The Slanias

Introducing Lillian Paige Slania

2010-03-17T11:54:00.001-07:00

Yes, I had a beautiful baby girl. And, yes, it was 4 and a half months ago. I hate that I am already failing at detailing her days and nights but it's better late than never. So, I am pleased to introduce Ms. Lillian Paige Slania, born on October 30, 2009 at 5:35 a.m.!

K.P. and the Rodeo

2010-03-17T08:13:00.000-07:00

Our good friends Matt and Jenn took K.P. and their son Charlie to the rodeo this week. They had a blast at the pig races! Too cute!!! More pics to come.

And, yes, I am aware that I have not posted any pictures of Lillian (or even announced her birth) but I promise they will be coming soon!

Recent Pictures and Videos

2009-10-12T08:01:00.001-07:00

Now that Summer is over I thought it might be a good idea to post some pictures from this summer, as well as a few cute videos I've taken recently. Enjoy!!

A friend suggested that we buy a baby doll for K.P. to play with so that he can understand the concept of a baby before his actual brother or sister arrives. We thought that was a great idea. Here is K.P. feeding the baby the first day I brought it home from the store. So CUTE! However, ever since this day he yet to pay attention to the baby and if we ask him to go get the baby he yells "NO!." My mother-in-law said she got it out for him to play with and he gave it a kiss and then put it in the toy chest and slammed the lid shut. Oh well...at least we tried :)

We've had several friends tell us about The Little Gym, a great little gymnastics place for toddlers. We thought this would be a great father/son activity for Andrew to do with K.P. on Saturday mornings. I'm glad we didn't enroll for a whole semester because K.P. was NOT very into it. Don't get me wrong, he loved running around and doing his own thing but he went into hysterics if we tried to get him to join the class in a circle. He also, HATED the parachute. He cried and clinged to Andrew's legs when they got it out. Needless to say, we decided he is not ready for group classes :) As you will see in the video, he looks happy running around and playing. The only problem was that the rest of the class was sitting nicely in a circle singing songs. Our son was the only one not participating...

Not very excited about sitting in a circle. He just stood back and watched.

He did love climbing all over the mats.

Walking on the balance beam.

This is the video of K.P. playing by himself while all of the other children are sitting nicely in a circle. They started to sing "Monkeys jumping on the bed" (which is a song K.P. LOVES) and K.P. starts singing the song (from the top of the mat). Charlie (Pesek) eventually joins K.P. and they are so cute chasing each other.

Family came over to watch the Texans one Sunday afternoon. We grilled hamburgers and hot dogs and had a great time. K.P. and Georgia love playing together. They follow each other everywhere. In this picture, K.P. had gone over and sat in Andrew's lap. Georgia had to join in the fun as well!

Texans game with Daddy!

Baking cookies with Mommy!!! (Please excuse the ugly OU jersey. Andrew and I allow him to wear the jersey for whatever team is currently playing. He put on his UT jersey for the Texas game later that evening).

This is a video of K.P. eating his first bowl of cereal. I had given him some dry cheerios and bananas and I was eating a bowl of cereal and he kept wanting bites of my cereal. I finally just gave him the bowl. He did so well eating it!!! He was very slow and ate it ALL bite by bite. So cute!!!

My little guy has the CUTEST smile and laugh (well, at least we think so). This is a video of me tickling him. Again, So CUTE!

Astros Game with the Peseks

2009-07-14T12:48:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, Andrew took K.P. to the Astros game with his friend Matt and his son Charlie. In Andrew's own words, "K.P. had the time of his life." K.P. and Charlie are so cute together. Here are some really great videos. The first one is SO CUTE. K.P. is really into watching the game and cheering. The other two videos are of K.P. and Charlie playing "catch." I'm sure all of the people at the game really appreciated the two dads letting their sons run around and throw balls at each other. Regardless, a great time was had by all.

(I kind of wish I was there but it was a great father-son day and I can't complain too much as I was enjoying a spa day with a friend for her birthday at the Houstonian!)

Trip to Horseshoe Bay for the 4th of July!

2009-07-06T08:15:00.000-07:00

This weekend we went to Horseshoe Bay for a mini-vacay for the 4th of July. We had the best time EVER! Andrew and I have not been back since we got married there 3 years ago. It was just as wonderful as we remembered. The weather was perfect and there were a TON of things to do for the little guy. We both agreed that the fireworks show was the best we've ever seen. We are definitely going to make this an annual trip.

Here are some pictures from our weekend!

They have a great 18-hole miniature golf course (with real grass). It's like 18 putting greens. Really cool. It was KP's first time playing and he LOVED it.

K.P.s 1st-year photos (2 months late)

2009-05-07T09:01:00.000-07:00

Our 1st Family Photo!

I know, I know. I have been really behind in my blogging but I am going to make a dedicated effort this week to catch up with everything. We've had a lot of big changes in the last couple of months. K.P. turned 1, we said goodbye to our wonderful nanny and K.P. started school/daycare and K.P. was able to enjoy his first easter egg hunt. Overall, it has been a busy couple of months. For K.P.'s first birthday, we had pictures taken. This photographer is so awesome! Here are some of my favorites (yes, there were more than this).

K.P.'s First Birthday!!!

2009-03-03T11:50:00.000-08:00

I can't believe my little man is 1!!! His birthday was Monday but we had a great big BBQ to celebrate on Sunday. I had planned everything outside so I had been pretty worried about the weather cooperating. It turned out to be a BEAUTIFUL day. Seriously, you could not have asked for better weather. It was a perfect blue sky. Not too hot and not too cold. I had also rented a bouncy castle (I know..I know..I went overboard...) and it was a big hit too!

We had a great turn out. Friends and family came from near and far to help us celebrate. I am really thankful to have such wonderful friends and family to help share the special day. And a great day it was. Good food...good company...way too many presents :)

As for pictures, I was so busy running around that I handed off picture duties to my mom and a couple of friends. I was able to capture a couple of pictures (see below) but I failed miserably at actually getting any good ones.

For some great pictures check out Nanny Jennifer's blog here. She has a lot more than I do (and a lot better).

Jennifer's sister Lara also took some great pictures. You can check them out here.

Here are the few that I took...

K.P.'s birthday cake!

K.P. playing with his soccer ball.

Who knows what he was doing to make me take this picture...

K.P. chasing Kendra and the lawn mower that Aunt Allison gave him. On a side note: Aunt Allison was not able to come in town for the party but earlier in the week she told me that if she won the lottery that week then she would be there for the party with a live pony as a gift to K.P. Although I would have loved Allison to be there (and to have won the lottery), I would not have been thrilled with a pony! ha ha ha

Grandma and Grandpa Slania bought the cutest birthday cowboy t-shirt for K.P. and they had a "1" put on the back since it was his first birthday. Too cute!

Andrew and I got K.P. a sandbox for his birthday. He LOVED it.

As you can see, all of the kids loved it.

K.P. in front of his bouncy castle (which he hated...)

K.P. at the end of the day. A very tired little boy...

Picture with Nanny Jennifer on Monday morning, K.P.'s actual birthday.

Ok, I look absolutely HORRIBLE in this picture (my right eye was really hurting me --see how it is half closed) and I was wearing my glasses so I had no eye make-up on, etc. Not to mention K.P. decided to wake up at 5 that morning and I was just exhausted. However, it was his birthday and I wanted to get a picture. He looks so cute. He was laughing and smiling. I hate that I ruined the pic. ha ha ha

More Sand Box pics...

A trip to the Children's Museum.

2009-02-23T09:26:00.000-08:00

About a month or so ago I took K.P. to the children's museum. When we arrived I learned that the toddler section was closed for maintenance so I was pretty bummed. However, K.P. didn't seem to mind playing around all the other exhibits. Here are a couple of cute pictures.

They have a whole grocery store with a produce section. It is really neat! K.P. kept putting all of the plastic veggies in his mouth. He really liked the cauliflower!I tried not to think about how many kids did the exact same thing before him....yuck.

One of the exhibits had a great ball pit with all sorts of fun balls to play with. He really liked playing with all of the balls but I walked away for a second to grab something out of the stroller and the poor thing thought I left him (note the last 2 crying pictures). Too funny.

Eating Spaghetti!

2009-02-23T09:20:00.000-08:00

As K.P. is getting closer to 1 (next week!) we have really been letting him eat whatever he wants. Last week I gave him a plate of spaghetti! Here are the results. ..

The Holidays: Part 2

2009-01-09T10:59:00.000-08:00

The holidays are always such a busy but wonderful time. First, there are all of the holiday parties and gatherings leading up to Christmas and then there is actual Christmas Day. We are blessed to have such wonderful families to spend Christmas with. With all of our families in the Houston area, it makes it even easier to spend quality time with all.

This year, we spent Christmas Eve with Grandma and Grandpa Slania and Uncle Jacob. On Christmas Day we went to Granddaddy's for lunch with the Clarks and then we headed back over to Nana and PawPaw's for Christmas with Alan, Jennifer and Georgia. It is a lot of going going going but it is all fun. We had a very merry Christmas this year!

Here are some pictures of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Family pictures after church with the Slanias.

K.P. opening a present.

It's a bat! Note that Dad is trying to get him to bat left-handed.

Uncle Jacob helping K.P. open his presents!

K.P. got a baseball glove to go with his bat!

On Christmas Day we have lunch at Granddaddy's with the Clarks: Russell, Brenda, Stewart, Elizabeth, Josh and Ainsley.

Ainsley and Georgia playing.

K.P., Ainsley and Georgia playing. Yes, K.P. has the same reindeer sweater on as at the Slania Christmas Brunch. I don't care what you all think, I still think it is cute!

Me & K.P., Elizabeth & Ainsley and Jennifer and Georgia.

Family portrait:)

After lunch at Granddaddy's we headed over to Nana and PawPaw's for Christmas where we opened presents with Nana, PawPaw, Alan, Jennifer and Georgia.

Nana and PawPaw bought K.P. and Georgia mini 4-wheelers. K.P. still doesn't quite know how to make it go but Georgia learned right away!

Bedtime!

The Holidays: Part 1

2009-01-09T10:25:00.000-08:00

I have received many many many complaints about my lack of posting lately. Well, I'VE BEEN BUSY PEOPLE :) The holidays are a very busy season. Anyways, I am finally back in the blogging business.

Below are a ton of pictures from the last couple of weeks. These include holiday brunches, parties and all of the holiday festivities leading up to Christmas.

These are pictures from a Christmas Brunch hosted by Grandma and Grandpa Slania.

Playing with Pawpaw

Grandma reading to K.P.

Uncle Jacob feeding K.P.

K.P. is running around everywhere!

I thought this was the cutest Christmas sweater so I bought it for K.P. Andrew says that K.P. is going to hate me for it one day!

K.P. and Daddy.

K.P. checking out his first Christmas tree!

We always have a Keene family Christmad to celebrate my Dad's side of the family. We just have a fun party with lots of good food and an ornament exchange. K.P. got his first Christmas presents at the party!

This is actually a giraffe that was given to Georgia but K.P. LOVED it. He kept tackling it to the ground.

My cousins Beckie and Paul gave this adorable pony to K.P. He loves it too!

Visiting Santa! K.P. was a really good sport. We got a good smile out of him but he also kept looking up at Santa as if to say "who in the world is this guy?"

Dressed to see Santa. Isn't his hat and reindeer sweater cute!

Christmas Fun

2008-11-24T11:26:00.000-08:00

I totally stole this post idea from my BFF (and Nanny) Jennifer. I love all things Christmas so I thought I'd include it:

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags
Wrapping paper. I really like to wrap gifts although over the last several years I have found myself using more and more gift bags. Just out of convenience. I will try to wrap them all this year. Opening wrapped gifts is just more fun.

2. Real tree or artificial?
Artificial (again, the convenience thing). Though, growing up we always had a real tree. It was a family tradition to go to a Christmas tree farm and pick out a tree as a family. They always smelled so nice--like Christmas. We were in charge of watering it every day. Lots of great memories. My dad would never hear of anything other than a real tree, though I think he lost the battle a year or so ago when my mom came home from the store with an artifical tree.

3. When do you put up the tree?
We always put it up the day or weekend after Thanksgiving. I can’t put up Christmas decorations soon enough! However, when we had a real tree growing up, putting it up that early sometimes meant that the tree would be dead by Christmas. Too funny.

4. When do you take it down?
Usually after the New Year.

5. Do you like eggnog?
Not really. Not even when it’s spiked :)

6. Favorite gift received as a child?
Barbie Dream House or a bike. Santa never wrapped our gifts and Alan (my brother) and I would always sleep in each other’s rooms and get up really really really early in the morning and creep out into the living room and the lights would all be out except the Christmas tree lights and all of our presents would be sitting out under the tree--shining under the lights. Presents just look better with Christmas tree lights shining on them. I distinctly remember seeing my barbie house and thought it was the best thing in the whole world. I also just always remember how shiny a new bike looked under the Christmas tree. I think my Dad did too which is why it seemed like at least one of us got a new bike every year!

7. Do you have a nativity scene?
Yes. My parents have a nativity scene and each of us kids have our own nativity scene as well. Every year, since we were little, our church would give each child a piece to a nativity scene. By the time you were 13 or so you had a completed scene. I still put mine up in my house.

8. Hardest person to buy for?
My grandfather. Well, he’s the hardest and the easiest. The hardest because he already has everything and the easiest because he always loves anything you give him.

9. Easiest person to buy for?
This year will be K.P. -- kids are always easier. I could just wrap a magazine or a shoe from the house and he would be happy. Kids are always the most fun to buy for as well because they genuinely love everything.

10. Worst gift you received?
All gifts are good gifts.-- this was Jennifer’s response but I liked it so I stole it :)

11. Mail or email cards?
I prefer mail but I don’t send out cards myself so I am just thankful to receive them. Although, I may try to send them out this year.

12. Favorite Christmas movie?
Too many -- I love the Rudolph the Rednose Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman. It always feels like Christmas time when those come on. I really love all Christmas movies though.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
I love shopping but I HATE crowds so I try to start early. I love the way malls are decorated for the holidays but I can’t stand to fight the crowds. My grandmother would be so proud of me the last couple of years because I completed most of my shopping before Thanksgiving. You always had to give my grandmother your Christmas list by September or October or she would threaten to not get you anything. Too funny. I try to buy online and early. I have already bought the majority of my gifts for this year.

14. Have you ever recycled a gift?
No

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
I love Christmas Day lunch at my grandmothers. The usual yummy Christmas menu: turkey, dressing, cranberries, mashed potatoes, corn, broccoli/rice casserole, sweet potatoes, green beans, etc. and then about 6 different kinds of desserts.

16. Clear or colored lights?
I like clear lights and colored decorations (balls, etc.)

17. Favorite holiday song?
I like: O Holy Night; Baby, It’s Cold Outside; Silent Night -- really, all of them. I really really really like Christmas music. I will keep my radio on Christmas music station the entire season.

18. Travel or stay at home at Christmas?
Stayed in Houston area - both grandparents lived in town so visited both but just during the day.

19. Can you name all the reindeer?
Hmmm...let me try: Dasher and Dancer, Prancer and Vixen, Comet and Cupid and Donder and Blitzen...”but do you recall, the most famous reindeer of all....”-- ha ha ha -- I have NO idea if those names are right or spelled right. I just sang the song in my head and that’s what came out. I’ll have to check it after I post this...

20. Angel or star on top of the tree?
Star

21. Open Christmas eve or morning?
We normally open family girfts on Christmas Eve. On Christmas morning we open gifts from Santa.

22. What’s the corniest tradition you miss doing?
Not that it's corny but I used to LOVE decorating the Christmas tree. We always did it as a family and would make an evening of it. We would put on Christmas music -- we loved the Captain Kangaroo Christmas album -- and dance around and decorated the tree. We always videoed the evening so we have a lot of really funny home videos of the festivities. After we were finished we would turn off all of the lights and listen to the Nat Kind Cole Christmas album and all sit on the couch and look at the tree. It was always so beautiful. I hope to keep the tradition alive with my own new family.

23. Most annoying thing about this time of year?
Crowds!

24. What’s the worst thing you’ve seen related to Christmas?
I try not to think of anything bad - Christmas is such a great time of year but I do hate the idea of children who do not have a special Christmas. That’s why Andrew and I always participate in the adopt a child program for Christmas (through our firms) where we sponsor a family or child and buy them Christmas presents. We have a good time shopping and picking out the gifts. I think it will be neat to have K.P. help us when he is older and he can understand why we are doing it.

25. Which looks best, theme trees or homey trees?
I think they both look beautiful. I love classic beautiful Christmas trees (not trees that are too trendy). I like the traditional Christmas colors. Growing up we always had a "homey" tree full of handmade ornaments & family ornaments.

26. Gingerbread or sugar cookies?
Sugar cookies (I really don’t like gingerbread at all). We always had a family tradition of making homemade sugar cookies and decorating them for Santa and his reindeer. It was really fun. Of course, sometimes we would put so much decorations on the cookies that they didn’t taste good at all. But it was always fun.

27. Do you like fruitcake?
No...does anybody?

Christian the Lion

2008-11-19T13:21:00.000-08:00

Ok, here is the Christian the Lion video I wrote about (below). So neat! My hairdresser actually stopped cutting my hair and we watched this video. I had been telling him about the puppy live stream video that I love watching and he was like, if you are sentimental about animals then "you will love this!"

A fab new hair cut!

2008-11-19T08:19:00.001-08:00

Ok, so for those of you who know me, I've pretty much had the same hair style for the last 10 years. Really. Long and straight and boring. Ok, maybe I spiced things up every now and then and had layers cut into it but regardless, it was always pretty much the same. Lately, I got into the habit of wearing it in a ponytail every day. Every single day. I know...not very glamorous. SO, I decided to change things up a bit and get it cut off. My friend Monica recommended an awesome hair dresser named Jim at Azur salon. http://www.azursalon.com/. He was awesome! Not only was he a great stylist but a great conversationalist as well. He had me laughing the entire time. We even took a break to watch a Youtube video. It was about a lion. Christian the lion. You all have to watch it. Go to youtube and search for "Christian the Lion." It will make you tear up.

Anyways, I think I may have found a new best friend in Jim :) He was very excited about the idea of cutting off all of my hair. I think we cut almost 7 inches! Of course, he waited until he made the first big cut and then let me know how beautiful I looked with long hair. I was like, geeez, thanks...a compliment a little too late. He said he didn't want to tell me that at first since I was dead set on cutting it all off. Regardless, he did a great job and I feel fabulous.

I had been a little apprehensive about how Andrew would take me cutting off all of my hair. He is definitely a member of the "I love girls with long hair"club. I felt fab with the new hair cut but I was anxious to see what Andrew thought. Well, the second I walked in the door and he saw me he was like, "Wow, you look awesome!" So sweet. He then proceeded to take pictures of me. He was too funny, directing me to turn my head and smile, etc. Here's a couple of the shots.

He instructed me to not smile and act like a model. This is as good as it gets.... Obviously, I should not quit my day job!

A Great Weekend!

2008-11-18T07:24:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I was in a wedding for my great friends Paul and Meredith. Because Andrew and I were going to be busy with wedding festivities all weekend K.P. spent Friday night with Grandma and Grandpa Slania and Saturday night with Nana and Pawpaw Keene. He had a great weekend! He is all over the place these days. He can crawl anywhere and he is getting really close to walking. I bought him a push cart and he LOVES it. He pushes that thing all over the house. He also had fun trying to figure out his first riding toy--Clifford the Big Red Dog. Here are some pictures from the weekend.

Riding Clifford!

Pushing my cart around the house!

When I showed up to pick up K.P. from Nana and PawPaw's house, this is how I found him. Riding around in PawPaw's wheelbarrow!

The Cutest Thing EVER (except for K.P. of course)

2008-11-13T14:17:00.000-08:00

I was checking out some stuff on the web today and I came across this site where a couple are posting a live stream of a litter of 6 puppies. It is the cutest thing I have ever seen. If you are having a rough day (or even if you are not), this is certain to make you SMILE :) I could watch this for hours...

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/shiba-inu-puppy-cam

Really? Is this the reality of certain Obama supporters?

2008-11-13T12:38:00.000-08:00

I actually laughed out loud and shook my head when I watched this video. Jeez. It just confirmed to me how misguided some voters were in the recent election.
Some people really are as stupid (sorry...maybe I should stick with "misguided") as I think they are as they clearly don't understand much about the issues or the way our government actually works. I guess Obama had them at "change" and they didn't feel the need or have the intellectual depth to undertand exactly what the "change" would entail. It surely will not entail taking away all "worry" about one's mortgage or gas bills. So sad.

How long do you think these people will be sitting around and just "waiting" for this "change" to come and their "worry" to slip away? Some people are in for a huge disappointment.

Great New Blog: Songs to Live By (by Allison)

2008-11-11T10:29:00.000-08:00

I love music. All music. I'm not picky at all when it comes to music. I listen to it all. Music has a great way of bringing back memories of different times in one's life. I think it is great that you can hear a song and be instantly transplanted to another place and time. In an instant you can be back in highschool...on a road trip...on vacation...in a car with friends...singing along. You can remember what you were wearing, what the other people looked like and how you felt at that exact moment in time, whether it was sad, happy or both. I don't think there is anything else that can trigger memories the same way as music. It's nostalgic. It's reflective. It's entertaining. It's a pretty neat thing.

Well, my sister, Allison, REALLY loves music and knows everyting about it, all kinds, all artists, etc. Between she and my brother, they can pretty much tell you the name of every song and artist you could imagine. I would definitely use either of them for a "lifeline" if I ever found myself on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" and I had a music question.

Ok, I've said all that to say this. Allison has started this great blog dedicated to music called "songs to live by." Check it out for a few good songs that inspired great stories....or vice versa...

http://songstoliveby.blogspot.com/

Trip to the neighborhood park!

2008-11-05T14:29:00.000-08:00

We took K.P. to the neighborhood park yesterday afternoon. It was a beautiful day and Nanny Jennifer and I thought it would be fun to take him down and let him play on the swings. He LOVED it. He laughed the entire time he was swinging. So cute.

Swinging with mommy...

Swinging with Nanny Jennifer...

Yippeee...

Higher...Higher!

Cutest smile...

I love to swing!

Visit to Jill & Rich's for the UT game

2008-11-03T11:16:00.000-08:00

On Saturday night we went to Jill and Rich's house to watch the UT game. Although the game didn't end the way we wanted (Ughhh) we had a great time. K.P. took his first ride on a John Deere tractor. He also stayed up for the entire game (despite Andrew and mine's attempts to put him to sleep).

A Morning Downtown at Discovery Green

2008-11-03T11:02:00.001-08:00

On Saturday morning we went (along with Grandma Slania) to Discovery Green in downtown Houston. Discovery Green is a new park area that they have built downtown with lots of green lawns, a pond, several restaurants and it has a great playground area for kids. It is a really neat area and I encourage those who have not been to check it out! http://www.discoverygreen.com/.

It was a beautiful day and we had a great time letting K.P. explore the playground. He loved crawling on the ground (it was made out of this soft rubber stuff) and he even found a little girlfriend that he played with for a while. So cute! Here are some pictures from the day.

Halloween Fun!

2008-11-03T10:47:00.000-08:00

This was K.P.'s first Halloween. As you saw from my previous posts, he was a lion. So cute! He was such a good sport about his costume. I had it on him all night and he never complained. We decided to spend the evening with Alan, Jennifer and Georgia at Jennifer's mom's house in Crosby. We had a great time dressing up and scaring the neighborhood kids who came to the house. Alan was the joker and he would jump out and scare the kids as they came up the driveway. He was so scary looking! I know there will be kids who will be having nightmares for years to come after seeing him!

Wayne was dressed up as an adult lion. He and K.P. matched!

K.P. found a new toy that he loved. It was a zebra that he could ride.

We spent a lot of time on the zebra.

Playing with my cousin, Georgia.

Me and mommy. I had a very tired little lion at the end of the night.

Trying teething biscuits and lauging at mommy

2008-10-24T07:49:00.000-07:00

I've been really bad about posting videos lately but here are a couple of cute ones I shot this week.

We decided to start giving K.P. some "finger foods" and these "teething biscuits" were recommended to me. I gave K.P. his first yesterday and he LOVED it. He chewed on it for about an hour.

K.P. just chillin' on the couch enjoying his first bite of a teething biscuit.

Still laid back and chillin'

Of course, Dakota noticed the biscuit right away and kept coming over to get it from him. K.P. would let her lick his hands clean and then go back to the biscuit. Nice.

When K.P. gets tired at night he gets a little delirious and laughs at everything. I mean everything. You could smile at him and he would start cracking up. He gets hysterical if Dakota even walks by him. Last night, Andrew and I were talking on the couch and I took a drink of water and let out a sigh afterwards and K.P. thought this was hilarious. So, of course I had to do it over...and over...and over...and over... He has the cutest laugh EVER!

Sunday visit to Old McDonald's Farm

2008-10-12T17:48:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, we went to Old McDonald's Farm. We had a big group and it was a great day. Nana and PawPaw were there and Nanny Jennifer was there with Jean and Clayton as well as her sister Lara and her parents Don and Margaret. Our friend Melissa and her husband Philip joined us with their son Hudson. It was such a fun group. The weather was great. We had a picnic lunch and then spent the day feeding the animals, riding ponies, riding the train and picking out pumpkins. As you can see from the pictures, K.P. had a great time. It was fun seeing he and Clayton notice each other and interact with one another (even if it was just K.P. taking his toys). K.P. also really enjoyed seeing all the animals. We had been to the zoo before but this was the first time he was really able to interact with them and he seemed to like it! He also really liked the train. By the end of the day he was wiped out! He feel asleep in Andrews arms before we even made it to the car.

I know I posted a lot of pictures but there were too many good ones!

K.P. picking out his pumpkin...

K.P. petting his first goat!

Chasing the turkeys!

Feeding the lambs!

Checking out the cows.

I like pigs!

Laughing with mommy!

Climbing on Daddy!

Getting ready for our first train ride!

Family portrait!

Another family portrait...

Playing with buddies!

K.P. just took Clayton's toy. Clayton was such a good sharer!

K.P.'s first pony ride!!!

K.P. and PawPaw.

Train ride with Nana and PawPaw!

Sleepy little boy! It was a loooong day!

Getting ready for Halloween!

2008-10-09T13:37:00.000-07:00

I have been really excited at the idea of dressing K.P. up for Halloween. I know he won't be able to trick-or-treat but the costumes are all so cute I couldn't resist dressing him up! I ordered him a lion costume and it arrived a couple of days ago. I just had to put it on him to see if it would fit. How cute is my little lion???? He was pretty tired and wasn't too happy about being stuffed into the costume so I couldn't get a smile. I'm hoping on Halloween he will be a little more excited. I also bought him some cute skeleton pj's a week ago. Again, he is tired so no smiles with the pj's either. Still, he's very cute!

Stay tuned for more pictures after Halloween!

K.P. is on the move!

2008-10-07T08:46:00.000-07:00

K.P. has really become active this month. He has learned to sit up, lay down and roll over from any and every position. He is all over the place and does not really like to sit still. He is funny because he prefers walking in a bear crawl position (on hands and feet) rather than on his knees. He just doesn't quite have it figured out yet. I think it is because he is much more into standing than crawling. He tries to pull up on everything! It is also funny because every time I look at the monitor it seems like he is sitting up in his crib. He even tries to sleep while sitting up. Pretty funny.

Here are a couple of videos from a week or so ago when he was first moving around. He is much quicker now. I'll post some more current videos soon.

Hurricane Play Date with the Pesek's

2008-10-01T11:21:00.000-07:00

During the hurricane we got together with Matt, Jenn and Charlie Pesek so we could visit and entertain ourselves (because neither of us had electricity). It was a fun evening. The boys are really starting to notice one another and it is really cute to watch them interact. I am so glad that we have boys the same age and I cannot wait to see them grow up together. Of course, both boys were only interested in the toys that the other was playing with. It was pretty hot with no A/C so we stripped the boys down to their diapers. Here are a couple of photos from the night.

K.P. wants Charlie's toy (notice his favorite toy is in front of him but he is not interested)...

Charlie wants K.P.'s toy....

Buddies....

They are plotting something....Jenn and I are in for a world of trouble when these 2 get older

No electricity = a stay at Nana & Pawpaw's!

2008-10-01T11:18:00.000-07:00

Because our house was so hot without electricity K.P. was having trouble sleeping after the hurricane. We decided it would be better if we sent him off to Nana and PawPaw's for a couple of nights. Here are some cute pictures from his stay. He had a play date with his cousin Georgia one day and spent a lot of time outside and climbing all over everything, including his Paw Paw. He has really become mobile lately and will soon be getting into everything! I need to baby proof my house soon!

K.P. likes to sit in his "big boy" chair out on the pool deck.

He also likes to climb up everything and everybody! Here he is climbing up PawPaw.

One afternoon, Aunt Jennifer and Georgia came over to play!

I love being outside and I love to swing! Look at my teeth-y smile!

Little Longhorn in the making!

2008-09-30T11:05:00.000-07:00

I know I've been really bad about posting lately but I didn't have electricity for over 2 weeks! It was very annoying. Now we have electricity but no cable or internet (also very annoying and thus making it very difficult to post). Oh well, I guess I can count my blessings. Last Saturday I went shopping at the Galleria (b/c I needed to get out of my hot house) and I dressed K.P. up in his UT gear (in support of the horns who were playing that afternoon). I thought he looked so cute! He was a big hit at the Galleria. He got a lot of attention and a couple of high fives!

He wouldn't look at the camera but Nana got a couple of cute shots of him anyways.

K.P. and his new "big boy" pajamas

2008-09-11T12:08:00.000-07:00

K.P. is growing so fast that I am having a hard time keeping the right size clothes on him. PJ's are especially hard to fit because they typically have feet in them. I decided last week that he needed some "big boy " pajamas (without feet) so he could wear them for more than a month.

Babies R Us had a great selection. Here is my favorite pair of the ones I bought.

Here is a video of him playing in his new pj's. As you can see from the video, he is really into banging things and making a lot of noise. It's cute but he keeps hitting himself in the face with his toys and then he gets upset. Too funny.

K.P. playing in the grass

2008-09-09T10:37:00.000-07:00

I am trying to catch up so I will be posting a lot of videos in the next several days. Just hang with me.

As some of you may know, K.P. LOVES being outside. If he is ever fussy, you know you can quiet him by taking him outside. Andrew and I were trying to delay his bedtime the other day (because he was acting tired and it was only 5:00!) so we took him outside and let him play on the grass. He LOVED it. He really liked touching and feeling the texture of the grass. I realized when we were out there that this could have been the first time he touched/played with grass. The only problem was that he ended up with several mosquito bites. Next time I'll know to put some sort of repellant on him. I guess it would have helped if he had a shirt on too. He had one on only moments before but we had taken it off for him to eat. If you have ever seen him eat you would know why...he is soo messy!

Here are some videos of him playing in the grass:

Notice our crazy dog doing circles around the yard. She is nuts. Andrew was chasing her around b/c we were afraid she would run over K.P.!

Trying New Foods: Part 2 (Sweet Potatoes & Apple Sauce)

2008-09-08T11:12:00.000-07:00

Ok, everyone saw the first time we tried to feed K.P. his veggies. We tried carrots and found out quickly that he did NOT like them. We waited a couple of weeks and then tried something different: sweet potatoes. As you will see from the video below, he did NOT like them either! He kept coughing and gagging and he even pushed the spoon away once. Too funny. I think we might have a picky eater on our hands.

In an effort to give him some flavor other than rice and oatmeal cereal I decided to go ahead and try something yummier: apple sauce. Well, I didn't catch it on video but he didn't like that either! He coughed and spit it out every time. I finally decided to just mix the apple sauce with his cereal thinking that surely he would eat it that way. NOPE. He wouldn't touch his cereal after I mixed them together. So, in a last attempt to get him to eat something, I gave him his bowl of cereal to feed himself. I thought that he would get it on his hands and then put his hands in his mouth and eat some of it. WRONG AGAIN. He just played and smeared it all over his tray. Not once did he even put his hand in his mouth. It was as if he knew it was the cereal I was trying to get him to eat and he wanted no part of it.

This is the video of him trying sweet potatoes for the first time.

Here is a video of him playing with the bowl of cereal mixed with apple sauce after my failed attempt to feed it to him. Notice that he does not once put his fingers in his mouth.

Birthday Celebrations

2008-09-08T10:22:00.001-07:00

Ok, I know that I'm a week or two behind in posting but I've been really busy. I promise.

Last month we celebrated my birthday, my mom's birthday, my dad's birthday and my sister-in-law Jennifer's birthday. Whew! Instead of celebrating each of them individually we had one big get together at Nana and Pawpaw's house. Nana made a great meal and a birthday dessert for each of us. I chose her chocolate pie...my absolute favorite!

Here are some videos from the day:

After singing happy birthday we would all clap when each person blew out their candles. Georgia thought this was great and she started to clap each time too! It was her first time to clap on her own so of course we thought it was adorable. We would all clap and cheer every time she did it. Pretty funny! Our lives all certainly revolve around the little ones. I can't imagine what we ever did for entertainment before they were here!

K.P. 6-month pictures!

2008-08-21T08:39:00.000-07:00

Our Nanny Jennifer's sister Lara takes wonderful pictures. I saw some pictures she had taken of her nephew and I asked if she would come over and take some of K.P. She came yesterday and they turned out sooo good! She is a fabulous photographer. I told her she needs to do this for a living. Here are some of her pictures:

Isn't he cute!

Venting about something I find ridiculous

2008-08-21T07:53:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I've heard that Barack Obama is announcing his V.P. candidate via text message. Really? Are you serious? What a gimmick. That is probably the dumbest thing I have ever heard. Seriously, I mean, we're talking about running for President of the United States...not running for prom king.

What's next, voting on or passing legislation via text message? (Oh wait, I forgot that Obama doesn't actually even vote on legislation let alone pass anything...) What does he actually do? The only thing I know he's going to do is raise my taxes by about 60% percent and I can tell you right now that I'm not interested.

Why, oh why is Hillary still not in the race....

10 Reaons I Am OK with Turning 30!

2008-08-20T08:01:00.000-07:00

As you all probably already know, I am turning 30 next week! I have been very anxious about it all year but lately I've been feeling better about it. I decided to make a list of some of the things that I will like about being 30. Although there are plenty of reasons that 30 is great, here are my top 10:

10. I no longer have to worry about being compared to 20-somethings (instead of the old 20-something now I'm the young & fresh 30-something)

9. I will feel like I have more authority and respect at work (even if it is not true)

8. I can look great "for my age"

7. I will no longer feel out of place at fancy restaurants (I sometimes felt too young to be eating there -- don't really know why)

6. I am more financially secure

5. I actually still believe that I look like I'm in my 20's :)

4. I'm no longer expected to know what is "hip" or "cool" (but I get props when I do :))

3. I can justify spending money on expensive face creams (b/c that's what you do when you're old)

2. I feel good knowing I am smarter than my "younger" friends (b/c we all know we get older and wiser)

1. I get to go to Vegas and celebrate with my friends!

K.P.'s first taste of veggies -- Carrots

2008-08-19T07:35:00.000-07:00

As you may know, we started feeding K.P. cereal several weeks ago. He really loves it -- so much that sometimes I have to make him 2 bowls! I didn't really want to start any other sort of food (veggies, fruits, etc.) until he was 6 months old but people kept bugging me about it so I gave in and went to the store and bought carrots, sweet potatoes and squash. My doctor recommends starting with vegetables before fruits because he says that babies tend to not want veggies once they've had fruits. He also recommends that I make my own food. Although I promised him I would try, I went straight to the store and bought Gerber products. Shhh...don't tell him :)

I decided that Sunday would be the day to start. We got K.P. in his chair and the camera ready. It didn't take long for us to realize that he HATED them. At first he just kept spitting it back out, but by the end (see second video) he was making faces and gagging/coughing. Of course, I kept trying to feed it to him which just made it worse. It got even worse a half hour after he ate the carrots because he decided to throw up his entire dinner. He was also up all night with an upset stomach. Great.

That is the last time I go against my gut instinct and let other people convince me to do something with my child! I really didn't feel like I should give him the carrots yet but people kept saying he needed them. Now, where were those people in the middle of the night?

This first video is his first couple of bites. He's not too excited about them but he isn't acting like he hates them....yet.

This second video shows how much he is NOT enjoying his carrots. I love how he clearly does not like them yet he keeps opening his mouth.

We also went to brunch at Onion Creek on Sunday. It was a great day to be outside because the weather was nice and a lot cooler than it has been lately. Here's a quick video of K.P. sitting on the table at brunch!

Galleria Shopping and Lunch at The Cheesecake Factory

2008-08-17T12:25:00.000-07:00

My wonderful husband went shopping with me this weekend. I really wanted to go because it was tax free weekend. However, I was bummed to learn that none of the items I was going to purchase were tax free! Apparently all items over $100 are not eligible for the tax free special. Darn! Anyways, for those of you who know my husband you know how much he hates to shop so it was especially sweet of him to go with me and extra special because we knew the mall would be packed. One reason he went was so he could help out with K.P. while I was shopping. I really needed a new pair of jeans and it is so much easier to not have to drag K.P. into dressing rooms with me. He was also going because he was buying my birthday present! I got a wallet to match my Louis Vuitton purse. NICE! Now I am complete. ha ha. Andrew also snuck off for a while on a secret errand. He said it had something to do with my anniversary present. I have no idea what he was doing but I'm excited about the surprise.

Andrew's friend Sam and his girlfriend Jessica met us for a late lunch/early dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. The food was great and we had a great time. btw: the cheesecake factory is a great place to take kids because it is so loud (during the day at least). K.P. was really good but even if he wasn't I doubt anyone would have noticed. I, of course, ate way too much (cocktails, appetizer, entree, dessert, dessert coffee). So much for my diet :)

Here is a video from our lunch.

Overall it was a great day! I got my jeans, my wallet and we had a great meal with friends. We finished the night off with watching Michael Phelps win his 8th gold medal. I wish every day could be Saturday!

A week with Nana

2008-08-15T13:03:00.001-07:00

Nana has been watching K.P. this whole week while Nanny Jennifer is camping in California. This means he has been totally spoiled all week. I'm sure he misses Nanny Jennifer but I know he enjoyed his time with Nana. PawPaw visited one afternoon as well (he came and fixed all of our upstairs plumbing so now our guests will have hot water and a shower that drains -- thank you PawPaw!)

Here are a couple of videos from the week:

K.P. has been learning to stand up and hold on to things to keep himself standing. As you can see from the video, Nana was afraid he was going to fall so she wouldn't get too far away from him.

PawPaw was playing a little game with K.P. and he was really laughing. We only caught the end of the game but you can see what they were doing.

Our Little Giggle Monster

2008-08-12T17:12:00.000-07:00

They say that laughter is good for the heart, that it reduces stress and that, overall, it has great health benefits. While Andrew and I are pretty good at making each other laugh, nothing is greater than hearing K.P.'s laughter, especially when you are the one who is making him laugh. I think a baby's laugh is one of the greatest sounds on this earth. It makes my day to see him smile...my life to hear him laugh.

Nothing makes K.P. laugh more than giving him kisses on his neck. Here are a couple of recent videos of each of us making our little guy laugh...so cute!

Mommy making him laugh...

Daddy making him laugh...

Forget rolling over -- K.P. is learning to sit-up!

2008-08-10T17:16:00.000-07:00

For the last month or so, we have been trying to work on K.P. rolling over. It's funny because he just doesn't seem interested. We know he can do it because we've seen him...but not often. Lately it seems as though he will actually start crawling before he gets into rolling over. He already scoots around in circles on his stomach and scoots forward when I place toys outside of his reach. And last week we realized that apparently he is more interested in sitting up than rolling over! I was playing with him and I pulled him up to a sitting position and he just sat there...by himself! At first he would fall over if he reached for something but within 2 days he had learned to balance himself and now he will sit for quite a while.

Here are some videos of him sitting up and playing with some new toys!

K.P.'s Sleeping Habits and his Love of Blankets

2008-08-07T17:48:00.001-07:00

Ever since he was little we have wrapped K.P. in a blanket when he sleeps. When he was first born we would swaddle him tightly but as time passed we got to where we would just swaddle him from the waist down. On the very first night we took K.P. home from the hospital I woke up in the middle of the night to look over at him and he had worked his hands out of his blanket and pulled it up over his face. Being a paranoid new mother, I, of course, was sure he had suffocated himself and I flew out of bed and jerked the blanket down to see if he was breathing. Of course he was fine. And this began the battle between the paranoid mother and the blanket. K.P. loves his blanket and he loves it to cover his face when he sleeps. As I just mentioned, at first this drove me crazy, as I was constantly checking on him to see if he was breathing. I would wait until he was asleep and then pull the blanket away from his face. Within 20 minutes he would have pulled it back up again. I've come to realize he is just going to do this. That this is how he likes to sleep.

You might be asking why I don't just do away with the blankets all together. The answer is simple. He won't sleep without one. And he won't sleep without one covering his face. I'm sure it is my own fault in some way but now I feel it is too late to break the habit. To make myself sleep better, I bought some blankets that are pretty easy to breathe through. They are a light knit and have a really soft texture (I think that's why he likes them). Yes, I've tried them all out. I've actually laid down and piled them on my face to make sure I can breathe :)

Here are some pictures I took this afternoon. The first picture is how I found him when I went to check on him. The second picture is after I pulled the blanket away from his face. The third picture is about 20 minutes later where he had pulled the blanket right back over his face.

Losing that extra baby weight (because I didn't have a 50lb baby...)

2008-08-05T20:04:00.000-07:00

Recently, several people have commented on how good I looked and asked how I've been able to lose my baby weight so quickly. The compliments are nice because I have been pretty dedicated and it is great to know that my diligence has paid off. I had never been faced with having to lose a lot of weight before and I was pretty nervous about it. I approached my pregnancy with the "I can eat whatever I want, whenever I want" attitude. It was great when I was pregnant but when I didn't birth a 50lb baby I realized that I was going to have to lose some weight on my own. Scary!

I have actually worked pretty hard but I chalk my success up to several things:

1. Breastfeeding - did you know you burn 300-500 calories a day when you breastfeed? I had been told about all of the health benefits for the baby but I was sold when I learned this little fact. It was one of the primary reasons I was determined to breastfeed for at least 6 months.

2. Food - when you are breastfeeding you really are not supposed to cut calories because your baby needs milk full of fatty calories to grow big and strong. I held strongly to that rule the first 6 weeks and continued to eat whatever I wanted. However, I quickly learned that although the baby did need calories, I should try to make them healthy calories -- not french-fried calories. When K.P. was about 2-months-old I started gradually eating better but not necessarily less. Eating less was too hard because you are starving when you first start breastfeeding. You really do need the extra calories for energy -- otherwise you will be running ragged. At 2 months, I eased into a diet of sorts and did little things like limited myself to only 1 diet coke a day, started snacking on fruit instead of crackers or chips and limited myself to a certain number of calories or a range of calories a day. I also cut back on fast food. I don't think I had any fast food for about 1.5 months. Even now, I only get it occasionally (although I still really really really love it). Overall, it is not about dieting but about lifestyle choices, I made a conscious decision to change the way I eat. For example, Andrew just picked up Wendy's for lunch and although nothing sounded better, I sadly declined and ate a turkey sandwich and sugar free chocolate pudding snack. Note: not eating fast food can cause one to experience moments of depression -- especially when one's spouse chooses to eat it in front of her :).

3. Exercise - I should have put this at #2 because I started exercising before I started working on my diet. At about 5 weeks after K.P. was born I started walking. It was hard at first -- I would only walk for about 10-15 minutes around my neighborhood and call it a day. I then found a walking buddy in Jen (a friend who had a baby Charlie 1-month after K.P.). A buddy is the best because Jen and I would walk 4-6 miles a day. It was GREAT because we would talk the whole time and it never felt like exercising. Unfortunately I had to go back to work so we haven't been able to keep up our walks but it was ESSENTIAL to getting me started with my workouts. Since I've started working a workout is harder to fit in but I still try to walk 2-3 miles several times a week and I also try to fit in 3 or 4 days of pilates. I bought a great pilates video titled "Cardio Pilates" at Target and it has done wonders for my body. The walking helps with general cardio but the pilates video has really helped flatten my stomach (which I never in a million years thought would happen after having K.P.). I definitely recommend it to anyone trying to tone up their middle section or "powerhouse" (to those who have already done a pilates class).

4. Family Support - one of the best things about trying to exercise and eat better is that I have the support of Andrew. He and I are both trying to exercise and lost weight and we encourage each other -- it really helps to have that support system. It makes all of the difference in the world to have your spouse right there with you. It would be much more difficult if he were eating cheeseburgers every day while I ate a Lean Cuisine (however, there are moments where we torture (challenge?) each other -- see above statement about Wendys). We set goals for ourselves and have weekly weigh-ins and reward ourselves when we reach our goals. We are both competitive people so contests work really well for us :)

5. Goals - I think one of the most important things is having small goals -- goals that are not necessarily focused on weight. When I first started I would set a goal of how many work outs I wanted to do a week. I did not focus on how much I weighed or how much weight I wanted to lose -- I knew that would come with the workouts. I then set goals for food (e.g. 1 diet coke a day; no more kolaches for breakfast; only apples for a snack; a certain range of calories allowed for a day). I would try the goals for 1 week. Once I saw results I was hooked on the changes and would implement more for the next week...then the next. I think it was key to not focus on weight at the beginning, only the lifestyle changes I was trying to make.

6. Motivation - Anyone who has ever tried to lose weight knows that it is a mind thing. If your head is not in it, it just isn't going to happen. You have to be motivated. Over the last couple of years my motivation has definitely been lacking. However, this year is different for 2 reasons: 1) I had a baby and 2) I am turning 30! Both of these things coupled together gave me the motivation that I had been lacking in the past. I made a goal to lose the weight by the time I went to Vegas to celebrate my 30th birthday. I may be turning 30 but I'm going to do so fabulously :)

7. Good genes - Although I have worked hard and been disciplined, I must also give some credit to the fact that I have been blessed with good metabolism. I've always been slender and have been able to maintain my weight. I think that has to do with genetics so thank you Mom, Dad or whatever distant relative I may have inherited this trait from. I really appreciate it!

Waiting/Wasting time waiting on Hurricane Edouardo

2008-08-04T17:19:00.000-07:00

For those of us who have lived in Texas and specifically, the Gulf Coast area our entire lives, we don't exactly get too worked up over hurricanes or the potential threat of hurricanes. However, when Katrina hit several years ago that all changed. It used to be that the threat of a hurricane meant no school or work, and that was great news....a day off...yay! I guess it was because no hurricane did more than tear down trees or knock out the electricity in my neighborhood. When I was a kid it was just exciting. Not really sure why...I guess I've just strangely always liked storms. Anyways, before Katrina I don't think I ever appreciated the destruction that a hurricane could leave behind. I guess because none had ever left that type of destruction so close to home before.

The distaster that was Katrina left the city of Houston in a panicked frenzy when hurricane Rita threatened our city. Although the hurricane itself did not leave a path of destruction, one was created as we remembered what happened only several weeks before in New Orleans and city officials urged us to evacuate the city. It was a nightmare. I returned home from a fabulous vacation in Cabo San Lucas only to find the city in a frenzy. Gas was completely sold out and everyone was fleeing. I didn't stress too much as I was supposed to head to Austin for the Austin City Limits Music festival anyways. However, after 8 hours on the road and having only made it 10 miles down I-10, I realized I wasn't going to make it out of the city, let alone all the way to Austin. We ended up staying at a friend's mom's house in Katy (thank you Jen's mom!) and just hung out and waited for the hurricane....and waited....and waited. We got nothing. It didn't even RAIN! Ok...to be fair, the wind picked up a bit and we had a nice breeze. What a waste.

Because of the evacuation nightmare that occurred in Houston during Rita, city officials have made it their mission in life to make the city prepare...or scare the city into preparation. For the last several years I have driven past large billboards with the message "It's Hurricane Season, Fill Up Your Tanks!" or "Storm Forming in Gulf, Be Prepared!." Come on...you all have seen them. You all know what I'm talking about. I guess they just don't want to say that they didn't warn everyone but sometimes it seems a little premature. I think the city is just hurricane-shy at this point. But I guess it works. Just last week as I was grocery shopping I started thinking about hurricane season so I felt the need to be prepared. By be prepared I mean that I bought 3 large packs of water, about 20 cans of raviolis and batteries. I didn't even know what I was buying the batteries for but I bought them.

What is her point, you ask? I've said all of this to say this:

I found out just yesterday that there is a tropical storm/potential hurricane forming in the Gulf. I checked the weather today and saw that it was true so I immediately felt the need to leave work early to prepare. Prepare for what, I don't know. Just prepare. So, I've been home since 3:30....preparing. I washed the dishes, put my car in the garage and now Andrew and I are sitting on the couch watching tv. We are very prepared. So far, it looks like a beautiful evening. I guess we will just have to wait until the morning to see if we are prepared enough.

My guess is, it might rain a little and wind will blow. However, I've got my batteries so I'll be ok :)

Happy 5-month Birthday K.P.!

2008-08-03T09:26:00.000-07:00

K.P. turned 5-months old on Saturday. I cannot believe how fast he is growing. He is changing and getting bigger every day! Andrew and I were going to the Astros game that night and K.P. stayed the night at Grandma and Grandpa Slanias. I put him in his Astros shirt and baseball hat for the game. He must have been good luck because the Astros won in extra innings!

Grandparents are the best!

2008-08-01T18:52:00.001-07:00

Throughout my pregnancy I had many people tell me to do everything I ever wanted to do (vacation, see a movie, etc.) before I had the baby, because after he was born, they would explain, I would never be able to do anything without him. The notion kind of worried me but I was so excited about having a baby so I didn't let things like that distract my excitement. A month or so before K.P. was born I had a friend (who at the time had 1 daughter, now she has a newborn son too!) tell me that all she wanted to do was go on vacation and be able to sit by the beach or pool at sunset and have a cocktail drink with an umbrella in it. She said she had not done anything like that in 3 years because she had her 3-year-old daughter and her daughter always went with them on vacation and had to be in bed by the time sunset rolled around and she obviously couldn't leave her daugher in the room alone to go boozing down by the beach. I felt really sorry for her. All of the sudden I had a couple of panic attacks at the thought of never being able to vacation and drink cocktails at sunset again. I was having flashbacks and remembering all of those warnings from people before I got pregnant. However, one key factor in her story is that she and her husband are Houston transplants. They are both from Omaha, Nebraska and neither have family in town. Our situation is distinctly different. Both of our families live in Houston or a Houston suburb and are no more than a 30-minute drive.

After hearing her story and then having K.P. I realized how lucky I was to have mine and Andrew's parents living so close. It also makes me realize how lucky K.P. is to have such wonderful grandparents who love him and who are eager to share his life. I feel grateful and blessed that he will grow up knowing his grandparents as they will be a constant presence in his every day life activies. They will be at his practices, soccer and baseball games, school programs and every birthday. They will be there on the weekends for Saturday outings or Sunday brunch or dinner. They will just always be there. They will always be there will open arms and unconditional love.

And they have already been there. Ever since K.P. was about 3 or 4 weeks old, Andrew and I have been able to take 1 night out of the week to go to dinner and have a date night. There is always at least one grandparent who is eagerly volunteering to watch him. It has been really nice to be able to be alone with each other, even if it is for a couple of hours. As he gets older, the outings have gotten longer and we've even had a couple of overnight vacations where K.P. stayed with a grandparent. We went to St. Louis earlier this summer for a wedding and are going to Las Vegas for my 30th birthday on Labor Day weekend. Neither of these trips would have been possible if we did not have the support of such wonderful grandparents.

The idea came for this post because Grandma Slania volunteered to keep K.P. this Saturday night so Andrew and I could have a night out (she also wanted to have a trial run before Labor Day weekend). This will be his first overnight stay with Grandparent Slanias and I think he will have a great time. I really hope he sleeps well so he is invited back :)

I just want to take this time to thank all of our grandparents. Your support and love for K.P. is the greatest thing in the world. There is nothing that makes a mom feel better than to have others love their child the way they do. I think K.P. is the luckiest boy in the world to have so many people who love him.

I was flipping through the pictures in my camera and I found all of these pictures of the grandparents holding K.P. during the first couple of weeks after he was born. I love looking at how proud and happy the grandparents are of their little grandson.

Family Vacation in New Braunfels

2008-07-28T10:17:00.000-07:00

For the past 50 years, my family has been spending a week on the river in New Braunfels. We stay at a great little place called Heidelberg Lodges that has a great pool and is right on the river. The whole family (cousins, grandparents, aunts and uncles) all come and we spend our days sun bathing in the freezing cold river water, eating tons of junk food and playing lots of card games and dominos. This year was going to be a different adventure in that there were 3 new additions to the family! My brother Alan and his wife Jennifer had my niece Georgia (who was born last October), I had K.P. and my cousin Elizabeth had Ainsley, who is 1-month younger than K.P. Whew....3 new babies! It's crazy to think our family expanded that much in one year! I was excited because this trip was going to be my first time meeting Ainsley! It was also the first time all of the cousins would meet each other.

Overall, the week was a great time. I had been worried about how K.P. would do in a new environment but it looks like he takes well to vacationing! The first night we were there he slept the entire night straight through! I was ready to move there permanently with the hope that it would continue. We didn't have the same luck the next night but overall, he did pretty well.

Here are some cute videos and pictures we have of all of the cousins meeting for the first time and getting in the pool!

Here is K.P. and Nana. He is wearing his new Gruene Dance Hall t-shirt and cowboy hat that PawPaw bought him. Of course, the hat is too small b/c K.P. kind of has a big head :)

This is a picture of me, my sister-in-law Jennifer and cousin Elizabeth with each of our new babies! Georgia (left) is the oldest at 9 months. Ainsley (middle) is 4 months and K.P. (the only boy is 5 months). If this week is any indication, they are going to be a handful next year!

Grandparents with the grandkids. Notice that Georgia and K.P. are doing the white trash thing. They are in their diapers! Ainsley is the only lady out of the group!

Great-grandpa and grandpas!

Girls Night at the Mad Potter

2008-07-22T19:07:00.000-07:00

2 weeks ago some friends and I had a girls night at The Mad Potter. We had each happened to catch an episode of John and Kate plus 8 where the little kids were decorating pottery. It was sooo cute! Several of us have small children so we immediately decided that we had to do it! Within a week we had the outing planned. By the way, if you have not seen John and Kate plus 8 you are missing out! It is a great show on TLC about a couple who could not get pregnant on their own so they did fertility treatments and had a set of twin girls. They then decided to try for 1 more and had sextuplets! I love the show because they are such great parents. In moments of weakness I always think of the show and say to myself, if Kate can do this with 6 babies then I can surely do it with 1! Ok, anyways, us girls went to dinner and had cocktails and then we went to the Mad Potter (where we had some more cocktails): I made some adorable coasters and then took K.P. back the next day and put his hand and feet prints on them. They turned out so cute! I also made a cookie jar to put all of my newly baked cookies in. I had grand plans to put K.P.'s hands all over the cookie jar as well but it just never happened.

When Andrew's Mom heard that we went to The Mad Potter she dug up an old puppy that Andrew made when he was 10-years-old. I thought it was cute. Here's a picture!

Visit to Nana & PawPaws

2008-07-19T17:54:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday K.P. spent the night with Nana & PawPaw. Here are some pictures from the weekend. As you can see, PawPaw took K.P. for a ride on our 4-wheeler! I told him that from now on, all activities have to be approved by me!

On Sunday, PawPaw made BBQ and we hung out in the pool. It was a great weekend.

K.P.'s first taste of rice cereal

2008-07-16T11:56:00.000-07:00

We started feeding K.P. rice cereal this weekend! I was going to wait another month to start but he has an appetite like you wouldn't believe. He was never full with just milk. So, I figured it was time to try it out. He loved it right away! He's become a little bossy as he likes to yell in between bites as his way to order me to give him some more. Pretty cute. I've started undressing him before we eat (if you are wondering why he's not wearing clothes in the videos) because he makes the biggest mess!

Here is a video of K.P. eating rice cereal for the first time. He was not in a good mood but he stopped whining once he tried a bite!

Here is K.P. after he had taken the spoon from me.

A ZaZa Weekend: a Hotel Review

2008-07-15T08:10:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine introduced me to the idea of a "stay-cation." It's a vacation in your home town. That way you are not spending money on plane tickets or gas (which is pretty smart considering how high gas prices are right now). Also, Houston is a great hometown to have a vacation in. So much to do! Us locals should really take advantage of what the city has to offer more often. All last week Andrew and I were tossing around the idea of getting a room on Saturday night but we weren't sure 1) where we wanted to stay and 2) how much we wanted to spend. After searching endlessly online I found a great deal for a suite at Hotel ZaZa. The price of the suite on Hotels.com was half the price of the suite on the hotel website! It was the same price as the smallest room! We had also heard that they have a great pool and restaurant so we thought it was the perfect place for a one-night retreat. My mother had volunteered to keep the little guy so we were set. I had heard many different things about Hotel ZaZa so I didn't really know what to expect but I was looking forward to trying out something different.

Review: Great experience! Will definitely be back.

The room: Our room was incredible. Other than our honeymoon, it was the nicest room we had ever stayed in. It was over 700 square feet and had a dining table for 6, a huge sectional sofa in the living room and a separate bedroom and bathroom with flat screens everywhere (which made Andrew happy). It made us feel like we were at a house (not a hotel room). It was so comfortable (Andrew did think the art work was kind of creepy) and homey - we didn't want to leave. The best part was the price. We paid the same amount a regular tiny room would have cost because we booked the day before. Note: this is a great way to get an awesome room for cheap at a hotel.

The pool: We had a great time at the pool. The pool was fabulous and the pool wait staff was really friendly and helpful. It was crowded when we first arrived so there were no open chairs but we ran into an old friend of mine and shared their chairs for a while until some opened up (which they did within the hour). In the future, I will definitely try to arrive early so as to secure prime seating. The crowd at the pool was really fun and eclectic - kind of like the hotel itself. There were different groups of people: a wedding party (the wedding was that night....I would love to have known how that turned out); a group of girls for a bachelorette weekend; other weekend couples and general party folks. Andrew had some friends join us and we had a great time soaking up some sun (with my spf 45 of course), drinking cocktails (I had some sort of heavenly strawberry mimosa thing) and munching on snacks (their guacamole was great). My friend had also secured a cabana in which she allowed us to come and go if we wanted to get out of the sun. Nice. Felt very V.I.P. Overall, pretty great afternoon.

The food: After our day at the pool we decided to have dinner at Monarch (the restaurant at the hotel). We had not planned on eating there because we heard it was expensive but we also were too tired from our day at the pool to drive anywhere. We sacrificed our wallets for convenience (which seems to be a reoccuring theme in my life:)) Although it was pricey, it was worth it as the food was really good. We had fried green tomatoes to start which were delicious. For our entrees, we each ordered a steak (rib eye for Andrew and a filet for myself) and some sort of fancy mac and cheese as a side. Yummy! We were too full to order dessert but I did make a late-night snack out of some Milano cookies from the mini bar :) We actually ate dinner pretty early so late into the night we were hungry again so we ordered a grilled cheese from room service to share. It came with tomato soup and was awesome! We also had breakfast brought to our room the next morning. I had a bagel with cream cheese and Andrew made a great order: banana pancakes. They were delicious! It was fun to be able to eat at our dining table and in our living room (as opposed to having to sit on your bed and each - which is how it happens in most hotel rooms). We kind of felt important :)

Cons: the only con out of the weekend was that when we first checked in the girl at the counter informed us that a water main had broken in downtown so all of the water and air conditioning was out at the hotel. She just said it matter-of-factly. There was no "I'm sorry" or "would you like to cancel, etc." It was just like here's whats going on and here's the key to your non-air-conditioned room where the water doesn't work. Have a nice stay. We were headed straight to the pool anyways and the air and water were back on by the time we got back up from the pool so it really didn't inconvenience us at all but we just thought she should work on her personal service skills. It wasn't a good first impression. Also, when we were leaving, the valet guy told us that we needed to pay for valet because it was not charged to our room. For whatever reason, I had actually taken our itemized bill with me (I never take those with me b/c I'd rather not be reminded of what I spent:)) and I had already noticed that we had been charged for valet. I showed the guy our bill and he was nice and apologized for trying to make us pay twice. It made me wonder, however, how many times a day he does this to lesser-prepared guests. Had I not just looked at our bill I would have assumed he was correct and paid the $20. Hmmm.

In the end, we had a great time and will definitely be returning to Hotel ZaZa. We also plan to hit up their pool again really soon!

For those of you wanting to do something different for a weekend, definitely consider a "stay-cation!" It's a great way to enjoy Houston!

Overall, here's why a "stay-cation" is a great idea:

1. You can book last minute and save a bundle on hotel prices (and get a better room than you usually would get)
2. You can save a ton because you don't have to drive or fly anywhere
3. It doesn't require any passports or travel documents
4. It allows you to stay and enjoy your hometown city in a different way (Houston has so much to offer and I rarely experience only half of it)
5. It only takes you 10-15 minutes to get to your vacation and 10-15 minutes to get home!

KP's noticing the world around him!

2008-07-14T09:17:00.000-07:00

Every week is such a huge milestone in a baby's life. It seems like every day K.P. becomes more and more aware of the world around him. He has finally noticed Dakota (our dog) and she makes him smile. He also is learning how to use his hands to grab things and feel things. Here is a cute picture of him taking a bath and discovering water!

K.P. Rolling Over...and a new laugh (or cry)

2008-07-10T12:52:00.000-07:00

K.P. has learned to roll over...well sort of. He's done it only about 5 times and only when I'm around. So far, he really hasn't had much interest in it. He actually likes being on his stomach so he just usually chills out when I put him there (or falls asleep). I was lucky enough to capture one on video. Thank goodness because I think everyone thought I was making it up!

He is still thoroughly enjoying his bouncer/jumper...

And he's developed a funny new laugh (or half cry)...we're not really sure. Regardless, it's cute!

Happy Belated Birthday Jacob!

2008-07-09T08:19:00.000-07:00

There are tons of birthdays this month so it's kind of hard to keep track. Monday was my brother-in-law Jacob's birthday. Happy Birthday Jacob! I'm sorry this is a couple of days late :) Actually, I'm not too sorry. After all, you get to celebrate your birthdays San Diego-style. You also get to work with this view every day....

(Jacob works in downtown San Diego)

And spend your evenings and weekends here...

(Pacific Beach, San Diego)

I hope you had a great birthday!

My new blog: Dessert Flirt

2008-07-08T08:03:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! I wanted to let you know that I created a new blog called Dessert Flirt. (Click to check it out). I have been trying to become a better baker/dessert-maker so I decided to start a blog dedicated to my baking efforts. The goal is to try to make a new dessert every week (Sundays) and then post my results as well as the recipes. I made homemade apple dumplings for the 4th of July and they turned out great!

I will also be posting reviews of new bakeries and desserts I try at restaurants around Houston (or any other city for that matter). Yesterday I went to Crave Cupcakes in Uptown Park and they were fabulous! Check out my review here.

Alan's Birthday Dinner

2008-07-07T14:06:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Alan's birthday last week (July 3rd) at Hooters. Yes, I said Hooters. I know...I know...we're a little bit WT. Birthday guy got to choose and that's where we went.

BTW: Hooters is yummy! The fried pickles are the best!

We had a great time. All of Jennifer's family was there (my parents ditched us for a cruise to the caribbean) and it was nice to see them all. It was also great because I got to see my niece, Georgia! Here are some adorable videos of her.

We asked the "hooters" girls to come out and sing Alan happy birthday but they got more than they bargained for when Alan decided to turn the tables around and give one of the girls a dance! It was HILARIOUS!!! I know that mom and dad must be so proud. The best part is that he did this with Jennifer and Georgia watching (note Jennifer filming in the background)! Check out the video for a good laugh.

4th of July Weekend

2008-07-05T11:20:00.000-07:00

We've been really busy this 4th of July. We started out the weekend on Thursday with a birthday dinner for Alan (my brother) and we celebrated the 4th with our friends Matt and Jenn and their little boy Charlie. We grilled burgers and hot dogs, took the boys swimming, K.P. had his first experience with a slide and I successfully made homemade apple dumplings. Yummy!

Here are some videos from our day.

Here's K.P. getting in the pool. It was COLD and he was not happy!

K.P. and Charlie Pesek in matching shirts!

My Laughing Baby!

2008-07-01T17:34:00.000-07:00

K.P. is really starting to enjoy life and it shows in his laughter. Check out some videos we took tonight of him laughing. Aren't laughing babies the best! You can't help but smile :)
For more laughing babies you should totally check out some clips on http://www.youtube.com/. Just search "laughing baby" and you will get a ton of great clips. Click here to see my favorite.

K.P.'s New Toy (and videos with Mom's new toy!)

2008-06-30T13:24:00.000-07:00

I love all of the videos people have on their blogs so I bought myself a new toy (a flip video) so I could take my own videos. It arrived today...yippee!! Here are some videos of K.P. playing in his new jumper that Nanny Jennifer and I put together this afternoon. He loved it!

Casino Day Care?

2008-06-25T12:35:00.000-07:00

We will be taking off Friday afternoon to head to the Coushatta Casino Resort in Kinder, Louisiana with Andrew's parents and his aunt and uncle. Andrew and I have had the gambling itch for a while and this weekend will be a perfect chance to stretch our gambling legs before going to Vegas to celebrate my 30th B-day for Labor Day weekend! Can't wait! Well...actually...I am not that excited about the fact that I'll be turning 30 soon, but I'll sacrifice my youth for a chance to go to Vegas. Let's just say I'm taking one for the team.

Anyways, back to Coushatta... K.P. will be traveling with us to the great state of Louisiana (his first trip out of Texas!) so we have had to consider what activities we can do with him. There are tons of restaurants and shops, as well as a pool, etc. so there is plenty to do besides gamble. Also, between Andrew's parents and his aunt I am sure I will have no problem having someone to play with him while I slip off to the tables. However, for those who do not have family members traveling with them, I was perusing the casino web site and noticed that there is a day care or "Kids Quest" for children at the casino. The day care is for children 6 weeks to 12 years of age! 6 weeks! I found that kind of shocking. I am certainly not one to judge, after all, I am bringing a 4-month-old to a casino, but 6 weeks seems awfully young. That's not even the most shocking part. Apparently the day care stays open to 2 A.M.!!! I'm sorry, but if you drop a 6-week old baby off at a casino day care and don't pick it up until 2 A.M., you might have a problem. I'm not sure if it is a gambling problem or a poor-judgment-in-parenting problem but it's a problem nonetheless.

I should note, however, that the notion of a "Kids Quest" for older kids is actually a pretty good idea. It looks like there is a huge indoor playground, kids karaoke and arts and crafts. I would have certainly enjoyed something like that as a kid.

Maybe I shouldn't be too hasty to judge. The web site says the center offers "top quality child care in a safe, wholesome and fun environment." I'll check it out and let you all know what I think.

Here's the link to the site:

http://www.coushattacasinoresort.com/activities/kids-quest/

To Feed or Not to Feed Organic Baby Food...that is the question!

2008-06-23T07:30:00.000-07:00

Ok, as if I don't have enough other things to worry about with regards to raising the "perfect child," I now am forced to tackle another parenting hurdle: whether or not I should feed K.P. organic formula and baby food? Up to this point, K.P. has pretty much been living natural, as I am still feeding him about 98% breastmilk. However, as he grows, so do his nutritional needs and I will soon be forced to decide what type of formula and baby food to feed him. 20 years ago we wouldn't really have this problem but now we are so inundated with the notion of everything organic (organic veggies, organic meats, organic clothes, organic sheets). Everything has an organic substitute! Even baby clothes come in organic! Is this really necessary, I ask?. (I'll discuss the clothes issue in another post). Well, that's my question. Is it necessary? Will I breed a smarter, healthier (more coordinated :)) child if I feed him organic food. Or is it ok to rely on the mind-set that regular food was good enough for me so it should be good enough for my child. I mean really, I don't have one friend or family member who was raised on organic baby food and I am surrounded by an amazingly smart and fabulous set of friends and family members. So the question is: could we be more intelligent, more fabulous? I'd like to think not...but I don't know!

In order to make an informed decision about what I should do, I set out to learn all I could about eating organic and how important it is for growing a healthy happy baby. All I did was come back confused. I guess I should have seen it coming, but what I learned was...it depends on who you talk to:

Our Pediatrician: K.P.'s pediatrician thinks that buying organic baby food is a rip-off and that no parent should do it. He thinks our generation is getting completely ripped off by inflated food prices due to the organic trend. I quote: "it is completely ridiculous that a regular stalk of celery costs .75 cents and an organic stalk costs $2.75." He essentially thinks that anyone who shops at Whole Foods needs to have their head checked and believes they can get the exact same quality of food at the nearest Fiesta (for half the price). He also thinks I should make all of my own baby food. He brags that he and his wife have raised 5 children and there has never been a jar of baby food in their house. I enthusiastically listen to his stories and promise to try to make my own as I take the recipes he gives me, all the while knowing that there is absolutely no way that I am actually going to follow through with it. 1-0 - no organic.

Friendly Advice: In my quest to learn all I could about organic baby food, I sought out advice from friends and other moms. Everyone had different advice but one friend actually had some inside knowledge about the farming industry and what it means to be "organic" in Texas. Apparently (and I have not checked these facts so please don't persecute me with hate comments if I'm wrong), the standards and line of what constitutes "organic" in Texas can be a little blurry. My friend's husband is a rancher and farmer and he says that farms that grow "organic" sit directly adjacent to those that do not so when certain pesticides are used, there is no guarantee that the wind does not blow some onto the neighbor's crops. Essentially, there is no way to guarantee it is completely "organic." Also, Texas gives farmers get a tax break for growing "organically" and therefore many farmers jump at the chance to get the tax break. However, without strict standards of what constitutes "organic," in Texas the crops may not be as wholesome as the consumer believes. Note: different states have different regulations and standards for growing "organic" and I am just engaging in "hearsay" talk about what insiders say about organic foods in Texas. 2-0: No organic

Web research: There are literally thousands of web sites dedicated to the importance of eating organic, for adults as well as babies. Of course, these sites were created for the purpose of promoting the organic agenda so they all say that organic is the way to go. However, I did find some interesting facts:

An article on www.consumerreports.org states that "because children's developing bodies are especially vulnerable to the toxins found in nonorganic baby food, it pays to buy organic food for baby as often as possible." Children's developing immune, central-nervous, and hormonal systems are especially vulnerable to damage from toxic chemicals. "A lot of these pesticides are toxic to the brain," says Philip Landrigan, a professor of pediatrics and preventative medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. "We have very good evidence that exposure of the fetus to organophosphorus pesticides produces babies with small head circumference, which is a risk factor for reduced intelligence and behavior disturbances."

Note: K.P.'s head circumference is of a larger percentile than the rest of his body so I think he's ok. :)

Also, the article goes on to report that ever since a 1996 federal law required pesticides to meet safety standards for children, more than a dozen formerly widely used pesticides have been banned, restricted, or voluntarily withdrawn by manufacturers. Under that law, more pesticides are being investigated each year and banned, or they're undergoing a lowering of limits on what can safely be tolerated. So, this is good news but it still leaves be confused about whether I should be buying organic. Especially when I stumbled across the following article in the NY Times:

May 19, 2008
For an All-Organic Formula, Baby, That’s Sweet
By JULIA MOSKIN
Amy Chase started feeding Similac Organic infant formula to her second son, Amos, as soon as he was born in November 2006.
“When I saw the organic at Publix, I bought it, no questions asked,” said Ms. Chase, a self-described “yoga mom” in Atlanta.
Like Ms. Chase, many American parents have rushed to embrace Similac Organic formula, even though it sells for as much as 30 percent more than regular Similac. In 2007, its first full year on sale, it captured 36 percent of the organic formula market, with sales of more than $10 million, according to Kalorama Information, a pharmaceutical-industry research firm. (Similac’s parent company, Abbott Laboratories, does not release sales figures for individual products.)
Parents may be buying it because they believe that organic is healthier, but babies may have a reason of their own for preferring Similac Organic: it is significantly sweeter than other formulas. It is the only major brand of organic formula that is sweetened with cane sugar, or sucrose, which is much sweeter than sugars used in other formulas.
No health problems in babies have been associated with Similac Organic. But to pediatricians, there are risks in giving babies cane sugar: Sucrose can harm tooth enamel faster than other sugars; once babies get used to its sweeter taste, they might resist less sweet formulas or solid foods; and some studies suggest that they might overeat, leading to rapid weight gain in the first year, which is often a statistical predictor of childhood obesity.
Asked about these concerns, Carolyn Valek, a spokeswoman for Abbott Nutrition, the division of Abbott Laboratories that makes Similac Organic, said that sucrose had been approved by the Food and Drug Administration and was considered “safe and well established.” Ms. Valek said that Similac Organic had no more sweetener than other formulas and that prolonged contact with any kind of sugar could cause tooth decay.
In Europe, where sudden increases in childhood obesity are a pressing public health issue, sucrose-sweetened formulas will be banned by the end of 2009, except when ordered by a doctor for babies with severe allergies. The 27 countries of the European Union adopted the new rules according to the recommendations of the group’s Scientific Committee on Food, which found that sucrose provided no particular nutritional advantages, could, in rare cases, bring about a fatal metabolic disorder, and might lead to overfeeding.
The F.D.A., however, which regulates infant formula, does not specify which sugars can be used, as long as they are already classified as safe. Nor does it set the amount of sugar per serving, as it does for fats and proteins.
Still, a number of pediatricians said they were surprised by the choice of sucrose.
“I would be very concerned about this as a pediatrician,” said Dr. Benjamin Caballero, director of the Center for Human Nutrition at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and an expert in risk factors for childhood obesity. “The issue is that sweet tastes tend to encourage consumption of excessive amounts,” Dr. Caballero said. Evidence shows that babies and children will always show a preference for the sweetest food available, he said, and they will eat more of it than they would of less-sweet food.
“This is how breakfast cereal manufacturers compete,” he said.
Ms. Valek of Abbot Nutrition said the company did not “optimize for taste” when developing infant formula. “Our primary focus is to support normal growth through optimal nutrition and quality ingredients,” she said.
Organic formula, with sales of about $20 million annually, makes up only a sliver of the $2.5 billion formula market, according to A.C. Nielsen, the market research company. Similac Organic, analysts say, is largely responsible for the nearly tenfold growth in sales of organic formula from 2005 to 2007. According to the federal Department of Agriculture, which regulates organic labeling, a product can be labeled organic when 95 percent of its ingredients are grown without the use of certain pesticides and herbicides.
All infant formulas contain added sugars, which babies need to digest the proteins in cow’s milk or soy. Other organic formulas, like Earth’s Best and Parent’s Choice, use organic lactose as the added sugar. Organic lactose must be extracted from organic milk, the global supplies of which have been severely stretched in the last three years, driving up the price of the lactose.
“The parents in my practice who would use organic formula are the same parents who would be worried about giving sweets to their babies,” said Dr. Jatinder Bhatia, a member of the nutrition committee of the American Academy of Pediatrics. “That organic formula would be sweeter might not be a health risk, but it certainly isn’t what the parents have in mind.”
Kim Kupferman, a technology consultant in San Leandro, Calif., said she tended to trust the organic label. Her 7-month-old daughter, Saige, eats Similac Organic and a few organic solid foods. “But sugar is a concern for us — that’s why we started her on vegetables rather than fruits, so she wouldn’t get used to the sweet taste first.” Ms. Kupferman said, adding that she might re-evaluate her choice of formula.
Many doctors have long believed that all sugars, from raw cane to highly processed high-fructose corn syrup, are nutritionally identical. But others disagree. Ivan de Araujo, a fellow at the John B. Pierce Laboratory at Yale University School of Medicine, a center for sensory research, said scientists were beginning to tease out the differences.
“Recent studies show that animals have a clear preference for sucrose over other sugars,” Dr. Araujo said. And eating sucrose, he said, generates future cravings for sucrose; other sugars tested, like fructose and glucose, do not have the same long-term effect.
However, Gary K. Beauchamp, director of the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, a nonprofit research institute, said there was no solid proof that early exposure to sweetness gave babies a greater taste for sugar later in life. “The taste for sweet may be pegged so high that it can’t go any higher,” Dr. Beauchamp said.
The overall question of whether sweeter foods are more appealing to babies has long since been resolved. “Babies love sweetness, and anyone selling a sweeter formula is going to have an advantage, because it would be harder to switch a baby to another formula once they get used to the taste,” said Dr. William J. Klish, director of the pediatric gastroenterology department at Baylor College of Medicine and a former chairman of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ nutrition committee.
The sweeter taste of Similac Organic was observed by a professional sensory-tasting panel, commissioned by The New York Times to do a blind tasting of eight nationally available formulas, soy and dairy, organic and not. Seven of the formulas were as sweet as unsweetened apple juice, said Gail Civille, the director of Sensory Spectrum, which performed the tests. Ms. Civille said Similac Organic was the sweetest, with “the sweetness of grape juice or Country Time lemonade."
Doctors say that parents need not worry about the precise composition of formula, because the product over all has been proved safe and effective. But many questioned Similac’s choice of cane sugar, which has been gradually disappearing from infant formula since the 1950s.
“The entire enterprise of formula is the attempt is to make it as close as possible to human milk,” Dr. Beauchamp said. “Making sweeter formula so that babies like it more seems to me contrary to the ethos of organic food, as a doctor and as a grandfather.”

After reading this article I was even more confused! So...even if I do decide to buy organic, how do I even know I'm getting the right stuff?

Conclusion: At this point, I still have some time to decide. However, I need to make a decision. That is where you come in. If you know more about the benefits of feeding my baby organic, please let me know! I know some people would argue that if I can afford it, what have I got to lose? I guess that's true but it is kind of the principle of the whole thing. If it is not necessary, why do it?

The Working Mom and the Importance of a Great Nanny

2008-06-20T13:19:00.000-07:00

To be honest, I was really apprehensive about how my transition back to work was going to go. Although I certainly had days where I would have gladly traded a quiet day at the office for one of my sleep-deprived days filled with nothing but crying, feeding and diaper changing, I was still dreading leaving my little guy. Although being a mom isn't always glamorous, I love it. I love being home with him and being all that a mom entails. I love how much he loves me. I love how he lights up when he sees me walk into a room and how he smiles when I talk to him. I worried that I would lose a little bit of that special connection when I returned to work and the thought of it broke my heart. However, I know that I have a great job and it will mean more to K.P. and our family in the future if I keep it. Also, knowing that I have someone as wonderful as Jennifer as K.P.'s nanny makes all of the difference in the world.

Top 10 Reasons why I love Jennifer as K.P.'s nanny:
10. She loves K.P. and is great with him
9. She is easy-going and caring
8. She likes to watch cartoons with him
7. I get to see one of my best friends every day
6. I can call her as much as I want and she doesn't complain
5. I don't have to get him dressed in the morning and take him anywhere
4. I can come home and eat lunch and watch t.v. whenever I want
3. She's great at taking pictures of the little guy and keeping me posted on what they're doing
2. I don't have a stranger in my house
1. I get to boss her around (b/c she is my employee)

Belated Father's Day

2008-06-19T13:50:00.000-07:00

With lots of fathers (new and old) to honor this Father's Day it took the Keene family an extra week to get everyone together. Here are some pics from our belated fathers-day get together where we celebrated 3 generations of fathers, gorged ourselves on BBQ ribs (prepared by Andrew) and lots of fixin's (prepared by myself and Nana). Even though the little ones were ready for bedtime by the end of the evening (note the crying K.P.), a great time was had by all!

The Slanias Have Arrived!

2008-06-19T12:34:00.000-07:00

Ok, so we've all heard it before: "If your friend jumped off a bridge would you do it?" Well, I don't know about jumping off bridges but enough of my friends have created blogs that I was beginning to feel a little left out. Like I didn't care enough about my family to share them with the world. So, I stared my fear of advanced technology and computers right in the eye and did it. I jumped. I created this blog so that I can share my wonderful family with the world. Or at least those friends and family who are interested in seeing what's going on in our lives.

Note to all of those also afraid: It was REALLY easy!

I'd also like to give a special thanks to one of my bestest friends Jennifer. Without her, my limited knowledge of blogging would not be possible.