So much for a clean bedroom!

This picture was taken on Friday when Alex's friend, Kara came over to play for awhile.  It was clean but as always Alex has to take all her toys out and spread them all over the place! 

Biking with Alex

The weather here is great! It's been perfect, not too hot or cold. Here is Alex riding her bike to the park. She did a great job and rode her bike the whole way. She also brought along a little tablet of paper to draw pictures of things we saw along the way- worms, leaves, sticks, acorns, etc. She had a fun time!

This past week I've been trying to keep her busy with Keith gone and having the car. It's been tough being without a car! We've done art projects everyday, dance the hokey pokey, and spent a lot of time at the park. On Friday, we got a call that an opening came up for Alex to go to a nearby preschool. So on Monday she starts preschool at Kingswood School from 9-1 monday through friday. Since Alex turns five in December she is going into the "Young 5's" class. Here she will get prepared to go into Kindergarten. The school is only a half a mile away so I can walk her there and pick her up. So this will work out perfectly until we get a car!

Traffic!

I took Alex to a Halloween Party yesterday in Lawrenceville. I had to drive north during rush hour traffic and it took me over an hour to get there! Look at all this traffic!

Out of curiosity I did a google search on the cities with the worst traffic.  This Forbes article is from 2006 and it lists Atlanta as 4th in the U.S. for having the worst traffic:
http://www.forbes.com/2006/02/06/worst-traffic-nightmares-cx_rm_0207traffic.html

I think I need a Car

Pictured above is Alex in bunny ears, Castlin, Kara, and Kaya.  We we're invited over to a family game night at Castlin's parents house, Jennifer and her husband, Shannon.  I had met Jennifer once while in Miami and now they are in Atlanta doing rotations.  Alex had a fun time playing with friends while mommy and daddy played Catch Phrase with the other couples. 

Keith had his second day today.  He is enjoying it so far!  Although I will say I am in desperate need of a car!  I just need to get out of the house.  As soon as Keith got home I went to the library to return some videos and then went to the grocery store.  Tomorrow is story time at the library at 3pm and I'd really like to take Alex. We went last week and Alex really liked it.  She is so shy but she really wants to participate and she always raises her hand when a question is asked.  Hopefully I can get her into a preschool soon.  I called the elementary school across the street because they have a pre-k program but there are 50 kids on the waiting list there.  Now I have her on a waiting list at a nearby church.  So I hope she can get in there sometime soon since Alex is the next one on the list.

Keith is doing his rotation with one other Ross student who has also just started her rotations.  It's nice because it's just the two of them with the doctor.  So he will get more hands on experience and will get to learn more.  Some rotations are with about 8 other students with just one doctor.  Keith says the doctor is really nice and eager to teach them.  Keith came home today telling me that red meat and salt are bad for the kidneys... I guess he wants us to cut down on red meat and salt now! :)

Keith's First Day of Internal Medicine

Keith just got home a while ago from his first day at rotations at Southern Regional Medical Center.  He started the morning in orientation and then spent the afternoon at a nearby clinic.  He is starting his first few weeks in Nephrology.  I was really curious to learn about how his day went.  I thought I would try and post tidbits of information on what type of stuff he sees and learns about during his clinicals.  He said today he saw a lot of people in the end stages of kidney failure.  Many of them also had drug induced nephropathy.  I asked Keith to explain what this is and of course he tried to explain it to me in medical jargon and I just did not understand so I looked it up myself.  When he said "drug induced", I assumed illegal drugs like cocaine, but he was talking about NSAID induced nephropathy.  Anyways, I'm sure I will have more interesting tidbits of info to come.

The picture above is Alex at the Brook's Run park near our home in Dunwoody, GA.  We used some dead grasses and twigs on the ground to make a nest and then found little white rocks to put in the nest.  She had so much fun!  Alex isn't in daycare or preschool yet and I hope to get her in something soon.  Of course it is kind of hard when we only have one car.  I also have her on a waiting list for a preschool near our home.

Keith's Starts His First Day of Rotations Tomorrow

Keith starts his first day of rotations tomorrow.  Well, actually it's orientation day so not sure if he will actually start or not.  We drove by the hospital a few days ago and it looks really nice.  This is it above, Southern Regional Medical Center!  He will start out by doing 12 weeks of IM.  I'll post more updates to let you all know how his rotations are going.

More Alton Brown

This is another video I took that I thought I would share.  I had posted it earlier on Facebook.  I wondered if he would look the same as he does on TV and he does.  But he is shorter and thinner than I imagined.  When asked about his diet and losing weight he said he eats oatmeal and sardines.

Alex and Fluffy

Alex and her Fluffy (a Teddy Bear Hamster).  She loves this little guy!  I really don't understand why.  To me it looks like a rat!  But she always wants to play and cuddle with it.

Usually we let her play with it at night and the other night she went to put "Fluffy" away but she must not of closed the cage very tight.  Because that night I awoke because I felt something crawling on my arm.  Half asleep I flicked it off of me and then when I actually felt something I woke up fully and saw the hamster on the floor by the wall.  I pretty much freaked out and woke up Keith so he could pick it up and put it back!

Meeting Alton Brown from Good Eats!

So tonight we made our way over to the Borders store in the Buckhead area of Atlanta (super nice area by the way- it was my first time there) to meet Alton Brown from Good Eats and Iron Chef America! Let me tell you that the parking was crazy and the store was full, but thanks to little Alexandra we got to go to the head of the line! Yay! So having kids pays off right? :) He did a short question and answer session at the beginning of the book signing and we thought he was very funny! Alex even raised her hand and got called on! Yay Alex. She wanted to ask what was the correct pronunciation of "culinary" but was too shy so Keith did the asking. It was so cute! I got video of the whole thing which I posted below! We just love watching his Good Eats show! It's my favorite show on the Food Network right now! I had no idea he lived in Marietta which is right here in Atlanta!

Wood Burning Fireplace

I have never seen a wood burning fireplace before in an apartment. I am so happy that mine has one! We have been going for walks collecting sticks and used the fireplace for the first time the other day. It didn't last too long because we just had small sticks but it was fun and warm!

So far we have been happy with our choice to live at Barclay at Dunwoody. We love that the wall color is tan and not just a plain white. We love that we have tile floors in the kitchen, entryway, and in both bathrooms, we have stainless steel appliances, dark colored wood cabinetry in the kitchen and bathrooms, and of course our fireplace! I just wish we had more furniture to fill the place up. I guess that will come with time. We sold all of our furniture before we left for Dominica and this is the first non-furnished place we have lived in since then. There are so many things that we need! I'm just hoping I can find a job so that I can get all those things! :)

Alex's Very Own Bedroom

Finally!  Alex has her own bedroom!  But will she use it to sleep in is yet to be determined!  I am just glad there is a place to put all of her stuff! LOL.  The above picture is Alex working on some of her coloring books while watching Ariel's Beginning. 

This room is really a little big for her.  But she loves it.  I moved her little table next to the wall and you can see her hamster cage in the corner.  She even has a walk in closet where she has all over her care bears lined up against the wall and some of her Littlest Pet Shop. 

Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site

Today Keith, Alex, and I went to the MLK Jr. National Historic Site in Atlanta.  The entrance fee, house tour, and parking we're all free.  This I was very happy about!  When we got there we walked around the area known as Sweet Auburn or Auburn Avenue and saw the church where Martin Luther King Sr. was a preacher- Ebenezer Baptist Church.  Unfortunately the church was closed and we couldn't go inside- they are restoring it to what it looked like in the '60's.  We walked to the reflection pool, which is next to the church, where we saw the tombs of MLK Jr and his wife, Coretta Scott King.  Then we we're able to get tickets for a tour of his birthplace.  The tour was really good and informative!  The house was so neat!  The park ranger who led the tour told us about 35% of everything in the house is original and that everything in the house was from that time period and donated.  The house is still owned by MLK Jr's sister and only living sibling, Christine King Farris.   Across the street from his house we're row houses, also known as shotgun houses, to the left, and middle class homes to the right.  MLK Jr. lived in the house until he was 12 years old when he and his family moved to a brick home which is still owned by the family.  I wish I could of taken pictures of the inside of the home, but photo's weren't allowed.  Click below for pictures:

Martin Luther King Jr. Home

We Finally Have Internet

We have been going insane without tv or internet!  We have been watching way too many Backyardigan shows!  So far we love it here but Keith is anxious to get started on his rotations.  His first rotation starts on Oct. 25th at Southern Regional Medical Center in southern Atlanta.  I think he is pretty excited!

Late last week I started looking for a job and I hope it doesn't take me long to find something!  I really need to start working so I can keep my sanity!  I am living in Dunwoody, GA.  It's north of Atlanta and seems to be a really nice area!  We've already got our library card and have made a few trips to the library.  We saw a sign for the Dunwoody Nature Center on the way to the library so one day we decided to check that out!  We are always looking for free and/or cheap stuff to do!  Dunwoody Nature Center is free which is the best part about it!

Tonight I am headed up to meet with some other Ross spouses.  I haven't seen many of them in a while!  There are some that I haven't met at all!  I will post more later.  I am going to get ready to leave soon.

Click below for pictures:

moving to atlanta

No Internet

We are at our home in Atlanta and love our new place!  We should of called the cable/internet company earlier because they can't come out until the 14th.  So we are without cable and internet!!  It has been hard but we are making it through and watching a lot of cartoons and kids movies we brought along for Alex!

On our way to Atlanta

Picture above is Alex eating breakfast at the hotel on Murfreesboro Tennessee before heading to atlanta.

We left the twin cities Sunday afternoon and headed for Mankato to visit friends Jim and Becky and alex's friend, beth. Alex had so much fun driving around beth's barbi car. It was so cute and I took some video which I will try and post later. About 6pm we started our drive which felt like forever (especially through iowa).

We drove through the night and stopped in Murfreesboro tennessee the next day. I was so excited to stop here because I have a friend from middle school who lives here with her family. I haven't seen her in like 15 years and thanks to Facebook we've been able to keep in touch. So we went to her place for a delicious dinner and lots of catching up. Alex was of course a little shy and warmed up after about two hours when kristine's youngest girl (who is 8) brought out her littlest pet shop. Alex left us to play with her and didn't want to leave when it was time to go.

Now we are on our way south (I am updating the blog as Keith drives) and. Should be in Atlanta in just over three hours.

Minnesota Zoo

This past Tuesday Alex and I went to the Minnesota Zoo with Janet and her daughter Haylie.  We hadn't been there all summer so we were excited to go!  Alex's favorite animals were the Wolverines and Coyotes on the Minnesota Trail as they we're really the only animals we saw that day that were active and weren't sleeping.  The girls also spent a lot of time at the new playground by the Grizzly Bear exhibit.

Look at this huge stingray!  It's bigger than Haylie!

Sleepover with Haylie

Last Friday night Alex went to Haylie's house for a sleepover!  The girls played and played, made a teddy bear, ate cupcakes, and didn't want to go to sleep!  Pictured above are the girls with their new teddy bears!  Mommy's had to do most of the work but the girls enjoyed watching.

We had a tough time getting them to bed!  They we're just way too wound up!