Graduation

Today was Steven's graduation for his program. The actual Columbia graduation is tomorrow, but Teacher's College had their ceremony today. Unfortunately it was a bit cold and rainy - this really only effected the wives who were wearing their summer May outfits! Who would have thought. Imagine carrying a 25 pound child in one arm and toting an umbrella in the other. Then imagine sitting through a 2 hour ceremony with a one year old boy who just gifted me with a messy diaper.....right. I'm actually not sure which felt longer, the year of graduate work or the graduation ceremony.

We stared the day with a luncheon with all of Steven's classmates (40 of them with their families). We mostly ended up hanging out with our friends - as you can see the kids migrated towards one another.







Then we headed to Riverside Church (which happens to be the second tallest church in the US!) for the ceremony. Since I've already mentioned this, I'll just tell you that we had to start in a fellowship hall with a TV screen because there wasn't enough space, but they worked us in after about 20 minutes. We got a few pictures and a video of them calling Steven's name...get excited.











And that's that - we're almost done packing and I'll be flying back to NC on Thursday. It has been a crazy fast time and an amazing blessing. There are so many things that we will miss - walking, the city, the markets, our friends, the parks, and all the amazing things we were able to experience. But we are very much looking forward to a yard where our children can play and where my husband can have his much needed garden. We can't wait to come back to our family and friends in North Carolina and we are excited about having a house of our own. All in all, this has been an amazing year that we would not trade for anything....but it is time to head back. Look out North Carolina!

Our Week in the Hamptons

This past week we had the privilege of going to a friend's beach house in the Hamptons. It was such a nice treat to go from a 6 ft. kitchen to a huge fully equipped place with a dishwasher! It was a small slice of heaven! We took a train out that traveled the length of Long Island. Here we are entertaining a one year old for the 3 hour ride!






There were a few nice days and some rainy ones. We walked the beach....Steven Edward was not quite so sure about the sand. He would cry every time I left him on his own.











We also got in a heated pool one afternoon. The thing about a heated pool is that even though the water is warm....the air may not be. The kids weren't the happiest I've ever seen them. But we have pictures!







And other than that, we just had a relaxing time with friends being together in the house. Steven Edward even attempted to walk a little! But don't be worried, he hasn't tried again since we've been back.







Here is a video of our pretend walker. He'd never used one of these before and he LOVED it! He even tried to take some steps on his own several times!

Master Steven Breedlove!

Ladies and gentlemen....I now present to you for the first time in public, Master Steven Breedlove. He's done! He finished his last final last night and we are off to the Hamptons to have a vacation before the rush of graduation and packing. Just thought you may want to celebrate with us!

Weekend with the Lindens and a New Addition!

First and foremost at 1:05 today, Steven's little sister Millie Dasher had a baby boy! Yea for Millie and James! James Elijah Dasher Jr. weighs in at 8 pounds even!

We also had a fun weekend with John and Alanna and wanted to document with pictures! We hit some of the major sites one last time before we head out of the city.





Friday night we hit a Yankee's game. It was SUPER cold....but lots of fun. I spent most of my time looking for hot dog vendors to walk by because it gave me a slight bit of heat! The Yankee's won 6-1 against the Mariners.



Saturday we hit lots of Manhattan! We walked down towards the financial district. Here we are at City Hall park.


Then we visited the site of the World Trade Center, Ground Zero. Here is a cross that was found standing on the site a couple days after September 11.



And this is St. Paul's, which is the oldest public building still in use. It is across the street from Ground Zero and was a place that headed a lot of the relief efforts. There were some amazingly moving displays inside of people who were lost in the tragedy.



Then we headed down to battery park and saw some amazing Cherry Blossoms!



This is a piece of art that was near the Trade Centers and was damaged. They moved it to battery park with an eternal flame as a symbol of hope. Then we hit up a place on Pearl street for some yummy pizza!


They were actually our last visitors so we have little motivation to head to some of these place again before we leave in two weeks! We can't believe our year has flown by. It has been such an amazing time and we were happy to share it with you through our blog. I'm sure I'll write a goodbye post before it's all through, but I do find myself getting sentimental at random times....I suppose it is the small amount of time left combined with pregnancy!