Hello 3rd trimester!

Hello 3rd trimester! I am so happy you are here!

Your presence has told me that I am that much closer to the end and I am very thankful for that. My ankles are swollen, I took off my wedding ring fearing it would not come off, my back hurts terribly, I feel like I did the last month of being pregnant with Lyla...yes I know...I am complaining. I would be lying if I candy-coated my thoughts and said I LOVE being pregnant. I did the embracing thing the 1st time around! The reality is it is very different the 2nd time around...at least it is for me and I am okay with that. I know what happens this time around. In 13 weeks we will be blessed with a baby boy. I am ready to meet him in person and will be wishing the weeks away until the day of his arrival!

3 more flaming hot summer months to go....

Dear Baby Boy: Why must you kick so terribly hard? I know soon enough your strength will be one of the things I will adore but can you wait until you are part of the world to prove yourself. OUCH!!!!

Note to daddy: Baby, if you still have doubts I assure you we are having a boy!!!!

A beautiful day in the neigborhood!

A beautiful day in the neighborhood!

Sunday morning we were out of the house by 8:00am...with the temperature already creeping into the 80's we knew we were in for a special treat. To start our day we headed to the newly opened Clarke's in Bucktown for breakfast. Check out Ms. Fashionista :)

After breakfast we took a stroll around our neighborhood. There is nothing better than Chicago's tree-lined streets!

Stopping to smell the flowers....

Which lead to the owner - Colleen - cutting Lyla and I our own special bouquet!

We LOVE our neighborhood and all the special things it has to offer. Warm air lends itself to lots of exploring, new discoveries and meeting sweet ladies named Colleen.

Sidenote: Photos courtesy of Hipstamic. iphone users you must download the Hipstamic application. Aren't these pictures fabulous!!!!

Videos, Videos, Videos!!!

Me, Me, Me!!!

It took a couple of days to figure out what the heck Lyla was saying. As the days passed it became very clear. The light bulb went off when she pointed to herself and said ME! Lyla has entered the:

ME, ME, ME phase of life.

Oh dear!

For now ME has replaced the NO phase - we'll take it.

Now we just have to work on explaining that everything in the world does not belongs to Lyla....or maybe not. Afterall she is just a toddler - does she really need to learn this lesson right now?!?!?!

Parental decision #1,237,678......

A girl of many faces!

I find myself saying it alot recently "Lyla is in such a fun stage right now." Okay I would be exaggerating a tad if I didn't say that the fun wasn't wrapped in with some very strong opinions coming from Lyla. But overall, Lyla is becoming such a "girl". A strong, silly, funny, opinionated, goofy, smart, imaginative, vocal, independent, ever-entertaining, fast, active, clumpsy, brave girl.
Here's a series of faces taken within a matter of minutes:

After a minute or so in front of the camera she of course got bored and quickly moved on to ironing her clothes. Over the past 2 weeks her imagination has blossomed. Which of course is very entertaining and amazing to watch. She definitely did NOT pick up ironing from me!

Lyla was taking her bubble bee for a ride while eating a snack. I guess she decided her baby doll must be hungry too...

I love this picture. I have been trying for awhile to get her to show her dolls some love. She would give them a quick hug and then throw them right on the ground. I felt so proud - she is getting it!! YAY! There is hope for her baby brother - haha!

Okay so she likes her dolls but of course she would much rather be by her daddy's side...

We just got Lyla a new play kitchen set. It took a lot longer to put together than expected...doesn't it always. We had to reveal some of the new kitchen toys to keep her entertained during the 2 day process of putting the darn kitchen together.

Lots of pictures of Lyla and her new kitchen set coming soon!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to me!
My day started with sleeping in while Lyla and Daddy made me breakfast. I couldn't stand the anticipation. I had to get a glimpse of what was going on in the kitchen. I am so glad I peeled myself out of bed to capture these moments instead of waiting for "breakfast in bed!"

 

Lyla and daddy made me Banana-Walnut Pancake - Yummmm! For those loyal readers...the idea came from our visit to Vieques and our craving for the "Best pancakes ever." Michael took one bite of his pancakes and said "They taste exactly the same." He is not confident at all. I think grandma and DD need to weigh in. Grandma and DD - be prepared for some of Michael's Banana-Walnut pancakes when you are in town Memorial Day weekend. The verdict is still out on this one.

This one is definitely going in my special box. My first "signed" Mother's Day card.

Lyla made this for me at daycare :)

 

My feast...

Can't get much better - I had a few moments over breakfast :) I am an extremely fortunate mommy!!!!!

The rest of "my" day was spent reorganizing the house. I know - the exact opposite of what you are suppose to do on Mother's Day. But the weeks are quickly passing. Grandma & DD are coming in town in a few weeks with a trailer which will have Lyla's new bedroom furniture. There is ALOT going back with them on the U-haul trailer in order to make room for Lyla's new room - lots of fun projects happening in the Austin household.

Happy Mother's Day!!

Happy 19-month Birthday Lyla!

Happy 19-month Birthday to Lyla!

Happy 19-month Birthday to Lyla!

Happy 19-month Birthday to you - LYLA!

Happy 19-month Birthday to Lyla!

Vieques, PR - Arrival

We arrived! You might ask how Lyla did on the flight...instead of giving the pilot a round of applause - Lyla got a round of applause from those around her...no literally! Lyla was told by many that she was the best baby they have ever seen on a flight and Michael and I even got a couple compliments for a job well done - haha :) Go Lyla Go!!! Thanks to your laid back demeanor we all survived the 5 hour flight. We landed in San Juan with one flight to go. Check out our 10 passenger island-hopper we had to take from San Juan to Vieques Island. Oh dear....

Michael was put on another plane - Grandma and DD were put in the front of our plane - so it was up to me - way in the back to keep Lyla entertained in very tight corners!

But she didn't need my help - she found plenty to do!

Oh I forgot something - check out Lyla sleeping on our laps on the big plane to San Juan. Lyla can sleep anywhere - more on that to come...

Lyla is very independent these days...of course she had to wheel her own luggage just like everyone around her!

Here is "Cookie's Paradise" our home for the week...not to shabby. We arrived when it was dark so let's just say we were very pleasantly surprised to see our surroundinsg in daylight.

After ordering pizza the night of our arrival and going to the cornerstore for some liquids - we are checked in for a good nights sleep. We had every intention of getting up early to explore "our" island for the week. The next morning we headed to the town of Esperenza to have a look around and get some food.

We discovered Trade Winds - breakfast with a view - no complaints!

The real adventure starts now...coming right up are several post that I have decided to categorize...here we go :)

Explore - Getting to know "our" Island!

I say "our" island because often times we felt like we were the only ones in paradise. Vieques is not your typical Caribbean Resort Island. On this island, you have to drive to the beaches. Each path you wonder where it will lead, but when you reach your destination you realize the path you chose was the perfect one! Our days began with eating a fulfilling breakfast and then going to find our beach of the day. With our jeep packed and cooler replenished each morning - we were ready !

Michael getting his morning run in...he says he takes mental pictures and catalogs them for later use :)

And here we go - Lyla's approach to that HUGE body of "wa-wa"....

Okay so day 1 actually didn't go as well as we wanted...she wasn't too fond of the sand and water....ut oh!

But if we show her we are happy than maybe she'll catch on....it worked!

DD's idea of exploring is to get his fins and mask on. And boy did he hit the jackpot on this one. He found the most beautiful starfish - amazing!

A scene we all became familiar with...daddy taking Lyla out for a swim...

Cock-a-doodle-do! Holy Roosters! They were everywhere....and you can be sure that Lyla is saying "ooooc-a-doooooo" now...her perfect version of course!

The balcony ended up being a death zone for Lyla - but come on - I come prepared. We popped her tent right up and viola, problem solved!

When I say explore - here is a perfect example. Check out Michael and DD looking at the map, trying to figure out what dirt road we were on...

If only I would have captured the look on Michael's face when we came to a "bridge" we had to cross. A had-to-be there moment - but still worthy of mentioning in case we ever forget.

Wild horses! WOW - wild horses. You don't see this everyday. They were absolutely beautiful. Our experience of watching for deer crossings back in Ohio had nothing on this...horse crossing signs are a tad scary at night.

Who is having more fun?

Looking for glass on "Glass beach" - my mission was to bring enough back for a project but unfortunately we didn't find enough big pieces :(

Our visit to a 375 year old tree on the perfect day - Earth day.

Thanks DD for bringing masks for all...I got Michael out there once :)

All rules went out the door this week. Lyla definitely picked up some habits during this week - but this vacation wasn't about saying "no" it was about letting her do whatever the heck she wanted to do. Even if that was eating Combo's for breakfast :) Heck it's vacation.

Our biggest "adventure" I'd have to say was our kayak experience through the

Bioluminescent Bay.

http://www.biobay.com/

In short, it's one of very few in the world. You can only explore the bay at night. When you jump into the water at night you glow. YES glow. I went into this knowing I would not jump in...but something about being under the perfect crescent moon and millions of bright stars....I jumped in right after Michael and DD jumped in right after me. This is something that can not be explained - something about floating on your back in the ocean, at night, looking up at the stars and looking down at your body glow - AMAZING experience. We are so thankful we had the opportunity to experience.

Here we all are tied up after kayaking out to the middle of the bay - waiting for the sun to set completely.

Okay we are getting closer to the green light to jump in....

Almost time....

You need a special lens to capture the glow so I stole this photo online...to give you an example of what the heck I am talking about.

Our week was filled with lots of exploring and adventure. It can be done with a toddler. Luckily for us we had some help and Lyla is the go-with-the-flow toddler that we had hoped when it comes to vacation. There has to be something said for taking a leap of faith and planning a vacation with a toddler. I've learned you can not let it stop you. This vacation could have easily been more work than a "vacation" but it's all in your mindset - I think. Even if we were trapped at Cookie's Paradise and exploring wasn't part of our week - to be able to spend a week with Lyla and her grandparents - you can't go wrong.