A Very Merry Christmas: Part 1

We celebrated Christmas all weekend long with David's side of the family and then this weekend we'll celebrate with my side, in Michigan.  We had such a wonderful time together.  We laughed and ate and laughed some more and ate some more and opened a mountain of presents.

Blaine's favorite gift...

A whoopee cushion!  (Of course.)

Actually, he loved all of his gifts.

And Hannah?  Her favorite gift was her...

Shopping cart or maybe Elmo or maybe the multiple babies she got... She was all smiles all weekend too.

David and I even got to go to his work party on Friday night.  I think it was the first time we've been out in months.  A big shout out to our sitters :)

We were filled with gratitude and thanks for the love and presence we had at our house this weekend.  I think the you'll see the joy in our faces in these pictures.

 

A Tiny Hanny and Date Night

We finally had Hannah's 15-month check-up on Wednesday.  The news was shocking.

Hannah. Is. Tiny.

Tiny as in she is only taller than 12% of kids her age and she is only 15% heavier than kids her age.  But her head (or her melon, as we call it) is in the 60th percentile. 

Ok, so I really wasn't shocked because I know she is little but I didn't know she was that little.  Blaine was always above the 60th percentile in weight and height so it is crazy to have a little toddler.  But boy is she ever cute!

 

She loves putting her blanket in her head.  Silly.

Aside from the million doctor appointments we had this week we've on our second night of celebrating David's birthday.  Last night, for his actual birthday we had a party with the Pembertons.  Siri never misses a party with cupcakes and singing.

Making daddy's cupcakes.

Mister is so proud of his decorations.

Tonight was our second night of celebration at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse.  Mmmmm.

And here is my older and very distinguished husband.  Happy Birthday (again)!

Oh, and I think I broke a rib (or two) or perhaps I just badly bruised them.  I was playing with Blaine at the bounce house on Wednesday afternoon and it got pretty rough (like it does with our Mister).  I don't know what happened but that night I couldn't sleep or breathe and just below my sternum I have some intense pain.  Lifting, carrying, walking, laughing, and deep breaths make it hurt pretty badly, even tonight.  I don't know what I did, but whatever I did - es no bueno!

A Lovely Weekend

Our weekend started out with a bang since it was our five year anniversary and all.  We dropped the kids off with some responsible (and awesome) adults and made our first stop: Cedar Park Jewelry.  You see, I have not been able to wear my engagement ring or wedding band in about 4 years.  When I was pregnant with Blaine my hormones got all out of whack and I developed this really crazy allergy to one of the metals in my 18K white gold ring.  My finger would swell, itch and turn red when I would wear the ring for more than 20 minutes.  Finally, I stopped wearing it and basically have went ring-less since that time.  Since then my ears have also been affected and I can now only wear platinum, silver, or palladium in my ears or on my hands.

We said that when we saved up enough money we'd go and have my rings re-set in something hypo-allergenic.  Friday night was that time.  It turns out that they can just add a protective barrier of sterling silver around the inside of my ring (so it doesn't bother me) instead of resetting all the diamonds in something new.  I liked this option the best because I didn't have to part with the actual ring that David bought, gave me and we were married with.  The other piece of good news was that since we spent significantly less on making it safe for me to wear, we were able to upgrade my center stone!  Yay!  I'll hopefully have it back by the end of the week.

After leaving the jewelry store I was without any jewelry, which is really not a big deal since I rarely to ever wear anything but earrings.  But then David pulled a box out of his sock - a new pair of diamond stud earrings!  He said a girl should never be without some diamonds.  Ha!  What a surprise (and a beautiful gift) they were. I will wear them with gratitude and thanks for my hard working hubby.  After receiving all my bling we dined at Z-Tejas where we celebrated with way too much food.

Pictures of my bling will be posted at a later date.  I'm sure you can hardly stand it.

The rest of the weekend was full of fun.  We spent Saturday morning at the Y getting our workout on.  Blaine was eager to play with his friend Siri in the kids gym and David and I were eager to burn off some of the calories we consumed the night before at dinner. 

Our busy day continued with cleaning, shopping (IKEA for a new rug and bookshelves) and dinner at Central Market with one of our favorite families: The Pembertons.  The kids managed to get pretty dirty, they fed turtles, played, danced and then finally had meltdowns (Lyon children) because they were exhausted.

Sunday was a whirlwind day with church and then the epic battle of David vs. The Garage.  David won (I knew he would) and left the garage in a much more manageable and organized manner.  I re-potted my poor ficus tree which has been hurting for about 5 years now.  How it has held on this long, I don't know.  I hope that moving it to a bigger pot will make it happier.  Blaine (who loves gardening and planting) helped me transplant a few plants, including the ficus, into bigger pots.  He was so gentle and loving towards them.  He talked them through the whole process, saying things like (in that high-pitched lovey voice that he does):

"Don't worry plant - you're gonna be ok."
"We're giving you a better home.  Awwww, you're gonna love it."
"Don't be scared, this is new, better dirt!"
"Do you like the cow poop dirt?  It is really good for you"  (No, I am not putting manure in my houseplant potting soil, it is just that Blaine thinks that ALL dirt for planting has cow manure in it.)
 
Between my planting and Blaine's pep-talk, I think the ficus will thrive.

Boo (a new name for Hannah) is doing well.  She had a blast in the pool this past weekend where we have been spending a huge amount of time since this neverending drought hit.  It's a good thing we all love to swim.

Mister really wants some gluten free ice cream sandwiches but I can't find
them anywhere, so I bought these GF lemon frozen yogurt sandwiches...

After three bites...

The jury decided they are "YUCK!" (Back to the grocery store..._

Our new rug.  It looks weird in this picture, but it's really nice in reality.

Ballin' in the Mix

We use some pretty silly (and to us, funny) terms over here at the Lyon crib.  Take for instance, "ballin' in the mix' which the urban dictionary says means "to be the bombest chillest in the crowd. Not caring just straight chilling."  Or in other words, to be the center of attention ( in the mix... in the crowd) regardless of what's going on.  David says this quite frequently to the kids and it always makes me laugh.  They of course giggle and smile and even though they have no idea what it means, love that Daddy thinks they are "ballin'"

Well, today, Blaine and Daddy were in the truck on the way home and they were talking about coming home to us (Hannah and I) and Blaine says, "Daddy, you think Hannah will be ballin' in the mix?"  He said it again later and it totally made me crack up.  I mean, what other 3-year old uses language like "ballin' in the mix?"

The other cute thing that he said this weekend was something I'll never forget.  After David and I had our monthly date night where we ate this:

Cajun food...



including blackened Rainbow Trout with shrimp 

and Chocolate Bread Pudding.... Mmmmm!

Anyway - after this yummy dinner and shopping til we dropped we picked Blaine up at the YMCA and Hannah from the Pembertons.  On our way home Blaine said out of the blue, "Mama, I think you are so beautiful!"  And he said it so sweet too.  I told him how good that made me feel and then of course started crying in the front seat because my boy thinks I am beautiful and he said it to me!  Hello, melt my heart!  Then when I was giving smooches before bed he was rubbing my cheeks and playing with my hair and he told me again, "Mama, you are so beautiful."  When I asked him what was beautiful about me he said, after thinking for a minute and rubbing the skin off my cheeks, "It's your hair.  Your hair is beautiful."  So darn cute.

Well, now we know where he got his good looks from.  His ballin' in the mix, mama!  :)

And then there is Hannah, who is, yes, you guessed it... ballin'!

Just walking around... no big deal.

The Good and the Ugly

Since Blaine turned three this week and he's well on his way to being fully toilet trained he is now able to go to the "Big Kid's Gym" at the YMCA.  Once a month the Y watches your kids (for free) so you and your spouse can go on a date.  We had this scheduled a few weeks ago but The Great Snow Storm of 2011 hit and the city shut down.  All programs were cancelled and Blaine couldn't go to the Y.  Tonight was our make-up evening and Blaine was very excited, to say the least.  We told him it was a pizza party (because they serve pizza) and he was going to get four hours of uninterrupted play on the indoor playscape.  I dropped him off and Hannah and I headed off to Tomo to meet Daddy for some yummy sushi.  Hannah preferred her MumMum bar over the Spicy Tuna roll.

Before I talk about "the ugly" I have to update you on the Gluten Free diet we've been doing with Blaine.  We have seen an improvement in his behavior since we started the GF diet around the first of January.  His impulse-control has improved, he has less aggression and he's generally more happy.  He has even made some friends at school and his teachers are noticing positive behaviors all around.  At Blaine's three year appointment this past Tuesday his pediatrician said that he'd like for us to go off of the GF diet to find out if the diet is really effective or if it was just a coincidence and Blaine was actually going through a really difficult transition time.  We've discussed this and given that the GF diet is expensive, boring, kind of gross and challenging to keep up with we thought we'd give gluten a try again.  Wednesday is the day that we started introducing wheat products back into his diet.  He had a few incidents this week at school and then tonight his behavior was challenging.

Fast forward to pick-up tonight and when I walked in to get Blaine (from my care-free and fun evening) I saw him.  Sobbing.  Sitting by the front gate, crying, and screaming my name.  I pretty much knew it wasn't good news.  The Y childcare worker went on to tell me how he was unable to control his hands and feet, how he hit, kicked and swatted food out of other kid's hands all night.  She said that he wouldn't listen to anyone and finally the director came out and put him in time-out which was where I found him when I got there.

I told him that it would be time for bed when we got home and he screamed that he needed dinner.  I asked how much pizza he had and he said he didn't eat any... and then when I opened the additional dinner that I sent with him it was completely untouched.  He hadn't eaten anything since noon, except for maybe a juice box, which they gave him at the Y.  He insisted that he didn't like pizza and "they" wouldn't give him his lunch box, so therefore he didn't eat.  Talk about a blood sugar drop!  I am in no way making excuses for him but the kid needs to eat - especially a kid that is potentially ADHD.

He ate when he got home and went straight to bed.  It's so hard to know if this is a diet thing or if it was a blood sugar thing or if we are swinging back into a difficult "transition time".  (Sigh.)  Poor guy - it was a tough night.

Here are pictures of Sister getting ready for her date with Daddy tonight.

Beautiful, huh?  David had them waiting for me at home
when I got back from my girl's weekend trip.  So sweet!

David has a fishing tournament tomorrow - wish him luck!   

Date Night and the Super Bowl 2010

Here are my boys getting our food ready for our private super bowl party. We had WAY too much food for 2 adults (though one is pregnant) and a toddler! We feasted on ribs, cheesy potatoes, queso, guacamole, chips, fruit and chocolate chip cookies. The sad part is that we didn't even get out everything I bought! Now I'll be tempted all week by the sweets in our pantry (I wonder who will win that battle: The Sweets or my Sweet Tooth?)

Last night my sweet husband took me to see C.S. Lewis' "The Screwtape Letters" starring Max Mclean at the historic Paramount Theatre in downtown Austin.

From the website: "THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS is a funny, provocative and wickedly witty theatrical adaptation of C.S. Lewis’ brilliant novel that explores the theme of spiritual warfare from a demon’s point of view.

Adapted for the stage by Jeffrey Fiske and Max McLean, THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS, which runs 90 minutes without intermission, stars award-winning actors Max McLean and Karen Eleanor Wight. Set in an office in hell, the riveting play follows a senior devil, Screwtape (McLean) and his secretary, Toadpipe (Wight), as they train an apprentice demon, Wormwood, on how to “undermine faith and prevent the formation of virtues” in a young man who has just converted to Christianity. As Screwtape ridicules Wormwood and devilishly dictates his letters to Toadpipe, the fantastical creature transforms into laughingly recognizable figures with whimsical movement and wordless wit."

The show was superb, excellent, and funny... just fantastic! We both loved it. Minus the two people in front of us that sucked face for 90 minutes. The last thing I wanted to hear during a Broadway performance was two adults swappin' spit! Gross. Besides that small distraction, we had a wonderful time. Thanks babe! :)

Blaine stayed with Nana and she said my 25 minutes of bedtime instructions were not needed... when Nana took him to bed in his big boy bed (which we battle with him most nights) he was a sweet angel and went right to sleep - the kid didn't get out of bed once! He knew who he was working with - - you don't mess with the Nana! :) Thanks for keeping him Nana - we enjoyed our date night.

On to another week. I'll be 23 weeks pregnant this week and am feeling good, BIG... but good. Pictures of the belly are next on our list.

Date Night: Spurs Game

Keith and Andrea gifted us with two tickets to the Spurs game last night. Though the Spurs are based in San Antonio, they played in Austin at the Frank Erwin Center for this particular exhibition game. Tony Parker plays for the Spurs (and he's married to Eva Longoria)... and I tried to set up a dinner date with he and Eva - but she didn't return my call. She must be busy. :)

These are our worst date pictures ever - but I couldn't get my 31-year old hubby to smile nicely, so these will have to do. We had some good laughs with these (and there were more, but they were way out there!)

Family Date Night

Tonight we enjoyed a family date night with the Pemberton family--Elliot, Kari and the most adorable 20 month old girl in Texas, Siri (Blaine's long lost twin). We went to Waterloo Ice House (which has a pretty nice play scape) and it was even "cool" enough to sit outside. Here these two "peas-in-a-pod" are playing peek-a-boo with us. We did this for a good five minutes... They hid behind the bench and then would simultaneously jump up and say "boooo" to us. One of my favorites is Siri trying to pull Blaine up over the bench. Lol.





Aren't they the cutest toddlers you've ever seen?

Blaine and Siri are exactly 2 months apart (Siri: 12.22.07 Blaine: 2.22.08) and they are not only both blond, practically the same height, and canine lovers (Siri has three dogs and Blaine has two) but neither one can sit for longer than about 2.5 minutes. They both have a bit of energizer-bunny in them. You should see these two - they go and go and go and gooooooo.

We look forward to our next family date night with Siri and her parents :)