Snow Fun

Oh my goodness!  I've never heard of an area being so unprepared and impacted so badly.  The volume of people stranded last night is unthinkable.  People literally abandoned their cars and walked to warmth.  I pulled this photo from CNN to show how bad the interstates were.

The husbands of two mommy friends slept at their offices last night and fortunately didn't attempt to venture out.  The number of stories from people's experience is almost legendary.  As for us, we were staying put and staying safe so we made the best of it.  It didn't take long for Isaac to find entertainment.

Isaac went through the basket of winter accessories and tried on everything to assess the best fit.  He's such a ham when he wants to be.  :)

Since Isaac has never played in the snow we all got bundled up to spend some time outside. 

Of course he was excited to put his rain boots to use.  With multiple layers on he was ready for some fun.  We played outside with our neighbors.  Alex showed Isaac the ropes when it came to shoveling. Isaac had a blast.

I couldn't let Julian miss out on the fun either so he was also bundled up.  However, he wasn't all that interested so he hung out in Ms. Christine's garage and snoozed for a bit.

Isaac was mesmerized by the snow, the shovel, the sound of the shovel moving the snow, the sound of the shovel against the concrete.  Nothing escaped his curiosity. 

At one point he was getting cold but refused to go inside so I added a scarf.  That lasted a bit but eventually his gloves got wet, his hands were getting cold and his face looked like it was getting chapped.  I really think he thought this was a one day occurrence and he simply didn't want to miss one moment of fun in the fluffy wet white stuff.  Eventually I had to force him to go inside and it was a meltdown moment but by the time I got him inside and stripped down he was ready for some dry clothes despite the volume of layers.

Ms. Christine was very sweet and gave Isaac one of Alex's old toys.  A clever storage box full of dried beans, boats and tractors.  Perfect for an afternoon of fun. After Isaac's nap he spent the rest of the afternoon playing in the beans.

Someone in the neighborhood emailed out this picture.  An arial shot of our neighborhood was taken during the snow storm and it's a beautiful picture.  Very peaceful.

Snow Flakes + Georgia = Bad

Georgia is about to get a little crazy as the forecast is calling for snow.  I love living in Georgia and have enjoyed the southern weather for the past 12 years.  Snow doesn't bother me considering I grew up in Ohio with snow, blizzards and treacherous conditions but the north is fully prepared with all the essential equipment to keep things running.  The south however is not prepared and doesn't know how to keep things running.  And, the public panics at the sight of a snowflake.

A couple of weeks ago the local schools were closed for cold weather but today it was business as usual despite the call for snowflakes.  So, I dropped Isaac off at preschool, went to the grocery store just in case and came home.  While Julian and I were hanging out I noticed the snow started to fall.

Now Julian wasn't bothered by any of this.  He was all snuggled up, toasty warm, and resting.

I needed to provide Isaac's school with notice that he would need to be leaving the program since we would be moving soon so I decided to leave earlier than normal to pick him up.  Wow, am I glad I left early.  I even made another stop at the store for formula just in case and that was another great decision.

Isaac's school is only four miles from the house and the traffic was insane! It wasn't necessarily bumper to bumper yet but cars were moving at a snail pace, less than 15 mph.  You'd think they'd never seen snow.

I wasn't in the school more than 15 minutes and it took 55 minutes to get home!  I cut through parking lots, neighborhoods and any other shortcut I could think of.  Now, the roads were starting to get slushy and I was fortunate to have 4-wheel drive.

The snow was starting to come down heavier but it was simply a mass exodus of all the local office buildings and the volume of traffic at one time was something else.   I was very relieved once we were home.  I had the news on for the remainder of the afternoon to keep an eye on the weather.  A state of emergency was called around 5:00 pm.

It took my neighbor four hours to get home and her son didn't make it home until almost 7:00 pm.  The kids were all stuck on the school bus and parents had to walk a few miles down the road to meet the bus and walk back.

By bedtime the interstates were parking lots and the volume of people stranded was unlike anything I've ever seen.  The number of people stranded with no food, water, parents with no formula or diapers for babies.  Crazy!!

House Hunting

This past Thursday I pack up the car, picked Isaac up from school and we headed to Chattanooga for the weekend.  It was a nice change for us to travel to see papa and Isaac was super excited to be staying in a hotel.  Given how quickly our house sold we've got to get busy find a new place to live.

We met papa at his office and Isaac was so excited when we pulled up and he saw papa's car.  We got to go in and see Frazer's new office.  Isaac couldn't contain himself and he didn't know what to explore first.  He ended up spending most of his time twirling on the office chair and playing with the buttons on the phone.

Friday we drove, and drove, and drove all around Chattanooga looking at a lot of the listings we had earmarked on-line.  It's amazing how many we were quickly able to rule out just by driving the area or through a neighborhood.  We had heard Signal Mountain was a lovely place to look.  It took 20 - 30 minutes to get up the mountain and once we were up there I instantly felt isolated.

So, that area was ruled out very quick and then our search continued.  The one's we found we were interested in we looked at on Saturday with our realtor.  Much to our surprise by the end of the day we were fairly sure we had found our house.

It was a quiet neighborhood and the house was located at the end of a cul-de-sac.  The view from the back porch was spectacular.  The home backs up to a road but it's part of the subdivision and it's not that busy.  The back yard is fenced in too so it was not a concern at all.  The view of the pond and the tranquil sound of the water feature was wonderful!

We'll have to wait and see how it goes as while our realtor pulls some information and then we can make an offer.  

Sweater Refashion

I'm still working to improve my sewing skills and what better way to practice them picking up an inexpensive item from Goodwill.  I picked up this sweater and it was a size 28.  While its an incredibly large size the length was perfect for what I was looking for and I loved the shape of the neck.

I had recently seen a couple of sweater refashions on Pinterest and the method seemed simple enough to at least try and if it didn't turned out I would only be out $5 but I'd gain in experience so I gave it a go.

I started by laying down a sweater I already had and liked then I traced the shape onto my refashion piece.  Once I had the shape the way I wanted it I pinned the two sides together.  I used a simple zig-zag stitch and in less than an hour from marking to sewing I had a finished product.

I'm very pleased with how it turned out!

Brotherly Love

These evening I asked Isaac if he wanted to hold his brother and he actually said yes!  He also agreed to have his picture taken with Julian too so I had to seize the moment.  I think Julian is getting big enough now that Isaac doesn't see him as a fragile object that only cries and doesn't interact with him.

Isaac was very gentle with Julian and they were so adorable together.  Isaac gave Julian kisses too.

They shared some hugs and lots of giggles together.

My heart absolutely melts when I see the two of them together!

Rain Boot Bliss

Someone was so excited about their new boots they couldn't wait to get downstairs this morning to put them on!  Isaac wouldn't take them off.  He had his boots on for breakfast, when he was playing and it took a lot of negotiating to get them off for nap time!

Baby Food & Boots

Julian is starting to try out baby foods.  I'm not sure he's overly impressed so far.

I guess he's not a fan of veggies for breakfast.

Since we didn't have school today we cuddled on the sofa this morning to watch a movie.

This afternoon we spent some time with nana and Isaac got to pick out a pair of boots.  We both thought for sure he would go for the black cowboy boots.  However, as soon as he spotted the shiny red Lightning McQueen rain boots he tried them on and wouldn't take them off!  So, a new pair of rain boots is what he walked out with.

When we got home Isaac discovered his new bike helmet matched his new boots and he was in heaven!

It took a lot of convincing to get him to take his helmet and boots off for bed time.  I would say he's a happy boy!

Home Inspection, School & Shenanigans

Yesterday was another crazy day and we were super fortunate to have nana in town.  The house was scheduled to have an inspection for the new buyers and we needed somewhere to go for 3-4 hours so we spent the afternoon with nana.  By the time we got home last night we were all worn out.  Isaac went to bed with no problems and Julian and I sent papa a night-night pic after his last bottle.

Today was a new day and Isaac was excited to get up for school and wear the new outfit from nana.

This evening Julian enjoyed sitting and playing with his toys.  He's really doing a great job building his muscles as he learns to sit up.

By the end of the day I was worn out.  It's tough being a single parent while Frazer is traveling.  Frazer and I make a great team and Isaac always looks forward to him coming home from work.  Having the entire load all on myself with no break certainly makes me have an appreciation for all the single parents out there.

Isaac of course was up to his shenanigans this evening too when he discovered he could write on his walls and carpet with his new bar of soap.  Fortunately the soap marks on the wall were easy enough to wash off.

As I was getting Julian all settled for the night and tucked in Isaac woke up apparently afraid of the dark so he joined me in bed for a bit.  I must say I do enjoy his late night cuddles. :)  Part of me wonders if he's afraid he's missing out on attention while he's sleeping knowing baby brother is up with mama.... :)

A Good Day at School & Fun with Friends

Isaac had a great day at preschool and drop off this morning was great.  Today his class celebrated his half birthday too!

He was so excited after school he really wasn't interested in leaving and said "more school".  That was a first!  But once we were down the hall and in the parking lot he was convinced he was going to drive us home.  I loaded him into the car and then walked around to get Julian all buckled in.  In that short amount of time Isaac had climbed into the front seat, had the hazards lights on, the turn signal blinking and he was ready to start driving.  He wasn't interested in my explanation of driving laws and the age requirement of 16.

Needless to say he had a bit of a meltdown when I had to pull him from the front seat to get him buckled in his own seat.  He also wasn't interested in a nap when we got home and his meltdown continued.  I think he was overtired from a fun morning but to settle his apprehension or anxiety he ended up going to bed with his new Lightning McQueen bike helmet!

After nap time Ms. Lori came over for a dinner playdate with her girls, Norah & Eliza.   We took advantage of the nice weather and let the big kids run around before the sun went down.

When the sun started to go down the temperature quickly started dropping so we had to move the fun inside.

While the big kids played the little ones hung out together.

Then the big kids decided to love on the little siblings.

Norah and Isaac had a fun time running around the house chasing each other and pulling out all of the toys.

After an evening of outside play, pizza and indoor play all four kiddos were worn out and the house was a mess.

A messy house means lots of fun memories and it's always a cinch to pick up and put back in order.  Always a sign of a good time though which makes me smile.

Accident Free :)

Isaac has been doing a super job with potty training.  He's such a big boy and I'm so proud of how well he's doing considering we just started this journey towards the end of November.  After nap time today he was accident free and got his very own lollipop!  No more pull ups at nap time either.

Way to go Isaac!

Julian 5 Month's Old

I'm amazed how quickly time is clicking by.  It seems impossible for Julian to be five months old already!  He has the greatest smile and overall just a happy disposition.  Now if only we can get his reflux under control......

Here's another month of pictures to show just how much this little guy has grown!  Love you little guy!!

12/27/13

1/3/14

1/4/14

1/5/14

1/5/14

1/7/14

1/7/14

1/9/14

1/9/14

1/10/14

1/11/14

Please don't grow up too fast!