December 27, 2010

Photo Shoot 2010

December 25, 2010

Traditions 

Part II

Tradition: You must leave out cookies, milk, and carrots for Santa and his reindeer. 

Gracie and I spent the afternoon of the 23rd decorating the cookies.

 Grace spent most of the time eating the cookies while I frosted.

Here are some pictures of G before Santa's arrival...

and after Santa's arrival.

Tradition: (this one comes from my childhood) On Christmas morning you can only go into the living room once you hear Christmas music playing. This gives your parents time to turn on the Christmas lights, light the fire (if need be) and get their cameras ready. (When I was a child my dad was up at 5 am waiting for us for hours with the fire going, the lights on and the music playing.)

Here's Grace seeing her presents for the first time. It's a blurry picture, but not in my mind. It's a face I'll remember forever. She came around the corner and her smile went from ear to ear.  I know she has no idea what Christmas is and what it is all about, however it was a glimpse of Christmases to come. I read recently that as you grow older you  can lose the magic of Christmas, but once you are old enough to have little ones of your own the magic returns through their eyes. It was a wonderful, magical morning and I'm counting down the days till next year already.

December, 20 2010

Surprise!

This past weekend was the P family Christmas party and sadly we couldn't go due to DP's schedule.

 However, it dawned on me one morning that just because DP couldn't go that shouldn't stop Gracie and I from going. And since everyone had assumed we wouldn't be coming home, it was the perfect opportunity to surprise the family. 

Gracie and I arrived just in time for the P Family Tradition....

Cookie Houses!

 We miss our families very much and it is very hard to be away, especially at the holidays.  

It was a ton of fun and a GREAT surprise!

December 16, 2010

This is my Gracie Girl! 

She is an amazing little girl.
She has learned a new word...patient.
I say to her "Sometimes we have to be..." and she replies "patient."
She's patient when I drag her around for hours Christmas shopping.
She sits patiently on the shuttle bus to and from the grocery store.
She's a great travel buddy.
Some days she ends up having to sit in the stroller longer
 than you or I would like to and rarely does she protest.
So here I am thinking that I'm teaching my child what patience means,
 when in reality she is teaching me.
And that is one of the many reasons I love my Gracie Girl.

I would have thought that relocating to Atlanta would have affected her or changed her.
That she would miss our home, her things, our routine.
I think she adjusted faster than DP and I have.
 She has taken to loving the BIO cast, the attention they give her, the high-fives, the hugs, and of course the time with their doggies.
She loves our hotel life, the staff, and our numerous walks.
I couldn't be any more proud of my Gracie Girl and who she is growing up to be.

. 

December 12, 2010

A Day in the Life of Hotel Living!

First we do our chores...help mommy prepare a crock-pot dinner and empty the dishwasher.

Then we go for a walk...

and a ride in the elevator.

Did you notice that she yells "IN" when the doors open? Cute!

 Also, that she feels the need to hold on? Not sure why, but she started doing that on her own one day and now holds on every time we ride the elevator.

She always asks if she can push the housekeepers cart.

And then off to the gym... 

Next, we head to the "big room" on the second floor.

This is where the breakfast and evening socials are held.

And last but not least we check out the tree in the lobby. 

Inevitably, we end up talking to all the folks at the front desk. They have all gotten to know Gracie and make a big deal out of her visiting them. 

This is our day when we are short on adventures. We repeat these activities a few times a day and never tire of walking up and down the halls. I worry she will be disappointed once we go back home without an elevator and huge halls to rome. 

 Grace loves being in charge of the key card when we leave the room. She carries it around and shows anyone in the hall her card. On our floor there are a few cast members who have brought their dogs. Gracie looks forward to seeing them and if she doesn't see any she announces "doggie sleepin!" 

And that's our day! 

December 8, 2010

Temperatures Tuesday morning were in the 20s, said FOX 5 meteorologist Joanne Feldman. Strong winds have been doing a number on the metro area since Sunday, with temperatures only reaching the upper 30s in the city of Atlanta on Monday. In many places to the north, it was even colder than that.

The information above was taken from www.myfoxatlanta.com

The news channels are calling this an "Arctic Blast."

These people have obviously never been to NY, OH, or CT. Now those states have Arctic Blasts. 

Nevertheless, we have been spending the past few days inside. We needed some down time, not to mention the "Arctic Blast." Today, however,  we ventured out again...bundled up of course. We got back on the choo choo train (as Gracie calls it) ie the subway and headed to the library.  Upon arriving you must first pass through the clouds of pot smoke, step over the homeless and be interrogated by the security guard who went through my bag and asked me what I was doing there.  So now I have butterflies. Maybe this library isn't  the place for Gracie and I...too many hoops to jump through just to get some books, but onward we went. We were greeted by a very nice man in the children's section who informed us that story hour had just begun if we wanted to join the class and he pointed in the direction of a group of young children watching a movie. Wait a minute!!! Aren't we in the library? Didn't he just say STORY hour? Why are all those kids watching a movie? We were there for books and books we did get! The library gave me a temporary card that will expire in 3 months and we loaded up on some holiday story books. Here's Gracie at the entrance of the children's section.

December 5, 2010

Traditions!

I am BIG on traditions...especially Christmas Traditions. And I'm blessed to have my own family and in-laws who have started many wonderful traditions that DP and I will continue and pass on to our children.

Tradition: Getting (preferably a live) Christmas Tree on December 2nd (our wedding anniversary). Due to living in a hotel this year a live tree is out of the question, however we still went out and got a tree and decorations. Also, on December 2nd, DP and I give Gracie a new ornament for our tree. My goal is when she moves out (a very long time from now) she will have some starter ornaments for her own family Christmas Tree and be able to look back over the years and remember all her special interests.

This year we bought her an Abby Cadabby ornament. 

 

Tradition: The Elf

(This is a tradition from my brother-in-law's family that we started doing with Gracie.)

Similar to those who celebrate St. Nicholas on December 6th...we have an elf. We place our shoes by our front door in hopes that one of Santa's elves will drop off a little something for us. 

                                              

Gracie got new Christmas jammies and a book. 

After purchasing our baby Christmas tree we went to dinner at Rosa Mexicano in Atlantic Station.

 This beautiful and enormous Christmas tree is in the middle of Atlantic Station. I hope to have one similar at my house some day!