Fall Update

As per usual I have been very bad about posting, so here are a bunch of pics and updates from the past couple of months.  We have been keeping very busy.  Jeremy has been traveling every other week since we returned from California in July and that has kept us on our toes.

After a lot of angsting, I decided to turn down a part-time librarian position at my old school.  It was very tempting, but we are all very happy right now and I decided to just keep things the way they are and enjoy the time that I am able to be home full time with E.  At the time it was a very difficult decision but in retrospect I am more relieved than anything else.

We had to spend one day at the ER a couple of weekends ago because E came down with a very sudden very severe case of croup.  After a terrible night's sleep she could barely breathe and so we took her in.  After a few breathing treatments, some steroids and several hours of observation we were able to take her home and spend a week or so recovering.  She bounced back pretty quickly.  We spent the following weekend at the emergency dentist when one of Jeremy's root canals failed, so we are pretty much over dealing with any emergency services.

At her 18 month appointment, E was looking great.  She has grown 3 inches and lost 4 pounds with all of her activity.  It's sad to see the sweet chubby rolls disappearing . . . she's looking so grown up to me! She is a handful but also a ton of fun.  All she's saying is "Mama, Dada and Obama," which of course I am loving.  She is still signing like crazy - J and I started counting all of her signs the other day and gave up after 30.  She loves to dance, and to demand that everyone around her also dance.  Her favorite day of the week is Tuesdays because we go to library story time.  She gets extremely excited whenever we see any construction vehicles, airplanes or motorcycles.  She likes to snuggle baby dolls and to look at pictures of her baby cousin Solomon.  She will pretty much only eat food if she has a "dip dip" of some sort to dip it in.  When she wants something she yells "MAAA!!!" at the top of her lungs over and over . . . and over.  We spend lots of time outside, just taking walks around the block and saying hi to the neighbors.

Now we are in Austin visiting friends and family.  Next weekend we will fly to San Francisco - Jeremy is going for work and is taking E and I along to celebrate my birthday.  Then back home just in time for the holidays to get rolling!  Phew!

Lots of pics below covering the Grolnar happenings over the past several months.  Enjoy!

Practicing for the Olympic Torch Ceremony

Cooling off - this girl can rock a swimsuit!

Yum!

Big foot!

Giddyup!

Loves her puppies

Loving the hot air balloon festival

Haircuts are not her favorite

Monkey-watching at the zoo

First time meeting cousin Solomon.  So happy!

Loves to build with her daddy

Stylin

Grandma love

Her daddy's daughter!

E loved picking and playing with the baby pumpkins

Buddies

Enjoying the crisp fall weather at Garden of the Gods

The IPad was a lifesaver at the ER

Meow!

She was a little disturbed by the snow on the ground

Leaf collecting

Halloween!  She won a costume contest!

Vegging after a long day of being adorable

Flower field

Erin took us up to a field in Green Mountain Falls for pictures of Eliza the other night.  I wouldn't have thought much of the field, but Erin has an eye and sure enough the pictures turned out beautifully.  Eliza was NOT in a good mood and did not want to let go of my hand for a second, so it ended up being a unshowered-mommy-and-baby shoot instead of just a baby shoot :-p  Ah well, she's very much in a mommymommymommyholdmyhand stage right now, so I should have been prepared!  Also I have to say I love the crying pictures!
Enjoy :)

California Dreamin

We just got back from a nice long trek to California.  Jeremy had to go for work, so since his ticket was already paid for we decided to have Eliza and I join him and extend the trip.  We spent a week visiting with my friends Kali and Sadie from my study abroad in Italy.  We spent a few nights at Sadie's beach house outside of Santa Cruz and the rest of the time at Kali's in San Luis Obispo.  After that much-needed rest, we headed to Arcadia outside of LA where Jeremy worked for a week and Eliza and I hung out at the hotel and nearby parks.

E hit two big milestones during the trip - she got to where she is solidly walking on her own and she *finally* learned how to roll over from her back to her stomach.  Combine those two new talents and you get a girl who flips over in her crib, stands up and runs laps instead of sleeping.  She will sleep someday . . . . right???

It was great to have some time to recharge, but we're happy to be home just in time to welcome the Basharas for their annual summer visit!

Pooped after a long plane ride

(I have to clarify - the pink carseat was significantly cheaper - don't judge!) :-p

Meet our awesome rental car, "Slimer!"  

First wagon ride.  She LOVED it!

Mike the pack mule

Aunt Kali helping me give E her first "do."  She was a sad sad baby.

This little girl LOVES the beach.  She could have watched the ocean all day every day if we let her.

Playing with Kali's baby Lucy.  She is such a sweet girl and learned how to crawl while we were visiting!

Little diva

Beach fun

Splash time!

Family pic

Kali's son Mason showing E how to enjoy the beach

Kali and Mike had tons of stairs which made E very happy

Chillin and reading at the hotel

If it was up to E we would have ridden the glass elevators at the hotel ALL day every day!

We had to get our In n Out fix while in Cali