Random Happenings

It's been a long time since I've posted, but I haven't been taking many pictures lately!

Let's see, we've had colds running through our family the last couple of weeks, so that has put me out of commission for awhile.

Chris decided to use the end of his Christmas vacation by installing LED can lights in the kitchen! We are asking ourselves, "Why didn't we do this seven years ago??" Yes, in March we will have been in our house for seven years.

BEFORE with the hideous fluorescent light bar... ugh

AFTER with five beautiful can lights! (Don't worry, Chris later patched the gaping hole.)

We also bought some LED light strips at IKEA to install under my cabinets and help illuminate the counters. I'll try to post pictures when they are in!

Chris is the best man in a wedding on Friday. Unfortunately, the bride has come down with the flu, so the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner were cancelled. I was looking forward to a delicious dinner at a fancy restaurant, but I do appreciate not being exposed to the flu. Still, not sure what they're doing about the wedding!

I started Weight Watchers over a week ago. I have thought about it for a long time because I seem to very gradually be gaining weight ever since having babies (not counting the weight lost after each baby, but it never gets down to pre-baby weight). When I pay for something, I have to get my money's worth, so I knew that would be good motivation for me. It has really made a difference to track my eating on the app, and I like the ease of recipes that tell me exactly how many points it will cost me to eat that meal. My first weigh-in was Tuesday, and I lost 3.4 lbs. the first week! That just goes to show you how badly I was eating before... the main habit I've had to break is eating cookies and such after the kids go to bed. I can't lie, I often feel like I'm depriving myself, but the upshot is that I feel quite accomplished when my willpower overcomes my cravings! I'm just aiming to lose about ten pounds, so I'll try to keep you posted.

The kids are doing well, besides the fact that one or the other is constantly sick. They have been playing together more and more frequently--Noah loves to have Audrey in his room, playing in the tent with him. Audrey is babbling all the time but also says more words than I can count. She's been developing her animal sounds lately--my faves are the lion and the rooster--and I have noticed she can follow pretty complicated directions, such as, "Pick up the keychain and take it back to Noah's room," and, "Put your pajamas in your laundry basket." It is fascinating to watch her little brain develop so quickly!

Noah and Audrey in downtown Fort Worth on New Year's Eve

We have some trips in the works in March and April--one with five other couples from church, so that's exciting! We're renting a house on a lake and just spending a fun weekend together without kids. The other trip is yet another of Chris's "surprises" with which he can never actually follow through... it was supposed to be a surprise trip for my 30th birthday, but he told me about it. We're going to a bed and breakfast down in Wimberley, which is a quaint little town in the Texas hill country. I'm looking forward to some weekend getaways!