Puppy Love

Does life get any sweeter than this?

July 4th

I recently realized that I never blogged about our super fun, family filled 4th of July weekend at my mom's house. Well better late than never!

Grammy and Eliza showed their patriotic spirit by making a flag cake. I think a majority of the star marshmallows ended up in Eliza's tummy rather than the cake, but they sure had a good time and were very proud of their creation!

Eliza was so excited to see her Aunt Mare and Uncle John. She was even more excited to teach Uncle John how to play bowling on the I Pad. I am pretty sure that Eliza even won a time or two!

We went out to dinner to celebrate Mare and Grandad's birthdays. Eliza thought it was so cool that Aunt Mare and Great Grandad had fireworks for their birthday. We had dinner at The River City Grill and had a nice view of the fireworks over the lake. We were lucky to see fireworks this year because most places in Texas cancelled the fireworks displays because of the extreme heat and fire danger.

The next day we headed back to Houston, but we had the best time hanging out with family and celebrating the 4th! The only downside was Eliza is still asking if she can have fireworks for her birthday!

Weekend Road Trip

Last Friday as soon as school let out, Stephen, Eliza and I hit the road to spend the weekend with Grammy and Grandaddy. We had a really fun filled weekend except for the fact that Steve got sick.

Even though Saturday was one of THE hottest days ever recorded in Texas, we still wanted to take the boat out on the lake. As soon as Uncle Jim, Miss Carolyn, Great Grandad and Miss Louise arrived we headed for the marina because we knew that we wouldn't be able to stay out too long because it would just be too hot.

Eliza loves riding on the boat with her Grammy and even did her "King of the World" impression a few times.

After we returned home, Grammy fixed a fabulous lunch of fried chicken and mac and cheese. While Grammy was cooking up a storm in the kitchen, Eliza and Miss Carolyn played a few games of Candyland.






After lunch, we spent the rest of the afternoon laughing, visiting and playing Chickenfoot. I really enjoyed having a relaxing weekend and time with my family. I was so glad that Granddad's friend Louise was able to join us. She is a lovely lady with a great sense of humor and she is one heck of domino (Chickenfoot) player.

We capped off our weekend with a trip to Stephen's favorite comic book store in Austin. Eliza was giddy with excitement because her dad had promised her that she could get a new action figure. Eliza has been to a comic book store before but she had never seen one this big before. She was in super hero heaven. After much consideration she finally decided on a super girl action figure.

Where Everybody Knows Your Name

This summer Eliza and I discovered a new love . . . . . frozen yogurt. Lucky for us a really cool fro yo place called Orange Leaf opened in our neighborhood. With all of the blistering heat we have had in Texas this summer, we visited Orange Leaf multiple times a week. We frequented it so often that Eliza and Kyle (the high school kid who worked behind the counter) were on a first name basis. When we walked in, Kyle always greeted with "Hey Eliza, welcome back!" and they would high - five each other. It always made me think we were as cool as Norm from Cheers!

Eliza favorite part about going to get frozen yogurt is that fact that everything is self serve and there are over 20 different flavors and tons of toppings to choose from.

The funny thing is, we are both creatures of habit and we always get the same thing. I get pineapple and coconut swirled together with blackberries, strawberries and granola. Eliza gets cotton candy with M&M's, mini chocolate chips and rainbow sprinkles. We never seem to deviate, even Kyle knows what our favorite combination is.

Now that we are back in school, we have decided to make going to Orange Leaf our Friday afternoon treat. Eliza knows that Friday = frozen yogurt! The one sad part is, we no longer see Kyle because he is back in school . . . . here's hoping he comes back next summer!

Book Worm

Grandma and Grandpa came over to eat fajitas with us today and after lunch Eliza decided that today she would turn the tables and SHE would read to Grandpa.

I know Eliza enjoyed the story but after the fourth time she read it to him, I think Grandpa had had his fill of Barbie: Island Princess!

Reunited and It Feels So Good

After a month long vacation in Colorado, Eliza's Grandma and Grandpa returned home on Thursday. Eliza was truly giddy with excitement to see them. . . . . I think Grandma and Grandpa were a little excited too!

How We Roll

I have never been a fan of grocery shopping and I am really NOT a fan of grocery shopping with a with Eliza. She certainly can be a bit of a handful. She doesn't want to ride in the cart "like babies do" but letting her walk is always a disaster in the making. However we have recently found a solution we are all happy about. God Bless HEB for making it cool to ride in the cart again!

Changing Spaces

A few months ago we played "musical beds" at our house. Steve and I purchased a king size bed (love it) so the queen that was in our room was moved to the guest room. The double bed that was in the guest room was moved to Eliza's room and her crib/toddler bed was taken apart and put in storage. (sniff sniff).

Since that time I have been working to make Eliza's room more of little girl's room rather than a baby's room. I really tried to bring in items and colors that reflected her spunky personality but still gave the room a relaxing feel. (Can you tell I have watching A LOT of HGTV this summer?!?!)

Here is what her room looked liked when we first moved into our house in 2009.

I really loved her nursery - it was safari with a girly twist. The colors were soft and sweet - there was pink but not an obnoxious amount. I loved her bedding and cute little animals still melt my heart. I know not everyone would agree, but I have always thought that a baby's room should look like a baby lives there - not a adult in a baby's body.

And here is what it looks like now:

Eliza picked the bedding for her new big girl room. I did some serious cringing while we were in the store because it wasn't my first choice. I soon realized that this room is about her not me and this set suits her personality and looks adorable in her room.

The most special thing about this room is that the bed and dresser once belonged to my parents. They are antique pieces that they bought at an auction and had restored. I love that their furniture now has a home in my sweet girl's room. I love that this gives her another connection to her Grammy and Grandpa Joe.

Eventually I plan to move the dresser away from the window, but for now it is a necessary evil. Eliza's bedroom faces our backyard and our neighbors backyard. Eliza is crazy about the kids that live next door and she was caught standing on the window ledge trying to see if her friends were outside. Hence the dresser in front of the window.

Another thing I love about her room is her book corner. There is plenty of room for all of her books on the book shelf and there is also a place for us to sit and read.

And finally, since this is a little trip down memory lane, here is what she looked like when we first moved in to our house.

And now . . . . . .seriously time really needs to slow down.

Repurposed and Fabulous

Awhile back, Eliza's grandma gave her a TV/VCR combo set so she could watch videos in her room. Her cousin Jacob also gave her his old video collection. It had everything from Disney movies to Barney to Batman cartoons. What more could a girl want!



Eliza loves watching movies in her room and I love that now she has a place to watch movies when we are upstairs. However it became pretty clear that the TV needed a sturdy place to sit and storage was need to house all of bazillions of videos. I decided to repaint and repurpose an old chest that once belonged to my grandmother and was currently sitting in my room gathering dust. I had once used it as an entertainment unit when I first moved out on my own, so I knew it was sturdy enough to hold a TV.

Here is the finished product!




Unfortunately the before picture somehow was deleted from my camera before I had a chance to upload it to my computer. Bummer. Originally the chest was stained a light honey color with shiny gold hardware. I had contemplated painting it pink but decided that she had enough pink in the room and went with a color called "rapids". I replaced the hardware with simple white pulls and I love the way it turned out.

Big Change Big Day

Monday August 1, 2011 was a big day for our big girl. It was her first day at her new preschool. Eliza had been at her previous school since she was 5 months old, so the decision to move her was truly a tough one. Ultimately, we decided that even though it may be tough at first moving her was the best decision for our family.

One of the things she was most excited about was getting a new backpack. Her new school requires each child to have a backpack to hold their nap supplies and an spare change of clothes. When we started looking for backpacks, it became abundantly clear that the only choice for her was the princesses. She also thought it was super cool that her backpack had her name on it - I had it monogrammed.

Here she is before we left for school. She super excited and ready to go.

Once we got there, Steve and I could tell that she was pretty nervous and feeling slightly overwhelmed. She was pretty quiet and looked a little scared. Even though we knew she was feeling a little uneasy, Steve and I were so proud that she kissed us goodbye and didn't cry. Sadly I can't say the say for myself. As soon as I walked out of the room, I started to cry. It was hard for me to see her feeling so scared and uneasy.

However, she was all smiles when I went to pick her up. She talked nonstop about her day. She shared with me that the word of the day was "recipe" and that they had used a recipe to make pink lemonade.

On the way home, Eliza asked if we could stop for frozen yogurt and it was the perfect way to celebrate her big day at her new school.