the JOY of cousins

Gillian is blessed to have Charissa and Verity as cousins, and to have them so close by. I only wish we got to see more of Everett and that there were some cousins on my side of the family - Shelley! Recently we have had time to spend with them both in Raleigh at the Marbles Museum and in Charlotte while they were at Nana Camp. While three little girls running around is never easy to keep up with, it is so much fun to watch them play and have fun with each other. I think the following pictures mostly speak for themselves. I hope you see the joy in their faces captured on film, because they definitely love each other tremendously. I pray that they will always be a love and support to each other!

Charleston Getaway

Rusty and I had a grand escape for two days in Charleston right before New Years. Janie watched Gillian for us, which was such a treat. While I love being a mother, and missed Gillian despite only being gone two days, it was so nice to be able to spend time with just Rusty. We ate amazing food (Jestine's, SNOB & Hominy Grill were to die for!), took a boat tour to Fort Sumter (as seen behind me), visited Boone Hall Plantation, and shopped on King Street.

We also enjoyed simply walking downtown and along the Battery looking at all the amazing houses.

What a great town, steep

ed in history. While I was expecting a lot of discussion about slavery and plantation life and the Civil War, I was pleasantly surprised by how much mention there was of the Revolutionary War role the city played. The history buff in us both immensely enjoyed the experience.

We also stayed in the King George IV Bed and Breakfast (as modeled by Rusty) right downtown in one of the historic traditional style houses! We had our own parlor and balcony with our room - I felt like Southern royalty.

The Chicago Adventure

Since my sister Laura was forced to take vacation and she has an obscene amount of frequent flier miles, she flew Gillian and me up to Chicago right before Christmas. While it was a staycation for her, G and I were treated to an awesome excursion! We had so much fun getting to see Laura's life in the city. It's so nice to be able to put faces to names of her best friends, get a glimpse of the office she works in, and experience the trains in rush hour like she does every day. While traveling with a toddler has its own set of difficulties by the nature of things, Laura and I had a great time simply being together and I wouldn't trade it for the world, even the old man's glares on the plane were worth it!

There were several high lights. The three of us went to the American Girl store on Michigan Avenue and had tea. While I thought it would be some nostalgic fun for Laura and me (plus who doesn't love a real tea), it ended up being a great time for Gillian too. She became fast friends with the doll that we borrowed (you can bring your own, but G is still to small and Laura's and mine are packed away somewhere in Norfolk). The doll sat in a high chair next to Gillian and received lots of hugs, kisses, and hand holding. Gillian also loved having her own tea cup (which was actually meant for the doll, but it was the perfect size for G). She would dip it in my water glass and then sip it and smile. She also devoured the food - the cinnamon rolls, fruit kabobs, and strawberry mouse were perfect for a one year old and a thirty year old. The whole experience was made even better with the conversation questions in the middle of the table. We let Gillian draw a questions and then Laura and I took turns answering them. They were perfect for all ages (what is the biggest surprise you've ever had?, what was your favorite toy growing up?, etc). They gave Laura and I a chance to share some important things going on in our lives currently as well as take a stroll down memory lane. I highly suggest the experience to anyone headed to a city with an American Girl store!

We also had the chance to go to the Shedd Aquarium. Gillian had a great time looking at all the fish and seeing the fun aquatic show featuring a flying Santa along with the dolphins, seals, and beluga whales. Gillian and I both experienced our first 4D imax show, too. We watched the Polar Express complete with falling snow, the smell of hot chocolate, and gusting wind. It was pretty great! Here's G modeling her fancy glasses she had to wear for the show.

The other exciting adventure we had was admiring all of the department store windows on Michigan Avenue and State Street. Macy's was particularly amazing with spinning ornaments, dancing elves, and sparkling flowers. G's favorite part of walking down the street however was the flower boxes. She wanted to stand on the ledge surrounding every one. While they are beautifully maintained and some complete with flashing lights, I was really annoyed with them by the end of the trip. Do you have any idea how long it takes to walk down Michigan Avenue with a one year old insisting on stopping at every flower bed?

All in all, we had a marvelous trip and can't wait for Laura to fly us up again!

The start of family traditions!

I could not be any more excited about the Christmas season! It's a hostesses dream come true. Reasons to host tea parties, be crafty, and bake abound. I have more fun projects going on right now than ever before (that might have something to do with the fact that I'm not working too). But this year, I am having the most fun exposing Gillian to everything fun about the holiday season. We have already spent time baking together, our playgroup tomorrow is all about Christmas crafts, and I have planned several other holiday adventures, but none more exciting than picking out our first Christmas tree! We didn't get one last year with the chaos of being fairly new parents with both of us working, so this year I couldn't wait. We went to the Christmas tree lot and picked out the perfect tree. (Never mind the fact that G had more fun playing in the mud than looking at trees.)

Decorating the tree came next of course, and this might be my favorite Christmas tradition of all. Nothing was more important about decorating the tree growing up than putting on the angel, and it was a big deal - worth fighting about - who put the angel on top of the tree. So this year it was special. Not only do I now have the perfect angel tree topper thanks to my own crafty mother, but I got to put the angel on top of the tree with my daughter. So awesome!

While Gillian had fun putting on ornaments, I mean eating ornaments - I think I probably had the most fun of all - and what's wrong with that. Someone has to love traditions to keep them alive.

Thanksgiving 2011

We spent a great Thanksgiving holiday in Charlotte with the Eriksen clan. We had tons of fun being together, so
here are some of the highlights, mixed in with things I am thankful for.

Gillian had her first chance to make a gingerbread house. Her dad was the engineer, a master at frosting, Gillian was supposed to be the decorator...

Needless to say, she ate more of the decorations then she actually put on her house. I think as a result she enjoyed the whole process from the first marshmallow to the last jellybean. Which leads into one of the things I am most thankful for: Gillian's cousins. She has two amazing cousins who love her, play with her, and teach her all things kid. I loved growing up with cousins, and I am truly thankful that G has cousins to travel through life with as well. They had a great time making gingerbread houses too (in tutus no less!).

We also celebrated Christmas while we were in Charlotte since we won't all be together this year. The girls yelped with delight at their gifts. There were toy kitchens, toy farms, dolls, scooters, and even chairs. But this was my favorite moment...

Which brings me to something else I am incredibly thankful for, being a Mom and an Aunt. What an amazing gift to have these sweet girls in my life. They bring such joy and passion to everything, I am honored to be a part of their lives.

Family is the best.

Family Photos

Several weeks ago we had the opportunity to cash in our Christmas present from the Treeces and MD Eriksens from last year - family pictures. Betsy has a great friend, Veronique, who is a photographer and she took our pictures at the Arboretum in Raleigh. Here are some of the highlights.

I am so happy with how all of the photos turned out. It's pretty fun to capture this special time on film!

Duke Gardens

Today Gillian and I visited Duke Gardens (I know, I know enemy territory) with our playgroup. It was another beautiful fall day and with my new found nature lover, I am trying to expose her to the great outdoors as much as possible. We got to see ducks and geese, a Japanese teahouse, and an English garden. The most fun for Gillian, however, was collecting rocks. I brought along some paper bags for the kids to collect things - thinking it would result in a diverse group of sticks, leaves, and flowers to potentially use in some future crafts. Gillian had her own ideas however - she wanted rocks. And only rocks. When I put a stick in her bag she reached in and pulled it out. When I handed her a flower, she threw it on the ground. She found brown rocks and grey rocks, small and big, but rest assured everything that went in her bag was a rock.

The other thing you may notice in these photos is that Gillian is only wearing one shoe. Somehow between the house and the park we lost a shoe - I searched the car, the bag, and the house when we got home - it's gone. Literally, the shoe has vanished. Oh well, what's a little dirt on a pink sock.

We had a great time and will return to enemy territory again soon.