Labor Day Weekend

The Weekend
This Labor Day Weekend we had two very special visitors. My closest friend from St. Louis, Michelle, came to check out our new town. And Pita came to spend the weekend with Gaby so we could have some fun girl time. Pita was so anxious to come back since she hadn't seen the baby in almost a month! Michelle and I got to run around town, do a little shopping, and eat at all sorts of yummy restaurants. Poor Byron was on call this weekend and really did have to go in alot and did not have any sort of break. Pita enjoyed dressing Gaby up like the princess she is all weekend:)

Watch our world!

Gaby is days away from crawling! I'm starting to get nervous as I know life will become VERY exciting (and even more exhausting!) once she gets mobile. As for now, she is basically rolling around and scooting all over the place. I'll put her down somewhere only to find her three or four feet from where she started. She has got the "backwards crawl" down pat! I feel sorry for the boys as they will be her main target once she gets her groove on.

Chewing- The New Frontier

This past week we started trying to eat Cheerios. It is the funniest thing watching Gaby's face as she tries to figure out what the heck she's supposed to do with them. For now she spits them back out and only after two or three times does she get them soft enough to swallow. I think she'll get the hang of it in no time, though. I finally learned how to upload a video. Check it out...

The Money Shot!!

I finally got the picture I've been trying to get for weeks! Gaby's two little teeth! Check it out...We took our introductory swim lesson this weekend and everything went great! Gaby loooved the water and is already quite a good kicker. She seemed to have an awesome time and drenched me with all her splashing:). We are looking forward to our weekly lessons.

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!