I've Been Tagged

I've been tagged to do the following:

1) Choose the 4th picture folder on my computer

2) Choose the 4th picture

3) Explain the picture

4) Tag 4 other people

This picture was taken in January 2007 and it is the entrance to our building in New York (where we called home at the time!). Our Christmas lights were still up and we had been out at night with Reese in the stroller looking at all the Christmas lights around NYC before our move. It was a beautiful night and boy do I miss those walks!

Saturday Birthday Party

We had originally planned on going to Stone Mountain for Reese's family birthday party, but all the rain on Friday afternoon made the park too much of a mess. We had wanted to stay for the Laser show, but who would want to sit on the soggy cold ground then??? So we had our family come over. Reese's uncle Terry, aunt Anne, cousin Oliver, nana, and grampa were in attendance and of course her mommy and daddy!!! Our friends Mark, Catherine, Jessica, and Ryan came over for the birthday fun as well with their children Caroline, Isabella, and Cameron.

Reese had lots of fun. The kids played outside for a while and then we came in and ate dinner. Reese, Isabella, and Oliver ate on the porch outside. Oliver kept trying to steal Isabella's red chair (he liked it better than his!). We opened her gifts and that is when the real fun began. Nana and Grampa gave Reese the coolest little microwave and play food and the microwave turns on and spins....well that was the hit of the party. All the kids wanted to play with it and of course Reese knew it was hers (mine!!).

As you can see from the pictures Reese was wearing her tutu that we gave her the night before. She just loves to dance. We also gave her ballet slippers and so now she is complete!

I also made the cake and we were glad to say that there was none left over!!! Yeah for me. After all the baking of the past few days the last thing that I needed was to eat more cake.

Birthday Fun!!!

So Reese's 2nd birthday was October 17, (hey I know that I am behind!). On the 16th we went to her class at the daycare with cupcakes and celebrated her birthday with her school friends. She even got to sit on the school bus since the driver happened to be outside when we were leaving...she loved it!

On the 17th we hosted her playgroup friends for her birthday. It was a messy rainy day, but we had a great turnout...her friends Maggie, Liam, Gavin, Giana, Anaka, Isabella, and Allie came over to celebrate. The kids played for a while and then we had some mummy pizzas to eat. They were so cute and you can see how Reese and Isabella couldn't wait for them to come out of the oven. We then sang happy birthday to Reese (quite a few times at the request of her friends) and had some cupcakes. We were lucky that our porch is covered since we planned on eating out there. Reese and her friends had lots of fun!

October

This month started off with the Ga-Tenn game. Rob and I went to the game with my brother Joel and his wife Sharon. Reese stayed with her nana and grampa and her cousins Hudson and Sam. As you can see they were all wearing their Ga gear. Reese totally loved the pom pom.

On Columbus Day my friend Tara came to our house with her daughter Sage and son Nole and we celebrated Reese's birthday early. Tara has her own cake company and made her the beautiful cake in the upper left corner. It says tea for two and she gave her a porcelain tea set (of course Reese can't use it right now, but it is soooo cute). The kids had a lot of fun playing with each other. Even though Tara only lives a little over an hour away we never see each other, but the kids constantly talk about one another. It was a great visit.

The bottom left corner is a picture of Reese at daycare with her friends eating the cupcakes we made for her birthday celebration. I went in for the little party and it was so cute to see all the kids lining up for the cupcakes. Reese's grammy and grandpa in NY were watching the live video cam that the daycare has while we were partying....they said it was like they were there!

Stay tuned for posts about Reese's second birthday party, our visit to see the Scarecrows in the Garden at the Botanical Gardens, friends birthday parties, and our visit to the pumpkin patch!

September!!!

Sorry it has been so long since posting. I have been really bad about uploading my pictures to my computer and so that is the reason for my laziness!!!

This month Reese started her music class. She loves it. My friend Jessica recommended it to us and we can't get enough. Oddly enough the class is held in an office at a local grocery store and so now if we go to that grocery store Reese just wants to go to class! Too funny.

Reese's cousin Oliver came for an afternoon visit this month as well and the two of them had a great time playing chase around the house. After naps we went to the pool and they loved it! Yes, it was still warm enough to go the pool-sad huh???

This month we also went to Sesame Street Live with Reese's friends Isabella and Caroline. It was awesome! Reese just loved it.

In the middle of September Reese's grammy and grandpa from New York came down to visit. We had a great time shopping, going to the playground, and just playing at our house. We also celebrated Reese's 2nd birthday a little bit early with them since they won't be able to make it for her party. She had a blast with them. They gave her the cutest little hula costume that they picked up on their recent trip to Hawaii...one of her favorite dress up items as well as the the seahorse jibbitz they gave her for her crocs!!!! We also gave her a tricycle....an old one at that, but what's better than an oldie to learn on! She had lots of fun with the bike.

At the end of the month we celebrated her best friend's birthday-Isabella. The kids had a blast at the party. They were riding a little roller coaster in the yard, jumping in the jumpee house, and of course we can't forget the cake and pizza!!! Reese had so much fun that day and loved singing happy birthday.

I have also included a picture of Reese sitting at our kitchen table doing one of her all time favorite things....drawing. If this little angel sees a pen then she wants it!!!

Falling in Love all over again

Ok,


So I know that sometimes I really like to complain about my job (well it does get old and I do get lonely without my husband with me), but I have to rave about it today.


I was doing my regular Paris trip and I had in my head that I was actually going to get out of the 15th arrondisement this time! Believe it or not, I have not been very ambitious during my layovers since I returned in March and I have stayed very local! I guess it is hard since I have been to Paris so many times (too many to ever try and count) and from studying there, I feel that I have seen it all (but can that really be possible). Anyway a flight attendant on my trip had suggested going on the Fat Tire Night Bike Tour. This is a very popular tour among crew members, but I have never gone...have always been too tired to wake up in time for the day tour and was just never inclined to do the night tour. Well this time I said yes.

I rode a bike through the streets of Paris the other day and it was the most freeing experience. Yes the roads are crowded, but I couldn't believe the feeling I had....just like being a little kid on a bike. It had been a while since I rode a bike and I loved going down the hills (there aren't too many where we rode) and standing up to go up the hill! We rode from the Eiffel Tower to Notre Dame and the Ile St. Louis where we stopped for an ice cream cone. We then rode over to the Louvre passing by the Jardin de Tuileries and then down the right bank to the Eiffel Tower for our boat cruise. We rode around the courtyard of the Louvre which was so amazing and beautiful. It was great just looking at the full moon (well almost full) from a palace that amazing and just thinking how many people had stood in that spot.....surreal.

It was a magical night and I will be forever grateful to my fellow crewmember Barbara for suggesting that I take the tour in the first place. Paris is a city that will always be special to me....even though I have lived there and spent most of my work time there, it is a city that I have vacationed in many times as well. This was just a reminder of why the city is so special and just shows there is still more to do!!!

New Goals

Well....I certainly must thank Julia for putting the simplemom.net on her website. I think that this woman has some wonderful ideas and it has been an inspiration for me! As most people know Rob and I really want to move back to NYC. We said that we would move next year, but now we have decided that it might not be the best decision financially. We have decided that we will stay here (and yes in our apartment) until we have paid off school loans and the one car loan that we have. Once we free up that money then we will feel a weight lifted off our shoulders and be able to live comfortably in NYC. I don't really know how long that will take....hopefully by the time Reese is school age-yes our student loans are huge!!! Rob's alma mater for grad school is Yale and it wasn't cheap!!! haha

At least now that I have made the goal we can settle into life a little more comfortably. It was hard always being up the air with buying a house, deciding what to do next, and of course answering all the questions about our life. I guess that might be one of the hardest things for me because many people think that the dream in life is to buy a home, have a family, etc. What is funny for me is that I never dreamed of owning a home....I always loved living in apartments in NYC and Boston and of course here in ATL. I know that I am not a lawn/garden person and I don't want to keep up with that maintenance...I seriously can only imagine what our house in Centennial would have looked like if we lived there. I am not a decorator person (although I absolutely love seeing how people do it and watching those shows). I am just not creative that way. Accepting it makes it a lot easier...now if other people could realize that their dreams don't have to be mine....but maybe that is really how I perceive things and not really reality....your thoughts????