Frugal Friday

I am so proud of my grocery shopping today! I saved so much money just by purchasing items on sale. My total was around $64 and I saved $47 but I am too lazy to go get the receipt - just trust me that it was a succesful trip. Evie enjoyed eating my list while I tried to remember what was on it. We got some high dollar items on sale such as ribs, steak, trashbags, dishwasher detergent etc. Harris Teeter is having a special this week where if you are an EVIC member you can save $10 off of your purchase of $50 or more. Pretty good deal especially with all the sale items too. BE, Before Evie, I was much better clipping coupons - not so much anymore. There are too many other things to do. I will skim the paper to see if there are any diaper coupons but that's about it.

Evie and I just ran a few errands today. Nothing too exciting. It's been a LONG day because she had two SHORT naps. I have been tracking her feeding and sleeping this week to find a pattern. Every day, this week she was mostly on track within 30 minutes to an hour but today was a whole different story. I guess once she got off her schedule she could not get back on. Her naps were less than an hour and she did not fall asleep in the car either. She got up about 6:30 - kinda early but not too bad. However, she fell right to sleep once her head hit her crib.

Just had our Friday pizza and now I am seriously thinking about going to bed!

Evie and I were so excited to go see Conductor Jack this morning at Border's! However, Conductor Jack decided not to show up - he called in "sick" this morning. One of the other moms said he did that on Monday too at the Opry Land location. He's supposed to be at the Barnes and Noble near us on Monday so we will try again. He is supposed to be some type of singing sensation for kids. Anyone heard of him?

After that, we headed to Gymboree for our trial class to see if we liked Level 2. I was expecting to LOVE it since I loved Ms. Beth. It was crazy because they mixed Level 2 and 3 together in one class. Tons of kids and way too many ages. Evie about got smushed! She enjoyed most of the class but I was nervous with all the chaos. One mom, just walked in off the street and thought it looked fun. Not sure anyone even noticed - she told me she was walking by and thought it'd be fun so she popped in. She was very nice but it seems like the safety is quite lax. Evie liked bouncing on the this big tube, sliding down the slide, the parachute and of course the BUBBLES!!!! Evie's mommy did not like the parachute because they put all the kids in the center. Some were walking, crawling, sitting, lying down etc. and the mommies passed around the parachute very quickly and sang the parachute song: red, yellow, green and blue - these are the colors over you. Red is for the apple etc. Okay, so this gets really fast and some of the babies are crying, others are trying to get out, some are happy. It was like being on a Merry Go Round and you can't get off. Evie was okay. She started off sitting but then fell down because we were going so fast. She was just looking at me like what is going on here! You can't stop if your kid needs you because it would stop the whole parachute. I felt bad for a few kids because they were not happy. Again, I noticed that the moms did not seem to connect with each other at all. All the moms were friendly at Gymboree at Lake Norman - talking and interacting with each other and the kids. That's the whole point to meet people and learn new things to do with your baby. So, we decided to enroll at Little Gym until Evie is walking and then we will try Gymboree again. I will miss those Gymbucks!

Waiting Wednesday

Evie and I had an early start to our day. She was ready to go at 6:45! We played with her stacking cups and she had some cereal with apples, bananas and pears. YUMMY! Then she took a 2 hour nap. After her nap, we went to Chick Fil A for lunch. I noticed this morning that CVS had charged us too many times for my prescription. So, I told Evie to prepare for a long wait. We were there for an hour because we were waiting for the manager to get back. Then we waited for the clerk and then we waited for the pharmacist. The pharmacist was very professional and wanted to help so finally I got refunded. It was an ordeal but $25 is $25 so it was worth it.

We came back for nap time and then went to the bank. Nothing too exciting! Carl got home kind of late but he enjoyed watching Evie eat her watermelon from the mesh feeder! She got really made when we took it to give her more. I am noticing she does not like it when you take things away from her! She's going to have to get used to that.

Gotta go one of my favorite movies from childhood is on: Overboard!

Torrential Tuesday

When it rains in Nashville . . . it really rains! It pours and puddles in the roads. Evie and I had to pull over because it was raining so hard that I could not even see. Not sure Evie noticed since she was asleep. We got a new battery in my car today! I was relieved that it was not a big problem. Evie was happy as a lark to sit in her carrier while I waited for my car. She is really turning over a new leaf. I think she likes to sit up and see what's going on around her.

Evie and I went back to Little Gym for our class with the real teacher. I liked it so much better. We are trying Gymboree on Thursday and then we will decide what is best. Evie did flips, rolls, practiced standing and played with her sticks. Her teacher Ms. Janette used to be a Titan cheerleader so she's great with gymnastics. Evie LOVED her and smiled the whole time.

Evie took a great nap and then we went to the grocery store. People kept stopping us to look at Evie and tell me how cute she is. Very sweet but it slows us down a lot! I was worried we were not going to make it out to the car before it started pouring again. However, I am learning that babies bring out the best in everyone even cranky men at the drycleaner.

Motor Monday

My car would not start this morning! AHHH! I tried twice and it made a funny sound so I waited for Carl. He got it to start - it might be time for a new battery. The place was too busy tonight so I will try in the morning. It's very close by and if my car does not make it then we could walk home. Too bad this did not happen when I still lived near lots of things and my parents!

Evie and I just hung out at the condo today! She is so much fun. I love to watch her play because she has become so engaged in her toys. She reaches for her toys and gets flat on her belly to get them when she throws them. Then pulls herself right back up. She LOVES her stacking cups and her bunny rattle. She is eating so well - not that's ever been a problem for our little piglet. She really likes her oatmeal in the morning and her green beans at night. I am so glad she seems to be liking green veggies!

We went to Crockett Park tonight for a little stroll before dinner and then to look at a few houses. They always look better online when you can't see the neighbor's house, a busy road or that it has some other major problem. Evie was too interested in going to sleep tonight -maybe because we skipped her bath. She is chewing on everything and I mean everything - the straps on her stroller and carseat, her blanket, her Raffi and even our fingers. Maybe her tooth will finally pop out. It seems like a really LONG process.

Sleepy Sunday

We are all tired today! It's been a busy weekend. We had so much fun with the Onellos's last night. Abby and Evie are so cute together. They reach out and grab each other! Abby liked Evie's pacifier. They played nicely with each other. Evie had so much fun that she stayed up late without being fussy.

We went to Bruegger's for lunch and then for a long walk at Radnor Lake. We saw three deer on the trail. There were lots of couples with their young babies. After our walk, we went to the Farmer's Market. It was big but it was more like a flea market with only one section devoted to produce. Bicentennial park was near by so we walked over. There is a huge wall divided by decades with important events noted on the stone. It was really interesting. There was also a splash park like the one at Birkdale and a huge map of the state.

Evie slept while we were on the walk which was a miracle since she NEVER sleeps in her stroller anymore. She's too interested in everything around her. However, that was a short nap so she was exhausted when we got back. However, she was not interested in napping in her crib so she took a nap with her Daddy.

We enjoyed our first Saturday in Nashville. Evie woke up around 6 but went back to sleep around 8. YAY! It was nice for us to sleep too. After Evie's nap, we went to Puffy Muffin for lunch. It was delicious. I had the quiche of the day - bacon and spinach, fruit and poppyseed bread. Carl had a club sandwich. We each had a cookie for dessert. Evie threw her rattle at a man's foot. Luckily, he thought she was cute so he did not mind. His wife said that Evie reminded her of Pebbles.

REI was having a member event so we went to check it out and Carl got some new shorts. Then we drove the Natchez Trace, it's 444 miles long and is located in 3 different states. It begins in Natchez, Mississippi and ends in downtown Nashville. It was beautiful. The Natchez Trace was traveled by animals and people from the Lower Mississippi and the Cumberland River. All of you Carolina people, it's similar to the Blue Ridge Parkway but lower in elevation. Defnitely worth checking out.

Evie is excited that her friend Abby is coming for dinner. Evie is a sleepy girl so we will see if she makes it for long. I am sure that we will get some cute pictures!

Flipping Friday

Evie had a better night of sleep. YAY! She has been very sleepy today so who knows how tonight will go. She slept through Stroller Strides so we will try again next week. Evie and I went to Babies R Us to get a floppy seat so she can sit in the cart. I let her sit in the cart in the store after I cleaned it. She LOVES her new view and looks like such a big girl. We can't wait to use our new floppy seat. Then we drove around trying to find a Wachovia for awhile. Our GPS told us where one was but guess what - it was not a Wachovia anymore. Charlotte has branches everywhere but here there are very few Wachovias in Nashville. Guess we need to update the GPS.

I was so excited to try out My Gym today because I had heard such great things from everyone. We were not impressed because there was too wide of a range of babies - 6 months to 18 months or older. There's a big difference in skill level between those ages. Also, I did not think the moms were friendly to me or to each other. I did find two nice moms and found out that they have only been going for several weeks which surprised me since they had much older babies. My Gym seems to have a very high turnover rate. The teacher in me likes a more organized class - there was a lot of free play more than half of the class was free play. The teachers were great and had some fun things for Evie to do including her first forward flip, a magic carpet swing and a little obstacle course. We still may decide to enroll but I am leaning more towards Gymboree. I think My Gym will be closer to the area of town that we will live in once we have a house. Evie was wiped out! She came home and ate then fussed a little. Then she fell asleep for two hours. Carl got home early. He was excited to see her so we went in to check on her. She was curled into a little ball on her side with her Raffi. She puts Raffi over her face kinda like her Ipop does with his pillow. Carl and Evie went swimming at the pool while I went to the grocery store. Evie grinned and played at the pool. She practiced kicking in the water and enjoyed being pushed around on her float.

I really like Publix but think it's a little more expensive than my Harris Teeter. Any opinions? I spent a little over $100 but bought diapers, toilet paper, a lot of drinks and a $10 pizza. Kroger's probably closer and cheaper but I like shopping in a nice store. I did find a great beverage. Have you ever had the lemonade and ice tea blend from Starbuck's or Panera? That drink is often called an Arnold Palmer. Well, I love them but do not like spending the money for them so I bought lemonade and green tea at Publix for $1.89 for a half gallon and made my own. Simple, refreshing and inexpensive! Happy Friday to everyone!

Touring Thursday

This was our busiest day yet in Tennessee. Evie was up 3 times between 6:30 and 6:30 this morning! AHHH - let's hope that does not happen again tonight. Mommy is so tired!

Evie and I took a little nap together. Then we headed to Murfreesboro this morning to Maura's house. It was great to see both Maura and Abby. Maura made a delicious chicken salad. I took some cookies from the Puffy Muffin - the M&M were my favorite! YUMMY! Evie and Abby enjoyed playing. After lunch. we went to the Discovery Center. Maura and I were both really impressed. They had lots of stuff for kids to do. Maura commented that it is very boy friendly which is unusual in those types of places. I am looking forward to going back there once the Tiny Town opens for Evie's size. A children's museum just opened in Greenville near Carl's parents - I cannot wait to take Evie! So much fun!

Evie was tired but content when we left the museum. Once, I got on 840, Evie decided it would be fun to scream for 45 minutes. I stopped twice to make sure that she was okay. Once we got home, she was fine! Then we headed to meet our realtor to check out a few houses so we could get a feel for the area. I was surprised about the one that I liked the most! Let's hope our house sells soon.

Evie was a trooper as we looked at the 3 houses. She made herself at home in the house that Carl and I both liked. She began screaming again as we pulled away from the last house. She was hungry and tired. We fed her and then she went to sleep. By this time, Carl and I were ready to eat but did not want to risk going out to dinner so sandwiches from Publix worked out nicely!

Evie held a potato chip while we ate and then I put her down. Tomorrow, we are going to try to make it to Stroller Strides - a walking exercise program for moms with their babies and then we have a trial class at My Gym. Keeping busy has made our first week in Brentwood go by so fast!

Wet Wednesday

Evie and I had a productive day even though it was VERY rainy! It rained all day long. I was reminded of rainy days in Charleston. The roads are covered in rain and there is some flooding. Not as bad as Charleston since the elevation is much higher.

We found a new pediatrician today. Evie really liked him and spent the visit flirting with him. I was impressed with him and found him very helpful. He made me a list of area doctors and told me the skinny on the area. I told him about Evie not taking a bottle. He suggested that I teach her to use a straw by holding it horizontally in front of her mouth and each day practice turning it more vertical. It's worth a try!

Next door to the doctor's office is a kids consignment store - talk about an excellent location. I got Evie a Lilly for next summer, a stacking toy, a board book and some mesh feeders . . . those were new. They have lots of new things too. I am so excited to have a consignment store close by since babies grow so fast. It's nice to have a cheap place to buy good clothes. The Cool Springs location for the Puffy Muffin is next to all of this. We love having everything we need so close by!

Not much else happened today, we went to Target and Evie seems to be having some issues digesting her solids. I am sure two bowls of cereal and two jars of baby food is a shock to her system. Each day, I add a little more but she loves to keep eating. It will be fun to see her eat out of her mesh feeder.

Evie and I look forward to going to Murfreesboro tomorrow to see Maura and Abby.

Try Something New Tuesday

Evie and I had a fun day! After her short morning nap, we went on a walk around the neighborhood. Evie and I were excited to try The Little Gym. It was similar but different than Gymboree. The teacher had to go home sick so we get to try it again next week. Evie liked the Air Trak - this huge platform that gets filled with air and the kids bounce on it. She enjoyed the bells and music sticks. Banging noises are her favorite. During free play, we rolled down inclines, worked our way through tunnels and practiced standing while holding on to different objects. It did not seem as scripted as Gymboree. We will try it again next week before we decide which company is the best fit for us. Let me tell you The Little Gym tired Evie out. She was asleep before we left the parking lot. We got back to the condo and she was slumped over in her car seat. I took her out thinking she'd wake right up but she let me carry to her bed. She stayed asleep for 1 hour but woke up from the train. I fed her and she went back to sleep for an hour. Evie and I met two nice mommies and their babies. We met Amanda and her son Logan. Elizabeth just moved her with her son Logan. Both of these moms were teachers so there was an instant connection. I look forward to seeing Amanda soon. She is also in the Williamson County mom group that I am hoping to join!

After Evie's nap, we went to run some errands. I was impressed with the Harris Teeter. It had the cart with the built-in seat for the baby. Germy . . . but so easy! I love the samples of all the delicicous breads, the delicious meats and the feel of the store. I grew up with Harris Teeter and it will always be my favorite. Publix is fabulous though too! See it's the little things in a new place that make all the difference.

Brentwood . . . not so bad!

Evie and I had a great first day! We went to the library this morning. You should see this place. It's super nice. They have tons of books, programs and even art work that you can borrow. I am very interested in the art work that you can borrow. Some of it looks pretty good. Each print can be borrowed for a quarter so you can change your walls with each season.The librarian was quite chatty and did not realize that I have visited many libraries. She was the typical librarian talking to me about the library mystery she had just solved and warning me that books simply must be returned on time or I would incur a hefty fine of .10 per day. I learned that this library is the only one in the state funded by the city. Other libraries are county funded! I cannot wait to take Evie to a storytime in the new wing that is under construction. Evie LOVED the library and was so happy to see piles of books. She reaches for the pages and seems to know the correct way to turn the pages. Such a smart girl we have!

Evie and I came home to eat lunch. Then we went to the park to walk. We had a nice little walk. Then we went to walk around a cute little shopping center. It had everything you could ever need - REI, Sherwin Williams, gift stores, stationery studio, clothing and the best part was a bakery! It was the famous Puffy Muffin: http://puffymuffin.com. I had heard it was fabulous and it truly exceeded my expectations. They have cookies, cakes, brownies, rolls, salads etc. Lunch is offered each day and brunch on the weekends. I cannot wait to take Carl to check this place out. Evie and I got a few cookies, some sourdough yeast rolls and delicious chicken salad. This place perked us right up!They also have a small location very near us.

Then as if that was not enough, there was a precious store next door called Hot Pink. It was the most calming store and was filled to the brim with perfect gifts. I think I could do the majority of my Christmas shopping in there. Today, I bought Evie two little bows for $2 a piece. Great deal! The decor in there is pink toille and it is just beautiful! Even the bags go with the theme.

Carl came home and we decided to go on a walk around the neighborhood. We saw two other children but most everyone else is retired. Our neighbor, Jeannie, just adores Evie and spent some time counting Evie's adorable little toes. Well, it's time to go finish getting dinner ready while Carl grills our chicken. It's another beautiful night to enjoy dinner outside. Can't wait to share my cookies with Carl.

Sightseeing Sunday

We got a late start this morning because Evie went down for her nap later. We left around noon and went to Bruegger's for lunch. There were lots of young families in there so that was encouraging. We saw some places we want to check out soon.

After lunch, we drove to some of the houses that we had found online. One house really sticks out and seems like a good one. Maybe we will take a look at the inside. It's in a great area. Then we drove to Hermitage - Andrew Jackson's home.

The best part of our day was going to Crocket Park for a long walk. It's been a beautiful day here in Nashville. Evie loved being outside. The picture is from the log cabin at the park.

Not too much else to report just a trip to Publix and listening to Evie giggle.

Sad Saturday

Well, today was the day we left our house in Charlotte. It's not our real moving day but it still felt like that to us. We will back in a few weeks but it will be different. We left around 10:30 and got here about 6. We stopped twice - once for lunch at Cracker Barrel so that was a LONG lunch but good for Evie to stretch a bit. Then we stopped to feed Evie.
She does so good in the car. The last part of the trip she stayed awake probably because I decided to sit back there with her. Not a good idea because she does not sleep. She'd rather smile at me. However, she went right to bed once we got here. She was exhausted! Carl went to Publix to get us some groceries. He loves that you do not need a loyalty card to get the deals. We had yummy sandwiches for dinner. Publix has the best subs. Carl was impressed that they carry Sweet Water 420 here in Nashville. It's a beer brewed in Atlanta.
Carl and I are sitting outside on the deck enjoying the "cold front" and checking out local housing magazines. We look forward to exploring the area tomorrow. Not sure what we will do but maybe go look at some houses and we'd like to check out the Nashville zoo.

Fun Friday!

Another busy day but not much to show for it but that's okay! Evie slept until 9:15. We got out of the house and ran a few errands. Then we met Allison and Paisley at Starbucks and to redeem our Gymbucks. We got some good stuff for the girls. I will miss Allison and Paisley so much! Luckily, they have friends in Nashville so we will still see them.

Evie came home and took a nap! Then we had a few more errands since we are leaving tomorrow. Traffic was horrible going to the airport but we were so glad to see Carl. Evie went 4 hours without eating - let's see if she can keep that up! I needed to get my car inspected before we go to TN so I went to do that and guess what: the machines were down in the county. AHHHHH! I am going to call in the morning to see if they are back up.

We all played together for a little bit but Evie was ready for bed at 6:15! Carl and I caught up on the week and ate some yummy pizza. We LOVE our pizza nights!

Mike and Alicia are sweet neighbors came over! We had a great time catching up. They are moving to Atlanta so at least we are all in this together. Luckily, Carl's brother lives in Atlanta so we will see them too.

Well, I need to go finish packing!

Temperature Thursday

Look how much Evie has grown in the last month! Evie had her first temperature today! It was 101.2 but she seemed fine. It was from her shots yesterday. Her face crumpled multiple times today but she did not have the energy to really belt it out.

We went to our last Gymboree today. Evie was sad to say goodbye to her sweet teacher Ms. Beth. The prop today was these little noisemakers and Evie did not like them. Not sure why but it was not her thing!She slept on the way home and when we got home she was still sleepy. So I put her in the crib and she slept for an hour. Then she slept on the way to see her Great Grandmother. She was not exactly thrilled when I stopped the car to take her in but she settled down. Mamaw was excited to see Evie.

Then Evie and I went to Nana and Ipop's house for dinner. I will miss living close to my parents but the chances are we will not live in Nashville forever. Evie and I plan to be very busy next week to help us make the transition to living in Brentwood. We will be back in a few weeks for Lindsay's shower. Can't wait to celebrate with Lindsay! Baby James will be here soon.

Happy 6 Month Birthday!

I cannot believe that my sweet little baby is 6 months old. Time flies by so quickly. We have had so much fun with Evie in the last six months. She is such a joy and we are so in love with her.

Evie Enjoys:

Kicking, Kicking, Kicking all of the time
Swimming in the pool especially on her back
Eating a banana with her Daddy
Playing on her playmat
Picking toys up and moving them from one hand to the other
Banging her rattles to make joyful noises
Going outside to play
Walks in her stroller - she likes to look around
Playing with paper
Dropping her toys for her parents to pick up
Looking at other babies

Evie does not Enjoy:

Going out to dinner - likes to lunch though
Having her diaper changed right when she wakes up
Her Mommy getting out of her line of vision

Happy 6 Month Birthday Evie! Happy Birthday to your friends Peyton and Max too!

Shots . . . ouch!

Nana came to spend the day with us today! Evie had her shots and I did not want to take her by myself. It's so sad to see her cry from being in pain although it's over before you know it! Carl always goes to her appointments so I called him right after we were finished to keep him in the loop. Evie weighs 15 pounds and 14 oz. She is in the 50% percentile for her weight and the 90th for her height. She is 27 inches long! I think she's going to be a tall one. Evie was very sleepy and took a little nap when we got home and then went to bed at 6:15. Let's hope she sleeps through the night again!

Happy Birthday, Mary

Mary, we hope you have a fabulous birthday! You are such a big girl - 6 years old. We remember when you were born. Uncle Carl was there and he kept calling to give me updates. His job was to take care of Hattie since your Mommy and Daddy were busy getting to know you. He took Hattie on lots of walks and tried to keep her out of trouble.

I was so excited to find out your name. It seemed like we had to wait forever for you to be born. Seems to happen a lot in this family - ask Sheshee and Poppy about that. They have waited many hours for their grandaughters to be born.

Finally, Uncle Carl called to tell me you were born and that you were a beautiful little baby! Uncle Carl was so excited to be your uncle. I could not wait to see pictures but it took a few days. I just loved your name - Mary Lourdes - so pretty and classic. It fits you perfectly and it's special since you are named after your Aunt Lourdes!

Mary, we are so proud of you and think you are such a spectacular (that's a fancy word for wonderful) niece. It's been so fun to watch you grow up before our eyes. We are so glad to have a little girl for you to grow up with. Evie thinks you are really special and can't wait to see you again. You have lots to teach Evie. We love you! Can't wait to see you.

6 Month Pictures!

Evie's six month pictures turned out so cute! You can see a few of them at Lindsey Turner's blog http://lindseyturner.typepad.com/ - she is so talented! WOW! If you live in the Charlotte area , give her a call.
Evie and I took Carl to the airport. I went in to get her about 5:15 and she was smiling at me. Guess she heard us getting ready. I was so tired when we got back so I put her in the bed with me to see if we could both sleep. Evie did not like that idea. She wanted to kick and play. She is so entertaining these days. She did finallly take a morning nap. However, her afternoon nap was 3 hours long. I put her down a little before 12 thinking she could just rest a little before Gymboree. At 1:00, I went into get her and she was sound asleep. Went in at 2:00 to check on her and she was still sleeping. Finally, at 3:00 she woke up! Missed Gymboree today but that's okay we will go on Thursday.
I was ready to get out of the house so we went to get a new cell phone. New every 2 is the best! Then we went to the Fresh Market to get a few things. Evie thought it was so much fun to kick her feet against the basket so I did not much room for my food since she takes up the whole buggy. Now that she can sit up, I should just put her in the cart. Maybe we will try that the next time we venture to the grocery store. Time to go get some stuff together for Nashville. Evie is down for the night - I hope!

No milk Monday!

Evie has not been interested in eating today. She has only eaten 4 times plus her solids. Way down from her normal 6-7 feedings. She's not fussy though just not interested in eating. She did get mad this morning for a bit but calmed right down when I took her to playgroup. Maybe she needed a change of scenery. All the babies are really growing up - everyone can sit and they all look so much bigger. It's bittersweet to see how quickly they change. Everyone tells you before you are a mom but you do not really get it until it's your baby growing faster and faster each day!
Evie fell asleep on the way home from playgroup so she was not much interested in sleeping at home. Normally that's fine but she had her 6 month photo shoot so I had to get her to take a short nap. We went to the bank so she'd get a little shut eye. It worked! She did great for her pictures. I cannot wait to see them and hope Lindsey got some good shots.
Evie is becoming so much better at entertaining herself. She will sit and play for 15-20 minutes: with paper, a rattle, in her exersaucer, with her playmat and on a blanket. She LOVES rattles. We are sad that Carl is leaving for Boston in the morning but next week we will all be in TN.

Evie loves the newspaper!

Evie slept all night! She woke up at 5 and went back to sleep until 8:30 when I actually woke her up! Evie loves the paper so I gave her a little to tear while I read the good sections. She thinks that is so much fun. She took a short morning nap and was so excited when she woke up because I told her that Nana and Ipop were coming. We had a showing so we walked to Arnie's for lunch along with Uncle Ben. Evie was so good at lunch. She does so well eating outdoors.
I kept her up for too long and she did not want to take a nap. She fell asleep eating but as soon as I put her in the crib - her little eyes sprung right open! So we drove her to Target and she fell asleep on the way. She amazed us because she stayed asleep in her carrier when we brought her in for almost an hour . . . sleeping! Truly amazing! However, she did not want to go so sleep and went to bed later tonight than usual. I think she may be slightly confused about the time! HA!
Carl and I ate dinner after she went to bed and then I went to Barnes and Noble. I needed a little break. It was nice to get out for a little while. Sometimes I forget that life still happens after 7:30 at night.

More peas, please!

We had such a nice day relaxing in our house. Evie has been wonderful and we just played with her most of the day. We had a showing this morning so we decided to return the mini! Carl and I really liked that thing. We stopped at Bojangles on the way home. Once we got home, we were locked out of the house. The agent who showed our house locked the door from the garage into the house. Luckily, our listing agent was able to come right over to help. She told me this happens a lot because agents can't remember if doors are locked or not. I am going to give some neighbors a key in case that happens again. Usually, we just give people the code to the garage - that does not work if the door is locked.
I gave Evie her first green vegetable this afternoon. She seemed to like it but was not craning her neck trying to get more like she usually does. The texture was so different - it was not as creamy and smooth as the other baby foods. I will give her some more tomorrow. I probably did not peas the first time either.
We took Evie to the pool this afternoon. She loved her new float. I have never been cold at a pool in July but today I was freezing. It was cloudy and the wind was blowing. Evie fell asleep on the walk home. Carl gave her a bath and I put her to bed. Doesn't she look cute - she was even cuter while asleep. She just woke up so I need to go start all over.

There's No Place Like Home . . . again!

We are so glad to be back in our house. Our trip back was uneventful we left at 1:15 EDT and 12:15 Central. We need to try to leave earlier next time but it worked out pretty well. We drove until Knoxville and then we filled everyone up and the car. Our total time stopped was 28 minutes then we got back on the road. Evie slept and we made it until Old Fort before she woke up. She got a little fussy so I hopped back there with her and we did not stop again until we got home. Pretty remarkable! Mini -vans make traveling much easier. She played with her toys and had so much fun. The best part was when we got home, she went right to sleep! An advantage to the condo, is that all of our laundry is clean so I do not have any laundry to do this weekend. It was so nice to come home to our clean house. We had it cleaned since we were gone and it's on the market. However, it's VERY slow in real estate so we had ZERO showings but at least I do not have to clean this weekend.

Evie LOVES her swing at the condo! Amazing since she hated her swing at our house.

Evie and Abby!

Aren't these two girls cute? They seem to like each other. It's a good thing since their Mommy's only know each other so far. We all went out to dinner at Cheddar's tonight in Smyrna. Our girls did pretty good. Maura and I took them outside to play after dinner. They seem much quieter outside.

Carl and I rode around after for a bit looking at houses - our new favorite past time. We are leaving in the morning to come back to North Carolina. I can't wait to get home.

Hot and Sunny!

It's so warm here today! Evie took a very short nap this morning so we went to downtown Franklin before it got too hot. It's so cute there. Lots of quaint shops and places to eat. Evie and I had breakfast at the Franklin Mercantile. I had french toast and Evie had napkins! They serve their drinks in Mason jars - always the sign of a cute place. I want to go there for dinner one night with Carl. We went shopping at the coolest kitchen store. They had so many fun things to peruse. My favorite store was Rock, Paper, Scissors - it is a stationery store and has lots of cool items. I will go back there soon. Then we went to the Curious Gourmet to get a cupcake. The cupcakes are breathtakingly beautiful but I did not like the frosting. It was a whipped cream type frosting on devils food cake. Buttercream frosting is always best!They name their cupcakes fun names like mine was celebration and the girly cupcake was called Pretty Princess. It was a strawberry cupcake with pink frosting and sprinkles. I will go back there soon because they had lots of choices! This will be a fun place to take visitors!

Evie has started putting her legs and arms through the sides of her crib. She screamed out this morning because she got stuck! I saw a USA Baby sometime this week but could not find it today so went to Toys R Us. They only had two choices in the whole store both very expensive and not what I was looking for. Luckily, we are meeting Maura, Tim and Abby for dinner tonight so Maura has one that we can borrow. That saves us $37 and keeps me from accumulating more baby stuff. It really gets out of hand! I did get Evie a little float for the pool and two little toys for the ride home tomorrow.

Evie is doing great here in Nashville and seems very happy. I wonder what she thinks or if she's even thinking. I miss her pretty room at home but am thankful she has a little nursery here. One good thing about our temporary housing is that we have decided that we probably do not want to live in this area because it takes Carl 35 minutes to get to work and it's too much traffic with all the shopping. This area reminds me of Cary, North Carolina in some ways - lots of high dollar shopping mixed in with your everyday places that you need. We still like Brentwood but want to be a little more East so Carl can come home for lunch to see his little Evie. Our sweet baby is sleeping right now when she wakes up I might walk her to the pool for a little dip.

Getting to know the area

Evie and I hung around the house this morning and then went exploring after lunch. We found the Puffy Muffin Bakery - sounds right up my alley. We met Maura and Abby at the mall! It was great to see them both. We are in the same situation as being new to town with a little one. Abby and Evie seemed interested in each other.

Carl got home and we went to The Parthenon! It was beautiful. There were lots of people walking around the lake filled with ducks. It was fun! Then we drove around to look for houses. We like "neighborhoody" places and it's really hard to find. We may change the areas we have been looking in so we can get into stroller city - the neighborhoods with kids, pools and sidewalks.

We went to a Mexican restaurant for dinner. It's getting harder to take Evie out to dinner because she is so much more active - tearing napkins, throwing chips, putting her hands in our food etc. She's into everything!

Carl took some pictures and video footage tonight of our condo. It's getting better!We really need some new blinds. It gets so dark in here and we are used to a bright, cheery house. Gotta go see Evie - she's screaming!

Tired Tuesday!

We are beginning to get settled! Evie and I decided that if this was our home then we could make it nice. All the other condos look well taken care of but this one has some work to be done. It's so hard for me to not get busy trying to fix the things that bother me. I put up all the smelly things in a closet - there were 29 different types of air fresheners, candles, etc. I found a tooth wrapped in wax paper and stapled into a little pouch. That went in the trash! It was probably the little girl who lived here before us.

Evie and I went to Panera for lunch and met 3 nice ladies who have a sewing club. Maybe I could take lessons and join them. There is a Bernina shop really close by but that's the most expensive way to learn. We went to Target to get some essentials! If you have a baby, get some California Baby diaper creme. It's fabulous! Pricey but works like a charm and smells good.

We spent the afternoon putting clothes away, cleaning etc. After Evie's nap, we walked up to the park and sat under a tree for awhile. It was fun and Evie LOVES to be outside. Carl came home and we rode around for awhile to look at houses and then we went to PF Changs for dinner. Yummy! Then, we went to Krispy Kreme - the doughnuts were hot. Carl decided to get a dozen so he could take the rest to work in the morning. I am not telling how many I ate. Those things are addictive! Well, it's almost 9 here but we still feel like we are on EST so it's time for bed.

Much better Monday

Today went a lot better! I got my rental car, a minivan. It's great because there is so much room and very baby friendly. We got moved in our condo and it looks a lot better cleaned. When we got here yesterday, there was an old washer and dryer out front and a yucky dishwasher. Also, a bunch of trash. Our landlords are wonderful. They have done so much for Evie! She's asleep in her new crib -maybe she will sleep all night.

Evie and I went to Whole Foods for lunch and to get some groceries. It's about .5 miles away which is super nice.

We met with Mark, our agent, this afternoon. He had some good ideas and we have a few things to do before we meet again. We went to look at a house but think it's too far away from the area that we like.


Evie took a little nap in the car so she was ready for some action. Then we went to Outback for dinner. Yummy! I just finished our peanut butter pie. Delicious. Evie had a blowout in the restaurant so our dinner was cut a little short. Life with a baby!

LONG DAY

Yesterday seems like so long ago to us. Evie did fabulous at the fireworks. She took a little nap and then woke up in the middle of the fireworks. She looked at me for awhile and seemed comfortable so I turned her around to look at the fireworks. She LOVED them. Carl caught the whole thing on video. I cannot wait to watch it! We had so much fun over the weekend.

We left The Reserve at 9:45 and got here around 5 Eastern after stopping three times. Evie did great. We could not have asked for her to do a better job. I was getting nervous on the way here because we had not heard from our landlord. We talked to her on the way around 3 and she told us that our place was not ready so to take our time getting there. Then, when we were about 20 minutes away she called to say it was not ready! We were annoyed because we had a bunch of stuff in the truck and were packed in separate bags for each part of the trip. We went by the house and no one was there. I was not exactly impressed and feel that the word condo is used quite loosely. It will be fine for the short time that we are staying there but it's not the cutest place.

The "condo" has potpouri in every room and dried flowers hanging on walls. Also, there are lots of little country signs on the wall reminding us about the importance of family. We've got that down or we would not even be considering living in this place. We meet with our real estate agent tomorrow and hopefully will create a more permanent plan for our family. We are very grateful to have a place to live together and it is furnished which makes "moving" in a lot easier. The best part is we are on a month to month lease - the nice places do not do that! We do have a fabulous location, a big deck, a garage, a wood-burning fireplace and room for all of us! Evie and I will be able to walk to a Barnes and Noble and Target. We are super close to lots of places! The landlords seem disorganized but they got into this line of work by happenstance. They sold a hog farm and did not want to pay capital gains so they bought some "condos" to rent out. They are SUPER nice and accomodating. They got Evie a crib, a changing table and lots of other baby stuff. That makes it much easier for us.

We are looking forward to feeling more settled tomorrow. Little Evie will have slept in 4 different places in one week by tomorrow. She's hanging in there and so are we. Dinner was room service and we are about to head to bed. I will post pictures soon. My camera card will not fit into Carl's laptop.

Happy 4th of July!

We can't believe it's the 4th of July already. Time goes by so quickly. We made it to Sheshe and Poppy's house yesterday. Evie did pretty good but I hoping our trip to Nasvhville will go better. Evie has slept through the night for the past two nights. YAY for Evie.

Evie was happy to get to here. She has been very calm and happy. We took her to the pool yesterday. Evie loves the pool. She sat in the baby pool and played with the water. She was happy to suck her Daddy's toe. Pretty funny! We took her into the big pool and she loves to float around. She just loves the pool. Evie loved that her Sheshe got in the pool to hold her. It was Sheshe's first time in the pool all year. We are going to take her back late this afternoon.

Evie's taking a nap and everyone else is watching tennis. We miss Lollie and Kurt and our nieces, Mary and Lucy. Hope to see them all soon. Nashville is only about 3 1/2 hours to Atlanta so maybe we can go see them soon.

I will post some pictures of Evie soon. The poor girl hasn't had her picture made since Thursday.

Nana, Ipop and Uncle Ben

Evie was so excited to see her Daddy when she woke up this morning. Carl went to get her and I could hear her squealing on the monitor. So cute!

Evie and I had Gymboree today. Her friend, Max, came with his mom Amber. It was so good to see them. Paisley and Evie liked looking at each other sitting up. Our babies are such big girls now.

Evie came home and took a great nap so I was busy packing. There is so much stuff to take! I hope Evie will like her new temporary room. Maybe she will sleep really well in it.

Nana and I took Evie for a walk. It's the only way to keep her up longer is to let her have a little catnap in the late evening. She was able to make it to 7:15. Carl picked up some delicious BBQ from Lexington. Yummy! It was good to see them. We will be leaving in the morning to go see Sheshe and Poppy. Our plan is to time it with Evie's nap so she will arrive well-rested!

Sleeping, Sitting and Southpark

Today was the busiest day we have had in a really LONG time. Evie slept until 8:30. Then she ate her bananas which she LOVES. We cleaned out the bathroom cabinets so that the movers do not pack our junk. Some stuff has not been used since the last move - obviously we have way too many products.

Evie went back down at 10:30 until 12:30 and I spent that time trying to figure out what we need for our temporary move. Carl found a great condo for us - well, it's in a great location. Lots of people responded to my ad on Craig's List so there are a lot of people out there like us. This place will work beautifully until we figure out what to do and Carl's company is nice enough to take care of this for us until our home sells. It's a mile from Gymboree and they just revamped there schedule so they have several slots for both Level 1 and 2. I love Gymboree and think it will be a great way for Evie and I make to some new friends. We will miss all of our friends here in Charlotte so much especially sweet Paisley!

Evie LOVES sitting. She is constantly moving and I am on the go trying to keep her from banging into things. We went to Chick fil A for lunch and Evie was so sleepy. I did not hear a peep out of her. She took a nap on the way to the doctor. Evie was fabulous at the doctor. Nurse Susan wants to take Evie home with her and Evie was fascinated by Dr. P's loud boming voice. She just stared at him like he was really funny! Mama, does not think he is so funny but she thinks he is really nice! My doctor is across from Southpark so of course we had to make a trip over there. It'd be a shame to drive all the way there and not even stop at the mall.

Before I was a mom and I'd think about how my life would be with Evie, I imagined a lot of shopping trips. Evie has other plans! She likes shopping for about 1 hour and then she says, "Mama, take me home now!" so that I get her point right away. Evie did love the piano player at Nordstrom - she thought the lady was really nice. She was quite talented because she was making faces at Evie and playing the piano at the same time. Evie liked watching me eat my chocolate chip cookie - no trip to the mall is complete without a sweet treat. She was so sleepy that she fell asleep before we left the parking lot.

When we got home, we were so excited to see our Ipop was here waiting on us. He had an appraisal in the area and stopped by to see us. Ipop got to see Evie sitting up like a big girl. We will miss seeing Ipop on his little visits! There are lots of things we will miss about living here but the best part is we will all live together as a family again. Carl is really excited! It gets lonely being by yourself all the time in a new city. He can't wait to show us all around Nashville. We will have fun exploring it together.

Thanks Dad for the chicken! I did not have a plan for dinner and now it's done. My housewife skills have taken a back seat lately. Carl landed a little while ago in Charlotte but there was a slight crisis with work so he had to take care of it at the airport since he needed to access his computer. Lots of things go wrong with tires when it's hot. Bad for trucking companies but good for us!

Evie slept all night!

YAY for Evie - she slept from about 6:30 until 5:30. She ate and then went back to sleep. I cannot believe she is still sleeping. Maybe those bananas filled her up or maybe she was so tired from not sleeping much yesterday. Who knows with Evie?

We are so excited that Carl comes back today. He has not been home on a Wednesday night in 9 weeks.

We received our pictures from Dorian Eve. They turned out good especially considering Evie was not in the best mood because it was her naptime. Of course, when I made the appointment she had no schedule but she almost always takes a fabulous 2 hour nap around 9. Not sure if she will do that today since she's still sleeping.