Lexie's 1st Valentines

Our flowers - boy, do we feel special!
Lexie's sweet treats

If she's anything like me, she can sniff chocolate from a mile away!

I think she enjoyed her her 1st valentines day!

Lots and Lots of Snow!!

"Umm, Mom - are you going to join me or just take pictures of me?"

"Come on!"

"This stuff is great!"

This picture and the ones above are when the snow first started around 1 PM

This picture and the ones below were taken around 3 PM. The snow is still coming down pretty hard as I type. The snow measured 1 3/4" then. I can only imagine how much we will have by morning!

Our back deck

St John Trip

My family and I had 7 glorious days in paradise. My parents, Grandma, Dave, Lexie, and I went to St John USVI for the week for some R&R. As all vacations do, it went by way too fast.

St. John is probably my all time favorite tropical places to go. Each time I go, I fall more in love with the place. There is something so laid back about that place - everyone moves at a slower pace. It's a small island and 3/4th of it a national park - thanks to Laurence Rockefeller. Only about 3,000 people live on the island. There is no airport and only 3 stop lights. There are a few grocery stores but if you are looking for specific things, you would have to take a ferry to St. Thomas. It's quite different than Atlanta. . . . I always come back so refreshed.

I was super anxious about trip, meaning the flight. It's only 3 1/2 hours to St. Thomas, but Lexie has never flown before. Not to mention she hates to be still. Right at take off she fell asleep on my shoulder and slept for an hour and 1/2. Then she happily played for the remaining hour and 1/2. Whew! I was so relieved!

We rented a house over looking Peter Bay (the area where Kenny Chesney has a house :-). The house was amazing in every way. We had a view that looked directly at Jost Van Dyke. I had no problem waking up to that view every morning!

One day, we chartered a private boat and toured the BVI's - Tortola, Virgin Gorda, and Yost Van Dyke. We first stopped at Virgin Gorda and saw the baths. While we where venturing around those islands, we stopped at a very cool restaurant, Willy T's for lunch. It's a floating bar/restaurant off Norman Island (the island also known for Robert Louis Stevenson's famous Treasure Island). After stopping for lunch, Dave, my Dad, and I went snorkeling at the three Cave's off Norman Island. It was gorgeous. We saw all sorts of beautiful fish. I was fascinated! After snorkeling, we went to Jost Van Dyke to the Soggy Dollar Bar. Our dinghy didn't work, so my Dad, Dave, and I swam to shore for one of their signature cocktails, the painkiller. Down the beach from Soggy Dollar Bar is Ivan's. From what the locals say that is where Kenny Chesney hangs out all the time when at his place in St. John. I was on the prowl hoping to see him. :-) Needless to say, it was a fun day!

The rest of the time was basically rest and relaxation. We drove into town (Cruz Bay) every so often for groceries or for cocktails. Otherwise, we would go to Trunk Bay or Cinnamon Bay and be beach bums.

Lexie did exceptionally well on the beach. Back in July, her and I spent 3 weeks in Destin. But she was only 3 months old. I was a bit worried how she'd react this time around. The first day we went to Trunk Bay, she HATED it. Didn't like the sand nor the water. I was a bit bummed. The next day we tried again. I was a little more persistent. I put her on the hard/wet sand and it seemed to be better than the dry sand. I inched her a bit in the water. Minute by minute she began to loosen up. By the end of the day, she loved it! She loved it so much she was trying to eat the sand. Ha!


Sweet pea also did really great that week because she was battling her first sickness! 10 months along and she has never been sick (minus teething). She has had a terrible runny nose that won't go away. It seemed to get worse as the week went on. But she was a trooper. Again, I was worried about the flight home since her cold had gotten worse. She again fell asleep on my shoulder at take off. She slept for 2 hours. She played for about an hour. But the last 30 minutes she was not happy! Not sure if it were her ears or what. Luckily everybody around us on the plane were nice and didn't make those complaints like I used to! :-)

I'm so glad my Grandma got to go. This was her first international trip without my Grandpa. I think she had a great time. It was wonderful to see her with Lexie. It was quite a special trip!

If you want to see pictures, you can check them out on Lexie's site. There were too many to post! :-)

Master bath reno Complete!

Again, I'm late posting this. Back in November we ran into a problem with our master shower. 3 tiny tiles just fell off the side of the shower. We thought that was odd but thought we could call a repair man and he could fix it. Not the case. Keep in mind, our house was built in 2002, so tiles should not be falling off!

Dave and I had one guy come out to look at it. He said that he couldn't just replace the tile. The problem was our cheap builder. Instead of putting concrete blocks/walls in the shower then tiling over that, the builder/tile man put the tile directly on the sheet rock. It's no wonder the tiles were falling off. I can't believe we didn't have water damage and mold! The man also said that he'd have to re-tile the entire shower! Meaning we'd have to re-tile the bathtub too because they are adjoined. Ugh!

After realizing that this was a bigger project than we thought, Dave put everything in my hands. Since my degree is in Interior Design I figured that I could have a little fun with this.

The first tile man quoted us a ridiculously high price. I could totally gut my entire bathroom and redo it with the price that he quoted us for just re-tiling. He also said that it would take him and his men about 2 to 2 1/2 weeks to do the job. That is even more crazy. I've been around a lot of construction in my former days of working and I know that it does not take that long to re-tile a shower/tub.

I called another tile guy to come give us a quote. He gave us a quote that was half of what the first guy had quoted us. He also said that he could get everything finished within 5 business days. Now we were talking!

Lexie and I drove all the way to Cumming, GA to their showroom to pick out the new tile. I had in mind what I wanted to do. Nothing too over the top because we plan on moving within the next year (normally I would have convinced Dave to do travertine - Ha).

Our bathroom was about to go under the knife!

One tile guy arrived around 8 AM on a Monday morning. He was so nice and very clean (I was really worried about the demo process with Lexie starting to crawl). He would rip up the wall for a few hours and then clean up all the broken tiles and sweep. He starting laying the tile on Wednesday. By Thursday evening, he was done! I bought new fixtures for the sinks, tub, and shower - he even installed them (a lot of tile guys require you to call a plumber). Friday morning another man came to install our frameless shower door. After the door was installed, Dave and I could finally move back into our bathroom.

I went with a neutral 9x12 neutral colored tile with a solid colored 1"x1" tile for the border in the shower. I had them raise the tile height in the shower from 6'5" to 7'5" to give the space a bigger feel. They built a corner seat along with a corner shelf substituting for the towel bar that we never used. Instead of keeping the same fixtures, I decided to change it up a bit. I bought antique bronze fixtures to make the bathroom have a little bit of contrast.

Impressive Tile was an amazing company to work with! I was extremely pleased with them. They were quick and clean with a great price!

before. . . .

Bath tub before. . . .
The problem. . . . . .

Demo time!

Frameless shower door - I'm so glad I did this - it makes the shower seem so much bigger!

Christmas and New Years

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I know that I've been slacking a lot in the blogging world. It seems like the holidays came and went and left me picking up after it. I still find little pieces of glitter on Lexie, Dave, or myself. I can't seem to get rid of it!

Christmas was great! The three of us Maders stayed in Atlanta and woke up in our own house on C'mas morning (I tradition I plan to keep - I think it's important for my child to be able to wake up in her own house on C'mas day. That's the way my parents always did it and I loved it). Lexie was a little confused when it came time to open gifts. Dave and I told her over and over not to touch or mess with the presents under the tree. Then when it came time to open them, she kept looking at us as if she wanted to say, 'is this a trick?' And of course, she was just more fixated on the wrapping paper and bows than anything else.

My parents came up around noon and we did C'mas again. I think Lexie must have been really good this year. Santa dropped off a TON of wonderful goodies at Su Su and Papa John's house. My goodness!

After opening gifts, we had a nice C'mas dinner along with Dave's famous/delicious turkey. Lexie even joined us at the table for her first 'nice' dinner in the dining room.

Two days after C'mas, we packed up and drove to Ft. Mill, South Carolina (where Dave's parents recently bought a second home - basically outside of Charlotte). Lexie got to have C'mas all over again. She got really cute clothes and some awesome toys! I think she had a field day at Mike and Kathy's house. They just moved in and are still in the midst of buying furniture. So it was basically an open floor plan for Lexie to crawl and roam everywhere. We didn't get to hang out with John, Michelle, and Amelia very much due to Amelia being sick. I hated not being able to see them more but Dave and I didn't want to take the chance of getting Lexie sick. Lexie has been really fortunate to have not gotten sick so far.

Once we got back from SC, we got ready for New Years. Dave decided he didn't want to go to the VT/UT game on NYE - shocking, I know!! Since that was the case, we invited our wonderful friends Marc/Fran Colley over along with our other friends, Joe and Rob. We had a lovely dinner, watched VT pound on the volunteers, and counted the time until 2010.

My parents drove up on NY day to stay the weekend. My Aunt Melinda, cousin Meredith, and Grandma were in town for a wedding. It also was my Grandma's 88th b'day. My Mom made reservations for all of us to go to the Palm in Buckhead for dinner. Lexie did great even though it was way past her bedtime. I only broke her bedtime due to the fact her GG was in town.

I used to dine at the Palm quite often but hadn't in a while. I have to say that I'd go back just for the service. The food was delicious (A+) and the service was outstanding (A+++++++). If you ever need a nice place to dine, think about going to the Palm. Also ask for the waiter, Mr. Logan. Lexie was also very impressed. After Mr. Logan would finish talking or explaining the specials, etc. - Lexie would smile big and start clapping. It was hilarious and cute.

I can't believe it's 2010 and that Lexie is 9 months old! It is absolutely crazy how fast time flies by now.

Christmas and New Years was truly wonderful! I hope yours was too!

By the way, I had a hard time narrowing down the pictures from C'mas/NY as you can see below. . . .I guess I'm making up for not keeping up with my blogs.

Family room tree and stockings

Living Room tree

Waiting for Santa. . . .

Santa came!! He must have liked the oreos. . .

Her first stocking stuffed full of goodies

There's more in the stocking?

About to open her first present
Every time Lexie would see the preview for Alvin & the Chipmunks movie (the squeakle), she'd stop what she was doing and start dancing. So we had to get her the first one.

Alright! We put the movie in later C'mas day and she was pretty entertained for a soon to be 9 month old.

Look who will be ready for fall. . . .

Burberry pj's! Thanks Su Su and Papa John
Lexie's first Waterford Crystal.

Su Su reading Santa a story

Aren't these monogrammed shoes adorable??

Wanting to 'undecorate' the tree after opening all the gifts.
SU SU and Sweet pea

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
Sweet Fran is reading Lexie a book before bedtime. It was Lexie's last bedtime story of 2009!
Dave's cutest VT fan and good luck charm! She must have worked! VT beat Tennessee 37-14!
Fran and Marc Colley - some of our dearest friends!! They came over to our house and spent New Years with us.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I love Papa John! This was right after they got done playing hide and seek. It was so cute to watch!

GG's b'day dinner in a pretty red dress with a lot of tulle!

Sweet pea still was doing great - considering it was 3 hours after her bedtime!

My Grandma's b'day dinner. Doesn't she look marvelous!?

Sweet Hubby - '30th' B'day in Key West!

I'm a little late posting this, but my adorable and amazing husband whisked me off to Key West last weekend (Dec. 4-6) for my 30th birthday (I turned 30 on Dec 7). He had everything planned out. He had made arrangements with my Mom/Dad to keep Lexie, made hotel/flight/dinner reservations and managed to really wow me! Dave always wows me, but I truly wasn't expecting this. He even gave me a beautiful necklace from one of my dearest friend's jewelry store.

When we arrived in Key West on Friday afternoon, we checked into a beautiful hotel. It's one of the Waldorf Astoria's properties. We made it just in time to see the sunset. Then we went to dinner next door at Louie's. It was the perfect start for a perfect weekend.

Saturday consisted of walking around getting to know the city (Dave has been before). Dave and I met a wonderful couple, Rick and Robbie from central Florida. They were so nice to let us sit with them to watch the SEC game (all the sports bars were slammed).

Sunday was just as fun. Our flight wasn't until late afternoon. So again, we walked around the town looking at all the gorgeous, historic homes/buildings.

Once we got home, my sweet parents were here with dinner waiting and Lexie tucked in bed. The selfish parents we are woke her up just to see her (she is an easy sleeper and goes right back to sleep).

It was an AMAZING trip! A perfect get away. I think rolling into the 3rd decade has started out pretty nice! And big kudos to my precious hubby!!!

Sunset view from the top of our hotel.

The southern most part of the USA! I thought that was so neat! 90 miles from Cuba.

Look how beautiful and aqua the water is. And yes, we got stranded in the storm that was brewing in the background. We headed straight towards Sloppy Joe's.

Sloppy Joe's

Great Gift/Gate Idea. . . .

Usually around every September I start thinking about Christmas. I start wondering how many trees I'm going to do, where I'm going to put them, how to decorate them. Or where to put the garland and all the other gazillion decorations I have.

This year has been a little different. I did start thinking about Christmas in September but I couldn't decide what to do about the BIG tree in our family room or where to put it since we have a crawler on the loose. I definitely wanted to have a tree in there because that is where we spend most of our time. Plus, I wanted to enjoy it - Christmas only happens once a year and I try to soak up as much Christmas as I can! People kept saying, "I guess you can't do a tree because of the baby." Or "you will just have to put baby gates around the tree." My response to both. . . "I will do no such thing. There has to be a better solution."

This is when the light bulb appeared over my head. As I was coming into the house from the garage the other day, I happen to glance down and see four 2x12 cinder blocks (we had them because our huge tree kept falling down the few years ago). I went to Target and bought boxes big enough for them to fit. I came home and put the blocks in the boxes and taped them up good with duct tape. Then I wrapped them and even put bows on them and put them around the tree. When or if Lexie gets curious about the tree, I will pull the boxes out so she can't get to the tree. For the real presents, I have them under the tree in the living room. So far, she hasn't been the least bit curious in the tree except for the Santa photo shoot I made her do. :-) She still is very much into the media cabinet.

If you do this, make sure you used duct tape on the boxes - just to secure the blocks from breaking through. Also, I even put name tags on the boxes that says, "TO: Lexie; FROM: Mr. Fraser Fur." Ha!

Picture below. . .

Cinder Block Gate Presents