I just wanna stay in shape and kick some a$$

I've been sitting on the fence for months now about going back to Kung Fu. I really liked the health benefits of it, and the accomplishment of attaining a new belt, but the massive amounts of material were bogging my brain down. It takes a huge commitment to learn all of the katas and forms in kung fu, and I just don't have the time to dedicate to it. And because I've been away for so long (2 years or so), I'd have to re-learn all of the material. Granted it might come to me faster than the first time around. But something was stopping me from taking the plunge.
On Tuesday I opened the front door and a flyer fluttered into the house. I picked it up and read it. It was advertising a new martial arts studio 2 minutes from my house. I picked up the phone. Sean spent a good 15 minutes talking to me about what the classes teach and asking me what my goals are. I told him I wanna stay in shape and kick some ass. At that moment I realized what's been holding me back on returning to kung fu. I didn't want to memorize katas, I just want to get a great work out and in the process learn some self defense moves to take down even a 200lb man if necessary. Sean assured me that the mixed martial arts (MMA) class was the thing for me.
So last night I tried a class for free. We started with the usual warm up, then got right into the material. The instructor, Rob, asked me what my background was in. I never told Rob I had done any martial arts before but he picked up on it. There was an uneven number of people in the class so one of the other instructors held the bag for me as we went through the different exercises, and he gave me awesome feedback correcting my form as we went along. It felt so good to punch and kick again and it was surprising how much my body remembered. I was able to put a lot of power into my kicks and with a little correction, was able to actually move him off the spot he was standing. I left the class feeling really good.
SO I signed up for mixed martial arts. I'm gonna give it 3 months and see how I feel about it, then possibly move to Brazilian Jujitsu. It looked fun. I stayed and observed a bit of the class last night. Lots of grappling and wrestling. Right up my ally.

Stepping stones

This weekend Trent and I worked on a little creative project. We made a stepping stone with an imprint of Trent's left foot and right hand. You can see from the imprint that he was a little confused as to his role and rather than placing his hand neatly onto the cement and leaving a nice impression, he stuck his fist in and grabbed. It looks more like a paw print than a hand print, but I think it makes it all the more cool.

We plan to make one each year and put them in the front or back yard.

The weather here has been awesome and Trent and I spent a lot of time outside. We went for a walk on Saturday while daddy played soccer, then on Sunday we ate lunch on the patio at Mama Fu's, then we hung out outside with daddy while he changed the oil on the Subie, and socialized with the neighbours who were also out tending to their front yards. Afterwards we went for a long walk again so daddy could finish up the oil change. We stopped at the park in our neighbourhood and Trent played on the swing for a few minutes. That was his first time on a park swing and he seemed to like it.

All you germs out there better listen up!

Dear Cooties,

I don't understand why you insist on seeking me out when I've expressly asked you to leave me alone. I have no interest in your minuscule little lives and furthermore I go out of my way to avoid contact with you. Yet you persist.

I find this behaviour to be sycophantic and pathetic. Just because my family and I frequent the places you like to hang out, like daycare, restaurants, and even the office, does not mean I'm issuing an open invitation for you to latch onto me and take me down. I have not invited you into my home, yet you insist on invading it anyway. Where are your manners?

So here it ends, Cooties. I am armed with a variety of chemicals to take your asses out! I will not quit until I rid you from every hard surface I come into contact with. Moreover, I am taking pro-biotics so if you do make it into my person, you will be overrun by my badass immune system, and if that fails me, then you will be subjected to medications beyond your wildest nightmares. This is war, you little bastards. You hear me??

Soccer mom?

This weekend's photo shoot indicates that I am only a mini van and window sticker away from being a soccer mom!
But you know what? I want to be a soccer mom! Whatever! pick your jaw up off the floor. One of the hottest and most fun women I know is a soccer mom. Sheeit! I ain't ashamed.

Here are some pictures:

Milestones

Trent's hit a new milestone recently. He's been eating solid foods now for about 6 weeks. Well, by solid I really mean pureed goo. It's been a learning experience for all of us. He's developed some preferences, for example, he really likes bananas, and we've found that if we alternate banana with bites of carrots, squash, sweet potato, and green beans he'll happily eat all of his veggies. Though he's not a huge fan of peas, which makes me sad because I love peas. Last weekend he got to taste pizza crust for the first time. He mostly just sucked on it and enjoyed the sensation of being included in the adult festivities. Two evenings ago he tried his very first "solid" food. Some banana (what else?) flavoured puffs from Gerber. They melt in your mouth so there's no hazard of him choking on it. The first one he ate he got this look on his face like "Woah! what the heck was that? that's weird!" then he eagerly opened his mouth for another one... then.... same face. Then we sprinkled a few on his tray and let him feed himself. That was interesting, and it took everything I had not to help him by putting them in his mouth, and he managed to get one in his mouth all by himself! what a big boy! The rest ended up on the floor.
Last night at dinner, Trent enjoyed sucking on a big chunk of bread while we ate dinner. It was rather messy, and due to the colour of the bread, it wasn't a very appetizing sight, but I really enjoyed him being a part of our Valentine's dinner. Dinner with the two most important people in my life. What could be better than that?

One year ago today...

One year ago today, Brian gave me the greatest Valentine's day present ever. One year ago today, our offer got accepted on our new house! We moved into the house in April, while I was 6+ months pregnant. You might think it's a bad idea to move houses in the middle of pregnancy, but it actually makes perfect sense if you are planning to move in the near future anyway. I mean, why wait until the kid is here? you wouldn't be able to set up a cute nursery in the current house because you're gonna move anyway, so what's the point? plus, you'd have to not only pack your own stuff, but all the stuff your kid now needs. That's a lot of stuff. And looking back on the first few months with Trent, if we'd had to do that, it would have been damn near impossible to do it without someone taking Trent off our hands while we packed. Having a new house before the baby arrived enabled us to set up his room, decorate it, and settle into our house so that when he arrived it wouldn't be such a big upheaval. We were able to tweak and organize things to make our lives easier when the baby arrived. So there is some logic behind doing that. Brian was talking to a co-worker the other day who is in a similar situation. I'm glad he got to pass on the things we learned. And I really hope that their move goes as smoothly as ours did.

So we haven't quite been in the house for a year yet, and we've done a few minor modifications so far. One was the dining room floor, mostly out of necessity because we had a cat accident in there. Well, not so much of an accident as a miscommunication ;-) Anyway, the carpet is gone and a gorgeous wood floor lies in its place. The next big thing we tackled (and by "we" I really mean me, with a little help from Tiff) was removing the ugly green wallpaper from the bathroom, texturizing the walls and painting them a nice calming blue. I also made an enhancement to Trent's room which includes a roundabout and three roads converging, painted on his ceiling, and adorned with hot wheels stuck to the ceiling. Trent laughs every time he sees it. That makes it worth all the neck pain from painting it. I can't imagine how Michael Angelo felt... I wonder if he had a good masseuse. In addition to some aesthetic changes, we had some minor repairs to make. The biggest one being the ceiling in the game room from when the air conditioner leaked. The patch job looks like crap and needs to be redone, but we've been procrastinating on that and will probably continue to do so until we move out!
This year we have one major renovation planned. The back of the house needs a covered porch. I think it will make the back of the house look less "boxy". And it will also be nice to sit out there on some comfy wicker furniture and sip my wine while I supervise Trent playing on the trampoline ;-)
I also plan to plant a tree in the back yard to scatter my Ember's ashes under. I can't bear the thought of parting with his ashes yet, but I know that it's part of the healing process, and this will help me let go.

So here's to another happy Valentine's Day! We're celebrating with a family dinner at my favourite steak house this evening. And I might make Brian his favourite cake for dessert.

Life with Trent

Trent's now 7 months old. I can't believe how fast that's gone. Looking back over the past 7 months, the sleepless nights, the evenings of trying to figure out what's wrong with him and why he's screaming his head off are all but distant memories. I remember thinking during those times that this can't be my life. That surely this will get better, but it's so hard to imagine anything beyond that moment. Brian and I seemed to live hour-by-hour, waiting for the next challenge to throw itself at us. People who have kids told us that it would get better, easier, and harder all at the same time. And it has. It all comes down to experience. When Trent was brand new, Brian and I were unskilled, unprepared, and uneducated in parenting, as are most new parents. But as time passed we've become skilled in understanding what Trent's needs are based on his habits, his schedule, and the types of noises he is making. We are able to predict his needs and prepare for them before they arise. This has made all of our lives easier because now Trent doesn't need to cry to communicate his needs to us, resulting in a happier baby and happier parents. We now are able to resume our social life and take him along with us. This weekend was a perfect social weekend for us.
On Friday Trent went to daycare and I spent my day doing exactly what I wanted, including running to the gym, working out, and running back - an awesome way to get your cardio without having to run on those awful machines. I went to the outlet mall, then to Costco with Barbie, then prepared for an evening in with the girls. Trent hung out with us for a while and Aunt Andi gave him some food, then he politely went to sleep so that we could eat dinner.
On Saturday, Brian went to play soccer while Trent and I hung out at home. Then we all went out to the Chocolate festival at the culinary school where we met up with Nick and Kitty. Sadly, the chocolate was running out so instead we went to The Domain and I discovered Gelato! I can't believe I've never had it before. We sat outside of the little chocolate shop and were joined by some other friends, then we took a stroll through The Domain, basking in the gorgeous weather.
Saturday evening we met up with friends at Mandola's where we had freshly made pizza and I had yet more Gelato! Trent tried his first taste of pizza crust! he's just growing up so quickly. After dinner we went to the Draft House and sat in the beer garden where we were joined by Mike and Tara, then afterwards we headed back to Mandola's for dessert. Brian took his to go, though because Trent was due for a feeding and was being very patient and didn't fuss at all.
Sunday I got a run in on Town Lake, then Trent, Brian and I went to Michelle and Brian's baby shower in Lakeway. Trent was perfectly content as he got passed around the crowd and even took a 2 hour nap while we ate BBQ.
When we got home the three of us snuggled up on the couch and watched a documentary about the sun and Trent and I passed out.
We've learned that with a little preparation, we don't have to miss out on our social life. We just had to figure out a way for Trent to fit into it. And he's doing an amazing job. We're so proud of our little monkey.

People watching

Cool River is the perfect place for people watching. I don't normally frequent the place because the food is overpriced and average, at best, and people smoke nasty ass cigars in the bar there. Thursday evening, however, I made an appearance there to hang out with my girls, Barbie & Michelle and see Brian's band, Suede, play. When we arrived there was one booth front and center of the stage open, but it had a reserved sign on it. Not one to be deterred by a sign, I figured we'd sit there till someone told us to move, which they did. The manager was super nice about it and let us stay until their guest arrived. Barbie innocently told the waitress "oooh! I didn't know we could call and reserve a table in the bar!" the waitress replied "Welllll.... this guy spends a LOT of money". 'Nuff said. When the guy arrived we moved down to the pool hall where there was an open table and ordered appetizers. Meanwhile extremely curious as to what type of guy's ass cool river was kissing. I suppose we weren't surprised when a middle aged, overweight man sat at the booth. We were maybe a little surprised that he spent almost the entire evening alone, though. His evening was peppered with visits from the manager and the very attractive waitress, who we assumed were puckering up in an effort to part this rich fool and more of his money. And he was visited once or twice by one of the many "cougars" at the bar that night.
Thursday at Cool River is Ladies' Night. For some reason that place attracts a strange crowd. After appetizers we positioned ourselves off to the side of the stage with a primo view of the dance floor and prepared to be entertained. And boy were we! Middle-aged women gyrating in small groups, the occasional man in the mix dancing with his lady, and all the men lining the dance floor seemingly "shopping". Every now and then you'd see some lucky man get invited onto the dance floor to gyrate with the cougars. More interesting, though, was the scene at the front of the dance floor. Now Suede is a pretty good looking band. There's definitely a few pieces of eye candy on the stage and a couple of the guys work it for the ladies, touting their junk in tight pants or making eye contact and winking at the crowd. This night was no exception. We watched on with amusement as the women batted their eyelashes, tossed their hair, and shook their T and A, all the while trying to look nonchalant like they weren't tempting the band to look at them. One girl even indicated to her friend that she was going to take the singer home. We marveled at her confidence, but laughed our asses off because she had less chance than a snowball in hell. Just for our own amusement, though, we made our way to the front of the dance floor and did our own flirting with Brian and cracked up when the dirty looks flew in our direction.
Meanwhile, off the dance floor I observed the subtle changes in the crowd dynamics as the night drew to a close. The men looking more desperate. The women coming from the bathroom in freshly applied lipstick and smelling of mouth wash. Here and there you could see phone keypads being prodded as phone numbers were being exchanged, and perhaps an occasional lucky guy scored a hookup, but for the most part it seemed that the groups that arrived together left together.
This was Suede's first time to play Cool River. I hope they do more frequently.

What language do they speak in England?

I swear this is a legitimate question asked of me by my hair stylist this past week! Followed up by "is it German?"

Really.

Lucky for her she is an excellent hairdresser. In her defense she is from Central America, and English is her second language. After my initial shock (which I hope I did a good job of disguising) I didn't want her to feel stupid, after all, she did have a razor in her hand, so I told her that there are many languages spoken in the UK, including Welsh, Hindi, and Albanian, due to the influx of refugees from Kosovo in the not so distant past, but the official language of England was English (Duh!). And that in school we are also taught French, and some schools teach German and Spanish, too.

After thinking about it, I wondered if I could identify which counties spoke which language. For example, I have always assumed that in South and Central America, everyone spoke Spanish or Portuguese, but after Googling it, I found that they might also speak French, Dutch, or English as a first language. So I, too, am a little ignorant here.

But I thought for sure that England and English were so very obvious!

Fairy dogmother?

We've had a house guest over the past few days. A cute furry one named Harley. It seems lately that our house has a revolving doggy door on it... last week we put up Maverick and his mommy for a few days and this week Harley. We love that our friends trust us with their beloved pets and feel comfortable bringing them over.
Maverick is the most well behaved dog we know. He's smart, sweet, obedient, and extremely cute. Those actually sound like qualities I was looking for in a man back when I was on the dating scene ;-). Our experience with Harley has been quite colourful. He's also sweet and cute, he also appears to be quite smart, but obedient he is not. At least not yet. He's still a puppy and hasn't learned the limitations imposed by humans on when it's not ok to lick someones face, or when putting your huge paws on the baby might not be helping as much as he thinks it is. He is very gentle, though.
Trent loves Harley. His little face just lights up whenever he sees him, and Harley has really taken to Trent, too. Trent lets out huge belly-laughs whenever Harley comes near him, and giggles whenever Harley licks his hands. He doesn't know quite what to think when Harley licks his face, though. You can see the confused look on his face as he tries to figure out if he's cool with it. Then he'll smile and giggle.
The cats aren't too enthused about Harley. Nikki's spent most of the time upstairs hiding and Onyx has periodically ventured downstairs and stalked him from high ground while growling and hissing at him. Harley doesn't understand that he's in their house and they rule. But Onyx is being very vocal about letting him know that.
Last night Harley cuddled with Trent while Trent napped and it was the perfect Kodak moment:

HOTY Awards

Brian started off 2008 a strong contender for the Husband Of The Year (HOTY) Award. Early on in January, he stepped up his parenting and effectively became a single dad for the week that I was sick. Then, for my Birthday he arranged a gathering of close friends for a fun evening on the Patio at NXNW, followed by a romantic dinner the next day at my favorite sushi bar, complete with baby sitter. A strong start in and of itself. Then on Friday Brian surprised me with plans for a romantic mini-break in Houston! You might be thinking that Houston is NOT the place to go for a romantic getaway, but you'd be dead wrong.
On Saturday morning we packed up the car and headed to Houston where we stopped off at the Grandparents' house to drop off Trent. Then Brian's dad chauffeured us downtown to our hotel, the Magnolia, rated Houston's #1 romantic hotel. Our room was gorgeous. Very modern with a king sized bed with crisp white linens and a down comforter, Granite counter tops in the bathroom and a large garden tub.
We started off with a quick orientation of the hotel amenities then indulged in the rooftop hot tub and pool. There were a few people out there partying and hanging out in the hot tub so we joined in the conversation and spent a good hour or so socializing. Next we headed down for the free happy hour where we sat and talked as I sipped my wine and Brian drank his beer. After happy hour we went back to our room and got ready for dinner, then went down to the milk and cookie buffet to pick up bedtime milk and cookies for when we got back.
Brian's dad had made reservations for us at Sambuca. Houston's #1 date spot according to City Search. They were not wrong, either. It was awesome. The ambiance was perfect. Dimly lit and cozy with a live jazz band serenading the diners. We spent a short while at the bar as we waited for our table. The bartender let me sample several wines before I chose one, which I thought was wonderful customer service. Our time at the bar was briefly interrupted by a drunk guy who engaged me in conversation and within 2 minutes revealed he was a racist, satan worshipper! Thankfully I was rescued by the hostess when our table was ready.
We had one of the best seats in the house, right near the stage. The music volume was perfectly balanced so that we could hold a conversation, but loud enough that nobody else can hear you. The food was amazing. We started off with some Begniets stuffed with proscuito and mozzarella, a very unlikely combination, but they were so good! Imagine the sweetness of a begniet combined with the saltiness of proscuito and complimented with the creaminess of mozzerella. For main course Brian had a steak which came with mashed potato croquettes and I had the Seafood Infusion. The Seafood Infusion was a fish lover's delight. It was a tower of different seafood on a bed of roasted potatoes. It had Mahi mahi, scallop fritter, portabella mushroom stuffed with crab meat, and a fillet of sashimi-grade tuna cooked rare. All of my favourite seafood in one meal, cooked to absolute perfection. We lingered over dinner and listened to the band. We only momentarily thought about what Trent was doing, and for one evening enjoyed being not somebody's parents, but just us.
The next morning we slept late (late for us is past 8am) and got up to a leisurely breakfast at a restaurant just a block away from our hotel. Then we took a stroll around downtown Houston before returning back to reality and back to parenthood.
The moral of this story: The destination is not important in a romantic weekend; The company is the only thing that matters.

So a great big THANK YOU goes out to all the supporting players involved in the surprise and execution of this weekend, you know who you are! And most of all, a great big THANK YOU to my amazing HOTY husband, who's thoughtfulness goes beyond anything I could have imagined or hoped for.

Weekend in review

This past weekend brought with it so many things to celebrate. It started out on Friday morning when I attended the wedding of my BFF and now BFF-in law, Barbie and Scott! It was a really short and sweet ceremony, surrounded by close friends and family. There were some tears of joy and a lot of laughter.
That evening Brian, Trent and I went to NXNW where Brian and Andrea (Cameron Road) were playing. We spent the evening surrounded by our close friends and celebrated another awesome year of life.
On Saturday, my birthday Trent and I spent some time with Nana and Grandad on the webcam and Trent demonstrated his newly developed motor skills as he sat up unassisted for quite a long time. He giggled as Grandad made silly noises and watched Nana intently as we chatted. On Saturday evening, Brian served me cheese and crackers and wine while I spent some quality time hanging out with him and Trent, then he took me out for a romantic dinner at my favourite sushi bar while Aunt Tara and Uncle Mike spent time with Trent. After we picked Trent up we watched a movie and I happily passed out in front of the TV, stuffed full of sushi and sake :-)
Sunday was another relaxing day. I set up a makeshift photo set in Trent's room and shot pictures of him as he played. Here are just a couple. You can view the rest in his gallery.

Another day wiser

As I stare down the barrel of another birthday it's time for a bit of reflection. Time is just whizzing by so fast now and it seems my body gets older but my soul remains the same. Thank goodness that there's someone around who's as immature as me - I'm talking about Barbie, of course. The only person who appreciates it when I send her a picture of my poop (which I did just yesterday). I remember thinking how as I got older the years seem to get shorter. Mike Harris explained to me one day that if you look at your age as a fraction it makes sense. And it really does. I just remember when I was a kid how the years seemed to go on forever, when I was 10 years old 1 year = 1/10th of my life. Now that I'm older, 1 year = 1/nth of my life and that bottom number just keeps growing and growing. After he told me that it made so much sense to me. SO thanks, Mike. Who knew you were such the wise (ass) man?
I'm now at that point in my life where all of my friends are married and having babies. I remember being in my 20's and thinking how far away that all seemed. Spending all my evenings downtown in bars. What's awesome is that I still have many of the same friends from back in those days. They've grown up with me, so to speak. Now my evenings consist of dinners with the girls, hanging with my boys and cats, and watching my little boy sleep so peacefully in my arms. I remember thinking in my 20's how boring that life would be. How I couldn't imagine being too old to go downtown every night. And now I really AM too old! Now 6th street has no appeal for me. I've traded in the evenings of yelling over the music to get myself heard for intimate gatherings on the patio of NXNW or some other kid-friendly venue to listen to my friends play. I've traded in Tequila shots for a nice glass of Chardonnay. I've traded in my wild moonings at Esther's Follies for trash talking in the back of a Pedi-cab on 4th street with the girls. I've traded in trying to dance on packed dance floors while trying to avoid some guy trying to dry hump my leg for two-stepping around my living room with Brian and Trent. I'm pretty happy with the way things have turned out.
This year I was given the best birthday present ever - news that Trent will be getting a cousin, and the wedding of two of my favourite people in the world. Life does not get much better than this.

Things can only get better...

Well, after two weeks of feeling like crap, I'm finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. I'm not completely done yet, but at least I can leave the house and not have to worry about where the nearest loo is. I managed to get some chores done this weekend as well as spend plenty of quality time with my boys. On Friday I got to chat with mum and dad, who have been enjoying their new Nintendo Wii at home. On Saturday Trent and I got passport photos done in preparation for our trip to Switzerland and Spain. Today I gave Tiff a haircut and we got to check out Mike & Tara's new house. It's been several months that we've been trying to make it over there, but I have to say it was well worth the wait. It's simply breathtaking and I am so looking forward to seeing it finished and spending time with them there.
We learned some other exciting news this past week, though at the risk of letting someone else's cat out of the bag, I'm not at liberty to say what it is. I can say, though, that Brian and I are over the moon.
I posted new pictures of Trent on his gallery today. He's now sitting up all by his big boy self! He can't get to sitting position on his own yet, but when you put him there he stays for a while before he loses his balance.

A rocky start

Clostridium difficile. It's everywhere. In every human and animal, on every surface. It's on your counter tops, your toilet seat, your car keys, your steering wheel, your door handles. Everywhere. It hangs out in your digestive tract, seemingly harmless, blending in with all the other bacteria. But it's a two-faced little bastard! It lies waiting for an opportunity to strike. To rapidly multiply and put out toxins that attack the lining of the intestine. My body presented this opportunity after I was prescribed some antibiotics for a sinus infection in late December. Antibiotics destroy bacteria. Both good and bad bacteria, including the bacteria that normally keeps these little bastards at bay, and so they took off! The first few days were no big deal, in fact I didn't even realize there was a problem. Just some frequent bathroom trips and I figured hmmm, must have eaten something that didn't agree with me. Then New Year's day came and I have what appeared to be the most ferocious hang-over in the world, over seemingly small quantities of alcohol. I had taken a shot of Mamajuana, the drink from the Dominican Republic, but so did others. I assumed I must just be getting too old to handle booze. The two days after New Year's Day were marginally better, though I was starting to suspect I had IBS. Then on Friday all hell broke loose in my digestive tract. I was in more pain than I was in after taking the castor oil to get Trent started! Seriously. More abdominal pain than labour! By Saturday morning I was ready to die.
On Saturday afternoon Brian arranged for Trent to go hang with Aunt Jenn while he took me to the emergency doctor. A blood test revealed my white cell count was really high (1230), which indicated some kind of problem, but it was the (excuse the too much information here) stool sample the next day that revealed the true problem. For the next 3 days I didn't get out of bed except for the frequent trips to the bathroom. In a cruel twist of irony, the very thing that causes this condition is also the thing that will help me get better. Antibiotics. Today is Wednesday. It's taken 4 days since starting the meds to see improvement. Today is the first time that I've been able to sit up and actually focus on my computer screen without getting dizzy. Today I feel a million times better than I did yesterday, but I still feel absolutely awful. The worst part in all of this is that I haven't been able to hug Trent in days for fear of passing it on, and because I'm too weak to even lift him up.
In all of this, Brian's been holding the family together. He's single-handedly taken care of Trent and me, kept the house in order, cooked, cleaned, made runs to the store, and kept the cats and fish alive.
This isn't the start to 2008 I had in mind. I am optimistic that I'm just getting all the bad stuff out of the way so that I can have a fantastic year. The last 3 years have been amazing and I hope this year will continue the trend.

A very Stead-Bauman holiday!

Where to begin? We spent so much quality time with those we love this holiday season that it's restored my holiday spirit. I don't remember a Christmas I've enjoyed more than this one. We set off for Houston early on xmas eve and arrived around noon, just in time to lend a hand in the kitchen as Joan was preparing the xmas feast. Mum and dad got their very own ornament on the Bauman tree this year, plus an identical one to put on their own tree at home. The usual Bauman tradition is to open presents on xmas eve, then open the "santa" gifts on xmas day, but my family has always opened gifts on xmas day. This year my Texas family adopted my family tradition and opened the gifts on xmas day, which meant so much to me. I remember as a kid rushing down the stairs with the joy of xmas morning on my face and as I opened each gift running up the stairs in delight to my parents, who were having a (very early) morning cup of tea in bed, and showing them what I got (like they didn't know!). I dearly want Trent to follow this same tradition so that I can see the joy on his little face on xmas morning after all the anticipation.
On xmas day, Joan relinquished her kitchen to me and mum and leant a helping hand as we whipped up a traditional English meal. Not a traditional English xmas meal, because that would involve turkey, which we already had at Thanksgiving. Instead, mum and I did roast beef and Yorkshire puddings with, roasted and mashed potatoes, Paxo stuffing balls and Bisto gravy, followed by a Triffle made with spice cake and pears, Bird's custard, and whipped cream. We even popped the xmas crackers and wore the silly paper hats, as is the tradition in England.
It took us almost the entire day to get through all the xmas presents under the tree. We opened them one by one, which is not how we do it in England, but I MUCH prefer this way because you get to take your time and savor the moment. Then in the evening we opened the "Santa" gifts.
Trent was the picture of a perfect little boy the whole day, napping, eating, and playing with both sets of grandparents.
We headed back to Austin on boxing day. During their visit, my parents took Trent out for walks every day, sometimes twice a day and he came home happy and ready for some food. We cooked meals at home and went to a few key places for dinners including the Salt Lick, which my parents had never experienced and both agreed was well worth the long drive. We shopped for electronics that are more expensive in England and my parents stuffed all kinds of goodies into their suitcases when they left, including a Nintendo Wii, an Ipod, and all the cool things they got for xmas. We got dad a Kodak digital picture frame, which we pre-loaded with pictures of Trent, our wedding, and pictures from our last visit to England with them. We got mum a gorgeous multi-gem necklace and earrings, and both got various other small presents, including their favorite thing, a mug with a picture of Trent each. Now they can enjoy seeing his little smiling face every morning with their cup of tea. We had so much fun shopping for xmas presents this year because it was the first time that we've not had to worry about mailing something and having it lost or broken.
New year's eve came so quickly and we had all our closest friends over to celebrate with us. At 6pm Austin time we gave Aunt Glenys and Uncle Terry a call to ring in the new year as we listened to the chime of Big Ben and watched the firework display over the River Thames. I always get so sentimental about Big Ben. It wouldn't be New Year if I didn't hear his chime. We ran in the new year in Austin with a round of shots which I most certainly should not have done because I spent my entire new year's day over the toilet in one manner or another. Fortunately Trent chose this day to be the model baby and he hung out with his Daddy, Nanny and Gandy most of the day.
During their stay, Mike and Tara came over with their new Wii and mum and I went several rounds with some tough guys on the boxing game. It was absolutely hilarious to see mum boxing. We played tennis and bowling, too and afterwards my parents were hooked. The evening before they left, we played Wii for many hours on their new console.
And now comes the sad part of the holiday. Time to go home. We dropped Trent off at daycare and Nanny and Gandy said their tearful goodbyes, and as I tearfully left them at security at Bergstrom, I left bawling like a big baby, but consoling myself with the fact that I'll see them in September when we meet them in Spain after our trip to Switzerland for Benoit and Nadia's wedding.

Fun with trampolenes

Mum and Dad have been here for a few days now and I'm just loving every moment. We've shopped, they've walked the neighbourhood with Trent, we've hung out and watched telly, made delicious dinners, and spent quality time together. Brian went to Houston a few days ahead of us so that he could spend some time with Kev and also help with some things around the house. On Friday, mum, dad and I all went and played on the trampoline. It's just so funny to think how much fun I had jumping around with my 60+ year old parents. I imagine the neighbours thought we were nut jobs. I got some pretty cute pictures, which I will post on picasa after xmas.
Today we finished up our xmas shopping, got to see Scott and Barbie for a short visit, dropped of some gifts for Ethan, and had a stop and chat with Mike and Tara. We have just finished loading up the car ready to take off early tomorrow for a very merry xmas with the whole family! how very exciting.

It's finally here!

December 20th! This date is even more important than Christmas. Why? Because my parents are arriving today! Trent will get to see his Nana and Grandad for the first time! I can barely stand to wait for their flight to land.
Brian and I have been on vacation for the past week (well, since December 10th for me) and we've been busy doing projects around the house, including cleaning out all the junk mail that has accrued in our office, cleaning out the closet under the stairs, fixing the ceiling that's been stained and crumbling from that leak we had a few months ago, painting a mural of sorts on Trent's ceiling, and Brian has taken on the 30k service on the Subaru, rather than paying $400 in labour for the Subaru dealership to do it. It's been a very busy week. Add to that the fact that our little munchkin is very sick. He has RSV, which is a virus that affects the respiratory system and is rather serious in infants. He's hanging in there with some breathing treatments and cough meds and a lot of TLC. In addition to the breathing problems, he's also got some projectile vomiting and diarrhea.

I'm so excited to see my parents! I can only imagine how they're feeling, waiting to meet their grand child.

Misadventures in tree trimming, etc.

Trent got sent home from daycare on Thursday because he threw up and with all the bugs that are going around that place they didn't want to take a chance. Of course, that meant that he couldn't go on Friday, either. So we've had a LOT of family time over the weekend.
This is the first year in many that I've actually mustered up enough holiday spirit to deck the halls... well, not really the halls, but the front yard. I wrapped both the trees in lights and also the bay window. It looks decent. Of course, nothing compared to the other houses in the land of Stepford. But it's an honorable mention at least. This isn't the tree trimming I alluded to in the title of this blog, though. The misadventure I'm referring to involves Brian's good intentions in being a good proactive and responsible home owner. The big tree in our back yard has been touching the roof since we moved in, and on a windy day you can hear it scraping if you stand in the closet.
Brian diligently set about it with the tree saw and cut away some of the branches, but managed to get the trimmer stuck in the tree about 25 feet up. Not a big deal, right? But the ladder is too short to get on the roof so we couldn't climb up there to free the trimmer, and besides, both of us are a little intimidated by heights. So Brian, problem solver that he is, decides that throwing a rope, weighted on one end, over the branch so he can pull it down, thereby releasing the trimmer, would be the next course of action. Only we don't have a rope. But we do have a 100 foot extension cord. So he enlists my help in tying a small log to one end of the cord, and he throws it into the tree. And it never came down. At this point he's getting a bit pissed off and I'm having a hard time controlling myself from laughing my arse off. He yanks on the cord and it doesn't budge. I have to go indoors so he can't hear me cracking up. When I compose myself, I assist him in getting the extension cord out of the tree, thankfully it did eventually come free. Then I watched, all the while trying to hide my amusement as he tried using numerous household items to free the trimmer. A broom that was too short, a fishing rod case, throwing logs at the branch imprisoning the trimmer. Eventually my amusement gave way to annoyance because he was becoming obsessive about it. I eventually convinced him to leave it for the evening, go out with his friends, and fuhgeddaboutit. I kind of wish I had taken a picture of the extension cord and the trimmer stuck in the tree. It was funnier to see it than I can do justice in this story.
The next day, Brian borrowed Scott's trimmer and was able to free ours from the tree. A happy ending. And a big thank you to Brian for taking such great care of our home. When I met Brian he was pretty useless around the house. He could barely do the dishes and forget about any kind of maintenance. But over the years he's become very handy, thanks in part to our great friend Mike, who is the handiest person I know.

In other news I'm off work for the rest of the year. Well, when I say off work, what I really mean is that I'll be checking in daily to ensure there are no critical issues for me deal with, and after handling any necessary crises I'll be spending my days leisurely. Today, for example, Trent is at daycare and I plan to work out, have lunch with Mike, get a pedicure, and finish up my xmas shopping. Doesn't that sound like the best relaxing day? Last night, Brian helped kick off my official vacation with a delicious trip to my favourite sushi bar while Aunt Tara spent some quality time with Trent. We're so lucky to have such great friends.

I could spend some time today sending out xmas cards... but I'm just not inclined this year. So please, nobody be offended when you don't get a card from us. It's not that I'm not thinking about you. It's just that my time has become very precious and I'd rather spend it elsewhere.

And finally, an update on Prince William. On Sunday he looked like he might not make it again, but I repeated the steps previously taken, and today he's right as rain. Prince William just keeps on ticking.

Only 9 days until mum and dad arrive... and counting. There's so much I'm looking forward to this holiday season.

Get the lysol!

Trent's been rather ill this past weekend. On Saturday night he threw up all over himself in his crib, all over me the next morning, and pretty much all over everything as Sunday progressed. When you see that much stuff gushing, your first inclination is to shove something over the hole to stop it. But you can't do that with a baby. I found myself in the line of fire a few times, as did Brian, and each time, we tried to just "aim him" at something washable. We ended up with a rather large pile of laundry on the living room floor.
The doctor told us it's a virus that's going around. It's funny that whenever a person is sick, no matter what the symptoms, it's always "that bug that's going 'round". We kept him hydrated with Pedia Sure and fed him only breast milk. He seemed to be very lethargic on Sunday and slept a lot. If it didn't break our hearts to see him like that it might have been quite pleasant. On Monday he was still vomiting and had a massive throw up while we were running an errand, completely soaking himself and his car seat. Luckily nobody but Brian and me saw it, so we escaped the accusatory stares of the know it all, more experienced parents who think I'm a bad mother for bringing my fountain of puke to the store.
Today he seems fine, though, and it turns out it was "that bug that's going 'round" because all the babies in daycare are out sick today, too. Of course, he wouldn't be sick if he didn't insist on shoving everything in his mouth! I suspect it will be many years before he learns that lesson ;-)