Good News to Start the New Year

I know I am soooo behind and have hardly posted at all in the last few months. No great excuse for that, but I can definitely say the drop off in my posts coincides with when I started teaching pre-school. It takes quite a bit more time planning for activities than I thought....and 8 two year olds three times a day (not to mention my own 2 year old 24/7) really wears me out!! I'm disappointed in myself that my goal of 100 posts this year isn't going to quite happen. This next year I plan to do MUCH better. I know I have to catch up from back when we went to Disney in September....so clearly I have a ton of posts to at least start out with in the coming months!!
So on the last day of 2012, I am posting to share some awesome news from the Santoro household......
Michael will be starting a new job mid-January!! I am very proud to announce him as the VP (yup, as in vice-president!!!!) of Asset Liability Management and Investments at Gwinnett Federal Credit Union (which as of Jan 1 will be called Peach State Credit Union).
Several months ago Michael was actually promoted at his current job at Associated Credit Union...to Supervisor of Audit. So he wasn't specifically looking for a new job, this opportunity just happened to come to him recently. While he definitely wasn't unhappy at ACU, several things made the new position just too good to pass up. For one, the VP title. I have no doubt that someday Michael could've easily been in upper management at ACU...but they already have a fairly young group of people currently taking those positions...so it could be quite a while before any opened up for Michael. Not a bad thing, but when faced with career advancement sooner....usually that can only lead to more positive things. Another thing is that he will really be working on things he enjoys...numbers and stats and all those other nerdy things I can't remotely understand!!! Again, not that he didn't enjoy Audit, but this will be what he went to grad school for and has a real passion for. And yet another plus (for our whole family, not just him) is that his commute will be a LOT less each day. Even if he works late, he will still end up home at a decent hour because the new office is that much closer. That will save us on gas money...and morning and evening stress from fighting ridiculous traffic. As with any change, there are things that aren't so great...for example, we will totally have to change insurance and it will cost us quite a bit more than what we are used to. But we found out that we can keep several of the same doctors we are attached to (like Sophia's pediatrician and neurologist) so we are ok with that. There are always things you have adjust to with a big change like this occurs and I know we will adjust just fine.
Michael and I are both very excited for this new opportunity. I am SO proud of how hard he works...it has definitely paid off thus far, he's a VP at age 30!! I can only imagine how he'll grow his career from here but I have no doubt that he'll work hard and show dedication to wherever this new career path leads him!

Interior Design by Sophia

So I left the playroom for a minute or so just to use the bathroom and came back to this. Apparently Sophia thought that corner was a little blah and decided to decorate with princess stickers! I guess I can be thankful she didn't use crayons....!!

The Many Faces of My Sweet Sophia

Oh my goodness, I sure do love this little girl.....

Flashback Friday: Thanksgiving 2005

With Thanksgiving coming soon and another anniversary in a couple of days, I thought I would flash back to this particular Thanksgiving....it was the last we spent with my Grandma.  The 6 year anniversary of when she died is coming up this Sunday, Nov 11.  Normally, I try to just get past the day and not think so much about it.  But....instead I have decided to devote a post to one of the best last days we were able to have with my grandparents.  I miss them both so much all the time...especially around big events (weddings, births of babies into the family) and holidays.
Oh, yeah, and I'm linking up to the Journey of Parenthood, Emily's blog, for this Flashback Friday!

Not too long after my sister got married in July 2005, we found out that my Gram was really sick and the doctors were guessing she had about 5 months.  NOT good news.  We decided, as a family, that we would make each holiday she had left the best possible, with all of us together.  And so, that Thanksgiving, the entire family traveled up to my grandparents' house in Anderson, SC.  At the time, the whole family consisted of me, my parents, my brother, my sister and her new husband, my aunt and uncle and my two cousins, Jeremy and Jason, and my aunt and uncle from CT.  At the time, the family seemed complete.  Now, I couldn't be more sad that Michael wasn't there (we weren't even dating yet)....or that my nephew and my daughter weren't born yet.  I enjoy looking at these pictures, even though they make me so sad that it was the very last Thanksgiving with my both of my grandparents around.

 My mom, Gram, my Aunt Robin.  Those three did the majority of the cooking. :-)

 My Gramp, my cousin Jeremy and my brother.  The musicians.  I never said it was a quiet family gathering, ha ha!

 Lots of football watching going on in the living room (my Uncle John, Dad, and cousin Jason)

 Could we possibly squeeze any more chairs at that table?  If I recall correctly, it was about 100 degrees in there too.  

 Gram with Dillon.  Clearly he was trying to get out of the hug and she wouldn't let him!!

 Jay and Uncle John

 Gram, my sister and my Uncle Chip.  I guess Sara was the only one ready for this pic!

 Dad and his girls :-) 

 Gram, Jason and me.  

 Sara, Dillon and Jeremy.  I don't know what in the world is in my brothers mouth?!  

 The cousins

 Gram and Gramp with their three kids.  My mom is the oldest, then my Aunt Robin and then my Uncle Chip.  I like that in my family, I am the oldest, then my sister and then my brother.  Cool how it's the same like that.  

 Gram and Gramp with the grandkids.  Clearly we are a serious bunch! ;-) 

After that, my Dad set up his camera on a tripod and got a picture of the entire clan.  I LOVE that picture.  I haven't found the perfect spot to hang it in our new house yet so for now it is on the dresser in our guest bedroom.  In our old house, it was on the wall in the hallway.  Sophia had started asking me about it and would point out the people she knew (yup, she knew me, even though I was many pounds lighter then and my hair was many shades lighter, haha).  Turns out she could name everyone except my Gram and Gramp.  Which makes me more sad than I can even put into words.  But if I have to show her a million pictures of them and point them out in this particular picture over and over I will so that even though she can't ever meet them, she will at least know who they are.  

 The newlyweds.  This was their very first Thanksgiving as a married couple.  I was glad they were there with the whole family that day.  Sure wish Michael had been able to be there too.  I know that my Gram would've loved him....1) everyone who meets him does and 2) she would've loved him just because I do.  I know she loved her very first grandson-in-law.  

 I think I must've made this cake, although I don't remember doing so.  Otherwise I can't imagine why I took a pic of it!!  I hope it tasted better than it looked!! ;-)  

 I couldn't get this pic to rotate for whatever reason, but I love it.  No clue why my Gramp is wearing gloves to cut up the turkey...but his face and Jay's amusement in the background make this pic a winner!!

 I look pretty large in this pic.  And my Gram's eyes aren't even open.  But I still love it, cause it is of us together (and yes, I was a good 4 or 5 inches taller than her, hence the major lean I've got going on!).  

 Gah, that kid can't just stay still and take a hug!!  But I got him and it still turned out to be a pretty cute pic!

 Sara and Gram.  I love this pic, even though Sara is smiling a little...um, strangely!!  It kinda looks like it might be hurting her face a bit....Ha!!

Oh, this pic.  Maybe it's more this memory.  After dessert, we were all in the living room and my Uncle Chip and cousin Jeremy started to play some songs on the guitars, with my brother playing along on the drum to keep a beat.  And we literally had a huge singalong for hours.  Boy, did my Gram love to sing.  And we covered every song you can think of (that we knew the words to and that they could figure out how to play, haha).  Particularly every Beatles song you can name.  As it stands, I can hardly ever hear Yesterday or Hey Jude (my personal fave Beatles tune) without crying or at the very least tearing up and feeling choked.  Because this exact moment is what I always think of.  I may or may not have cried during the Beatles Cirque de Soleil in Vegas, about 6 months after my Gram died, when those songs came on (I did).  I like remembering that memory, because it was so much fun, but it's hard at the same time.  Probably because it won't happen again.  

By the time the next Thanksgiving rolled around, we were all gathered again, about a week before, in CT for my Gram's funeral.  I think that each Thanksgiving I am reminded to be thankful for this particular Thanksgiving in 2005 because it was the last with my Gram.  And, besides from just a few key people that are in my life now missing from that day, it was perfect.  Gram loved holidays and she loved the family.  So even though sometimes I just want to get through Thanksgiving and get it over with, I think it would make her happier if I tried to focus on the happy part of it and the good memories.  Especially now that I have Michael and Sophia in my life to celebrate with me.  Ugh, I get SO frustrated that they never got to meet her.  And upset and angry.  But there isn't anything I can do about it and I'm sure that she can see them and I can always share with them my memories of her and my Gramp.  There are a lot of great ones!  Including this great Thanksgiving day.  I'm glad I put it in my blog....I won't forget that day for sure, but it's nice to have it here to look back on in the future.  :-) 

Big Day in Our House!

I know, I'm totally behind again. :-( One day I'll be caught up....maybe.
Anyway, today's brief post is about an exciting happening in our house today...Sophia has taken her first nap in her big girl bed! And as I type this, it has been 3 hours and 34 minutes...she is just starting to wake up and didn't fall out or get out once and she barely moved the whole nap time. Even now, as she wakes up, she's just laying there twirling her hair. :-)
A small bit of back story that I think led up to this. This weekend I went to a craft fair in Birmingham with my sister, her mom-in-law and sis-in-law, and my mom and aunt (plus another friend of my sisters sis-in-law...it was a big crowd!!). I found the cutest little hand painted double-step stool for a great price and thought it would be perfect for Soph so she would be able to actually get up into her big girl bed by herself (it's a queen sized bed and even though we have the frame at the lowest setting, it's still too tall for her to just climb in without our help). Well, she loves it. On two different occasions Michael and I have found her in her bed and once she was just relaxing, reading a book. :-)
Today, I was sorting laundry (five loads, yuck) and I went to check on her....she had been watching Nemo in the playroom and wasn't there anymore. When I called out to her, she said 'Mommy I'm in my big girl bed taking a nap!' It was a little bit early for a nap but she seemed pretty tired so I decided to see if she'd be fine actually taking a nap in her bed instead of her crib (I know she's been 2 for a couple months and should be moving out of the crib anyway...but with our big move to our new house I wanted to make sure we waited a few months before any big changes like sleeping or potty training...obviously she was ready before I was, haha).
I explained that the covers could NOT cover her face, only her body. She did ask if they could go on her head (oops, guess I worded that wrong, ha) but understood when I said no, they couldn't go on her head either. And I told her she had to stay IN the bed until after waking up from her nap.
I did have to do some rearranging of her monitor...looks like we will need a shelf or something to permanently put it on but for today it was fine. And she went right to sleep!! I did forget to put any pillows on the floor just in case, but she didn't ever get close to the edge so it worked out ok.
Nap time is a different story from bedtime...since at night it's a longer period of time and we're sleeping too...but I think if she wants to try it out tonight I'd be up for that (no school tomorrow due to election day).
I'm so proud of my big girl!! I guess that means next up is potty training....UGH!!!

*** Update!  Last night bedtime went great!  Soph went right to sleep and stayed in her bed all night long.  She did happen to turn upside down...but above the covers and nowhere near the edge.  At one point, she sort of woke up, realized she was upside down and and crawled back up on the pillow and pulled the covers up but didn't cover her face...and went right back to sleep!  She slept a bit better than Mommy, who kept waking up to look at the monitor to check on her, haha.  She's taking her nap in her big girl bed right now...seems like the crib is already forgotten!!***

My Sweet Girl

Just wanted to quickly post about a couple things that happened yesterday that showed Michael and me just how sweet and loving Sophia is. I want to be able to remember this in the future when she is a teenager!!
First, we were doing a lot of rearranging, organizing and cleaning in our house yesterday. As we cleaned some areas, others ended up with more stuff in them to be dealt with later. For example, a wire shoe rack, that was for some reason in the playroom, ended up in the hallway. Sophia and I were at the end of the hallway in my room and heard a huge crash. We looked out the door and saw Michael sprawled on the floor...he had tripped over the shoe rack! Unfortunately in these types of situations I always feel like laughing first...this time I at least asked if he was ok before chuckling. He said he was ok but seemed to be carrying on a bit for effect...probably trying to make me think he was more hurt so I wouldn't laugh. Well, it totally worked on Sophia...she started screaming Daddy, Daddy and was starting to cry!! When he realized she was so scared/concerned he got right up and went over to hug her and help me calm her down....poor girl really thought her Daddy was hurt!
Later, we were all cuddled up in our bed watching Cinderella. Sophia had never seen it before and was really enjoying it. But when the part came where the mean stepsisters tear up the dress that the mice made for Cinderella, Sophia got SO upset. As Cinderella was running to the garden in tears, Sophia kept saying (in a tearful, on the verge of crying voice) 'what did they do, where did they go, where is Cinderella going?' Again it took a few moments to calm her down (the Fairy Godmother showing up helped a bit too!).
Twice in one day showing real concern and caring for someone else...and one was a cartoon princess!! Obviously she is sweet with us by giving kisses and hugs and tells us that she loves us...but showing true compassion for someone else who might be hurting makes me so happy and proud of the sweet little girl she is growing into. :-)

Watkins Wire Link Up: My First Car!!

Linking up today with my sister's blog (The Watkins Wire) to reminisce about first cars...if you don't read my sister's blog, you should.  It is hilarious and you may or may not choke on your coffee from how funny it is (here is my tip...learned firsthand...don't drink your coffee while reading her blog!). 
The link up topic of choice today is a good one.  Everyone has a 'first car' story.  You may have loved your first car, or you may have hated it.  But you sure remember it. 
In my family, our parents took care of the purchase our first car.  But they didn't go all out or ask us what we wanted or anything like that.  Basically, my Dad would find a car that he liked, buy it, and then drive it all over for work trips and stuff. 
I was pretty lucky because my first car turned out to be a 1991 Toyota Camry V6 LE.  I specify the V6 LE part because those were the features that made it ok...good engine, leather seats, sunroof, etc.  It was white with navy leather seats.  I will mention that I did most of my learning to drive on an old gray Dodge caravan.  Barf.  I was SO lucky that it didn't end up as my first car, haha. 
Boy, did I drive that little car into the ground.  I really didn't start driving to high school until my senior year but I took it with me to Ga Southern and that is where I really started to put the miles on her.  Not too long after going to college, something happened to the power steering in the car.  Instead of just getting it fixed, my Dad suggested just keeping a bottle of power steering fluid in the trunk and filling up whenever I stopped to get gas.  I could always tell when I needed to fill it up, because it would make a pretty awful grinding noise with the steering when it was almost out.  Fun times.  Also, the compressor seemed to be a dud, because my air conditioning was constantly going out.  Not good at all for the summer months.  Again, apparently not a necessity according to my Dad.  And the nail in the coffin for my love of that car came when the sunroof broke...it wouldn't open and if it did, it wouldn't close.  I mean, what good is a car without a sunroof???!! 
As my love for the car dropped, so did my ability to keep it clean.  I literally had tons of random things in the trunk at any given time.  Towards the end, I had somehow forgotten about a gallon of bleach that was in the backseat....it leaked and literally ate a hole in the floor of the car, haha.  As it turns out, it doesn't much matter how much I love a car, I have a hard time keeping the thing spotless.  However, if you are ever stranded in my car you will always have bottled water to drink.  Not sure how old it will be and it won't be a full bottle....but still, you'll survive. 
I wish I had some more pictures of my first car...I can think of another specifically that I can't find, that is way better.  It's from college and I'm in the drivers seat and I look totally cool (HA!).  This one was just fooling around after some awards thing at high school.  See, isn't a sunroof a totally necessary part of a car?!

One year, right before my birthday, I took the Toyota to get the emissions done.  And she failed.  Whatever wasn't working (shockingly, her surprising number of defects never usually affected the outcome of the emissions test) cost more to fix than the car itself did.  And thus, I traded her in for the second car.  The first car I ever bought all myself.  It was right before my 23rd birthday.  I have included a couple pics of this particular car as well because, even though it was technically my second car, I felt like it really was all mine, bought with my own earnings. 

And we still have this car (it's much more beat up now, haha)....Michael currently drives it, since it is sooo not baby friendly, haha.  A 1997 Acura CL 3.0.  I will mention that some of the features of my very first car spoiled me so that when I was looking for my next car (and come to think of it, the SUV I am driving now) I had to have certain things.  For example, I wanted leather seats.  I wanted at least V6.  I wanted a sunroof.  The Acura had all that, plus it was two door and super sporty.  And my Acura MDX that I drive now has all that too.  I know that Michael got very frustrated with my criteria when we were looking for our SUV...but he can just blame my Dad for "spoiling" me with the feature-full Toyota.  We found our 'baby mobile' just weeks before Sophia came along, even though we had been looking since around my second month of pregnancy.  I suppose I was a tad picky.  :-) 
So there you have it.  I admit that while I don't particularly miss my first car, I did enjoy my time with it and will use it as the answer to a security question whenever the opportunity arises.  I know my first car experience could've been worse (did I tell you to read my sister's blog?!).  And because of my first car experience, Michael can always be prepared for lengthy car searches in the future...it's gotta be at least as loaded as the Camry!! ;-)