Wine Country

Paul and I had a great time in Napa Valley. I don't think I have ever spent 3 straight days drinking wine from dusk till dawn. We will for sure be going back. We took tons of pictures, but here are a few of my favorites!

We stayed at the Carneros Inn. All of the rooms are private cottages. This is ours!


This is one of our favorite wineries, Del Dotto. My friends Amanda and Aaron came to Napa a week before us and said this was one of their favs! It was one of ours as well. You taste the wine right out of the barrels... and they give you lots of tastes! We left feeling really good :)


Our second day in Napa was absolutely gorgeous! We laid out by the pool for a little bit because the view was to die for! I also had the best cucumber cosmo in the world made with fresh cucumber juice!




This is Paul sipping his wine outside at Hoenig.



On top of Spring Mountain at Pride. Absolutely beautiful!

Sitting Pretty

For a week or two now Taylor has been kinda sorta sitting. Well, she's got it down now. She can sit and play for.... who knows how long!?! I have been waiting for this moment since I can remember. I always thought, once she is sitting things will get easier. I haven't noticed things are easier because she is sitting. Things are easier because she is getting older. I'm so proud of my big girl!

Good Bye Austin Dinner

Tomorrow Paul and I depart on our first "solo" trip to Napa Valley. While the idea sounded great at first, I am now having second thoughts. Several times today I teared up while looking at Taylor. What am I supposed to do without my little sidekick? I know she is in good hands of course. Grandma and grandpa are here to watch her, and of course her big brother Max will make sure she is ok as well.

Whenever I have guests I always like to make sure they are well fed. Since I will only be spending tonight with my parents I wanted to cook them a nice dinner. We had arugula salad with citrus dressing, vegetable risotto, and shortbread cookies dipped in chocolate. Everything homemade of course! Thanks Ina (she is The Barefoot Contessa for those of you who do not watch food network). Here's a picture of our dinner.



My mom snapped a photo of me carrying my sweat pea upstairs, and then another one while I was feeding her in her room. She will probably still be sleeping when we leave in the morning so I really cherished this moment. Tears :'(

Wah Wah

We couldn't help but laugh. This was totally new for her. Glad we both got to witness it at the same time!

Mother's Day (PART 2)

If you read my previous post then you know I was pretty upset with how my day was turning out. Well, it got better. We ended up going to brunch at Sagra and had a great time. It's an italian restaurant near the UT campus at the former Mars Restaurant. I was secretly hoping that they would be serving their regular menu along side brunch (Italian sounded delicious). But there was a set Mother's Day Brunch menu. Our food was pretty good, but we really want to go back for some Italian fare. Our mimosas were pretty darn good though!

After brunch we went to whole foods to grab groceries for the week. Up until this point I usually leave Taylor in her car seat and put it on top of the cart. It works at HEB, but Whole Foods has smaller carts, so I always have to Bjorn Taylor. The Bjorn has been great, but she is getting really heavy and it kills my back, so we thought we would try sitting her in the cart. I wanted to wait and do this when Paul was with me... that way if it didn't work out too well I would't look like the stupid parent alone.


Things started out great, but then Taylor started leaning to the side and we had to keep picking her up. That's when we decided to prop her up with oatmeal, and what do you know, it worked! She leaned on that and had a great time. She especially enjoyed playing with the baguette! What the picture doesn't show is how she was flinging that thing all over the place! It was really cute! While standing in line to pay for our groceries the woman in front of me was asking how old Taylor was. She then went on to mention that she has a 4 year old and a 2 year old and that her mother's day present was being able to shop alone for a change.










































When we got home we put Taylor down for a nap, and then Paul and I laid in bed and watched TV. Taylor didn't sleep for long so I brought in the room with us when we woke up. I sat her on my lap, and then Max jumped in front of her so he could be close to me. She leaned on him and Paul snapped some pretty cute photos.


So I guess my Mother's Day did turn out great after all. Next year I won't hold such high expectations!

Mother's Day

I have been looking forward to Mother's Day all week. I'm sure all first time mother's were. It's a day that we have celebrated our whole lives for our own mothers, and now, as new moms, we get to share in the excitement!

Mine actually began Friday. Paul got home from work and said, "shit, I forgot to get your mother's day present. Can I just tell you what it is?" Way to kick it off, huh. Turns out Paul was going to get me the new Giada cookbook (which I have been wanting). Well lucky for him I had just bought the cookbook for myself hours before. Scratch one off the list for Paul. Now on to Saturday. Paul went to the gym early, then stopped by whole foods to pick up lunch. He came home with some pretty flowers for me. Thank you Paul. Later that afternoon I sent him to the mailbox. He came back and I asked him how many Mother's Day cards I got (seeing as this is my first Mother's Day I was expecting 2, maybe 3). He said none. Thinking he was joking I said, no really, how many...... None. Needless to say, I was disappointed. I mailed all my cards on Thursday so they would arrive on Saturday and could be opened on Sunday. I asked Paul if he got me a card and of course, he said no. So not one Mother's Day card on my 1st Mother's Day. Realizing that I was upset, Paul told me he had to go to Lowe's to get fertilizer. He came back with cards instead. Saturday evening I asked if we could go to brunch for Mother's Day. Answer... Yes.
4:00 am, Taylor wakes up. I feed her
7:00 am, Taylor wakes up. I get up. Happy Mother's Day
So, Sunday Mother's day brunch. Not really going to happen because Paul is hungry and can't wait until brunch. I make pancakes. Paul goes to the gym. I clean up the kitchen. Happy Mother's Day.

Earlier this week I watched the Mother's Day episode of "The Middle." If you saw it, I would say that pretty much sums up mine. I mean, why do we even have Mother's Day? Mother's day is everyday. Everyday we mother's make sure that the people around us are taken care of and happy. We put them before ourselves as we do everyday. So why even bother with a Mother's Day holiday? Ok, so I sound like a debbie downer. I just had all these expectations of what my first Mother's day would be like and not one happened. In my head, the day went something like this.
7:00, Taylor wakes, Paul says, Happy Mother's day. You sleep in for a change. I got this
8:00, I open mother's day cards. Inside the envelope from Paul it says surprise! You have a massage session booked today.
11:00 Mother's day brunch with my husband and little girl
2:00, massage
5:00 relaxing with my family on my 1st Mother's day and realizing how lucky I am.

Ok, so I am still lucky. I have a great family that I am very thankful for. I wouldn't trade them for my "ideal Mother's day." But dad's, take note. Mother's day is just that... MOTHER'S DAY. Please take this one day to thank your wife for all that she does for you and your children. We sacrifice everything for our families, especially ourselves. Take this one day to show her how much you love and appreciate all that she does. Because we all know, mom's don't hear that enough!

Happy Mother's Day.

Cinco

Taylor turned 5 months yesterday, so as usual, I took some pictures. She was in a great mood, but I couldn't get a smile out of her! She also had this infatuation with her right foot. She did not want to put it down!

Ready for the day!


Just waking from a nap


Naked girl!


How do I get this dress back on?


Playing


Best Friend Max


Sock Monkey


Now that Taylor is 5 months she has learned many new things....
When we say her name, she turns her head to look at us
She can High-five and wave when she wants too
She has discovered her voice and likes to make little screaming noises
She almost sits up. I keep trying to get a picture of her sitting, but by the time my camera is ready this is all I get...



don't worry... there is a pillow there to break her fall!

High Chair Time

At Taylor's 4month check-up I got the go ahead from her doctor to start introducing food. As everyone knows, you start with rice cereal. I started sneaking cereal into her last bottle at 6 weeks of age so I figured I'd start with peas. It went great the first feeding, but the next day she was not excited at all. New flavors plus new way of eating do not mix. So I backed off from the peas and started with the cereal. And I'm glad to say she is doing great! Now I'm trying to make the switch from feeding in the bouncer to feeding in the high chair. I got her all hooked in, gave her some toys, and started taking pics before I fed her. Now I know she looks content in these pictures, but like most things with Taylor, it didn't last long. We are still doing the feeding in the bouncer for now, but I will try again soon. She just looks so cute sitting in her high chair!

This is What Tired Looks Like

Poor Taylor. She played so hard she just crashed out! Smack dab right there on her play gym. I laid her down to play so I could cook dinner. She started crying (new thing she does when I leave her side) but I thought, she can cry it out for a few minutes. All of a sudden there was no noise. I assumed she was watching TV (which she seems to enjoy). Then Paul walked by her on his way to the backyard, looked at her, and said, "is she dead?" I come over, take one look, and she's sleeping. It was too cute not to snap a photo. I'm sure this will not be the last time she falls asleep on this thing!

Side Note: I lay her on her back, in the middle of the play gym. First thing she does is roll to her tummy. Next, she seems to wiggle her way around. One time I found she had wiggled her way under the chair that was right next to the play gym. I tried to snap a photo but there was no time. She was REALLY mad.

Definition of a Mullet

business in the front




party in the back