Big Eater

It's official... I am now forewarned that Kai boy is going to eat me out of house and home. Nursing just isn't enough to keep his tummy happy. And stage 1 foods aren't enough either. He is really enjoying the bigger jars of baby food and rice cereal. He eats more than what I thought he needed and is growing daily. The boy is MURF! And he thinks messes are so much fun!

Walking in the Dog Park

What a beautiful afternoon walk we had at the dog park in our neighborhood. I had to bribe Ry to smile. Lil stinker...

Gams is Here!

Gams got to meet Kai boy for the first time. The little dude is in love. He loves his Gams. Ryenne is beside herself... she asks if Gams is going to be around in the morning, and when we leave she asks if Gams will be there when we get home. She's working her magic on her... heehee

I am such a dork!!!

Okay seriously... I must be one huge dork. In the midst of my everyday life - me being a mom, a housekeeper (although I use that term lightly), a friend, a wife, a daughter - I have fallen completely in love with the Twilight series of books (thanks Nik!).

What a way to completely escape my reality into a cool world. A world where a regular girl falls in love with a vampire. What a thought! What an interesting revelation! And... why in the world didn't I write this? I could have!

I finished the fourth book and recently watched the movie. The DVD came out today. I actually went to the midnight release party at the Blockbuster down the street. While I admit that the character of Edward is extremely... umm... tempting... =) I had no idea how much teen girls were into it. Girls were CRYING. screaming. whining. Dressed head to toe in Edward gear. It was a little ridiculous. But still fun, nonetheless.


So here I am... trying to pull off a little Vampire Goth... didn't pull it off. LOL. Peter was laughing at me.

So I have my DVD! Can't wait for the rest of the movies to come out - supposedly one per year.

On a totally different note (and back to reality might I add) Kai's first tooth broke through this morning! He has a tiny little bottom tooth that broke through his gums. He is growing entirely too fast!

Kai is teething!

Kai boy has started teething! Poor thing... gums are hurting him. He likes to gum on his icy teether.

He had his follow up appointment this morning and he got the drainage tubes removed. All is good!

Spring Has Sprung!

Spring has "Sprung" in Austin! The wildflowers are starting to come out, the trees have blossoms... it's absolutely beautiful to be outside!

Is it so bad if...

I don't give a *bleep* about St. Patty's Day???

I really thought we were all on the mend yesterday. Me and Ry had the puke's over the weekend (so fun). Yesterday we were both feeling awesome and we played outside and went to the gym.

Then last night Ry was up puking several times. And I didn't puke but my tummy is feeling all yucky. Peter is feeling kinda blah and the only one who seems to be feeling great is the drugged up baby boy!

I feel a little guilty that I didn't plan anything cute for Ryenne to do today. Some kind of green art project or something having to do with the holiday. But I just don't have the energy and really - does she even care?

I guess right now we all just have to concentrate on getting back to feeling 100% awesome and then we can plan on some fun things.

Thank goodness Ry goes back to school next week. I wish I could keep her as entertained as her teachers do - they are amazing people. YAY TEACHERS!

He is so strong!

Kai boy is doing great!! As for me... well I think I am taking more recovery time than him.

The Tylenol with Codeine helped him sleep really nicely last night. He is nursing like a champ, smiling, "talking", grabbing... being totally his normal self. Just when his meds start wearing off he gives a cry that tells me he hurts.

He has tubes that go into where the abscess was and I have to shoot peroxide into it twice a day to clean out the insides. He is veeeeeery constipated and it will probably hurt to take a poop. But he is one strong little kid!

Me on the other hand... well I don't know if I caught a bug at the hospital or the stress is just hitting me... I've had a major tummy ache all day long and needed sleep. Lucky Kai is so sleepy. =) Peter has let me sleep the day away. Ry has been a champ all day too. She's wearing her "Super Ryenne" pajamas and says she's "Super Ryenne Docotor" and helping me with everything. Couldn't ask for better!

The surgeon said he's seeing kids come in with staph infections and abscesses on a daily basis. So what Kai had isn't rare and could have been picked up from just about anywhere. It was rather deep though and I'm glad it's gone!

The picture above is when they brought him back to his room. Little dude got stuck with a purple gown. LOL.

gack... Friday the 13th...

Oh what a day... a long day. But I'm thankful to be home safe and sound with my family.

Kai had a bump under his testes and I took him to the doctor. Doctor sent us to a pediatrician specialist, who in turn sent us to Dell Children's Hospital and Kai went in for surgery. The abscess was deep but thankfully didn't burrow into his rectum. It was cleaned and the poor boy had to go under general anesthesia. Let's just say I was a mess. A real mess. That was torture for me - to hand over my baby to be put under.

Kai came out of surgery grumpy but fine. Lots of Tylenol with Codeine over the next couple of days and wound cleaning from mommy.

I will post most more later. I am totally spent.

Ranch Visit

We were fortunate to get permission to go visit a ranch out in Lockhart - 1,400 acres! - and got to visit with and learn about Longhorns. 

They are AMAZING animals. Beautiful in every way. Kinda take your breath away. 

I love the "balance" of this image... one of my favorites. I think I might frame it.

My cowgirl, Ryenne. She loves her boots.

I don't know what the little cowboy is thinking here... heehee

Cowgirl booty... LOL

Thank you to the Rocking O ranch for letting us visit!!! 

Spring is Here!

It seems that Spring has arrived fully in Austin. The trees are sprouting new leaves and flowers are starting to peak out to greet the sun. Beautiful days are ahead...

We went to one of our favorite parks the other day - not sure of it's exact name... I think it's just part of Town Lake Park... but anyway, it's right on the lake and has an amazing view of the city-line and jumping water-fountains. Definitely an awesome spot...

Ryenne got squirted in the face when she ran over one of the fountains and she didn't like that much. I love these shots... I love that she has her Uncle Nico's eyelashes. No doubt that those are from him! And she has my hair color... I love her to pieces.

Now Mr. Kai Boy... he has nothing from me so far. He is ALL daddy when it comes to the looks department. He loves going outside. He had a great day at the park!

She is Queen of the Rock =)

Baby Bottom

Could not resist this shot of his booty with those little side wrinkles... OMG! Too cute...

Kai has one of the cutest butts ever. No question about it...

I have a newborn session this afternoon so I was doing a little "practice" with Kai using only window light. I just love the softness of window light compared to studio lights.

New Design!

I wasn't the designer, but it did take me a good hour to customize! heehee... let me know what you think of the new blog design! 

Note: if you're getting the email feeds, you may need to click the blog link to see the blog design =) 

Kai is 5 months old!

March 1st today! It's Kai's 5 month birthday. What a big boy... he is growing so fast! He is super rolly polly right now. Cute lil chunk thighs and his total permacomb hairstyle. 

He wears leg warmers yes... but they do have skulls on them.

Vintage baby

He was talking to me =) 

Happy "birthday" handsome!

A Warm Day in Winter

Can you believe that we had 87 degree weather the other day? It was like summertime! So we went out into the front yard and played in the sprinkler. I grabbed the camera to see if Ry would cooperate... I got a few!

This is when she's thinking "Should I smile or not?"

"Okay, one quick smile for mom." and this smile was gone so quick!

Then she thought it was hilarious when I told her not to step on my reflector. She really wasn't smiling for me to take a picture. 

She was dancing =)

Smiling at her daddy

"Okay I am DONE with pictures now mom!"

But Kai is always ready for pictures =)