Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Memorial Day is upon us...that means the end of May is right around the corner. It also means the kids pool is now open all week long and they'll get out of the adult pool. It also means Aiden is almost 11 months old. And most of all, it means our trip to the beach is literally just around the corner. Whoop!
My parents offered to keep Aiden for the weekend since she had the last few weeks of May off, so I took Thursday off to go meet her for the exchange. Now, Aiden hates the carseat for any longer than 40 minutes or so mostly because he's so mobile now...I mean maybe a few weeks from walking completely on his own type of mobile. We've been down to one hand for a while now, and he takes a few steps here and there, but all he wants to do is walk, so walk is what we do. Anyway, I met her Thursday and miracle of all miracles the trip wasn't so bad. He fell asleep and had a nice solid nap while I drove, which was a nice change of pace from the typical screaming I am used to. Nathan was traveling (Phoenix, as usual), so I was heading back to have a day and a half ALONE. It was quite surreal to think about, but also such a neat treat.
Now, the key is that I had to remember what to do without a baby in tow! :)
I got back Thursday night and enjoyed cleaning up, taking a bath, skipping dinner (since I didn't have to make it for anyone!), and just relaxing. Friday I went to get my "hair did" and spent the afternoon at the pool despite the cloudy day. It was nice to just sit and read my book and not worry some kid was going to bang Aiden on the head with their water gun. Went over to hang out with my awesome buddies Jamie and Kevin's and had a great night of movies, pizza, and beer before heading home. Nate got in about 3 in the morning, but thankfully I was so out of it I didn't know he'd even gotten home till the next morning. We got up fairly early and went to have breakfast at Franklin Mercantile, one of our local favorites. We had a great time chatting it up and realizing that we had the whole day together, just the two of us. It was a nice realization and I will say one drastic change in our time alone is that the level of conversation changes dramatically when you don't have a baby with you. For the better, obviously, not that it's bad when we do have Aiden with us, it's just not as deep. Does that make sense? You're caring for this little person all the time and sometimes you neglect to go beyond the surface of some topics because you're either distracted or busy or worried or whatever...so it was nice to have some time to really dig deep and enjoy that bond.
Saturday was great...just relaxing and fun. We headed down to Nashville for a supurb dinner at Sunset Grill and dessert at Ben and Jerry's. Ice cream is so good on a warm summer night. We finished the night chillin' on our porch enjoying the amazing star-filled sky that is so breathtaking from our neighborhood in the country. Ahhh...and knowing you don't have to get up at 6:30 the next morning makes for a beautiful night's rest! Ha.
Sunday was another day of relaxing...though we did interrupt it with some errands and such along the way. That afternoon our neighborhood had a Memorial Day picnic with a band and crawfish, grilling out, etc. It was fun to hang out with the neighbors, but with all the kids running around out there, it made me miss my sweet little dude. We were off to pick him up first thing Monday morning and had a great time seeing him again. Enjoyed a nice breakfast at Cracker Barrel before heading back out on the road with our little dude in tow. It was nice to have him back. He had a great time at Mimi and Pops and discovered a lot of fun things, loved walking around and finding out how things work at their house, meeting new people, and last but not least discovering the joy of his tricycle....which he's not sure if he should ride or push! :)
We stopped at another Memorial Day bash on our way back to town and for once the place actually had more kids than dogs. Kind of a rarity most of the time, but a nice treat for all of us with the kiddos.
How grateful I am to have loving parents to care for my baby boy, and give him some fun things to do so my hubby and I can feel like adults every now and then!
Playing with the mirror...and dishwasher. This boy loves to clean!
Meal time!
Pops posing the the teething boy...and Mimi with him after his bath-a-roo!
Smiling, happy guy!
Figuring out if he should ride it or push it...so funny!
Picking up the dude...I was so happy to see him!
My parents offered to keep Aiden for the weekend since she had the last few weeks of May off, so I took Thursday off to go meet her for the exchange. Now, Aiden hates the carseat for any longer than 40 minutes or so mostly because he's so mobile now...I mean maybe a few weeks from walking completely on his own type of mobile. We've been down to one hand for a while now, and he takes a few steps here and there, but all he wants to do is walk, so walk is what we do. Anyway, I met her Thursday and miracle of all miracles the trip wasn't so bad. He fell asleep and had a nice solid nap while I drove, which was a nice change of pace from the typical screaming I am used to. Nathan was traveling (Phoenix, as usual), so I was heading back to have a day and a half ALONE. It was quite surreal to think about, but also such a neat treat.
Now, the key is that I had to remember what to do without a baby in tow! :)
I got back Thursday night and enjoyed cleaning up, taking a bath, skipping dinner (since I didn't have to make it for anyone!), and just relaxing. Friday I went to get my "hair did" and spent the afternoon at the pool despite the cloudy day. It was nice to just sit and read my book and not worry some kid was going to bang Aiden on the head with their water gun. Went over to hang out with my awesome buddies Jamie and Kevin's and had a great night of movies, pizza, and beer before heading home. Nate got in about 3 in the morning, but thankfully I was so out of it I didn't know he'd even gotten home till the next morning. We got up fairly early and went to have breakfast at Franklin Mercantile, one of our local favorites. We had a great time chatting it up and realizing that we had the whole day together, just the two of us. It was a nice realization and I will say one drastic change in our time alone is that the level of conversation changes dramatically when you don't have a baby with you. For the better, obviously, not that it's bad when we do have Aiden with us, it's just not as deep. Does that make sense? You're caring for this little person all the time and sometimes you neglect to go beyond the surface of some topics because you're either distracted or busy or worried or whatever...so it was nice to have some time to really dig deep and enjoy that bond.
Saturday was great...just relaxing and fun. We headed down to Nashville for a supurb dinner at Sunset Grill and dessert at Ben and Jerry's. Ice cream is so good on a warm summer night. We finished the night chillin' on our porch enjoying the amazing star-filled sky that is so breathtaking from our neighborhood in the country. Ahhh...and knowing you don't have to get up at 6:30 the next morning makes for a beautiful night's rest! Ha.
Sunday was another day of relaxing...though we did interrupt it with some errands and such along the way. That afternoon our neighborhood had a Memorial Day picnic with a band and crawfish, grilling out, etc. It was fun to hang out with the neighbors, but with all the kids running around out there, it made me miss my sweet little dude. We were off to pick him up first thing Monday morning and had a great time seeing him again. Enjoyed a nice breakfast at Cracker Barrel before heading back out on the road with our little dude in tow. It was nice to have him back. He had a great time at Mimi and Pops and discovered a lot of fun things, loved walking around and finding out how things work at their house, meeting new people, and last but not least discovering the joy of his tricycle....which he's not sure if he should ride or push! :)
We stopped at another Memorial Day bash on our way back to town and for once the place actually had more kids than dogs. Kind of a rarity most of the time, but a nice treat for all of us with the kiddos.
How grateful I am to have loving parents to care for my baby boy, and give him some fun things to do so my hubby and I can feel like adults every now and then!
Playing with the mirror...and dishwasher. This boy loves to clean!
Meal time!
Pops posing the the teething boy...and Mimi with him after his bath-a-roo!
Smiling, happy guy!
Figuring out if he should ride it or push it...so funny!
Picking up the dude...I was so happy to see him!
Sunday, May 17, 2009
About three weeks ago I was chatting with my friend Meghan, who lives in Atlanta, and we were talking about how we needed to plan a little day trip to hang out with each other since we hadn't gotten to hug in a long time. So we picked a day and decided to meet half way in Chattanooga, about a 2 hour drive for both of us. And today was the day. It marks the first time I've been away from Aiden on my own, so it was kind of a big deal. Not really, just kind of.
I got up early and left my boys alone (hoping Nate would remember all I told him and not to forget to feed him!) and headed out on the rainy road to Chattanoonga and was looking forward to lunch at this great place we'd picked out. After we both arrived and did our fair share of hugging, we went out on a mission to find the spot despite knowing nothing about the city we found ourselves in. After about 6 circles, we finally found it and discovered that of all the oddities they were closed all weekend. Every weekend. Not just this one. Why in the world you'd be closed on Saturday seems fairly odd to me, but oh well...turns out that wasn't the only odd thing about C-town. Luckily we had a few back up options, so we headed to River Street Deli, which we heard was a little hole in the wall with some of the best food in town. Though it took us some time to find parking, and the place was kind of odd to find, I will say the food was quite good...made to order, nice staff, and big portions. Good times.
As we sat in the basement hole in the wall deli drinking our tea, we had a great time catching up on the happenings of life, pondering what would happen in the future, gathering advice about what we're going to do with our lives, and just being girls. It was a great lunch. Then we were off to walk the streets to see if there were any shops interesting enough to buy something from. And while there were some cute stores, we couldn't help but be deterred by the very strong odor coming from certain crowds of people as we walked past. It seemed as though this area we found ourselves in was crawling with somewhat of a bohemian culture, and obviously one that thinks bathing is optional. After a few too many breaths of not so pleasant air, we were off to find ourselves some coffee and a treat.
We ended up in an art district with some iced coffee that took way too long to order, and a nice sized chocolate chip cookie. We watched a wedding begin as we continued conversations about life, love, and how grateful we were to be away from that smell. One more random stop later and we decided it was time to head on back. After all I did need to make sure Nate hadn't let Aiden ride any bulls on their trip to the Franklin rodeo.
It was such a fun day, and though I had to face pouring rain the entire way back, I was so grateful for my sweet friend who drove two hours just to spend the day with her mom friend. We had such a great time catching up and it made me wish Atlanta was just that much closer to Nashville. It's a great thing to be able to be yourself with girls...it doesn't happen very often. Girls are a rare breed. Judgemental, lacking self-confidence, jealous, just plain mean, always full of drama, and so much more. To be able to spend time with girls without all that junk is priceless. And finding out about a great sale on a super cute pair of shoes makes it all worth it.
Monday, May 11, 2009
This year marked the first year I was a Mom on Mother's Day and even though Aiden doesn't really get all that stuff, he didn't really have to in order to make it an amazing day. Becoming a mother has been such an incredible gift, one I thought for so long wouldn't be possible, but a dream I am now so glad did come true. Who would have thought this precious little boy could have rocked my world in such a huge way over the past 10 months. It's pretty amazing. Though some might say that being a mom is over-rated or not that much work, I beg to differ. There's nothing over-rated about it, and there's also a lot more work to it than it looks like from the outside. I guess you'll never know till you do it, but I admire my mom and so many other moms out there who do it all and do it all with grace, poise, character, and love. It's tough to give unconditionally all the time, but as tough as it is, it's also immeasurably rewarding. Okay, so enough of that.
Nathan had his own surprise up his sleeve in Aiden's outfit...he had a onesie made that said MY MOM ROCKS (and the word rocks was in rock print - so cute!). My card reminded me I had been a mom for 302 days (can you believe he's that old!?!?) and was so cute! I love both my boys. What a special memory. We headed off to meet my parents at Panera - they drove up to help celebrate the day with us. After breakfast, we headed back to our house for nap time and I ventured out on a celebratory run with my dad. My parents gave me this beautiful blue hydrangea for us to plant at the house, so it would always be a reminder of my first Mother's Day and my special boy. My, how time flies.
We finished out the day by going to see Baby Madden get dedicated to the church - so sweet. A great end to Mother's Day. It was a super duper fun day filled with a lot of love, emotion, and a lot of memories. I can't wait to celebrate more! :)
My sweet boy in his Mom's Day shirt!
Pretty hydrangea!
My big daddy!
This kid seriously loves to eat. And is not ashamed about it!
My dad (Pops), Aiden, and bro
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
I officially accomplished at least ONE of my things to do in 2009! Hooray! Though on the outset it seemed as though a half marathon would prove nearly impossible to complete, after some rigorous training thanks to my awesome coach (my dear old Dad), some tough runs, and some minor injuries, I completed my first half marathon.
Friday night my little family of three traveled to Harriman, TN for the race the next morning. It's about 2 and a half hours from Nashville, and Aiden really hated the drive! For real! Nate got me some carbo grub and we hit the hay for an early morning.
The race was in downtown Harriman, and it was such a cute little town. It began and ended in this little park along a river, so it was quite beautiful. The morning was dry and chilly, but perfect for a long run. After some preparation, stretching, and a good cup of coffee, I was off to run my race amongst the other 100 or so runners. Amazingly enough, I was the second place woman OVERALL, first in my age group, AND I beat my goal time by 20 minutes and my "dream time" by 5 minutes...and still felt AMAZING after it was all said and done.
Needless to say, I think I caught the "bug" and found myself wanting to run another one very soon. The downside to that is it's now summer and all the races are short distances. So maybe I'll start training for a full marathon and see what happens. Not sure what to do. I know I'll keep running and I'll definitely do more halves. It's a fun distance to run and I learned a lot along the way. Through my training I learned that speed days, hill days, tempo runs, and long runs only serve as preparation for the final goal and while not fun, the work truly does pay off. And I guess I can apply that to life as well...though there are some times in my life I have to do things I really hate doing or that are completely uncomfortable (even painful), it will pay off as I continue down the road of life...and the next time that challenge rolls around, it will be cake compared to what it was the first time. It's all in your perspective.
But what a fun experience, one I will remember. Especially having that cute little guy (well TWO cute little guys) there at the finish line waiting for me! You can see all the pics here.
He got to go and spend the night with Mimi and Pops after the race, which gave them some great one on one time with him and gave Nate and I a brief "staycation" at our house. It was the first time we'd been at our house without the little man there. It was kind of odd, but also quite a treat. We missed him, but he had fun on his trip! Here's some pics from his little adventure with the tricycle and exploring the outdoors! :)
And from the race:
Getting out my pre-race jitters with my little boy. 
Getting ready to go!
Dad came and joined me as I passed this girl around mile 8. Felt so good!
My sweet family...
My medal for finishing...trophy too!
This week Aiden's Great-Grandma and Papaw came to visit. These are my grandparents on my Mom's side. Neither of them had met them yet, so they flew in from Texas for the day. It was short, but fun, and he had a ball getting to know them and they enjoyed spending some quality time with their first great-grandbaby!
We had a little lunch at the house and then played some before nap time. The adults caught up during Aiden's nap and then it was off to an early dinner at...you guessed it...Pueblo Real!Seriously, we eat there once a week. Not even kidding. After my grandparents left to head to their hotel, we finished up dinner and were playing around at the table. Aiden, the lover of anything food, was sucking on a chip and discovering that taste and feel. None of us quite know how, but he managed to get a bite off and it choked him...so much so we had to pump his stomach three times just to get it out. It was one of the scariest moments of my short-lived life as a mother, and one I don't wish to relive anytime soon.
(yes, that is the chip!!)
How much it makes you think about how precious their little lives are and how easily things can change. Literally seconds can separate life and death.
I am grateful Grandma and Papaw were able to come visit us in Franklin. It was a fun day! We hope to get to Texas sometime soon so the rest of the Poage clan can meet this boy!
Friday, April 10, 2009
It's been a while since I've blogged anything, which isn't to say I haven't had anything to say, Lord knows that never happens. I just needed a break in more ways than one and didn't really feel like writing much of it down. The past few weeks (well, months, really) have been quite crazy and in fact, downright overwhelming, so I just didn't really take time to blog about it. More than likely, I'll let it all be water under the bridge and just catch up to speed on what's going on now, but we'll see.
Since we have been back from Colorado, the weather has ushered us from cold to warm, the back to cold and back to warm. Oh the joys of spring in Middle Tennessee. We've braved our share of tornado sirens already and Aiden and I had a big scare one late afternoon when hail was about the size of golf balls. Of course, it was right at dinner, so I ended up taking all of it into our safe room (our closet!!) and finishing it there. Hopefully he didn't pick up on how scared I really was to be all alone in such a storm. I was brave!
Nathan has been traveling quite a bit - was in Phoenix for 12 days straight in fact. I always say, "Poo" on those types of trips. His work keeps him super busy for sure.
When he got back I headed to Charlotte to do some things at the office. Some good, others not so good. Regardless, it was good to be back albeit a bit depressing. The unemployment rate there has skyrocketed and the whole city seems to be in a constant state of head down. It's kind of sad, but it makes me really understand another reason God has us here. I don't have to see that every day or be one of them.
It's been a month of ups and downs as I said before and the drama never ceases to amaze me. As much as I try to avoid it in my life, it manages to find me one way or the other. Thank goodness God gave me a sweet baby boy who will hopefully have only a fraction of the drama a girl would have brought with her. He really knows what we need at the time we need it.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Either that, or Aiden's nine months old. How in the world we got here, I'll never know. Hard to believe that at this time last year, this little dude wasn't even in our worlds and now he's the biggest (and best) part! He's nearly walking, "talking" up a storm, and is still the same bundle of laughing, joyous energy he always has been as his personality continues to explode!
Luckily I still have this cute little peanut of a boy. After his nine month checkup, he's still hanging out at the bottom of his weight curve, around a pound a month. But if you saw this boy eat you would wonder how in the world he's only 16 pounds! I often wonder myself. It never ceases to amaze me that as soon as he finishes eating he can continue as if he'd never eaten a thing. Where he gets this, I am not sure...but I am thinking I'm going to have a little helper in the kitchen before long! I can't tell you how much this excites me!
I love this age he is. He's so curious, so excited about everything, and in such a discovery mode. It's really neat to watch him learn how to do things, watch things work, discover chain reactions and cause and effect, etc. We had Mommy and Me swim at our neighborhood pool and despite being the only one under 2 in his little group, he did swimmingly! We had a fun time each day in the pool as we learned new games, dipped under water, tasted the saltwater pool, did the backstroke (in our unique baby way), and just experienced the fun of the water. It makes me really look forward to the beach in a few weeks...yes, weeks!! Summer is almost here and I can hear the waves beckoning us. Can't wait to share that with you!
Our buddy Jacob was in town on business, so he came to stay with us for the night and had fun playing with Aiden.
And Reagan always stops by on her afternoon bicycle ride to say hello and "hold" baby Aiden. She's asking to hold him here...so cute!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
