Happy Birthday Lee!

To my dear husband, Lee, I wish you a wonderful 29th year! You are the love of my life and a man of integrity, strength and diligence. I admire you, seek to emulate you and respect you profoundly. You are the love of my life and it is such a privilege to be your wife. Here's to a remarkable husband, father, friend, surgeon and so much more...Happy Birthday, Lee!

The above picture is yet another example of Lee's goodness. At our recent Family Reunion he reached out and spent some quality time with my second-cousin, Michael, who really needed a buddy.

Choo Choo!

Sullivan loves her new "choo choo" that my parents brought her the other weekend! Full speed ahead!

When was the last time...

you and your spouse got away together? Hmmm....can you recall? Well, if you are due a good getaway (and aren't we all?) I've got a great suggestion: Madison, GA. For all of us in the upstate it is super close (1hr 45min), but for those much south of ATL, it would be a long drive. Nevertheless,Lee and I had an amazing day and a half escaping to this small town. It is a walk back in time to a slow, quiet southern town flanked with local shops and flavors, enclosed by centuries-old neighborhoods of white-washed homes, often supported by thick, tall columns that beckon you to sit in a rocking chair and stay a while. And stay a while we did desire to do...we quickly found ourselves quizzing our innkeeper about the hospital, the schools, the realestate. Whoa! We were investigating Madison as a longterm destination...who knows!? All I do know is that there is something deeply comforting about a small, southern town...and even more so one like Madison that offers much in culture, cuisine and proximity to larger cities like Athens and Atlanta. We ate well at several places, enjoyed our Bed and Breakfast and loved that we could walk everywhere within minutes. Lee and I both felt rejuvenated and re-connected afterwards...well worth the bit of planning and funds that the trip involved. So...when is your next getaway? I bet it will do you and your family a ton of good. Here's to happy travels!
PS- A special "thank you" to my parents for making the weekend possible!
!Mil gracias!
PSS- The above photos are from Halloween, Madison, and time outside with family.

Good things ahead

Although it was a rainy weekend for the most part, Lee was home all weekend and we got to spend lots of time with friends! Friday we got to go to a Halloween party at the Hollenbecks and then spent a Halloween "trick or treating" stroll and dinner with our friends, the Forets...and thankfully, we have lots to forward to this coming weekend when Gigi and Waylo (my parents) come to visit! In addition to just getting to visit and share our life here in Greenville with them Fri-Tues, Lee and I get to sneak away for 30+hrs on Saturday to a bed and breakfast in Madison, GA! This couldn't come at a better time as Lee has had long call days, a big talk to give this Thursday and a huge test coming up that have left him spent to say the least. He needs a good escape! And mama does too! :) And the town of Madison captivated us as we drove through it this past summer, I am thrilled that we can now go! So the story goes that during his civil war raids, Sherman decided not to burn the town because he felt it so beautiful. And beautiful it is! Antebellum architecture is one of my favorites and I've even found one of these old homes for us to stay in. Above you'll see a photo of one of the gorgeous homes of Madison (not the one we're staying in, but lovely nonetheless) as well as two other photos from the Hollenbeck's awesome Halloween party for the residents: me and Beth in one photo and Sullivan and her son, Dane, eating dinner in another. I hope that your Halloween was a spooky good time!

Lift!

Lee has had a really tough 4-5 last days, battling fevers and flu-like symptoms as well as being on 2nd call all weekend, and being called in almost the entire time. Boo. Through all of his crazy schedule and lack of sleep, illness and weightloss are inevitable consequences. Bless his heart, he can not get a break and we miss him dearly!!! Needless to say, he definitely needs a good "lift" and hopefully, Sullivan and I can raise his spirits later today and this week. Baked goods may be in order here.

Sullivan herself has also been working on her "lifts" lately, leg lifts I mean, as she has embarked on a rather prissy stage all of the sudden! She has taken to wearing a bucket as a purse, her bib as a necklace, donning stacking rings and baby rattles as bracelets, wearing real bracelets and hairbows as well as dancing. Below, she is bouncing and marching to her favorite "go" (i.e. "show") before bedtime and I think in an effort to "dance" does a little arabesque, or leg lift, off to the side. This makes me laugh every time! :) I really am enjoying these "little girl" things...I love to do her hair for example.

Craziness

For some reason in the last two weeks or so, I have had a few close calls with locking myself out of my car. UGH! How could I be so thoughtless, I think to myself! This is such a simple task, opening/closing a car. Well, this has been really frustrating, not to mention inconvenient and simply ridiculous on my part. I've just got to think more about this simple action of locking/unlocking my vehicle! So,let me retell my experiences: he first instance was last Thursday as I was hustling to campus #2 for class #2 in the rain and in a moment of flurry in trying to get the umbrella out of the backseat and not get wet, I mistakenly locked myself out of the car with the keys inside! There I was standing in the pouring rain as my purse (with keys and cell phone inside),umbrella, uneaten lunch, all teaching materials, etc., inside the window peering at me. Immediately I had a moment of panic. First, I ran inside to escape the rain and try to find a phone to call Lee. Then I realized that I hadn't committed to memory Lee's new work blackberry number and as he doesn't carry his cell phone anymore, I wasn't sure how I was going to contact him. With 45 minutes til class, I finally stumbled into a kind colleague who ingeniously suggested to call campus security to see if they could use their police tools and break in to my car. Boom-battah-bing, it worked! Alas, 10 min til class, disheveled, dripping wet and hungry, I shuffled to class just in time! Whew!
But wait, there's more!!! This morning after pulling up to Sullivan's daycare, I am trying to hastily, but effectively, brush her teeth while she is still in her carseat before I take her in to her classroom. Somehow, I close her door, try to open the front door and realize that I've locked her inside! AHHH! No! Not again, I say to myself! Swiftly, I run into the daycare center and encounter a kind granpa who is quickly helping me brainstorm who to contact at 7:25am to help me once again break into my own car. Meanwhile, Sullivan is sweetly handling her sweater and is happy as a clam. Then, as I am trying to collect myself, I put my hands in my pocket and POOF! There are my missing keys! WHAT? Am I losing my mind here?! I am done with all this car key drama. I don't like drama. I don't do drama. Ugh. Thankfully, Sullivan remained intact and happy through all of these instances, but man! I am wornout by this self-inflicted craziness.

Check up!

We had a thorough check up this Monday for Sullivan's 18 month marker. She very bravely endured multiple prods, pokes and 3 terrible shots. Ouch! She is lookin' good and healthy, although still a "small fry" in the 25% for height (30 in) and weight (22 lbs), but her head circumference is in the 64% which Lee feels good about. She has a continuous and normal growth pattern, so Dr. Clark assured me all is well and not to worry about her size/height. We've recently tried Triple Paste Ointment to deal with our raging diaper rash and it seems to be worth its pricey price. We'll see...Her recent rashes have been so bad that she was bleeding in areas and her wince and wail as I changed her was tortuous for both of us! Ah!
We saw a new doctor this go around and she asked some poignant parenting questions for me like...
-How are you discipling Sullivan?
-Are you brushing her teeth? How is that working out?
-Is she showing signs for potty-training readiness?

Gulp. Our baby is no longer a baby! I feel like kindergarten is around the corner!