Molly and Daddy

Check out that drool!

Fall-in-love February

This year Bret and I celebrated (well, are still celebrating) our second annual "Fall-in-Love February". We figured that Valentine's Day is often overrated... you want to go out and eat chocolates and be mushy, but it also feels like you're supposed to do all that. So last year I planned to do something for Bret each day of the month to show him that I loved him. Some things are dates, some are notes, some are stupid sayings that match the dinner we are going to eat, but it is something fun that we hope will become a tradition in our home.

This is the calendar we use. Yes, it has 30 slots... there was no good configuration for 28 squares, plus we can use it for other countdowns too. 

Unfortunately, I tend to get a little unrealistic when I plan the month out. A lot of the activities we plan to do don't end up happening (like going for a drive or a walk always seems to conflict with Molly's nap and sometimes going to the gym becomes more important that that silly game we were going to play. Oh well... we figure we have a list of things we can make up for next month!

Last night Bret made me dinner as one of the kind things he has been doing for me. It was delicious and we were both stuffed by the time we were done. He also took me to see Brian Regan perform on UT (for those of you non-Texans, that's University of Texas, not the abbreviation for Utah) Campus. It was our first night out without Molly and (although I was a little paranoid that I didn't leave her with enough milk or that she'd cry the whole time) we had a blast.

It has been a great February and I feel blessed that we are so very much in love.

Why yes, we do get bored sometimes...

Mommy Meltdown

Yesterday I had my first mommy meltdown. Poor Bret came home, excited because we were leaving on our first baby-less date to see Brian Regan in an hour... and his wife was in tears.

Babies cry. I get that. I don't mind too much when Molly cries because I can usually console her and I feel like I can generally pinpoint the cause of the sadness. For example, she can get pretty cranky when she's tired, but I can understand that and eventually I can help her fall asleep. But yesterday it was screaming, shaking, big tears rolling down her cheeks and I just couldn't help her stop. She has been taking really short naps and acting tired and fussy, so I tried helping her to fall back asleep. Nope. So I bagged that and tried playing with her. Nope. Feeding her? Nope. Rocking? Bouncing? Walking? Holding her over my shoulder? Football hold? Bundled up? Set her down? Diaper change? Take her temperature? I think we bounced and both cried together for at least 45 minutes straight. (I wish I would have counted how many laps I did around our small apartment!) Of course she finally wore herself out and fell asleep 5 minutes before Bret got home... and then woke up again 5 minutes after he got home. And wouldn't you know it, she smiled and acted totally content.

What is going on? It happened again today, but luckily I was able to clam her down after about 15 minutes. I sincerely hope she's teething because I want this to be caused by something. I feel like she spends a portion of her day being totally and completely happy, and the other part of the day wailing. There isn't a whole lot of in-between. I know teething can start about this time and I can see little bumps where the teeth will come in, but I have no idea if they are on their way. This poor baby... all I want is for her to be happy!

A Little Tuesday Cuteness

Feedback, anyone?

I took these pictures of Molly a few weeks ago and need to choose 4 to hang on our wall.

None of these pictures have been edited yet, but I'd love any feedback on which ones you like best.

Or just enjoy looking! We can't get enough of this girl.

I need to choose one of these three:

A

B

C

( I eliminated D. Yay for me.)

And one of these three:

E

F

G

One with Bret:

H

I

J

And one with me:

K

L

M

Bret isn't a huge fan of the pictures of him with Molly (and in my defense, I was just snapping - not really thinking about hanging them on the wall) so we might forgo the ones of us and just choose 3 or 4 of her. Anyway, they are obviously not professional quality, but with a little editing I think they'll be good enough for us. I'm super indecisive, so share your opinions! 

The Quinns in Austin

This weekend we were incredibly lucky to have Lauren and Nate come to visit us. We were so thrilled to have visitors and an excuse to explore Austin with them. Since I was toting Molly around, all these pictures are via Lauren's phone (thank you!). Here are some of the highlights of our weekend:

Thursday -
Lauren arrives mid-afternoon. We catch up, eat dinner, watch a Psych (yes, I think we got her hooked!), played with Molly and baked chocolate chip cookies. Close to midnight we picked Nate up from the airport.

Friday -
We woke up for pancakes and smoothies with Bret, then enjoyed a relaxing morning while Bret went to work and Nate worked from our apartment. (Dare I admit? More Psych!) Bret had an interview for a Physical Therapy job (wahoo!) so we got to have him home for lunch. Then Lauren, Nate, Molly and I headed to Austin to see...

University of Texas campus

The Capitol Building

South Congress (complete with food trailers and eclectic vintage stores)

Zilcher Park

Chuy's (our favorite Mexican restaurant, maybe ever.)

Mt. Bonnell

When we got home we were pooped, but we stayed up to play a game of Sequence and chat until our eyelids got droopy.

Saturday -
Our plan was to go out for breakfast at the Monument Cafe in Georgetown before taking Nate to the airport. What we didn't plan on was a 40 minute wait! Since we had a flight to catch we started driving toward the airport, looking for a backup breakfast location. Everywhere seemed to have a wait! But we eventually enjoyed some delicious IHOP and got Nate to the airport with enough time to get on his flight. (Whew!)
After that adventure, Lauren and I left Molly at home with Bret and set out to explore Georgetown Square. It is a fun, old town square with locally owned stores. We had fun window shopping and tasting a couple chocolates from the candy store. Then I introduced her to her first ever HEB shopping experience. (HEB is a grocery store chain in Texas. It has great produce, good off-brands and overall good prices.) We came home and went to work in the kitchen... lasagna roll-ups and cake balls! Mmmmm....

Sunday - 
Lauren's flight was at 8:00 so we woke up early and hit the road. I wish she could have stayed longer, but we're so glad that she made the effort to come out here to see us. We tried our best to convince Nate that this would be a fabulous place to live... we'll see how that goes. I'm determined to make Austinites out of them (mostly for my benefit).

Thank you Lauren and Nate for a wonderful weekend!