Nanny Lila

My friend Stacy had a baby, Kelsey, back in January. Kelsey's daycare spot insn't available until the end of May, so Nanny Lila is taking care of her until her spot opens up. Sofia, Kelsey and I have been having a blast! Sofia thinks that Kelsey is a doll. She reaches over to touch her like she does her American Girl bitty baby doll! Awwww.

I took them both to have their pictures taken at Portrait Innovations. Sofia had her 10-month pictures taken and Kelsey had her 3-month pictures. What a crazy time trying to get two little babies dressed and undressed and redressed and wiped and smiling and googling!! The photographer thought I was insane - well - I am - but that's beside the point!!! I was glad to be able to get the pictures of them together. Here are a couple. Look at Sofia reaching to grab her living baby doll - Kelsey!!!

Here are a couple of cute pictures of Kelsey.

And Sofia.

Winston-Salem: Lunch at Laura's House

Laura hosted lunch for Sofia and I on Sunday before we drove back to Atlanta. Sara, Kris, and Carly came over to join us. Laura fixed yummy chicken salad and some marinated asparagus that Sofia and I both LOVED (although you could smell it in our pee later that night - Niiiiccceeeee!). It was so nice to get to sit down and chat like the old times!!!

Here is a video of Sofia and Carly playing on the floor. She just LOVES Carly!

Winston-Salem: Dinner at Leanne's House

Leanne was kind enough to invite some of my friends over to dinner at her house while we were there!!! She bought and cooked dinner for about 15 people (pictured: STANDING- Summer, Karen Vohs, Pat, Tony, Greta, Leanne, Rob, me, Sofia, Ken COUCH - Rick, Tree, Mike, Karen Slaughter and Kelly MISSING - Kathy had to leave a little earlier) !!!!!! Like I said in my wedding program, she's one of the kindest/most giving people I've ever met! THANK YOU LEANNE!!!!

We had a great time at dinner chatting and eating and laughing. Most people there got subjected to my inquisitions about their lives. I NEED details :o)

Here are some nice pictures of the night.

Leanne's boyfriend Mike getting some practice with Sofia :o)

Kathy (working it!!) and I

Rick, Tree, and I (ALL WORKING IT!)

Summer and Kathy - Hot Mammas!

Tony and Greta - who are due with their first baby at the end of June!! YAY!!!

Kelly Slaughter playing with her gameboy (adults are boring!)


Sofia pigging out on grapes and tomatoes and mushrooms! Aunt Leanne even had a high chair for her!

Winston-Salem: Dessert with Donetta and Alex

On Saturday after the Alumni Council meeting I met Donetta and Alex at my FAVORITE dessert place in Winston-Salem! It's called the Midtown Cafe & Dessertery. The 5-Flavor Pound Cake with Cream Cheese Icing is FANTASTIC!! YUMMY! YUMMY!!

It was wonderful to see Donetta and her little boy Alex! He is about 7 weeks younger than Sofia. Donetta and I have similar parenting styles, so even though we've moved to Atlata, we've kept in regular contact and have been giving each other tips. Donetta looked GREAT! She's lost all of her baby weight AND THEN SOME!!

Here is a video of Sofia teaching Alex how to slap the table :o)

Winston-Salem: Sourcing Crew

We also went to visit my friends in the Sourcing department. Here is a picture with the ladies that used to work on my team in Sourcing (Jennifer, Marnie, and Tracy).

It was bring your kids to work at Hanes on Friday (just kidding). But here is a picture of Sofia with Angela's 2 kids - Gabby and Hunter. Angela used to work in Sourcing during the same period I did. How CUTE!!!

Trip to Winston-Salem: Cotton Crew

After lunch, Sofia and I headed to Hanes to visit with my old friends. Here is a picture with my good buddies from the Cotton department (Linda, Sofia, Tammy, Bonnie, and Vern). Sofia loved holding on to Vern's glasses. She also liked the "Bull/Bear market" stuffed animal. It's a stuffed animal that's reversible - a bull or a bear - depending on the cotton market conditions. CLEVER!

Trip to Winston-Salem: Lunch with NT Planning Folks

Sofia and I drove to Winston-Salem on Friday morning. I am on the Alumni Council for the Graduate Business School at Wake Forest and they had their biannual meeting that weekend.

We got to Winston at about 11:30 a.m. and went to eat lunch at National Textiles Planning Department's favorite - El Torrero. Rob was there and my old boss Randy was there (pictured with Sofia). Of course Leanne was there and also Nicole was there. Nicole recently left Hanes to work for Pepsi so it was a great surprise to get to see her.

Arbonne National Convention

The weekend of April 10 - 12 Sofia and I went to the Arbonne Convention.

Guess who sang at the awards ceremony on Saturday night??? TIM MCGRAW!!!! WOOO-HOOOO!!!!!!! Sexy! Sexy! Here is a video clip from the concert that is TOO funny.

The conference was fantastic too. Lots of women there with their babies! I guess that's their target sales people - women with babies who want to stay home with them. The conference was very informative. I learned that it takes a while to get this business up and going with a bit of a financial investment, but if you are willing to work hard and stay in the business for the long haul, then it pays off!

Here is a picture of my Arbonne sponsor, Susan, getting a piece of jewelry from the President of Arbonne for being a 2007 President's Circle Recipient. I think there are only like 50 of these all year in all of Arbonne!!! WOW! She is amazing!

Sofia Gives the Rubio Salute!

Unfortunately she gets the RUBIO SALUTE honestly. All of my Rubio blooded family has the habit of doing this way too often :o). Looks like a commercial-went-wrong for Johnny Rockets!

This was her first trip to Johnny Rockets - the best burgers in the world! Sofia liked the hamburger meat and the french fries! YUMMY!! And she loved her first balloon. Susan and I went there for lunch on the first day of the Arbonne convention. Susan is my Arbonne sponsor. She's an esthetician in Winston-Salem and a wonderful person! We all had a great time at lunch.

Playdate at John Howell Park

What a beautiful day at the park!! Azaleas were in bloom, the sun was out, it was warm. This is what being a stay-at-home mom is all about!!! The kiddies had a great time on the swings and enjoying the sun and the moms had a good time chatting and helping each other with issues with our little ones.

Stacy and Kelsey were there. Also Abby and Sophie, Sofia (mom who spells her name just like our Sofia - she's from Bulgaria) and Keitz, and Joanna and Cole.

Check out Sofia and Keitz on the swing together. Keitz is about 1 month younger than Sofia and look at his meaty legs!!!

Here are Sofia and Sophie swinging together!!

And here is Kelsey taking a little nap with mommy.

Sofia's First Trip to THE VARSITY!!

After the Braves game we headed to The Varsity for YUMMY, GREASY FOOD!!!! Well . . . mom, dad and Uncle Doug ate yummy, greasy food. Sofia had a little bit of my hot dog bun.

The Varsity is an Atlanta institution. It's been around since 1928 . . . two Georgia Tech dropouts started it! It's within walking distance from the Georgia Tech campus. Nathan and Doug's dad's old store used to be right across the street from The Varsity, so they ate there a lot as little boys.

Here is Sofia getting ready to eat and wearing The Varsity hat!

And here is a short video of her first trip.

Sofia's First Atlanta Braves Game!

Sofia, Nathan, Doug and I went to the Braves game today!! Linda gave us a set of tickets as Easter presents!!! It included 4 free tickets and 4 buy one get one free coupons!! So we still get to go to a couple more games at good prices!!! Sofia did soooo well. She had fun looking at all of the people, then she passed out towards the end - as you can see in the picture we took at the end of the game above!

Here she is wearing a little Braves dress that I bought for her (and wearing the frog hat that Aunt Kris gave her AND wearing the polo sneakers that Tio Jorge gave her). She was all decked out!!! She LOVES glasses - she was eating her daddy's shades here.

Here we are waiting in line to get tickets. We didn't actually make it into the stadium until the end of the 3rd inning. We had to wait in line about 30 minutes - Sunday baseball games are a popular thing in Atlanta! We'll know to come a lot earlier next time.

Here is Sofia riding in her new Mei Tai carrier!! This thing is SOOOOOOOOO much more comfortable than my Bjorn. The Bjorn only has shoulder straps, so all of her weight is on your . . . well . . . shoulders!! They were killing me. This Mei Tai has a waist strap so the majority of her weight is distributed on your hips - much easier!! I LOVE IT!! You can carry her on your back like a backpack, on your front like a Bjorn or on your side like a sling. Too cool! Look how happy she looks.

Here are some pictures of Nathan with a mural of his hero Phil Niekro.

AND . . . here is a video of all of us at the game.