A Typical Saturday Morning...

Wake up at 8 a.m. (yes, you read that right, Norah has been sleeping all night an waking up at a decent time in the morning...we are so happy) and practice my skills, such as standing...


And pulling up...


A little tummy time


Eat my big girl banana chunks and oatmeal...mommy is trying to get me used to eating chunks of food in anticipation of starting to eat meats. She refuses to allow pureed meats in this house because they are yucky and stinky. She claims I will be a vegetarian until I can chew meat...


Watch my puppy Lila (or "Lala" as Norah sometimes calls her....her first word, we think) beg for some turkey bacon


Bath time


And a nap...


Maybe now mommy can work on her sewing...the dining room is a disaster!!

The Tail...

'nough said:



Pardon the camera shaking...that's me cracking up.

Holy Snow, Batman!

While our neighbors to the north are going to laugh at my next statement, we got dumped on last night. We have a about four inches accumulation, which is A LOT for Georgia. While is surely won't last for long, it is a pretty sight.

Looks like Valentine's Day dinner is on hold, as we've been watching cars slip and slide down the hill in front of the house.

A Rough Fortnight at the McHome

Poor Norah.

Ol' girl has been teething for two weeks straight. First the top two started to descend, then a new one sprouted up to the left of the two bottom ones. As if that wasn't enough, the one on the lower left is starting to work its way up. All of this tooth cutting has made for a very cranky little girl. She doesn't want to nap, doesn't really want to eat and wakes up periodically crying and chewing on her fist.

We should really buy stock in Baby Motrin.

In between her fits, she's the same old happy little baby. She loves flipping toys over and playing with the bottoms of them. At school, she likes to dump the bucket of toys out and beat on it like a drum.


Mom! You are interrupting important work here..


We're just praying that the last tooth pops through soon.

What's red and green and green all over?

In honor of the Go Red for Women campaign, Norah and I donned our crimson to help raise awareness of cardiovascular disease in women. Heart disease is the number one killer of women.



Mommy, you are silly!


One of my goals for 2010 is to be more green. To borrow a term from the BBC girls, it's called "yuppy crunchy". A smooth, silky exterior with a crisp, green, crunchy center.

So in an effort to be more "green", I found a local CSA (community supported agriculture) organization that supposedly brings local, organic produce to urban areas. Sounds great, right? Or so I thought.



The assortment of fruits and vegetables looked great at first glance, except: 1)the eggplant that I had planned dinner around was not in my bag (stolen? forgotten?); 2)the strawberries were rotten; and 3) half the "local" produce was from CALIFORNIA! My $30 bag of produce could have been purchased for about $20 at the farmers market on my way home from work...attempt number one to go green= FAIL!

Attempt numero dos to go green is...cloth diapering! Thanks to my imaginary friends, I have been swallowed into the cult-like following of CD-ing. After spending several days evaluating the various cloth options, I decided to start with some flips- waterproof covers with both reusable and disposable inserts. Today, my first shipment of "fluffy mail" arrived...all together now- "ohhh" and "ahhh"...

What's in here?


The beginning of the "stash"...


Pretty dipes- Bummis Whisper diaper cover and a flip


Attempt number two to go green= jury is still out. Brad already refused to be a part of the cloth diapering. My whole family pretty much thinks I am nuts. Oh well. I have been warned by other veteran CDers that collecting diapers is addicting.

Also on the way are: one Bagshot Row Bamboo (BSRB), one Goodmama (GM), a SmartiPants and an OtterBlotter all-in-two (AI2) in a dalmatian print...stay tuned!

Thanks a lot, you little weasel!

Dear Punxsutawney Phil,

Six more weeks of winter!?

Where is this global warming of which the politicians speak? I would really like the opportunity to take my baby outside for some fresh air. She would like to road test her new wagon and swing in her toddler swing.

Maybe you need to spend more time with General Beauregard Lee, the local groundhog. HE didn't see his shadow. Despite his gracious Southern mansion complete with many "creature comforts", such as water fountain, swimming pool with diving board, satellite dish and wine cellar, HE is looking forward to an early spring...

Apparently there is an entire message board of people who would like to get their grill on with you...and I am NOT meaning they would like to invite you for dinner. You would BE the dinner.

I would appreciate if you would take this into consideration next year.

Thanks,
Julie

PS- Don't let Norah's enthusiasm fool you. She would like to play outside on a REAL farm, not just the Learning Farm...

The work never ends 'round here....

We finally got around to taking out the wall between the family room and living room.

Wow. What a difference it makes. Both rooms look much larger and we now have room for Norah's ever growing pile of toys. Still left to complete the room is a rug, window treatments, new pillows on the couch and banishing the love seat to the man cave downstairs. We will eventually get a kid-sized table and chairs and bookshelves for Norah's coloring books, crayons and craft stuff.

Standing in the kitchen, looking into the family room:
Before:


After:


Standing near fire place, facing kitchen
Before:


After:


Standing at front door, looking into former living room:
Before:


During:


After:


Finished!:


Other shots of the work:
Sitting on the couch, looking into the study:


The Logan office suite from Pottery Barn: