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-

quick update

For the past week and a half Liv has had some diaper problems (blood/mucousy issues) which we had before when she was EBF, but started to have again.  We cut out the couple of things we were feeding her around that time, but they continued to happen.  I finally called the Dr. Wednesday & got in the same afternoon.
They took some blood to test & gave us a referral to a GI doc at the Children's Hospital in town.  The iron test came back the next morning & she said her levels were good/better than she's ever seen in a small baby.  & that we'd get other results (allergies) next week.
Poor baby girl has a giant bruise on her inner arm b/c they were having trouble getting it to work on her little veins!  She cried, obviously, but was pretty brave & didn't cry during the whole ordeal just some of it!  I was surprised by that.
Dr. was surprised at the mention of her army crawling around so much & said it was pretty young.  I challenge her to come to my living room & keep O. out of stuff! :)
More to come after the weekend!

In 7 month's I've learned. . .

...that sleep habits & napping will always change.
...that one day you have a non crawler & the next you do. 
...that small army crawls go from a foot to all around the house in only a matter of days.
...that teeth really do pop up over night!
...that, much like wedding registries.... several months after the big day (wedding or baby) you realize all the stuff you really should have registered for instead.  No matter what you say/think/do, many of those opinions & thoughts will change when you come face to face with the new reality of your new life.
....that other people will question different points of your parenting even if it just feels normal to you.
...that sometimes the things you feel/felt so strongly about - you're not sure why!
...that cloth diapering will always have a unique set of challenges to overcome.
...that even when you feel you've got it down, you don't.
...that a wiggly baby just get even more so when she wants to MOVE!
...that she always wants to move.   Not a cuddler over here. :(
...that all the things you wanted, planned, or hoped to do don't always happen because:
...the weeks & months still move past super fast!

(had part of this in draft all week! oops! :) See, that last one will always be true!)

Happy Weekend!
-L-

Super Long 4 day weekend!

Wow - 4 day weekends sure are long - very fun to have one once in awhile! :)

Thursday D had meetings  & was home early afternoon.  We headed down to the beach & Liv went in the water with Daddy.  So adorable to see them together.  Did a little more 'wimming' in the hot tub again too.  I ran to HEB before her bedtime so Daddy got her bathed & ready for bed ...and into bed before I came home!  Then we had dinner & I rented a movie to watch at night too.

Friday we drove to PortA to have breakfast which turned out to be a major grease bomb dud.  :( Oh well!  We drove around a bit & enjoyed looking at the differences of their beach.   Winds were great late morning & Dave went kiteboarding for a few hours.  The winds usually aren't perfect for kiting until late afternoon, so it was a nice treat for D on his day off!  Liv & I were going to meet up with him, but she ended up taking a nice hour & half nap!!  Super great since they're usually only about 30 minutes.  I made some baby peas & frappuccino's while she napped.

Ahhhhh!! PEAS!!

Saturday we went to a friend's bithday bbq.  He's in a different squadron, so we ended up meeting all new people which was really nice (& refreshing!)  Rounded out the night with a trip to Lowe's.  Good fun!  Finally watched Little Focker's movie too - cute. 

Sunday I ran to the grocery store in the a.m.  We went 2 tracking down the road to scope out a potential kiteboarding spot.  We'd been back there a couple times before, but D wanted to see it again from the ground b/c he flies over it all the time & is always mentioning what a neat spot it would be.  David & Joan had us over for ribs bbq while his parents are here so we visited with them, watched Liv crawl around & Charlotte sleeping. :)  (Put Livy in her car seat to try to fall asleep in another room late at night.... a few minutes later I thought I heard a bag crinkling.... So I go into the room to check on her & the little stinker had scooted OUT of her carseat, and crawled near the door & was kicking a bag sitting there.  oh!my!gosh!)

Today I ran down the road to get some apple fritters - yum.   Ended up grabbing giant frozen coffee while running around to JoAnn's &.... Lowe's!  Seriously surprised they don't greet us by name there some days.  Corned beef & cabbage for dinner tonight - one of D's fave's!

*Olivia is crawling ALL over the place & I can't keep up with her.  Her favorite things to work hard crawling after are sandals, dog toys, & the computer cord.  oy vey!
*Sunday afternoon while we were talking to Grandma & Grandpa Pacini on Skype Olivia sat all by herself for long periods of time!   SO exciting!
*Another tooth is popping up next to the one from last weekend.  Dave saw it Sunday morning & I started to feel it & see it by the afternoon!

Cheers!
-L-

weekend of firsts

This past weekend we had fun & several firsts.  Saturday morning we woke up to the sounds of the local Beach to Bay relay marathon so we decided to take a walk & check it out!

Daddy & Cabrinha & Livy

Precious Closeup as she watches everything going on.  I <3 MI!

Olivia just loves Cabrinha & is always wanting to play with her & get closer to her.

Mommy & Cab & Livy

Daddy felt my first tooth coming in while we were hanging out this morning.  I'm hiding it here but it's there & just starting to pop through my gums! 

My first time swimming!! This mini-pool is cool! 
D was refilling the hot tub with fresh water today so we thought it would be a perfect opportunity for a swim!

Trying apples for the first time....oh yuck!

Can you tell I think these are so gross?

Haha! How about now?! :)

Cheers!
-L-

What we love & What we've been up to!

I loooove playing.  Here I am smiling & talking.  Playing with my little purse.

Playing in an exersaucer we borrowed from some friends - I really enjoy being in here, moving around, making noises with the things to play with.  Mommy likes that it gives her 10 or 15 minutes where I'm not rolling & crawling all around the floor & am in a safe place to play for awhile!  Here I'm in the kitchen playing while she cleans out & organizes the pantry.

I LOVE this car - it's definitely the thing I love to play with most.  I will crawl around to get it & get upset if it gets stuck in between things or I can't reach it.  No clue what it is about this, but I could munch on this all day!

I love trying to be in places I shouldn't be as well.... under the chair, on the tile where I bonk my head, inbetween all the things Mommy sets up as a barrier.... :) (& I told you'd I'd do anything to get that car!)

Did I mention that I love doing things I'm not supposed to?..... like crawling to my dirty clothes & garbage from playing in the middle of my room while mom did a few things.  She just HAD to grab the camera when she found me doing this! :)  No worries, no dirty diapers in my garbage to get into. 

Holding on tight to the tag on my blanket.... (no wonder some mom invented the 'Taggies' blankets!)  I fell asleep finally after a lunch out with friends & a long trip to the store.  Mom thinks I look so sweet when I'm asleep like this.

And that's what I've been up to & some of the things I'm loving.  I'm crawling around more than ever.  Maybe mom could post a video of it sometime soon.  While doing all that, I take little breaks of rest & frustration....can't wait til I can really crawl around this place.  That will really freak Cabrinha out, I'm sure! :)

-L- for -O-  :)

San Antonio

Taking a minute to play catchup before I give Liv a bath tonight... Dave took his first student up to San Antonio on a Cross Country flight this weekend.  He could have been doing it for awhile now - but when he could have started it was late in my pregnancy or right after Liv was born & since then we're just busy spending time together!

Friday I drove up to my friend Brooke's house & finally met Christopher! He's about 5 weeks younger than Olivia - It was so great to meet him -he's a happy little guy!! She & I have been friends since high school, which is much longer ago than I care to admit right now. We had Panera for lunch & went shopping before I picked Dave up from the airport late in the afternoon. D&I went to Chipotle for dinner late that night & were both exhausted so didn't do much else since stores closed at 9 when we finished dinner.

Look! We can both grab our feet!!

"Hey!  Are you the girl I always hear my mom talk about on the phone to
your mom?"
"Ya that's me - are you the boy I always hear making noises on the other end?"

Saturday we enjoyed breakfast sandwich bagels at Panera.....yummmm - I have been wanting one of these for months!!!! & shopping at some good stores like Whole Foods & Bass Pro! We went to Brooke & Tony's house for pizza & enjoyed her strawberry shortcake - with homemade ice cream! & she made whipped cream too..... so good!! (maybe we should have skipped the pizza & had more of that dessert!)

Today we somehow ended up sleeping in - we both weren't feeling that well & Livy has been stuffed up for a few days so it felt nice.  Then we grabbed Panera to go & dropped Dave off at the airport...& made a quick side trip to Container Store before heading down home.  I'll take a little bit of EVERYTHING from there please!! :)  Love it all!

Sooooo sleepy after a long & busy weekend - walking into our hotel.

Overall Olivia did well this weekend away.  I was definitely nervous going into our first hotel & road trip...but we requested the first floor so I had one less floor to worry about & were quick to soothe any cries.... though by 9 this morning you can only keep a baby so quiet, so hopefully no one minded too much :)
It was the longest car ride we've done too.  The way there she was quiet & slept the entire time (except for a halfway rest stop).   The way home was pretty good too but she did fuss on & off for a bit in the middle before she fell asleep again.



This king size bed sure is fun to play in!