maria and friends

today my friends lorielle and lynn came over with their boys. it was fun hanging out with some other moms. maria was in good company with owen and james. this was the first time i really got to see owen crawling and sitting up and eating and mobile. i think i am going to have my hands full in just a few months! i could tell james and maria had their eyes on owen- they were both amazed and fascinated by his mobility!

h-town in the hizzy part 4

our crazy socializing whirlwind adventure came to a close today with guess what? more socializing!

i got us all packed up and loaded around noon-ish. it was so much fun getting to stay with my parents during the week! it has been years since i have been at my parents house during the week (and it wasn't a holiday). the trip was a great success. maria did much better than i thought she would and i was already planning my next trip (probably the beginning of november) as i was driving away. i stopped by my friend's house on the way out of town. jennifer and josephine were happy to see maria. josephine was wishing maria was older and more mobile so they could play barbies. maria tried her best to keep up with josephine but she mostly just chewed on barbie's legs and arms. the girls looked so cute together! i got on the road back to austin about 2 hours later than i planned but i figured i would be late leaving houston. i got back to austin without incident. chris and daisy were both happy to see us and have us back home.

maria with gramps

maria and josephine

maria and jennifer

this is what is takes to travel with a baby!

h-town in the hizzy part 3

another fun filled day of socializing! this morning maria and i joined my mom's tuesday group. we drove up to bentwater and met many of the ladies that gave my mom a surprise baby shower back in march! maria was happy and well received- i think she knew she was in a room full of grandma's! after that maria and i drove down to the houston heights where we met up with my long time friend bethany. i can't believe we've gone from track meets in middle school to being on the p.t.a! it was really good to see her and i got to see her latest home renovations in person. our day was only half done because we had dinner with another long time friend, mrs. szmania and finished up with another a visit from the ruisaards' and my friend kathryn and her daughter isabella. maria was super duper tired and went to bed pretty early.

h-town in the hizzy part 2

today was a whirlwind of visiting! this morning we visited the ruisaards and then we went to my grandmother's place and then out to katy to drop my sister's house. maria did a first while we were at the ruisaard's. she completely rolled over! from stomach to back and then over to her stomach and then to her back! i thought she was going to keep rolling across their living room! she acted like this was totally normal but i knew she was really excited on the inside. my little girl is getting a little more mobile everday!

maria met her great-grandmother for the first time today! granna was really happy to meet her and we had a nice visit. i let my mom take the pix so i need to get those emailed to me (hint, hint, hint) and i will post another 4- generation picture! 

we also drove out to my sister's house to drop off birthday cards for my niece- she is going to be 15 tomorrow! i can't believe she is already in high school! that means it has been 15 years since i was sophomore at u.t.!

h-town in the hizzy part 1

this week we went to houston! my mom drove back to austin with me after the wedding shower in waco and then we drove to houston on sunday. i was really happy she made the trek with me because i wasn't sure how well maria would do in the car. well, maria did great! she slept most of the way and my mom and i talked the entire trip. i got all the baby gear organized and packed and chris loaded the car. we got on the road about 30 minutes later than i wanted but everything was ok. my sister and her family came over for dinner sunday night and maria got to meet her cousins for the first time! i don't know what my problem was but i totally didn't take any pictures! maybe my sister will email me a couple???

i am supplementing with a random maria pic. she is totally digging the rice cereal now.

wedding shower

today we drove up to waco to my cousin's wedding shower. maria got to meet a lot of her extended family! if i had taken some pix i would post them. maybe someone that took pix will email some to me? here are a couple of random maria pix.

someone isn't too sure about peas.

deck update

the deck is complete! now we just have to spread out all the dirt leftover from digging out the deck, build a new raised veggie garden bed, build a rock patio, haul in about 10 yards of crushed granite and re-sod the yard.

ok- i realize these pix kind of suck but this i'm trying to get caught up on the blog as fast as i can. i'll add some better pix as we get the backyard restored and things organized on the deck.

maria pix

alright- i know most of you don't care about the deck and just want some cute maria pix- here you go.

deck update

yeah!!! we are seeing the boards now!!! the lights were (mostly) installed yesterday. we really should have tested the lights to make sure they work before we had tim install them. the light driver box doesn't work. i spent this morning on the phone with philips lighting division to get a replacement light driver box but apparently philips is a big mega corp that doesn't really make anything- they just put it all in cardboard box with their name and some 1-800 number that doesn't get you to anyone that can help you. soooo- we ordered another set of lights- the same lights, just packaged under a different name. they should get here sometime next week. . . .

deck update

well, i think we might have a deck soon!! all the boards, blocks and brackets are complete!

each board on the concrete had to be cut individually to correct for the slope of the patio! this is why we hired a professional!

deck update

here is an update on the deck- or lack there of. it never fails- it doesn't rain for weeks and weeks and weeks but as soon as we get started on a huge project outside we have torrential down pours! here are some before and during pictures.

the backyard- before

old deck is removed, new sliding door installed, dirt excavated

rain on sept 2nd and 3rd

tropical storm hermine- sept 7-8

yard is drying out- all the lumber/ trex is delivered sept 10

post holes dug, anchor boards attached to house- sept 10

Bug Life: Month 4

Hi Maria! You're 4 months old today! Yay! This was such a long month for mommy! I went back to work but then I had to get my gall bladder taken out. Not only did I miss you because I had to go to work, I missed you because I was recovering from surgery for a week! You had lots of fun hanging out with Grandma Bonnie and Grandma Ruth & Gramps. You also spent a whole week with daddy! The two of you had a lot of fun together. You came to visit me at work twice! The good news is that I quit my job and it will be you and me kiddo from now on! I'm really excited about staying at home with you. Today is just the second day for me to be at home with you. So far we have gone for a walk in the morning with Daisy. We are getting a big new deck built across the back of the house. I'm looking forward to us hanging out on the deck. You went to the pediatrician today for your 4 month check up. You didn't really enjoy going- you got 3 shots today and that made you very upset. You are 24 inches long and you weigh 13.5 pounds. This was a big month for you- let's recap.

You are so cute- you are laughing, babbling, drooling, rolling over, reaching for and picking up everything, you want to sit up all on your own but you aren't there yet. When we put you on your stomach you really want to crawl- just a couple more months and I think you will be! Daddy plays claw with you. He holds you over some toys and you pick one out and then pick it up and play with it. Your favorite toy is still the bee and 'hungry friends' book. We got a bumbo seat for you so you can sit on the table when we eat dinner or on the counter top when we are cooking. You did a little traveling this month. I took you to Temple, Tx at the end of August so you could meet your Great Grandpa Jones. He was so happy to meet you- he thinks you are super pretty and friendly. You did a lot of smiling for him and it made his day. Daddy took you on a tour of DKR- Texas Memorial Stadium- he wants to indoctrinate you early! We also took you to Canyon Lake labor day weekend to see your Uncle Naylor and Aunt Laura and cousins, Edie and Isaac. Even though you weren't really sure about being in the water, I really enjoyed getting to spend some time with my brother and his family. I spent my first day of unemployment sorting through your clothes- I had to put away a lot of your little outfits because you have grown so much. I washed a bunch of new outfits so don't worry- you aren't naked! I also had to remove the bassinet attachment from the pack and play. You are still sleeping in our room- I'm having a hard time letting you move to your own room. I love waking up to your little coo noises and giggles.

We love you Maria!
-Mommy and Daddy

Welcome to your life/ there's no turning back

This morning when I woke up I turned on Pandora- Tears for Fears 'Everyone Wants to Rule the World' was the first song I heard- it was very appropriate. Today is my first day of being a SAHM. Everytime Maria looked at me like I didn't know what I was doing I told her to go easy on me- it's my first day! We had a great day together. We went for a walk with Daisy and spent the rest of the day napping, eating, playing and cleaning up. I had to put away a bunch of her clothes that are too small but I got to get out a bunch of new clothes- the cuteness is never ending!

Last day

Today was my last day of work. I went in late, left early and ate a lot in the hours in between! I will miss my coworkers but I am more excited about staying at home with Maria. It means so much to me that I will get to spend so much time with her when she is little. I feel like I missed so much in the month I went back to work. It feels weird not having a paid job anymore- I've pretty much had a paycheck since I was 16 years old! I've worked in mapping for the past 11 years with various breaks to go though basic training/ ait and Iraq and a few months of unemployment. I feel like I am not just starting a new chapter in my life but a completely different book!

On the weather note- it was still raining this morning!

Hermine

Please, stop raining now!!!! Our backyard is totally flooded! I don't think our deck is ever going to get built!!!

Labor Day Weekend

What a weekend!!!

Saturday we wasted the entire day watching college football.  Maria got to see the Longhorns play for the first time.  I am planning on taking her to her first game in November when the weather cools down.  The team wasn't awe inspiring, but they won the game.  We also watched Jacksonville State beat Ole Miss.  It is fun to watch the upsets in college football.  I taught Maria how to bake chocolate chip cookies.  I am not sure how many of my baking tips that she picked up, but she sure had fun fun watching me work.  It was a fun lazy day, fueled by chocolate and peanut butter chip cookies.

Sunday, we did some running around and then packed up the SAAB and headed out to Amelia's brother's lake house on Canyon Lake.  Amelia had a great observation.  Basically, with a three month old we have to do a lot of backward planning.  If we need to be at a place by two we have to figure out how many feedings need to happen, what shopping and packing needs to take place.  It is quite the logistical nightmare, but we are getting better at it.
We had a great time visiting with Naylor and Laura and their family.  Maria got to play in the lake and we got to hear about the Gray family adventures in Indonesia, and India.  We had a great dinner at the lake house and then drove back to Austin.

Monday, we were all a bit worn out from out adventures.  I decided that I wanted to use my smoker, so I smoked a couple of bacon wrapped pork tenderloins (the bacon provides the fat to keep the tenderloin moist) and a rack of baby back ribs.  I also cooked some corn bread.  My friend Juan came over to help us eat the smoker's bounty.  We closed out the weekend by watching a pretty good Boise State Va Tech game.

This is how I roll