We did it!

Ella's MRI is over and she was a champ! The nurses were all super sweet with her and she paid them in cuteness. She is back to 100% and it is just noon, a few hours since the procedure : ) Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers.

Bad Blogger

The summer season has put some zing in our calendar of events. Ella and I have been so busy that it is difficult to remember the camera in the frenzy, much less sit down and look at what we've snapped together. Play dates with Joshua and Tabitha and even a recent visit to our newest tiny neighbor Samuel! We were so lucky that our small friend Collin came and visited and we were able to grill and chill with his mom and dad, along with Lyndsay and her family. We did Barton Springs two times this week! Ella loves the frigid water, even though I have to warm up to it a bit. We are hitting the trail a couple mornings a week with the park as our destination of choice. Aunt Charley is squeezing us in her busy schedule at least twice a week : ) We love spending time with her out and about. We are looking forward to Zach's family reunion this weekend and Uncle Nick's high school graduation and blow out party the next. It is all very exciting and the double dose of vitamin D from the sun keeps our wheels spinning.

We have one small hurdle and that is Ella's MRI scheduled for first thing Wednesday (yep, day after tomorrow). We are going in to make sure her surgery at 2 months old was a true success and to ease concerns of any future complications. It wouldn't be so bad, but she has to be put under, IV and all. Zach and I will be together at the hospital and will be sure to report as soon as she is done. We get the official Neurologist's report next week at our visit, but I will feel great once the anesthesia part is over. I just don't like it and neither does Ella. This is all very confusing to a newly 1 year old.

Ok, summer updates and pictures will be added soon. I thought I should just drop a line about what us girls have been doing lately since I haven't been posting at all.

Later,
Elizabeth

Back to normal?

Pretty much, but Ella still has a little diva in her from all the attention this past weekend : )

Part III: Mother's Day, Sunday, May 11th

Could there be a better Mother's Day gift than to have your family in town to share it with? Nana, Grandpa, Uncle Spencer, Aunt Erika, Uncle Travis, Mimi, Grandpa, Aunt Hillary, Great Grandma Rosie, Great Aunt Anna and Great Uncle Pat all stayed to share lunch together on Sunday. We met Aunt Charley, Uncle David and all the afore mentioned crew, including Shauna at County Line for some good 'ole barbecue and a little relaxation on their patio on the water before everyone had to head their separate ways. Ella was loving day 3 of the party extravaganza.

Drinking milk while hanging with Uncle Spencer:



Watching the turtles with Uncle Trav:



Feeding the turtles with Aunt Charley:



Ignoring the turtles for one moment to pose with the whole Vowell crew:

Part II: PAR-TAY! Saturday, May 10th

Wow! The day was a whirl-wind of activity. Zach and I put the finishing touches on everything from the lawn to food just minutes before our first out-of-town guests arrived. Nana, Grandpa, Uncle Spencer and Aunt Erika arrived first with cupcakes for the party...so good! Great Grandma Rosie, Great Aunt Anna and Great Uncle Pat followed shortly thereafter and then the flood gates opened wide with Mimi, Grandpa, Aunt Hillary and all of the Austin crew! There were so many people here to celebrate Ella's birthday that it brings tears to my eyes. Here are a few pics that were miraculously snagged on my camera (though not by me). I'll be posting more as Aunt Charley gets them uploaded and sent over:

Ella and Aunt Erika:



Opening presents...



Eating birthday cupcake:



The day couldn't have been more perfect. I definitely will be posting pics of the party attendees when I get a chance. Ella slept one tiny hour the whole day due to the festivities.

Part I: Let's go back in time together....Friday, May 9th

Today is (was) Ella's birthday! She is officially one year old. Mom, dad and Ella shared a birthday breakfast of banana pancakes together:

Ella waking up to an overwhelming amount of balloons and attention from mom and dad:



Mmmmmmm, mmmm...



Ella stuffing too much in:



The rest of the day consisted of a morning visit from Aunt Charley and Miss Whitney (who came to help mom clean house for tomorrow's party....three cheers for Miss Whitney!) lunch with dad at his work and playing at home with mom until dad came home and we were all able to play together.

Now Ella rides in her big-girl, forward facing car seat and drinks milk from a sippy cup....my how things change in the course of a week!

HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY TO MY PRECIOUS ANGEL!

Date Night

I have to talk about last night because it was the first real date Zach and I have been on in well over a year! Aunt Charley was gracious enough to babysit, even though that consisted of sleeping on the sofa while Ella slept, too.

We knew it was gonna be a late night because we had a shmancy dinner and a show on our plate and we did not leave the house until 9 pm (my usual shut down time). We went to vespaio, compliments of our friends Justin and Whitney who bestowed us with a VERY GENEROUS gift certificate. So generous we were able to indulge on a three course meal, with drinks! Everything was delicious and the candlelit atmosphere really made it special. This gave us some time to talk and I didn't realize how few uninterrupted moments we really share because we had so much to talk about. We started off with a couple glasses of wine and some calamari for an appetizer. Zach chose a salmon entree that was offered as one of their many daily specials and I had a pasta stuffed with butternut squash smothered in a brown sage butter w/ walnuts and parmigiano reggiano cheese...magnific! I forgot my camera and have no pics of these succulent dishes so you'll just have to make the trip to take it all in.

We left the restaurant around 11 pm and made the short trek to the Alamo Drafthouse on 6th street (our first visit at it's new Ritz location) to see the Stars of the Lid show that we have had tickets to for months. The ambient music was so relaxing I found myself taking much of it in with my eyes closed.

Our adventure downtown included all the regular kooky characters: a couple friendly homeless men walked us to the show and shared some good conversation, there was a "swat" team breaking up a cat fight on the street where we walked out of the show and a short punk kid was trying to fight people in their cars and a few frat guys on the sidewalk right next to us. We made it home at the crack of 2:30 AM!!!! I believe that I was breastfeeding the last time I saw that on a clock.

Anywho, the sleep deprivation I am battling today was well worth the event and I am looking forward to many more dating adventures with my Honey.