Birthdays, Baptisms, and BOO’s (Halloween that is)

Man it has been busy. October is always a busy month for us. We have lots of birthdays to celebrate: Steve, my grandmother Mormor , my uncle Gary, and my cousin Elizabeth. Work is ALWAYS crazy in October, and this year was no different. Steve’s parent came to visit one weekend. Ethan was baptized; and to top it all off, it is Halloween.

So now that you know what happened…here are some pics incase you missed any of it.

Steve’s Birthday: Steve turned 29 this year. We celebrated by going downtown with friends to Maggie Mae’s. It was the same night as the Texas vs Oklahoma St. game, so Austin was crazy! Luckily the Horns won so everyone was in good spirits. Lot’s of people showed up, and we had a great time ….even though we were escorted out by the police at the end of the night….never a dull moment with the MF crowd! ;-)

Ethan’s Baptism: It turned out to be a beautiful Sunday day. The whole family made it. Ethan was on his best behavior. It was such a special moment. We love you Ethan!

Halloween: We moved into our new house on Halloween day last year, so there was no time for trick-or-treating; but we made up for it this Halloween. Gracie had a full week of fun. On Tuesday, Steve took her up to his office for their Halloween party. She wore her outfit the whole time and everyone loved her. She really made her daddy proud! And today, they partied at daycare, and then we went trick-or-treating all around the neighborhood tonight. It was so much fun. She walked all by herself to every house carrying her candy basket. She even knocked on a few doors as well. Unfortunately, we did learn that she is not afraid of strangers since she tried to go inside several people’s houses; as well as wanted a hug from our neighbor that she has only met once! But at least she had fun!

Well, that is about it. Even though it has been busy, it has been a great month. Let’s hope November turns out to be just as good!

Gracie Marie: The Crazy Dance

I came home today and Steve and Gracie were hanging out in the back yard, which if you don't know, is Gracie's favorite place to be these days. Anyways, she was running all around and then started doing her new 'dance' as we like to call it. I finally got a little of it on video. Enjoy!

Who can talk more than Kristina…….

Yep, it’s Gracie! She is talking up a storm these days (mainly words that only Steve and I can decipher). She says: NO, daddy, momma, do (aka. Dog), gotcha ya, shoe, juice, bobby (her name for pacifier), Shhh, and on and on. And as much as she says, she can understand and remember 100 times more. We can no longer say BATH, EAT or BOTTLE, because if you aren’t planning for one of those to happen when you say the word then look out, because the tears are coming. She understands simple commands too like, go get a book, let’s go to daycare, or take this to momma/daddy.

Independence is also her newest thing. She likes to do everything herself. We can’t feed her anymore; instead she holds a fork in one hand and grabs the food with the other hand. Although it is a messy way to eat, that is the way she likes it. She also enjoys playing in her room by herself sometimes, even closing the door for privacy; which now has a weight in front of it so she can’t do that anymore.

She is growing by the minute, learning every day, and becoming a little person before our eyes.

Running, Part II: 50 miles and counting

I am still running; and actually, I am running a lot. Last week I uploaded my runs to Nike.com and got a note saying ‘congratulations you have completed 50 miles!’ WHOOHOO! Ok, so after I gave myself a pat on the back, I had to remind myself that I have had my Nike+ pedometer for over a year. So although I was proud to have completed 50 miles, I wanted to make sure my next 50 does not take me so long. My goal is to reach 100 by the end of the year. Wish me luck!

Where is the green frog?

Gracie will be 17 months old tomorrow. In my mind that seems so young, mainly because it is, and yet she surprises us everyday with how much she is learning. A few days ago, we were in the living room. Steve was watching The Rangers, Gracie was playing with her toys and I was doing dishes. Since Gracie loves to pull out all the dishes that you put in the washer (especially knifes), Steve was trying to distract her. He said, ‘Gracie, where is the green frog?’ Now, to everyone but Gracie, this means nothing. But she has a book that she and Steve read, and he will ask her to point out things. Where is the yellow duck? blue pond? And green frog? And most of the time she will turn to the correct page and show him. So Gracie looks at Steve, and then the wheels start turning. She begins to wonder around the living room, at first looking in the place where her books used to be. But of course her crazy mother (me) had cleaned and reorganized, moving the book basket to the other side of the room. She paced around the living room a few more times….searching….and then in almost an instant, she goes to the basket, grabs the book and opens to the page of the GREEN FROG!!!

We couldn’t believe it! We clapped and cheered for her, and then she clapped for herself. It was amazing.

And then, as if to remind us that she is just as normal and funky as everyone else’s kiddos, she picked up something off the floor and ate it.

Weekend with the G-parents

This weekend we packed up and headed to East Texas, Henderson to be exact, to see Steve’s family. We left early on Friday afternoon. Gracie did pretty good in the car; she slept a little bit, played a little bit, and cried a little bit more. But we made it there in 4 hours thanks to the wonderful new tollway that helped us miss all the I-35 & Round Rock traffic. We arrived at their house around 8:00 PM. Joy had gone to town and picked up BBQ. We had dinner, visited for a while, and then went to bed.

On Saturday, we loaded up again and headed to Tyler to see Kristy, Kelly and Carter (Steve’s sister’s family) at Kelly’s parent’s house. They live just out side of Tyler on the lake. The weather was great; breezy, warm and cloudy. Perfect for sitting outside and enjoying the afternoon. We had lunch and then went out on the boat for a drive around the lake. This was Gracie’s first boat trip. We suited her up in a life jacket and jumped on the boat. She enjoyed the ride, except for the part that she couldn’t run all over the place. That does NOT make her happy. Once we got back, the kids played in the kiddie pool for a while. Then it was nap time….so we headed home.

Sunday was much like Friday; breakfast in the morning, a little time to play in the back yard and then back on the road for another 4 hours. We had a wonderful weekend. Now if we can just get the grandparents to move to Austin so we don’t have to drive four hours to see them.

Gracie playing in the pool with Carter:

Sitting outside with Papa:

Running

Welcome back running! I have missed you. OK well maybe not that much, but my body missed you. I have always been very active until things like work, babies, sleeping, and TV became higher on the list of priorities. But my body started sending me some signals that it doesn’t like the lazy KQ: my legs going numb when I would get up from the floor, random aches and pain, stress, headaches….and then my jeans got tight. That was the last straw. So I am running again and again and again. One of these days I’ll do a marathon. I can’t let Adrienne and Dad show me up!

Summer Heat

We are almost halfway through August and it is HOT! We have had over 40 days of 100 degree weather this summer, which is well over the norm.
Although it is hot, we are still finding time to get out side. Gracie and I have been going on lots of walks. She loves to be outside and LOVES to go places in her stroller. We now have to put the stroller in the closet as soon as we get home so it is out of site. If not… there is a lot of crying, screaming, and hanging on for dear life if she sees it and decides it is time for a walk. And it didn’t help that one of her grandmothers pushed her around in the stroller inside the house…..I won’t call you out; but you know who you are! ;-)

We have also spent a lot of time just hanging out in the backyard playing in Gracie’s pool. She really loves it and since our backyard is shady we can play out there in the middle of the day without getting too hot or too much sun.

Video from August 2nd

July and the Escape Artist

Wow! What a month. July. July. July.

First off, my job has been very busy. We had a big launch for the Arizona Back to School campaign. We had been working on it for months and the countdown ended on July 1oth. It really turned out amazing; but I was ready to wrap it up after months of hard work and many many late nights. (Check it out extras.azjeans.com and www.facebook.com/azjeans)

Then, Steve started a new job at a company called Marsh. He was really excited to start and see what new opportunities it opens up for him. We also celebrated my dad's birthday this month (more about that below) and then this weekend was Heather's Baby Shower.

And, while all this was going on, Gracie was busy planning her escape.....

Yes, it is true, Gracie escaped from the house. Well only for a minute, but OMG!

It all started a few weeks ago when she realized she could put things outside through the doggy door. It was like her secret hiding place. We found bowls, shoes, toys, cups, etc., all in a little pile right outside by the doggy door.

So there we were, in the living room, just hanging out. Steve asked, "where is Gracie?" We both figured that she was playing in the kitchen, but we didn't hear her, which is not normal. So Steve go up to look around, and there she was....on our porch. She had escaped through Scooter's doggy door and was so happy with the thought that she had figured out a way to get outside without Mommy or Daddy. So Steve ran outside and scooped her up. Gracie kicked and screamed on the way back inside, and then sat at the doggy door and cried when Steve closed it.

Well unfortunately for her AND Scooter, her new found way outside remains closed. So if Scooter didn't despise her before, he really does now!

Dad's Birthday

My dad's birthday was July 16th. We decided to spend the day in Austin. Mom, Dad, Adrienne, Bryan and Ethan all met at our house since the little princess, Gracie, needed her nap. I had planned to hold Ethan until the grandparents got there, but Dad was early so I missed out on my uninterrupted special Ethan time. Way to go dad! But since it was his special day, I let it slip. ;-)


After listening to Bryan describe all his favorite 'hole in the wall' asian food places (a.k.a dead roasted ducks hanging from the ceiling), we decided to go to P.F.Changs for lunch --we'll let dad try Bryan's places on a 'guys online' lunch. We all ordered something different and shared. It was really good, but although we were stuffed, we couldn't pass up a chance for some Amy's Ice cream. So we headed over to Amy's, got some tasty ice cream and then sat out in the park at the Arboretum and enjoyed desert while Gracie led Steve all over the park. After about 30 minutes of running from all the adults, she finally got tired, so we packed up and headed back home.


It was such a fun day. love you Dad!

Oh no, she can climb!

Yes, not only can she crawl, walk, and run, but now Gracie is climbing. This has been going on for a while. She started a while back by climbing on a tool box that I had in the kitchen. Then she moved to standing on top of her toy table. Then she got a table and chairs for her birthday. So she climbed up and down, and up and down on those chairs all day long. Well today, I guess she was ready for a big girl chair, because she just climbed right up and had a seat....then slide right off! I guess I will need to stock up on band-aids and floor pillows.

Want some asparagus?

Pool Party with a slight chance of rain...

This weekend was a good one. It started with a pool party at the Spencer's Le Chateau on Friday. Heather picked me up and we headed down to South Texas. We got to the pool, opened a beer, and here came the rain. So after about 5 minutes of trying to wait it out, we changed plans and ran inside (but not before I could snap this hot picture!).

The rain pasted quickly, so we were able to sit outside and enjoy the rest of our beer. That was until Alex showed up and almost ran us all over in the Pooper Trooper. ;-)

We had company on Saturday and Sunday, Jimmy & Jill. They were down for a concert at Carlos n Charlies. We hung out and had fun, then got lots of needed rest on Sunday.

KQ turns the big 27!

I am the big 27 this year. I don't feel older, or old, or different, I just know that it was my special day which means that Steve has to be extra nice to me for a few days and I get some extra pampering, so I LOVE BIRTHDAYS! I had several celebrations this year, one night Steve grilled dinner. We had steak, pork tenderloins, the works. We played out in the yard with Gracie and had a few glasses of wine while Gracie enjoyed a Bud Light...can.

Then I had an adults night out! Heather, Mike, Steve, The Spencer's, Jordan & Drew were all there. And lots of Steve's friends from Countrywide made it out too. We had a great time, no pictures to prove it, but that is probably best. ;-)

Then on Saturday, the family came into Austin to celebrate. Mormor was able to make it and she got to meet Ethan for the first time. We had pizza, cake and presents. It was the perfect day and a wonderful birthday. =)

Ethan has arrived!

We finally got to meet the new member of our family....On Friday, May 23rd, Ethan Connor Chagoly was born! Ethan was so excited to meet everyone, that he arrived two weeks early. He is a happy, health baby, and a Gemini (like his auntie); what more could we ask for! =)

Big Kid car seat

So Gracie has officially moved out of the 'infant' stage and into a toddler!!! Since she was still under 20 lbs on her 1st birthday we were not able to move her to her new big girl car seat, but we have now met the required weight of 20+ lbs! Whoohoo!

Here she is on her first trip in her new forward facing car seat. Oh how the time is flying by!

Mother's Day

Sunday, May 11th 2008


My mother's day this year was perfect. I had a massage on Saturday, then we went to Adrienne & Bryan's to swim and BBQ.

On Sunday, Steve took us all to the park for a picnic. We had Popeye's (my favorite!) and played in the park. Gracie really enjoyed the swings. Then she spent the rest of the time running away from us.

Welcome!

I got the idea of creating a blog from Bryan (my brother-in-law) when he told me the other day that he had made one for their family. It is so cute and such a good idea, so I figured I would copy it! Plus there might have been some mention of starting a competition to see who's child was the best based on when they met certain milestones like their first word, walking, coloring....you get the point. And what better way to track milestones than in a blog.

As for the competition, we are currently in the lead with heaviest baby at birth. GO GRACIE!

1 Point Hand/Quiroz
0 Chagoly

More to come on the 'most awesome baby' competition. For now, we'll just be posting the special moments and memories happening in our lives every day.