Roughing it, and...not.

This past weekend, I went with the Lynns and Leslie to Atlanta for a girls' weekend! We left Friday afternoon and stayed through Sunday morning. What a blast! More on that in a minute. But first, what did John Michael and the babies do while I was gone? Well, Uncle Nathaniel was in town, so they did what he does best - went camping!

Okay, so I have to admit that when John Michael first told me that they were going camping, I thought to myself, "Phew! Dodged a bullet with that one!" Camping is not necessarily my idea of the most fun in the world. But I have to tell you, after hearing about their campout, I am super sad I missed it. According to all the grownups (JM, Nana & Papa, and Uncle Nate), Addie and Landon had a blast and spent a couple of hours in the tent talking and singing with one another. It brought back awesome memories of my childhood and my brother and I singing (loudly) at the campground some songs with choice words (nothing too bad, but we replaced half of the words to "Hotel California" with the word "fart"...hehehe...my parents were mortified to say the least :)). ANYWAY, John Michael took plenty of pictures, so here goes!

And about my NOT roughing it...we had so much fun in Atlanta! We ate, ate, ate and shopped. We started out Saturday morning at H&M and hit bank. It was definitely an "on" visit. Then we went to Ikea where I got some shelves I've been drooling over for months. That made for a cozy ride home in Lynn R.'s Saturn Vue - good thing Lynn D. and I love each other so much :) I was practically in her lap for the ride home. HA! Anyway, we then went to Flip Burger where we had awesome burgers and the most amazing milkshakes ever, made with liquid nitrogen. I got the Strawberry Shortcake one, Lynn D. and Leslie split the Nutella & Burnt Marshmallows one, and Lynn R. got the pistachio one. Mmmm...I need to figure out how to recreate those. Sans liquid nitrogen, of course, 'cause that's just crazy talk.

After lunch we went to Lenox Square where I got to see my "favorite friend" Elizabeth!!!! Oh how I miss her. I only got about an hour with her but we had a blast :)

Then we rushed to get ready for dinner at Woodfire Grill. I don't watch Top Chef, but it is Kevin Gillespie's restaurant, who apparently was second place on a season. Lynn D. and Leslie are huge fans :)

Hmm. I don't know if I have words as to how amazing this meal was. We opted for the five-course tasting, which meant that we didn't know what we were getting - for any course - until they brought it out to us. They brought each course and explained what everything was. After dinner (and after Lynn and Leslie telling our server how much they enjoyed watching Kevin on tv), they gave us autographed menus, complete with a header that said "Happy Birthday, Lynn." It was so much fun and we had lots of things I never would've ordered from a regular menu (quail, pork belly, beets, bison, sunchokes, I could go on - there was a lot of awesome food). I would very highly recommend going. Plus, the service was wonderful. Our server's name was Kristen so that probably had something to do with it, no?

We went to a rooftop bar after dinner where we enjoyed the "supermoon" and the amazing weather. Plus, I ran in to one of my closest friends from law school, Matthew, and his fiancee! What a small world! He does not live in Atlanta, but they were flying out of the Atlanta airport the next morning to go on vacation. Crazy.

We headed home late Sunday morning. Although we had an awesome time, I was quite excited to see my sweet little family! Addie and Landon had had a blast with Daddy, Uncle Nate, and Nana & Papa. I didn't get quite the overly excited greeting I was hoping for, but sometimes even mama can't compete with camping and being spoiled with love by your uncle and grandparents :)

Welcome to having a little boy?!

Two years old. Two years and five days old, to be exact. That's how long it took for Landon to enter true boyhood and get his first (hopefully only, but I'm not holding my breath :)) set of stitches. Ah, little munchkin.

Last Friday, I was volunteering downtown for the Tennessee State High School Mock Trial Championship. I was a "floor monitor," helping make sure things were going smoothly on one of the floors of the courthouse where teams were competing. I had left my personal phone downstairs at the volunteer check-in center and only brought my work phone upstairs. In between rounds, I went downstairs to get a drink and checked my phone. I saw that I had a missed call from daycare along with a voicemail. The missed call was at 4:45, so I knew that wasn't a good sign, since we normally arrive a little after 5:00 to pick the kids up (by that I mean that usually if it's that late in the day, there's no need for them to call us for minor illnesses, etc., since they know we'll be right there). I listened to the voicemail and it was the Assistant Director saying, "Hey Kristen, it's Judy - Landon just tripped and fell and has a little cut on his head. I'll just give John Michael a call." I couldn't figure out why she needed to call either of us for a little cut so close to the end of the day, so I just called John Michael. He was already on his way and had talked to Judy. He said she told him it was bleeding quite a bit and so he told me he'd call me once he got there.

My phone rang about 15 minutes later and he said, "Yeeeah...we're gonna need to be seen for this." Yikes. He called the pediatrician's office and they said to go on to Vanderbilt E.R.

I went back downstairs to tell the Mock Trial leaders that I was leaving. Actually, I ate dinner first because I knew they were still in Spring Hill and I had time :) Then, I left and headed over to Vanderbilt, and John Michael and Landon arrived a few minutes after I did.

I was impressed again with Vanderbilt. We waited for about an hour and a half, which at the time seemed like a long time but I know it really isn't in the grand scheme of things. They put some numbing gel on the area right when we got there, so he never had to have a shot or anything! The staff were amazing with Landon, and he had a blast in the waiting room (although he did keep coming over to me, grabbing my hand and saying, "Come on, Mommy! Let's go home!"). He charmed a few of the parents in the waiting room and made friends with a six-year-old boy. He also crawled around all over the floor and stuck his hands in his mouth. Still shuddering about that, almost a week later. Ew.

When it was our turn, we went upstairs and the doctor confirmed that stitches it would be! He and the nurse kept telling us to be prepared for Landon to be really upset and cry a lot because they'd be swaddling him while they did the stitches. Our little brave boy barely cried, and only after the fourth stitch (out of five)!!! He was so good. Both the doctor and nurse gushed over how well he did and told us how they had never seen a two-year-old be that good! I know it's just that he wasn't aware of what was going on, but I was proud nonetheless.

Thankfully, they used absorbable sutures, so we don't have to go back! I'm not sure that he would be as good as he was for a Round 2 :)

(Okay, I took one picture and it makes his injury look FAR worse than it was, so I've decided not to post it...but rest assured, he was adorable and quite happy most of the time while we were there!)

Baby boy

(I got scolded the other day by one of Addie's classmates for calling Addie "Baby." I told the little girl as nicely as I possibly could that I would call my children "baby" as long as I wanted to :))

My sweet baby boy is TWO YEARS OLD! I truly cannot believe it has been two years since I wondered whether my heart would grow to love another child. I think it's hilarious to think about that now :) Landon makes my heart so happy. He is just about the cutest little boy I think I've ever seen. He is such a happy little guy and gets so excited about things! His emotions are so strong. His tantrums make us laugh hysterically because he is so. very. serious. about them. I think Mike (Papa) said it best when he said that they are really quite ineffective. We do at least try to hide our laughter, don't worry :)

Today we had the grandparents and D'Amicos over to celebrate Landon's birthday. He has been so excited for his birthday. This morning he kept telling us, "I be four! I be four!" Awesome. Landon had so much fun opening his gifts (with the help of Addie, Holland and Quinn) and gave us all a laugh when he excitedly said about his first present, "IT'S A BOX!" Too cute. He didn't realize there was something even more fun (in the adults' eyes, at least) inside! The next one he opened was a tall skinny box, and as soon as it was unwrapped he said, "IT'S A RECTANGLE!" The kiddo loves his shapes :)

(p.s. I know parents say it all the time, but why do we not just give our children boxes for their birthdays? :))

I think he had a wonderful birthday today. He was extra good today, too, so I'm hoping this is an indication that we'll have the "terrific twos" instead of the "terrible twos" (ha!). Either way, I'm sure it'll be another fun year with my beautiful baby boy. Landon, we love you SO much, sweet boy!

Time for some milestones (size ones coming after Friday's checkup...). At two years old, Landon is:

* still quite the chatterbox. He says the FUNNIEST things now and his vocabulary seems to grow exponentially from day to day.

* a book lover. His favorites are Panda Bear, Panda Bear; Baby Bear, Baby Bear; and Polar Bear, Polar Bear. He has them all memorized. He also loves Everyone Poops (or as he calls it, "My poopie book!")

* slightly obsessed with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (which, by the way, we figured out that this where he learned about octagons!)

* becoming a pickier eater. He sometimes worries me with how little he eats lately. We'll see at his checkup!

* so loving and lovable. He asks constantly, "Where are Mimi and PawPaw?" and "Where are Nana and Papa?" and "Where are Honnen and Ken (Holland and Quinn :))?"

* making his thoughts on potty training clear - it's for the birds! When I change his diaper, he often says, "No potty big boy!" Eh, we'll get there :)

* a paci/blankie baby. He thinks it's hilarious when I tell him we'll be giving his pacis away soon. I think the goal may be the end of the month (the first weekend we'll both be home the whole time - eek!)

* so incredibly ticklish still. He has the most contagious laughter ever, too.

* genuinely sweet and compassionate. It's adorable.

Sometimes my heart hurts from loving this child so much. I am so lucky to be his (and Addie's!) mommy!

(Photos to come soon!)

Oops.

I just realized it has been over a month since I last posted. Oops! I think that is a new slacker record for me. I have been in a slight funk lately, to say the least. Work is going well, but it is super busy and it seems like I have been working a lot of evenings lately (or going in early). By the time I get home I am DONE with thinking and just want to zone out. I also tend to kind of become super introverted when I am stressed, so I guess that's the explanation, too. I've been a turtle and retreated into my home. I'm feeling a little better now :)

SO, I have missed writing lots of cute things the kiddos have been saying and doing. I hope to catch up over the next few weeks! We have also been slacking a bit on the picture taking but hopefully that will pick back up with the weather getting nicer, too!