Latest News
November 1, 2008 - Every now and then we are on the ball - pictures from Halloween are up! Last week there was a Fall Festival at our day care, and on Halloween night, the girls went trick or treating in the neighborhood with Gracie and Luke. Earlier this month we trekked up to Dallas to take the girls to the Texas State Fair. We took time to see all our Dallas friends: went to Cowboys with Andres, saw Rick and Glenda, had dinner at Snuffers, and went out with Rhonda! We had a great time, and need to get back more than once every two years so we don't have to cram everything into one trip.
October 20, 2008 - Tony started playing football with the girls in the backyard tonight and it was too cute. I had to grab the video camera for a few minutes. Check it out under the Video section.
October 10, 2008 - We were having too much fun this summer to update the web site. We spent lots of weekends on the boat. Mia went tubing several times. And then she asked when she could go wakeboarding like her daddy. Our adventurous girl "sat" in Tony's lap while he was pulled out of the water. She was scared the first time but decided to be brave and now she loves wakeboarding with Tony. Next year she should be old enough to learn how to ski. (Friends say this can happen at 3 but we are willing to wait til 4 and have to teach her to swim first!)
There was a trip to Kiddie Acres, a local family owned amusement park where Mia got to ride a pony. We also took a few trips to Houston to visit Papi and Natalie. The girls love feeding the ducks at the lake. One weekend in September we took the girls to Sea World on Saturday and then down to Pecan St. Festival on Sunday. That was enough for one weekend.
You can see in just a few months how Isabela is growing up. She is speaking in sentences now - a favorite is "Mommy, where are you?". Definitely a toddler now. She also loves puzzles and playdoh. And as you can see from the pics, both girls love dressing up. Mia, who we used to call pepper because she was spicy, has gotten very sweet. And Isabela has an independent streak. "No" has been heard from her frequently.
Tony and I visited Big Bend last weekend to celebrate our 5th anniversary. We stayed at a cool B&B called the Ten Bits Ranch and enjoyed several days of hunting for dinosaur bones, hiking, looking at the stars and sleeping in! But we missed the girls and are glad to be back home. Special thanks to Tony's family who volunteered for kid duty while we were gone. Maybe these pics will get up some day...
June 22, 2008 - Lots of pictures are posted, so you can see what we have been up to in the last 3 months. In April, Denise completed her fourth MS-150 (but the first since kids!). There was notorious headwind the first day, which made the second day seem perfect. The NICycling team has quadrupled since she last participated, and the volunteers and food were both excellent. No pics from Mother's Day because Denise was trying to fly to Cleveland (We know, it doesn't make any sense. Notice we said trying to fly to Cleveland!) In early May we attended the 50th wedding anniversary for Granda Gerry's Aunt Alice and Uncle Antone in Sweet Home, TX.
We also sold our 10 year old Four Winns ski boat and upgraded to a real wakeboarding boat, a Moomba. You can see that Tony hasn't lost anything even though he hasn't been out much. The girls love the boat, although Isabela also loves the water and always trys to get out. As long as she has snack she is happy to run around on the boat. Tony went a little crazy and decided to eat out with the girls on fathers Day. This is usually one of his least favorite activities. We went to Antonios, a hole in the wall Mexican joint we love, and had the run of the place for the first 30 minutes. It was great.
This weekend we hosted a going away party for Liz and Gene. Mia and Isabela both went there for day care, but apparently they wore Liz out and she decided to retire. The same families have been there the whole time, and Liz and Gene have become family to all of us. It was a great party, a true pot luck with everyone bringing something delicious ( I will be hitting most of you up for recipes). We don't have many pictures, but we posted a few. Isabela spent most of last week getting used to her new school (Mia has been there since Sept) and will start full time tomorrow. We will miss Liz and Gene very much, but they really deserve some time to relax.
April 8, 2008 - We are finally done celebrating Mia's third birthday. She had three celebrations over a week long period. You can see the pics from her birthday celebration with Aunt Nicole (20! Just one more to go Nic), cupcakes on her actual bday with her friends at school, and a Gymboree Party with Ella (just 2 days younger than Mia)
The girls have been keeping us busy. Isabela had a fever over Easter weekend and ended up with a case of Roseola. The next weekend she proved that it was time to lower the crib mattress to the lowest setting. Hopefully we avoid any more thumps for a while. To round out her third incident, she fell at day care today and bruised her cheek. Mia is testing the limits lately, so we initiated a rewards program to focus more on her good behavior. So far she really likes getting stickers. But not enough to eat her veggies tonight. Overall it has improved her behavior.
Feb 3, 2008 - Today is Isabela's first birthday. She celebrated by waking up at 6:10am. Mommy and Daddy sang Happy Birthday to her at 6:29am (and then mommy went back to bed!). Yesterday we had a birthday party with family and friends. Isabela had a lot of fun checking out her friend Tatum, who is 8 1/2 months old. She also enjoyed sitting in Uncle Gene's lap (which she does every day at day care). Mia helped Isabela blow out the candle on her cake. Isabela took her cupcake apart and even ate a little. Lots of pictures are up - I could not cut it down this time.
Today marked other milestones. Isabela said "DaDa" for the first time. Dada happened to be napping with Mia at the time, but she said it again later while Dada was around. Isabela room is now (re)decorated. The border that she peeled down 3 months was finally repaired with Papi's help. Also the "Letter Name" project is complete. Letters were bought in Jan 07, borders painted over the July 4th Holiday, and finally finished the last week of Jan 08. We hung them on the wall above her crib and expect her to be spelling her name by the end of the month. Mia learned to spell Isabela last month.
January 29, 2008 - There is no way I can catch you up on everything in the last four months. Pictures are up, a Gallery from October and another from Thanksgiving/Christmas. I completed the LiveStrong Challenge Ride in mid October. The course was really beautiful (Dripping Spring Hill Country = Hills) and I had a lot of fun. Around mile 32 of 40, Tony met me and we hitched up the bike trailer so Mia could finish the ride with me. Yes, it is a little insane to add and extra 50 pounds for the end of a hilly ride. In the spring I plan to ride the MS-150 from Houston to Austin after a 4 year haitus (Mia can meet at the finish line on that one).
Halloween was fun. Mia was a scary butterfly and Isabela was a ladybug. Next year I might actually let Mia pick her own Halloween costume. We spent Thanksgiving in Houston with Papi and had a 10 trip over the Christmas Holidays with time split between family in Houston and Atlanta. Mia and Isabela had fun celebrating their dad's 35th birthday - check out all the candles in the pictures. They also played with their cousins Dillon and Erik and met their young friend Liam. Mia went to the children's mass on Christmas Eve and kept wanting to see the Angels (and letting everyone around her know it too). On the day we flew back to Houston we realized that Mia traveled by car, bus, moving sidewalk, train, plane, and finally car again. It was such a relief to see Hugo pick us up at the airport.
Back in Austin we have settled into the new year. Isabela's birthday is coming up and I promise pictures will be up before Mia's birthday!
September 29, 2007 - Another busy two months. As soon as NIWeek was over, all four of us hopped in a plane for Miami to visit Aunt Jackie and Uncle Hector. Jackie has most of the photos on her camera but we posted some of Mia at the beach. Mia also ate sushi and stayed up late, just like you are supposed to in Miami. Right before leaving I emailed my cousin Sharon, and discovered she was only 45 minutes from Miami, so we visited Amelia and Phoebe one morning and everyone had a great time playing together.
We finally made it Sea World this weekend. We bought two-visit passes in mid June, and our first trip was totally rained out (but Mia got to visit ChuckECheese and see a movie after we drive all the way there). Today's visit was much more successful. Mia's wasn't very interested in watching the Sea Lion show, but Mommy and Mia crawled around in Shamu's Happy Harbor and Daddy discovered the beauty of visiting an Anheiser Busch park - Beer! It was a small consolation for walking around on his sprained ankle all day.
Isabela has been missing much of the fun this summer but she is doing her best to keep up with Mia. She has started pulling herself up and cruising around the furniture. She has discovered that the big pampers boxes are perfect for pushing across the floor and walking behind. Last week Isabela signed "milk" right after I put her in her PJs (she knows what comes next).
Mia is adjusting well to her big girl school and is very comfortable with her new teacher. But she still misses Liz and Gene and all her friends so we are trying to make sure she has play dates (even with Mr. Gene!)
July 28, 2007 - It's impossible to list everything that has happened in the last 3 months. You can guess we have been busy. Mia is a chatterbox, she starts talking as soon as she gets up in the morning and doesn't stop until 5 minutes after you leave her for the night. She plays pretend - goes to the library with her books, and cooks in her kitchen. Isabela is doing a great job of keeping up with her sister - now she can crawl after Mia! Right after the 4th of July she started sitting up. She also enjoys her cereal. More food coming soon. Tony and Denise will be super busy with NIWeek, and are really looking forward to downtime in Miami the week after that. Mia really misses Jackie's dog, Mina. Jackie, hope you know what you are getting into hosting us!
April 15, 2007 - Mia turned two! She had a great time at her birthday party and blew out the candle on her cake with her first try. Her language is really developing and she says full sentences like "Daddy, Hold my hands" and "Baby Sister drinking milk". Tony taught her how to hold up two fingers to show her age, and she says to herself as she arranges her hand "one finger down, one finger up...". She counts to 15 (but skips 4, 5, and 6 lately) and enjoys walking backwards. Isabela has started day care, and Mommy goes back to work tomorrow. Isabela loves to stare at her mobile and also stretches out her left fist and stares at that too. She has even started batting at things with her hand. Daddy was impressed to see that she actually does this on purpose.
March 14, 2007 - Pictures from Isabela's first month. Mia is paying more attention to her sister now, often deciding "I'll hold her" or that Isabela needs her pacifier or a push in the swing. Mia loves to lay down on the Baby Einstein play mat with her sister. Isabela has been pretty easy, except the stretch from 4am to 7am, where she rarely sleeps in the crib (but will sleep great on mommy's shoulder.) Thankfully we have a recliner upstairs.
The other big milestone at our house was Mia's first haircut. (Those of you who have been telling us to cut her bangs for the last 6 months can cheer quietly to yourselves). Mia woke up one morning with her pjs covered in her hair, which we could only conclude she pulled out sometime overnight. After catching her twisting her hair another day we broke down. Mia watched Mommy trim Daddy's hair, and then said she wanted her hair cut. So we let Daddy play Barber. Since then she really hasn't wanted us put her hair up but I did manage to get her in pigtails one day and snap a picture. She's still super cute.
Feb 17, 2007 - First chance we've had to update the web since Isabela's birth on Saturday Feb 3. We will get her birth story up in a few weeks, but the highlights are that it was only a 3.5 hour labor and we almost had the baby in the car. She was born within 5 minutes of our arrival at the Austin Area Birthing Center at 6:30am. She weighed 8lbs and was 19.5 inches long. She is absolutely beautiful. Big Sister Mia is very cute with Isabela, patting her chest, kissing her head, and getting a little sad when Isabela cries. Luckily most of the time Isabela is "happy happy happy" as Mia would say. Pictures from the first week (and a half) are posted here.
January 1, 2007 - Happy New Year! Things have been a busy for us and one of the things that didn't get done was Christmas cards. We've enjoyed all the cards and pictures we received from our family and friends. You can see Mia in her latest adventures here. We visited a Christmas Tree farm in Elgin and cut down our own tree. We decorated only the top half. Mia had a few soft ornaments on the bottom that she enjoyed playing with. We also took Mia to the lighting of the tree in Zilker Park. We spent Christmas in Houston with Tony's family, and were back in Austin on the 27th to start a 3 day marathon of Natalie moving into her own apartment, two bedrooms being painted and half a day was spent assembling IKEA furniture for Mia's big girl room. She has made a good transition- she is excited about her new room and will sit on the floor looking at her books for half an hour or more. She's spent the last two nights in her big girl bed. She is still napping in her crib - after half an hour of returning her to the bed at nap time we usually put her down in the crib in the nursery. I think she is just so excited that she can see all her toys and get down to play with them. We're hoping to have her fully settled in before her sister arrives.
November 12, 2006 - Mia was SuperGirl for Halloween, a fitting costume for the most active 18mo child ever. She also enjoyed her airplane ride to see Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Andrew (celebrating his 23rd birthday), Uncle David & Aunt April, and her cousins Dillon and Erik. Mia visited the GA Aquarium and saw Nemo and learned to say "Big Ugly Fish" from Erik. Luckily she forgot that sentence soon after leaving the aquarium. We also visited Tony's college roommate Alain, his wife Elizabeth and their 3 children. And Andy and Michele had a nice relaxing dinner with us on Sunday and shared some exciting news of their own.
Mia was really good on the plane, as long as you weren't sitting near us and expecting to sleep. She walked up and down the aisle saying "Hi" and "Bye-bye" to everyone. She has a few sentences, such as "Mia eat this" (after finding pineapple cups in the pantry) and "Where's the remote?" when she wants to watch Elmo. She can open any door in 2 seconds flat and recently found the liquor in the front room bar. Daddy has marked all the bottles so we'll know if she is sneaking any. Mia has also started stacking blocks on her own, and when Daddy tries to put the arch block with the curve up she says "Noo" and flips it the other way.
We've started reading a book about being a big sister. Tony told her there is a baby in mommy's belly, so Mia pulled up my shirt, looked puzzled for a second and then said "Nooo" because she couldn't see it. She kisses my tummy when Daddy tells her to, but then she wants to kiss Daddy's tummy too.
All the latest pictures are here and there are new belly pictures here.
September 16, 2006 - We are very excited to announce that Mia will welcome a baby sister in late January. We had an ultrasound last week and saw another beauty. The pregnancy is going well. Mia's preference is for Daddy to pick her up most of the time, and that is just fine with Mommy. Mommy is starting to run out of room for holding both girls at the same time. There are a few pregnancy pics here and a few screen shots from the ultrasound here.
September 4, 2006 - Mia's mouth is full of teeth. She has almost all her molars and her eye teeth are coming in on top. She loves to chew on ice, and if you want some for your drink she will ask for some too. She also discovered York Peppermint Patties the other day and knows exactly where we keep them in the refrigerator and tries to get at those anytime the fridge is opened.
Mia is of course getting into and on everything. She stands at the end of the bench in the kitchen and pulls herself up using mostly her arms. Then she slides along the bench on her tummy. As she does it she says "Oh Mia!". We don't know where she learned that, but think that it is hilarious. Mia is learning new words every day. This week it actually rained and she learned "thunder". Other new words include "brush", "nat" (we are infested with ants in the backyard) and "Grama booboo" because she knows Grandma Gerry will kiss her hand (which she has fallen on 3x this weekend).
Mia can name all her friends at day care Luke, Race (Gracie), Ella, and Mi-Mi, her name for Gene because he used to call her that. We've been showing her pictures of her extended family and she can also name Erik, Dillon, Andrew, and Jackie. Mia loves to look at pictures of herself on the computer and insists on doing it every night. It is now a part of our bedtime routine, right in between her bath and books.
August 13, 2006 - Happy Birthday to Grandpa Art. Mia's gift won't arrive on time so we created a video birthday card to remind Grandpa just how much we love him. We look forward to bringing the whole family to Georgia in a few months so Mia can play with Grandma and Grandpa again.
July 26, 2006 - I can't believe its been three months since our last update. You can see pictures from Mother's Day, from the Iglesias family Cruise in June, and Mia enjoying Fourth of July festivities like the neighborhood parade, corn on the cobb and eating Redi-Whip from the can (doesn't everyone do that on the 4th?).
How can we even start to describe how much she last learned in the last three months. Her vocabulary expands every week. Recent words include her own name, moon, milk, and Melmo (Elmo) who is also the object of her affection. One Saturday Mia learned that Elmo can appear on our TV. Now every morning when she walks into the living she goes right up to the TV, pats it, and asks for Melmo and Ernie.
April 14, 2006 - Well, a lot has happened since March 9th. So much so that we have not been very good at updating this site. That changes now. The biggest news, of course, is that little Mia turned 1 on March 31st. We have pictures of course. That day she made the transition from infant to toddler. And she got really smart. She can speak a few words like "mommy", "daddy", "dada" (which means pictures), "shoes", "duck," and the ever so cute "bubbo" (bubble). Mia also sings "e-i-e-i-e" to Old McDonald.
She is a dancing fool. I know it's hard to believe, but she can already out-dance Tony. We will get some video soon.
Also this month, besides getting our taxes done, Tony traveled to Taiwan on a business trip. The pictures are outstanding. (Check back later, not yet posted)
Then, from Taiwan, Tony met up with D and Mia in Houston before he and D took off for Costa Rica. Mia had what we call "Spring Break with Grandma and Grandpa." We call it that because it's nicer than saying "Mommy and Daddy ditched the baby to go to Costa Rica." But Mia really enjoyed herself. Grandpa took time off from work and we are very thankful to both Grandma and Grandpa for taking such good care of Mia. It turns out she didn't miss us. We called at one point and Grandpa informed us that Mia was as happy as he had ever seen her. But, I will say that when we got back, she was happy to see us.
We went to Costa Rica for Andy and Michelle's wedding. Michelle was Denise's college roommate. See Nov 10th update for more Michelle and Andy stories. The wedding was in NorthWest Costa Rica in Tamarindo. This was a part of Costa Rica that we had not visited on our honeymoon so it was nice to see more of the country. We spent some time on the beach for the wedding and then took a trip to the Monteverde cloud forest where we spent most of our time admiring the wildlife - birds, monkeys, frogs, tarantula's, etc. We had a wonderful time and, of course, we have pictures. (check back later)
And, a week after we returned, Denise went to Seattle for 4 days. You see why this site hasn't been updated.
It is nice to be back home in Austin after such a busy month. Things aren't slowing down though. We have the Iglesias family cruise the last week in May. Before then, Tony will have a business trip to Boston and Denise is potentially planning a trip to Shanghai. Mia doesn't get to go anywhere, poor child. We are also starting construction tomorrow on our new backyard patio. It will be a few weeks before it is ready to go, but we are really excited to get the project underway.
I'm getting Carpal Tunnel so this is the end.
March 9, 2006 - Posting some pics so daddy can keep track of his girl from Taipei. Don't worry Tony, she isn't growing, just asserting her independence at mealtime to feed herself.
Feb 25, 2006 - Mia is a walking champ and has actually learned to slow down. She was stressing her day care provider Liz to no end. One day she was running in her crib and ran into the wall - leaving a bump that scabbed up with the mesh imprint from the side of the crib. Coolest looking boo-boo ever! The very next day, she was running between a table and a chair at day care and crashed into a table, leaving a small bruise immediately next to the bump from the previous day. Mia managed to fit in the requisite third crash that week at Grandma Gerry's. She's gotten much better at control since then and can walk, stop and stand for several seconds, bend down and pick something up, and continue on her way. Mia's first and only word so far is "duck". We started teaching her a few signs, and after 3 weeks she responded with the sign for "milk" and "eat". Mia also learned to blow a kiss this morning. We can't believe her birthday will be here in only a few weeks!
Feb 4, 2006 - Mia started walking last week. It actually started as a slightly controlled fall with forward movement. By now, she will take up to 6 steps before sitting (or being caught by an excited parent waiting next to her with outstretched arms!). We went to New York last weekend to visit our friends (Randy, Julie, Lara and new baby Stephen, and then Greg, Ahn and Ripley). Tony's mom watched Mia for a few days. We wrote up instructions for watching Mia. Below is a excerpt from the "How Mia plays" section:
She is all over the place. She likes to dance, she likes to be chased, she likes to do somersaults on the green pillow, she likes to do anything outside, she likes upside down and she loves to walk behind the purple push toy. She likes the volleyball and she likes to see the pictures in the front hall.
Over the last week Mia has become interested in books. She will actually sit still and turn the page. If she wants you to read, she will point to the book. When you pick it up, she kicks her feet and pants in excitement. We're getting more adventurous and taking her out more places but we've found she tolerates it better for lunch or breakfast. Even Chuy's for dinner can't put her in a good mood when she is too tired.
Jan 9, 2006 - The last three weeks have been incredible for Mia! She is a crawling machine. She clapped her hands on Christmas morning for Grandma Anne. Her top two teeth came in a week apart. We totally gave up on baby food and just feed her (I really should say "let her feed herself") table food. She cruises around furniture holding on with only 1 hand. Sometimes she lets go altogether for a few seconds. Then she usually realizes what she did, loses her balance and ends up sitting on the floor.
At her 9 month checkup on the 6th, Mia weighed 20lbs and was 28.5 inches. She is staying in the 75%. She is enjoying all her new 12mo outfits that she received for Christmas. The best outfit is a West Point shirt from Cadet Betz, Natalie's boyfriend. We're starting her training regime young.
Yes, she is on her second cold in a few weeks, but Mia doesn't let a nose full of snot bother her much, unless Mommie and Daddy stayed up late watching a college bowl game or to celebrate New Years - then she wants to get up in the middle of the night. But she's so darn cute that we love her all the time.
Dec 2, 2005 - Mia is 8 months old and showing us everyday how much she is growing up. Yesterday we found her standing up in her crib in the morning for the first time. Mia can sit herself up from her belly. She pulls herself up all the time and occasionally tries advanced moves like squatting to pick something up off the floor. Sometimes this even works! Mia enjoyed turkey, mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving. Mia babbles a lot and one day she said "Na-alie" twice. We're still waiting on Mama and Dada . Guess we know who her favorite is. Check out the updated November pics of Mia.
Nov 10, 2005 - Pics from October and a few from November are now up in Mia's gallery. October was a busy month. Danielle came to town for a wedding on Oct 9. We had a nice brunch at Chez Zee. Next weekend, Kenda and Graeme hosted a reunion at their house since Rhonda was in town (for a wedding). There were babies everywhere! We enjoyed seeing everyone again.
Saturday morning we left for Houston to celebrate Papa Hugo's birthday. Aunt Gloria and Uncle Mario flew in from Tampa to surprise Hugo. Dinner was another surprise with 30 of Hugo's friends at a dinner party.
Think we relaxed the next weekend? Sure, if you consider riding your bike 40 miles in a good headwind relaxing. Michelle and her boyfriend Andy visited from Atlanta to participate in the Lance Armstrong Foundation Ride for the Roses. Michelle took all the pictures that weekend, I'll post them if she sends them along.
Finally it was my birthday weekend. Gerry and Jackie visited Austin, giving Tony and I the chance to go out on Saturday night. Mia celebrated Halloween as a ladybug. She visited NI for the costume contest and handed out candy at the door til it was bedtime.
Mia has had a big month. At her 6mo. doctor appt she was 16lb9oz and 26" long. Her first tooth came in Oct 6th. She got her high chair that weekend. By mid month she was rocking on her bottom and scooting forward while sitting up! By the 23rd, she had learned the "army crawl" on her belly. Exactly a month to the day, Mia's second tooth came in on Nov 6th. Liz, her daycare provider, called yesterday to let me know Mia had puller herself up on a toy box. She did it a lot again today. At home, she hasn't found the right object to get up all on her own so we helped her a little so we could get some pics.
October 4, 2005 - Somehow we survived a few days away from our darling. We missed her terribly. We also suspect that her weekend caretakers didn't dress her in her Titans outfit. We sat through the whole game (leaving early was not an option, even as the Colts racked up points). We brought Mia another outfit so she has some variety in her game day attire. Finally got the pics from September up. Teeth seem to be on verge of breaking through.
September 27, 2005 - Did anyone notice that its football season? Mia has been cheering on the Titans with mixed results. At least she is getting good use out of her football outfit. Mia started sitting up without support the first week of September. Mia and Noah Graff are supposed to have a "sit-off" to see who can sit the longest. Mia is now on a healthy diet of rice cereal, oatmeal, and veggies. Carrots are ok, but Mia refuses to eat peas until Daddy does. Her face when tasting peas for the first time was hilarious. Still no teeth, and no crawling, and Mia is supposed to put her development on hold until Daddy is home next Monday so he doesn't miss anything.
August 30, 2005 - The baby won't sit still. Dad's not ready for this. It used to be that you would lay her down on her back, walk away, come back 20 minutes later and she'd be just as you left her. Now she won't spend 30 seconds lying on her back. She will flip right over to her belly. She enjoys that for about 4 minutes and then realizes that she hates her belly and starts to scream. She is also very drooly. If we could bottle drool and sell it, Tony wouldn't have to worry about how much Denise is spending on clothes. I was actually considering putting a bottle of it together and placing it up on eBay just to see. There's always some freak on eBay willing to buy anything. But then I started thinking about that freak having my baby's drool and it just didn't sit well with me.
Anyway, the end of summer is here but you would never know it with the 100+ degree temperatures we are experiencing. But with the end of the summer, we have a few things to look forward to. First off, Football season. Mia already has a Titan's outfit that she's been dying to wear. Just 2 more weeks Mia. Also, Tony and Denise are getting ready for their Anniversary trip in October. We're going to Nashville to see the Titan's play, leaving Mia for the first time (thanks Grandma Iglesias).
Also, now that Mia is at 5 months, we will be starting her on rice cereal. Labor Day weekend is going to mark her first introduction to "food." (So long as you don't count the Guacamole and B-A-N-A-N-A-S that dad snuck her a few weeks ago.) Well, I guess she's not a little girl anymore. Particularly when we compare her to the 4 new babies born in August to friends of ours. Congrats to the Humphrey's, the Alt's, the Fountain's and the Perez's.
August 9, 2005 - Mia had her four month appointment last week. Latest stats: 14.2 lbs, 24.5 inches. Mia is developing her personality. She is a very happy baby and smiles almost all the time. She really likes to sit up so we prop her in the boppy. If you lay her down (on the floor, in the swing, or even the tub) she will "crunch" to try sitting up. I'm sure my roly-poly has abs of steel under there! In mid July, Mia decided to roll over from her tummy to her back 4 times in one afternoon. Apparently she decided that was enough, because we haven't seen that trick in the last 3 weeks. She has started rolling from her back to her side during her sleep.
Remember the summer of 99? Back then, Tony, Brian, and Scott were beer guzzling singles enjoying the bachelor pad on Greenslope Dr. and weekends on the lake. Now they are all married and somehow all of them managed to have baby girls. For a while we felt stranded alone here in Austin, but Scott and Vanessa returned in April. Now we just have to figure out how to BK and Lynette back in Texas so our girls can grow up and get into trouble together.
July 5, 2005 - We had a very relaxing 4 day weekend. Tony earned the title of "SuperDad" by fitting in tree trimming, house cleaning, food shopping, and then he made a brisket on Monday. OK, maybe Denise is the one who did all the relaxing. Don't tell Mia, but on Tuesday while she was at day care, Mom and Dad snuck in a few hours on the lake.
June was a busy month. The last weekend, Tony's family visited from Houston, and Aunt Jackie was in from Miami. Mia now has a full selection of stylish clothes from the baby Gap, courtesy of Jackie. Mia enjoys being the hippest baby at day care.
Mia definitely enjoys sitting up now (cushioned with pillows and her boppy!). She will entertain herself for longer periods and is still fascinated with the ceiling fan.
June 23, 2005 - Proof that the world doesn't revolve around Mia (although it should!). Mom, Dad, and the man who wed them (Greg Sobo) hit the lake for a few hours last weekend. See the newest wakeboarding pictures of Denise and Greg.
June 8, 2005 - We just got back from Atlanta where we visited Grandma and Grandpa Riedlinger. It was a very eventful vacation where Mia experienced a lot of firsts - first airplane flight, first swimming pool and first time to meet cousins. We did a lot in Georgia. We started by attending Denise's 10 year college reunion at Berry College. Denise got a chance to show off her trophy husband and baby to all of her former classmates. After one night in Rome we headed out to Rutledge, Georgia for cousin Erik's 5th birthday party. We visited with family, Tony was defeated at "everything that ends in 'ball'" by Dylan like volleyball and foosball. Tony did win at Uno but no one cares because that's a card game. All the family doted over little Mia, but that's what good family is supposed to do. We had a great time. After the birthday party we went back to Atlanta where we went to the park, the pool and the mall over the next few days. Mostly, we just relaxed and let Mia run the show like she is getting used to doing.
Mia did go for her 2 month check up last week (she will be 10 weeks tomorrow). She is a "90 percenter" in height (23.5 inches) and a "75 percenter" in weight (11.5 lbs), so basically she shops at the big and tall store. Tony is still on the lookout for the real father.
You can of course get the latest pictures from the picture gallery of June pictures.
May 13, 2005 - Time flies and baby grows. Mia is over 10 pounds and giving Mom a workout carrying her around the house. Mia is sleeping longer at night (yeah!) and having longer alert periods during the day. She's kicking her legs to get exercise now and has started hitting toys within her reach (probably still on accident but Mom and Dad get excited anyway). Mia made a big trip to Houston to visit Grandma and Grandpa Iglesias for Mothers Day. We filled up the trunk with her stuff, and then didn't use 1/3 of what we brought. We're planning a trip to Georgia in early June and will have to do a much better job figuring out exactly what we need to bring since we are flying.
April 26, 2005 - Mia is certainly keeping mommy and daddy busy. Dad returned to work last week but rushes home to see his girls each night (and occasionally for lunch!). Mom and Mia pass the day by sleeping, watching Oprah and Ambush Makeover and taking a walk to check the mail. Sometimes Mom even does a load of laundry. Amazing how time flies.
Mia's favorite activities include eating and sleeping (as you can see from the latest pics), and flying around the kitchen in Dad's arms as Super Girl. Least favorite activities include getting her nose suctioned and her cord cleaned. But mom is persistent with that cord cleaning, and the darn thing will fall off any day now.
April 6, 2005 - She's here! Meet Mia Anne Iglesias, the prettiest little girl we've ever seen. She is also the most punctual little girl we have ever met, coming on her due date, March 31, 2005 at 12:31pm. She weighed 7 lbs and 5 oz and measured 19.5 inches long. Mom delivered the little package after a grueling 34 hours of labor which culminated in a 3.5 hour pushing session. Mom delivered Mia naturally without any drugs throughout the labor, using the Bradley method of natural childbirth.
Now that she's here, she's got two very proud and sleepy parents. The three of us would like to thank our friends and family for all the support throughout the pregnancy, birth and all the well wishes we've received since then. Thank you! And you can bet we will keep the pictures coming as little Mia progresses through the month.
March 27, 2005 - Still nothing. Tony really thought Friday was going to be the day. The moon was full and a big storm passed through, dropping the barometric pressure very quickly. Unfortunately, it is not enough. The little girl wanted to assert that this is going to happen on her schedule and not when Mommy or Daddy think it's convenient. The due date is this Thursday, but we're thinking she's going to wait until April - that way, her birth stone will be diamond, rather than aquamarine. Darn girl knows what she's doing.
Well, last weekend we spent the Saturday afternoon at Gruene Hall. Our friends Brian and Lynette met us there with their 4 month old girl, Reina. Even though Reina was born in Colorado, it became obvious from her bottle choice on Saturday that she's a Texas girl.
We'll keep everyone posted on the progress of Baby Iglesias. Remember, most first babies are late!
March 23, 2005 - Our bags are packed (mostly). Tony put the car seat in the car last Saturday. We think everything is ready. Denise is starting to feel pregnant, which means her back hurts. At least that is how she has justified weekly pregnancy massages for the last 3 weeks. One more week or so to go. Denise is still going to work, but is showing up around 10am instead of 8am. She's starting to enjoy having Tony wait on her hand and foot. Tony is not exactly enjoying sharing the bed with Denise, the baby, and numerous pillows, but he's a good sport. And if you are curious, Denise now outweighs Tony by a good 8 pounds.
Feb 21, 2005 - Well, the March 31st deadline is rapidly approaching. The little girl will be here before we know it. We are almost ready. We have made it through half of our Bradley birthing classes, the nursery is painted, and Mamma has a rocker. Everything is going well with the pregnancy so far. You can see some recent pictures of what this little girl is doing to Denise. On Valentine's day this year, Tony and Denise weighed the same. Since so many people have asked, yes we have picked out a name. We are keeping her name a secret until she arrives, but until then you can call her Tonise.
Although we've been busy preparing for the little one, we've still had some time for fun over the last few weeks. Well, Tony has anyway. He just got back from a snowboarding trip in Colorado where, thanks to Brian and Lynette, he got a chance to practice parenthood on their little girl, Reina. From what he can tell, parenting is a snap. You basically play with them until they cry - then hand them to their mother.
Jan 15, 2005 - Happy New Year! The countdown has begun. 11 weeks left until we expect our little girl. The pregnancy is still going well. We're having a daily weigh-in competition and Denise aims to catch up on Tony in a few weeks. Baby preparations continue. Shortly before Christmas we traded in Denise's 97 Probe for a 2002 Acura TL. We're sure the baby will appreciate the sunroof, leather seats with seat warmers, and a 260HP engine. Mommy and Daddy are sure enjoying their new baby-mobile. We have most of the nursery furniture and our border. Time to start painting. Click here for a look at our nursery theme. The baby has been getting more active. Sometimes it looks like there is an alien in Denise's belly. Tony likes to play with the baby by poking Denise's belly and waiting for baby to kick back. He's training her for football season already. And she will be outfitted in style in a Tennessee Titan's onesie with matching hat - her first gift from Daddy!
Nov 15, 2004 - Friday Tony, Denise and baby went in for the Ultrasound appointment and learned that we're having a girl! Tony and Denise got to see the little one for the first time. What an experience! It was surreal to see the little one kicking her feet and moving her fingers. When we first peeked in, she had both of her hands up by her ears. Tony thinks she was kicking back, chilling in her crib, but Denise thinks she was covering her ears because Tony has taken to talking to the belly daily. You can decide for yourself when you go look at the ultrasound pictures. Either way, all of the major organs checked out so we are expecting a beautiful healthy baby. She weighs 3/4 of a pound which is about the size of a huge Fuddruckers burger. The doctors confirmed the due date of March 31st. She'll be here before we know it.
Oct 26, 2004 - A lot has happened in the two months since the last update. Even more can happen in nine. Yes, our family is expanding. Right now, only Denise is expanding. Although Tony did accompany her on a late night run to Sonic a week ago.
Baby Iglesias is due on March 31, 2005. Aunt Natalie makes sure to pass along all the tips she is learning in her child development and nutrition classes. Grandparents are very excited. Pregnancy so far has been great for Denise. Pregnancy jeans are pretty cute, as it turns out. Pregnancy shirts aren't that cute when you are only 4 months along. Denise is getting used to wearing tents.
To celebrate our first anniversary on Oct 4th, we booked a last minute week in Italy! Thanks to all who encouraged us to change our plans from 5 days in West Texas at Big Bend National Park. Pics are up here.
Aug 22, 2004 - The biggest news now is that my sister Natalie just moved in with us. We are quite happy to have her here. I'm looking forward to making her scrub the floors and dust the baseboards. She starts her sophomore year at UT on Wednesday, but I am sure there will be plenty of time for chores between classes.
Other than that we have been wakeboarding as often as we can. When I say "we" of course, I mean Tony. "We" have updated the wakeboarding page with some new "sweet" pictures. Check them out in the picture gallery.
July 31, 2004 - We've been enjoying the summer in Austin with frequent trips to the lake. All three of Tony's sisters joined us for the 4th of July weekend. In the middle of July, Denise flew to Seattle for business. After working hard for a few days, Denise and our friend Will drove down to Hood River, Oregon to visit Trish for the weekend. The trip coincided with the Gorge Games so we participated by taking a Kiteboarding lesson and making Will run King of the Stairs (twice!) after eating a huge breakfast. Did I mention that Will was wearing flip flops? And he still won the women's division. Way to go Will! Check it all out in the picture gallery.
We finally updated our wedding gallery, including pictures from the rehearsal dinner.
June 13, 2004 - Much has happened over the last 3 months. The most exciting things have been the trips we've made. We went to Vegas in May for Greta's and Brant's joint Bachelor/Bachelorette party. I'd tell you all about it, but what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. A few weeks later we went to exotic Houston, Texas to their wedding. It was a lot of fun because we got to see friends that we hadn't seen in a while and the drinks were free. It was a fun weekend.
Last weekend we went to Tampa to see Tony's cousin, Vivian, get married. (As it turns out, all of the time/money that we have for vacations can just barely cover the wedding related trips on our schedule. If you are an out of town friend whose big complaint is that we never visit, just get married to someone and we'll be sure to make the trip.) At any rate, unlike Vegas, what happens in Tampa gets posted to the web.
We flew in Thursday night and drove to Scott and Vanessa's house where they gave us shelter. They have a 10 month old baby girl named Emma. She's not cute at all as you will see in the pictures from Tampa. (I think we ran out of bits on the digital camera with all the picture we took of her.) Emma was our entertainment for most of the weekend when we weren't busy enjoying wedding activities.
We made it to a rehearsal dinner on Friday night, the wedding on Saturday and a wedding brunch on Sunday morning. Everything was a blast. The food was always excellent and the drinks were always free! I realized what it really means to be a glutton. The wedding was large and lively. I ate, I drank, I horrified people with my dancing. Every weekend should be like this.
Mar 28, 2004 - Tony's leg is healing. Thanks to all you you who sent in gifts (no one). The rest of you are in luck because Tony is accepting belated get well gifts. Spring break has come and gone. What a great Spring Break it was. My sister Nicole and her friends Suzy and Rachel came down for a few days. We spent evenings at the South by Southwest Music festival and I took the day off work on Friday to go wake boarding. You can see some of the results on the wakeboarding picture gallery. At SXSW we ran into Johnny Knoxville (from Jackass), Austin icon Leslie the homeless transvestite, and got to see and talk to Art Alexakis, the lead singer of Everclear. It was really way too much fun for one weekend. By the way, today is my sister Nicole's 16th birthday, so I'd like to wish her a very happy birthday.
Immediately after South by Southwest, Tony went to Vancouver for business. He did get away for one day to go ski Whistler. It was a huge mountain and a lot of fun. Bad news was that it was a little warm and the slow was slushy. But, who's complaining? It was a free day snowboarding.
D has been busy doing yard work while I have been out playing. I love marriage.
Lastly, I regret to inform the audience that Tony has cut his hair. The afro that you saw in the pictures from the Oscar party is gone. Here is a picture of Tony holding his fro.
Mar 3, 2004 - Tony fractured his leg playing volleyball. He walked around on it for a week without knowing which really makes him a superstar. When the pain didn't go away, he went to the doctor who told him that there was a fracture and that he is very brave and tough. And a bona fide superstar. Keep in mind that a hairline fracture is still a fracture and VERY painful. You should mail Tony a get well gift today. After all, he can't play Ultimate, volleyball or wakeboard for 4-6 weeks.
On Sunday, Tony and Denise went to an Academy Awards party. We were supposed to dress up. Denise wore her best dress. It is the same one she wore to her wedding. Tony poofed out his hair for the occasion. He has not had a haircut since September so it is quite impressive. You can see a picture of the smart couple in the Best Pictures gallery. Denise won the best dressed award at the party and Tony didn't win anything. But, he did get to go home with the winner of the best dressed contest.
Feb 23, 2004 - We made it back from our ski vacation safely. We didn't suffer any injuries which is more than we can say for Lynette - 9 stitches. See this and other pictures from the trip brought to you by tonyanddenise.com. We had a great time both in Summit County and during our two days in Fort Collins. In the Fort, we visited the New Belgium Brewery, Coopersmiths Brewery, the Town Pump bar and had drinks at the Rio - notice a theme? Our last day we had a minor hiking venture up part of Gray Rock. We packed a lot into those four days.
Immediately upon our return, Tony went to London for work. No pictures of note from that trip. The only pictures I came back with were things you could find on a post card. The most notable event of the trip was when the cabbie walked me to the car at the airport and I let myself into the driver side of the car. You see, in England the driver sits on the right. I'm an idiot.
This past weekend, sister Natalie came into town from San Antonio. She decided that February was a great time for wakeboarding. I stayed in the boat. See Natalie board.
Jan 31,2004 - Finally recovered enough from the wedding to update the website. We are working hard and looking forward to our upcoming Colorado vacation. We leave Thursday morning to spend a four day weekend with our friends Brian and Lynette.
Oct 4, 2003 - We got married. The chaos is over. Thanks to everyone who came and especially to Greg Sobo for doing an outstanding job with the ceremony. Wedding pictures can be found in the picture gallery.
