J squared + 1: November 2011

I have gotten so behind on posting pictures, things have been crazy around here the past few months. At the beginning of October we took a last-minute trip to Austin. Jeremy's work schedule has been kind of nuts and he figured out on a Monday that if we didn't leave by that Thursday we were not going to be able to squeeze in a trip to Austin this year between all his work travel and the holidays. I spent the week scrambling to get ready (packing for a baby is hard!) and we left on time. We put Eliza down to sleep in her carseat instead of her crib that night and drove straight through to Dallas where we hung out with Jeremy's boss and his husband for the day. We did the last few hours to Austin a few hours after Mike fixed us a delicious dinner.

We had a blast in Austin - the trip was a whirlwind. Jeremy's mom and grandma came out for a day so Eliza got to meet her great grandma for the first time. Almost every lunch and dinner was booked - we got to see so many people and eat so much delicious food. While we were there I painted Isabella a mural in her room - it's about as girly as you can get, and fits Isabella perfectly. Our drive home was a little rougher than our drive out, mostly because we didn't have a place to stop and let E play at the 11-hour mark like we had on our way to Austin. All in all though, she really did great and I'm sure we will stick with the overnight driving in the future so she can sleep most of the trip.

After ten days in Austin, we got home and Jeremy's dad and stepmom made a trip out to visit us the following weekend. This was their first time to meet E and it was a whole lot of fun. We kept busy all weekend, hiking, cooking delicious meals and taking scenic drives. It was a wonderful visit and E did remarkably well considering we just kept dragging her all around town.

After Jon and Pamm left, it was time to get ready for the Halloween party - it turned out to be a lot of fun, with amazing chili, s'mores, pumpkin painting for the kiddos and lots of fun costumes.

Jeremy is going to be out of town a lot in the coming weeks which neither of us are thrilled about, but I am counting down the days until our Thanksgiving in Santa Fe this year. Also, the Basharas will be out for a week or so before we head that way, so that will be tons of fun I'm sure. When we get back from Thanksgiving we're home for a week and then off to St. Croix (7 flights total - ugh!) for a week.

Eliza is still doing great - she had her six month appointment last week and the doctor says she is thriving. She was especially impressed with her sitting so well on her own. She said we don't need to worry that she rarely rolls because the sitting is the next step and it's okay to skip steps in gross motor. That's a relief because tummy time was getting to be my most dreaded time of the day since E hated it so much. E's fine motor is also looking great, she's able to pick up a pacifier off the ground and turn it around until it's the right way before sticking it in her mouth. And of course all of her measurements are still putting her between the 95th and 97th percentile so no worries there. We've decided to delay solids at least until we get back from St. Croix in December and potentially until 12 months, so that's one less thing to worry about. All in all she's doing great and a joy to be around.

And finally - tons and tons of pictures in no particular order!

At Kerbey Lane in Austin - this guy randomly came up to me and said he had taken some beautiful pictures of me with my daughter and could he email them to me . . . uuuuuh sure??