Grandma Jean

I forgot to mention that my mom was in town last weekend. It's so nice that it's only been a few weeks since Savannah (and I) have seen her. The look on Savannah's face when she saw my mom for the first time is the EXACT reason we moved back to Texas (well that and the Tex-Mex food). She was so excited to see her Grandma.

Here they are goofing off on our porch.

Walk -er and -ing

Here is Savannah's new super cool walker. Notice that both pictures are blurry as she was hauling around on this thing. She is basically walking. She can take about 15 steps across the room, she's just not sure how to get started.

Although today, while I had my back turned to her picking up some Chex off the floor, all of a sudden she was standing beside me, so I think it's a matter of hours before she is a full blown walker.

Austin Random-ness

Five Random Things Seen Around Austin:

1. Conor, Savannah and I were at the grocery store one evening after dinner. It was about 55 degrees outside. As we were leaving, we spotted a man with perfectly styled silver hair wearing a full length fur coat. Awesome. (or D'Awesome for you Office fans out there)

2. One morning, we were looking out the front window into the big tree in our front yard. (Savannah likes to look at the birds and squirrels.) Conor says "Are those parrots?" Sure enough, about 12 parrots (the BIG kind, not little parakeets) were at the top of our tree. We later found out that years ago, someone let out two parrots and they have since multiplied and hang out at the UT Inter mural fields (which is right by our house). We have seen them several times. It's weird to see tropical birds in your tree. It's warm here, but not that warm.

3. Our neighbor on the corner had up these crazy Christmas decorations during the season that included a 4 foot diameter peace sign hoisted about 20 feet in the air. (Texas may be a red state, but Austin is a little pocket of bright blue!) Me, being the new neighbor, thought that the peace sign was part of the seasonal decor. Oh no, no, no. It's still there and I kind of love it.

4. NORM! On my daily stalking of the This Old House (which I think I will now start abbreviating as TOH) house, I saw Norm Abrams, the master carpenter himself. He was hanging out chatting with some of the workers.

5. Have you ever seen a 15 foot tall Godzilla being moved down a street? I now have and I think I'm a better person for it.

P'sOTD: January 28, 2007

House Hunting

We aren't yet looking for a permanent house, but the update from our agent in Seattle is positive. Lots of people are looking at our house and we hope it will sell in the next few months. This has got me thinking about what we want and need in a new house.

I am not a fan of the McMansion monsters of my childhood home in Plano. However, I would like to have enough space for our family (and a walk-in closet). The search is also complicated by the fact that I work from home and Conor sometimes does too. Our rental house isn't tiny, but we do not fit in the space. It will be interesting to see how we reconcile the charm vs. space issue.

Also on the House front, you should check out the link to the This Old House home in Austin. It's an interesting read. They are building a totally 'green' house.

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/tvprograms/houseproject/overview/0,16542,1546552,00.html

POTD: January 22, 2007

I just like this picture, so you get to see it.

Pretty picture that I Photoshopped the heck out of. I am still working on my 'Learn More Photoshop Stuff" goal.

Here's the before

Dear City of Austin

My family and I would like to apologize for bringing this horrible weather with us from Seattle. I know that ten days in a row of rain/sleet/ice/snow seems like a lot, and it has been the third rainiest January in history so far, but it could be worse - seriously. Little did you know that all you had to do to solve your draught problems was invite the Cunninghams back to town!

POTD: January 19, 2007: Special Edition

Savannah LOVES my cell phone (and would probably love yours too if you let her play with it). She is a button pushing madwoman and has on occasion speed dialed someone in my phone book. That's actually pretty funny when it happens (at least to me it is). She has also hit the camera button and made some of her own photographic art.

Here is the first in a series:

People in my photography school classes would have gone NUTS for this stuff. It would have been fun to put up for critique.

POTD: January 17, 2007

Happy baby is back!

Also, Happy Birthday to Lisa!!! And baby Lily!!!

Housebound

Brrrrrr: Part II

I know it's not a blizzard, but it's a bunch of ice on the roads and we are stuck here in the house(have been since Sunday). It's a toasty 61 degrees in here even with the heat running 24/7. Gahhh. I would label it Draft-tastic. (Still love this house though)

So to entertain you, I will redo a post that got zapped a few days ago right after I wrote it (Thanks Blogger!)

Remember how I said that I didn't want to live This Old House? Well, what I did not mention is that Conor and I are rabid fans of that show. I don't know if I could live in a house that was being renovated (Seriously, y'all, I almost died when we were putting in our kitchen countertops in the house in Seattle and were without a sink for two weeks) but I LOVE watching it on TV. If you do not watch it, you must put it on your TIVO list RIGHT NOW! It's fantastic TV. And if you don't have a TIVO, well, then there's just no hope for you.

One of my favorite parts of the show is the (relatively) new host, Kevin O'Connor (who looks as Irish as that name sounds). When he first started hosting, he didn't have a lot of knowledge about home renovation and would ask the DUMBEST questions. I loved it! ("So, Tom, exactly what DO you use a hammer for?" Love!) I swear they used to send him for coffee just to be rid of his idocy for a few minutes. Now he's much smarter, but still asks things that I would ask because I cannot build things.

Anyhoo, This Old House is renovating a house in our neighborhood! It's only a few blocks from us. When the weather was better, Savannah and I would stalk the house daily - unofrtunately, no Kevin (or Norm or Rodger) sightings yet, but we are hopeful!

I will keep you posted.

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Remember when Savannah and I were at the swings in short sleeves? What was that? About two weeks ago? Well, all my Seattle, Chicago, New York and other cold region friends can now take solace in this:

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/01/14/14cold.html

Another thing about a house built in 1920 - not so much insulation - we are freezing. Our poor thin little southern blood. Savannah doesn't seem to care. She's still cruising around in her bare feet and is warm and toasty.

POTD: January 12, 2006 - Please don't kill Mommy

This is Savannah on Friday evening.....

We had a rough few days beginning with the most awful visit to the pediatrician on Thursday. AWFUL! We are currently seeking a new pediatrician, because I don't think Savannah or I can take another visit like the last one.

She's always in a bad mood the day after her shots and I also think she is hitting the terrible two's about 11 months early.

She's having some frustration. I assume it will come and go, but we are ready for it to GO! Especially as Conor was working late and on Saturday this week. I am TIRED! (and I only have one)

MIA Blogger

A tough few days here at Casa Cunningham, but I will return shortly!!!!!!

Promise.

Thirteen Months!

You are not my little baby anymore.

You are my big girl toddler, whose chubby legs and belly slim down more and more every day. Why oh why didn't I take more pictures of those thighs?




Your daddy and I are astounded about what you have learned in the last month. You can tell me what a cow says ("mmmmmmooooorrrr") and what Ernie says ("s-s-s-ssssss"). You yell "da da!" everytime daddy comes in the door. I am currently called "va-va" and also sometimes "da-da", but I really don't mind - you'll figure it out soon.

You know where mommy and daddy's ears are, where your toes are and you can even take a few steps. I personally think that you can already walk, but you just don't know it yet. It's all in your head.

You have recently shown an interest in purses and shoes, so I am now certain that you got a few of my genes. Unfortunately, you bite me when I won't let you open up my purse. We are working on that. I don't want my baby to be 'the biter'.

You are also trying to trick me, but it's not working. I just want to let you know that when you fling something off of the couch or your highchair and casually say "Oh!", like you had no idea that would happen, I am on to you.

You're so curious. You have to figure out how everything works. Your future as an engineer is still looking good. I'm sure that you have several relatives that will be thrilled to hear this. They will also be happy to tell you that Purdue University has an EXCELLENT engineering department. I will pass along that Texas A&M does as well.



You know seven signs including: milk, all done, more, eat, water, change and rain. I laugh at the fact that it took a rainstorm in Texas for you to figure out the rain sign. It's not like we didn't have enough practice seeing the rain in Seattle.

I think you like Austin because we can go outside more often, but I know that you miss your buddies from Mom's group. It's so cute to watch you interact with other kids. When we went out for ice cream the other day, there were three kids in the three to four year old age group that were playing and you just HAD to run around with them (holding on to my hand of course). You were so happy. We are working on some new friends for you to play with.

For some reason you have become a crawling ninja. All those months wondering why you didn't crawl and now you are lightning fast across our floors. You made it all the way from your room to the front door to see Uncle Damian.



You are a great eater with a varied pallette. I think blackberries or kiwi are your current favorite. Sometimes, though, you just want to eat tortillas. Your favorite book is 'Knuffle Bunny'. I love that we can sit on the couch and read it over and over for a half hour. I actually like this book too, so it's fun for me as well.

Kisses are plentiful. "Kisses for Mommy?" usually unleashes a kissing monster. Just today, you were giving kisses to the baby in Knuffle Bunny. Hoot sometimes gets kisses too. It's so darling.

All in all, you are the bestest, smartest kiddo we could ask for. While I'm sometimes sad that you aren't a tiny little thing anymore, I wake up each day knowing that you'll do something that will make me laugh or shake my head in astonishment. I say this every few months, but THIS is the best age.

Cue the Halleluiah Chorus

Christmas cards, or should I say Happy New Year cards are in the mail!

POTD: January 7, 2007

Lunchtime in three acts.

POTD: The Return!

After I brave the rain yesterday to purchase a NEW CF card reader, what turns up? That's right, the OLD card reader! It was hiding behind some boxes. So now we have TWO. But on a brighter note for all of you, that means the return of the Picture of the Day!

Ummmm....yeah

In the first of what I'm sure will be many "where did that go?" moments, I have misplaced part of my CF card reader. I should clarify this by saying that it was actually Savannah who originally took it and caused me to misplace it. For some reason, the CF card reader is the coolest thing ever and she always wants it. She grabbed it yesterday and I took it away from her and put it on my desk, so I thought.

Unfortunately, this means no pictures until I find it.

Sorry and I hope to fix this soon.

POTD: January 3, 2007

POTD: January 2, 2006

Wheeeeeeee!!!!!!!

POTD: January 1, 2006

Happy New Year!

Check out our big girl with barrettes in her hair!