#305 - February 2014

Still catching up on past months....

February was a quick month for the Saez household.  Abuela Isa was here until the third week of February, and then we had to adjust to living as just as family of four in Dunwoody.  She was such a huge help when she was here.  Not only did she do a ton of laundry, cooking, and helping with the boys, but she brought joy to the house in the way that only grandmothers can do.  We sure do miss her here!

During February, Rory, who has spent the last eight years in China, came home to visit.  She met Ben for the first time (the last time I saw her I was pregnant with him) and we got to spend time catching up with her.  Rory is a wonderful, lovely woman who has a remarkable ability to see beauty in everything.   She still looks exactly the same as she did ten years ago.  We miss her!

A family picture during Rory's visit

Owen and Ben with Uncle Johnny and Aunt Rory

Abuela with her two munchkins

We had another snowstorm in February.  This one brought a ton of ice, but we were one of the fortunate ones not to lose electricity.  Lou was home that week, so the boys got a ton of outdoor time in the snow.

Here are two videos of Lou and Owen sledding in the neighborhood.  The second one he almost takes me out!

A walk outside once the snow melted

Abuela Isa reading books to the boys the night before she left

Also during February, Mrs. Gabby, our former nanny from Savannah, came to Atlanta to visit us.  It was a great visit, and the boys were SO happy to see her!  She's become an extension of our family and we just love Gabby.

Later in the month, Lou and I travelled back to Savannah to attend a wedding.  We were able to reunite with a good bit of our Savannah friends which was so much fun.  We were also childless for the weekend, which provided a much needed break from the responsibilities of parenting.

Speaking of responsibilities.....  A certain mother of mine asked me why I couldn't talk during the day when I'm at work, and why I'm so busy all the time now that I'm back in Atlanta.  I snapped this picture of my Outlook calendar and sent it to her.  This is a representation of what every week looks like for me!  Meetings back-to-back, all day long, and often double or triple booked.  It's no wonder I need a glass of wine each night. 

#303 - December 2013

Life in the big city has turned out to be quite busy.  I never realized (or appreciated) how much 'spare time' I had until I no longer had it.  To be honest, I don't know if the lack of time is due to our new jobs, being in a new city, or just having two children who demand every waking hour of your day!  It's probably a combination of it all.  Regardless.... here we are, nearly five months later and I haven't updated the blog.

So, let's go back to December 2013.

December was the month of the big move to Atlanta.  It also included Owen's last day at Blessed Sacrament School in Savannah, our going away party at the Von Breunings, and one last visit from Mom, Leighton, Jen and Kaylin before we moved 5+ hours away.  We said good-bye to our many Savannah friends, many of whom had become like family to us, including our nannies Gabby and Haley.  We said good-bye to our home there, which will forever be special to us because it's the first home of our children.  We also said hello to Atlanta, or Dunwoody, specifically, where we bought our new home, found our new church and began settling into our life here.  Just a few days after we moved into our house in Dunwoody, Lou's family from Michigan came to visit us.  They were here for Christmas and were a big help in getting us unpacked.  So, December 2013 was a big month for us.

Haley with the boys during our last week in Savannah

Gabby and the boys.  

Celebrating Christmas, in Savannah, with Nana, Pop Pop, Aunt Jen and Kaylin.

Since the movers came during Owen's last week of school, Benjamin and I headed to Atlanta to meet them to unpack the house while Lou and Owen stayed behind and came three days later.  Before the furniture arrived, Benjamin and I decorated the Christmas tree.  The boys really didn't care where we celebrated Christmas as long as Santa knew where to find them!

Our beautiful Christmas tree in our empty house

Movers are here!

We had over 200 boxes.  That's a lot to unpack!

What do two little boys do when the adults are unpacking?  Well, play in the boxes, of course!

Abuela Isa and her grandchildren on Christmas eve

Owen with his Tita and Tito

Christmas Eve, 2013
Owen - 5
Benjamin - 2

Christmas morning

Christmas presents!

Enjoying Christmas morning

Our little Georgia boy

The Georgia helmet and jersey were Owen's favorite Christmas presents, by far!

Santa successfully found us!

The boys have adjusted just fine to Atlanta

More to come....

#302 - Moving Back to Atlanta

Earlier this year, I was approached about a new opportunity with SunTrust.  It was very intriguing, but would require us to relocate back to Atlanta.  Lou and I talked about it at length.  We love Savannah.  Absolutely love it!  We love our home, our friends, our church, Owen's school, and being close to the water.  And, it's not that we don't like Atlanta, but it's different.  It's big-city life that includes traffic, congestion, a higher cost-of-living, etc.  However, it also brings new opportunities - more career choices, concerts, activities, cheaper airfare, and more.  So, after a lot of thinking, praying, and deliberation, we decided to take the Saez Family (back) to Atlanta.

I started my new job in September, and have been commuting between Savannah and Atlanta each week for the past three months.  It hasn't been easy on me, but I recognize that Lou's had it much worse - being a solo parent for 2-3 nights a week is tough.  He's a trooper though.  He and the boys have done great, and when I walk into the house after being gone for three days, they barely acknowledge me before going back to their Lego toys.  I don't take it personally.  :-)

We are entering our final weeks in Savannah.  We've just bought a house in Dunwoody (more on that below), and our house is for sale here.  The movers come in three weeks, and we should be 'settled' in our new house before Christmas.  I say 'settled' because I've never moved with two small children, so we'll just see how that goes.  Owen has already memorized our new address so that he can write Santa a letter and tell him where to find the Saez boys on Christmas Eve.  Priorities and all.....

So.... here's our new house:

It's a beautiful Tudor-style home in a wonderful neighborhood in Dunwoody.  The neighborhood is full of kids, and it has a very active swim and tennis program (not that we currently swim or play tennis, but hey - we might!).  It's 1.6 miles from Owen's new school and our church, and about 3 miles from Lou's new hospital.  So, although we are moving to a big city, in many ways, we'll have more of a sense of community being so close to work, school and church.  Right now, it takes us about 25 minutes to get to those places in Savannah.  

The house is a bit larger than our home in Savannah.  The main floor has been totally renovated and is so pretty.  We will begin updating the rest of the house over the coming months/years.  

The very best part of the house is the outdoor kitchen/patio that the previous owners built.  It's fabulous, and we're already thinking about the parties we can host out there.  

Some more pictures:

And, finally, here's a picture of Owen in front of his new school.  We were so fortunate to get Owen into St. Jude Catholic School.  It's right down the street from our house, and is a terrific school.  They have a waiting list a mile long, but amazingly had an unexpected opening in Kindergarten (I like to say that God had a hand in this).  We went by the school last week, where Owen got to meet his new teacher and classmates.  They were wonderfully welcoming, and Owen fit right in.  

So, I ask that you keep the Saez Family in your prayers as we go through this transition, especially Owen, who we, of course, are most worried about.  The boys seem to be taking this in stride, but I know that the next month or two will be tough.  Thanks for thinking of us.