NYC

12-12-12 Cole turned ten months old, and it sure was a memorable ten month mark for our family!! On December 10th we arrived in New Jersey for Gerald's new job (more on that later), and on 12/12/12 we decided to go tour Manhattan, NY!! So we went down to the New Brunswick station, and road the New Jersey Transit train an hour up to the big city! Gerald has been on a train before, and to NY, but this was mine and the kids first time. It was really the best experience I've had in my life! We all loved it, and I was in shock taking it all in, haha. Small Decatur, AL to NYC is a big change! We arrived at Penn Station, which is under Madison Square Garden, and from there we walked (more like ran/got trampled over) for what seemed like miles. Abby got to take her picture with Minnie Mouse, other characters, and go in ToysRus. Which was of course her favorite, and probably one of mine too ;) She had such a good time, and was SO good!! (Side note: I am so proud of the beautiful big girl that she's growing into! :))

We also walked around Times Square, AMAZING. AMAZING. AMAZING. We saw the Empire State Building, Macy's (and stores/buildings like that), then ended at the Rockefeller Christmas Tree! It was BEAUTIFUL, and we even witnessed a proposal on the ice rink below us!! Something I will never forget! Unfortunately, my camera died right before the proposal =(

We are going name back soon to Soho area, China Town, Central Park, and the Twin Towers memorial! There is so much to see and explore! Luckily, we live even closer now.

I have TONS of pictures! I just have to figure out how to add them. Maybe my next post will be of only pictures, because that's the only way I can do it right now. =/

Oh and maybe I should mention that tonight is Christmas Eve, and we're in a hotel in Long Island, NY!! I'll do a post on the kids Santa, and why we moved to NJ, then NY very soon!! Life is definitely crazy right now, but we know God knows what he's doing :) 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!! 

New Discovery

Why didn't anyone tell me Pensacola Beach (actual strip are and downtown too) was so AWESOME?!

We took a drive across along the ocean strip this weekend and the places to eat, bars, shops, and stuff like that were just too cool! The best discovery of all that had Abby mesmerized was this beautiful ferris wheel! It's HUGE and inclosed little seats. It even has a VIP "cage" whatever you call them with some pretty awesome stuff we heard! Great place to purpose :)

Can't wait to go check it out more next summer!

9 Months Old

Cole is nine months and one day old now. I'll be doing a first birthday post in no time!! :( That makes me really sad because I know how fast time passes seeing Abby so grown up. I wish so badly they could both stay babies forever!

Cole is ALL over the place! He sure can "crawl"! His crawl is actually similar to the "worm" we all use to do. He lays on his belly, pulls his body with his arms into a crawling position, and then plops back down to pull again! It may sound unorganized, or slow. That is actually not true...he is very fast, and looks like he has a future in that row boat sport haha! He is the cutest little boy, and you can rarely find him unhappy. I mean such a good personality, just like his sister! Their Daddy and I are SO blessed to be their parents! We're trying daily to be the best parents we can be for them.

Anyway, some more things he's doing are...

• Saying "Mama" while crawling towards me. So I'm unsure if he is actually calling me Mama, or just making the sound?! When I sit down on the floor he will crawl up to me "ma ma ma ma" while grunting like he can't get there fast enough haha. Then he pulls up on me, and sits in my lap. It melts my heart! He does the same to his Daddy, tugs on his leg like "pick me up" :)

• He LOVES his Daddy!! Watches him like a hawk! Abby is his best friend, they play so well together now, and he sure does love that girl! He's got her wrapped around his finger..seriously ;)

• He pulls up on everything, and can walk around while holding on to objects! He is fearless when it comes to getting his body around!! This is very stressful for me! He's had some bad falls, but we just can't always be RIGHT there to stop him :(

• He's eating Puffs, Nilla Wafers, juice, and drinking less bottles throughout the day. Unfortunately, he's still waking up ALL night for bottles! Also, his sleep schedule is so messed up right now from the time change. :(

• He loves to play with balls, walk in his walker outside, stroll the neighborhood, play with Daddy's tools, his Sissy, and anything we have in our hands! ;)

• Cole also loves straws! Don't worry we watch him like a hawk, and it's only at restaurants.

Well I guess I'll stop since it's getting pretty long. I feel like I'm forgetting stuff because it's so late. Everyone is asleep, and I'm wide awake. My schedule is so messed up right now! So I guess I'm going to try to get some sleep too, goodnight! :)

Trick~or~Treat

This was Cole's first Halloween/our first in Daphne, and it didn't disappoint! Abby, had a BLAST!! She was dancing around, and screaming, "HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE, SEE YOU TONIGHT," all afternoon! I got some good videos. (Once I get a lap top the blog will be much more organized. I can't arrange the photos or add videos.) The kids said hey/waved to her, the entire neighborhood was just so nice, and even though we were "alone" it didn't really feel that way. Yea sure it probably would've been much more fun with family, but we're getting use to doing things by ourselves here.

Abby was a little "Rainbow Bug", and Cole was a monkey. They were both so cute! Cole fell asleep after about two houses on the first street. He was out, but still held a grip on that candy bucket! It was so funny, everyone laughed and thought he was cute! They sure did get a lot of candy!! I know I stole one too many pieces this month :( ..haha!

Their daddy had to work late, but we kept the costumes on a little later for him to see. He did give Cole a taste of his first sucker, sadly I didn't get a picture, bur Daddy was his best friend that night!! ;)

It was a fun night! Still, it will be much better when we have friends to go with, and talk to. We are having a little home sickness lately haha! We miss getting to see everyone, go to his nieces and nephew's games, and just family gatherings. We get to keep up through pictures so thats good, but it's not the same as being a part of it. We know this is whats best for our kids/family though, so it's just part of it. We will eventually meet friends here that become "family" it's just taking a little longer than we expected... Haha we have one friend (our roommate). Even he has a different attitude towards friendship since he's not from the U.S. He thinks a few years from now we'll be sitting around saying, "remember that guy who let us rent a room?" Haha, but we always say to him that we'll prove him wrong because we're not that type :)

We may be taking a trip up north for a few weeks (not sure yet). At first we thought we had to go, but now that it's optional we hate to make that long drive. Although it would help us financially, we're just unsure. I'll most more if we do decide to go.

Prayer request:
Please pray God guides us in the direction he wants us to go with our family :)


-Tiffany

Family Visit

This past weekend Gerald's parents came to stay with us. Everyone loved having them, and our roommate was glad to meet them! First we did some catching up with the kiddos. Cole was a little cautious at first, but he quickly warmed up to them. Abby was SO happy, and talking up a storm like always haha! We did some running around town while Gerald was working, and they got to see our neighborhood/our city, Daphne. His mom kept saying she was so confused where we were, I don't blame her it is VERY confusing! Like seriously the craziest turning roads ever haha! We love Daphne, and I'm glad they got to experience some of it. We went to Baumhowers to eat Saturday night, which was really cool. Loved the gooey fries! We hadn't been, and it's a fun place to watch the sports games. Earlier that day Abby got her hair cut off, and it is so cute! Oh, and his mom has me hooked on thrifting! We found a really good shop here that has tons of great finds for practically nothing (I guess because all of the money around Baldwin County they just donate more haha). Abby got a cute guitar with her money from the "tooth fairy", and some other things. She loved shopping on her own. We all got some great things for Fall/Winter for CHEAP! One sweater of mine had the tags, and another looked brand new. So needless to say we'll be checking back regularly ;) His mom also bought Abby some Ked's (in the picture), and I think they are so sweet. :)

This trip was more about serious things we had to get handled though, and they'll be back again sometime for some more fun! There is just SO much to do here on the bay/beach, and it's impossible to fit everything into a weekend. There's the Battleship Memorial Park, all the restaurants on the causeway (Bay), hundreds of historic building/churchs/parks in downtown Mobile, plus all the shops, and delicious/cool food places. The Kids Science Exploreum Center, Bienville Square, Beautiful Bellingrath Gardens. Then there's beautiful historic, downtown Fairhope, and all the neat boutiques/cafes. Daulphin Island beach, the Sea lab and Estuarium there. All the wildlife on the bay, and the fairy that takes you from Fort Morgan to Dauphin Island (or visa versa). Then there is the beach only a short thirty minute drive away with tons to do there too, and always something going on. Oh, and the biggest of all MARDI GRAS!! It's huge here because the first Mardi Gras was in Mobile. I can't wait to experience that, and hopefully they will be able to come this February 12th. Which by the way is Cole's FIRST BIRTHDAY, what a cool first birthday. Right?! Lol

We have a lot of fun things to do here, and I love that about it!! I wish our entire family could come visit, but we have to find a home and get settled first. I'm pretty set on living in Daphne, and I think Gerald is too!? I sure hope so. It's such a great community to raise kids. Mobile is great too, but it's more of a big city, exhibits, night life type great. Not schools and kids great. Haha. Well anyways, it was a great weekend, and we can't wait until Thanksgiving :)

P.s.- I posted a few pics of Baldwin/Mobile county.. Just to show family and look back on one day)
The one with the trees lit up is downtown Fairhope at Christmas time... They light every branch downtown with white lights. Christmas time hurry up! And, the sunset on the beach is Dauphin Island.

Isaac

Just wanted to post a little about our first hurricane experience here on the gulf coast. Hurricane Isaac was a tropical storm until right before hitting land. Here in Mobile it was just VERY rainy which resulted in flooding in low areas. They closed the Bankhead tunnel, the causeway connecting Mobile to Daphne, Dauphin Island, several streets, and evacuated most areas near the bay/gulf. The wind also it pretty strong here too. It's weird and very different from what we are use to in north AL. This last forever, the wind an rain just don't come through an then the sun comes back out. I mean we have not seen sunshine since Isaac rolled in, it feel kind of nice despite the rain. Especially when you work outdoors like we do. Here are some picture, and once again I can't put them in order. Some are from Mobile , Dauphin Island, Gulf Shores, and the others are from MS/LA areas. It's so sad to see what people have lost and we are grateful it took a turn west or our situation wouldn't be so good right now!! Pray for the gulf coast :(