Sunday, April 27, 2014

The Week in Review

It has been a busy week! I am so grateful our nanny is now covering an additional day for us, as work has definitely picked up. I passed my broker's exam at the end of March (yay!) and am now the Managing Broker for my company, which brings with it responsibilities in addition to my own workload.

The Austin market is pretty insane right now. A complete seller's market where listings are flying off the market with multiple offers.  My most recent listing hit the market last Thursday and we had 4 amazing offers within 24 hours. Being on the buying side is much tougher… most buyers are having to bid on several homes before finally landing one, due to all the competition. I've tailored my own business accordingly- primarily taking only listings and working with buyers on a strict case by case basis. I now have a fabulous team at my company, with leasing & buyer specialists I can pull in to help fully care for any and all referral clients. I feel so much gratitude daily for being in a profession that allows me this flexibility! I've worked hard to get to this point.

In addition to the market boom, there is also a spring pregnancy boom going on! Three people close to me who all had babies around the same time as Iyla are pregnant again. I would so love to join their club, but am staying Zen as best I can in the 'it will happen when it is meant to happen' place. And by Zen I mean I am monitoring my cycles like a hawk and doing everything humanly possible to maximize our fertile window monthly. Just like we did with Iyla….for THREE years (ha!).

Speaking of Iyla, she has been so incredibly sweet lately! Perhaps having finally increased her naps to 1.5-2 hours/day has had some magical effect? So happy she has finally extended that precious nap time.

Iyla seems to pick up new words every.single.day. When I name a new item for her it amazes me how she remembers the name days later. Such a little sponge! I have lost track of her actual word count, as there are so, so, SO many! She still mostly expresses herself in one word phrases, occasionally pairing 2 words together. She definitely understands pretty much everything we say.

Here is a look at the past week in photos:

Morning ritual: watching Papa drive off to work

Backyard play time

She is ridiculously proud of herself with her new found sliding abilities

We attended a story time Wednesday morning at the local book store- and lo and behold, Iyla discovered a box full of baby dolls. She was in HEAVEN, to say the least!

I re arranged Iyla's play room and stacked a bunch of her dolls in these baskets. It was so fun to watch her expression when she discovered them!

She also discovered the joys of sitting on top of the window seat bench


In closing, a little series I like to call "Iyla washes out her mouth with soap." It didn't end well, and I think she learned her lesson. : )

Sunday, April 20, 2014

Easter 2014

We hosted family at our home yesterday to celebrate Easter, and Iyla had an absolute BLAST. She could hardly contain herself- everywhere she turned there was another person she loved and adored! It was a happy, happy day. 

Here are some photos from the festivities:

Sweet baby girl in her Easter dress

Iyla's Easter loot! A new chair and basket full of goodies

She especially loved the ladybug girl, a bouncy ball that lit up, the Etch a Sketch (such a PERFECT first 'drawing' item for this age!) and of course, the books

Iyla had awoken from her nap fussy, and I was worried we may have a repeat of the Infamous Easter of 2013. The second her Mimi and Grampy arrived, however, the sun came out in SPADES! 
Happy girl, seen here giving her Mimi a "nosie."

Presents from Mimi and Grampy

She made sure Grampy had plenty of toys to choose from

Someone loves her Grampy!

My grandmother, cousin Heather, Aunt Sheri, and cousin Shanny

Giggles with Patrick

Doug, Heather, Patrick, & Iyla cudding

Doug (and his new birthday doll -he loves dolls as much as Iyla does!) and Patrick

Three generations!

FOUR generations! An amazing and beautiful thing.

Nani and Vince

Celebrating Doug's birthday

New dolly!

Another new dolly!

Patrick and Heather

Iyla's Easter bonnet

Shanny and my mom were matching twinkies!

The morning after our celebration- playing with her Etch a Sketch

Morning walk with Mimi and Grampy

Papa's shoulders!

Selfies with Mimi and Iyla

Happy Easter everyone!

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

A Weekend of Cute

A monumental thing happened this weekend: we finally toddler-ized the backyard! Now Iyla has centers and activities created just for her in a safe outdoor space, and she is loving every second of it.

BC filled one of our unused garden beds with sand:

Sam approved. And better not think this is his new outdoor litter box.


We set up a water table:

An unexpected creative challenge? The barrel of dirt in close proximity to the water table. Iyla wasted no time discovering the joys of making MUD.

'Look Mama! I've covered the doll in mud!'
(Over and over and over again….)

Clockwork Orange imitation?

Iyla continues to love the slide from Auntie Sheri, and has shown she knows how to climb up and slide down all by herself, though she still prefers to fuss at the top for help:

Dollies down first

Go Iyla!

She also practiced her musical skills with Papa:

She likes to dramatically bow her head down to the keys and make hilarious little sing-songy noises


And got the hang of carrying an Easter basket:

Ready for her Easter loot

Sadly, this weekend also saw us losing one of the little baby dolls that had been mine as a child. While out on a walk, the dolly took an unfortunate tumble down a sewer drain. I was totally going to be THAT PARENT who called into the city to have them open up the manhole to retrieve it, but Austin got torrential rains all morning long so that baby doll is officially MIA.

Minutes before the sewer drain debacle

 RIP little baby doll, RIP.
And… new water shoes!

Here's to gratitude for the sunshine coming out again, and to many more fun days spent playing in our new toddler-ized yard!