Our First Night

Finally, I've caught up to our first night in our new house! I guess I'm only a little over a month behind now... As I've said before, we closed on our new house on Wednesday, November 10. Originally, we planned to close on the house, visit it for a few minutes and maybe have the guys bring the first load over. Those low key plans quickly unravelled, for the better. Instead, the evening turned into a festive, fun event where we ate pizza with Jason, Andrea, Bapa and Dendi, the guys brought a huge load over and we capped the night by spending our first night in our new house sleeping on mattresses on the floor. It couldn't have been better!

Dendi and Jason got together to make a banner to welcome us to our house. Then, Maria (who sold us the house) completed the look by adding balloons and balloon shaped confetti. So sweet. By the way, Eli was absolutely in love with the confetti, he collected it and resprinkled it over and over again!


Eli and Keira got in the celebratory mood by giving huge smiles to the camera, playing hide and go seek and loving the new carpet.

Fall Musings

The weather is decidedly winter-like, but as I'm trying to catch up (and will be for a while!) I'm writing this blog about our fall. These musings are about our ordinary days -- not related to any holiday or the move. Here goes...

-- Daddy Love.


I'm home with the kids all week, but time with Daddy has a more special, magical quality to it. For one thing, when Daddy's home, we have a one-on-one ratio again. That means that Eli and Daddy can build huge block men and not worry that Keira will knock them over (since she's being entertained by Mommy).



It also means that Eli can go for a bike ride on his Diego bike as fast as he wants since Daddy doesn't have a baby strapped to him.



Not only do both children get more attention when Daddy's home, but as I stated before, magical things happen with Daddy around. Bathtime fish toys turn into "bubbly fish", start talking and jump into the bubbles in Daddy's presence.


Not only do plastic fish talk and jump, but car windows behave magically around Daddy, as well. This fall, suddenly the car windows in the Alero responded to voice commands for lock, roll down and roll up. It had Eli in stitches. Then, one magical Sunday, Eli's radio (child friendly MP3 player) started talking in a tired old-man's grovelly voice. Eli still talks about it, even though the radio only talks on Sunday drives on the golf cart which the weather has now made near impossible.

-- Day Long Golf Cart Rides. Speaking of golf cart rides, that was one of our favorite things to do on the weekend during our beautiful fall weather. We would pack the kids up (sometimes bundle them up) and head out to the park of our choice on the golf cart. We would end up hitting about three to four parks throughout the day. Sometimes, we would eat lunch and nap on the golf cart and sometimes we would head home. Often, we'd only head home if the golf cart charge demanded it. It was an awesome way to spend a weekend day. And, it's one of the things I think I'll miss since leaving Peachtree City. Although, I have a feeling we may do day long golf cart rides to downtown Senoia and the park, instead this spring.




-- Week Day Fun. Of course we love having Daddy around, but the kids and I did okay during the weeks by ourselves, too. With the gorgeous fall weather and no mosquitoes (!) we spent a lot of time in our backyard. Both kids spent a good bit of their time in the sandbox.




They also like playing in the rocks, throwing balls or frisbees, riding in the Cozy Coupe, playing croquet...



Or, just eating --


Speaking of eating, Keira continues to move in the right direction, although some days are faster than others. Her favorite still seems to be spaghetti. She requests it at least once a day and is perfectly content with cold sauce straight from the jar.


But, her highchair was also a great place to learn to color on paper, or her tray or her face (!) with markers.

Halloween, Part IV -- Trick or Treating at Grammie and Babo's and the New Subdivision

This year, we decided to trick or treat at our new subdivision. So, after we had a quick dinner at Dendi and Bapa's, we drove to Grammie and Babo's to Trick or Treat before it got dark and we headed back to Senoia. It was fun to see Grammie, Babo, Keira and Eli's excited faces. Grammie and Babo appreciated our trek and Eli and Keira loved showing off their costumes and trick or treating at such a familiar house.



After our visit to Peachtree City we headed back to our new subdivision to trick or treat. It was amazing -- like a block party. On our new block, everyone was out with their kids, greeting neighbors and enjoying the chilly evening. It's such a friendly, warm neighborhood, we are so lucky to now be a part of it.

As I said before, it was a little cold. We bundled Eli up in his jammies under his costume, and I put some layers on Keira, too. She spent most of her evening trick or treating and cuddling in the sling.

Halloween, Part III -- Subdivision Halloween Party

On Halloween afternoon, our new subdivision held a Halloween party. Even though we hadn't moved in yet, one of our new neighbors (who planned the party), generously invited us to come. We had a great time! There was yummy food -- you never can have too much sugar on Halloween, right? Eli thinks there is never enough chocolate to be had!


The biggest hit of the afternoon was the huge, inflatable slide. Eli, Keira and I waited in line over and over and over again to take our turns -- super, exhausting fun.




After we had stuffed ourselves full of party food, played a few games and slid down the inflatable slide many times, the kids played for a while at the playground. Both Keira and Eli spent some time on the slide and Keira spent a good bit of time playing in the wood chips. It's such a great playground, we are so lucky to now live right behind it.

Halloween (very belated!) Part II -- Pumpkin Carving and Avenue Trick or Treat

In all of the mayhem of packing up for our big move, we did manage to get and carve a pumpkin. Eli enjoyed helping to design the pumpkin's face after Daddy had a brilliant suggestion. He advised Eli to draw and cut out some shapes that he thought would be good for the pumpkin while I scooped out the inside, which Eli was not impressed with. It worked like a charm. Here he is posing proudly with the finished product.



The day before Halloween, we attended the Avenue's Annual Trick or Treat. This year, the secret got out and it was a madhouse. It was so packed that when we got separated it was hard to locate one another again. The kids enjoyed it, and we all had a fun, festive time. Unfortunately, there was no chocolate to be had, so we headed up to the bookstore before we left to satisfy Eli's craving. Here Eli's bravely and very tentatively sampling a grape lollipop which I think he promptly gave to me. :)

Boxes, Boxes, and More Boxes...

Moving with two small children is not for the faint hearted. But, thanks to some amazing help from the Moores (1,000 thanks to all of you!), we survived. Two weeks ago, on Wednesday the 10th, we closed on the house and spent our first night on mattresses on the floor. Then, Scott, Jason and Tom took Friday off of work and spent the better part of three days doing the heavy, grunt work of moving us in. Eli was battling what we thought was a cold, while we were packing up our old house, Keira started to sniffle, and by Sunday Scott was on the couch with what we think was the flu. Ugh! By Monday, I was right there with them. So, our first two weeks have been hairy at best, while we tried to unpack, Scott tried to work, and we all tried to recover. Fortunately, I think we've all recovered from the flu although, I'm on steroids, and Keira's using her nebulizer since ours went to our chest. Eli, who was the first to get sick, has finally gotten off his rescue inhaler after 2+ weeks. But.... our house is huge and gorgeous!

Our favorite room so far, is by far the playroom. It's huge and has space for all of us to hang out and play for hours. Being at home for hours on end here is no struggle. At our old house, the kids and I would have to leave, we'd get claustrophobic and cooped up. But, here, it's been a joy. Our yard is gorgeous, too. And, just on the other side of our backyard is one of our favorite playgrounds. Even though, Scott's had the whole week off for Thanksgiving, he's been busily building shelves and a tv stand to facilitate more organized unpacking. So, the kids and I have spent lots of hours on our own, while Daddy tries to finish his building projects before school starts again.

My favorite day with the kids so far, was a few days ago. We spent a leisurely morning playing in the playroom, then got ready and took the golfcart into downtown Senoia to one of our favorite destinations -- The Senioa Coffee Company. Eli loves their chocolate chip muffins. Then, we played around downtown Senoia, took the golfcart to the awesome playground downtown, then went home for naps. Later in the afternoon, we walked around the subdivision with the double stroller and later ended up in our subdivision's wonderful playground.

***

Okay, so I wrote this post a LONG time ago, and finally just got around to posting it. I have not spent much time blogging lately (obviously!). I've just not gotten back in the swing since the move. I've also spent what little free time (nap time) I have during the day doing Zumba, which I love! Hopefully I'll get back in my routine soon and continue my sorely needed updates. :)

Halloween, Part I -- CDC Trick or Treat

Last Tuesday, Eli's preschool went Trick or Treating around the high school. At the last minute, when Dendi called to volunteer, I decided to dress up Keira and tag along. I'm so glad I did -- there were tons of great photo ops. This year, Eli decided to be Mickey Mouse. At the beginning of September, when we started looking at costumes online, he was interested in being Blue from Blue's Clues. The Blue costumes looked a little chintzy, but on the same page they showed some Mickey and Minnie costumes. Almost kiddingly (since I didn't think he'd want to), I suggested that he could be Mickey and Keira could be Minnie. He got really excited and wouldn't entertain any other ideas. Since I knew that their years of coordinating Halloween costumes were likely numbered I happily ordered the matching costumes. They turned out great.

Here's Keira showing off her "Mi Mou" costume and Minnie eating a pre-Trick or Treat cracker to build up her strength.



Before hopping in the car, I had the kids pose for a few photos. Of course, the ones of the two of them didn't turn out as I'd hoped, but they're still worth posting.




When we arrived at Eli's preschool Keira was in seventh heaven, as she is whenever I let her stay and play a little. She LOVES his school. She especially loves the slide in the middle of the room and the perfectly proportioned chairs. After taking a few slides she waited for no invitation to sit down and have a little breakfast.



Right after Dendi arrived, we all set out. It was great that Dendi came to help. At first, she held Keira which gave me the opportunity to hold Mickey's hand for a little while. Although, Kaitlyn held Eli's hand for most of the Trick or Treating around the high school. It's one of the great things about Eli's preschool program. They have so many teenage "teachers". On field trips and for special events, they each have a teenager assigned to them. Fairly quickly, Keira made her opinion known -- she was not a fan. I think she may have thought she was at the doctor's with all the long sterile hallways and small rooms full of strangers. Dendi and I left with Keira after about five rooms.



Keira recovered quickly once we left the high school and headed to Mike and C's for some brunch. Most of the restaurant was filled with retirees who were tickled to have a miniature Minnie in their midst.


After filling up, Dendi, Keira and I headed out for a walk and a trip to the park while we waited for Eli's preschool day to finish.



After I picked up Eli, we made once last appearance in their costumes. We drove to CLT to see Grammie at work. Fortunately, it was the most successful trip to the thrift store with both kids, ever. Eli slipped his costume over his shorts (he had taken it off when he got hot) and both kids seemed to enjoy the attention of my mom's coworkers. To make the trip even more magical, Grammie found Keira a perfect bike. The fact that the bike had to be stopped so that I could take the picture explains Keira's expression, but I absolutely love Eli's grin!