A decade full of memories

When I think about 2009 and everything it included it's a bit overwhelming. And then if I dig even further and think about the last 10 years, I completely lose it. Honestly, to imagine myself in 2000, just a gal living in Raleigh, NC getting my feet wet with a career in public relations, enjoying weekends with Graham and Aunt Jenny (who used to cook up a mean breakfast!) seems like just yesterday. It’s really mind boggling that a decade has passed.

And as I’ve described before, I met Mike that same summer at a concert and I remember thinking to myself, “How did I never end up talking to this guy?? We grew up in the same hometown!” Crazy. And then of course, everything our life created after that point. I moved to Charlotte, we bought our very first home together, then later we tore it down and built our new home. We got our first dog together and then experienced such unbearable pain when we tragically lost Milo 3 months later. It took us some time but then we brought home another loveable greyhound named Jack who filled our hearts with so much joy for next 7 ½ years.

Throughout the last decade, the two of us traveled to see friends and family during some of the best trips ever. We saw the RedSox at Fenway (our first time ever at Fenway!), traveled to NYC to see friends and the RedSox (Mike braved the sea of Yankee fans and went solo a couple of times:), numerous trips to the best spot in Atlanta – Graham’s house in Midtown, back to Raleigh on countless occasions to see some of our best friends in the world Corinna and John, one of the most relaxing vacations ever in Mexico, on top of the super fun Fez wedding also in Mexico, then off to a far away island in the middle of no-where Canada for our “electricity and toilet free” excursion. And then of course, our perfectly planned (thanks to Mike!) honeymoon in St Martin, on top of numerous other road trips here and there including our surprise trip home to see family for Thanksgiving.

Some consider Mike and me pretty good planners. We’re both organized to a fault and honestly, by some measures, maybe a little boring. But that’s how we roll and to us, it’s a great way to live. These excellent planning skills mapped out our lives for the latter half of the decade when we got engaged, saved money to have our super fun wedding, then we saved money again to build our new home, all while getting pregnant and bringing our beautiful Eloise into the world. Yes, all of the above was perfectly planned. Our i’s were dotted and our t’s were crossed. And if we have anything to say about it, we’re glad we did it that way. Surprises aren’t the best for us whackos. Yes, we’re crazy, we know it:).

The past 10 years also included several weddings, lots of babies, many moves for friends and family and tons of memories created along the way. My mom now enjoys the life (and weather!) of a southerner living less than 15 minutes from us in Charlotte. Todd and Lena got married and then recently announced they are having a baby girl in 2010. Corinna met the best guy on this earth John (aside from Mike of course:) and together they battled cancer, built their dream home and now are expecting twins. Caren followed her dreams and moved to NYC to climb one heck of an impressive career ladder, and later moved to Columbus, got engaged and married a fantastic Minnesotan who sadly does not have a Canadian accent like his wedding party:). Andrea and Doug finished up school in Rochester and moved home and did so with the best 2 ½ year old little boy on this earth. We love you Brody! Graham moved from Raleigh to Atlanta, to NYC and back to Atlanta again bringing with him the determination and tenacity to enjoy life that I’ve admired about him ever since the day we first met in 6th grade. He’s now in love, also loving a new home and a new job and has ended his decade on the best note I could have ever wished for a best friend.

Val and Gary got married at the coolest spot in Western New York – the front porch of the Lenhart Hotel. Over the course of the following 2 ½ years, they brought two of the most beautiful babies into this world, Jake and Avery. Jen fell in love with Ryan who also happened to be living in Charlotte (I actually followed Jen here:), got married and had their little blue-eyed beauty Lilian Alyse, earlier this year. Kerry rekindled with the love of her life and moved to Vail, Colorado on a whim. As far as I’m concerned, that was one of the best decisions she ever made in her life. The love between Kerry and Gus was unlike any I’ve ever seen. Our hearts broke the day we heard about his tragic accident that killed our dear friend. We will never forget all the laughter he brought into our lives and more importantly, I will never forget the renewed sparkle he brought to my best friend Kerry’s eyes.

To wrap up my decade of memories, I must talk about the love of my life, Miss Eloise Claire Vail. There was a very long part of my life when I never thought I’d have kids. I never had the maternal instinct and certainly not the patience that all of my friends had with children. And at the time, Mike and I were on the same page. He was uncertain as well and we pledged to make that final decision after we got married. Bar none, bringing our beautiful baby into this world was the best decision we have ever made. That little girl brings more laughter and curiosity and love to my life than one person could possibly imagine. Not only did I end up with a maternal instinct (who knew?? lol!) but now it’s come to the point that the time I don’t spend with her, I miss her like crazy. Watching her grow and learn and discover is what I live for. I love what each day brings and the time I spend with her is something I cherish more than anything possible. I chose to leave my career (besides working a little part time:) and stay home with her and there is never a second that I have regret. Aside from Mike, Eloise is absolutely the most important person in my life and if it’s at all possible, my love for her grows by the minute.

And with that, I raise my glass to a decade where each of us took chances, we grew and prospered, we learned and we loved and we became better people because of it. Have a wonderful New Year and cheers to another decade as cram packed full of memories as the last!

Love,
Allison

Legwarmers

Thanks to the baby whisperer, the Monkey had on one of the cutest outfits ever today. When I came downstairs from working, this is what I found (see below). The legwarmers are back out and ready for some winter wearing!  And as soon as she starts crawling, those things will really have a purpose:) Which btw, she's really getting close on crawling. She's up on those hands and knees, sways to and fro, but just can't put it all together. She'll even move a knee forward but then back it goes. It's so funny to watch her. Anyway, back to the legwarmers...

And here she is practicing her sitting....

Also, we tried carrots today for the first time. She liked them, no prob. She didn't eat too much but she did have quite a few spoonfuls willingly and didn't reject them at all. So far we're good to go on oatmeal, sweet potatoes and carrots.

And, if you scroll back up you may notice the Monkey has a sweet scratch under her right eye. No, she wasn't in a latenight Donnybrook (Mike taught me a new, fun word). Rather she dove at her Animals Hide-and-Seek book yesterday and banged herself on one of the flaps. And this happens literally right after I say it's one of her favorite books and that she loves the flaps. Now she has a battle wound from it. Oops. I've retired the book for a few weeks. I imagine she dove at the book with excitement. She does like finding the animals, but I can't have an eye poked out because of it. So we'll be taking a rest from it for a little while.  And yes, she's fine. She actually went down for fuss-free nap immediately following the flap incident so no worries. Tough little Monkey.

Big girl food

I'm sure this will be the first of many posts where I show pics of Eloise covered in food. It's too funny not to share. Here she is today enjoying some oatmeal, sweet potatoes and a teething biscuit (Note: Teething biscuits are for babies older than she - you should see the laundry list of warnings on the box. But, I felt it was OK to give it to her if I was right next to her monitoring.  And let me tell you, teething biscuits are equally as hilarious as her covered in sweet potatoes. They are what I like to now say, raw hides for babies. She sucks on it and licks it and it eventually gets all mushy and soft. Just like a raw hide. lol!)

Ok, your first batch of food pics:

Before I forget...

Baby brain continues so I need to stop for a moment and post some items that I have on my mind before I forget. And really, who am I fooling? I didn't have a memory before the baby arrived. Excellent.

First off, the Monkey is getting much better at sitting. I typically sit on the floor with her, spread my legs, put her between mine and we sit together. This provides her the bumpers (my legs) to bounce off of if she sways here or there. She's been really great at holding her balance and as of late, has very rarely needed my legs to help. I will say, she occasionally flails backwards so I'm glad I'm still there to support her. She needs me there for a bit longer. Oh, and I read somewhere (likely BabyCenter.com) that in order for a baby to crawl, they need to have mastered their sitting skills. The two go hand in hand as far as core strength goes. Interesting.

Also, we're big into "touch - feel" books right now. I've had them in her rotation for awhile and have been meaning to get these titles and authors down for future reference.  Oh, and one quick plug for Roger Priddy books. We have some that are "touch - feel" but others that are not and either way, these books are great for Eloise's age. The pictures are huge and very colorful and she is forever mesmerized by them. The ones we have are all board books, which we love. Example - My Big Animal Book.  She also loves Happy Baby 1, 2, 3.

Ok, back to the touch and feel books. These are the ones she currently loves (all book titles are linked above and below so you can find them if you are interested):

B is for Bear - Roger Priddy - after reading this book, she thinks all books are "touch - feel" and she dives at the pages thinking she'll find a fuzzy dog or "ducklings all covered in down." So cute.

Animal Hide-and-Seek - Jenny Tyler - this one is touch and feel and also has flaps to find the animals hiding. She loves the flaps as well.

Tails - Matthew Van Fleet - another big fav around here. She loves all of the movement and again, the areas where she can pet the different kind of tails - her fav is the "stringy" tail. Very cute book.

Another item on my "don't forget" list - here are some videos of Eloise on Christmas. Video 1, video 2 and video 3 (all are linked). These were taken throughout the day.

Speaking of Christmas, our tree is coming down today. I'd love to keep it up longer but it's literally petrified. So I've removed all of the ornaments, taken down our wreath on the front porch, stockings are packed and poinsettias are gone - were saying good bye to Christmas 2009 officially today. As soon as Mike gets home, we will remove the lights from the tree and get this fire hazzard out of here. It really was a beautiful tree and a perfect first Vail family Christmas tree. But it's time to say good bye. Until next year!

Here are a few of the very first pictures taken of Eloise. Such a precious little nugget.

Orange day

Were only 2 days past Christmas, after all of the toys that Eloise received from family and Santa and.......she prefers to play in an orange plastic bin. Background - Mike and I went to World Market today to try and find some more green felt bins that I bought a while back. I wanted to get a few more and continue using them as toy bins both upstairs and down. They look ok and they are great for collecting toys and keeping this house somewhat clean when the Monkey is napping or in bed for the night. Well, World Market didn't deliver. They were all gone - and now Mike is doubting that this is where I even bought them to begin with but I'm positive that's where they are from. I do have a minor case of baby brain (ok, maybe it's worse than "minor" but I swear, I got those stinkin' bins from World Market.). I digress. 

So in lieu of the green felt bins, I found a plastic orange bin in the Monkey's bedroom and brought it downstairs. It'll do for now. I set it on the floor and within 1 second, the Monkey did her standard scooch, knocked it over and immediately got into it and started knawing on the sides. Hilarious. It got to the point where she was so transfixed by the orange bin that I brought her toys to her just to see if she'd even be tempted to play with them again. Nope, not interested. Well, it took awhile then she started playing with them again.

In milestones news, she's definitely up on all fours quite a bit now. She continues her crazy plank pose and I suppose that is her muscle building exercise for crawling. But now she's also on all fours and then slips back down to her tummy. She stays up there for a little while, but then down she goes. I did think maybe it's because I constantly have her in fleece and that stuff is slippery but all clothes would cause her to slip so I'm assuming eventually she'll "get it" and she'll get up on all fours and actually stay there. Stay tuned.

Also, we started fruits and veggies today. Well, we started sweet potatoes today. I believe I'm supposed to give her one new kind of fruit or veggie every 3-5 days. I need to look up the "giving your baby solid food" instructions again but I do remember the Dr saying to start with the "oranges" and so sweet potatoes is what she had today. It must be "orange day".  She was very curious about the sweet potatoes and was pawing at me when I brought over the bowl and spoon. Then I gave her a spoonful and she was completely taken aback. She was definitely expecting oatmeal with milk and instead got some crazy new flavor. She ate maybe a 1/2 ounce, which I thought was pretty good for the first go. We'll try this again tomorrow.

Here is our playtime with the orange bin. This was pre-orange sweet potato eating session. Orange day. Lol! I'm retarded.

Happy birthday, Erika!

So I decided to bring the toys to her.

Love, love, love

I could not love these two any more!

And, happy birthday, Caren!

Merry Christmas!

What a wonderful first Christmas for Miss Eloise!  We began new traditions, shared in some old ones, and enjoyed watching the Monkey take in all of the excitement that this holiday brings. She absolutely loved tearing at paper (and promptly put it in her mouth), she was over the top overwhelmed by the presents (and had to go down for multiple naps due to being way over stimulated), loved having Grammie Judy over for Christmas Eve dinner and presents, and then waking up today to share presents from Santa with her Mommy and Daddy (and gave Mommy a wonderful Christmas present of sleeping until 7:20am!).

We, of course, took too many pictures so I going to share. And the Monkey got way too many presents. So many wonderful gifts were sent to her, it was crazy.  Ok, I'll stop yammering. Here are some pics from the Vail Christmas 2009. (be sure to check out the Monkey's new swim suit for Puddle Ducks, which starts next Saturday!)

Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all!

I wanted a "me and my Monkey" pic in front of our first tree:)

Puddle Ducks - we're ready!

Spending time with Grammie Judy

Christmas Eve PJs tradition (check out those monkeys!)

Presents! (lots of brightly colored plastic safe to put in her mouth:)

Dear Santa

If Eloise was old enough, she'd be writing this herself but since her penmanship isn't quite there yet, I'm going to help her out this year. This was the letter we sent off to the North Pole today...

Dear Santa,

This is my first Christmas and so far it's been very interesting. For some reason, my parents brought a tree in the house. I thought trees were for outside?  I have a mini Christmas tree that I left outside like you're supposed to. It's on the front porch if you want to see it when you come tonight.  So back to the tree on the inside - they put bright sparkle lights on it and big round red and gold balls, some candy canes and other do dads, all items that I've been told repeatedly not to touch.  What's up with that? Is this something we'll be doing every year?  Let me know.

Also, my parents have been running around with large rolls of paper in their hands and then all of a sudden, boxes end up under the tree.  What's up with that?  Let me know. Oh, and these boxes, I'm not allowed to touch those either. Bummer.

I've been told you'll be coming down my chimney and into my fireplace so I'll make sure that daddy has the fire out before we go to bed. I'd hate for your first trip to see me to be a dangerous one.  Oh, and I've been told you like carrots and cookies. I'll have those out for you when you get here. My Grandma Food makes lots of cookies so if you want more than what I've put out, there are several cookie tins on the counter. Help yourself.

Ok, so here's my wish list. This is something else I was told to do. That I get to make a list and send it to you and you'll come see me with presents. Thanks Santa. That's kind of fun. I think I'm really going to like this annual holiday. Oh, and before I forget, here is a video of me from today. I do the plank pose a couple of times in here. Pretty impressive, huh? I thought you'd like to see it but I'll be sleeping when you come. Thanks again Santa. Travel safely.

Love,
Miss Eloise

My Wish List:

1) Any brightly colored plastic object that I can stuff in my mouth.
2) Anything that plays music. I really like music. Mommy calls it Dance Party USA. I call it fun.
3) Oh, can you do something about this? I'd like for you to put milk in my sippy cup instead of water. I hate water.
4) Last, I'd like you to bring a new name tag for my cat Sweet Pea. He's my best friend. He lost his tag and I'm afraid someone will steal him.

Thanks again Santa. I love you.

The plank pose

I've never done yoga in my life and if I tried, I'd likely fail miserably. And Mike doing yoga? I don't think so although the thought is quite amusing. But apparently this lack of genetic make up from both sides hasn't stopped the Monkey from perfecting her own yoga moves. As of today, she now does a perfect plank pose. Learn more about the plank pose here. And since my yoga knowledge is lacking, the baby whisperer had to identify this for me.

The Monkey in her plank pose. I'll say it's a milestone although I'm not sure.

Consignment shopping

Huge score on the kids consignment shop today. The place was called Butterflies and Bullfrogs and had some really great stuff. I seriously could not get myself out of there. I spent at least an hour playing with the toys and then left myself a little bit of time to browse around the shoe and clothing sections. This place was not big but literally every square inch was filled with great baby stuff. Gear, furniture, clothes, toys, shoes, books, movies. The list goes on and on. Apparently they just opened in September. I had never heard of them before and they are located near my old job. But now I know why. I was gone by the time they opened. Actually, I was 3 months into this mom gig and needlessly buying everything for Eloise brand new. No longer. Honestly, I'm going to this place before I buy her any more clothes or shoes. They had stuff in there with tags still on them. Such an enormous selection, and some really cute stuff. Mucho impressed. 

Ok, so what did I buy? What didn't I buy??  Just kidding. I really behaved. But I'll admit, it's a good thing Mike was with me because I had a hard time deciding what to get the Monkey. He was on the phone when we first arrived so I went in solo and thank god he came in after me. It was starting to get ugly. I definitely needed him to reel me in. And where did he find me? On the floor in the back giving each toy a test drive. So much fun.

So the final tally was $33.45 and I got her 7 toys, 1 book, 2 pairs of shoes, 1 pair of jeans and 1 pair of jean overalls.  (btw - this reminds me - other moms, have you read Callie's Tally by Betsy Howie? it's a cute book. I laughed out loud quite a bit and I read it long before we had the Monkey.) Ok, $33.45 was the total. Are you kidding me? Oh, and get this - toys were 30% off and clothes were 50% off. That was so worth the trip! Not that it took us that long. It was only 30 minutes away. We will definitely be back. What a great store and I love buying baby toys, shoes, books and clothes second hand. Everything is basically brand new and it's sooooo cheap!!

Here are a few pics of some of our goodies.  Shhhhh.....don't tell the Monkey. She's getting all of those toys for Christmas:)

Oatmeal

Food update - so far oatmeal has been a winner. Knock on wood. Seriously - knock on wood for me. Thanks. I've been making it extremely soupy and she's so far "Four Christmases" projectile spit-up free. Thank god. Rice cereal spit-up was seriously unreal. Agh!

So Christmas is upon us and we've not bought a single present for the Monkey. How bad am I?? I hope Santa remembers our house!  No really, Mike and I are going out tomorrow afternoon and shopping specifically for her. No one else. We're going to hit up a kids consignment shop and then we're heading directly to the toy aisles at Target. I've got a wish list for her and so we're ready to go.  And, I have the baby whisperer here for a full day so I'm going to work in the morning, go to a Drs appt at 12:30, then off to shop for Eloise immediately following. I'm very excited to check out the toys at both stores. As I've mentioned (and both Mike and the baby whisperer think I'm crazy), I'm convinced I need to switch things up around here with her toys. She gets bored of the same old stuff. But of course, she LOVES her new car. We've been spending a lot of time with that fun new addition to Romper Room.

Best of luck to everyone during these last few Christmas shopping days. Wish us luck as well. We need it. I'm a little afraid of Target this time of year but we need to do it. And exploring the toy aisles - this will be our first time. How fun!

Here are some Monkey shots from yesterday afternoon. She by no means needed this outfit. No baby really needs a rugby striped cable knit one piece with a hoodie but how could I resist??

And then another shot where she's distracted by an animal - this time it was Sweet Pea.

Checking out the town...

It didn't take Eloise long before she ventured out on the big roads. She's really digging her new ride!

Eloise's first car!

Ahhhh, Christmas time. I love this time of year! I'm just like a little kid myself. As soon as a package arrives, I want to do nothing more than open it. Placing it nicely under the tree and waiting until Christmas day is very difficult for me. So when we received a package yesterday, of course I wanted to open it right away. I swear it was calling my name. "Allison, oh Allison...there's a fantastic present in here waiting for your baby. I'm telling you, she'll LOVE it. Open it. Open it up right now!"

I knew the box was for the Monkey and it was from Uncle Todd and Aunt Lena. And I was told that it would not be wrapped so if I opened it, there'd it be. Well that lone box lasted approximately 12 hours in this house before I busted it open (it helped that the Monkey was already asleep when it arrived.)

As soon as the Monkey and I got up today, I told her there was a present waiting for her downstairs. She was psyched! I could hardly hold on to her, she was so excited.  Together, we ventured into the dining room and opened up that giant box. And what did we discover?????  Eloise's very first car!!! 

To say that she loved this car is a complete understatement. She was in utter awe as soon as I handed over the keys to her very own red hot convertible! Yes, another one of those "no blinking" moments. Together we explored her new ride, got right in under the hood and checked out all of the parts. She has her very own horn to toot. Her car keys actually "start" the car with a very convincing engine starting noise and then songs that play out of her "radio."  And, she even has her own trunk where she can store all of her toys just in case she decides to take a pit stop on her next ride. Her wheel turns and makes fun noises. Her side mirror reflects her pretty little face - perfect for touching up her lip gloss, you see. And those plump purple tires....they turn on a dime! Honestly, it's like the made this car just for the Monkey!

The pictures are a total crack up. Here is the Monkey in her new car. Thanks Todd and Lena!

Bye bye Eloise. Have fun on your next ride in your new ride!