VEGAS PART I

Every year since 2001 I have made the trip to Vegas for a work event. This year is no exception. I don’t particularly care for Vegas, most likely because I associate it with work, giving presentations, smoke-y casinos, and tacky people. This year even more so, because it is my first time away from Annabelle. For the first time in 7.5 months I will fall asleep without the sound of gentle giraffe’s jungle noises softly playing in the background. I will not get up in the night and go to the crib to check on our little one just to see her dreaming peacefully. I will not wake up tomorrow morning to her big smiles and kicking feet so excited to see me. I already miss her, though I know she is in good hands and having quality time with her dad.

Taking this first business trip has had its perks. On the flight out here I took a nap, read a whole magazine, watched the Barefoot Contessa, and even finished my Christmas thank you notes. Aside from pumping in the airplane bathroom, I was almost my former self. Upon arriving at the hotel, I checked in, changed into my running clothes and headed down to the gym to get my legs moving. Not surprising, one of my fellow mommy co-workers was also hitting the treadmill - both of us enjoying exercising sans jogging stroller. Following my run, I took a steamy shower and then plucked my eyebrows in one of those magnified mirrors that show every imperfection. I found my eyebrows had been neglected since Annie E’s birth – who has time to pluck? I call it mommy denial. If you don’t look close enough, you can pretend overgrown eyebrows do not exist. Nevertheless – once primped I headed downstairs for our marketing team dinner - all expensed to the corporate card. All of these things were well and good for day #1, however I am sure these next few nights will not be so easy-breezy.

Now that it is time to finally go to sleep, I realize how strange it is not to have Annabelle sleeping here in the room with me. Perhaps I will put some Baby Chopin on the iPod to try and trick my senses into believing she is here. Sending my love and sweet dreams from Vegas to the NYC.



MORNING SNOW

HOLIDAZE

 Last Monday wrapped up the Holidays and I can't believe how fast it flew by.  Because I had a slightly extended maternity leaving me with minimal vacation days, our trip to California for Christmas was planned to be short yet sweet.  That all changed, however, when the Blizzard of 2010 hit the East Coast, happily stranding us in California for an additional week.  Supposedly thousands of flights were canceled and the airports around NY shut down leaving travelers, such as yours truly, at our travel destinations much longer than anticipated.  Nathan, Annabelle, and I took full advantage of our spare days to continue with visiting. Nathan took off to Mammoth for a couple days of snowboarding with Bryan and Josh while Annabelle and I spent some quality time in Laguna with the Lyman's, in Long Beach with the Czerwinski's and even snuck in another visit with Nani and Papa John in Westlake.  We ended our visit with a final sleepover at Ade and Josh's.  Unfortunately Annie E picked up a cold along the way, making that last night a sleepless night for all of us.  It was so great to spend Annabelle's first Christmas with friends and family. Here are some of the highlights:

• Brunch with Jill, Mom, Katherine and the Booser Girls at the 4 Seasons
• Annabelle sharing "kisses" with the family   
• Sand in our toes at Victoria Beach
• Jumping on the trampoline with Fiona, Maddie and Gracie
• Shrimp tacos with Argyle's
• Toffee surprises hidden in a secret place
• BBQ at Qazi West
• A long walk and great conversation on the Santa Monica Boardwalk with Katherine + babies
• The hilarious white elephant gift exchange at the Fiore's
• Quality time with the Grand and Great-Grand Parents
• Annabelle loving the wrapping paper more than the actual gifts inside
• Playtime with Milo, Ruby, Julian, Jagger, Hamilton, and Hunter
• Soup night with mom and dad

BABBLE

All of a sudden Annabelle has so much to say.  On Christmas Eve, our little lady learned how to blow rasberries.  She spent the next few days perfecting this trick.  I had heard this is good for language development, and I guess I had heard right.  On Tuesday morning, Annabelle babbled out a whole range of sounds including baa baa's, gaa gaa's, deee deee's - and much to Nathan's satisfation, dada's and dad-ee's.  Aparently she has her monther's gift of gab, because she hasn't stopped talking since.  Here is a clip of this morning's baby babble.

SNOOPS

Nathan's company recently purchased the license for Peanuts.  One of the perks being, Snoopy stopped by the office to spread some Holiday cheer.  We didn't make it to see Santa, does this count?

2011

JUST CLOWNING AROUND

This weekend the Teter's were in town.  We had a great time cruising around, had an adult-only dinner at Il Buco, and hit up the lanes at Brooklyn Bowl.  We also stopped by this Levi's project downtown called the Photo Workshop.  They have tones of antique cameras you could rent, photo sets where you could do a shoot, and all these Macs set up so you could do photo editing.  We weren't quite sure what it was all about - the scene was a bit overwhelming!  They did, however,  have a cool photo booth that we took advantage of.   Good friends, good times.

TIME

So now that I am officially a working mom I find that there is just not enough time in the day.  Now more than ever, I wish that there could be 75 minutes in every hour instead of just 60.  That would leave more time with my little person, more time with Nate, more time to blog, to knit, cook a good meal, and go for a long run.  More time to organize my photos, to take photos for that matter!  More time to send that last email, to run the numbers and triple check the budget.  More time to keep in touch and tell my friends and family how much I love them.  More time to Christmas shop and decorate.  I find as the days go on, it gets harder for me to sit still and to relax for a moment when there is one.  There is just too much to do.  Rush, rush, rush.  So much to cram into every 60 minutes of the hour.  For now I will relish the 15 minutes of a hot morning shower and the moments at the end of the day when I get to rock Annabelle to sleep to the sounds of violins playing Chopin on the ipod.  It is my New Year's Resolution to be present.  Since time is becoming even more precious - I want to be physically and mentally present with each moment I have.

That said, I apologize for radio silence on the blog.  I know my blog is one of the things I enjoy doing that is going take a hit due to lack of time.  I will try my best to keep it somewhat up-to-date, though I know many more days will go by between entries. 

Off to go spend some quality time with my favorite two people...

THE BUG

The flu bug blew through the Ellis apartment this week.  It started on Tuesday night.  It was the lighting of the Holiday tree at Bleeker St. Park.  I planned to get off work a little early and meet our nanny there with Annabelle.  Upon arrival to the park, I said a quick hello to some of my mommy friends, and quickly scanned the crowd for my little one.  She was nowhere to be found.  I headed home to find Annabelle with sunken red eyes, a yellow-ish tone, nauseous.  Nothing is sader than seeing your little girl throw up.  I had know idea that tiny little humans have the exact reactions as their adult counterparts when sick.  Poor little dumpling.  She tossed and turned all night and we tried to comfort her.  Thankfully her six month check up was the next morning so we could get a professional opinion on what to do.  While waiting for her appointment, A. lost her cookies all over the waiting room - a real treat for the other parents waiting.  The doctor assured us that the stomach virus was going around and to watch for dehydration by giving her Pedialyte at intervals throughout the day.  She weighed in at just 14 pounds, lighter than I expected, but the doc said not to worry, and that she is just long and lean (she is still in the 84% for height - Nate says she is lean and mean).  The doc also warned that the virus is contagious and to be careful.  Turns out the doctor was right and by 3:00 am, I was feeling the symptoms, followed by Nathan around 5:00.  Both of us were down for the count and could not have been more happy to see the nanny walk through the door at 8:15.  We hope she doesn't catch the bug next. Throughout the day Annabelle showed signs of improvement and by her evening bath she was smiling and laughing again.  Nate and I are still ache-y break-y, but hoping to kick this darn bug by tomorrow.  My best lady, Dion, arrives for a visit tomorrow and it would be terrible for us all to be sick.  Plus she went through this with her own little ones a few weeks ago.

Keep your fingers crossed that team Ellis is on the mend.