Our new niece

Meet Miss Ella Zoe
Trevor's sister, Amanda had her first baby, Tuesday, September 14th. She was 7lbs 6 oz.
I have 3 sister in laws. All 3 of them have at least one girl.

Isn't she pretty?!

A little taste of "Austin"

I have lived in "Austin" for six years now. (Man, it doesn't feel like its been that long.) I bleed maroon, I loathe traffic and this whole "Keep Austin Weird", well, its just not me. Truth be told, I only actually had an Austin address for a few months, but Round Rock and even Elgin, well its all "Austin".
One thing about living so close to Austin though is there is always, and I mean always, something going on and always something to do. There are also GREAT restaurants here. The longer I live here, the more interested I am in trying things out. We have done several things that would be described as an Austin thing, but they haven't felt different. That changed this weekend. We went to a restaurant called the Omelettry. It was definitely an Austin thing, one that I liked though.
This is what the outside of its looks like. Who wouldn't want to try this place out? It looks so fun!
Its a cash only business, which is very different, even for Austin.

"Lets look at Humpy Dumpy Mommy!" (lol)

He LOVED this police egg. He thought it was hysterical. It was at the back of the restaurant. We had to look at him over and over again.

Yep, a rooster on the top of the building. Why? Uh, cuz its Austin!
Are you not getting the theme of my post?

When we were seated, the waiter brought us 2 adult waters, 1 small water for Hollister and a sippy cup of water for Hamilton. That was a first. I have never had a restaurant bring a sippy cup to my baby! He also brought a coffee cup full of crayons and a few sheets of plain white paper. Then he threw down (not in a bad way) 3 action figures for the boys to play with. My boys have ten thousand action figures, and I think I may have even had some in my purse or diaper bag, but these "new" ones were like gold, they kept both boys entertained.

The food was good. Its not all about eggs, but we were there specifically to try the omelets. It was completely worth it. We really enjoyed them. Hollister had yummy pancakes and Hamilton enjoyed his own baby food.Not sure if this armadillo made our omelets, but if he did, he did a great job!

Can't capture atmosphere on camera and as much as I wanted to, I didn't take pictures inside. It just didn't feel right. Everyone was casual, some you could tell had just rolled out of bed, literally... that's an Austin thing lots of places though. We even saw bikes parked out front of those fools who bike every where even in the crazy heat.

What was meant as a simple breakfast turned into a "Austin" experience for me. I won't convert, trust me, my loyalty runs deep. But, I like the option we have here to try these new things, new places and too see how the "weird" live.

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1.02.28

Happy 75th Dad!

Today we celebrated my Dad's 75th birthday. What a milestone!I was informed that people with "COPD" don't do candles!

After singing!

My mom had a nice get together for close friends and family. I truly enjoyed seeing so many people who I know love my mom and dad so much. I enjoyed showing off my family to them and just catching up with them all. They have all been part of our lives for so long. As a matter of fact, as I was driving home I told Trevor, "The first couple that came, Mr. and Mrs. Prewitt, started it all. They picked Zora and I up for church on the bus when I was 8 or 9 nine years old, that was 30 years ago!" 30 years of people loving our family. I like how that feels.

Mrs Prewitt, Mr. Prewitt, Mr. Nuuhwia,. and Mrs. Bell
We have known all of these people for such a long time!
Mrs. Kilgore, Jeff and Marley Nuuhiwa, Mr. Kilgore and Mrs. Nuuhiwa


Mom, Dad and Mary


Mom, Dad and our whole gang

Mom, Dad, and Zora's whole gang!

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1.02.28

His Newest Trick

Hamilton's newest trick is actually SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT!!! I love this one, probably my favorite! He goes to bed around 8ish and on school days he wakes up around 6ish because I wake him up. I figured this weekend would be the same. Well, to my wondrous surprise he has been sleeping until 7:30. It is AWESOME!! He will even wake up and just "play" in his bed. He is so happy in the morning when he wakes up. Sleep will do that to you.
The trick is the old age idea of "being on a schedule". Having a working mom will do that to ya too! I LOVE IT!!! and my kids love it!

But, his new trick is standing up, not by himself, but pulling himself up all the time. It is so stinking cute too!He also claps his hands and waves bye-bye to himself. Getting pics of that is a little hard.

This is him getting toys from the basket. He always smiles when I get the camera out.
Such a ham!


Been trying forever to get this on camera....
"where's Hamilton"


"THERE HE IS!!!!"
He loves playing peek a boo and will do it on his own. Its so funny!

The fry guy

Hamilton's first french fry, Saturday @ Applebees!

yes, he eats good for him things too... he eats yogurts, cherrios, mac and cheese, pudding(but it did change the bowel movements), grilled cheese and fish sticks were tried at school, some veges at school too. They give him quite a variety. He still eats baby food. He likes chicken noodle and its packed with vegetables, so I have bought more of that for him.

He drinks mostly formula and we are only nursing once a day, its a comfort thing and more for bonding than nourishment. I am no longer pumping and feel like I have been released from prison. No, it wasn't that bad, but not pumping feels great, I have to admit. He sure did enjoy that fry though. If he's anything like his big brother, Hollister, fries will be their own food group!

1st Anniversary, we miss you Travis!

Travis S. Hodges
January 22, 1974- August 26, 2009

Today marks the first of many anniversaries we will be marking for Travis. As this day has approached I have wrestled with how to mark it, how to honor him, how to help my husband and oldest through this day. I still don't have those answers to be honest with you. What I know is, we are not thinking of Travis anymore today than we do on any other day. We miss him everyday. We laugh at memories, we stop when we come across a video or a picture and take a moment, we get a warm feeling in our heart when we call Hamilton, Hamilton Shane because that is Travis's middle name. Today, like all other days, I hope that we remember how fun, loving and wonderful the years were that we had with Travis and celebrate and honor him.

Finally, an update

wow, I have been slacking.....

So, I realized that I missed a lot in July... namely that Hamilton started crawling. I was trying to upload the video, it wasn't working, so I gave up and then for whatever reason, never got back to it.

I have to say the 8th month has been the most "active" for us. Hamilton started crawling, he is getting 4 more teeth on top, he started eating some table food, not much but some. He is a blabber. he says mamamamamama, daddadadadadda, babababab, and gagagagaga. Hollister thinks he is saying Lady Gaga when he does the last one. he'll say, "that's my favorite song Hamilton." Its funny.

Hamilton's crawling is very intentional. He only crawls on all fours. No army crawl, no dragging one leg. It is awesome to see.Crawling @ 36 weeksPlaying guitar @37 weeks. This is his FAVORITE toy!

Eating strawberries from a "net" pacifier at 38 weeks.

Writing his name at 38 weeks too, yep he's gifted!

Now though, he is 9 months old! He weighs 24lbs 14 oz, 29 1/2 inches long and has an 18 inch head. He has been out of my tummy longer than he was in now. He is really a happy baby, not a good sleeper, but happy. He is very attached to mommy and next week when he returns to day care will be hard. I hope they don't hate me too much.9 month check up (39 weeks)yes, he drinks water from a cup!

As far as the rest of us, we are just hanging out until school and work...

We did take a few days and go to Dallas with our neighbors. It was a fun trip to Six Flags and a night at a hotel. I didn't take as many pictures as I thought I would. I think the heat got to my head. It was H-O-T! We left the park to eat and a crazy rain storm and hail came so we never went back, but we still had a great time.First few moments in the park at Six Flags, not too hot yet.... Hollister's first roller coaster....

Second ride... driving the big rig....

This was a fun ride... he didn't think much of it, but its kind of like a bungy and once it started going up and down, he was thrilled. His best friend, Jack is on his left, Jack's brother Tony is on his right.Tea cups, he had to do this one on his own, after the lady showed him what to do though, he was good to go!Showing off his muscle ability. Showing off what he won! A Joker cape!

He had to have this Scooby.... and of course, his Daddy won it for him! After he got it, he said, "Okay, can we go home now?" Uh, no son, we've only been here 2 hours and your the only one who has ridden any rides... typical.

So, not to make you think we didn't take our older kids, we did....
That is CJ three cars back riding the Mini Runaway Train with our neighbor, Tony. He's a little embarrassed. But trust me, he loved it!
And look real close, in the second car, that's Trevor and Kendrick is beside him, I think. This is on the Shockwave. This is my most favorite ride, only because it has such memeories for me as a kid. I remember my brother and sister getting stuck on it before I was even tall enough or brave enough to ride it. My mom was a basket case! And I also remember as a teenager finding the courage to ride an upside down roller coaster. That was HUGE back then. Funny thing, now, not so scary. But still, so fun!

So sorry no more photos. I told you, it was hot!