Second Stop: Pensacola Beach

The drive from New Orleans to Pensacola was just a few hours and was super easy! 

The car getting messier and messier. Lol!

We got into town late afternoon and when we walked into the hotel (Spring Hill Suites by Marriott) we were just blown away by the view. 

From our balcony!

After we got settled we went down to the beach. The kids LOVED playing on the beach. It was 60 degrees and overcast so no playing in the water. We did play tag though. At one point when we were just walking and talking Dan and I look over and see Colt on his hands and knees digging with his hands. He looked like a wild animal burrowing in the sand. Lol!!! Oh our wild child. The water was beautiful and the hotel was right on the beach!

We then went to a restaurant called Peg Leg Petes and it was very yummy and very family friendly. They had an outdoor bar area for the parents and a little playground for the kids. I call that winning. I mean what else could you possibly need. Hehe. We let the kids play for a while then headed back to the hotel. After we got the kids to bed we sat on the balcony, had a few drinks and chatted while listening to the waves crashing. It was awesome!!!

The next morning we were planning to take the kids swimming in one of the heated pools but unfortunately we woke up to heavy rain. Boo. So we packed up and headed out of town to our destination. 

I wished I would have taken more pics but it got dark fairly early and we unfortunately didn't stay very long the next day. 

Overview:

We all really loved pensacola. We all want to come back again. It was such a cute town! It was a good combination of family friendly and fun mixed with relaxing and scenic! The hotel was great! It had nice sized rooms and wonderful views. It also had pools that I wish would have been warm enough to take advantage of. 

We seriously want to take another trip to spend some time there. Who's with us??? :)

Fist Stop: New Orleans

We traveled across the country to see family this Christmas! I want to remember our trip so I will organize the posts based on locations!

The first stop: New Orleans. 

Dan and I have never been to New Orleans so we were excited to see it! The trip was supposed to take 7.5 hours from our house to the hotel. It ended up taking us 11 hours. It felt like such a long day. The delays were two part; one part slow stops and another part awful traffic. About 20 miles west of Baton Rouge we hit traffic. It took us an hour to go 15 miles. We found a restaurant off the highway to stop at for dinner and the parking lot was completely full. There were people and cars just everywhere and it was only 5:30pm! We were all stressed so we just booked it out of there instead of stopping. And by booked I mean get back on the highway and fought traffic. Sorry Baton Rouge but we were not impressed in the slightest. 

Such good little travelers!

We made it to New Orleans around 8pm. Originally I wanted to stay at a hotel in the French Quarter but they were all booked. So we settled for one a mile or two away called Hotel Indigo. It ended up being a better choice to stay there. The hotel was really nice and I think staying in the French Quarter would have been too much for our family. Lol!!!

We were all pooped from our drive down so we just ordered room service and got comfy in our hotel room for the night. The next morning we woke up, had breaksast and decided to head into town to see the French Quarter, Bourbon Street and the Mississippi River. 

We got to ride the trolley which was a highlight for us!

We walked around the French Quarter and stopped for beignets and hot chocolate. The line for the cafe was pretty long and we goofed and waited in the wrong line for sometime before realizing we were in the sit down line and we wanted the to go line. Ugh! The kids were done by the time we got our goodies. But we found a little bench and ate our treats (in other words: spilled our drinks, got sugar all over our clothes and hands and burned our mouths on the hot chocolate. LOL!). 

We then walked over to the Mississippi River. We saw a train pass by which the boys loved!

Then we walked by the river for a bit!

Take 1

Take 2

Take 3

Take 4 :)

We listened to different street performers, saw human statues and saw lots of shops. Then we decided to go to Bourbon street so we could see it in person. Since it was before lunch we weren't too worried about taking the kids...that being said even then it was readily apparent that it was NOT a kid place. Lol! 

Someone got pooped out from our busy morning!

We hopped back on the trolley and went to the hotel to pack up and hit the road. 

We didn't get to do too much in New Orleans so take this with a grain of salt but we didn't fall in love with this city. It definitely is a flavorful city with lots of music and personality though! I'm just not sure New Orleans is a good fit for Dan and I. 

I would recommend that hotel for sure and I think it was worth the trip and time to see a small part of this city. I can see why people love this place and I bet you can have a lot of fun there ;)

  

My Favorite

Back in October I got to see one my favorite people. Ever. 

PAUL MCCARTNEY!!!!

Best musician. Nothing you do or say will ever be able to convince me otherwise. I really love him! 

The silly thing though is when we found out he was playing here I was hesitant to go see him. I've seen him in concert before so do I need to go again? What if this concert wasn't that great. What if it's not fun. What IF he lost it. He is getting older and older. Also, the tickets can be expensive. So I was being a Debbie downer about the whole thing. But my wise and romantic husband wouldn't take no for an answer and actually decided to splurge and get us floor seats. 

Here we are waiting in line to get into the show. 

Once we got seated I started to get pretty excited! Maybe this was a good idea...

Then...

Aaaahhhhhhh

OMG. OMG it's PAUL!!!

We were so close. And it was amazing! I don't know what I was so nervous about. He sounded P-E-R-F-E-C-T! He is amazing and his shows just rock. I mean I can't say enough about him. He played for almost 3 hours and didn't take any breaks. His voice is perfect and his musical ability is unmatchable! 

It was such a fun night! 

Trying I get a pick with me and Paul. Lol. Didn't quite work. 

If you ever get a chance to see Paul McCartney do it. Really. It is worth every penny and he doesn't dissapoint!!! And hey if the concert is close I will happily go with you! :)

******Thank you Dan for knowing me better than I know myself. Thank you for always taking such good care of me and making sure I have fun. I really don't deserve you but am thanking God for giving you to me anyway! Thanks for getting us the tickets and making me go. It was so perfect. I love you!********

Sleeping pics

So this is weird. But I realized I have taken a bunch of pictures of Max sleeping. He always looked so cute so I took the picture. I don't know what else to do with them so here is a random blog post dedicated to him sleeping. Lol. Oh so weird!!!

Sweet little baby and weird little momma!

Spoken Gems

While pointing out a nest in one of our trees I say, "Oh is that a nest? I wonder what lives in that?"

Saffryn very matter of factly, "either a squirrel or an eagle."

Colt chimes in, "Or a boss. Or a kid."

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Colt was watching me get dressed and saw me put on my scarf. 

C-"Oh momma. You handsome!"

Me-"Ahh. Thank you!"

C-"Ya. You handsome like a me!"

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Saffryn: "When I grow up I want to be a weather girl!"

Me-"A meteorologist?"

S-"Ya!"

Colt-"I want to be a boy"

S-"Mom what do you want to be when you...huh. Well when you are a grandma what do you want to be?"

Me-"I don't know. What do you think I should be?"

Saffryn super excited-"a Dallas cheerleader!!!"

Bahahah. Hottest. Cheerleader. Ever. 

Spoken Gems

While changing Colt's diaper he looks at me and says: "Wingapo momma!"

Maybe watching too much Pocahontas...

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Saffryn: "I want to be an animal doctor when I grow up momma!"

Pierce: "I want to to be a big daddy who snores a lot when I grow up."

Saffryn totally appalled: "But I thought you just wanted to follow me and do everything I do!"

Pierce totally serious: "No. I want to be a big daddy who snores when I grow up."

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Silly babies!

Max catch up

So I haven't done a monthly post on Max for a while. It's not because I haven't been taking the pictures or don't have anything to say. 

The truth is, I was in the middle of writing his 5 month post which was days after his surgery and the thought of all that he had been through was too much for me. I had to stop writing and thinking about it. I  felt so overwhelmed by life and all the changes we had been through. I spent a few months just surviving and struggling. 

That's why my blog had been so quiet. 

Then one month went to the next and it was hard to catch up. So here I am now on month 8 with 4 months to do!!!

Stats:

Right now he is in the 97th percentile for hieght at 31inches. He is in the 60th percentile for weight at 19lbs. He is wearing 9-12 month clothing and size 3 diapers. His hair is light red/blonde. Some lights it looks really red and other times it looks blonde. He has bright blue eyes. 

Sleeping:

He was probably my worst sleeper and until fairly recently was up EVERY TWO HOURS! Oh man it was so tough. We made a few important adjustments and he has been sleeping through the night for about a month. We moved his pack n play to the livig room downstairs where it is quiet at night. We have him a bedtime routine and started putting him down awake. We also let him cry for a few minutes before patting his back to help him learn to self soothe. It was tough and we had a few long nights but now we are all happier and well rested. 

Milestones:

In the last few months he has gotten 8 teeth. Four on the bottom and four on the top! He learned to sit by himself. He is now crawling and pulling up to standing! He now babbles and interacts with the family instated of being in his own world. Lol. He can find and put his binky in. He is great at finding the tiniest piece of trash or toy on the floor and putting it in his mouth. 

Food:

He was exclusively breastfed for 7 months. Then my body started slowing down on my supply. I could have done things to increase it but truthfully I was emotionally exhausted. I was just surviving. I also realized there has not been a month in the last five years when I have not been pregnant or nursing. Not one month IN FIVE YEARS. Wow. I think my body was telling me I needed a break. It was a really hard and emotional choice but I knew it was the right choice to stop nursing and to put him on formula. He did really great with it! Also around seven months we started adding solids. He was so proud of himself and loves to eat. He is still doing purées because he gags on solid chunks. He loves puffs and we just started introducing crackers which he loves! 

Personality:

He was a very needy baby for a very long time. He wanted to be held constantly. He would cry a lot during the day. It was very frazzling. I am not sure what changed but in the last few weeks he has totally turned a corner. Actually now that I think about it crawling changed. Once he learned how to crawl he became a new baby. He is so happy and content now. He let's me put him down and explores and plays. He is now an easy and content baby. He goes to other people. It is easy to make him smile and laugh. He is really sweet. 

Favorites:

He has one binky he prefers (green soothie), he loves his sleep sheep, Pierce, Crash and food. He has recently really bonded to Dan and this week has preferred him to me (say wha???). He loves being outside and going on walks. He likes his jumperoo. 

Kidney:

We had a 6 week post check up the beginning of October with the pediatric urologist. He did a sonogram of his kidney and I am happy to report it looked normal!!! The doctor was really pleased and said he considers the surgery successful. We will see him in about 6 months to do a recheck and if all is well at that appointment (which we have no reason to believe it won't be) we won't have to see him again. *HUGE SIGH OF RELIEF*

Max is a fun and sweet baby. We love him to pieces and are thankful for his sweet little life. He has taught me so much about God and myself. The last few months have been so very hard but he is worth it. So very worth it.