When I go to sleep at night I really miss Scarlett. I'm serious. I'm sad I can't wake her up to give her one more snuggle. Sometimes I sneak in and stare at her sleeping for a bit. Uh, I can't help it; I miss her too much after not seeing her for the 3 hours since she's gone to bed! My heart literally hurts and feels heavy from separation. Kinda pathetic, eh?
But, then...honesty corner, when I hear her wake up in the morning I want her to fall back asleep so I can sleep a bit more too. Somehow don't have the same lovey-dovey feelings of missing her at 6am. Shh, don't tell her, ok? (But it's true.)
old navy has been my new shopping vice. i've been there twice in the past 10 days and then today i was totally reeled in with the "come back this date and we'll give you $30 off your purchase" coupon. i'm such a sucker, but look at Scarlett's new spring wardrobe. i love!
rationalizing that now we live in a warm weather climate so it's ok to buy spring/summer clothes in january. it was 72 degrees and sunny today! plus, the outfits are all very mix-and-matchy, so more bang for your buck. two for one deals on the shirts and discounts on the sweaters and shoes. worth it, right? help me out here mammas!
and here's a quick video of Scarlett doing the "trying shoes on shuffle" in the old navy store. she was very entertained and interested in the shoe section for quite some time. "shoo, shoo!" she points and squeals with delight.
some kids Scarlett's age have full on french braid pony tails to their mid-backs. Scarlett, unfortch, has a baby mullet. gathering it in a tiny pony doesn't really work. it either looks like a rat tail or she pulls it out instantaneously. luckily though, her baby mullet is not as bad as or intentional like these. still, it needed to be fixed.
i tried to remedy this situation with scissors before by myself, but now the baby mullet has grown back with some extra spunk due to my lacking skills. the poor thing. since i failed last time, i decided i would take a trip to the experts.
the baby mullet: before pics
preparing for the chop at the Hair's Lair
(the fact that she was dressed in a jean jacket today was purely coincidental, but also quite fitting)
i searched the yelp reviews and found that The Hair's Lair seemed the best. bonus that it was closest to our place. it's a tiny salon run by stylist/owner, Margo (love the name!) with lots of toys and a friendly atmosphere. she was quick and obviously experienced with many pictures from happy clients decorating the wall. she definitely called me out on my prev attempt at fixing the baby mullet and instructed me not to do that again! (which i did not take offense to, it was a necessary reprimand)
Margo cut Scarlett's hair so fast I could barely get a picture of her in action, but here you can see the baby mullet has magically disappeared! the cut was a little expensive at 25 dollars, cash or check only, but i'm happy with the experience and the results. we'll be going back!
this pic doesn't really do the new 'do proper service, but it is much improved and now Scarlett has a style plan with Margo! We will keep trimming the baby mullet until her hair grows in thicker, and eventually she'll have a cute lil bob! yay! updates to follow, of course.
Thanks for the advice on prepping Scarlett for baby2's arrival. Here she is playing with her dolly and very nicely giving her the pacie. We're making progress!
Scarlett is loving her new room with new play table (from gram-momo) and new toys (from nana sue). And I'm loving the new toy shelves (from me) to create a little organization in the new room.
P'kolina chalk board play table and two benches - easily reversible table top with chalk board on one side and white on the other. storage bin for easy place to store crayons, markers, paper, craft things, etc. Scarlett loves sitting on the benches! Thank you gram-momo!
thank you nana sue for the wooden blocks and toy set, but i don't know what the brand is so i can't give it proper credit right now! Scarlett's been building lots of towers these days.
Tot Tutors toy organizer with storage bins - thank you maux for carrying it out of target for this pregomamma and thank you daddyD for putting it together so quickly. comes in either white wood or natural color and a few different storage bin color combination options. i'm loving it more than one big toy chest because you can keep the blocks together, the musical instruments together; everything has it's spot!
I'm loving Scarlett's new digs and set up. happy to have a wee bit more room for activities and playtime in our new home.
there is a theme for the day, letter of the day, lots of books on that theme laid out for you to borrow easily, many sing a long songs with movements and actions, puppet characters, felt boards for displaying the theme or letter of the day, oh! and of course multiple stories read to everyone. i can't believe how much learning and activities they pack in a half hour! the storytime ladies are amazing and very very good at what they do: captivating the children's attention, keeping them engaged and even getting them to sit down and be still with such artistic ease. the whole experience is really fantastic! even i get totally into shaking my wiggles out before class begins. it's fun! Scarlett still needs a little practice, but she's getting there. all in all: highly recommend!
we haven't picked a favorite just yet, but Miss Elizabeth at the Yarborough branch is pretty top notch!
in preparation for the upcoming arrival of baby#2, nana sue smartly bought Scarlett her first baby doll. i'm verrrry nervous about how Scarlett will react to baby#2. she quickly gets anxious and jealous when david or i hold another newborn. as in she cries, screams, pushes the baby out of the way and situates herself on our laps instead. we're also trying to practice being "gentle" and "nice" to babies with Scarlett, because, well, we need a lot of practice in that department!
I know there is a sweet girl inside who can and will love the new babe, but i'm fearing the worst at the moment (ugh). here is a vid nana sue captured of Scarlett kissing her new baby doll though, so i'm hopeful for the best (fingers crossed).
for those of you with more than one child, advice to ease jealousy and teach being "nice" to the new addition are very very welcome. leave a comment below with suggestions please!!
for our first family outing in austin, we walked to the omelettry for sunday morning brunch.
we got lost on the way, of course, but that's all just part of discovering a new neighborhood, right? plus we worked up more of an appetite, which we definitely needed once we arrived.
i'd driven by the omelettry the day before; it's at burnet and 49th. with the outside covered in painted murals i thought it looked worth trying out. of course you never know what to expect, but i was fully impressed on all levels!
the inside is a classic dive diner, but with hipsters in tight tshirts (instead of old ladies with sassy attitudes) running around seamlessly serving everyone. we sat down at the counter because there was a wait for a table, and immediately, without asking, one of the servers plopped down a highchair and some toys for Scarlett. bonus points. I was not expecting such a family friendly environment, but they know what they are doing: toys, sippy cups, baby friendly attitude...it was great!
and the food...pretty deelish. standard diner food, but definitely texas sized portions! they use an ice cream scoop to put butter on your pancakes. i'm not kidding. david's omelette of spinach, mushrooms, green peppers, cheese, ham and avocado was amazing. It was huge, as expected, and came with breakfast potatoes and toast. I ordered classic scrambled eggs with bacon and side of whole wheat pancakes. we ordered nothing for Scarlett; she just ate off our plates. and thank goodness we didn't because there was sooo much food we actually brought home leftovers.
my only complaint was that the bacon was not fantastic. it was cooked well, but not as thick and flavorful as i would have liked. not worth the calories, or nwtc, as D and I decided while coining our new fave acronym. i'm pretty much a bacon connoisseur these days, as it's all that fetus baby wants me to eat, and i can't deny the little babe!
Poor Scarlett, however, was a deprived little child because her sugar conscious mamma had never given her pancakes before. even though i just said i eat bacon everyday, Scarlett's not allowed pancakes. (yes, i'm aware of my inconsistencies.) but i thought, ok, they are whole wheat pancakes and its our first brunch out so let her indulge. I'm sure no one is surprised to read that Scarlett DEVOURED the pancakes. literally shoveling them in her mouth.
all in all, this place was great, and we will definitely be back! excited to have discovered our new fave breakfast diner around the corner. we had a nice walk back where miss independent refused the stroller and preferred to walk casually like a cool kid, hands in pockets and all!
ps: while writing this post, i got nostalgic hungry, and just ate the left over pancakes as dessert. yummmm!
oh, also, ps: the omelettry is a cash only enterprise, but very reasonably priced, especially considering the portions. check it out and enjoy!
i loved all the free children's programming at our local SF library so was hoping to find similar classes here in austin. i definitely found it! yay! also, i am on the search for new mom friends in the area so hoping to find mrs. right at one of these classes. oh, i guess Scarlett needs to meet some new friends too.
here is a schedule i put together of the central austin libraries and their weekly children's programming. books and babies is 0-18months and toddler storytime is 18mo-3 years. both include stories, songs, fingerplay and activities. excited! (the spanish classes are for me; necesito practicar!)
but just where our neck of the woods is these days
is the major question!
we are currently without an address until mid next week when we can move into our new apartment in AUSTIN! we are becoming texans y'all!
but before we could officially move (which we still haven't done yet), we had some holiday travel to attend to. during the past two weeks, this is where we've been and what we've been up to:
packed up and moved out of our apartment in san francisco
shipped all our possesions (minus a few suitcases) and our car to austin. (the disaster stories acciated with this process are a nightmare and may or may not be shared in another post. too enraging to relive! but i digress...)
flew to chicago. early morning flight and we all slept. pretty smooth 4.5 hour flight. phew!
rented a car, drove to grand rapids, michigan and spent the night visiting my aunt's family and my two little cousins
drove to windsor, canada to spend a three nights with david's brother's family meeting our new neice Clara for the first time and playing with our nephew Sam
drove back to chicago and spent one night downtown for annual cousin's christmas "uncle santa" tradition
drove to northbrook, il, the town where i grew up and where most of my family lives, and spent four nights hanging with my fam, the sibs, my cousins and seeing some of my best friends too
had christmas eve and christmas day celebrations with family
flew to austin the day after christmas. scarlett screamed for 2.5 hours of the 3 hours flight. we were that family.
then we waited 2.5 hours for a policeman so we could file our car stolen because the shippers would not release our car due to a dispute unrelated to us with the booking company! argh! ridic!
drove to llano, texas where david's parents live
i spent two nights in llano laying on the couch reading on my new kindle
wednesday morning i drove to austin to have appointments with two potential OBs
then i flew back to san francisco, leaving Scarlett and david with his parents, so that i could return to work
i've been working the past three days in the PICU and will work again tomorrow. (that's four 12s in a row, nurses!!) yikers!
meanwhile, sad news that one of david's best friend's father passed away, so david flew to cincinnati yesterday to be at the funeral while Scarlett stayed with pop and nana sue in llano. he will return tonight (hopefully, just got a text that he may miss connection due to delays)
then i fly back to austin monday, which is way too long to not see Scarlett!!
david starts his new job on tuesday
we can move into our apartment on tuesday, but the movers won't arrive with our stuff until thrusday or friday
then one day after that i might release a huge exhale and be grateful its all over.
but we are still not done yet. january weekends are already full with visitng davids grandparents, me returning again to SF for work and david traveling to conferences.
maybe in february i can exhale?
wow! i hope you're tired reading this because i am tired just remembering it all. but our holiday travels were completely worth it. We got to see my large fun crazy dysfunctional but amazing extended family and celebrate a very wonderful christmas. in fact, one of the best christmases i can remember in recent years! I haven't been able to take that much work off around the holidays in 5 years, so i am very thankful to have had that time with everyone.
thank you to all of our wonerful hosts: aunt maureen, uncle john, stephen, cynthia, uncle eddie, aunt tara, uncle chuck, mom, nana sue, pop, kate and margy! and lots of love to my siblings, cousins and wonderful family and friends!!
why am i returning to SF to work, you ask? three words: maternity leave pay! i'll be flying back to work part time until i start maternity leave. because i remain a california employee, i will receive califronia maternity leave benefits. phew, thank goodness! obviously if i quit i would get nothing. even if i started a new job in austin, i'd only be working for a month and a half before going out on leave and thus would not get maternity benefits. not ideal right now, but i'll be thankful when i don't have to start a new job six weeks after baby2 is born. delayed gratification i keep repeating. delayed gratification...
oh, forgot to mention: Scarlett was sick this entire travel time with a fever high of 103.3, continuous congestion and runny nose, terrible sounding cough and just altogether a sad little puppy. i guess that's what happens when you travel to cold weather climates and surround your 18 month old who has never been very sick before with a million little cousins! david was sick too. boo. i somehow remained unscathed from any viral infections, thankfully, but am experiencing shortness of breath, weakness, near fainting and racing hearbeat from pregnancy related anemia. awesome.
ok, ok, ok, i'm done now. my apologies for being mia the past few weeks, but as you can tell, there has been a lot going on!
i'm exctied to start blogging from and about Austin. i've been looking up a lot of kid friendly activities that i can't wait to try and share with you all. check back soon!
hope you had a fantastic christmas and holiday season as well!
and happy happy happy new year!
photo cred to auntie K
and thats auntie gracie creepin' in the background! ha!
i'm really excited to be Santa this year. last year Scarlett was pretty oblivious, and this year of course she still doesn't know what Santa or Christmas means, BUT she LOVES playing with toys! and i am super excited about giving her awesome presents this year and even more thrilled to play with the new toys with her. and i feel like i can't stop picking out awesome things that i know she'll love. i can't help myself!
here are a couple things i've purchased Santa's elves have made already...
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