Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Brody Brody Brody

I had a ton of stored up pictures in my phone that I've been meaning to post and I have just been lazy about it. He keeps growing and changing so fast I can hardly keep up. He has become really funny with all of his toys. He's got secret little hiding places all around the house that he has been stashing his toys. Mark and I will randomly discover 20 cars stuffed behind the couch cushion or things stuffed in the old VCR that's in our closet. Some places are more obvious like between the TV and center speaker or the bathtub in our room. It just cracks me up. It's almost like a dog hiding a bone. He is also starting to talk more. Words are getting clearer and clearer. He still puts everything in his mouth. He is too cute for words and I just love him so much!

This is new, he has figured out how to climb up on the tall table behind the couch.

He is so sweet with Maddie. He love to share and play with her.

After he takes a drink he say ahhhh.

He played so hard he actually fell asleep sitting in his chair.

Playing with daddy.

Giraffe in the mouth.

Still trying to squeeze into that little Bumbo chair.

Car in the mouth.

Arranging the paper plate.

His new favorite toy is the laundry hamper.

Daddy spins him in it.

Organizing the pantry.

Busted!

SXSW and Kanye West

So South by Southwest started on Thursday. Friday night Shara had some friends come in from Dallas and invited us to join them for a girls night. We went to Trudy's for dinner. They have the fabulous Mexican martini's and the best stuffed avocado I've ever had. Then we headed to downtown Austin. It was insane downtown. So many people and so much amazing music everywhere you go. We only went to a couple of places because we kind of got a late start but it was a lot of fun as always. Then on Saturday it was time for Kelley to go home. I was so sad, it just seemed like the week flew by. I'm so glad she spent her spring break here with us. We loved having her here. After we dropped Kelley off we went to meet up with Christa and Dusty. They got hired to work for this event put on by Fader magazine and told us they could get us passes if we wanted to come. Oh and did I mention Kanye West was preforming? We were so excited. So after we dropped Kelley off we met up with them to get our passes. Mark stayed to watch all the bands and got to hang out with Christa and Dusty and see what they do. I came home with Brody and hung out with him for the afternoon. Then I had a sitter come around 8 and I headed back to meet up with Mark, Christa and Dusty. I got there and the place was packed. Luckily Dusty had talked to one of the security guys and I was able to get in the side gate. So if it wasn't' enough that we got passes to come see the show, they ended up getting us all access passes. We were able to be back stage for the performance, there were free drinks and I got to see Dusty and Christa work too! Kanye went on around 9 and did a 2 hour set. He preformed with a bunch of different people but the only two I really knew were Common and Erica Badu. We had so much fun. We even got invited to the after party but we had to get home to pay the babysitter. I don't know how we will ever repay Dusty and Christa, THANK YOU guys so much. It was such an amazing night. Oh yeah and if you want to check out there work go to www.thefader.com!

Kelley and I on Friday getting ready for girls night

All of us at Trudy's with our Mexican martini's.

Group shot downtown.

Me, Kelley and shara.

Kanye West. It was hard to get pics because all I had was my iPhone and you have to hold it really still to get good pictures but the music was so loud the ground was vibrating.

I loved all the drums!

See we were literally backstage.

Yay, all access!

A fabulous date night for me and mark!

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Spring Break Continues

On Wednesday we decided to finally go to this crepe place I have been wanting to try. We have seen it on the Food Network several times. It's called Flip Happy Crepes. They have very limited hours and work out of a little trailer in downtown Austin. We got there and there was a huge line and then once you order it's about a 30 minute wait, but it was totally worth it. They were some of the best crepes I've ever had. Mark and Kelley both got the pulled pork, I got spinach with goat cheese and sauteed onions and Brody got plain cheese. We also got dessert crepes, a Nutella wrap for Brody and Kelley and I shared a Nutella and banana one and a lemon custard with blueberry sauce. It is officially one of my favorite places in Austin. Brody had fun too, he got to run around and play with rocks and sticks while we waited. On Thursday Kelley and I went to yoga and then hit up one of our favorite Sushi places for lunch. Then that night I took Kelley to the Alamo Drafthouse. For those of you who don't know it's a movie theater that serves food and drinks during the movie. We saw Slumdog Millionaire. Such an amazing movie, I was in tears so many times. She loved the theater and the movie. It was a really fun day.

All he wanted to do was play in the dirt. He thought it was a fun game to stack up all the rocks and sticks on the picnic table. He is such a boy.

It was really funny, Mark came from work to meet us and we totally matched. And Kelley was also wearing the same color but we didn't get a picture.

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Tuesday was St. Patrick's Day. We were very nontraditional this year and decided to go to Chuy's which is a Mexican restaurant. I really wanted to take Kelley there. They have really good Mexican martini's, great chimichangas and the best sopapillas. Tim got there early and put our name in but when we got there we still had to wait a little bit for a table. We ordered our martini's and then headed outside to wait for a table. The weather turned beautiful, 80's during the day and 60's at night. We sat outside and everything was really yummy. Brody even ate an entire enchilada plate and had chips with salsa and of course sopapilla's for dessert.

He was so good at dinner, all smiles.

He was playing with Mark and then saw the camera and totally posed for the picture.

Mark and Tim

Yay! Me and Kelley

Mark and I in our green. It's kind of a funny picture but it's the only one we took of the two of us.

BBQ

We have had another really busy week. My little sister Kelley flew in to spend spring break with us. We haven't seen her since August, so we were long over due for a visit. She flew in on Saturday night. We picked her up at the airport and then just came back to the house. It was Brody's bedtime and we were all starving so we made dinner and just hung out and talked. Then on Sunday we invited a bunch of friends over. Kelley didn't get to meet a lot of our friends the last time she was here so we thought it would be nice. We kept it pretty simple and just made burgers and dogs. We got a cold front at the end of last week but the weather warmed up a little so we were able to be outside quite a bit. Brody loved it, he played outside the entire time. Matt, Abbey and Kinsey stayed a little later then everyone else and we ended up playing SmartAss again. I think Abbey ended up coming from behind to kick all our butts. Here are pics from Sunday.

Kinsey was really cute, she was eating crunchies for the first time and got one stuck on her chin.

Matt, Savannah and Maddie

Kelley and Shara

The Nieman's

A little more from Shara's Birthday Weekend

So like I said on Friday we went downtown with Shara and Tim and some of their family and then on Saturday we cooked a birthday dinner for them. Here are a few pics from Saturday night.

Brody rockin the pink shirt.

Shara blowing out her champagne candle.

All the girls.

Ashley, Shara and I

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Happy Birthday Shara!

I know I have been terrible with the blog again. We have just had so much going on. Last weekend was Shara's birthday. Friday night we went to this place called Ether's Follies. It's a comedy show downtown that is hilarious. Tim's parents and Shara's mom and sister all went. Afterwards, Tim, Shara, Mark and I all went out for a few drinks and a little dancing and then headed back to our house. On Saturday we offered to cook a birthday dinner for Shara. We made the short ribs again with mashed potatoes and spinach. It was super yummy. We played SmartAss and stayed up way too late, but it was a lot of fun! Here are a few pics from the weekend.

Brody and Tim chillin' on the couch while we finished dinner.

Tim, Shara, Mark and I out on the town.

Me and Shara

The fab four after the show.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Sunday, March 1, 2009

More Brody

We had a nice quiet week and weekend. Brody was being funny with Maddie's toys again. Technically they are his toys but he has outgrown them and we just have them out for Madison. He kept trying to sit in the Bumbo seat which he is definitely to big for. It was cracking me up. Then when Maddie was taking a nap Brody crawled onto the play mat and laid there to watch his movie. We had a productive day on Saturday. Mark came to yoga with me. Then we went to Best Buy to pick up a webcam. After that we went to Petsmart to get flea medicine and a cat bed for Shasta. Oh yeah Shasta has officially been kicked out of the house. He is only allowed inside when we are awake and home. After that he is restricted to the laundry room, garage and outside. He peed on the bathroom mat and on the suitcase Judy and Joel just gave us. I have no idea what his problem is but I'm completely over him being a total shit! Anyway back to Saturday. After Petsmart we stopped at the store to pick up a few things for dinner. Mark ended up making the most amazing saffron, mushroom, king crab risotto. It was soooo good, the best he has made. Today we are just being lazy. We cleaned the kitchen and office and are working on downloading a bunch of our cd's onto itunes so I can sync them with my phone. I think that pretty much sums up the week. Oh and I can't believe it's already March!

Trying his hardest to fit in the Bumbo.

Laying on the mat watching his movie.

While we were cooking on Saturday, Brody helped buy playing with the Tupperware.

I think at first he thought he was in trouble. Mark said he used to do the same thing as a kid.

Mark's risotto. It was so good we had to take a picture. Oh and I flash fried some sage leaves for a garnish.