Agua

Kaylee favorite word is......AGUA! A couple of months ago, the teachers at school believed she was saying agua and we would hear it every once in awhile. Now, all she saids is agua! Her other words are dada, mama, and dagdag (dog). She has also become a pro on sign language. She has been doing the "milk" sign for awhile and now she does the "more" sign. It is great. She doesn't do the actual sign for when she is tired, but by rubbing her eyes, going to her crib, and finding her bunny....we get the sign. lol.

French Fries

On Wednesday Night, we went to one of my favorite Pubs, the Flyer Saucer. It has a great outdoor patio and the weather has been amazing! Kaylee was doing great, but definitely at the age of wanting to constantly moving around. A bit exhausting on our end. Anyways, we had ordered Burgers (I got the Hippie Veggie...yum) and Fries. Kaylee now wants whatever we eat. Kaylee watched Eric devoured his fries and since I didn't eat much of mine, she persistently tried to get one. We finally gave in....every parent chooses their battles....not my proudest moment. So, when she was going to put the fry in her mouth, she stopped...... to dip it in the ketchup and then ate it! Ok, now that was funny. It just goes to show how MUCH your kids watch your every move. It just forces us to be better people, eat healthy foods, and lead by example. And yes, Kaylee liked the French Fries and....ketchup!

Pooh Strong

I have some sad news...Dave Andrew Madden, also know as "Pooh", lost his battle of Osteosarcoma this past weekend. He was scheduled for a bone marrow transplant when his health worsen last week. He was a close friend of one of my closest friends. And from what I hear, he was an amazing person with a great sense of humor. Please keep his family and friends in your thoughts and prayers. The family plans to start a non-profit and please visit his website: http://www.poohstrong.com/index.php.

Pumpkin Patch 2008

Aunt Melissa took pictures of us last weekend at a Pumpkin Patch. Unfortunately, Kaylee was too busy looking at the other kids that we didn't get many smiling pics. But of course they are still cute!

BUSY Weekend

Friday Night, Kaylee and I left to San Antonio to hang out with Lindsey and Kelly, who was visiting home from Vermont. If you want to see gorgeous pictures, go to her Blog The Nelson's. It is definitely on our list to places to visit. Anyhow, we kicked it like the good old days at my folks' house. It was great having Girl Time!



Saturday, Eric went to the amazing UT vs. OSU game! He had a blast! Texas holds the #1 spot and we can't wait for the Texas Tech game this coming Saturday! Meanwhile, Kaylee and I dropped by Lucy's nephew's (Sebastian) birthday party. Kaylee loved seeing all the kids run around. Then, my parents watched Kaylee Saturday night while I drove back to get ready for the big race!



Sunday, Eric and I left to Dallas for the Muddy Buddy Race at 3AM! Yes, we know we are crazy. We needed to get there at 6AM to pick up our registration packet. We got to Cedar Hills State Park right on time and it was pitch black, but we got to watch an amazing sunrise. First, there was the costume contest which in itself was worth going....McObama (McCain & Obama), Clowns, Men in Black, Kilt Wearing Men, 80s, etc. Then, the race started at 8AM. We were very anxious considering we woke up a 2:30am. The race was just about 6.5 miles consisting of 5 legs with an obstacle in between each leg. You rotate the legs with your Buddy, so I ran/bike/ran/bike/ran and Eric bike/ran/bike/ran/bike. The obstacles were rock climbing, cargo nets, balance beams, and climbing through an A frame. These looked fun until you start doing them and realize how tired you are! Then at the end you go in the Mud Pit together, which you have to crawl under ropes...so you get DIRTY! It was so much FUN! We finished in 59 minutes, which we couldn't be happier. We ran the whole time, with the exceptions of a couple killer hills. And with starting my new job, we haven't been working out/training for the past 3 weeks. We really had a great time and plan to do the race again! The picture was taken AFTER we rinsed off. I will post more when we get them from the race organization.

Pottery Barn Mission

About a month ago, I broke a piece to one of my favorite platters we got for our wedding. I finally got around to calling Pottery Barn to see if I could order a replacement. After an HOUR on the phone, they informed me that the platter is discontinued but the Austin store may have one on clearance. I went down to the store and waited for about 30 minutes to find out they didn't have it. But I insisted them to help me...this is my favorite platter! They waited on the phone with the other location and SURE enough they had 6 in the stock room that they weren't even aware that they had!!! And the best part is they were $15.97!!! I placed an order for 2, so I could secure the purchase. Then, I went down to the mall last night with my dad to pick them up and my dad bought 2...for Christmas gifts! How cool is that! The other 2 went to the employees you got their discount on top of the clearance price and they very excited that I made them look for them! Everyone came out a winner!

Hasta La Vista, Kaylee

Today was a big day for Kaylee, well, more for me. She waved goodbye to me when I dropped her off at school! She made eye contact and wave goodbye. Our little girl is growing up and we've seen some major changes this last week. Her attitude and personality isn't so "needy". She is becoming much more independent and definitely expressing herself. She has started to think baths are the worst thing ever and becoming fussy when she is tired. Although these things are more frustrating as a parent, Kaylee is growing opinions of her likes and dislikes. On the more positive side, her little sense of humor is so cute. She points and laughs at everything all day. It brightens my day in a heartbeat.

I like your brown shirt with that thing on it....

We were out and about Saturday running errands. Eric and I were of course sporting our UT pride by wearing shirts. Keep in mind, everyone in Austin is wearing Burnt Orange on game days. Anyways...a woman walks by us and said "I like your brown shirt with that thing on it." That THING was a LONGHORN! Really, who doesn't know what the longhorn sign is??? You are in AUSTIN, the small school down the road is only #1. We were extremely disappointment.

How Cute Is This???

This has to be one of the cutest pictures ever! Kaylee had her first "semi-sleepover" on Friday night with her oldest friend Blake. They started at HMS within a couple of weeks...Kaylee being the 1st kid and Blake being the 2nd. It was the two of them for awhile and they both moving up to the next class together. Blake's folks were nice enough to watch Kaylee while Eric and I went to a wedding. It worked out extremely well. I guess when we left Kaylee started to cry, but then Blake started to rub her back like "It's okay, these are my folks that I was telling you about". Very cute. Since it was a Friday, they both past out pretty early. As for the wedding, it was one of Eric's MBA Group Member whom I've become friends with.....2 years in a MBA group....you become friends! It was a very lovely wedding and I really couldn't be happier for the couple. I thoroughly enjoyed myself with food, drinks, and dancing to my favorite wedding songs. We both enjoyed catching up with other people from the MBA program. It is so nice to everyone in a much less stressful time in our lives. People looked rested! :)

Daddy Dressed Me - Jerry Garcia T, Purple Cords, Pink Crocs

Red River Shootout

What a game?!? We can't believe Texas pulled out the win and now are ranked #1! How exciting! We got a tough schedule...Missouri, OSU, and my favorite game...Texas Tech!

Long Week

As you know, this past week was my first week at Apple! And I'm beat. I really enjoy the Apple culture and I think it is a great fit. The people are smart and witting and I'm excited about the actual job. It was a lot of information for the training, so I'm a bit brain-dead. But that is what happens when you start a new gig. Highlights of the week were: Having dinner with Greg & Melissa Tuesday, Apple Corporate Olympics (games, food, beer, it was awesome!), and some big wig Cali Apple guys took my us out for a Happy Hour on Thursday. It was a fun, busy, information overloaded week.

The 7 Worst Things Good Parents Do

I went to Book Club today, which is at Kaylee's school. We are reading parenting books and then discuss, which I find to be very valuable. Last month's book was "How to Raise an Amazing Child: The Montessori Way." I haven't read it, but the book has several photos and looks to be a good reference or guide. I did read this month's book, "The 7 Worst Things Good Parents Do" and thought I would share the 7 things.

Remember they are the Worst..
1. Baby your child
2. Put your marriage last
3. Push your child into too many activities
4. Ignore your emotional or spiritual life
5. Be your child's best friend
6. Fail to give your child structure
7. Expect your child to fulfill your dreams

1st Urgent Care Visit

We woke Saturday morning to find Kaylee covered in bites! We counted 17 bites all over her face (eyes, ear, forehead) and a couple on her ankles. They didn't seem to bother at all, but we decided to call our doctor. They were shocked to hear so many, so we went in. And they concurred that they were indeed bites. We had started to second guess ourselves there for a moment. They sent us home and said to give her a little Bendryal. Unfortunately, I believe I gave her the sweet smell that mosquitoes love. The doctor believe she got the bites 24 hours prior, but we cleaned all her sheets and clothes anyways. The bites swelled a little, but are no longer an issue. Texas is not the best place to avoid mosquitoes, so we are sending OFF to school and talked to the school about the issue. They have a regular guy that sprays, so we will come from there. All in all, not the worst thing to be going to the Urgent Care for.

Breakfast with a Fork

Sunday Morning we introduced Scrambled Eggs and Turkey Sausage to Kaylee. It is in effort for us to all eat the same foods, except for the spicy stuff. We were so excited to see her facial expressions when she was going to first eat her breakfast, which are always entertaining, but she picked up her fork and fed herself first. Our excitement turned to "She used the fork, she used the fork!" It was pretty neat. Our growing girl...

TGIF

Friday was "TGIF" day. It was my last day at work, which was short and sweet. Came in, trained a little, exit interview, long goodbyes, and out by lunch. Side Note: I received a very nice gift from the Singapore people have been training for the past 2 months. Moving on...Eric and I left at lunch to pick up my new car! Yes, I bought a 2008 Toyota Rav4. No, it isn't my dream car, but I was proud of myself to buy a new car. For the record, it is black and with tan leather interior. We haven't yet said goodbye to the truck, but I will inform my attached friends as soon as it is gone. Teardrop. Then, we were off to some yummy sandwiches at Jimmy John's and to Tiffany's Treats to pick up some cookies. The cookies were for the teachers at Kaylee's school, because we were meeting them for a conference. We got to her school and Kaylee is so funny when we are there, because she has this proud attitude going on. Like...yes, MY parents are...time to show off. We had a great meeting with and they are going to move Kaylee up to the Hummingbird class. We are very excited for her transition and can't say enough good things about her school. After an eventful day, we met some co-workers for a Happy Hour and called it a day. All in all, end of era at AMAT, new car, Kaylee changing classes, and new job on Monday. TGIF! (Just wished they still played Full House on ABC)

Apple Suprise

This morning when I got out of the car to walk to my building for work, I dropped my whole wheat mini bagel with onion cream cheese and it proceeded to roll away. I thought this was kind of funny considering how far it went. I chased and picked it up to find that I got cream cheese under my finger nails. I walked to my cubie and I opened a drawer to try to find a napkin and there was a big brown bag with several apple stickers (yes, stickers) on it! All my co-workers were like "that was fast"...it would have taken me the whole day to come across that if it wasn't for the bagel rolling. What a nice suprise! Inside the bag was Apple Martini mix, Apple Vodka, and a bottle wine named "Falling Star". It was awesome. My co-workers are ALL guys and ALL engineers....and these guys did something so cute, thoughtful, and homemade. To think of the Apple motif as I'm off to Apple was great and then they purposely picked out the "Falling Star" wine...because I'm their falling star! (tear) It was really great. All my co-workers, past and present, have really been so nice to me. My old group took me out yesterday to Pappadeaux and then my new group took me to Texas Land and Cattle today. I've recieved several emails and phone calls wishing me good luck and some asking to hook them up when I'm there. (which is funny too) And...I found out that Apple is setting up my desk, because an old AMAT employee saw my name and ask where I was coming from and put together that I'm Eric's wife! She contacted Eric to ask him about me, so I already have one "friend". Not to mention a small list of people that has been given to me over the past week. And one more thing...I got a phone call with one of the girls I interviewed with and she wanted to let me know all the mother and family benefits...a Mom-to-Mom talk. I thought that was totally going out of her way and so nice. I think the Apple gig will be a very good thing, as Martha Stewart would say.