Eat at Joe's

Joe's Stone Crab is so good, we are going again tonight.

Southpoint Park

Hoyer and I spent the afternoon in South Beach yesterday. He is feeling much better these days and we are enjoying the sunshine. His favorite thing about the beach, besides eating sand, is the birds. He even said Bird yesterday. He fed them some gold fish and chased the birds.

Who Dat?

The Saints are going to the Super Bowl!

Rebecca Shops Globe

I have a lot of friends who blog about design. Design of their homes, design on other people's homes, inspirational ideas etc. I blog about my family, it started out as a way to keep everyone up to date with us and our child while we lived abroad and now we are stateside and I am still going.
But today, I am blogging about design, sort of, maybe I should say bragging about design and a very dear friend. My bff Rebecca Gardner was a bridesmaid in my wedding, we have traveled together, lived together and had a lot of fun together. She is fabulous and I am not the only one who thinks so, apparently, she is so fabulous, she is going to be on TV.
Look out for her on Man Shops Globe. Below are some pictures of her home, it is for sale in Savannah, GA. Rebecca has flawless taste, she tells it like it is and what I love most about her style is her ability to mix old with new. Antique with Ikea, silver and paper plates, funky with a classic style. She is fresh and bold, I love her and I am so proud of her!! Now, if only she could stop globe trotting for a second and redo my house....hmmmm is this a shameless beg?

The Ups of Miami include...

amazing weather, farmer's markets with really fresh and new foods, great beaches and parks, lots of activities to do with kids, 2 whole foods markets near by and we have some family and friends close too.

Hanging out by the apartment pool

Hoyer during separation time at 'My Gym' he obviously has no
problem being separated from me. He was more interested in all the toys

At the farmers market, eating oranges and participating in the
children activities.




Enjoying time with cousins Angie and Mike at the beach, Hoyer ate a lot of sand that day.

all thanks to a little blue pill

No, it is not what you are thinking...or maybe it is. We are not sure. Whatever it is, Hoyer got into it last night around 7 pm as I was cooking dinner. He was at my feet the whole time, I was cooking salmon, went to flip it over in the pan, looked down and saw this little blue pill in his mouth. I freaked. My first instinct was to finger sweep it out, which I did and is how I retrieved what you see above. I had no idea how much he ingested or if I had in fact caught him in the act of putting it in his mouth, but to be safe, I did the finger sweep again, this time going far back. He then proceeded to vomit 2 times on the carpet. EEK! I googled poison control who told me since we didn't know what kind of pill it was that I should go straight to the ER. They were able to recommend Baptist Children's Hospital, which was only 2 miles away. That was when panic mode set in for me. All the thoughts about what in the world he had put in his mouth kept rushing in my head. Who's was it? A previous tenants? Kyle and I have no medication in the apartment, none, not even Advil, nothing, it had to be a previous tenants. Then I started thinking, it looked like Aleve, but who knows, it could be a street drug or that other little blue pill. OMG, get us to the hospital!!! Where did he get it? He must have gotten it from under the fridge or somewhere where the vacuum misses and the maids miss and only a little finger could reach down and grab someone else old dirty pill and smack on it! I threw Hoyer in the car seat and set out for the hospital, where in the world is the hospital?? My GPS couldn't keep up with me and I was in panic mode. My mother-in-law can attest to that, she was on the phone with me, a registered nurse and a way to get in touch with Kyle, whose phone kept going to voice mail in SPANISH!!! Finally a jogger pointed me in the right direction, then a police man who was pulling someone over told me I had passed it, as you can see from the pictures, it looks like a freaking hotel, so I finally arrive, all the while Hoyer is sound asleep? He wasn't making noise and I so scared. (I soon found out he was just asleep.) I pulled into the ER and thew my keys at the valet, so nice to have a valet at a hospital, but I don't know what he thought of me. I got Hoyer signed in, he was awake and acting himself 100%. Laughing at the nurse, I felt like an idiot trying to explain what had happened. I felt so bad, but the nurse assured me I did the best thing I could have done. I mean, you babyproff everything and he finds someone elses pill under the fridge?! Kyle finally called and things began to calm down, I mean I began to calm down. I don't know where I get the overreaction thing from....could it be my mother?

Side note....my mom had to recently rush my dad to the ER from a woodworking accident, lets just say, my dad thought he was going to die from the car ride.......not the woodworking accident. My dad is fine now, by the way, just minus a finger, but who needs a left thumb? Right?.........
Anyway, back to Hoyer. So, Kyle arrived, we were admitted, Hoyer had to drink charcoal, his blood was taken and urine and he was hooked up to an IV with fluids. Oh how my heart ached as I had to hold him down while the nurses did their job. I will never forget that feeling, just so helpless and wishing I could trade places. The hospital could not have been better, more hospitable, if you can believe that little pun and was stocked with toys and movies galore. Hoyer soon fell asleep and he was released at around 2am. There was no traces of any street drugs or anything at all in his system. THANK GOD. We all fell into bed and poor Kyle dragged himself to work this AM. He is an amazing dad y'all. He was the glue that kept us all together and calm and cool. Thank God for Kyle. Hoyer saw a pediatrician today who was not happy with his liver test results from the ER, so we are going back on Friday for the test again. We feel confident that all is well and that this is just a precaution. Hoyer is acting himself, so happy and so loving. He got a balloon today on a trip to the drugstore that he adores. The small things.....Here he is in the hospital, charcoal all over the place, he is swinging around his toy truck that they gave him.


Lets end on a happy note...Here he is in his new walking shoes...Crocks. He isn't walking on his own, but he walks when I hold his hands or when he holds on to my legs. Oh, and he gives kisses now, make the fish face and dances up a storm when any jingle comes on TV. He is adorable and we are so glad he is well.
And here he is playing with straws. He loves straws these days. If you have a drink with a straw, you better watch out, cause Hoyer is going after it.

we can't even commit to a cell phone contract

We are still in Miami with no news yet of our next assignment. We are waiting until the end of the month when Kyle will find out more. We do know that Kyle will have a short break from Miami and head to SC and TX for a few weeks in February, then back to Miami. It stinks to just wait and wonder, we kind of put our life and settling back on hold while we wait. It feels like we are on permanent vacation down here.But wait... Don't feel sorry for us, our apartment is great, easy access to lots of shopping and beaches and fun activities and we are all together, which is much better than only seeing each other every other weekend. Plus, the bonus of all bonuses is that when we come back in March, we will be upgraded to the Mandarin Oriental for a few weeks and we plan on taking a weekend cruise to the Bahamas. So, I am not really complaining, just ready, anxious really, to know what is next. Where are we going to live? Where will Hoyer go to school? What about our house in Birmingham? What about money? What about a cell phone that does more than dial out, when can we commit to a contract? I mean, we can't even commit to a cell phone contract. That is a lack of commitment if I ever heard of it. What about Easter? What about EVERYTHING!!!???

put a fork in it

Here is Hoyer learning how to eat with a fork.

Miami Zoo is the best zoo I have ever been to

We were there 6 hours and did not cover all of the zoo. They have it separated in to continents, we never made it to Australia , but saw Asia and Africa in depth and the Amazon area too. Hoyer was so tired after a long day. His favorite part was the water fountains. It is hot here and I just let him go in. Luckily I had an extra outfit on hand.

our Miami Munchkin is keeping me busy

Kyle has been busy working hard day and night and Hoyer and I have been keeping busy too. Monday we spent the day unpacking and doing laundry and made a run to Target. Target is next door, it is a little dangerous to be so close to a store that has everything I think I need, but for the most part I behaved. Tuesday we spent the day at the Miami Children's Museum. We participated in story time, hands in the sand (where Hoyer ate the sand) and feeding time, where we watched the fish get fed, that was not very exciting for me until they fed the lobster, what a sight that was. Wednesday we went to the Coral Gables Library and Thursday we spent the day shopping and sight seeing in Coconut Grove then went to donate canned goods to the rescue workers who are leaving Miami to head to Haiti. Today we are heading to the zoo. The zoo is incredible, with a monorail and tons of activities, one of the best zoos in the country for sure. The weather is warm now and Hoyer likes to keep cool in the fridge.

Key West

Hoyer pets a shark at the aquarium in Key West. Hoyer enjoys our one sunny and warm day on the beach in Key West
A view of the Gulf
In the lobby of our hotel
At the Southernmost point of the USA

Hoyer over Christmas

Christmas Morning at the Gills. Hoyer, Miles and Wilson
City Park Story Land





Thanks to Mark for these great pics of Hoyer and Harry! Once again, Hoyer had a blast at Harry's house!

The Southernmost Point was cold today

We are in Key West and we took the obligatory picture at the Southernmost Point and it was cold. (Picture coming soon) If the whole country is freezing, we are just a bit chilly down here, but it is not stopping the fun. We spent the day at Hemingway's house, the aquarium and of course shopping. Hoyer is staying warm in the pathetic outfits I am forced to put together to keep him that way. Long knee socks, with board shorts and a wind breaker....he looks rediculous. But, not as rediculous as all the tourists who have coughed up the $5.99 for matching Key West sweatshirts.
We head back to Miami this afternoon, where it is "so cold" according to the locals, and we will stop along the way at some parks and cool spots. The drive is beautiful and really neat, lots to see, the birds alone are breathtaking, the water is turquoise and the trees green.

Is it cold where you are?

It is warm where we are. Today we sat by the pool and used sun screen. This is the life. Check out our hotel, Kyle and I were reminded of our honeymoon when we walked in. Click here to see our slice of heaven!!!