Big News in March

We're so excited to announce that our little family is growing. Jake's brother or sister is due to arrive in early October but if he/she is anything like big brother then I'm betting on late September. It is amazing to see the baby at 12 weeks, we didn't see Jake until 16 weeks. Isn't he or she cute! Jake seems to be embracing the idea of a baby and (with Alex's encouragement) seems to like talking to my belly. I am afraid that he may be a little disappointed when we don't name the baby, Robot Dinosaur Ramati.

In addition to the baby news, we've had a very fun and busy month. The Zilker Park Kite Festival is one of my favorite Austin events. This is our 2nd year going and it was a lovely day. We loved seeing our friends from Jake's Ladybug class.

Jake with friends Avi and Jackie as we arrive at the Festival. Below Jake is ready to explore. Only in Austin would someone have a pet goat on a leash and out for a walk. The kids loved meeting Sammy the goat. Our little group's camp for the day. Strollers anyone? Below mandatory posed pictures with mommy and daddy! The next weekend we headed to Houston for a really fun weekend with friends and family. When we got into town we went to visit our friends Melanie and Todd and their precious new baby, Ellis Anne. We loved meeting the baby and seeing the amazing remodel/addition that they did to their house. We were happy Ken and Loretta joined us as well and as usual Noonie was generous with gifts for Jake! I was so happy holding Ellis Anne that I didn't take any pictures.

We spent Saturday hanging out with our friends Lisa, Jon, Drew and Nathan and even got to play at the park with Jessica and her son, Jonah. Jon and Alex are both HUGE San Antonio Spurs fans so we were excited to go to a game with them to see the Spurs play the Houston Rockets. We had a great time and all thoughroughly enjoyed Lisa's attempts to bother Alex and Jon (mostly Alex) as she rooted for the Rockets. Thank goodness the Spurs won! Notice #9, Tony Parker and his silver shoes...Awesome!

Sunday we all packed up and headed to Houston Rodeo! It was so fun seeing Drew, Jonah, Jake and Nathan together and having so much fun. It was great to see Danny and have more time with Jessica. I think the last time we went to the Rodeo, Lisa was pregnant with Drew and there was much excitiment about a fried twinkie. Fast forward to 2011 with 6 adults, 4 kids, 3 strollers and no fried twinkies!

We started with the pony rides and the petting zoo. It was so fun seeing the kiddos with all the animals. I think this might have been Jake's first Carosel ride. Appropriately he rode three different animals during the ride to make up for lost time.

It was so fun seeing the kids (little and big) enjoy the rides and games. Jake and I rode an elephant ride and I loved that Jake rode two rides solo, once with Jonah and once with Nathan. So cute! The big kids, especially Alex, had fun playing the carnival games. I think in total we won 2 monkeys, a frog and a duck.

Then we headed inside to see more animals. Anyone who knows Jake, knows how much he loves cows! Below Jake and Nathan check out the chickens. A successful and very fun day at the rodeo and trip to Houston. We even got to ride a train back to the cars. What more could these kiddos ask for?!We got back to Austin just at the true start of the South by Southwest festival, or SXSW. Our favorite part of SXSW was that Karen Fishman was in town! Karen was nice enough to meet us all at "The Tavern" where the Georgia group watches football and occassionally, basketball. The Dawgs made it into the first round of the March Madness tournement so we were there early to stake out tables for the group. Someone is this picture wasn't cooperating!
The following weekend was my sister Rachel's bachelorette weekend so bright and early on Saturday morning I headed to San Francisco for a quick but super fun trip! It was great seeing Rachel's friends, some who I knew and meeting others for the first time. Mostly it was great to spend time with Rachel, her best friend and my other little sister, Rachael, and my mom!

Back in Austin, Jake and Alex were enjoying a boys weekend. Minus a trip to the pediatrician for an ongoing (but way improved since) allergy issue they had a great time together. Jake got a haircut, had lunch out with daddy, watched a movie and managed to even score a new truck and new animals. April is going to be a busy but fun month. Lots of work stuff for me and boy time for Jake and Alex but we're most excited for the end of April when we're heading to San Francisco for Rachel and Warren's wedding!