Family Road Trip!

We decided to head to Charleston to see our friends (our "family") we hadn't seen since May when we left. It's crazy to think that is the longest I have gone without seeing some of my friends, like Alysia, in seven years. WOW!!!

While I got ready and packed some last minute things. Sawyer hung out...and loved it :)

I got everything all packed (over a period of a few days), got the car completely loaded, got the kids ready, and we sat and waited for Alex to get home to leave. Once he got home, we did a few last minute additions to the cargo in the Tahoe and we were ready to be on our way. One problem. The Tahoe wouldn't start. The battery was dead. This has happened two other times but when we had the battery checked, we were told it was fine. So we sat around, mad, and tried to think of our next move. Here it is 8 pm at night, we have 6 hours to drive, 2 very tired babies, and a car that won't start. Perfect.

After a few minutes, I realized that my mom had bought me a car care kit for Christmas and it contained JUMPER CABLES. So we jumped the Tahoe and were on our way. We left around 8:15 pm. There is no good straight route to get to Charleston. You either go up to Atlanta, over to Columbia and down OR you take back roads for 2 hours, then 2 hours to Savannah on the interstate then 2 to Charleston from Savannah. Regardless, it's a six hour trip with minimal stopping. It was a smooth ride. Alex drove the first part and I drove the late hours (this is how we always do it. I end up never getting to sleep bc I drive when the kids are sleeping.) We got to the hotel in Charleston at 2:15 am. Exactly six hours. 

Naturally both kids were WIDE AWAKE and Sawyer was screaming. Then overly tired, crabby Charlotte started screaming. Here is our room in the hotel at 3 am.

It was a TERRIBLE night of sleep. Sawyer fell asleep finally at 4:15 am. But then was back up to eat at 7:30

Prior to the trip, after much thought and A LOT OF MISERABLE SCREAMING from Sawyer, I decided to start pumping, stop nursing, and give formula a 2 week test run for his belly. I chose a bad weekend to have to pump since we were going to be crazy busy but I just need to help his poor belly. We shall see what happens.

We Have A Roller!!

Our sweet little boy decided to make some moves today!!!!

While attempting tummy time for playing (and not just napping), our little guy decided he had had enough tummy time and flipped himself right over onto his back!

I am not sure that he could do it again right now, might have been a bit of a chance thing, but he did do it!!!

And naturally I didn't get a picture of it in action bc I didn't really think it would happen.

Here are his thoughts on the day though...

And after a nice big roll, everyone was exhausted and needed a nap.

A Last Meal Together

The night of the 11th, the Jacksons came back to our house after they had time to rest at their hotel for awhile. Alex and I cooked dinner for them. Alex did most of the cooking while I wrestled with Charlotte (who cried, yelled and screamed for the first hour we were home) and Sawyer (who also was crying, fussing, yelling the first hour we were home.)

Alex cooked out on the grill and we had a few things made in the kitchen as well. Mimi helped a ton in the kitchen when they got there so between the three of us, we were able to get dinner on the table.

A quick photoshoot in front of our big pile of dirt in the backyard.

Charlotte was tired of participating so we became a family of three.

Charlotte continued to be tired of participating...and Sawyer was as well but he has no choice :)

Finally. A pic of all four :)

Alex was so happy to have some of his family come visit. It made his week.

Playtime with Grandma Jackson

A quiet moment for Sawyer.

I normal picture :)

Mimi getting some baby snuggles in. Charlotte offering some Fruit Loops.

Rocking her newest great grandbaby.

Charlotte loves attention....and the outside. She is in heaven here.

Telling quite the story!!

So we had a delicious meal prepared mostly on the grill and Charlotte got to play outside. All in all, the evening was a home run. Sawyer was pretty fussy so I ended up wrestling with him quite a bit. He did fall asleep for awhile and the break was very welcome for me. After eating it was bath time. I gave the kiddos a bath and wrestled with Sawyer some more while everyone played with Charlotte and visited. Charlotte wouldn't let anyone else rock her or put her to bed so she stayed up until Sawyer was ready to sleep as well. Everyone left around 10 pm. They were planning to leave Columbus the next morning after breakfast for the drive back to Columbia. 

It was really great to see everyone. Huge thumbs up to Mimi for coming all of the way from Surfside Beach...and she is in her 80's. Charlotte and Sawyer loved their time with the Jackson side of the family. And it was so good for Alex to see some familiar faces :) 

Thank you for coming to see us, Ronnie, Laurie, Amelia, and Mimi. The drive was long for you but we hope it was worth it.

A Whole Day with Grandma and Grandpa Jackson

Tuesdays are Alex's day off so it was great that his family planned to come on a day he could spend the entire day with them. Before they left on that Monday evening, they asked what time he would be up. I said, "Whenever the kids get up." They were surprised that he didn't get to sleep in :) The joy of Alex is that he does not want to sleep in. He gets so little time with the kids as it is, he likes to get up and help with them. Besides, Charlotte doesn't let anyone sleep while she is awake. She is NOT a fan of that...especially her daddy.

So, we got up and had some family time. Sawyer got a bath to start his day. He LOVES it.

While I was giving Sawyer a bath, I let Charlotte give her baby doll a bath... with daddy's help.

We are trying to teach her what peeing is. Here is her baby doll peeing.

We had breakfast and got ready for the day. Alex and Charlotte took a nap together and Sawyer took a nap with me. Around 11:30 as I was getting out of the shower, the family showed up. Luckily Charlotte kept sleeping even though there were other people in the house. We all finished getting ready and Charlotte finished her nap and we were off to spend a few hours in Columbus.

We went to Momma Goldburg's Deli in downtown...a  staple of this area. It was delicious as always. 

Sawyer slept through it all... thankfully...

After our fabulous lunch, we all went down to the riverwalk to look at the amazingness that is the Chattahoochee  River.

Amelia brought her camera too :) 

The girl loves her water

I told Ronnie this could be his new profile picture on Facebook.

Charlotte and Grandma Jackson watching the ducks and water.

Someone decided he was hungry!! He woke up to eat and say "hey"

Charlotte is such a big helper. Poor Sawyer had no idea she was the one driving the bus.

Grandpa and Grandma Jackson

Ronnie was being the funny guy and acting like he was going to get Mimi wet :) So funny :)

Love this picture of Mimi watching the ducks

Charlotte wouldn't get her picture with Aunt Amelia even though they were buds all day the day before so daddy had to get in the pictures too.

After walking along the riverwalk (it was HOT out) we went to the yogurt place (and I went to the cupcake shop since I can't eat dairy right now).

Next to the yogurt place is a cute little area for kids to play. Charlotte LOVES it.

So does Grandpa Jackson.

As we were leaving our delicious snack shops, we passed the Main Street Toy Shop. Outside were very real looking dogs. Charlotte fell in love.

And she was able to convince her grandpa that he should buy her the dog. That smile probably made it all worth it. 

And while we looked at all of the fabulous toys, Grandpa, Grandma, Sawyer and Mimi hung out outside. 

It was a great day. We went our separate ways after this for while. We went to the store to grab food for dinner and headed home to start cooking while they all headed back to the hotel for some rest.

So Much Family Time!

We were so sad on Monday morning when we woke up because that meant that our time of having Melissa visit us was coming to a close :( We loved having her here...and hopefully she will come back sometime soon.

Regardless of the expression on her face, Charlotte was sad to see Melissa go.

I was taking to Melissa to the airport Monday around noon. Since I was nursing, I knew Sawyer had to come with me. Grandpa Jackson offered for them to watch Charlotte so I took them up on as long as she was warmed up to everyone. Turns out she think of Amelia as a kid (like she does my cousins Katie and Melissa) so she took to Amelia "Min-a Min-a" fabulously. I knew if Amelia was there, Charlotte would be fine. They came over to our house around 11 am. Charlotte started playing with them and getting used to them while I finished getting ready.

I gave Grandpa Jackson a tour of where everything in the house is...showed him the diapers, food stuff, and gave him a rundown of Charlotte's typical day. He was ready for the task at hand...but not until he got a few goodbye snuggles in from Sawyer.

 (photo courtesy of Amelia Kate)

Charlotte knew she had everyone's undivided attention... so she just did her thing.

 (photo courtesy of Amelia Kate)

 One last picture before we headed to the Atlanta airport.

Since we left on time...in face we left a few min ahead of schedule. So we went to a Mexican restaurant on our way to the airport. DELICIOUS CHIPS AND SALSA. We dominated them.

Getting ready to get checked in at the airport.

All checked in and ready to go through security. This is where we must part!!!

Sawyer loved his cousin Melissa coming to visit. He loved all of the extra attention and snuggles that he got from her. This was Melissa's first time flying in awhile and her first time flying by herself ever. I was a bit nervous for her bc Atlanta can be intimidating. However, I knew she would do great. We showed her a map of the airport, gave her directions to her gate, and said goodbye at security.

Liss, Thanks so much for coming. I know it was a bit wild, loud, full of spitting, stressful, and lots of just hanging out at our house, but we loved having you here. We loved every minute of it. Thank you for all of the help with my kiddos. They love you so much...as do I! Come back anytime!!! It will only get better from here. Keep working on your Georgia accent. You'd sound so cute with a bit of a Southern drawl :) Love you!!!!

While I was gone, I kept texting Grandpa Jackson to make sure Charlotte was being good. He said yes...although I am not sure he would tell me if she wasn't. They went to lunch at Cracker Barrell and they stopped by then grocery store so Mimi could get the ingredients for Chicken Corn Chowder for Alex. Charlotte was so excited that Grandpa and Grandma bought her a little spill proof thing of bubbles. This child LOVES bubbles! They sure know the way to her heart.

I nursed Sawyer in the parking lot of the airport and then we traveled back to Columbus. I had to pull over once bc he was in a panic but other than that it was an easy drive. In fact, it was kind of nice to be by myself (with a sleeping infant) driving. I could listen to music (not a kid's movie) and I could talk on the phone without interruption :) 

When we got back, I got Sawyer out of his carseat to stretch and play. He LOVES his playmat. Mimi got down on the ground with me and played with him for awhile. Aunt Amelia grabbed her camera and took some fabulous pictures of him bright eyed and bushy tailed.

I took this one of Mimi playing with him.

Charlotte loves an audience!!

Grandma Jackson and our big boy

Mimi holding her first great grandson

Our pool needed a good scrubbing and bleaching. Naturally Charlotte had to jump in when she saw me pull out the hose.

Grandpa Jackson and Charlotte playing.

Whenever I am around Ronnie, I realized why Alex is like a big kid himself :) He gets it from his dad. Ronnie decided to climb our rock path and trample through the woods for a few minutes. Can you find him?

After coming inside and getting Charlotte started on dinner, everyone got their last minute snuggles in and headed out.

They left between 6 and 6:30. I got the kiddos bathed and ready for bed. They were both in bed sound asleep when daddy got home. A full day for all of us!!!