Ok....here is a really picture heavy post. There is another post right after with some pics as well. I tried to just put captions instead of paragraphs for updating.
Taken in October 2010....that is a princess wand in her hand...surprising right?????

Reese with her cousins Hudson, Sam, and Oliver at a local amusement park.

Reese and Oliver at the amusement park.

Being silly.

Cutie!

Reese getting ready for our tea party with nana in September.

Reese at the tea house.

Reese had hot chocolate and we all had tasty sanwiches and treats to go with our tea. We went to a cute tea house in Newnan....just us girls...mom, Reese, and Nana.

Reese in nana's convertible.....we rode home with the top down after our tea party.

Reese and her cousin Oliver at a concert in Sandy Springs this summer.

Reese and Faline....our kitty.

Here is Faline. Our neighbor found her at our neighborhood playground and we are going to keep her. She is an outdoor cat who stays in our basement at night. Reese chose the name Faline for her....it is the name of Bambi's girlfriend in the Bambi story.

Reese pretending to read like mommy.

Eating melted ice cream (it was so hot that it melted within minutes) at Stone Mountain in July.

Reese took our picture on the train ride at Stone Mountain.

Mt. Rainier in the distance. We took a ferry ride over to Vashon Island in Washington State for a strawberry festival.

Reese riding the rides at the strawberry festival.

Reese with her uncle Jason and aunt Kelly at the strawberry festival in July (during our visit out to Seattle in July to visit my brother and his wife).

Reese and aunt Kelly

Reese took this picture of my brother Jason and I....can't explain my hair (sorry!)

Reese showing me the necklace her aunt Kelly bought her at Pike's Market.

She can still sleep in her stroller. The time difference had her waking really early in Seattle so she was sacked out by the time Kelly and I were ready for lunch!

Pike's Market in Seattle.

Reese after she put together her puzzle at the Seattle Library. This library was designed by a famous architect (Rob would know the name!) and we went in the morning on our first full day in Seattle since the sun hadn't come out yet and it was still a bit chilly.

Remember when I posted all those pictures from Reese's perspective....well she loves to take the camera and take lots of pics....she took a picture of the pedicure I gave her.

Reese making a silly face.

Reese in our inflatable pool in our backyard.

At the fourth of July parade...I had just gotten my hair done and I let the hairdresser blow it out straight....fun to go incognito!!

Reese with her candy catcher for the parade!

Rob and Tony with all 3 girls (Reese, Brooke, and Kenna) on the raft behind the boat.
We were visiting our friends who have a house on Lake Wedowee in Alabama....so nice!

Reese and Brooke!

Reese and her cousins on the Troisi side in July 2010....her new cousin Abigail was born at the end of the month!

Reese with her trophy from her dance recital and her cupcake cake....Rob did the ballerina shoe decoration for me! So great to have a husband who is an artist!

The ballerina cupcake cake....you just pull the cupcakes apart to get your piece!

Reese and Brianna at her dance recital in June.

Older pictures....but need to finally post them!!!
My darling dancer at her recital in June...they were the perfect flower garden. She loved getting her make up and hair done.

The baby birds that were living in our bushes (while they were learning to fly) this past spring.

Reese on a corporate private jet....Delta will rent you one for about $40,000!! We were at the Delta Block Party at our headquarters near the airport in May.

Reese and I (an engine pic from the Spirit of Delta)....at the Delta Block Party in May.

Just had to post this picture as it is one of my favs!! Taken in May 2010.

Prayers again please

Well it is the 29th of September and my niece Abigail will be going in for another surgery. This time they will be operating to fix the reflux problem that she has developed. She has had an infection in her lungs since the last operation and has been feeding intravenously.

I know that my brother, sister-in-law, and nephew are very anxious for her to come home. We are hoping that she comes home very soon.

Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers!!!

Update on my niece Abigail

Well, your prayers have worked. Abigail had her surgery this past week and so far everything has been going well. They were able to completely connect her stomach and esophagus!! She is still in the NICU and will remain there to make sure there are no leaks, but the doctors are optimistic that Abigail will be able to go home and feed by mouth very soon! I couldn't be more excited for my sister in law and brother to be able to bring their daughter home!

Things around here are great!! Just gearing up for Reese's 4th birthday....wow 4!!! She wants a Tiana birthday this year and so I have thought up a Mardi Gras theme party since Tiana is the princess from the movie "The Princess and the Frog" which is set in New Orleans during Mardi Gras! It is going to be a lot of fun.....she can't wait for her birthday this year.

I hope that this fall goes by at a slower pace then I remember last fall. I am sure it is because we were closing on the house, gearing up to move, and of course moving in right before having her party here!! I just love fall and there are lots of things that I would love to be able to do with Reese and Rob this season!

I can't believe that we have been in our house almost a year!! We still really love it (guess that is great that there is no buyers remorse!!haha).

Thanks again for all the well wishes and prayers for my niece....just keep praying for a speedy recovery from surgery and pray she will go home soon!!

Wow how the time flies

Well since going back to work in June I have not made much progress on here!!! It has been a real adjustment going back to work after having 9 months off. I swear this time was harder then when I went back in March of 2008 after almost 2 1/2 yrs off. I have been having a hard time finding a balance between my personal life and my work life. Granted my job doesn't require me to do work at home, but the problem is when I leave for work I am not home until the 3rd day so nothing gets done.

Our summer started off with a visit from Grammy and Grampa and Reese's dance recital!!! The picture at the top of the blog is the day that she got her dance costume. They tried them on over their leotards so that is why she has something pink underneath. I promise to post some pictures from her recital and recital party-including the ballet slipper cupcake cake that Rob and I made for her party! The recital was absolutely adorable. Reese was very excited that morning when she woke up....she knew that we were going to be putting makeup on her and putting her hair up in a bun. Reese wore the brightest red lipstick on the day of the recital-wait until you see the pics! I wish I could wear that color. She looked wonderful and she had a great time on stage. She knew the whole dance and didn't miss a beat. My mom and mother-in-law purchased the video from her first recital and we just got it the other day...she loves seeing herself on TV!!!

We have spent the summer getting together with friends and family and of course going to the pool. Thank goodness for pools as it has been so hot and humid here. I miss the dry heat of the drought when we first moved here!

For the 4th of July we went to the Peachtree City golf cart parade and then Rob and Reese went over to a friends house for a BBQ (I had to work that evening). Reese really got into the parade this year...really trying to catch everything they were throwing from the floats.

Since I went back to work in June, Reese went back to daycare....at the same place she went before. Things were really hard in the beginning, but she has just moved up to the 4 yr old room (they move them up at the start of the school year if they will turn 4 soon and her birthday is October). She is really loving the 4 yr old room. She is learning so much. She knows how to count to 10 in Spanish and she knows her colors in Spanish too....looks like I have some work to do in the French department (I haven't been very good...she knows some and can count to 10, but we need to really start now!). In the 4 yr old room they assign one child to hold the flag during the pledge each day, another to be the weather checker each day, and another to help with serving lunch each day. Reese was very excited the other day to be the weather checker....she told me that it was sunny. She is learning the pledge and lots of other really cool things in school. She knows the days of the week and the months of the year. They are also working on writing letters and sounding out the letters...really cool. She loves telling you the letter of the week and all the words that start with that letter.

Rob and I are so proud of her.....I promise to download photos to the computer so that I can post them on her.

Life from a different perspective

Well, just two weeks ago I became an aunt again and Reese has a new cousin. She now has two cousins named Abigail, but the cousin Abby who lives in NY will use the nickname Abby and her cousin her in Ga will be Abigail.

My new niece Abigail was born with a complication. She was born with esophageal atresia...which is to say that her esophagus did not develop correctly and she is unable to swallow. Fortunately this can be easily corrected with surgery. The only problem is that she can't have the surgery at this point. She is currently in the NICU at the Children's Hospital here in Atlanta. I have been able to visit her twice so far. The first time was really hard for me. I have never seen babies in the NICU and seeing all those tubes, wires, etc is a little scary. The nurses are so understanding though. This past visit I went with my parents again, but this time my sister-in-law (Abigail's mother) was there as well. My sister-in-law asked me if I wanted to hold her....I really did, I was just really nervous....but she put me at ease. Holding her was wonderful as I know how much a baby just needs to be held and told how much you love them. And that is what I did. I know that she will be an amazing little girl and Reese can't wait until she is bigger and can teach her all about princesses!!! She is expected to stay in the NICU for 6-12 weeks and we are certainly hoping and praying for just 6 weeks. I can't imagine how hard it is to leave your baby every day at the hospital....my sister-in-law and brother are great parents and I can't wait for them to be able to bring their little girl home.

So that leads me to the reason for this post. When we went to visit Abigail....both times I had Reese with me. Walking past the parents and sick children in the hospital makes you feel incredibly grateful. I think that I always thought there would be nothing that could ever go wrong as a parent, but this shows me how truely blessed Rob and I are. They have the most amazing facilities at the hospital....places for kids to play....indoor and outdoor playgrounds, art rooms, libraries. This doesn't even include the amazing facilities they have for the parents of the children who are in the hospital. So as my sister-in-law's mom and I were sitting in the art room watching my nephew and Reese play...it dawned on me what I have now been called to do. I will definitely be giving Reese's old toys to the children's hospital here in ATL.

It is so fitting that today in church Fr. Lee was talking about how we will be called before God to answer the questions, "did you feed me when I was hungry", "did you help me when I was in need", etc. Well, my job is now to be able to answer those questions with my actions for the rest of my life.

I will update you on the progress of my beautiful niece Abigail and thank all of you for your prayers for her speedy exit from the NICU.

Disney Trip 2010

Here are some of the many photos we took at Disney.


Reese dancing with Jessie from Toy Story at the Dance Party-6 pm at Magic Kingdom 5/12/10

Taking the Jungle Cruise at Magic Kingdom-5/12/10

Reese and I with Princess Ariel and Prince Eric (her favorites which is why she became shy when it was time to say hello to Eric!) at Magic Kingdom-5/12/10....Rob waited in line for over an hour for Reese to have her picture taken with Eric!!!

Princess Ariel and Prince Eric coming out after their break. The characters take pictures with kids for 45 minutes and then take at least a 15 minute break. We didn't know there was such a demand for the prince and princess greeting and had showed up when they had closed the line for the 3:30 greeting....so Rob waited behind the 3:30 line so that Reese would be first for the 4:30 greeting...thank goodness much of it was in the shade!

Reese and I riding the Magic Carpet ride at Magic Kingdom...yes we were having fun while her amazing dad was waiting in line!

Reese greeting Cinderella at the princess tent over by Minnie Mouse's house. We should have waited in the line to meet the fairies since the princesses in the tent were ones that she had already seen at the breakfast earlier that morning! We had hopes that maybe Jasmine, Mulan, or Tiana were in the tent-oh well!! She doesn't mind seeing the same ones over and over again!

This is a picture of the Storybook Reading with Belle-a really cute show and one that I recommend if you are going to Magic Kingdom. Belle picks out kids and one dad from the audience to tell her story. Reese really wanted to be picked...but she loved watching it anyway!

A picture from the Winnie the Pooh ride at Magic Kingdom

Reese and her aunt Sandi on the Tea Cup ride at Magic Kingdom.

Reese and mom on the Tea Cup ride...Rob, Reese, aunt Sandi, and mom were all in the same cup.

Reese on the carousel at Magic Kingdom.

Reese and Princess Belle at Cinderella's Royal Table Breakfast-5/12/10

Reese and Princess Ariel at Cinderella's Royal Table Breakfast-5/12/10

Reese and Princess Aurora at Cinderella's Royal Table Breakfast-5/12/10

Reese at the Breakfast with her new magic wand-a gift from Cinderella.

Reese and Princess Snow White at Cinderella's Royal Table Breakfast-5/12/10

Reese with her wishing star-another present from Cinderella!

This is a picture we tried to take of Cinderella's stepmother and stepsisters. They opened the door of the castle while we were waiting to have Reese's picture taken with Cinderella. Reese still doesn't understand that they aren't welcome in the castle....she kept asking when they would come into the breakfast...it is funny to see them in character because they are scowling and complaining about Cinderella.

This was the first picture of Reese's magical day at Magic Kingdom-5/12/10

Family Picture at Magic Kingdom-5/12/10