1st Birthday

Someone turned 1 in Aug. We kept it very low key. Family only. I can't do the over the top, themed kids birthday parties. I just don't get it. The larger question to me is wouldn't that $500-$1000 be better spent in a college fund? We think so around here.

A family pic.

He wasn't very info the cake. He had a few bites but overall he doesn't like sweets much. I have no idea how that's possible. He prefers carbs, and cheese.

California Dreamin

I spent 4 days in San Diego with Val and Colleen (who came in from San Francisco). It was my first solo weekend, and was such fun. We biked, walked on the beach, had drinks on the boardwalk, lounged in the sun with magazines, spent a day at the spa and got to meet the boyfriend. The weather was beautiful as usual, and spending time with them feels like home to me. We've been thru so much after all these years. We save up our life issues and secret questions for these visits.

Val's boyfriend is adorable. He also scared the crap out of me by sneaking up to the back bedroom door at night dressed as a zombie clown. I totally freaked. I don't like zombies or clowns.

In honor of Val's birthday we went to La Costa Resort & Spa for massages. The resort is amazing and after the spa treatments we spent 6 hours by the pool having lunch and drinks. If you're a visitor to San Diego I highly recommend it.

I miss them already, and am looking forward to our next visit. I did miss the guys in my life but Chris handled the single parenting with ease. I'm lucky to be married to someone that encourages my time with friends and makes it so nice to come home.

Happiness

This kid is pure happiness most of the time. He has his moments, but overall he's a walking smile. Everyone tells you it goes by so fast, and they're right. I love this chubby cheeked baby for a million reasons but my reason this week is because he calls me "momma".

4th of July

Given that our kiddo's bedtime is 7pm, we missed any live fireworks. Hopefully next year. Instead we headed to Rob's fire station for a family BBQ, and homemade ice cream. It's the first time we've been to the station or met the crew. They were all so nice and welcoming, and I can tell they like Rob. We didn't get many pics but his station has some impressive trucks, including a huge one that's only used for airport fires. Nate wasn't so sure about all the new people and things to see. Thanks Rob for the tour! We loved it.

Shaheinagaines

Last weekend was the 3rd annual Shaheinagaines (Shahan/Heinrich/Gaines) weekend. Even though the trip is generally without children, I was ordered to bring mine given that it's at my in-laws, and Rob and Allison had babysitting coverage issues. It was a weekend of the usual, food, drink, pool and fun with friends. My in-laws are saints for hosting and cooking for this crew. You can't beat quality time with good friends and the weekend doesn't feel long enough.

The arboretum

The husband and I, along with a few friends, went to a concert at the Arboretum last week. Le Freak: the greatest disco cover band in the world (self proclaimed), and bonus was the Chihuly nights installation that will be here until October.

The best part about concerts at the arboretum is that you can bring your own food, drinks and blankets etc. Had it been a little cooler it would have been perfect, but we had a great time. The band was fantastic.

It was a fun night sitting on the grass, listening to music while looking over the lake with good friends and some vino.

Time on the lake

We headed to Austin this past weekend for my cousins 8th grade graduation. Talk about feeling old, I remember when she was born! As we watched graduation Chris and I found ourselves saying "who lets their kid wear that" and "do these kids ever stop texting"? Miss Katie graduated with honors and we were so proud. Auntie Ann yelled the loudest of course. She's the sweet baby girl we all love, just not so little any more.

It's not a trip to the cousins without golf at ACC for Chris, and a trip to the Domain for me. This time we added boating on Lake Austin with a burger stop at Ski Shores. It was Nate's first time on a boat and he loved it. We can't wait to go again soon!

Happy Mothers Day

My first one was pretty darn special.

Crawling

It's official. He started crawling while we were gone, the little sinker! He's all over the place and his target items are my shoes, and electronics. We spent the weekend baby proofing but I still find him around the house looking like this.

Bright Lights

Big City. We headed to NYC to celebrate a year of hard work, and it was Chris's birthday. If you follow this you might know that it's a tradition to leave town on the Bonus/Birthday weekend. The baby was with the in-laws and spoiled of course. I will say 6 days was a little long and I missed him terribly.
Last time we did all the tourist things, so this time we tried to pretend we lived there. We almost moved to NYC 5 years ago, but Chris turned the job offer down. That was the right decision, but every time we visit we talk about it.
We stayed in Tribecca, which we loved accept it was the film festival and a little insane. We walked the high-line, ate at Chelsea marketplace, people watched along the Hudson etc.
For the birthday we had a special dinner at Jean George. My feeble attempt to describe the food would fail so I won't but OMG. We saw a few shows: Once (amazing) and Memphis, and visited the memorial. It was haunting and surreal that those fountains are the exact footprints of the twin towers.
My favorite memory will be walking to breakfast and just sitting, eating and reading the paper and chatting. Nowhere to go, no sitter to rush home to, or nap schedule to plan around, or dog to feed. A few days with no responsibility is necessary once in a while.

Bluebonnets on the ranch

Tell me he shouldn't be on ad for Texas in spring. He was a good sport, it was 2 photo sessions in 2 different outfits while at my in-laws for Easter weekend. He never cried and was more interested in pulling the flowers than anything else.

We call the in laws place the ranch, but that's not official...it doesn't have any working crops. But it is over 110 acres with cows, a pond, with fish and turtles, and 2 barns etc. Lots of places I imagine this little boy once mobile will want to explore.

Friend or Foe

I think neither know quite yet. Kona generally avoids Nate who finds him totally fascinating and hilarious.

As soon as the kid is mobile I have a feeling we will only see Kona under the highchair at meal time.

Spring has sprung

It was almost 90 degrees this weekend, so like everyone else in Dallas we went to the nursery and worked on the yard. And by we I mean Chris worked his butt off. The baby and I played in the yard. Random note, my kid LOVES the grass. I've been told that generally babies don't like it, but mine can't get enough of it. He's a mess this kid of mine.


For the most part home ownership is a total time and money suck. Generally we have something that needs something all the time. But tonight when I looked out at the yard I felt proud. Not quite Yard Crashers, but pretty good for 2 people who didn't know a thing about plants.

The yard when we bought the house.




The yard today.

He floats

Halfway into the lessons and he's floating on his own and can roll over. Now we just have to combine the 2.

Andrew's here

This morning Andrew Timothy arrived at 5:11am in Ft Worth. He is 8lbs, 15ozs, and 21 inches long. He has very long fingers and toes. Allison and Andrew did great, she went into labor on her own, had some drugs near the end and delivered him with no issues. Rob supportive as usual kept telling her he didn't think she was in labor. Then when her face contorted and she stopped talking he said "ok maybe you are". It's fun to think that he and Nate are 6 months apart and will be buddies. We're excited about the newest member of the family and all these boys will keep us busy!

The below photos are priceless, the kid kept pooping and at first Rob and my mom were totally grossed out, but then they couldn't stop laughing. The poop jokes start early in our family. Welcome to it little guy.

Swim Time

Today was swim lesson #2, of Nate's infant water survival class. I wouldn't say he's a fan. In fact he cries for some of it, and looks pitiful as I stand there and take pictures. With babies it's all about repetitive actions and short periods of time, so his lesson is about 12 min, but it's 4 days a week for 4 weeks. The bigger commitment is on me of course. But I am a water safety fanatic, former lifeguard and instructor with 10 years of swim team. With that I've had to pull kids out and do CPR, and every parent thinks it will never happen to them. So I just don't feel casually about water safety. In 4 weeks he should know how to fall in fully clothed, hold his breath, kick to the surface, turn over and float on his back unassisted. I'll post once we're finished with an update.

Sunday funday

The only time I really play with the new camera is at the park. So here are some shots from Sunday afternoon. I love those cheeks! I'll be so sad when they're gone. He wasn't as interested in smiling as much as he was in watching all the other kids and happenings at the park. We were just trying to keep him out of the duck and swan poop.

Jury Duty

They say once a city finds you, they contact you often. It took 6 years but it's happening. I was called for jury duty for the county in July. It was 110 degrees and I was almost 9 mos pregnant. I was dismissed. In January I got another summons for the city municipal court. So here I sit, in a hot room, with no renovations in 30 years, watching a tv on a rolling stand like 6th grade health class.

Currently I'm being subjected to some English talk show host that took the place of Jerry Springer while women tell their boyfriends they "aren't sure" who the father of their babies are. TORTURE. I would actually rather be working than watching this.

I plan to honor my civil duty because if I request a trial for a red light camera picture, or code violation for not trimming the weeds behind our fence I know what those jurors have to sit thru. Justice in action people.

Birthdays and half birthdays

Chris took me on a birthday trip in Feb, and I wasn't allowed to do any work. To say that work has been busy and stressful would be an understatement. When you wake up thinking about it and find yourself in the bathroom at 3am looking at your email in the dark so as not to wake up your husband...you know that you have issues. So we went to Miami for 3 nights, and it was amazing. Probably one of the nicest hotels we've ever stayed in. He did this birthday up. Great meals out, some shopping, a half day at the spa, being able to sleep in past 5:30am, a room that had it's own doorbell and an ocean view complete with dolphins. We had never been to Miami for longer than a night on our way to the Keys, but I think we'll be back. It was a blast.


The half birthday was celebrated with his 6 month check and a round of shots, however the croup and ear infection are now gone (whew). He weighs in at 17.5lbs, and 29 inches long. 50% weight (down from the 80%) and holding steady at 95% height. The kid has legs, and we know he doesn't get that from me. He's a happy, super mellow baby and nothing really bothers him. He sleeps all night, but isn't a big nap fan. He got his first tooth, and started eating solid food. He's close to crawling but we're not encouraging that yet. He also graduated to the permanent car seats. We practically had to borrow from his college fund they're so outrageous, but he did help out on our taxes so we'll cut him a break. He won't be a baby for long so we try to enjoy all the moments, even the not so awesome ones. When you have someone that will laugh with you while one of you catches poop in their bare hand or lets you know about the smeared snot on your shirt...thats the real deal.

Viva Las Vegas

To celebrate surviving the first 5 months of parenting Chris and I left the baby with Grandma and went to Vegas for 2 nights. Chris has a conference every year, and I tag along. Last year I was 8 weeks pregnant and super sick, so I spent the whole time in the hotel room. Well I might have taken a cab to in-n-out....but doesn't everybody?

This year was much better. The people watching usually starts on the flight, and didn't disappoint. We stayed at Aria, shopped, gambled, and had some cocktails at The Cosmopolitan. We also had an amazing dinner at Mix on the 64th floor with a view of the entire strip. I highly recommend.

Grandma did a great job, and spoiled him like crazy of course. 3 days was just enough for our first solo adventure. I was missing that sweet baby smell.

5 months!

Yes, the child is 5 months old today. I have no idea where the time went, and at the same time feel like it's been forever since we were able to just walk out the door and do something...without a last min blow out, or spit up, or outfit change etc. What was that like again to just get in the car whenever and go wherever? I digress. 5 months old. Almost 30 inches long and 17.5lbs he isn't a small kid.
He's happy most of the time, and laughs a lot. He loves my iphone, and will literally almost break his neck to look at the TV. He rolls all over the place, and is working on sitting up. Soon we will be starting solid food. Lord help us, I already know this kid will be a mess. He sat in his high chair for the first time and joined us at the table last night. He's an observer, he has a low key personality, and has been sleeping thru the night since Christmas. I don't think I could have made it another month with the middle of the night stuff. I know occasionally it will sill happen when he's sick, or teething etc...but every night at 3 or 4am when the alarm goes off at 6 for work is crazy making. Especially when you walk in and he stops crying and smiles at you.
He is officially the most good looking baby, with cheeks you could kiss all day. At least we think so.

New Toy

Like every new parent I realized quickly that I was going to need a better camera. After some heavy hints to the in-laws at Thanksgiving, Santa brought us one ;) Santa is crazy generous like that.

It will take me some time to figure out how to use all the functions but I'm determined to master the Canon SLR in 2012.

This was my first attempt Sunday at the park. Until he's mobile he's my prop. Poor kid.