Yay! It stopped raining long enough for us to go to our club we joined to try out the pool! Actually, I've been complaining about the rain spoiling our pool weather, but we didn't even end up getting in the water once we got there today. Emmylou agreed with me that sometimes it's just as nice on a breezy day to hang out under an umbrella and catch up on some reading. We'll get in next time- we're planning on going back on Friday. I'll try to get some good action shots when we do and post them here.

Meanwhile, Emmylou is growing all over, including her hair. It's getting long enough now to sculpt into funny looking points. Here is what I did to the poor thing last night... (but doesn't she look like she thinks it's funny?)

Don't know if y'all have seen our weather on the news lately, but it has been rain, rain and more rain. We haven't actually had flooding in our area (just a leak in our roof) but it seems it's happening all around us. To avoid cabin fever, I did decide to brave the weather on Monday and took Emmylou to Ikea for the very first time. Aaaah, Ikea, how we love you. I took a couple of photos with my phone to commemorate the occasion but I only figured out today how to send the pictures to my email so I could post them here. I guess it was about time for me to learn how to do that seeing as how I've had this phone for over a year. In case anyone's interested, I got this amazing cutting board at Ikea for $9.99 which is almost exactly like the $200 one I've had my eye on at Williams-Sonoma. All I can say is that I'm thrilled that by the time we move back to Austin the new Ikea in Round Rock will be open. I'm sure Emmylou and I will be frequent visitors!

It's been a brutal last few days and nights, not just for me but for Emmylou too. I guess it's the teething, but she's been crying nonstop unless I'm holding her, and only sleeping a few hours at a time. We went out to dinner the last couple of nights and both have ended with me holding her the entire time, trying to eat with one hand so she'll stay quiet and not bother the other people in the restaurant. The picture above is of us at our favorite (Greek) restaurant, Samos. If you've come to visit us, you've likely been there, possibly more than once! We also took her to our favorite restaurant in Little Italy on Friday and the chef, Nino, took her for a walk through the place trying to get her to calm down! I ended up holding her the entire time there too, but luckily she only ended up with a little risotto on her.

But maybe things are on the mend... I'm happy to report that last night was her best night of sleeping ever! She went to bed at 9:00, slept until 7:30, ate, and then went back to sleep until 10:30! Yay!!! I think we both needed it. I hope it means we're getting back to her schedule and that maybe she's not feeling as bad as she was before.

Things here have been pretty quiet lately without much happening to blog about. It's been pretty hot so we've been staying indoors or making short trips to the grocery store or Starbucks down the street, but that's about all. Last week, however, we did do something that I haven't blogged about yet. Something disturbing... Something I'm a bit ashamed of... Something I never thought I'd make my offspring do... I MADE HER GET HER PICTURE TAKEN AT ONE OF THOSE PLACES IN THE MALL!!! Of course we wish Emily could have taken some nice portraits instead, but in desperation we took her to the Picture People to commemorate her 3 months of living in this world. Wondering why I think this is so awful? Well, I don't have anything in particular against the Picture People, it's just that it reminds me of how throughout my childhood, my sisters and I suffered through getting our pictures taken every three months at Olan Mills. EVERY THREE MONTHS! I can see that as a baby, yes, every three months is necessary to capture the major changes, but every three months during high school?! You can imagine how we felt at 17 when my mom would ask us to dress up and take Lizzie there after school to have our pictures taken. Just what every teenager wants to do. It got so bad that we started asking each time we went for whatever backdrop or props they had that we thought were the most ridiculous. I think the last one we ever took had us leaning up against a wagon wheel with a log cabin or something like that behind us. So now here I am already making my own daughter do it. I'm sure it won't be long after we move back to Texas that I'll be pulling the car over to the side of the road and making her take photos in the bluebonnets too. Anyway, I guess the worst part of taking her to the Picture People is that we didn't even like the pictures we got! Not only did she refuse to smile for most of the shots, but midway through the shoot she exploded with poop all over her outfit and all over my pants (which maybe explains why she wasn't smiling). Or it could be that she was sabotaging this type of thing early on to avoid a fate like mine... Smart girl.

After all of that, here is her "official" 3 month photo that I took the next day in our living room:

In the past week or so, Gary and I have realized that we must have produced the world's drooliest baby. I'm not kidding-- this child is like a saliva factory! Not only are her hands constantly wet from sucking and chewing on them, but her shirt is perpetually soaked from her chin to halfway down her belly. We got the baby book out today to see what the deal is-- we figured it was too early for her to be teething-- but apparently it's not. I also saw a poll on babycenter.com that said that most babies get their first teeth between 3 and 5 months, surprisingly. I guess this would also explain why she's been a little crankier lately, and I suppose if I had very sharp teeth pushing their way through the tender flesh in my mouth, I'd be a little ornery too. Poor baby!

Today was Gary's very first Father's Day! Rather than getting him a tie or bottle of Old Spice, I thought we should just break him in right away with the homemade arts and crafts project, sure to be the first of many to come. So here is Emmylou's handprint which I thought would be a relatively easy thing to do. I figured I'd just wait until she was sleeping, stick her little hand in the plaster and voila! an adorable Father's Day gift! Well, two days and two kits later, we finally got it right--and all over ourselves. But he seemed to like it so it was worth the mess. We spent today just hanging out as a family, going to a diner for lunch and then BBQ-ing some ribs for dinner (yes, we're homesick for some good, Texas ribs!). It was all really great and I don't think Gary thought about work all day for the first time in weeks. He is a wonderful dad to Emmylou so he really deserved a day to truly relax. Thank you, Gary, for everything you do for our family-- we love you so much!

Gary with both of his girls...


With Lulu and the other love of his life, the Big Green Egg...

Isn't it so nice that I'm introducing my daughter to fine literature at such an early age?

Dear Emmylou/Lulu/Emmy,

You are three months old today! I can't believe how fast the time has flown, and now we are counting your age by months rather than weeks, which is exciting but a little bittersweet. You have changed a lot this past month! You can now hold your head up really well so yesterday you and I took a walk down to the grocery store and coffee shop with you facing out in your Baby Bjorn for the first time. You had so much fun looking at everything around you-- I love watching your little eyes widen while you raise your eyebrows and take in each new color and shape. I wonder what your little brain must be thinking. A cloud! A leaf! A decaf soy latte!

You have gotten so much stronger and you're a little feisty these days but without being too cranky-- the perfect combination. I think you are already a headstrong but sweet little girl. You love to talk and smile with your daddy and me; those are definitely our favorite moments of the day. You also get so happy when I sing to you, strangely enough, and your favorites are "The Wheels on the Bus" (yes, with the hand motions) and "You Are My Sunshine."

This month you've also been obsessed with trying to suck your thumb. I keep rooting for you and while you've gotten it a couple of times, you usually end up with 10 knuckles in your mouth at once. This doesn't always bother you. You are starting to reach for toys and you love your light-up play gym-- it brings you pure joy and happiness and that makes me so happy. A few other things you can't live without right now include your Baby Mozart DVD, your Whoozit toy and your little ducky rattle-bracelet.

For the last few weeks you have been sleeping about 8 or 9 hours a night, so thank you, thank you! With all of that rest, you and I should have plenty of energy to keep exploring this new world of yours. I couldn't imagine a better task and I couldn't love you more.

Love,
Mama

We had some requests for more photos of Emmylou with Lola, so here are a couple I took recently. Although I thought Emmylou was getting really big, she still looks pretty small compared to Lola's enormous head!

Unfortunately, today Mimi had to head back to San Antonio. But here she is providing some primo napping comfort for Emmylou one last time before getting to the airport. We had so much fun with Mimi while she was here! Last night we celebrated her final evening with a fun dinner at a tapas bar with lots of delicious food and sangria. We almost didn't go because we were so afraid that Emmylou would scream and cry while we were there (she was not in a good mood when we left the house), but instead she either slept peacefully or people-watched without a single whine or whimper. Sometimes I wonder if in our attempt to acclimate her to an active lifestyle we have instead conditioned her to be bored and fussy whenever we stay home! Nevertheless, we'll try to get out of the house a little more during the days this week. I'm hoping we'll find a pool to hang out at or maybe a baby yoga class to do. Who knows what adventures we'll find!


A bit bored at home, perhaps?

Gary was in Buffalo this week on business and brought back this onesie for Lulu. Although she spit up on it about 30 seconds after I put it on her, I'm hoping that's not indicative of how she'll feel about New York in the future. Considering New York City is one of my favorite places on earth and that her Grammie has been praying she was a girl since I became pregnant just so she could take her to the American Girl Store there, I'm sure she'll go at least a few times.

Emmylou had her first karaoke moment yesterday. She was fussy so I laid her on the bed, leaned over her and started singing "You Are My Sunshine." In about 5 seconds her entire attitude changed. She spit out her pacifier and started cooing and "aaah"-ing, like she was really singing along. I'm sure it won't be long before she's belting out "Love Shack" and "I Will Survive."

Here is Emmylou in the midst of developing a plethora of complex synapses between cortical neurons (i.e., watching a 'Baby Einstein' video).

These are a lot of photos to post, but we went to the coolest place today! It's called the Ladew Topiary Gardens and we went with Mimi and Steve and Yvonne and their kids. The gardens are divided into "rooms," the most amazing probably being the Rose Room because it was in full bloom. Lulu truly enjoyed it and sat up (okay, slouched over) in a stroller for the very first time! Afterwards we went to Steve and Yvonne's house for a yummy spaghetti dinner and then enjoyed sitting outside in the cool night air chatting and admiring their pond and many beautiful acres of land.

A fox hunt...


Model dads...


The Fam (and my new hairdo!)...


Mimi, Gary and the babe in the Rose Room...


Yvonne and Maryanne in the Rose Room...


All the topiaries you might expect to see-- birds, a unicorn, Winston Churchill's tophat (what the...?!)


Buddha...


Discussing horticulture...

BREAKING NEWS... IT'S IDENTICAL TWINS!! No, Emmylou won't be getting a pair of sisters or brothers anytime soon, but rather yesterday Emily and I found out (after living a cruel, debilitating lie for 31 years) that we are actually identical and not fraternal twins! Just as we had always suspected! Of course, the DNA test is only 99.999998% accurate, but I think I'll trust the results anyway. Now I'm just trying to fathom the impact of knowing this monumental, life-altering information... As a fraternal twin, I never worried whether Emmylou would have trouble telling us apart, but now I can't help but think of how confused she'll be the next time we're all together! And isn't it strange to think that if Emily and Gary had a baby, their DNA also could have made Emmylou exactly?! These are just a couple of the issues I'll be struggling to understand in the near future. In the meantime, Emily and I are off to get matching outfits like these below.