Odds and Ends

I've been trying to make more headbands and clips for Charlotte and Louise after Kylie goes to bed each night.  It's so hard sometimes to have enough energy and concentration to do that after I've been chasing Ky and the dogs around all day and working at night.  Truth be told, sometimes inspiration for flowers and designs eludes me and I end up watching episodes of Supernatural (total tv crush on Dean Winchester).

 My parents gave us a Charlie Brown Christmas tree while they were out here visiting.  I set it up last night and Kylie was trying her dardednest to steal the single ornament.  I guess it's a good thing that we don't have a real tree this year because it would never have anything on it!

 Sleeping Dakota and Zero.  We probably have the world's most pathetic chihuahuas.  As I'm typing this now I have no less than three of them curled up on the same chair with me.  There's a fourth one circling and trying to find room to jump up too.

Kylie's cheesy smile and fountain pony.  I snapped this at the Chinese buffet the other day.  Ky loves their fruit bar, especially the watermelon (and I think it's so funny, the local grocery store has Christmas trees and watermelons on display by the front doors, only in the South ha ha) where Rex likes the Mongolian grill and I like the desert bar.  Mini cream puffs and eclairs anyone? 

Thank the Lord

Kylie took a nap today. 

The End

Family is the Best

I love my parents and I was so lucky to have them out here all last week for Thanksgiving.  They were kind enough to drive the truck my grandmother gave us (can I say again how awesome my family is?) all the way from California.  They arrived Monday afternoon, picked up Kylie from my sister-in-law's, and came and ate lunch at the restaurant where I work.  It was so good seeing them after almost two months away.  After they ate they took Kylie to the park and after I got off we all went and picked Rex up from work.  We then went to, like, THE BEST comfort food restaurant ever.  Fried catfish and chicken fried steak and the most wonderful garlic mashed potatoes ever.  I also found out how to get Kylie to eat green beans, just cook 'em in bacon.  She gobbled down all of my mom's beans in no time flat. 

The next day Rex had to go to work :(  so we hung out with him in the morning and grabbed a quick bite to eat before he had to go in.  Then we spent some time wandering around the outlets by his work, where of course we had to go get some Blue Bell ice cream and pick up some Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory for later.  My dad took Kylie to the Disney store where she picked up a little stuffed lightning McQueen, since she is oh so obsessed with cars right now.  We taught her how to make car sounds and it is her new favorite thing. 

Kylie was loving that my parents were staying in a hotel since that meant she could take a bath in a real bathtub every night they were out here.  She absolutely hates the kitchen sink and the house only has a stand up shower, so she and my mom got to spend about a half an hour every night splashing around.

On Wednesday Rex headed off to work again, boo.  The rest of us headed into San Antonio to see the Alamo and the River Walk.  The weather was absolutely perfect, sunny and in the low seventies all day.  We walked around enjoying the sights with Kylie avoiding every picture I tried to take.  We ate at a great bbq place right on the river and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Thursday morning my mom and I (well, mainly my mom since I was battling a bad cold all week) baked scalloped potatoes and a pecan pie.  Then we all headed over to my sister-in-laws where we were stuffed to capacity with turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, fruit salad, and four different kinds of pies.  I told my sis in law that she needs to do Thanksgiving every year, ha! After dinner Rex had to head into work again so my parents, Kylie, and I took a plate of food over to Rex's grandma at her nursing home.  She was quite pleased to have some company and devoured her food.

I skipped all the crazy Black Friday sales to spend the last evening with my parents and Kylie at the hotel.  Then they left early on Friday morning, and there were many tears involved.  Ky and I then headed back home and back in bed where all of us slept into 11:30.
I miss my parents something fierce, but I am so glad that we got to spend that short week with them.  And for y'all with family living away, here's a great idea for kids to remember them with. My parents took two of there school pictures (they both are teachers) and then laminated them for Kylie.  This way she can see their faces all the time and also carry them around with her, which she loves since she isn't allowed to touch picture frames and all.  Ky loves it and says ga-pa every time she sees them.

Oh, Texas...

Well, after a lot of deliberating and contemplating, it looks like we are going to move back to California.  We are about 99.9% sure.  Rex is just not happy out here.  He misses his hometown, his friends, his desert, his dirt bikes.  The move will not happen anytime soon, though.  We have to wait until Rex's six months are up at this shop before he is eligible to transfer again.  So that means the middle of February would be the earliest we would move back, possibly longer if there are no open spots.

I have to admit though, I'm kinda in love with Texas.  You know when someplace just feels right?  That's what Texas is for me.  I love this little town we are living in.  It's green and alive and has a history of it's own.  There are old oak trees towering around everywhere, and I can just picture Kylie climbing them and building tree houses in them when she is older.  There are farmers and ranchers and hunters all around.  People who depend on the land.  Where chivalry is not dead and people hold doors, say thank you, yes sir, and no ma'am. 

Houses are old and small here.  Wrap around porches and big stars are must haves.  Little farmhouses with wide open windows and gleaming hardwood floors.  Front porch swings.  Old decrepit barn in the back and a creaky windmill in the front. 

A town that just about shuts down every Friday night for the high school football game.  Where the high school kids hang out at Sonic after the last bell rings.  Everybody knows everybody.  The Red Hat Society meets once a month at the little Italian restaurant.  Where everyone is in camo during the fall.  Back roads take you where ever you want to go.

So it looks like I'm going to leave a little piece of my heart behind, here in Texas.  I might be a little disappointed that we are not going to call this place home, but my place is with my family, where we can all be equally happy and joyful.  Where we can go back to the friends that we've known since elementary school.  Where I will be able to see my family everyday (squee!) and Kylie can have her Pork Chop cat back. 

But I'm going to miss you, Texas.

Work Work Work

This is what stress has reduced me to, note the crazy hair.

That's what Rex and I are doing lately.  Rex's work has opened up overtime, which is a blessing because we can really use the money.  We are working on getting all of our bills paid off, and while we are making progress, it's really slow going.  Don't get into debt y'all, it blows.  At least try to get into as little as possible.  Though we haven't decided if we are staying in Texas or not yet, one thing we know for sure now is that no matter where we end up, we want to buy a house. 

A place of our own that we can do whatever we damn well please to.  No land lord to deal with, no calling if we can paint walls or hang pictures up.  However, as many of you know, buying a house is no walk in the park.  We really want all of our smaller bills paid off so we only have our truck, insurance, and phone payments when we add a house payment to the mix. 

So hence all of the work.  This past week Rex put in 60 hours at his job and probably will do it again this week.  He gets paid hourly so this will mean 40 hours of regular pay and then 40 hours of overtime on his next check.  One bill completely gone.  I'm working six nights at the restaurant this week, waiting tables.  And you can bet that I'm going to have the sweetest face on and be busting my ace to make all of those people happy.  With my job my tips are basically my pay, since in Texas waitresses only make $2.13 an hour.  Whoever came up with that needs to work for $2.13 an hour, hoping that people will tip 15%. 

Luckily I still have days with Kylie since I don't go into work until 5 in the evening and my lovely sister-in-laws babysit Kylie while I'm working.  Ky loves her aunties and always gets spoiled rotten.

Sigh.  Hopefully all of this hard work will pay off soon when we step into our very own home.

Veteran's Day

I want to say Happy Veteran's day to everyone that has served or is currently serving in our armed forces.  I can't say enough good things about y'all and what your sacrifices do for our country.  Especially to my Papa. 

I remember in 8th grade we had a project where we had to interview a veteran, transcribe the interview, and then put together a book of sorts with the typed interview, any available pictures, and the audio cassettes.  I interviewed my mom's dad, my Papa.  He was drafted into the Army during the Korean War when he was only 19.  I remember sitting outside on our back patio and starting the tape.  I actually think that I only asked one question during the whole thing.  Turns out, this was the first time that he had opened up about his experiences there. 

He just poured out his heart over the next two and a half hours, and I learned things that I never had even guessed about him.  The close calls he had with death, rooming with the French Legionnaires, making his own heater for the tent, having his picture in Time Magazine (unbeknown to him at the time, it was a shot of him bathing in a river, naked).  He went over what he did when he got home too.  How it wasn't like the homecoming soldiers got in WWII or from Vietnam.  Somewhere in between.  How he worked as a mechanic down in Hollywood by the movie studios.  Where he worked on James Deans' race cars and became friends with him.  He called him Jimmy though.  I saw my papa's wild side for the first time.  He showed me pictures of him on his motorcycles, flying over the ground on them.

I never took him for granted afther that though.  Never ever.  I realized what a wonderful, kind, brave, and funny grandfather I had.  How my family and I were so very blessed to have him.
My project ended up being sent to the D-Day Museum in New Orleans and also to the Library of Congress thanks to my teacher who to this day is still working with the museum to preserve our veteran's experiences.  Pretty crazy that my grandfather's words are in such prestigious places. 

So please, be thankful.  Even if you don't condone war or the military, please respect that our veterans sacrificed so much for our freedoms that we often take for granted.

On Twos Not Fours

So I feel bad that I haven't had any updates on Kylie in a while.  She's kinda gotten lost in all my complaining on here.  She just turned 15 months this week and is amazing me with all that she can do. 

The biggest milestone that we have reached in these past couple of months is walking!  Yes, that's right.  Walking.  My bug has ditched the hands and knees and traded up for two feet.  Most of the time.  It seemingly happened overnight too.  For a month or so now she has been taking one or two steps by herself, but we hadn't been able to get her to take anymore.  The beginning of this week she was up to about 8 steps by herself.  Now she is walking across whole rooms by herself, steadying herself, getting right back up when she falls.  Which is seriously the cutest thing ever.  We try not to hover too much with this whole process, mainly because Kylie can't stand it (i.e. she pushes us away and won't hold our hands), so we try not to make a big deal when she takes a little tumble.  She says uh-oh! or ooohhhh! when she falls and then gets right back up again with a big grin on her face the whole time.  So proud of my little bug. 

Ky is being super picky eater right now.  The only constants right now are tortillas, fruit bars, and ravioli.  The rest of the foods we feed her (or attempt to feed her I should say) are really hit and miss.  I can't wait til I have my own kitchen again so I can experiment with new things for her. 

Some of Ky's loves right now are: helping me fold laundry, sorting things into piles, chasing the chihuahuas, hiding in the chihuahua's crates, stealing sips of mama's soda, walking, climbing, and generally being crazy.

Some of her hates right now are: eating proteins, diaper changes, baths in the kitchen sink, and getting her fingernails trimmed.

Busy Busy Busy

Busy being an adult that is.  How I wish I was still a kid sometimes, and didn't have to make any life changing decisions or pay bills.  Especially pay the bills.

We have a lot of questions that we are trying to answer.  Like do we want to stay in Texas or move back home to California.  And if we do stay in Texas, do we want to stay in the San Antonio area or see what the Houston area is like.  And do we want to rent or buy.  We don't want to buy yet because we are not sure if we are staying or not.  But we don't want to rent for a year and waste that money on rent rather than a house payment.  Sometimes, we want to go back home so bad so that's always a possibilty for us as well.  Ugh.  I hate having so many things up in the air like this.  Wish us luck, as we try to decide!

Now I'm off to the park with Rex and the Bug who is currently trying to type along with me as I try to get this post up.  Kylie is, I mean, not Rex :)