Playing Catch-Up

I am aware that it has been a very very long time since we’ve posted. To be honest, at this point I’m so overwhelmed by how much we've done (and therefore have to tell you), dear reader, that I don’t know where to begin. However, I’m sitting in the airport in Philadelphia waiting for my flight to board, so I’ve decided to bite the bullet and dive in. I think the best approach is to give you a rundown of all of our activities since I last wrote, and post a few pictures a day for the next few days. Remember, you can find more Luella pics on her flickr page!

• We visited Hot Springs Arkansas and drank from the springs! The family – dogs included – walked the Grand Promenade and beautiful Bathhouse Row!
• Luella started laughing! Wow! This is a really exciting milestone. We haven’t found something yet that makes her laugh every time we do it so we spend A LOT of time these days making ridiculous faces and noises, hoping to tickle her funnybone!
• We visited Denver and Golden, Colorado and drank yummy microbrews! We didn’t get to do much besides our personalized tour of Golden (thanks, Cyndi!) because I was working so much, but it was great to see the Rocky Mountains and dream about skiing!
• We visited awesome friends in awesome Austin and ate tacos tacos tacos! We celebrated Allen’s 33rd birthday with great pals, lonestar, and moonlight climbing (climbing was Allen and Victor only)!
• We spent a lovely Christmas with our families in Greenville and Dallas, where Luella was the belle of the ball! It was fun to introduce her to family she hadn’t met yet, and she’s got some exciting new favorite toys!
• Luella had her 4 month checkup – she’s still growing rapidly and is now up to the 24th percentile in weight (12 lbs, 10 oz). She’s still a short little munchkin (3rd percentile), but has grown 5 inches since she was born!
• Luella had her first cold. It was very mild, but it totally disrupted her sleep schedule. Well, that, and the crazy travel and social schedule of the prior two weeks. Oops! This pic was taken when she was sick and we were worried.
• We had friends over for a New Year’s Day brunch and Luella hung with cute boys Noah and Ilan.
• Allen travelled to Pasadena, California to meet up with my brothers and support the Horns in the BCS National Championship game!
• I took my first work trip sans Luella - today, to Philadelphia and back in one day! I think we both survived, though it was no fun at all being so far away.

That’s all my sleep-deprived brain can think of right now. I’ll post more as I remember it, and keep watching for photos!