The Maiden Voyage.

Two weekends ago, we traveled to Houston. This trip by itself is not unusual; we travel there pretty regularly to visit family. However, this was our first trip as parents ... well, our first trip with Olive and much of her accouterment.

Olive rode on an airplane for the first time. We were concerned that she would be unhappy (and fussy!), especially during take-off and landing, but she behaved like a champ! And, for the return trip, she slept all. the. way. home. As we were exiting the plane in St. Louis, one gentleman in the row behind us commented to his traveling partner, "That child did not make a peep!" Which was true - and we dearly hope she will perform equally well for future travel outings!

A few photos to document other firsts:

Olive met my Gramma, her great grandmother on my stepfather's side.



She met my stepmother, Julie.



She met my Mimi and Papa, her great grandparents on my dad's side, and quite a few of my dad's 'clan' because we were in town for my cousin Diane's wedding in Galveston.





She met my Granny and Granddaddy, her great grandparents on my mom's side as well as my mom's sister Bonnie, her husband Bob, and cousins Jonathan and Nyjah!

[photos to come]

Whew! It was a great weekend even though we all came back exhausted!

- H

Our friend Mr. Turtle ...

Olive has monkeys living above her pack-n-play and a turtle, a snail, and a frog who live above her bouncy seat. It was fun recently to see Olive notice and become interested in these creatures. However, it was especially fun this week to find her sitting in her bouncy seat, waving her arms and legs for emphasis, and having a heart-to-heart chat with Mr. Turtle.

We spent last weekend in Houston for a family wedding as well as great-grandparent and family visits in abundance. It was a great time, if quite the whirlwind trip. We'll post photos soon!

- H

Smiley.

Olive was six weeks old on Saturday. Smiling is one of the developmental milestones of children between 4 and 6 weeks old. Our little angel has been smiling in her sleep for a bit now and is smiling at us (awake) more and more. This weekend we finally caught some of Olive's smiles on film!



And now for a few other photos of things that make us smile and hopefully will make you smile too:

Olive's feet.



Bubbles and a grin from our cutie.



Greek Fest this weekend. (Kyle and I enjoyed the Gyros with friends. Olive just enjoyed the company!)



Car seat shots. Olive was happy to go shopping with me on Friday ...



... and not so thrilled to run errands with me and Kyle on Saturday!



Happiness on a plate. Juevos Rancheros after church on Sunday. Yum.



- H

Unintended Consequences.

Professionally, one of my jobs is anticipating the unintended consequences of my clients' requests so that a desired change doesn't produce undesired results. Kyle and I recently had a personal lesson in unintended consequences.

In August, Kyle and Tim destroyed our back deck. The feral cats making residence under the deck and taunting our precious puppy were among the many things we did not like about that deck. Last week, I noticed small droppings out back. Neither Kyle nor I could readily "Name That Poop!"

However, the 'mystery' was solved this weekend. On Saturday evening, I headed to the basement to do some laundry before bed. I opened the door, turned on the lights and started to head down the stairs when, on a step near the floor, I noticed a mouse (!) scurrying away.

So, now we are suffering the unintended consequences of evicting the feral cats from our backyard.

This morning before I carried another load of laundry down into the basement, I stomped through the kitchen, flipped the basement lights on and off (and on and off and on and off), and knocked on the walls. Kyle asked what on earth I was doing.

Um, I was scaring away the mice ...

- H