Two weekends worth

Wednesday, April 30, 2008 | Categories: ,

As I mentioned, I'm a little behind on blogging and even further behind on editing my photos. We've been having a lot of fun on the weekends, and haven't had a whole lot of time for much else.

A couple of weeks ago, we attended an air show at Camp Mabry. It turned out to be really cool. Brick LOVED every second of it. He was too cute. On the way to the show, we got him excited by talking to him about how he was going to see big helicopters. His excitement about getting to see some helicopters some how turned into "I want to sit in a helicopter," which turned into "I want to fly a helicopter." I can't really fault the kid for being ambitious. We did get to fulfill the second request.



He even got to sit in a giant tank. Again, he loved it. Maybe you can't tell, but this is the face he makes when he's REALLY excited about something.



We also had our picture taken with the Freedom Chopper built by OCC. It's our first family photo since Calla was born. Classic, isn't it? At least the bike looks cool.



This past weekend, we went to the Wiener Dog Races in Buda. That was also loads of fun. While we were waiting in line for the shuttle bus, Brick kept commenting on all the dogs. So, we snagged a line from Go, Dog. Go! and told Brick we were going to a big dog party! That's exactly what it was. There were dogs everywhere. And lots of fun for Brick too.



He got to say hello to H-E-Buddy (representative for a local grocery store chain - He's a grocery bag, for anyone who can't tell). Brick was so confident when we met Buddy. He stood by him for a picture with very little encouragement and even stopped to give Buddy a big hug.





Brick also got to ride a pony for the very first time. Daddy stayed close by, but Brick held on all by himself, and adored every second of his ride. Oh, and check out Brick's shoes! Aren't they great? He's becoming a true Austinite in his mandatory summertime flip-flops. I think it's so cool that he's old enough now for some flops.



Brick also got to ride on this cool little tractor train they had. Notice how some of the kids are riding with their parents? Well, not Brick. Bryan tried to squeeze into the car with him, but Brick refused. He insisted on riding alone, only to freak out moments after the train started moving. They folks running the train were kind enough to let us calm Brick down and put him back in his seat, where he sat stoic throughout the rest of the ride. Afterwards, he told us he really enjoyed it, so we'll just take his word for it.





And finally what would a wiener dog festival really be without ... the Weiner Mobile?!



On our way back to the car, I made a critical error in judgment. Taking the shuttle is a bit cumbersome when you have two kids, a double stroller, a diaper bag and a camera to tend to, so we decided to walk. Hoping to avoid some of the traffic on the main road, I suggested that we walk down a side street, not remembering that on the way there, our bus got on to that side street by taking the highway.

We walked WAY far out of the way only to find ourselves trekking through a neighborhood that we weren't totally sure would cut through to the lot where the car was parked. We finally found a hole in the fence at the end of a cul-de-sac. So, imagine if you will, Bryan and I hoisting our two kids, in a stroller through this hole in the fence. We were sincerely joyful and elated when we all made it through safely and could see our car. I seriously think what should have been about a mile's walk turned into about 5 miles. I'm still soar!

A quick hello

Monday, April 28, 2008 | Categories:

I'm about two weeks behind on editing and uploading some photos. I hope to get to them soon, but for now, here's a super cute Calla to tide you over.

Found!

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

I'm determined to breastfeed Calla for as long as we can hold out, but it's taken me a few weeks to get into a comfortable routine of pumping milk at work. This week, I started pumping directly into the bottles to save waste from the storage bags and save time when it came time to get her things ready for the day. The fullsize bottles don't fit in the cooler that came with my pump, so I started carrying a lunch tote with me. In case you're wondering where this story's going ... hang in there ...

So, today, I'm cleaning out the lunch tote, when what do I see? MY WEDDING RING! It's been missing for 1 year, 2 months and 16 days! Ironically enough, I had this conversation while having lunch with my CEO a couple of weeks ago:

CEO: "So, Anne-Marie, how long have you been engaged?" (I'd only been at the company about a week at this time ... this was our first real opportunity to talk)

Me: "Oh, I'm not engaged. I'm actually married, but my son lost my wedding ring. We even took him to the doctor and had him x-rayed because we were scared he might have swallowed it."

CEO: "You know your homeowner's insurance will cover that."

Me: "Yeah, I know, but I'm convinced it's in our house somewhere and will turn up."


I couldn't believe it when the dang thing turned up tonight!

4 Months

Thursday, April 17, 2008 | Categories: ,

Hard to believe, but we were already due for Calla's 4 month well baby visit. Her growth has been excellent. Here's her latest stats:

Height: 25.0 inches (65th percentile) - up 2 inches in 2 months
Weight: 13.3 pounds (30th percentile) - up almost 2 pounds in 2 months
Head Circumference: 40.6 cm (29th percentile)

And here she is in all her 4 month old goodness:



And why not throw in a quick shot of Brick since he was being so cute today?

Week 5

Tuesday, April 15, 2008 | Categories: , ,

There wasn't a whole lot of time or thought that went into this shot. The sun was setting, he was fidgety, but I so loved getting even just a few minutes with to play with him.

It's good to be in Austin

Tuesday, April 15, 2008 | Categories:

The ACL Lineup was announced today. Yes, we're going. We've had our tickets since literally just a few days after ACL 2007 wrapped up. This year's gonna be awesome!

A couple of quick ones

Monday, April 14, 2008 | Categories: , ,

I don't have a whole ton of time for photography after work, but I managed to sneak in a few quick pictures of each of the kids today. Decided to share in case anyone's curious how they're growing.





I also wanted to share that Calla's started rolling over this week, both front to back and back to front. It's only happened a couple of times, but she's definitely making some progress towards moving.

Week 4

Monday, April 14, 2008 | Categories: , ,

Polka dot princess

Friday, April 11, 2008 | Categories: ,

She's putting up a fierce competition against her brother for the title of cutest kid.

New set of wheels

Thursday, April 10, 2008 | Categories:

Last weekend was a rather indulgent one for Bryan and me. We hired a babysitter, for one. But rather than catching a movie or a childless bite to eat, we relished the free time while picking out a new car.

It seems like the Jeep never fully recovered from its unfortunate crash of almost a year ago. The brakes needed work, something with the transmission was leaking, three of the four window regulators broke within a few months of each other, and at $500 a pop, we were getting tired of fixing them!

We pretty much set out intending to buy a Lexus GX 470. We'd done the research, and it was the only luxury vehicle that we liked, in our price range, that offered third row seating (or so we'd thought). Of course, we don't have enough kids to warrant the necessity of a third row, but we were thinking it'd be nice to have when the grandparents come to visit. Since the likelihood that I'd be the one sitting in the third row was pretty high, I became the official third row tester.

Turns out, the third row in the Lexus was useless. Like I said, we'd done the research, so we'd seen the reviews saying the third row was useless. I guess we just figured, "How useless could it really be?" Well, it's just that useless. I don't even think it'd be comfortable for a small child to sit back there, and it's certainly not intended for an average-sized adult. Another ding against the Lexus, the third row doesn't fold flat. So, now we were faced with the option of toting around a useless third row that would always be taking up space in the back of our vehicle or to throw out third row as one of our required options.

Throwing out the need for third row seating, totally opened up our car possibilities. We test drove the Audi Q7, which was surprisingly spacious (and had a third row). But the interior lacked the fit and finish we expected from a luxury brand, and Bryan could not get passed the exterior of the car (It kinda looks like a station wagon, on steroids.)

We talked about our absolute favorite SUV, which led us to BMW of Austin. We were actually checking out an '06 model X5, when Jay (our sales guy) was pointing out the differences between the '06 and the newly redesigned '07 model. He stated that the '07 was a little bit longer to accommodate for ... Can you guess? Third row seating! As soon as we heard that, we knew we had to test drive it. The third row is still pretty tiny, but the middle seats can be adjusted forward, giving a small adult a good enough amount of space in the third row. And as a bonus, the third row folds flat, so no hogging space in the back of the car when we're not using it.

This thing is seriously space-age. I had to giggle when my mom asked me if it was "fully loaded." As I tried to graciously explain to her, it's a BMW, they don't really make them any other way. In addition to the third row, this thing has iDrive - a really innovative system used for controlling the car's other functionalities, an integrated phone that syncs to our cell phones using Bluetooth technology (seriously hands-free calling at its finest), an iPod and USB jack (sweet) and a comfort access remote, which means we don't need to insert a key to open the car or to even drive it; you just have to have the remote on your person, near the car, and the doors will unlock when you pull on the handle or the car will start when you press the Start/Stop button. Yes, it has a Start/Stop BUTTON - I'm telling you ... we feel like the Jetsons when we're driving this car.

So, without further ado, here it is... Our new car... We couldn't be happier with it.

Even more bluebonnets

Sunday, April 06, 2008 | Categories: ,

As promised, I decided to post my attempt at photos of Calla in the bluebonnets. I found it really awkward to pose Calla in the fields, and Brick still doesn't quite grasp the concept of "holding" Calla. Nonetheless, here she is in her bluebonnet debut.