January 2016

We're officially settled in Charlottesville Virginia, and I'm still having trouble believing it.  After having been "in between" for so long, and separated from my family for weeks, I keep treating each outing with Tag as a rushed event, like I have to show him around before he leaves...  And then I remember, "wait a a minute -- we're all together now! This is the new normal!"

Evelyn started her new Kindergarden class at the Montessori here (amazing school - I've been so excited to have her go there).  She transitioned seamlessly, as you would expect Evelyn to - and has even had a playdate already with a little girl who fell in love with Ev in the first week. 

Evelyn featured in the school flyer, looking right at home

Emerson is now 4 mornings a week in a Toddler class; he took to it like a duck to water.  "My class rhooom!" he happily exclaims when you ask him about his day.

checking out his new classroom on the 1st day

Paulina came back from Poland to our Tiny House and will have a nice, big au pair network here in C'ville -- she's already taken advantage of the improved geographical location (better airport options) with trips to Chicago and DC and Philadelphia.

Drake, our wonderfully patient realtor, has been helping us with our house hunt... the options are not awesome in the price range we'd like to be in.  We knew cost of living (housing) would jump with a move here, but it's become brutally clear that we are going to have to suck it up and take the big plunge with a large investment.  There's a house we've fallen in love with in a planned community that will meet all our needs:  yard (c'ville size), 4 bedrooms + room for guests, an actual laundry room (yes, a luxury here), tons of open space (even a workshop for Tag), and a 2 car garage, in a kid friendly neighborhood. Plus it has a stunning view off the back deck.  So far so good -- we have agreement on a contract.  Now we need to get the financing locked in and the clock will start ticking down to a March 30 closing.  Here goes nothin' !

We're happy in our Tiny House neighborhood - we can walk to an amazing french bakery, several cute parks, and we can drive downtown in 2 seconds.  The people are active and friendly -- there's always foot traffic up and down our street.  The dogs have really made themselves comfortable in their little backyard and on their long front porch -- we have visitors who want to "meet the bears" and I'm proud that our puppies are so well behaved and friendly.

To ensure we were properly inducted as new arrivals to VA, storm Jonas hit us with an epic, record breaking winter storm that dumped LOADS of snow in just a day and a half.  With all our snow gear in storage (oops) we've had to be creative -- and lucky -- we went sledding in the blizzard at nearby Washington Park, and on our way there (cardboard box in hand) a man peeked out of his home and offered us use of his sled (so cool!).  Poor Em was freezing (no snow suit) so we had to check out early, but we flew down the slope a couple time -- Emerson giggling the whole way.  Tons of folks were there at the hill, including Ev's friend Addie and her sister Lilly, so she had a ball sledding with friends.  The deep snow piled up fast, and everybody was worn out pretty quickly, especially after the trudge back to the house (so many hills around here!!!).

Snow Seats

Emerson's enunciation is improving so fast these days. He's moved from "ayee" to "evee" and from the early days of "na na" to "pahna" to the impressive "paula" and even "paulina."  He can introduce himself, "I ayson!" And he's talking all of the time.  We don't always understand him right away, but he can generally make himself understood.  And of course,  as comes with the territory of a 2 year old, he can throw ultimate fits when he doesn't feel understood or feel in command of the decisions that impact his toddler life.  His big fat tears are hard to tolerate... I swear that kid melts me.  At night, with the stress of the new job and the uncertainties of our housing, I miss having him snuggled up next to me...the awareness of him and his health, his vitality, his sweetness, and his sister just down the hall - that always brings me peace and I can drift back to sleep.  Now that he's sleeping soundly through the night in Evelyn's room, I miss my little snuggle-bug, but I can peek in on both of them via the video monitor and that helps.

DISNEY!!!!

I met Kathryn for lunch one day, and lamented that I hadn't had the chance to take Evelyn to Disney yet...and she was that perfect age for the magic to work all it's wonders.  Fabulous Kathryn's response?  "Well let's go then.  How does November look for you?"

It was a girls weekend and it was PERFECT.  Chloe, Ev, Kathyrn and me took Magic Kingdom by storm with Magic Bands and full-on Princess spirit.

We're Here !!!!

We met so many wonderful princesses...Ev was floating on air !

All the planning and complex itinerary stuff had us a little stymied, but we had a great Disney planner who laid it all out and all we had to do was show up in the right places at the right times.  We really felt charmed -- everywhere we went it was like we ended up in the perfect spot for a parade or a performance or an intercept with a fun character.  And we saw SO. MANY. PRINCESSES. The planner gave the girls each an autograph book and they filled the pages with their favorite characters.

Perfect, charmed moment after perfect moment.

It was so pretty everywhere, decorated for Christmas.  And there was a fun holiday parade in the evening as a bonus, with all of Magic Kingdom lit up in twinkle lights (we pulled an all-dayer-into-the-nighter --- whew, we were exhausted).  There was a show in front of the Castle that we somehow, inadvertently, got a perfect front-row vantage point for, and Elsa made it SNOW.  Yes.  It was incredible.  Ev was dumbfounded and beyond fascinated -- she was glowing with joy.  I cried. It was beautiful.

Watching Elsa in front of Cinderella's Castle - True Happiness

Ev impressed Mary Poppins with her ladylike manners

May 2015

Water makes everything better.  And goggles?  That's just straight up awesome.

Ev has fun cheering on neighbor Matthew at his high school water polo matches (SBA)

Rain never stops their fun

diva girl at a birthday party - she was the most elegant young lady there

All the Divas at Skye's birthday celebration at Sweet & Sassy Salon

Evelyn's flower garden, coming along nicely

Finger Paint is a favorite

those earrings that seemed like such a great idea...they back-fired :-(

Evelyn's Happy Family

Drumming at Rainbow Lake Playground in Overton Park

dinner al fresco on the patio

oh that swing ... endless fun !

My Teeth !!!

The Graham's

EMERSON
my emerson just gets yummier and yummier.  he has this beautiful soft skin, and these chunky little feet that are always wiggling and pushing up against you.  his hands are so perfect - even when i can't keep up with his long fingernails.  He has his Oma's hair, this straight blond hair that grows so fast - can't keep up with that either. His eyes are bright deep blue and so big and expressive.  Even when he pouts at you.  And boy can he pout (!).  I love him like crazy.

he is growing his vocabulary lightening fast.  "Pea!  Pea!" is his please.  He's very polite.  You ask him a question and you get "Yeah!" or "No." or "Okay!"  He's not sure how to say "may i have some of your drink?" so he does this straw sipping impersonation instead -- his little lips pursed together with this adorable little "sipping" inhale sound.  Irresistible.

Tag has proclaimed him an athlete.  He took one day to start walking on his own, with a little teetering here and there.  But by day 2 he was solid.  He is extremely good with macro motions - even throwing a ball.  And he's impressive with micro motions -- able to place small items into exact positions, like inserting cards back into the paperboard card box after he dumps them out everywhere.

Boys are indeed different.  That is obvious with Emerson.  We are learning which things are sturdy in our home, and which are breakable.  Things you can pick up are either good for swinging around, banging on other things, or throwing.  And all with great gusto.

His little body (i get the sense that he is petite for his age) is so strong and solid and capable.  He is learning to climb up onto things now (uh oh) mostly through his swim lessons where he's learned how to pull himself up and out over the edge of the pool.  Swim lessons have been good, but I'm not sure how much swimming he's learning. He LOVES water, and doesn't at all mind being dunked down into it. The issue is that he thinks he should be able to float around on his own, so it's hard to hold onto him.  And if he wrenches free from you, he sinks like a stone. This summer at the pool should be interesting....

EVELYN
Big sister.  Not an easy job, but one that she seems to be enjoying more and more now that her brother can keep up with her a bit. Emerson won't brush his teeth unless his sister does it with him.  and he even pretends to spit like she does. he watches her like a hawk.  and wants to do everything she does, good or bad.  They hunt for worms together in the backyard, each with a bucket and a small spade, lifting up stones one by one and peeking underneath.

She glows and fawns over him when they're having fun.  She tries to help when he's fussy...but that usually backfires and we end up hollering at her to let him be.  And she can be quite the conniving mischief maker when she's not in a great mood or she's frustrated that her brother is stealing more attention than he deserves.  Im so proud of her for taking it all in stride.

She lets him destroy her room without batting an eye - she enjoys his company. Always one for social activity, emerson helps her manage through times of boredom or loneliness for the mayhem of other kids.

she's been reading more and more.  it amazes me how she can sound out words that are totally foreign to her and sort out sentences piece by piece.  she seems to have a love of numbers and is always adding up numbers for us and asking about the days in the month and the weeks in the year. she makes these books out of random drawings and has a story behind each page that she can recall even weeks later, writing in the titles on her own, sounding out the words in her mind.

we picked up this pot holder weaving kit on our trip to san diego as a coming home gift for evelyn.  she took no time at all to figure it out, even wanting to crochet hook the edges on the finished square (we turned two of them into a super cute little purse - which turned into a battle around how to turn that purse into a merchandizing strategy so that she can start earning her own income...watch out world - this one is not going to settle for small !)

she's been asking about another trip - she wants to go on an airplane trip so she can use her suitcase with the rolling light-up wheels.  I need to plan some visits to cool places and get this girl out in the world.  I'd love to take her to europe again... we'll see...

April 2015

We had a bit of a rough Easter with some of us coming down with a bug, and with Elina's final days before heading off on her travel month.  But we still found the time and energy to dye eggs with friends, have a last-minute pulled-together easter egg hunt, and enjoy the warming weather.

Evelyn started her flower garden again this year -- I think it will be even better than last year.  We got a bit more organized with it, and she circled the seed plantings with some annuals that are already blooming for some instant color.  For this year, she selected: watermelon, carrots, english daisy, zinnia, cosmos, larkspur - all from seed.  Only after suggesting some live plants for the border did she agree to select a few for color: marigolds, dianthus, and petunias.  She and I worked out there for over 2 hours planting and marking the rows. Was a great morning.  And we got to enjoy the scent of the lilac bush nearby that is in full enthusiastic bloom for the first time since I planted it 10 years ago.

The patio is once again our evening hangout spot with the mild weather and (for now) zero mosquitos.  Emerson LOVES playing in the water and walking up and down the path along the back of our yard. Both kids got into finger painting the other evening, which is perfect patio fun. This really is a great house in the spring.

making her awesome sliders

with neighbor dog Sadie

watering her flower/watermelon/carrot garden

future golfer...for Brasil ?

March 2015

Evelyn cracks us up all the time.  Man, she's a dynamo - have to work hard to keep up with her.  Sharp as a tack.  I've been complaining about needing more exercise to boost my energy, so the other day we were out playing - making chalk hop scotch and decorating our names on the pavement (evelyn: "I'll go get more Scotch!!") - riding her bike up and down the sidewalk -- scootching around on plastic strap-on roller skates - etc - and Evelyn says, "Let's do jump rope mamma! You could use the exercise." Out of the mouth of babes... So she runs and gets two jump ropes (i had no idea she had two...i was thinking i'd get away with just watching her jump) and she says "Let's jump to 100!" She's proud, as she should be, of the fact that she can count to 100.  Got some great cardio that day!

She has tremendous ability to focus on a task that interests her.  She loves anything artsy, and is even learning to knit at school (much to Oma's delight). I love watching her apply herself to a project - she's so intent and engaged.  She wants me to sign her up for art camp this summer - she went to a camp at the botanic garden over spring break that she totally LOVED. Now she's not interested in dance camp - just art. Oh, and soccer.  She amazed Tag and I by running (full tilt run) and kicking along a soccer ball -- for like 20 minutes straight. I think we need to get her on a team.  Burn off some of that incredible energy (!)

Em is really in a hurry to communicate.  already he has a verbal vocabulary:  hi, bah-bye, yumm, hot, cheechoo (thank you), poppa (puppy), poppa (poppa), yeah-yeah-yeah!, uh oh, up, ow, and mamma. He's been pretty good at some sign language, but now that's getting pushed aside as he strives to use words - Evelyn has been instrumental in this. He will do anything she does - and even wants to drink out of big-boy cups thanks to her role modeling.  We're still struggling a bit with 'nah nah' -- that seems to have all sorts of meanings, from water to Elina to Evelyn to all-done to just-figure-it-the-heck-out-already.  It's amazing how much he understands (everything).

He's coming out of hiding a bit also - not so afraid of new people or places.  In fact, he was so comfortable at a Botanic Garden kids event the other week that he wandered out across the rehearsal floor into the middle of a circle of dancers, just checking things out.

He knows how to whistle.  That was a shocker.  We were out strolling in the backyard and pointed out some birds - I whistled just to mimic them and reinforce the concept of birds, and the kid whistled right back.  Sort of an in-and-out whistle, with the sound forming on the inhale.  Pretty awesome!

Snow Day ! with Elina

Just mopping the floor for ya mamma

Yes - feeding himself already.  In such a hurry to grow up!

Art Show at school - this work is titled "Tornado"  (yes, how very apropos)

with her friend Adrianna
wearing a self-made necklace of heart stickers and twine

middle of the dance rehearsal circle.  no worries.

with the prima ballerina, as the Black Swan - Ballet Memphis