Bathroom Update

For my friend, Lori. Thanks for the nudge to get some pictures . . .

Our master bathroom has been undergoing a face lift since November of 2009. Working a full time (and then some) job, finding time to be a new dad, and training for kayak races, has impeded Dave's progress. But, he is almost finished. So, here's a trip down memory lane.
Above is a picture of the master bathroom before we bought the house. Try to notice the wallpaper. It has subtle lime green stripes and blue dots. The border, which sadly isn't pictured, had a purply-fushia background with the same blue and green in a swirly pattern. Nice.


Below, you can see the lovely blue floor tiles. On the left, you see a wooden step into the jacuzzi tub. Previously, it was covered in a solid blue carpet that sort of coordinated with the tile. I'm not sure why I didn't take a picture of the step before ripped it out. (Probably the same reason I didn't take a picture of the wall paper border.)


The first step in the bathroom re-do was the walls. We ripped off the wall paper. (I actually did participate in this process.)

Next, Dave textured the walls and painted. (I helped with the painting, too.) We found new mirrors, light fixtures, and towel rings.

After that, we had the granite countertops installed. Then over Christmas 2009, Dave and Bob worked on the tile backsplash around the sinks and tub.

Then Dave went on hiatus. The bathroom was usable, and we were both busy. In November 2010, Dave ripped up the tile. For a bit, we just walked on the concrete slab. We wondered why we hadn't ripped out the hideous blue tile sooner. The concrete was so much easier on the eyes.

The new travertine tile got laid; some touch ups around the tub were done. New quarter round has been installed around the baseboard.

We still need a new step into the tub. And, we need to install the new tub faucet that matches the faucets at each vanity.

The mirrors are undersized for my taste, so I'm keeping my eyes opened for larger framed ones.

But, all-in-all, I am very happy with my new bathroom. I appreciate the hours that Dave has put into making it just right. Hmmmm. When are you ready to tackle the kitchen, dear?

Recap of January 9-23

In an effort to get caught up, here some pictures of Gavin and things we've been doing in January.

These were taken on Sunday, January 9th. Gavin was having a good time playing with cars and reading books.

I found this Christmas cookie that a coworker, Gracie, had given me for Gavin before Christmas. Since it was mass-produced and well packaged, it was a great afternoon snack. That is great and messy.

On Wednesday after that, Dave was trying to meet a deadline at work. So, Gavin and I met him for dinner at Joe's Crabshack. This way we all had dinner and Dave got to see Gavin without wasting an hour driving to and from home.

Gavin had a great time at Joe's. There's plenty to look at, and he actually ate the food we ordered him. Not all of it, but he gave it a good shot. We'll definitely have to head back to Joe's.

When we returned from our weekend trips, we had this big ol' box of PopTarts waiting for us. I think the 12 boxes were a little over $16. It's a good thing we all like PopTarts. I know they aren't the best thing in the world to eat, but at least Gavin will eat one. I worry about the eating habits I'm instilling. But, I'm just happy when he eats anything.

Tuesday evening, Gavin helped me mix up some borracho beans to cook for dinner. At least I think it was Tuesday. This week was hectic. Don't you love the necklace he's wearing?

Friday, I picked Gavin up so we could head to LaHacienda to meet the Hopkins', Cherry's, and Michelle for dinner. As we were walking to the car, I asked Gavin if he wanted to go have dinner with Dean. He got so excited he decided to run to the car. The second step, he tripped and got this strawberry on his cheek.

We had a great dinner that would have been better if Gavin had been a bit more willing to sit in his chair while everyone ate and to eat the dinner we ordered for him. When we got home, we turned on some basketball. He was mesmerized.

Saturday morning, Gavin enjoyed eating some of my toast with homemade pear butter. Ha, some. More like all.


After breakfast, I decided he felt a bit warm. Sure enough, a temperature of 101. He developed a barky cough that persisted about every 5 minutes. I had plans to attend a baby shower and an early dinner with friends. Despite the mommy/wife-guilt, I kept my plans. When I talked to Dave on my way home to learn that G's temp. spiked to 103.1 around 5:30, I felt terrible. By the time I got home at 8:30 after a stop at CVS, it was down to 102.1. We put Gavin to bed.

He slept until 1:30. When I brought him downstairs for a drink, he said, "TV."

I asked, "Do you want to watch TV?"

Who could deny this reply: "Yes, watch TV, please, Mama."

So, we watched The Nanny and something on HGTV until 2:30. He spontaneously asked, "Daddy." I told him Daddy was asleep. He headed to the bedroom and Daddy's side of the bed. Dave picked him up and put him in bed. I crawled in to. We slept until 5:30. Then I got up with him again to watch more TV. At 6:45, I told Dave it was his turn and crawled back into bed for a little more sleep.

When we checked Gavin's temperature, it was down to 98.3. Awesome. After his nap, it was back up to 102. But he really doesn't act like he feels that bad. The cough is only occasional today. He's played with about every toy downstairs. We've read books. We've watched TV. We've sang songs. (Yes, he's singing along with a few songs now. And even if it's the first time he's heard it, he'll pick up a word here and there to repeat. So from now on, I have to sing the PG version of "Ramblin' Wreck." I've tried to record him singing, playing basketball, and doing other cute things, but he loves to watch videos on the video camera; so when he sees it, he just wants to watch movies. I'll keep working on it.)

Just before dinner, he was playing a few games on my iPod. We bought a few Duck Duck Moose apps in October before traveling to Denver. At the time, BaaBaa Black Sheep was too hard for him. Not any more. It's amazing how much he's growing.

We'll see what the illness brings to us tomorrow. . .

While Daddy's Racing

Since Dave was going to be in Austin, American Airlines popped up a last minute deal on a flight to Atlanta, and we haven't been to Georgia since Thanksgiving 2009, I decided to brave the friendly skies with Gavin.

We had a great flight to Atlanta on Saturday morning after Lindsey dropped us off at the airport at 7am and wheeled Gavin to security to meet me after I checked the car seat. We did see an airport fire truck (and I knew what it was thanks to one of Gavin's truck books) headed to meet a plane that was landing behind us with some serious smoke trailing it. I watched as we waited at the gate, but never saw the plane taxi to the fire truck, so I hope all turned out well.

My dad met us in Atlanta, we gathered the car seat and hit the road to North Georgia. After a yummy burger at Hardee's, which we don't have in Texas, it was on to the farm. It had snowed there the previous weekend, and reminents of the snow were every where. Gavin was excited to again see snow. He also pointed out all big trucks on our ride.

After getting to Mama and Daddy's I tried in vain to get G to take a nap. But that's OK since Matthew and Hayden showed up to play. Hayden was very excited to see Gavin but didn't always understand that Gavin was too little to understand everything Hayden wanted him to do. But, Gavin certainly understood that he wanted an icecream cone after seeing Grandma fix one for Hayden.

Sunday afternoon, my cousin Jennifer, aunt Martha, aunt Fredia, and Granny came to visit. It was nice to see everyone and get to chat for an ever-so-brief afternoon. Matthew took Gavin out with him to see Fredia and Granny off and then they stayed outside to burn off some energy.

The snow was still on the hill looking back toward Matthew's house.

In the front yard, Gavin and Hayden found some snow to stomp in.

Monday we headed back after Gavin finally got a nap. We got to the airport, through security, and to the gate as group 4 was being boarded. We were in group 6; that's a little too close for my comfort, but we made it. Gavin didn't get a diaper change before the flight and ended up needing an outfit change when we made it to DFW. I wish I had thought to put him in an overnight diaper, but I didn't. He drank a lot of juice going up, so we had no issues with his ears. He was being really good until we began the descent into DFW with about 20 minutes of the flight left. Then, his ears began to hurt. I couldn't convince him to drink or eat anything. He screamed for 10-15 minutes. Finally, I was able to sing to him. He didn't want me to and began to say, "No." In telling me "no," he quit screaming. We were able to land with a happier boy on my lap. I feel so sorry for the 20-something girl traveling for business sitting next to us.

That was our last free flight with a baby in arms. We flew 8 different times in two years. So, the next flight, he'll have his own seat, Mama will pack a back-up-box of juice for landing, and he'll be wearing an oversized diaper in case we're late getting to the airport. I learn something every day.

The Texas Winter 100

I have now completed my second ultra marathon kayak race - The Texas Winter 100k. After a month and a half of last minute cram session training, I was feeling pretty good about racing again. I headed to Austin last Friday morning for check in and to get my gear organized for the 5:00am start. Pete was nice enough to volunteer to be my team captain for this race. He and I scouted the long portage over the dam on Town Lake that night and then we had some pizza for dinner at his house before an early bedtime.

Race day started at 3:30am for me. My internal alarm went off about 15 minutes early, so I went ahead and got up. I was able to take a shower, eat a little bit of food and put on lots of layers. The forecast had been calling for rain with temperatures in the 40's all day, and they were perfectly correct. The starting gun went off in the rain and I don't think that it quit for more than five minutes all day long. After getting everything ready and putting my boat in the water, my bow light flickered for a minute and then went off. As you would imagine, having your main light source go out two minutes before the start isn't a good thing. Luckily a friend of mine loaned me his backup headlamp to use during the race.

With all the light issues, I wasn't ready when the starting gun went off. So, I had to sprint a bit to get to the front of the pack before the portage at the end of Town Lake. I was the 3rd or 4th boat to the dock. Pete and I picked up the boat and quickly walked it 1/4 mile to the other side of the dam. After that three of us battled for the lead for about 60 more miles.

Interesting things along the race course included: Trooper, a yellow lab that spent his morning chasing kayaks and canoes instead of hunting ducks with his master. He was eventually returned to his hunters without incident. He certainly had fun chasing after us in the dark at 6:00am. I also ended up taking a swim in 47 degree water around mile 35. I wasn't paying attention and was pushed into a sweeper (a tree overhanging the river with current pushing you into it). I may have been able to just push myself away from it, but another boat hit me and pushed me farther into it and flipped my boat. My wetsuit wasn't zipped up all the way and it was freaking cold. It took another 2+ hours to reach the next checkpoint where I would change clothes. That little incident slowed me down quite a bit and may have caused me to loose the race.

The three of us that battled for the lead the entire way were all paddling the same boats. Because of this, it was really really hard for anyone to pull away from the others. I was third for about the last 20 miles, and decided to turn it on in the last five miles of the race. I passed the second place guy about two miles from the finish and was gaining on the leader when I just ran out of race course. I finished maybe 20 seconds behind him in second place in the Adventure class with a time of 11 hours and 37 minutes.

All in all, it was a fun race. The rain and cold temps made it pretty miserable at times. But when you are racing with people you tend to forget about some of those things. Sorry, no pictures were taken during the race because of all the rain. If anyone post pictures online of the race, I will post them.

Best Friends

Gavin and Dean continue to solidify their relationship as best friends. After Dean returned from Houston, we took advantage of the warm December weather for an impromptu playdate at the park after naptime. (I'm pretty thankful for my relationship with Lindsey and her flexibility for a playdate at a moment's notice.)

The boys enjoyed seeing each other and being outside. They took turns on the slide with another little boy who was at the park. Each boy climbed up the steps, then slid down. Dean and the other boy were very patient with Gavin, who wasn't always in a rush. I think Gavin was probably lapped a few times by the other boys, but he didn't mind.

Both boys love the swings and spent at least 30 minutes there; Lindsey and I enjoyed pushing the boys and having a few minutes to chat a catch up on the events of our break.

Later, the boys climbed some more finding this cool "window" to look out. After some more running around, it was time to go as the sun was lowering, along with the temperature. When we got back to the car, I was surprised that nearly two hours had passed just playing at the park.

On January 8, Dave and I were able to return a favor to Matt and Lindsey by watching Dean so they could go out to dinner. The boys had fun playing. I think Dean was having too much fun. When it was time to eat, Dean who usually eats well, wasn't really hungry.

We had arts and crafts time with stickers and crayons. Each boy created his own masterpiece.

Soon it was time for baths.

I giggled as Gavin poured water down Dean's back. I am glad that Dean didn't mind the extra rinsing Gavin was giving him.

After getting the boys snugged up in their pj's, we attempted to get them to go to sleep. Dean wasn't ready and began to cry when I mentioned his mom, so he and I started watching TV while Dave tried to put Gavin down. Gavin wondered what Dean and Mama were doing, so he wasn't about to go to sleep. So, when Matt and Lindsey came to get Dean, instead of a sleeping boy, they found two boys who were still up and ready to party. Maybe I'll have better luck next time.

It's always great to spend time with Dean. He gives me insight into what Gavin is going to be doing next. Dean calls me "Biranda" and can easily say "Dave." He was chatting away with me while we were watching TV commenting on the things he was seeing on "Thomas the Tank Engine."

Can't wait to have you over again, Dean.

Good Doggie

Gavin has become good friends with Mason. He routinely gives him a pat on the back and ususally wants to help feed Mason. Lately Gavin has started to play with Mason, too. This typically involves throwing a ball in the backyard or bringing him a toy to play with. Evidently yesterday, Gavin wanted to give Mason a good variety of toys to play with. Mason seemed pretty happy with all the attention.

Wet Slushy Melty SNOW!

We got our first snow of the year today. The forecast called for 2-5" of snow overnight last night, but the temperatures didn't ever get cold enough for the rain to turn into snow. So, we ended up with tons of rain instead.

After leaving church today, we encountered some snow on the way home after running errands. Miranda told Gavin something to the effect of "snow is what happens when it gets cold enough for the rain to freeze". That is all Gavin needed to hear. By the time we got home it was snowing pretty heavily in big flakes. Every other word out of G's mouth was "SNOW"! We let him run around in the slush for a bit in the driveway, and then it was time for lunch and a nap.

We were hoping that it would keep snowing during his nap so that he could go out later and play. But the temperatures again didn't cooperate. It didn't get below freezing till later tonight, and by that time just about all the snow had melted. We are now left with a soggy cold mess outside. Hopefully the freezing temperatures tonight won't be a problem tomorrow on the way to work.