Update: STAYING IN AUSTIN!!

So we found out on Thursday that we're staying in Austin. Yay!! Once we got over the shock of our new situation, I think Kenny and I are both a little bit excited about it. Kenny has fantastic ideas all the time as to one thing or another that he wants to invent, build, whatever, and the only thing holding him back has been his slave-labor-type job. Well, now that that's out of the picture, he has all options open and waiting for him. I get to focus on my job for a little while, Jackie will get some great Daddy time, and our house might actually be clean for once. What will be even more fun will be watching Kenny figure out what he's going to do next on his career path. Like I said, it's exciting to have the world at your feet and nothing in your way :)

And life changes before you have a moment to breathe...

Today was one of those days where your life is turned upside-down in an instant. I got a call from Kenny at around 11:45. He says, "Can you meet me on the Riverwalk downstairs...right now?" This is after I know that he received a cryptic email from his boss this morning asking whether he could "meet for a couple of minutes" at 9:30. Kenny assured me he had not been fired, but he did say "We need to talk." That was the longest 30 second elevator ride of my life. So we meet on the promenade, and Kenny tells me that, as of Friday, he is transferred to the Dallas office of his firm.
Let that sink in for a second. We have lived in Austin for 7 years. The longest place I ever lived is in Dallas, which was for 14 years. Atlanta follows behind Austin at 3.5 years. We have built a life here. We have bought a house. I, who usually kill plants, have established a garden in our backyard and invested $400 in said garden. I have recently survived the split of my law firm. I have helped build my new firm. I serve on two boards of directors here. I have built an established network of contacts in the Austin legal community. I have cried twice today at the thought of leaving Austin. I am sad. 3 of my 6 closest friends live in Austin.
Dallas will be alright, assuming I am able to keep my job. I know some people there, my parents are there, my high school is there. I have always wanted to be more active with my high school- I feel like I owe much of my current fortunate situation to my high school.

My life is serendipitous. This transfer could have happened 3 months ago, right in the middle of my law firm's split. It could have happened while I was pregnant. It might not have happened at all, which would mean Kenny would be jobless.

It means I have an opportunity to build a network in Dallas. I can meet a client I've worked for for 4 years but never met in person. I can open up the Dallas market to my law firm. I can get to know a new group of lawyers. I can still visit Austin once a week. It will all be ok. My daughter can attend a really great school- the one I owe my own education to. That alone makes me happy. Everything will be alright. I will still visit Austin to buy lead-free wooden toys.

Hoo!

Adding to her list of sounds and words, Jackie hit us up this past week w/: owl (and it's accompanying 'hoo'), the letters a through f, numbers 1 and 2, and bubbles. While she's been saying bye-bye here and there for a while, it really took hold this past week, along w/ hi. This morning she followed all the directions given to her by her sing-songy satanic talking bear (actually, the bear has cute songs - it's the devilish fisher price dog that drives us batty) -

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, clap like this!

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, blow a kiss!

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, reach up high!

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, say bye-bye!

It's like we're at the beginning of a long race and we're starting to pick up speed...

Last weekend, a good friend and her son (just a few months older than Jackie) visited us from Houston. Jackie and the boy have known each other since they were just a few months old, so they remember one another when they visit. They're now old enough to recognize that one of them is a boy and one is a girl. Kind of. When we got them undressed for a co-ed bubble bath, th

e boy poked Jackie on the butt, then noticed she had no boy parts. "What's this? Where's her wee-wee? It should be right there!" This, of course, must have been his internal monologue as he squatted in front of Jackie to get a better view of what he couldn't find. This story will be forever retold as they grow older, embarrasing the two of them for years to come.

I see you under the table!

...moments before the glass shattered on the ground...

"Not now, I'm taking a call."

By the way, notice the nice scrape on her forehead in the last pic? She got blown over by the wind at the playground this week. I don't know if the wind is really strong at her daycare or if it's just really easy to knock her over.

Park Pics

just wanted to post a few of the pics from this weekend's playdate at Barton Springs. the first two were taken by Troy or Kristin w/ their super camera.

Who's my little Terrorist?

This weekend was an outdoor weekend - now that the weather's nice, we try to spend as much time outside as possible. Yesterday morning was spent prepping an area of the yard for a new vegetable garden - Jackie enjoyed holding (and nearly crushing) her first rolly-polly bug (it was my first time holding one, too), helping us put the removed grass into the compost bin, and throwing Nathan's toys around for him to grab. Lunchtime was spent at the playscape near Barton Springs w/ some of my co-workers and their kids, and then back home for naptime and more outdoor work. It was great to spend time outside and get some exercise!

Today was similar - woke up to a hugely grinning and babbling Jackie (such cute babbling that tho Cindy was planning on sleeping a bit more, she felt the need to get out of bed and come play). Spent the morning out in the yard, getting the walls to the garden all set, and pushing the Jackster in her swing. She rewarded us with a new trick while swinging - a fist bump. High-fives are too passe' for this little one. She also says 'kerl' for squirrel, and can tell you what sound a bee makes. It blows my mind how quickly she picks things up - and how much she understands, so it's definitely time to watch what we say...

What does a Chicklet say?

Jackie woke up this morning w/ a crusty nose and a fever of 101. It hasn't affected her mood, though, and she showed us some new tricks during breakfast. In keeping w/ her recent predilection for imitating animals, she can now buck like a chicken and meow like a cat in addition to her famous Monkey Face.

Monkey Face

Jackie has recently taken to pouting out her lips to such a degree that they increase the depth of her face by half. It makes us laugh, which causes her to do it more. She likes to exaggerate the entire thing by throwing her head up as though howling, which is really the icing on the cake. We obviously find it to be hysterical, which only reinforces the monkey face (to our delight). It has gotten to the point where we can now, on command, ask for 'monkey face'. To top it off, we tap her on her 'monkey' lips, which sends her into fits of laughter. ahhhh...