Tree swing...no more!

Well, I have some very depressing news. Something that no woman would ever want to admit. But, in order to move forward towards closure, I figured I would go ahead and be open and honest about yesterdays happenings. Lola and I were swinging on our fab tree swing (seen in the "Great father/daughter moment" post on 7/15). As we were swinging along having a glorious time, the swing made a funny noise then suddenly busted out of the tree causing us to fall to the ground right on our bums. My tailbone doesn't feel too good today. Yes, it completely busted when we were swinging on it! Can you believe?!?!?! When it happened, Lola's eyes were wide open and she said "Swing broke...OOOHHH NOOO!!!" and continued to say this over and over. I wonder if she was trying to rub it in my face? Ha,Ha. I know she wasn't intending to do that but I do wonder if the swing busting out of the tree should tell me something???? I mean it can sustain my hubby who weighs 225 lbs but it can't hold me...hmmm...that's interesting. Over the past 6 weeks, I've gone down a size in clothes so I thought I was doing good but the swing has proven me wrong. Guess it's time to really buckle down on the diet and exercise!!!

So, while I have you here and have revealed my very depressing news, I guess I'll go ahead and reveal some uplifting news too. Adam and Brana found out they are having a baby girl! YEA!!! So, now Lo will have a boy cousin and girl cousin close in age. We're elated and are all in high spirits! Brana's due date has also been moved from December 14th to December 7th. Oh, how a week can make such a big difference towards the end.

In honor of cousins, I thought I would attach a couple cute pics of Lola and her cousin Doss. They are so cute together! Doss is 7 months and is growing like a weed. I continue to tell Tia Molly and Tio Ben they'll be amazed by all the wonderfully exciting things Doss will start doing over the next couple months....crawling, pulling up, saying words, etc. It's all too much fun! Enjoy the pics....

Lola and Doss rockin' out with their head phones. Very cool and just perfect for a concert going baby. The headphones help protect their little eardrums when the music is loud.

Uncle Clay and the babies.

We're all taking the babies for a stroll in the wagon. Lola kept stealing poor baby Doss's hat. I swear my waist isn't as big as it looks in this picture. Doesn't the camera add 10 lbs??? Or maybe it's the dress? Either way, I don't think I'm as wide as this picture portrays. Molly was also complaining about the way she looked in her dress...she too thought she looked wide but I thought she looked slim and trim.

Ahhhh...the sweet babies!!!

Lola got on the ground with Doss and Guthrie. She was being very sweet and gentle thank goodness as that's not always the case...she patted him and tried to give him kisses.

Our bundle of joy...

See the joy written all over her face...lovely!!!

Our little bundle of joy has officially become a true toddler and this is clear by the lovely fits she gives us often. Lately, it seems the "joy" part is not always there.

Now, what do I mean by this? Well I mean if Lola isn't clinging on to my leg or doesn't get exactly what she wants at a particular moment, she has a tendency to either whine and/or give out red faced blood- curdling screams and at times will even throw herself on the floor in the process and when you try to "redirect" her to something else she rolls around shouting a sharp but loud "NO"..."NO". She's thrown one or two of these lovely fits in public which I won't tolerate. In addition to all of this fun, she's still hitting (usually me or poor lady bird) and throwing things (usually at either me or poor lady bird). To make matters worse, she will no longer stay put long enough in a restaurant for Clay and I to enjoy a meal. It doesn't take long before she is whining and then starts swinging her whole body from side to side in the high chair. What else? Well, she won't stay still long enough for me to change her diaper...she actually runs from me which translates into lots of tinkle on the floor. She also isn't content in the car seat...if she's not sleeping or eating in the car then she's whining or once again throwing a fit. Finally, when it's time to go to bed she's screaming at the top of her lungs and resists it until she finally knocks herself out for the night. Lets see...is there anything else??? Or, is this enough?!?!?!?!? AHHHHH!!! HELP ME!!!

Here's what I know. Lola is almost 18 months and has always been a little explorer. She's gaining more and more independence with age which means she doesn't like to be confined and when she does feel confined or restricted she becomes frustrated which can typically lead to a fabulous fit. Now, this is all understandable right. Unfortunately, Lo's still not mature enough to know what is good and what is bad and is still searching for those boundaries. So, when she doesn't get her way, her reaction can be a little volatile.

I know this is all natural but what do you do about it??? I've googled and done my research and every site seems to have something to say but is there really a solution???? Or, is time the only solution??? I want to know how to control the fits but still let Lola continue to be herself. I don't know exactly how to do this but starting this week I plan to find out. We're buckling down!!!! I will take no more from our little angel face who I'm now starting to think may be a "Damien" child (remember the movie....evil genius). Not really. I should give her a little break b/c she is so adorable and we love her more than anything in the world but I fear she is becoming a brat and it's all our own doing.

Surely this isn't the case. So, in the meantime, I'm going to become a strict mommy. No more laid back/easy going mom...it's time to get serious about this parenting thing. Well, I'm obviously already serious about being a parent but I'm just not going to let Lola get away with some of the little things....those things that I sometimes just let fall by the wayside without a mention b/c I'm too tired to address it at the time. Not anymore, we're going to be consistent and try to get this all under control asap. Otherwise just think what we would be dealing with when she is two or three...Yikes!!!

As usual, any advise you have would be great. I'm thinking I may go buy Tori Spelling's new book "Mommywood". I'm slightly obsessed with the Tori & Dean show and I've seen their little boy, Liam, throw some pretty gnarly fits so maybe she would have some good advice...you never know!!!

Now, enough is enough with the complaining. You wouldn't know it by this blog but we do still have constant irresistible moments. Like when Lola goes to pick "matos" (tomatoes) from the garden with Clay and then wants to hold and coddle them all night long. When we finally put them up on the counter, she'll start screaming "matos, matos, matos". We actually have to cover them up at night and say "night, night" to the matos before Lola will go to bed. Or, another cute moment was when Lo took off my flip-flops, looked at my Safeway feet and said "dirty, dirty" while waving her hands at them and then continued on to say "nasty" about my feet. Or, the moment captured in the pics below. Lola got her sunglasses, keys, purse and strangely a pink shovel which she placed in her purse and she was ready to hit the road!

Lola is putting on her sunglasses. Then she would push them up on her head. I wonder where she gets this from???

She's ready to go! She was saying "Keys...Going to car... " while waving and saying "Bye, Bye!".

After she was unable to open the front door, Lola decided her little race car will have to do and hops on for a fun ride.

Great father/daughter moment

I just hate that I wasn't able to get a blog out last week or this week for that matter. So much has been happening! Little Miss Lola gives us something new to laugh and boast about every single day. It's just amazing! I feel like I want to freeze time and stay in this stage forever...it's just too much fun! So, I'll have to give you the low-down on everything new with little Miss Thing. Also, Beans and Uncle Adam are taking some vacation days and are spending some time with us this week. Unfortunately, I may not be able to get to all of that today. Too much to do and too little time. However, I will talk about a new "phase" Lo has been going through as it's been tough on both me and Clay.

Lately, Lo has really been favoring women...specifically me. Obviously, I love the fact that she wants to be with me all the time...hugs on me, kisses on me, plays with me, etc but her time she wants to spend with me has continued to become more extreme and I think (actually I know) it's really starting to hurt Clay's feelings a bit. He is such a good dad and makes a point to spend quality time with Lola every day starting from the minute she wakes up. Once Lo wakes, Clay takes her in the bathroom with him while he gets ready, then he drops her off at school. Although Clay has to work long hours, he always makes it home to spend more time with the baby girl (even if he has to go back to work afterwards) and my favorite part is he puts her to bed every night.

Well, lately, every time Clay picks up Lo to start winding her down for bedtime she goes NUTS. Screaming at the top of her lungs and reaching for me saying "MERE'YA, MERE'YA, MERE'YA". Clay finally gives in and lets her run to me. This has been a huge change and it's really been disheartening for Clay. She's actually been better when he takes her upstairs and away from me but it's been a tough couple weeks. In addition, if I leave the house for a bit, Lo has been known to scream the entire time...just lays on the floor and is inconsolable. It's actually real sad. What do you do about this???? Man, it's been rough...specifically for Clay!

Anyway, I'm sure this like all the other phases will be short lived but it's been hard on both of us. So, in honor of Clay, I thought I would post some pics of Clay and Lo having a great father/daughter moment. Lo loves to swing! She is usually yelling"weeeee, weeee, weeee" the whole time.

I heart Rachel Ray!

Have I ever told you that I LOVE Rachel Ray? Well, I do. I love her even though she is a bit obnoxious and has a tendency to use acronyms a little too much i.e. EVOO - extra virgin olive oil. Seriously, how tough is it just to say "extra virgin olive oil"? Do you really need an acronym for this? Anyway, I initially developed my Rachael Ray "crush" when I was on maternity leave. I discovered if you focus, you can actually catch her on the tube 3x a day. Yikes! Oh, and I took advantage. I watched her morning show at 9:00 am, 30 minute meals at 1:00 pm and 30 minute meals again at 5:00 pm. What I like about Rachael is that she has great 30 minute meals that are fantastically flavorful (like this term?) yet easy all at the same time. Clay tends to be the cook in our household. He loves to cook b/c it involves two of his favorite things: 1) Thinking and 2) Self indulgence. I'm not much of a cook but I can handle Rachael's meals. Ever since maternity leave, I still try to catch an occasional 30 minute meal on the Food Network and I buy her cookbooks and LOVE to cook her meals.

Here's how this very random blog and random obsession with Rachel Ray apply to today: Clay has had a tough couple weeks. He's been studying non-stop for his architecture license and has actually pulled off taking 3 exams in less than a month. In addition to this, he is stressed at work and has been working very long hours. Poor thing...yesterday he had to drive to San Antonio to take another exam at 6:00 pm. He finished that, drove back to A town and then had to go back to the office to work through the night. Oh, and then when he got home, Lo was awake and was hysterical as her little ears were hurting (Yes, she has ANOTHER ear infection). It can be tough on him. On top of all of that, he has to deal with me. Yea and believe it or not I'm not always easy to deal with. For some reason lately I've been a horrible wife and have done my fair share of snapping his head off and yelling at him for no good reason. Not sure why....going through a "phase" I guess.

So, today I decided I was going to try to make it up to him and I busted out the Rachel Ray cookbooks. I was ready to cook a fab meal for a fab hubby! I started prepping this morning at 11:00 am. I picked the perfect dish. Then, I went to the grocery store to pick up all the ingredients and some wine of course. Then, it was time to start preparing the meal. I felt like I was a contestant on Top Chef. It should be noted that as I prepped and began cooking, I was watching none other than the first-class Rachael Ray. Yes, one of her shows just happened to be on...gotta love it! Here is what I cooked:

• Prosciutto-wrapped halibut (they didn't have halibut so I substituted with sea bass) with tortillas (homemade), savoy cabbage (wasn't sure what this was so I just went with green cabbage...I chopped/shredded myself. This was quite a big accomplishment considering I'm not a real good veggie chopper), and warm cinnamon-chipotle tomato salsa.
• Saffron and olive rice
• Black beans and I also prepared (i.e. opened a jar) green chili tomatillo sauce b/c it's Clay's favorite.
• Garlicky Guacamole, chips and homemade durros to add an extra special touch.
• For dessert...butterfingers. Yummy! I may have even had one or two while prepping/cooking the meal.

This wasn't one of Rachael's more simple meals and definitely wasn't cheap but I wanted it to be special so I gave it a shot. Now, I have to admit that I didn't know what half of the ingredients were, I had to look up some of the "culinary" terms (such as "dredge") on foodnetwork.com to make sure I was doing the right thing and I had to continue looking at the picture to make sure mine looked like hers (it didn't) but I still managed to pull it all off thanks to the astounding Rachael Ray!!! By the time Clay got home, I had cleaned the house, picked up Lola and put her in a very "Clay" outfit (black shirt and striped pants), lit the candles, put flowers in the vases, had everything cooked and beautifully displayed and most importantly wine in the glasses. It was absolutely delicious!!! Clay went on and on about how proud he was of me for producing such a fabulous meal. I'm certainly glad it all paid off and he enjoyed it!

Shoes, socks, MONKEY!

Walking the monkey.

Trying to take the monkey on a ride.

Oh, she almost has it. This was a challenge to get herself and the monkey on the race car.


Well, I still don't have my camera but if I did here's what it would look like:



The camera was mailed out last Wednesday and still has not arrived. Why not? Huh!!! This is going to be the death of me. I have a tendency to obsess about things (such as the camera)...just a little flaw I have. But, this is also a flaw that allows me to get things done in a sort of military style. Once the "to do" list is made, I'm on a direct mission to get it all done and usually don't allow myself a break until complete. So, in the meantime, I continue to go back in my photo archives.

Before there was "horsey" there was "monkey". Lola loved several things during this phase....her monkey, socks and shoes. So why not combine all three and put the shoes and socks on the monkey. Man, this is genius! Lola was very particular about her monkey and very diligent when putting on the shoes and socks. She would pick out exactly which ones she wanted to put on the monkey each day. The monkey would play with us in the yard in the afternoons and Lola would take her for walks and attempt to take her for rides on the race car and then the monkey would go to bed with Lo. It was cute! But, the monkey is now in the past and Lola is really into horseys. Of course, we haven't been able to find the perfect small horsey for the little girl but we're on the search. In the meantime, she's loving her rocking horsey that her great grandmother, Memaw, got her for Christmas

I continue to mention over and over on this blog how challenging this toddler stage can be. Although there are so many challenges, little Miss Lola continues to bring us muchos joy every day. She never ceases to amaze me. She is constantly talking. Literally non-stop. Obviously, we don't always understand what she's saying (we just nod our heads and agree) but lately she's really started speaking much more clear and some of the words/sentences she's using actually make sense. Here are some of her new sayings:

• "OH NO!!!" She says this with a ton of drama. Seriously, you should see the expression on her face when she uses this term.
• "Outside hot" Hot has been a new word for Lola over the past couple weeks. If she touches food, bath water, etc that is too hot she'll say "hot". She says her "hot" with a bit of an accent...not sure which language...maybe French. Last weekend at the lake she was barefoot and stepped on some hot concrete....she suddenly stopped in her tracks, froze up and started screaming loudly "hot, hot, hot" (with the french accent). I had to run and grab her to save those little feet. It really was hot! During the rush to save Lo's feet, I actually burned my feet too. Now she's learned to put hot with other words. When we go outside she says "Outside hot" which is soooo true. Man, it has been hot, hot, hot!!!
• "Where'd it go?" - She says this with the cutest little tone and usually lifts up her hands and shrugs her shoulders when saying it. This little girl is very expressive when she talks. I also have a feeling she's going to be a big hand talker.
• "here'ya" or "mere'ya" (the second one actually means come here) - She says both as if she were herding cows...."here'ya, here'ya". Lo uses this term when she wants something or when she has something to give you or when she wants you to pick her up she'll say "here'ya". Not sure where the "ya" comes into play but it makes it all the more cute. On top of everything else, she's a demanding little thing!
• "Ha-ppy Bir -d-tay to you" - At school they celebrate birthdays for all the kids. I always know when it's a child's birthday b/c Lola sings "Happy Birthday to you" all the way home in the car and then continues to sing it through the night and sometimes even the next morning. She says the "to" part with just a tap of the tongue and usually puts two fingers up. I guess she thinks "to" is also "two". This may be her longest sentence to date.
• "Hi Lola" - When Lola looks in the mirror or sees a picture of herself she'll say "Hi Lola" to herself with a sweet little tone.
• "My God" - This is my favorite. I know it technically shouldn't be my fav but it is. More than once Lola has used this term when something doesn't go exactly her way and she says it as if she is overly exacerbated. Seriously, where did she get this??? Now, we obviously don't want her to use God's name in vain but when kids say something like this, you can't help but giggle. It's kind of like that famous scene in Jerry Macguire...you all know what I'm talking about.

It truly doesn't get much better than this!!!

It's me time!!!

Man, I'm excited!!! I'm taking a week vacation. No plans. Just going to have some much needed me time. So, what will I do with all this time? Well, I'll get a pedicure. Haven't had one since the day I went into labor. I'll also clean out and organize closets. I need to get rid of a ton of clothes. I'll go to several backyard fitness classes. This is fun. It's a group of mom's I found that work out in this ladies beautiful backyard. Kids can go and entertain themselves and mom's can get a good workout in and let me tell you...the work outs are tough. I'll also complete my weekly runs. I'll go watch a movie. I'm thinking maybe I'll see The Hangover, Whatever Works or Away We Go. Shoot...maybe I'll see all three....why not?!?!? I'll take Lola to school every morning but will probably pick her up early and we'll either go to the local park and swim/play on the playground or go to Barton Springs. I'll also go to Dallas to visit everyone and get my hair highlighted. Maybe my mom and I can go hit up some of my favorite Dallas shopping spots. It will be easy to convince her to buy Lola something new and cute and maybe I can even convince her to buy me something new and cute....not that I need anything. I'm really looking forward to this...it is going to be heaven all wrapped up into one week of vacation. Can't wait!!!!

I still don't have our new camera so I have to go back to some of my old albums. Lola loves the book "Not a Box" - it has simple line drawings of a rabbit and a box. The author dedicates the book "to children everywhere sitting in cardboard boxes" and celebrates the magic a large box brings to a child. The book opens with a question: "Why are you sitting in a box?" The young rabbit replies, offended, "it's not a box." And the illustration shows him sitting in a race car. And, so on. Rabbit climbs a mountain, fights a fire, wears a robot costume. His box is anything, but "it's NOT NOT NOT NOT a box!" '. It is a really cute book! Lola loves to play with, in, on and around boxes. This particular evening she was having a blast inside the box . Who knows what the box actually was to her b/c I'm sure it was "not a box". You gotta love a kids imagination and the fact that something as simple as a box can bring a child so much joy!

Camera # 3

Well, Hola Lola is temporarily out of service again. This time the cause is a broken camera. ANOTHER broken camera! Yes, Clay took it upon himself to put an open water bottle into a bag upside down. Naturally, the water poured out everywhere and smothered our camera and my blackberry with water. The blackberry survived...the camera didn't. So, I just bought our 3rd Canon in less than a year. I absolutely will be buying a warranty this time.

Instead of running out and quickly buying a camera at Best Buy, I decided to price shop and purchased on-line....I'm still waiting for the arrival. Can't wait for it to get here so I can post some new pics. I really wish it would arrive before we head to the zoo on Saturday. Lola is really into her animals so I think she will LOVE it! Of course, everything seems to be a "horsey" right now. This includes her big green float that is clearly a turtle. Well, it's a horsey to Lo. I think she thinks this b/c she rides in it and she correlates riding with a horsey. Kids....gotta love 'em!

Lo is also going through a phase where she puts the word "little" in front of everything so she'll say "little bottle" or "little horsey" or "little baby" or "little book"...get the point. If you heard her say it, you would just die!!! Her "littles" are a "little" slurred. She has a hard time with this word which makes this phase even more adorable. As soon as I get the camera I'll try to capture it on video. I'm sure this will never happen but I'll give it a shot!

In the meantime, since I don't have updated pics I figured I would post a family pic from a couple weeks ago. It's been a while as they are very hard to capture. One of us never looks quite right...it's usually me of course. Lately, I've found that I pretty much hate the way I look in all pics...Ugh...I guess it's age! The other pic is of Lo being a somewhat mischievous. She was really up to no good in this pic. We told her a thousand times not to go past the door as we didn't want her to fall down the steps. Well, she still tempted us and threatened to go out the door anyway. Actually, she went out the door and down the steps despite us saying "No,No Lo" over and over. She's a hoot and doesn't really mind yet...I guess that comes with time....right?!?!?

Bad/Good mother?????

I seem to question each and every decision I make as a parent. It goes a little something like this: Is this what I (we) should do? Am I (we) doing the right thing? Sometimes I'll even ask Clay his opinion such as when Lo is throwing one of those lovely "toddler fits" at my feet...."Should I pick her up or not?" You want to show her compassion and love but then again you don't want to support fits. What's the right thing? What makes us a good parent? Am I a good mom? Am I a bad mom? I assume these are all normal questions to ask for first time parent or is it not?!?!?!

So, last week I was having a conversation with my mom and asked how do we really know if we're doing everything right and making the right decisions. Her reply was "You really don't know". Coincidental, that same night I also ran upon this book Bad Mother: A Chronicle of Maternal Crimes, Minor Calamities, and Occasional Moments of Grace and video. I thought it was fitting. Here is a good review of the book:

In the tradition of recent hits like The Bitch in the House and Perfect Madness comes a hilarious and controversial book that every woman will have an opinion about, written by America’s most outrageous writer.

In our mothers’ day there were good mothers, neglectful mothers, and occasionally great mothers. Today we have only Bad Mothers.

If you work, you’re neglectful; if you stay home, you’re smothering. If you discipline, you’re buying them a spot on the shrink’s couch; if you let them run wild, they will be into drugs by seventh grade. If you buy organic, you’re spending their college fund; if you don’t, you’re risking all sorts of allergies and illnesses.

Is it any wonder so many women refer to themselves at one time or another as “a bad mother”? Ayelet Waldman says it’s time for women to get over it and get on with it, in a book that is sure to spark the same level of controversy as her now legendary “Modern Love” piece, in which she confessed to loving her husband more than her children.

Covering topics as diverse as the hysteria of competitive parenting (Whose toddler can recite the planets in order from the sun?), the relentless pursuits of the Bad Mother police, balancing the work-family dynamic, and the bane of every mother’s existence (homework, that is), Bad Mother illuminates the anxieties that riddle motherhood today, while providing women with the encouragement they need to give themselves a break.

Poor Birdie...

Poor Lady Bird (a.k.a Birdie or LB)...she's having some issues. Now, if you haven't had a chance to meet and spend time with Lady Bird (one of our gorgeous girls), I should give you a brief description of her personality. For the most part, she's manic and can't hardly function unless I'm around and can barely function then....she has LOTS of anxiety issues to say the least(kind of like her mom) and tends to be a bit frantic at times. Anyway, last night she didn't seem quite right...even more so than usual. I thought her strange behavior may have been caused by the chaotic night we had which consisted of Lola running around screaming (she has some big teeth coming in so it's caused a good amount of fussiness). So, when Lo FINALLY went to sleep, I decided to take a breath and spend some quality time with Birdie. As I was rubbing her ears, I noticed they were both swollen up huge like a water balloon. I panicked and started doing research and discovered she has a hematoma in both ears. Here's the definition and a visual of what Birdie is and will go through:

"Hematoma is a blood filled space under the skin of a dog's ear flap. Ear hematomas generally develop when blood vessels in the pinna, or flap, burst due to injury, scratching at the ear or vigorous head shaking."

Poor baby girl! So, Lady Bird basically inflicted this on herself by abrasively scratching her ears...she's a little nuts....see what I mean by manic/frantic!?!?!? I feel just horrible about it! Oh and the worst part is there is no home remedy for a hematoma meaning the treatment will consist of one of two things 1) hopefully it can be drained (sounds painful and expensive) or 2) the ears may also need surgery (sounds even more painful and more expensive). Nice (you notice I've used this term frequently lately...Huh)! Why is it always something!?!? Always! Can't we get a break every once in a while. At least can we get an ear break...first Lo now LB. I guess this is life with a baby and dogs.

To make a long story short, I'm in the process of calling the vet in Austin and Midlothian and probably even Baird to test out the pricing. I'm willing to drive the distance so I don't have to spend a small fortune on this.

On a lighter note, attached is a pic of Lo on her "moo chair" as she calls it. She loves to soft of it. I did this as a child too. I also have a cute story. Yesterday, my mom went with me to pick up Lola from school. I had to run errands after so drove a separate car (BTW...it was really nice to run errands without Lo saying "Hi" over and over to EVERYONE and running around pulling things off shelves). My mom put Lo in her car and when they were heading off Lola said "Where's Amy?" My mom responded by saying you mean "Where's Mommy?" and Lo responded by saying "I don't know". Oh man...she is too cute even if she runs around calling me Amy (and knocking things off shelves). Everyone said this Amy thing would be a quick phase but it's now been 6 weeks....not so quick!!!

On a not so light note, I woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed at 3:30 a.m. this morning. I decided not to fight it and was at the computer at 3:45 a.m. working. Now, I'm feeling it and I'm exhausted! I too have been a little fussy tonight. Time to hit the sack now.

Ride that horsey up and down

Well, I know I've been MIA (missing in action) lately. Once again, things have been more than hectic. Where does time go???? Basically, work has been insane (as usual) but now that I don't have any travel on the calendar in the near future I should find life to be enjoyable again. Whoo...all this travel has killed me! I got so far behind and have been working insane hours trying to get back above water. Almost there though...Yea!!!

As for Miss Lola...WOW...she's just a ball of energy which translates into total exhaustion for Mama. This child is a real firecracker...I call her my "wild child". In addition to the constant chase and clean-up, my favorite is when she strategically lays herself down on the ground and then throws a little fit. Nice. I still question if all toddlers are like this. If so, I need advice on how to deal. With that said, although Lola can be handful and requires a close watch at ALL times, she is such a boisterous little angel face...so lively...so sweet...so entertaining...such a joy. Seriously, it doesn't get much better than this and I wouldn't change one thing about this little girl!

More news...Lo is talking like crazy. Putting two, three and even four words together. She says "Find shoes" or "Want to go outside". It's really amazing to see her language develop. Every day I'm in awe by the new words she says and new sentences she puts together. I get so many comments from people...they can't believe a person as little as Lo is talking away like she does (BTW...if she's awake, it's non-stop!). Even at Lola's school I've had several teachers come up to me and tell me how advanced she is with her language skills. They actually ask me what we do with her at home b/c they are so impressed. This makes me feel good as Clay and I sometimes wonder if we are doing/focusing on the right things when it comes to Lo's development. Comments like this gives us reassurance and as a parent that is great to get ever so often. And of course, the word "No" is back and has become a VERY common word in Lo's little dictionary once AGAIN. It goes a little something like this "Lola, Do you want a cookie?" and she answers "No" as she reaches up for the cookie. Or, "Lola, What's your name?" and she answers "No". Or, "Lola, Did you miss Mommy today?" and she answers "No". BTW...she STILL is calling me "Amy" and "Mammy" at best. Huh!!!

Anyway, that's it for today. I leave you with these pics of Lo playing "Ride that horsey up and down, ride that horsey don't fall down" on Lady Bird....I'm telling you, she is something else. Poor dogs...they are in for a rude awakening over the next couple years. They already get tugged, ridden and pulled more than they would like to and actually take it real well. Lola loves the dogs to pieces. She calls both of them "Bella" and always is running to give them hugs and kisses...too sweet!!!

My mom is coming in town to help me out with some things this week. I'm hoping her being here will help us get some of those things done that we haven't been able to get done and then I can get completely caught up with work. Hopefully this will allow me to recap our NYC trip and get some pics posted too. We had a blast! Plus, I have so many more Lola updates that I just have to get posted.

Heading to NYC....

I heart NYC and miss it oh so much....especially all of our fab friends! Our apartment/street we lived in for 4 years. It was really cute. Crazy to think we've been back in Texas for 4 years now...it seems like just yesterday. Boy, how our lives have changed!

Well, I'm happy to be back in Austin after being in Dallas all week. It certainly was great to spend time with the fam! I was able to spend time with my Mom & Dad, Brana & Adam, Molly & Ben and I was even able to briefly see my Aunt Bobbie. Now, I've been here for less than 24 hrs and we're heading to NYC this evening. We're really excited to get away for a mini-vaca! It's been a while since we've been back to visit all of our friends so we're elated to see everyone. We have lots of big plans including party on a sailboat on Saturday, hitting our fav restaurants/food vendors, hanging out on patios and of course shopping. It will be such a blast!!!

Naturally, I'll miss my baby girl. The older Lola gets, the harder it is for me to be away from her. She's my little BFF! At any rate, it will be good for us and her to take a little break. I already can't wait to get back and see her though!

Well, everyone have a fab weekend. I hope to have some good NYC pics to post next week.

Here "she" comes.....

Baby Curry in the making

Adam and Brana with Lo in Mom & Dad's new pool. The pool was chilly and didn't sit well with Lola as you can tell from the pic.

I'm THRILLED to announce that Lola has another cousin on the way. Woohoo!!! We can't wait! I was actually one of the first ones to learn of the big news. Those of you who know me well know I have a very hard time keeping secrets (but will if I have to) especially when it's exciting news like this. But, I did it...YEAH!!!

Poor Brana. She's had a tough first trimester....she's even had the morning sickness, afternoon sickness and evening sickness which includes throwing up....Ugh! Man, I can't image. Wait...actually I can....it's not fun!!! I keep telling her "One day you'll wake up and all of the sudden you'll feel great". Right now she kind of looks at me like I'm crazy. I think she fears she'll never get through this phase. You will Brana...I promise!!! Hang in there!

Uncle Adam (Bubba) and Brana (Beans) are going to be great parents. They are excellent with Lola...they're naturals and you can see it! They are compassionate and loving and devoted and warm-hearted with Lola....they embrace her. It's clear they love Lola and Lola loves them. I have a cute story....From the day Lola was born, Brana has always called her "beans". You have to hear Brana say it...it's so cute. Every time she sees Lola she says "BBBEEEAAAANNNNS" and gives her a big hugs and kisses. Well, Lo has now picked up on this and she has started calling Brana "Beans". The other day she picked up a picture of Adam and Brana and said "Adam" (in her own little way..."Ada") and pointed to Uncle Adam in the pic and then she said "Beeaaannns" the same way Brana says it and pointed to Aunt Brana in the pic. So, it looks like Brana won't be Aunt Brana but will be Lola's Beans....too cute!!!

Now, I want to take a minute to talk about my brother. Wow....it seems like just yesterday I was 6 years old and had a new baby brother. I think my parents wanted to name Adam Michael (or Gary Jr.) but I couldn't spell it so I whined and he ended up with the name Adam. It's very possible I made this story up in my mind (apparently I do this with childhood stories...good imagination I guess) but I like to believe this is what happened. Adam and I have a 6 year age difference so his whole life I've felt VERY protective of him. As Adam grew up and became a "man" he became very protective of me. He has always been there for me...has always made the call to defend me or stepped in to fight for me...always! Today, our relationship has grown. Now, the age difference is insignificant. We talk on a weekly basis if not more (mainly b/c Adam is following up for Lo's social security # (inside joke) or trying to sell me something...he,he...not really...well, actually really) and I love how the relationship has developed. The fact that he will soon have a baby means the world to me....the baby will mean the world to me the same way Lola means the world to him. He would do anything for her just as he would do anything for me. That's Adam!

We can't wait for the baby to get here. The due date is December 14, 2009...also cousin Doss and Foy's birthday...it will be crazy if the baby actually comes on the due date. This day will come upon us before we know it. We're pretty sure it's a girl! I can feel it and I think they can feel it too. If anything, the baby's heartbeat is telling us (if the myth is true). We'll see if our instincts are correct soon. They may find out the gender next week. I think this calls for another WOOHOO!!!

Uncle Adam and Beans - We're so happy for yall and can't wait for the new cousin to arrive!!!

Alright, while we're talking about Adam and Brana, I guess I better promote the business. I'm very proud of Adam. He's gotten married, started a new business (a very successful one at that) and now has a baby on the way... all in a year. Talk about following your dreams...you think a year doesn't make a difference...well, talk to Adam. So, if you need insurance, see contact info on the car below...

We can't forget about Willie!

Gotta love it!!!

I guess I've become an "official" blogger. I've learned I used up all my free blog space (1 GB) and now I have to pay for my space. Nice!! This really makes me feel like a real true seriously professional blogger. Woohoo!

Out with the Mommy, in with the Mammy!

Alright...I'm really frustrated now. I've had some MAJOR technical difficulties over past couple days with the blog. I wrote a blog on Tuesday (over 48 hrs ago) and was ready to post. However, I couldn't post b/c I was having issues getting the video to upload. Well, I finally found another option and got the video up and running and got the blog posted. Then, tonight I was about to post another blog and this blog deleted....I have NO CLUE how this happened. So, to make a long story short, I have to re-write this blog. Of course, it's never as good the second time especially when you write what's on your mind like I do but I'll give it a shot. Ugh!!!

So, little Miss Lola is going through a new "precious" stage where she calls me Amy...ALL THE TIME!!! No more Mommy....just Amy. Clay loves it and thinks it's just adorable. I have to admit, at first, I also thought it was adorable....not so much anymore.

This all started when I was out of town a couple weeks ago. Lola woke up and Clay could hear her shouting from her bed "Amy, Amy...Amy....Amy, Amy". Since that day when she calls for me or when she is talking to or about me she calls me "Amy". Yea...it sucks! I've been called Amy my entire life and I have to say I'm not all that crazy about my very common name. It was such a great moment when I became a mother and such a special milestone when Lola called me "mama" for the first time then "mama" became "mommy" and now here we are today back to Amy....same 'ol same 'ol. Well, to make a long story short, over the past couple weeks anytime Lola calls me "Amy" I respond by saying "Mommy...I'm Mommy...Lola say Mommy". Now Mommy has turned into Mammy (that's Amy with a M in front of it). Clay actually likes Mammy...he even refers to me as Mammy now. I'll continue to work on the Mommy thing but for now I'll have to settle with Mammy.

We had a fabulous Memorial Day weekend! Clay's place of business had a Chili Cook off at Zilker park. We had tons of fun!!! Clay's team were called the Chili Willies and they dressed up as Willie Nelson. Clay looked a lot like Willie.....it was kind of scary. Lola had a great time running around playing with the other kids and loved the bounce house. We look forward to the next festivity.

The parental guidance also came in town to visit over the weekend. It was so great to hang out at our new digs and enjoy the fabulous Austin. We'll continue to look forward to more visitors.

Lets have a good long weekend!

Nothing much to say today...can you believe?!?!?! Actually, I have a lot to say but I'm going to hold off until next week. Very nice of me I have to say! However, I will say this....I can't believe the Hola Lola blog is 1 yr old....actually even a little older. Man, the things we've been through and the challenges we've confronted and it's all documented right here on the blog.

Before we head off to enjoy the holiday weekend, I wanted to post this pic and me & Mary. Oh how I love Mary!!! Mary came to visit Austin a couple weeks ago. We had a great time!!! We've been friends since 1998...crazy!!!. I worked with her hubby, Brian, at my first job with State Farm back in the day. Brian and I hit it off immediately and became BFFs. Then, I had the honor to meet and become great friends with Brian's girlfriend at the time, Mary. She is such a great girl and I hardly can believe we've been friends for 12 years now...Yikes!!! Mary and Brian live in Illinois now but I keep hoping they'll move back to Texas...maybe one day. They have two precious kiddos....Kate who is 8 yrs old and Kyle who is 3 yrs old. They are little darlings. It was great to spend time with Mary. I miss her muchos!!!

I've been working my rump off lately so I'm thrilled to have a long weekend to sit back and relax ...well, as much as you can relax with a toddler. We'll be heading to the SHW Group (Clay's work) Chili Cook-Off in about 2 hours...Woohoo!!! Can't wait!!!

Everyone have a fabulous Memorial Day weekend!!!

Call me crazy

Ok, call me crazy but several months ago did I not say I would never run another half marathon again? Let me quote my exact statement written in the Run the Rock blog on 12/23/08:

"I'm not sure I'll run another 1/2 marathon again. The training is very long and it takes a lot of time. Plus, I've discovered through all of this that I love running but not long distances so much. I most likely will keep my runs between 3 and 6 miles in the future."

As I read through that blog again it brought back memories of the horrible pain I felt that day both during and after the race. It also brought back memories of the 5:30am. /6:00 a.m. morning runs, 5 days a week for 6 months straight. Boy, once it was all over, it sure was nice to finally sleep in until 7:00 a.m. again (if Lola allowed this of course). I guess it's the same thing with a baby. If we make the decision to have a another baby, you have to wonder why in the world would we choose to go back and suffer through the hassle of pregnancy, the pain of the birth, recovery, breastfeeding and lack a sleep a second time?!?!?!? Drive, passion and love I guess.

Well, for some reason last night I found myself signing up for another half marathon. Yep, I sure did!!! Training starts next Saturday 5/30/09 at 7:00 a.m. sharp. I have no clue why I'm doing this again. Actually, I do. Drive, passion and love of course plus I've discovered I need structure to force myself to exercise. If I don't have structure and a long-term goal to achieve, then I won't do it. Lately, I've done a very poor job with the whole exercise thing and have been very frustrated with myself....mainly b/c I've lost all tone in the old 32.94 yr old bod. The good news is this week I started up again but discovered running isn't enjoyable if you don't have some sort of long-term goal such as a half marathon. So last night I bit the bullet and signed up for the Rock 'n' Roll San Antonio half marathon which will take place on November 15, 2009. I'll be training through one of Jeff Galloway's training programs. With that, it looks like I'll have 5 1/2 months of hard training in front of me....Woohoo!!! As always, I'll keep you posted on my progress and certainly the misery that will go into the training. I'm actually very excited and looking forward to it. The worst thing that can come out of this is I get in shape and meet new people...can't complain about that right!?!?

She's a maniac (I mean this in the nicest way of course)!!!

What a weekend!!! It was Clay's 36th Birthday. I can't believe I'm married to someone who is 36. I can't believe I'm about to turn 33. How did we get so old so quick?!?!?!? I'm sure this is a question we all ask ourselves every day. I remember being in my 20s and looking at people who were my age now and thought they were old...kind of scary.

In celebration of Clay's birthday, we had a fun filled weekend! We basically spent most of the weekend watching Lola run around like a maniac. Seriously...it was NON-STOP!!! This toddler thing is CRAZY!!! How does this child go and go and go (with very few naps I must add) without feeling absolutely exhausted and just collapsing. Oh to have energy like this again! I have to say that by the time Sunday bedtime comes along I'm pretty excited to drop Lo off at daycare first thing Monday morning. Is that bad? It's not that I don't love spending time with Lola b/c I do...more than anything. I actually miss her so much during the day but sometimes she has a tendancy to wear me out to the point of exhaustion and I feel like I need a break asap!

After Lo went to bed last night, I started researching the "toddler years". Basically wondering how long we would be going at this speed. Well, it seems it will last until at least 36 months. Oh man...we're only at 15 months. Lola has started a lot of this "toddler" stuff a little early which means our toddler years are going to last a lot longer. Most babies just start walking good at about 13/14/15 months but not Lola. She was walking good at 12 months and is now 15 months and is full on sprinting...usually away from us. I found I can't even have a nice relaxing conversation with our neighbors without constantly saying "excuse me" and chasing Lola, then "excuse me again" then chasing Lola again....non-stop! Literally, we spent the entire weekend blowin' and going' and just try to keep Lola from killing herself. Trust me on this one...you can even ask my mom who after two days of keeping Lola is usually so exhausted that she has to stay in bed for a full day after the fact just to recover. I was talking to a friend the other day about losing weight. She wants to pull off a few pounds and asked me if I had any suggestions. I immediately suggested she should have a baby! She looked at me as if I was crazy but I said "I'm serious" b/c once they hit the "toddler years" you will NEVER sit...EVER!!! This is true. I NEVER sit down...EVER!!! But, on a positive note, at least I don't have to worry about my eating habits so much as I'm burning 10 trillion calories a day chasing Lola.

Temper tantrums! Fun, fun, fun!!! Well, they say these usually don't start until between 16 - 18 months. Of course, we've had the joy of experiencing tantrums for about a month or so. They got a little more fierce over the weekend. So, we just let her throw them and act like we don't hear her. She stops pretty quick. Clay and I absolutely will not have a brat child who throws fits. I let Lola get away with a lot but I won't let her get away with this. So, we're pretty stern when it comes to the temper tantrums.

The new thing this week is hitting. Yep...hitting...nice!!! She slaps me and laughs. She'll take her sippy cup and swing it at the dogs heads...poor things...they are taking it really well. I also caught her riding Lady Bird like a horse on Saturday. I wondered if she learned this from the horse race we had just watched on TV. Anyway, back to the hitting thing....Clay says it's ok and it's their (meaning babies) way of learning. They don't understand empathy right now and have to learn when you hit it hurts by actually doing it....not sure this makes sense to me but I'll go with it. My question is how do you teach and explain to a 15 month old it's not right to hit? When I tell her "ouchy" or "no, no...you don't hit", she just laughs uncontrollably and starts hitting again so I'm not real sure how to address this phase. I mean it's not like I can hit her back to show her it hurts. We'll see how long this one lasts.

I often ask myself if all toddlers are like this or if we just have a wild child on our hands? She was a good infant so are we paying for it now? Clay assures me that all toddlers can be hard to manage and we're doing just fine. I have to say little Miss Lola is full of personality and she has definitely come into her own so I guess this is just all part of it!

Oh, I almost forgot. We had Lola's 15 month appointment on 5/4. Can you believe it??? She is 15 months. I swear it seems like I just had her yesterday. Here are her stats:

• Weight 24 lbs 75th percentile
  
• Hight 30 3/4 50th - 75th percentile
  
• Head 48.6 cm 97th percentile

Compound Crawfish Boil

I'm slightly behind on my blogging but hope to catch up soon. The weekend before last we had several sets of friends in town visiting. It was perfect timing as we were able to pull off yet another Crawfish Boil which consisted of fabulous food (thanks to Clay Kennedy's exceptional ability to cook up crawfish cajon style), excellent company with new and old friends and downright good times at the compound. I thought I would post some pics of the fun.

Yummy Crawfish!!! As you can see, everyone basically ate it all up and left a Lone Star beer can for good measure.

The Chef, Clay Kennedy, and Kara taking in all the wonderful odors of the Crawfish. Luckily, once cooked, it just smells like fabulous Cajun seasonings.

Amy, Clay and Kara. Getting our belly's ready for a mind-blowing meal.

Rick, Christian, Heather and Clay. Rick and Heather have a 2 year old little boy named William who Lola played with all afternoon. Christian and Jody (Jody was out of town) have a 4 1/2 year old named Cade and a 2 1/2 year old boys named Leyton. Good times for the kids...they ran around and played all afternoon.

Amy & Jesse. Jesse and Matt are old friends from NYC who now live in Kansas City. It was so great to see them!

Kristen, Kevin and Gang. Love all of Kristen and Kevin's friends!!!! All great people.

Jeff, Summar and Clay. Happy as can be!!! Jeff and Summar tie the knot in October. Can't wait for the big day!

Little Miss Puffy Eyes. Lo took a 4 hour nap this day. Longest ever!!!! She was just getting up in this pic below. She's like her mama...takes her a little while to wake up before she is ready to socialize.

Guitar time...Hondo is back!!! Jeff and Clay provided some great entertainment and played some old school Hondo songs. Oh....love to reminisce. Lo sat right next the Clay the entire time. She LOVES to hear him play guitar.

And now Clay and Clay toast to a successful Crawfish Boil and a fabulous night.

Hola Lola temporarily out of service!

I feel like it's been ages since I've posted a blog so I thought I would drop a quick note to let you know Hola Lola is temporarily out of service but will be back in full force soon. Boy...life has been a bit hectic lately....let me recap real quick...

I'm currently in LA. This will be my 6th straight week of traveling for work. CRAZY!!!! Just when I think I'm about to get a travel free week I learn I have to be in Big D next week for a meeting. On top of this, over the past 6 weeks (in between business trips) we've had guests in town every single weekend (Can't wait to show yall pics and tell you about our Crawfish Boil last weekend). We LOVE the company but WOW things are very busy to say the least...this is what we like to call "blowin' and goin'". Basically, I've struggled to find time to wash sheets in between guests...should be a very simple task right? Yea...not so much.

With that, I still have TONS of work to get done. It's a matter of finding the time so I'm squeezing it in where ever I can which is usually my daytime hours and then back again between 8:30 p.m. (after Lo goes to bed) to 11:00 p.m. then I try to squeeze in a little sleep too...why not!?!?!? The worst part is Clay is on the same schedule...he comes home around 6:30ish for dinner, fam time, puts Lo to bed and then heads back to the office for more work. What a man...always home to put his little girl to bed no matter how busy life is. I keep thinking "A break would be great!". But to be honest....I most likely wouldn't slow down. It's weird...I can't slow down anymore...I can't sit still....I have to be constantly going. I actually think I would go insane if I had a day (or even an hour) to myself with no plans...I would go stir crazy. The biggest problem with all the traveling/non-stop guests is I'm not finding the time to exercise and I'm craving it like you wouldn't believe!!! So, next week I'm going to start the 6:00 a.m. runs up again...can't wait!!!!

Today was FABULOUS!!! I was able to visit one of my childhood BFFs Ashley "Cox" Drysdale in Santa Monica. Ash and her hubby, Jono, moved from D.C. to Santa Monica a year ago. They have a new 4 month old baby girl named Stasya....such a happy baby...such a beautiful baby. I believe she is a spitting image of her gorgeous mother. It was so nice to spend the afternoon with Ash and Stasya. We ate lunch, walked up the coast, talked, shopped, hung out on the couch at their fab home, etc...such fun girl time! I really love Ash more than anything. The best part of our relationship is that as we get older we find ourselves becoming even closer (that's hard considering we grew up living next door to each other...every waking and sleeping hour together) and we don't let distance get in the way of our relationship. I really feel a special connection with Ashley and love that she is still a part of my life after all these years.

Tomorrow is a new day. I start my meetings off at 7:00 a.m. sharp and go until who knows when but THEN another one of my BFFs, Elizabeth, who I met in NYC is also visiting LA so we'll get to see each other. Woohoo!!! She is 8 1/2 months pregnant so I can't wait to see her buddha belly.

Anyway, I have lots of updates so hopefully I can find time to kick back and focus on the blog next week....I'll make sure to find the time. Of course, I can't get away without posting a pic of Lo...