A Year Older, A Year Wiser...

Today is my 33rd birthday.
I know, I know, it's hard to believe. I don't look a day past 25- right??

...Crickets chirping...


Right?? Anyone?? Anyone??







This past weekend we had a Memorial Day/Birthday weekend in Houston. My dad and I share a birthday so we are always happy to be able to spend it together.

We had many birthday meals including Saturday night with some friends and Candie & Steven, Sunday brunch, and a BBQ at my sister's house on Monday. My parents just moved into a new house and we spent the rest of our time helping them get things organized, unpacked and in order. Byron was quite the handyman this weekend. My parents new neighborhood is around this great country club- Royal Oaks and the kids and I enjoyed the pool. They have an awesome toddler section with sprays and showers. Next time, I need to take my camera to get some good shots. Gaby just loves playing with her cousins and even got to hang out with Mia on Saturday night. Lulu & Carlos babysat the girls at my mom's house for Candie & Steven. Thanks, kiddos:)!!

Here they are in Marcie's backyard. She bought some fun inflatables for Gaby...

Gaby started out with a diaper on, but ended up nudy:)

Some thoughts as I accept my new older and wiser status,

but attempt to stay younger and naive...

1. Always wear sunscreen.

2. Washing your face & applying moisturizer b4 bed is a must!

3. White teeth make you look younger. Promise.

4. A baby makes you feel young and old all at once.

5. View the world through their eyes and you can't go wrong :)

Movin' On Up

Gaby has graduated from Level 3 Gymboree to Level 4. Today was our first class with the 16-22 month olds. (Gaby will be 16 months tomorrow!) This class is definitely more appropriate for the princess. Everyone in it is walking/running and much more active that the 10-16 month olds. The games are a little more educational and the music is much more fun. Now if I could only get her to stop slapping and pushing people down, then we'll be making some progress ;).....

Sugar Mama !

Gaby finally got her paycheck from the Tree of Life movie shoot today!! My little sweetie also got her first taste of paying the piper- Uncle Sam. After taxes, it was a little bit more than $46. Byron plans on matching it and insists on putting it in her college fund. I wanted to buy her a tiara or a new pair of shoes or something more fun than that! But of course, my hubby always has to do the smart, practical thing. Boring!! Gaby says: Yippee!! Look at me go :)

Happy Mother's Day to Me....And to You :)

I had a pretty low key (but much appreciated) relaxed Mother's Day. Byron had to work this morning, so Gaby and I hung around the house and enjoyed the amazing weather outside. (The last couple of days it has be sweltering here and today we had such a welcome break from the 90+ degree heat) My little princess and her daddy wrote me two very sweet cards and sent me the most beautiful flowers....
Tonight we went to my favorite restaurant in Austin- The Hula Hut! The Hula Hut is this great mexican restaurant with an awesome outdoor deck on Lake Austin. I had a yummy Mother's Day dinner
and enjoyed this gorgeous spring weather with my two favorite people in the whole world.

On my second Mother's Day, I reflect back on this last year of motherhood and am just in awe of how much Gaby has grown and changed already. Even though she seems more like a little girl now, she will ALWAYS be my sweet baby. I am so excited about all that she has learned in such a short time and just adore the personality she is developing. Gaby is a smart, strong willed, funny, outgoing, independent, gorgeous little girl. I am honored to be her mommy and look forward to the many adventures we have ahead of us. I love you, baby girl :)

Growing up too fast...

Our little sweetie is growing up sooo fast!! I know it's a cliche but it's so true. Let me tell you why... One thing we've always done since Gaby was sleeping by herself in her crib from 5 months of age is to rock her to sleep in our arms and then place her in her bed peacefully sleeping. We have the cushiest, most comfortable chair in Gaby's room and we would give her her bottle there and then just have quiet time with her as she dozed off. I know that we should of stopped that long ago but we really just didn't want to. We didn't mind the 10 or 15 minutes it would take until she fell asleep. It is the sweetest time of the day:) Byron and I never even discussed when we should stop. We just figured we would know when the time was right. Well, can you believe that Gaby has decided that she doesn't want us to rock her to sleep anymore??? That's right!! When we were in Florida and since we've been back she just makes sure she has her paci and Mr. Bunny and then points to her crib as if to say- Just put me in there, please, I'm ready to go to sleep. What a big girl:) She is just the cutest most adorable baby, er, I mean kid ever! Byron and I were pretty sad last night when we realized that that stage of our lives with Gaby is over. Boo!

The Holt/Tramonte/Salazar/Griffin Family Vacation

We FINALLY went on a vacation!!!
It's been way too long since we had sand between our toes.

This past week we went on our first annual Holt/Tramonte family vacation. We took the girls to Anna Maria Island, Florida. The whole gang went- Mimi & Papa, Aunt Can, Uncle Stevie & Mia and us. We had amazing weather and had a blast taking the girls to the beach and swimming in the ocean and the pool.

The girls LOVED playing in the sand!! They thought the ocean was the neatest thing ever and weren't even afraid one bit to run into it!

That gang left us after four days and then Pita came to enjoy some fun in the sun with her "Gabrielita". Gaby and Pita loved going out early in the morning to collect seashells and splash in the waves.

We were also joined by the Griffins- Laurel, Josh, Cole & Brady.
They have family on the island and were the ones to introduce us to such a beautiful, peaceful place (Laurel and Josh were married there!) It was so great to hang out and see them again! It was our first time meeting little Brady. Cole and Gaby were sooo cute together! Gaby was always trying to hug and kiss that handsome boy- what a flirt:)!

My best sunset picture....

Now we are back to the real world and rejuvenated from an amazing, relaxing week at the beach. Vacations are wonderful inventions:)

Stunt Baby!! - "Tree of Life" Shoot

We had our first movie experience this morning at the "Tree of Life" shoot! We were at a personal residence in West Lake Hills at a pool with an amazing view of Austin.

There were three babies and they shot the girls swimming under the water with a very cool underwater video camera. Check out the viewfinder- you can actually see what he's filming!

The ballerina swim move:)

The girls very quickly caught on that they were not at their swim class and did not enjoy what we were making them do. Being the oldest, Gaby was the first to realize what was up and she did not want anything to do with this crazy "on demand" swimming. Needless to say, she was not very happy with me, but she still clung on to me for dear life!!

Gaby's one diva moment:)!!
The videographer thought he got some good footage. Hopefully, Gaby's shots will make the cut. We won't find out anything until we actually go to see the movie. The release date is sometime in 2010, so we'll have to wait a bit! It was a very neat experience, though. Also our little miss will get her very first paycheck- $50! Getting paid at 15 months- not too shabby:)

Now, all we need is an agent ;)....

She Got It!!

Can you believe our little princess got picked for the movie:)?!?!? They called us yesterday and want to film on Friday morning. They picked three little ones and will film us all to see who they get the best shots from. Sounds like they are going to be filming her underwater as she's swimming. We are sooo proud of our little sweetie and knew she could do it! Sadly, though, we will not be able to meet Brad, as he won't be at the shoot, but nonetheless we are super excited! I'll post more after Friday...

Hollywood is calling!!

11am
Today, at our swim lessons, we were asked to return this evening for a casting call! They are looking for little ones around Gaby's age who can swim to be in the lastest.....are you ready for this???......Brad Pitt movie!!!!!!!!! The Jolie-Pitt clan have been in Bastrop/Austin filming for the last month or so. So keep your fingers crossed for our little princess. Maybe she'll get her big break with Brad Pitt! Lucky sweetie:)!! Of course, she'll have to have a parent around at all times. Lucky mommy:)!!

7pm
Well, we went back for the casting call. They are looking for a baby to swim for one small scene of the movie, Tree of Life. Our competition consisted of about 14 other babies varying in age from 8-18months. I was worried Gaby would be tired and cranky but just the opposite. She was in a great mood and having fun the whole time. She swam great and was clapping and laughing. They filmed her doing about 4 jumps/swims and she did awesome! They plan on filming next week so if they liked us we should hear soon....

I just wanna love ya, cuz!

We spent Saturday at cousin Mia's house. Aunt Candie & Uncle Stevie babysat Gaby for us while we attended our friend's baby shower. The girls were both a little sicky with what we think are allergies but they were still in pretty good moods. Mia kept on wondering why there was someone getting into her stuff and taking things out of her hands. Mimi and Papa joined us too for some quality "grandbaby time":) As is becoming usual, with this gorgeous weather we've been having, we went to the neighborhood park. Check it out...




Mia's favorite thing about parks?? The mulch! Might she grow up to be an avid gardener??
Gaby loves her cousin so much and was always trying to show her affection. Unfortunately, Mia's not really into receiving Gaby's affection:) Here they are holding hands. You can see how tight of a grip Gaby's got on her. While Mia is trying to figure out how to get her hand back...
And here's Gaby trying to get a hug. Can you read Mia's facial expression? It's saying "Mom, do I really have to??"

Oh, we just have a blast watching these two together!! It's going to be hilarious once they can finally talk and we can actually hear what they are thinking.

Gymboree

I FINALLY enrolled Gaby in Gymboree! I've been talking about it for months. The truth of the matter is, though, that her napping schedule was not working with their schedule. Now that she's down to one nap a day it works out just fine. Today, was our third class. Gaby is in Level 3 with the 10-16 month olds. Let me tell you, she LOVES it! And since she is one of the older kids, she looks like a total genius when she's there. I love that! A good majority of the kids aren't walking and they don't get the concepts too much. For example, they have to put balls in the basketball hoop. First time, Gaby went straight up and dunked a few times and with everyone clapping for her she just kept on:) Bad thing is she takes the balls from the other kids to dunk some more- heehee! I have always said I didn't want her to play basketball (it's a boy sport if you ask me) but maybe she just has a natural talent ;) She's also really good at "clean up". Probably because she loves putting things in boxes or bags and then dumping them back out except there she doesn't get the chance to dump them back out. She's great at tunnels and sliding etc etc. I could go on but her tiny head is swelling:) I don't have any pictures b/c I didn't want to look like the dorky mom with the camera so you'll just have to use your imagination...

Finicky Eater

My former I'll-eat-anything-you-put-in-front-of-me baby is now a One-second-in-the-mouth-and-I'll-spit-it-out-because-I-don't-want-it toddler. This is VERY frustrating!! Gaby's newest word is "No" and she uses it very frequently. Everything now is "No" when it comes to eating. Before she would shake her head and that was kinda cute but the word "No" is, well, not so cute. The other day when she ended up eating cheese puffs and half a banana for dinner I began to worry about nutritional deficiencies. But I know that many kids go through this phase and I'm hoping it won't last too long. The good news is she does still love fruit. The bad news is we are definitely going through a veggie boycott. Do you want some peas?- "No." Green beans?- "No." Carrots?- "No." Etc, etc. So, I finally broke down and bought some "Chicken Fries" and of course, as any full blooded American kid would she devoured the yummy fried bits of (what I hope is) chicken. At least she'll get some protein, right??

The Kents In the House

My best friend from high school, Jessica Kent came to town with her hubby, Micheal and little man, Andrew. They both went to UT and were so happy to be back on their old stomping grounds.

Andrew is almost two and a half and is such a sweet little boy. He got along so well with Gaby and even let her play with his "Henry" train (from the Thomas the Train gang). Apparently, Andrew doesn't let anyone touch Henry so that made his sharing it with Gaby even sweeter:) Andrew liked building tunnels and bridges with Gaby's legos and Gaby liked taking them apart- heehee! He is such a great sport!
On Saturday, we took the kids to the park...

and that night we enjoyed a great meal (yummy, shrimp!) and listened to an awesome salsa band at The Belmont (my favorite bar in Austin!). We tried all weekend to convince the Kents to move to Austin, as we usually do with anyone who visits us. Can you blame us for trying??

Easter Weekend 2008

Happy Easter!!

Mr. Bunny

A few days before Easter seems like an appropriate time to introduce everyone to Gaby's bestest friend & long-time companion- Mr. Bunny. Mr. Bunny does not have a more creative name because Mommy can't really think of one:) Hopefully, one day the princess will decide to name him something cute. But for now it's just Mr. Bunny. Anyway, this little guy has been around since the day my sweet was born. He's Gaby's snuggle buddy when she sleeps and recently she's been taking him along to join her during the day. He's gotten so soft and cushy after just a year I can't wait to see what he'll look like a few years from now.

Here's Mr. Bunny at the hospital...

And here he is today! Don't mind the crazy hair:)

Quality Time w/ Mimi & Papa

Mimi and Papa came to town this weekend. Papa and Byron have their yearly high school basketball state tournament which they attend. So Mimi, Gaby and I had a true girls weekend.

Mimi and I had a nice lunch and spa treatment on Friday and Saturday the three of us headed to San Marcos for some outlet shopping :) It was so cute on our way out to San Marcos, Gaby was in the greatest mood- she was laughing, clapping, and grooving to the music. Mimi and I just laughed and enjoyed the cutest show ever!

Here are Gaby and I trying on bunny ears...

Even though the boys were busy all day long, they spent quality time with Gaby in the mornings and skipped some evening games to have dinner with us each night. Miss Gaby got an early Easter present from her Mimi & Papa...

Austin Kite Festival

This weekend was the Austin Kite Festival. There were so many people and soooo many kites out there. It was awesome! The wind was kicking up pretty good yesterday. When we arrived I realized my camera was out of battery. I was so bummed! But I took some pics with the camcorder. This is what we got...


One thing we have been finding out lately is that our daughter has not the tiniest bit of "stranger anxiety". She walks up to anyone, anywhere and just loves interacting with new people. She's especially interested if they have food:) This could become an issue later. Gaby loved the Kite Festival because we were out at Zilker Park and she could walk around as much as she wanted. I have this great video to upload but am having technical problems- sorry!