Houston

Lia and I got a chance to catch up with some great friends in Houston while Todd was home with Erin and Halle this past weekend.  It was a wonderful experience and I enjoyed having lots of one on one time with just Lia - I felt like we were really able to bond and just play together which we don't get to do as often as I would like.  Todd said he had a fantastic time home with Erin and Halle and got lots of snuggles in with them.  Lately, they have been all about mommy, so I think it was good for them (and him!) to have some time with just Daddy.

We took off from Austin on Friday morning and headed to see Katy and Brian Cox first.  They have two daughters, Riley and Audrey.  Riley is very close to Lia's age and they got along really well.  Lia was fabulous in the car and was really excited to see Riley and get to have a sleepover.  She was slightly shy when we first arrived and was hiding behind me.  Riley was so sweet and peeked around and said "Lia, do you want to be Elsa?"  Lia poked her head out and said in a very small voice "yes..." and they were off - didn't see them again until these two came down the steps:

It was awesome - it was like Riley already knew the key to Lia's heart.  haha.  They were best buddies after that.

We took the kids to go swimming at a nearby pool that Lia called a "walking pool" since it was shallow and she could touch the bottom everywhere we went.  It was a fabulous time despite some rain/thunder delays.  The kids had a blast.  They have various water features and even have slides!  Needless to say, Lia went down the slide at least 50 times.

That night we decided to let the girls try having a little sleepover in Riley's room.  There was some surprising hesitation from both the kids probably because this was new and different , but they ended up having a great time.

The adults intervened at about 930pm to help the kids to sleep and they eventually went to sleep around 10.  Not too shabby!  I pulled Lia in bed with me at 230am because she was crying and let me tell you - co-sleeping with a toddler is interesting...

The next day we got a special breakfast with the kids, let them play in the backyard.  We headed out to a fun local park and (much to Lia's delight) back to the pool.

After lunch, Lia and I set out for stop #2 on our trip.  A baby shower celebration for my friend Leah! She has a daughter Lia's age (Amelia) and is pregnant with a boy.

In the car on the way, I told Lia the trip would be a long one (takes about an hour) and that if she was tired (I knew she was) that she should sleep now.  She was singing and talking up a storm and said "Mommy, but I'm not tired!" and then, 4 minutes later... this:

She thankfully slept the entire way and seemed rested when we arrived.  The baby shower was so fun and it was great to catch up with old friends and get to see Amelia.  She's precious!

We headed to Leah's house after the party to chill out and play.  They have a pool in the backyard and Lia instantly wanted to go swimming.  So, we did!  This was probably the highlight of my trip with her.  We just played in the pool together and had a great time.  There were no outside worries, chores, or responsibilities,  At that moment, it was just about me and Lia getting to hang out.  Great fun.

Leah's pool has a diving board and Lia was very interested in what it was for.  I jumped off and showed her and (of course) my fearless daughter walked up there like she owned the place and jumped right off.  No hesitation.  I got a video of her jumping off the 2nd time.

We stayed at Leah's that night and I chose not to attempt another kiddie sleepover with the hope that Lia would get more sleep since she was completely worn out.  She went right to sleep at 8:30pm.

The next day we set out to see two more friends before heading home.  My friend Amber has twin girls and we have had many email conversations about various parenting/developmental topics so we wanted to try and meet up.  It was great getting to meet her sweet little ones and finally meet them in person!

Eva, Lia and Lucy

After Amber's we headed into Houston to meet up with my longest friend, Lindsay.  We got to see her new house and went out to lunch.  I think Lia was totally spent by this point, but also relished in the attention from two adults.  Plus, she got ice cream.

I fully expected Lia to sleep most of the way home, but surprisingly, she didn't.  She fell asleep for about 20 minutes or so and that was it.  I, on the other hand, was tired.  Like I said, sleeping with a 3 year old is not on my list of things to do again....  Overall, it was a fantastic trip and I loved the experience of hanging out with one of my kids one on one for such an extended period of time.  I'm looking forward to doing the same type of trip with Erin and Halle when they are a bit older.

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