Lulu is finally back to normal! I took her to the pediatrician yesterday and her Strep test was negative so we figure she just had a little virus.

After four days of sitting at home doing nothing, it felt great this morning to get out to the hike and bike trail for a walk and to feed the ducks (which didn't show up so we fed some turtles). We also did some marathon grocery shopping at HEB, hit music class, went to my friend Meghan's house for a swim and then met Em at Zocalo for dinner. Gee, I wonder how she got so worn out in the first place?

BTW, further proof that she's on the mend: I only had to watch The Wonder Pets Save the Baby Squirrel three times today. Thank God it's only a 12 minute segment.

Since I don't have any photos of Emmylou to post today and my life has been rather squirrel-centric lately, I thought I'd share this picture with you from Cute Overload a while back:



I mean, who makes sweaters for squirrels?!

I don't know, but I'd probably like them. A lot.

Emmylou's been really clingy this week but just when I was about to consult the manual on what to do for a new phase of separation anxiety, all was explained on Saturday afternoon by the onset of a pretty high fever that's still persisting. She also keeps telling me that her "mouth hurts" and pointing pretty far in there, so I'm assuming it's her throat and thinking she probably has strep throat. Of course her pediatrician is closed today since it's Memorial Day but hopefully we'll get in tomorrow and find out what's going on.

Since we haven't left the house in a couple of days, it's been a Wonder Pets marathon weekend and I think we've watched the episode where the WP's save a baby squirrel who's feet are stuck to the tracks of a roller coaster by cotton candy in Coney Island at least twelve times. And the day isn't over yet.

I've also gotten caught up on my gossip mag reading (which I'd mostly lost interest in ever since their obsession with "The Hills" stars set in), but I'm just a little annoyed with this cover photo:



Not that I would ever compare myself with Angelina Jolie in any way, but this is what she looks like pregnant with only four weeks to go with twins? Any of you who have seen my belly lately can attest to the fact that mine is already much larger with only one baby at 25 weeks. I'm just thrilled I have the rest of the summer to swell exponentially in the stifling Texas heat and humidity.

Love is all around...



I noticed this heart when I was cutting up an eggplant last night! Maybe posting it will help make up for what Gary refers to as the "creepy feet picture" I uploaded for the last post.

We spent another great weekend out at Grammie's lakehouse last week. My aunt, Jane, was in town from Tennessee, so after hanging out at the lakehouse together, she came to Austin on Monday to check out our house along with Emily's, Lizzie's and Carol's.

Here's a photo of Jane playing with Emmylou's very scary, leopard-print (caught at Mardi Gras) snake:





And with Grammie...



Grammie had an owie on her big toe and Emmylou not only put a band-aid on it, she put a sympathy band-aid on her own big toe in the exact same place...



And Carol was looking in Emmylou's mouth trying to figure out what she had to eat for lunch (Lou thought this was very funny)...

Someone has finally conquered her fear of the vacuum cleaner!



Apparently her desire to "I help" was stronger than the terror associated with the loud noise.

Happy Mother's Day! To all of the mothers and grandmothers we love out there, we hope you had a wonderful day. Mine was fantastic, although I think Emmylou was even happier than I was that we decided to ditch our usual attempt at a homemade gourmet Mother's Day brunch and opted for doughnuts instead (many thanks to my sweet husband who braved Krispy Kreme this morning on what must have been their busiest day of the year)...



Afterwards we took the Lou to Kiddie Acres again for some rides since the weather was beautiful but too cool for swimming. I'm sure you're sick of seeing photos of her there, but I thought this one was kind of funny:



And I had to get a photo of her and me... it's our last 1:1 Mother's Day!



It's hard to believe this is our third Mother's Day together. Here are photos from the first and second...

This week has continued in craziness. Emmylou has learned how to open doorknobs so her sleep schedule has been completely turned upside-down now that she thinks she has the freedom to be up at any hour, wherever she wants to be (Mommy's bed). I never went to bed last night until 4:30 a.m.! I'm exhausted but I leave in about an hour for a highly anticipated weekend trip to Port A with my book club. Maybe Emmylou has just been trying to make it easier for me to leave. If so, she's done a really good job over the past few days. I'll miss her, but not those meltdowns she's had lately. Good luck, Gary...

I'll leave you all until next week with some photos Em took of Emmylou on Tuesday. I love them and if any relatives out there would like copies (grandparents are already covered), just leave a comment or send me an email.