Spring Fever?

It seems that I caught Spring Fever in January. For the last few weeks I've been hard at work, all day long, going through every single drawer, cabinet, box, shelf, closet, and room in this house. It's been a struggle some days to stay motivated, but I just keep thinking about how wonderful it will be this spring when all this hard work is already done! Then we can enjoy the good weather when it comes. (Hopefully it comes soon, as we need warmer temperatures to refinish our patio furniture, though since Phil saw his shadow this year, I'm not placing any bets.)

Mateo and Rafi are very excited about this:

Mateo is excited because his favorite buddies are in his room. Rafi is excited because now it gives purpose to him having saved them from a movie theater years and YEARS ago.

So, yeah... not much else going on around here; nothing too exciting to post about. I'm hoping to get the house all finished up by March, because in March I WILL have something exciting to post about. We're going to Peru!

One last mention - Happy Birthday to both Rafi's mom and my mom!

Mateo's Monster Bathroom.

Finally Mateo has his own bathroom design. I tried to save money by doing some of the artwork myself. Mateo even helped with a monster painting of his own!

Backyard landscaping.

Our backyard landscaping is finally completed for now. We've put in a row of wax myrtles which will soon enough block the house behind us. We have our garden, as you know. And we finally completed the walkway around the waterfall - our recent night time project. It's like our own mini oasis back here!

Mateo stole his daddy's water jug and was very excited about it.

Landscaping at night.

Somehow we always end up doing landscaping at night. That's how our tree got planted, too. Hopefully by the end of this week I can unveil our project fully. You know you were productive when your legs look like this at the end of the day.

Where has the time gone?

I honestly can't even remember much of what has happened since I last updated, but I figured it was time to write *something*. Hmm... now what shall that something be? Well, let's start with Mateo, shall we? He is 17 months old (will be 18 months on the 21st of August). Where has my baby gone? He recently rode his first "racehorse." I think he has a natural jockey position, don't you?

He is Mr. Talkative lately. He likes to repeat the letters of the alphabet after me, and he loves to spin in circles until he's so dizzy he falls down. He still loves balls of any sort - bouncy, soccer, etc. He still won't eat macaroni and cheese, but he does like tacos, veggie burgers, and most of all grapes. He also loves the freedom of being near-naked (diaper only), and he loves to brush his teeth. His abuelo will be so proud! :-) Feeding himself yogurt is also a fun task and makes for a great yogurt mustache. He's pretty good at using his fork and spoon, though after a short while he resorts back to fingers. He can also drink from a cup, but he plays too much with it, so we reserve that for outside.

Here are some of Mat's favorite words:
"Pithel" - Pixel; "Pithel" - Marley (Yes, he calls both dogs "Pithel."); "Push" - Pudge, our cat. "bapes" - grapes; "ka-ka" - cracker; "eat" - eat; "pees" - please; "jess" - yes". "boop" - book; "baby" - baby; "mine" - mine. "di" - sí (yes in Spanish); "bing" - ven (come in Spanish). He says more, but those are his most common words.

He also knows 13 body parts, the "belbo" (elbow) being his favorite. He does the hand parts to "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and rocks to "Row, Row, Row Your Boat." He can follow simple commands, and demands at least 3 times a day to go "side" (outside). He loves to be outdoors picking up rocks, squishing bugs, and splashing in the water. Recently we brought out the Slip-N-Slide. I think that Rafi and I enjoyed it way more than he did! This kid is a natural born swimmer, though. He already knows to kick his feet when in deeper water, and he's not afraid to put his face in the water either. Before the summer ends, I'd like to teach him to blow bubbles.

Let's see.... what else is new. Well, We've had some visitors. My mom came and stayed for about 4 days - which is ALWAYS marvelous. So nice to go shopping with someone there to entertain Mat. And Rafi's brother came for a weekend visit, too. We didn't do anything too outrageous with him (shopping, eating, etc.), but I think they enjoyed playing FIFA most. Previous to both of those visits we were lucky that Rafi's dad was in town for business, so we were able to have some good times with him. While he was here we all drove to San Antonio to visit Rafi's Tía Stella, Uncle Frank, and cousin Gloria. We had a great bbq lunch and watergate salad. Thank you for having us over!

In the realm of home improvement, we finished ripping up tile and installing new floors, only to have a flood (leaking fridge) and have to rip up the new floors and reinstall even newer ones. Yeah, that was fun. Good times... But it's all done now. Our dining table leg broke, so we invested in a "grown up" set. Yay! We really like it. It's from Crate & Barrel, and we hope to have it for a long time. It also has a leaf, so it will extend to seat 8-10 people.

And last but not least, we have a water feature in our backyard! Aside from the blistery hot weather, it's been really nice to sit on the patio under the ceiling fan and listen to the waterfall. We still lack some more landscaping around it and in the backyard, but we'll get to that this fall when the plants won't turn crackling brown. Here's a photo for your viewing enjoyment. Take a mental photo, close your eyes, and make a soft "shhhing" sound to get the full effect. ;-)

Okay, eyes open. I've got more to update. Lsat month we had two births in our family - baby birds! We noticed a mama bird kept dive-bombing us and our dogs when we went outside, and soon after we noticed the nest in our tree. Eventually the fledglings were flung down onto the ground below to practice flying, so we had to be very cautious and keep the dogs inside. We're glad they made it!

One last thing. Due to my lack of posting I have forgotten to post this photo of our friends Nion and Tina during their birthday party. Their birthdays are one day apart, and they are sisters-in law! Anyhow, this is the flip-flop cake I made for their party. I learned a lot with this cake. Buttercream frosting will sag if there's too much on the sides. Don't use more than two layers of cake - the three layers I used resulted in WAY too much frosting. And lastly my original coral frosting color turned pink with time, so I need to remember that the colors deepen. I still enjoy making cakes, as I learn something new each time I do one. Lately I've been playing with gum paste, though I need lots more practice before I do anything for show.

New Floors

Well, we finished our kitchen floors!! The baseboards are not installed, but that will come maybe next week after our company (Rafi's family) has left. I'm pretty exhausted but satisfied. Anyhow, here are some photos.

Normal Life...

So I guess it's been a while since I updated or changed the template of this blog, so I figured I'd do it now. :-)

Somehow I completely forgot to post about our flowerbed overhaul. We completely gutted the front flowerbeds, extended and reshaped them, and planted some less maintenance plants. It was hard hunting down dwarf oleander, but I found them! Anyhow, it was a long weekend of back breaking work, but we really love the outcome. Now we just need to get our trim finally painted black!

Rafi's aunt and uncle came to visit us earlier this week. Tia Stella made a truly incredible flan. I made coffee - or at least attempted to. We don't drink coffee, so I pretty much just tried to read the directions. I saw Rafi laugh at me once. But both Stella and Frank drank it, so it couldn't have been too poisonous. :)

Otherwise in the last month we've basically just been going about life as normal as life normally is. (Like that sentence? hehe) Rafi's been working a lot - not just at work but on a project here at home, too. Mat crawls like crazy now; he can even climb up the stairs. (Baby gates will be installed this weekend.) He also likes to stand up on anything he can - even Pixel (our big dog). I've become June Cleaver with my housework - clean never seems clean enough. And other than that I've become addicted to using SparkPeople.com (a totally FREE way to track your diet and exercise and more). I'm still running, though I've decided to go back to doing weekend 5ks instead of the half-marathon training, as my knees are starting to not be very agreeable to it and it takes up a lot of time. Besides this I've been mentoring two students at my school (I meet them each once a week for lunch), and I've been getting back to reading a lot (or at least when my kiddo lets me).

And I suppose that's about all that is new in our world. Oh, I should also add that Mat has two bottom teeth now, and though he's still wearing his DOC band, it looks like it shouldn't be for *too* much longer... maybe another month or so? And hurray for being discharged from his physical therapist! I still have to do some stretches and therapy play with him (and will need to until he's around 18 months old, supposedly), but he has come so far.

Okay, that's it. That's all I have to say. So... stop reading now. Hey, I mean it. Stop! I'm done! :-)

Another casting

Well, FINALLY we got insurance approval to go ahead with Mateo's new band, so today he had another casting. He was a little more vocal this time, but he did really well! He's always quite the trooper. So in less than 2 weeks he'll be sporting a new DOC band. I forgot to post photos of how I decorated the last band with Diego, but here's a photo of where his old band sits now in his room. It fits Chicken Little perfectly!

My mom was in town this weekend. And while we didn't do our usual SuperTarget shopping marathons, we still had a really nice time. We did some stamping, embossing, and card making at our friend Mary's house while Rafi cared for the baby. This was a much needed vacation for me, and I quite enjoyed it!

Mat also hosted a playgroup at our house last week. Four babies (three around his age and one two month old) were able to come. Truth be told I think the mommies enjoy this more than the kiddos! Mat was observant and reserved while they there but became animated and playful when they left. Go figure.

Oh - almost forgot, but there is a killer stomach virus going around, and Mateo and I each got it last week. He woke up vomiting (which was horrible to watch as a mother), but after a few days of TLC he felt better. Then right around that time the virus found me. It wasn't a pretty site. Rafi did a superb job taking care of the baby and me during my sick days. Luckily Rafi never got it, and thankfully everyone is feeling tip top now. :)

In non-baby news, we are still working on lots of projects around the house. We had the huge florescent lights removed in the kitchen and had canned lighting with dimmers installed all through our downstairs. It looks really nice. Now if only Rafi and I could agree at what level to turn them on! We also are in the process of completely gutting our front flowerbeds and landscaping them to our liking. This is proving to be a HUGE task as the leftover stumps are quite difficult to remove. I can't wait to see what the finished product will be.

In less than two weeks Rafi's brother and his wife will be visiting. We're very excited to see them!

Let there be light!

Earlier this week we had some exciting work done downstairs - we had canned and undercabinet lighting installed! It really looks fabulous and makes the house feel much warmer. We used "Kevin the Fan Man" and FINALLY had a good experience with contractors! They came in the morning and stayed until after 8pm to finish the job. Now we're just waiting on some painters to come paint our entire downstairs ceiling. After that I'll repaint the kitchen again. Anyhow, we're thrilled!

Additionally, here are some photos of Mateo playing with the dogs ('cause you know I can't have an update without baby or dog photos of some sort!). He and Pixel have really started interacting with each other. Mat likes to grab his face and ears, and Pixel just loves to have his face and ears grabbed! Seriously, Pixel just licks his hands and loves every minute of the abuse. He's a really good dog. Marley is a little more of a grump about it, but just leaves the situation instead of reacting. So she's a pretty good dog, too. :-)

Happy Father's Day!

Today was Rafi's first Father's Day. His big gift was given to him yesterday, but more about that in a second. Today we recovered from having a house full of people and dogs. We went to EZ's for malts and burgers and then to Fry's (of course) to get some electronic stuff. While Rafi got caught up on his Copa de Oro (Gold Cup) games, Mateo and I napped. Then we spent the evening playing on our new Wii!

So what did Rafi get for his first Father's Day? A whole new garage! I had been planning this surprise for months. As soon as Rafi left for his Seattle business trip on Wednesday, I sprang into action - removing all items from walls, priming walls and ceiling, painting walls and ceiling, installing new shelving systems, figuring out what stays and what goes, etc. My mom came Thursday evening to help (and boy did I need the help!). Thankfully Mat was a very good baby, so we were able to work fairly steadily. My dad came Saturday morning and was able to watch the baby a bit while we (and my friend/neighbor Deanna) finished up the final touches - sweeping, painting the ceiling, etc. I literally finished about 20 minutes before he and Greg arrived. Anyhow, I think Rafi is very pleased with the garage - I know I am!!

Gotta be quick...

Seeing as I have a "talking" child upstairs in the crib, I gotta make this update quick.

I have been out of school (yay for summer vacation!) for a total of 4 real days now - and it's getting expensive!! With all this time (aside from caring for Mat - which is enough in itself some days) I've been tackling some home improvement projects. It hasn't been anything too big, just rearranging furniture, getting new lamps, new barstools, picture frames, planting new flowers outside, etc. My goal is to get the house organized by the end of summer so when my REAL job of being a stay-at-home-mom begins in September (cause I'm still getting paid through August!) I'll be able to dedicate more time to Mateo and his development since he'll be a bit older by then. I'm trying to get him on a schedule, but some days are easier than others.

Speaking of, "doodie" calls. (Hehe... pretty good pun if I say so myself!)

Woo-hoo! We have a crib!

More photos and even video available here: http://www.campanas.net/NURSERY.HTM

Christmas Vacation?

So far a vacation is not how I'd describe our holiday. We've managed to come up with several household projects per day. These projects include, but are not limited to, painting, touching up the painting, installing shelves in the gameroom, buying loads of stuff in general, working on the waterfall outside, assembling beds, buying mattresses, returning box springs, picking up new box springs, and many other small tasks that just add up. Maybe after we start back to work we'll have a chance to rest! :-)

In the meantime, I'll be enjoying my new chair. I love it!

Nursery Progress

This'll be a quick post, but I just had to pop in to say that our nursery is not a junk room anymore!! Yay! Okay, so there's no furniture in it, and the walls aren't painted, etc., but at least we have a clean room to start with. (FYI, the nursery was our office until we moved it downstairs.)

So far we have purchased a twin bed, trundle, bedside table, comfy chair, and just yesterday we ordered the crib. Of course there is a possibility that the crib won't come in until AFTER he's born, but oh well. We have other things, too. Rafi is starting his vacation this week, and I just have one more week of work to go. So after that we can hopefully get a lot more done.

The due date is approaching fast - end of February. YIKES! I haven't taken many photos of myself pregnant (gee, wonder why), but I'll post one that I have from several weeks ago at 27 weeks. Enjoy my after-work-no-makeup face and attire. :)

Thanksgiving Holidays

Thanksgiving was great! Thanks to Mom for all the cooking! :) Additionally, if you ever find yourself in Stephenville, drop by Uncle Hoover's restaurant on the square. My friend Andy owns it. Turns out he is a WONDERFUL chef! Tell him I sent ya.

Secondly, we finally registered! I've had people asking me for months now about it, and we finally did it. Here's the link if you're interested:
Online Registry

If you are wondering about bedding, just today we purchased the bedding for the bed from Pottery Barn Kids; and since you don't really use the crib quilt, I didn't see the point in paying all that money for the crib sets. Here's the quilt and sham I bought:

Rafi returned from Panama this week along with our friend Gabe. He tells me that despite not really relaxing (too many things to do and see!), his trip was loads of fun. Of course, I joke that any guy would like a trip full of good food, bachelor parties, and zip-lining. We really want to send a BIG thank you to his parents and brother and sister-in-law for giving us such cute baby items and some maternity shirts for me! They are a perfect fit. I especially want to thank Tita for making the "thanks-for-coming-to-the-hospital" favors (recuerdos). They are really cute, though I have put Rafi in charge of remembering to take them! (I figure I'll probably be preoccupied with birthing a human being. Ha!)

Finally, the patio is done for now - but not complete. We're not very happy with the finish on the concrete, but we had planned to tile or stain it anyway, so we'll see how that turns out. The ceiling and cedar posts still need to be painted and stained, but we got our rocking adirondack chairs and love them! Rafi has also installed speakers so we can listen to the stereo outside. We've already had one party (in honor of Tina and Greg), and everything looked great. I especially enjoy our two ceiling fans with dimmers. These photos don't show the furniture in proper placement, but you get the idea.

We have concrete and owls!

The concrete has been poured! Now it sits a week to cure. Next week the crew comes back to install the roof! Then Rafi gets to work on the waterfall, and I get to work on the landscaping.




And I bought the first "outfit" since I've been pregnant. It has owls on it. When have you ever seen owls on baby clothes? Cute!

Geez we're swamped!

So right now we have loads of stuff going on. First, school is into the full swing of things. I teach 4 sections of science per day plus I teach math in an after school program. And, as always, Rafi is very busy with his work, too. Top secret, though. (wink!)

Second, we have finally begun construction on the covered patio!! Tomorrow they pour the concrete, into which we plan to put our handprints and doggy paw prints. :) It will be 550 square feet of bliss when finished! Here are some progress pictures - one before and one is laid with sand.









Third, Rafi and I are going to quickly begin our landscaping projects in the backyard once the patio is finished. We will be (finally) adding trees and flowerbeds. Most importantly, Rafi has designed a waterfall that he will build himself (maybe with some help of VERY nice friends) that will go into one of the corners of the yard. I'm very excited about this project.

Inside the house I am cleaning and painting! (Don't worry, I got an okay from my doctor to paint in a ventilated area with a mask.) I think Rafi has had enough with my painting kicks!

Lastly, I'm officially out of regular clothing. :( I've discovered that only celebrities look really great pregnant because they can afford the tailoring on their designer clothes! It's really hard to find things that fit. In the interest of full disclosure, I give you a photo of myself. Just keep in mind this is after a 9.5 hour day at work.

Oh what a mess...

Since we started changing the rooms around in our house, we've been living in a pig sty - at least it feels that way. We are changing our twice-used dining room into an office (maybe with French doors later) and cleaning out the old office upstairs. This has turned out to be a huge deal. I never realized we had so much equipment and stuff in general that we aren't using. Anyhow, I'm guessing when the weather gets a bit cooler we'll be doing the garage sale thing one more time.

Not much else is new. School starts for me in two weeks, so I'm excited about having a daily purpose. On the other hand, I'm sure I'll miss not having to have one. But I always feel happier when I'm busy working anyway.

It's so hot here that the dogs sleep all day inside. What a life they have. I think they probably enjoy their lives more than we do our own. :)

Weekend Project - New Faucet

This'll be a quick post. Wanna see our new kitchen improvement?

Before:
Our old faucet leaked, so after going a couple months without being able to use the sprayer, we opted for a whole new unit.





After: This one is great! The water pressure in both the faucet and sprayer is much better now. The new faucet makes our old one look really miniature.





Rafi did a really great job installing it. Thank you!! :-)

Naked Bushes

All last week I chopped away at our yard after school... or work - I never know whether to call it school or work! Anyhow, everyday something else got mowed, trimmed, sheared, chopped, uprooted, planted, raked, hoed, or moved. Rafi's birthday birdbath is now in the front flowerbed. Next up is ripping out some old flowers to put in some new stuff.

We also have a new guard dog around this place. He keeps watch at our front door. His name is "Antonio Banderas," but we call him "Tony" after our good dog friend in Florida. :)

Our kitchen is populated!

Painting and drilling, drilling and painting. That's what last weekend's activities amounted to. Last Saturday I spent most of the day painting the walls of Deanna's kitchen and living room "Winter Wheat." I did the trim and she did all the big areas. It looks great! Plus we had a super time chatting about.... well, that will stay between us girls. ;-)

Anyhow, that started the movement across the street at my house. Rafi and I decided our kitchen was just too bare. So, what started as a two hour project became a 5 hour project, including two trips to Lowe's, as we drilled holes into our kitchen cabinets and installed cabinet hardware! When it was all finished, Rafi said he thought the kitchen looked more "populated" - which we agreed was the best way to put it as it did make the almost-all-white room feel warmer and look less stark and sterile. I think the knobs have started our home improvement engines again, as our next project will be turning our never-used-in-three-years dining room into a study!