Home sweet home!

Well, I made it back home! It feels so good to be back with the fam. I sure did miss baby Lola (and Clay of course) and I was thrilled to see her last night. I even let her stay up until 10:00 pm (OOPS!!!) so we could spend some quality time together. Here were some of my fav moments from last week:

When we take the dogs out, Lola get excited and runs to the door to peek out while we're walking the gorgeous girls. Here's a pic of her anxiously waiting for us to come back in and greet us with lots of love!

Lola and I were able to sneak in a cat nap last weekend. There is nothing better than snoozing with my baby girl....love these moments!!! She is seriously such a snuggle bug.

Lola LOVES being outside! So, when the weather is nice, we take full advantage. Below is a pic of Lo playing in the yard. Once we get to Austin, we plan to get a swing to hang in the tree. She loves swinging outside.

That's it for today. It's pretty crazy at work but I thought I would post a quick blog while I have a free minute.

After traveling all week, I'm always EXHAUSTED and want a day to kick back and relax. Not so much today! Had a conference call first thing this morning that lasted 3 hours, I have another one at 12:00 pm, then at 1:00 pm, then I have to get some reports out and then I have to enter in all my time for the week. At one point I need to pick up Lola's birthday invitations and get them mailed out today. EEEEKKK!!! I hate days like this. Oh well, it will be 5:30 soon and I'll be ready to shut down...I sometimes like to call it beer:30. There is nothing better than shutting down at the end of a long week and having a relaxing drink to kick off the weekend.

See you next week!!!

Lola is on her way to walking!

Well, we're about two weeks shy of Lola's 1 year birthday and she is on her way to walking around like a little clown upside down (Not sure what this means but Clay says this to Lola all the time in a fun voice). In a matter of days, she has really made great progress. Last weekend Lola started to get very comfortable with the walking thing. She would take our hand and just walk and walk and walk (see pics above). I was actually sore the next day from leaning over for extended periods of time. BTW...do babies get sore when they're learning to walk? They're using new muscles so you would think. I've been curious about this lately.

I told you last week that Lo took 3 steps and we were elated. We thought that was big until Friday when she basically started walking around like an adult (maybe a little exaggeration). She of course is still most comfortable with the crawl b/c she can get from point A to point B quickly but she is really getting good with the walk too. She is now taking multiple steps at one time. I really want to catch it on video but haven't been able to yet....bummer!

Basically, within a 3 day period her walking has drastically improved! I guess once they figure it out they're ready to go. Here's the sad part....I left today for a business trip to Atlanta. I won't be back until Thursday evening. This is the longest trip away in a while...three nights away from baby girl is likely to kill me. Anyway, based on her progress so far, I fear that by the time I get back home she'll be a full blown walking baby and I would have missed it all. I was thinking last night....goodness...I may never see Lola crawl again. Now, I know I'm being a little dramatic but I'm just sad to leave for so many days. Of course, it's really on two full days that I won't see her but I'm still dying inside. I envision that when I get home on Thursday instead of her crawling to me to say "hello" and give me a big hug she'll be running over to me. I guess we'll see in three days. I miss baby girl!!!

Since we'll be moving in about 4 weeks (Can you believe that?), I thought it would be fun to start a new segment on the blog. It will be "The things I'll miss about Big D". So, my first thing I'll miss is Dolly Python which is one of my fav vintage stores. I've had so many great finds at Dolly Python! Anything from a fab vintage dress that even Carrie Bradshaw would die to have, groovy art work, funky furniture and my latest purchase were some FABULOUS vintage boots (I'm wearing in pic below). I love them!!! I throw them on with everything and they add a fun flare that every boring outfit needs. Anyway, although I'll miss Dolly Python, Austin is known for it's fun/funky vintage stores so I figure I won't be lacking too much in this category. I'm definitely looking forward to some fun shopping and can't wait to find my favorite places that I'll hit up often.

P.S. My food intake has been HORRIBLE today. It consisted of a 5 day old bagel (that had been sitting out for 5 days) for breakfast, a pre-made "cobb" salad that I got out of a cooler (not good at all...actually it was pretty disgusting) for lunch and m&ms on the plane for dinner....nice! I'm STARVING now but it's too late to eat and I'm stuck in the hotel. However, I will say that there is nothing better than kicking back in the hotel room, watching TV and writing on the blog....this is my idea of heaven. I was also happy to be able to watch the bachelor without Clay complaining non-stop. He thinks they over use the word "journey" and it drives him crazy (they really do...pay attention next time you watch). I have to say I'm a little bummed that Jason chose Stephanie (very strange fake southern chick) vs. Nicki and I'm also a little bummed that he didn't give a rose to Lauren (although she was a little aggressive, I kind of liked her). Now I can't decide if I should watch CSI Miami or The City (OH, my FAV show right now but I can also catch On Demand later). Anyhoo, that's all for now...time to go to sleep.

A new president, a new time

Lo celebrating inauguration at Lincoln Memorial

Lo with Obama...I bet you didn't know she would get VIP seating huh

Lola with Obama & Biden....staring intently and very focused on them

Lola watching Bono - One of papa bears all time favorite bands.

Lola and Bona again...look at that smile

It's time for change! We finally have a new president in office. We're excited to see what might come over the next couple years. Regardless, we're happy we finally feel hope again. It means a lot when you have a 11 1/2 month old. Now I don't feel so scared about her growing up in this world.

I bet you didn't know Lola had VIP seats for the inauguration concert. Well, of course she wasn't actually there but we did give Lola a "hall pass" to watch TV. You know usually she can't even glance toward the TV without Clay freaking out. On Sunday night, Clay let Lola join in on the fun.

A couple of quick updates: Lola was fabulous last night - no fits. YEA!!! And, she slept through the night (we've been having issues w/ this lately). Then, she stood up on her own without holding onto anything and took 3 steps. Woohoo!!! I tried to catch it on video but she wouldn't do it again. How does it always work like that? You ask them to do it and they won't but as soon as you stop asking, they decide to do the thing you were asking them to do. She does this all the time with the bye-bye thing. Anytime we're leaving a place I tell her to say "bye-bye" and wave. She just stares and acts like she has no clue what I'm saying. Then as soon as we get to the car...guess what....she'll start waving and saying "bye-bye, bye-bye" over and over again. Oh man...these kiddos are something else!!! You have to wonder what goes through their little minds on a daily basis.

Everyone have a fabulous weekend!!! We're off to Austin tomorrow on a day trip to look at houses again. Wish us luck....

What happened to my perfect child!?!?!?!?

What happened to my perfect child?!?!?! I need HELP!!! - "Houston we have a problem" - Lord HELP me!!! - Dude, what's the deal here?!?!? - Something just ain't right! - OH MY!!!

These are all statements that I've said and felt over the past 48 hours. Seriously, I'm not quite sure what happened to my "perfect child" (she was still perfect in the picture attached to the right).

Lola has always been an "angel face"...just sweet as can be. Lately (the past two days), to put it simply, not so sweet. She's actually been throwing little hissy fits. WHAT?!?!? This is all craziness and a new thing to us. Like yesterday, she took it upon herself to roll around and throw a fit until we finally picked her up. OK....I get it....I really do know what the problem is...I guess I just answered it myself in the prior sentence... right? She wants to be picked up....preferably by her mom. So what do we do about this? Most of the day yesterday, I was in a little shock by the attitude (a.k.a tude) Lola was putting on. I kind of let her fuss around a bit but then the screaming became obnoxious so I would just give her what she wanted. As mentioned in prior blogs, Lo's eye teeth are coming in so I gave her the benefit of the doubt and thought "she's teething". Well, I must say she is taking that a little far now.

When I picked her up from school today I was nervous to hear how their day went so I asked in a really sweet already apologizing for anything that may have gone wrong today kind of tone "Was she fussy today?" Well, guess what their answer was???? NO, oh my gosh...she is a breath of fresh air compared to the other kids...she was "perfect". Yep, that's what they said "perfect". So, I figured maybe we just had a rough day yesterday. Of course, the minute we walked in the door she changed that thought process for me.

What happened do you ask??? Well, we spent the entire evening with a fussy child who rolled around all over the living room screaming (the fussy roll is her new thing), climbed out of her high chair and just about killed herself, wouldn't eat, screamed again, rolled around some more and finally passed out. OMG....what in the world is going on....what do we do????? At one point, I was trying to eat my roast beef and potatoes in peace and she was SCREAMING in my ear so I finally just surrendered my plate of food to her and let her do whatever she wanted with it....I didn't care anymore....I needed some relief...ASAP!!! So, she proceeded to dig in it and feed it to the dogs and make a HUGE mess. Oh my!

With that said, I'm pretty much exhausted and can't get into anymore detail on this b/c 1) My brain is not functioning anymore after a long day and ending it with a child screaming isn't really ideal. AND 2) It kind of makes me want to cry....literally what happened to my perfect child. Clay asked tonight "Are we doing something wrong to cause this". I answered "I have no idea". I really don't! I know I say this often but "oh the trials and tribulations of being a parent"....it's pretty much like a roller coaster.

Since I can't get into any more detail due to the exhaustion, I thought I would attach a couple videos to break down our evening a little better. Please note: In one of the videos it may appear that I was abusing her. Just know I wasn't of course....she was trying to take the camera from me and was being a little aggressive....Once again I surrendered. Lord help me!

EXHIBIT 1

EXHIBIT 2

Who does she most resemble?????

So, this shows how far behind I am on this blog thing. I believe this pic was taken on November 4th so Lola would have been around 9 months old. I bet you wonder how I randomly came up with this date. Well, I remember seeing signs on the door that Lo's school pics were being taken on a Tuesday. I knew I was traveling the day the pics were being taken so I sent myself a reminder to sit an outfit out for Clay to put on Lo that day. Well, obviously, based on the pic above, I flew out of town and forgot to put an outfit out for the school pics. Clay put on his favorite outfit which at that time was the owl shirt. Granted...it's cute but"school pic" cute....I don't think so. Also, don't you love the "fly away" hair...I guess he forgot to run the comb through Lo's hair that day too. I love it!!!

Anyway, I've been meaning to post these pics for a while. How cute is Lo's first little school pic?!?!?! She kind of looks like a little adult all propped up there. I also attached a pic of me at 10 1/2 months and Clay at around 10 months (I think). It's amazing to see all three pics together. Who do you think she most resembles???

Good-Bye Big D

Good-Bye Big DHello Big A (i.e. Austin)

The big news is that we're moving to Austin. Can you believe it? It seems so easy to type those words out on this blog like it's no big deal but actually it is a HUGE deal!!!

Clay and I have put a TON of thought into this before we finally made the decision. We've basically exhausted ourselves thinking and talking about it. The whole thought process took place over about 4 or 5 months. It's been a wild ride and a very hard decision. In the end, we decided to go and take advantage of the opportunity that has presented itself to us.

So, what exactly is taking us to Austin? Clay has been offered a fabulous position with a great firm in Austin. Clay has had many other great opportunities in the past and he still looks back and thinks "Should I have pursued that opportunity". We didn't want to look back anymore so this time we are pursuing the opportunity. I'm very excited for Clay and his new career ahead of him and hope it turns out to be everything he wants it to be.

The hard part about all of this is our family and friends live in Dallas. Plus, we LOVE our house. So, there were definitely some pros and cons lists being made. Unfortunately, the lists didn't do much good. Why? Well, the pros outweighed the cons by far but the tricky thing was that the cons of moving were all of the emotional investments that you just can't weigh out on a list. Once the decision was finally made, there were lots of tears but we are now both very excited. Thank goodness for all the support we have received from friends and families.

This brings me to the book "Who's Your City?". Molly and Ben introduced us to this book a while ago. The author gives a very interesting prospective as to why we should put more thought into the city we choose to live. Basically, his thought process is that where you live should be one of our three major life decisions (along with choosing a spouse and career) and in fact can have a strong effect on the other two. But most people give this little thought or at least not like we do love and work. So, we've started analyzing this point and began giving it the thought it deserves. With that, we don't know if Austin will be our city but we'll give it a shot.

So, this is one of the things that has made our lives so INSANE lately. Try to put a house on the market with a 11 month old. FYI...NOT FUN!!! We felt like our lives were taken away from us while "the troops" were constantly stomping through our house invading our privacy. And, trying to keep everything immaculate on a daily basis was merely impossible. But, we did it....somehow. Luckily, by day 3 of our house being on the market we had 4 offers. Wowsers!!! I guess our love for our house is legit. Can you believe that in this market?!?!?!? Basically, it looks like we'll get above asking price...it was all kind of crazy. So, it appears the move will come much quicker than we initially expected. I'll keep everyone updated on all the details and fun to come.

I'm so far behind...Part III

Alright...I'm doing horrible with this whole blog thing lately. I get so frustrated with myself and it really does eat me up but I just run out of time b/c life is CRAZY! I want to tell you why life is so CRAZY but I don't want to get ahead of myself and spoil all the fun. So, I thought, let me go ahead and post the "I'm so far behind...Part III" which I was suppose to go out over a week ago and then I can post fun/current blogs telling you why life is so INSANE right now. So, lets catch up real quick...here we go

1. Lo's upper teeth finally came in (Gosh...this has been about a month ago by now). Woohoo!!! It was rough! At times, we could tell it was really painful for her. They are big ones so I can see why. Since the two front teeth started coming in, she does this cute little smile where she squinches her little nose up and just grins with all her might (see pic above). I guess she's trying to show off the new pearly whites. Now the two upper teeth next to the two front teeth are coming in too. So, as long as these teeth keep coming, it looks like we'll be dealing with the on and off fussiness. Actually she's been really good about it...she is such a good baby and really seems to have a high pain tolerance....just like her mama.
2. Ok...now, here is my FAVORITE! The baby girl has become a very lovable baby. She also loves her "babies". Over the past month or so, Lo has really gotten into her dolls. She'll take the dolls and give them "love"....she'll hug them and kiss them. Then she'll look at the doll and point to her eyes or nose or mouth and then give her another big hug or kiss. She also loves to look at herself in the mirror and "kisses the baby" (this is what we call it). She'll look and then try to peek behind the mirror to see where the baby is and then goes back to kiss the mirror. Clay said the other day (jokingly of course) that he hopes she's not a narcissists b/c she sure does love looking a pictures of herself and/or looking at herself in the mirror and then kissing. Luckily, Lo takes the hugs and kisses and gives them to her parental guidance too. Oh...it melts my heart!!! She'll crawl up to me, crawl up in my lap, wraps her arms around my neck and just hugs....all the time too. I'll say "Lo, give mama a kiss" and she'll open the mouth wide and kiss my cheek or nose or whatever she can reach. I love it!!! I hope she continues to be a lovable baby, then toddler, then kid, then teenager, then adult. I kind of have a hugging/lovable phobia and would hate for her to take after me here. To be determined I guess.
3. Lola is also going through a phase where she points at everything and makes little "hoo-hoo" noises....sounds a little bit like an owl. Half the time we have no clue what she is pointing and hooing at but we just say "Yes, we see it baby girl" and smile.
4. Some other miscellaneous things she's started.....plays patty-cake and peek-a-boo. Oh, the peek-a-boo thing is the cutest thing. She'll duck behind the chair and pop out and I say "peek-a-boo" and she'll just start rolling laughing...then she'll duck back behind the chair again and pop back out. Oh, breaks my heart in a funny sweet way just thinking about it.
5. Lola knows Chinese. Yep...the child is obviously a genius b/c she speaks Chinese. I know you don't believe me so I'll have to make sure and capture this one on video so you can see it for yourself. It's funny!!!

I guess I could go on and on but I'm going to stop. INSTEAD, I'm going to try to stay up to date and post a blog when something fun happens. That way, yall are always up-to-date on everything. But, I'm glad I finally got "I'm so far behind...Part III" out of the way. I have to say I was dreading posting this one in fear that I couldn't remember all the little milestones. And, I was right...I can't remember. So, I did my best and now I'll try to stay on top of everything. It's all so much fun...right?!?!?!

Two More...

Oh, I have two more New Year's resolutions that I didn't include in my last blog. They are to:

• SAVE MONEY - Clay and I plan to make this a big year to save money and pay off any/all debts. Oh, I so hope we're able to stay focused here.
  


• GET/STAY ORGANIZED - We worked on getting organized over the holidays. I've found that if you're not organized, you work full time and you are a parent, things can get out of control pretty quick. We want our lives to be less stressful and we think we can accomplish that by getting/staying organized. We'll see.

So, now I have 5 New Year's resolutions that I absolutely have to stick to. My hopes are that if they are written down (i.e. on the blog) then I'll stick to them.

I know we're past the holiday now but I was never able to get this pic posted. Attached is Lo with Santa at school. She had three visits with Santa. All of them went about the same, she was semi-terrified i.e. stiff as a board and puckering her little bottom lip. Poor baby girl.

I'm back to work now. Although taking some vacation days was wonderful, it's good to be back on a schedule and what I like to call "back to reality". The first day back is always tough though.

I'll be back tomorrow with "I'm so far behind...Part III".

New Year's Day 2009 - We made it!!!

Well, we made it to 2009. I always love looking back over the year. 2008 was a great year for us. Mainly b/c Lola entered our life but a lot of other good things happened too. I started a new job, Clay accepted a new job and we have survived as parents for 10 1/2 months (quite an accomplishment I must say)

New Year's Eve was fun!!! Of course, you know you're getting old and you're "officially" a parent when you have to leave the party before the clock hits 12:00 a.m. We almost made it but not quite. For us this year, we weren't popping open a bottle of champagne and kissing when the New Year came. Instead, we were bringing Lo home and putting her to bed. We had plans to spend the night at our friends house so we didn't have to worry about waking Lola up and bringing her home at 12:30 or 1:00 a.m. but that didn't pan out. Lola wasn't sleeping well so at about 11:30 we decided it would be best to head home and put her to bed. We still had a great time celebrating the New Year.

And, now it's New Year's Day. How did we celebrate??? Napping. Lola was an angel and decided to extend her normal 1 1/2 to 2 hour nap to 3 hours. Thank you Lola! So, Clay and I were able to take a long wonderful nap also. We put the Christmas decorations up. What a mess!!! I sure am glad to have the non-infant friendly Christmas tree out of the living room. Once that tree went up, Lo was constantly heading for the ornaments, lights, etc...it was a constant chase. We cooked two good meals, ate and drank cold beer. We watched football of course...the games have been pretty disappointing so far this year. But, most importantly, I contemplated the 2009 New Year's resolutions. So, what are my resolutions? I put some thought into it and here they are:

1. Lose 10 lbs (So stereotypical...right?!?! Everyone has this as one of their New Year's resolutions but it has to be set). I hit what I thought was my "goal" weight (minus the 5 lbs I've put on during the Holidays) but unfortunately I'm still not exactly where I want to be. So, the "goal" weight has changed. I think if I lose 10 more lbs I'll be there. I started running this week and will continue on in 2009. My goal is to run at least 3 times a week (3 to 6 miles and/or interval training) and do yoga once a week. I'll also have to watch what I eat if I want this 10 lbs to come off so starting Monday, the diet will begin. Yuck!!!


2. Be a better parent. Sometimes I feel I'm not very patient and I want to make a point to be more patient. As Lola gets older and heads toward being a toddler, it gets real tough and your nerves can suffer (Please tell me other mother's out there go through this too and it's not just me!!!). But, I'm going to make a point to take deep breaths and keep those nerves under control. If I do that, I know I'll be a much better parent.


3. Have a baby. Yep, we think we're ready for another baby. Of course, can you ever be "ready"??? The answer to this is "NO". I've always wanted my babies to be close in age. If I become pregnant within the next two months, that would put the kiddos about 2 years apart...Perfect! Also, I DREAD being pregnant again and I'm just ready to get it over with so I don't have to think about it anymore. Of course, if it's going to happen in 2009, we better get to work quick!!!

So, those are my New Year's resolutions. Not too hard right. Surely I can make all of those happen.

We're getting geared up for the Cotton Bowl. GO TECH!!! We're meeting at a friend's house at 8:30 a.m. and are heading to the Cotton Bowl to start tailgating. I really can't believe that we are starting so early but I guess there is nothing like having an excuse to have a Bloody Mary at 9:00 a.m. Something about that is very exhilarating. It should be fun...keep your fingers crossed that Tech gives us a big win!!!!

We took Lola to see the trains at North Park on Wednesday. This is something we did in my family when I was growing up. We want to make it a tradition to take Lola every year too. She really liked it this year. She pointed and cooed...it was exciting for her. Attached are some pics.

Happy New Year to everyone!!!