No messy me yip goss.

So Gaby is totally into lip gloss these days. She is definitely becoming a true girlie-girl and I love it! My favorite thing is when she dresses up in her big girl panties, her high heels, her purse, her jewels and, of course, her lip gloss. It's hilarious! Because when she puts on the gloss, she gets this perpetual pucker. And the girl does have the most beautiful lips! I desperately need my camera back to get a picture of that. Have I mentioned how much I miss my camera?? Oh, and that it's costing $330 to get it fixed? Should have never been dropped. But I digress..... The funniest thing, though, is that when she gets all glossed up and her daddy asks her for a kiss she says- "No messy me yip goss." With a very serious, all business tone of voice. We just crack up!!! This girl is too cute :)

Great news!!

Guess who's going to be a big sister in a few months???

That's right! Candie is pregnant and we are all super excited!!

Gaby can't wait to meet her first baby cousin :)

Stop by Mia's blog to read the great news.

How fun!

Laurel caught these two great pictures w/her camera...

Mimi & Papa's House

This weekend we ventured over to Orange, TX to celebrate Papa's B-day and Father's Day. Candie, Steven and Mia were driving back from their vacation in Florida so we got to spend a little time w/them too! The girls got to decorate a birthday cake for Papa... Gaby was very proud of her accomplishments.

Mia was sooooo over it!
Lighting the candles was mesmerizing!!
Happy B-day to Papa!!!
Then the girls partied like it was Mardi Gras '09...

This is what I get when I ask for a smile- *sigh*.

But notice Gaby's very festive Father's Day pjs :)

So Mimi and Papa have grown the most beautiful garden. It was so neat to not only see all the awesome fruits & veggies they've grown but to also taste them. The corn was a.m.a.z.i.n.g!! Gaby & I ate soooo much corn this weekend- yum!!

Here she is picking a cucumber....

Woo-hoo!!!

And we finished off the weekend roasting marshmellows for Smores. They were oh so good!!

Mimi & Papa's house is so fun b/c of all the open space to run and have explore. Even Rosko & Ozzie love going there! And most importantly, our tummies are always kept full and happy :)

Happy Father's Day, to my sweet husband!

Here's to giving the splashiest baths, being the best horsey to ride on, making the yummiest yogurt & granola, reading the same stories over & over w/a smile, being a fun trampoline to jump on, and giving the tickiliest tickles ever!!!

Gaby is one lucky girl to have such a great daddy :)

Beatin' the Heat!!

It's been HOT!!! Around 99-100 degrees everyday. Central Texas is in a drought, if you hadn't heard. So we tried our best to beat the heat w/Lulu & Carlos this week. One day we headed to the water sprays at Auditorium Shores. They felt great! We had dinner at one of our favorite lakefront dives- Ski Shores!
Another day we headed to Zilker Park. First we rode on the train...
And then we took a dip at Barton Springs Pool. This pool is fed by a spring and stays a chilly 67-68 degrees year round. That is pretty chilly for swimming, but felt so good in this heat! This is what you feel like once you jump in. Brrrrrrrr!!!
The princess did not approve of the temperature and wouldn't get in much further than her knees. So her and I mainly just dipped our feet in. But she definitely had fun watching Lulu & Carlos swim....
It's always so much fun to have Lulu and Carlos over. Gaby has a blast w/her cousins! She loves them so :)

Lulu & Carlos are here!!!

Lulu and Carlos came to spend the week w/us!!! Yipee!!
Last night for dinner we went to the County Line and fed the turtles that hang out there....

Aren't they cute??

Extra Special Visitor

This weekend we had an extra special visitor. Mimi & Papa brought Gaby's Great, Great Aunt Laverne to visit us here in Austin. She came all the way from Virginia to spend time w/ family and made time in her busy schedule to come see us. We couldn't have been happier to be able to spend time w/her and hear all of her amazing world travel stories. Gaby took to her
"Ad-vern" immediately and had so much fun playing w/ her. Aunt Laverne is an amazing woman w/the energy of a teenager. At 80 yrs old, she is exactly how I would want to be at that age- fun, easy going, interesting and as healthy as can be. It really was wonderful to see her again and to have Gaby meet her great, great aunt!

Watching the cars go by w/Papa...
Going for a walk...

My Camera is DEAD

You read correctly. And you know how much I looooove my camera. Byron accidentally dropped it in Florida and now the flash is all messed up. I feel really weird without it. This blog is all about the pictures. Initially, I was pretty upset w/ Byron but I have gotten over it. Obviously, he didn't do it on purpose but it could have been avoided. I. Am. Over. It. I still need to take it in and probably will be w/out it for many, many weeks. So until I get it back, I have to take pics w/ my old point and shoot- ugggg.

Keenut Budder

Around here, we are obsessed with keenut budder. Can you figure out what it is??

Peanut Butter.

Gaby loooooves it! And almost everyday asks for a peanut butter sandwich. The only other food she asks for as much is yogurt.

Peanut butter is nutritious. Right? Maybe?? Protein, good fats? I think it's better than wanting fried chicken fingers all the time. No?

Potty Update

I know you've been dying to know what's been going with the potty training ;)

Well folks, I am so happy to report that Gaby is like 95% potty trained!! Something just sort of clicked in Florida. My sweet girl got over her fear of releasing the flow (and the other) and has been doing awesome ever since :)

She wore pull ups for the week we were gone to help w/ any accidents but once we got home she's been soley wearing big girl panties. And she's done beautifully! We are very proud of her and more importantly, you can tell how proud she is of herself.

I still say only 95% b/c she's still wearing a diaper at night. I hesitate to get rid of that b/c I wouldn't want to be woken up at night for the potty. Although, I'm not sure she does that much?

Anyway, one step closer to officially being a big girl. It's really crazy how fast they grow up. *sigh*

Anna Maria Island 2009

We had our 2nd annual trip to Anna Maria Island, Florida and we had such a amazing time! We met up w/one of my best friend's from college, Laurel, and her handsome brood of boys- her husband, Josh, Cole, the almost 4 yr old, and Brady, the 20 month old. And she is currently pregnant w/ her 3rd boy- yikes!!

Our flight to Florida was so cool b/c it was really the first time Gaby was aware of what she was doing. She's been on planes a couple of times before, but this time was like the first! She got such a thrill from taking off and going "up in de sky"!! She brought all her needed supplies to make her trip fun and LOVED carrying a backpack. Of course, Baby Holt was is tow- we couldn't leave town w/out her :) We even got to say hello to the pilots and visit the cockpit!

We arrived in Tampa and had decided to stay one night there so we could go to the Lowry Park Zoo. It's supposed to be one of the best zoos in the country and it did not disappoint. The best part was feeding the giraffes! You can't fully appreciate how big those creatures are until you are face to face w/one. Wow!! And they've got the longest tongues I've ever seen! The pictures from there are priceless.

Once on the island, our daily schedule was pretty much the same every day. Wake up, breakfast, beach, pool, lunch, nap, beach, pool, shower, dinner, play, bed and repeat. Just what the doctor ordered :) So relaxing and so much fun! One day, Laurel's dad (who lives on the island) took Laurel and I, Cole and Gaby out for some fishing. Riding on a boat was really neat and we even caught a little fish. Another day, we headed to a park in the morning b/c the ocean was a little rough. But the rest of the time it was beach schedule as usual.

We love visiting Anna Maria because it is such a gorgeous beach- we are talking turquoise water and white powder sand! And it is just a sleepy little town so we really get to relax and have the beach all to ourselves. No big crowds to get in your way, or your pictures :) We stayed in this great little condo and literally had the pool all to ourselves everyday. Gaby had such a blast running on the beach, searching for seashells, jumping the waves and swimming like a little fish in the pool. She was ALL about the pool! I think she was getting such a thrill from jumping in and swimming underwater that she tended to want to get in there more. We really tried to impress on her that the ocean and the beach are a once, maybe twice, a year thing and she should appreciate it. But try getting that concept through to a two year old! She had so much fun w/her friends, Cole & Brady. All the kids got along so great and played really well together.

We really love going to Anna Maria and will hopefully be able to make it a yearly trip. I want Gaby to have lasting memories of our time there. We are always so happy to be able to hang out w/ the Griffins and look forward to many, many more visits to the island.

Sidenote: As you will notice from the following slideshows, I am in maybe one picture as is the story of my life :) One of the pitfalls of being the family photog. So in order to compensate for that, I hired a photographer again this year to take our family portraits. We should have those pictures w/in a few weeks and I will post them as soon as I get them. Can't wait!

Wondering where I've been??

We were on vacation in beautiful Anna Maria Island, Florida!!

I took close to 700 pictures (yikes!) so it's going to take me a little while to get it organized.

Here's a teaser... And that's not a pool, my friends, that's the ocean!