Chausovsky Happenings

Conversations with Ali

2012-01-07T15:04:00.000-06:00

Me: I can't go down your little slide, Ali. I think I'm too big for it.

Ali: Well, you should just give it a shot! Maybe you will like it.

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Me: Come on, Ali, it's time to go home!

Ali: I will come with you in just one moment, Mommy.

Me: One moment? How old are you??

Ali: I'm just two, Mommy!

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(talking to Sam, who was yelling loudly just to hear his own voice)
Me: Sam, that's not necessary.

Ali: I'm necessary, Mommy.

Yes, you are, baby girl. Yes, you are.

Adventures in Potty Training

2011-12-30T22:12:00.000-06:00

We are reluctantly entering the realm of potty training. I say "reluctantly" because things are just so much easier with diapers. No waiting on anything, no having to pull over and find a potty. But it is what it is. To help motivate baby girl, we've come up with a sticker chart. She gets a sticker on her chart every time she uses the potty. She has taken to saying she "really, really, REALLY has to GO!" every evening juuuust before bed time. Coincidence or stall tactic? Hmmmm...

Anyway, tonight she was sitting on the potty and she really wanted that sticker. So she started giving her pee a pep talk.

Ali: Come on, pee, LET'S GO!

:::nothing:::

Ali: Come on, PEE, LET'S GO!!

:::nothing:::

Ali: Come ON, PEE, LET'S GO!! TIME TO COME OUT!!

:::nothing:::

Ali (getting frustrated): I want the pee to work, mommy!! I want the pee to work on the potty!!

Me, too, baby girl. Me, too.

Happy Holidays!

2011-12-24T21:53:00.000-06:00

Conversations with Ali

2011-12-21T21:55:00.001-06:00

Ali: Mommy, what happened to my water? Did it melt?

Me: No, your ice melted into water. You see, ice is verrrrry cold. When it touches warm air, it warms up and turns into water. It melts.

Ali: Oh, okay. And then when I drink my water, it melts into a cup, and then flowers, and then popcorn, and then cheerios.

Me: Um . . .

Ali: And then we get into the car and go to the gym, and then to the store, and then into someone's tummy, and then we're a baby, and then we cry because our water melted.

Me: Oh, really?

Ali: Yeah, but that's okay. We should not cry because our water melted because it's JUST WATER. And then flowers. And then popcorn. And then cheerios.

Me: . . . I agree.

Conversations with Ali

2011-12-12T09:11:00.001-06:00

Last night, driving home from a friend's house.

Ali: It's very, very dark outside!

Me: Yes, it is! It's late.

Ali: But not too late? I can still watch a video when I get home?

Alex: No, baby, I don't think we're going to have time.

Ali: We will have time, Daddy! Your clock is wrong!

Me: Sweetie, I'm sorry, it's too late for a video.

Ali: It's not too late! It's only 8!

***It was actually only 7:17.***

Me: 8 o'clock?? Man, if it were 8 o'clock already, it would be way past your bedtime!

Ali: Oh. It's not 8 o'clock! It's only 7!

Me: Ali . . . you blow my mind every single day.

Ali: Yeah.

Conversations with Ali

2011-11-04T19:59:00.000-05:00

Ali: LOOK! THE MOON!

Me: That's right! There's the moon. Wouldn't it be cool if you could throw a rope around it and climb all the way up there?

Ali: Yeah. But not tonight. Maybe Tuesday.

Ali TV

2011-09-29T08:35:00.000-05:00

If there was a channel that just showed Ali videos all day, every day . . . I'd pretty much watch it all day, every day.

Ten on Tuesday

2011-09-27T09:19:00.000-05:00

1. Baby girl turned TWO!

2. Two is a freaking awesome age. Yes, there are tantrums and power struggles and boundary testing and all of that. But seeing her learn things at the rate that she's learning them makes up for all the other stuff a thousand times over. I try and note each day how long it takes before she says or does something to impress me. Yesterday it was about 32 seconds.

3. Ali knows all her letters and their sounds, her numbers from 1-20 (thought she still gets tripped up through the teens), and she can sight read Ali, Sam, Mom, and Dad.

4. She had a great 2-yr check-up. She is still maintaining her supermodel stature, measuring in the 80% for height and the 30% for weight. The doctor was highly impressed with all of her skills, and we don't have to get any more shots until she's 4! Hooray!

5. A typical dinner these days, complete with gagging, showing off, story telling, pooping, and the sweetest sign-off ever:

6. Little man turned 4 months old!

7. He is SUCH a strong little guy. He is already rolling both directions (a full two months ahead of when his sister did that) and trying to sit up unassisted.

8. Sam's teachers at school say that he's already ahead with his verbal skills. I'm guessing this means that he babbles like a 6-month-old instead of a 4-month-old. I'm also guessing that means between him and his sister, we're never going to have a quiet household. Ever.

9. We are in the midst of deswaddling. I can't believe my baby is already old enough to sleep unswaddled. We have started wrapping him with one arm out, and so far, it hasn't really affected his sleep. He still wakes up once a night, which isn't bad!

10. Ali was never a giggly baby. Oh how I love love love having a giggly baby now. How Sam spends dinner time:

Friday Funny

2011-09-02T10:17:00.000-05:00

A few days ago, we were sitting around, having dinner, and Ali was talking about her friend Luke. We had been to Luke's house a few times in the last couple of weeks and Ali was telling us about the last time we were over there.

"Ali and Luke play upstairs." Oh, were you and Luke playing upstairs?

"Yes. Ali fell down. Luke help Ali up and make it better." Oh, that's very sweet! Did Luke make Ali feel better when she fell down?

"Yes. Ali and Luke eat sandwich." Did you eat a sandwich with Luke? Was it good?

"Yes. Luke's mom said, 'STOP, Luke!!'" (and to emphasize, she brought her little hand down in chopping motion into her other hand--the sign for "stop"--when she said "STOP!")

Cue laughter. Did Luke's mom tell him to stop doing something? What does Ali's mom say?

"Ali's mom says 'STOP, Alex!!"

So there you have it. Kids are perceptive little creatures.

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I know you've been getting a lot of Ali stories, but she's just so funny these days! Sam is equally exciting in his own right . . . just not in the same way.

Like this morning, he totally reached up and grabbed the frog ring on his chair and pulled it, making it play a song. For the first time!!

See? Exciting but makes for a much less entertaining story. :-)

Good Morning, Sunshine!

2011-08-30T09:43:00.000-05:00

One of my very favorite things to do is to go get Ali up in the mornings. As soon as I walk into her room, she sits up and says the first thing that comes to her mind.

Examples:
"Ali sleep with Matt." (Matt the Monkey is still her closest companion.)

"Ali sitting up!" (she was, in fact, already sitting up.)

"Big booger." (a bit congested that morning.)

"Where did Piggy go?" (Piggy had been lost under the blanket.)

"Ali sleep with cozy blanket." (Just in the last few weeks has she asked to start sleeping with a blanket.)

"Ali had a good nap!" (Yes, baby girl, you certainly did.)

Some Nights Just Kick Ass

2011-08-18T21:08:00.000-05:00

Some nights are hard. Mom and Dad are tired. Kids are cranky. House is a mess. Cats are throwing up.

And some nights just kick ass. Like tonight. First off, we got home, and Ali was giving her baby brother tons of love. So we took the opportunity to get a sibling shot.

Heehee. A true sibling shot. Kinda looks like they're messing with each other a bit, right?

How 'bout this one?

It's okay. I'll pause for the collective "awwwwww."

And then there was the rare opportunity for me to step out from behind the camera and actually be in the pictures myself. Alex did a great job!

And then there's this. My and my kiddos. Gosh they make me ridiculously happy.

Then we let Sam get in a little evening tummy time.

He's so stinking cute.

And then there was this. (Ignore the blithering mommy doing the filming. I was just a wee bit excited.)

I forgot how exciting all these "firsts" are!

So there you have it. Our evening in a nutshell.

It kicked ass.

Big (Sister) Love

2011-08-14T15:59:00.000-05:00

Ali and I hit the park this morning while the boys got to sleep in. It was such a nice hour of just the two of us. So often these days I find myself dedicated to Sam, and I miss my little girl somethin' fierce.

We climbed. We slid. We searched the rocks for . . . well, rocks. We climbed to the top of the play scape and then picked up all the rocks on the floor, dropping them over the side by ones and twos and fistfulls.

After handing rocks to Ali to drop for the ump-teenth time, she got up and picked up some rocks for me.

"Here you go, sweet pea," she told me, mimicking my nickname for her.

"Thank you, baby! Are those for me?" I asked, smitten.

"Yes. These rocks for Mommy."

She then reached down and gathered another handful, setting them into a careful pile at her feet.

"These rocks for Ali."

And then another handful, another pile at her feet.

"And these rocks for baby Sammy."

"Aw, that's very nice of you!" I praised her.

She nodded. "These rocks for Ali, these rocks for baby Sammy. That way we both be happy."

And then my heart exploded for the bazillionth time since having kids.

I'm Not Ready

2011-08-11T19:16:00.002-05:00

For this.

My 2-month-old is mobile.

Hold me.

Tummy Time

2011-07-19T12:44:00.000-05:00

"Naked Tummy Time"

(or is it "Naked Tushy Time"?)

"Working the Camera Tummy Time"

"Too Comfy to Lift My Head Up Tummy Time"

Lake Fun

2011-07-11T13:05:00.000-05:00

Bubbie and Zeydie came into town this weekend to celebrate Alex and Uncle Gene's birthdays. Sunday morning, I stayed home with Sam and the rest of the crew hit the lake for some summer fun in the sun.

Zeydie caught some air with our big beach umbrella...

...while Alex and Ali hit the water.

At first she wasn't too sure about the big lake.

She preferred to stay in the shallows and dig in the rocks.

But then she had fun getting wet with her daddy.

They checked out the rocks.

They played horsey.

She got to swing.

She got tossed high in the sky.

And then it was time to say goodbye and head home.

Where we were waiting!

It was a wonderful morning and a wonderful weekend visit!

A Good Day

2011-07-05T10:32:00.000-05:00

Sunday, July 3, was a good day.

It was Aunt Katie's birthday. Happy birthday, Aunt Katie! It was also the birthday of Ali's best friend from school. They don't get to hang out as much any more because the friend has already moved up to the next classroom, so we were very excited to give the girls a chance to see each other again.

We got all dressed up for the birthday at the Children's Museum. Ali wore her special 4th-of-July party dress to celebrate the day! AND she let me put her hair in a ponytail!

The party was fabulous. When the girls saw each other, they ran up and gave each other a huge hug. There may be nothing cuter in the entire world than toddler hugs. They then promptly ran off in separate directions to play. Here's Ali enjoying some snacks at the party table.

Sam was a total trooper. He slept most of the time, we nursed at the museum, and then he had a WILD ride back to our car. You see, I had tied a balloon to the stroller. It was the first time he'd ever seen a balloon. I think it kind of blew his mind.

After all that excitement, Sam promptly fell back asleep while we had dinner at Mandola's. Here's Ali double-fisting it. That girl loves her some spaghetti.

We then headed outside to play by the fountain.

Here's Ali's "cheeeeese" face:

And here's what I get when I tell her not to say "cheeeeese."

So there you have it. A great day with both kids. Some days make us wonder what the heck we got ourselves into. Some days make us feel like rock stars and have us loving every second. Yay for the good days!!

1 Month

2011-07-02T02:41:00.000-05:00

Yep. A month. A whole, entire month. (Okay, if we're facing the truth, it's been a month and SIX DAYS!) Time flies with your first kid, but with your second? Holy moly.

Sam is awesome. He's a great sleeper, he's a phenomenal snuggler, he's a very chill little man, and he's an early smiler! In fact, we started getting true, reciprocal smiles when he was only TWO weeks old! And what a sweet, sweet little grin he has.

One of the things that helped time go so quickly this last month is all the visitors we've had! Sam is a lucky little man--he's gotten to meet all his grandparents and three of his four aunt/uncle sets. Below are some shots from our family visitors. Enjoy and be jealous of all the sweet baby snuggles.

Bubbie

Zeydie

G-Mommy

Granddad

Uncle Jonathan and Aunt Kerri

Aunt Katie

Grandmama

Pop

Uncle Genes

May 25th, 2011

2011-05-28T03:46:00.001-05:00

Big Things

2011-05-20T09:21:00.000-05:00

My sister is coming into town tonight.

My parents are coming into town tomorrow night and staying at a local hotel suite for the week. Setting up camp, as it were.

My dad and stepmom and in-laws are answering their phones after the first ring, waiting to descend upon our city as well.

Our house is clean.

There's a bag packed.

Kinda feels like something big is about to happen . . . .

I'm So Happy!

2011-05-17T09:04:00.000-05:00

Last night G-Mommy and I took Ali out to dinner at one of her favorite restaurants-Olive Garden. This is a favorite because it means that she gets all noodles, all the time. And noodles are, quite possibly, her most favorite thing ever.

Half-way through her attack on a big bowl of spaghetti, with the sauce dripping down her mouth, chin, nose, cheeks, shirt, and hands, she looked up and gleefully declared, "I'm so happy, Mommy! I'm SO HAPPY!"

She has never said this phrase before.

It was the perfect, spontaneous expression of delight. And of course I laughed and G-Mommy laughed and Ali laughed and then just kept saying it, over and over again. "I'm so happy! I'm SO happy!"

Me, too, baby girl. Me, too.

Mom-Colored Glasses

2011-05-12T15:11:00.000-05:00

So, I realize and have/will readily admit that the things that I think are cute, funny, interesting, and share-worthy have definitely changed since becoming a mom.

That's why I love having this blog. I can share to my mom-heart's content and not have to worry about people secretly wishing I'd shut my yapper. Chances are if you're here reading this, you want to know all about these funny little mom moments.

I made a promise to myself long ago that I would not discuss my children's bathroom habits on Facebook. But this isn't Facebook! This is our family blog! Potty stories are officially fair game.

You've been warned. This is a potty story. If you don't want to hear it, stop reading now.

No? Still here?

Okay then.

So, we have another official exciting milestone: Ali went pee on the big potty!!!

NO, we aren't potty training. NO we don't plan on starting to potty train any time soon. We will approach potty training the same way we've approached everything else: slow and steady and not 'til we see some signs of her being ready.

But we have gotten her a special "blue potty" seat that goes on the big potty and she loves to sit up there and pretend to go potty.

The other night, she said she had to poop, so we asked if she wanted to sit on the blue potty.

An affirmative nod later, and she was sitting there, happily bouncing her feet, dripping wet from the bathwater we had yanked her out of.

"Okay," I said. "You can poop now."

She looked at me.

"Push!" I encouraged her.

She balled up her little fists, squeezed her eyes shut, scrunched up her mouth, and her little tummy contracted with the effort of her pushing. And then she opened her eyes and flashed me a huge smile, like, "See, Mommy? I'm a good pusher!"

It was the most hysterical, adorable pushing I've ever seen.

See there? Mom-colored glasses. Someone sitting on the potty, trying with all their might to push out poop, and I think it's both hysterical and adorable.

I called Alex in and we showed Daddy what a good pusher she is. We all laughed. Ali smiled and laughed right along with us.

What a sweet family moment, the three of us and the toilet.

I asked her if she was ready to get back into the tub, and she said no and requested that I read her one of her bath books. Sure, no prob.

We read her Elmo bath book and talked about getting clean, brushing our teeth, and the number of other personal hygiene practices showcased in the four-page book.

When I closed the book, Ali asked sweetly, "One more time?" How can I resist?

I read the book to her again, and somewhere between "washing our face and hands" and "combing our hair," I heard it.

PEE! In the POTTY!!

I think it caught her off guard because she looked down, surprised, and then looked at me with a "what on Earth?!!?" look in her eyes. Again. Hysterical. Adorable. Gah, I love her.

I cheered and praised her and then called Dad in again. Ali proudly told him she had gone pee. He cheered and praised her.

Then we scooped her up, ceremoniously wiped her bottom, and then plopped her back in the tub for the rest of bath time.

So there you have it. Awesome pushing effort, successful (albeit delayed) pee in the potty.

I'm so proud of my big, sweet, awesome, funny, wonderful, enthusiastic girl.

Mother's Day

2011-05-08T20:14:00.000-05:00

Both my babies on Mother's Day. My heart is so full.

Happy Mother's Day.

Oversharing

2011-04-23T09:07:00.000-05:00

As a mom, I think it's just in my blood to want to totally overshare about my cute kid.

Just this morning, here are all the things I wanted to share on Facebook, but didn't.

1. Aw! My kid just spontaneously thanked me for cooking her blueberry pancakes! Without any prompting from me, she said, "Tank ooo, Mommy, pancake." My heart = mush.

2. Dude. She just ate two and a half full-sized pancakes. That's the same amount I ate.

3. I happened to say, "I think that bites too big. I don't think that will fit in your mouth." She flashed me a defiant look and proceeded to prove me wrong. I LOVE that my daughter inherited my healthy sense of competition. :-)

4. Oh, and this little gem. I did share this one. :-)

Wordsmith

2011-04-18T20:05:00.001-05:00

I think of all the things I want to share with the world about my baby girl, her amazing conversational skills top the list. I think daily that I should carry around a tape recorder just to record for posterity the awesome things that come out of her mouth.

Just this evening, these are some of the conversations we had.

A: Daddy eat?

M: No, daddy's not going to eat dinner with us. Daddy's on an airplane.

A: yeah. Big airplane. Biz trip. Mommy eat.

(she remembered from this morning that Alex is going on a business trip. Wow.)

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Ali's new favorite obsession is hunting Easter eggs. At the restaurant tonight, this is what she said about everyone who was leaving.

A: Bye-bye! Go home, hunt eggs? Hunt Easter eggs?

(clearly she thinks that everyone is as taken with the pastime as she is)

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Ali looooves counting. Her new favorite number is thirty (which only recently replaced her most beloved "two.") This is how it goes when we count to thirty.

M: okay, let's count! What do we start with?

A: two!

M: One...

A: two!

M: good! what's next?

A: three!

M: what's next?

A: five!

M: four...

A: five!

M: five...

A: Here we go!

M: No, not yet. Six...

A: Six...

M: seven...

A: seben...

M: eight...

A: eat? Mommy eat?

M: nine...

A: yeah...

M: ten!

A: Here we go!!!

M: Not yet! Eleven (yeah...), twelve (yeah...), thirteen (thirty!!!), fourteen (yeah...), fifteen (yeah...), sixteen (yeah...), seventeen (yeah...), eighteen (yeah...), nineteen (yeah...), twenty!

A: THIRTY! Go, go!!!

M: Twenty-one (yeah...), twenty-two (yeah...), twenty-three (yeah...), twenty-four (yeah...), twenty-five (yeah...), twenty-six (yeah...), twenty-seven (yeah...seben), twenty-eight (yeah...), twenty-NINE (YEAH...), THIRTY!!

A: THIRTY! HERE WE GO GO GO!!!!

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And yesterday morning, when it was time for an Ali diaper change . . .

D: Come on Ali, it's time to change your diaper.

A: No dirty diaper. Teeny tiny poop. No dirty. Clean diaper. No big poop. Teeny tiny poop.

D: Yeah, even if it's just a teeny tiny poop, we still have to change your diaper.

A: No Ali dirty diaper. Daddy diaper. Daddy dirty diaper.

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Seriously never a dull moment 'round these parts.

Ten on Tuesday

2011-04-12T20:04:00.001-05:00

1. Everyone is HOME! Last week, Alex went to Germany and Ali went to visit her grandparents, giving this momma a much-needed break before we hit the ground running with a newborn again. Ali LOVES her G-Mommy, Granddad, Bubbie, Zeydie, Munna, Poppy, and Aunt Katie, and I'm not sure she even missed being at home one minute with all the fun they had last week. They had Easter egg hunts and fed ducks at the park and went to a local farm, and Ali has spent the last several days telling me stories about all the fun things she remembers doing. I enjoyed my time by myself (the first I've gotten in EIGHTEEN MONTHS!), but I was ready ready ready for my family to come home. Ali has been unusually snuggly since returning and I am loving every second of it.

2. That's right! Ali is telling stories! She has an amazing memory and quite the imagination. Not only does she remember things that she's done days, even weeks ago, but she is also making up stories from her imagination. Her favorite character is her daddy, and she tells me all kinds of funny things about him (how he spilled yogurt and mommy had to clean it up, how he is taking a shower and then brushing his teeth and then putting on his clothes, etc.). I am constantly amazed at her!

3. She says "Yummy tummy" when she's eating something that she likes. Awesome.

4. She says "I sorry 'bout that" and then wants to touch foreheads while she looks lovingly into your eyes. Awesomer. We are in trouble if she remembers this little trick in the years to come. Powerless we are, I tell you.

5. Ali is now officially sleeping in her big-girl room! She graduated to her new and improved room two nights ago and she loves it. I think Alex and I had a harder time with her transition than she did (what? Change is hard, yo.).

6. Alex only has one more (short) business trip, and then he's home until August! It will be so very nice to have him home for such a long stretch. And scary to think that the next time he leaves, I'll have TWO kids to take care of on my own! Oi!

7. The pregnancy is going great. I feel as big as a house. I waddle. I grunt when I get up or down. I can't put on my own socks. All about par for the course at this point!

8. Dos has hair. 'Tis true. Long hair. We had a 3D ultrasound done, and not wanting to be out-performed by his big sister, he made a giant production of completely hiding his face. But we could tell that he has long hair already, long enough to wisp off his sweet little head. I can't wait to meet him to stroke his long hair and find out what he really looks like! Here's his big shot: hand over face, shoulder hunched up to hide any features we may have been able to sneak a peek at. Stinker. Cute wittle chubby hand, though.

9. Dos is still Dos. No name yet.

10. Ali's bluebonnet picture this year. It was a *LOT* harder than last year, when all we had to do was plop her in the flowers and make googly noises at her to earn a sweet smile. This year she decided that the WORST THING IN THE WORLD was being sat in the flowers and wasn't having any of it. We were stumped until I got the idea from a friend to take along a chair so that she wouldn't actually have to be in the flowers. Brilliant. So here's one of our shots of my sweet, sweet girl. Enjoy.

One In A . . .

2011-04-02T14:05:00.001-05:00

I get a weekly email that tells me interesting little developmental tidbits all about my baby girl according to how old she is. These emails are chock full of great advice in topics ranging from eating and teething to sleeping and playing. Pretty much I just scan them and delete them, as Ali has always been either right in line with or a bit ahead of whatever it's telling me.

This last week I got one for my "18-month-old: Week 3." It says, "Some toddlers can even make simple two-word sentences, such as 'No more' or 'All done.'"

Umm.

The other day, Ali told me, "Ali no play outside. Inside Ali milk please. Ali inside."

If only some toddlers are just now stringing together two words, what does that make her?

Just what I've always known she was: one in a bazillion.
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In other news: holy crap, I'm having a baby next month.

Video Friday!

2011-04-01T12:16:00.000-05:00

To get your weekend started off right!!

Weekend with Kaybee

2011-03-15T11:44:00.003-05:00

With Alex in China for the last week, I had the great opportunity to have family come and visit and keep us company!

G-Mommy and Granddad came the first weekend--unfortunately there are not a lot of pictures because Ali was fighting a double ear infection AND a sinus infection at the time and we were preoccupied doing the song and dance trying to keep her happy and entertained instead of taking pictures. Boo. But the amazingly wonderful thing is that G-Mommy and Granddad are such Ali-favorites, baby girl was more than happy to hang out with them--even while not feeling 100% herself--giving this momma some time to sleep. Ahhhhhhh.

Aunt Katie came last weekend and with little miss feeling much better, we had a chance to head outdoors and let her run around like usual and snap some pics! (And I think I've figured out a way to get pics back on the blog!)

She picked out this outfit all on her own. My little fashionista.

Ali adores her Aunt Katie. Anytime my phone rings, baby girl immediately asks "Katie? Katie? KATIE??"

If there's one thing this kid loves, it's being outside. Bonus points if it's windy.

Flowers for Mom!

Then we headed indoors where Ali let Aunt Katie do her hair!

This is a major win--baby girl never lets me do it!

(To see all the pics from our fun Saturday with Aunt Kaybee, click here!)

So nice to have family come and visit, but even nicer to have Alex home safe and sound.

In Dos news, I am officially 30 weeks pregnant! Eek! Only 10 weeks to go. We've got Ali's big girl room almost entirely ready and hope to have her moved over by the end of this month, freeing up the nursery for some boy-ing up. I'm still feeling good, my rings still fit, no swelling--I'm so lucky that pregnancy treats me so well and that I enjoy it so much. We had the chance to meet a friend of mine a couple of weeks ago for some family shots--check us out!

----> LINK <----

We have an incredibly busy spring ahead of us--showers and birthday parties and Alex's travel schedule and family visits and somewhere in there finding the time to enjoy our last few months as a family of three and prepare for the big transition to a family of four. Life is for the living and we're doing our best to make every minute count!

You Belong to Me

2011-02-28T10:28:00.001-06:00

Ali has been expressing possession for a couple of months now. She can distinguish between "shoe mommy," "shoe daddy," and "shoe Ali." She can say "chair mommy" and "chair Ali." She knows whose sweater is whose, whose coat is whose.

One thing that seemed to have temporarily thwarted her, though, was the idea of "mommy" and "daddy" itself. When we read her books, we talk about the mommy and daddy in the book, so she's become very skilled at accurately identifying males and females. The only problem is that all males are "daddy" and all females are "mommy."

This makes for some awkward social moments. I feel like I need to explain to the strangers she calls "mommy" that she doesn't actually think THEY are her mommy, that's just what she calls women in general. Rather than getting into self-conscious explanations each time, I've settled for saying, "Yes, she's someone's mommy. That's a woman." And then Ali tries to say "woman" and I praise her and we move on.

A couple of weeks ago, we were in sitting in the car in the parking lot at daycare, getting ready to buckle her into her seat and head home. She saw one of her friend's, Julio, leaving with his dad.

"Daddy! Daddy!" Ali said urgently. "Julio!"

"Yes," I told her. "That's Julio with his daddy."

"Julio daddy. Julio daddy!" she exclaimed, finally connecting her knowledge of possessives with this concept.

"That's right! That's Julio's daddy!" I praised her.

Then she looked at me and said "Mommy. Ali Mommy!"

I beamed. "That's right baby! I'm Ali's Mommy!"

And she smiled her huge, gleeful smile, thrilled with herself, with her ability to express her possession of me. She smiled and threw herself forward and gave me a huge hug, saying again, "Ali mommy!"

Being Ali's mommy rocks.

Because it's Valentine's Day...

2011-02-14T19:29:00.002-06:00

...and that means that your day should be filled with things that are almost too sweet to handle.

Words on Wednesday

2011-01-26T10:32:00.001-06:00

I think blogger is mad at me for uploading so many pictures. So until I figure out a way to get it to forgive me (i.e., let me upload pictures again), wordy updates are all you'll get.

Baby girl is 16 months old. She's technically not a baby anymore, but "toddler girl" just doesn't have the same ring to it, and let's face it, she'll always be MY baby. So baby girl it is. I worry that this might confuse her when we talk about "the baby" that's coming, and then in the next breath I turn around and call her the baby, but she doesn't seem too distraught over the issue. Plus she's turning out to be one smart cookie, so maybe it's not dissonant for her at all.

This is such an amazing and fun age. We are having to start disciplining her, which is such a change from the first year when we just loved her and fed her and made sure she smiled as much as possible. It's hard to see her get frustrated with us, with the boundaries we're setting. It would be so very easy (and is so very tempting) to just give give give and never draw a single line anywhere. But we know that would only hurt her in the long run and that the boundaries, though hard to understand at times, are really good for her. Eeesh, this parenting thing is no joke, eh?

To make up for the new difficulties we face with her, mother nature decided this would be a pretty perfect time to step up the fun factor as well. We run and jump and chase each other and laugh and roll around on the floor. She understands us now (though she doesn't always like what we're saying) and can bring us what we ask her for. She remembers things, like where we leave her toys and where the gift bag that had Elmo's picture on it used to be stacked. She can picking out "match" shoes and tell me what she does and doesn't want to wear. She says bye-bye to her bath toys when bath time is over and patiently lets us brush her teeth (as long as we count while we do it). But with all the fun things we do together and witness her learning, I think her language skills are still the most impressive to me!

She's starting to learn possessives, and will tell us "Mommy shoes" and "Daddy shoes" and "Ali shoes." She's stringing together words into simple sentences, things like "more milk please" (which comes out as "mo mik peeeeese"). She can say multisyllabic words pretty well now, her best being "octopus," which she, amazingly enough, says correctly. She says "besh you" after someone sneezes--all on her own. If she sees a mess, she says "dirty" over and over again until you acknowledge that, yes baby girl, that is, in fact, dirty, and then as you clean it up she says, "kean--tank you!" The other morning, after sleeping in 'til a delicious 9:15 a.m., I peeked out of our bedroom, excited to spend some time with my girl. She flashed me a huge smile, jumped up, said "Mommy!" and then took one look at my bed-hair and told me "brush? Mommy brush! Brush!" (Thanks for that one, sweetie.) AND, she can identify the letters A, B, O, and K, and make their sounds!

In short, she's a talking machine. And I love every single second of it.

In Dos's world, everything is going great! I am just about to the critical 24-week mark, and we'll get a full anatomy scan at our appointment next week--45 minutes of getting to see our little guy on screen and taking pictures of every part of him to make sure that he's developing perfectly. I can't wait! This time around we bought a doppler from a friend and can now listen to his heart beat any time we want, which has become one of my favorite ways to unwind at the end of the day. He's sitting a LOT lower than Ali ever did, so most of his movement involves kicks and punches to my bladder. Super fun stuff. The progress on Ali's big girl room is coming right along--we have the furniture, bedding, and pain color picked out . . . now all we have to do it put it all together!

What else is there? Work is keeping us both busy, and our sweet little ~~baby~~ toddler is keeping us even busier at home. Throw in some time to hang out with friends here and there, maybe the occasional date night, two healthy kitties, and an exciting spring just around the corner, and what can I say?

Life is good.

Ten on Tuesday: Photo Edition

2011-01-18T20:25:00.000-06:00

Cutest bath picture EVAH

WOAH!!! Look what I made!

Ali's first legit ponytail

Rockin' out at the children's museum

Loving an evening at the park

Weekend visit with the grands and greats

Silly bath girl

Exploring the museum

Ali's first trip to market

Family!

(Nearly) Wordless Wednesday

2011-01-12T19:23:00.000-06:00

After a long day at school, sometimes you just wanna come home . . .

sit in your chair . . .

and enjoy a nice, relaxing foot massage.

Video Monday

2011-01-10T20:31:00.000-06:00

'Cause I love you.

'Cause it's Monday, and nothing makes a Monday better than videos of baby girl.

'Cause she's just too freaking awesome not to share.

Enjoy.

Ali Falls in Love

2011-01-03T09:27:00.002-06:00

Ali has never really had a "lovie"--a blanket or stuffed animal that she's particularly attached to and wants to take with her everywhere.

Until yesterday. That's right. At 1 year, 3 months, 2 weeks, and 4 days old, she finally fell in love.

Meet Monkey.

Alex got her Monkey when we were at a store yesterday. She saw him and immediately started doing her signature monkey noise (ooh-ooh-ooh while scratching the top of her head). Heart melting. So he came home with us.

And has been in her ~~death grip~~ loving embrace ever since.

She will give Monkey spontaneous, unprompted hugs with a look of sheer delight on her face.

And spontaneous kisses. And then cackle with glee after each one. How sweet is THAT?

She even shared her breakfast with Monkey, before taking a single bite herself.

And learned how to drink one-handed so that she wouldn't have to put Monkey aside.

And check out this determined girl. Carrying her two boots and Monkey. And when it all came crashing down . . .

...it was a boot that got left behind. She picked up Monkey in one hand, a boot in her second hand, gave the other boot a parting glance, and toddled off.

Just in time for Valentine's Day. Ali's first lovie.

Starting the New Year Off Right

2011-01-01T16:03:00.000-06:00

Thought I'd set the right tone for blogging this year and give you some pics the VERY FIRST DAY OF THE YEAR! You're welcome.

Ali and I took advantage of the sunshine and moderate temps and visited our local park this afternoon. One of my new year's resolutions is to become a lot more proficient with my camera...I'm pretty pleased with some of the shots I took today!

Enjoy, and Happy 2011!

Goodbye 2010

2010-12-31T16:03:00.000-06:00

I've been a terrible blogger, but I'm not apologizing for it. Life the last four weeks has been a wonderful whirlwind of traveling, working, celebrating, and resting. Life has kept me too busy living it to have time to blog about it. But here we are, the last day of 2010, and I feel like I owed something. So I'll try and give a quick recap, a brief update while Ali naps, before we are up and off again to celebrate the new year with our friends.

To say that 2010 was a great year would be so woefully understated. I've done a lot during my adult life: years filled with international travel and weddings and degrees and triathlons and home purchases. Big stuff. Exciting stuff. And I started off this year with a post about how we finally, for once, didn't have anything big going on. A year of just being a mom. Of just being a family. And somehow that "just" turned into more laughter and joy than anything "big" thing that's ever preceded it. To watch our daughter grow and learn and discover, to witness her moving from rolling to sitting to crawling to standing to walking and talking and laughing and playing games, has been the most fulfilling, incredible experience I've ever had. What an adventure it is to be a parent.

Our lives have moved from "big" events like international trips and ironmans to "big" events like my first weekend away from my daughter, visiting Santa, and feeling our son kick and move inside me. What a paradigm shift.

So yes, I've been remiss. But life keeps us busy.

And next year? Oh, next year. What an adventure that will be.

Of course I'd never dream of leaving you without a picture. Some of my blog friends have done fabulous posts showcasing their favorite picture from each of the twelve months. I had grand plans to follow suit, but honestly, who am I kidding? Not only would that take way more time than I have to sort through the thousands of pictures I took this year trying to eke out my favorites, but it would be an exercise in futility. I could never pick just twelve. So I'll leave you with one, of Alina on Christmas, enjoying the cold winter air and laughing at the falling leaves and generally just being a toddler, being the thing that has so fulfilled and delighted me this year.

My cup overfloweth. Thanks, 2010.

Wordless Wednesday: It's a . . .

2010-12-08T20:28:00.000-06:00

(You'll forgive the lack of a proper apostrophe for "it's." Children's blocks apparently lack advanced punctuation marks, though I say you can't start them early enough. The set also lacked an exclamation point, though to do the sentiment justice, we would have needed about ten!)

Newest Little Family Member

2010-12-01T11:46:00.001-06:00

On November 12, our family welcomed its newest little member: baby Chandler! My brother Brian and his wife, Ragan, welcomed their first daughter into the world, and she is a BEAUT! Katie and I get to go visit baby Chandler in North Carolina next weekend (which will also be Alex's first time alone with Ali!), and I can't wait!

Here are some pics of the cutie patootie. *sigh* I just love sleepy little newborns.

Check out the feet on this gal! She's going to be a tall one for sure.

How on Earth does any new mother look this fantastic and put together???

She caught right on to the Thanksgiving family tradition. Eat, then nap.

Brian with his baby girl. Love.

Welcome to our family, sweet Chandler!!!

Play Time

2010-11-28T11:04:00.000-06:00

Thanksgiving was wonderful, marred only by the fact that Alex was once again in Germany for a trade show (don't those Germans care about our family holidays???). Ali and I flew to Dallas Wednesday night, choosing the busiest travel day of the year for our first solo flight. Brilliant. We arrived to the airport expecting chaos and mayhem, only to find not a single line in sight. Seriously, the place was practically deserted. Our flight wasn't even full. Sweet! Ali did great on the short flight--whew!

Because I was traveling solo--and therefore light--I didn't bring my camera with me, so no pics of the holiday yet. I have to wait for my family to email me some favs from their cameras! (hint, hint)

We flew home on Friday to meet Alex at the Austin airport. Ali saw him, said, "Dada?" and then yelled "DAAAAAAA!!!!" while running to him as fast as her little feet would carry her. Even if I weren't pregnant I probably would have teared up at that. Add my pregnancy hormones to the mix, and well, the way I was crying and the way Alex dropped to his knees and wrapped her in a huge hug, onlookers probably thought he was coming home from a 9-month deployment.

Saturday, our little reunited family took some time to play. Ali got to play at our neighborhood playground, and I got to play on my camera. I've been remiss in taking pictures lately . . . toddlers are a lot harder to photograph than sweet little babies who just sit there and smile.

Here are a few shots from our play time. Enjoy and Happy Thanksgiving!

Busy girl exploring the rocks.

Loving the rake!

My sweet angel.

She loves climbing up and down stairs.

Check out the lashes. :::swoon:::

This one just makes me smile. The cheeks. The inquisitive expression. The checking to make sure her belly button is still there.

Wheeeeeee!

Hard at work.

So glad these two were reunited.

Hiya, gorgeous.

She was totally fascinated by the basketball players. That's my girl!

Goodness I love this one. Slightly out of focus, but what a jolly little swagger she has going on!

Now that she's walking, she's always on the move! Kinda makes it hard to get those nicely posed shots.

Walking, drinking, and looking adorable enough to charm the socks off of anyone around. Multitasking at its finest.

My Very Own Elves

2010-11-17T14:33:00.000-06:00

Have you ever thought about how sweet Santa has it? I mean, all he has to do to get ready for the biggest night of his year is sit at his desk and check a list a couple of times. Probably roasting his toes by a fire while the Mrs. brings him hot chocolate (perhaps with a dash of Bailey's?). Meanwhile, in the workshop, it's the elves who slave away, day after day, frantically getting all of the toys ready for the children. And Santa gets all the credit. He's the famous one, the figurehead for the holiday.

I'm not gonna lie. I kind of admire his arrangement.

I needed to take some notes. Many of my friends have time at home with their kids, time to plan their holidays down to the smallest detail, time to make gifts, time to . . . well, to approach the holidays without the breathless panting our family will slide into them with. As a working mom, I lack that time. I needed to find some elves, some helpers to do the work while I get all the credit.

Cue angels singing and lights from heaven. Cue Shutterfly.

Over the years, I've used Shutterfly for a TON of photo sharing. We've listed albums from our travels around the world (see the list on the right side of this blog!). I've made photo books. We've given wall calendars as gifts that were a HUGE hit. Their quality has always been high and their convenience even better.

(Added bonus: did you know that their cards are sustainably forested? That's a check in my living-green column!)

This year, I am relying on their super awesome holiday cards to make me cool like Santa--all of the points with with none of the work. Not only do they have some gorgeous cards, (um, hello beautiful), but they have classy cards, whimsical cards, even cards that will showcase the world's CUTEST toddler (I'm talking about Ali, not that girl in the card. Though she is certainly lovely.) And let's be honest. That's whom everyone really wants to see, anyway.

But that's not all. Are you ready for the coup de grace? They will even address, stamp, and SEND the cards for you.

I'll pause for you to recover from your disbelief.

Can you hear the angels singing?

This momma can.

I'm not going to spoil the surprise of which card I've picked out. You'll just have to wait and see. But here's a hint . . . it will contain some big, exciting news!!

Now, onto warming my feet by the fire and sipping a nice, non-alcoholic, non-caffeinated beverage. Ahhhh.

*Disclaimer: If this sounded like a promotion, that's 'cause it is! Even Santa is cost-conscious these days. Bloggers get 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly… sign up: http://bit.ly/sfly2010

Wordless Wednesday: Dos

2010-11-16T12:24:00.000-06:00

Dallas Arboretum

2010-11-13T11:17:00.000-06:00

We took a trip to Dallas last weekend to celebrate G-Mommy and Bubbie's birthdays. What a wonderful time we had visiting with family! We spent all day Saturday with Bubbie having a wonderful birthday celebration, and all day Sunday with G-Mommy and Granddaddy. Unfortunately, this was the only day our camera was charged, so this is the only day (actually, the only couple of hours) that we got pictures. :-((

We took advantage of the gorgeous fall weather to visit the Dallas Arboretum and catch the last few days of the fall decor.

Ali was slightly more impressed with the pumpkins this time.

She and her Aunt Katie had a wonderful time hanging out together!

A rare whole-family shot. We lucked out and had cousin Lisa visiting us from Connecticut! What a treat!

Ali and her G-Mommy and Granddaddy. She's so in love with them . . . and it's clear the feeling is mutual!

In other news, I am officially in the 2nd trimester. Yay! We had a wonderful doctor's appointment and got to see Dos, all stretched out and lounging around. In 3.5 short weeks, we'll be finding out if he's a he or if she's a she. So exciting!!! Any bets???

Happy Fall!

Halloween

2010-11-04T15:44:00.001-05:00

We had a wonderful Halloween! Baby girl had FOUR dress-up parties to go to over the course of a week . . . I can only imagine what her social calendar will be like as a teen.

Our plans for a basketball player ("Ali-Oop") went out the window when a friend convinced me that she was simply too pretty to dress as a basketball player. I, of course, could not disagree with that! So our cute Russian princess went as a picture-perfect China doll!

Another benefit of this costume was that it was essentially pajamas, so she was comfortable enough in it to wear it all day long!

That, and it made a family theme really easy.

By the third party, however, both Ali and I were looking for something new. That's when "Halloween Punk" came to be. I think I might like this outfit even more than the China doll!

Halloween itself rolled around, and we finally got a chance to carve our first family pumpkin. I was all excited about getting pictures of Ali playing in pumpkin guts, but she wanted NOTHING to do with the guts. Or the pumpkin itself for that matter.

"Uh, Mom? What the heck is this thing you just put by me?"

She did work up the courage to touch the guts...

But she didn't really like it. (Can you see her worried little face here? Precious girl!!)

Once it had a face, she was a little more comfortable.

Yay! Smiles at last!

Then it was time to Trick-or-Treat! We didn't take Ali to any houses this year. She's too young for candy and Alex and I didn't feel like taking candy that could go to some other kids. But we did walk over to our friends' house to visit them and their 6-week-old.

Check out Ali walking! She's getting better and better every day!

This one is just 'cause I love it. These two adore each other so much!

Happy Halloween!

Ten on Tuesday

2010-10-19T10:13:00.001-05:00

1. Busy, busy, busy! That describes our family's last six weeks. In that time frame, we've had one emergency trip to Dallas, two first birthday parties, one positive home pregnancy test, one family vacation to Florida, one doctor's visit where we saw a beautiful little heartbeat, one big job change, one trip to California, and one week of G-Mommy and Munna visiting because Alex was in Zurich on business. Whew! We've neglected our cats, our home, our cars, our blogs, our friends, and our laundry trying to keep up with our schedule. But we survived and are looking forward to the next two weeks at home, to getting a little downtime to reconnect with our friends, catch up on our chores, assure our cats that we still love them, and maybe even have a little Halloween fun before the travel starts up again.

2. What? What's that? Oh, that little detail stuck in there about a positive home pregnancy test? You noticed that? Well, it's true! Ali is going to be a big sister!! We are thrilled to be expecting our second child in May of 2011. Life was getting just a little too calm. (No. I'm not saying that with a straight face. Don't worry.) Ali and "Dos" will be about 20 months apart, just like my brother and me. We are so excited for our kids to be able to grow up so close in age!! We had our first doctor's appointment a couple of weeks ago and saw a beautiful little heartbeat. And even though we've been through all this once before, it is just as amazing the second time around.

3. On pregnancy #2: going through the first trimester exhaustion is soooooooooooo different (should I add a few more "oooo's"? when chasing around a toddler than it was when we had nothing better to do with our time in the evenings than read for pleasure and maintain hobbies. Oh, and that "busy six weeks" we've had? Yeah . . . that struck right about the time when all I wanted to do was sleep and eat Pringles all day. Alex has really stepped up in the last two months, making sure that I have every opportunity possible to relax and sleep. I am such a lucky girl!

4. Toddling. Yes, I said "chasing around a toddler." Ali is officially a toddler! She has been taking 2-3 falling steps between Alex and me for about a month now, but seemed to have kind of plateau out there (apparently she was focusing on other skills this month . . . like language. More on that to come!). But over this last weekend, she decided she wanted to stretch those 2-3 steps into more like 6-7! Check her out:

5. Language. This is what she's been really focusing on this month and it is a-MAZ-ing! She went from speaking about 5 words on her first birthday to nearly 40 words now. FORTY! It seems like every day she picks up one or two new words. She now says book, ball, more, duck, go, out, no, blue, green, dada, mama, baby, kitty, dog, bus, please, boo, bye-bye, night-night, boat, hi, cracker, there, bottle, hot (she says hot and then blows and shakes her hand for this one . . . SO cute!), eye, mouth, car, socks, Munna, and bubble, and can make the animal noises (we're counting these as "words") for a dog, cat, snake, lion, monkey, elephant, cow, bird, and rooster. She also picked up several new signs this month, and is now signing more, all done, please, milk, hat, diaper, thank you, and book. She can also point to and identify her feet, belly/belly button, chin, teeth, mouth, nose, eyes, ears, hair, and head. I told you. AMAZING! What an incredible age, and how freaking awesome to watch her learning things at lightening speed.

6. Here's Ali saying "hot" and blowing on her food to cool it down. You're welcome, Aunt Katie.

7. I know I've been awful about keeping you all updated with pictures. Here are a few from our recent family trip to Florida. Ali did GREAT on 7 out of 8 flights we had in a three-week time frame. The 8th flight was not as great. Note: don't schedule the last flight of the day and assume she'll just fall asleep. Anyway, back to Florida pics. Enjoy!

Checking out the planes at the Houston airport.

Enjoying the sea breeze.

Feeling safe and secure in Daddy's arms.

Smooches for Mom!

Too cool for school.

Checking out the dolphin show at the aquarium.

Hey Ali, what does a monkey say?

Happy family!

8. Halloween. Our original plan was for Ali to be an "Ali-gator." Unfortunately, our sweet pumpkin is going through a stage where she HATES for anything to be on her head. No hats. No bows. Nada. And the only alligator costume I could find had a giant hood with a big ol' alligator snout on it. Yeah . . . not gonna work. So we brainstormed other Ali-___ ideas, and here's what we settled on: basketball shorts, a tank top, sneakers, and a tiny basketball to carry around. Anyone? Anyone? She's going as . . . Ali-Oop! (ba-dum-bum-CH!) Alex is going to be a coach, and I'm going as a referee. Pictures forthcoming (I promise).

9. We spent a lovely afternoon with G-Mommy and Munna at the pumpkin patch last weekend. Ali was a little too distracted by all the people, babies, and bright orange pumpkins to give us many of her signature grins, but we got some cute pictures nonetheless!

Catching a ride in.

Ali and G-Mommy

Ali with her G-Mommy and Munna!

What am I supposed to do with this thing?

10. I can't believe with all we've had going on, I'm having a hard time coming up with ten things. I blame the baby. (Baby brain is a real and terribly challenging thing.) So I'll end with some shout-outs: Congrats to Dmitry and Angela, who just got married! Your wedding was beautiful, and you make a gorgeous family. Congrats to Camy and Chad, who just moved to their new home in Brooklyn! Sorry moving sucks. Yay Brian and Ragan, whose baby girl should be here in a few short weeks! I can't wait to come and visit! And congrats to my Horns, who pulled off a big win against Nebraska and looked relatively decent while doing it. Hook 'em!

Birthday Girl

2010-10-05T20:21:00.000-05:00

Well, it happened. My baby girl turned one. ONE. As in one whole year old. As in 12 whole months since she came into this world. 52 weeks. 365 days. You get the idea. ONE!

To celebrate this once-in-a-lifetime milestone (I guess that could be said of all birthdays, no?), we had not one, but TWO parties. Maybe it was because our house isn't big enough to fit everyone at once. Maybe it was because we just wanted to spread the celebration out. I'll never tell.

Since her actual birthday fell on a Wednesday, the two weekends before and after made perfect celebratory bookends. The first weekend went to friends, and let me tell you, I have a lot of friends who have little kiddos. A lot. There were 14 children in our house at once, 11 of whom were under the age of 2. Add to that a playhouse, a castle with a crawl tunnel, a dozen balloons, and 52 polka-dot cupcakes (don't ask me how we arrived at 52), and you have one heckuva party!

Unfortunately I did not have the presence of mind to take any pictures of all the decor and deliciousness before the crowd descended upon us. Something about a first time mom running around frantically trying to get her daughter's first birthday perfect before guests arrived. Or something. I did manage to snap a few shots during the party, however.

And of course, I got some of the infamous cake smash (that in Ali's case turned out to be more of a cake pinch).

And here we are, the happy (if somewhat shell-shocked) family!

The next weekend was the family party. It was so wonderful having all of Ali's grandparents and many of Ali's great-grandparents, not to mention a few aunts, uncles, and cousins, present.

This time I remembered to get some decor shots.

My aunt came armed with balloon-animal paraphernalia--what a hit!

Ali got a ton of cool presents, but I think one of her favorites is her new baby doll, whom she feeds with a bottle. It was incredible to watch her learn how to do this so quickly!

It was a wonderful week, from party to birthday to party, getting a chance to celebrate our sweet girl's first year with all those who love her.

Birthday Girl

2010-09-15T10:36:00.001-05:00

One year ago today, she was born.

And while we thought we were prepared, thought we knew what to expect, thought we already knew all about our life changing, really we weren't. We didn't. There is no adequate preparation, no accurate foresight for the way your life changes the day your child comes into the world.

This year has brought with it more laughter, more tears, more happiness, more doubt, more joy and satisfaction, more questions, and more love than we ever thought possible.What an incredible thing it is to have a child, to watch that child grow and learn through their first year, to grow and learn right alongside them. It's amazing to think about how far she's come this year. It's amazing to think about how far we've come, too.

She is the light of our lives. Enjoy her one-year pictures.

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Three on Thursday: Cute, Cute, Cute

2010-09-09T22:06:00.000-05:00

Cute #1: Baby jeans. 'Nuff said.

Cute #2: Flying baby squealing with delight!

Cute #3: Walking baby waving bye-bye to Mommy.

Wordless Wednesday: Speed Demon

2010-09-01T06:00:00.000-05:00

Ali and the Fork

2010-08-20T22:01:00.002-05:00

Ali has become more and more interested in forks. (Well, I don't think it's the fork so much as watching us use a tool to eat with, but whatever.) So I decided to start letting her experiment with her own fork. I'm not expecting much, but it's fun to watch her learn!

At first she understood that part of it goes in your mouth, but I think she was confused as to which part.

Here, Mom. Show me again!

Like this, baby girl.

Now she's got it.

She thought about it for a minute . . .

(what? I haven't told you Ali's newest trick? It's the pondering look. She puts a finger to her mouth and everything!)

While she thought, I got in a sneak shot of her feet.

How adorable is she that she eats with her feet crossed loosely at the ankles??

She abandoned her fork for her trusty-yet-dainty fingers.

But then! She spied the *real* fork. The BIG fork. She was hooked.

Nope, not that end.

Now she's getting it . . .

Yay! The fork went from the food to her mouth! It's true there wasn't actually any food on it, but that's fork-usage 2.0. She's got the first concept down!

How amazing is it to watch a child learn something new??? Love it!!

Wordless Wednesday: 11 (months) going on 16 (years)

2010-08-18T08:32:00.002-05:00

(It's a purple plastic phone. Awesome.)

My New Favorite Thing

2010-08-15T14:19:00.002-05:00

It's not that she takes everything out of a container and carefully puts it all in a pile before putting each item meticulously back IN the container.

It's not that she loves magic tricks and laughs hysterically each time a ball "disappears" and then "reappears."

It's not that she mimics the things she hears now, saying "ooooh" when she turns on her toy and "eaaaaahhhhh" when the cats meow.

It's not that she is now cruising along our furniture, getting to where she wants to go without help.

It's not that she knows how to put the magnetic letters back on the fridge and her bath toys back in their container.

My new favorite thing is a questioning expression she does, hands up, palms toward the sky, a baby-girl-voiced "eh?" whenever she sees something that she questions.

Where did the ball go?

Where did Dad go?

What just happened?

What did I do?

How did I get so cute?

Okay, not that last one. That's a question I find myself asking about her over and over again. Silly Mommy.

August, Sweet August

2010-08-09T21:43:00.000-05:00

It's August. To some, that may be lamentable. The end of summer. The beginning of school. The dog days of summer, when it's so hot you don't want to do anything but sit in pool in the air conditioning in front of a fan while sipping ice water.

But to us, it's wonderful! August is here! A fact to be celebrated. You see, for us, it means that finally, after two busy, busy, busy months, months filled with traveling and visitors and more traveling, we finally get some much-needed family time. And I don't mean extended family. I mean our family. Our little family of three.

That's right. We're taking August off. Putting up the closed sign. No visitors. No trips. Just some time to spend together, enjoying each others company, enjoying our baby girl in the last few weeks before she turns one. September will come soon enough, bringing with it celebrations and trips once again. So now, we are loving, loving August.

Our first weekend of August was filled with friends. We had a birthday party and a baby shower to attend, and somewhere in there we found time to visit the local splash park, teach Ali new tricks, and give baby girl her very first pony tail!

Ali is at an amazing age where she is learning things at lightening speed. She is now pulling up on everything she can get her hands on and is starting to cruise. She can turn on her toys and knows how to chase the balls down and put them back in the chute. She's learned how to put the rings back ON the ring stand. She loves rolling a ball back and forth between us. She has developed quite the sense of humor . . . her current favorite joke is to pretend like she's going to feed me something and then at the very last second pull it back and pop it in her mouth. This joke cracks her up to no end . . . and that cracks ME up to no end. Oh, and did I mention she TALKS?? That's right! We have our first word . . . and second . . . and quite possibly our third, fourth, and fifth. The first word was "book" (you'd better believe this English-teacher-turned-editor mommy's heart just about burst with joy), followed closely by "no no no no!" (there was considerably less heart bursting going on with the second word). We have also heard "duck," "kitty," and "bear." Our little girl is quite the chatterbox, and we love every second of it!

What's a blog post without pics of our sweet baby girl? Enjoy.

Bath time is always fun!

Here she is putting the ring back on the pole.

She pulls up on just about everything now! (she really does have clothes on at home most of the time)

Splash park beauty

Check out the awesome pony tail! HA!

It just doesn't get any cuter than this. Ever.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-07-28T20:14:00.002-05:00

More family fun

2010-07-25T11:11:00.000-05:00

Alex's birthday visit! Bubbie has made an incredible room just for Ali in her house! It's awesome! We had a great time visiting and hanging out with all of Bubbie's friends.

Daigle Family Reunion

2010-07-25T10:30:00.000-05:00

Here's a slew of posts about our recent family gatherings! We've been busy the last few months seeing family--what a wonderful opportunity for Ali to get to meet everyone! (And there are a lot of "everyones" to meet!!)

Here are some pics from our recent Daigle family reunion. It was hosted at Aunt Elaine's house, and as you can see, there was plenty of room for everyone to spread out and have fun. Enjoy!

Grab Yourself Some Popcorn

2010-07-11T10:08:00.000-05:00

...'cause it's movie time!

To lead off, let's take a look at Ali in her indoor-friendly wagon. A big thanks to G-Mommy for the ingenuity for putting this thing together! Not only does it entertain the munchkin for 10-15 minutes at a time, it gives us a good little workout in the meantime as well.

For the feature presentation, here is a series of videos we'll call "Alex and the snake." That's right. Snake. As in, there was a huge rat snake curled up on our window ledge yesterday when we got home from the family reunion (more on that in the next post!).

While we respected the fact that it was simply snoozing on the refreshing coolness of the shaded bricks, we didn't really want it to stick around and think that it could seek the even more refreshing coolness of our indoor AC. Something had to be done, and we aren't a family that kills animals if we have any choice in the matter. So that brings us to the video saga of the snake catch-and-release. Enjoy!

'Tis true. Never a dull moment in the Chausovsky household.

Happy 4th of July!

2010-07-05T14:21:00.003-05:00

First things first (I know why you all come here, and it ain't for me blathering on about our lives...):

Happy 4th of July from Mommy's Little Sparkler!

Okay! Now that we've gotten the requisite cuteness out of the way, onto the blathering part. We had a WONDERFUL 4th of July. In fact, it was exactly the blissfully perfect kind of day I imagined a year ago, when baby girl was still just kicking from the inside to the big booms of the fireworks. I imagined a fun-filled day spent filled with little baby giggles and family fun, and that's just what we had. We met up with some new friends at the lake by our house. Ali got in her fill of people watching and continued with her water-loving ways as she kicked and splashed (and attempted to eat rocks) around the lake. We have also discovered that she LOVES jumping in the water and "swimming" back and forth between me and Alex. We're so happy that she loves the water as much as we do! After she went to bed for the night, Alex and I grilled dinner on the back porch and watched the sun set, and then headed to our front porch, from the comfort of which we were able to watch the city fireworks show. It was a great show, and the best part was that Ali slept right through all the booms! Hooray! All in all a truly perfect day. What a charmed life I lead.

The other magnificent thing that happened this weekend is that Alex finally came home from his 2-week European business trip! The poor guy drove 3,000 miles in 10 days, across 5 countries. While he was driving across Europe, I was here figuring out the ins and outs of temporary single-parenthood. Luckily I picked it up pretty quickly and was soon operating with an efficiency I never knew I had in me! Even more luckily, G-Mommy and Granddaddy came in for the weekend, and G-Mommy stayed another three days, keeping Ali home from school and generally having a big ol' time. Ali was thrilled to have so much time to hang out with her grandparents . . . I even experienced the first time she turned away from me when I tried to pick her up out of their arms. Ouch. Even though that stung a bit, it warms my heart in an amazing way to know that she already has such a connection with them.

I love this picture!

Check out this big girl!

Even Uncle Eugene stopped by to visit us for a bit, getting to experience the fun of pool time and dinner time with Ali.

These two always have fun together.

And while it was admittedly a bit nice to have some honest-to-God alone time during these last two weeks, it was even nicer to finally have Alex home!! He and Ali have been giddy with each other the last three days--those two are quite the pair.

So that's it in our little corner of the world. Our baby is awesome, loves the water, and sleeps through fireworks (even though Alex was about the call the cops on the celebrators if she had made so much as a peep). My husband is home from his trek across Europe. Our little family is happy. And that's all that matters.

I hope this Independence Day found you all with such simple smiles on your lips.

Happy 4th.

Bliss

2010-06-24T09:01:00.003-05:00

We miss you, Daddy.

Always Playing Ketchup

2010-06-20T21:02:00.000-05:00

When I was little, I used to think that when people said something like, "I need to catch up on my work," it involved dumping a bunch of the delicious red dipping sauce onto their papers, the ultimate Take That! to the responsibilities of the adult world. It wasn't until later I realized catch up =/= ketchup, but the humor of the mistake has stayed with me to this day, so that even now, when I think about all the things I need to catch up on (like blogging for our poor, neglected readers), for a split second I think about playing ketchup, and the kid inside me smiles.

I believe the last post was a bit of a teaser about our wonderful Memorial Day weekend. Sorry about leaving y'all hanging like that. But life doesn't slow down to wait for you to ketchup. Jobs get busier, travel comes around again, family gets visited, and somewhere in the middle of all that are the multitude of chores that crowd our days . . . and somewhere in the middle of all THAT we have to find the time to raise a baby, spend time together as a family, and reconnect in our marriage.

But now, right this moment, the laundry is done, the dishes are clean, the baby (and the husband) are napping . . . time to ketchup.

1. The lake. It was awesome. If I wasn't already excited enough about going out on a boat with our friends, when we got there I heard "tubing" mentioned and I about flipped my lid. Tubing, for those of you not raised near a lake, is where you plop yourself into a tube connected to a boat by a long rope, and then the boat pulls you around the lake at high speeds until you either give up and let go or are flung off. Awe.SOME. We don't have any pictures of that because we were all too busy laughing our brains out. But we do have a picture of this. Fresh air + the steady white noise of a boat engine = nap time for Ali.

2. Now that we have settled into the full heat of a Texas summer, we are spending every opportunity we get to stay cool in water. Thank goodness our little bear seems to really enjoy swimming! Not only have we gone to our neighborhood pool, but there's a sprinkler park close by, as well.

We even got a small pool for our own back yard!

You know when it's time to get out of the water? When you start seeing piggies turn into prunes.

3. Since we're spending so much time outside, we're working on Ali wearing her sunglasses (rather than ripping them right off her face and sticking them in her mouth like she is wont to do). It's a work in progress.

4. Now that she's mobile, baby girl is really starting to enjoy crawling into, under, over, around, and through things. We have had a great time building forts with our couch cushions and chasing each other through them.

5. That's right. I said crawling. As in, full-blown, hands and knees crawling. As in . . .

As in . . . (Yeah, it's long. But adorable. Deal.)

6. Oh how I wish there were sound with this picture. Ali only sometimes tolerates the tosses right now . . . but Dad has the best luck with them, and when we catch her at just the right time, the laughter that bursts forth is the most incredible, wonderful sound EVER.

7. Last weekend we traveled to Dallas to celebrate G-Mommy and Granddaddy's 30th wedding anniversary!! Congratulations to them--what an incredible, wonderful milestone! It's a good thing Ali is such an easy-going baby . . . we were in Dallas literally less than 48 hours, and had nearly every waking minute packed with visiting people. Not only did we get to spend some time in G-Mommy and Granddaddy's pool (we need those pictures, Zeydie!), but on Sunday morning we had a delightful breakfast with three of Ali's greats. Here she is teaching Great-Grandma Thorn how to clap.

Here's the whole gang . . .

Just one of the girls!

Here she is teaching them all how to clap. She's such a slave driver.

8. Ali currently has four teeth on bottom and is breaking her top two middle teeth. I know you all secretly wanted to know that.

9. On Tuesday Ali turned NINE MONTHS OLD. She has officially been an outside baby for longer than she was an inside baby. We celebrated by taking her in for her 9-month checkup, where she given a "perfect! wonderful!" bill of health. She is 28" long and 17 lbs, 11oz.--long and skinny. I keep telling her to enjoy! Here are a couple of shots of our 9-month-old (notice in the first one how her left leg is lifted? Yeah. She doesn't like how the grass feels on that leg, so she keeps it in the air. It's hilarious!)

10. And last but CERTAINLY not least, today we celebrated Alex's first Father's Day (well, first one with an outside baby)! Here are the proud papa and his baby girl. We love you, Daddy. Thanks for being such a great Dad.

Whew! So there you have it. All caught up. Just in time for the beginning of another busy, busy week. I hope this finds you all well and not having to play ketchup too much.

Weekend Sneak Peek

2010-05-31T11:07:00.000-05:00

WHAT a Memorial Day weekend we are having!! My goal is to give a complete update for Ten on Tuesday, but until then, here's a little peek at what we've been up to this weekend.

A little bit of this . . .

An afternoon of this . . .

And a whole lotta this . . .

Happy Memorial Day!

Ten on Tuesday

2010-05-25T20:46:00.000-05:00

Oi, a lot to catch up on!! Buckle your seat belts, folks, you've got a picture-filled post!

1. Several weeks ago we had a family reunion with my mom's side of the family. There were roughly 20-25 people around my parents' house at any given time (yeah . . . I come from a big family). Ali handled it all like a champ and loved getting passed around to all the adoring family members. She especially loved watching her cousins Zoe, Dylan, and Chase play!

Here are Ali and cousin Zoe playing a rocking game.

Here are Ali with her two favorite boy cousins, Chase and Dylan.These guys were a constant source of entertainment and energy!

And here's a fav from the very last day. Four generations. I'm so glad I had a daughter. She was born into an amazing line.

2. Before we headed back out of town, we visited with Ali's great-grandparents. Always so good to see greats any chance we get!

3. Have I told you yet that Ali has my hair texture? It's true. I know it looks all smooth and tame in her pictures, but that's 'cause we brush it. This is what it looks like in all its natural glory, straight outta the bath. Pretty awesome, huh?

4. There's just something about them together that makes me melt.

5. We also had a reunion with my dad's side of the family. My (*cough*yankee*cough*) cousins were in town from New York City (get-a-rope) and we took the opportunity to gather and do what we do best . . . eat a lot and drink some good Texas beer.

Here's the motley crew . . .

And here's Ali being initiated in the ways of Texas.

6. And THEN we had Alex's parents in town for a visit! (yep! We got a lotta family!) Ali love-love-loves her Bubbie and Zeydie!

7. Want to know what happens when Aunt Katie wants to squeeze in a Skype session during naked time? That's right. That's a plastic bag.

8. Then last weekend, we headed to San Antonio to visit Grandpa and attend cousin Addison's first birthday. Our first stop was a gorgeous park in downtown San Antonio, where we hung out and enjoyed some burgers and hot dogs off the grill. It was the first time Ali had seen ducks up close and personal. She was so intrigued . . . they're small like our cats but what are those wings???? Ali also got her very first taste of watermelon . . . she's a fan!

Here Ali and Grandpa Studly are checking out some duck action.

9. After the park we headed to the San Antonio Zoo. Ali was a total champ even though we were waaay late on her nap. She checked out everything from the comfort of her stroller until the heat, watermelon, and day's excitement finally overcame her. She napped contentedly for the rest of our zoo trip. Oh well . . . we enjoyed seeing the animals, at least.

Here is Grandpa Studly helping Ali see the bears from the comfort of her stroller. Now that's seeing the zoo in style!

Here are Ali and I in the butterfly exhibit. She LOVED watching all the butterflies flitting around!

And here are Ali and Dad in front of the flamingos. As you can see, Ali thought the pink birds were pretty cool.

10. We took advantage of our first free afternoon in WEEKS to head to our neighborhood pool for Ali's first pool experience. She loves bath time, so I was confident she'd like the pool as well . . . if she could get past the fact that it was cold water and not delightfully warm water. She was a little apprehensive at first, but we eased her into it and showed her how to splish-splash just like in the tub. Once she caught on, she was a pool pro!

Here's Ali trying to explore a water spout. Luckily it wasn't turned on at the time.

And here is our pool princess . . . can you tell she's just having a wee bit of fun?

Today is brought to you by the letter "C"

2010-05-20T10:20:00.000-05:00

C as in Clapping.

She claps! She's been kinda-clapping for a while now, which for her meant waving her entire arms up and down (and usually whapping herself in the stomach) while yelling, "AAAAAA," which I'm pretty sure was her version of "Yaaayyyyy!" which is what Alex and I say everytime we clap. But this morning, out of nowhere, she brought her hands right together like she was a pro at clapping and had been doing it right all along! I got so excited and clapped right back at her, which prompted her to clap some more ("Sweet! Look what I can make Mom do!"). We just kept right on going, clapping back and forth, me saying "Yayyyyy!" and her saying "AAAAAA!" and both of us clapping our hands.

And C as in Crawling.

It's true. She's MOBILE! She's been rocking back and forth on her hands and knees for a couple of weeks now, and she could spin herself in circles and move backwards, but as of last night she can officially get to where she wants to go. It's kind of a army-crawl-wiggle-worm-scooch move, but it's effective! I'm so proud of her!! Time to get serious about that baby-proofing business!

Video Monday

2010-05-17T08:40:00.000-05:00

Wow, how spoiled are y'all?? Two video Mondays in a row?

We had Ali's Bubbie and Zeydie in town this weekend for a lovely visit, the highlight of which was Ali's absolute, unmitigated DELIGHT at watching a ball roll! We have gotten her to laugh before at tickling her or tossing her in the air, but this was the first time she had cracked up so much for so long. It was a laughing fit . . . and this is just the tail end of it! What an awesome, awesome sound.

Happy Monday!

Video Monday

2010-05-10T09:56:00.001-05:00

A couple of new videos to put a smile on your face this Monday morning!

This first one shows you how Ali has learned to smack her lips! She does it when she's hungry or when she's eating something she really likes. (This one also shows you how enthralled with the camera Ali is . . . I love in the first couple seconds how you can see that she was all smiles and having fun . . . and then BAM! A camera! And stares. Funny girl.)

And this one shows you Ali's newest trick--for lack of a better name, we call it "Bub-bub-bub." She will also do it to herself if we aren't around to do it for her, strumming her bottom lip like a guitar string. It's a pretty funny thing to hear over the monitor in the morning!!

Enjoy and Happy Monday!

Ten on Tuesday

2010-04-27T16:57:00.008-05:00

Ten on Tuesday is a great way to play catch-up!

1. Ali turned 7 months old (a couple of weeks ago)! We are having a BLAST being the parents of a 7-month-old--what a cool age! Here are some of her 7-month shots:
2. Ali is a happy baby. I mean, a really happy baby. Life seems to delight her. She rarely cries (unless we're changing her diaper . . . then OH-MY-GOD-THE-WORLD-IS-ENDING), and even then she is quickly quieted as soon as we swoop her up and dance around. I love this picture. It's just so . . . Ali.

Have you ever seen what pure joy looks like?

3. Ali has teeth! Two chompers in the front bottom. Just when I thought the kid couldn't get any cuter . . . teeth.

Can you see 'em in this one?

How about this one?

What about now?

4. She's one smart cookie. We took her outside last week to blow bubbles. At first she tried to catch them . . .

. . . but when they just kept bursting upon contact, she soon quit trying to catch them and started giving them the side-eye instead.

5. We ran our very first 10k a couple of weeks ago (and when I say "ran," I mean ran-walked-and-generally-goofed-off): the Capital 10,000 is Austin's biggest 10k race. It winds through downtown Austin, has a costume contest component, and--as you can imagine in the live music capital of the world--has local bands jamming out every step along the way. We had a great time--Ali took her morning nap from about mile 2 to mile 5, which was perfect timing! Here we are after the race--Uncle Eugene, Liz, me, Ali (doing the water sprinkler, apparently), Aunt Katie, and Alex.6. Yep, Aunt Katie was in town for the race! We love love love Aunt Katie visits--she and Ali are two peas in a pod!
7. This last Sunday, we instituted Fun Dress Sunday. Baby girl simply has way too many cute outfits and not enough special occasions to get all dressed up for! So we put on one of her cute dresses and snapped away.
8. Have I mentioned how she can hold herself up on all fours now? Not for long . . . and only if she's reeeaaaaalllly motivated--like with the Lion King's Stand By Me music video. It's her fav.
9. She is also slowly but surely becoming mobile. She can push herself up on all fours, but her arms typically out-power her legs and she ends up pushing herself backwards. As she sees the toy she's trying to get actually getting farther and farther away from her . . . well, let's just say that Ali is learning about how to cope with frustration.

10. Not only is Ali making advances in mobility but in communications as well. She says all kinds of sounds now, and she's starting to mimic back sounds, like bye-bye (which she is also learning to connect to a wave!). We are also working on signing with her, starting with the signs for "more" and "all done." I think that she's starting to understand when I do them; when she sees "more" she smiles and opens her mouth, and when she sees "all done" she smiles and reaches for me!

Like I said--7 months is such an amazing age!! What fun we're having!

Pull-Up

2010-04-23T12:49:00.002-05:00

No, not the big-girl diapers that are used when getting ready to potty train.

(And you get an official :::snort::: if you even for one second thought I might be talking about the exercise move.)

What I'm talking about is much easier and more fun than either potty training or impossible exercises. I'm talking about Ali pulling up to stand!

She never really has been much of a roller. And it appears that she's not going to be much of a crawler, either. She's way more interested in sitting up and, lately, standing up. And a couple of days ago she came one step closer to learning how to go from the former to the latter all on her own.

For right now she can only pull-up on our hands, but soon she'll figure out she can use any stationary object. Looks like baby-proofing is right around the corner!

Happy Friday!

I Love Iceland!

2010-04-17T10:21:00.006-05:00

Yes, I know there are both immediate and long term drawbacks of a volcano spitting thousands upon millions of tons of volcanic ash into the air . . . but for me it means that Alex's trip to Germany got canceled, and that makes me one happy lady!

These pics have nothing to do with Iceland . . . but I've been meaning to get them up for a couple of weeks now! One of our favorite things to do is have a picnic at the lake by our house. Ali loves being outside, and we love pretty much anything and everything Ali loves, so it's a win-win.

There's just something about babies in hats that gets me every time.
Hiya, gorgeous!
These two make me swoon!
Check out Ali dominating the sippy!
We thought we'd be ~~mean~~ funny and let Ali get a taste of pickle . . . far from the bitter-pickle-face we were anticipating, the kid went crazy for it. Looks like she takes after her momma afterall!
Mmmm, pear. One of Ali's favorite desserts!
After lunch we hit the beach!
"Hey, Mom. Gimme those glasses!"
Here she's trying the casual fakeout--look to the left, but still grab the glasses. Sneaky girl.

Wordless Wednesday: Bluebonnets

2010-04-07T10:32:00.005-05:00

Hoppy Easter!

2010-04-04T08:09:00.006-05:00

I know, I know. Cheesiest cliche title of the year. But I can't help it when I have the world's cutest little Easter bunny living at my house!

We celebrated the holiday with Ali's very first Easter egg hunt! Even though she's not an official hunter this year, she definitely got into the spirit.

Once she figured out that plastic eggs are miracle toys that are easy to pick up one-handed AND fun to eat, she was in hog . . . er . . . bunny heaven.

She ate with friends . . .
She ate purple eggs . . .
She ate green eggs . . .
She tried to eat two eggs at once!
She did take a break from eating to chat on the egg-phone with her bud Skylar.
We attempted a group shot, too. Here are most of the kiddos who were at the hunt!

Today we are enjoying a quiet Easter at the house with a small egg hunt (read: Ali eating plastic eggs that we give her) and some quality family time. We hope this Easter finds you all very, very hoppy! (Sorry, I couldn't resist.)

Childhood

2010-04-02T09:37:00.004-05:00

I love this picture. Yes, it's a little out of focus. And the composition isn't quite what I was going for. But there's just something about it. Something that captures the essence of childhood. The smile. The swing. The sunlight. The bare feet.

It's a new fav. Happy Friday. Happy childhood.

Big Girl

2010-03-28T20:19:00.002-05:00

We were at a friend's son's first birthday this weekend, and I look over to see my baby girl doing this:
Cue heart attack.

A Trip to the Park

2010-03-26T19:54:00.005-05:00

One of Ali's very favorite things is being outside (she must take after her momma in that!). Now that the weather is getting warmer again and the sun is shining, we are taking every opportunity possible to spend time outdoors.

While Alex's parents were visiting, we took a nice afternoon stroll down to our neighborhood park. What fun!!

Ready for some fun in the sun!

We needed Ali to come along and balance out this crew. Two guys, two girls!

Ali loooves riding on Dad's shoulders!

Seriously cute kid.

Lovin' time with her Bubbie and Zeydie

Privyet from Ali and Zeydie!

She really isn't too thrilled with slides . . . yet.

He looks totally natural holding a baby, right? Right?

Just one of the gang
The whole crowd!

Walkin' home with Uncle Genes . . . what a day!

Planting Trees (#30)

2010-03-22T20:01:00.004-05:00

See that? Right after the two words in the title? Could it be??? An actual reference to my 101 list! No, I haven't forgotten about my 101 goals. We got a little . . . sidetracked. I guess that happens when you become parents. But have no fear! I remember that my 1001 days are rapidly drawing to a close, and I am still looking for ways to accomplish my goals.

Today's success: planting trees!

Our city had a grand opening party a couple of weeks ago to celebrate the official opening of the new park area by the lake. At the party, the Parks and Rec department was giving away tree saplings. Score! Unfortunately, by the time we got there, all the trees had been given out (don't think I didn't give the side eye to a family who walked by with five of them). Boo. But I talked to the woman who was in charge of the giveaway, and she said that she would be happy to drop a tree at the local rec center the next day for me to pick up at my leisure. Score! Unfortunately, when I went by the rec center, no tree had been left. Boo. I left my name and number and hoped to not get lost in the shuffle. The woman called me that very evening, apologizing profusely, and offered to drive the trees over herself--that's right, treeS. Plural. I got a freebie free tree because she felt bad she had forgotten about me. Total SCORE!

The trees--a live oak and a bald cypress--then sat on our counter for a week as we went through day after day without being able to find the time (or accommodating weather) in which to make our little green jaunt down to the lake. The cypress actually started sprouting. On our counter. Yikes.

Today the weather was beautiful, so Ali and I carpe diem'ed and headed out!

We picked a great spot by the marshy bird sanctuary corner of the lake, right at the head of the pathway to the lake so that our trees will always be easy to find. The live oak went to the left of the trail, the bald cypress to the right.

Problem: a shovel that won't unfold. Note to self: throw away useless rusty shovels so that you aren't falsely reliant on them in the future.Problem solved: luckily I had also brought along our only other gardening tool, which google tells me is called a "three-pronged cultivator."Clearly Ali was very excited to be helping me cross another goal off my list. Success #1: live oak planted!Success #2: bald cypress planted!You can see both trees in this shot. No? Well, both trees are visible in this shot, at least. The live oak is a little hard to see in the background. But it's there. Oh, it's there alright.Here's Ali lovingly looking over our green deed for the day. What's that you say? Looks like she's totally ignoring me and playing with her toy instead? Eh . . . moving on . . . Hooray!! Success!!

GORGEOUS

2010-03-21T21:51:00.004-05:00

Here's a sneak peek of Ali's 6-month pictures.

One word: GORGEOUS.

http://www.libbyannphotography.com/blog/?p=558

Austin Kite Festival

2010-03-17T20:24:00.006-05:00

The Austin Kite Festival was supposed to be two weeks ago, during the weekend we had aunts and uncles and grandparents and cousins in town. But much to everyone's disappointment, it got postponed for a week due to cold, rainy weather.

It turns out postponing it for a week was the best thing the organizers could have done, because the weather this last Sunday was GORGEOUS. Sunny. Warm. Breezy. They could not have gotten more perfect kite-flying weather if they had designed the day specifically for the festival! Another wonderful side effect of the postponement was that Ali's Bubbie and Zeydie were in town visiting! It gave us a wonderful activity to fill our Sunday with. We packed a picnic lunch, loaded up the camp chairs, and made a day of it.

Ali did awesome (of course!). She loves being outside, and with so much going on--dogs and strollers and adults and babies, and just a *few* kites--she had a never-ending supply of entertainment. She even managed to take a brief cat nap in my arms, a rare treat for me these days!

Enjoy the pics!

Ali and her Bubbie enjoying the gorgeous weather

Alex is showing Ali how to fly a kite.Of course . . . straight into the mouth.I love this shot! Ali flying her very first kite.They boys discuss the finer technical aspects of kite flying.Ali and her ZeydieDid I mention there were a few other kites in the sky?

Bad to the bone. The happy family!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2010-03-17T12:35:00.005-05:00

This wee, part-Irish lass wants to wish you a very happy St. Patty's Day!

Is this a Milestone?

2010-03-16T11:35:00.002-05:00

It's true. Add me to the ranks of adoring parents everywhere. I think I have the cutest kid ever. So I did what any proud parent would do: I entered my baby in an online cute kid contest.

This has to be some kind of parental milestone, right? You fall in love. You think your kid is the cutest kid ever created. You make decisions through the haze of the perma-fog that exists somewhere between the sleep-deprived state of newborns and the well-rested glory of a baby who sleeps through the night because you are still getting up in the middle of the night to pump. What? That's just me? Oh. Anywho, I did it. I took the plunge. Made the leap. Followed in the footsteps of doting parents everywhere. I submitted baby girl's photo to an online photo contest (okay, okay, TWO online photo contests. But one of them offered a free canvas print, so total score on that. Okay, not "FREE-free" since I had to pay $10 (cough$20cough) to submit the photo, but THESE ARE MERE DETAILS.)

She needs your vote, loyal readers! So take a sec and peruse these adorable baby pics online. And if my baby girl so moves you (and if she doesn't you have a heart made of STONE!), please give her a clicky vote.

Here's the direct url: http://modelsearch.parenting.com/contests/showentry/212188

And here's the nifty voting thingy the site provided for me to post to my blog:

Vote for me in this contest!

Contest details

Thanks, and happy voting!

Five on Friday

2010-03-12T09:23:00.003-06:00

1. She finally ROLLED!! The hard way! Back to tummy! Hooray ALI!!

2. She rolled in her sleep. Which prompted her to wake up at 10:30 p.m. and cry in confusion and sleepy frustration. I would cry too if I got stuck on my stomach when I'm used to sleeping on my back.

3. When it clicked it REALLY clicked, because she was on her tummy again by 3 a.m., again by 6:15, she rolled again when I was taking her sleep sack off of her, and again in the 10 minutes it took me to finish getting ready. It is AMAZING to see how quickly they learn something when the light bulb finally goes on.

4. I'm not too thrilled with this rolling-in-her-sleep business because when she's on her stomach, she doesn't turn her head to the side. She face plants. As in, forehead, nose, mouth, everything . . . right into the mattress. Alex got up to flip her back over to her back at 3 a.m. (once I had seen her face down in the monitor, there was no way I was going to be able to fall back asleep), which had the unfortunate side-effect of waking her up. Grrr. New skills = new challenges and new things to worry about.

5. Not related to rolling, but check out these I snapped this morning. Ali's got her fun Friday outfit on. Seriously, have you ever seen a cuter baby??

These two make my world go round. Love love love.

Yellow

2010-03-11T19:53:00.004-06:00

Birthdays and Cousins

2010-03-09T19:49:00.004-06:00

We had an epic family weekend last weekend! Uncle Jonathan, Aunt Kerri, and cousins Zoe and Sophie were making their annual tour of Texas and blessed us with their company over the weekend. Aunt Katie, G-Mommy, and Granddaddy took the opportunity to join us as well, getting almost our entire family together for the very first time! We were celebrating my, Zoe, and Kerri's birthdays (they say all the coolest girls are born in March).

We kicked the weekend off with a wonderful dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, Chuy's. Here's the birthday girl (me) celebrating with her favorite girl in the whole world!

Mmmm . . . fajitas and Dos XX . . . the dinner of champions.

It was our first time getting to meet sweet little Sophie, Ali's elder by about 3 weeks. The connection the two girls had was so fun to see. They were very interested in each other and were constantly reaching for one another and chatting back and forth with delighted squeals. It was almost too much cuteness!
We took the girls to the park for some outdoor fun. Here is G-Mommy, Aunt Katie, Cousin Sophie, and Ali enjoying the swings.

As you can probably imagine, getting decent shots of two 6-month-olds and a 4-year-old was quite the undertaking. I shot probably 10 outtakes for every decent picture I got. Here are a couple of the best groups shots we got! (I'm considering doing an outtake post following this one to show you what I mean.)

All three girls. So sweet!As you can imagine, G-Mommy and Granddaddy were in grandparent heaven having all three of their grandchildren together in one place at the same time!

It was wonderful having so much of our family together at once. We miss Jonathan, Kerri, Zoe, and Sophie so much when they are at "home" in Boston . . . we're still holding out hope that they'll come back to Texas sooner rather than later!

The weekend held another big milestone for our little girl: we officially started solids! Stay tuned for tons of messy food cuteness!

Awesomesauce

2010-03-03T08:32:00.002-06:00

Awesomesauce (adj): A word used to describe something that is more awesome than awesome. It is a modifyer of your basic awesome into a more awesome version.

As in, this video is totally awesomesauce.

Weekend Full of Awesome

2010-03-01T20:26:00.007-06:00

I love weekends. I mean, I've always loved weekends, but now I really LOVE weekends. I get to spend all day hanging out with baby girl. And now that the weather is improving, we get to get our a bit more and enjoy the great outdoors. What could be better?

Last weekend was no exception. We spent Saturday afternoon a friend of ours son's first birthday party. They had the brilliant idea of a homemade ball pit in the living room--what a hit! Even though Ali was the youngest party-goer by a solid month or two, even she got in on the ball fun.

I'm not really sure who's having more fun here . . .

Sunday Ali and I met some friends at the park while Alex helped his brother move. It was a gorgeous morning! First Ali just enjoyed sitting and taking in the sites. She would laugh anytime anyone walked by--so cute!
Then we made our way over to the swings! The seat was waay too big for Ali's little body, so we just padded the chair behind her so that she wouldn't slide around too much. She LOOOVED the swing and was kicking and laughing and waving her arms. Another big hit!
Here is Ali hanging out with our friends' son, Luke. Holding hands? Doing wax-on, wax-off? You be the judge.
While at the park, Ali would not stop staring me down as I enjoyed a snack. So I held let her lick the apple I was eating . . . she went crazy for it! When I took it away she squealed and flapped her hands trying desperately to take it back from me. I think this girl is ready for some real food!
Sunday evening we made the trek down to San Marcos to visit Great-Grandma Daigle and Pop. It was the first time all of their five great-grandchildren had congregated in the same spot. As you can imagine, there was lots of picture takin' going on!

Here are my grandparents with their five great-grandkids.

And with the mommas. :-)

Three generationsFour generations :-)
Ali hangin' with her greats.

And the whole motley crew!

After the photo shoot we headed out for a wonderful dinner on the river. Ali got to sit in a high chair for the first time! She's such a big girl!

She was once again staring us down. Since we didn't have any baby-friendly food on hand, we gave her some water out of a straw. Once she got over the fact that (1) it wasn't milk, and (2) it wasn't warm, she loved it! She was like a little baby bird, opening and closing her mouth, begging for more.
As you can see . . . weekends are the best 48 hours of the week! We have another big, exciting weekend coming up, with Ali's cousins, aunts, uncle, and grandparents visiting! Stay tuned!

Did You Hear that Sound?

2010-02-25T09:06:00.002-06:00

It was my heart. Exploding.

She kissed me.

After nursing her when we got home yesterday, I was giving Ali kisses. We have a game where I'll say "kisses!" then kiss her right cheek, and then "kisses!" and kiss her left cheek. Back and forth. Quickly. So, "kisses!-smooch-kisses!-smooch-kisses!-smooch-kisses!-smooch-kisses!-smooch..." She loves it (especially when she has a nice full tummy) and it inevitably gets her smiling from ear to ear.

Well, yesterday, after about four kisses, she leaned her head toward me with her mouth open and planted one on my cheek. I thought maybe it was just a fluke--this kid puts everything in her mouth these days, so why would my cheek be any different?--so I did our kisses game again. Sure enough, after about four kisses, she leaned forward, mouth open, and planted another kiss on my cheek. We went back and forth, giving each other kisses, for a couple of minutes.

My heart? Ka-BOOM.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-02-24T08:23:00.004-06:00

48 hours later...

2010-02-23T12:38:00.003-06:00

Just 48 hours after our lovely day spent at the park and lake . . .

I think maybe Texas weather is controlled by a magic 8 ball.

Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Da

2010-02-21T16:10:00.004-06:00

. . . my oh, my what a wonderful day! Plenty of sunshine, headin' your way. Zip-a-dee-doo-da . . . well, you know how it goes.

We enjoyed mid-70s and PLENTY of sunshine in central Texas today, and we made sure to get out and enjoy every second! After a mother-daughter trip to the county park in the morning, Alex joined us for an afternoon walk to the lake by our house in the afternoon.

Here we are enjoying the GORGEOUS weather

Ali's first feel of sand on her feet
And then . . . water!
I think she likes it! Looks like we'll be spending a lot of time at the lake this summer!

On the way back we ran into three very adorable black cocker spaniel puppies. Ali put her hand right out to pet them--brave little girl!Ah, mid-70s in February. I love it! I am ignoring the fact that there's a chance of snow on Tuesday. Crazy Texas weather!

Da-da It Is!

2010-02-21T13:41:00.002-06:00

I'm not really sure what qualifies as a "first word." I tend to think it's the first time she says a discernible word that is actually connected to the concept it represents . . . like saying "ball" when pointing at an actual ball.

If, however, a first word is simply the utterance of a discernible string of sounds that we recognize in English as a "word," then Ali's first word (not surprisingly, given how much she adores the guy), is Da-da!

5 months

2010-02-18T20:16:00.004-06:00

Five months! My favorite age so far, hands down. She is developing such a charming, entertaining little personality. She is inquisitive and quick to be delighted by everything she sees. She loves pulling her socks off. She loves exploring her daddy's face and grabbing his nose. She can hold her own bottle. And she taught herself how to sit independently in only three days! She amazes us every.single.day!

Enjoy the pics!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-02-17T08:40:00.001-06:00

Betcha can't help but smile...

2010-02-15T20:44:00.006-06:00

Family Weekend

2010-02-09T20:46:00.007-06:00

Last weekend was filled with family!!!

Thursday night, G-Mommy and Munna came into town. We let Ali play hooky from school on Friday so that she could hang at the house with the girls!

Then Friday afternoon, Granddaddy and Poppy joined the party.

Saturday morning we packed up and headed to San Antonio to celebrate Grandpa Studly's 60th birthday. Also in San Antonio were Uncle Brian and Aunt Ragan, Great Uncle Calvin and Great Aunt Elaine, and Great-Grandma Daigle!

Don't these two already look like they're up to no good?

On the way out of town on Sunday, we swung by to see our cousins and introduce our little girls (2nd cousins). Ali was very curious about this mobile, slightly bigger version of herself.

Here I am getting some Addison snuggles.
Doesn't Addison look like she's giving a thumbs up??
Ali and Cousin Mike
"Who, us??"
Can you see the family resemblance?

It was a wonderful weekend. So much family. So much love.

20 weeks!

2010-02-02T07:32:00.002-06:00

It's hard to believe that Ali is already 20 weeks old! When I was pregnant, 20 weeks marked the halfway point. It seemed like it took an eternity to get there, and it seemed like there was still an eternity to go once I reached it.

The last 20 weeks, however . . . I never knew how fast 20 weeks could go! It seems like we just brought baby girl home from the hospital yesterday . . . but when I stop and think about it, we have come SO far in the last 20 weeks and have learned SO much!

20 weeks then:

And 20 weeks now:

And I realized it's been entirely too long without a video. Here's our spazzy-magoo during some tummy time. Enjoy!

4 Months (and counting...)

2010-01-31T13:50:00.003-06:00

Ali is now four months (and 2 weeks and 2 days) old! We are loving every day with her, watching her learn new things and gain new skills. She chews on her toes. She laughs. She holds her arms out to me to pick her up (melts.my.heart!!). She is working on sitting independently, but her big ol' head keeps making it hard for her!

We went to a friend's 2-year-old's birthday party today, and Ali had her very first taste of swings (held in Mommy's arms) and slides (held in Daddy's arms). We think she liked them both! We had to bundle her up--it was in the upper 30's and the party was at a playground--and lo and behold, her cute winter hat that I got in a size 6-to-9-months no longer fit her (see aforementioned big ol' head). It is so fun to see her growing and realize what a big girl she is becoming.

Enjoy her 4-month shots!

Ten on Tuesday

2010-01-26T09:19:00.004-06:00

1. Aside from me not eating dairy for the health benefits, I sometimes forget the havoc it can wreak on baby girl. I had pizza for dinner Friday night. She had a TERRIBLE night Saturday--up almost every hour crying--and then awake two more times Sunday night. I felt so guilty. Sorry baby.

2. She slept through the night again (finally) last night, but Alex and I both dreamed of being up with her every hour. Post traumatic stress syndrome anyone?

3. I sleep with her daycare swaddle so that she can smell me and be comforted while she's away. She takes awesome naps at daycare. So I slept with her nighttime swaddle last night to see if it would help her be less restless. Tonight is the big experiment. Fingers crossed.

4. We still swaddle. She still likes it.

5. From 6-8 p.m. is my very favorite part of every day. Play time, naked time (for the baby!), bath time, and sweet sleepy nursing.

6. 8:30 p.m. is my second favorite part of the day. Bed time for me.

7. Last night our cat threw up, Ali had a massive blow-out poo-splosion that got all over her and Alex, I burned dinner trying to get them both into the shower to rinse off, and our other cat tried to cover the throw-up spot on the carpet with some of Ali's toys. All in the span of like 6 minutes. Who knew life with a baby would be so exciting??

Behold the poo-splosion (courtesy of the dairy consumption mentioned in #1).

8. I've been telling Ali all week that G-Mommy is coming to visit in a few days. She is SUPER excited!!

9. Alex is leaving on a three-day business trip tomorrow. Guess who's NOT super excited about that? (If you said all three of us, you'd be right.)

10. A couple of weeks ago Ali found her feet and her new favorite things to chew on are her yummy little toes. Cutest.Thing.Ever.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-01-20T00:09:00.001-06:00

A New Normal

2010-01-13T10:18:00.004-06:00

The new year brought a new big adjustment for our family to make: full-time daycare! Even though I've been back at work since the beginning of December, we were lucky enough for Alex, my parents, and Alex's parents to get to come stay with Ali at home for the entire month. On the one hand, the two-step process made the transition of me returning to work a bit easier knowing that she was at home with family all day. On the other hand, it kind of dragged out the return-to-work transitions: one big one with me actually returning to work, and another big one when she started daycare.

It is interesting to have this "new normal" to our lives. Since Ali was born, we were always in a state of short-term: the two weeks Alex had off work. The twelve weeks I had off work. The four weeks I was back at work but Ali was still at home. Now, for the first time ever, we are in a routine that will simply just go on and on and on. Mom and Dad work. Baby goes to daycare. It's nice to finally be in a place where we aren't holding our breath in anticipation of the next big change!

Luckily Ali is (1) an incredibly easy-going baby, and (2) an incredibly adorable, happy baby. This means that she hasn't really cared at all about the scene change from home to daycare (in fact, she loves all the new toys and the babies around that are constantly entertaining her!) and that she has become the belle of the daycare ball; the teachers LOVE her and give her lots of attention. Every time I show up (I'm going to nurse her at lunch) one of them is holding, cuddling, playing with her.

The only daycare drawback so far is that Ali has not learned how to take naps in such a loud, entertaining environment! She has always been a very "on" baby--she doesn't put herself to sleep; she'd much rather be playing. When I was at home with her, we perfected a "time to sleep" routine that would help her nap, and she would routinely take 3-4 hours worth of naps a day. But now that she's at daycare, where it's loud, there are other crying babies, where it's bright, etc., well . . . despite swaddling and a white-noise teddy bear and every other trick we could think of to help her remember "time to sleep," she's only taking about an hour's worth of naps a day. Total. This translates into one tired baby in the evenings. Even then she is still so happy to see us and play with us that she desperately tries to stay happy despite being exhausted. Often that translates into a delirious girl who slips back and forth from squealing with delight to crying to squealing with delight. Kinda funny, but I feel bad for the poor tired baby. Hopefully she will learn to nap in the new environment soon!!

In other sleep related news, it appears we have hit the dreaded "4-month wakeful" period. That's right. Our baby, who has been sleeping through the night since she was 8 weeks old, has gone back to waking up around 2 or 3 a.m. Some moms report the 4-month wakeful only last two or three weeks; others tell me it took up to two months (or more!) for their baby to start sleeping through the night again. Oi vey. Alex and I keep reminding ourselves that we have been really spoiled with her sleep habits to this point and we were due. But it still really sucks to be as sleep-deprived now as I was with a newborn, especially since I now spend all day at the office rather than sneaking in catnaps throughout the day!

And since I can't post without sharing some recent pictures, here is our little cutie-pie all decked out (thanks Uncle Brian and Aunt Ragan!) for the college football national championship. Even though the Horns lost, we were so proud of how well they played and are really looking forward to the next three years with this new quarterback!

A Year to Remember

2009-12-31T08:17:00.011-06:00

What a year. Never before in my life can I remember an entire year, every single month, every week, from January 1 to December 31, and know exactly what I was doing and thinking about. This has been the most life-changing year ever; as of 10 a.m. on January 1st, my world was changed forever!

Here we are, exactly one year ago, on our way out to a New Year's Eve party.

10 a.m. the next morning . . . Holy Moly!

January 27th, 2009, Alina had her first picture ever taken (the first of maaaany more to come!).

I had a WONDERFUL pregnancy and can actually say that I LOVED being pregnant!

September 14th--this picture was taken about 3 hours before I went into labor.

September 15th--Happy Birthday, Alina May!!!

Right from the get-go we were absolutely smitten.

In October we started getting the most wonderful thing in the world: smiles!

In November Ali became more of her own little person and had many firsts, including rolling over!

December brought us Ali's first holiday season; we saw the wonder of the season in a whole new way.

She got to meet Santa for the first time.

It also brought us Ali's first snow! It snowed a little bit here in Austin, so we were excited to get out Ali's real winter gear.

But then it snowed a LOT in Dallas on Christmas Eve! Can you believe the luck?? Ali's first Christmas was a white one! Here's Aunt Katie snuggling with Ali in the snow; later that night we snuck out for pics in the white wonderland!

Christmas morning was a blast. Ali loved all the noise of the crumpling paper and the flashes of glittery bows. This is her serious model face.
Hey, where'd my bow go!?!
And that brings us to tonight. New Year's Eve. Again. Last year we were getting snazzed up for a night out with friends. This year we are hanging out at the house in our pj's, hugging each other, and looking at our greatest gift ever as the clock slips from 2009 to 2010. It's been the most incredible year ever . . . 2010 has some big shoes to fill!!

Hope the year brought you all as much joy as it brought us!! Happy New Year!