Texas (n/k/a Wisconsin) Ducks: December 2004

Just a quick good-bye from our homestead in Texas! See y'all in when we're the Texas (now-known-as Wisconsin) Ducks! Cheers and love!

Oh There's No Place Like No Place for the Holidays

(this is my new Christmas carol for the year as we'll be on the road)

Just a quick note to say Happy Holidays to all and that we'll be seeing some of you soon and we'll be leaving some of your soon and we are blessed to have you all in our lives.

Cheers and love-
The Texas (soon-to-be Wisconsin) Ducks

What flavor Coke do you want?

Got this from my friends at Iowa Geek

I can't believe that someone spent time on this and probably got paid. I want this job. Statistician of Useless Information I think is the actual job title.

Enjoy!

Where's Cashew?!

NOTE: For those of you unfamiliar, Cashew is the beloved bear of Miss Grace.

Recently Grace has become more and more dependent on Cashew to be with her throughout the day. He used to live in the crib and be mainly for sleeping, but now she panics when she's outside of the crib and he's "behind bars" so they have to hang out together.

Yesterday I was getting ready to put her down for her morning nap and as usual was hunting for Cashew in all the usual hiding places. Nope, not on the kitchen floor. Not hiding in the Play Room. Not hanging out with Grizz (Mommy's teddy bear). Hmmmm...

You'll never guess where that silly old bear had gotten off to! Check out the photo below!

Yup! Grace figured out how to open the lid of the garbage can this week, and apparantly Cashew was checking out the goods, or maybe just playing Hide & Seek? Thank God we had emptied the trash that morning and that his little feet got caught!

One Week and Counting

Well, we're down to one week before we leave. For those of you keeping tabs on the things we need to get done, here's where we stand.

1. Finding a house- Yes! It's done! We have what has been described to me as a fabulous rental on a lake that is near downtown. We signed a 6 mos. lease, but the owner may want to sell in the summer. Sadly (and understand I have yet to even see it!) it's very pricey to buy (About $500K), so we'll be on the move again once he does find a buyer. I got the new address all printed up nicely on the Christmas cards that went out this week and like, I trusted the information on the Lease to be accurate...which turns out was a mistake...the zip is wrong, it should be 53704.

2. Finding a car- No. The search continues. My car is still looking for a new owner as well although I don't suspect she gathers the enormity (i.e. it's permanence) of the situation at this point.

3. Packing- No. The movers are doing this and I couldn't be happier! We will still do a few more things, but for the most part, it's all them, baby! Honestly, Peanut would get so worked up when I'd pack (from the bending over) that I think this is really for the best.

4. Moving Date. Ummmm, yeah...we'll be on our way after B's last day at work which is officially Dec. 23, therefore, no need to set a place at the Christmas Dinner table for the 3.5 of us. We'll be on the road (maybe in a rental, maybe in my new car...who knows, at least we'll finally be on our way!).

Other than that, it's been a good week. Grace finished up at her school (which she now loves...of course!), we had our final playgroup with her friends and are hoping that Ghost and Joe (the horses) will come around this weekend for a final good-bye carrot as well.

Oh and as to the pictures in the Christmas cards. Yeah, I screwed those up. I tried to crop the image which messed with the resolution and made them grainy. Next year I promise will be the end to our crappy, grainy digital cards...I have a year to get it right!

Cheers and love-
The Texas (soon-to-be Wisconsin) Ducks

Grace decided that eating off of the floor was far more interesting than sitting in a highchair.

The shadow on this one makes it hard to see, but here's my Tummy Time shot for 24 weeks! We're growing...still not in maternity (yea!!!), but there's still lots and lots of rolling and moving going on in there!

My new "cowgirl" outfit from my Honorary Aunt Rhonda! :)

Havin' fun with Cashew and an empty basket (which in the not-so-distant past was full of links which are now strewn across the living room floor!)!

Sometimes when going through pictures I run across oldies but goodies...here's one of Brandon and I at our wedding ceremony! Awwwwwww....

We attended a Christmas Party for our moms' club this afternoon and had a blast. Here is Grace checking out the man in red...she was very interested in him!

Grace looking awfully cute in her Christmas dress...

Mommy with Grace who enjoyed opening the decorative presents up by Santa...Ooooops!

Here are Grace and her good friend Sophie riding the Christmas Train to the North Pole!

TWO BITS!!!!!!!

I feel like Roger Rabbit shaking so uncontrollably until he just couldn't stand it no more!

For those of you who are too intelligent to remember the movie, "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" there's a scene where some bad guys are tying to lure Roger from his hiding space by tapping out, "Shave and a haircut..." over and over again because they know if there's one thing a Toon can't resist it's completing this sing-songy nonsensical rhyme with, "...two bits!!!!!" And finally, the urge gets the better of Roger. He shakes, he bites hit tongue, but the pressure to respond is there and he finally succumbs to the pressure and leaps out from hiding to yell, "...two bits!!!!!!" So while I would normally like to think of myself being somewhat more comparable to the reserved and cool Jessica Rabbit (va-va-va-voom!) today I am just Roger jumping out and shouting, "...two bits!"

Finally we are able to break our silence and announce that we will be moving to Madison, Wisconsin in a little less than two weeks. This sounds very sudden for those of your just being invited to partake in the highly sought after loop of Duck Gossip (yes, People is just knocking down our doors trying to figure out what we're up to next!), but we've been interviewing, traveling, crying (OK, that was really just me), researching and contemplating for three months. Timing for Brandon to give his notice has been terrible with his boss being out, then B going to Madison to find a place for us to live, and then his boss being out again. But finally the news is out in the open.

Grace is too young to know what's going on and this is a great opportunity for Brandon, so for today, let's focus on me. It's therapeutic. For me. For you, it's just a long look into my mind, so grab some coffee, sit down and relax, you'll be here for awhile.

I'm torn apart about the move. Very. We've just completed our home here, spent three years fostering relationships and planting our roots in Austin. It's warm (or at the very coldest, cool) year round which allows me to walk with Grace and be outside most of the year (even if we have to wait to walk until 7 PM in the summer because it's so hot).

But on the flip-side I have this fabulous opportunity to go back home and be closer to family, which is very important to me. I want Grace and Peanut to grow up knowing their grandparents and cousins. I want them to remember seeing family more than once or twice a year. Then there's the changing of the seasons. I'm thrilled that they'll get the opportunity to know the changing colors of the leaves, the gentleness of falling snow and the growth of the buds on the trees in the spring. I also want for them to walk barefoot in the grass without worrying about fire ants, scorpions, coral snakes or any of the other numerous things that might want to eat you down here.

There, I feel much better. The pros, the cons...really not resolving anything but at least it's out there. Let's summarize, I'm excited, but sad...all at once. And I didn't mention this previously, but I still hate the snow. Nice to look at from a big picture window whilst sipping hot cocoa by a hot roaring fire, not nice to drive/walk/slide around in.

That's it for now. I'm packing, slowly but surely, packing up the house that we just moved into with delusions of long-term residency. Nope, ain't gonna happen. And for those of you tracking my moves, this is #10 in eight years which includes four cross-country moves.

We'll keep you posted, but our estimated date of departure is somewhere a few days before Christmas, because there's nothing like the stress of the holidays unless it's the stress of the holidays mixed with moving, pregnancy and a 20 hour car trip with a one year-old!

Oh, and since you sat so nicely and patiently for my long, drawn out pity party here are some pictures of the cute and adorable Miss Grace for you ogle over.

Love to all-

I think she was trying to call Daddy on the "phone" when he was in WI looking for a house, or maybe she was just trying to order some pizza...

This is about the only way I can get Grace to sit still for pictures lately...strap her in a chair and give her food!

This picture is a little dark, but I thought it was cute. Cashew and Grace...best friends forever. We had to buy a "back-up Cashew" on Ebay because he got barfed on one day and I wasn't sure he'd make it through the wash. He did, but it definitely got us thinking about an emergency plan for the future should anything happen to the silly old bear.

It's very hard work being one...playing consumes most of the day when Grace isn't tearing apart something...laundry basket, kitchen cabinets, you name it...

Sunny Day!

It's a beautiful sunny day here and I think that Grace and I are going to feed the fat pony things down the road this afternoon. Last week we pulled the carrots we grew for them and they've just kind of been sitting in limbo on the back patio waiting to be eaten. Today might just be their lucky day!

I went in for a doctor's appointment today. Peanut was wild and crazy, it took the nurse awhile to find the heartbeat. I wasn't worried though, I could feel him flopping around like a maniac the whole time. The FHR is back up to the 150s...hmmmmmm...I don't know what to think now. Maybe his heart rate was elevated due to the aerobics he was performing?!?! We shall see...

After that I got to go and spend some time with my friend Shanna, "the other Grace" and the triplets! They are just darling! Margaret, Allison and Rachel were born on Sept. 30, so they're about 2.5 months old and look just like tiny baby dolls. For all the wishing I've done for twins, I think I'm thankful that I'm just having one this time around. A 1.5 year old and a newborn will be a handful, I'm constantly in awe of Shanna who has the triplets and 17 month old Grace! What a truly amazing woman!

That's about it for today. I'm trying to get some good pictures of Grace to post, mostly she's just running away from the camera or trying to stick her hands on the lens lately. It was SOOOOO much easier when all she did was sit still and smile!

Cheers and love-

Things

Just a few updates...

1. Grace's really big and exciting news is that she has been asked to be a flower girl in Daddy's cousin, Adam's (and Maria!), wedding. She is taking the task very seriously, but will need to practice sitting still for pictures as you'll see in the photos below. Congratulations to Maria and Adam!!!

2. I finished her crib bedding...woohoo!!!!!! I would like to do some accent pieces (a runner for her cabinet, some stretched fabric over canvas to be used as art, and possibly a matching blanket with pink fur on one side and the black/white toile on the other side), but those will come in time.

3. Nothing else to report just yet, stay tuned though...

Love to all-