Big Boy Bed

I knew it would happen eventually, I was just hoping to hold it off a few more months. But, Aaron had other plans when he climbed right out of his crib when I put him down for a nap Sunday afternoon. I think it was that Curious George episode he watched right before...gave him bad ideas. He knew enough to not come out of his room, but I heard him playing (very quietly) with his train table. When I put him back in the crib, of course, he climbed right back out. I did make him stay in his room for about an hour before he could come out. He seemed to be having a lot of fun playing in his dark quiet room. I, however, was not ready to engage in a power struggle of staying in bed, and definately was not ready to give up my...I mean his...afternoon nap time.

So, after giving up on the nap, Greg and I foraged through the storage unit looking for the toddler bed conversion stuff. I was dreading bed time that evening, which is probably why I put it off until an our past his usual time. Side note: how do kids have more energy when they've skipped a nap? But, bed time actually went okay. I think he was a little confused on what he was supposed to do. He got out of bed a couple of times and tried to play in his room, but scurried right back into bed when I told him to. He did finally fall asleep, but woke up screaming on the floor about 12:00 am. As you can see from the picture, the side rails are fairly useless when the child sleeps in the middle of the bed. I decided to give it another try, but I might have to invest in some more side rails. I really felt like a bad mom when nothing in the world could console him except his favorite TV show. What happened to my little baby who just needed some cuddles and soft singing? After a little Spider Patch, he did go back to sleep, but woke up early at 6:40. Fortunately, nap time went really well this afternoon, no falling out at all. So, I guess my little boy is making yet another transition into a big boy. 3 more weeks until his 2nd birthday!

Capitol Tour

After living in Austin for 3 months, we finally took a day to visit the capitol building and grounds. It's a very interesting place and a great way to spend the day with the family. The capitol grounds are in the heart of downtown, so it was a fun walk up the historic streets of Austin, as well. This is a picture of the rotunda. We saw portraits of important Texas battles and important Texas people, like Davy Crockett :)

Aaron and Greg in front of the capitol building. Aaron was more interested in the cars and trucks driving by.

After our tour of the capitol, we sat down for a relaxing picnic in the connected park.

As we walked back to our car, there was some sort of street fair going on on 6th Street. This is the party street of Austin and is often blocked off for fairs, etc. There were also lots of people in town for the UT game and still many people left from the hurricane.

After our visit downtown we couldn't resist making the drive down to Kyle to see the start on our home. It's somewhat encouraging to see houses in the area that were not there 2 weeks ago. We talked with our sales guy and we were "told" the end of November was still what they were shooting for. They would like to have a closing before the end of their fiscal year, which is the end of November. I would love to get in as soon as possible also, but I also want a house that's going to stay together! After checking this out, we found an awesome Mexcian place in town, which I'm sure we'll visit much more in the future.

Haircut

The curly mohawk was cute for a while, but we decided to go ahead and give Aaron his first (at-home) hair-cut today! He did really well with the buzzer, but didn't let me use the scissors. And yes...I did save some to scrapbook!
Before...

Before...

After...

Another visit to Zilker

My friend, Janessa, and I took 5 kids to Zilker park today (Aaron, her two and two children she is watching for a neighbor). It has cooked down quite a bit here (for a while anyway). Today is in the upper 70s and it was a perfect day to enjoy the park, walk along the creek watching all the dogs who jump in and swim, and have a picnic. Aaron is sleeping away right now as I steal a few minutes for a quick update. Unfortunately I forgot my camera, so no cute pics of this one.

It's been interesting to see and hear about all the evacuees from Ike that are making their temporary home in Austin. Most of the power is out in Houston and Galveston sounds like it may never be the same again. We read about 5,000 people are staying in Austin until power is restored in the area. So, at the parks we see lots of families hanging out with their dogs and know they are evacuees. As far as Austin and the hurricane, it passed right by us, we didn't even get a drop of rain! It sounds like that happens quite a bit as hurricanes come by, but it was an exciting couple of days wondering what it might be like to be in a hurricane. But, hopefully we won't ever have to find out!

In house news...the building has officially (finally) started! We are the proud almost owners of some plumbing and foundation form boards. We will be going down for a pre-construction orientation next week. We are excited to see some progress and look forward to moving in soon!

They arrest people for this!

I just got back from Walgreens and they paid me $6.80 for unloading all this from them!

Chex Mix on sale for .99 with $1.00 off coupon http://www.chex.com/Snacks/fantasyfootball/, free after coupon.

Colgate on sale for 2.99 with B1G1 coupon from Walgreens add (you can find this in the store) combined with 2 $1.50 here http://www.colgate.com/app/ColgateTotal/US/EN/Total-Advanced/Home.cvsp, free after coupons.

Visine on sale for 3.99 with $2 Walgreens Super Saver coupon (from booklet you can find in store) and $2 coupon you can find on http://www.couponcravings.com/. You'll need to scroll down and find the post about Visine. free after coupons.

And the best...Robitussin on sale for $3.99 with $3 coupon https://j.ovm1.net/wch1/Robitussinstandalone/default.aspx?c=1373&p=ROB06019&s=01Get 3 Robitussin (the regular, not the Max), use 3 of these coupons and you'll receive $10 in Register Rewards to use on you next purchase. This should be $3.20 or so with tax out of pocket.

The Robitussin coupon is great because you can print as many as you want. It takes you to a you computer's print screen. You can make the number of copies as many as you'd like. So, go and make money at Walgreens! This deal is good for the entire month! If we get a bad cold this winter, we'll be set. But, I'll plan on giving some of these away to friends or a shelter.

I'm having a good time getting these deals and so far have saved about 25% on our grocery budget. I'm hoping to save another %25 next month.

Labor Day Cookout

We've been enjoying going to local parks and cooking on the grills for outings lately. So, that' s what we did on Labor Day. Here are Greg and Aaron waiting for their hot dogs and hamburgers. Aaron ate only watermelon. I think he could probably eat an entire watermelon himself!

House update...We had a slight set-back when we had to switch lots (again). For some reason they couldn't do the covered patio. So, we were moved to a different lot, which is actually an even better lot. It's a little bigger and on a smaller culdesac (only 6 other housed in the street). The back lots around the circle part of the culdesac are not going to be developed, so there will be a large green area and paved place for us to hang out and play. I was told they are starting the plumbing at the end of this week and will hopefully have the foundation poured by the end of next week. That will put us a week behind our original time-line. Hopefully I can get a completion date soon, so we can look forward to an end to this apartment! I would love to be in by Thanksgiving, but early December seems more realistic.

I've found a couple of possibilities on places to hold Kindermusik classes in Kyle starting in January. I'm working with a woman with an established program in Austin and her experience has been very helpful in this process. I'm meeting with a church in Kyle, which is very close to our house, tomorrow evening. Hopefully that will work out, but we'll see!

For right now we are enjoying a lot of free time and looking forward to our new home and finally getting settled!