Hi, It's Me....

So, since the last time I spoke with you all (1) we've celebrated Troy's 30th birthday, (2) found out a friend of ours is expecting (a baby!), (3) our friends the Airlines gave birth to their first born child, and (4) my BFF Charity graduated and obtained a PhD!!!! I tell you, 2012 is the best year ever!  So, I'll have pictures and posts as soon as I catch up on sleep, work kept me super busy this week so I am in need of catching up on some missed hours of sleep.  This post is being drafted from bed as we speak.  

Goodnight folks,

SG

To Quote Ice Cube...

"Today was a good day!"  (Not everyone is going to get that! ha!)  But anywho, as I've mentioned, 2012 is going to be the best year yet! So much to look forward to! Welp, one of those things is the birth of little Baby Airline.  Our friends Eric and Sonja are expecting their first son, due one month from today!  I'm going to be an auntie...AGAIN! 

So, why was today a good day? Well, Sonja invited me to come with her to her ultrasound!!! Not only did I see little Blueberry's face in 3D, I also heard his heart beat!  Sure, may not be a big deal to you, but it was a HUGE deal to me!! I. heard. his. heart. beat!  Amazing.  Tears were shed from my eye balls. 

p.s. I call the baby Blueberry (1) because he was the size of a blueberry when I found out that he existed and (2) Eric and Sonja are keeping his name a secret until he makes his grand appearance so I can't call him his real name yet (i.e. I don't know it!).  

So anywho, today was a good day!  Blueberry is perfectly perfect! Six pounds and one ounce and growing just right.  I'm so excited for him to get here so that I can love all on him!! I'm going to be an auntie!

I heard his heartbeat ya'll,

SG

Upgrade

Our new camera arrived last week! With the London/Paris trip slowly approaching, we decided that we needed a new camera to capture all the loveliness that we are expecting to see!  With that in mind, we went with the Canon EOS Rebel T2i for our new family camera.  We have a lot to learn, but we tested it out this weekend on a trip down to Atlanta to visit the family and celebrate my mom's upcoming birthday.  

Troy and I hope to catch a class before London so that we can get the most out of the fancy new camera.  I will say, even with my simple "no-flash, point & click" pictures (like the one above!) this weekend, the quality is one million times better than my usual iPhone and small digital camera pictures! 

See...

 

Miyah loves her some Uncle Troy...but hey, I can't blame her! He's so lovable!

Also, Miyah is crawling ya'll!!! I could not believe it! She is crawling (fast!!) and puling up.  That means, most likely, the next time that I see her, she will be walking.  Oh goodness, what's next, college?! Too fast!  But anywho, as you can see from the last picture, I took mom to Ici Paris, the same spa we visited last year for her birthday, for mother-daughter massages! It was great!! 

We ended the day with dinner at Flip where I had the one-of-a-kind Krispy Kreme milkshake! 

Oh, and speaking of delicious sweet things, mom also requested my famous lemon cupcakes with lemon cream cheese icing.  My friends request that I bake this more than anything else so I actually hadn't baked them in over a year to give them a rest.  This camera (we've named the camera Lea after the fabulous photographer who did our wedding pictures) took the best cupcake pictures I've ever taken! And again, this is just on a basic "no flash" setting.  I have not even come to understand all of the personalized settings.

 making the icing...

So, I realized, mid-baking, that I was out of piping bags and cutting a hole in a ziploc bag to use my piping tools failed, so my bootleg attempt to ice the cupcakes was just cut a hole in a Ziploc bag and squeeze the icing through the hole...

After chilling in the fridge over night. Packed and ready to go to Georgia...

Also, let me just say this--this was my first time making cupcakes with Gretel, my stand mixer.  WOW!! So much easier!!!!!!  I almost didn't know what to do with myself when I wasn't personally mixing things with a hand mixer! So great!!  Stand mixer = yet another major upgrade!

Yay for the upgrade (and double yay for an excellent Saturday),

SG

We Interrupt this Program for FFFF....

Okay okay, I have been a very bad blogger the past few weeks!! Work is still great but it's busy and my weekends have been filled with FFFF (I'll get to what FFFF is in a sec!).  So, while I haven't blogged in a few weeks I have tons to share and lots of pictures/stories, etc.... That being said, I'm going to use this post to to catch you up and then we'll be back to the posts about our house and the status of each room!! (there have been some updates in the living room already and in the office, which is the next room that I will post about this week!!...)

So, what is FFFF?  It's one of my priorities for 2011: Family, Friends, Free Time, and Frequent Vacations!  And that's definitely what I've been up to the past few weekends--enjoying time with family and friends in various locations, taking advantage of the spontaneity one has without children and the ability to go places one has when employed! :-D  No, in all seriousness, I really want to enjoy this time in life with the people who mean so much to me before the day I become a mommy and the F stands for Frequent diaper changes!

So, three weekends ago I decided to visit my niece and nephews on their spring break in Orlando.  You remember this cute crew from when they visited last summer, right?  Well, it was double plus good to catch up with them and as a cherry on top, I also got to see Mekala compete in a cheerleading competition!  Unlike the first time I saw her cheer, this time I watched without tears forming!  They grow up so fast!

I love these youngun's so much! Since they live in Florida, I only get to see them about once a year which just isn't enough!  Shooting for at least twice this year!  Anywho, as you can tell from that dashing medal around Mekala's neck, her team WON!! Not only did they come in 1st in their division, they won the award for Sportsmanship and BEST TEAM ALL AROUND!!  Love it!! Here's my champ sporting the team winning banner

And while Mekala cheered, the boys got restless and made their own routine

Here's me and Miles.  I must say I am so grateful that he is such a sweet little boy.  He was born right as I was about to leave for law school and then they moved back to Florida shortly after that.  I was so concerned that he wouldn't remember me, but he's just such a sweet and loving boy and I just can't get enough of him!

and let's not forget my sister in law Jameela!  The proud mom of these three kiddos!

and my road trip/shopping partner for the weekend Catrese!

So that was three weekends ago.

The next weekend (two weekends ago) Morgan and I headed to Cary, NC where we stayed at the boug boug and super nice Umstead Hotel.  A must visit hotel!! LOVED IT! Even fancier than the Four Seasons, for sure! (my hotel room had a door bell, phone in toilet, private room for toilet, it was just too much!)  You see I had to be in Cary for work on Friday and the firm put me up in the fancy digs so of course I invited Morgan along to share in the fun!!  I didn't get many pictures but here's me playing in this nice and fancy tub and bathroom with phone! (iPhone pictures...I left my camera!)

(not really using the facilities FYI)

And now for last weekend.  Last weekend was double the fun.  First, Friday night Troy and I along with Allison and Cody went to (drum roll) the CELTICS game in Atlanta!!!  I came prepared too: Wearing my Rondo jersey shirt (thanks Charity for the EXCELLENT birthday gift!!), a Sign, AND a flag (which Cody brought me from BOSTON on a recent work trip!!!)

 And guess who I saw!! Standing in line waiting to order nachos I look over to the right and I saw Ray Allen's MOM!!! Well, the back of her! LOL!! It was too cool.

Speaking of mom's, the final stop while in Georgia was to visit my mom to celebrate her birthday!  I took her to a spa for her very first massage. She LOVED it!! I mean, who doesn't love a good massage?!  Here's mom after a relaxing massage.

So, that's what's been going on over this way, at least in part.  Stay tuned for more FFFF updates throughout the year.  But, before that, be on the lookout for a blog entry on our office and how that room is coming along!

Super happy,
SG