Well, we're not taking a week of from being parents.  That's a lifetime job.  But we are taking a weekend off.  Durel and I are headed to the Austin City Limits Music Festival, aka ACL.  This year, we're excited to see Vampire Weekend, Muse, Flaming Lips, MIA, Spoon, Silversun Pickups, and countless other bands that I either can't remember or we haven't yet discovered.

We're ridiculously excited, for a variety of reasons:  a three day music festival with eight stages, hundreds of bands, all of the fun food and drink you could imagine, great weather, good friends, and uh...no baby.

In fact, this is almost a tradition for us.  Here's a little flashback to us, pre-Jack, at ACL in 2008:

And in 2007:

In fact, I've even opined on the etiquette of festivals (which sounds snooty but is actually quite practical).

Anyway, enough typing.  Time for ACL-ing.

Hope this finds you well,
--Heather

Jack Goes to Happy Hour

Jack's a big fan of Red's Porch, the new restaurant/bar/patio on South Lamar.  He's been there several times, including last night for happy hour.

He got to hang out with his Aunt Kim, who is in town from her illustrious graduate school stint in Little Rock at the Clinton School of Public Service:

And his Aunt Melinda, who is in town from her various stints of traveling around the world.  When asked what she'd been up to lately, Melinda thoughtfully replied, "Oh, just working a lot."  As a new mom for whom a trip to Target is exciting, I reminded her that her recent trip to New Zealand probably deserved to be a part of her answer.

Sadly, we didn't get a picture of Jack with his Aunt Stacy, who is also the mom of Jack's soon-to-be-lifelong pal, Ronnie Junior, also known as R2.

In short, Jack looooves the ladies!  And happy hour.  What a little dude.

Hope this finds you well,
Heather

For the Cure

Today, I went to a Breast Cancer Awareness Event at the Capitol with a couple of my fabulous coworkers.

I am proud that Texas has created a state agency specifically to deal with researching cures for cancer and promoting prevention and early detection.

I am proud that Jack and I did the Austin Race for the Cure last year while he was in my belly.  I am equally proud that he will do the Race with me this year, from the vantage point of the jogging stroller.

Here's to October and racing for a cure.

If you would like to donate to my fundraising efforts for this year's Race for the Cure, you can do so on my Facebook page, or by clicking on this link.  Thanks for your support!

Hope this finds you well.
--Heather

Pizza Sherpa

So, I feel like I've gotten pretty good at taking Jack places.  (Duh, Heather.  He's your baby and you have to leave the house.)  

Seriously, though, going places with a baby is tricky!  You need:

-- a stroller (most likely)

-- diapers and wipes (more than you think)

-- formula/milk/food (more than you think, in case you're gone longer than you expect)

-- toys

-- bib/burp cloth

-- change of clothes (not required but smart)

-- sensible shoes (unless you really hate yourself)

-- Advil (inevitable)

You also may need:

-- blanket (for baby lounging)

-- sunscreen (to prevent baby burning)

-- hat (ditto)

(Woah, that's a lot of stuff.)  No kidding.  You also need your sense of humor and a healthy desire for adventure.

When I was new-er at the mom thing, I also had Ziploc bags in my diaper bag.  They're actually pretty helpful for various ooky items that you either need to cart home of dispose of without stink or mess.

So, that's all fine and good, but on Friday, I was faced with a dilemma.  How do you drop into Whole Foods and pick up dinner with your baby?

I didn't really want a cart b/c Whole Foods on Friday after work is a madhouse.  Jack's not really big enough to sit in a cart yet, anyway, which means putting the carseat on top of the cart, which means that you can't really see where you're going.  And, at almost 20 pounds, he's a heavy turkey to carry around in the carseat at this point.  Plus the large bag in which I carry all of his various and sundry items.

So, anyway, here's what I came up with:

I got dinner; I got us in and out of the store without major hassle, and Jack even got a Junior Deputy sticker from the store's on-site State Trooper!  Awesomeness.

Hope this finds you well.
--Heather

Jack Earns His Wings

On our recent beach trip, Durel and I opted to brave the skies with Jack, rather than braving the open roads.  (It's a long drive to South Padre.)

I've never been particularly partial to Southwest Airlines.  I think they're fine and all -- air travel is what it is.  But, my opinion officially changed on this trip.  The flight attendant was enchanted with Jack.  So much so, in fact, that she decided he needed to meet the pilot and see the cockpit.

Voila:

Seriously, how awesome is that?  Can you stand it?  I couldn't.

I will also say, for the sake of full disclosure, that said flight attendant stayed positive and helpful when Jack decided to Completely Melt Down right before take-off.    Yes, we were those people with the screaming baby, and we were clueless and horrified about it.  Durel and I just looked at each other like that clueless couple in the horror movie who just realized that the cabin really is haunted.

We bounced, soothed, sang, whispered, and fervently prayed that the wailing would end.  Thankfully, it did.  Everyone on the plane breathed a sigh of relief, and we were on our way to the beach.

Via the cockpit.  Because Jack is awesome like that.

Hope this finds you well.
Heather