and if you have any suggestions as to baby names, please leave them. Although, don’t be offended if we don’t choose your name. Or, if you have any names that we should NOT use, please leave those as well. We want equal opportunity offending.
Alright. You know the drill. Leave all comments at the beep. …BEEP!…
December 18th, 2006
I’m stealing this idea from Erin. I got the email from Kristin first, but Erin put a few of these on her blog. Enjoy!
1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot Chocolate. I like Christmas coffee too.
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Actually, he leaves them on the fireplace. Not wrapped.
3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? Yes! Colby likes Lots of lights… Kevin prefers white lights on both. On our Christmas tree we have white lights, then red & silver ball ornaments amongst our other ornaments.
4. Do you hang mistletoe? Where do you buy it? Do I go to Wal-Mart and ask them for mistletoe? I wonder if it’s a seasonal item?
5. When do you put your decorations up? Um, whenever we have time.. Usually after the Christmas musical at church. Hopefully it will be done this weekend! (hint, hint.)
6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? Dressing. At Thanksgiving AND Christmas. I also like Kevin’s crab dip, but it doesn’t sound too appetizing right now… (pregnancy)
7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child: That would be when we spent Christmas Day in Colorado with my relatives up there. It was fun to see what Santa brought to them, and my grandmother called to say that Santa had visited our house and didn’t forget to bring us presents too. I think there were like 25 people in Shan’s house that week!
8. When did you stop believing in Santa? I was 8. I figured it out.
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Yes - it’s Feliz Navidad with my parents and sisters. We eat Mexican food and listen to Christmas carols while we open presents.
10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? Lots of lights and lots of ornaments (see #3).
11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? If I’m in Texas, it should not be snowing. If I’m in Colorado, especially over Christmas, I LOVE it. But, I should also have a pair of skis strapped to my feet if I’m watching it snow.
12. Can you ice skate? Yes, but not while pregnant.
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? I can remember lots of them… a fun one was getting my cat when I was 7. I had asked Santa for a white cat so I could name her Snowball, the same as a character in a book series I was reading. Then I found out I was allergic to her and she had to stay outside.
14. What’s the most exciting thing about the Holidays for you? Kevin gets a few days off work! I get to see my extended family (and his), and now we get to share the real meaning of Christmas with Colby. (Sorry, couldn’t narrow it down.)
15. What’s your favorite holiday dessert? Mmm… Monster cookies. Making them with Alicia and my grandfather every year, then we freeze them. It’s a secret family recipe. 
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Reading the Christmas story out of Luke and Matthew.
17. What tops your tree? Heh… I can’t remember, and I can’t see the top anyway! I think we have a star? I remember buying something a few years back.
18. Which do you prefer: giving or receiving? I like Erin’s answer, so I’ll condense: C’mon, let’s be real here; I like the receiving, of course! I also like giving to people that really have needs… I remember our Sunday School class adopting a family when I was a senior in h.s. and we went shopping for them at midnight at Wal-Mart. We had the best time!
19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? (Of course, this question would come up.. .I like them all.) “What Child is This?”, “O Holy Night”, “One Small Child”…
20. Do you like Candy Canes? I like the ones flavored with cinnamon or the non-peppermint kind. It’s been a long while since I’ve had one on purpose.
December 8th, 2006
Okay, I get it. All my posts have been boring. Well, today your luck is about to change. Not that I have something fantabulous to post about, but you might want to pay attention because Kevin updated our photo gallery with Colby pictures! Yes, there are Halloween pics, and yes, there are pics of him in the same shirt at 2 different places. Get over it. We still don’t have pics of the baby girl in utero yet, but those will come asap, I promise.
Speaking of doing things asap, Kevin and I are involved in this “Transition to Parenthood” study at A&M. They mail us questionnaires every 6 months of Colby’s life, and we mail them back. Then they mail us a $50 or $75 check. Pretty sweet deal, except that it ends when he’s 2, and we can only use it for our first child. Anyway, our latest survey would have been when Colby was 18 months old, and if you’re keeping up, he’s now 19 months old…. and the surveys are still sitting on the kitchen cabinet. Oops. They called us yesterday and said, “Um, could you get those surveys to us soon?” They gave us a deadline of November 19th, but they’ve told us to just send them in when we get them done, with no penalties from the check or whatever… SO! That’s yet another thing that we need to get done “asap”.
One of the guys at Kevin’s work has ASAP written on his dry erase board, but he says it stands for “After September, April Possibly”. Now That’s more like it.
December 7th, 2006
Well, it seems like every time I turn around, I am hearing of another person that is pregnant! Usually I don’t say that, but right now, I know of 6 other people that are pregnant and due between April and August. Wow! That is fabulous!
It’s kind of weird though, because in March of 2006, I knew of 6 babies born between March 21-29. 6!! That’s almost one per day that I KNEW! Crazy.. now, there’s NO one due at the end of March/early April besides myself… Guess no one wants to have a baby at the same time as me. Oh well.
Not that it’s a big deal, because those 6 babies that will be born after our Baby Girl will be very close and once they get older, 4 months of age is absolutely nothing. But, at the newborn stage, the difference is a BiG deal… with Colby, it felt like we’d NEVER make it to 4 months!
December 3rd, 2006