Christmas Collage

Christmas Morning

Will and Lily discover the presents under the tree.

Evan joins the fun.

Will shows off his new broom and favorite present. Santa must have know that sweeping is one of his favorite past times.

Evan and Lily check out the Little People farm.

Will sweeps over and finds the Giraffe.

Evan and Lily discover the Giraffe too.

Evan and David.

Evan gets a phone in his stocking and walks around talking and doing things just like David. He doesn't put it down most of the day.

David and Lily.

Hugs from Gramma G (GG).

We saved the best present for last.

Twas the Night Before Christmas

When all through this house, all the creatures were stirring, not quiet like a mouse.

Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night.

No Power, No Water

They shut off our power and water today. Apparently the owner had some outstanding bill. The guy turned it off right in front of me even though I showed him my lease agreement and are current customers in good standing. I wanted to call his boss...and his mom. Shame on him. I was mad as a hornet. Don't make an eight months pregnant mom of three toddlers mad.

The owner was even more irrate as the bill was in dispute and they had assured him they were working it out. I'm sure he felt horrible putting us in this situation too. We had a flurry of calls and a bit of drama this afternoon. I have a few things to say about Austin Utility and their red tape but let's just leave it at 'not very helpful'. The owner went down and sorted it out. Good news is that they are supposed to be back on their way out to turn it back on right now. And I'm relieved that the nice owner is not in jail as he was hopping mad when he headed to their offices.

My mom's flight will be in soon, hopefully all will be resolved before tonight or we will all be huddled together sleeping on the floor in our old house.

We've Moved!

It was a crazy Saturday but we are moved in our new home and fairly settled. It was nice to move so close by. We could make several trips and unpack as we went. So by the end of the day we only had a couple of boxes to unpack. There are still some things at the old house. But it is easy enough to walk over and get anything we need. And honestly it felt great to sort through all the closets and have a chance to clean things out and get organized.

The layout of the new house has been great for the kids. They have more room to run around, a big playroom just off the main living room and of course the safe contained yard I wrote about earlier. It is going to be a lot easier to keep them entertained here. And I need the break. It is getting a bit harder to chase after them as my belly grows.

The worst thing about the move is that they are not napping - yikes. We don't have their blackout shades up so that may be the issue.

Work has been crazy too. I'm working on completing a website and rolling it out to about 40 countries before the x-mas break. It will feel good to have that done and be able to enjoy my time off. David and my offices are both closed next week through the new year. And my mom comes tomorrow so that will be a big help.

Who knows, we may even get a chance to get a group photo of the kids and send late Christmas cards. Our first couple of tries were disasters. We could not get a single photo with all three. If you don't get a card from us this year, this is why...

Long Last Bath

I'm on my own tonight. David has been travelling all week again trying to squeeze in last meetings with clients before the holidays and before the no travel zone with Quattro's impending arrival.

I decided to see how long the babies would stay in the bath, splashing and giggling and having a grand old time if I didn't remove them. I gave up at 50 minutes of fun and took them out. Both boys promptly peed on the floor. I guess I should have been thankful they didn't go in the tub.

Then it occurred to me that this may be our last night in this house. It may be their last bath in this tub. We are moving tomorrow and the decision on our house project is still pending. It makes me a bit sad. I like this little house and our place in this world.

This is also the last month our kids get to be our babies. Not too much longer and there will be a new baby in our home.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

If you know me, you know that I can't stand clutter. But that doesn't mean that I'm immune to it. We have to constantly work at it and we still have too much.

I love garage sales and moves, it gives you incentive to get rid of lots of things that have accumulated over time. I like seeing my things going to others who will put them to good use, instead of gathering dust in my house.

I dread thinking of all the clutter we will accumulate with four children in the house. The toys and books and clothes seem to multiply at night.

But someone at work shared this great idea with me today...

They put a basket next to their Christmas tree prior to the holiday. The children are asked to go through their toys and find toys to donate to other children to put in the basket. Before Christmas the basket goes off to share with other children and it makes way for new toys -putting old toys to good use and clearing out clutter. Brilliant!

Outdoors

We are moving next weekend, theoretically. We don't have movers and have not packed. But we are going to try and line it up this week. We are only moving two houses down, and we don't have to empty out our house completely - yet. We just need to move the things we use regularly.

The new yard is perfect for us. It is fenced in and has grass and a low deck without a drop off. There is lots of open playspace without the hazards of our heavily landscaped yard, deck and stone path.

The trips love being outside. They have tons of fun at our park on the playscapes and just as much fun exploring, picking up leaves and finding sticks. The park is wonderful, but it is a lot of work to keep up with them. It will be nice to have options.

I think we will be spending most waking moments outside as long as the weather permits. Luckily we have very moderate weather here in Austin.

So I've been researching playhouses and playscapes to make the yard even more fun. I found this 'neat and tidy cottage' from Step2. It has a door, shutters they can open and close, a doorbell and a play sink. They may outgrow this playhouse before the other alternatives but I think we will get lots of mileage over the next couple years. I like that you can easily see in the house and that we won't have to hover (like some of the playscapes would require).

I took too long to decide, so we won't get this by Christmas, but it will be a good gift for them just before Quattro arrives. And probably bigger gift to us as it will provide lots of entertainment.

Nursery

I decided I better hop on getting Quattro's nursery items ordered so we could get everything by Christmas. I'd like to set up the room during our time off.

David likes modern, I like simple traditional. I think I this Dwell forest bedding is something we can both be happy with. And I found it at a reasonable price on ebay.

This new Baby Mod line of cribs at Walmart have the look of Netto and Ouef at the fraction of the cost. I didn't get to see it in person but the reviews were great. This changing table easily converts to a dresser.

Light sky blue for the walls. Cream linen drapery or roman shades. Our chocolate brown glider and some affordable art from Etsy to finish it off.

Quattro

I'm going to the doctor every two weeks now for check ups on Quattro. He is doing great. This Monday was sucking his thumb during the ultrasound.

Six weeks until we get to meet him.

Oh Christmas Tree!

I'm so happy with our little Christmas tree. We picked it out together last weekend. Will, Evan and Lily adore our tree too and now can all say 'tree'. They like to pat the branches carefully and they have figured out how to place the ornaments on the tree.

A few of the hand print ornaments we made last year have some nibbles missing from the edges. We must have some little furry friends in the attic.

The kids are also quite fond of our neighbor's lighted reindeer that moves it's head slowly from side to side. I think they are going to enjoy the Christmas festivities this year. Their excitement makes it all new for us and more fun.