Vacation Part 2- Tennessee

After our visit with Grandma Cynthia, we continued our vacation in Tennessee. All this travel meant lots of hours in the car.  We were expecting the worse, but Nathaniel did quite well considering those car seats make it practically impossible to move anything other than hands and feet.  That means when Nathaniel drops something (both accidentally and intentionally) guess who gets to pick it up?  Mommy!  To be fair, Nathaniel didn't test that game too often.  We made use of rest areas, the toys at Cracker Barrel (we would sometimes stop there just to play and use the bathroom), and even ants in a Church parking lot.  We hit the jackpot on the edge of North Carolina/Tennessee when we came across this beautiful mountain river running through this uber-tiny town.



We stayed with my Aunt Sheri and Uncle Brian, and my sister (Laura) came up from Texas. Nathaniel loved all the attention, and we really enjoyed watching him interact with all the people we love. On this trip, Nathaniel started calling people by their name (or his version of their name). He can even say his name- Neeno.

Aunt Laura and Neeno




Great Aunt Sheri and Neeno




Great Uncle Brian and Neeno




We also got to visit my Grandma and Grandpa Babbitt. After our visit, Grandpa Babbitt took us all out to lunch where we meet my Aunt Carol and her two boys.



We took a lot more pictures of our trip. Check them out here: Tennessee

Burp! (or how to ruin a magical family moment)

On one of our duck trips I was taking lovely pictures of Christopher and Nathaniel.  Nathaniel was laughing and had this amazing smile.



I thought, I should be getting a video of this magical moment. The magical moment took a bizarre turn when Nathaniel decided to practice burping. Check out the video.

Visit to Grandma's House

We took a road trip to North Carolina to visit my mom.  We had a blast, and Nathaniel loved all the attention (and cookies).  Despite the heat and humidity, we spent most of our time outdoors.   

We went to several parks.



Splashed around the baby pool a couple of times.



Went on a hike (with his doggy and an ill fitting baseball cap that Nathaniel loves to wear).



On the hike, Nathaniel spotted a cone that was a perfect place to hide rocks. He took this job very seriously.







We also went to feed the ducks a couple of times. On our first visit, we tried to leave the ducks before Nathaniel was finished enjoying their company, and we had a break down of epic proportions. Luckily not every visit ended with tears.



Of course, Nathaniel needed to properly greet every dog we passed (don't worry we didn't take pictures of every dog). 



You can check out the rest of the pictures here: North Carolina

Reminders of me

When I got home this afternoon, I found little bits of Nathaniel everywhere...

on the stairs

on the table

by the phone

and in the place he always looks for me- the kitchen.

Is he still into cars?  I believe the evidence speaks for itself.

Don't call me messy

Daddy took some pictures of Nathaniel happily eating his toast with avocado.

Mommy comes by and mentions how messy he looks.

He doesn't appreciate being called messy.

Fourth Anniversary

There were many reasons why we decided to keep our celebration simple.  We have a child.  The last couple of weeks have been exhausting.  A fourth anniversary isn't exactly a milestone anniversary.  We're lazy. So, the only thing we knew for sure was that we were going to do something during the day and that Nathaniel was going to daycare.  Ok, we also knew we would go downtown for lack of any other creative idea.

Maybe it was the perfect weather (70 degrees), the sun, or just the fun of creating the day as we went along, but it turned out to be a day worth talking about.  Sure, if you look at pieces of the day, it may seem less than stellar.  Like explaining to the lady taking our picture at Corner Bakery that it was only our fourth anniversary, no we are not visiting, and yes, I want a picture of us eating bagels and cinnamon rolls. 




Or my poor sore feet after I walked almost seven miles in ballet flats.  Yet, these moments become minor (and even fade out of memory....well, almost) when the rest seems almost magical.  Also, I was reminded that sometimes it's nice to enjoy your city the way a tourist might.  There were many times in the day when I thought, "Wow, I live here!"

We enjoyed the Matisse exhibit at the Art Institute.




We ate lunch on the terrace at Terzo Piano.




Caught the end of a free music performance and enjoyed the prairie garden at Millennium Park .






And, of course, ate ice cream.





Check out the rest of the pictures: Fourth Anniversary