The Big Arrival!

My parents arrived on Sunday around 5:30pm, and we watched as the caravan pulled into our cul-de-sac. John & Jodi both flew up to Minnesota to help them drive to Charlotte, and they had clear, sunny skies and great roads to travel the whole trip. This week will be a fun, flurry of activity and excitement as they begin their transition to the Queen City. First on the agenda is to unload the massive U-Haul truck into a storage unit, and get their belongings organized.
Not far behind, my aunt & uncle, Rose & Reese Johnson traveled the same path to Charlotte from Iowa, and they arrived on Monday around 1pm - Just in time to help unload. We're looking forward to a great week together.
Elise was mostly excited that my parent's dog, Maggie, is at her house and just loves to follow her around, and then points to her food dish & jabbers. I think she's telling Maggie to eat her food.
She's already had Maggie sit on her chair and tried to read a story to her...too cute!

Milk!

Winter Wonderland Comes to Charlotte!

It is such a rare thing here in Charlotte, and yet on Tuesday morning we woke up to a beautiful blanket of white snow! John and I commented on how it seemed to glow inside the house with all the white reflecting outside. Here's a few pics from our part of the world...Elise and I went out briefly to check out the new phenom. I showed her outside and said, "Elise, look at all the snow!" She just said, "no, no," and so I'm not sure if that was her version of 'snow' or 'no, I don't want it.'


What's on your shoes?
Trudging through the snow...

Exploring the Snow

Little Princess

Elise is all girl! I had to smile this morning as she was eating her breakfast bar in the formal living room with her pink fur-trimmed jacket, stuffed animals lined up next to her along with a couple of my rings on her fingers. I grabbed the camera to capture the moment. (Smile.) Oh, the things little ones do & how it amuses their parents!

Big Changes in 2009!

We have been busy organizing our closets, drawers and different space here in the last week or so, because we're making room for new house guests! After several months of tentative plans, my parents are officially moving to Charlotte! They were able to make some final arrangements last week Tuesday which freed them to make the move - and it's happening quickly. They are busy packing up their home and will leave Mt. Lake, MN on Saturday, January 24th, and they hope to arrive at some point on Sunday, the 25th. They will stay with us for awhile as they get settled and find a place.
Also - I had an incredible, flexible, part-time job opportunity fall into my lap in December, and I've decided to accept a position with a team at Merrill Lynch. I will begin in February working two and a half days, and my mom has graciously agreed to watch Elise for me. I am both excited and a bit nervous about how it will all work out, but I feel like this will be a good fit for my stage in life. My priority is first of all my family - and I will still be spending more time with them than I'm away from them. The work is mostly project based, and I'll get a chance to work with systems, databases as well as some of their marketing material.
So - there's an overview of everything that is happening in our part of the world! Have a great week.

New Year 2009

Life here is Charlotte is back to normal after a busy Christmas season - at least for a little while! Elise has been enjoying her little playhouse, however, as I post this, it has been moved outside so that I can have my family room back.
About a week or so before Christmas she started giving us big smiles when we pulled out the camera; squinty eyes, big grin, but in many of our pictures it almost comes across as a scowl? Where did she learn to do this? Pretty funny.
We stopped at Ikea on our way home from D.C. and picked up a duvet fill for her crib, so once we got home I used some leftover fabric to make her a duvet cover. She curled right up into it, and now she loves getting into her bed, snuggling and having her books read to her.
Musical? We're not sure yet, but she does love to sit and play at the piano. Again, you can see that we have the "smile" pose from her.

A quick trip to Philly

This post is late in coming - but I still wanted to document our visit with Ben & Toni. Right after Christmas was Paul & Jodi in Alexandria, VA, we drove to Philly to see Ben & Toni. It was a quick trip, but we managed to get in some fun together. They treated us to a morning at the Philadelphia Zoo & we enjoyed seeing some of the animals.

Group shot at the zoo.
John doing his best "Rocky Pose" at the top of the stairs of the Art Museum - or was it a library?
We had lunch & of course enjoyed Philly cheese steaks. Here's a fun snapshot of Toni - Elise had control of the camera.
We walked through a historical section of Philly & visited the famous Liberty Bell.
Back at Ben & Toni's loft - Elise & Ariel enjoyed a story. Toni nannies for Ariel, and she joined us for the afternoon around the town.
The skyline view from the rooftop - thanks Ben & Toni for having us for a quick visit.

Christmas 2008

I'm catching up on blogging after a busy December. Here's a quick recap in pictures. Christmas Eve we spent here in Charlotte with our friends, Lans, Chrissie & Ali Slack. After a meatball dinner, we let Elise open her gifts & play long past her bedtime....
Elise playing with her Little People town set.
Oh, the wonder of Christmas through the eyes of a child.
On Christmas Day, we drove to Alexandria, VA to see Paul, Jodi & Curt. Elise was very excited to see Curtis, as well as the dog, Bailey.
Elise gave Bailey a reindeer dog toy & helped her open it & sniff.
The day after Christmas we headed to a great park in Old Town Alexandria & got a little fresh air
Here's my delightful piece of Birthday cake - Jodi made Chocolate cavity maker cake with chocolate sauce & fresh raspberries...yum!
As part of my birthday gift, Jodi and Paul agreed to watch Elise for a day so that John and I could go into D.C. We enjoyed the American History Museum where we saw one of Abraham Lincoln's hand-written drafts of the Gettysburg address, Ruby slippers from the Wizard of Oz & several other very interesting artifacts throughout our nation's history. Next, we toured the National Portrait Gallery. Our favorite display was the oil paintings of all the Presidents. In fact, George W. Bush's portrait had been newly hung the week before. We had lunch at a great little French cafe' and had to take a picture of this great cheese platter.
John and I in front of the National Christmas tree, with the White House in the background.
Little did we know, Paul & Jodi took Elise downtown during the day to the National Aquarium, and I guess she loved the fish & especially the sharks....is this really my daughter?
The following evening, we all again ventured down to the National Mall.
We enjoyed a fun spin around on the Carousel. The weather during our stay was really very balmy for D.C. and it was beautiful to be out.
At the National Sculpture Garden, they have an ice rink & we decided to give it a try...what a fun time!
They even had little skates for Elise, and she made it around the rink once, and then she was done. I think she may have been overwhelmed with all the people, or she was scared about how she couldn't stand up on her own...but it was very cute!
One of her favorite things at the rink was watching the Zamboni...
Thanks, Paul & Jodi for hosting such a fun time over Christmas in D.C.