Murder Mysterious

Our friends the Heinrichs hosted the most amazing murder mystery dinner.  Ari was mysterious about everything, all the way down to receiving the invitation.  She left a wax sealed beautiful card on our front porch giving us instructions on who we were supposed to dress up like and what our new identities would be.  Chase and I were Charlie Chairman and Audrey Hepburned. Of course the party fell on the night that we moved back into the house.  I was so busy with packing and moving that we almost didn't go. Basically we threw on whatever we had in the wig box and in our closets. Audrey would have to be blond for the night! Apparently it worked because we won best costumes!  

So, for years and years and YEARS I have dressed my family up for the trunk or treat in matching outfits with high hopes of winning some sort of costume prize.  It's never happened and the only prize I've ever won is for "best looking pie" and guess what...it wasn't good looking at all!  I put it in a cute pie dish and it was a basic Libby's pumpkin pie. No frills.  But you better believe I was suuuuuper excited about winning because it was the first time I've really ever won anything (other than my Chase of course).

So of course I was shocked because we literally put these wigs over our sweaty heads and peeled off our dirty moving clothes about 15 minutes before the party started.  Isn't that how it always is?  When you bust your buttons making elaborate costumes every Halloween to no avail (other than your kiddos looking ridiculously adorable); and then when you barely try at all, you come home with the prize. I guess my new "I have 4 kids and I don't try as hard" motto is working for me!  Carry on! 

To say the party was "elaborate" wouldn't do it justice.  This was planned to absolute perfection!  And Ari gave birth about a week later too. I don't know how she did it all.  

I'm so glad we decided to go even though all odd were against us.  

I'll always love dressing up with Chase.

The Trio comes to Austin

To say I had a great weekend would be a HUGE understatement.  Our husbands were in cahoots for a few months trying to figure out a way to fly us all to Vegas for the weekend.  All of us have had a pretty rough year and these men in our lives knew we needed a break! They also knew that the best way to lighten our moods was to get the three of us together.  I have a tendency to peek into Chase's texts, just because I think they're interesting.  Not because I think he has anything to hide.  Well, this time we was trying to hide something and I found out!  I'm actually glad I did because I brought to light that we were currently in possession of two houses.  The Gordon's and the Cannon's.  Our home was nearly finished.  All that was left was the kitchen back splash and the fireplace. These things were supposed to be done weeks earlier but the stupid tile guy we hired apparently can't tile.  Who'da thunk?!  A tile guy who can't tile!  Well if anyone would end up hiring such an idiot, it would be the Cannons.  We're really good at finding the worst possible contractors in Austin.  I could write a book!  So I called the girls and spilled the beans.  We were going on a trip but I wanted them to come here instead.  Las Vegas is for the birds....the hot pink feathered ones with high heels and orange tans!!  Austin is such an incredible city and I couldn't wait to show it off to my favorite people!

They were able to change their flights and were all set to come see me!!  I originally thought we could all stay at the newly remodeled house but it still wasn't quite ready for visitors. So Chase and the kids moved over to Tracton Lane for the weekend while the girls and I took over the Gordon's house.  It was perfect to have two places for everyone!  I felt bad kicking Chase out because we really weren't there most of the day.  Only slept there. We were too busy seeing the sights, sounds, and eating our way through Austin!   

We slept in until 11 and then went to Kerby Lane where we ate so much food Jess thought we were joking with the waiter.  "Is there a plate where we can get everything?  Eggs, bacon, potatoes, fruit, toast, pancakes?  We want it all!!"  And Andrea and I snarfed it ALL down.  It was breakfast AND lunch by the time we finished.   They were getting a small taste of the food here in Austin.  I was hoping they would love it so much, they'd want to pack up and move their families here too! 

I took them to South Congress for a few photo ops.  They couldn't believe how many boots were in Allen's!  

I mentioned a Segway tour and they were totally on board!  Now, the three of us on Segways was bound to produce a few laughs.  I think we drove our group crazy! Having no kids made us hyper.  We came up with a synchronized Segway routine and raced them at the capitol.  I yelled out to a couple of college student boys watching us "You know you're jelly!  You know you want to get on here!" I didn't realize how cougar I sounded and looked until the girls just about fell off their Segways from laughing so hard.  They explained to me that because you have to thrust your body back and forth to stay balanced on a Segway, I actually looked like I was giving a dirty invitation.  What I meant to say was "you know you want to be on a Segway tour too."  It just didn't come out that way.  The looks on the students' faces were priceless.  "Who is that nasty old lady wearing a helmet on a Segway? " "You know you're jelly" became the theme of the trip after that! We were so uncool we were hot!!

We ate at all my favorite places.  Torchy's was a winner.  They loved the queso!!

We ate beets and sweet potatoes from Fresas too.  We needed to counteract all the bad calories we had already eaten with some semi-healthy veggies. No matter that they were drowning in olive oil and covered with creamy sauces. I love the food here!!

I couldn't believe it when our Segway guide told me the bats were back in February, but I had to show the girls just in case they were.  I've never seen them back so early in the year before!  Despite the fact this means we're up for a grueling summer, I'm so glad these girls got to see the wonders of the South Congress Bat Bridge! 

I couldn't let them go home without eating a savory doughnut from Gourdough's Public House.  They make sandwiches on a doughnut!! My favorite  is the New Jack City.  A runny egg, bacon, cheese and grape jelly.  I dream about this brunch item WAY too often!

The girls asked me how people in Austin stay thin with all the delicious food options.  The only thing I could think of is that we sweat it off in the summers and work it off running around Lady Bird Lake.  Austin is such an active city.  If the weather is nice, people are always outside exploring and burning calories! 

We did a little calorie burning of our own.  Actually they did.  I just sat in the middle while they rowed me around Town Lake.  Three people rowing a canoe just doesn't work.   I looked ridiculous but thoroughly enjoyed the ride!

We even got a kind group of people to take our picture and text it to us.  I ask someone every time I'm canoeing down there and my visitors always think I'm crazy.  But they're are always happy when they get the picture.  It's the only way to see our beautiful city.  Even if it's kind of an overcast kind of day. 

We were actually grateful for the clouds because we weren't too hot canoeing and biking!   

When I'm walking these trails with my Austin ladies, I'm always jealous of the people riding bikes on the boardwalk.  It looked so dreamy.  I was determined to get us down there too.  Such a fun ride around the city! 

And we climbed trees (well, I did) because we could.  No kids = do whatever the heck you want!

I also was very jealous of the people I always see laying in the park when I walk by with my heavy double stroller.  We took full advantage of our free hands and enjoyed soaking in conversation and sun with no interruptions. 

It was just what the overtired, stressed and semi crazy mommies needed.  The flood, moving and renovations was totally consuming me.  I was so busy cleaning the Gordon's house every other day so that interested buyers could see a sparkling home.  The stress got to the point where I forgot to pick George up from preschool.  It didn't even cross my mind!! Thank goodness for friends in Austin who pick up my slack and for college rommies for coming out and giving me a weekend off from my worries.  Now, if I can just get these roomies to move here.  My life would be complete!

Happy Birthday Valentine's Day

It happens almost daily.  I think about the year 2014 when Chase and I were debating whether or not to add a 4th child to the mix of our already crazy family.  I think about how our family just didn't feel complete.  I think about how overwhelmed I was at the thought of being pregnant again and birthing another baby again.  Giving up my body and basically life for 2 years again.  And then I think about how grateful I am that we took the plunge.  We went for it! We decided against all odds that we were going to have another baby and it was going to be a girl.  Every dang day when I look at this baby, see her smile, and hear her laugh I say to myself  "I can't believe we almost didn't have you."  Liza is our caboose, our glue, our book end, our everything.  We all love her so much! 

While looking at that tiny little person in the top left corner, I think I would give just about anything to lay her on my chest and watch her breath with her mouth open.  I love, love, love new little babies.  There's a reason I drop everything to visit a friend with a new baby in the hospital.  When I hold them and even walk into the room where they are sleeping, heaven is near.  The veil is thin and I know I am in the presence of a tiny little angelic being. 

New babies are also HARD!!  No sleep, mustard poop, spit up, nursing, and basically never leaving the house.  But even with the memory of how difficult the first few months of life are for the whole family, I still keep staring at that baby in the top left corner, wishing I could jump through my screen and back through time.  

It's a good thing this was the last monthly photo shoot.  Getting Liza to sit in that tiny Bumbo was extremely challenging.  Chase was trying his best to get her to smile but just keeping her in the frame proved to be the most difficult task of all.   

We tried every trick in the book!  

Turns out Liza just wanted to walk!  She had been standing for a few weeks when we finally got around to taking her 12 month pictures. After we basically gave up on getting a good shot, Liza decided to take her first steps.  Luckily we had our cameras on hand and Chase filmed her walking to me right there in front of her Bumbo and backdrop.  It was as if she was proving to us physically that she was DONE taking these stupid pictures every month!! I was hoping she would wait to walk until we got back into our home, and wait she did.   March 3rd.  2 weeks after her birthday and 3 days after we moved out of the Gordon's house.  Good girl!

As I said before, I was worried she would start walking before her birthday.  She was standing all the time without support and we even caught her taking a step or two before she would grab onto a bed or shelf.  All of a sudden she was a foot taller and on her way to pulling everything off shelves and anything else she had earned the right to claim.  

I loved watching her challenge herself.  This one is a go-getter! 

I also loved catching her give George a snuggle.  Everyone wishes she'd do the same with them, but she only has eyes for big brother George.  Maybe it's because they're the ones home all day together, or perhaps it's because George is just the BEST!  Who wouldn't want to squeeze such a squishy little guy?!

We are down to our last bags of breast milk.  Liza LOVES these bottles. She's gotten very good at holding them on her own now.  I'm so glad I pumped so much those first few months.  Liza got her mommy milk all the way to 13 months!  Ideally I would love to nurse these babies of mine forever (I really would...) but once the little cherubs start biting me, the party is over.  

  

Even if she can hold the bottle herself, Sadie loves holding her while she eats because it's the only time she ever sits still and cuddles.  We all want a piece of that! 

And sometimes Liza wants a piece of our queso.  

That right there is a true blue Texas baby!

This is the sweet face I get to see when Liza wakes up in the morning!  So glad she isn't sleeping in a dark closet anymore!! 

Because Liza is basically mobile, she's into EVERYTHING!!  She LOVES dirty diapers.  I have to take them straight to the garage after changing her or else I will catch her opening them up and poking around the poop.  Lately when I change her, I throw the diaper across the room to pick up later.  She ALWAYS retrieves the diaper and hands it to me saying "poop poop!" 

I think her first word was actually "Thank You" but sounding more like "dee doo".  She's also very good at saying "uh oh."  She says this ALOT!!  Every time she drops something from her high chair or spills Cheerios all over the floor, we hear it over and over again.   

She's just into everything these days.  Loves emptying drawers in my bathroom and tupperware from the kitchen cabinet. We stopped at NFP to say hello on the way home from Trader Joes, and she helped herself to emptying all of their drawers too! 

Always moving and always shaking, unless of course, George is flying his remote control helicopter.  That takes serious concentration for both the flier and the observer. 

Liza loves being outside.  Whenever she is having a rough time going to sleep, Chase will take her out the front door to look at the stars and feel the wind.  It always calms her down.  She is always content when we are out and about exploring.  Although lately she's been wanting to do her own exploring outside of the front pack.  Here she comes world! 

Where's Liza?

There she is!! 

Liza has the biggest smile of any baby I've ever seen.  It takes up her whole face when she's happy! 

Can you guess who she's smiling at next to the bathtub  It wasn't me?  Dad is WAY more fun! 

Her mouth takes up her whole face when she's sad too.  I believe Liza will never have a problem expressing herself or communicating with others.  

She could never stand to be ignored. 

Lately she's enjoyed high pitch shrieking.  It's terrible and driving all her fans away!

The worst was when she got some shots at her 12 month check-up with Dr. Woods. She didn't shriek per say, but was so dramatically upset, she took her Bah, placed it over her head and just wailed.  Poor baby!! 

Obviously Liza's birthday is on Valentine's day but it also fell on a Sunday this year.  I called my Mom to see if she had a valentine dress for her to wear to church.  She sent me the sweetest little dress and shoes.  Liza looked like Hallmark exploded all over her and absolutely darling at the same time!

She fell asleep on the way home from our 3 hour block.  I was able to transfer her to her crib and then got to stare at her for a while. It's pretty apparent that I'm obsessed with this kid, right? 

When she woke up I subjected the poor thing to yet another photo shoot.  She looked too cute!!  I had to document it! 

We went over to our newly remodeled house because the Gordon's have zero natural light in their home.  I love these new white walls and gray carpet.  I also love an empty room without furniture. Pretty soon it will be covered in tiny pieces of Legos and smell like stinky boys.   

Pretty sure this is my favorite picture of Liza EVER!!

My friend Kjerston made Eliza the sweetest little cake.  It also looks like a Hallmark explosion!

Liza loved picking off the heart sprinkles and putting them in her mouth.  We weren't interested in a "cake smash" because we wanted to share the cake with the family that night after dinner.  Besides it made me feel bad after all the work Kjerston did to make it look so fabulous! 

It really was the cutest little cake!  

Liza was so tired at the end of the day she wasn't very interested in opening any presents and barely enjoyed her cake too.  Pretty typical of most of our 1 year old birthday experiences.   

She slept in the most perfect "born on Valentine's Day" pajamas.  They were Sadie's 8 years ago and have a birthday cupcake AND hearts all over them. Match made in birthday pajama heaven! 

A few days later we got all the February babies together for a big birthday fiesta!

They looked so cute sitting there together with their little cupcakes.  

"Do you know what's going on here?"

"Do you?"

"Guess we just eat this cake? 

I can make that happen."

She loved it! 

Once released, Liza went around greeting all her guests! 

It was the perfect little party for these sweet little babies.  Still can't believe they are all one!  Makes me think babies (and kittens) should stay little forever!

Now that she's a year old and likes to shriek in her rear facing car seat, I will occasionally turn her around for small trips around the neighborhood.  All of a sudden. she LOVES being in the car.  I can't make a habit of it because she only weighs 17 pounds!! 

Happy 1st Birthday my amazing little Eliza Jane.  Love you ridiculously and honestly savor each moment I get to be your mother.  You bring out the happy in everyone around you and I can't wait to see your smiling face in the morning.