Silly Boy

Above are a few for the Etsy shop we're working with. He was being such a good boy. We had the most beautiful lighting coming in from the doorway.

And this one below... it made me laugh. He looked right at me, then turned around. As if to say, "Here mom... get both sides of my stripeys." He loves wearing this onesie cause it's SUPER soft.

The "Please feed me NOW" face. Too cute.

YATOIL / You Are The One I Love

I had bought Kai a couple of onesies from SuperSweetCreations/YATOIL on Etsy before and the owner, Monica, contacted me cause she liked the pictures of Kai. How cool is that?

I'm working on getting some new pictures for her of her super cute onesies and shirts. Thanks Monica for sending Kai all these goodies. These are just a few... I will have more on the way but it's been so hot I can't keep Kai outside for too long.

On a side note, all of Monica's profits this week are going to her cousin who was in a terrible accident in Guatemala. If you buy her stuff, I know you'll love it cause it's so dang cute. And the money will really help out her cousin's family. :)

The Countdown

"Is it August 5th yet, Mama?"... I hear these words several times a day now. The countdown to Maui is ON in the Dagupion household.

Ry is beside herself excited. She talks about the beach daily, eating noodles, and visiting Gramma and Papa and her cousin and all the other family that we haven't seen in over a year now.

While she's stalling when I am telling her it's goodnight time, she says, "Mama, let's talk about our trip. I'm excited." And I assure her that I am excited too but she has to go to bed!

I am really looking forward to her seeing familiar things from when she was a baby. Will she recognize things? I'm not sure. But I know that Maui will always hold a sense of home and familiarity for all of us. I hope that Kai finds it to be his second home as well. This will be his first time visiting, first time on a plane, first time at the beach. Very special!

On another note, since I really can't keep this a secret... we are adding to the family. Another little Dagupion is due in February or March. Total surprise. Scared? Yes. Hopeful that things will be fine? Yes. I will just do the very best that I can. I wouldn't be able to hide this much anyway cause it seems my uterus thinks it's huge already and I have a big grapefruit sized belly already.

HOME

Oh it feels SO GOOD to be home. To say Austin is beautiful is an understatement. After spending a couple days in El Paso, it just goes to show that Austin is very much our home.

It was really challenging being away from the kids for almost 3 days. I was a wreck. They were totally fine of course. Thank you so much mom (and dad) for helping us out.

I must be a huge wimp. I just can't stand being away from them. I think they grew while we were gone. Maybe when they're a little older and more independent it will be easier to leave them and go on adventures/work without them - but right now it's not easy and I am a gooey mess without them.

El Paso was... interesting. It was wild driving on the I-10 and seeing another country on the other side of the freeway and the dilapidated shanty town on one side with a sprawling new neighborhood on the other (American) side. I felt like a foreigner. I don't speak Spanish, and everyone there does. I was blown away at the amazing architecture that is being allowed to become dilapidated and sad. It's a much dirtier city than Austin. And it was hard finding non Mexican food! LOL. Mexican restaurants next door to Mexican restaurants!!! I don't like Mexican food, so that was different for me. LOL.

Anyway, we are home with the kiddos and as happy as can be.

Road Trippin' to El Paso

Peter and I drove from Austin to El Paso yesterday. We're photographing a wedding this afternoon. While the camera batteries are charging, I figured I'd get these images up! It was a beautiful day for driving!

4th of July!!

We had such a fun 4th of July! Our neighborhood put on a parade for the kids at 11am. I was a little hesitant to go at first, cause it's about 100 degrees outside... but I lubed us all up with spf 70 and we walked down to the pool. There were lots of kids and the Manchaca Fire Department had both of their fire trucks there!

Ry said she was hot, but she was a trouper! The first firetruck led the parade. It had it's sirens on, and all the kids and families marched behind it. Ryenne is a very good marcher! People came out onto their porches and waved at the kids. It was really cute. The 2nd firetruck followed behind so that all the kids were protected from traffic. It was really great.

When we got back to the pool area, the firemen opened up the trucks and let the kids climb all over them. And they also let the kids try out the fire hose! Ry thought this was really neat.

When it started getting dark, Ry was really excited to do the fireworks. But after the first couple of moments, she decided that she didn't want to do them. I told her it's okay to be afraid. I took her inside for a bath. Kai slept through the entire set of fireworks. Our neighbors LOVE fireworks so it went on for quite some time. The kids did really great.

What a fun day!

A Visit to Wimberley

On the 1st we took a family drive out to Wimberley. It was the perfect day to go out... a little cloudy and not overly hot.

We enjoyed walking around the town and ate lunch at an Italian restaurant.

The kids got pretty cranky toward the end so we headed home! Kai turned 9 months old on the 1st. Time sure flies!