How to keep a dog off the couch:

Pile a bunch of pillows, laptops, books, baby toys ontop of couch...no room for doggy!

Next up: How to keep a dog off the chair....

And now for the collective "ahhhh!"

What a productive weekend! Ahhh! Feels GOOD! Jay and I FINALLY got the garage cleaned out and allllll of the holiday decorations are now back in their rightful places in the attic. Geez, it only took us four months? When I started work on our garage, I could barely move around b/c of all of the bikes, strollers and other baby goods, boxes of decorations and baby clothes, and leftovers from replacing our floors. Finally, though, you could park our car in the garage! And everything is ORGANIZED. AND the dreadful old carpet has been hauled away! Now to tackle that pile of clean laundry on my bed....

The fabulous Brittani Louise is at it again!!!

Click here to see Baby's 12 month pics!

Thanks britt, those pics of her in the grass were exactly what I was picturing in my head....and the way you caught all of her little expressions and funny personality...is priceless. You cannot put any sort of value on pictures like these!

No blizzards here....

Mom and dad are experiencing blizzard conditions, and we are basking in the 80-degree sun! Hard to believe we live in the same state. Though we aren't having any crazy weather at the moment, earlier this week, the aTx did get some crazy hail. Most of everyone I know now has a dented car, at the least. Some people lost entire windshields and will be getting new rooftops on their houses.

Freaky weather!

Check out our friend's Jetta:

cravings....

No, not that kind of craving.

This kind:

Some info here and there....

Lots of things going on...spring has sprung! With the first day of Spring, we celebrated my brother's birthday. We also celebrated the arrival of pollen! My allergies have once again been fully affected. I didn't have any problem with them while I was pregnant/nursing...I wonder why that is? But here I am, all stuffy, watery-eyed and itchy-mouthed. The grass is starting to turn green, trees and flowers are blooming and Austin-ites are consuming local honey at new rates. :D The only thing I hate worse than the cedar is....SPIDERS! The first of our 8-legged friends made his appearance on our porch last night when I arrived home with arms full of groceries. Ick. Already!?

Scooty is growing, growing, growing. We've FINALLY made the switch to "people food." She is currently enjoying some Cheerios and raisins for her morning snack. We celebrated her 13 month with a Little Einstein's Scooter. We were so shocked when she knew EXACTLY how to make it move. I love watching her play, especially the older she gets. You can really see her mind cranking!

March was the month of weddings, and we are finally settling back into a routine. Congrats to Chris and Sarah, Laura and Brad, and Lori and Anthony! Here's a pic of E and myself after Laura and Brad's nuptials.



March in Austin also means South By Southwest was in town. Jay got to take in some new music at the Don't Mess With Texas Fest in Waterloo Park on Saturday. While he was doing that, my bro (D) and I enjoyed an Austin City Limits taping with Ben Harper and the Relentless7. I'll let you know the airdate and you should all watch, b/c I'm sure we'll be on television, dancing up a storm (front row, baby!).

Also, in blog-news...I've uploaded some of my OLLLLLLD blogs from good ol' myspace onto this blog. You can check them out in 2005 and there's more on up into 2006/2007.

Happy Spring!

Things to do:

Realize what you did wrong.
Take responsibility for your actions.
Accept the punishment for wrong actions.
Seek heartfelt forgiveness.
Rinse and do not repeat.

We learned a valuable lesson today....

When one hears baby quietly playing in room, content with being alone....check on baby. Baby may have found brand new bag of 500 wipes and MIGHT be emptying them on her bedroom floor.

You might then have to learn how to put 500 wipes back in a resealable bag.

OR part with said wipes.

oh....yeah....

ME: I get real frustrated how when sometimes I push the "on" button for the tv in the living room and the cable doesn't come on. then i can push the button "off' and then back "on" five times and it finally comes on. why is that?

J: That remote is kinda funky. I need to set up the good remote with our new cable.

ME: but it works every time in the bedroom. just not here. annoying.

J: IT’s because HDMI has a delay in the switching-the other remote will fix it. Trust me, little tech novice.

ME: you make me giggle.

Just an ordinary update.

Lots has been happening here at the house, and other places too, hence the lack of an update. In the past two weeks, we've been to two amazing weddings, thrown a bachelorette slumber party at our house, had 12 hour work projects due over the weekend, gone to an Austin Aztec soccer game, gotten 1 year pictures made for Scooty, had two sleepovers at cousin D's house, one sleepover at Mim's house, and there's another wedding this weekend that A is making an appearance as the matron-of-honor.

Baby has been in the mood for playing dress-up lately. One of her favorite activities during the day is to bring me shirts or pants from her hamper and motion for me to put them on her. She also likes to carry around a clutch purse of mommy's and put on headbands. Be afraid, be very afraid.

The adults of the casa have scheduled a retreat in May. I will be visiting Las Vegas for the first time in my life, and J couldn't be more excited to take me there. We will be there for a couple of days and then we are flying out to Seattle where we will hang out on top of the Whole Foods, walk to Pike Street Market, and check out the EMP (Experience Music Project). THEN, on the last four days of our trip, we are heading to Sasquatch Festival! We are so excited. We haven't had a vacation like this since our honeymoon in Switzerland.

We are recommending Orbitz right now b/c their hotels are 20% off when you book your airfare. Or something like that. :D

A shopping list:

Floor cleaner for laminate floors (recommendations welcome)
Shoes to wear in next week's wedding (silver, with heel that won't sink into mud)
Bachelorette party gift (something PG rated)
Wedding gift (something off registry?)
Wedding outfit (probably pants, due to clumsiness and dry skin)
Last-minute-babysitter-in-a-bottle (HELP!!!)