The Faces of Punkin'

After I posted the blog yesterday about Allison sleeping a lot, she woke up and was very fussy, and spit-up a ton even though it had been more than two hours since she had eaten. I tried walking her around the house to make her feel better but she just kept whimpering. I started to worry that she was getting sick, so I called Frank to get his opinion. I knew he would say to call her pediatrician, but I checked anyway. I ended up taking her in at 4pm, and they told me that there was a tummy bug going around, and it sounded like that's what was bothering her. Today she is still sleeping more than usual, and she is also a bit clingy but it's nice to be here to comfort her. She did have about an hour today where she was happy, so I grabbed the camera. My addiction is clearly growing, but I guess that's not a bad thing. Here are the faces of my baby. I think she looks like Frank in the last one. Minus the bow.

Sleeping Beauty

Allison has been sleeping a lot today! Actually, this has been a trend over the last week. I keep saying that she is going through a growth spurt, but don't those only last a few days? I've tried everything to keep her awake today, but she is determined to get in some extra Z's. Maybe she is just saving up so she wont miss any of the activity on the long weekend. We plan to hang out with Eric and Amy tonight, Kelly and Jimmy on Saturday, and there is talk of grilling out with Marcus and Tricia on Monday! I can't wait! Since the house is mostly clean, the lawn is mowed, and we dont really need groceries, I think we are set up for a nice relaxing weekend.

Practice makes perfect

...not that this is perfect! I'm still having fun with my camera and I'm doing a little experimenting with photoshop. I have the priviledge of taking two photography classes this fall, so hopefully I can continue to improve! Here's a picture I took of my precious Allison last night. One day she will be able to run from the camera, but for now she is a very patient and willing subject. Frank just makes strange faces to discourage me from snapping his picture. It works. Maybe one day I'll finally be able to make a go at this photo business thing I've been talking about for years. Heres hoping.

Picture Crazy

Today Jessica stopped by to bring me lunch and to meet Allison, which was such a treat! She shares my same love of photography, but she has been much more proactive about putting it all together into a business. She has a very natural talent and an eye for the creative side of photograhy. She just launched her website this week - check out her blog to see! Anyway, we got to talking about photography and camera stuff, so I pulled out my dusty camera and we started shooting pictures of Allison, who is the perfect subject. I continued taking pictures long after Jessica left, and took about 150 in all. I'm very rusty, so out of all of those, I only liked 8 of them! lol. I want to share them with you, because I think my baby is beautiful. Some of them are duplicates, but in B&W. Hope you enjoy!

New and Old Friends

Last week Allison and I met daddy for lunch at his office, and while we were there Allison made a new friend with another baby named Jezelle who was also stopping by for a visit. I've never seen Allison interact with other babies, but she did about what I expected. Jezelle was very social and offered a huge smile when she saw Allison, but Allison just kind of stared back. Jezelle is only two weeks older than Allison, but I was amazed at how much more sturdy she felt! She had total control of her head, very strong legs, and she also seemed to be much more aware of the things around her. Here are some pictures of their interaction. It was quite amusing!

"Gimme some baby fist..."

"What is all that stuff on your head?"


My new glasses! I think they complete the mommy-look. :)


...awwww...

I invited Amy over for dinner one night last week since Eric had to work late. I ended up being on the phone for half an hour answering questions for life insurance, so Amy actually made dinner! I'm such a bad host! The mac-n-cheese she made was delicious though! I let her snuggle with Allison to make up for it.


Allison was determined not to look at the camera. Diva.



I finally pulled out Allison's bumbo chair to see how she would do in it. Obviously, she isn't quite to this stage yet, but she was very happy to get a new perspective of the fan. How cute!




Flirting with the camera.


"Hey, mom."



On Friday night, we met our friends Josh and Emily Malone for some tasty BBQ at Spring Creek. Josh and Frank were roommates in college from Frank's sophomore year until they graduated. From how Frank tells it, they were like brothers, so it was great to get some time with them. They've been back in Dallas briefly, in between moving from Iowa to Scotland, where Josh is going to be doing his PhD work. With two kids, now, Emily's a pro and had tons of great advice for me on what was coming with Allison. We are hoping to be able to take a trip to visit them in the next few years!

I'm the short one.

Happy Birthday, Jen!

My sister-in-law, Jen, is visiting for her birthday weekend and is meeting Allison for the first time. As you can tell, they bonded quickly. Jen brought her video camera, and I dont think she even put it down while we got ice cream at Pacuigo's! That's a dedicated doting aunt, if I ever saw one.

After ice cream we walked around the new stores in Allen (off Bethany) and stopped for a few pictures along the way. I have to be blamed for putting Allison on the huge copper duck. She didnt like it very much, but the unhappiness was short-lived. I think that may be what her first picture with Santa will look like, too. (Dont worry, the duck wasn't hot - I checked).







Today is Jen's actual birthday, and we had planned to take her to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch after church, but we decided it would be too crowded. So, today we will lay low and take it easy. But tomorrow, there WILL be cheesecake!

Happy Birthday, Jen!

Best of Both Worlds

Last night Frank and I dropped Allison off at my parents house and we headed out for a double date with Amy and Eric. We chose Ricardo's Mexican restaurant in Allen for their famous margaritas - and because we had coupons. We had a great time eating on the patio on an unusually cool day in August.

It was so nice to take a break from "mommy-mode" for just a couple of hours and enjoy an adult drink and some adult conversation. We're very lucky to have family in town who are willing to watch our little girl for us so we can take time for ourselves on occasion. I really think it makes us better parents when we have the opportunity to miss Allison. I'm certainly not ready to spend more than a few hours away from her, but even that much allows me to refocus.

Quote of the evening from Eric: "I slept on my giraffe wrong last night, and now it's killing me!" Just one of the reasons we like Eric. I almost spit out my drink when he said that - but you probably had to be there. :)