Friends & Apples

A few days ago as I was following Jacob around the park, I overheard two cackling hens talking some majah shish about one of their friends. In about 10 minutes they managed to judge her on: parenting, appearance, personality, her kids, and even her husband wasn’t safe from their wrath. With a vengeance these smack talking mamas were simultaneously breaking every aspect their FRIEND down and then suddenly, she showed up (yes, the subject of the cackling hens with her tot in tow). It was a spectators dream. I couldn’t wait to see how these “c” hens were going to treat their enemy. As expected, they were as sweet as apple pie on the Fourth of July. Their topic of discussion swiftly changed from “breaking Amy” to hair bows. I was disgusted for several reasons. I felt horrible for “Amy” and then I realized that I am guilty of the occasional shish talk. Even though I usually always tell the person what I think about them or a situation (not any better), we are supposed to lift each other up, especially our friends. As Erykah Badu said ”you pick your friends like you pick your fruit”, If we don’t like our friends we need to pick new ones because life is too short to spend time talking about sour apples.

Photos from Austin Willow

Here is a slide show of the pictures taken by Austin Willow Photographers:

Willow//Austin Children's Photographer

If you haven’t heard of Austin Willow Photography yet, you will soon. Erin, the co-owner, emailed me a few weeks ago and asked to photograph Jacob. I obliged and we scheduled the shoot for Thursday. Initially, we planned to start the shoot at Lady Bird Lake and then finish up in SOCO. Things changed when the heat advisories were issued. Jacob doesn’t do well in 100+ degree temperatures so, I decided to just have her come to my house and then grab a gelato at Teo. I wasn’t exactly sure how everything was going to go down. I had a husband that hates pictures, baby that was in a semi-grumpy mood delicately mixed with major stranger anxiety, and then of coarse the oppressive Austin, Texas heat. When Erin and Ryan arrived, everything naturally fell into place. They have an incredible way of just making everyone feel comfortable-even Jacob! During the shoot, Amanda and Lily came over and had a few pics taken as well. Here is a link to some of the impressive photos from yesterday. My only regret is that I wish I would have worn the first outfit I tried on.

Photo shoot #1

Photo shoot #2

Mama Powers

Around 4:30 this morning, I was startled by the sound of Jacob screaming. The second I entered his room he stopped crying and put his arms up for me to pick him up. I scooped him up and tightly held him in his rocking chair until we both fell back to sleep. After a few minutes as I put him back into his crib, I realized that I had mama powers(the powers to make all terrible things disappear). I walked out of his room feeling empowered. Growing up, I was a terrified little girl. I hated night-time because I could never predict which monster or ghost was going to “get me” I don’t remember anybody making it better but my blanket that I would put over my head. As an adult, I still get uneasy about creepy sounds in the house, which happens all the time since our house was built in 1938. I could probably use some therapy to “deal” with my fears but in the meantime, I will just keep using my mama powers and ward off Jacob’s monsters.

Social Mama & Baby

My good friend from college use to always tell me that she feels sorry for my future husband and children because they are going to have a tough time keeping up with me. She always said it half joking but mostly pissed at me because she couldn't understand why I never had down time. When I think back about my single years, I remember being notorious for overbooking my social activities for two reasons First, I had a tough time saying no and secondly, the thought of missing out of something fun was horrifying to me. These past few weeks have reminded me of those busy days. I have made it my mission to get out of the house with Jacob whenever I have free time. Which means that we have been taking advantage of all the wonderful activities that Austin has to offer. The Children's Museum on Mondays, story time at the library on Tuesdays, Farmer's market, Blues on the Green on Wednesday, Book People Story Time on Thursday, Neighborhood Play date on Friday, Saturday & Sunday we usually hang by the pool. On top of our daily fun, this past week I celebrated my 35th birthday with good friends, Father's day, and my 6th Anniversary. Whew...no time to rest!

In these photos: Jacob at Book People,Blues on the Green,ACM Storytime,Jacob at Central Market, Jacob and Mama pool time at the inlaws,Birthday celebration with Lisa and Friends, Jacob, Eisha and Tonya,Jacob, Lily and I, Jacob at Austin Java,Ben,Juliana, Jacob and I on my 35th Birthday. Ben and Juliana made me gluten free cup cakes:)

Dancing Jacob

In Riemerville, music is just as important as water and food. So, when I see Jacob appreciate music almost as much as I, it makes me happy. These videoes are too cute not to post:

16 1/2 Months

I am so behind on my blog but had to post this picture of my little lover boy. This is Jacob on Sunday celebrating my 35th birthday. Just this week he has added some words to his vocabulary, he now can say bye,book, ball and yeah(in a high pitched voice like mama) while shaking his head no.

Love Letter

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Dr. Brown,

I am writing this letter to thank you for developing a valve cleaner for your Dr. Brown bottles. You should know that I did not use your bottles because at the time when my son was using bottles you did not have a BPA free bottle and frankly, they seemed a little cumbersome for a our household. We do, however, use your valve cleaners for our sippy cup straws. Would you believe that there is not a product out there to clean sippy cup straws? After giving my son several clean, crusty milk laced straws, I figured that there had to be a better way. Last week, I discovered your Dr. Brown valve cleaners and they work perfectly as if they were the universal sippy cup straw cleaner. Thanks again for being so smart and I love you.

Best,
Shannan Riemer

Forbes

So, a few weeks ago I met with a columnist for Forbes.com for an exchange of information. He was an urbanologist and I a local realtor. He had the numbers and I live,work,play,ect...here. We drove around for about three hours as I explained the areas of Austin. He emailed me after the visit to tell me how helpful his visit was and he would like to stay in touch. I was relieved he thought it went so well, I did too but that was the week Jacob was teething,fever,ear infection, and HFMD. Needless to say, I was functioning on no sleep! Here is the article, I am happy he quoted me but a little disappointed with the quote. I know I gave him more insightful information than the state of mind of Californians. Maybe next time:)
Here is the article

almost....

Jacob was helping us in the garden and then....