Another Update? So Soon You Say?

So here's the thing --- I'd love to update our blog on a more regular basis. With the summer practically over, a feeling of being more settled in the house and our schedule a bit more predictable, here we go...

The end of August and beginning of September have been an adventure (in keeping up with the theme of our blog after all). Jackson has spent a couple of hours so far at his new nursery school where he'll start in mid-September. So far, so good. No tears yet, from Jackson at least. I on the other hand called Jason at work in tears as I left him for the first time. Go figure! Even his teacher complimented Jason and I on how well he listens and behaves. Was I flattered? Absolutely! At little shocked? You bet ;-) I jokingly asked her if she was talking about the same kid. Since turning two, he gives quite the Oscar-deserving performance in the Best Tantrum category. I mean really, it sure is tough being two years old! When I dropped by to get Jackson from school yesterday, I got to peek in on his toddler class doing yoga. What a trip that was! All the kids were sitting on large sheets of white paper - "their rocks" - as the yoga teacher told a story about birds and bats. At the end of their yoga time, they sang a song to the tune of "You Are My Sunshine" where they "say goodbye and namaste." His Auntie LA would be proud of his impressive downward dog. I'll have to get a snap of that soon!
Speaking of Auntie LA, we had an awesome visit with Leigh Ann, David and their adorable 12 week-old son Tate (or as Jackson affectionately calls him "Baby T"). Leigh Ann and David are THE reason* we miss Lexington so it was wonderful to have them visit for the long weekend. We basically ate, drank and were merry together! Leigh Ann and I were able to fit in a little pampering with organic pedicures at a place in Carytown. On Sunday we spent the afternoon exploring the Italian and Japanese Gardens at Maymont. Plus, the four of us with a sleeping Tate also enjoyed a fun dinner out at Can-Can.



I think Jackson liked having Baby T around but wasn't particularly thrilled when I held him. He looked at Jason with confusion too when he held Tate instead of him. All in all though he was very sweet with him. And when Tate wasn't making use of the bouncy seat or swing he was sharing with Elmo.

*a quick shout-out to David ;-)

SUMMER FUN!

As the saying goes, time flies when you are having fun. And FUN is what we've been having all summer. Jackson and I had a great visit home to Mville in celebration of Uncle Don's 60th birthday. Way to go Aunt Jo for pulling off a fantastic surprise party!

Upon our return, Eleanor, Jackson, and I celebrated Father's Day for Jason with breakfast at one of our favorite spots in Carytown, Can-Can.














When July arrived, we celebrated the July Birthdays with Jackson's pals, his included. I just love this one photo of us preparing to eat those yummy Elmo cupcakes made by Li. The combination of a 2 year old, a cupcake and a lit candle will certainly put you into a trance. Or as my friend Petra (in the green) said, it makes us look like some kind of cult. Another friend Morgan (in the red striped shirt) added "Every birthday we light tiny fires and offer cake to the Mighty Elmo, God of Toddlers..."




Later in July, Eleanor, Jackson, Jason and I traveled to NC to celebrate Jackson's 2nd and Poppy's 95th birthday. What a real treat it was to have a party for the 2 of them together.

We then headed further south to Pawleys Island for a week. Gosh, our trip to Pawleys was fantastic. We heard that the area is often referred to as "shabby chic", which is so appropriate. Our house was right on the beach which was a treat. Jackson absolutely LOVED the ocean and the beach. We all spent many hours driving dump trucks and digging holes in the sand together. Here are few of our favorite pictures. Be sure to check out Jason's surfing too! Pretty cool, huh!

Spring Fever

It seems like we've been going at full speed lately. We had a great trip back to Lexington for our friend Leigh Ann's baby shower at the end of April! We sure do miss our neighbors Leigh Ann & David and are so excited that they are having a baby boy this month! Jackson went along for the trip too which definitely made it an adventure.

A benefit exhibition of Dicks' work opened at the beginning of May at the Reynolds Gallery here in Richmond. Yes we are biased, but it really is an amazing show. Jason, Eleanor and I were all in attendance at the opening. Do stay tuned for more on this... there will a Richard Carlyon retrospective coming to Richmond in September 2009.

For Mother's Day, it was a treat to share the day with both my Mom and Jason's mom. My parents, Eleanor, and the three of us enjoyed a yummy lunch at a new Fan-spot called Verbena. Jackson did great sitting in his seat for almost an hour and a half. And for those not so up-to-speed with toddler time, that is a VERY, VERY, VERY LONG TIME!

Later in May, Jason took a week to travel to Marseille, France for a work-trip. Yes, yes it does sound idyllic but just take a read of an excerpt from his e-mail to me about the trip just getting there...

"I finally made it after a trip that was a tad eventful. The detroit flight was delayed and I got to the gate as they were boarding. I sat behind a woman with a 3 year old and an infant. The guy next to me spilled his red wine, a little of it on me. A person had to be laid out on the floor of the exit row one row in front of me to get 3 bags of IV fluid because she was so dehydrated. Then a guy was having heart issues and we had to make an emergency landing in Shannon, Ireland. We then had to get all these approvals to take off so we were in Ireland for 2 hours. Plus, hardly anyone slept on the flight. I took Thomas Edison like catnaps throughout and don't feel too bad. Nearly everyone missed their connection. I ran through the airport to customs and got behind the posterboy for 'I've never flown before.' He showed up with his water bottle and didn't take his laptop out of his bag. I finally get through and literally ran over a mile through the airport. There was a line to the D gate that was over a football field long (seriously). After standing in it for 10 minutes, I asked this official passing by if I get to D85 from this line and she said 'NO sir, this goes to D1-57.' So I take off again and see the sign for the rest of the D gates. Of course the gates go to 87 and I am going for 85. By the time I arrive at the gate, literally with sweat pouring off me, I get to the line since they are of course boarding."

While Jason was away, Jackson and I took a trip to see my folks. My dad had arranged for Jackson to visit our cousin Andy the fireman at the fire station. He was SOOOO happy. He is the typical boy and loves all things TRUCKS, especially fire trucks!

Over Memorial Day weekend, we were able to spend one morning with The Carroll family (Mike, Michelle, Luke & Amanda). What a real treat it was. I made a very yummy egg & brie strata from Cooking Light (btw - there were no leftovers so I know it was a hit!). It was great to to see their two kids play together with Jackson, who by the way did a great job sharing!

A Promise Fulfilled to Dr. LA & Dr. KBC

I'd like to dedicate this blog entry to my "prego-pal" Leigh Ann & "jet-setting girlfriend" Kelly! You finally get to see a picture of our house. Can you believe that it only took me 5 months to post! Notice the precision of pruning Jason did to our crepe myrtle tree and our lovely pink azalea bush. Although overgrown it is gorgeous!












The dinosaur-theme for Jackson's room was a hit in Lexington and still is here in Richmond!



















Jackson has become quite the climber and tries to climb on practically any surface available (I know, I know...just like his mom tries to dance on any surface available!). So just before I said "Jackson, no sir. You do NOT stand on your tricycle seat," I got this really cute photo! ;-)

All for now, I'll be back again shortly! Kelly & Leigh Ann - I really do PROMISE!

Finally A New Post To Our Blog!

After quite the hiatus, I'm writing to begin to update those that read this blog with what's been going on. We LOVE Richmond and especially our new home in the Fan. Our house was built in 1901 - quite the change from our practically new house in Lexington. We finally started living at the house in February and are still slowly getting settled. In fact we expect ART to be going up on the walls in the next few weeks! Jackson loves the house and especially his room (pics of this and the house to follow soon I promise). Jason really loves his job (which makes life in our household LOTS better!). Jackson and I are having a blast hanging out together. We spend our time mostly at a park 3 blocks from our house. When we aren't at the park, we are out and about visiting "Emmy" or doing fun activities like our Music Together class or weekly hour at The Little Gym. Jason and Jackson spent the winter swimming together at the JCC. Jackson's blue eyes continue to help him get his way in most situations - go figure!

Other randomness - I never shared Jackson making his advertising debut. Take a look here. It 's from Baby Moon - the yoga studio where we took Mom+ Baby Yoga when he was a pre-crawler! Ahhhhh, those were the days. I have only wonderful things to say about Baby Moon. It was a life-saver in helping me get out of the house and meet new moms! Thanks Anne (the owner)!

I'll be back again shortly...much love! Cheryl

Richmond is now our home!

It was an eventful move from Lexington as Jackson got sick for the first time. Yes I know we are blessed to have gone this long without an illness but his timing was impeccable! After a late night visit to a walk-in clinic in West Virginia, we got him on the path to wellness and continued on our journey to Richmond. The same day we arrived in Richmond, we became homeless because we sold our house in Lexington. Yeah, what a big relief! Thankfully we have a place to stay in Richmond. Our move-in to Eleanor's went smoothly and all four of us are learning to live together! We are thrilled to be here! It seems like Jackson already knows the routes to the parks as we've been spending on average 3 hours a day there since arriving. The weather has been wonderful and I know we'll have to be creative with our outings as the weather turns cold because Jackson loves to be outside and moving!

The Move is Coming Soon, But First...A Vacation for ONE of us in the Carlyon House

I enjoyed a fun and fabulous trip out to San Francisco and the California Wine Country at the end of September with my UVA college roommates Jenn, Kelly, Danielle and Lauren. One of us (Kelly) left her newlywed husband for the long weekend while the other four of us left our babies at home with the husbands and headed for some much-needed girl time and R&R (In my case, make that my oh-so-wonderful mother-in-law AND husband). Every minute was a joy with these ladies. I wish we could all pick a city and a street to live on so we could be together all of the time. But alas, I will continue to enjoy the times we are able to get together. Here is my longwinded recap:

We all met up in San Francisco from all over the country: DC, Denver, Seattle, Park City and Lexington. Danielle and I, the east-coasters arrived in the early-afternoon so we took some time to tour around and have lunch (MarketBar...YUMMY!) before heading to Fisherman's Warf and Ghiradelhi Square. Once Kelly and Lauren arrived, we walked around the city and had a bite to eat. Jenn arrived just as we were getting in bed. So at the end of the day, all of us had finally made it to this long weekend that we'd been planning for months. The next morning, we had breakfast at Buena Vista, home to the famous Buena Vista Irish Coffee, before heading up Highway 101 towards the Sonoma Valley. We stopped at several wineries and vineyards on the way up to our final destination, sipping and laughing all along the way. Our stops included Schug, Domain Chandon and St. Stupery. It was a nice mix of boutique-type wineries as well as the big brand power places like Domain Chandon. After crossing over the mountains from Calistoga, we arrived (just in time) to check into our rental.

Jenn had found us a place to rent through VRBO.com back in the spring. It was a great price, right in Healdsburg, could accomodate 5 people, etc. Well about 1 week before our trip, the women managing this particular property informed Jenn that the property owner's had decided that they wanted it for the weekend. AND SO...she "thinks" she can find us something. This goes on for the better part of a week, with Jenn mainly leaving messages for a woman who won't return her calls. So on Wednesday, two days prior to our arrival, I randomly and virtually stumble onto a Rental Property Company with rentals available.


YEAH - so we didn't have to sleep in the car. It was a great house that overlooked the Dry Creek Valley and was about 5 miles up a dirt and gravel road.

Once we checked in, we headed out to the town of Healdsburg to walk around and have a delicious dinner at Ravenous. We've come a long way from college days too as we were all happy to say our good nights and get in bed around 11pm, which remember for me was 2am! The next morning, we had breakfast at this great bakery Costeaux before heading over to our Spa Morning. I had never been to a spa before but I now understand why they are so popular. Wow - what a treat. I had a volcanic mud bath, followed by a massage and facial. Everyone was glowing afterwards from all of our pampering. We did some shopping and stopped by 2 tastings rooms (Toad Hollow and Thumbprint) before heading to lunch. Afterwards, we stopped by Dry Creek Winery before settling back into our home away from home to have dinner and enjoy our last evening together.






Cheers to an amazing trip!






As much as I enjoyed myself, I have to say I was missing the JRC so much! I knew he was in good hands but I wanted to hug and kiss him everyday. This was just the trip I needed to rejuvenate my mind, body and spirits so that I can try to be the best mom to Jackson. Plus it was a heck of a way to celebrate turning 30!

Now it is on to Richmond!