Jalapeño Charlie

Andy and I have a new pet! His name is Jalapeño Charlie. However, Jalapeño Charlie is someone that only Andy and I know. If Jack Pete met him, he would eat him. If Maggie met him, she would probably never recover. Do I have your attention yet? Here is the newest member of the Kennedys:



















Yes, Jalapeño Charlie is a grasshopper that comes to visit us every night. We can hear him when he jumps onto the window in the living room and then he tells us about his day. It's great. We don't have to feed him and he still likes us. Maybe when Maggie is older (and not so freaked out by bugs), she can meet Jalapeño Charlie too.

Maggie's weekend at Meme and Pap's

Maggie had a blast last weekend at Meme and Pap's new house. I told her that we were going to see Meme and Pap when I picked her up at school. She didn't understand that it would take us a few hours driving before we would see them and she was really upset that we weren't there already.

After a little bit, she calmed down and enjoyed the ride to Mississippi. Andy and I were just glad that we could drive and didn't have to fly in order to get there. We made it safely to New Albany and got a tour of the new house.

Maggie got a special treat and got to sleep with Meme and Pap in their big, new bed and woke up bright and early the next morning asking for her cousin, Anna. Later that morning, Maggie went with Pap and Daddy to pick up Anna and I'm not sure if Maggie slowed down from that point on.

We attempted to take pictures of all of Meme and Pap's grand kids (Maggie, Anna and David). I'm not sure that we were able to get any but I'm sure watching all the adults try to get the kids to sit still was pretty funny.

When it was time to go, Maggie was not a happy camper to be leaving. She loves playing with Anna and getting to spend time with Meme and Pap.

Maggie's had a great week at school and will not stop talking. It's so funny to hear what she says sometimes. Maggie got a special treat at school yesterday. Gigi was able to come for the Grandparents Day picnic! They had a lot of fun and Maggie even got to take the afternoon (and today) off from school to play with Gigi. She also got to see her Aunt Natalie (my aunt) yesterday when she drove up from Newnan, Georgia to see all of us. Thanks Aunt Natalie!!! Oh, and Aunt Natalie and Gigi had a great dinner cooked for all of us and they even cleaned the kitchen.

That's about all that's going on in Maggieland right now. Here are some pictures from Maggie's trip to MS. (I'll have more pictures from this week later on).

Katie

Gran's Visit

What did Maggie do over Labor Day weekend? She hosted Gran and Lulu at her new house. Gran arrived on Friday afternoon and Maggie immediately took up by her side and didn't leave it all weekend.

She was very excited to show Gran her goldfish in the front yard, her new bedroom, and of course, her new hobby of sitting on the potty (more about this later). Saturday, we showed Gran around and ate at The Blue Rooster Café in downtown Lilburn. After lunch, we headed to the farmers market where we slowly made our way through the VERY crowded aisles and headed home. Sunday was a little less hectic; we went to church and went to the park to play that afternoon. Gran and Lulu had to head back to Mississippi Monday afternoon and Maggie really didn't want them to leave. Many tears were shed.

Tuesday was a busy day for us. I started work on Tuesday and things are going really well. Maggie and I are handling the commute quite well and Maggie has had a good week at school.

Okay, so back to Maggie's fascination with the potty. We have been potty training for a little over a month now and most of the "training" now happens at school. Before Maggie started school, she wanted absolutely nothing to do with the real potty…only her little one. That ended the day she started school. Now, she loves to sit on the big girl potty (she has even used it a few times) and flushing it. I guess you have to start somewhere.

We are headed to north MS tomorrow after work to see Andy's family so I'm sure I'll have a lot more pictures next week.

Have a good weekend,
Katie

Question and Answer

Q: How are you?
A: Great. This is also Maggie's new favorite phrase taught to her by Andy on the way to Wal-Mart to buy groceries. She will ask this quite loudly and then wait for you to respond. She will also respond to this question with an equally loud "FINE", herself.

Q: What are Maggie's favorite things to do these days?
A: When Maggie first gets up in the morning, she will go through her list of relatives and ask where they are and what they are doing...this can often go on for a while and occurs several times a day. Another favorite, ring around the rosy. This can also go on for a while. She loves to color and her new favorite show on TV is Curious George on PBS.

Q: Has Maggie started daycare (we call it school) yet?
A: Why, yes, Maggie started school on Wednesday and it is going quite well. She took a nap yesterday and really the only thing she needs to work on is drinking out of a regular cup. The two-year old classes do not use sippy cups. Maggie is still learning the cause and effect relationship of walking around with an open cup of grape juice.
She had a great time yesterday and didn't even blink an eye when I dropped her off this morning.

Q: Any plans for Labor Day weekend?
A: Gran and Lulu are coming to visit. We can't wait to show them our house and play.

Q: Have you finished up everything from moving back to Atlanta?
A: Yes, today we were finally able to get our car tags. This was attempt number three for getting car tags. Georgia is quite possibly the hardest/most strict state to get a car tag in, especially when you have already lived here before.

Q: Are there any new pictures of Maggie?
A: Of course, and here they are:

Living in the burbs

I finally got around to taking some pictures of our house today. Maggie and Jack Pete are in some of them, unintentionally.

Our neighborhood is great. We can't express how much at home we feel both in the house and the area. We are over a mile back into the subdivision and our house looks out over the Yellow River in the backyard. It is a very quiet community and you can hear a pin drop once it gets dark.

We are really enjoying living in Lilburn and the commute isn't bad for Andy either. He can usually get to work in a little under an hour and in the evenings it takes a little over a half hour. I will let you know about my commute next week, hopefully.

Some of you know that we made the decision for me to go back to work full-time. We were able to get Maggie a spot at the daycare where she was previously and we were able to meet her teacher and classmates on Monday. I think she will really enjoy it and Andy and I can't wait to see what she learns.

So, here are the pictures. We are officially open for company!

Katie

Maggie's room (which we were able to paint)





























Sitting area outside master bedroom















Master bedroom





































Eat-in kitchen




















Dining Room



















Front yard (view from dining room)



















Foyer with formal living room in rear



















Family room


















View from family room to foyer
















Another view from the family room
















View of the backyard from the kitchen




















Kitchen
















Downstairs

Getting Settled

Finally...
















I don't even know where to start. We are still trying to get settled. We have gotten a lot done thanks to help from a lot of people. Our house now looks more put together and Maggie's room is every little girls dream room. I'll be sure and get some pictures of it soon.

It took us a little while to get connected back to the internet. We had all sorts of trouble starting with our computer dying, learning how to use a MAC and the cable company misspelling my name. Anyway, we are online and Andy was able to get TiVo connected tonight.

We absolutely LOVE our house and neighborhood. Andy has really enjoyed his first few days with his new position and he is handling his commute pretty well.

It's just Andy and I, Maggie and Jack Pete now. Gigi, Uncle Trey and Angie left this afternoon after a very busy 48 hours helping us put things in order and decorating.

Here are some pictures from the past week and a half and I'll get some pictures of the house soon.

Katie

Maggie and her friend Sammie. Sammie lives on the same street with Gigi and Papa.















Andy swinging with Anna and Maggie.















Maggie on the swing at her great-grandparents house for Mammaw's birthday.















Maggie enjoys her first Frosted Orange from The Varsity. That was for you, Papa.

Moving Update

Andy here, sorry there are no pictures. But I did want to give an update on our move.

My friend Jeff and I left Las Vegas on Sunday morning with a moving truck towing Katie's car and driving mine. The first four hours in the Nevada and Arizona mountains were very slow. I was beginning to wonder if I would be sane be the end of the trip. Three days and 1800 miles later, we finally made it to Mississippi tonight. Not many problems except for the bird that flew directly into the side of my car on the interstate. He didn't make it out of Oklahoma unfortunately.

We'll be in North Mississippi until Thursday morning. Tomorrow I will be reunited with Katie and Maggie. I can't wait. I haven't seen Maggie in over two weeks. Katie and I, along with Jeff and Amanda, will journey to the new house in Atlanta on Thursday. Truck unloaders will be there on Friday.

I start work in Atlanta on Monday.

THANK YOU JEFF FOR DRIVING WITH ME!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's our update. Sorry if there are typos, I'm too tired to proofread!

~Andy

Hellos and Goodbyes

I'm not sure where the month of July went but we spent most of it either on an airplane or packing boxes. Whew...

So, the last you heard from us we had just returned from a trip to Mississippi and were preparing for Maggie's last few days in Vegas followed by our trip to Atlanta.

Maggie had fun at her last playgroup and gave everyone hugs and kisses before she left. Her last plane ride from Vegas was very uneventful (we will never travel on a plane without a car seat again) and Maggie was able to approve of our new house in a northeastern suburb of Atlanta- Lilburn.
















Papa, Gigi, Uncle Trey and Angie picked Maggie up in Atlanta and I'm not sure Maggie has even had time to realize that Andy and I aren't there with her. It's been 10 days since we have seen her and we miss her TERRIBLY!!! However, packing our house up has been a lot quicker, organized and easier without having to worry about her.

While Andy and I continued our trip in Atlanta we were able to catch up with some friends who we hadn't seen in a while and even went to a late movie!!!

Andy's best friend, Jeff, is headed to Vegas tomorrow to help Andy drive across the country with all of our stuff and two cars. The movers are coming to load all our stuff on Saturday and we are all headed out on Sunday!

So, it may be a little while before I can update again, but we are still here...just really busy.

Here are some pictures from Maggie's last days in Vegas and our friends in Atlanta...

Maggie...our little traveler

Traveling is pretty much all we been doing lately. We were in Mississippi July 11th through the 17th and we are heading out again tomorrow.

We had the Mississippi trip planned for a little while but the trip this weekend is to go to Atlanta to look for a house. Yes, as most of you know, we are headed back to Atlanta!!!! I wish I could express our excitement, but just know that we are very, very excited.

I actually took Jack Pete to the airport this morning for his move back. Andy thinks it's funny that JP was the last one of us to get out here and he gets to be the first to leave!

Anyway, right now our plan is to pack up the moving truck the first weekend in August and head back.

So, back to our trip to MS. My ten year high school reunion was last weekend so we made a trip out of it. We had a great time and it rained EVERY day we were in MS!!!! We loved it. Maggie had a great time playing with her family and is still asking where they all are. So, it's a good thing she is heading back to see them this weekend. Maggie is actually going to stay in MS while Andy and I pack all of our stuff up and we'll see her once we actually move back to Atlanta. It's going to be a long two and a half weeks without her but it's just the best solution for us all.

Here are some pictures from the trip and I'll try to update sooner next time.

Katie