Uncle Mike and Amanda

Uncle Mike has celebrity status at or house (at least in the eyes of Sophie and Jack!). We were lucky to have him and Amanda join us for the weekend of his birthday, which coincided with his audition with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.

It also gave me an excuse to make the infamous chocolate cake we've dubbed "salmonella cake" that our Mom made when we were growing up. It's the best chocolate cake you'll ever eat, and it's nickname is derived from the raw eggs in the icing. Not something that I would normally endorse as a dietitian. But, manipulating the recipe to make it meet food safety standards has proven to be unsuccessful. It just doesn't taste the same without the raw eggs. So I'll take my chances because it's just that good.

Mike usually has to ramp up on his sleep before AND after visits with us, as his bachelorhood doesn't require the same kind of energy that being an Uncle of 2 preschoolers does. I must admit to feeling envious when he typically goes down for a nap right around the same times as Jack. It was nice for Sophie (and me!) to have a companion while the boys napped each day. Amanda was always up for a craft or a game with Sophie - it was sweet to watch Sophie respond to her so nicely.


While it took Sophie no time at all to warm up to Amanda, Jack was a little more timid. The first day of the visit he awoke from his nap in a grumpy mood. He took one look at Amanda and burst out crying. Fortunately she took it in stride and by Day 2, it was game on.

The weather was beautiful all weekend which allowed us to be outside much of the time. Uncle Mike pitched a lot of balls and blew a lot of bubbles, and the kids were delighted to be with him as always.


We even enjoyed a fun double date consisting of dinner and an ASO concert, which was an added bonus for me and Eric, who don't seem to get out as often as we'd like.

Happy 5th Birthday Sweet Sophie!

The week after the birthday party and leading up to Sophie's actual birthday was a bit of a downer. She came down with a stomach bug that seemed to linger all week. This unfortunately put a damper on my plans for "Parent of the Week" in her classroom as she missed school most of the week. The most challenging part for me was defending my position on her need to follow a BRAT diet even though she had a good appetite and was growing bored of the limited fare I was offering.

All was well just in time for her birthday, which she chose to spend by inviting Kiki over for a play date followed by a birthday dinner at our house with The Dekels, complete with pizza and ice cream cake.

Kiki surprised Sophie with a gymnastics leotard so the girls would match on their first day of class. Cynthia surprised them both with matching photo albums that capture some of the memories the girls have shared since their friendship began infancy. Sophie flips through her album on a daily basis.



It's hard to believe our baby is already 5! Her sweetness and joy are like little beams of sunshine that continue to warm my heart every day.

Sophie and Jack's Birthday Bash

This was the first year we were able to have a joint birthday party for Sophie and Jack. Having birthdays 8 days apart makes it a little tricky to juggle the logistics for 2 parties, and seeing how Sophie and Jack have many of the same friends or friends that are siblings, it made the most sense to do it this way. Even better, we were able to outsource all of the planning to The Little Gym of Smyrna, where one of the teachers from VCLC leads parties on the weekends.

We knew Jack would be delighted to "share" a party with his big sis, but Sophie was the one we were unsure of. It really took no convincing at all for her to sign on. Her only concern was that Jack might blow her candles out. A problem easily solved by giving them each their own cake and 2 rounds of "The Birthday Song". The kids had a blast and were all tuckered out at the end of the day.

Jack's 3rd Birthday!

It's hard to believe Jack is already 3! This past has year been full of milestones.

He began preschool in the fall. Although many think of this as glorified day care, one thing I can say is that Jack has become an expert at tracing pages and coloring. Having become somewhat fond of the tracing pages that were sent home covered solid in crayon, one day I looked over his shoulder while he was coloring with Sophie and realized he was actually taking his time to put more thought into his artwork and attempt to stay within the lines. Here's a look at the before and after...










In addition to these other little stepping stones, Jack also made the move to a big boy bed,


and he is even officially potty trained!


Grammy and Grandpa Nick decided to come for a visit to help Jack celebrate his birthday. The day revolved around 2 of Jack's favorite activities; playing and eating. After a yummy pancake breakfast and a little play time, we headed to Muss & Turner for a birthday lunch. It was a gorgeous day - a sneak preview to the spring weather we are so anxiously awaiting.

After lunch we enjoyed some playground time and soaked up the sun on the back deck followed by Jack's favorite dinner of assorted appetizers and cupcakes. I can't think of a better way to celebrate with our sweet little man. It was early to bed to get ready for his combined birthday party with Sophie the next day. More on that in the next post!

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Snow Day

For those of you who can't possibly imagine that we actually get snow in Atlanta, this one's for you.
It seems like each winter since we moved here is increasingly severe in terms of cold temperatures and precipitation. This storm hit us Valentine's Day weekend.

Usually if it does snow, it melts upon hitting the ground, but the colder temps allowed it to linger for a few days, until all that was left was the base of our snowman surrounded by bare grass.

Having grown up in the Northeast, I take for granted how unusual it is to see snow here, and how special it is for the kids.

Here's the view from our back deck.



Sophie did not understand why I didn't have appropriate outerwear for the kids to keep them warm and dry. She was less than satisfied with the hodge-podge outfits I came up with but was somewhat easily talked off the ledge when I offered to make hot chocolate after they came inside. The kids had a blast building snowmen and pelting the house with snowballs.

It was a fun way to spend a long weekend but we are truly ready to shed our winter coats and say hello to some warm spring weather!