Adventures in Food

Subtitled: My kid likes Kim Chee!

Xander had a rough day today and instead of taking a super long nap like he has been recently, he took no nap at all- despite multiple efforts by yours truly, Mom.

This lead to a day full of extra work and stress for me, with much juggling of schedules.  I kept pushing things out hoping the nap would happen until my list of "must get done today" dwindled to nothing as each in turn fell off the to-do list entirely, much like the song about the "bears in the bed."

Luckily, Xander found a way to endear himself to me and turn my bad day into a happy, happy day.  He tried Kim Chee with dinner tonight and liked it!  That's right, my toddler likes Korean Kim Chee, just like his mom.  He even asked for more, and insisted on the jar to himself!  What a kid!

In other news, Xander is really into "helping" me cook- here he is making himself some Mac-n-cheese for lunch!  There was a pot there somewhere, I'm sure.

Playing in the snow

One of the many great things about Boulder is that it can snow 4 inches in the morning and you can be out in the early afternoon without a coat.  With the sun shining, Xander would have played outside all day if we'd let him! 

Blitz and Otto enjoyed the opportunity to romp just as much!

While everyone else was watching the Steelers lose...

Xander, Jake, and I painted the basement bathroom.

Construction update

We are coming along nicely on the basement!

Grandma Kathy's visit

Grandma Kathy and Xander have been having a good time getting to know each other again after a few months.    While Xander still prefers time with Mama, when I'm not around he thinks Grandma is pretty cool.    This will really come in handy in a few weeks when I'm busy with Maya, or away at school, and Grandma Kathy is in charge.

When we're not playing with Xander, Mom and I have been busy running errands, cleaning house, and generally just getting life in order before the baby comes.  I have been trying my hardest to keep the lady busy, but she keeps coming up with more and more projects... she claims that being around a woman who is so very, very pregnant has her in "nesting" mode right along-side me!  So far she's been helping watch Xander, keep the construction dust under control (a never-ending task), running loads and loads of laundry, mending my favorite pants (I don't have many I can still wear), vacuuming, mopping, organizing bookshelves, painting and right now, as I type, she is taking everything out of the refrigerator to clean it out and organize it.  I'd tell her to rest and relax, but I'm pretty sure she is really enjoying herself, and I certainly appreciate the help! 

Some of the non-work highlights so far have been a trip to the zoo, a trip to CB, joining me for my latest OB visit and to hear Maya's heartbeat, and today, a visit to the local rec center to play in the pool with Xander.

__________________

LOL!!! I just showed mom the picture of me at the pool and she thought it was her- "OH GOD!" she says in horror... "OH! THANK GOODNESS, THAT'S YOU!" she says! I haven't laughed so hard in ages!!!

Yes, like I said, I'm looking "just a little" pregnant, and even my supposedly maternity-friendly t-shirts and bathing suit are far too small...  thank goodness this baby is due soon!



And there was sheetrock...

Sheetrock crew showed up at 7 AM this morning to hang the sheetrock.  A cacophony of sawing, banging and screwing ensued for a sum total of less than 2 hours.  After that, a knock on the basement door let me know that our little job was complete, they needed to get off to their next engagement.  Wow, that was fast.

Weekend with Daddy

Erin is off at school this weekend so Xander and I are on our own till Sunday afternoon.  I stayed home from work today and Xander and I got to play and have fun.  It was really nice today so we were able to go outside for a little while and play on the strider bike.  There is still some snow and ice on the north side of the cul-de-sac and Xander had great fun pushing his strider bike across the ice and into the snow banks.  Getting snow caked to the tires was a particularly cool experience.

Xander and I got invited to "family happy hour" by the Klingemanns tonight. We went to Lucky Pie Pizza in Louisville. I hadn't been there before, super fun. They had a great lounge area where the kids could play, bounce on the sofas, and push the ottomans all over the place. For a moment I thought that Xander and Treyden were setting up to "joust" each other with the ottomans, I could just see them pushing those ottomans running full bore at each other and colliding in giggles. We did decide that was probably getting out of hand and nipped that one in the bud. Pizza as always was a hit with Xander, and afterwards we couldn't help a visit to the ice cream place next door. Not only did they have little cows for the kids to ride and bounce around on, but the ice cream was pretty yummy too!

The Meas

There has been a lot of construction around the house and, as a result, the measuring tape has been in use a lot lately.  Xander finds this device absolutely fascinating.  We get it out, extend it, have intense discussions about it, reposition it, discuss more, and then it magically retracts with a snap!  A truly enchanting device that no child could resist.  As Xander seems somehow unable to get out the second syllable of meas-ure, he has dubbed it The Meas.  Anyway, no matter where we put the thing, eagle eye manages to spy it and starts a litany of meas meas meas meas.  The resulting antics I'm sure would be hilarious to an outside viewer.  We proceed to pull out the measuring tape and go around measuring all sorts of things in the house for Xander's edification.  I can probably recite to you the dimensions of counter tops, doors, windows, sofas, and toys at this point with out even having to measure them but that, of course, is beside the point.  Fortunately he doesn't yet want it to go to sleep with him.  I'm standing firm there, you have to the draw the line somewhere, if only I could find that darn measuring tape.  Xander....

-Jake

Wrenchin'

Shocks on the Jeep have been a problem since I bought it.  They weren't mounted properly to begin with, and really weren't the right length.  I tried to make some minor modifications but in the end finally decided that they needed to be replaced.  I was pretty sure that this job would be easy...  I'd had the front shocks off before, and the rears were pretty straight forward.  Of course, the first bolt on the rear shocks that I tried to remove completely snapped off.  Unfortunately the stud is welded into the axle, so it wasn't easily replaced by me.  Fortunately my new favorite 4x4 shop fixed it easily and quickly.  The other 3 shocks went smoothly.  I discovered that one of the rear shocks was completely blown, no wonder the rear end felt so rough.  Rides much better now.

Xander of course sees daddy working with the tools regularly, as a result whenever I get out my tools, he gets out his tools.  Always ready to help!

Mommy Time!