Our little patient

Another souvenir Emmylou brought back from the beach last week was a nasty infection in a cyst she's had on her wrist since she was born. According to the doctor these things just happen and aren't caused by anything in particular, but it did mean she needed surgery to remove the infection. After a trip to the pediatrician followed by two trips to the surgeon between Monday and Thursday, the princess was in surprisingly good spirits at the surgery center on Friday when it was time for her procedure.

The surgery was no big deal and only took about 20 minutes, but as you can imagine, Gary and I were a little anxious about her being put under for it.  But we needn't worry because she did great and was back to her normal self about an hour afterwards. In fact, she even went bowling later that evening (pics to follow)!

We survived Spring Break 09!

So a few days before Spring Break began, my friend Elizabeth (Tripp's mom) called and suggested we take the kiddos somewhere like Sea World for a day during Spring Break since both of our husbands would be slaving away all week. Fast forward a few hours and our plans had morphed into us taking all four kids to Port Aransas for four days and three nights. If you happen to be thinking, "Wow, that sure was ambitious of them to take 2 three-year olds and 2 six-month olds to the beach," you might want to rephrase that and replace the word "ambitious" with "stupid." 

Actually, "stupid" is the wrong word, too, because in reality we had a fantastic time and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. My mistake was solely in thinking of the trip as a "vacation" because that was exactly what Elizabeth and I seriously needed by the time we pulled back into Austin. Exhausting, but a blast. 

Here are Emmylou and Tripp during the first few moments of the drive to Port Aransas. You can't tell but the car was packed.  There was so much baby gear and kid stuff that we just "had to bring" (ok, that I just had to bring) that we could've moved to Port Aransas. 

A couple of hours into the drive we heard a weird sound from the back... 

Tripp decided to open the tent for the beach.

Do you think we pulled over to put it away? No time for that! Must get to beach!

Finally, they fell asleep. A miracle of all miracles. Or maybe not, since we told them we'd give them money if they'd take naps in the car. 

A while later we arrived at the condo.

Me: "Hmmm... You guys are exhausted after a 6 hour drive? I know! Let's go to a crowded restaurant where we have to wait 30 minutes for a table!" That was fun.

Ahh... the roommates are finally settled into their beds for the night.

The next morning:

Us: "Aren't you guys so excited to go down to the swimming pool and the beach?!"

Emmylou and Tripp: [pointing at TV] "Dora's on."

Us: "Yep, that's what we drove 6 hours for."

We finally convinced them to head out to the beach except that Emmylou refused to take off her "beautiful yellow princess dress" to put her swimsuit on. Love Tripp's pirate ensemble- skull and crossbones from his head to his toes!

So lady-like.

Jumping over the waves was fun.

The babies stayed in the condo with Elizabeth...

Flirts!

The weather was beautiful. Here's the view from the condo:
When we came in from the beach it was time for a heavy-duty bath. 

Ho, ho, ho...

All spiffed up and ready to party.

Wait, you guys are exhausted again? Perfect! Let's go out to dinner! (Some mommies never learn.)
Elizabeth and I spent most of the weekend bribing or threatening Emmylou and Tripp to behave. This surprise was one such bribe:

Remember the money they "earned" by sleeping in the car? They got to go shopping:

After perusing the shells and trying on various hats, Emmylou decided what she really wanted was this "tiny pink princess cup."

Wait, let's get a closer look at that...

For those of you who can't make out what it says, let me help. It says: "Caution: Instant sex machine. Just add alcohol."

Exactly the kind of souvenir I was hoping she'd pick out! (No, I did not let her leave the store with it, people!)

The outside of the store was an amazing sand castle so we took some pics:

Throughout the vacation Miller got some quality time to put the moves on his girlfriend Tate.

"Hey, Baby."

"Come on over here."

"Your hair is so soft and silky..." [Tate, looking a little worried]

What a shame-- as Elizabeth pointed out, every single candy machine we encountered from Austin to Port Aransas had a sign that said "I'm sorry, I'm broken!" on it. Here are Tripp and Emmylou reading it for us. 

And sleeping on the way home (we didn't even have to pay them this time)...

So yes, it's difficult taking three-year olds and babies on vacation without daddies, but we really did have a great time (and besides, being outnumbered is difficult no matter where you are). Elizabeth, Tripp and Tate were so much fun to be around and Elizabeth and I were still smiling when it was all over (the wine helped a lot) so I'd definitely call it a success. We planned lots more adventures for the summer so stay tuned for more lunacy!

And on a little side note, I have to say that I have the best husband in the world. Not only did Gary repeatedly tell me how impressed he was that we took the kids to the beach ourselves (he even said things like "I don't know how you're doing it!" when we talked on the phone), but when I got back home he surprised me with a new MacBook (!) and had already asked my mom to babysit so he could take me out for a nice dinner! So sweet! Thanks, Babe, should I leave more often? :-)

Lauren + Miller

A few weeks ago Lauren was in town and I was lucky enough to get to hang out in San Antonio one Sunday afternoon with her for the tradition of "Hair Day." Yay to my awesome new highlights and cut! She really is a fantastic hairstylist and getting her to do my hair regularly was one of the highlights (yes, I can hear your pun-induced moans) of living in Baltimore. 

Anyway, I brought Miller along with me for what is sure to be the first of many girly activities he'll have to endure, but he seemed pretty happy the whole time and enjoyed getting to meet his Aunt Lauren.

Thanks, Lauren!

2-0

Apparently the Lakers are 2-0 whenever Miller wears his Lakers gear. Here are the boys watching today's game.




I have a feeling Gary will be adding a lot of purple and gold to his wardrobe in the near future.

And yes, I'm painfully aware that we are one of only a handful of Lakers supporters east of California, so no need for you Kobe-haters to leave any comments. :)

Proof

Here's proof that Miller really can sit up these days...

Emmylou is three!

Dear Emmylou,

Happy, happy birthday, Sweetie! How can it be three years already? I hardly know what to say. I guess I can start by telling you how happy I am that you're not 4 yet. I think we confused you a bit by having your birthday party last week because when we came in to tell you 'happy birthday' this morning and asked you how old you finally are, you told us "4!" Whoa-- not so fast! It took us a little while, but we finally convinced you that you are, indeed, three years old now. That's plenty old for us.

Today we took you to lunch at Mandola's and Yogurt Planet (your favorite!) for dessert before your Daddy and I gave you your present, a Rody horse. You really liked him and when I asked you what you wanted to name him, you quickly said "Fluffy." Then only a few minutes later you reconsidered and decided on "Rudolph." Yes, a girl's got a right to change her mind...

How much do we all love you? More than you love tiaras, candy and dressing up. More than absolutely anything in the whole world. How convenient that I got the sweetest, smartest, funniest and cutest little girl around! I can't begin to describe how happy you make me just by being you and how much fun I'm having on this great big adventure with you.

After you blew out a candle on a cupcake today you took it out, stuck it in mine, sang Happy Birthday to me and then told me to make a wish. I closed my eyes and the only thing I could think of was that I want to be with you forever and ever.

So that's what I wished for.

Happy birthday, Emmylou!

All my love forever,
Mommy

With her eyes closed, waiting for her present...


[Gasp!]


"I love him!"

My new house

Just wanted to let you all know that you can come visit us in Sonoma when I win the HGTV Dream House on Sunday!

Birfday Party Preview

We had Emmylou's birthday party at our house yesterday! After the kids played for about half an hour, we had a lady from Emmylou's after-school class called Just Imagine come and facilitate an hour of dress-up and story-telling. As usual, I left the picture-taking to Emily (thanks, Em!), so when I get those photos I'll post them here. For now I'm going to post a few from Tripp's blog that his mom took (thanks, Elizabeth!).

I think each kid tried on at least 5 different costumes.
Reagan and Reese trying to figure out exactly how long it would take to get each other's costume on:

Frick and Frack were up to their usual antics.
Sofia and Tripp playing around.
Tripp tried on a police uniform before settling on a combo of bright purple and white boas.
The birthday girl blew out her candles atop the 'princess cake' she requested (I know, how much do I love her to make her a princess cake?).

To the untrained eye I'm sure it looked like mass chaos, but to me it just looked like another playdate. I think the kids enjoyed themselves.

Happy birthday, Emmylou! We love you, Sweet Girl!