Savannah

Back in May, we decided to take advantage of a free weekend and a free hotel deal and scamper off to Savannah for a long weekend. It was absolutely delightful and definitely one of my favorite adventures of the year so far.

We stayed in historic downtown, which consists of century-old buildings that are riddled with intrigue and stories of love and war, and narrow streets shadowed by trees dripping in moss. The cobbled streets create a maze of square after square of delicious gardens, inviting you to take a moment and relish life, connect with others orsimply slow down.

There are stunning parks inviting you to play, exquisitely manicured landscaping surrounding delightful old mansions and all of this is within blocks of the water where rows of shops and restaurants offer treats such as fresh salt water taffy and drinks to go. Built to be a utopia, historic Savannah still offers quite the fairyland of beauty.

We strolled and jogged the streets accompanied by many others doing the same, riding their bikes or walking their dogs. And OH! the dogs! Jennie was quite beside herself with the excitement of "PUPPIES!" everywhere! 

After exploring Savannah to our hearts content, we took a day to go to Tybee Island and introduce Jennie to the ocean. Though a little breezy and cool at times - it was the. perfect. day. I will never forget the joy and delight of that introduction and the sweet memories the three of us forged together.

Savannah and Tybee Island were the perfect weekend adventure!

Catching up...

I've fallen off the blogging wagon a bit, but I'm feeling the motivation to get back on. So we'll see what we can do to catch up on the past few months in a bit of a cliff notes version... 

March 

My sweet husband triumphantly completed the many, grueling months of schooling with a two week intensive in Boston. The many months of school were brutal - on my dear man, myself, our daughter, our family and our marriage. So it was fitting that he gifted me with his graduation and return from Boston on my birthday. We celebrated with a picnic and stroll on the riverwalk.

Of course she'd rather push than ride! :)

April

In a very precious treat, my grandparents decided to make their way across the country, accompanied by my mom, for a visit. We toured the city, visited the historic train museum and depot, went antiquing, played dominoes and explored the park. It was a truly special time which I will treasure forever. My grandmother, especially, enjoyed re-visiting the South - where she lived as a girl.

Four generations!

Also, in April - we got a new neighbor! He's provided plenty of entertainment for Jennie, as well as the other neighborhood kids -

And just because it was one of my favorite moments to capture in the month of April, I give you this - the image of my daughter (who literally NEVER holds still) in a one and only occurrence of unintentionally falling asleep somewhere other than my arms, the car-seat or her bed. Delicious.

May

Summer has arrived! And we have done our best to take full advantage of it - and the time Drew has had, now that school is over. Time that has been especially precious as he has his next phase of work ahead of him - clinical hours. That means we will, yet again, be seeing a bit less of our main man as he works towards logging the necessary hours that will complete his Paramedic training. 

One of the best things about living where we do is taking advantage of the fun there is to be had in the beautiful outdoors. 

We have an incredible park with a wonderful fountain - perfect for playing in!

So many things to do and see...

Mom - did you see the frog?!? Can I kiss it?

The best part of learning to bake...licking that spatula!

Did you know I have a belly button?!? Where has that been hiding?

We even took a weekend adventure trip to Savannah...but we'll save that for later...

One of those Epic Fail Kind of Days

It's been a bad day. The kind of day where you don't want to answer your phone or see anyone because you don't want to be honest with them about just how crappy of a day it's been. It feels whiny and petulant to tell the truth, and completely false to pretend you are anything but angry and frustrated and pissed off at the world. One of those days where you realize you might be being immature, selfish, having a pity-party and most certainly un-Christlike, and yet you just can't seem to shake it. It's the anger, verging on tears kind of day. 

I woke up with a great attitude. I'd planned out my day yesterday, in an attempt to be productive, to establish a routine, to tackle some of those tasks that have been sitting around waiting for my un-motivated self to get to them. And low and behold, as planned, my motivation showed up this morning! (I love it when that happens!) But by the first hour, I was already behind "schedule." Not to be bothered, I adjusted my expectations and schedule of tasks and moved forward. Jennie was fussy. She was clingy. She couldn't be pleased. Sigh. Ok - attend to my child. Guess we can add that one to the "to-do" list for the day and still count it as being productive, right? So I held her. I fed her. And when it came time for nap - I attempted, with everything I knew how, to soothe her and put her to sleep. Yet she refused to go down. 

Ok. Again, adjust the expectations. Shift my schedule. Roll with the punches. Being a mom is about listening to your child, right? Evidently, she wasn't tired. We'll try again later.

We did try again later. We failed.

We tried a third time. Her stubbornness outlasted mine.

By this point it was lunch time. Ok. Scheduled has basically been screwed. Guess we'll feed the girl and try again after lunch. 

We did. We failed again.

At this point I was beginning to loose it. I had a PLAN!! I had MOTIVATION!! I had things TO DO!!! And my CHILD is RUINING everything!! 

That sounds terrible, doesn't it? But let's just be honest here. That's how I've kinda felt today. So dang frustrated. So angry. So discouraged. I feel like a failure. 

She just would not cooperate. Not for me. She cooperates while I'm at work and she's being cared for by someone else, so why is it that I, her mother, cannot get her to adhere to her normal, everyday routine? Especially on the ONE day I actually have the motivation and drive to tackle some things around the house?

Eventually, I just held her while she screamed at me until she fell asleep. And I seethed. And when I finally put her in her crib asleep, I went out to the driveway and ran (up and down, not away). 

She's still asleep. And my anger is abated. But the frustration is still there and the shame of feeling like a failure. The house is now in shambles because those projects I attempted to tackle are now all half done. It looks worse than when I began. The motivation and hopefulness with which I began the day are gone and I'm left with discouragement and just plain feeling overwhelmed with the things left to do. 

And the truth is that it's a beautiful day. While I sit here and write, the seventy-five degree breeze is blowing through the open window. The sun is shining and the sky is blue. The birds are singing and someone down the road is mowing their lawn. Too bad my insides don't match.

I remember when my siblings and I were younger and we'd have those days where we were argumentative, moody, grumpy and just plain "off", my parents would often send us to our room and talk to us about praying to God to help give us a new attitude, a new heart. Then, when we'd had some time alone to pray and calm down, we'd "start over." Fresh. 

Often in those times, I remember singing this as I prayed...

Create in me a clean heart, O God,

And renew a right spirit within me.

Create in me a clean heart, O God,

And renew a right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from Thy presence;

Take not Thy holy Spirit from me.

Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation;

And renew a right spirit within me.

(from Ps. 51)

It seemed foolproof and simple then. Pray. Believe. And God cleanses you from your sin and creates a clean heart and right spirit within you. And He did.

 Evidently today I need the faith of a child. 

Nashville - Take Two

On Saturday, my parents and I headed over to tour Belle Meade, one of the old plantations in Nashville. It was a gorgeous day and perfect to spend outside!

While my folks toured the old plantation house, my rambunctious (aka too loud for the tour) little rascal and I headed outside to play...

Jennie worked on their landscaping for them. The rocks, clearly needed relocating.

Then we took a stroll along the beautiful flowered path.

Just making sure you're coming, Mom!

Then we frollicked in the gorgeous expanse of land stretching out around the old home! 

She was eventually tuckered out enough for a nap...so I was able to enjoy most of my lunch in peace. :)

And of course, she was ready to chill that evening in the hotel with a little R and R (remote and all).

Sunday, we spent walking around the incredible Gaylord Opryland Hotel where my parents were staying for their convention. Let me tell you, if you've never been there, it is QUITE the experience! Mazes of indoor gardens, fountains, shops, restaurants, waterways, bridges, gazebos, even an indoor river with boat rides! It's incredible, but I guarantee you will get lost.

This was the best shot we could get with Little Miss Wiggly. Pictures with a one year old are CHALLENGING!

Sunday night I came back home. But not before quite the adventure. My parents had to go to a dinner with their conference, so Jennie and I had a bite to eat in their room, then decided to hit the road. I thought I'd take a "short cut" to the car....Turn after turn and finally I found myself in in hallways with no exit to the outside, no shops, no restaurants, just conference rooms. Eventually, I ran into a lovely older couple who escorted me back into the public part of the hotel and I managed to find my way out. We got to the car an HOUR after leaving my folks room. An HOUR! Lost inside a hotel! Now that is amazing. 

It really was a great, albeit exhausting weekend, and a wonderful way to spend our first weekend without Drew in town. 

The Next Step and Nashville Take One

My sweet man is off to Boston to run the last leg of his race towards one of his dreams - the completion of months of online classes, balancing two full time jobs with school and adjusting to life as a family of three. All while I have switched jobs, twice, and attempted to hold down the home-front.  It's been a long road, and took a tremendous amount of sacrifice, courage and discipline. I am incredibly proud of him, and very excited that the journey is nearing an end.

To kick off the time without our man around, the girl and I decided to jet off to Nashville to meet my folks for the weekend. Last night we strolled along Broadway Street downtown, listing from the sidewalk to a multitude of Nashville hopefuls perform in bar after bar, poking through shops with row after row of ornately stitched and cut cowboy boots that were more works of art than foot apparel, and finally dining at Joe's Crab Shack where we discovered the little one adores shrimp! :)

She wasn't so sure about the cowboy hat...

Could someone PLEASE tell me what this vehicle is?? I mean, I grew up in NM where we have ALL kinds of "lowriders" but this? This was new to me!

Shrimp are SO delicious!

This little girl is not normally a hand holder...melted Mama's heart!

And what could be better than waking up to snuggles in bed while watching cartoons? And holding the remote, of course?!?

SUCH a diva!