Welcome one and all:)!

Mimi, Papa, Aunt Candie, Uncle Stevie and Princess Mia drove up to visit this past weekend. It was their first time seeing our new house. We didn't do too much, but had fun mostly hanging out and spending time together. We did go to the Austin Botanical Gardens and walked around a bit. Here are Mimi & Papa toting the girls around...

Princess Mia and Princess Gaby basked in the glory of being the two cutest babies in the world and were showered with tons of cuddles, hugs and kisses all weekend. Mia is gaining fast on Gaby and will soon be surpassing her if she keeps up eating so well! The girls enjoyed playing together and poking at each other...

Here are Gaby & Mia saying "We love being cousins-yipee!!"
Mia decided Austin is the "Land of No Naps" and insisted on chatting up the grown ups all weekend. Gaby sucked up Mia's nap vibes and took unusually long naps for the both of them.

Mimi was put on feeding patrol for the weekend and loved getting mushed up veggies spit on her:)

And in other news: Gaby and I signed up for swimming lessons today and start next week. We are very excited to get in the water and splash around. I know Gaby will be a natural!

Morning Routine

We have a morning routine. It varies only slightly from day to day. Gaby starts to move around and talk to herself in her crib around 5:30 or 6am. After listening to her sweet sounds for a little while and thinking that maybe she'll go back to sleep, I finally get up and get her bottle ready. Then I go into her room for the best moment of the day- the first hugh smile! She is always so happy to see me. It used to make my day when the puppies were always happy to see me. It's a great feeling- unconditional love. They should try and bottle it. I digress. I get my sweetie and head back to my bed. Gaby drinks (gulps!) down her bottle and then snuggles in for another hour or hour and a half nap. And I snuggle right down with her. It's those quiet moments that I will treasure for the rest of my life. She always smells so good. And her skin is so soft. We hold hands and doze off. Then I wake up later to the sound of her stirring and then quietly talking to herself or her teddy. I pretend to sleep and just listen until the last moment. Until she's decided to start slapping me in face or pulling my hair. As if to say, Ok mom, time for you to wake up too. Now I can hear what the experts have to say: "You should not take your baby to your bed. You will teach her bad habits. She will always want to crawl into bed with you." My response to that is- is it really so bad?? I think not! This is the sweetest, most amazing time of the day! I'm going to blink one day and my little, precious baby will be a rebellious, independent teenager. And our morning ritual will be reduced to a fading memory and a blurb on a blog. So I will cherish these moments forever because Gaby will only be this small once. And I intend to enjoy every fleeting minute. I, of course, am afforded this luxury because at this moment I am a stay-at-home mom. I am so appreciative of this time. And for those times when I'm frustrated, tired or bored of the "mom thing", I just think about our very special morning routine. As they say in the commercials- it's priceless:)!

The Visitors Continue...

This weekend we had a visit from Pito, Pita, and Tio Billy. It's so great to finally be able to see our family so frequently. Pito and Pita were nice enough to babysit for us on Sat night so we could enjoy the Austin nightlife. We met up with our friends, The Dallas', who were in town from St. Louis for a wedding. I forgot how much fun Austin can be at night! We had great time eating out and hitting a few bars, but I paid for it the next day. This mom is just too old to party anymore:)! Here are the grandparents giving Gaby her morning breakfast...

On Sunday, we had a visit from my pseudo-cousin Alex Ibanez. For those of you who know Alex, he is currently living in California with his wife but is hoping to transfer back to Austin. He was here for some interviews. We hope to hear some good news soon. As one of my loyal bloggers, Alex is proud to have made it onto the blog:)

Tooth update- Miss Gaby currently has two teeth. Her two lower centrals! It's just too cute for words! I've been trying to get a picture of those little buggers but she just won't let me. I'll post one as soon as I can get it.

New tricks update- Gaby is now able to pick up her paci and put it in her own mouth! She also is starting to hold her arms up when she wants me to pick her up. I have been patiently waiting for this to happen and I can honestly say it was worth the wait. I just love it when she does that! It's the best feeling ever!

Gaby's Top Twenty

My little one is growing up so fast! She's already six months and as she morphs from a helpless little baby to active toddler I wanted to write down and remember all the adorable things I just loooooved about her babyness. So I thought I put them into a top ten list. Except there were so many more than ten that I just made it a top twenty list instead (It was even hard to stop there!). I want to look back at this when she going through her terrible twos and threes so I can know that she did have her precious moments:) Here goes....

20. Her very serious, pensive facial expressions
19. Rubbing her eyes when she's tired
18. The smoothest, softest, sweet smelling skin in the whole world
17. The reflex to grab your finger as tight as possible
16. Sucking, smiling, or tooting in her sleep:)
15. The way she caresses my face while she drinks her bottle
14. The super cute gulping sounds she makes when she's devouring her bottle
13. The most beautiful gummy smile in the world!
12. Her absolutley perfect eyebrows and eyelashes
11. The contagious explosion of giggles when she's tickled
10. The sheer joy she gets from watching the dogs play
9. Her chubby toes and feet
8. The first glorious smile you get in the morning
7. Baby crunches- trying like the dickens to sit up
6. Her absolutely yummy baby milk breath
5. Her not quite iny, not quite outy belly button
4. Her precious, gigantic yawns and stretches (el punito)
3. Trying to eat your face any chance she can get
2. Her soft whisperings in the early, early morning
1. The most wonderful feeling of having her asleep on my chest!

That's my little sweetie:)!!

Summer Fun

This weekend we had our first (of many, I'm sure) trip to Lake Travis. Luckily, the weather cooperated with us and we had a beautiful, warm, sunny day out there. Byron's best friend from childhood, Bryan Parker and his wife Missy came up to stay at their friend's multimillion dollar house on the lake. What an amazing place! It was probably one of the largest houses I've ever been in! We went up on Saturday to spend the day by the pool. When we arrived Gaby was sure to tell her Daddy that this was the life of luxury she was expecting in the future:) I must admit, I do not disagree with the little princess. This was Gaby's first time swimming and she LOVED the water and had a blast splashing around in her floaty. She looked simply adorable in her hot pink tankini!

These two hadn't seen each other in two years so they had alot of catching up to do. They refused to get out of the sun until they were both crispy!

After a couple hours though, it was time for a nap... We are already having so much fun here in Austin and look forward to having lots more visitors!

Trying To Fit In...

For you non-Texans, Austin is known for keeping it weird:)

Half a year, already??

We are settling into life in Austin (although at times it feels like we're in Seattle-it's been raining everyday!) and still trying to get the house in order. It is definitely a harder task with little Gaby around. But we are making some definite progress. We already had some visitors- my brother and niece, and my dear friend Laurel from Atlanta. We had a wonderful girls weekend (mexican food & margaritas, shopping, brunch & pedicures) and caught up on old times.

Gaby just turned 6 months! Can you believe it?? At her appointment with her new pediatrician she weighed in at 18 lbs 7 oz and 27 inches (I'm not too sure how accurate the length was since it was done much differently than in St. Louis) So with these stats she's in the 90th and 75th percentiles respectively. Our big girl is officially sitting up on her own! She loses her balance occasionally and still needs help getting back into position but is capable of sitting up and playing on a blanket with her toys.

With her newfound skill she is also sitting in a highchair and shopping carts. Makes our shopping trips alot easier:) We also got an exersaucer which she enjoys for only a few minutes here and there. But it still gives me a time to get some stuff done.

Mi Casa Es Su Casa

Here are some pictures of our new house:

What a Whirlwind!!

Home Sweet Home
We are back in God's country on Texas soil and we are thrilled:)!! The last few days have been pretty hectic. We left St. Louis last Thursday morning and have been to Houston, Orange, Elmer(Louisiana), back to Houston and finally our new home Austin. It was a little crazy but we are now here to stay. Here's Gaby saying hello to the Lone Star state... Today, Byron started his new job and Gaby and I began the daunting task of unpacking and setting up our new home. Our sweet baby decided she does not like unpacking and was very vocal on the topic. Regardless, I managed to make a pretty good dent on the multitude of boxes. Byron enjoyed his first day in the real world and was as excited as the first day of school. He's happiest about having his name on a sign outside the office and at the elevators. Finally, like a "real" doctor!

The Royal Viewing

On our many travels we got a chance to see both of our families. We saw the Salazar gang in Houston (Gaby with Pito and Uncle Billy)

(Cousins Carlos and Suzanna)

and the both sides of Byron's family in Louisiana. But first we hung out with Mimi, Papa, Auntie Can, and Uncle Stevie in Orange. The girls got a chance to meet again and confirm their bond as best buds.

The baldie convention...

We travelled to Elmer for a very special occasion- Gaby's great grandmother's (MawMaw) 75th b-day. We had a royal viewing of the princesses for the first time. They met and were passed around to all their grand-aunties and uncles and lots and lots of cousins. They were definitely the center of attention and enjoyed being loved on by everyone. Here are the four generations...

The Family Bully

We found out this weekend who the toughest kid on the block is. Background: our little Mia has grown alot since her hospital days and is up to about 13 lbs, but our Gaby is still a chub at around 19 or 20 lbs. Funny story- while we were getting ready in the morning we laid Gaby and Mia down on a blanket to play. They looked so cute together just looking at each other and babbling. About 10min into it, Gaby started crying. When I went over to see what was up, I see sweet little Mia slapping Gaby on her left temple over and over again. When I picked Gaby up she had a big red welt on the side of her face where Mia had left her mark. So I guess we just found out who's the boss when it comes to those two:)

A Dentist's Proudest Moment

My daughter is sprouting her first tooth!! It is tooth "O" for you dentites out there. It's just a little nubbin at this point but man is it sharp and does it hurt when she starts gnawing on you. I know I'm silly, but it really is just the neatest thing and so darn cute. I am a proud mama:)

Halfway Home

Well, we are halfway moved out of St. Louis. All of our belongings were packed up and loaded onto a gigantic orange 18 wheeler last Thurs and are somewhere between here and Austin. The packing up of this house was sooo much work and was compounded by having to take care of the princess but we managed to get it all done. The packing of the truck was a SEVEN hour event that also caused much distress. But it's all over now and we just have the monumental task of unpacking to look forward to- yikes! Byron left Gaby, myself and the pups on Sunday... and drove the first car down to A-town. He is officially there and is having fun getting things set up for us, although, he is still waiting for the furniture to arrive (hopefully on the 5th). Gaby and I have been left with a mattress, an aerobed, a card table & chairs, a mini fridge, the TV, and the trusty pack-and-play. We are definitley enjoying our new minimalist lifestyle:) Pita arrives on Wed the 4th and will stay with us until my sentence, I mean, my contract:) is completed on the 11th. We head out on the 12th to Houston. Byron comes back up on the 11th, also, to pack up and drive the 2nd car to Austin and will pick us up in Houston and whisk us away to Louisiana to celebrate Gaby's great grandmother's 75th B-day. It will be a busy couple of weeks but ultimately we'll end up in our new home by July 15th!

Whispering Sweet Nothings

As Gaby turns 5 months today, I wanted to write this down because I don't ever want to forget. It's something my precious daughter has been doing for the past couple of weeks. It is simply the most adorable thing you've ever seen! I've asked a couple people if their kids had done this and they hadn't, so I'm thinking this is just one of Gaby's funny quirks. Anyway, lately, especially in the early morning (the sweetest time of the day!) Gaby has been whispering. It is the cutest, funniest thing ever! She literally just starts making these funny whispering noises. Now for the last few months she's been yelling and shouting (which are funny too) but a couple of weeks ago she started with these soft little whispers. Almost like she's practicing her different volumes. And she puckers her beautiful lips in the most precious way. It's so adorable and I wanted to document it so I will always remember. Gaby, you are the cutest! Once I can figure out how to put videos on the blog I will post her doing her thing:)

I also wanted to take the time to talk about our other little babies, Rosko & Ozzie. Now everyone said- once you have a baby the dogs will become second class citizens. I said- not me, not ever! Wrong. It's true, as Gaby becomes more interactive and needing more and more attention the boys are definitely left by the wayside. I still love my sweeties so much. It's just there isn't enough time and attention for all. So I just wanted to report that last month Rosko turned 5 and this month Ozzie turned 3 yrs old. They are both so well behaved around Gaby and they seem to know how they're supposed to act around her(even when she tries to pet them and ends up just pulling their hair or ears!). Good boys!

Headline: Byron & Angie Get Away!!

Chicago 2007
This past weekend Byron and I took a little break from our baby girl. We went to Chicago for the weekend to celebrate our friends' birthdays- John Dallas' 30th and Michelle Rega's 35th b-day.

It was also like a final hurrah with our STL buds. There was a group of 12 of us and we ran around Chicago like a bunch of college kids. Byron and I terribly missed our little cutie, but we also appreciated our first time away, alone, together in 5 months. We literally have only been to dinner alone once since the princess joined us (and that was last week for our 5th anniversary!). We enjoyed sleeping late(!), eating out, and hanging out with friends. My wonderful mom stayed in St. Louis and spent a fun girls' weekend with her precious "chiquita". Every time I talked to her (which was about 5-6 times a day) she sounded like she was having the time of her life. She adores little Gaby and showers her with love any chance she can get! She also enjoys dressing her up in frilly get ups with bonnet and all-

Father's Day

Sunday was Byron's first Father's Day. We came home from Chicago to a delicious home cooked meal courtesy of Pita and Gaby. They had slaved away for hours in the kitchen to make Daddy's favorite- Arroz con Pollo. We had a wonderful dinner and Byron opened presents from his girls.

And now a few words from Dad:

Well, well, well.........hola to all of you who have been enduring my wife's attempt at competing with her brother-in-law Steven (Mia's blog). And of course keeping up with all the news of my little angel! This is little Dudley's first posting on the blog.....and yes I'm allowed to talk about myself in the third person on MY FIRST FATHER'S DAY!! I wasn't sure what to expect, but found that I really enjoyed it because it was like Christmas and my birthday all at once. My choice of food, people calling wishing me happiness, presents and cards, all just for ME!!!!!!! Our first weekend away made it that much more enjoyable to get back and spend time with Gaby. Each day she makes a new sound, looks at you as if with true understanding, laughs out loud, and impresses with her actions. I never thought I could just sit around and stare at a child as long as I do......and I'm a pediatrician! I can also easily say that she looks exactly like her mother and I'm thrilled with that. She is so beautiful, and intelligent, and strong, and healthy, and............let the bragging begin. Either way, on Father's Day I can now appreciate what it means to want more for your child than yourself. And it makes me appreciate even more my father on this special day.........for all the sacrifices parents make on behalf of their children. I'll always try my best for Gaby.

For Sale No More!

Another very exciting event occured this weekend. We received and accepted an offer on our house!! FINALLY!! Just when we were losing faith and trying to figure out how we were going to handle two mortgages we got this amazing news. Once the inspection goes through we'll be on our way:) Byron has just two short weeks left in the STL and I, unfortunately, will stay behind for a week and a half after that. Gaby, Pita and I will leave on July 12th and wave goodbye to the our home for the past 5 yrs.

Sleep, Wonderful, Sleep

Gaby's sleeping is back on track and she is definitely getting into a good sleeping pattern. Thank God! I just pray that once the move begins we can keep it up and not mess her up too bad.

The Survivors of Operation: Cry It Out

Well, we have survived four nights of Operation: Cry It Out. The first night Gaby ended up crying about 1hr and 10min. Then exhausted and wedged up to the corner of her crib she finally fell asleep and slept until 6am! Of course, I kept on waking up to check on her with the monitor. Despite my being completely exhausted and nerve racked I felt like we made some definite progress. The second night was amazing. Gaby slept from 8:30pm to 5am waking up once at 11pm for her final feeding. Halleluhia!! The third night she went down at 8:30pm as usual but decided to wake up at 9:30pm and yell for 30 min. But then without a late night feeding she slept until 4am. Now granted, 4am is not fun but the key is long stretches of sleep and we are starting to achieve that. The fourth night she slept like a champ! Woke up once to eat and then slept until morning. I'm hoping we can keep this up as the work week begins tomorrow. Here's Gaby snoozing in her crib:
Gaby's newest trick this week has been rolling from her tummy to her back. I have only witnessed this once but know it's happening often as I'll leave her on her tummy only to find her sunny side up. I can't get her to do it on command yet, but I'm working on it. She's also enjoying her cereal finally and is learning to drink sips of water from a water bottle. Super cute!

Mia Update: Gaby's future best friend is doing really well. She has doubled her birth weight as 4-month olds should and is up to 10lbs! We are so proud of her and can't wait to take them both to the pool this summer:)

Operation: Cry It Out

It's been 10 looong days since we got back from Austin and our precious princess has yet to sleep though the night like she used to. She was sleeping better than this at two months! Last night was the kicker, as she woke up every hour on the hour starting at 1am. Mind you, it was a work night! Luckily, with my mom here I didn't have to get up every time (thanks again, mom!!) but since Gaby's room is only two doors down I had the pleasure of hearing most of it. Sadly, my mom headed back home and since tonight is the beginning of my weekend I decided there's no time like the present to start Operation: Cry It Out. As I write this, it is 3am and my sweet child has been screaming her head off for EXACTLY 53 minutes. I say exactly because when you decide to let a baby cry it out you watch the clock and pray that any minute now, any second now, she will stop crying. Now I have the benefit/curse of having a video monitor. So I have the pleasure/torture of being able to watch as she goes ballistic! Obviously, I'm not the first mother to go through this, but when you're in the situation you feel like no one has had to go through this mind-wrenching, soul-ripping, heart-breaking exercise in complete and utter cold heartedness toward your own precious child. I will survive, I'm sure. And more importantly Gaby will survive. But you'd think since society has been raising children for, I don't know, what seems like a billion years, you'd think someone would of figured out a way to help kids sleep through the night without this craziness! I'm just saying. Baby Valium, anyone?? You might wonder where my husband is right now. Since the poor guy has not slept in 10 days either and since his job involves saving babies' lives, he has been allowed to sleep downstairs. Now considering the volume our adorable angel is capable of, I'm pretty sure he's sleeping with his head between two pillows. 1hr 4min and counting.....

Big and Beautiful!

Gaby had her 4 month check up yesterday. She's a big, tall girl at 16 lbs 6 oz (95%) and 26.25 in (97%). She had her current vaccinations and this time did not appreciate them very much:) I'm trying to get her back on a good sleeping schedule. After our trip she's been totally out of whack. We've been waking up every few hours! Note to self- Gaby will never marathon travel again!! So we figured since she wasn't sleeping well already, it would be a good time to move Gaby into her own room. It was me who was always opposed to this. But surprisingly enough, it hasn't been that tough. Although, I do miss having her right next to me in her CoeSleeper. We've started cereal and she doesn't really seem to like it. We'll keep on trying. I'm hoping cereal is the key to lots of sleep....

Here's Gaby's first taste of cereal and her "almost" sitting up: