Merry Christmas!

This post is a day late, because yesterday was all about relaxing and playing with Ripley. Matt and I stayed in Austin this year for the holiday. This was the first year I wasn't surrounding by a bunch of family for Christmas, which was a little hard, but we did have a great time just the 3 of us. Especially since it was Ripley's first Christmas. She had a blast tearing wrapping paper and playing with all her new toys.

Since we didn't have any plans, we decided to stay in our pj's for the entire day, which was awesome. No running around from house to house driving several places, instead we got a chance to relax and enjoy not having any big plans. We opened presents, cooked a big breakfast, watched A Christmas Story (a must) and even took naps. The weather was great (in the 60's), so we got out and took a walk to the park and also went over to our neighbor's house for a bit. All in all, it was a great day. Hope everyone else had a good time with their loved ones!

I thought it would be fitting to post a couple pictures of Ripley with Santa.....after waiting 2 hours in line, we finally saw him! And guess what? This isn't even the picture they took. They only let you pick one pose (for way too much $$ - they know parents are suckers) and the one they took I didn't even like. Little did I know they will also let you take pictures from your own camera, but I didn't bring mine. So this nice couple in front of me said they would be happy to take some of Ripley with their camera and email them to me. How nice is that? I was so happy they did, because their pictures were way better than the one the mall people took. I kick myself for waiting until the last minute and going on a weekend vs. a weekday, but that's what I get for procrastinating. I'll be sure to plan better next year....yeah right, I'll probably wait til the last minute next year too, but at least I'll know to bring my own camera ; )

Santa's Coming!!!

Love this movie! One more day....

Chicago Trip

I'm kinda late on this post, but been busy with the Holidays coming up and such. As most of you know, Ripley and I went to Chicago earlier this month. My wonderful friends, Lauren & Sarah flew me out to surprise our friend Liz. While there Ripley got to meet many family members for the first time, it was great. Definitely made me miss living in Chicago, that's for sure. Except the weather, that did not make me miss Chicago! It was cold and icey, not a good mix, especially with a baby. Next time we visit it will be in the summer & with Matt.

Sorry we didn't get to see everyone we hoped to see during our trip, we packed in as much as we could in the amount of time we had. Hope to catch you in the summer!

Ripley's buds (Max on left & Evan on right).

L) Very proud "Mema" (Matt's Mom) R) Very proud Great Grandma!

Breakfast of Champions : )

Finally, some new music

Well, it might not be that new, but new for me since I haven't bought music in such a long time, I'm so behind. So here's what I got:
Alicia Keyes - I always like her albums all the way thru, so she's a must have when she comes out with new stuff. So far it's pretty good. Very chill. She has a great voice.
Gwen Stefani - loved her last album, so had to get this one - Matt got it for me. Not sure if I like it as much as her last album, but I'm still getting into it. I haven't listened to the whole thing yet, so can't give the best "review" just yet.
Lily Allen - my friend Liz gave me this cd and I love it. New favorite. Love the beats and lyrics and her accent. She's funny. Puts you in a good mood.

2 new(er) albums I want: 1) Cake and 2) Mary J Blige - maybe after Santa comes I can tell you about those...

Gobble, Gobble......Birthday, Birthday

Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday Dear MEeeee, Happy Birthday to ME! : )

Yesterday we went to brunch to celebrate my birthday. Good food, good friends and the loves of my life.....Matt & Ripley, who could ask for more? It was a good day! Megan & Jason (our new Austin Pal's) joined us. We spent Thanksgiving with them as well, which was a great time. We split up the food duties, ended up cooking a turkey breast for the first time, while following some recipes off of the Food Network and everything turned out great. Except for the gravy, that however did not turn out too great, but I'll try and master that for next year!

Some pictures below.....don't you just love Ripley's new hat?

Park Play

While Ryan was here we took Ripley to the park and she had her first ride down a slide!

A couple weeks later she went on the swings for the first time, which she absolutely loved!!

Happy Halloween!

Austin Update

Everything in Austin is great. We really like it here so far. We're located in a really convenient area, everything is just about a 10-15 minute drive from us (we're in Northwest Austin). Except downtown, that's about 20-25 minutes, depending on where you're going. There seems to be a lot unique places to go to, which is what Orlando really lacked. There are also a lot of parks everywhere you go and a lot of green belt areas. So it's pretty.

Matt is enjoying his new job too. He likes the game he's working on and really likes the people there. We actually already made some friends! A guy at work Matt became friends with invited us over for drinks on Friday. So we went and had a really good time. Him and his girlfriend just moved here about 4 months ago. And guess what? She's a nanny and watches a baby who's just a month younger than Ripley, so we're gonna hook up for a play date soon. Plus, she already offered to watch Ripley for us to give Matt and I chance to go out....how great is that? And they live just down the street from us too, which is another plus.

So all and all things are good. The only downfall is our house in FL. No one has even looked at it since it's been on the market. So that's a bummer. If it continues to be this slow for the next few months, we'll be forced to rent it out instead. So that's something we're going to consider, but we're gonna give it a few more months before going that route.

Below are some pictures from a picnic we had in the park.
It was a beautiful day!.

Finally, some real food!

Ripley finally started solid foods, just a day before her 6 month birthday. We were a little slow on introducing it to her, but with the move and all, I wanted to wait until our schedule got back to normal. And let me tell you, she was READY! When we were in AZ, she kept staring at our food like she wanted a bite of it so bad. Poor little thing.

So now she's a pro at cereal and yesterday she moved on to sweet potatoes, which she liked a lot. Tomorrow, it's on to pea's. I hated pea's as a kid, so hopefully she takes after Matt on this one. I can't wait to be able to feed her fun stuff like ice cream and McDonald's fries - insert evil laugh here : )

Hey Ya'll...we're in Austin, Ya'll!

I'm happy to say we all made it to Austin safely. First Matt and Amingo by car and then about a week later Ripley & I joined them. Matt ended up driving the whole way straight thru, which if you talk to him about it, I don't think he'll do again. He was delirious by the end of the drive!

We really like our house. It's got a ton of room and in a very cute, kid-friendly & social neighborhood. Right after we moved in we got a neighborhood newsletter which has so much going on, especially for stay at home Mom's...anything from play groups to stroller walks to bunco! So I'm excited to get a chance to meet people in our area. We're still unpacking and such, but slowly & surely were getting things in order.

Today was Matt's first day at his new job and it went really well. He likes the people he met and is excited about the game he'll be working on. And from the sounds of it, he's gonna be really busy. And I may have a lead for a stay at home job, so hopefully something good will come out of that. That's all for now. xoxo

Trip to Arizona

Ripley and I had such a great visit in Arizona with family! It was awesome spending so much time with my sister-in-law, Nicole and niece, Ava. Seeing Ripley and Ava together was so much fun. Ava was my little helper with Ripley, it was adorable. And seeing Russ with his 2 little grandaughters was priceless. Check below for some pictures from the trip.

Btw, Ripley did really well on the flights again. She is such a great little travel buddy!

Thanks again to Nicole, Buck & Russ for making my trip to Arizona possible. I love you guys!

(L) Ava & Ripley getting acquainted. (R) Proud Grandpa with his Grandaughters!

(L) Ripley & I with Nicole & Ava at the park. (R) Bath time!!

(L) Ava showing Ripley some love!!
(R) Ripley doing what she does best - look cute! : )

Quick Update

Well, my trip to Austin was successful! We found a house to rent, although it definitely wasn't easy, that's for sure! The market is crazy out there, several places I liked weren't even available the next day, homes are being swept up left and right. So at least we have a place now.

Ripley was sooo great to travel with. She did so good on the flight there and back. And she really got a chance to bond with her grandparents, which was nice to see.

So what's next? Let's see - tomorrow the packers come to pack up our house and on Wednesday they load the truck and move it for us. How's that for fast? And since they can't give us an exact date for when our stuff will arrive in Austin, I'm headed to Arizona with Ripley to hang out with family (Matt's side) for a week and then I'll head to Austin. Ava, my little niece, just moved into her new "big girl" room, so my sister in law still has a nursery all set up, perfect for Ripley. So it should work out nicely.

The only downside is that Matt is driving to Austin by himself. Although, he doesn't seem to mind too much, I can't help but worry a bit. It's about a 17 hour drive and he wants to drive it straight through, but he'll split it up if the drive gets too much on him. So keep him in your thoughts for a safe trip, as well as me & Miss Ripley!

We'll have more updates after our trips. Austin here we come!!

5 Months Old!

Yesterday Ripley turned 5 months old. Where does the time go? She is getting sooo big! And she is such a happy baby, her favorite things to do are smile & laugh, it's awesome! And she loves turning on the charm, especially to strangers when we're out and about....they eat it up!

Here are a few of my favorite recent pic's of her:

Everything is Bigger in Texas!

Why am I talking about Texas you ask? Well only because it's gonna be our new home!!
Yep, you heard it right....we're moving to Austin, Texas.
Ripley is sooo getting pink cowboy boots!

As some of you already knew, Matt decided to start looking for another job and since EA is really the only option in Orlando, we knew we would be moving. So we decided to target Austin, TX since they have more opportunities for Matt there and also because we've heard it's an awesome place to live by so many people. And it turns out those people were right, because when Matt went out there for his interview, he loved it!

So here's the run down: his last day at EA was Friday. This week I'm headed out there for the first time with Ripley, my Dad & Joanne to check out the area and to find us a place to live (Matt's staying here to hold down the fort). So I'm really excited to see the area and can't believe I'm moving to a place I've never been before, man, that's trust, huh? This will also be Ripley's first plane ride, OH BOY! Thankfully we got a direct flight, so I'm hoping it will be nice & easy....or at least somewhat easy : )

Matt's first day at his new gig will be Oct. 15, unless we get out there sooner. So we'll probably be moving around the first week of Oct. I'll be sure to send everyone our new address once we have one. So it's all moving pretty fast and the hardest part of this whole ordeal is going to be selling our house, since most of you know the market isn't too great, especially for Seller's in Florida, UGH. So wish us luck with that!

Stay tuned for more info after I return from our trip. Will Ripley win everyone on our plane over with her million dollar smile or will she make people cringe by showing them how loud she can get when she cries? Let's hope it's the first one!

Update on Us

I think I might need to rename my blog to "Ripley's Chat" instead, seeing as how the blog is all about her now! But since our lives now revolve around her, it's hard not to have my blog be consumed by Ripley pic's and stories, especially since she's so darn cute!

So a little about us these days: I'm continuing to stay home with Ripley, so that's my main "job" and in addition to that, I'll be doing some at home telemarketing. Thankfully it's all inbound calls, so I won't have to do any cold calling, which I would hate. Instead, I take calls from people who want to place orders for products they usually saw on an infomercial. Definitely not my dream job, but it's super flexible, which is what I need. I get to make my own schedule and am able to do so using 30 min. incruments, which is great. I haven't started yet, but just finished all the training, so now I'm able to take calls. The only downfall is all the rebuttals you have to go thru with each call. They call to order a knife set and you have to get them to buy the wood holder to go with it, but it doesn't stop there, oh no, you also have to try and get them to buy the flatware set and a magazine subscription too. Lol. Oh well, hopefully I'll get used to it and not too many people will hang up on me.

As for Matt, he just made 2 years at EA. Can you believe we've been out here for 2 years? Time goes by so fast! Things are going well there. Madden '08 is coming out tomorrow, which he worked on and it's already getting great reviews. He also just recently updated his website with new work, so you can check that out at: www.goofslapper.com/demaray/digital.html If you click on "traditional" you can see some of the leather work he's been doing lately, which is a somewhat new hobby of his. He made a seat for his motorcycle and a pillow for his Dad. He has also made a wallet and belts too, but aren't pictured. Pretty cool stuff.

That's all for now. xoxo

A few of her favorite things...

Here's Ripley and her new favorite toy, it's a teething cloth. She loves to eat it.

And here she is with her favorite pair of yellow shoes she got as a gift, along with her "Wicked" onsie. Doesn't she look like a little Leprechaun?

And here's Ripley with her friends Kylie & Hunter at Gymboree class.

I like to kick, stretch and kick!

Ripley is 3 and half months now! She loves to kick, because she's 50! Well, ok, she's not 50, she's 3 and half months like I just said, but if you ever watch Saturday Night Live (Molly Shannon), you know what I'm talking about. Moving right along, she does love to kick and she's always moving around - trying to lift up her butt and when you hold her up, she loves to stand like a big girl. She is also sitting up with assistance from her little chair or pillows on the couch. And she's still talking away. Last night she was having her own little conversation, having a blast by herself. It was really cute.

R is for RIPLEY

Here are a few pic's of the letters we made to hang in Ripley's nursery. Instead of buying them, Matt picked a different font and cut them out himself. His Dad helped him sand them and I picked out the colors and helped with the pattern. They turned out great!

Another Great Visit

Matt's Dad & Pam came to visit after Lauren was here. We had such a great time together, I was sad to see them go. Ripley absolutely loved Grandpa Russ & Grandma Pam! She kept laughing & smiling and doing her baby talk to them, it was adorable. During their visit Matt & Russ worked on their "projects" as usual. This time it was attaching a gutter to the front of our house, just a small one to keep the rain from splashing all over our front walk way. I think it took about 18 trips to Home Depot until they finally finished the project. Why does that always happen? You never get everything you need in just one trip. Such a scam. So needless to say, the gutter looks awesome - very professional. They did a great job. Now we're just waiting to see it in action - no rain since they left.

Another project they worked on is cutting out the letters of Ripley's name. I've been wanting to make her name out of wood and paint the letters to hang up in her room. We decided to do them on our own, rather than buy the letters already made. Matt picked out a font and cut them out himself and Russ helped him sand them. Now we're in the painting phase, so I'll be sure to post some pics of those when they're done.

Ok, what else? We talked a lot about our dreadful lawn and how to improve it with Pam since she's an expert on that stuff. Question: Why must the lawn here be so high maintenance? And why did we buy a house with such a big yard? Ugh! So Pam helped us out by filling up 2 pots we bought for the front walkway with some flowers that look awesome. Thanks Pam!

So besides the projects, we managed to do some shopping, hit a few restaurants and even go to a botantical garden nearby, which was very cool, but unfortunately our visit was cut short due to rain. So we'll have to go back next time they're in town. Along with going to Cold Stone! : ) Love & miss you both!! xoxo

So in Love...

Ripley & Evan finally met last week and I believe there might have been a hint of a love connection. More on Evan's part, than on Ripley's, since she's still a little clueless in that department (or is that just an act her Mom taught her?), but I think I caught Evan giving her the googly "I love you" eyes a couple times ; )

Being with Lauren, both of us as Mom's, was such a surreal & fun experience. We had such a great visit. We had Ripley very active too - at the pool (in the shade of course), shopping, eating out - and the best part was, she was soooo good! And guess what? I even breast-fed in public for the first time! Look at me go. Well, don't actually LOOK at me go, but you know what I mean, I've come a long way. That's all I meant. And I'm happy to say, it worked out very well. I'm a pro now. Me & my boobs have been out & about several times since. haha. Hey, the girl's gotta eat!

Ok, so enough about that. Check out the great pic's from Laur's visit. Love & miss you guys!