J squared + 1: March 2012

We got late last week from a last-minute trip to Austin. Jeremy's work schedule suddenly lightened up (read: 40 hour weeks instead of 60 hour weeks) and so he suggested we book it to Texas before their summer kicks in. We still had two days in the low 90s while we were there, but overall it was a very pretty time to visit. We drove overnight both there and back and Eliza did remarkably well. We have a good little traveller on our hands. Funnily enough I was worried about her sleeping even worse than normal in a new place but she slept better in Austin than she had been at home. Of course now that we're back she's resumed her insomniac ways. I wish I could figure out why! Ah well.

Josh, Chandra and Izzy were awesome hosts as per usual and didn't bat an eyelash when we decided to stay an extra few days. We had planned to be in Austin for a little over a week and when it came time to leave we just didn't feel like we had seen all the people and done all of the things that we wanted to, so we stayed on for another four days and it was the perfect amount of time. We were happy to get home but didn't feel too rushed.

Pretty much all we did on our trip was stuff ourselves with Tex-Mex (ooogh tight jeans!) and visit friends and family. My cousin Charlie and his wife Kari had their second little one two days before we arrived so we got to snuggle a brand new baby. Eliza had a lot of fun playing with other babies and old friends. She is a pretty happy baby these days - as long as she has mom or dad nearby. Stranger anxiety makes it so she doesn't like to be held by new people but as long as she's in our arms she is happy to play peek-a-boo and flirt like a pro.

We came home to much colder weather, but I was excited to find my iris and tulips starting to poke up in the front yard. Which means - time to get my act together for the garden! Now that I'm home with Eliza I am determined to buckle down and be more organized about my vegetable beds in the back - up to now I've just thrown things in higgledy-piggledy and had mixed results. I have a feeling that by planting time I'll have Eliza back there with me toddling around. She's cruising on the furniture pretty well and I bet she's walking before we know it!