Stressed

I know, I shouldn't be complaining in light of what thousands around me are still dealing with thanks to Ike, but unfortunately, the regular stresses of life continue and I am feeling a little bit overwhelmed!

First of all, packing. We have not started. I know, that is our own problem but we have not had any time! Both matt and I are swamped with work after being out for a week and/or working remotely so by the time we get home, that is the last thing we want to do. But we are going to do it this weekend and get as much done as we can.

New childcare- I called one place and got on the waiting list...they said not to expect an opening before Zach was 18 months. For REAL? There are 5 on the list ahead of us for the infant program. The other place I am interested in has no power still so I cannot even talk to someone to find out the situation there. There is one more place I am willing to check out so we shall see. The alternatives are 1) keep him where he is which is fine b/c we love his school but bad b/c i would be the only person able to pickup/drop off and if for some reason I couldnt take him, it is very out of the way for Matt. The other option is a nanny. I am still undecided on this if it was just Z. Anyone thoughts on a nanny??

Work- UGH. it is just plain busy. and we have all these deadlines for our new system and it is just tough to get done along with everything else. not to mention this week Z's daycare has been w/o power so we have been working half days and from home since Wednesday.

I know, all this will pass, but until it does, I shall remain STRESSED!!!

5 things

If you could only eat 5 things for the rest of your life...what would it be?
Mine would be:
*cheese (any kind!)
*wine (i know, not a food, but I would be bummed without)
*pizza
*sushi
*ice cream

I really think I could sustain myself on those 5 things. What do you think? It would be an interesting diet. It is very light on the carbs, maybe I should try it out and see what happens! ;-) Mexican food is up there too.....hmmm.....

Fall line-up

It is back again! We went from nothing to watch to too much to watch! There are so many things on right now. So excited for How I Met Your Mother and The Big Bang to be back...both season premieres did not disappoint. There is also DWTS and Biggest Loser. Oh yeah, and the New Adventures of Old Christine and 90210 and Heroes! And that is only through Wednesday. Tomorrow is the big night of My Name is Earl, Grey's, and of course, The Office!! Thank goodness for the DVR because we have book club tomorrow night. Oh yeah, and I guess NFL is back if you are into that too!

What are you watching these days? What do you think of the new seasons of shows?

Diapers

What kind of diapers do you use? I always used Pampers Swaddlers but Z is wearing Size 3 now and they dont come that big. We were given a box of Huggies as a gift so we had been using those and I liked them but decided to try the Pampers and in a hurricane rush some Randall's brand. People, I do not like either of them. I think once I get through the 204 Pampers that I bought, we will go back to Huggies. What diapers do you use and why do you like them?

Monday, Monday

Well Z's daycare still has no A/C so Awesome Aunt Al volunteered to watch the munchkin as her school is still w/o power too. She took Z to meet the Labbe clan at the Zoo! Snagged a couple pics of my serious cutie of her smugmug page to share. AAA is going to watch Z tomorrow too and we are eternally grateful. I just cannot send my 7 month old to a place with no a/c! Poor guy was red faced after we went to visit new house on sunday for about a half hour!

We still have not packed a box, but we do have movers set up. Go us. I know, we need to start. 2 weeks is going to go by fast!!

And no super exciting photos, just a couple of the cutie to show you how big he is getting.

Serious fun at the Zoo

Feeding the goats with Aunt AlSmall Smile for Rox

Showing off my 2 teeth while crying!

Fun after Bath

Ready for some football!!

Football fun!

The deal is done!

We signed on the dotted line...about 50 times....and handed over the check...and now its all ours!

I am so excited yet it doesn't seem really real yet since we are still living at the town home. Time to start packing. Plan to move in 2 weekends so I guess we better get busy! Need to pack, want to do some painting in the new house and then time to move in. I will miss many things about our little town home in the city, but I am so excited to be out in the burbs among friends and family. We took many a walks around the neighborhood while staying in Austin this week and it got us even more excited. Something different about pushing the stroller and walking the dog through the quiet street surrounded by yards and homes than the busy streets of H-town! So, as soon as we are moved in, we cannot wait to have you all over. And we have plenty of room so feel free to pack your pack-n-play and stay the night :-)

And in Z news, I cannot remember what I have posted lately. With the houses and the hurricane, I feel like I have lost a few weeks of my life. Its a big blur! Anyway, he is precious as always. He is doing some new things though like....

*crawling backwards! And while this is funny to mommy and daddy, it is super frustrating to the poor Z Man as he gets further and further away from whatever he wanted, so I end up caving and helping him out. I have heard this is common so perhaps crawling the right direction is in his near future.

*Motorboating, zerberts, raspberries...whatever you like to call them, he LOVES to make them. It can amuse him for some time just listening to himself!

*New babbling..I think there are some ma-mas in there and I SWEAR he says it sometimes when he is looking at me! And just like his daddy, he LOVES to hear himself talk so we have a pretty noisy house these days. But I love it and could listen to him all day!

I know, I know, I need some new pics. He is definitely getting bigger every day. My bitty baby is definitely not itty bitty anymore!

Also, today is a week from Ike. Wow, what a different morning today is than last week. My heart still goes out to the thousands affected by Ike. I have decided the piles I was going to save for garage sale I am now going to donate to a Ike relief fund. Just need to find the right one. We have so much clothes and duplicates of household items and with people who have lost everything, I am hoping they can help someone get a new start. I love Casting Crowns "Praise You in the Storm" song and am drawn to its message right now. I am not very eloquent in my writing, so pardon the simplicity of this thought. I just feel SO incredibly blessed to have weathered the storm with only power loss for a few days. So many still don't have power and may not for another week or more. And then of course those who lost everything. I cannot imagine. I pray that people will come together and help these people get back on their feet. I am also very impressed to learn that my company will be donating $1 million to the Red Cross benefiting the Gulf Coast, specifically for those in the Galveston and Houston areas. I pray that God can use this tragedy to bring people together, neighbors helping neighbors. And while a lot has been accomplished in a week, there is still a very long way to go so please keep praying for those affected by Ike!

Ok, on that note, i am going to go snuggle my z and enjoy the blessings of family, home, power, and life!

Home Sweet Home

It is amazing how good your own bed can feel! :)

Matt and I are doing shift work today. I went in to work this morning and came home around noon to relieve him and into work he went. All in all it went pretty well! I could get used to those hours! Just got off the phone with our lender and looks like we are still on to close TOMORROW! Yippee!! I can't wait to get into the house and start making it our own.

Not much else really to report on right now. Z Man is taking a snooze so I am taking that time to catch up on things! So very thankful for a/c, power, a roof over our heads and wonderful wonderful family and friends!!

The Lights are ON......

And we are HOME!!! I am so very thankful for the in laws for putting us up and keeping us fed, cool, and sane, but man....it feels good to be home! An extra big thank you to Kathy, our realtor/aunt who came by today and cleaned out our fridge! It has been left to its own non-cold devices since Saturday....eeeeeeww! 5 days of no cooling surely was not pretty. So now we have a nice clean empty fridge! Guess that's a good thing since we will be moving soon anyway!

Yes, that's right, hopefully we will still be moving soon! Hopefully closing Friday or sometime next week. This whole loss of power thing has kinda messed things up! We shall see what happens. We are getting excited and ready though, esp with the new living room we purchased!

We are headed to work tomorrow too. We have no daycare, their power is still out so we will each do half days. I hope that works out!! Or else Z man is coming to the office!

What else? Poor Z's whole 7 month birthday totally got the shaft so I need to take some new pics too. He is also scooting backwards and talking all over the place! I swear I heard a MAMA!

Well friends, I AM TIRED, so going to call it a night. Hope you all are well and big hugs to all those with our sweet, sweet power yet...you probably can't read this but our house is open if you need it! Night night!

Still calling home...

still no answering machine answering! So I am guessing we still have no power. Dad will go check again tomorrow to be sure. We are having a nice time but of course you always want to be at home in your own place. My work has been cancelled for the week, daycare is closed on a day to day basis as they still have no power and same for Matt's work. I am working remotely when I can to help out. So we will prob be here in Austin until power comes back.

Been doing some reading about Crystal Beach too and am just saddened beyond belief. Wiped away. The two homes we have rented most frequently over the last 9 years are just gone. So very sad and so many memories lost. My thoughts and prayers are with all of those who lost their homes there in Galveston and Crystal Beach.

On one positive note, yesterday Manda and I went out shopping yesterday and found a great couch! We put it on hold and came back today with Matt. We now have a fabulous couch, ottoman/table, and leather recliner! They are fabulous, people. From Primitives. Awesome sales guy/designer, too. If you are ever in the Austin area and need some fabulous furniture, go see Travis at Primitives!

Anyway, all is well here. Zach is babbling up a storm these days and we are wondering if a Ma-Ma or Da-da may come soon! He is also scooting...BACKWARDS! Its quite funny to watch. We put something out for him to come too and he ends up further and further away. Which makes him none too happy. He will figure it out soon enough!

Ok, back to Cowboy watching with the fam. Hope you all are well. Night night!!

We are okay

Ill post more on the whole thing later, but just a quick post to let you all know we are okay. We left for Austin late Saturday...a day without power or water was enough for us with a 7 month old! Our house was okay, just one big tree down in front but thankfully it fell into the courtyard instead of onto someones roof!

So anyway, we are in Austin waiting until we know if power is back on. I will check in more later!

Hunkerin Down

That's right folks, we are hunkerin/sheltering in place/whatever the heck ya want to call it! Its been a long day. I worked most of the beginning of the day and then we made a last minute trip to Randall's for some final necessities (aka-beer and wine). It was crowded but not too crazy. Everyone seemed pretty calm and civil too. We got home and cleared off the patio, taped the back windows, and got the flashlights and candles out and ready. Zach and Esther got several walks today just to get out and about since we don't know what tomorrow will be like.

Around 7pm it started getting windy. Its 10pm now and still no rain, just lots of wind. They say the eye is still a few hours away. Z fell asleep around 730 after his bottle. I made him a pallet so he could sleep downstairs with us. The pnp is set up in our bedroom but we haven't decided if we will sleep upstairs or not yet. The pets are all riled up and weird. I guess they sense the weather too. Bizarre.

Oh yeah, and we closed on the house yesterday. We have 30 days to be out of it. Kinda strange to be in it and not own it!! Hopefully we can still close on the new house next Friday and then we will start to move!

I think that's it for now. I am tired of the weather coverage yet we keep watching too, want to know what to expect! Hopefully we can keep power so we don't sweat to death!

To all you who are hunkering down too, be safe and check in tomorrow!

Deja Vu

First it was Edouard, then Gustav...I managed to escape them all so far. But now it looks like Ike is heading straight our way...just when I actually have PLANS! You hear that Ike?? We are supposed to be closing on the town home on Thursday and now it looks like I am headed to Brenham tomorrow night. UGH. No, DOUBLE UGH. If we do not close Thursday we are pushed back to Monday, September 15th which is fine assuming I can be back in town! This is so annoying! I am tired from the back to back storms and can't seem to get caught up with all this storm action going on. So I repeat....Ike, Ike , Go Away!!!!!!!!!

We had a mess up with the DVR tonight and somehow didn't get BB10 taped or 90210. ARGH. That was a serious downer since there was like, N.O.T.H.I.N.G. else on. We watched some of the Today Show that I had taped yesterday about The Big Chill reunion. One of my all time fav movies and of course always reminds me of Rach, so I enjoyed watching the snippet. They all still looked pretty good 30 years later!

Now watching the news...does anyone else think the weathermen get WAY too excited about these storms? I know you must, because I am sure anyone sane does. Although I did use to babysit for one of the Houston weathermen and he was always nice and normal but some of them just so into it! I think its especially bizarre because they all try to predict these storms but then follow up their comments with something like,"we are really not safe or out of the cone of uncertainty until about 24 hours before landfall." So yeah, basically we know nothing until its storm time.

While blog-hopping during boredom tonight, I found this photo editing website Picnik. Pretty cool! I made a neat pic of the Z Man from his 6 month shoot. Cool, huh? I will have to play some more and see what else it can do but I love these b&w pics with just the one color highlighted.

There was also a story about the fall of Enron tonight and some settlement and they were showing some vintage footage from the big let-go day of 2000. I looked for myself but no such luck! ;-) Amazing how fashion has changed in the last 8 years too!

Well, not much else going on. I guess I will know the fate of our closing this week sometime tomorrow. Then to decide...to leave Zach with Hubs or take him with me and attempt to work with a baby around!?!?!?

Don't Mind the Mess :)

Cause that's what we are about in be in...not like a mess of trouble...just a mess of packing, paperwork, work, etc!

We are set to close on the town home this Thursday. We have a leaseback for 30 days after close so we have some time to get packing and organized. I swear, like I said before, probably half of the stuff we have here isn't worth even moving. Or else we may move it and put into a "Garage Sale" pile. Who knows? If things continue to go as planned, we will close on the new home a week from Friday! After that, the house is all ours! We will get in and do some painting and some small trips before we make the big move. It still doesn't hardly seem real!

Work has been crazy busy. We JUST got caught up after Gustav and now here comes Ike which means depending on where he is headed, I may be off to Brenham again. UGH. We are also in the middle of changing systems so we are doing all of our work twice. Which means late nights. Well, after 5 which I call a late night. I do not like that at all. Cuts into my Z time. I get to feed, go for walk, bath, and then its time for bed! Definitely will be doing the 7-4 times once we move so that I can get home to my little man!

The HOA had their final blow with us today. We had to trim the tree in the patio in order to close this week. So annoying because there are other trees who surely are bigger and taller than ours and their owners are ignoring the letter just like we did. But $75 later the poor tree has been severely pruned so we can continue on. I felt bad for the tree. And man is there some new sun out there now with out the shade of the tree! :)

Zach and crew are doing well. I have not taken pics in what feels like weeks! I have some on my phone but am not technically savvy enough to figure out how to go from phone to computer. MY dad bought a cool red wagon for Zach and its his new fav thing! They pull him around and he is just checking it all out. Too cute!

I think that's it for now. I am still tired from the night at the Agnews! I will update as I can with what else is going on.

But for now, I bid you adieu!

It is Friday...and I did survive. THANK GOODNESS!

The madness is not ending though, we have Ike & Jospehine, closings and inspections, and I am sure a bunch more stuff to come still. Like PACKING? Seriously, would it be insane to pay people to pack for us? Although realistically I think we could give/sell 1/2 of our stuff so we don't have to move it!! Is it inappropriate to have a garage sale the week you move in!!

Oh, and Z Man has TWO teeth. Backwards beaver, its the 2 bottom center teeth. SO cute!!

Is it Friday yet?

Wow, we had a 3 day weekend and I am already for this weekend again! This has been a LOOOONG week at work thanks to all the storms. I have been working late and its amazing what a difference that hour or so makes. It takes away from some major Z time. So I hope things get back to normal soon at work. It could get worse depending on what Hanna, Ike, and Josephine decide to do! I hope they stay away!!

We have also been busy with house stuff. Getting a few things done from the inspection to our house. Luckily not too much. We are getting our dryer vents cleaned tomorrow and that should about do it, we hope! Our inspection of the new house will be Saturday morning! Then if things continue to go well, we should close on the town home next week and then our new house the following week...I guess we better get packing!

I am trying a new bedtime routine with Zachary and it worked pretty well tonight. Instead of coming back downstairs after bath time for his bottle around 7...we stayed upstairs and read books in the dim light and then bottle. He went straight to sleep.

So this weekend is the start of the NFL. I saw something last week about it on a show and the calling of the wives of football enthusiasts "Pigskin Widows". Funny but true! Matt is not too terrible, but it definitely takes up some time! The new game room may be the only place I find him on Sundays!

Ok, I am too brain dead to think anymore so off to bed....Night night! Is it Friday yet!??!?!

What the heck?!?

Why is Jerry wearing an A&M shirt? And where did he get it from? Seriously, grandma marine drives me insane and its a shame he is wearing the Aggie maroon! Plus he clashes with the red hat. Anyone else watching BB10? What do you think about it?

I love Renny. She is my favorite and I hope she wins overall. Why could she not figure out the Jerry/Michelle baby though? I mean, the baby was bald with white hair on the sides! Who else could it be? C'mon Renny!! And Keisha is starting to bug. I think I want Dan or Renny to win!

Still here

Wow, we have been busy, and are only going to get more busy!!

So....in the last week...we finally got an offer and a contract on our townhome. YAY! Minor things to fix from the inspection. Woohoo.

And then over the weekend, we started house hunting....found our house, made an offer, and they accepted! WOOHOO!!!

Hopefully all falls into place and we close on our townhome and can get our new home!

Now to start packing and everything else associated with the madness of moving! I can't believe we will be in our house in October!

What else? Z Man is doing great. Sitting up. Eating his fruits and veggies. Reaching and face planting when trying to get things. and just being cute. He is excited about his new room, too.

I will try to be posting more and keeping you updated on our big move!! :)

So what's new with you?