Guthrie was good to us

So this is basically a giant post of family shots from last weekend. I couldn't resist the toddler cuteness.

Sophy in her new flight jacket Grandad bought for her. It's Daddy's new favorite. If he could put her in her Star Wars onesies and her jacket everyday I pretty sure he would.

A new Halloween outfit from Grandma. She can kind say "Grandma" now and it makes my heart melt. Aunt Jeni also got her a super cute outfit but it missed the pictures. There's also a new baby, bear, baby sized wagon, and a couple of books. Nope, not spoiled at all.

Aunt Jeni watching her navigate the stairs. They were tall stairs and she made it. Mostly.

My Mom and I. We did not coordinate the pink on purpose but it's a nice happy accident.

Baby snuggles. She wasn't feeling like a photo shoot and became a little resistant. Daddy was quick and got a pretty good one.

How can you not love a toddler in pigtails with her monkey. So. Cute.

Stair climbing is hard work. A little sippy before she heads back to it.

Tasty goodness that is Cracker Barrel. This bib from Wal-Mart is fantastic. It has a little pocket at the bottom to catch everything. Greatness.

I said "No Pictures MOMMY!".

Well maybe one more with scrunch face. No resisting this.

Daddy and Sophy out for a stroll. I know some people hate the "leashes" but she loves her Monkey and it makes me feel better that she can't just dart out into the street. She pretty much refuses to hold your hand unless it's at her request and then she prefers a parent on each side swinging her. So, Monkey is the winner with her feeling independent and Mommy not having a stroke. Mommy not having a stroke is a big win with Daddy.

"Hi, my name is Sophy Huff and I'm addicted to Peppa Pig. And pacis." Although we've started hiding the pacifiers except at bedtime and she hasn't noticed. She only demands monkey when we get in the care. I cave. I know.

Sophy with Grandma and Aunt Jeni. Such a great picture for a great weekend.

Back in the routine

Or at least working on it. We went on a quick trip to Seattle for an early birthday. The weather and the food were fantastic and the Chiluly experience was incredible. It may have been my favorite place on the trip. It deserves its own post for sure.

The downside was missing my little chickadee. Her grump face sums it up. She had an awesome time with Granny and Aunt Anita while Mommy missed her like crazy. I like to think she's been especially snugly.

Dedicated Seattle post soon but I do have to publicly confess to finally watching the final Twilight movie for the plane ride. Solid "not bad" with a side of "coulda been worse". Kind of perfect in flight entertainment.

Austin day trip and a Wedding

We had a quick day in Austin last weekend and it was 50/50 in terms of super fan to pain in the ass. We had intended to get there on Friday evening for a rehearsal dinner, we went down for our friends Suzanne and Jairy who got married (woo hoo!), but a giant nail in the tire foiled that plan. We did finally make it to find our room was not what we hoped with an incredibly uncomfortable bed and a questionable pack and play with stains we ignored and covered in blankets.  The weather and wedding was beautiful and I have a few pics on the point and shot but so far it's been crazy busy so these are right now all you're getting are the few pics from my phone. Say what you want about smartphones taking over our lives, but without my iphone I would never have any pics in any kind of a reasonable time frame.

Sophy and Daddy getting ready to head out for breakfast. Sophy is pointing out the view of Austin. I also enjoy this one since you can't see the Movember (or the John Holmes tribute mustache) growth yet. It's for a good cause and all but seriously, hate Movember and Rolland loves how much I hate it. There may have been giggling. I'm sure this will be a thing they will both drive me crazy about when she's older and has expanded her come by it honest family taunting gene.

Snuggling at the Elizabeth Street Cafe which was fantastic! It was on a really lovely street with awesome cafe tables on the patio. I'm already plotting a pea gravel cafe area off our covered patio. As soon as we get gutters and a reasonable plan for backyard decorating. sigh.

She is a big girl and loves her sippy cup. I can't believe she is sitting in high chairs all on her own. Still refusing most food even the fancy glazed donuts.

Rolland's breakfast pho. He could eat pho everyday and be very very happy.

My daily breakfast of ham and cheese croissant and mexican coke. Seriously. Every morning and I love it! When I finally get croissant burn out it will be a sad day.

Fancy french glazed donuts that I wanted to love but they were just meh. They tasted doughy in a not done way vs a tasty uber tender kind of way. The glaze was sweet enough to immediately cause a toothache but was tasty.

Chewbeads are my new favorite thing and permanent go to baby gift. Pretty stylish for a rubber necklace and can entertain Sophy for a fair amount of time. At least to get most of your meal down.

Toy Joy in Austin! Love it and first visit where we could make Sophy purchases. We only selected two items on this visit. R2D2 lights for Daddy and Ice Bat with baby for Sophy. She's a fan.

This chair has dorm room written all over it and will not be coming home with us. Cute photo op though.

Oh my God tasty pizza from heaven! Seriously, this was soooo good I may have eaten all but 2 slices. Everything here looked good and unfortunately I don't remember the name. It was off of 2nd in Austin downtown across from the Wee baby store if that helps. How could you not find it with these clear and explicit directions?

Getting ready for wedding in dress my Mom made. There's also a jacket and super cute pics on the other camera.

Mommy and Sophy at lunch and at the wedding below.

The wedding was at Springdale Farm and totally magical. I made Suzanne's necklace that she wore and totally forgot to take pics. It was a lot of pressure since I wanted it to be perfect and ended up looking great. Her dress was incredible and the entire look was fantastic. They were both gorgeous and super cute.  No words for how happy I am for them and wish them nothing but love and happiness for a lifetime. Thanks for including us in your day!

Pool Baby

Mommy and the water baby in Vegas. We had a fantastic time and I still haven't gone through all the pics. Rolland's family, Mom and Sister, joined us and we had a lovely time. This was taken on our cabanna day. Since we stayed at the Palazzo and it was July, seemed like a perfect and relaxing day. It was. Lounging by the pool and taking a dip when it was warm but mostly relaxing in the hot tub then on the chaise lounge while Sophy made the rounds. Perfection.

Also, I got lots of baby in swimsuit and sunhat photo ops and that's really what I wanted.

Cute Baby in Vegas

... also laziest blog post ever.

Still working through all the vacation photos but this one was too good to pass up.

Fantasy NYC Vacay

image via a blind flaneur

I wish I was there although it's for good reasons I'm not. I'm strangely concerned about flying and being pregnant although everyone assures me I'm crazy I don't really care. Also, those fancy nurseries won't pay for themselves and there are some fancy nursery items I have my eye on but...

I am slightly jonesing for NYC. I had never been then went a million times (or 5) in a 4 month period and I was hooked. I became a city junkie. I loved the crowds, the noise, the restaurants, the shopping, all of it. Even the husband doesn't mind and there's tasty food options and good walking so he avoids boredom.

I think our weekend would kick off with Time Warner Center and Bouchon followed by a walk in the park with lots of picture opportunities. We've never really explored anything north of that area so this might be the time. Next, a day down in Soho which wouldn't be complete without a visit to Balthazar's and Pearl River. I think a little more exploration of the East Side and Chinatown would also work into the mix. I'm sure we'd also work in a significant amount of baby shopping and general wandering.

I think I may combine my new love of journaling (OMG Teesha Moore's videos are fantastic and how did I miss them?!) and the fantasy vacation. More gushing to come in a future post.

Happy Thursday!

Vegas Baby!

We've come to Vegas for a long weekend with tasty food and excellent shopping. It's the last night and I've borrowed the hubby's iPad for a quick check in. I'm also working on my list for things i want to do this summer. It's already long but I'm open to suggestions!

Happy Sunday!

Halloween at Canton

I took an unintentional hiatus on blogging but I've been stocking up on the photos and outings so I should be back in the blogging saddle! So I'll just jump right back in. :)

Since I've signed up for Artsy Mama's swap I've been thinking about all things Halloween.



Turns out, I'm right on schedule according to the dealers in Canton. Here are a few pics of the awesome Halloween merchandising they had going on.





So this one isn't really Halloween but I love the neon arrow pointing to the fudge sign. As if we needed a sign!







My friend Bo (the girl) and I made the trek out to Canton. She's a lifelong DFW girl and had never been before so I felt duty bound to make sure she had the full experience including roast corn and the giant corn dog. We had a terrific time! I highly recommend it most anytime although I try to avoid the hottest months of the summer since the thousands of people crowding into the barns can make it even more sweltering and as I'm a delicate flower it's just not for me.

Next post, best ice cream. Ever!

Mini-road trip

I'm heading to Kansas tomorrow to pick my Mom and head to northern Kansas. We're going through Kansas City on the way and I plan to pick up some goodies at Dean and Deluca while my Mom wants to check out Victorian Trading Co. From there, we're heading north to spend the night in St. Joseph before hitting the HWY for the HWY 34 sale. I'm a little apprehensive since there seems to be nothing much online about it but hopefully I'll get a chance to use this



which I will be storing in here



Tomorrow will be a long driving day and quite the trip since I'll hit 4 states in one day! I'm trying to be good diet wise but it's a road trip and if I see a Cracker Barrel all bets are off!

Wicked!

On our trip to NYC we saw Wicked which is the musical based on this book. Both of them are awesome! Although someone needs to talk to someone about the bathrooms on the mezzanine level. There 3 stalls, yep 3 for about 500 people. Someone is out of their mind. Luckily we sat right by the door so at intermission, first one in. Yay! Also, they have ginger ale at the concession stand so another big win. It's the little things that make me happy!

Stage pic from Rolland's iphone using hipstamatic. Love that app.



Rolland and I waiting for the show to start. Fabulous! Seriously, it's a great show if for everyone. We loved it as did Rolland's family so that's a pretty good span of age ranges. I'm not sure about the little guys and what they might think is scary.



Us on Broadway after the show.



I didn't really realize we matched until now. Yikes.

New York..again

I love neon so this required a picture. Also, I took tons of pics of the building. All of the Art Deco buildings are incredible and I love all of them. I hate to play favorites but the Chrysler Building would probably be it. Seriously gorgeous.



Not found in New York but she's cute and I love her.



Hubby with Bear and Lion on the Interpid.



More neon. I'm building a collection of neon and cool signs for my bathroom. What? It's better than velvet Elvis. Almost.



Me and the Bear and Lion on the Intrepid.



This weekend I need to get all of the histamatic images off of the phone. They're all arty and such so more fun to look at.

New York

We made it there and back again (never thought I'd get to use the Hobbit in a blog post but there you go). It was gorgeous weather so the perfect weekend to go. A little bit of rain but incredibly mild temps. Seriously, if it were like that all the time then fall, winter, spring I would never leave! Here are a few pics. Still need to get pics off of Rolland's camera, my iPhone and Rolland's iPhone plus all the rest of the camera. OY. This should be enough to give you the general idea.

Martha Stewart's building as seen from a harbor boat cruise.



The deck of the Intrepid looking towards the city.



Rolland and his Mom at the NBC studios. I love the neon and his Mom loves the today show. A little something for everyone. I think this was her favorite place to visit in the entire city and on Sunday morning she was even on the today show via camera panning to the audience!



More skyline from the boat cruise. I'm sure this building is something but I have no idea what.



The home of the 9 by Design family. Interesting but fairly unremarkable compared to some of the architecture downtown. It's also right of off West Side highway so incredibly noisy and would make me incredibly nervous with all the kids running in and out but I guess city kids are used to lots of traffic.



Rolland, Anita and their Mom getting ready for takeoff.



Family in Times Square. Definitely a lot to see all around!



Me at High Line Park. Amazing elevated park that is really beautiful. They've also kept a lot of the features from when it was an elevated train area so you can see the tracks worked into the trail and the views of the city are incredible. We went following a visit after Chelsea Market then headed south towards Greenwich Village and Soho. I highly recommend it for strolling.



Rolland in front of his favorite plane... which I can no longer identify but it's definitely his favorite. :)



Rolland in front of the Apple motherland.



Tons more pics to come but all I had time for tonight. Hopefully I can get them all organized this weekend but we have lots of weekend plans including Garrison Keillor, Eat Pray Love and house stuff. We need another vacation!