Nashville

Jason and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary with a trip to Nashville. We've always planned on taking a trip to mark this milestone and while we initially had grand plans of going to Napa, we decided to scale it back a bit.  Neither of us had been to Nashville before and we liked the idea of being able to drive somewhere vs flying.  We had a great time!  Nashville has a lot to offer and we enjoyed exploring it!  We ate a lot of good food, heard a lot of good music and enjoyed having a few days away together.

The first night we walked from our hotel to downtown Nashville where all the "honky tonk" bars are.  Almost every single bar had live music.  We went to Tootsies and a 3 story bar called Honky Tonk Central.  It was a lot of fun and man oh man do the people in Nashville love them some country music :)

Ready for a night on the town!

The next day we slept in and had a leisurely morning at the hotel before we headed back down to the strip to have lunch and go to the Johnny Cash Museum.  We had lunch at Jack's which we were told was the best BBQ in Nashville.  It was good, but I've had just as good here in St. Louis.

 

After lunch we walked to the Johnny Cash Museum.  Jason and I are both fans of Johnny Cash and it was interesting to learn more about his life.  

That night Jason made reservations at Kayne Prime to officially celebrate our anniversary.  It was in a part of Nashville called The Gulch which is a trendy neighborhood with a lot of cool bars and restaurants.  Our dinner was amazing!   One of the best, if not the best, steak dinners we've ever had.  I have to mention the appetizer we had too.  Our server recommended the Housemade Bacon with Maple Cotton Candy.  Yes, bacon and cotton candy.  Sold.  It was one of the best things I have ever eaten!  So weird but so delicious. After dinner we went to another bar in the area for drinks.  It was a perfect night celebrating.

 

The next day we ventured over to the Vanderbilt campus and walked around.  There were lots of cute restaurants and shops.  We had lunch at Hot Hattie B's Chicken - famous for their hot chicken.  I'm not a big fan of hot so I had my chicken mild and it was delicious! Jason had the medium and his head was sweating by the end of the meal.  Their level of heat goes up to Shut the Cluck Up which I heard is downright painful!  The Pimento Mac and Cheese and Peach Cobbler were also amazing!  After lunch we drove over to The Bluebird Cafe.  I'm a big fan of the tv show Nashville and The Bluebird Cafe is often featured on it.  It was nothing like what I imagined from watching the show.  It's a tiny little place in a strip mall!  It wasn't open when we went by so we were only able to peak in the windows.  A ton of big names in country music have performed there.  If we ever go back I'd love to see a show there.

We capped off our trip to Nashville by going to the Grand Ole Opry.  It was a fun experience.  It's the longest running live radio show and it was cool to know that what we were seeing and hearing was being broadcast all over the world.  The show is formatted into four segments with a different host and performers for each segment.   Each artist performs 2-3 songs so we got a taste of a lot of different music.  We didn't know any of the artists performing that night but there were a couple that we really liked.  Some of them were veteran members of the Opry the oldest being Little Jimmy Dickens who is 93 years old and the cutest little old man I've ever seen! After the show we took a backstage tour and even got to walk on the stage which w as really cool.

Little Jimmy Dickens

This 10 yr old boy was an incredible fiddle player!

It was a really fun weekend spending time with Jason, relaxing and reflecting on the past five years as well as trying to predict the next five.  A big thanks to my parents for staying with Peyton and Charlie!

13 Months

At 13 Months Charlie:
Is walking full time now!  He figured out how to stand up by himself and from there really took off!  He looked a little like baby Frankenstein for a bit walking with his arms out in front of him, but he's gotten a lot more confident and smooth

Is a total ham for the camera.  His "cheese" face is too cute!

Doesn't say many words yet but he sure can communicate.  He grunts and squeals and points and most of the time I know exactly what he wants.  He also babbles constantly and is very expressive with his hands.

He understands so much of what we say to him.  Today I asked him to get me a bowl and he went right over to the the correct cabinet and picked out a bowl.

Is still the loudest squealer/screamer I've ever heard.  It's seriously painful sometimes.  The lady in the deli at the grocery store made the comment that they know when we are there because they can hear Charlie.  Not sure that is a good thing!

Likes to help me unload the dishwasher by handing me the silverware.  He likes to sweep with the little broom.  I remember Peyton doing the exact same things around this age.

 Is a messy little eater.  He's working on using a fork and spoon but doesn't quite have the coordination yet.

So messy we had to undress him in the sink before putting him in the tub!

Arches his back and sticks his little tummy out (and squeals of course!) when he's frustrated or doesn't like what we are saying to him.  It's too funny!

Is Peyton's biggest fan.  He claps for her every time she sings!  It's adorable! 

Is at such a fun age!

Cardinals Game

Today we went to our first Cards game with both kids.  It went...about as expected.  Our seats were in the sun (Jason thought we would be in the shade) and I forgot to pack sunscreen, Peyton was tired (she almost fell asleep on the car ride there) and Charlie was all over the place.  We didn't make it long - only until the 3rd inning but we had fun.  We managed to fit in ice cream and a visit to the Build a Bear store in the short time we were at the stadium.  I think we'll try again next year :)

A few pictures before we left the house.  Peyton was so excited! She kept saying, "Hooray Cardinals!"

 

Matching Hats :)

 

Waiting to get in to the stadium.

 

Bleacher seats!

 

Cheering for the Cards!

 

Peyton chose to make a puppy and named her Sophia

 

Two tired kiddos!

"I Can Read It"

I picked up a Sophia the First book for Peyton at the grocery store a couple of weeks ago (a great way to keep her occupied at the store!) and we've been reading it non stop ever since.  Now when we sit down to read it she says, "I can read it" and requests that I hand it over to her. She does remarkably well "reading".  She has almost the entire thing memorized - some pages word for word and turns the page at the appropriate time.  I can't get over hearing her "read".  I often find myself giggling as she says some of the bigger words - it amazes me every time!

Peyton's First Day of Preschool

Peyton's first day of school went great!  I had to wake her up this morning and she wasn't ready to get up but after a few more minutes laying in the crib she was up and all smiles when I reminded her that she would be going to school today!  As we were getting ready to leave she was marching around the house and singing "goin to my school, goin to my school".  She was so excited! 

Eating breakfast

Charlie was excited too :)

Backpack on and ready to go!

Goin to my school!

Jason went into work a little late so we could both drop her off.  We walked into the school and Peyton showed off her new backpack to the lady greeting us at the door as well as the director who greets everyone in the hallway.  She was skipping and jumping and friendly to everyone who spoke to her.  When we walked into her classroom she was excited to hang her backpack up in her cubby and then she was off.  She went right over to the table where some other kids were playing playdough.  I had to go ask her for a hug and kiss goodbye which she gave me quickly before going off to play some more.  I looked at Jason and kind of shrugged like ok I guess we go now?  It was a quick and painless goodbye for her which was great but I had a little trouble walking out the door even though I knew it was best not to linger.  I must have looked back at her 5 times as I was inching out the door. 




The morning went by quickly.  I was able to get Charlie down for a nap, do a quick workout and shower and then it was about time to pick Peyton up.  I was so anxious to see how she did!  The kids were lined up sitting against the wall in the hallway.  Seeing Peyton sitting there with the other kids, her backpack on made me really realize how big she is getting and how she is truly a little girl now, no longer a baby.  When she saw me she shouted "Mommy!" and came running to me.  It was the best moment and I got a little teary eyed.  Her teacher said Peyton had a great morning and had no trouble at all.  She told me that she and another little girl had color sorted the crayons and then mixed them all up laughing hysterically.  On the way home Peyton told me about her morning, the books they read and all about playing on the playground.  She drew me two pictures and was so proud to pull them out of her backpack when we got home to show me.  At one point on the way home I said to her "I sure did miss you."  Her response: "Oh sweetie, I came back."  Oh my sweet girl.  Sometimes I don't know who the Mama is around here :)

It's hard to believe that we are to the point now where we have a child in school.  I know it's only two mornings a week but there was something about driving to school this morning that made me feel that much more like a Mom.  I am so excited to see how Peyton grows and changes this year!

First Day of School Jitters

Peyton has her first day of preschool tomorrow and I'm feeling super anxious about it!  She has been talking about going to school all by herself now for months but I can't believe that tomorrow morning we will actually drop her off for 3 hours.  It will be the first time we've ever left Peyton with someone other than family.  She will only go to school two mornings a week for a total of 6 hours away but it's going to be strange to come home without her, to not know what she is doing for those hours or how she is feeling.  She did great at the Open House the other night and walked right into the classroom and started playing like she had been going there for years.  I'm hoping she is as comfortable tomorrow but she did have a moment of hesitation tonight.  She told me she didn't want to go to school "for this year" and she didn't want to go by herself.  My heart dropped but I put on my best brave Mommy face and reassured her how much fun she was going to have.  It didn't help that she didn't nap today and was over tired so her emotions were running high.  But after our talk she seemed fine and went to bed early.  As I was singing her the bedtime song I've been singing since she was born I got choked up.  It's hard to believe she is even old enough to be going to school and taking her first steps of independence without me.  I'm bracing myself for a difficult goodbye but hoping it's not too hard on either one of us!

I know Peyton will do great and love school.  I'm just ready to get the first day to be over with so I can see how great she is going to do!

Monkey See, Monkey Do

Love these two!!