Over Achiever

Miss Kaylee has out did herself once again. At her 9-Month Check Up, she measured at 30 inches!!! That is the size of a 15 Month Old and is in the 97% tile. She weighed in at 21 pounds and is in the 95% tile. She is quite the over achiever...maybe she WILL get a full ride to Stanford like the Doctor said the first week she was born. Other than her GROWTH, Doctor G said she was doing great! He did mention her imagination will grow at this age and she may start having dreams that might wake her up in the night. He gave the example of if she saw a lion or a dog during of the day...she may dream of them mean or scary. We thought this was exceptionally funny, since a couple of weeks ago Eric put this large lion stuffed animal to Kaylee's face in a store and she SCREAMED! Not crying, but screaming! I came running through the store and see the stuffed lion, Eric, and my dad. I shook my head and took my baby girl. Boys will be boys.

Good Luck Tyler

My little brother, Tyler, has his varsity football season opener against Clark tonight...the famous annual "Gucci Bowl"! We wish him the best! Go Uncle T! Growing up with the "Gucci Bowl", I didn't think twice about the name until I started to tell Non-San Antonio people about it. To answer the ???s - The "Gucci Bowl" has been going on for 27 years (Clark leads 13-12-2) and according to wikipedia "The two schools have an annual football game known as "Gucci Bowl" due to the historical affluence of the area." Isn't that funny and ridiculous? Hope all my SA buddies will bust out their old "Gucci Bowl" t-shirts tonight and reminiscence about the good ol' high football games!

The Mommy Diet - Next Big Fab Diet

The Mommy Diet is (drumroll please...) eating your kiddo's leftovers, because you don't have time to eat! Today I'm working from home and my breakfast consisted of plain cheerios & mushed banana. I did get to have some coffee. Then, for lunch I had plain wagon wheel pasta (no EVOO/Sauce - PLAIN), black beans, and yellow squash. I literally was cleaning up Kaylee's mess by eating her leftovers. I had to laugh...it was one of those "You know if you are a mom if.." moments. Forget all the celebrity moms who look great after one week...this is the real mom diet! :) Luckily, Eric and I are going to PF Changs tonight to celebrate Melissa's Birthday while my Dad babysits....I'm excited to sit down and eat a real meal!

Aunt Melissa's Golden Birthday

Happy Birthday Melissa! Melissa is 27 on August 27th...her Golden Birthday! We hope you have a wonderful day and we will celebrate with ya tonight!

Mission Impossible - Tiger Beer

My co-worker just got back from Singapore and wouldn't stop talking about Tiger Beer. He even visited the brewery! Eric & I had never had it and well that means we need to try it. My co-workers and I soon realized we couldn't find it at all in Austin. I went to HEB, Whole Foods, Spec's, Grapevine Market, Central Market, and even the Asian Supermarkets! It turned into a HUGE mission at work...we were calling everyone (yes, our work suffered). So it turns out the Central Texas distributors stopped carrying it and could only be found in selected Dallas/Houston stores in Texas. Since we were headed to Dallas, I made a few phone calls and I found a place that sold it! So, we went and bought all they had....a whole 3 6-Packs! My co-workers should be happy I'm bringing it in tomorrow (of course it will be a parking lot exchange)! We tried it tonight and well, it isn't bad. Nothing special, but good. I think it was more fun to track it down. So, if you see it you should buy it knowing we can't get here in Austin. Mission Impossible...Completed.

Dallas Weekend

We just got home from Dallas and boy are we tired. We stayed with my little sister Caitlin and she watched Kaylee while Eric & I went to a wedding. The wedding was an old friend of mine and the girl knows how to throw a party! We had never been to a wedding where the dance floor was packed the whole time! The credit goes to the hilarious DJ who "roasted" all the groomsmen when they introduced the wedding party. It was great! Little Miss Kaylee on the other hand wasn't in the best of mood. She is teething, of course she does when we travel! Although she doesn't wake up in the middle night (we're not complaining), it was a bit more challenging for Aunt Caitlin to put her to bed. We haven't seen Kaylee teeth this bad...constant drooling, biting, and a little rash on her mouth! Poor girl! We don't know quite yet which ones are coming in...but sure seems like all of them! But thanks Caitlin!

Dog Days

Kaylee was fond of Terrapin at an early age and then when she became more aware of her surroundings...she has become scared of her. She grips on to us tight and sometimes screeches! We have been slowly reintroducing Terrapin and calling her "nice doggie" and Kaylee has been responding well. She will slowly reach out her hand to touch her, pull back, and then back out to pet her. It is really funny to watch her hesitate and rethink whether or not she wants to pet Terrapin. I think Kaylee's biggest issue is the size of Terrapin, she is okay around smaller dogs. Last night was a big break through, Kaylee was more comfortable touching Terrapin right away. But the funny thing is...now Kaylee puts her tongue WAY OUT when she sees Terrapin...just like Terrapin does! We are talking way out, not what she normally does. It is hilarious. Kaylee isn't 100% comfortable just yet, but wanting to touch and now mimicking Terrapin we are on our way. Not to mention Kaylee's HUGE growth spur the other night, she will be taller than Terrapin in no time.

Sleepyhead

When we got home last night, Kaylee was extremely tired so we put her down for a nap. We were thinking she would take a quick nap and then wake up, eat dinner, and play a little. But no, Kaylee slept from 6pm to 7am! Poor little girl was so tired and she slept in her dress. We kept checking on her, but she was sound asleep. Then, this morning I swear she grew! She is SOOO long...her legs just dangle. Eric & I took advantage of her extra long sleep by working on our yard. We are desperately trying to grow grass in the backyard for Kaylee to play in, especially now that she is close to walking. For so many years the backyard has been Terrapin's (Our German Shepherd) domain and well, she needs to share with Kaylee now. We put grass seeds down, cut some trees, moved our herb garden, and made a couple of beds. I spent all last night powerwashing the deck, which I am now a professional powerwasher. Eric was busy bundling all the tree branches together, so the garbage men will pick them up. Overall, the backyard is a huge improvement just from cleaning up...hopefully the rains will help the grass grow and Kaylee will have a place to play!

More Olympics

Micheal Phelps did it...8 Gold Medals in 1 Olympics! It was a very exciting adventure and Kaylee enjoyed has been enjoying her first Olympics! She especially enjoys diving..she thinks it is funny when they do flips and then claps when the divers enter the water. We also enjoyed watching Dara Torres...her sportsmanship was so nice to see and we can't believe she is 41! And we were mesmerized by Usain Bolt effortless 9.69 second sprint for the 100-meter dash. It was insane. We wonder how fast he could have gone if he didn't start celebrating early, but, hey I would be celebrating too if I was the fastest man! Even though I everyone was cheering for Shawn Johnson to take the gold, it was a joy to watch Nastia Liukin, who moved with such ease. What an exciting first Olympics for Kaylee! Especially since Eric visited Beijing early this year and brought back Olympic goodies!

Uncle Bread's Birthday!

Happy Birthday Uncle Brian! We hope you have a wonderful day! Go out with a bang in the last year of your twenties! Kaylee is up to take a nap with you anytime! :)

Lucky #7

We haven't replayed our Tivo that much, since the Sopranos Season Finale! What an amazing finish Michael Phelps had in the 100m Butterfly. We watched over and over again! This is why we loved the Olympics and everyone should be watching them. Micheal's mom's reaction was priceless has she was holding the number 2 up and then looked at the screen and had to sit down in disbelief that he took first! Simply amazing!

Rum Runners

My buddy (Eric) and me have signed up for the Muddy Buddy Race. It is a 6-7 mile event with mountain biking, running, obstacles, and their FAMOUS mud pit at the end! It is south of Dallas in October. We have always wanted to do some kind of adventure racing together, but the school/pregnancy combo had pushed it down on the list. Now is our chance! Our team name is Rum Runners, named after the famous Bacardi Frozen Drink. LOL. We kind of started training, but will hit it hard soon. Stay tuned. http://www.muddybuddy.com

Lunch Date with Kaylee

Eric and I went to visit Kaylee today at school on our lunch break. She was taking a nap, but finally woke up. She was in great spirits and very refreshed, but her friend was still asleep. The teachers had warned us that Kaylee likes to crawl and wake up her friends, boy they weren't kidding. Everytime we put her down she was off to go wake up her friend, who they call her boyfriend. I remind you that our school has low to the ground beds with no walls around them...very Montessori. The whole idea is for the child to crawl in and out of bed when they are tired or awake. Anyways, it was hilarious that Kaylee kept wanting to wake her friends up. Then once her friend was awake she sprinted to the table for lunch, because she was hungry. It amazes me that she goes to designated areas for things she wants. At the table, they sit down at these mini chairs (about broke my back) and eat off of metal plates, mini silverware, and plastic shot glasses for water. Today, she used her fork to put the food in her mouth for the first time! No one had ever seen her do it before. We packed broccoli in her lunch today, because she had stole her friend's broccoli the other day and loved it! So her faves right now are...blueberries, edamame, broccoli, cheerios, pasta wagon wheels. It was nice to have lunch with our growing girl!

Olympics 2008

USA! USA! We will shout this and Kaylee will start clapping...it is awesome. Eric had purchased Olympic Doll Collectibles for Kaylee when he was in Beijing, but he won't let Kaylee open the package to play with them because he swears they will be worth something...someday. So, they are sitting on our fireplace mantle for now. I really enjoy watching the Olympics, especially swimming, gymnastics, and track and field. There something about the Olympics that just amazes me and well the 400m Men's Freestyle Relay was one of the most amazing races I've seen. After spending the weekend with an Australian, I didn't realize how much Americans take the Olympics for granted. Everywhere we went TVs were playing Cops, ESPN, Monday Night Football and NOT the Olympics. My friend kept repeating...this would NEVER happen in Australia. There they live for the Olympics and I believe that could be said for so many other countries....wish Americans would appreciate it a bit more. Let the games continue...

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

August birthdays continue with Grandpa Ernst today. We wish you a very happy birthday! My goal was to get a cute picture of Kaylee holding up her finger painting that she made, but no such luck. I tried for almost 2 weeks and well, this is the best picture I got. I guess there will be times that Kaylee chooses not to be cute for me. Although, Eric showed me some cool features on the camera and I feel like I'm becoming a better photographer. Maybe I will want the camera lens he has been wanting for 3 years now. On a side note, today was the first day we went to get Kaylee out of bed and she was standing up in her crib waiting for us! We've lowered the crib as low as it goes, but she is sooo tall I'm scared she can maneuver her way out! Oh, Kaylee!

Anyways, Kaylee sends you birthday wishes! :)

Old Friends, New Boys

Last night was a great time. Eric and I went out again, it may sound like we do this often, but we really don't. Becky is in town and she can get anyone to go out. And Kaylee is at the age where we feel really comfortable leaving her with family (My folks babysat..Thanks!). Anyways, we started the night with a couple drinks down Congress on our way to the Congress Bridge to watch the bats. We dropped in Elephant Room, which is where Eric and I went on our very first date. It is a dark bar that is sort of a basement and has great jazz music. We hadn't been there in years and so nice to see where it all began. Then, we finally made it to the bridge and just in time. August is the best month to see the bats...there was sooo many. It looked like black smoke in the sky! It was cool, but pretty anti-climatic....the bats leave the bridge and that is about it. Then, we are off to Kenichi for sushi. We met up with another old friend and her date, so 6 in all. We got to our table with a bottle of champagne waiting for us, we are kind of a big deal (j/k!). We went to make a toast, but we weren't celebrating anything really. So we decided to toast to "Old Friends, New Boys". It was a shout out to our long girl friendship and the great guys in our life...we've come a long way from our middle school crushes. Several waiters would stop by and ask what we were celebrating (I think we may have been a bit loud) and well that was our answer. Eric proceeded to show everyone the PROPER way to do Sake Bombs, boy did we have fun. Then, Becky's date asked the waiter what rolls went well with sake bombs...the waiter's face was priceless! Unfortunately, they don't pair sake bombs with anything! We ate lots of awesome sushi and when we asked for our check the waiter said it was taken care of! We were puzzled and the waiter replied to "Old Friends, New Boys". It was awesome.

And the Oscar goes to.....

KAYLEE! Our little girl has been the little actress. She has been into making fake coughing noises, ALL the time. She has always thought is has been funny when someones coughs or sneezes, so now she does it on purpose and cracks up at herself. It is pretty funny, so now I find myself clearing my throat and fake coughing all day long. Oh, I almost forgot...burping too. She burps on purpose and laughs at herself. Wonder where she gets that sense of humor, Eric??? On another note, Kaylee has been achieving several bumps, scraps, and bruises now that she is on the move. I got a phone call on Friday from school to tell me she had bumped her head (they are require to call anytime there has been an incident to the head). The school was amazed because she only cried for less than 60 seconds, but then a bright red mark was left in the middle of her head. It didn't affect her at all, but sure left a mark. Then, yesterday she was climbing all over the place and lost her balance and fell. But the funny things was she slid clear across the room on our wood floor and in true actress fashion she proceeded to roll a couple more times on purpose. A bit dramatic and she is only 9 months old. Can't wait for middle school!

Still sleeping...

It is 10:30am and everyone is asleep....even Kaylee is taking a nap. I've always been a sleeper but not as a working mom I wake up early! I'm just waiting for all the out of towners to wake up to start the Saturday fun, but I will start blogging until then. We were very fortunate to have Eric's sister Melissa to babysit last night...love having family near by. Thanks Melissa! Kaylee did well, but Friday nights have been hard for her....she is soo exhausted from the week as I am too! I don't know how to repay the family babysitters...so I got the Wii, 2 Netflix, made cookies, Bourbon Slush, and Baked Ziti. Since most of the night Kaylee is asleep, I TRY to provide the most entertainment in our house possible. Did I mention how hot it is? Last night, we went to places with patio, because you think nice summer nights right? No, it is HOT. Lived in Texas my whole life and I have never been able to handle the heat....I was even a lifeguard through my high school years! I can't wait for the fall....which really isn't fall, but it is nice and cool...well, cool-er. On another side note....my mom told me 15% of Moms Blog!! I believe their is a new generation of moms and I'm one of them! Check out the article on blogging - http://www.statesman.com/life/content/life/stories/other/08/09/0809raisingaustin.html

Tear-Jerker

For some reason, I was very emotional yesterday when Kaylee turned 9 Months Old. It was kind of the first time she wasn't attached to me, as in pregnant, breastfeeding, or the newborn extreme dependency. Now she still needs me and Eric, but she can go from point A to B just fine by herself. It was mixed emotion of her growing up into a little person and me feeling more independent. Yes, I know this will be the first of many emotional days about my kids growing up, but the weirdest non-traditional days affect me the most. Anyways, the school went out of their to take several pictures of Kaylee, printed them, and glued them in a little book out of construction paper with nice notes in it for me and Eric. When we went to pick her up and they gave to us, well I about lost it. It was so sweet and exactly what I needed. Our school is awesome.

08.08.08

I have been waiting for this day for a LONG time, because my oldest sister Lindsey turns 28 on 08-08-08! How cool is that?! I've always been secretly jealous of her birthday and may have pretended to celebrated a couple of her birthdays under her name, but we won't go into that. My favorite birthday of hers was her Crazy Eight Birthday Party, where she turned 8 on 08-08-88. Again, how cool is that!? So, Happy Birthday Lindsey!!! I think they are having a huge party for you in Beijing.

Queso Filled Weekend

This weekend will be filled with queso thanks to Becky coming to visit! Becky has to load up on all the Tex-Mex and great food Austin has to offer, so I've been preparing my stomach for a couple weeks now. I'm ready. Becky is my oldest friend and our friendship really hasn't changed much since we met at 8 years old....we are crazy. Eric knew when he married me that Becky was part of the deal as well. She just started her Master's Degree in Physician Studies at University of Florida in June and she just aced her anatomy test (she's kind of a big deal)....I believe it is all the ER she has watched over her lifetime. We are very proud of her! It should be a fun weekend filled with fun, drinks, shopping, and of course queso! I'm very excited!

Miso Cute at 9 Months Old

Oh, my. Kaylee is 9 Months old today and man is she fun. She is pulling up/down, sitting up/down, wanting to walk, clapping, waving, pointing, saying da-da and ma-ma, rambling with baby gibberish and of course she is a little giggle box. She is working on her top teeth right now, which has disturbed our sleep here and there...but not bad. She still pops blueberries in her mouth like popcorn...she will eat a whole pint if we don't stop here. She also likes cheerios, broccoli, and edamane. All you hear as a soon-to-be parent is how fast kids grow and well, that is an understatement. I don't know where the time went. I didn't realize how emotional I was going to get today. So many new Moms swear by the "9 Months In and 9 Months Out" philosophy and I couldn't agree more. I haven't felt this strong and healthy in a long time. So, today has been quite the monumental day for us. The toddlers at school love singing "Happy Birthday", really they sing it to the geckos outside, so they can't wait to celebrate with K. Check out more pictures/videos on her website link Baby Kaylee off to the side on this page. Proud Mama, Kristen.

Fisher-Price House Party Playdate

OMG!! Just got selected to be a Host for the Fisher-Price House Party. Over 20,000+ applicants and I was one out of the 1,000 chosen! I'm so excited. Basically, Fisher-Price will send some of their NEW EXCLUSIVE toys to us and we throw a party for kids to test them out. Then, we get to keep the toys and their suppose to send party favors for the guests! How fun is that?!? Check out the link http://houseparty.com/fisherpriceplaydate You can also apply for other House Parties...what a great marketing tool! Party will be in September...stay tuned.

Pecans Galore

We have the luxury having enough pecans to lasts us through the year, thanks to Eric's dad Glen and Julia's Farm in New Mexico! I need them for our favorite Chocolate Chip Recipe (see below), so I put Eric to work last night...he must really want the cookies! They've also given us amazing Green Chilies, which we put in everything....eggs/migas, turkey burgers, green chile casserole (which I just made the other night), or just grilled over meat. It is a wonderful staple to have in the house....this San Antonio girl is in heaven! The Farm sounds like it is flourish with all sorts of yummy things.....acorn squash, cantaloupe, pumpkins, chilies, and of course pecans! We hope to take Kaylee there soon! Until then, here is our favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie...well, at the moment.

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
1 1/2 cups walnuts
1 1/2 cups pecans
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 scant teaspoon salt
3 cups chocolate chips (Chocolatier Dark Chocolate are the Best!)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Arrange the nuts on a baking sheet in a single layer and toast them for 7 to 9 minutes, until golden brown and aromatic. Cool the nuts and then coarsely chop. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats, or grease generously with butter or cooking spray. Using a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and both sugars in a large bowl on medium speed about 1 minute, until fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix on medium-low speed until incorporated. Stir in walnuts, pecans, and chocolate chips. The dough is relatively stiff, so don't be surprised if this takes some muscle (your triceps will thank you later.

Drop the dough onto the prepared baking sheets using a 1 3/4-inch-diameter ice cream scoop (this will make mounds of dough about the size of a golf ball). Space the cookies about 1 1/2 inches apart as they will spread. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the cookies are medium brown around the edges. (As long as the edges are brown, don't worry about a little bit of raw-looking dough in the middle. It will disappear as the cookies cool.) The cookies will spread to about 3 1/2 inches in diameter.

The August Birthdays begin....

To start off the many May/Ernst August Birthdays....we have Miss Caitlin turing 23! I can't believe how much she is growing up...she will always be my little sister. She has achieved a lot this year with graduating from North Texas, starting her first career, and moving into her FIRST apartment in Dallas which I'm sure is oh so stylish. We are very proud of her! Happy Birthday Caitlin! We love ya! Treat yourself to some salmon!

Bye Bye

Yesterday, Kaylee waved goodbye to us for the first time when we dropped her off at school. Now, she does wave at everything, but this was intentional. She looked at us like "I'm going to play with my friends, you can leave." We couldn't believe, so we just walked out. But then we peeked through the window to see her play and one of the boys went up to her and kiss her (more of a slobber)! Then, he proceeded to pet her head...like a dog. It was hilarious and she love it! We are so lucky to have found a great school that K loves!

Jellybeans

I was planning to have Kaylee's website through the years as our family grows, but we've reached out capacity for space on Baby Jellybeans already! We can continue to add/pay for extra space, but at this rate we could be spending a lot quick...she is only 9 Months old! We will keep it up until she turns 1! But for the future, the Ernst family is moving to a blog. Well, until the next big Internet thing comes about. We will see how it goes...but it seems cool and you can upload pictures and videos! So, happy blogging!