Monday, August 19, 2019

N a s h v i l l e

I'm back at it sooner than I thought I'd be lol. We aren't in our house quite yet, but the countdown is on! Only three days until close and four days until moving day!!! We've had a lot of company and late nights recently, so I'm taking the next few days to rest and relax before all the packing, cleaning, unpacking, house shopping, and organizing hits full force.

This weekend was such a fun one! My parents and Mauri are currently on a two week cross-country road trip and they made sure to make Madison, Alabama one of their stops along the way! We met them in Nashville on Saturday and spent the afternoon exploring the city. Debi was also in town this weekend, so we got to spend some quality time with her as well.







Emmett wasn't feelin' the angel wings. His daddy felt the same way haha. Emmett loves his stroller and being outside, so he was in the best mood the whole time! The 95+ degree weather didn't even phase him. Not sure if I could say the same for the rest of us, though!







Hey, hottie.




Party buses / trucks / wagons seem to be all the rage in downtown Nashville - even at twelve o'clock in the afternoon haha. That's not something you see very often.



We stopped at a restaurant called Bakersfield for lunch. They are known for their yummy street style tacos and I'm happy to report they did not disappoint! The short rib taco was my absolute fav. We also really appreciated being out of the sun and in some AC for a bit.



Mmmm wishing I could eat this for dinner tonight. Looks like I'll have to go back soon!



On our way back to Madison, we stopped at a place called The Ice Cream Bar to get a sweet treat.

We didn't do anything too crazy the remainder of the weekend. We showed my family our house, the town of Madison, the pretty high school Emmett would attend {if we happened to live here that long}, where Jason works, and our church ward. My mom gave us hair cuts in our little apartment and we watched a movie, ate pizza, and lounged a bit. My parents assisted Jason and I as we blue taped all the little dings, paint chips, and imperfections in our house while Mauri stayed back and watched Emmett. Seriously so grateful for all of them!




Blue tape for daysssss. Well, for three days at least haha. WE ARE GETTING SO CLOSE. My parents + mar are back on the road and on their way to Myrtle Beach. I'm jealous of their destination, not very jealous of the drive to get there. It was so fun to have them visit. I'm already missing 'em and looking forward to the next time they can come stay with us!

Wednesday, August 14, 2019

Home Away From Home Away From Home

We close on our house in a week + a day. AHHH it's finally happening! I figured if there was ever a time to document our current digs, it would be now. I don't think I'd care to blog about our apartment once we're all moved into our house, but I like to look back on these memories that I'm sure I would otherwise forget. Plus we had our move-out inspection yesterday which meant the place was cleaner than it's ever been, sooo I had to take advantage of that opportunity. If you don't care to see pictures of a mediocre apartment with minimal furniture/decor, feel free to scroll to the bottom to see Emmett's cute face!




Don't worry Emmett, you'll have a play room and a real bed soon :,) He has slept in that pack-n-play for the majority of his life.


Our teeny, tiny kitchen. To give you an idea of how minimal we've been living, only four of those cabinets have anything in them. Almost all of our stuff is stacked and packed deep in Ryan and Karlie's garage. It truly wasn't worth the amount of work it would have taken to find some of the things we would have liked to have had these past few months {like all of my summer clothes or kitchen knives for instance} but we've managed to get by. I'd like to give a shout out to $8 toasters, Jason's t-shirts, and our lil george foreman grill.


Another thing we've been without is a kitchen table. We thought the bar stools and countertop would suffice for the 'short' time we'd be here. I anticipated we would only be in the apartment for a little over a month, but sadly that's not been the case. If I could go back, we'd set up the darn table! I miss it so much.




Our room doesn't look much different than it did in our town home.. yikes. Jason and I have agreed that we are going to make our room more of a priority in our house since that's where we spend a ton of our time. Oh have I got plans for Jason's yearly work bonus! Love you babe.



I had to snap a pic of our sad little pantry closet. Soon we'll have one 20x this size lol.


I'm really trying to make the best of this time. However, it's hard being cooped up in an apartment all day... in a new state... during a hotttt southern summer... with a toddler... living minimally. Some days I feel like my sanity is hanging by a thread. But we are nearing the end and I know I'm going to appreciate our new home so much more after all this. Our apartment is two bed, two bath only because it was all they had available on short notice. I'm actually glad one bedroom wasn't an option because Emmett is FINALLY sleep trained and I don't think that would have happened if he didn't have his own room. {And I would have sacrificed a temporary bedroom to save some $$.} We literally don't step foot in the extra bathroom, but I guess it will be convenient for when my parents and Mauri stay this weekend. I. CAN'T. WAIT.

Now time for an Emmett update.

Emmett will be eighteen months in a few weeks. Where'd my baby go?!?! He's learning so much lately and also becoming quite the handful. Terrible twos might be hitting us a little early with this one :,) He has soooo much energy. Emmett loves to climb on anything and everything and is a little too confident with it. His latest thing is climbing on bar stools and toilets and countertops. He also likes to jump off of things if mom is close enough to catch him. Boy keeps me on my toes! Emmett is still the pickiest eater in the world. His main food group is crackers - graham crackers, goldfish crackers, ritz crackers, saltine crackers, vanilla wafers, veggie straws, puffs, chips... you get it. He does eat the occasional apple slice and oatmeal, though. He's super good at taking toddler formula which helps get some more nutrients in that lil bod. I finally weaned Emmett from breastfeeding! Only took about 16 1/2 months. He still tempts himself by tugging at my shirt, but I tell him nursing is for babies and he's a big boy. Diaper changes consist of chasing around a speedy naked bum. He's not a fan of bath time, but I don't really blame him. I wouldn't want to take a bath in this apartment tub either. Emmett's favorite song is head, shoulders, knees, and toes. If he's in the mood he will point to body parts and animals when asked. His vocabulary consists of mama, dada, car, dog, star, uh-oh, duck, quack, shh, and digga-digga-digga. {We think that last one comes from us saying tickle, tickle, tickle.} Our boy has sixteen teeth already! He's handled teething so well. Most of the time I'm not even aware that a new one is coming in! Emmett now puts himself to sleep with a bottle during naps and bedtime which is AH-MAZ-ING. Nap at 12:30, bedtime at 8:30... it's like clockwork. He's also been taking 2-3 hour naps lately and I am soaking. it. up. He usually wakes up in a good mood and will just chill in his crib for a bit with no complaints. He gets so excited when we say it's time to brush his teeth or go outside. He also loves getting his shoes on because that means we're leaving the apartment haha. His highchair is a no-go these days. He's gotten a little too used to eating on the couch while living here... my bad. Emmett is generally a really happy boy. It's easy to get him to laugh and smile, but he also gets easily upset over the smallest of things. When he's really feeling mad he will run up to a wall or something hard and hit his head on it over and over until it makes him cry harder. He's done this basically since he could walk and I really hope it's just a phase. I think when I was younger I would pull my hair out when I was mad, so he must get that urge from me. Oh, buddy. We love his funny facial expressions, the way he lights up and runs at us when we've been apart, his obsession with cars and stuffed animals and books, the excited anticipation he gets when we count to five, the way he claps when he's proud of himself, his darling laugh, and those jiggly cheeks. I swear I love him more and more every day.







Alright, I'm calling it a night. It's exciting to know that my next blog post will be written in the comfort of our brand new home.

Until then!