Fun Day Out

Today was just a BEAUTIFUL day in Austin and we couldn't wait to spend the whole day out and about! Chris found this awesome duck pond so we went with a whole loaf for William to feed the little ducks and geese. Some of the geese were not very friendly and once they found out that William was the one with the bread, they began to charge. It was hilarious for Chris and I but not so funny for William who saw his life flash before his very eyes. I was taking some pictures of the ducks when all of a sudden I heard Chris yelling, "run William run"!!! I got some great pictures with my new camera that Chris surprised me with as an early birthday present. I'm hooked, I took pictures of EVERYTHING!!! Then we went shopping for a mattress (goodness, I feel old), and topped off the day with ice cream!!

He looked friendly...


apparently not.

Such a cute kid!

Hungry ducks!

Close encounter...thankfully Chris didn't lose any fingers.

So beautiful.

A little rock climbing anyone?

Potty Training...SOS

Ok, I'm taking suggestions, ideas, recommendations...anything. I'm desperate. I just don't get it and sometimes I feel myself counting to 10 because I feel like I'm about to lose my cool. William does EXCELLENT all day at school, he wears big boy underwear and according to his sheet he's "Potty Trained". At home this is a different story. Perfect example; tonight when he came home from school he was still in the same outfit he was when I dropped him off. So he did great, no accidents and he was perfect, even during nap time. Not even 10 minutes we are home and he wets himself after I told him to go potty. I got everything ready and he refused and decided to go in his pants as I was walking to the potty with him. I know he's doing this for attention, is it bad to discipline for accidents when I know it's on purpose?

I know it will come in time, but he's there, he has it down...he just won't go at home and it drives me nuts. We have a potty chart that he gets stickers on, he has a potty basket we have goodies in. I've tried cheerios and apple jacks (the aim game)...and still nothing. I'm all out of ideas....HELP!!


Check out this form of bribery...



Spoiled...I know!

Moving day has come and gone....

Well moving day has come and gone with a few hick-ups. This will go down as the worst move in HISTORY!! First of all I wanted to save some money so I went with some new movers; Amazing Moving....not so Amazing!!!

Lets see, they broke our 55" TV by dropping it down the stairs in our old apartment, but this is the funny part, we didn't see or hear this, we were either dropping off a load at our new place (2 buildings over in the same complex) or getting lunch. Our neighbor heard a ton of noise and looked out his door to find one guy on the ground and the other guy asking if he was ok. That's not the funny part, the funny part is , after all that hard work of dropping our TV possibly knowing that it may not work, they busted their butt and moved it up the stairs (dented every wall along the way) to our new place...stupid. They should have fessed up and we could have handled the situation then and there.

Then the next little problem, they tore a portion of our new leather sectional. Not just a scratch, this was a huge tear, visible and everything. That's when I lost it, I almost started crying. It's probably the only expensive piece of furniture I own and they screw it up. What's worst of all, this all could have been avoided if they would have snapped on their brains that morning and actually used the moving blankets their truck was LOADED WITH!!!

Needless to say, they move went horribly, and they had to return the next day to move a few more things. I guess it's kind of hard to finish in one day when you are standing in front of a fan all day wondering why you decided to get into the moving business....hmmmmm

So here we are knee deep in boxes with 2 damaged/broken items and I still have not heard back from the owner who is "out of town". Lucky for them I am home now and I have nothing but time....I'm even considering stalking them and finding out where their location is until action is taken and I'm reimbursed for the damaged pieces.

So if you live in Austin and plan on moving, DO NOT USE AMAZING MOVING, they are horrible, lazy, sloppy and just don't care about quality, your possessions, or anything else for that matter!!

I plan on printing flyers and posting them right next to their add at our apartment complex...it isn't defamation if it's true right?

Partially finished...

Ok, so painting the furniture wasn't as bad as I thought but the sanding part sucked!! Over all my little project is almost finished. I still have to paint the top and the inside of the armoire drawers. That piece too forever. There are a ton of nooks and cracks to get into. For some reason it looks more shiny than it really is, I think it might be the flash and that they were still kind of wet when we took the pictures. But you can see a huge difference! I'm excited to get them moved in!!

Design on a Dime...Addison style

Since I'm home I find myself watching a few of my favorite shows during William's nap times, one of them is Design on a Dime on HGTV and the other is A Baby Story. Since another baby is not happening anytime soon...Chris and I started a little home project. We've inherited my parents old old furniture a few years ago. It's older than I am and it needed some major updating. I love the black antique look so we decided to paint our night stands and armoire black and hope that it comes out antique looking or at least descent. We are half way done; the nightstands are finished we are just waiting for them to dry so we can put the new hardware on and tomorrow we are going to tackle the armoire. This update cost about $40.00 bucks. Not bad if you ask me. I'm so anxious to see how the paint will dry and what the finished product will look like. We are also going to attempt our first mosaic. I've had this table for about 2 years and Chris started to spray paint it and for some reason he never finished it. Well that day has finally come!! We bought some tiles and we might tackle that table tomorrow too. It was a free table and the tiles cost about $10.00 bucks. I'm just so excited with my thrifty savings!! Stay tuned to see what happens next!!!


BEFORE....






I will say this, they make everything look so easy on TV .

It is a Happy Anniversary

I just love anniversaries. It's been 9 years of marital miracles and bliss. Chris and I have definitely grown the past 9 years only by the grace of God. We just love to look back on our journey and appreciate what we really have...each other and William. Each anniversary gets better and better. I love my husband more today than our wedding day. I cherish him and I can't be more thankful for the man and father he is. Chris is my best friend. He knows exactly what I'm thinking and sometimes we complete each others thoughts...it's pretty scary. Our relationship is an open book, anyone who knows us has heard over and over again how much we love each other, and it couldn't be more true as it is today. God has truly blessed our lives. As for our celebration Chris and I really don't go over the top, usually it's dinner and a movie. I hope next year we get to really celebrate, I'd love to renew our vows...maybe a beach somewhere?! That would be awesome!

Good News Bad News

OK, this is just a funny story I just had to share. William is at the dinner table and he said, "Mommy I have some good news and I have some bad news." I was thrown off guard and after I controlled my laughter I said "what's the news?" He said, "the good news is I have your hat, the bad news is, it's in my booty!" Seriously, Chris and I were laughing so hard!! What a creative kid...I just love his imagination. He also has monsters living in his Thomas whistle. I can't get enough of him.
Here's another funny story, today I dropped him off at school and before we went in I told him to make sure he tells the teacher he has big boy underwear on. Instead of telling he decided to show, the first thing he did when he walked into class, he dropped his pants all the way to his ankles. His teacher and I had a huge laugh, what a great way to start the day!!

Happy New Year!

I just love the start of a new year. It's like flipping the page and starting a new chapter. Here's to making better decisions, or saying bye-bye to our nasty little habits. Every year it's the same, I have a list and if I accomplish 3 or 4 by the following New Year, I'm doing good! Chris has his own list and we also have a combined list. I think it's important to share, I want as many people that I know to hold me accountable!

So here are a few of mine...

1. Diet & Exercise (I think this one is in the top 5 for a lot of people)
2. Patience
3. Spending more time together as a family
3. Cut back on random spending (I don't know why, but I impulse shop out of boredom)
4. Pay off bills

Getting older just gets more and more complicated...

It seems like the years are getting shorter and shorter. Maybe that's because William is doing so much and our lives are getting busier. Chris and I try so hard not to under estimate William. He's one smart cookie!! We spent this New Year's at Aunt Deidra and Uncle Brian's house and pretty much stayed all week! It was a fun and relaxing time! 2009 is already jam packed with fun little stressful changes, we needed some R&R before it all began.

Chris got a new job that begins on Monday...YAY!!! He's doing outside sales for a company in Austin. He loves to sale and was itching to get back to work so I'm very happy for him! He's also attending Texas State at the Round Rock campus at night so he'll have a lot on his plate for a few months. But it's nothing he can't handle.

As for me, I will be staying at home with William!!!! YAY!!! I have been itching to be a "Stay at Home Mom" since William was 2 months old and now it's finally happening!!! For the first time since I was 16 I will not be earning a paycheck....yikes! I'm not going to lie, I'm nervous...but ready at the same time.

And finally we are moving in about 45 days. That's our biggest stress right now. We haven't found a place to live just yet. Chris and I are flip-flopping and really struggling to make the right decision. We've always done things just on the fly in the past, and it's always came back to bite us in the butt later down the road. We are thinking of either renting a house, or staying in our complex but a different apartment. The goal is to save money and get a house of our own in 6-9 months...I just see us saving more money in an apartment, but would love the freedom of a house. Decisions, decisions....

2009 will be awesome, Happy New Year everyone!!!