Spring Break and Happy Easter!

Spring Break and Easter just flew by! We had a very enjoyable stay with the Danzes and the Harkins. On Saturday Eli and I drove to Austin early early early so Emily could hopefully sleep the whole way (which she did!). We went to Lake Austin—it was gorgeous day to walk not only because the weather was perfect, but the trees were in bloom and smelled beautiful. From there we went over to the Barton Creek Resort pool to give Emmy her first swimming lesson. To our amazement, she loved the water and was kicking her little legs.

That night Olivia and Marty graciously offered to babysit for us so we could go downtown with Fred and Cliff…and we had a blast! The next day we all met over at the Marty and Olivia’s for Hejjo’s 2nd birthday. Sheri and Chris came in from the rock and it was so nice to visit with them. Felix is growing so strong and looks like he’s almost ready to start crawling. Hejjo is just as sweet and active as can be, and has learned how to say “Emily”! So cute!

On to Bastrop to see the Harkins—the Hyatt built a resort out there called Lost Pines that is so cool. There was a great big slide that flowed into the “lazy river” which circled the pools. The place was great for kids and adults…we had fun playing water volleyball, roasting smores, playing shuffleboard, and rafting down the Colorado. We hung out until Wednesday and then came on back to Dallas for Easter.

UD had a beautiful Good Friday service with the entire passion sung. On Easter Sunday Emily was so quiet in mass…my heart just melted seeing Eli hold her in her Easter bonnet. The Easter Bunny left Emily some goodies, including a scavenger hunt for eggs (filled with bubbles) and some rice cereal which we’re going to try out this week! We had our first “friends” holiday with a Holy Saturday meal at our apartment with David and Nichole and Easter Sunday dinner at the Kanes. So much fun!

Emily surprised us this week by rolling over! And she’s starting to take the pacifier!!! Good job Emily! This will make naps and going to bed so much easier!!!!!

Pro Photos, Doctors and Prep

Last week Emily and I had our pictures taken. We had been looking forward to this day for so long, as my parents gave us the gift card for Christmas. Emily was a sweet little girl and so smiley, but as the shoot continued she decided that the whole "spring forward" and lose one hour of sleep was no fun. But nevertheless she gave a great picture!

When my best friend Anne moved here a month before Emily was born, I just knew that we would finally get to hang out every weekend! But then reality set and we realized that life with a baby was a little more hectic than we'd like to admit. (not to mention that we both live in Dallas but it takes at least half an hour to see each other!) So finally we were able to make her dinner at her awesome downtown apartment and get Emily down by 9:30...good times.

Emily had her last (hopefully) round of Synagis shots this week. That combined with a thrown off sleep schedule has resulted in a sad sad baby, poor little thing. At 7 months old, she weighs 11 and a half pounds now and is pretty much out of all her newborn clothes! She has a good bit of chunkiness on her thighs and a nice round Pooh bear tummy. A little hair is growing but it's so hard to tell what color it is--there are traces of blonde and red. We started putting her in the jumper (we just have to shove a bunch of blankets under and around her) and I think she's getting the hang of it...she's got incredibly strong legs. She mostly spends her day, when she's not nursing, trying to eat her hands and drool all over her clothes. It's hilarious because she hates anything in her mouth, so anytime her hand flies into her mouth she gags and makes the face like she wants to vomit. Eli and I think she might be cutting her first tooth!!

This week we've been getting ready for spring break! We're so excited to be able to see both sides of the family. I can't wait for Emily to get into the pool for the first time...Aly's mom gave us the cutest little surfer baby sun hat that she's going to wear. I've got a big day ahead of me with lots of laundry, cleaning, shopping, and packing...if only Emily could go like maybe an hour of not needing to be fed or held!! Heehee, I remember when we were dying for her to just want to eat and interact with us!

Aly's Visit, Harkins House, and a Snowy Dallas Day

We all were so thrilled to have our dear friend Aly visit from Cali a few weekends ago! After spending nearly a year in France, she moved back home to be closer with her family. We miss her so much...she is so fun and her liveliness is contagious! It was cool to have a little reunion, even though so many of us live within 5 minutes of each other. We saw Rachel's new niece Maggie and nephew Jack. At a year and a half, he's talking in complete sentences and repeating everything you say. Hilarious!! So much has changed in all of our lives, but it felt like we just picked up where we left off. We are dying for our crazy Aly to move back to her Dallas family!

I surprised the Harkins girls with a visit with Emily for a few days. My Dad's been out of town working so hard for the family (boohoo!) and my mom is super busy trying to study for comps (almost there mom!). Eli had a huge Finance test and needed some quiet, so all the stars were in line to go down to SA and help out. Fred came up to Dallas to have a guys weekend with poker, football, and more football. Emily absolutely adored the attention from her aunts Mary, Annie, and Teresa. Congratulations to Mary for receiving a $25000 service-based scholarship to UD next year! Annie's working extremely hard as an ACTS leader and as sophomore class president. Teresa just finished her basketball season, winning a huge trophy as champions. We had a great time and are looking forward to sharing a spring break in Bastrop. Eli was awarded a 5 day weekend for his exceedingly great job at the trade show, bringing in over 8000 potential clients!!

Dallas had a beautiful snowy day yesterday...I had never seen anything like it! I had no idea that it could snow 6" in Dallas in March! Phenomenal! Emily and I just sat by the window watching the cotton balls fall from the sky until Eli came home early and built us a fire. What a wonderful day:)