Big Hair Big Houses Big State Big Move

It has been decided, we're moving to Dallas. I'm not gonna lie, I'm pretty diappointed.  I had this great rose colored fantasy in my head of my two daughters and I trotting around NYC for the next two years, after which they would both be in a world class private school, I would attend law school at Columbia, we would all take family strolls through Central Park and trips to Broadway and the museums to take in the arts. Sigh. My dreams have been stomped and pooped on and replaced with visions of staunch republicans and bible thumping church goers staring at me as I melt to death taking my kids to the park in the scorching Texas heat.

Don't Mess With Texas, haha

Today I'm licking my wounds and mourning the loss of what I thought was my eminent NYC future. Maybe tomorrow I'll come around and start researching Dallas and what it's all about. For whatever reason I equate Texas with Florida and I HATE Florida. It's hot, humid, dirty and OMG the people there are insanely rude but not in a cool way like in Chicago or NYC but just asshole rude like they they want to get punched in the face because they have nothing in life to lose. I'll also need to start making a list of relocation musts and to-dos and figuring out a way to maximize our time remaining in California. I see a few Disneyland, San Francisco, Santa Cruz and Lake Tahoe trips in my near future aka the best of the best of California.  

Have you ever relocated your family? Have you ever moved to a location that you weren't crazy about? 

Up and Moving

Our days in California will soon be numbered.  Hubby has had people head hunting him for quite some time and it's looking to be the right time to make a career change, which will also in our case mean a change of scenery. 

Our Current Home: Sacramento, California

At this point our future home looks to be either New York City (however, Hubby keeps telling me that all New York families with any brains about them actually live in Hoboken, New Jersey because it's substantially more affordable yet still just a 12 minute train ride away from the city.) NYC is my first choice because it's always been a dream of mine to live in New York City. All of the best movies occur in NYC, the best books are based in NYC and it's where I've dreamed that I would live since I was a girl. So if I finally, actually get the opportunity to live in NYC, you can bet that I'll be living in NYC...New Jersey won't cut it for me. 

The city so nice, they named it twice

Dallas, Texas is another option, however, I'm not gonna lie, I'm really not excited (read: nearly in tears) about living in Texas.  Earlier this year we went to Florida for a mini Disney World trip since Hubby was already there for work Maddie and I flew the red eye out there to meet him (it was the worst trip ever, in case you were wondering) and I discovered that I really hate Florida. Now I'm worried that I will really hate Texas because 1. it's always hotter than hell, like Florida 2. it's always humid when it's hot because it's like living in hell, like Florida and 3. it's SUPER republican which I think will be a slap in the face to my little California girl bubble that I live in. With that said, my research has shown that Dallas is one of the top cities in the nation that people are relocating too and it's actually 15% less expensive than our current home town. That's also quite the opposite of the 93% increase in cost of living when comparing our home town to NYC. Of course, the Dallas career opportunity is the front runner for Hubby too. So basically the logical choice is Dallas, but my heart is still with NYC. 

Everything is bigger in Texas, except for the cost of living! 

Lastly, our 3rd option is Santa Barbara, California. We've been to Santa Barbara about a half dozen times in the last 10 years. We both love it there and it's within driving distance of our friends and family...but it's also the least exciting option for Hubby. This is what they call compromise. Santa Barbara is beautiful, there is a lot going on from an outdoor activity standpoint, great for families, lots of culture and even though it is more expensive it's not make-your-eyes-bulge expensive.  

A very beautiful, very expensive town

Decisions, decisions.  

Which locale would you choose? 

Mommy Remorse

Our new baby girl, Elodie Faye, has arrived and she's absolutely beautiful, perfectly healthy and (knock on wood) turning out to be as easy of a baby as her big sister, Madeleine.  Madeleine is adjusting to being a big sister better than I could have hoped for and my body is feeling GREAT just 9 days after my c-section.  Life sounds pretty grand, right? So where is this remorse that I speak of in the heading? Well, it comes from my mommy-ingrained desire to make everything perfectly equal between both of my girls.

Miss Elodie sleeping the day away at one week old

When Madeleine was born I took newborn pictures of her myself with my new then Nikon DSLR camera.  This time around I was realistic in that I'd either be juggling a toddler while trying to snap pictures of my newborn or that I would be just too tired and let these first weeks pass me by while procrastinating about having newborn pictures done.

The picture I took of Madeleine and used for her birth announcement 

So this time around I planned ahead and booked a photographer for Elodie's newborn pictures.  Here is where my remorse comes into play.  Our photographer took 4 hours on Friday morning to capture beautifully, artful poses of our teeny tiny daughter. They are undoubtedly pictures that we'll treasure forever of this newborn phase that lasts just a short time.  My amature newborn pictures of Madeleine pale in comparison.  

Our photographer taking pics of Elodie

When we were finished with our shoot and on our way back home hubby and I looked at each other and agreed that we should have hired a photographer for Madeleine's newborn pictures as well.  Although I did take pictures of Madeleine when she was a newborn, they honestly do not compare to what we'll have from Elodie's shoot.  

The unfortunate part of remorse, is that often times there is nothing that you can do to remedy the situation.  My sweet Madeleine is now a jumping, running, chatty almost two year old and I can't go back and have professional newborn pictures taken of her.  Additionally, I don't think there is anything I can do to even the score.  I'll just hope that when they're older and looking at their baby books neither of them will ask why Elodie's newborn pictures appear to be of a much higher quality than Madeleine's. 

Do you have remorse about doing something for one of your children but not the other?  Do you strive to make things as equal as possible between your children? 

Playing Catch Up

We're expecting our second child! :)

Miss Gabriella Faye, expected arrival on 8/6/13

Our second baby, another girl (!!!!), is due August 6th, just about two months shy of Madeleine's second birthday.

We are so excited to have another baby, and we're especially thrilled that Madeleine is going to have a sister. :) It always seems like siblings that are the same gender are closer than siblings that are the opposite gender.

Our interim only child, has been very busy being an extraordinarily curious (read: mischievous) toddler. :) She loves reading, running, dancing and giggling exuberantly while she throws toys for our dog Sox. Her favorite activity as of late has been throwing plastic Easter eggs for our dog and then laughing hysterically as Sox tries in vain to trap the very slippery eggs on the hardwood floors. Her favorite toys are books of all kinds; board books, children's books, she even loves cracking open one of the various novels on our bookshelves.

Madeleine reading Hop on Pop 

Currently, we're in the midst of planning our 2013 summer vacation (which will actually be happening this spring since Miss Gabriella is arriving this summer), working on daily educational toddler activities, Maddie and I are both trying to learn French (with plans of a French family vacation in 2-3 years) as well as working on Maddie's English vocabulary and working on adopting a Montessori centered homeschooling approach, working on a new nursery for Gabbie and a big girl bedroom for Maddie, and planting our first family vegetable garden (which happens to be entirely in containers at the moment until we can have our soil tested to be sure that our home renovation last year hasn't caused any major damage to our soil.) 

Looking forward to getting back into the swing of blogging on at least a semi-regular basis. :)