the sweetest thing

I have mentioned Justin is installing a tankless water heater in our house, well it has yet to be installed. It isn't Justin's fault, literally the man is great at anything he tries to do.

In fact, he even got a professional to come and check out his work.  

But low and behold, it's the actual heater that doesn't work.

So, Justin's countless hours of working, redirecting lines and pipes have all been a bust, because it's the unit that is faulty.

ANYWAY---this makes for 5 days without HOT water.  And yes we've been doing the boiling the water on the stove and bathing ordeal.

But, washing my super long hair in bath water has been hard and it takes a lot of water, many trips to the stove and back to get it done.  So I've been using dry shampoo and/or wearing my favorite ball cap.  (Thank goodness I am a SAHM because no one needs to see my hair!!)  

Well last night after Justin had put in another four hours of work on the heater after coming home from his full time job, he offered to wash my hair.

:)

We put the baby's mattress on the counter (long and narrow so it fit just right) and my head over the sink....

Justin boiled me some water (added lots of ice) and he washed my hair!

It was just like a salon (or better) because I had someone I loved talking to me and I was laying down comfortably in my pjs.

He washed and conditioned it!  And now I feel like a new woman!

**When my husband was a little boy he would wash the clients hair at his parents salon in California as a side job.  

Justin had exactly the right touch!

It really felt like a professional doing it---and you know how nice it is to have your hair washed in the beauty shop!

So I've been thinking regardless of the hot water coming back, I may not return to doing my own hair ;)

lol kidding!

Where have I been!?

Oh my how far behind I am!

I've missed blogging so much but life has taken over and it has not slowed down much yet.

First off, I went home to Atlanta-Texas last week.  (A very long 6 hour drive--thanks Dad who came and got us!)  --Btw, new mommies--Kie did NOT cry one bit!  I had 5 bottles of breast milk and a portable DVD player with Baby Einstein playing!  It helped out tremendously!!

Anyway, I was looking forward to a relaxing weekend in the country but it was anything BUT that!  I was happy to see a lot of sweet friends (Emily, Nikki, Donna, Kimberly, Beccah) and their even sweeter babies (Jonas, Naomi, Brady).  Amazing how motherhood bonds you closer to people!

 I also got to see a lot of family and get some help with little man. Of course, my father waking me and Kie up at 5 am to see if he "can hold Kie now?!" was a bit annoying at times...but I still loved how much LOVE Kie got while we were home....err, while I was home!

Though both my parents were working the week we were in town, I was able to get SOME down time to relax, I got my hair colored--got a great massage--visited the dentist (my lovely father) and also got my eyes checked.  It was a very short, productive, quick week and none of the time was long enough to sit and actually blog.

And really, so much has been going on I don't know where to begin.

Week before last was SXSW.  It was a crazy mad town here in Austin.  We were able to see a few concerts...and it was so fun to go as a FAMILY.

Daddy J, Baby K and Momma HK

St Patty's Day--Kie man is wearing his green!

Beautiful Austin, Texas

blurry skyline

fireworks after the Blue October show

Kie watching the fireworks! His first concert/first fireworks!

loved those big eyes and big leg rolls
*yes he's wearing a GRATEFUL DEAD onesie.  He's meant to be a rocker baby. 
(Though I am holding his ears with a blankie!)

Kie laughing with our (his) friend Michelle

We got to see The Strokes, Blue October and Bowling for Soup!  It was a fun few nights on the town with our friends.  And Little Man also had a great time! :) 

This week has been a bit crazy after I got back from Atlanta.

Justin has been busy working on the house, putting up new fence, staining our big deck and installing our new tankless water heater!  I'm so excited because where the water heater ONCE was is now a new empty closet that will be converted to a pantry!  Also it meant, we've not had hot water for a day or two.

 SO we had to boil our bath water on the stove with all our pots and pans.  It was kinda funny.  I felt like I was back in time, filling the tub up with warm water.

Thankfully I have an awesome husband who 'drew' my bath water for me.  And for Kie.

This weekend we are officially PLANTING our garden.  I'm so excited.  We got the soil ready and our garden area marked.  We have a lot of vegetables and herbs ready to plant!  I also got some new planting tools.  And a really big umbrella to put on our deck so Kie can lay in his pack n' play (safely out of the sun) and watch his momma garden.

I can't wait to enjoy FRESH, homegrown, organic vegetables!  

Also, on the road to healthiness (minus the milkshake I had last night) I have lost 11 lbs!  Initially after having Kie I lost 20 lbs in 3 weeks.  Since then, things have slowed down. But now, I started back losing and have slowly lost another 11lbs.

I don't know if I mentioned this before, but I had bought a bathing suit for our beach trip this coming summer and it actually looked good.  It's cute, but modest.  And it didn't look as bad as I thought.

So, I'm excited to see what it looks like on me with a little bit more weight off.  I still would LOVE to lose another 20 lbs. but either way I'm starting to fit better in my jeans and that's all that matters to me.

well I don't want to make this into a super long BLOG.

I promise to do better.

Life should calm down some.

Ha! I will probably eat those words.

Though a little man update:

Kie is rolling from back to tummy, and the back to his back.  He has started crawling! His form of crawling is scooting backwards.

He is also started to cry louder. (Not a fun update!)

Guess he's showing off his bigger baby lungs!

Anyway--Im nursing and blogging :)

But I'm going to go so I can love on my lil man!

Until next time,

-HK-

Twins!

sweet baby

working out his legs and arms with Dad

eating out

Lil Man making a Home Depot trip

Meme (my French grandmother) and Kie in Atlanta

Mardi Gras & a wee bit of venting

It's been nearly a year since I found out we were pregnant.

It's crazy what a year can do.  (That was my motto of 2010).

But I'll get to that in just a bit.

Right now the Knuth household has been a bit under the weather.  My husband got sick the weekend before last.  He was finally getting over some horrible virus when Friday--- Kie and I got sick!  Kie had a fever of 103.4 which terrified me!  Luckily I have some great momma friends, nurse friends and pharmacy friends that helped me through the tough time.

Kie actually got a lot better in a matter of twenty-four hours!  Which is way better than Justin and I.  Justin took a week to get over his flu/virus fun.  I think it took so long for him to get well because my man works so much that it gave him little time to get better.

As for me, I still am under the weather.  Yet Kie is thriving!  I swear, breast milk does wonders! He does have a little cough though.
   I feel like I've been more sick this year (2011) than I ever have.  Just a month ago I was sick for a few weeks.  I think my immune system took a hit with pregnancy, my surgery (c-section) and all the complications.  And not to mention I breast feed around the clock.  That means little sleep for momma.  Though I may add, there are the few nights every now and then Kie wakes up only once or twice.  Which I can definitely deal. Yet it's those nights he prefers to wake, eat and play all night that wears me out.

Speaking of, Kie turned four months on Thursday!  Which meant his four month shots.  (Not fun for a momma or for baby.)  Kie was looking and feeling great with the doctor.  But of course his fever and virus came in on Friday evening RIGHT when the doctor's office closed.  Funny how that seems to happen.

Lil man is now 16lbs & 8oz! And 25 inches!  He is growing so fast!  

I have a lot of funny pictures I'll be posting soon.

This weekend was spent having quality time with family.  It was so nice.  (Minus the loads of medicine I was taking and monitoring Kie like a hawk!)  Also, ladies and mommies....I have the Snuza Halo now and I'm so glad it came in when it did. 

I got it from Amazon.  It really helped give me a peace of mind this weekend when Kie was sick.  Mainly because it monitors his movements and breathing.  Since Kie is coughing I was worried about shallow breathing, luckily the Snuza helped me feel as though there was extra help on watching him.

I love it!  I just wish I would of known about this product four months ago!  Needless to say, I've been trying to spread the word to other moms and new soon-to-be moms.  I think it's a must need.

This weekend we watched some great movies, ate take out (whoo hoo) --though I really don't like too much take out, it was nice not having to cook or clean.  Justin helped me tremendously with Kie since I was feeling bad.

I'm praying that I feel 100% asap.  I definitely am breaking my fever because I go between freezing cold and sweating.  I feel like this must be a preview of menopause.  At least the crazy hot flashes.

Now for some wee bit of venting....

so Justin and I have a million and one goals.  A lot of them involve our house.  A lot of them involve traveling.  A lot of them involve Kie. (Duh) 

But, I sometimes get OVERWHELMED by them.  Not so much the traveling or all the fun adventures we want Kie to experience...but more so the house.

Justin has all these great ideas for our house.  The man has an imagination like an eight year old.  I say that in a respectful manner.   I just am saying he has a limitless imagination. And I think that's amazing and one of the many reasons why I love him.  He is the least boring & most creative man I know.

He has a lot of ideas for renovating the house.  Many of the ideas we have started.  Or started getting materials for.  He wanted a water feature for our house.  We got it.  We want a stone wall to replace one of the existing walls in our living room, so he bought all the stone.  (It's beautiful).  He wanted a wall of windows so we bought them.  We wanted to match our hardwood floors from the original house (from the 1950's) so we bought the very expensive hard wood flooring. 

http://tinyurl.com/4f6t79e

Veneer stone wall 

We have really got started and bought most of the things we need to complete the living room and one wing of our house.   It's just the time that we don't have.

I personally have the time.  But I don't think I can demo and renovate the house and carry a four month old around.

I just wish (for my own family) that I could get Justin the time to do the stuff he wants to do. 

It's really hard for him to skip out on work.  He works all day during the day, comes home to do more work at his own personal business and he usually is done around 8pm or so. Maybe later. Sometimes he's finished earlier if I ask him in advance to be home.

He does put family first.  But he's also the sole provider, so by him working he is putting family first.

Getting the house done this year is a big goal that I hope we obtain.  I know once the demo is started it will be crazy and life with a baby learning to crawl and walk is going to be hard due to the house being in construction mode.  I guess that's why I stress about it.  Since we will be living here while working on it.

Now to Mardi Gras!

Tomorrow is FAT TUESDAY! Whoo Hoo!

Last year, I went out with Justin and our friend, Paul, for hurricanes and Cajun food.  Luckily for me, I didn't drink too much.  I more so enjoyed the food.

Out celebrating Fat Tuesday wearing my beads!

Me & J

Wow, that's crazy how time flies....little did we know we'd be finding out we're expecting the following Saturday!

This Mardi Gras, I think we'll just be staying in.  I might make some gumbo or jambalaya to celebrate.  Maybe even have a homemade hurricane!

And for Lent---I'm giving up on chocolate. (Chocolate is my drug of choice!) And fast food.
To be really honest, we don't eat fast food.  Our version of take out is usually BBQ at Pokejos or a salad from Chilis.

But, I don't even want to do that anymore. So for Lent I personally will be eating everything natural and clean.  I want to have a clear body, mind and soul for Easter.  So I will use these 40 days to reconnect to God and also hope that a healthier diet will get me out of this sick/virus season we have going!

I'm excited for this Spring/Summer! It's funny how this time last year my life took a major turn--in a wonderful, couldn't of been more blessed--kind of way!  

Well I gotta get back to my little man.  He's gotten good at playing and entertaining himself for about 10 minutes at a time.  Which allows me time to run back and forth to finish a blog, fold some laundry, do a quick shower or enjoy my 5th cup of coffee! lol

What are you doing for Fat Tuesday? And will you be giving up anything for lent?!

Until next time,
-HK-

sick husband

Like very sick.

I think he has the flu.


All he has done the last few days is work, come home, falls asleep.  I force feed him. He goes back to sleep. Wakes up through the night sweating with chills.


Of course the man is a workaholic and refuses to take off a day or two to rest.


Luckily I've convinced him that tomorrow if he is running fever still that he HAS to go to the doctor.

I personally don't have TIME to be sick because ya know, being the mother hen means I don't get days off nor can I just sleep once I get off work.  Because I never get off work. ;)

I just pray to God that Kie doesn't get sick.


On a bittersweet note.

Kie turns 4 months tomorrow.

Which means HE will be going to the doctor for his big boy check up.

I'll report soon.


Until next time,

-HK-

Lil rewind & future premiers

 I need to bring my life up to speed in my blog world...so here we go!

Starting with Valentine's day...it was great!  We stayed in, Justin cooked me salmon (my favorite) and we made life easy and picked up a few sides from Central Market.  Which also made clean up easier on moi!  It was a sweet, quiet night in with my two best Valentine's ever.

We exchanged some gifts.  I got him a nice button down for church and the cutest pearl snap to go with his boots.  Slowly but surely I'm converting my California boy to a Cowboy. Ha!  Seriously he looks so handsome in boots!  I also wrote a funny V-Day poem on our future plans of getting our house renovated....and it came with a Home Depot gift card. Yes, so very romantic.

I got twenty-four roses, twelve red/twelve white....and two tickets to see the Blue Man Group! I was so excited! I have been wanting to see them for so long.  My parents have seen them a few times and so have my friends.  But I figured we'd have to go to Vegas to see them, luckily they were touring in Austin.

Needless to say, I was very surprised and excited to get the tickets.
(I also got a very sweet bouquet of flowers from my beautiful friend, Allison, along with some chocolates.)

That Friday, Justin's mom flew into town.  She had never met Kie, so it was a special event!  We took her out to our favorite Mexican restaurant.  It's in Little Mexico (ok, I nicknamed it that).  But it's in an area where the Mexican food is authentic.  It even has it's own Mexican bakery.

Saturday we spent the day with my parents and Vicki.  We went to Mt. Bonnell for an afternoon outside.    Then we went out to eat on the lake and spent the evening by the water, playing with Kie, enjoying desserts and great company.

Kie & his Oma

Daddy J & Lil Man on Mt. Bonnell

Then Sunday was a super special time.  Justin was getting baptized!  It was such a great service!  Justin got baptized and we had our friends and family there to witness the event!  My parents, Justin's mom, my brother Carter, my cousin Grant, my cousin Joshua (who lives in France) and also some dear friends, Bret & Jolelynn.  Not to forget our friends Shon & Nicholette.  Who actually got stuck in bad traffic due to the annual Austin Marathon.  But, they were there in spirit!  We also had a brunch at Santa Rita's after the service to celebrate.

After the church service

Justin and his Mom at Santa Rita's

Bonjour Joshua! Josh & Kie

Monday we took Vicki out on the Duck Adventures tour around Austin.  Then Tuesday she had to fly out :(  It was a great weekend with family!  Definitely a weekend we will cherish forever.

As for LAST week:

It was a pretty normal week.  Kie is growing up so fast and his personality is really showing.  He is so playful and loves to laugh!  He is desperately trying to crawl but I am trying to prevent him from being so mobile.  Yes, bad mommy!  But, I personally want him to stay a baby forever!

Thursday night we went out on our 3rd date since Kie's been born.
Uncle Carter & Chelsea babysat lil Man.

We went out to dinner at Bess's Bistro (Sandra Bullock's restaurant.)  Justin had reservations there and wouldn't tell me where we were going.  He is alway trying to surprise me.  He use to surprise me a lot when we were dating, so it kinda felt like the days of BK.  (Before Kie)

 The food was great and the atmosphere was original.  It's in an old building from the 1800's,  it was like being in a wine cellar.  Definitely industrial and rustic.

Afterwards we went to see the Blue Man Group perform at the Long Center.  It was by far the best show I've ever seen.  I'd rate George Strait first, then the Blue Man Group then Ghostland.

(Rascal Flatts comes in 4th place).

So yes, I've seen some great performances, Blue Man Group definitely made my top 5!

I'd see them again in a hear beat! They are so creative!

Afterwards we met up with our friends, who also went to the show, at Uncle Billy's on Barton Creek for a recap of the performance.

We got home before 11 and I think I texted Uncle Carter a hundred times during the night.  Next time we go out Justin warned me that he is taking my phone away.  

It was a great, fun outing---definitely something we needed as a couple.  But at the same time, I missed my sweet baby.

Last weekend my best friend, Rachel Lee, came into town.  It was really good to see her.  She recently got a job as a nurse in oncology in Tyler...so she's been one busy lady!

She drove in Friday night and it was great spending time catching up in PERSON.  We stayed up late on the couch just like we use to during our days in college and in high school.  Saturday morning we took Kie out to Town Lake for a LONG stroll around the Colorado River.  And then got ready for our BBQ that evening.  We had friends over for food, games and delicious mojitos. 

AH Ok, nearly caught up!

This week....we are catching up on life and work.

Justin's been busy with work and lots of side work.  I'm starting my spring cleaning mode.  Which means I pull everything from every closet, drawer or cubby to be donated or added to my garage sale stuff.  (A little apprehensive because I've never had a garage sale.)  And we are also starting demolition on our LIVING ROOM in a month.  It's the main hub of our house, so I don't know what we are going to do or to expect.

I'm also starting an organic garden so I can grow food for us and when I start making Kie's baby food.

That project starts this weekend. I've been saving, researching and buying stuff for my garden for over a year.

I have a lot to talk about coming soon!

My garden!

Our home renovation!

My new mommy product,

The Snuza --a monitor for SIDS--

My workout plan to get beach ready (Also lake ready).

My dream to be a bongo player.

And whatever else comes to my crazy mind.

Me & Kie are off to a mommy's meet up with other babies at the park!  It should be fun.

Until next time,

-HK-

Such a boy!