The Latest and Greatest!

Hello All! Happy New Year, Valentine's Day, President's Day, Black History Month, etc.

I'm getting really bad about not updating on a regular basis...but life gets in the way a lot of the time! Lots of things have been going on, but we've been able to slow down a bit the past few weeks, which has been nice!

Here are some of the recent highlights:

1. We got a new car!!! Our lease was running up on the Lexus and we found out that we had about $1000 equity in the car, so we traded it in for a Jeep! We love it, along with all of the fun gadgets. I'm addicted to Sirius and Bluetooth already! It looks very similar to the pic I posted above. Red cars are my absolute fave!

2. Tyler's had a couple of episodes of ear infections and croup over the last few weeks, but nothing that triggered a seizure (THANK GOODNESS)

3. Work trips are back in full swing in the new year. I had back to back weekend trips to Charleston in January for an acquisition, along with trips to Nashville, Dallas and Charlotte. So January and February have been rough travel months for me. Right now I'm on hiatus from travel until the end of March. I'm very relieved!

4. Tyler enjoyed a trip to the aquarium with his BFF Dylan and a playdate with his friend Bella on the last weekend in January. I was able to get some great pics of that! Although he doesn't look to thrilled with Bella in the above pic, I assure you that he loves her...he just wanted the crayons to himself :)

5. The weather has been nice this winter, so we've spent some quality time with our neighbors playing outside. We love our new neighborhood along with the friends we've made here! (I think I mention that in every post)

Over the past few weeks we've been very active with our friends on the street attending a Rock Band Party, Super Bowl Party, Oscar Red Carpet Gathering, Birthday parties, pizza nights, and Tarheel game viewings! It's been great and we feel so happily settled!

6. Valentine's was a lot of fun! We made Tyler adorable Valentines to hand out at school and had Pink Belgium Waffles for breakfast. We ended the night with Sushi out as a family!

7. I hosted Book Club in February, that resulted in me kicking everyone out around 1am! Us book club girls know how to party. Give us a night away from the kids and all hell breaks loose!

8. We went to Spartanburg for the weekend of 2/18. Tyler loves his Nana and Papa time and we've managed to see them a good amount over the past few weeks!

9. Finally, Ben's grandmother passed away on 2/16. We aren't able to be in Wales with the family, but have been thinking of them a lot. While she was 94 and really struggling towards the end (so it was a relief that she is out of pain in a lot of ways). We will truly miss such a wonderful lady!

Late February and March are shaping up to be fun and exciting! We have two murder mystery parties and a trip to Charleston for the Cooper River Bridge Run on the books!

As always...I'll keep you posted!!!

Holiday Update

Yes, it's true...the holidays got the better of me this year!!!! For the first time in a long time, I felt like a kid again because I was able to watch Christmas unfold through my child's eyes! I know I sound cheesy but it's true...I'm already counting down the days until we can celebrate again!

What a fun, busy, exciting, and exhausting month...but we pulled it off!

Thanksgiving was spent with my family in Spartanburg. Due to my mom's back problems, I did about 90% of the cooking this year! I rocked the turkey and dressing (if I do say so myself), and am looking forward to hosting Thanksgiving in my own home next year (once we get a dining room table)! We had a lot of fun in the beautiful weather spending lots of time outdoors (Tyler loves the golf course behind my parent's house). We wrapped up the weekend with Tyler's Two Year photo shoot, a brunch for friends when we returned to Atlanta, and lots of Christmas decorating!

The next weekend my parents came into town for a weekend of fun! Friday night, my parents sat for Tyler while Ben and I had dinner with our old neighbors! Saturday morning we attended Breakfast with Santa at the Decatur Train Museum and ended the night by watching Jim Gaffigan perform stand up at the Cobb Energy Center...truly HILARIOUS!

Sunday night, our dear friend Kera was in town so we hosted the local college crew (and babies) over at our house! It was great catching up with everyone!

December 8th, Ben and I celebrated our 4th anniversary with dinner at Seasons 52! (Tyler stayed with our sitter).

I can't believe how fast these past 4 years have flown by, and how much more I love my husband everyday! (yes, barf...but it's true)

The following weekend got us into the Holiday Swing of things...we attended our neighbor's White Elephant Party followed by the Holiday Party of our dear friends Mike and Roberta! We had a blast and Tyler was very into the social scene!

But then the true craziness started...

The next weekend included Tyler's Birthday and Birthday Party, another Neighborhood White Elephant Gift Exchange Party, Neighborhood Caroling, and our next door neighbor's birthday party for their sweet daughter Emma!

But on a side note, Tyler's TWO Hot to Handle birthday party was a HUGE Hit...complete with a bounce house, visit from the fire department and Santa Claus himself! I know Tyler had a ball with all of his friends!

We even did a birthday party at his school on Monday that the kids loved too!

Happy 2nd Birthday to my sweet baby boy Tyler! You are growing up too fast! I just hope he will look at this blog someday and know how loved he was!!!

After Tyler's birthday was behind us, we were in full Christmas mode. Friday we left for Spartanburg where we attended a family reunion, had lunch with my BFF's from high school and Church Christmas Eve Services.

Then Christmas morning we celebrated with my family (including Gifts, Santa and Brunch) before hopping on a plane to DC.

We made to DC with no issues, however Tyler passed out on the ride home from the airport. Our hope of spending Christmas with both sets of grandparents was quickly diminished when Tyler closed those little eyes.

But it all actually worked out well. While Tyler crashed (that's what a new trampoline from Nana and Papa, no nap, and two plane rides will do to you), we were able to catch up with Jan, Dwight, Kate and Matt and exchange our gifts!

The next morning Tyler had a ball playing on his new bike from Grandpa and catching up with Grandma. That afternoon we headed to Baltimore so that Kate and Matt could give their gifts to Tyler. We also got to meet their beautiful Black Lab named Cole and Tyler loved chasing him around at the local dog park!

That night the Sullivan grandparents were on Tyler duty, while Ben and I headed to Arlington to meet some of our bestest DC friends for a night out on the town! Great times were had by all and it was great catching up.

The next morning we ventured down to the US Botanical Gardens to meet up with Aunt Erin and her niece and view the Holiday Train Exhibit! Tyler absolutely loved it (again, passing out on the car ride home). We ended our trip with 0ne last night out in Baltimore as a family with Kate and Matt. We had Cuban, then visited 34th street to check out one of the most impressive Christmas Light Displays I've ever seen!

The next day consisted of planes, trains (well the one train in the Atlanta Airport) and automobiles. We flew back to Spartanburg (yes, we connected through ATL...ironic right?) and dropped off Tyler at my parents house.

Every Christmas they ask if they can watch him for a couple of days, and Ben and I are happy to oblige (as much as we miss our little munchkin man).

We had two days of catching up on sleep, watching movies, playing Wii (til all hours of the night) with the neighbors, and vegging on the couch! It was great!

New Year's Eve, Tyler came home and I must have kissed that sweet face 1000 times!!

We hosted a NYE throw down at Chez Sullivan for 30 of our friends and had a blast! The kids even had a great time and went to bed easily (well before midnight). It couldn't have worked out better! We rang in the New Year with Wii, Jello Shots, Dick Clark, a little Prince, and a champagne toast and then headed outside for an awesome fireworks display courtesy of my parents! The next two days were spent in major recovery and family bonding/relaxing mode!

What a great way to ring in 2012!! Hope you all had a great one too!

May your days this year be MERRY and BRIGHT!!!

Happy Halloween!!!

Yeah, Yeah...I said I would update my blog more regularly...well, bite me! :)

I know I'm behind the times a bit but work travel has been insane lately and kept me from my usually blogging duties! (not that I don't love my job though...cause I do!) Good news though...I just received word that I don't have to travel for work for the rest of the year! HOORAY!!!!!!

It's the greatest feeling knowing that I'll be spending the month of December where I belong...at home with family!!! (And DC and Spartanburg...but that still counts as family time)

Since my last post, we've had so much going on! I won't bore you with details but I'll highlight the happenings!

1. Tyler's Nursery School Fall Festival was the weekend of Oct 22nd. Tyler had a ball at Trunks of Treats, had his first hot dog for lunch (see pic above) and rode on the Choo Choo Train. Sunday, our friends Roberta and Mike came over for the Skins game and we had a great time hanging out with them.

2. The week of the 24th, I was in Nashville for a night for work but was still able to make it to one of my favorite honky tonk bars, Tootsies with my coworkers! It's a Nashville establishment and so much fun! The 27th, I hosted book club at my house. I made spicy dishes for our discussion of "Catching Fire" (the second book in the Hunger Game Series) Good times were had by all! (Can I take a moment to mention that I cannot WAIT until the first movie of this series comes out in March 2012!!!!)

That Saturday Steph, Pat, Ben and I took the boys to the Pumpkin Patch up in Elijay, GA and finished up with a playdate with our friends Emma and Mike and their little girl Bella...it was such a fun day!

3. Then it was HALLOWEEN! Our neighborhood is SO Much fun at Halloween! Tyler had the BEST Time! We started right at 5pm, with a potluck dinner at our neighbor's house. The whole street showed up! Then it was off to Trick or Treat! We pulled Tyler and his buddy Jack around in the wagon and Tyler was so excited to say Trick or Treat at least 100 times! We put an exhausted little man to bed around 9! The next day I headed to Florida for a couple of nights for work. The weekend of Nov 3rd, Ben went camping with our neighbors (a boys trip) so I took Tyler to Spartanburg to hang with my parents for the night. (which included a trip to the Fire Dept with Aunt Kelly to see where Uncle "Travvy" works...see pic above)

4. The weekend of Nov 12th, We had Tyler's second haircut, Maddie's 3rd Bday Party, a football party at our neighbors, and dinner party at another neighbor's...all on Saturday! It was exhausting but fun. Sunday I left for Dallas for 3 days and Ben took Tyler to see Santa in Alpharetta.

Before I left, I was able to get out Tyler's Second Birthday invites...which I'm SO excited about! I've attached the proof so you can see how adorable they are (note: I took out our address and stuff...so if there's a little more "white" on the invite that's why...never know what freaks are out there on the internet!) Can't wait for his "Two hot to handle" Party in December even though my heart aches that he's growing up SO fast!!!

5. Last week (Nov 14-16) I was in Dallas and came home to a little man with a bad cold...who in turn gave it to me. So we spent this weekend doing a lot of NOTHING and getting better! But it was So nice to just have some quality Family time!!!

I cannot believe how quickly Thanksgiving has gotten here! We are headed to Spartanburg for a weekend of Turkey eating, and family time! I can't wait!!! Sometimes things get so busy, but the older I've gotten, the easier it is for me to see what I'm TRULY grateful for! A healthy family who I love and friends and neighbors that I hold near and dear to my heart!!! We are blessed in so many ways!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!