4th of July Weekend

Thursday - We headed back to the specialist who wasn't sure what to do other than put Livy on formulas since we had another diaper issue in the time since we'd last been there & I'd been {mostly} dairy free.  Then he decided to just keep doing what we're doing & come back in a month.  I suggested continuing diary free for a bit & then adding it back in to see if we see any problems afterwards and he thought it was a great idea {I thought it'd be an obvious solution/idea, but apparently not}.  Other than that he wasn't really sure and wasn't convinced it was dairy since we didn't have problems since she was about 2-3 months old which is typical of that problem.  The 3 samples came back as no blood in the diaper & the other said there was a white blood cell count but on a small scale.  So.....we'll see.  At this point I guess it just isn't a major concern but something we'll keep an eye on.

Glad to have you home after work Daddy!

Friday night we went downtown to an Artwalk and ate at a new restaurant.  Interesting to see a normally blah downtown have some activity.  I got a call today that I won a massage at a new salon that we stopped into as well!  (Hoping it's legit and not something they gave to everyone who entered or something....)

Dave spent a lot of time this weekend in the garage working on Adirondack Chairs.  He's been trying to work on them for oh, say, a year now.  :)  It's exciting to see all the hard work & all the steps through it all.  Excited to replace the wicker chairs from our front porch with these!

Dostals came over for dinner on Sunday night to grill out & hang out.  No fireworks and fires like last year during 4th of July weekend when they were here!

Messy Eater?!

Yesterday we grabbed some apple fritters in the morning & stopped by the beach watching some water funnels.  Unfortunately last night I started to feel a bit achy & sore & now I'm sick. . . not fun at all with a kiddo.  Nothing planned this week other than trying to get better & unfortunately, a work weekend. 

A very little lizard we found in between our doors. 

-L-

In 8 Months I've learned....

I'm 8 months old today!

...that one day, baby realizes she can talk and starts saying mamablamablabla all of a sudden!
...that even though your childhood nickname may have been 'Snuggle Bunny' your child may be completely the opposite & wiggles & squirms constantly.
...that dog toys and water bottles, laundry baskets and flip flops are way more fun than kid toys.
...that a baby can learn that "No!" is definitely not something they want to hear! (Waaaa!)
...that you'll never be ready for the next big thing, milestone, whathaveyou - it just happens!
     ...and sometimes you don't even realize that it happened until awhile later.
...that 4 seconds of cuddles better be cherished because it might be all you get!
...that 6:30 am will continually be your wake up time, even if you're still in denial about the early hour. :)
...that you want to do better, be better & make the right choices for your little one. 
...that it doesn't get any easier to get things done the older they get.
...that one smile from a baby, directed right at you, will make you smile and feel happy to the core.

I'm not getting into trouble at all!  Not me! :)
Cheeeese!

Cheers!
-L-

I'm sleepy you guys, time for bed!

Biking & Babble

Last week we went for our first family bikeride - it was a lot of fun!  The second time was even more enjoyable sans doggie.  Olivia seemed to enjoy it ...& Daddy has to get used to the kicking & noises behind him. :) 


It's nice because we take the longer loop to the beach which is a few miles & around a different part of the neighborhood - so it's not just there & back.  We stop & get to look at the people & the water halfway through. 

She's starting to babble more & more every day. It's my favorite thing. :) 

We had an issue with one of her diapers today.... ack.  so it's back to the drawing board I think.  She has recently had some peaches & a few tastes (not a full serving) of peas.  Which were 2 foods around the problem time a few weeks ago.  I've been relatively dairy free (though not nickpicked down to every label yet unless we find out more).  Thursday we find out the results of our last lab tests.

Playing with Daddy is so much fun. 

Other than that she just loves crawling around the house & getting into things. :)

-L-

We {heart} Kzoo & talking

Sitting up SO big!

Spent the whole day working the kitchen making a meal for another family with a new baby.  Dinner, fresh french bread, dessert, breakfast.....whew!  I'm exhausted!  Good news is that I have 3 dinners for ourselves out of it as well.  (and muffins to last us for a few breakfasts & dessert too)

Yesterday Olivia woke up talking.  It's as if overnight she learned a new skill. haha.  She gets a slightly worried and puzzled look on her face while saying, "Mamablablamablama".  Sooooo adorable & cute.  She just mouths it for a bit too while she gets it all figure out.  I love it!

Big Big Smile for Mommy! <3

I'd rather have the camera

Cheers!
-L-

Father's Day weekend

We didn't seem to get much done this weekend but it was still a good one.  Friday Liv & I ran errands while Dave was on watch all day.  Joan & Charlotte came over for the afternoon to hang out too! 

This is soooooo much fun!  I love standing up in my crib & eating the railings now.  Who needs naps?

Saturday morning we went out for apple fritters, garage sales, & then out in town to Target & Lowe's.
Dave & Joan & Charlotte came over for cocktails & bratwursts & later the guys enjoyed a cigar out on the front porch. 

Look who decided to pull herself up to stand today?!  Already had a few falls on the head but we're ok!

Bacon Pancakes - crazy!

This morning Liv got me up at 6:20 & then I stayed up (while she napped again) & put out two chairs for our back porch as a present for Daddy for Father's Day & made fruit salad, coffee & Bacon Pancakes for breakfast!  We went to church on the Island, ran to HEB, & then to our neighbor's house for a fish fry (with other people that go to the same church.)  Dave had some homework/tests to do & we had a great steak & fried asparagus dinner tonight.  yum!

Oh! Livy had mangos today that I made awhile back & she really liked them!! She kept opening her mouth to eat more with no faces or fussing- this is basically the first thing she's really seemed to like (other than bananas a little bit).  yum! :)

Dr. update

Peeka-cry-boo!  I can pull myself up and peek over my crib!

This afternoon we took Olivia to the Children's Hospital to see a pediatric GI specialist.  She did well seeing lots of strangers & despite some, ahem, uncomfortable checkups.



Though there were some language barriers, I think we all ended up on the same page.

To sum it up for y'all - 2+ months ago we had the same issue when she was exclusively nursing.  Since I had some milk/cereal before it happened, the pediatrician figured it was probably a milk protein allergy & told me to stop & check it again too.  A couple weeks later I did the 'test' & ate milk/cereal a couple times with no problems!

2+ weeks ago we started having the same problems (no extra milk in my diet, but she is eating some solids)  Blood tests at our pediatrician came back negative (but are known to not necessarily be accurate.)

We have to take a few stool sample tests to bring to the specialist & check for white blood cell counts.  If those are high, then there is a problem, which is probably milk proteins. 

Their solution was to give me a special prescription formula.

My question: Isn't there another option?  So I asked if I could go dairy free instead. 

Basically that's it for now.... until we get those tests in (probably Mon/Tues) & get results back from that and being dairy free for a couple weeks, we're still not sure.   And even though I never drink milk & rarely eat cereal/milk this is going to be a very big challenge for me.  One, because I normally eat whatever I want.  Two, I love cheese & eat a bunch of it all the time.  Three, cream in coffee is a must! 

Lucky for me, Dave randomly asked me to grab soymilk creamer the other day so I at least have that down for the morning. ;)

Not sure if it's going to prove fruitful since it's not a daily problem.  I'm not sure how we'll tell it actually helps.

And for now, some more pictures of us just hanging out at the beach tonight.  The impromptu trip just made the night - we all had a really enjoyable time!  The fresh air & sand under my feet helped my soul & mood.

Look at my two bottom teeth!

Howdy! Having fun with Mom at the beach.

Dave taking Cabrinha for a swim.  (Literally - he had to carry her out there)

Cabrinha is even having fun - playing with Livy.

Ooooh - This sand stuff is very interesting.  This is right before I tasted some. ha.

Then it was time to go home & everyone had a bath! Even Cabrinha! Livy & I went inside & Cabrinha had one out in the driveway. :) 
-L-

Austin

Spent the weekend in Austin which was lots of fun & totally exhausting!

Hot & Tired on our hike

Friday we drove up and met Brooke for lunch at Panera along the way.  We're sitting there & Brooke looks at Olivia then me and says 'Uhhhh!' ... & here she was trying to climb out of her carseat! Silly silly girl :)

We still had over an hour drive to pick up Daddy from the airport so off we went, picked him up, and headed to our hotel.  We went out to dinner at Chuy's & to Buy Buy Baby.  Mommy wanted everything there!

Family Picture - June 2011

Saturday morning we drove to Panera for breakfast & then set out for a hiking trail.  We weren't sure at the time, but we ended up at the same hiking trail that we went to 6 years ago (when we were dating.)  Back then, we took a lil 'family' pic with Cabrinha and this time we took a family picture with Olivia!   She chilled on Daddy's back the whole time & even fell asleep!  It was almost 100 outside, so we were all very very hot!

Rock Climbing with Daddy! :)

 We drove around the downtown area, had Pita's for lunch, watched protest walks, & then set off for Mellow Johnny's - Lance Armstrong's bike shop. From there we checked out the Whole Foods & REI downtown too!

I love playing with Daddy

KISSES!

Went to a candy store we saw on a travel/food show, WahooTaco's for dinner, & a stop at Hello Cupcakes for a snack later on! :)  yummy.                                                                              BedBath&Beyond& another visit to BBBaby before we came back exhausted to our hotel room around 10 that night! whew.

Mommy & Me

Sunday we drove to another Panera in North Austin for breakfast, stopped at another REI, went to a consignment shop, & then dropped Daddy off at the airport again! 

I met Brooke & the fam for a little bit of outlet shopping before the looong drive home late last night!

Olivia has been napping a LOT today to make up for all those missed naps throughout the weekend. We sure wore her out. :)

We're tired too!

-L-