Family Photos

We had our good friend from dental school, Sam, come to see us.  He lives in Colorado Spring so hopefully we can have many more get togethers.  While Sam was here, we had him take our family photos.  Sam didn't know what he'd gotten into with trying to capture photos of Nathan.  But we bribed Sam with Cafe Rio so he was willing to try.  It was a struggle to get Nathan to want to sit and look at the camera, but we got a few good ones!

Refinishing Furniture

It all started with getting a new TV for Christmas.  Since our new TV wouldn't fit our entertainment center it was time for something new.  And for some reason we decided we should refinish a piece of furniture to fit our taste.  Over the holidays.  And if we were going to go with white, we would need to change the coffee table to match.  So much work.  I'm not sure if I would do it again now knowing how much time and work it was going to take.  But one thing is for sure, I love how they turned out.

But if you're ever crazy like me and think you want to refinish a piece of furniture here are some dos and don'ts.

- If you send your husband to pick up your furniture from someone off Craigslist make sure he knows that if it smells like pot to not buy it.
- If your husband does buy stinky smelly smoky furniture, add some baking soda and let it sit a week.  Vacuum it up.  And if you definitely don't want it to stink, wash it with some Murphy's Oil soap.
- Just buy a palm sander.  It saved me so much time.  I found a cheap one on Amazon for $20.  Best $20 spent in this whole project.
- After buying said sander, sand your project before you start priming.  Even if your primer says it'll adhere to anything, it's still worth the effort.
- If you want to go for a high gloss with a super smooth finish go with an oil based paint.  More of a pain to clean up, but it'll give you a better result.  We used a water-based semi gloss with a smoothing additive and it worked ok.  We ended up having to add a gloss over top because the smoothing additive toned down the semi-gloss.  And the smoothing additive didn't work great either.
- Buy the more expensive tape.  I brought the regular blue kind (but it said it had an anti-bleeding seal!) when I should have bought frog tape.  I had so much bleeding from the stain.
- Tack cloth is AMAZING.  I found out about it for staining, but I really wish I would have had it for painting too.  It's a sticky cloth that picks up all the teeny tiny particles of dust.
- Also, stain first, then paint.
- Refinish over the summer.  Then you don't have to keep your project warm with space heaters in the garage.
- I stained with a combo stain and polyurethane in one.  It turned out super matte.  So I ended back at Lowe's for a can of polyurethane.
- And when you think you might go crazy, just get your husband to come help.

Christmas 2015

This year Christmas came up so quick.  I've been so so so busy.  Lots of calls to our insurance company, setting up a new insurance plan for Nathan, ordering Christmas, two trips to the ER, all of us getting sick multiple times, and starting two new therapies for Nathan.  And then we were getting a new TV for Christmas so I needed to figure out a new TV stand.  So why not refinish a piece of furniture along with everything else I was doing?

But actually celebrating Christmas was great.  Brad took time off work and we spent time together.  Everyone had colds so we just wanted to stay home and relax.

Christmas Eve we had our traditional Mexican for dinner, followed by watching the Nativity, making spritz cookies, and a few other Christmas shows.  Then we read the Christmas story to the kids and it was time for bed.  Once the kids were down it was time to get Christmas ready.  There were no presents under a tree so we pulled them all out from their hiding spots.  And stuffed the stockings.  And wrapped a few more presents.  And preassembled toys and put in batteries so everything would be ready to play with.  There was a lot to get ready!

Once the kids were up on Christmas morning, we played "Joy to the World" and let the kids go down and see their presents.  And there were a lot of presents.  It took us hours to open them all.  Nathan was just enjoying playing with each new toy.  And we had to stop for some French pancakes for breakfast.  It was Evy's first time eating French pancakes and she loved them!

One of my favorite moments was watching Nathan when he opened up Woody and Buzz.  It was like he couldn't believe it.  He wouldn't touch them for a while.  It took Mom and Dad playing with them before he was willing to hold them.  And then they were inseparable.  Nathan wanted to bring Woody everywhere with him.  Nathan also got a new Thomas flashlight, Thomas books, a dinosaur, bath toys, and Lightning McQueen.

Little Miss Evy got her fair share too.  Dollies, necklaces, books about babies, a cell phone, a puppy.  Oh she loved everything.  But her favorite was her ride on toy.  Maybe it would be more correct to say it was both of the kids new favorite toy.  Nathan loves that he can ride his bike and Evy can ride with him.  He wants her to be right there with him and she squeals with delight.  It's really so cute to see them riding together.

And I surprised Brad with a gift!  Count that as my second or third time ever surprising Brad with a gift.  He always figures out what his gift is before I can give it to him so I'm super excited I was able to surprise him again.  It's a card game from Brad's childhood called The Children's Quiz.  I have looked for years to find it with no luck.  Well, I found a company that would custom print a deck for me.  I had Janet bring the cards with her at Thanksgiving and I copied down all of the cards.  Then I designed the cards and had them printed.  Brad was so surprised and he actually thought it was a really cool gift.

Pretty much all of our Christmas was our new family room.  New TV, new TV stand, refinished coffee table, new slipcover, and new pillows.  It's so different and I love it.  We'd had red and black for a very long time and it doesn't allow for many different design choices.  Now everything is pretty neutral and I can change things up.  And I love how bright it is now.

The rest of the break was spent watching Christmas movies, eating yummy holiday food including lots of French Pancakes, and playing with the kids.  It was really nice to spend time at home and enjoy our Christmas as a family.

Sensory Friendly Santa

Normally, I wouldn't bring Nathan to see Santa.  The noise and the crowds is a recipe for Nathan to have a sensory meltdown.  It wouldn't be fun for anyone.

Nathan's occupation therapist let us know that the mall near us was offering a sensory friendly Santa this year.  They set up a special time for kids with autism and sensory processing disorders to come see Santa.

They really made visiting Santa autism-friendly.  They turned off the loud Christmas music and turned down the lights.  They had appointments set up so they could control how many people were there at a time.  They had a play table set up with beads, bubbles, slinkies, crayons and coloring books, I Spy bags, and glitter water bottles (all things kids with autism usually love.)  Nathan loved playing with all their toys.  I waited in line to see Santa while Nate got to play.  I think the best part was that all the parents there had a kid with special needs so if anything did happen it really wasn't a big deal.  I talked to a dad and mom in line with two boys (4 & 2) and it was fun chatting about life with autism.

Nathan actually loved visiting Santa.  It kinda surprised me because we really don't talk about Santa.  I did talk him up on the way to see Santa so maybe that got Nate really excited.  But we got up to the front of the line and Nathan said, "Santa Claus!"  He went right over and gave him a high 5 and a pound it turkey.  And he gave us the best grins for the camera.  Evy, not so much.  She was a little worried about being left with a stranger.  Nathan told Santa he wanted a Thomas for Christmas.

The whole event was put on by the Autism Society of Colorado.  One of the ladies who works there has been helping me figure out some insurance stuff and I've been calling her a lot.  She was at the event and so I introduced myself and Nathan.  She immediately gave me a big hug.  After we visited Santa, she came over and told me the news was coming to do a story on the event.  She asked me if I would be interviewed.  Since she has been helping me out so much I really couldn't say no.

So if you want to see Nathan on the news, here you go!

Evelyn's Nursery

There are so many things that I love about Evelyn's nursery.  The colors, the flowers, the homemade touches.  I'm so happy with how it turned out.  My starting point was the colors.  I've always loved the combo of pink, green, and yellow together.  From there I went fabric shopping. I've always loved Heather Bailey's fabrics and I found a great deal on the perfect fabric to make crib sheets out of.  Add a ruffled cribs skirt (which took waaaay longer that I thought.)  And quilts too!  I'm so happy with the orange peel quilt.  It's hands down my favorite thing I've ever made.  There is one very special blanket in Evy's room.  One of Brad's patients crocheted Evy a beautiful baby blanket.  It was so sweet of her to make it. She said it was the last one she was ever going to make because her arthritis was getting too bad.  Also, I'm so in love with Evy's mobile.  Oh I love how the light comes in and makes all the crystals shine. It's such a fun and girly room for our cute little girl.

Nathan's Big Boy Room

I sure love Nathan's bright and cheery room.  I used a lot of things from his nursery.  And I love the bookcase in his room.  It's perfect for him to grab books and have all his toys out for him to see.  Now I just need to make him a quilt for his bed!

Evelyn at 10 Months

- Evy's got a few new tricks this month.  My favorite is raising both her arms for, "So big."  She also does "Ta da!" which is one hand up.  She started doing it on her own like she was saying, "Look what I did!"  And she likes to clap.
- Still won't say momma.  It's all dadadadada.
- Evy's got a new word.  Uh oh.



- Evelyn got her first teeth!  What a surprise.  Nate got his first tooth at 12 months so I wasn't expecting to have her teething for another 2 months.  She was a little bit of a grump with them coming in, but now they're in she's sleeping so much better.  She's got 4 more teeth looking like they're on their way.

- She's a pretty good napper for me.  Knock on wood.
- She loves looking outside.
- Still trying to eat everything.

- She does the cutest little head waggle.  She usually does it in her high chair, but I've caught her doing it while crawling too.
- Evy loves books with babies in them.  She'll coo and talk to them.  Too cute.
- Evy is such a little climber.  I've found her on top of Nate's bed, her ottoman, and a box of blankets. She just finds a way.  Too bad she hasn't figured out how to get down.



- Her hair is getting so long!  I'm starting to clip it away from her face.
- She loves to snuggle with a blanket when she is falling asleep in mommies arms.
- Her favorite place to be is the bathroom.  She just loves bath time so much.  She'll crawl in there, climb up next to the tub, and try to reach in for the toys.

- Poor little girl has to put up with so much from her brother.  Like him wanting to catch a ride while she is crawling.  She usually is so good natured about it.

- They have had their sweeter moments this month.  Nate loves showing her stuff and she likes to follow him.  He even has started to give her spontaneous hugs.  I love when they are playing together.  Seriously the best.

Thanksgiving with the Packers

What's Thanksgiving without family?  Doug and Janet came to visit us and we had such a great weekend.  And of course, if there are Packers, there is lots of pie.  We may or may not have had it for breakfast.

Last year, Janet and I went to Home Depot and picked out a Christmas tree.  It was all bundled up so we couldn't see it very well.  Once we got it home, we realized we had picked out a short and scrawny tree.  It was so bad we actually ran out again and bought another tree.  So this year we were instructed to get a full and tall tree.  The pressure was on, but boy did we deliver.  Our tree is huge.  It was labeled as a 9-10 ft tree, but it's actually closer to 12.  Nate was so happy to help us decorate the tree.

Matt and Vanessa came over with their kids one afternoon.  The kids played in the snow and we put together a puzzle and ate more pie.

We gave the kids their Christmas jammies so they could wear them through the Christmas season. And then Grandma read the kids lots of Christmas stories around the tree.

All in all, the perfect Thanksgiving.  We really have been blessed this year.  We're so grateful to be in Colorado.  We really do love it here.  It feels like home. And I'm so glad we're closer to family.  We're grateful for the great program that Brad's in.  We are so thankful that little Evelyn joined our family this year.  She really brings our whole family a lot of joy.  We're grateful for the services and therapy Nathan is getting out here.  And we're especially grateful for the progress he's made. I'm so grateful for my wonderful family.  They bring so many blessings into our lives.  We really are so blessed.