The Super Duper Diva Bachelorette Party

The Girls!

The Wine!

The Fun!

Last weekend was Kristen's Super Duper Diva Bachelorette Party. We rented a limo (it ended up being a massive hummer limo) and we had a fabulous girls day hitting up the South Texas wineries then ended the trip in Fredericksburg for lunch and some quick shopping. The day couldn't have been more perfect!

Kristen & Kevin will tie the knot in 1 month. The exact date is November 28th. We really lucked out when we chose to live in the compound and ended up with such fabulous neighbors. We're so happy to meet and get to know all their BFFs too. I really love all these girls! They are all absolutely amazing and such a blast to hang out with! It's people like this who have made the move to Austin a seamless transition. I feel like I've known all of them forever and will continue to get to know them even more over the years to come. Now, that's a good feeling to have!

Speaking of tying the knot....men are funny. Here's an example: Clay said to me last night "Did you notice I came home during lunch and cleaned the kitchen?". I answered "Yes...thank you" but really didn't notice. I quickly realized that his version of "cleaning the kitchen" is to stack all the dishes in the sink and spraying cleaning product on the counter tops and stove. He doesn't even wipe everything down! This is funny to me. How can he think this is cleaning? Amazing.... When I actually cleaned the kitchen last night meaning I washed all the dishes, put them in the dishwasher, sprayed down the counters and actually scrubbed them to make sure they were shiny clean, I wanted to say to Clay "Now, this is how you clean a kitchen" but I didn't...I didn't want to break his spirits as he truly believed he had helped me out by "cleaning the kitchen" during lunch. I guess every little bit helps!

Where have I been this week...

PHILADELPHIA!!!
I woke up Monday morning at 3:30 a.m. and took a quick business trip up to Philadelphia. I have to say, it's absolutely not natural for any human being to wake up at 3:30 a.m. By 4:30 p.m., I was done but still had a long evening in front of me. What a neat town! I actually loved Philadelphia and would love to go back. Wish I could have spent more time there but glad to be home.

Of course, last night when I got home, I could immediately smell the lovely aroma of puke wafting throughout the house. Yuck! I quickly discovered that poor baby Lo had been throwing up....once all over her bed and all over herself. I guess she had a little stomach ache as she wasn't running a fever and seemed to be in good spirits. We gave her a military bath, some juice/water to hydrate her and she was ready to hit the sack. Luckily, she slept like a baby (excuse the pun)! This morning, I gave Lo a bath to wipe all the remaining bits of throw up from her bod and hair and took her to school. I hope that's ok?!?!?!? Although I scrubbed her hard core, she still had the stinch of throw-up in her hair. I really hope they don't smell it at school...that would be a little embarrasing to say the least!

This afternoon, we plan to go back to the pumpkin patch. I'm going to buy a bunch of little pumpkins and let Lola decorate them for all the kids in her class. It will be cute & fun!!!

Toodles...

Cousins...two peas in a pod

How adorable is this???? The babies getting ready for bed. Lola is 20 months and Doss is 10 months and yes they are the same size. He's a big boy!

Now that Doss is a big boy and is crawling, standing and moving around, the dynamic between these two has completely changed. Before Doss was a wee-bit scared of Lola. Any time she would walk in the room his little bottom lip would start puckering. Yes, he was scared of her. For a while, she was a little rough with baby Doss. Of course, she didn't understand this so we couldn't yell at her but she has hit him, pushed him and knocked him down a few times. But, those times are in the past and now the cousins are two peas in a pod. Gotta love it!

Everyone have a wonderful weekend!!!

Gotta love the fall...

Our neighborhood pUm-kIn pAtch!!!

Lo's first pUm-kIn!

She can't get the awe-struck excitement off her face!

Fall is here! YEA!!! Gosh do I ever love the fall! It's by far my fav season. I don't know what it is...maybe the crispness of the air, the trees turning, the thought of the holiday season nearing. Whatever it is...it's all greatness! Time to get out the long sleeves, sweaters, jackets and boots. Unfortunately, I don't think it will get just real chilly in Austin for a while but I still like to dress the part regardless of the temperature.

This month at Lola's school they are learning about pumpkins. So Lo has developed this new fascination with "pUm-kIns". I spell it like this b/c my writing can't quite express the way she says some of her words. She puts the emPHAsis on the wrong sylLAble. Of course, this is one of the many things that make the toddler stage so absolutely adorable.

Anyway, back to the pUm-kIns....we thought since it's fall and Lo has been learning about pUm-kIns we would head to the pumpkin patch. When we got home yesterday, I told Lola as soon as she eats dinner and Daddy gets home we'll walk down to the pumpkin patch. Her eyes lit up like you've never seen and she shouted pUm-kIn pAtch!!! So we did just that, ate dinner and then waited anxiously outside for Clay to get home. Lola actually waited at the gate down by the driveway (she knows there is an invisible threshold there that she is not allowed to cross without an adult) in anticipation that Clay would arrive any second and we could walk down to the pUm-kIn pAtch. When Kristen pulled up she yelled "Kristen, Daddy home go to pUm-kIn pAtch". I don't think I'd ever heard so much excitement in her voice.

Finally, Clay got home and it was time to head to the pumpkin patch. Well, this child obviously loves her some pUm-kIn pAtches b/c she went BERSERK!!! Basically, regardless of my writing skills (or lack of), there is no way I could ever express to you in writing the experience but it went a little something like this....Lo was frantically running around through the pumpkins shouting "pUm-kIn....pUm-kIn patch...Daddy, pUm-kIn....Mommy, pUm-kIn"...and on and on and on. I don't think I've ever seen her this excited about anything like this before. She didn't even take time out to take a breath. Then it got even better for Lo, the nice gentleman at the pumpkin patch gave her a sticker (which is another fav of hers right now) and this helped kick up the excitement level even more. Wasn't sure this was possible but apparently it was. At one point, our neighbor, Kevin, drove by and stopped for a sec. When Lola saw him, she sprinted to the sidewalk taking her little short steps, kicking her knees up as if she were in a school band, dramatically swinging her arms and she shouted "KEVIN, pUm-kIn pAtch" and pointed behind her as if he couldn't see the sea of orange pumpkins. Oh man...this child!!!

I have to say...it was so great to see Lola this excited about something so simple...a pumpkin. A true memory that will stick with me for a long long long time! Luckily, the pumpkin patch is only 3 blocks from our house. We told Lola we would go back today if she wanted. We plan to buy some more pumpkins and decorate them this week. I'll have to catch this on video so you can truly understand what we witnessed....a VERY cute moment to say the very least!!!

This moment reminded me of another very simple moment where Lola was ecstatic. When we were in South Padre, we went to Ihop. While we were there, we ordered Lola a "special" kids cup that cost us a whopping $1.99. I say this b/c I quickly found out this was the best $1.99 spent in a good while. She LOVED her "special" cup and called it a "cUpcake". We spent the whole trip talking about her cUpcake. She loved it! Here is a pic of her "cUpcake". We've actually had to tuck the cUpcake deep in a cabinet so we don't have to hear about it non-stop.

Mommy pretty!

We had a wedding this past weekend in Aledo for a dear friend of ours. The rehearsal dinner started at 6:00 pm sharp so we picked Lo up early from school on Friday. When I picked her up, I was all dressed up for the rehearsal dinner. When I went into her classroom, Lo jumped up as she was surprised I was there early and then she stopped and looked at me in awe and said "Mommy, you look pretty!". So cute! Then, when we got into the car she said to Clay "Daddy, Mommy pretty!".

I thought this was just adorable until I sat and thought a minute. Lola sees me every day. Why am I so "pretty" today. Well, maybe it's b/c I work from home and never do anything to myself. At most, I'll jump in the shower after my work-out but even then I usually let my hair dry on it's own and I rarely ever put on make-up. I initially stopped putting on make-up over the summer due to the extreme heat, however, I now realize I no longer have this excuse. I would often say to Clay over the summer "Can you believe I've turned into one of those women who never fixes up?" He of course says I always look beautiful regardless of what I'm wearing make-up or not. He actually likes me better without make-up so I guess it all worked out.

Of course, after Lola continued to say how "pretty" I looked, I thought these kids are very perceptive and maybe there is something to what she's saying. Maybe I should actually put more effort into myself during the week and attempt to look "pretty" every once in a while. So now I've decided this will be my new goal. I'm going to get ready every day. Not just t-shirt and shorts or t-shirt and jeans but I'll actually shower, dry my hair, put on make-up and maybe even some accessories.

I know this seems real easy but considering I work from home this will actually be a challenge. On a normal day, as soon as Clay and Lo walk out the door, I immediately sit down at my computer and get started as I want to get as much work done as possible during the work day and I also like to be able to leave a little early to pick up Lo from school. But, even with this, I'm going to focus and make a point to get all fixed up every day. Of course, as I sit here typing this blog, I haven't showered yet and I'm already settled in the office ready to start working. So, I may not start today but I will give it a shot tomorrow!!! Wish me luck on this one...I think I'll need it.

On another note, college football has started. Woohoo!!! As you know, we love, love, love football season. Tech had a rocky start but we're building some confidence in our team after the big win against Nebraska on Saturday. Anyway, since it is football season, I busted out with Lo's Tech cheerleader outfit a few weeks ago hoping it would still fit. Well, it did...kind of. I thought I would post these pics of Lo in her Tech attire last year and this year. Lo would have been 8 months in the pics last year and of course she's 20 months now...Wow...speaking of growing up.

Baby girl at 8 months!

20 months showing her buddha belly! Do you think it fits? I hope so b/c we're not investing in another so we'll have to make this one work.

Our little angel face is growing up so fast...

Can you get over this face??? The baby face is almost completely gone! So scary and sad but another moment in Lo's life I guess...she's growing up! But, wasn't I just in the hospital giving birth to this child yesterday? Where does time go? Before we know it, she'll be 18 and heading off to college. So crazy. Anyway, Lo has been growing like a weed and seems to change every day. Clay took these pictures earlier this week and I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw them. Where is my baby girl? Her buddha belly is even going away and she's gotten so tall and lanky... I guess she's officially a toddler.

And, here's another baby that's growing fast. Adam & Brana had one of those 3-D sonograms. Kind of crazy and a little weird that you can see the baby chillin' in Brana's belly this clearly. Should we be able to see the baby this well? Technology rocks these days. When they sent these, I couldn't believe that Brana will have this baby in 2 months...2 MONTHS!!! This crazy too as it seems like it was yesterday when she told us she was pregnant. I told Brana that if she were me, she would be having Curry in 5 weeks (that's only 1 month and 1 week). I was 2 1/2 or 3 weeks early with Lo. It's just crazy that this baby will be here soon. We can't wait. Makes me crave a little infant of my own.

Enough talk about me...

Alright, since this is a blog suppose to be about Lola and I've been going on and on about myself the last couple posts, I figure I'll post a fun moment we had with Lola a couple weeks ago. I have lots of updates on what she's doing these days...boy, this child is a real hoot!!!

Lo discovered clothes pins while digging in a kitchen drawer she wasn't suppose to be digging in...imagine that! Luckily, it ended up being cute and fun! She put them all in her hair, my hair, Clay's hair and beard.

Then Lo wanted to put them on her "beard" like her daddy.

Lo's little chin was bright red but she kept wanting us to put the clothes pins on it. Is this child abuse? High pain tolerance I guess...she gets this from me! I have an insane tolerance for pain. I sometimes wonder if I could win a "How much pain can you take" contest (Obviously my confidence has been boosted since winning the KGSR contest).

We were literally cracking up! Gotta love these moments!

Speaking of moments....we had a couple funny ones yesterday.

The first one involved a reptile. I picked Lola up from school and was cruising home on our normal route talking to Lo about her day when all the sudden my foot started tingling. I thought "Why is my foot going numb?" I looked down at my tingly foot which was on the gas petal at the time and saw a large reptile on it. I immediately screamed at the top of my lungs and shook the thing off my foot. All along I'm thinking, was it a lizard or was it a snake? EEEEKKK!!!! It was a HORRIBLE feeling! I proceeded to drive home terrified this thing was going to pop out and crawl on me again. I kept scoping under my feet. Lo was asking "Mommy, what are you doing?". She was confused by my screams and the awe struck panic still on my face. When we got home, the little guy popped out on the passenger side. It was a HUGE lizard! Thank goodness! This was much better than a snake running free in the car...right?!?!? I got Lola out of the car and tried to show her the lizard. Her response was "little alligator". I'm telling ya...the thing was massive. Anyway, I proceeded to scream again when I was trying to get him out of the car...I was unsuccessful. So, a large lizard is still running around free in the Sentra. Nice!

The second moment we had yesterday involved dancing. Last night we were winding down and a Michael Jackson song came on the tube. Lo went nuts! She popped up and started stomping, throwing the hands up, head banging and dancing around the living room. Once the song was over, she wanted more music. She kept saying "music, music, music". So, we changed the channel to one of our favorite music video channels called ME. Lo kept dancing around but this wasn't good enough for her. She wanted me and Clay dancing with her. She kept saying "Amy, dance...Clay, dance" as she was grabbing our hands and pulling us up off the couch to dance with her. Then Clay gradually and nonchalantly slipped away the kitchen to grab something and Lola said "No, Clay...over here...dance!" and she pointed to the area where she demanded Clay dance. So, all three of us were dancing around the living room while the dogs were barking at us. When a song was over she would say "Yea!" and put her hands in the air and clap. Then, she was ready for the next song to start dancing again. This lasted at least 45 minutes. Thank goodness it was finally bedtime b/c Clay & I were exhausted from all the dancing.

Jeff Tweedy, Where are you????

Have I ever told yall about the second man in my life? His name is Jeff Tweedy and he is just fascinating to me. I'm sure many of you out there thinking "Who in the world is this Jeff Tweedy man she's talking about?". Well, Jeff is the lead singer in a fabulous band named Wilco (my all time favorite). Oh, I absolutely love Wilco...I'm actually obsessed with them. Last night we had concert tickets to go see the show. The butterflies started before the band came on as the anticipation was running ramped. To recap, the show was unbelievable...loved it! But, I have even more to this story....

Let me back up a bit....before the show we met up with one of Clay's work colleagues which I was happy to finally meet. I was also glad to meet his wife who I really liked. They have a similar story to us....born & raised in Texas, moved away for several years (them Chicago/us NYC), came back to Texas to be around family and now we all live in one of the best cities in the world... Austin. They also have a 21 month old so we're excited to get the kiddos together soon. Anyway(I digress), they had backstage passes to meet the band after the concert. ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!! I was very envious until they ever so kindly gave me the best news I've heard in a while (which was last Thursday when we found out we won the ACL tix). They needed to get back to their little one and wouldn't be able to take advantage of the backstage VIP passes. They asked us if we wanted them. UMMMM....YES!!!

I proceeded to tell them that I would marry Jeff Tweedy in a heart beat if he would take me (this is all in good fun b/c of course I would never leave the #1 man in my life). Clay's response to this was "You would go from ugly to uglier". Granted, Jeff Tweedy isn't the best looking man in the world but to me he is b/c he's basically a genius...a poet...I really do love him and he inspires me on a daily basis with the songs he writes and produces. Thanks Jeff.

Well, to make a long story short (or maybe this is making a long story long), we went backstage and met the band. I proceeded to make a fool out of myself and couldn't speak b/c I was so nervous being around my "favorite band"...my "favorite poets". I said stupid things like "I love yall so much" or "I'm your #1 fan". Seriously Amy....is this all you could come up with??? Anyway, this was all great, HOWEVER, Jeff Tweedy was no where to be found. JEFF TWEEDY, WHERE ARE YOU???? We waited and waited and waited until 2:00 a.m. actually. We even stalked the area where the buses were waiting for a glimpse. I asked one band member to please go wake Jeff up as I'm his "#1 fan"...OMG...what an idiot I can be. In summary, I never met the #2 man in my life but I still feel confident the day will come...surely!

As you know, we went to ACL last weekend and have had a week full of music. Thought I would post some pics from the festival. The weekend was one of the best weekends I've ever had...just fabulous....will definitely be on the top of the list in the memory book. I can't imagine how it would have been without Molly & Ben there to experience it with us. We listened to great music the entire weekend. This didn't happen without a car running over my foot though. Yes, I did just slip that in...a story for another time..no fear...I'm ok! Again, thanks to everyone for voting for our rockin' kid. I have to say...life is pretty good and it's all about having fun in the process and you helped us get there with all your votes.

There is nothing better than this festival! So many bands...so little time!

Me & Molly during Avett Brothers....another favorite band.

Clay & Ben before The Wood Brothers...a highlight of the festival.

The ACL gang!

We walked home every night from the festival. This night Clay & Ben decided to stop and sing a tune with our local homeless guy.

There is only one thing to say about this...dirty, dirty feet!!!

You voted and the winner is....

Look who's on KGSR's website

LOLA WON!!!!!

Out of the 272 contestants in the Kids that Rock contest, Lola won!!! Woohoo!!! Despite the fact that the majority of the contestants had a three week head start on us, they said we blew it out of the water! As I mentioned on my earlier blog this morning, thanks to everyone who dedicated time and energy to vote for Lola in the contest. It's good to know it really paid off!!!

ACL...here we come....with Molly and Ben in tow...

I'll post pics of the fun next week!

Thanks again!!!

What's this??? What's This??? What's This???

Lo washing dishes while Clay cooks. She loves to feel a part of what we're doing and we try to focus on making her a part of everything we do.

I just love the "show your teeth" big smile...it's one of my favorites!

Ok....Back to reality. I know I haven't posted a "real" blog in a bit but I've been focusing on voting for our rockin' kid so I haven't had time. My OCD is really obnoxious at times! But, voting is over...I'm back and ready to rock the blog. BTW...we still haven't heard word if we won but we'll know this morning...keep the fingers crossed. Thanks to everyone who diligently voted over the past couple days. Whether we win or lose, it's great to know we have such wonderful support out there! We truly appreciate it!!!

This week Lola has started something that I believe all toddlers do at one point or another. She's obsessively using the term "What's this?". Or, it actually sounds more like this "What's this Amy...Amy...What's this?" or What's this Clay...Clay...What's this?". Yes, we are still Amy and Clay but sometimes Mommy and Daddy too...whatever works for her I guess. Anyway, since Monday the "What's this?" questions have been non-stop and she uses it with EVERYTHING...even when she clearly knows what it is she is asking about. She'll look at the TV (which we usually don't turn on until she goes to bed but this week we've been bad) and says over and over and over "What's this?" ..."What's this?"..."What's this?"...."What's this?" Pointing the entire time. She also does this with her books. Last night we spent at least 45 minutes flipping through a Charlie Harper book and the entire time she was asking "What's this Amy...What's this?" She barely takes a breath in between the "What's this?" statements.

I have to say it's all really cute but like every other phase I'm ready to hear something else. It can get a bit exhausting answering questions throughout the day and evening....especially when it's the same one over and over. Now I guess I understand how people feel when they are having a conversation with me as I tend to ask multiple questions over and over...you know...really trying to get the full story. Clay says I interrogate people. I don't feel this way though...I just feel I'm interested and focused on what the person is saying. Everyone likes to talk about themselves so asking questions isn't necessarily a bad trait right?!?!?!?! With that, once again, maybe this "What's this?" phase is something Lola comes by honestly. However, I'm fairly certain it's just another one of those fun toddler phases!!!

I haven't done very good taking photos lately. Our battery has been dead on the camera this week and I kept forgetting to charge it. So, I'm going back to the archives. The pictures I posted today are some of my favorites as they really capture the moment (I think). We've been trying to teach Lola to help with the chores. In the evenings, she'll help me cook or pick up a mess or put things in the trash or wash dishes...it all varies each night. Lo actually LOVES washing dishes which is a good thing but I imagine it's b/c she's dealing with one of her favorite things...water. We also have Lola pick up all her toys/books before she goes to bed at night. We're still working on this but she's getting better. The great news is she practices "clean-up" throughout the day at school. The Montessori teaching is very hip on kids learning to do things on their own. So, any time they get a book or a toy out, once their done, they teach them to put it up. The same goes with a spill...any time they drop or spill something, they teach them to pick it up on their own. I've actually witnessed Lola doing this several times which is really fascinating b/c she still just seems like a baby to me. Oh, they grow up so fast!