But, How Do We Get to the ZOO?!?

So, we went to Wal-Mart, and Kameen got to pick out a couple of toys. He chose an elephant and a lion. The whole day he carried them around and talked about the sounds they make. I told him we would have to take him to the zoo to see a real elephant and lion. Well, that was about 3 weeks ago, and every since then the question of the day is "But, how do we get to the zoo?"  Austin has an animal sanctuary (a rescue zoo), but I was hesitant to take him there because, although they have a few of the big animals, it's definitely not like a real zoo.  However, I had grown weary of the question of the day being posed about 50 times a day, so I decided that since it was Spring Break and I would have help from my mom and the weather is GREAT right now, that I should go ahead and take him to the Austin Zoo.

Well, he had a great time. First, he chased the peacocks and the guineas. He crowed with a rooster, saw the monkeys, lions, tigers, and bears, and fed the goats. We rode the train at the end, but we were there much longer than I anticipated. And, still, on the way home, he says, "But, where were the hippos and giraffes?"  I laughed and told him we'd have to take him to the BIG zoo after baby sister comes.  Now the question of the day is "But, how do we get to the BIG zoo?!?" Ah well, I tried.

Paint, Playtime, and Progress

Well, I know it's been awhile, but we have been super busy around here.  I have been nesting like crazy, and it seems to be paying off. Although the baby's room is not completely done, it is at least cleaned up and in a working order for if she arrives early.  If not, my mom is coming next week to help me finish up the fun details, like stenciling!  The hard part is that she will be in Kameen's crib at some point, but for now, he is still using it.  So, her room won't really be "done" until we transition him to a big boy bed.  However, getting the changing table in there with our lovely new shelf and getting everything laundered was enough to satisfy me for now.

 
Outside of her room being done, we had our kitchen floors resurfaced, which was a royal pain in the neck.  It took weeks to clean up the mess, but it is finally just about finished.  We also pretty much finished up the half bath.  I rearranged Kameen's room to look more like a room, and less like someone just landed in there and started living.  Chris and I also added some color and pizazz to our bedroom with new bedding, window treatments, rugs, and new towels for the bathroom.  I have been doing laundry non-stop for about 3 weeks.  I can't wait to be caught up on that front, although I suppose it's really preparing me for what is to come having more kids in the house.  We are just a week and a half to our due date, and we have everything ready for our home birth, more or less.  I'll probably spend the remainder of the time cleaning and tidying and putting finishing touches on everything.

We are still managing to have a little fun with Kameen before the baby arrives.  I keep pushing myself because I realize that I'm pregnant, not dead, and I don't want to miss out on Kameen's last days as an only child just because my feet, legs, back, and whole body ache!  So, this weekend, we headed out to the rodeo here in Austin with Memaw and Papaw.  It was a perfect day, and Kameen did as much as a 2-year-old could do.  He rode a pony, did the petting zoo, bounced on a trampoline, rode a few rides, watched a pig race, ate corn dogs, and danced with a cow.  He was absolutely pooped by the end of the day, but we had a great time!

And, for the grand finale.  A belly pic!  One of the only ones in existence.  This way I can prove that yes, I carried you all 9 months!

Winter Illness

So, be careful what you wish for.  We had a little warm snap (as opposed to a cold one) a couple of weeks ago.  It got up to around 80 degrees for a whole week.  Everyone loved it...but me.  I wanted the cold back. So, I prayed that the Lord would send the cold back our way.  Boy did He!  Not only did the temperature drop, I actually GOT a cold.  Amongst other things involving the pregnancy, it's been a rough 3 weeks.  Now, Kameen is sick with a cold.  So, the last few days we've been home sick.  How have we been keeping busy, you ask?  He has watched a lot of TV, which makes me feel like the world's laziest mom.  Other than the aforementioned TV marathon, we have been painting, coloring, reading, and building things.  It's been really rainy or we would have played outside a bit, even with the illness, because I believe that fresh air is healing.  Hopefully, it will at least be less rainy for a couple of days this week so we can breath some fresh air...and cough because of it. But, to everything there is a season, and purpose.  Therefore, I will not complain.  Oh yes, we did manage to take him for his first bowling experience before his illness really hit.  He did great for about 6 turns (out of 10), but then he was pretty much done.

 

This didn't last long

 

Perfect day for the slow cooker

 

He really loves his watercolor books

 

Markers!

 

Bowling fun!

 

He actually out-bowled Mom and Dad on his first try!

Good Housekeeping

Life around here is moving fast and furious. We have 10 weeks to go until we welcome our baby girl into the world!  We have several loose ends to finish up in the house before all of our projects that we started when we moved in are complete.  Currently we are finishing the half bath (which has been sinkless since June).  We are also potentially going to have our kitchen floors "fixed," to correct what hubby did in error (hey, he admits it too!).  We have a few touch-ups to do in our master bath, including finishing up a cabinet we bought to store our towels in and getting a bench put into the walk-in shower.

And then there's the kids' rooms.  We have never really gotten Kameen's room put together since we moved in almost a year ago.  We pretty much just landed in the house and kept on living.  In order to make the baby's room a baby's room, we need to make Kameen's room into a big boy room, i.e. with a big bed and new dresser (which we already have), so the baby can have the changing table.  And, the baby's room, well, it's totally put together in my head, but is completely empty and scattered in reality.  All of this overwhelms me, but I just try to take it one day at a time, have FUN with it, get done what I can, and praise God I have a home to decorate!  If anyone wants to come help or donate, please come on down and I'll pay you with yummy homecooked food!

Hanging the light in the half bath

Always our helper!

We have quite a few of these around here.

With our lil' handyman, this kind of thing gets dangerous.

Kameen's room. So sad, so boring.

New chest of drawers, and soon-to-be new baby's changing table

Our lil' princess's room.  She'll be sleeping naked on the floor I guess...

Christmas and New Year's Wrap-Up

After arriving in East Texas, we went to visit with lots of family.  Kameen was not very friendly with the extended family.  I think it was a combination of lack of sleep and being ready to go home (which he told us he wanted to do everyday of the trip).  We spent 3 days in East Texas and headed home on New Year's Day.  There is little to tell about our New Year's Eve "Bash."  It was really more like a New Year's Eve "Crash," as we were asleep pretty much right at midnight.  Oh well, there is always next year. I fell off in my picture taking due to a combination of   a.) exhaustion from a week of travel   b.) having to scavenge for food just to get enough calories (which, according to my latest pee test, I did a very poor job of)   c.) having a clingy 2-year-old.

Having not one, but TWO, bowls of ice cream with his cousins

Trying to escape the arms of his very sweet and loving Great Granny.

OH WHAT FUN IT IS TO RIDE IN AN AIIIIRRRRPLANE!

What a fun time we've had this Christmas!  It started the weekend before Christmas when we went to the Live Bethlehem in Burnet, Texas.  It was crowded but an AMAZING opportunity to see what it was like on the first Christmas, the night of Jesus's birth.  Then, we spent Christmas Eve in Austin with my parents, ate good food and opened lots of fun little gifts.  Then, off we flew to Virginia on Christmas Day to spend time with the hubby's family.  Tomorrow we will leave to go back to Texas and on to East Texas to visit with more of hubby's family.  Kameen is a trooper, and has been so good the whole time (well, within reason for a 2 year old!). 

Kameen got to pet a real camel at the Live Bethlehem

Gifts at Meemaw and Papaw's house

A wonderful feast when we arrived in Virginia

Taking a break after a LONG day of travel

Yay presents!

Fun in the SNOW!!!

Celebrating

The holiday season is in full swing, and I am very excited about Christmas this year.  Christmas has always been my favorite time of the year - music, decorating, food, cold weather, and the birthday celebration of our King! What's not to love?  I definitely had a lull in my Christmas enthusiasm between the time I left my parents' house (and got married) and when I became a parent.  That's a 5 year lull!  But, now that I'm a mommy and get to start my own family traditions for Christmas, I'm more excited than ever.  Last year, I was unable to decorate my house because we were in the middle of trying to sell it, and our realtor asked that we keep it simple. The year before, Kameen was just a month old and....well, enough said.  So, this is the first year after becoming a parent that I feel like we can really get into the spirit of Christmas and make the most of it.  We've decked our halls, we will be reading our Christmas story books, we've bought a few gifts, our travel arrangements are made to spend time with family, and our ears are full of the music of the season.  We are CELEBRATING!

This is Kameen last year at Christmas

Here he is this year!

Decorating fun!