Ice Ice, Baby...

I know I'm a little behind (surprise!) but we survived Ice Storm 2011. The entire middle GA area shut down last week on Monday and Tuesday due to the snow/ice that fell and accumulated on the roads. We're the South...we don't handle cold very well at all. However, that gave me an excuse to not go to work Monday and stay home and cuddle with my two favorite guys! While it was all very pretty, it was very cold and I was not sad to see most of it melt. There are, however, still some areas that have snow/ice hanging on! Here are some pics from our 5 minute adventure out in the yard.






What is this stuff?!

Chasing Ella

Playing with our next door neighbor, Garrett

Pretty frozen leaves on the loquat

Our house


Our very icy driveway!

The view up the street

The view down the street

Merry Late Christmas!

We had a wonderful Christmas this year! Very busy, but so much fun. We woke up on Christmas morning at our house to find that Santa had come. Reese wasn't quite sure what to make of all his new toys, but he quickly warmed up to them. He was also interested in helping Mommy and Daddy open their presents. Cameron fixed our usual Christmas morning breakfast of sausage balls, Sister Shubert rolls and cinnimon rolls, bacon and eggs. It was all very yummy! While Reese took his morning nap (which ended up being his only nap of the day) my family came over and the adults exchanged gifts. After he got up, he opened his presents from Aunt Emmie, G-Mommie and Papa.

We got ready and left around 1pm to head to Cochran where we spent some time with Cameron's Dad and his family. Reese got lots of goodies there! He got a tool box, a rocking horse that rolls, and a box with some wooden train stuff in it. He kept walking over the fireplace and saying, "hot! hot!" It was really cute. We ventured over to Cameron's Mom's house for a little while and spent some time with them. Reese got even more goodies. He got a scoot and ride Tow Mater wrecker that he loved. We had dinner over at Ma-Ma and Grandaddy's house (Cameron's grandparents) where Reese got another riding toy! I tell you what...this kid is going to be pro a pushing himself around on stuff!! Although he did not get an afternoon nap, he still did great! He got a little fussy, but not too bad. He was worn out, but a happy little boy.

Reese's haul from Santa!

In addition to the Cozy Coupe and ball pit, Santa brought Reese some books, some blocks, a couple of bath toys, some trucks, and a chatterphone

Checkin' out the Cozy Coupe

When he saw this he pointed and yelled "Baaaaalllll!"

I'm goin' in!

This is fun!

Comin' out the tunnel!

Goin' back in!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Goodnight!

Merry Christmas to All and to All a GOODNIGHT!

Makin' a List

And not in the good sense. Cameron and I are both off work next week. But do not be confused...there is plenty of work to do at home. Here's a list of all the things we need to do over the next few days:

1. Clean out my closet
2. Clean out Reese's closet and bathroom
3. Clean out spare bedroom
4. Clean out den

Are we seeing a theme, here? And yes, it is only four things, but if you saw all four of these things, you'd understand why this is a very daunting task. Let me just put it in perspective here...the "den" used to be a 2-car garage. And it's full...of stuff. Don't know where all this stuff came from or where it's gonna go, but it's down there. There are three sofas down there. Well, I know that some of this stuff will need to go in the attic, but that's gotta be organized first! So, there's lots to do and not very much time to do it in!! Hope everyone has (had) a wonderful Christmas!

New York State of Mind

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Not even sure if anyone out there is still reading or still cares...but I promise to catch up over the holiday!**********************************************************************************

So, I have officially turned the big 3-0! Almost a month ago, actually (at least when I first started this post!). Guess you could say I'm having a hard time admitting it, as evident by the delay in this post. Cameron said until he turned 30 in April, he was going to call me his "old lady". Thanks, honey! In all seriousness, thirty is not the worst thing that could happen. Especially, when your hubby whisks you away to NYC to celebrate. And that's exactly what we did!

Cameron and I left the Saturday before my birthday and returned that Tuesday. We arrived around lunchtime on Saturday and headed into the city. After almost 2 hours (I'm not exaggerating) we arrived at our hotel. We stayed the Carlton in midtown. It is a really cute, smaller boutique hotel on Madison. It was a great mix of contemporary and classic. Saturday afternoon we spent at a bar called Firefly, aka the Georgia bar, to watch part of the UGA/Auburn game. It was pretty fun because we were actually winning when we left...which of course, didn't last! Because you don't go out of town on one of the biggest rivarly gamedays and not manage to squeeze in some of the game!

We ate such good food it was ridiculous! The night before my birthday, we ate dinner at Upstairs at the 21 Club. All I have to say is Best. New. York. Strip. EVER!!! After dinner we went to see "Promises, Promises" starring Kristin Chenoweth and Sean Hayes (with a small appearance by Molly Shannon). It was very good and funny. The next day we went to the Met and saw some pretty amazing art, walked around Central Park and took a carriage ride. We hit the theatre again for a matinee of "A Little Night Music" starring Bernadette Peters and Elaine Stritch. Also very good and Bernadette Peters was amazing...truly a Broadway legend!! We ate my birthday dinner at Aureole. It was, as Cameron says, at little more "Top Chef" than the 21 Club. Also very good! Our last day was spent just wandering around the city, doing a little shopping, and of course, some good eating! We ate our last meal at the Stanton Social, a very chic tapas restaurant. I'm telling y'all...we didn't put a bad thing in our mouths the enitre time we were there! This is only the second time I've been to NYC and absolutely loved it...but was absolutely ready to come home. I missed Reese and just the slower pace. But I can't wait for next time. Too much to do and see for a three night stay. But at least I can say I rung my 30s in in style!!

Genius Baby?!

The following montage is what happens when you ask Reese to "put his paci in the compartment."

So, I'm not really sure if this is something a normal one-year-old could do, or if Reese is just a genius! Well, I have my biased opinion! One morning we were just hanging out in the den and I said, "Reese, can you put your paci in the compartment?" I was blown away when he actually walked over to the activity table, opened it up, and stuck his paci in there. I thought it was surely a co-incidence, but everytime I asked him to do it, he did! Then, he usually opens it and takes it right back and sticks it back in his mouth. I mean, where did he learn the word "compartment"!?!

Here are some other things he's doing that I think are pretty smart:

When I ask him "who am I? What's my name?" he very enthusiastically responds: "Mama!". He does the same when we ask him about Cameron..."Dada!"

He rolls his trucks on the floor while blowing raspberries with his lips (don't know where he got that...I didn't teach him that!)

He knows that juice and milk are two different liquids and he cannot be fooled!

He knows and says "quack, quack!" when you ask him what the duck says.

When you ask him if he wants to put on his pjs he walks to his room, when you ask him if he wants to go wake up Mommy or Daddy he starts walking back to our room.

He will pick up his brush and "brush" his hair.

He can point to his teeth and point to your nose.

I'm sure there are many other things he can do that I am leaving out, but those are the things I can remember for now! He amazes me daily and I love to see his little wheels turning in his head and the light in his eyes when he figures something out. The little mind is wonderful!!

Lions and Tigers and Bears...Oh, My!!

Well, maybe just lions!! Okay, maybe just one lion...but he sure was a cute little lion. Reese was a very scary lion for Halloween. Since he was so little last year (read: barely 1 month old) we did not dress him up last year. So this was his first real Halloween. Our next door neighbors invited us over on Saturday for a chili supper and trick-or-treating. There were probably about 40 kids that ended up being there. They had four vehicles pulling trailers of hay for the kids and parents to sit on. Reese and Cameron took off on a trick-or-treating adventure. That lasted ten minutes. I stayed behind and about ten minutes after they left, Cameron came walking through the door. Apparently Reese didn't care too much for the noise of the ATV he was being pulled by and started screaming. So they got out at the first house and walked back home. Oh, well...maybe next year. Enjoy the pictures of our scary little lion!!

If you look closely at the last one, you can see Reese's pumpkin has his name carved in the mouth!