Thursday, April 30, 2009

Savannah's 2nd birthday

I created this video tribute to celebrate Savannah's second year of life. She's had such a busy year... greeting her brother and meeting new friends.
I know parents are biased, but we've been blessed with a healthy, wonderful, beautiful daughter who lights up our lives even when she drives us a little crazy!
Happy Birthday sweet Savannah... Daddy, Mama and Julius love you very much!

Birthday cake for our birthday girl...


I made Savannah a cake for her actual birthday tomorrow... and as I took pictures of it tonight I thought about how Pat and our children are really the gold pot at the end of my rainbow.
It's just hard to remember my life without the three of them in it... although Julius is just 2.5 months he's already become such an important part of our little family.
We're planning to celebrate Savannah's actual birthday with a low-key family day... with homemade pizza and a salad for dinner and then cake and ice cream for dessert.
Wish you were here to have a piece of cake with us... the leftovers will be going to Pat's office on Saturday.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

More zoo pictures...






I guess I should post a few animal pictures since we did go to the zoo yesterday... but the best part of the day was spending it together.

Monday, April 27, 2009

Zoo - Take 2






Here are a few more pictures... will post the animals later

Our trip to the zoo...






We took Savannah and Julius to the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington D.C., to celebrate Savannah's birthday a few days early. The weather was hot, but we had a great time.
I've got plenty of photos so I'm going to share them in batches.
You'll notice that everyone suddenly has crappy hair... it's because we got under the cool water mists... or as Savannah called them the "bathy baths"... she loved those along with the elephants, turtles and ducks.

My look-alike kids...



I guess we make babies who look like each other... and are pretty darn cute if you ask me!

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Celebrating Jayden's birthday...






I took Savannah and Julius to celebrate the first birthday of Jayden, one of Savannah's play date friends. Watching him open his gift and eat his cake reminded me of celebrating Savannah's first birthday just a year ago.
Savannah had fun and met a few new kids and Julius woke up when the action started and was a little party animal himself.
Here are a few pictures from the party...

Friday, April 24, 2009

Two more pictures of Julius...



I had to add the two adorable pictures of Julius as he's growing so fast. We propped him up against a Boppy (not his, but one for pregnant women or men with leg problems) and I got a few pictures before he rolled over.
He's such a sweet little boy and I can look at these pictures and see his Daddy.

Our wonderful flowers...






We had such beautiful weather today and I wanted to take the children out to burn off some energy and enjoy the long-awaited sunshine.
But before we could leave the house Savannah got her Daddy's razor and cut her thumb... so we had to get her fixed up and change her shorts... and calm her father's frazzled nerves.
We then decided to go out into the yard and get a few pictures in her beds of tulips... which is not nearly as beautiful as our two children.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

More pictures from our playdate





I wanted to share a few pictures that Heather took at our play date last week... she's a wonderful photographer and she has a great camera... those two make a great combination.
Look how big Julius has gotten... he won't be a baby very much longer.
The first picture is Savannah with her best friend, Brooke; the second is Savannah on a swing; the third is my head of flat hair with my son; and the fourth is my friend, Heather, with her daughter, Brooke.
We had a wonderful day and hope to get the kids out again soon for another fun time together.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Two month check-up...


Julius had his two-month check-up today and he has grown quite a lot in the last month!
Our "big fellow" weighed in at 14.5 lbs. and is 24 inches in length... so he's now in the 95th percentile for babies his age in weight and in the 90th percentile for height.
Dr. Mayo said Julius is a healthy and strong child and is in the growth pattern to be a tall man... and that she's not worried about his weight.
I have been concerned that we're feeding him too much, but the doctor said he looks just fine.
He also got two shots today and some liquid to keep him from getting bad stomach viruses.
Luckily Pat was able to come rescue Savannah from watching her brother get shots because she has a visit with Dr. Mayo in a few weeks for her two-year check-up... and she has some shots of her own to take.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Up, up and away...


Savannah was mystified this weekend by the hot air balloons we saw in Charlottesville.
Pat was watching after Julius while Savannah and I did a little grocery shopping and as we were leaving the store we saw three hot air balloons up in the sky.
She started shouting "balloon" "balloon" "balloon" and kept pointing to the sky. I had a hard time trying to explain why she couldn't see the balloons in the sky once we left Charlottesville.
I checked online and it looks like they have an annual hot air balloon festival in August and the local companies go there... I'm hoping we can take Savannah to see because I know she'll have a great time.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

A wonderful meal...


Pat and I were able to sneak away from the house a few hours tonight a go out to dinner to celebrate our third anniversary at the Bavarian Chef in Madison. Samantha, our niece, came to look after the kiddies while we were enjoying our time away.
When Samantha arrived, we had given Savannah a bath and fed her before we left. She was sound asleep when we got back home and is still asleep as I type this blog.
I had Wiener Schnitzel, large scallops of handbreaded veal served in burgandy sauce, along with creamed corn and red cabbage. Pat had shrimp scampi stuffed with crab meat and surrounded by some potato concoction (which was fabulous), spaetzle and potato dumplings.
The waitress, who told us she was a college graduate who had decided to work at the restaurant, was great and will soon be a neighbor as she and her fiance recently bought a house in our neighborhood. She told us about the regular customers (couples who eat there at least once a week)... I love that food, but it's too hearty to eat every week!
We came home stuffed and happy, but vowing not to eat out for a while because we're trying to pay off some bills... and Julius' arrival!

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Kiddies in the park...





We met some friends at Pen Park yesterday and these are a few pictures I took... Heather has much better pictures so I'll try to grab and post a few of those when she puts them up.
We enjoyed the beautiful weather and time with friends....

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Three years...


I wanted to write a little something to celebrate my third wedding anniversary. That’s right… although it seems like Pat and I have been married for many years (No offense honey, but we’ve crammed a lifetime of things into a short time frame), we’ve actually only been married since 2006.
Three years ago today, Pat and I were married in a small wedding chapel in Eureka Springs, AR. In fact, the chapel was so small that we could only have 10 guests … and if memory serves me correctly that included the photographer.
Pat and I met at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, but it took me more than six months to go out with him. He asked me out for “a burger and a beer” right after I started dating someone else and it took me months after that relationship ended to convince myself to give Pat a chance.
I thought to myself “What would happen if the relationship went south and we had to see each other at the office?” I knew of several interoffice relationships over the years and watched how weird it was to see past lovers try to remain civil in the workplace.
It took a trip home to Georgia over Christmas 2005 (and a handful of people) to convince me that I should give Pat a chance. So I rang in 2006 at a friend’s house and went home to send Pat an email… if he was still interested in going out sometime to let me know.
It took several days to get a response and I thought my fear of weirdness in the workplace would happen before we went on a first date.
But at last I got a response… he had been out of town having his own New Year’s celebration and had just read my email.
Our first date was Jan. 11… we met for lunch in Fayetteville. I can’t remember the name of the restaurant at the moment or what type of sandwich I ate, but I do remember we were two 30-somethings acting like teenagers (don’t get any dirty thoughts in your head – we were nervous).
That first date led to another and another and before we knew it we were spending time together every day… if Pat was off I would join him after work or he would stop by my apartment (which was across the street from the newspaper) on the nights he worked.
It didn’t take me long to realize Pat was the man I wanted to spend my life with… he was kind and funny, hard-headed and exasperating at times, but he loved me more than I have ever been loved before. The funny thing was that I felt the same way about him and I knew it within a few weeks of our first date.
If anyone else had described this scenario to me before my marriage I would have wished him or her luck and wondered when the divorce papers would be filed. I’m still certain there was a betting pool in our office on how long our marriage would last and when the baby was due.
I didn’t think it was possible to know someone for only a short period of time and feel like you’ve known them forever. But I’ve always thought our quick courtship worked because Pat and I had already played the dating game and were both ready to settle down and start a family of our own.
We had the shortest courtship of anyone I’ve known… we dated less than two months before he asked me to marry him. I planned my wedding in just weeks on a shoestring budget and we moved in together two weeks before the ceremony.
The people at our wedding were Pat’s stepson Jamie, my good friend, Angel and several wonderful women (Michelle, Melissa, Liz and Laurie) that we worked with. Our families, who lived out of state, celebrated with us in the weeks and months to come.
In these last three years we’ve had two beautiful children and moved across country to be closer to our families. I dare say we love each other more today than we did on the day we married… and together we have the best two gifts one can give another – human life.
In 2007, Pat took a job at a smaller newspaper and I gave up my career to take care of our children. But we’ve found happiness in each other and our little house on the hill in Ruckersville. Our children, Savannah and Julius, are the lights of our lives.
In this time of economic downturn it would be easy to let stress come between us. I won’t lie and say things are always stress-free, but compared to other marriages I know of things in the Fitzgerald house are simple (and very happy) indeed.
I could tell you all of the things I love about Pat, but if you’ve made it this far into my note than I won’t force you to read much more (and those of you who know me have heard all of it enough).
We have each other and two healthy, beautiful children and our life is good.
What more can a woman ask for?
Happy 3rd Anniversary Hubby… I love ys.

Wifey

Monday, April 13, 2009

Our babies...





Here are a few pictures of the children that I captured today while Pat and Mom were off running some errands.
Aren't they adorable?

Daddy and Julius...




I captured these photos of Pat and Julius on Sunday evening and had to share them. We get so busy around here and I don't think Pat gets to spend nearly as much time with Julius as he would like as he concentrates on Savannah so she doesn't feel neglected.
I love these pictures...

Savannah's first Easter egg hunt

Sunday, April 12, 2009

An angel among angels...






These are a few pictures I took of Savannah in Mom and Dad's back yard. We took these after walking several blocks... and Savannah was more than a little tired.
It's hard to believe my little girl is about to be 2.
Where did the time go?