10 years???

Last weekend Matt and I went to our 10 year high school reunion! Although high school does feel at least 10 years ago, I don't feel old enough to be out of high school 10 years. Does that make any sense? It did in my head...

Anyways, here we are 10 years ago going to Prom:



Ha! Sorry about the black and white...guess I really am old cause I am too technilogically challenged to figure out my scanner in color. I actually feel like we look basically the same...maybe just littler versions of ourselves. What do you think?

Some pictures from the reunion:

EJ and JE


"Bang-la-desh-shoo!"

While in Houston we also met Keegan and Phil's new baby, Will. He is adorable! It was fun to see all of them.




Here's a couple pictures of us with Saylor tonight. She's starting to smile more easily for pictures which is fun.





Ok, I'm off to bed. We are headed out for another road trip tomorrow for a Smith family reunion in Blanco. I'm sure I'll have some pictures from that to post next week. Saylor's going to be meeting her four older boy cousins...exciting!

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!

Tommorrow makes 37 years for these two lovebirds...wow! Congratulations Mom and Dad....I love you so much!

Getting bigger

A couple things have happened this week to remind me just how quickly Saylor is growing. First, we lowered her crib mattress. Not that she was pulling up or trying to climb out, but I just figured it wouldn't hurt to do it earlier rather than later, now that she is getting more mobile. (By the way, major thanks to my friend Lauren; without her help I would have given up 10 minutes into the process because it turned out to be quite an ordeal! We went ahead and put it on the lowest setting because there's no way in heck I'll be doing that again any time soon). Here she is at her new level:













The major downside of this is that now it practiacally requires a somersault over the railing to give her a kiss goodnight once you lay her down. And yes,
butt in the air sleeping seems to be her new favorite position. :)


Ok, second big step: Saylor started crawling!

Ok, not really. I'm exaggerating. Definitely not really a crawl but also definitely the closest I have seen her get. She is pretty funny about it. She seems to only exert a certain amount of energy before deciding it's not worth it and collapsing onto the floor.

Here's a short video of her rocking on her knees/aka first attempts to crawl (trying to get to the bubble machine):

I wanna hold your hand...

Today

What Saylor and I have done so far today:

5:30 a.m - gym (just me, not her)
6:30 a.m. Saylor wakes up, demanding to eat (why is her wake up time creeping earlier???) Matt feeds her because I am not home from the gym yet - thanks, Matt!
7:30 - outside to play with bubbles and Harry (too hot to do it any later in the day)
8:00 - Saylor and I both eat our oatmeal (mine is definitely more appetizing)
8:15 - enormous diaper change effort in which I somehow get green poo on my fingers (lately she is so excited about diaper changes that she kicks and kicks and this is not the first time one of us has ended up with poo on us. Guess I must learn to be quicker!)
8:30 - dance party (Timbaland, Mariah Carey, and KC and the Sunshine Band - she seems to favor Mariah)
8:45 - 10:15 Saylor naps (hurray - it was a good one today!) and I clean up the kitchen, check my email, finish some paperwork for work, pay bills, put away laundry that Matt helped me fold last night, finish ab/back exercises because I am determined to get stronger so my back no longer hurts when I carry my chunk of baby around, start another load of laundry, and shower.
10:30 Saylor wakes up; bottle
11:00 - trip to Costco. (Actually uneventful other than the tremendous crowds and ridiculous rudeness in the parking lot. It's as if people will actually DIE if they do not get a front row parking spot). Saylor falls asleep on the way home.
12:30 - lunch - (Saylor does a little better with her squash today which I am glad about since since I spent an hour cooking, pureeing, and freezing it on Saturday).
1:00 - play with toys in Saylor's room, read books, etc.
1:30 - Saylor goes down for a nap.

Now I am sitting here blogging and uploading pictures, procrastinating the rest of my to-do list (which primarily includes working on the budget). You can see why I'm procrastinating! Oh how I wish we had a pool we could just go lounge at today! :)


Pre Squash


During the dance party

Updates

Whew! We've had a busy few weeks in the Smith family! After our trip to Michigan, Matt and I went to Austin for the Fourth of July weekend for our first get away without Saylor. My family came to stay with her and we are SO THANKFUL for everything they did! I really missed her, especially when I saw other babies out and about, but it was nice knowing she was in excellent hands. :) (She probably got better treatment than she does with mom and dad - ha)! And of course it was nice for Matt and I to have some uninterrupted time together.

We had a great time in Austin...I could do a whole post about how much I love that city. The feel of that place is so...comfortable, and I spent a large part of the weekend wishing we lived there. But alas, since we have no house, church, or job and very few friends there, I don't think it will be happening any time soon. And I am very thankful for all that we do have in Dallas that makes it feel like home.

Matt has been really busy at work - he is helping launch some awesome stuff for Frito in South Dallas. I am also increasing my work load a little bit, which I am excited about but I think it will take all of us a little while to adjust to.

At the end of this month we will be heading to Houston for our 10 year high school reunion (we are OLD!) and also to Blanco for a big Smith family reunion. Lots to look forward to!

In the midst of all of this, our little girl has turned 6 months old! It really feels like only a month ago that we were bringing her home from the hospital. I know the next six months will also fly by, so we are doing our best to soak up each day with her.

Here's a little about what Saylor's up to lately (mainly just for me to look back one day and remember...I know no one really cares much about this stuff)!

At six months, Saylor is sitting up on her own and rolling all over the place. Sometimes if I lay her down on the floor and look away for a minute she has practically rolled halfway across the room. She is also beginning to show signs of crawling...she hikes her booty way up and then lurches forward a little bit to get to a toy out of her reach. She is saying more sounds, including random consonants, but no true babbling yet (much to my speech therapy dismay). :) We are now up to 3 feedings of solids a day (cereal plus a vegetable) plus four regular feedings. She is officially weaned from the swaddle - yay! (I know, I know, it took us forever). Although she remains easy-going, she can definitely make her wishes known! She cries when left alone in a room and loves to give us kisses (aka dive bombing our face, nose, ear...whatever she can get in her mouth). Still no stinkin' teeth, and not much hair to speak of...but I know they will both show up one day. She is also starting to display some stranger anxiety, which I must admit is sometimes slightly awkward. What are you supposed to do when your baby is perfectly happy until a well meaning stranger starts cooing at them and then they start screaming? I always feel a little bad...anyone else? Oh well, I'm sure plently more public situations far worse than that lay in store for us down the road! :)



p.s. sorry this post is ridiculously long. i'm too tired to try to fix it now. :)