It was a cold and blustery day...

Just kidding! Just a poke to our friends and family whiling away the hours up north on some frozen tundra. Our weather has been very good actually, just a few cool days and cold nights. It will be humid and hot soon enough. So I don't mind some coldish weather right now.

We've been quite busy at 2 East 62nd Street, thus no blog lately. Matt and I have been working like little bees at our respective jobs... so that isn't very interesting! I guess the news of the day - and every day it seems is the economy. Luckily we are both in positions that are secure. There have been some manufacturing job layoffs in Savannah but for the most part the economy is steady here. Being the largest port on the East Coast makes it the least expensive place for HD to have their IDC. And the cpa firm I work for has a diversified regional and national business base so we haven't seen any decline so far.

Laurel had a bad tummy last week but is back at 100% plus strength now as you can see by the photos. She knows where her belly and her nose and her tongue and her eyes are located now. She likes to point out other bellies too, so watch out! Her official weight at 15 months was 19 lbs and height is 30". So her proportions haven't changed much! She is light but strong!

Thanks to Aunt Susie for babysitting last Saturday night! Matt and I saw 'Slumdog Millionaire' which was a very good movie. If you see this movie you will see what real, true poverty is like. You will also laugh and probably cry or at least well up. Like any really good movie, it takes you to a different place and through a whole range of emotions. We can't decide which was better this or 'Benjamin Button' - also a movie that lays out the whole range of human emotion. Both are excellent! Neither are for kids, though!

So stay warm - have a glass of wine, preferably by a fire and read a good book. Or a good poem. I'll offer my own small salute to winter, by my favorite poet, Robert Frost. Enjoy!

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know,
His house is in the village though.
He will not see me stopping here,
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer,
To stop without a farmhouse near,
Between the woods and frozen lake,
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake,
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep,
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
-- Robert Frost

Election Day and all is well...

Well, so far at least. In 24 hours we'll have a new president-elect. Whatever the outcome, it will be a change and I think most agree we need changes, all hopefully better for most of us. Being a Mom now, I think about what the world will be like when when Laurel can vote. My hope is that voting will still be important and that the environment and world she finds herself living in at 18 years of age will be at least as free and democratic as it is now. My wish is that it is even more so. However, I AM happy that the political campaigning season is almost over this year. So on to much more important things!

Laurel turned the big "1" on Oct. 18th. We had the party at our house and thanks to everyone who came and for all the presents! You are all very generous. Special thanks to Shay for helping me cook the spring rolls. Thanks to my Mom, Jeannie, Susie & Julie for making the trip over to Savannah - especially Julie as she was in Alabama finishing work for hurricane relief. Laurel was a butterfly ballerina (at least for a little while). She had cake and icing and was completely worn out afterwards. It was a fun time. I wish we took pictures of her with her Grandmothers and Aunts, but there was so much going on - next time somebody PLEASE jump in and remind us to do that. Thanks.

Laurel also had tubes placed in her ears on Oct. 31. She was very brave. And by the afternoon she was up and at'em... our energizer bunny was back and this time she can hear really well! We also took some more photos of her in her tutu in the backyard. But she is always on the move so its hard to get really great shots. We can tell a difference in her speech already and she is having a great time squealing to hear herself.

A shout out to Ginny (Gigi) as she sold her house and will be moving very soon into her new house. Congratulations to Josh for being selected for the Lowes Management Training Program, to Emily for being sworn-in by the Kentucky State Bar and to Kay for duking it out in Vegas at the USTA 2008 Senior Women's Championship. Her team was runner-up but let's be clear here - that's second in the whole nation! And yes you did read right about Josh - Lowes - I guess he and Matt can duke it out someday in the "Home Improvement/Building Supply" championship. Just remember Laurel's future depends on your continued support of Home Depot... but congrats anyway Josh. :=)

More congratulations go out to our friend Jessica as she finished the Chicago Marathon - her first. You show how determination and hard work pays off - what an acomplishment! Lastly congrats to our friends Jenn and Baker as they have set a date of May 22, 2009 to get married in the Dominican Republic. I hope we will be able to be there. Babysitting, anyone??

Almost birthday time!

Matt and I cannot believe Laurel will have her first birthday in just 2 weeks. The last year has flown by. We are having so much fun with our little girl! She is developing a real personality now. She understands what "no" means and is very adept at testing if Mommy & Daddy know too!

She can say "Dada, Mama, Baba, and uh oh" plus a host of other Chinese sounding words that make perfect sense to her, we're sure. She has also taken a real interest in Puppy Bear (our dog Jackson) and we are teaching her to be gentle with him. He is a very patient pup, luckily. Also Laurel can walk pretty well now. She can't take on any stairs yet and she stumbles a lot so we are vigilent (especially her Dad) when she is exploring. We took a video of her in the park walking and I hope to figure out how to put it on the blog - maybe this week.

Finally some fall-like weather has arrived in Savannah, at least at night. The days have been nice too, but still warm. We went to Forsyth Park 2 weeks ago and here are a few pics of her. We have her party planned for Saturday, Oct. 18th, 3 pm at our house. The theme is butterflies & ballerinas (but as it 1 year old's birthday party, it is more of an adult party so the theme is minimal). Anyone who reads this blog is invited and hopefully you received the invitation in the mail. I would love to know who is coming, and who can't, so if you can let me know next week that would be great.

Countdown to Fall

Well, we missed another close call with tropical storm Fay. Yeah! Only about 3 more months and we'll be out of woods for yet another hurricane season. I know those north of us would like some rain. Gigi reports Tennessee is like a dust-bowl so we hope conditions improve but please no hurricanes!

I finally had some time to upload a few recent photos (some not that recent!) . I am still trying to learn the blogging layout instructions so please bear with me. I am going to try to add in each photo with a description after this post - you have to go all the way to the end of the blog.

Matt, Laurel & I would like to say Congratulations! to Grandma Kay on winning the regional tennis tournament in Indianapolis. Her team is a state and regional champion! Way to go! Now on to the national tournament in Vegas.

We hope everyone has a nice Labor Day weekend! We will be jaunting over to Hilton Head for a cookout with some of our island friends and Aunt Susie. Hope to get some photos to share!

Also Laurel had a milestone last weekend when she stood by herself, without holding on to anything, for about 5 seconds. She is also getting more teeth, for a total of 6 now. Our little baby is growing up! :(

PS. Go Tigers! Go Vols! Go Auburn! Go Vandy! Go Kent State! Go App State! :)

It's HOT Outside!

Okay, not to be obvious but it is truly summer in the South. Keeping with our tradition of having major events going on during the hottest time of the year (moving, being very pregnant, installing landscaping, etc.) we decided to get our house painted. We think it looks pretty good and most certainly much better than the 'peeling paint' look it sported previously.

I am just thankful that I didn't have to even pick up a brush! We did encounter some drama - all I can say is to get paint samples and put them on your house before you say "go to it fellas". Colors are subjective and everyone sees them differently. The one I chose is one of those great colors that decides to look different in every kind of light - thanks Sherwin Williams! Let's just say we are learning to love our house color. Well, except Matt, because as you may know he's color blind. So I guess Laurel and I will learn to love it (Aspen & Jackson can't love it either because aren't dogs color blind?) By the way Aspen has healed up pretty well, but she is still wearing the e-collar as they had to put 2 staples in her foot.

So I am planning on posting a photo of the house so you can see for yourself. Let me know what you think, I am ready to take the criticism.

Other that that, the Bird had a 9 month check-up and she is doing fine. She weighs 15lb. 4 oz and is 27 1/4" tall. So she remains consistently long-n-lean! Doc did find she had an ear infection (again!) so she is on antibiotics which makes her poop turn bright red (lovely - I know, I know TMI) but you people always want to know the details. Baby details almost always involve poop!

With the approach of football season, we have been (for like 4 months) attempting to get Laurel to growl like a 'baby tiger'. So far, no luck. But we have a few more weeks to work on it. She loves to hear her Daddy do the "baby tiger' sound, though. She squeals, well, like a baby! Ritchie I guess you can pretend she's rooting for those Auburn tigers if you want...as long as they stay in the SEC we're fine :)

Congrats to Ginny as she decided on a house to build and to Tommy for making a perfect score on his SAT test!

Hey, here's to no hurricanes or hurricane evacuations!

Our family has had a busy summer so far. Laurel is now standing (holding on), Aspen had a little surgery, Betsy made a trip to Vegas (work) and the exterior of our house is getting painted! Laurel loves her new day care at The Children's House. She has made friends (hi Jude!) and we think the staff enjoys her too! In case you didn't know Laurel has several nicknames - Baby Bear, The Bird and the newest 'rumpus tumpus'. She is a little energizer bunny - light and quick, all you'll see is her little rumpus tumpus on the move!

We have baby-proofed the den, which is now official Laurel play territory. She has fun in her exersaucer, playing with her toy purse from Gigi and will be out-n-about in her wagon this weekend (thanks Aunt Julie!). She also enjoys an empty kleenex box and tearing up old magazines. Not hard to please! And she got some cool green sunglasses to wear at the pool.

I hope we can keep this spot updated for our family and friends. Laurel changes so much right now - every day is a new adventure! NEXT WEEK: 9 month checkup!!!