Totally freaked out.....

Let me preface this blog by saying I'm not one of those "crazy" moms who runs to the doc every time one little thing is wrong with my baby. I'm more like one of those moms who finally goes to the doc after a couple days of sickness only to learn my baby has had a horrible ear infection for who knows how long...then I always have one of those "I'm a terrible mom" moments. But, it's a fine line...when do you really know it's time to go to the doc????

We've all heard the news about the swine flu. I've been very concerned about the whole deal but not completely freaked out. Well, to back up, Lola just got through antibiotics and an ear infection. Over the weekend, she still didn't seem 100%. So, before I left for Dallas on Monday, I took her to the doc....just to make sure all was well. At that time, the swine flu didn't cross my mind. Then, the past two nights Lola was up non-stop...whining around...just not feeling right. I was still okay...just figured she's still fighting through something. Then I get in the car this morning and the first thing I hear is a 23 month old died from the flu (the first death in the US)...uh oh. Then as we keep going on our trek back to A town Clay informed me that someone in their San Antonio office has the swine flu. OH NO!!!! This is really hit close....so my mind starts spinning....I start thinking the worst possible scenarios. As I'm thinking all of this, Lola is screaming bloody murder in her car seat while she's hacking up stuff with a horrible cough and seems to be running a fever. I stopped at the gas station to get some milk and Tylenol...she wouldn't take either....just said "no" "no" and pushed my hand away. I called the doc as I was officially in panic mode now and asked "Should I be concerned and/or should I bring her in?" The only answer they gave was "Well, if you think she's worse, bring her in". THAT'S NOT WHAT I WAS ASKING!!! I wanted to know if I should be concerned and if I should bring her in....under normal circumstances I wouldn't but there is a dang swine flu out there taking over so TELL ME, TELL ME, TELL ME!!! Ok, I didn't really say that....I decided to take it easy on them but I did want a much more clear answer...didn't get it.

I made the decision not to take Lola to school this afternoon as I wouldn't want another parent to bring their runny nosed, coughing, running a low grade fever sick child to school so I respected that (do unto others right). Now, I'm SO STRESSED as I lost an afternoon of work and have SO MUCH TO DO!!! Yea, get the point...I'm a little freaked on many levels (calm down Amy...it will all get done at one point). I'm glad I made this decision though b/c when we got home poor baby Lo was whining around the house and wouldn't let me put her down (see attached video...poor thing). At one point, I was on a conference call and she was just whaling...all I could do was apologize. But, as she was whaling, I did notice that she has two front teeth popping through. Whew!!! What a relief!!! Now it all makes sense...this could be causing all the problems we've been having over the past couple days. Now, I'm starting to feel much better about the fact that Lola most likely doesn't have the swine flu.

BUT (love the buts) it got worse...AGAIN. Lo took a dramatic turn...she started running a high fever and became very lethargic. It was scary!!! She was limp and had this blank look in her eyes. Her eyes are always filled with so much personality and life and they just seemed empty. I panicked again and called Clay to come home to make sure I wasn't going "crazy". He too was very concerned so I took her to the after hours doc. I'm happy to say Lola is swine flu free (say that 3X fast), however, she has ANOTHER ear infection (we literally JUST got off the antibiotic). This one is so bad that the doc said her ear drum may burst (she says this sounds worse than what it is...not so sure about that). Anyway, I don't know what to do...tubes? I really think it may be allergies since it's become so severe since moving to Austin so maybe we'll try a nutritionist. I don't know...more questions!!! But, for now, we'll just inject her with antibiotics, Motrin and ear drops to make her feel better...poor baby girl...I just hate it...

Oh, the trials and tribulations.....how many times have you heard me say that?!?!?!!?

Man, it hurts...

Man...I miss this little girl so much it hurts....my stomach is aching. Is this normal? I've now been gone three days which is just too long... Luckily, I leave this evening and can't wait to get home to see Miss Lola (of course, she'll probably be asleep when I get home...bummer). Right now, I'm so excited that the ache in my stomach has actually turned into butterflies due to the anticipation of finally seeing Lo when I get home. Oh man...home sweet home....but only for the weekend until I take off again.

Clay has really enjoyed having some "alone" time with Lo this week. I think they've bonded even more. He says she's been great this week....eating a ton which is good b/c she went through a phase where she wasn't eating much just drinking milk. So, thank goodness that problem is behind us....I wonder what the next one will be....

So, I haven't talked much about Lola's new school....it's a Montessori school. We actually love it and Lo loves it too. Our only complaint was/is that she is the oldest in the class and the other babies aren't quite as active as her. Also, there aren't many babies in the room...this is good news b/c she gets lots of special attention from the teachers that she loves oh so much but we feel she's not getting enough playtime with other kids (specifically older babies/kids). At Lola's old school in Dallas, she was always the youngest and we felt she learned so much from the "older" babies. We've been okay with the current situation b/c they have lots of fun activities throughout the day (one being art class and Lo always comes home with finger paints on her clothes...BTW....hard to get out) and she moves to the older class at 17 months...only a couple months right?!?!? Anyway, Clay told me yesterday that they've started letting Lo go play outside with some of the other kids. YEA!!! So, it looks like they're starting to transition her over a little early. YEA again!!! I hate to even say this b/c I do love her current teachers and they are so good with Lola but I REALLY want her to have an opportunity to hang out with the older babies/kids. Well, it looks like that's starting to happen. It makes me happy!!!

Ok, gotta finish up some auditing and then head home...Woohoo!!!

Does this make me a bad mother??????

Does this make me a bad mother?????? Take a REAL close look at Miss Lola in the background in the pictures below....I'll even commentate for you....

In this pic, Lo is glancing around to make sure no one is watching so she can make her move....

We obviously weren't watching so she decides to swoop in for the kill and picks the bottle up...however, she is still only glancing at it....

AND THEN she puts the beer bottle in her mouth....NICE!

Ummmm....yea!!! No she didn't. This just goes to show that you basically have to watch these babies non-stop....or don't leave beer bottles on the floor (This was Ashley's beer btw). To make matters worse, I didn't even know she was doing this until I was downloading the pics today....Oh man...can you believe?!?!?!? Anyway, I'm sure the bottle was empty. I guess it happens to every parent at least once.....or, maybe I'm just telling myself this to help get over the "I'm a terrible mother" moment I'm having right now. I actually haven't had one of these moments in a while so I guess I was due one.

So, with that, we had a fabulous weekend. Some of our BFFs Ashley and Mark and their kiddos Isabel and Caroline came in town from San Antonio. Lola had a blast hanging out with the girls. They all entertained each other the whole weekend which was great. As for the adults, we had a good time with good company. As usual, we all had plenty to talk about and our conversations went into the wee hours of the night. It was raining on Friday when they arrived so we put our screened porch to use. Man, it is really great to have this area.

Below is a pic of Clay reading to the girls before bedtime. You like his hair and beard??? Well, on Friday night, we shaved it....it's completely gone....he now has very little hair on his head. He also trimmed his beard to a gotee so he's all cleaned up. Once again, winter has passed us and Clay is coming out of the hibernation.


On Saturday, we took the girls to the Austin Children's museum and then had a night out on the town...ADULTS ONLY!!! It was VERY nice to have a little break....it's been a while.


After a great weekend with friends, I'm on another business trip. This time....Nashville, TN. I certainly do hope I run into Kenny Chesney or Alan Jackson or maybe even Garth Brooks. Not really....I'm actually not a big fan of Nashville country. Anyway, I have a week full of auditing....sounds exciting right!?!?!? The good news is I'll get a ton of work done while I'm here.....the bad news is I'll miss Lola sooooo much!

Free Hugs!!!

I walking down South Congress the other day, saw this sign and had to stop and take a picture. I loved it. See....some things are still free in this very expensive world!!!

Splish Splash

Last Thursday we had fun playing with the water hose. Lola LOVES water in all shapes and forms....baths, water hose, pool, rain, drink...you name it...if it requires water, she's there. However, she's not so much into the sprinkler yet. We tried this last Friday and it didn't work so well....she actually seemed a little scared. Anyway, this little water episode ended up causing quite a mess...dirt, mud and water was spread across several rooms of the house. Oh well, if Lo enjoyed it then it's all worth it (of course, we should be more prudent about the water shortage...we'll have to invest in a little pool for the yard). Here's what Lo looked like before, during and after this little adventure:

BEFORE. Oh...so cute and happy on a beautiful sunny Thursday afternoon.

Lola even helped me water the plants. These days she likes to be a little helper.

AFTER!!! The fun was over! She got too wet and became very frustrated with the water hose! She came running over to me and wanted to be picked up asap. She was also very hungry....if she's not sitting in her high chair eating dinner right at or before 5:30 on the dot, then you better watch out.

See what I mean. Now she's happy again after eating some avocados, turkey and cheese. Look at that big 'ol smile!!!

It's Easter time!!!

What a fabulous Easter weekend! Once again we were busy bees and were very productive. It's funny...we've done more in the 6 weeks that we've lived in Austin as we did in 3 years of living in Dallas. It's such a great feeling. We're rarely ever home on the weekends and I love it! If we are home, we're outside doing something. All greatness. So anyway, as noted, this weekend was no different. Here's what we did:

Friday, we weren't hungry but we still ran down to Guero's (our home away from home) for a quick drink and to watch the band.

Here's a pic of Lola with Virgin Mary. How funny is this?!?!?!? She always hangs out with Mary when we're at Guero's. I think she likes those little rocks sitting there....she'll lift them up and bring them to us one by one over and over and over again and then she'll say "Tank You" (thank you) which actually means "you're welcome"....she has the terms a little messed up right now but that's okay b/c she's saying them...right?!?!?!?

Lola also watched the band at Guero's. I will HAVE to get this on video one day. She LOVES the bands and dances like you wouldn't believe. She's started a new move that will send you to the floor hysterically laughing. She sticks her hip out to the right (far out) and does a big BOOTY SWIRL. Ha,ha,ha,ha. I'm not kidding....you have never seen anything like it. I mean she has some moves! Where in the world has she learn to swoop her pelvic area/booty around in such a way?!?!?!? I'm thinking maybe at school they do the Hokie Pokie song or something...."stick your right hip in and your right hip out and move it all around"...I don't know but it's a serious RIOT!!!

Saturday we went to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. You know, our Lady bird is named after this Lady Bird. We really wish she could have gone with us. The Wildflower Center was great. We actually bought an annual membership.

Then we went to the famous Threadgills for dinner. You like how my shirt matches the tablecloth??? Pretty nifty huh!

On Sunday, we went to church. There are several neighborhood churches so we took a Sunday stroll and walked down to the Methodist church. We really enjoyed it! Below are some pics of Lo in her Easter attire. She looked too cute and did great at the church daycare. She is seriously a little social butterfly and adapts to pretty much any atmosphere these days.

After church, we went to a friend's house for Easter lunch. On the way, we stopped at my favorite garden center, The Great Outdoors, to pick up a plant as a gift and the Easter bunny was there! Woohoo!!! Thank goodness b/c time slipped away and I was never able to take Lo to get pics with the bunny. So, I was THRILLED that we got pics with The Great Outdoors Easter bunny. You probably can kind of tell from the pic but Lo had a grip on me like you wouldn't believe...that's probably why I look a little strained. She was also saying "no, no" every time I tried to put her close to him. It was cute!

To wrap up the weekend, we planted more flowers. Oh man, I love planting flowers and "trying" (I put this in quotes as I'm not always successful...I sure do wish I had my mom's green thumb) to make the yard look beautiful. I'll show yall pics once I'm done. AND, we started our garden....YEA!!! We're planting squash, tomatoes, peppers and jalapenos in the compound....it will be a community garden. Can't wait!!! We also planted some fab herbs.

What a weekend!!!

236 boxes down 2 to go...

Can you believe!?!?!?!? We just about have all the boxes unpacked and we're almost COMPLETELY organized. Man oh man...it's only taken 6 weeks. I won't be moving again for a long long long time. It's been utterly exhausting....especially since I want everything done yesterday.

Anyway, we hope to finish everything up this weekend. Just in time for lots of visitors. We're basically booked from now until late May with people visiting or planned trips, etc. I'm so excited!!! So, I wanted to show you a few more pics. We only have to get the office and guest/music room complete and we're all done. Woohoo!!! Here they are:

Upstairs foyer. Still looking for that perfect rug but what great light this little area has. As we do this tour of upstairs, check out all the groovy ceilings, fun shapes of the rooms and the fab sunlight that comes in from all angles. Too much fun!!! Also, it's probably hard to tell from the pics but these rooms are huge.

Lola's new nursery. All the woods are the original from when the house was built in 1886. How fun is that!?!?!?!? I absolutely ADORE this house and could stay here forever.

Master Bathroom. It is totally funky and cool and huge!!! There is a whole other half that you can't see in the picture. And the shower...fabulous!!! Double heads on each side. Lola loves to climb in with us when we're taking showers and bathe herself too. She's had a lot of fun with it. My mom made the shower curtain and the curtain in the window. Thanks Madre...Love them!!!

And finally the very odd shaped master bedroom. I mean really....you can't stick a large orange shag rug in many rooms but in this one it works. This room still needs lots of work. I actually have no clue what to do with it and you can probably see why. As soon as I find the "perfect" bedding then we'll work on it but for now it's going to stay as is. This room, like the master bathroom, is HUGE and also has a whole other half you can't see in the pic. Eventually, I would like to have a little sitting area but this is way down the road.

I can't believe the week is almost over! Goodness...I feel like I haven't gotten much done...just one of those weeks. I found out today that Lo's school is closed tomorrow for Good Friday so it looks like I'll be working late tonight. Anyway, since she's off, we have lots of fun plans for this Holiday weekend. We plan to go get pictures with the Easter bunny, either go to the neighborhood pool or the zoo (haven't decided yet), go to Austin City Hall and watch music in the plaza (Live from the Plaza: http://www.cityofaustin.org/music/live.htm), try out some new fun restaurants and head to church on Sunday. Oh, and finish the guest/music room and office.

Should be a great weekend!!!!

Toddler Wise

In the early stages of the Hola Lola blog, I mentioned the book Baby Wise and noted how I really believe in it. Well, now we're in the process of starting Toddler Wise in hopes that it will provide us with some excellent insight into this parenting thing.

We do believe we're good parents and possibly even great parents, however, we continue to run into these little "phases". This is what we call them in hopes that they are actually just a "phase". So, what's the newest "phase"??? Well, Miss Lola will absolutely not go to sleep at night. She hardcore refuses!!! When I say won't go to sleep, I mean she wants to stay up and rally with the folks until 11:00 p.m. or later if we would allow it. This all started Friday night and it continues which means Clay and I feel we have had no alone/adult time.

Any time something like this occurs, Clay and I start to question our parenting skills. The natural questions come to mind... "Are we doing everything right?", "What do we do about this?", "Are we good parents?", "Has something we've done caused this?", etc. Now that Lola has started refusing bedtime, we wonder if we've done something to cause this. So, last night we decided to hit the books and busted out with both Toddler Wise and Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. Funny, the first line I read was as follows:

"It cannot be emphasized enough: The major sleep problems in babies from five to twelve months old develop and persist because of the inability of parents to stop reinforcing bad sleep habits.....The failure of children to fall asleep and stay asleep by themselves is a direct result of parents' failure to give their child the opportunity to learn these self-soothing skills"

NICE!!!! I love this term "parents' failure"...they just put it all out there don't they. So, I guess this answers the questions we had in our minds. But, to be honest, we've known this. Lola didn't sleep through the night until she was 12 months old. All along we knew we needed to let her "cry it out" (a.k.a - CIO) but we chose not to take on this approach. There are two sides of the story to the "cry it out" method and we don't agree with it 100%. Some say "CIO methods consider leaving a child alone and crying to be unnatural, unkind, and a betrayal of the trust your baby is developing into adults and the world around him/her." But, to be honest, the lack of sleep has never really bothered me (crazy right?!?!?). So, here we are today...we have a baby who FINALLY sleeps through the night but now we can't get her to go to sleep. Huh!!!

Last night we finally decided to kind of use the "cry it out" method or what they call the "Ferber" method. We put her to bed and said "nite, nite". She knows what we're saying b/c she gets her blanket, snuggles up with her babies (dolls) and lays down like she's going to sleep. She'll even fake snore. But, then she pops back up and is ready to rock. It's so cute and really hard to resist but we put our foot down last night. I stayed in her room with her for a bit and then walked out. She cried for about 9 minutes and then fell asleep. Just so you know we were only going to let her cry 10 minutes and then go back in there to soothe her and then leave again. This is the difference between the CIO method and the Ferber method...you don't leave them cold turkey to cry it out for an infinite amount of time rather you do it in increments...we're on board with this one. Anyway, we'll attempt it again tonight and hopefully within the next two weeks, we'll be able to lay Lola down in bed at the same time every night and she'll fall asleep on her own. As usual, I'll keep you posted.

On a lighter note, Clay and I have continue to explore Austin and love it more and more each passing week. On Saturday, we walked over to 1st street to a restaurant/bar called Freddie's. What a great atmosphere! These people really have it figured out. There is a huge back patio area/beer garden.....they have a stage for the bands to rock out AND a playground for the kids. This is GENIUS I tell ya...genius!!! The parents can sit back and enjoy themselves while the kiddos are playing on the playground. Seriously, what a great idea! Here are some pics of Lo on the playground. It was truly some of the cutest/best moments we've had so far and that's saying a lot.

Lola was initially a little shy but soon met many friends to play with on the playground. She had a blast! And, of course, she attempted to eat all those little rocks you see there on the ground.

Lo LOVES to swing. I'm still trying to find one exactly like this to hang in our tree in the yard.

Lola has become quite the social butterfly (after she gets past the initial shyness). Just one of the girls. Lola took it upon herself to climb up onto this little table and sit with the girls while they were eating. She even took a french fry right off their plate...of course, since she can't speak full sentences yet, she did this without asking. Too funny! Luckily, the little girls were okay with it.

Lo loved this little girl in the picture below and really took to her. She's 6 yrs old and was so sweet. She drug Lo all around the playground.

Is it just me or is Lola almost as big as this little 6 yr old?? Her head is definitely the same size if not larger. Oh...too funny!!!! No wonder my left shoulder is killing me...we have a big girl on our hands!

Time to head home...Lola was beat after a long afternoon on the playground. We weren't done yet though. We hit up Eco-wise and purchased our seeds so we can start our garden...Woohoo!!!!

They didn't build Rome in a day

I grew up hearing my parents use the phrase "They didn't build Rome in a day". Probably b/c I have always been one of those people who want everything done yesterday. My Dad is the exact same way so I come by it honestly. This "need" to have everything done yesterday has only worsened with age, therefore, I think of this phrase often. This "need" has also caused a lot of anxiety over the past 4 weeks (I can't believe we've officially lived in Austin for a month..or actually more). Mainly b/c it's not so easy to get things done "yesterday" when you have full time job and a 14 month old.

With that, I'm just thrilled to announce things are finally starting to come together at our new old house. I have to tell you...for weeks now I wasn't sure if it was ever going to happen. I basically thought we would remain in boxes for at least another year or possibly even forever. I'm sure the Romans also felt this way when building Rome. As a matter of fact, through research I found that it took 820 years to build this fabulous city (began 753 B.C and the city reached a peak in 120) and of course they are still building it today. But man...it's had me in a real funk! I wonder if the Romans felt this way too??? However, over the past two weeks I've worked REAL hard and focused for about an hour or so every evening and BOOM... it's suddenly started coming together. THANK GOODNESS!!!

So, here's a sneak preview....attached are pics of the entryway, living and kitchen(all downstairs).

Looking at entryway from living room. That's the front door...Office is to the right and the guest/music/amy's closet room is to the left.

Looking at entryway from front door.

Looking at living room from kitchen (not a very good pic but you get the point).

Looking at the kitchen from the living.

Still to come: Guest bedroom/music room & bathroom, office, laundry room (yes, it will be cute too), screened in porch (will be sooooo cute and romantic....you'll see what I mean once it's finished...can't wait to show you this one), upstairs foyer, Lola's room and master bedroom & bathroom.

I'm still struggling with decorating ideas in a couple of the rooms (too bad Domino is no longer around). Mainly the upstairs foyer and the master bedroom. In the foyer, I just need the right rug to pull it all together...I know I'll find the perfect one soon. And for the master bedroom...it is very oddly shaped and is HUGE (Bobbie, It reminds me of the upstairs in your old house....kind of funny I still have a distinct image in my head of that room (Please note: Bobbie (my aunt) is a very loyal follower of Hola Lola...she checks everyday)). We've rearranged this room no less than 3 times. I think we finally have the arrangement right but now we need some bedding. I've been on a MAD search and can't find anything I even remotely like. So, I'll continue to work on that.

Anyway, we still have many boxes to unpack but at least it's manageable now. I feel we'll be completely unpacked and organized (this is key) within the next two weeks. Woohoo!!! My stress level is so much better and I'm starting to see myself clearly again. Of course, as I begin to see myself more clear, I realize I need to start working out/running again asap (all happening next week) and I need a new wardrobe (once again, another time another blog). Hmmm...maybe it was better when I wasn't feeling "clear".....

Oh, I almost forgot...I have a virtual tour of the downstairs too. Lets see how many times I can use the words "wonderful" and "fabulous" to describe something. Hey, I never said I would make a good commentator.