Tuesday, October 13, 2009

the cornett's go to the city

Ok, here we go! Photos from our whirlwind trip to New York City this weekend... We felt a bit like we were on Amazing Race because our first task when we flew into the airport was to catch a cab into Queens to drop off our luggage at our friend's house- then get on the correct subway to take us into Times Square where we were to meet Jason and Samanthe at 6pm! Go!
Members Only...
Ah, Martha. This is a heavenly bakery a block away from Jason and Sam's house. I definitely "ate for two" here!
We did make it successfully to Times Square that first night!

Survived the subway all by ourselves! :)
More Martha!
Ok! This was one of those magical moments in life. And it's kind of a long story... so feel free to skip on down if you don't have two hours to hear all about this crazy story. So I had an appointment Friday morning at 10am to meet with a composer that I made connections with through some children's choir events. His name is Jim Papoulis and he's a "big deal" to children's choir directors. I was a little nervous and intimidated about meeting him but when I had spoken to him in the past on the phone he was so super friendly I decided to just ask if I could visit his studio while I was in NYC. He agreed so I showed up there Friday morning and was just blown away with his studio and how "fancy smancy" his composing world was. WELL then he casually mentions that "on the side" he writes songs for commercials and tv shows, etc. AND that yesterday some executives from OPRAH's show had called and asked him to write a song for a special event celebrating mothers. SO he told me that he had just finished writing up a song for the event, but WOULD I MIND singing through it for him so he could hear what it sounded like. Of course I say yes. So he puts be back in his studio recording room (it looked straight out of the movies with the glass window and I sat on a stool next to this amazing microphone- which he tells me belonged to Johnny Cash and Roseanne Cash was in this weekend recording in that room and had left the microphone there). Anyways, so I sing a few measures for him and go back out and he says "well I just had you sing a few measures to see if you could actually sing- and you sing great, so do you mind singing the entire song...". Ok, so for the next hour I sat in that recording room and sang the song and then all the harmony parts so he could piece them together, etc. And the whole time I'm just grinning from ear to ear like an idiot. It was so fun! Although I didn't get the big bucks for my studio time, I was just thrilled to get to pretend like I was cool for a moment. BUT the best part is when I'm leaving he tells me that he was going to email that song over to the Oprah people so they could proof what he wrote. All I heard him say was that there was a CHANCE that OPRAH might hear me sing. *My celebrity moment* Anyways, that's the story that kept me smiling all day. And he was such a wonderful person to meet. I'll make sure to thank him in my first Grammy speech.

Johnny Cash's spit on that microphone!?!
Ok, welcome back to random NYC pics...
"In the harbor stands a lady..."
The view from 5 foot 9...
Waiting in line to get tickets to see a Broadway musical! So excited!
And Jamie is obviously as equally excited.
But as you can imagine I get pretty estatic about seeing musicals!
Found another amazing bakery! This place not only puts the icing on top of the cupcake but also in the middle! yum.

Samanthe just got a new job working in the costume department for a show that is opening soon on Broadway... Ragtime. Super excited for her! (She took us backstage for a quick tour- so cool!)

Our huge celebrity sighting... ELMO! (Of course we had to get a photo for AUDRIE!!)
We drank more than our fair share of Starbucks on the trip, too.
And way too much iPhone addiction, too.


We got great seats to see "In The Heights"- a fairly new musical that won a ton of Tony's last year and was amazing to watch!
Sam also took us backstage after this show, too. So I can officially say I've been on stage on Broadway... wish I had thought to sing a few lines while I was standing there in awe.
Saturday morning we had a lovely brunch to kick off a full day of SHOPPING!
Being idiots on the subway...


Ok, I promise we didn't ONLY eat sweets... but this is truly our FAVORITE sweet spot in NYC... "Milk & Cookies"- cookies like you've never tasted in your life!
We love you, Jason & Sam!
Although we missed Audrie like CRAZY, it was so nice to get some couple time...
...and remember that we are in LUV. :)
The last night there we took one of those double decker bus tours and it was awesome.
Jason and Sam enjoyed playing tourist with us.
Empire State Building...

Such a fun trip! Don't know why we are so blessed to have friends like these two or why God gave me a husband who will take me to New York City to see musicals and shop... but I am truly grateful!

Saturday, October 10, 2009

nyc!

Jamie and I are in New York City for the weekend! (Here's a grainy iPhone pic of our first night in Times Square.) We're having a blast and miss our baby girl...will post photos of our trip next week!

Wednesday, October 07, 2009

20 month milestones




It's been awhile since I've updated about Audrie's milestones in her long life. 20 months yesterday! Can't believe in a few months she'll be TWO. Whoa. I do like going back and reading the times I've posted about her progress as a toddler so here's what she is up to these days...
We officially packed up the high chair and she sits at the table in her booster chair for all her meals now. Such a big girl. (And as you can see from the photos she likes to feed her baby doll at meal times, too.) Audrie is pretty advanced when it comes to her physical milestones- running, jumping, kicking a ball, throwing a ball overhand and underhand, walking up and down stairs, climbing, opening almost any door, etc. But at 20 months she doesn't seem to be as verbal as I thought she might be at this stage. She definitely recognizes over 100 words and knows tons of commands. She'll point correctly in books at what you ask her to- as well as all her body parts. And she has about 30 words she'll say throughout the day. But she hasn't started to link words together yet. (Well, if you don't count "NO NO, Kitty!"... she's got that sentence down.) Of course we still think she's a genius! (Don't all parents?) She seems to have really good focus on tasks- coloring, finger painting, playdoh, looking at books, banging out notes on the piano. Audrie is still madly in love with Elmo, but I think Cookie Monster might be pulling a close second place. She knows how to work an iPhone- find her flashcard apps and everything. Her favorite foods are beans, cheese, pasta, eggs, pizza, yogurt, and any desserts! Although tonight she did eat a big plateful of baby spinach leaves. Audrie also likes giving kisses and hugs. She's so sweet at bedtime when I'm rocking her and singing- she squishes her little sweet face into mine and tries to sing along. We sure do love this little girl an awful lot!

Monday, October 05, 2009

meet ashley's kids

A few months ago a teacher friend at my school asked me to take some photos of her three children for her. Such sweet kids and great smiles! It was pretty windy so I had to snap pictures quick in between the gusts, but we got some cute shots anyways.









I really do love doing family photos, but I haven't had many opportunities lately. Maybe with Christmas card season approaching more people might ask me. I'd hate for my camera to start collecting dust. ha!

Sunday, October 04, 2009

bringing a little joy

Saturday I took a small group of choir kiddos to sing at a nursing home in Bentonville. I thought it would be a special way to teach the kids that even doing something small like this can bring a little joy to people in need. And it made me a little emotional thinking about how in 50 years if I was in a nursing home and a group of children came to sing... how wonderful that would be for me! It was sweet to see them patting their feet to the beat and clapping along.
And I know Audrie is too young to understand serving others, but I still brought her along to start her early. (Talk about multi-tasking... here I am trying to lead the kids with the back of my head, play the piano, sing, and hold Audrie!)
I've been in a new ladies bible study for a few weeks now and the main focus is getting rid of the lies we tell ourselves. And I've discovered that one of the ways the devil tries to get into my thoughts is by convincing me I'm not valuable to God. So I've been working on allowing myself to believe that I am making a difference in lives. But it's tough to remember that when I've got a kid in the hall, waving my finger in his face, giving them the old "you're not the boss of me" speech. Ha! But I really love my job and feel pretty blessed to do what I do. (But that doesn't mean I'm not already hoping for a snow day...!)

Saturday, October 03, 2009

bring on the belly!

I've been complaining to Jamie already that I feel like my baby bump is popping out sooner than last pregnancy, but he was nice enough to tell me it wasn't. So I had him take a picture to compare. And he was right. I guess I'm just more ready this time to go ahead and get the big belly started! I'm at the early stage right now where I am starting to feel like people are looking at my belly bump and wondering how much I just ate! :)
While Jamie was trying to take my picture for me, Audrie kept running in the picture and wanting us to take a picture of her belly, too...

She's going to have to start eating an awful lot to keep up with my belly! :)

(PS- we got to schedule our first ultrasound! Can't wait to see our baby in a couple weeks!)