The Update

Wow, a lot has happened in the last few days. We closed on our house on Friday - hooray! The closing process was so simple compared to what we went through in New York for our co-op. We were in and out of there within 40 minutes, and no lawyers were involved. We moved in over the weekend and have been unpacking since. So far, only Charlotte's room is complete, which is very fitting since she's the main reason we decided to move here in the first place.

On to other very exciting news - Chester is back! I got a call on Friday from a woman who said that Chester was hanging out in her backyard. She has cats of her own, so food was available. She said he was stuck on her roof the previous Saturday and had decided to make her backyard his home. I was so thankful for her call (and thankful that we had purchased a collar and ID tag) and went right away to pick him up. He's so happy to be home, and so are we.

The last bit of exciting news is that I joined the San Antonio Mastersingers. They are a group of about 120 singers who serve as the resident choir of the San Antonio Symphony. I auditioned last night, made the cut, and proceeded straight to rehearsal. We're working on The Messiah right now and ended our rehearsal with the Hallelujah Chorus. The sound we made was absolutely thrilling. I'm so excited and honored to be a part of this chorus.

Well, that's about it for now. I'll post some pictuures of our house once things are a bit more settled.

Bits and Pieces

* Charlotte loves for me to sing to her, but this morning while singing "Somewhere Out There", I hit a bad high note and she raised her eyebrows and looked at me like it was the worst thing she'd ever heard in her life. I burst out laughing. She already has a discerning ear!

* I love Tim Gunn from Project Runway. He's co-hosting with Kelly Rippa today and I just think he's adorable. He's so prim and proper, but still warm and down to earth. I know he'd shun just about everything I wear, but I still think we'd get along.

* We're closing on our house today. I did the walk through yesterday and there were still some things that need to be finished or touched up. I'm going by before the closing to make sure they're done, and hopefully, all will be well and we'll move into our new home tomorrow.

* Because we're moving, I won't have internet access for a few days. We hope to be up and running by Tuesday.

Have a great weekend everyone!

ACU Homecoming

We went to back to ACU this past weekend for homecoming. Dawne, one of my best friends and former roommate, choreographed the homecoming musical and we decided it would be great to see her and the show at the same time. We had a wonderful time, and it was great being in Abilene again and seeing all the progress/change the campus and city have undergone. I hadn't been back since 1999, and Eric hadn't been back since 1990. Amazingly, I still remembered how to get from San Antonio to Abilene, and also remembered how to find everything we needed to find while in Abilene.

Let me start by saying that the show was wonderful. Dawne is a wonderful choreographer and managed to turn a group of non tappers into tappers, which was a good thing since the show was "Singing in the Rain". It was also wonderful seeing some of our friends from New York. Dawne's family was there. Dave and Karen have become very dear to us and her brother, Ryan, and I have known each other since ACU - we even did a few shows together. Soeuraya, a teen from the Manhattan Church, was also there checking out the school and the theatre department. I hope she ends up going there so I can see her in future ACU productions. She's extremely talented.

All in all, it was a great weekend. I ran into several professors and friends while there and it was great hearing about what everyone has been up to. One major theme - babies! I was more than proud to show my little Charlotte around to new people.

For those of you who may know some of the people I saw, I'll recap.

Mike Scarborough (A Capella director) - looks exactly the same and seems to be doing well.

Cherly Lemmons - looks even better than before (if that can be possible) and seems very happy. Her daughter Jessica is in the chorus, and Austin (now 15) was her page turner. Austin didn't remember me (my feelings were slightly hurt). Jessica (19) is a sophomore at ACU. Heather (now 23) was there too. She graduated and now lives in College Station. Thom was there too - he's living in College Station as well.

Stephanie Key and family - I met her sweet little girl, Mattie, now 6 weeks old. Stephie looks great and I couldn't believe that she's already back at work. Teachers only get 6 weeks of maternity leave, which is a crime if you ask me!

Vivi (Matta) and Kendall Massey - They look exactly the same, and Vivi's had 3 kids! She teaches tap with Teri Wilkerson. Kendall works at ACU and produces Sing Song, Freshman Follies, and manage/directs the singing groups. I didn't meet their kids, but I did see pictures and they're all cuties, and all boys.

Oh, and I heard that Jay Mendl was there but I didn't get to see him. He's a freshman, and was helping with the technical side of the show, but I'm sure he'll be starring in a homecoming musical before he graduates.

It was a nostalgic weekend.

Get a Life

In an ever so kind way, my dad has been telling me to get a life. He says that I need friends, and I say "I know." He says Eric and I should go out sans Charlotte on dates, and I say "I know." But, Charlotte is still nursing, and I'm horrible at pumping milk. I've been encouraged by a few people to try formula, and I thought it would be ok on the very rare occasion that Charlotte and I are separated. My doctor in the Bronx seemed to think that would be ok too, but I still didn't really want to try it. Nearly one month after the go ahead from my doctor, we decided to try it.

Last night we prepared a bottle of milk, warmed it up, and tried to feed it to her. She didn't like it (which was very expected), but she had a few drops from the bottle. Then, she started crying this pitiful, cute cry, and I broke down and nursed her. She was content breastfeeding and was making cooing sounds while she ate. Then, she finished and looked up at me and I was in shock. She had broken out in hives around her mouth! It was very alarming for us, and I felt extremely guilty for trying to give her formula. I didn't even want to think what would have happened had she finished the entire bottle. I would have called the doctor, but she didn't seem to be bothered by the hives, and they got better relatively quickly. In fact, there are no signs today that anything happened last night.

So, I guess Charlotte is allergic to something in the formula, which means I will happily continue to solely breastfeed her. I have a life - Charlotte is my life right now, which as I see it is pretty awesome. She's cute, friendly, fun to be around, and undeniably hugable, squeezable, and lovable.

Plague of Butterflies

San Antonio has been hit with a plague of butterflies. I don't know where they came from, or why they're here, but they're here, and they're very annoying. We noticed them a few days ago while driving home. Eric asked me what they were, and I said they must be little leaves (it is theoretically fall, right?) blowing in the wind. But then, they splattered on our windshield and we knew they couldn't be leaves. Once we got out of our car, we could tell they were little butterflies. Sounds cute? Well, they're not cute butterflies, they're more like insects, and I'm not exaggerating when I say that there are literally millions of them flying around Northwest San Antonio. I must kill hundreds of them every time I take the car out for an errand. There is no point in washing the car until they decide to leave the area.

Picture Time

This post if for those of you without the privilege of seeing Charlotte on a regular basis.

Surfing on her tummy time mat. You can see Chester in the background. Still no sign on him.


After bath time - before her hair got brushed.



With her friend Dora, who is still bigger than she is.


Working on hand-eye coordination. She's getting pretty good at hitting the toys - her expression of surprise when they move and make noise is adorable.