Week 48

After August's first venture to the playground, we decided that it was time to introduce August to the big bathtub. Until now, he's been happily bathing in the kitchen sink. But we've found that he prefers to stand while bathing, and that's just a lot safer in our big, sunken tub. Needless to say, he was beyond a happy camper. He loves every second of his bath, from the very second that you turn the faucet on. He just sits over the ledge with a grin as wide as his entire face as he watches every drop fall until it's time for his grand entrance. It may just be a phase for now, but we're so relieved that he has no fear for the water.

11 months!

Inaugural Trip to Zilker Playground

Though we live so close to one of the best playgrounds in all of Austin, we've yet to August for a play. On new years day, we decided that we had denied our son long enough, and it was time to introduce him to the magical land that is the playground. So, we hitched up the dogs and loaded up the stroller for the short stroll. When we first arrived, I don't think August understood what all of the commotion was about. I'm quite sure he had never seen so many kids in one spot, and was quite satisfied to just sit and people watch. I of course positioned him in a few spots to see if he would interact with the contraptions, but he was definitely more taken with the pea gravel and the occasional stick. Finally, Kevin took the reigns and was able to walk him in and around some of the bigger kids play structure, and you could see our little guy catch on to the concept and start to loosen up a bit. All in all it was an enjoyable first run through, and I can guarantee it will not be the last that playground sees of us! 

Happy New Year!

To continue with our leisurely theme for the week, we had a very low-key New Year's Eve celebration. Maybe this means we're lame, but we(I) quite like just hanging in and around the house by our lonesome. After the little guy went to bed, I picked up some to-go food from a local mexican food establishment we had yet to try, and some Prosecco just to feel like we were celebrating in style. Kevin made a delicous, and I have to say that is an understatement, fig pudding. We had never had it, and this may not have been a traditional version, but I will definitely be having it again. Let me repeat, it was amazing. Anyway, back with our evening... we heard a nice, long firework show put on by the city of Austin but didn't feel like making the jaunt out front to actually take in the sights. We ended the night with a movie, to which I fell asleep to at approximately 11:40. It might not have been one for the record books, but I thought it was an awfully relaxing introduction to the new year.

Week 47

This week felt like one nice, relaxing yet productive slumber party. Kevin was home from work, and I had a fairly non-existant work load. We took down the Christmas decor, organized the toys that have officially taken over our house, played with the thousands of toys we received for Christmas, cooked and consumed some several homemade meals, guzzled massive amounts of caffeinated beverages, spent quality time out in the park with the dogs, but most importantly we slept as much as possible and spent a large portion of our days in our pajamas. It was glorious...minus the respiratory virus that Kevin picked up as a souvenir in Dallas and has since shared with me.

check out the natural hairline!
Would that be considered a side duck tail?

double-fisting the dog bowls

Ikea quality control inspector

feeding himself actual bites of food!

a little too much dog water

Christmas at Home (celebration #3)

It's amazing how quickly a gift exchange can take place when there's only 3 people involved, 1 of whom has no idea that he is even participating. When we drove home from Granbury, we took our time to unpack and get the house somewhat settled before doing our own family's tiny Christmas. Kevin and I each exchanged one gift, and then we helped August open his 3 gifts from us. It was a nice, quiet, cozy conclusion to August's absolutely wonderful first Christmas.

Christmas in Granbury (celebration #2)

Surprisingly the entire house slept in until 9:00 on Christmas morning (yes, including August). All I asked for Christmas was more sleep and more time, who knew it would come so quickly? Nevertheless, once we all came to our senses, we piled into the living room to see what Santa had brought the under-10 set. Though nothing was tagged, it was quite evident that the tickle me baby elmo went to the rugrat, the train set went to the pre-school conductor, the Tangled rapunzel doll went to the solo princess, and the xbox 360 w/ kinect went to the fully-capable, oldest cousin. This year we were on a bit of a time constraint as my brother and family still had at least 2 celebrations to hit that day, and my sister and her family had to head back to their house so that they could catch their evening flight to DisneyWorld! So we had a brief coffee binge, followed by a very quick stocking reveal, and then proceeded with the marathon gift exchange. It was a thoroughly enjoyable time with family before everyone had to load up their goods and head on to their next destinations. Thankfully we weren't leaving for another day, so the three of us were able to consume loads of tamales and enchiladas, catch a Christmas Story viewing, and enjoy some serious downtime...including an uninterrupted 3 hour nap!!!

Groggy Augie!!!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is a little more festive for my family than the average, as the day is shared with my nephew Saoirse's (seer-sha...it's Irish!) birthday. So every year we all head out to my brother's house for the annual celebration. To clarify, by 'we' I mean the three of us, my parents, my sister's family, and obviously my brother and his family. After the candles have been blown, cake consumed, and presents opened, we caravan around the University/Highland Park area to view some elaborate residential light displays, then we head to the Neiman Marcus store in downtown Dallas to gawk at the year's window display and creative Christmas tree, before finally making the 1 1/2 hour drive back to Granbury just in time to open our Christmas jammies and head to bed. It's always a great time, but inevitably leads to a very groggy Christmas morning!

uncle 'Tevin' wrangling the boys

3 whole years, and in love with all things space!

my brother's sweet remodeled house

learning to play like the big boys

Christmas Eve jammies!