A Family Portrait

I am lucky enough to come from a family of creative people dating back numerous generations. In addition to various other arts, several photographers have been bred down the line. We are all born with a camera in our face (evidence of the hundreds of August shots that I have forced on you?), and we work on posing before we can walk. My great-grandfather was a physician, but he was also a professional photographer. My dad turned his hobby of photography into a second career when he purchased a photography studio, and my brother is also quite talented with this hobby. While my sister and I are novices in comparison, we both enjoy viewing and taking photos. Another family member, my cousin Tracy, turned her passion for the lens into a career. She and her husband, Michael, are a professional photographer couple living out in LA. He snapped this candid pic of our little family when we were all up at the ranch earlier this summer. You should check out more of their fabulous work here.

Working on a New Shower

We love our large tub/shower, however, it was built 35 years ago, and wasn't adequately waterproofed. So now that we've lived here over 3 years, and since roots from the back yard have started to creep their way towards the drain, we figure it was time to get it fixed. But since they are going to have to deconstruct the existing tile and structure anyway, we might as well pick out something that fits our aesthetic's a little better and re-do the room. Right now it is a nice, neutral beige tile, but we're thinking of going with glossy, white subway tile for the walls, and white penny rounds for the base of the tub, and in the shampoo niche they will be building into the wall, and painting over the chocolate brown paint with a creamy grey, and leaving the sealed, concrete floors as-is. Some people would go with a white grout, but we want to give a nod to the authentic NY City subway walls, and go with a light grey grout. Besides, it won't show soap scum as bad either...

Week 28

There have been a couple of new developmental changes in our house this week. First of all, the inch-worming has turned into some serious puppy dog rocking, and lunging. August can definitely make it around a bit quicker than he could last week. We seriously need to babyproof STAT! Another change is that he is now eating out of a big boy highchair. We have been feeding him out of his bouncer, so that he could be nice and reclined. However he gets quite happy when he eats now, and can't stop kicking his leg, therefor the bouncer starts going crazy and the spoon is more likely to miss that little target. So far he seems quite proud to eat like a big person, as for his furry sisters, they're a bit disappointed with our newest baby contraption. And in less significant news, the second half of the week was mainly occupied by avoiding the heat, and trying to kick this stubborn little cold that seems to have made it's rounds throughout our family yet again.

quality iphone time

seriously reliable

Soccer Weekend

Our superstar nephew, Noah, conveniently had a soccer tournament in Austin this past weekend. It also happened to be my sister Leigh Ann's birthday, so my parents made the trek down this way to join our families in the festivities. Though it was a brief, weekend visit, we were able to fit in a delicious brunch at Trudy's, some shopping at the Round Rock Outlets, and another breakfast at Austin Java. Yes, there was some soccer watching too, but we only made it out to one game due to the extreme heat. Surprisingly enough I did not have a camera draping my neck this weekend, but naturally my dad had his and was able to capture these few shots.

fabulous #11

Princess Emeri

cooling off with Momo

Augie the Starfish

So we are the proud parents of a Starfish 1 swimmer. Okay, well he's not quite a swimmer but he does have a certificate and a patch declaring him a graduate of the city of Austin's Starfish 1 class! Though he was by far the only non-toddler, it ended up being a fun little class where he became more accustomed to the water and having his head and face wet. Once we learned to bring his sunglasses to class, he was an even happier camper. We were lucky enough to have Kevin join us for the whole second week of class. We took turns safely passing him back and forth, helping him learn to float on his tummy and his back, kick his legs, and play his favorite 'Wheels on the Bus'. Though he never showed much emotion during the two week lesson, I think he secretly enjoyed going and watching classmate Sadie in her cute pink, polka dot, bathing suit and hat.

  

Week 27

While August, the dogs, and I have always spent the majority of our time at home, it feels that we've rarely ventured out of the house these past few weeks. I feel it's fairly inhumane to try to take any of them out into this heat, when you can feel the UV rays radiating your skin. We did have a nice rain shower one day, so we played hooky from swimming and went on a jaunt down to the Springs so the dogs could swim in the constant 68º water. But the humidity levels were so high that perhaps we were more soaked than if we had gone to the pool after all! With the exception of swim lessons, we've mainly bided our time playing, working, watching sesame street and the news. Also during this time, August has decided he's tired of being immobile and has been inch-worming his way across the living room. He's still at a manageable speed, but baby proofing the house is quite imminent.

daddy's home!

starting the shoe fetish early

the ol' reliable napper

68º

Weekend Walks

Since it has been so spoilingly hot the past few weeks, we've had to cut down the frequency of our family walks. Kevin faithfully walks the dogs in the morning and the evening, but the 5 of us haven't had many outings together. We recently decided to load everyone up and head for a stroll around town lake at sunset. It reminded me of how much I love the trail, and this city, and how much I miss our peaceful early morning runs among nature. We took our time walking to Auditorium Shores where we let the dogs off the leash to roam with their peers and take a dip in the cool waters of the lake. It was such a refreshing time that Kevin and I decided to run the 1 1/2 miles back home. Though tiring, it was a fabulous taste of another routine we hope to get back into this fall as the weather cools and August starts sleeping through the night.

Week 26

This week was quite a busy one for us. Kevin flew out to DC for a few days, leaving August, the dogs, and I to fend for ourselves. We survived pretty well because we had somewhat of a schedule we needed to follow. It's beyond ridiculously hot here these days, so we knew we had to get up after August's morning bottle and do our long walk for the day. I unsuccessfully tried to do some work during the days, but that is proving much more difficult to do with each passing week. We also had August's 6 month visit with his pediatrician. But the biggest event was that August and I started swim lessons! I signed him up with the city for a two week long, entry level, get acquainted with the water class, for 6-18 month olds. I guess most people with newborns are a bit hesitant to sign their babies up, because we are by far the only 'baby' in the class. I never thought I would consider an 18 month old to be a big kid, but you can tell the difference between the rest of the munchkins and August. Not that it isn't fun though, we've had a great time playing in the water, kicking, learning to float, and getting used to having our heads and faces wet. We only made it to 3 of the 4 classes this week, but I can already tell a difference with how much more he enjoy's his bath time and doesn't panic as much when his face is wet. Since I've been in the water with him, I haven't been able to snap any pictures but hope to have some next week. Until then, here are a few from this week to hold you over.

                        

                                                      

                                          

                                           

                                           

6 month report

August had his 6 month well baby visit with Dr. C this past week. He weighed in at 18lbs 14oz, and was 27.25" long. That puts him in the 75th% across the boards. We weren't really surprised by his new stats, just so amazed at how far he's come since his 5th% days just 6 short months ago.

Other than being your typical healthy, very bouncy, baby boy, there are a few new milestones to note. He definitely has his 2 bottom teeth in, and one of his top ones is starting to poke through oh-so-faintly. He's also sitting up more and more often. He has yet to go into the sitting position on his own, but if you put him there, he will chill out for quite a few minutes before gradually sinking lower and lower until he's practically chewing on his big toe. He's also started squeeling and squacking quite loudly when he's excited or maybe just bored. All in all, we still feel incredibly blessed for the fabulous 6 months we have had with our little Augie Knox, and can't wait to see the fun that lies ahead!

6 Months!

Taking Over

Though Kevin and I both swore that we were not going to let baby articles take over our house, the inevitable has happened. I like to think that it's because we live in a 1200 sq.ft. condo, but regardless of the reason, his stuff is slowly taking over. Not that I entirely mind though, it gives our house the nice 'lived-in' look.

August's bedroom, with most of his belongings, is downstairs, but we do most of our living upstairs. So we have most of the toys in our living room/dining room space. To contain the madness, we decided it was time to buy Augie his first toy box. It's yet another minor, yet fun step in his development towards a little boy that snuck up on us quite quickly.

Week 25

The most notable thing about this week was that August came down with his first head cold. It went much smoother than I had anticipated it would, but is still not something either of us would like to revisit anytime soon. Thankfully my mom was still visiting us, so it was quite comforting to have an experienced grandmother, who happens to be a nurse, on hand for those first couple of rough days. We stayed on top of things with infant tylenol, saline mist, the nasal aspirator, and the humidifier turned on high. He and I slept on the couch for a few nights so that I could keep him propped up as well. By the time the weekend rolled around, he was mostly rid of the uncomfortable part and had passed it on to Kevin.

Movin' on Up

While we stick with cloth diapers in and around the house during the day, we still use disposables at night, and when we are out around town. While still using them just a few hours a week, it's amazing to see how many we go through and how often we are buying new boxes of diapers! August has moved up a size recently. We've waved goodbye to the 1-2 Swaddlers and hello to the size 3 Cruisers. While the increased absorbancy is nice, we both miss the nice indicator stripe running along the front that indicated moisture level.

I am also curious as to why they insist on making the characters more obnoxious with every new stage. Ernie started out all cute and cuddly on the newborn size, but now that we're in the size 3's, he's practically represented as a driver's license-carrying teenager. Babies grow like crazy, but I think Ernie's development is a little advanced if you ask me. Like August can really relate to a creepy, adolescent Ernie on his diaper. I wonder if he will have a beard and mustache in the size 4's?