Holidaze...

The girlies and I drove into Houston and went straight to meet the newest Aguilar, Miss Sofia. It was great fun hanging out with Ande and Jen, proud new parents! I taught Ande how to use the swaddle blankets and then we had a contest. let's just say that Sofia was out of her swaddle in less than 3 seconds... Practice makes perfect Ande!! Next day, TURKEY TIME! Aunt Mary's studio was transformed into our dining room. Brandy fried up a turkey and all the cousins had a blast running around with each other all afternoon and into the night. Back on the road again, we headed for San Antonio the next day for more turkey and Fleming family pic's. Beautiful Sofia Evyn Aguilar! Swaddle contest. Good work Ande! Cousin Zack with Teya Cousins building Dad carving the turkey Girls in their matching dresses Teya and Greatgramma Fleming

Siding and Windows!

It's all going so fast.... So far, that is. The siding is almost done and many of the windows are in. Hooray!! Just can't WAIT for more space!! Isn't she stinkin' cute?!

Oh the Pressure....

Ok, so I have to admit I do cheat a little with the blog. For some odd reason I feel the need to confess. I make it look as though I post regularly, at least every few days, when really, I don't. Sometimes I really do get on here regularly and post (or at least create a post and save the draft to publish later) when I have time (mostly the summer) or need to vent or something funny happens and I need to document it, etc. But, when I get really far behind (like I am now; today is actually December 14th!) I just go back and look at the pictures and fill in the gaps and change the posting date to make it look like I am keeping up. This is not the best route since my memory fails me so much of the time, but, seeing as how this is really the girls' *baby books*, I really am doing this for them so they can get a sort of play by play of our lives while they were little :) So that being said, I am going to really try to do better at keeping up so I can get more of the funny little things that are said and that happen captured before I forget them, which so often happens. SO, going back in history a bit, our cute, old neighborhood, Crestview, has a great little festival every year, the Violet Crown Fest, which took place over the weekend. They block off the parking lot of the neighborhood Mini-max grocery store and have local vendors and bands play and we all eat food and dance and buy stuff. Ok, well I didn't dance, but Ella did, sort of. Well, she really just tried to hula hoop. And it was funny; really funny. That takes coordination and she doesn't quite have it just yet. We both had a great time at any rate and so did Teya, doing what she does best, sleeping in the stroller! Much of the rest of the time is spent just hanging out... Lazy Saturday morning with Sushi... Hula hoopin' Posing with her leaf bouquet Hair PRE-bath Hair POST-bath 4 weeks old today!! Holy cow!! I'm 1 month old today!!!! The addition now has the decking on! And a couple of windows in!

Friends and Framing

Over the weekend Auntie Deanna, Uncle Jason and Auntie Lisa came for a visit after the game. We played on the patio for a long time while watching the house being framed and then we went for a late dinner at Houston's Saturday evening where we got all kinds of snotty looks for bringing a toddler and an infant to a nice dinner that late! Ella had a blast walking around in Lisa's boots and then she and Auntie Deanna sang Yo Gabba Gabba songs at the dinner table, which she also loved as I'm sure the people around us enjoyed as well :) The rest of the week was spent hanging out and watching the progress of the house. Ella had a holiday from school Wednesday, so we played with friends and hung out, just us girls. She's really into dressing herself these days, so starting now you can't blame me totally for what she looks like. There's only so much of a fight I'm going to put up. If she's dressed appropriately for the weather, that's where my responsibility ends. As far as matching and coordinating, well, we'll see what she thinks about her abilities in this area when she looks back at some of these photos in a couple of decades!

In Other News...

Teya remains the best baby in the world. She is a miracle sleeper, thanks be to the paci and the world's tightest swaddle. Since she can take a bath submerged now, she loves it! Ella is a great big sister and already knows that when Baby Sister is crying that she needs her paci or, conversely, she just tells her to "be quiet, Baby Sister!" She does have to be reminded to be gentle about 2 million times a day, but overall she's doing great! Papa is back to his regular work schedule, so back to 4 nights and 3 days out of every 8 being the all Mama show. Good times. I am very lucky to have the baby that I have to make it that much easier though (not to mention the fact that Ella still goes to "school" daily, hence only 1 child to deal with from about 9am until about 4pm), so I am not complaining in that department! All was well at Teya's 2 week appointment. She is gaining nicely and is in the 50th percentile for all the measurements. We took our first walk around Town Lake in the jogging stroller and a trip to the neighborhood park and she slept the whole time both times! And the foundation for the addition was poured today; framing starts tomorrow...

Halloween and Other Stories

Friday was Ella's school's Fall Fest (the PC name for the Halloween festivities). Since I have been a cheap Mama and refused to pay $20-30 for a super cheap looking Little Mermaid costume it came down to the wire with no digs for her to wear. I improvised and brought her tutu and matching shirt to wear for the party. She was a bit disappointed, but got over it pretty quick once she started eating cookies and running around with her friends. The good mood soon turned sour when all she wanted to eat was candy and cookies and refused to eat the pizza that was there for dinner. We had to exit the fest fast with a fit throwing Ella on our hands, all the while Teya sleeping soundly in the wrap. Saturday we waited until the last minute (imagine that!) to decide to get in the car and drive to Houston. Miss Teya's official first out of town trip! The Dyers were hosting a kiddos' Halloween party so we drove straight there and got in just in time to trick or treat. Ella was in a much better mood, especially since I had secured a borrowed Little Mermaid costume. She had SO much fun going from house to house and collecting candy! Teya stayed at Auntie Deanna's while we went out. We weren't gone for long, but long enough for Ella to decide that Halloween was her most favorite holiday :) We got back to Gram and Papa2's late, with 2 sleeping girls in the car to unload. The rest of the weekend was spent playing with cousins, Gram and Papa2. Oh, and the plumbing is in for the addition, ready to pour foundation!! Exciting stuff!!

And Another New Addition!

We've talked about it for as long as we've lived here at this house: the need for more space. This is the cutest little 1950's neighborhood along with the 1959 house design: 1100 square feet-3 bedrooms-1 bathroom-tiny closets-very boxy-once a 1 car carport that Kevin enclosed to make a garage-kinda house. Cute and all, but not fabulously functional for a family of 3, much less 4, PLUS a friend who rents out the other bedroom for the time being, along with guests who stay pretty frequently. Let's just say there has been more than once that Kevin has gone into the backyard to "use the facilities" while the indoor toilet was occupied. Well, we've finally taken the plunge and are adding on. Yup, more than doubling the size of the house. After long battles with the city getting permits (stoopid McMansion ordinances and 7 trips down to the permits office for me over the course of 6 months, to be exact; one of the last in which the person helping me asked if I was going to have the baby right then and there) we have started the process of adding a grand master suite downstairs and 2 bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs. WOO HOO!! All on a shoestring budget... maybe even less than a shoestring, more like a string-around your-finger budget. By the time we get to the finishing touches and decor, Mama's gonna have to get creative! Foundation forms! Sweet sisters Me and my girlies Eyes open!!

Adjusting to Our "New Normal"

So the days have been filled with diapers and feeding and more feeding and diapers and trying to figure out a sort of schedule. Granny stayed with us a few days to help out with whatever needed to be helped out with. The whole Fleming clan came to visit on Saturday and meet the newest member. And I am still trying to figure out how this pouch of oddly dark colored skin that was once my belly and a crazily shaped navel are ever going to look semi-normal again... hmmmm... Well, Teya's 1st doctor's visit went well. We bathed her for the occasion, which she loathed and screamed bloody murder for the whole time. They measured her and said that the hospital was incorrect in their length measurement and that she is really 20.25 inches and not 19.75. If she's like most women in the world she'll want that extra half an inch. She is right at the 50th percentile for height, weight and head circumference. Oh, and did I mention she's a STELLAR baby?? My policy with Ella was that I would never wake a sleeping baby no matter how long she went without eating, thank you. And with her I never had to. She would sleep for loooong periods, sometimes 6 hours, but never long enough that I felt the need physically to wake her. With Teya.... yes, waking her up is a necessity when my mammary glands feel as though they are going to explode. All this being said, adjusting has not been as difficult as my nervous mind was making it out to be during pregnancy. I remember having a conversation with my step-sister a while back about anticipating #2 and how it seems impossible that there is any room left in your heart to love another; when it seems like the 1st kiddo has totally taken up all the love space. Well, no question now, your heart just doubles in size to accommodate #2. Man, I love this kid :) Throwin' gang signs already.... Bath time... NO LIKEY! Pre-pacifier All is well! Add the swaddle??? Ahhh, the world is perfect! Hmmm.... More hmmmm.... Hanging out with Popo Sweet sisters :) Practicing the "in unison" yell for later....