Weekend

What a busy weekend we had. Saturday aka Party Day was full of fun. I hosted a baby shower that morning. My friend is having a boy & we had a bird themed shower.

That afternoon my cousin's little girl Emerson had her 2nd birthday at Gymboree. E & I attended that & it was so much fun. Elliot really enjoyed the soft mats to crawl around on. Big difference from home.

Right after that, I headed back home to have a little BBQ at the pool. Lane's mom, brother & step dad were in town. Brian, Christina & their boys were able to join us too. It was so nice to just hang out & catch up.

And today is Mother's Day. I feel so blessed to be able to stay at home with my sweet little girl. She seriously makes my life so much better. I don't know how I got so lucky!

Just look at her!

I Had No Idea

Apparently today I dressed like a mom. My friend informed me of this & it really took me by surprise. What? I thought these jean capris were in style. They're fitted, have the worn look & even a torn spot. I realize this picture is unflattering, but TRUST me, the whole outfit works. We were at Costco during my revelation & sure enough, 2 out of 3 women had capris on. Of course all of them were over the age of 40. I will say that mine were more stylish than theirs, but I had no case. I had a good laugh about it & you think I would throw them out immediately. However, I'm keeping these babies. They are sooo comfy & it's HOT in Houston, so there!

Fiesta

To me Cinco de Mayo is an excuse to eat Mexican food. Until just now, I always thought it was celebrated as Mexico's Independence Day, but according to Wikipedia it commemorates the Mexican army's unlikely victory over the French forces at the Battle of Puebla. Interesting.

We had a few friends over to enjoy the insane amounts of food we had. There were only 7 of us, but we had:

-margaritas (non alcoholic of course)
-flautas
-chicken enchiladas
-tacos
-chips w/ guacamole, salsa & cheese dip
-sopapilla cheesecake
-tres leches cake (thank you Diane & Fernando!)

Here's part of the spread.

Of course we had to have a pinata. Here's Lauren. She had a pretty good run, but in the end the donkey won.

But it was Diane that really let him have it. It only took her 2 swings to do...

this.

This may be a hot button topic

*I am not a real political person. I may occasionally watch Fox News when Lane has it on, but that does not make me an expert. The following is just my opinion. I do not mean to offend anyone. If you don't agree with me, don't feel the need to make a comment. It's not going to change my mind...and I think it's rude because this is my blog & I can say what I want. Again, no offense.

So I saw a story on Yahoo Sports about the Phoenix Suns wearing their "los Suns" uniforms to make a statement about the happenings in Arizona. This caused me to think about all of that craziness, which caused me to get all fired up. I think it's completely ridiculous that there have been riots & uprisings about this issue. I understand if they're against racial profiling (ex: pulling someone over without reasonable cause). However, the real issue is about legal vs. illegal. Don't we have laws for a reason? Why should they get flack because they're enforcing them? It does not mean that we hate Latin Americans. We just believe that they need to be here legally. I'm not a hater. I just believe in following the rules. I think Glenn Beck says it best "America, this is what you have to understand: equal justice, not social justice. Equal justice of the law demands that law-breakers not be rewarded for their illegal activity, that instead they be treated like everyone else."

Baby Time

A friend of mine invited us to go to a baby class at the library. I think all the kids are under the age of 1. We sang songs, looked at books & played with toys. E really liked it, so I think we'll go back.

Little Swimmer

We decided to introduce E to the pool today. She loved it! She didn't fuss at all. She had so much fun splashing around with us. I'm so glad she liked it because I plan on spending a lot of time by the pool this summer.

Happy as a clam

She loves hanging out in her raft

She looks so happy floating around

Time to dry off

Cool cat

Changes

Elliot is really starting to do a lot more now. She is 8.5 months. At 7 months she FINALLY started rolling over from back to tummy. I thought this day would come about 4 months earlier, but she was only teasing me & decided to take her sweet time. Once she got that move down, she seemed to be all over the place. I now have to pay extra close attention. Especially when she's on my bed. She's a little roly poly & doesn't get the concept of going over the edge of the bed=pain. She is now pulling up on everything...her bathtub, me, the couch, her bumpo and now her bed. She has recently started pushing herself up in a sitting position & I will often times find her sitting up in her bed after she wakes up. Then yesterday I saw that she was STANDING in her bed with her arms draped over the rail (see above). I'm glad I'm a bit OCD. I am constantly turning on her monitor during her nap time to see what position she's in or if she's woken up, even when I know she's still asleep. I can't help myself. Well luckily I caught her right after she made it up & it freaked me out. I'm so afraid that she's going to pull herself over the rail. So I bolt into her room using the "you're in trouble" name, Elliot Reese. Yep, everyone knows they're in trouble when they hear their first & middle name. Lane immediately lowered her matress. And then this morning I go in to find she's gotten her arm stuck between the slats. Oh this child. She's about to start crawling & I can only imagine what she'll get into at that point.

Highlights

Lane had an ER conference in Dallas last weekend, so we headed that way. He could only stay the weekend, but I stayed the entire week. It's the longest we've been apart, but it went ok. I had to write down what I did each day because I knew there was no way I would remember a week later. So here's a brief recap of what went on.(This actually is pretty long)

Saturday- We continued celebrating Lane's 31st birthday by eating at a sushi place called Piranha's in Fort Worth. He loved it! Since I'm not a sushi, seafood, any kind of fish person, I went with the crunchy chicken which was also delicious. It was gross & rainy that night so we weren't able to fully enjoy Sundance Square. It was pretty much straight to the restaurant & back. :(

Sunday- We went over to Lane's parents' to hang out with them for a bit. Then it was back to my parents' for Lane's birthday dinner...Tuscan chicken (yummy!) Unfortunately, this was the end of Lane's stay. I had to take him to the airport to head back to Houston. So sad.

Monday- Pretty low key day. I went over to Regina's to take pictures for her shower. Then we just hung out with the kiddos. I ended the day by eating at Joe's with my parents. I ALWAYS have to get there super sub with the house dressing when I'm in town. You should try it.

Tuesday- Such a fun day. We met up with Marianne & her two cuties, Charlotte & Sage at the Fort Worth Zoo. This is by far the best zoo ever! Maybe I'm just biased, but seriously, it's great. After we left, my parents & I went to Pappa's Burgers for their milkshakes. We had burgers too, but our main purpose was the shakes. I am obsessed with them. By far the best ones I've ever had. I think part of it is the extra wide straws...genius.

Wednesday- I started off the day by coloring my hair. It's back to brown for me. The blonde is just too much work. Plus I prefer darker hair. I'll have to get a picture of it. That night I went out with Regina & Amy for some girl time. We went shopping & ate at Gloria's. Definitely needed that.

Thursday- I met up with a girl from my old job, who has become one of my close friends. We went to this new place in Fort Worth called Love Shack Burgers. Very cute place. The burgers were just ok. They could definitely do better on the fries. It was so great to catch up with her & hear about the exciting things going on in her life. And she finally got to meet Elliot. Later that night I watched the NFL draft. I don't know why but I kept getting all chocked up for people I don't even know. It's just so exciting seeing these kids get drafted to a pro team. It's something they've probably always dreamed about happening & it finally came true. I'm such a sap. And I'm really excited about the Cowboy's pick, Dez Bryant! Apparently he's awesome.
**And some exciting news...E has her 1st tooth coming in!

Friday- This day was dedicated to all things shower. Amy & I went out to get everything & we spent the day prepping. Andrea was able to meet up with us as well & we had a real good time. That night I treated myself to a nice bubble bath. I dimmed the lights, turned on some music & just relaxed. Oh how I wait for the day when we'll have a house with a big bathtub.
**More exciting news-E has her 2nd tooth coming in!

Cru is showing E how to work a puzzle.

Saturday- Today was the big day...Regina's shower. Everything turned out great & I'm pretty sure she liked it. Mission accomplished. I took more pictures than this, but I'm sure she'll post them on her blog.

So as you can see, I was one busy girl this past week & I'm ready to rest.

Happy Birthday Lane!

Today is Lane's 31st birthday. I don't think he was very excited about it. And he kind of got gipped because he had to work all day & we're about to drive to Dallas. I wanted him to feel like today was still special so last night I blew up 72 balloons & our entire living room floor was covered with them. When he woke up this morning to head out, he got a little surprise.

Here E is enjoying the new toys.

When he got home I had his favorite tacos waiting for him. Then he opened presents. I got him a bunch of shirts.

But his favorite gift was The Slap Chop. We are a sucker for infomercials & he has been wanting this for a long time. He was very happy. And it even came with The Graty. Jealous?

I Want One

My SIL had a little baby boy (Garek) on Monday. We went to the hospital to see him & he was just precious! It's so crazy to see how small he is. Elliot weighed less than he did when she was born, but I swear he's smaller. It just shows how much you forget. Definitely makes me want to have a little one. Even littler than the one I've got!

E is checking him out.

We stopped by their house tonight for another visit. We just can't get enough of him!

While we were over there, I got this great video of Elliot laughing. I know I've already posted like 4 videos of this, but this one is by far the best! I don't know what it is, but every time Elliot gets around her cousin Dominic, she starts cracking up. He loves to entertain her & she loves to be entertained!

Random

Nothing has been going on lately, which is why I haven't been posting as often as I usually do. So in the meantime, here are a few pictures that make me smile.

This picture cracks me up every time I look at it.

Grandma Blankenship gave her this little hat & it looks so cute on her.

She is slowly getting the hang of the sippy cup. I give it to her when I'm pushing her around the track to keep her occupied. I really wanted her to practice holding the handles. She hasn't really mastered the part of getting water out of it yet. It usually ends up all over her shirt. But in her defense, I've tried it out & it is really hard. (It's the no spill kind)

This is how I find her most of the time when she's sleeping. When I put her down, she always starts kicking her legs & scooting around & the blanket ends up over her head. At first I thought she just gets exhausted & the blanket ends up defeating her. But now I think she does it on purpose. And since I'm paranoid, I'm constantly going in there & readjusting it so it's not suffocating her!

Fresh Squeezed Lemonade

We stopped by a friend's house tonight & they sent us home with a bag of 6 lemons & some mint leaves. So I decided to make homemade lemonade. I have never done this before & should probably have thought it through a little more before starting, but that's usually how it goes for me. Learn from my mistakes. Mistake #1...just because you like pulp doesn't mean you should put in the skins from all 6 lemons. That is what I did & came out with a very chunky drink. Well actually, that is the only mistake I made, so I really didn't need to number it. Through all the pulp, I could tell that the drink really did taste great. So next time I'll get it right. And just an FYI, I added 4 cups of water & 1 cup of sugar.

E's 1st Easter

What a wonderful Easter we had. We started things off by making breakfast. Lane just got home from working all night, so I wanted to treat him to something nice. Then I let E check out her Easter basket.

Now I wasn't even going to do an Easter basket this year since she doesn't really know what's going on. However when my mom heard about this she laid a guilt trip on me & said that I got an Easter basket my first year. I started to feel bad & went to get everything. I picked out candy that I would like since I'll be eating it. I thought I'd throw in a book as well. So $20 later here we are. Elliot will have to thank her grammy when she's older for making sure she had nothing but the best.

This afternoon we met up with Brian & Christina at her dad's house for dinner. He cooked the best brisket ever! I ate so much! Now we're at home just relaxing & getting ready for the week ahead.

Bluebonnets & Blue Bell

Today we hung out & around Brenham, Texas. I had no idea how cute this little place was. I've only driven through it on my way to Austin. But this time around we took a side road that led us into the town & I was pleasantly surprised. It was such a quaint, small town. We stopped off and ate at a spot called Almost Heaven. They had soups, sandwiches & a soda fountain. The food was delicious & they had the longest line to prove it.

Next we decided to check out the Blue Bell factory. Wouldn't you know that they literally just closed the store where you could buy ice cream 30 minutes before we got there.

However that didn't deter us. We just drove down the road a bit & stopped at one of the many gas stations that sell hand dipped cones.

Elliot decided to steal a taste of my cone.

Our last stop of the day was to the bluebonnet fields. We took pictures in a field that was full of them. I took so many, but picked my favorites to post. These are just from my camera. I'll be getting more from the others we used.

Christina, Brian & Dominic

Grandma & Grandpa Bassi with the grandkids.

My sweet pea.

Cousins.

Me & my girl. I was so sad that Lane wasn't able to be here. Unfortunately he was on call, so we had to go without him. At least this little trip occupied my day.

Spring Break

My parents came in town for their spring break & stayed with us for 3 days. I was so happy to see them. Elliot was spoiled rotten. She was constantly entertained. We filled up our days with lots of shopping! Poor E probably only got 2 naps in her bed & the rest were in her carseat.

Here she is with Poppy.

My parents bought me these flowers & we planted them today. Now my apartment has some curb appeal. :)

We went to the rode0 yesterday and Elliot got her first up close look at farm animals. I think she liked them ok. She was smiling when the sheep started sniffing her toes.