Atlanta

Last week Lane was at a work conference in Atlanta for 4 days and I was able to join him the last 2. We had such a good time and I'm so thankful I got to go. For a while there I was thinking it wasn't meant to be. The night before I left, we had a huge storm and lost power. I had to take a shower and get ready in the dark. No blow drying my hair, so you can imagine how bad I looked. My phone was low on battery since it wasn't able to charge. I finally make it to the airport without any issues. But after we had all boarded the flight attendant makes an announcement that a mechanic is working on one of the engines so we will be delayed. So many things going through my mind like-is this the end for me? Can I get off the plane? Lots of praying went on throughout that entire flight. Luckily I made it to Atlanta safely. I took the rail to the hotel and was so happy when I finally saw Lane. I told him I was pretty proud of myself for making the whole trip solo and not getting lost or having to turn around. When all was said and done I drove myself to the airport, parked in the express parking, did the whole airport thing, found the train and walked about a block to my hotel...all without having to call him for help. He said he would be proud of me if I were 12. I can see we have very different expectations.

Anyway, we had lots of fun. We went to dinner the first night, and to the aquarium and Braves game the second night. I think the aquarium is world renown. They had a dolphin show and lots of different exhibits. It was really cool. The Braves game was very exciting as well. The lead kept changing and we had a grand slam towards the end. We embraced the "chop" and had a great time. I'm so glad Lane and I were able to spend some quality time together and not feel like we had to rush anywhere. Oh and we slept in til 9am 1 day. That made the whole trip worth it!

 We were on the 29th floor & had a great view.

 Dinner at Max Lager's

 

You can't see us but check out the Beluga!

 Whale Shark

 Whale Shark & sting rays

 

My favorite shot. The colors are so vibrant.

 Braves game

 Hard to capture the chop

 This old attendant was too funny. He's dancing here.

Passports

In October we will be going to New Zealand for 2 months. Lane has the opportunity to work over there for his elective months. They pay for his flight, car and apartment. It's a pretty sweet deal and since the housing is taken care of, we decided to bring the whole family. To prepare for this, we had to get the kids' passports. It's so funny to think of children this age having a passport. By the time we actually leave, Elliot will still look like her picture, Davis will look a little different but you can probably still tell, and Perry with look absolutely nothing like her picture! Hopefully that won't cause any problems. 

Anyway, I just had to post them because they're pretty ridiculous looking. Elliot's is decent, but it took the lady forever to take the shot, so her smile had worn off by then. Oh Davis...his face captures his personality at this stage...one big mess! And poor Perry doesn't even look like herself in this shot. And to think these last for 5 years. Chances are this will be the only time they will use them. By then Elliot will be 8, Davis 6 & Perry 5 and they FOR SURE won't look like their photos.

Post Surgery

Surgery is finally over and done with. Everything went well. They called me back and I was in a bed for 3 hours before we finally got things going. It should have only been 1 hour, but my doctor got called to deliver a baby. The nurses were really nice. I picked Lane up from work on my way to the surgery center. He had worked all night. My nurse was so sweet that she got him a bed! The same nurse was so funny too. She said 2 different things that cracked me up. She was getting me warm blankets and said, "if a fat menopausal lady having hot flashes is cold, I bet you are too." At first I thought she was talking about another patient, but then I think she was referring to herself. I didn't ask for clarification. I can't remember the other thing she said, which is too bad because I know it was even funnier. They had already given me meds at that point, so there's no telling what it was. I can't remember anything past being rolled into the OR. Glad about that. I was really sleepy when they woke me up. We got home around 3pm & I went straight to bed until 7pm. I watched a movie and went back to sleep. Not too bad. Hopefully my recovery won't be bad. As of right now I'm feeling pretty decent. My belly button is really sore. That's where they went in. The slightest touch hurts really bad. And my right shoulder is sore. It's from them blowing me up with air. Hopefully that will go away soon.

Potty Trained

I bet you thought I was talking about Davis, right? No, I'm referring to Elliot. It only took OVER A YEAR! Seriously. I remember reading all these blogs that talk about  potty training in a day or week. That was not the case for us. She did great with #1 since forever ago. It's just been #2 that had been giving us problems. There were a few times I thought, "this could be it" & then she would regress. We promised her everything under the sun, but she had her own time table. I would ask her why she wouldn't go & she would either say, "the poo poo is napping" or "I just don't want to". And that was it. She just didn't want to do it. No idea what made her change her mind but no backsies. She's been in big girl panties for a month now. I make her wear the plastic underwear over top of her panties at night, but she's only had 1 accident, so I'm thinking of letting her not wear them anymore. FINALLY, I'm back to buying diapers for just 2 kids!

Swim School Flunkee

Elliot just completed her swim lessons. This is her 3rd summer of them. When she was just 18 months, we did the mommy & me class. Last year she did her own class & the same for this year. Let's just say she did not meet my expectations, or theirs. I had hoped we would get over the fear of putting her face in the water. Although she can do this when she's sitting on the step of the pool, it is still a huge set back for her when her teacher tries to tell her to put her face in the water when she's floating on her tummy. A couple of weeks ago the teacher told me she has to be able to put her face in the water for 15 seconds to move on to the next class. I knew right then it wasn't going to happen. The funny thing about Elliot is that every time it's her turn with her teacher, she won't do the task fully. But when she sits back on the step she'll turn around and look at me with the biggest smile like she did. It makes me laugh. One of these days she'll get it. But I'm only signing her up for one swim lessons class per summer. What she really needs is private lessons.

Little Getaway

This has been a long time in the works. Before I even had Perry, I was planning a little getaway. I had hoped it would come sooner, but finding 2 consecutive days that Lane was off is next to impossible. Plus it had to be during the week because the room was double the price on the weekend. 

ANYWAY, the day had finally come. We went to this place called Seasons 52 for dinner. It's a fancy shmancy place at Northpark. Their menu is really healthy. As in nothing is over 450 calories and they don't even have butter in the restaurant. It's also based around seasonal food, so everything is always fresh. I normally would not seek out a place like this, but we had a gift card and I'm so glad we got to try it. It was really good. I got the filet mignon. It was cooked to perfection. I'm not really a steak person, but this was delicious. Lane got the  tortilla soup and shrimp & lobster roll which was also good.

After dinner we went to a movie (The Big Wedding). Not the best movie, but not horrible either. I always know that movies with a lot of stars are rarely great, but see them anyway. 

After the movie we went to Hotel Zaza. I had booked one of their concept suites, Bohemian. I'll admit that it wasn't exactly what I expected. I don't think that I truly understood what Bohemian is. I was not expecting the creepy pictures. I even thought about taking them down, but was afraid of breaking them on accident. Other than that, the room was really nice and the couch and bed were so so comfy. 

Note the 2 giant pictures above the couch. How could you miss them?

This is a picture from their website. Didn't notice those pictures that were clearly there before. But as you can see, the bedding is way better in their picture than what we actually got. And that striped chaise lounge wasn't there. I was a little disappointed because those 2 pieces were what I was looking forward to the most. Oh well.

Day 2: We actually got to sleep in! That was probably the best thing ever. Not having to be woken up and start rushing around. Then we ordered room service for breakfast. Once we checked out, we went to get massages. Oh man, I want to start getting those once a month. I didn't think I was a massage person. I've had a couple before, but never really appreciated them til now. Maybe it's because I didn't have kids when I got them before. After that we had a quick lunch at Schlotsky's and swung by Marble Slab for good measure. Then it was back to reality.

Thanks to my parents who kept the kids. My mom took the day off work so she could help my dad. I always have anxiety when we leave the kids. We weren't even gone a full 24 hours. I think it was like 22 hours. But I still feel like I have to rush to get home. Of course they were doing just fine when we got back.

And bonus, we went to see Iron Man 3 after we put the kids to bed. It was good. What a great little getaway. Who knows when it will happen again.

Zoo

We wanted to have a special day with the kids since we were going to leave on our little getaway. It's been a while since we've taken the kids to do anything fun, so we all went to the zoo. But before the zoo, we ate breakfast at Ol' South Pancake House. I bought a groupon a while back and have been wanting to try them out. They were really good. We got the German pancakes which were awesome! They squeeze lemon juice onto them with powder sugar & fold them up. Very yummy. 

Ok, now back to the zoo. I honestly can't remember if Davis has been or if this was his first time. I'd have to look back on the blog. But I do know that this was the first time he could actually enjoy it and know what's going on. So that was exciting for us as parents. Even though it was half price day, it wasn't too crowded and the weather was perfect. The animals were all out and very active. I think I was more excited than the kids. The monkeys especially were hamming it up. So here are a few pics:

Perry at 4 Months

Time is flying by too quickly! Miss Perry is 4 months old already! Nothing new has happened between 3 and 4 months. She's still awesome. I did get a prescription for an antacid for her. This girl spits up a TON! I mentioned it to the pediatrician and we're going to try it out and see if it helps any. I don't know how she does it, but she always manages to miss the burp rag, but get it all over me...like down my shirt, on my pants, sometimes she'll projectile on the couch. It's gross. Can't wait til she's past that phase. Even though she's gained weight since her last appointment, Doc said she's actually gone down a little on her growth chart. Probably has something to do with the spitting up. It's a vicious cycle. I'm allowed to give her rice cereal, but I cannot imagine her being big enough to eat it. She can sit up in her bumpo, but she still seems so young to me. I'll probably wait a couple of weeks to try it out.

Height: 25.25"

Weight: 11 lb 7 oz

Not Expecting This

This might be too much information, but I've always been an open book so I'll tell you anyway. Plus it might be informational if you're thinking about doing this. 

About a month ago, I had the IUD, Mirena, placed in me. The other day I went to my OB for a routine sono check they do to make sure it's still in the correct spot. The tech was doing her thing and then asked me when I had had it placed in me. At first I thought nothing of it, but after she asked 3 times, I was like--what's going on lady? She informed me that it was nowhere to be found on the sonogram and I must have expelled it. I was in complete shock. Wouldn't I have noticed that?! At this point I'm thinking, well do I get another one? Or should I take this as a sign that my body was not cool with me placing a foreign object inside? 

I speak to my doctor and she refers me to have an xray done to make sure it's not in me somewhere. She says 1 of 2 things has happened. #1-you have expelled it. #2-it has traveled through your uterine wall and is floating around in your abdomen. So I have the xray done and DING DING DING #2 wins. And my prize is SURGERY! Don't worry,she says. It's minimally invasive laparoscopic and you'll barely notice 1 tiny scar. I could care less about the scar. What does concern me is that I will have to be put under. I've never had surgery in my life, much less been knocked out. The thought terrifies me. The date is set for May 8th. I always thought that if I went under the knife, it would be for a boob job. Not for something as random as this.

When I go in for my pre-op, I'm going to ask for another Mirena pamphlet. I read that thing cover to cover and don't remember this being listed as a possible outcome. Plus Lane looked up some info about cases like mine and found that if you match 1 of these 3 things (recently had a baby, are currently breastfeeding, have an inverted uterus) this is more likely to occur. That DEFINITELY was not in the pamphlet and I match ALL 3 of those. Had I known that, I would not have done it. I love my doctor, but feel like she should have known that and told me. I guess that's neither here nor there. As if my life wasn't hectic enough, let's throw a surgery in there plus the hefty bill that follows. Well it's safe to say I will not be getting another IUD. Lane & I will just have to deal with things the old fashioned way...abstinence :)

Oldie but a Goodie

My sweets turned 34 today! I feel like I really failed in the wife department here. He was originally scheduled to work today, so we had planned to celebrate the day before. We tried India Grill in The Highlands. It was awesome. Can't wait to go back. I had a doctor appointment today and at some point, he no longer had to work, so that stunk. And it ran longer than expected and caused us to miss lunch with his parents. Double stink. Fortunately we were able to eat dinner with his parents instead. Luckily Lane is so understanding and low key about his birthdays. He never really cares and never wants any presents. Which brings me to the next part. He didn't have any presents to open :( I did get him a present, but he won't get it til the end of May! I bought one of those drive your dream experiences where he gets an hour drive time in a Lamborghini Gallardo. Can't wait for that day!

Davis at 18 Months

 This kid is a real card. Always into everything! He is very interested in pressing buttons, opening and closing doors, and flushing toilets. He LOVES to be outside. He has a complete meltdown when he sees others going outside and he can't go. I believe Davis is going to be a lefty. Every time I hand him a crayon, he reaches for it with his left hand. Very strange since neither Lane or I am left handed. His taste pallet has really expanded thank goodness! He's added bananas, quesadillas and some meats to his list of foods. He still won't touch vegetables. He has this one habit that drives me bananas. He self inflicts pain. If you tell him no, he will slap his legs and let out a yell. And then he will find anything: a wall, the floor, the arm of a couch, a chair and proceed to headbutt said object. I was horrified the first time he did it. You would think the first time he realized it hurt, that he wouldn't do it again, but that has not been the case at all. I've wondered whether I should ignore it or tell him to stop hurting himself (I go back and forth between the 2). I told the doctor and he says it's completely normal and to just ignore it, so that's what I'll do from now on. Sheesh! Other than that weird thing, he is doing great. He's building up a nice little vocabulary. He knows his basic body parts although he won't always point to it. It's so fun to see him really start to understand what I'm saying. I'll ask him questions and his response is always, "ya". He sounds so cute!

Stats:

Height--34.5"--96%

Weight--26 lbs--25%

Head--18.31"--17%

Correction

Random nicknames for the kids fly out of my mouth all the time. Today was particularly funny because I called Perry Bubalouie. I usually refer to Davis when saying this. Elliot quickly corrected me by saying, "No that's not Bubalouie, that's Babycakes." Yes, yes, she is right :)

Easter Happenings

Happy Easter everyone! This year I really wanted to have Elliot understand what Easter is all about. So every Monday night we had a little lesson about it. This was one of the treats we made. By Easter we were down to one cross & barely any jelly beans.

Saturday we went to some church's egg hunt. I decided we'll be nixing egg hunts (with the exception of family ones). It just gets too crazy. I'm guessing there was about 10K people at this thing and it made it really stressful for me. I just don't like big crowds. But Elliot had a good time.

You see Davis...this is about how he was the whole time.

That night we dyed eggs. I do the plain old simple dye tablets. Nothing fancy.

Kids' Easter baskets

Checking them out.

Family picture. We seriously took 20 shots & this was the only decent one. I had to do it before church because I knew we'd be a mess by the time it was over. I've always wanted to match everyone and this is the first year I was able to do it! Davis has on a tie that matches the girls' dresses.

For dinner we went to Lane's dad's house. Brenda made a fancy dinner and then we had our own egg hunt. I think we over did it a little with 100 eggs!

Happy Easter!