Look how much we've grown!

Welcome to summer. April and May are in many ways the best part of summer in Texas. By July, when the rest of the country will be experiencing the heat, humidity and garden growth that we are, it will be too hot to play naked outside.





Julian's longest friend, Ruby, came over last weekend, and they got to pick carrots out of the garden together. (Isn't it crazy how much they've grown? The photo of them as infants was on their first date, when they were both less than three months old.)


Good thing they didn't hit the flowers on the tomato plants. You can see more garden updates on Relish Austin, where I blog once a week about how my garden is growing, what produce we're eating, etc.



Work is fun right now because so much is happening. CSAs are in full swing, as are the farmers' markets. The Hill Country Wine and Food Festival was two weeks ago (which is where I got to try some really great wine, including this one from the Paso Robles region of California. Ian and I are driving the coast of California this summer, and I'm ready to pass up Napa and its swanky sisters for Paso, which is halfway between San Francisco and Santa Barbara.)

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Julian has been into drumming lately, following in the footsteps of his mommy. But I think he's already better at the drum set than me:

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A few photos from April, including more fun in the garden with Ruby, Julian eating a "miracle fruit" that I blogged about this week and one of Julian's first representational structures, a ship made out of his favorite blocks/connnector thingys.

SXSW craziness ends with a trip to the beach

The blog posts. The pictures. The videos. The RSVPs. Keeping track of everything in the past few weeks hasn't been easy. I knew covering the South by Southwest Interactive Festival and Conference would be challenging, but I think I still underestimated the amount of work and energy it would take to do it properly.

And boy did it wipe me out.

We went to Port Aransas/Corpus Christi on Sunday to recharge (I didn't even take my laptop!) and now we're back. Here's a quick recap (follow the links to read/see what I posted) in case you weren't skipping and jumping around Statesman.com, Austin360.com and Twitter to follow as I was doing it:

Wine Library TV video blogger and marketing guru Gary Vaynerchuk and I did a video ahead of his awesome SXSW panel.

Tyler Florence was in town promoting his line of baby foods.

I covered SXSW panels on how social media is changing how we think about our "friends," what it was like blogging as a teen in the '90s when everyone didn't have an online journal, why professional blogging is bloodsport for women, why Web 2.0 is a woman's world, why we should try to do something epic with our online lives instead of create gimmicky projects, what new trends we'll see for mobile technology (ie buying groceries with our phones) and how the Internet is making sustainable food easier to access.


I, along with Austin360, Whole Foods Market and the Go Texan wine program, hosted a party for food and wine bloggers on March 16 that was a huge success. About 80 food and wine bloggers and their guests ate food from Jesse Griffiths of Dai Due Supper Club and Tyson Cole, above, of Uch (that's Maggie of Maggie's Austin, a local food blog). Hope to make this a yearly event.

Over on my food blog, Relish Austin, I wrote about eating pork belly for breakfast at the Uchi SXSW party, Hudson's on the Bend chef Jeff Blank opening a trailer to sell the famous chicken cone and Rachael Ray's big SXSW party, which featured the New York Dolls and the Hold Steady, both of whom Erin and I mingled with in the artists' lounge.

Did you see the video Rachael and I did? She's a sweet, hard-working girl whose constant cheer still annoys most people, even her fans. Shorter than me, but dressed cute as a button in her best western wear.



And a personal highlight was speaking on a SXSW panel on food blogging. I did a live chat with some of the bloggers the week before the festival, and when they were in town, we chowed on crawfish and cupcakes. My new friend Emily, receiving her very own plastic bib, right, wrote about it for Gourmet.com.















Did I mention we celebrated Ian's birthday with a lovely dinner at Ranch 616?



Whew. When it was all said and done, we headed east, to meet a man about some lamb (or rather for a story about a man with some lamb) and then to the beach, where Julian played in the sand and waves for the very first time. (He's also started drumming with Daddy in the garage.) More photos to come when I get caught back up at work (ie, next year :)).

Getting dirty in the garden

Proof of the fun we had outside today, raking and planting and generally enjoying the yard in 86 degree weather. A dirty toddler is a happy toddler.

Look for a post on Relish Austin in the next few days about our ever-growing garden. We added tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, chard (I know that on is a long shot this far in the year) and few kinds of pepper. Sunflowers found a home along the fence.

This month's Addie's Eat-Up (formerly Appetizers with Addie) was at the Dart Bowl, where we stuffed ourselves with delicious chicken fried steak and cheese enchiladas. The nicest waitstaff around (or at least ours was :)). Julian's full diaper made bowling a little more colorful. (Thanks, Marshall, for the photo!)

My kombucha-making is coming along. A strong SCOBY was growing on a smaller jar of kombucha I was brewing, so I added it (and the well-developed vinegar-tasting liquid is helped form) to the mama jar, which was still full of a liquid that was still too close to sweet tea to resemble kombucha.

Lots of fun playing at home! SXSW starts at the end of the week, so I'm glad I got all of this home-making done this weekend. The next two weekends will be jammed packed with creative stimulation (and free food. Another thing I'll be posting about this week on Relish Austin).

Terrifically, choo-choo train-tastically two

Julian turned 2 today! Hard to imagine the condition we all were in two years ago this moment. Our new, still-red wee baby was either feeling he way around a chest in route to a nipple or sleeping, wrapped up like a caterpillar in spring. Ian, Julian and I were alone in the hospital room, watching Patrick Swayze in Red Dawn (I'd never seen it before.), remarkably unfazed by what we'd been through the previous 48 hours.



Fast forward two years. He's still sucking his thumb. We're still wiping his butt after mega poop blowouts. He still finds comfort in the arms of his parents.



But now he's a healthy 2-year-old who loves to run in circles and climb up stairs and crawl on top of bar stools. He'll have what you're having, even if it's a spicy hot habanero brownie from Butters Brownies. He wants to know what you're doing. He copies you, even when you wish he wouldn't. (The F-word has entered his lexicon, but it's just so darn cute when he uses it in context...)



His silliness helps us through the long winter nights at home, when we can't cook without our "counter bird" sitting besides us and bath time turns to bubbly turtle time. He urges us out of bed every morning "Come on, mommy. Chonies, here." He uses words like "chonie" (underpants) and jokes (Knock, knock. Who's there? Chicken pumpkin pizza!) that he gets at school. His amigos are becoming an important part of his life. He tells us when Judy smashes her finger or when they have beans or apples for lunch.

I wonder if parents ever get used to watching their children grow up before their very eyes.

Cool Hand Julian learns to swing

and ride a merry-go-round/carousal.

Christmas 2008: Everything but the snow

We spent a week in Missouri, from the day after Christmas until the day after New Year's. It's always a blessing to get to spend the holidays with family. The three of us celebrated on Christmas morning and then enjoyed an afternoon with Ian's mom and stepdad in Waco. The following day, on the exact anniversary of my moving to Austin, we made our way to Missouri. For the next week, we made food, watched movies and hung out with old friends. Julian and YaYa baked cookies, sang "Jingle Bells" and played in parks. Julian, Aunt Chelsea and Uncle Kenny wrestled for the first time. GaGa taught Julian how to do the "This Little Piggie" toe game. PaPa brought Julian along on emergency trips to the grocery store. No snow, but plenty of good family lovin'.

(If you're not seeing a slideshow of images above, log into your flickr account or add me as a contact. If you're not on flickr, you'll have to start an account, but it's easy.)

Embracing 2008, looking forward to 2009

Props to the hundreds of thousands of bloggers, especially those with children (whom I will NOT automatically call mommy bloggers :)), who can keep up with photos, videos and heck, even posts themselves this time of year. I find myself at the end of the holiday months, the longest and best I've had in years, if not ever. Work simultaneously invigorated and overwhelmed me. We welcomed lots of new friends in a new house. Julian could identify Santa Claus and open presents on his own. Ian and I kept up our positive attitudes and couldn't pinch ourselves enough to make sure all this happy goodness was real and not just some wistful dream from earlier in 2008.



People keep saying what a crappy year 2008 was. It most definitely held unprecedented lows, both personal and economic, but with a new president, a new job, a new partnership, a new home, a new social circle (even for Julian) and a new wardrobe and subsequent quasi-fame, I am having a hard time remembering anything but the good from '08.



In terms of my own person growth and change, 2008 was right up there, if not ahead, of 2001, 2003 and 2006. Look at the hardship and joy suffered in those years: starting college and 9/11, followed by exiting adolescence and living in Spain, then moving to Austin, losing Troy and embracing Julian.



I'm just thankful that this year, like the others, the lemonade we made quenches our thirsty lips.



My hope is that our collective momentum will continue into this new year. 2009, as every year before it, holds countless opportunities for my family and yours, and my wish is that we all greet them with open eyes and a straight head.

Holiday cheer and a happy boy

(If no pictures show up, then you either need to log in to Flickr or become a contact on Flickr.)

November and December have been a whirlwind. From planning and executing more than a dozen holiday-related stories, columns, live chats, blogs and events at work to moving from our old apartment a mere 85 steps to a duplex, which now seems like world away from our old home.

Julian has been helping more in the kitchen, peeling onions and putting things in the pot. He's developed quite the sweet tooth; he usually wakes up in the morning and goes to the freezer, asking politely for ice cream. After the move, Julian got a table and chairs, an easel, a rocker and his very own rug. He got to play with markers and the easel for awhile, until ripping out the ink-saturated tips was more fun than coloring with them. We also put the bars on his crib back on after a week of trying out the toddler bed, and we're all sleeping much better because of it.

We're going to Missouri the day after Christmas, but until then, I have a few last minute things to wrap up at work, including a column about what I'm looking forward to in 2009, which inevitably means I'll have to reflect on 2008. I thought that deluge of holiday food coverage would make me weary this far into the season, but it's quite the opposite. So far, this has been one of the best Decembers I can remember. Lots of good times and fun people. A happy family. Oh yes, and good food.

Julian's first tricycle ride

Heels

Stacy and Clinton would be so proud of Julian's heel-walking ability (I think he gets it from his dad).

They probably wouldn't approve of his maroon sweatsuit, though. Mix it up with a pattern, they might say. Work with your body; don't hide it under bulky clothes. Clean off the baby juice. Throw on some accessories that "pop." Stay away from sweatshirt material, period.

He would reply with a big smile on his face and by rubbing his snotty nose on Clinton's nice cuff or Stacy's fancy sweater. :)

Ahhhhhhhh...choo

I think Julian's already better at numbers than I am. Well, I guess I can count to 10 without missing a few numbers, but to hear him do it sounds so much more impressive. A week or so ago, I swear he counted to 10 and only missed 3 and 8, but now he's just doing the 1-2-3-4 or 5-6-7 or 9-10, but not together. He will call out 6s and Ws when he sees them, and he's starting to string together words more. "Biiiiig truck" or "milk please mommy." "Ready set go" is one of his favorites right now, too. As you can tell from the video, he's added "casa" to his short list of Spanish words.

The cutest thing right now might be his fake sneezes that he'll draw out over several seconds and then look at us because he knows his antics make us laugh. Or maybe the cutest thing is that he'll chime in and say "me too" anytime Ian or I says that or if we say we love you or miss you.

He also tinkled, which is the perfect words for his three little drops of pee, in the potty for the first time today.

Spin 'round, 'round baby

Julian loves to dance and sing when Ian plays guitar. If you can't get enough of Julian's spinning antics, you can see another video later today over on my YouTube account.

Ohhh-klahoma, where the families camp

A few weeks ago, the Knox-Broyles family drove six hours north to meet up with the Broyles duo, who had driven six hours south. A little place called Chickasaw National Recreation Area was our home for two days. We cooked. We hiked. We saw tarantulas. See for yourself in this photo gallery. (If you can't see it, you need to become my friend of Flickr. It's a pain, I know, but if you have a Yahoo account it's even easier. I have to keep one iota of privacy here, people.:))

Since when were boogers this cute?

Julian has started to enjoy his baths more. It wasn't that he didn't like them; we just didn't bathe him that much, so he wasn't as accustomed to bathtubs as say, the bottom drawer of the fridge or the mailboxes outside by the laundry room.

But now, he's taken to actually getting into and out of the bath at his own willing. I'll suggest a bath, where he can wash with soap (italicized words are one he's calling out play-by-play through the evening) and water. Then he'll get the comb and brush his hair. Today, he's figured out what mommy is picking out of his nose.

Catching up

So much has been happening lately, there's hasn't been much time or mental capacity to blog much about what's going on.

Suffice it to say that living in uncertainty, both personal and environmental (hello, crazy news cycle and quickly changing world), creates endless opportunities for profound growth and discovery. As long as we remember that, we can conquer the intimidating unknown with grace and courage.

Here are some things that I do know:

ACL is a whole lot more fun when you randomly run into people you know. Marques Harper, the Statesman's style writer, and I had some fun playing around the shopping area at the festival yesterday, including taking some photos at the WaMu (read FDIC/JP Morgan) photo booth and shopping for sunglasses. We were both working the festival. My job was to take photos of people eating from the fabulous food court, which I wrote about earlier this week. His was to take photos of the fabulously dressed concert-goers. (His was the blog I contributed to when I was going through What Not to Wear in New York earlier this year.)


Tigers are cool. We saw this one at the Austin Zoo today.

Julian is awesome. His favorite thing to do now is drink "nilk," go "fast" and put "contats" in his eyes. Oh, and he's still obsessed with stars, trucks and "copters."


Community-supported agriculture helps make even a tiny, poorly lit kitchen like ours look lush and inviting.

(Insert picture of a happy Julian with LaLa,
the wonderful South Austin abuelita who takes care of him during the days now.)

Having Julian in day care is a huge step forward for everyone in the house. Julian has needed the stimulation (in fact, it's possible his two naps a day were linked to boredom. I'd nap that much if I stayed home all day, too!), Ian has needed the space and I have needed to see how this next chapter of my life is going to look, which includes Julian being in "school." What's awesome is that LaLa wants the kids to be kids for as long as they can, so "school" is just her way of describing the playtime/learning time balance she gives them. I think Julian just really likes a sweet woman who lets him cook, a little fellow named DJ and a little thing called Nilla Wafers that mommy never buys.

Now and then

While we're talking about now, I have to talk about then.

Then being Austin City Limits Music Festival 2004. I had just returned from Spain and was approaching what I consider one of the most fulfilled, terrifying and exciting times of my life. It was Troy's idea to take a road trip from Missouri to Austin to go to the ACL Fest, the year highlighted by Spoon, Franz Ferdinand, Modest Mouse, Ryan Adams, Antibalis Afrobeat, the Pixies and Los Lonely Boys.

We left Columbia, Mo., after class Thursday afternoon four years ago and drove through the night, arriving at Uncle Tom's house just as he was leaving for work on Friday morning. We slept until he got home, drove with him downtown, renegade parked near Shoal Creek Saloon and walked to Zilker. We did this for three days, and on the third day, after watching Ben Harper close the festival, Troy and I drove through the night in time to make it to Monday morning classes, which neither of us felt like we could afford to miss.

I could regal you with stories -- little ones and big ones -- but mainly ones I know hold deep meaning only to me.

These photos capture that.

It was my first and last full ACL weekend, and tomorrow will be the first time I re-enter those gates. (In the years in between, I've only taken in the artists from the hike-and-bike trail or from friends' nearby houses.)

I will be working for the newspaper. I will have a child at day care (an addition in our lives that I haven't be able to adequately blog about).

I will have a restless heart and an overactive head. You see, some things never really do change.

It's the same, but different.

It is, but it isn't, Troy used to aggravate me by saying.




Not a day goes by that I don't wonder what he would say about my life now.

All of now

Sometimes, in life, we have to focus on the little things to get us through the big crashing waves of change. My mom directed me to this Ralph Marston Daily Motivator from Saturday:

All of now

The bright sun shines in the clear blue sky. Shimmering waves glisten on a restless sea.

Beauty fills the world. Possibility fills your life.

The problems are real. Yet in each one is the opportunity to move forward.

This sparkling moment is one of a kind. Take it in with love and with gratitude, and remember to live it fully.

This magical mystery that is your life knows only the limits you choose to give it. In the heart of your spirit you can experience anything you decide to experience.

Life is in all of now. See it, feel it and know it as it fills you with wonder and joy.

Here is Julian "cooking" eggs, one of the many things that fills me with wonder and joy.

It is a privilege to be his mother.

Julian photos August 2008

I didn't realize what a busy month it had been until I flipped through all the photos from the past four weeks. Between hanging out on the potty and eating barbecue, Julian has had a couple of trips to the library, a weekend with Erin in Houston, a run-in with the sofa (thus the scabby lip) and a camping trip with Corey this weekend to Enchanted Rock, west of Austin in the Hill Country.

When we were huffing it around Enchanted Rock, I realized that the last time Julian and I had been to the top of that giant granite rock was when I was about seven months pregnant. It was also his first camping trip as an interactive toddler, but I think he's more work at home than he is in the wide outdoors. Too much to explore. I guess that's why we all get out in the woods every now and then.

Update: I've started making many of my photos on Flickr viewable for only friends. So, if you can only see a handful of pictures in this slideshow and would like to be able to see more, make me a friend/contact on Flickr. You'll have to set up a Flickr account if you don't have one. Sorry for the inconvenience!

Thanks for the oh-too-cute surprises, GaGa!

Both Julian and mommy got a surprise in the mail this week from my grandmother, who has been known to wear a go-to-hell hat or two in her life.

The boys are back in town

Ian and Julian were in Waco for a few days this week, which left me alone in this house for more hours than I've been alone here since Julian was born (not much of an exaggeration, even with the long days of work I had this week...). Toddlers don't leave you much space or time for yourself. It's just a fact that parents of young ones grow to accept. I fight it still (Putting him down for a nap at 9:30 instead of 10 or ignoring his shouts of "mom" that start 20 minutes after we both go down for a nap, for example.) but there's little use. He's interested in everything in the house except his things. The DVDs are particularly of interest, especially since he's figured out how to reach the eject button even though it's as high and far from his reach as we can get it. Friends, babysitters, even family members — everyone but fellow newish parents — have a hard time really understanding the attention and energy required to tend to, much less entertain and educate, a 19-month-old.

That's where Ian gets the super gold stars. I've officially decided that staying at home with Julian full time is not anything I'd want or would be capable of doing. It's getting to the point where Ian, too, is having to make the conscious decision to continue with the current childcare situation. We've been talking about finding somewhere for him a few days a week, which I hope will happen in the next few months. It would be good for everyone in this house to have some more time to him or herself.

My time away from the child is taken up pretty wholly with work or work-related activities. Thankfully, that also means I've been eating some fine food and meeting some fabulous people. I even got to go to the circus this week! That food price story on Wednesday ended up being more work than I thought it would be, but it was worth it to try to explain why some of H-E-B's prices have dropped amid the largest food price increases since 1990.

Thanks to neighbor/sound guy Pat, we got to see the lovely Patty Griffin last night at the Austin City Limits studio on the UT campus. It was a great show; the live rendition of "Bad News" kicked ass and her last song, which she wrote for a graduating class, brought tears to my eyes. Sunday is My Morning Jacket, which I'm having a surprisingly hard time finding a partner to go with. Triste. They are too good to miss.