Visiting Friends

We packed pj's and headed over to our friend's, the Largent's, house so I could participate in book club and Ella could play with Eva for a bit before hitting the hay. They had a great time together after Eva warmed up to having Ella talking incessantly in her face and continuously requesting to hold her hand. Hadn't intended to stay long, but ended up waking Ella up at 1am to load her in the car and head home... at least I know she's ok with transition, but gonna be a long drive to Houston in the morning :(

Hoorah for Tomato Sauce!

Mama's been SO incredibly tired and lazy lately; frozen pizza for dinner it is.... AGAIN!! I can't wait to be back to normal energy levels.

Mama's Losing It!

Today I had one of those moments of having to remind myself that my kid's childhood is going to pass so quickly and I need to savor every moment and not let the little things drag me down.... Ahhh. So easy to tell myself when I am calm and things seem to be going ok at the moment. After asking sweet, sweet, sweet Ella 5,000 times to please not brush the dropped spaghetti onto the floor from the table, scraping dried Cheerios off the floor from breakfast, the cat knocking down an entire glass of water onto all the spaghetti and Cheerios and then hearing Ella in the background yelling "Mama! It's for my booty! Mama! It's for my booty!" and realizing she has an open bottle of baby powder in her hand and is slinging it every which way while walking around the house I literally had to close my eyes, take a few deep breaths and remind myself that going catatonic is always a viable option. JUST KIDDING!!! But it really was a trying evening. I had to just leave the Cheerios, spaghetti, water and baby powder on the floor, go out into the backyard in the lovely 70 degree whether with the sun setting and water the plants while zoning out for a good half hour while Ella buzzed around me talking to the dogs. Parenthood, it's what's for dinner.

Goin' to the Store

Just had to share... While attempting to potty train she's been hanging out around the house a lot in just underwear for the easy access when needed. Today she decided that she needed to "go to the store". She headed to her room, threw on her shoes (on the wrong feet, no less), grabbed my travel toiletries bag and the keys on the counter and proceeded to go out the door and get into the car. When I followed her out and asked her what she was going to the store for she replied "milk and banilla"; she thought some more and added "candy" as well.

Here We Go Again!

We have been trying to get pregnant since September and now it's happened!! I have had a weird feeling in my stomach for about a week now and had decided before heading out to dinner and drinks that I might want to just go ahead and take a test even though I had taken one a couple of weeks ago that was negative.... just a hunch. Kevin had loaded Ella in the car and was waiting, so I hurredly took care of business and got 2 positives from 2 different tests immediately. I was SO excited I ran out of the house and to the driver's side window to a very confused husband. I told him the news upon which he looked even more confused at the thought that I had randomly decided to take the test while trying to leave for dinner. None the less, he was excited (and a bit shocked) and we had a nice celebratory dinner with Auntie Sarah. YAY!! I know it's still early on (I'm only at about 5 weeks), and this time around it will be a little difficult to maintain calm until we've made it through the first trimester "critical" period, but I definitely have a perma-smile on my face at the moment :)

Another Week of Sick Ella

So in a mini-repeat performance of her December never ending sickness she came home from daycare early on Monday with a 102 fever. Woke up Tuesday with the same. Trip to doctor revealed no flu, no strep, probably respiratory virus, nothing we can do. Wednesday no significant fever, but a really cranky baby who can't go to school. Thursday, ditto. Thursday evening, round 2 doctor's appointment; negative on urinalysis, no definitive answers. Awesome. Saturday drove to San Antonio to drop Ella off to spent a couple of nights with Granny and Popo for a parental reprieve. Granny reports very cranky, clingy baby for 2 days. Pick her up Monday afternoon and she is crying non-stop. Straight from San Antonio to the doctor's, this time a real diagnosis!! Ear infection. From doctor's to pharmacy, before even leaving pharmacy, shot for Ella of drugs, home to bed with Mama pleading to the powers that be to please let this child be ok when she wakes up! Trying to cram in 40 hours of work week into 25 hours and tag teaming with husband in care of sick child is KILLING ME! Voila! Tuesday morning Miss Ella greeted me upon walking into her room with a huge smile and a request for "cereal and panties". SHEW!!! Back to normal?? Here is a face that was very familiar throughout the week. If looks could kill.... Moment of feeling a bit better, so we were graced with a smile! While the good mood lasted Papa took his girls out for an early Valentine's dinner and got us some flowers. We love you Papa!

Fun Times

She is so funny to me! While we've been working on potty training I have a stack of books in the bathroom next to her potty to entice her to sit longer. There's one that has animals and all the sounds they make, so after I make the sound, she attempts to imitate. It cracks me up when she gets so frustrated when she can't make the sound the same way I do, especially the elephant. Some of the time she'll frown, slam the book closed and yell "NO!" when she's particularly agitated; I just can't help but giggle when she does this. Already showing signs of perfectionism? Ayos Mio!

Busy Sunday

We met Aunt Jennifer, Uncle David and the cousins at the Zoo for a bit in the morning, then after lunch headed over to Deanna and Jason's to celebrate Elyse's first whole week in the world. Ella gave Elyse some sweet kisses and really wanted to pick "Eleeese" (as she calls her) up. Later that evening we headed home to get ready for the week.

Meeting Olivia

Saturday Papa and Ella headed to Houston in the afternoon. It was Papa's very first extended car ride with Ella by himself! I was nice and loaded all the necessities of a long car ride with a toddler (pretzels, cereal, raisins, water, books, toys, CD of annoying kid's songs that must be played over and over and over again in order to maintain happy toddler status) before I left on Friday so that I could minimize the occurrence of said Papa losing it :) They did very well and Ella was back in Mama's hands safe and sound! While I was waiting on them to arrive I went and spent a while at Aunt Jennifer's so I could love on Olivia before my little monster arrived. What a sweet baby girl she is as well. How can you go wrong with a child that sleeps 23 out of 24 hours a day?! Later in the evening I brought Ella back so we could play with the cousins and have some dinner. They had a great time in the bouncy, which is wonderful since this was the first time Ella actually got in one and enjoyed herself. One more fear conquered! Later after Olivia woke up Ella got to meet her for the first time and was enamoured with "baby liv ya".

Meeting Elyse

While Ella stayed at home with Papa for the night I headed to Houston to meet my new psuedo-niece, Elyse, daughter of one of my oldest friends and one of Kevin's oldest friends, Deanna and Jason, who also happen to be married! What a beautiful baby girl. I had such a great time with them on their first day/night home from the hospital. Aunt Jen and Aunt Lisa joined the baby adoration session when they got off work. We got some take out and just stared at the baby most of the evening and into the night (wine included, of course!). I ended up staying over and taking one baby shift so new Mommy and Daddy could get some sleep. What a treasured time that was! I fell asleep with her on my chest and we were happy and content until the next 4am feeding. We love you baby Elyse!

Dancin' and Eatin', What Life's All About!

Sorry about the poor quality, it didn't occur to me to turn on more lights during the dance-a-thon in the living room!

Meeting the Twins!

At the first sign that the Robb family was open for visitors, I took the opportunity to steal away for an hour or so to see sweet Brandy, Lillian and Matthew. What a treat! They are still SO tiny, but very healthy as well. The new family is doing wonderfully and adjusting to life with 2 babies. I went while Ella was still at school so I could make the most of baby holding time without having to run around after Miss Thang. I am in love, love, love with those cuties and can't wait to watch them grow up!

Elyse Caroline is Here!!

Auntie Deanna and Uncle Jason welcomed Miss Ely into the world this evening, weighing in at 6.5lbs and also with a head full of dark hair and beautiful dark eyes! Another play mate and future Gourmet Goddess to add to the group!! We can't wait to meet and love on you baby Elyse!! Along the same lines, baby Elyse's cousin, Lila Jane, was born last week on the 28th. Congrats Julie and Major! At 9.9lbs you gotta lotta baby girl ;)

Mama and Ella Day

What a fabulous city to live in!! We just had to spend the day outdoors since it just happened to be over 70 degrees and sunny without a cloud in the sky today in grand old Austin, Texas! We woke up and headed to Town Lake (now called Lady Bird Lake, but I can't seem to adopt the new name) for a stroll and duck feeding and then decided to veer off to Zilker Park to ride the Zephyr and play on the amazing play scape. What a great way to spend a Sunday! Later in the afternoon post lunch and nap time, we went for a bike ride and stopped at the neighborhood playground to swing a little before calling it a day. I heart you Austin!