~*~ Being One is Fun! ~*~

We celebrated Sophia's first birthday the day before Easter. Keeping with our Easter tradition of having a small family crawfish boil, we decided to double it up with Sophia's party and I had planned a large outdoor celebration. Got lots of outdoor toys for backyard fun. Invited many folks over - family, friends, and many of the mommies from my playgroup and their little ones - thinking we'd have plenty of room to let the little ones run around outside. Ha! We had this crazy winter weather blow through that day. We were in the 80's one day and the next, we had a nasty cold front. The high was only 38 degrees - in April! And In Central Texas! And 80% chance of rain. Needless to say, it rained. Of all days.

So, plans changed and with some rearranging of furniture, we squeezed (barely) in our living room. Mike enclosed our large patio with tarps and bought an outdoor heater. Those family members and friends who were sans child, opted to stay on the porch in the cold weather, instead of being inside with the toddler madness. I suppose it wasn't too bad since they had the crawdaddies and some brewskies to keep them company.

The theme was Baby Einstein. Ok, I don't play the videos, but I think the characters are the cutest. Her cake was my favorite. The Einstein Caterpillar. It even had antennas the stuck straight up. When I was growing up, and even when my boys turned one, the birthday baby didn't have their own cake to destroy, but it's the thing to do now. We didn't have a messy cake event since the caterpillar's icing was made from fondant, so things stayed tidy in that area.

Even though there was utter chaos with toddlers running around (and even a couple 4-year old siblings), to my relief, there weren't any crying episodes. Phew. I thought Sophia would start wailing as soon as we started singing Happy Birthday to her, since most one year olds do. I'm sure I would too if I was surrounded by strange people bellowing a song I had never heard, all while this cake with a lit candle is in front of me. I suppose I'm still traumatized by her horrific wailing during her baptism (that was 8 months ago, but I still get heart palpatations just thinking about it).

All in all, it was a fun party, even if we were cooped up inside like sardines. I just can't help but chuckle when I think about the look on my cousins' faces when they walked in. They got there after everyone else did (they are childless) and basically walked into full fledge toddler mania, with this look like...what the h*ll is going on in here??!! LOL.

Sophia's favorite part was playing with the envelopes off her cards, so Mommy had to open her gifts, which was fun.

Thanks to Yvonne for snapping some great pictures!

Excellence is a Habit!

That's the motto for Domi's band. Cedar Park Middle School was the ONLY school to receive unanimous First Division ratings from all judges for the three bands they sent to UIL last week - Domi is in the Symphonic (Honor's Band). All middle schools from Leander ISD, Round Rock ISD, Georgetown ISD, Lake Travis, Manor, Marble Falls and surrounding areas were entered at the contest. CPMS came out at the top of all schools with our Varsity, Non-Varsity and Sub-Non-Varsity bands all receiving Sweepstakes and all one's! Once again, the only school to accomplish this achievement with three bands was CPMS. Now, the students have earned their advancement to the DC Festivals State Band Festival in San Antonio. The amount of practice, sectionals, and rehersals was high - but it paid off.

Spring has Sprung!

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...and that outfit Sophia's wearing?

I made it.

It's her 1st birthday outfit and my 2nd successful sewing project.

More Water Fun

What happens when Dad bathes Sophia...

Fountain Fun

Sophia enjoys being outside and today she discovered the small fountain on our front porch. She even took several steps to get to the fountain and did this funny number where she'd look at me upside down. She'll be walking soon. I think I'm going to get her the sandbox and water table combo for some outside playtime, so she doesn't have to use the porch fountain for play. LOL.

My Stitch 'N Bitch Tea Party

Knitting and tea parties? What could be more fun? Am I all grannied out or what! I've always enjoyed entertaining and I recently found a new love for tea parties after I hosted one for my cousin Yvonne's birthday party. There's just something appealing about getting out the fine china, silver flatware, linens, and antique tea pot and dressing the table up with candles and flowers. So I decided to host a Stitch 'N Bitch Tea Party at my casa on a Saturday afternoon. We enjoyed tea sandwiches, scones with lemon curd, and lemon Madeleines.

Whoever said I'd never put the antique Grosvenor tea set my Grandmother gave me to good use? ;)

Something new for Sophia

Today was a new experience for Sophia. She went on a swing for the FIRST time and LOVED it. During our morning walk, we stopped off at a small park within my subdivision when I noticed they had those special swings for wee ones, so I popped her in and voila! She was swinging without any worries of falling over.

I Stitch 'N Bitch

Huh? What's Stitch 'N Bitch?

In the crazy transformation of hobbies I've decide to try lately - knitting is now one of them. A sect of the SAHM group I belong to discovered the world of knitting, and so we've created a new group solely for knitters, and a local Stitch 'N Bitch was born. And I'm now an official Stitch 'N Bitcher! Wahoo!

The name refers to informal groups ("circles") of knitters who get together on a weekly or monthly basis in cafes or bars to knit and socialize and these groups have exploded all over the nation. No longer just for grannies, knitting has become hip to the younger crowd and going away is the negative social stigma that knitting has attached to it and bringing more recognition to the hip, creative and edgy sides of the craft.

I would have never, ever, EVER thought I'd want to pick up the needles and actually WANT to knit something, but alas, I did - and I finished. And I'm hooked. Ok, so my first project was the standard beginner project - the scarf - and I'm not certain it can even be called that because it's not very long, so I suppose I can call it a long swatch of knitted yarn. This baby took a while to crank out. It has many, many, MANY imperfections and even had an episode of tangled yarn, but I'm proud to say - I didn't give up.

I'm very surprised at how therapuetic knitting can actually be. You can do it anywhere, anytime and is a good remedy for that nervous energy I tend to get from time to time. I'm proud to be part of the new knitting movement!

Here's a photo of my "scarf"

And below is the yummy yarn I'm using to just play around and experiment with. Trying to learn the *Continental Way* of knitting (I was taught the English way) and also trying to learn how to Purl, which I've been unsuccessful at both. I'm hosting a Stitch 'N Bitch Tea Party at my house this weekend, so perhaps some more seasoned knitters can help me get my Knit On!

Stroller Strides

Since it's starting to warm up in Central Texas and we've had our dose of cabin fever, I decided to invest in a quad stroller - I was itching to get out of the house! We tested it out and it handled fairly well considering the grand size. It's like the Hummer of strollers. What I wasn't expecting was the workout I'd get from this thing. Pushing 60+ is not as easy as I thought. Just one bit of an incline and I'm set into workout mode (burning legs, shortness of breath, weakened arms). The good news is that I hope this boosts getting rid of the extra padding pregnancy and staying home has left on me.

Here's Sophia and her posse... (and no she doesn't have a mohawk - just a bad hair day)

Hawaii Anyone?

Instead of retyping and condensing what I posted in my MySpace blog while I was in Hawaii, I thought it be easiest on me to "copy and paste" here. I know - I'm lazy, but my eyes are going googly from sorting and uploading images to Tabblo, so I'm a copying and a pasting away!

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2.04.2007

As you can tell from my title, we made it to Hawaii -actually, the better term is--we survived. Traveling with a family, or I should say -- an infant, poses many challenges. I don't want to begin my Hawaiian blog with complaints because, hey we're in MAUI, one of the most beautiful places on this planet! Ahh, but you know me, I am a chick and I need to vent because I'm surrounded by men on this trip and they don't like to listen to this stuff. Ha!

So our journey began at 5:00 am. We were up till 11:30 pm packing the night before, so we definitely weren't well rested. Got the baby up, dressed and fed went smoothly and the shuttle service was punctual. After loading what seemed like 50 bags of luggage, we were off by 6:00 a.m (10 minutes behind schedule) to pick up my inlaws and brother in law. They were obviously better prepared than us -- already waiting and ready for us outside.

Arrived at the airport just in time. Then unloaded what now seemed like 70 pieces of luggage, backpacks, diaper bags, etc. The guys stayed outside and did curbside check-in while my MIL, baby and I waited inside the warm terminal.

Then after about 30 minutes, the guys join us and we were off to go through the stress of security checkpoint. Trying to take off our shoes, jackets, take out laptop, etc. and get all the items on the belt in a timely manner is always challenging. Thank goodness, they didn't make me remove Sophia from the carrier I had her strapped on to me with.

Then comes our first no-no as an airline passenger. I was not aware that baby jar food is not supposed to be put through the xray machine in the bag, so my BIL, who happened to get stuck with carrying that bag, was being questioned about it while I was in the other line trying to get through with a baby, and the security guy is looking at him like he's from the moon since he's telling the security that he has no idea what it's the bag he's carrying. I came to his rescue and things were cleared up.

As we're walking up to our gate, boarding has begun. Here's the kicker of the day. (Allow me to preface the following sentence with this information). After much deliberation and considerable thought about our 9 hour flight, we decided to purchase a seat (not cheap either)for Sophia so she wouldn't have to ride in our laps the entire time, but rather spend most of it strapped in her nice comfy car seat. So, we're waiting and everything is peachy. Until I look down and notice that Sophia's carseat is not in the pile with the rest of our carry on items. I ask Mike where it is. Guess where it was?? Being loaded on the bottom on the plane. Yes, he CHECKED it!

So we have no carseat to strap our 9.5 month old daughter in! Our very wiggly, hyper daughter. I wanted to SCREAM . My FIL was standing with us and it took every bit of strength I had in me not to wrap my hands around my husband's neck. I suppose I can't blame him. He had to deal with checking all our bags and a lost reservation number while standing outside in 30 degree weather. He goofed. And I just had to deal with it.

I'll make the rest of this short.

Sophia only took two power naps. The highlights of our flights were when she had two poopy diapers (one came from hell, I just know it). Try to imagine changing a baby's diaper in the tiny lavatory on the plane. NO fun! And she spent 90% of the time jumping, wriggling, climbing the seats, and rolling back and forth from my husband and I. Mike had to endure the daggers I was shooting at him every time Sophia was the equivalent of a Mexican jumping bean. Did I mention she did this about 90% of the time?

But yes! 9 flight hours later, we finally arrived!!! And she was in a terrific mood by then. Go figure. After about an hour and a half (and a missing piece of luggage) we were in our rented Excursion on our way to the hotel. Got checked in and our tummies filled.

THEN- the next morning (today), we just about sh** in our pants because we realized we're missing our camera bag, which had in it our Sony Cybershot PnS digital camera, Nikon CoolPix camera, and our tiny digital camcorder, all the batteries, memory cards -- over $2500 worth of equipment, all very new. After searching our rooms, the car, and a call into hotel security, no bag.

As I write this, Mike's taking a drive to Hertz to see if by chance it was left there.

Signing off now to get ready to attend the Old Lahaina Luau. Hopefully, I'll have a camera to capture the most authentic Luau in all of Hawaii...

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2.08.2007

First off...we found our camera bag! Yay!!!! What a relief. It was left behind (along with Domi's backpack, which was also full of valuable items) at the Hertz station. Thank God!

Enjoyed the Luau at Old Lahaina. Definitely worth the price. The hula girls girls looks so incredibly beautiful with their long hair, trim dark bodies, and oh, the way they can shake their hips. Needless to say, the guys had quite a show. But no worries--so did us ladies! The men did quite the same in their loin cloths. Hehe. Domi commented over the phone to our friend Javier, "Those Luau ladies... well...you just can't ignore them you know..." The music was also very empowering with the live Tahitian drummers. It was almost...erotic.

We also took a sunset drive up to Haleakala. Quite an experience to go from sea level to almost 10,000 feet in just a couple hours. We didn't make it to the summit before sunset, but did make it to one of the lookout points in time and got some great pictures of us above the clouds with the sunset spilling over them.

Next day we went snorkeling. This is where our vacation began to get interesting again. Took a boat out to Molokini and WOW what an amazing view of the sea life. The water was so clear! There were beautiful fish everywhere and swam so close to you, it felt like you could reach out and touch them. None of us had been snorkeling before, so this was quite a treat. Well, Domi was freezing in the water (I was the only one who rented a wetsuit) so Mike took him back on the boat to rent one and then it happened. Domi threw up. All over the floor of the boat. When our group was summoned back to the boat to go to our next stop, as soon as I got on the boat, I started feeling dizzy. Nothing too terrible, but just not feeling 100%. Can't say the same for Domi though. Poor guy threw up 2 more times on the boat. By the time we arrived at Turtle Cove I was feeling pretty horrid too, so we stayed behind on the boat while the rest of the crew went snorkeling. Mike thinks he was able to get some great pictures of the sea turtles. Said one was just a few feet away from him! How amazing.

Well, by the time we made it back to the hotel room, we thought we were free and clear of the vomit attacks, until we got in the hallway going to our room. Then it hit Domi again and he ran to the balcony and got sick again. We come back the room and then guess what? I start throwing up..over and over again. Poor Mike had to deal with a baby and two of us throwing up and moaning in bed the rest of the day. In case you want to know any more details about our vomiting experience, between Domi and I, we threw up 11 times. Ugggh!! We believe it was due to us accidentally ingesting salt water and then the boat ride with the motion sickness did not help. Very frustrating to lose a day and a half of our vacation.

A DAY and a HALF!

Instead of frolicking on the beach and basking in the sun, Domi and I were hugging the hotel toilet. No bueno! What was even more torture for me was that the next morning Mike was set to go deep sea fishing. You know how hard it is to care for a baby alone when you're sick?? Very hard. But I survived somehow and this morning I am back to my normal self.

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2.14.07
Ok, so we're back home and have been for about a week. It's taken me this long to recup. I still have two suitcases that have not been unpacked. Long story short - the flight back was horrendous for me. I went 26 hours without sleep and having a 3 hour layover in LAX did not help. I was a zombie. Even fell asleep for 2 hours scrunched up in an airport seat while Mike watched Sophia. I was THAT tired. I was so happy to be home. Of course, we didn't get to do and see everything we had hoped and for me that was a trip to Hana. But what we did see was beautiful and I'd love to share these images with you. Scroll down for a preview of photographs, then come back and click on each one and it should take you to my Tabblos.

Mahalo for taking the time to read all this! Enjoy.

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The journey to the summit of Haleakala brought us from coastal Maui, to the remote, native, high-elevation highest peak on Maui. We discovered an island in the sky where the clouds spread out below us like a second layer of ocean. Simply Amazing. It was incredibly chilly up top and the windy curvy road was a bit challenging for our driver and especially challening on a couple passengers due to dizziness and mysterious tooth pain, but worth the trip!

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Snorkeling for the first time was exciting for us. We took a boat to Molokini, which is just over 2 miles off the south shore of Maui. Its crescent shape acts as a fortress that provides protection from waves and powerful currents making this area one of the top ten dive sites in the world. We were amazed at how many beautiful fish there were just a few feet under the deep blue sea. We also stopped at Turtle Town and Mike and David got to swim with the turtles. However, we are disappointed in the quality of underwater camera pictures and these pictures just don't do this experience justice.

The only drawback to the day was when Domi got sick on the boat after our first stop. Soon after I also began to feel pretty horrid (but didn't get sick until we returned to the hotel). We believe it was due to us accidentally ingesting salt water. We chocked on it a couple times - duh.

On our ride back in, we were even treated to some whale watching. Lotsa momma whales with their babies!

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Helicopter ride gave us an aerial view of Maui. Seen were beautiful tropical rainforests with vibrant green valleys -- glided over rugged towering sea cliffs along the coasts -- and hovered next to towering, plunging waterfalls and hidden valleys. A few waterfalls were photographed, however, the photos came out blurry. Grrr. It can be difficult to photograph out of a helicopter due to movement and reflection, but you get the jist of it all. Did ya notice the whales below? Aw.

Ok, I have to say it. One of these photos appears phallic to me. If you can figure out which one, you're as twisted as I am. LOL

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