An Anniversary Getaway

I can still remember the way I felt on this day, just 6 years ago. All nervous tears and giggles. White gown, a very itchy guarder and a beautiful bouquet of orange, yellow and greens. I practically had to drag my Dad down the isle, but we both knew that the perfect man was down there waiting for me.

A couple months ago, Shawn asked me if I'd be ready to leave the kids for a few days, by the time our anniversary came around. I quickly said, yes, knowing that it would be the perfect time to let the kids spend time with Granny and Papa, while we were able to just be a couple. He made all the plans, which in itself is a gift. There is honestly nothing that makes me happier than a getaway that has been picked out by my Hubs.

He made dinner reservations at the Inn at Little Washington and planned for us to spend two nights at Flint Hill Public House. Both places did not disappoint.

Dinner at The Inn at Little Washington was absolutely perfect. From the delicious SEVEN course dinner, to the attentive staff, we couldn't have asked for a better dining experience. From the moment we walked in, we felt special. Our waiter guessed that we were celebrating our second wedding anniversary, which made us feel both young and old, as we told him we were actually celebrating our sixth. We enjoyed everything we ate and we were both pleasantly surprised that caviar was part of one of our favorite dishes. As dinner came to a close we asked for a kitchen tour, which if you ever find yourself dining there, I HIGHLY recommend. Shawn and I love watching cooking shows and it was such a neat experience to get a look at how a proper kitchen runs. Lets just say it was nothing like what we've seen on those hit TV shows.

The rest of our time was spent enjoying breakfast and dinner on the patio at Flint Hill Public house, with a morning of antiquing and an afternoon of hammock swinging. We also made a stop at Cooter's in the Country, a roadside dinner that is owned by Ben Jones, who actually starred in The Dukes of Hazard as, "Cooter,. We drive past this place every time we go camping and never knew the story behind it. Now that we do, we'll probably be making more stops in for a good BLT and ice cream!

Soybean - 9 Months

"Whatcha lookin' at?!"

Once again, I am a bit behind on updating y'all on our little man. I'd blame it on another hospital admission, but that didn't happen until Sunday and our Soybean had his 9 month birthday on Friday. Thankfully all is well and we are back home, with both our babies. Our little guy is doing so much better and I am thankful to the staff, that just so happen to be my co-workers, who helped facilitate his speedy recovery. It is no fun having your child sick, but it sure is reassuring to know that the people that are taking care of him not only love what they do, but love your child as well!

So without further a due... our "little" man.

Today he will have spent the exact amount of time growing in my belly as he has growing and exploring this world. 40 weeks in, 40 weeks out. He was a punctual little guy and came right on time, even though I thought for sure he was going to make his appearance sooner. He does things at his own, perfect pace and I just love watching as he masters each skill.

He's on the move and loves to sit, spin in circles and army crawl. It almost looks like he is doing the worm as he makes his way around the living room; feet kicking out in excitement as he moves from toy to toy. He is so smiley and continues to be one happy little dude. He loves to blow raspberries and may be just as ticklish as his Momma!

He has 4 teeth and is working on 2 more. He loves to use to eat blueberries, peaches, broccoli and cheerios. Nurses 5-6 times a day. He goes to bed at 7, he is so good at putting himself to sleep, and occasionally sleeps until about 6. Most nights though he is still waking up once, but we are working on getting our man to sleep through the night. At his doctor's appointment Friday morning he weighed 20 pounds, 11 ounces and measured 29 inches long. He's not off the charts, but he's a big guy and is already has big as his sister was at her 1 year appointment. He's rocking size 4 diapers and mainly 12 and 12-18 month clothing. 

Soybean is such an observant little guy and I love how he takes in the world around him. If you ask Shawn, his one word to describe Sawyer right now is, "warrior," which is fitting considering his last few months of illness. Me, I say content. He's content on the go, content to sit and play with toys, content to watch his big sister run around, content to just be. There is something to be said about being content where you are and I'm working on taking on that trait in my own life. Being content with what is in front of me, not wanting for something more or something new, but being content with where God has me. A mostly stay at home Mom to this handsome 9 month old and his wildflower big sister.  Learning as I go and striving to be the best version of myself for these two beautiful babies. 

Happy Thursday!

She's Got Her Big Girl Panties On.

I am such a proud Momma and am so happy to say that are sweet girl is potty trained! Once she was ready, it didn't take long and now I am only buying diapers for one of my babies!

I can't take much of the credit or any of the credit really, since it was Shawn that got her started. I was at work and he sent me a message to let me know that he was going for it. He set timers and took to the bathroom every 20 minutes, making her try each time and although there were a few accidents, a week later she was doing great and now we are almost a month in! We still do a pull-up at nap time and bed time, because I don't want to clean up wet sheets just yet, but she really is doing great. She wakes up dry from her nap and has been dry a majority of the time in the morning.

Don't get me wrong, this potty training thing hasn't been all rainbows and butterflies. Pooping in the potty has been the hardest thing, which is why we stopped trying a couple months ago, and she may or may not have had an accident as I was typing this. Since we started fresh, things have been much better and even though she sometimes still gets upset when she has to poop, she is instantly calmed when the process is over and she gets her reward. Chocolate. How fitting for our girl with the huge sweet tooth!

We are just so proud of how well she is doing and can't wait to see what she gets into next!

I'd Rather be Camping.

I'd rather be camping, or so saying goes. Over the weekend, we took the kids [Em almost 2.5 and Soybean 8.5 months] camping with some family and friends. We planned the trip a while  back, so even though there was rain in the forecast we were all a go. We packed up early Friday afternoon, hit the road and had our portion of the campsite set up by early evening

Before we knew it my in-laws had a huge patch of paella going over an open fire and we were all stuffed full of chorizo, shellfish and chicken by sunset.

After that things went a little down hill for us. Soybean was once again coughing and when he started with stridor around 0200, we put both kids in the car and hit the road for the nearest Emergency Room. Luckily he wasn't as bad off as he was just last month, so steroids and some cool air was all he needed to get himself in good enough shape to head back to the campsite.

At any given moment I could of said, enough, and I would have if I truly needed to. I could have took our little family of four down the mountain and back to our safe home. Out of the woods, out of the cold nights, but adventure was calling. Had I not listened to the adventure in me I wouldn't have been able to see Em's face light up as she told me about the waterfall she saw while on a hike with her Daddy. I wouldn't have been able to show Soybean just how much I loved him while we stayed back in our tent and spent the morning snuggling and reading.  I wouldn't have been able to see Em get a thrill out of just running back and forth between campsites. I wouldn't have been able to see my kids bond with their grandparents, Aunt, Uncles, cousin and friends. I wouldn't have been able to watch Em eat 15 chocolate covered pretzles and laugh because I was sitting there doing the same. I wouldn't have been able to laugh with my Hubs as we ran to the car in the middle of the night freezing, because we gave the kids all the good stuff to keep warm [don't worry, we brought the kids with us]. Or have my heart melted as Em asked for us to sing "Jesus" in the car because Sawyer was crying and have her tell me, "he's hungry, Momma!" [I just love way she says, "Momma."]

So, are there things I would have changed, absolutely, but that is what life is all about. Embracing the adventure, learning with the hiccups and hopefully planning better for next time!

Cold air. Dark Night. Warm Fire. Bright Stars.
Here's to next time! I'd rather be camping, or at least adventuring. 

April showers bring May flowers.

The month of April started off quite rocky. We had our first admission to the hospital with our little man, on his 7th month birthday, and I'll be the first to admit, I hated being on the other side of things. Watching our little guy work so hard to breath and wanting nothing more, but to physically transfer any of his discomfort  to me, but also knowing full well that was impossible, was just heartbreaking. I stood in the ER room, just praying for him to be instantly healed.

And although the Lord does not work on our time table of "instantly" he was healed and our stay in the hospital was, in the grand scheme of things, short. Even so, we spent the first half of last month just trying to recover from our little hiccup. Follow-up appointments, reactions to medications and just trying to keep everyone healthy, meant lots of canceling and rescheduling our typical day to day activities. So, with everything a bit off-kilter last month, I am eager to start the month of May.

Today our little man is 8 months old, which means in exactly 4 months he will be ONE, which means it's time to start planning that big first birthday bash. I'd say I was kidding, but I'll be honest, I am already feeling the urge to get the ball rolling on his celebration.

This little guy has brought me so much joy and even though I've worried more than I should about his weight gain (he's 21+ pounds), that he doesn't sleep through the night or seem to be on MY time table for when he should be doing this or that, he is perfect. He loves to sit up and watch the world around him, back himself into corners (literally), chew on just about anything (he has 3 teeth) and just as we have told him he needs to do, make his presence known with all the happy squeals. Just this past weekend in church, I realized it's time to cut the cord and leave him in nursery, because he was talking non-stop. This my friends, is a huge deal to me. So, don't laugh when I say that next week, which just happens to be Mother's Day, I may cry when I drop him off at nursery. He loves to sit and play with his toys, talk and watch Disney with his sister, and eat books while Mommy tries to read them. He is such a joy to be around and is almost always happy. He is the definition of content and there are days that go by that I can honestly say he doesn't fuss one bit. He has added such a wonderful dynamic to our family and we are so, so blessed to call him ours!

Here's to the start of a beautiful month!