Day at the Park

Today was a gorgeous day, sunny skies in the 60's so what else to do after swimming lessons, a birthday party and a visit from a friend... head to the park. No time for the weary in our house. Sometimes I think we still have the MN mindset of ... "warm weather and sunshine = must spend time outside because it's limited. None the less, we headed to the park and yet again, for the 4th straight park trip in a row, Hannah ran into someone she knows. She seems to know half of East Cobb already. She found some little friends to play with that she met at the birthday party earlier in the day, and then so happens the Mom was a Gator and knew some of the same people that Todd knew from FL. Always a small world out there. Hannah insisted on brining her new hula hoop to the park, which the girls loved playing with.

Drew always has a smile on his face at the park, probably because it is generally the one place that I am telling him to run around vs yelling at him to slow down and calm himself a bit. I am all... hey, run, run, run.. get that energy out. He loves it, I love it.

If you look closely, both kids look like they got into a fight, all completely unrelated. I am glad we didn't have any family photos scheduled this week! Hannah is still healing from a little rug burn on her forehead from last weekend, which she made me promise to not tell anyone how it happened ( she threw a fit, was sent to her room, threw a tantrum not he floor and rubbed her head on the carpet, then cried about her head burning) I'm that mom that was all... "well, smart move Hannah, how did that fit work out for you?" Her chin was a Barbie packaging accident. Happens to the best of them. And Drew.. We aren't exactly sure what happened, we know there were not an tears associated with his cheek and chin bruising so we are assuming he is fine.  Kids will be kids.

And finally, we rest, with a little Curious George movie on, mom on the computer, dad at work ( yes on sunday, never ends)... till next week!

Rudzinkski Family Visit

Friday night we were excited to have the Rudzinski family stay with us on their drive back from Florida to Ohio. Lucky for us we are the perfect half way point right off I-75. It was so fun to see Jerry and Marcia, and their adorable kids. Ellen, Audrey, Marie and Ryan were a joy to have, and such well behaved cute kids. Hannah couldn't had been more excited to have a little slumber party with Marie and Ellen, and Drew.. well he followed Ryan everywhere he went. I almost felt bad for Ryan because he couldn't get away from Drew, but he was so great with him and seemed to have fun with his little stalker :) It was pretty funny to watch Drew run through the house yelling "Ryan... Ryan where are you?" And then to see Ryan peak around the corner laughing.   Hannah and Drew were sad to see them go, and poor Drew I think gets so confused with all our guests... every once in a while he would call Marie and Ellen Gracie and Lauren.   We hope they head to Florida next year so we can see them again!!

Happy 1 Year Anniversary Atlanta!

This weekend marks our year anniversary living in Georgia, and what a year it's been. It is still crazy to me, sometimes I will be driving along the highway looking at the tall pine trees and magnolias in bloom and think, huh, I live in Georgia? There are days I feel like I have lived here a week and still get lost in our own neighborhood .... and other days I feel like we have been here for years, and Minnesota seems like such a distant memory.  It hasn't been an easy year by any means, but it was actually a bit easier than I ever imagined. I tend to go in to things expecting the worst, and hoping for the best. Generally ends being pleasantly surprised. This held true for our move as well.  

In our year here, we moved into our dream home which we love. We learned new jobs, new corporate cultures and have made many many new friends for which we are so thankful for. We have had more house guests in one year than 13 years in MN combined, we call ourselves Hotel Steinemann. Lucky for us we are the half way point between Siesta Key Florida and Centerville, Ohio.. so we get a lot of friends and family passing through and saying hi. We love seeing everyone. We have been able to explore  Atlanta, go on more little weekend vacations, and enjoy the beach which we love.  The summer was HOT, but the winter was worth the two months of humidity. We have enjoyed the 65-70 degree Jan and Feb days and being able to bring the kids to the park and play outside all year long.   Life is good.

Looking forward, we are ready for a little relaxation in 2012. I have goals of getting to bed earlier than 11pm and sleeping in past 5:30am.   The storm has passed, I am looking for the calm. I think I unintentionally declared 2012 the year for me to get "my" life back. Moving has forced me to be more social than I have been in the last 5 years, meeting new friends and making time to build those relationships. ( even though what i really want to be doing is hanging out with my mn friends :( )I don't turn down offers to grab drinks with girlfriends after the kids go to bed anymore, and the best part is that I don't feel guilty about it anymore either. I have always been the type "a" personality that is always harried, I snap, I over schedule, I don't know how to say no, I take on more than I can do, and rarely ever made time for myself and feel guilty if I do. I put a lot of pressure on  myself to accomplish all that I want to do. I want to raise warm, grateful, and intelligent kids and give them everything they need in life, I want a successful career, I want a happy marriage, a house decorated like a magazine feature, close friendships, a weekend wardrobe outside of sweatpants and running shoes, and my kids to eat a homemade meal once in a while.What I realized is above all else, I need to make time for myself, and not feel guilty about that for everything else to fall into place. For the first time since Hannah was born I am starting to feel like my old self again. I feel settled, knowing we don't have the pending conversation of "moving". I can invest in friendships, our home, family, and most importantly, myself.  I work out 4-5x week, I make time for lunch time work outs, even with a Tuesday night spinning class and Saturday mornings runs that allow me some quite stress relieving time. The best part.. my skinny jeans even fit again. Tis the year of self, balance, and guilt free indulgence in a healthy mind and body.

Thanks to all our family and friends, new and old that have been such a wonderful support team over the last year. We love you guys.

Happy Valentine's Day 2012!

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone! I hope everyone had a special day with their sweet heart!  We had a low key Valentine's, however, Hannah did tell me it was the "best" ever. The kids each got a stuffed animal from mom and dad, and cards from all their Grandparents which made their days.   They both had parties at school with lots of valentine's cards exchanged and candy to go with it. I think they almost got more candy today than at the Halloween party. Tonight we had a calm evening with a home made meal and watched a little Fresh Beat Band and Diego on TV... how romantic :)

Happy Valentine's Day everyone and Happy Birthday Aunt Nikki!!

Spring in February?

It has been a crazy weather winter all over the map this year. Atlanta is no exception as it has even been a warmer winter here than the average ( so they say).   It has averaged mid 50's to mid upper 60's all winter as an average. Today we were wearing shorts with sunny skies that actually hit 70 degrees.  Our neighbors daffodils have already bloomed and you can smell magnolias in the air.  We spent a lot of time at the park today. Both at the East Cobb park, than back at our neighborhood park where there was a tennis tournament and we met up with some neighbors and Hannah's little friends.  I think Hannah lucked out, as there are about 7-8 little girls between 4-7 yrs old all within a few houses away. We are still looking for some friends for Drew though, but he will at least have a good selection of girlfriends.

As always Drew had a great time at the park giggling, running and playing with the soccer ball.   We all had a great time getting fresh air and spending time as a family.  We are hoping for a repeat next weekend, as Hannah thanked me tonight for not taking her to any stores this weekend... she gets dragged to the grocery store and target a lot. Finally some fun time!

Hannah + Daddy Night

I had the great privilidge of taking Hannah to a father-daughter date night at Chik-fil-a on Saturday night. It is a great Atlanta tradition where the dads and little girls dress up for some fine dining and it is about the finest dining you'll ever see at a Chik-fil-a. They had reservations, set tables with red table cloths, flowers, battery powered candles and someone playing piano while you dine. Besides the ambiance, the best part of the night was having some long over due one on one time with Hannah. She was so excited to go on a date and see a few friends that were there with their dad's too. 

We had a great time and honestly fun conversation - I learned a lot about Hannah last night (even if it is only true for a night). Hannah said she would like to be a dentist when she grows up, she likes to brush teeth and wants to clean other people's teeth for them (she likes the fancy chair too). Hannah says her favorite food is Waffle House. Nothing specific there, but the whole thing - I think that is because Mom likes to take her there. 

She is a happy little girl. She thinks Atlanta is good and wishes we had snow for just one day, then it could be warm again so we can go to the park. She is very excited to ride the school bus and go to the big school next year where she will eat in a cafeteria (not sure where she learned about that, but I'll take it).

So despite a year of change, Hannah is still the same sweet girl who has a huge heart and is a great big sister. We are blessed everyday to have her and Drew in our lives and I can't wait to make more special memories like this for years to come.