Christmas with the Kids

We went and spent Christmas Eve Morning with the kids since Santa visited them early so they could go to Knoxville and see Michael's sister and her family. Grandma Patty sent more than enough presents, so we helped them figure out which presents went to which child (though Julian opened both of theirs from us and wondered why he got a pink fish!) and Jeremy played the good uncle and took all the packaging off from grandma's presents.

And we're off!

Regan got Violet a little kid laptop! 

"Open it! I play with it now!"

Auntie Margaret put tons of tape on, so I had to help V open them

Michael helps V open a particularly sticky package

Julian making a fish face and Violet liking the sparkles

She was very amused by the nose on the elephant ornament!

We finally got her to rip some of the wrapping paper!

It was a fun morning, and the kids got some really neat stuff. Julian got an Angler fish and when he pretended like it was going to bite Violet SHE bit the FISH! That girl is fearless! She got some more stuff for her play kitchen, and a little dollhouse that goes with a book series, several books, and of course ornaments from me and Jeremy. It will be interesting to see what gets donated and what they end up keeping! (every year, Grandma Patty gets them way too much stuff for their tiny house, so Michael will put some of it up in the attic for when they grow out of their current toys, and some of them go to the thrift stores for other kids to enjoy!) Who knows, maybe next year they'll have a little Clark baby to help open their presents!

Vivi turns 1!!

Our favorite little "niece" turned one on February 26-- what a year it's been!!

Best Auntie and Uncle ever-- Jeremy made the cake and I decorated it!

Meg at the pizza table

Violet gets excited-- she knows something is happening!

Jeremy and Meg deliver the cake

Violet wasn't sure what to do with this thing

"Sooooo, what do I do with it?"

Jeremy and Michael try to get Vivi in to it

Julian tries to steal her cake

Trying it...

OK, maybe this?

Why yes!

Yeeesss!

Nomnomnom

She got pretty messy, and splattered cake all over!

Exhausted!

But happy.

Good weekend with Jeremy, got some resumes in at shops around Atlanta and had some pretty positive responses, good 4th of July at the square with Sarah, made ribs for the first time (to great success), and introduced Sarah to Ru San's and sushi!

I'm pretty tired, so this is all going to be pictures so I can head to bed!

Went to The Matador with the Kavanaughs, Sarah, and her mom on Tuesday
Violet had refried beans for the first time! She loved them!

A heron we saw around the corner from my house--
he picked up and flew up the street just like he was driving through!

Some of our picnic spread and after dinner games-- Scrabble and Uno!

Jeremy and Sarah finish up a game of Uno after dinnerNo-holds barred Scrabble was fun! We did other languages, acronyms,
and all the other stuff you're not allowed to do in a normal game

Me and Jeremy before the fireworks beganThe fireworks display made Decatur sound like a war zone! We think we
know exactly where all those property taxes have been going...

Pictures! Yay!

I've got all my pictures up from last week-- all 103 of them! Thank goodness I got Flickr's Pro Account, I've taken so many more pictures since then! I also took a picture last week of my pepper plant-- it's gotten so much bigger!! I need to transplant it, and I just keep on forgetting... or walking outside and realizing how miserable it is. I know it's hot in other places, too, but we have gotten next to NO rain this summer and it is unrelenting!



Tonight, I went to Eats with the Kavanaugh's and Michael's sister and brother in law and niece. It was the first time I've ever been there, which is funny because all my friends in high school went all the time. That is exactly what I said to my mom before I walked out the door, and about a half hour before I ran in to... all the kids I hung out with in high school at Eats. I got to spend some time with the baby, which is always fun-- she's started laughing so much now, and thinks it's hilarious when I tap her nose and make a "boop" sound. It's pretty ridiculously adorable. Hopefully, Michael will put up pictures from last weekend soon enough because there was a really cute one of us making the same face at each other. I haven't had a picture with the baby in months, so I made Michael take a couple!

After dinner, we got his sister and her family settled at the Kavanaugh's and went to Meg's mother's house to hang out (they're staying there tonight) and chat. Turns out Nan's a big beader, so she's going to help me make the bridesmaids gifts for the wedding! I'm so excited!

Tomorrow is Julian's 3rd birthday, he's very excited, and he even got to talk to Jeremy on the phone tonight. We're going to Leapin' Lizards (which is full of moon bounce type stuff) and having pizza (which Sarah and I will pick up after moving her mattress and box springs in) and cake from Publix, so needless to say there will be *plenty* of pictures!

Ciao for now!

Seriously?

AT&T is really getting on my last nerve, but the sad thing is that apparently Sprint is even WORSE! I mean WOW!

They told me they wouldn't be charging me for anything, the guy said that the only charges would show up on my next bill, and yet... THEY FRICKIN' CHARGED ME! I'm in the hole $160 because of them! I am *seriously* going to kick someone's butt, and they're going to give me back my money and a month of free data. This is my decision. It looks like they decided for some reason to charge me for the Blackberry (according to the packing slip) which is BS because it was an upgrade and a refurb, therefore it was free of charge.

Anyway, I'm not going to keep ranting, I know you have all heard quite enough of my stupidity of walking in to AT&T traps lately.

I went over and watched the kids for Meg and Michael tonight so they could go out for Michael's birthday and had a lot of fun. Julian's adorable, and made them let him stay up until I got there so he could say hi and after about 10 minutes of cajoling we got him in to bed (he's a surprisingly obedient child for being SOOOO hyperactive!) and Meg and Michael were on their way. Vi was really fussy, turns out she was a bit gassy and her tummy was upset, so after getting her system worked out, I put her down on the bed and cranked up the ambient baby noise (like, the sound of a baby's hearbeat, the sound of a hairdryer, rain falling on the roof, that sort of thing) and she was out for the next few hours. Talked to Jeremy for a while, then put Vantage Point on to watch-- it was ok, but fell short of its potential, I think. Vi woke up around 1230a fussy again, and I thought she might be hungry so I made her a bottle-- she usually only eats like 4oz max but she drained the 5oz bottle! And then looked at me as if to say, "Um, I know that's not all." I burped her (that's what happens when you're a greedy baby!) and she started to drowse off again right as they got home.

I really enjoy watching the kids for them, they're so well behaved and I know they don't get a lot of time to themselves, especially since they have the new baby. Violet's about to turn three months and is getting her personality worked up and set in place, and does this hilarious thing where she'll take her pacifier out of her mouth while she's sleeping, start to get grumpy, and then put it back all without waking up. I can also feel her starting to work her legs when I'm burping her, like she wants to stand up, so I think she'll be an early walker!

Tomorrow I'm going to our staff meeting at Palate, and Susie's bachelorette party is tomorrow night. I'm excited, it'll be fun, but since I don't have any money to spend I feel a little awkward going out. Oh well, it'll be an excuse to dress up cute, I suppose and then I'll just go hang out with Meg and Michael and drink for free with them and play with the baby some more! (note: I do not handle babies while drunk, nor do I really get drunk-- I just have a beer or two. I have no desire to be that lady on COPS)

Ciao!

Yeah, yeah

So it's been a few days. I know you're all dying to hear more of my ticking-clock baby lovin' or rambling about my wedding, but just in case...

Watching the kids for Meg and Michael was really great, I love those kids so much-- and Julian, what an absolute HOOT! I think I taught him how to say "touche" which should be amusing. Three year olds, not so much with the actually grasping French parlance. As much of a nutter as he is, he does love his baby sister-- "My baby!" --and apparently spent part of the afternoon trying to convince Meg that HE was the one who carried Violet for 9 months! Every minute over at the Kavanaugh household is an episode of "Kids say the darndest things", I think. Also, it was nice to see Meg and Michael. I kept Meg up late (again) talking about the wedding stuff, and family stuff, and shared my invitations with her (which she seconded and approved), and poking at the baby who ate a little and then totally conked out. We both agree that babies are hilarious.

Sunday was low-key, but I got to catch the MotoGP race from Motegi which was nice. Even though that weekend in Indy was traumatic, I really enjoyed the race, and spending time with Jeremy, Josh, and Sarah! Sadly, Nicky Hayden got put out in the first lap by Takahashi, but Pedrosa didn't end up in first so I'll take what I can get.

Monday was loads of fun, it was our last AAC meeting of the year at CPK. I got there early to sit out in the commons at Atlantic Station and work some more on the Treasury office (I'm the financial adviser now for Gamma Sigma, and it looks like I'm going to do a really good job-- I'm so excited!) overhaul, and sat and talked to Vicki for a while outside while we waited for Lizzy and Becky. Dinner was OK, the best part was the appetizer. I know a lot of restaurants "known" for something don't usually have other good food, but CPK usually does! I got a panini that wasn't really anything special (though at least the Caesar salad was good), I don't remember what Vicki got, Becky got the Thai linguine which was good, but not stellar, and Lizzy got the pesto penne which wasn't really anything special, either! We also split desserts, which *were* pretty good and we certainly didn't mind spending the money since they had a deal that 20% of our check went to the Arthritis Foundation!

Anyway, I'm starting to get a little more excited about next year. It looks like Jeremy and I will be in Atlanta (since I can stay at Palate if I can't find a job anywhere else), which is really nice. I know I mentioned getting back in touch with all my old friends and their families, but I'm also really attached to these girls at GSU! Don't get me wrong, I would be ALL OVER being on AAC for Kappa Omicron, and I know it would make Rachel and Rebecca so happy, but I feel like not only do they need really good, solid, consistent leadership and alumnae support, but that I really am a part of the chapter now. Maybe that sounds silly to other people, but they really are like my sisters-- I love them, even though I want to shake them sometimes, and I can't wait to see what wonderful things they do with their lives and this chapter!

Tonight at work was SLAMMED. Thankfully, Matthew and Derek helped out in the dishroom, I don't know how we would have made it through otherwise! As a result, I'm able to keep my commitment for the collections payment this month for sure, and I can buy a bathing suit to take down to Florida with me! Huzzah!

Oh, and Jeremy and I are going to (most likely) split my gas to go down to Florida this weekend. I'm really excited, I miss him so much I almost can't stand it sometimes!

Off to bed with this tired girl! Ciao for now, pals!