The Ups and Downs Go Up and Down

Last Friday night was our first night leaving Noelle with someone other than family. My darling friend Ashley, whose son, is a couple months older than Noelle, generously offered to take care of Noelle while my husband and I went out on a date. It was hard to leave knowing that she may miss us or feel abandoned by the familiar. But, I trust Ashley and Noelle's independence has certainly blossomed before our very eyes. While I wouldn't quite leave her with anyone for a whole day, a couple of hours seemed more than reasonable and she did great without us. Hardly noticed we were gone, really. 

Jeremy and I went to Calypso Cafe in East Nashville and I got some awesome recipe ideas. Yesterday I hit up ALDI, this grocery store I've been hearing a lot about. It was amazing. The prices were SO good. Since I don't buy packaged food, the minimal ingredients items were priced even better. I spent $189 total for a months worth of food. This, to me, is epic. Yesterday I made some awesome chili with sour cream and tortilla chips. I also made some enchiladas and today my husband is making spinach cakes (baby approved) and a bean salad for my snacking. I think I'll make a tuna noodle casserole for the week as well. Lots of cooking up in here. I'm pretty sure its the cold weather that gets me pumped for food. Wait no, I just freakin love food.

We finally took Noelle to a pumpkin patch on Friday. We found a great one in Franklin that's 100% non-profit and all of the money goes straight to the family's of children with cancer for their medical bills. She had an excellent time and found a pumpkin that she absolutely insist on.

I'd really like to take her to an apple orchard soon since we just had the season's first cold snap. The apples should be ripe and ready for my tart recipes.

I would like to report that things are just jolly around here but there are a lot of troubles and it's been difficult to be optimistic. I'm trying my hardest to stay focused on the good thing: my daughter and husband's health, our opportunity to buy a beautiful house, being lucky enough to have a wonderful husband with a job that absolutely adores me. I suppose all of this is the truth and fall is as good a time to give thanks than any. It's funny that something like worrying does absolutely no good yet it seems to be such a big part of our daily thoughts.

I'll just leave it at what I am grateful for and keep my eyes on the prize. How is fall treating you so far?

Nags Head North Carolina Beach Vacation

For the last three years my Aunt Mary (from Sacramento CA) plans a vacation for the family in a beach house in North Carolina. This year, since we were somewhat local we decided to drive east to meet them there for a couple of days. 

We had an excellent time. We visited the North Carolina Aquarium (the photo above is my Dad wearing Noelle) and saw turtles, otters, fish, sharks and bat rays. Noelle absolutely loved the tanks full of fish and got really into the touch tank.

Noelle did incredibly well traveling so far (24 hours total drive). She played, talked and we set up Sesame Street on my smart phone and attached it to the seat in front of her. I absolutely love my little family. 

 On Saturday, during her second nap, we went out to the beach and swam around in the surf for a bit. Jeremy threw me into the ocean and I tripped him into a wave because that's what our love is. Then we drank wine in the jacuzzi for a bit. It was really relaxing.

Most of Friday we spent on the pier. We don't fish but it was interesting to see how many people got into it. Noelle felt the sand for the first time and loved it. 

 I played pool with my cousins and we shared a beer. Noelle loved the family. She was intrigued by all of the people picking her up. She did great napping twice a day and slept wonderfully at night.

 It was pretty overcast the whole weekend but it didn't ruin anything. The atlantic ocean is warm and we walked on the beach several times a day to breathe in the sea air. The only thing I miss about California is the ocean air.

 The house is gigantic. 9 bedrooms and four bathrooms. With a large living room, deck, jacuzzi, kitchen and pool. There was plenty of space for cooking, lounging, reading, eating and whatever we wanted to do. Next year we'll be going for the whole week.

 It was a very relazing mini-vacation and now we're back to real life. So many new things to come.

Noelle Update, Big News and a Short Vacation

So, there are some crazy things going on right now in our little family. First off, Noelle is 9 months old now (as of Oct 5). She is such a rad little baby, I am so impressed by her gentle kindness and fiery personality. She really is gaining quite the personality. She has three teeth now (one is still coming in on the top gums). She is eating all kinds of foods: bell peppers, apples, freeze dried fruits, pulled chicken, asparagus, pita chips, hummus, muffins and more. She grabs for everything and can easily pick up very small things with her thumb and pointer finger. She has been crawling now since 5.5 mos. and is very fast and determined. She approaches every thing with a cautious, gentle curiosity. She is sleeping well in her own crib and waking up an average of 2-3 times for feedings. She is absolutely mesmerized by our pets.

Yesterday, without paying attention, she turned to see the cat next to her and she said "kee", which is first time she's used k sounds. Whenever we see the cat, Jeremy and I say "kee-kee" for kitty. She is clapping now and can do but gets bored fast with peek-a-boo. She lives for disorder. When she sees anything put away neatly she has to mess with it. She does great in carseat as long as she's fed and she gets up at least once every two hours (which is fair). She loves to be held and wants Jeremy to spend every second with her. She loves being carried in wraps and the mei tai, she's protesting the ring sling pretty often right now. She can get down off of the bed feet first, stand if she's leaning and loves to push her activity table across the room mimicking walking. She laughs a lot now and gets very excited hopping up and down. Noelle does wonderful with other babies- she is used to be around them and is especially enamored with my friend's two year old girl.

We cannot believe it's already been nine months! So, in the last year or so we've been working hard at establishing ourselves as adults. We've made a lot of bad financial decisions since before we got together and it's taken some time to un-do a lot of these mistakes. We're still picking up the pieces. As of now our savings account is growing, our credit is slowly improving and we have to move in January (our landlords want to sell where we are now). We've decided we would like to stay in Nashville for a while- we've made great friends here, found great food and its started to feel like home.

So, instead of renting again we're looking into buying a house. We never thought we'd consider this in a million years but there's something amazing about the thought of stability right now. We'd only buy if we could find something very reasonably priced, that needs some work (so we don't have to pay for it in the sellers price), in our ideal location (east nashville). We stubled accross this in a wonderful 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom 1936 craftsman off of Gallatin Pike. So, we're pursuing it. I'm learning about lending, mortgage rates, inspections, contracts & negotiations. Honestly, no matter what happens its opening my eyes to a whole new world that I used to just avoid understanding because I thought it was too complicated. Then there's the fun side of stuff. Pinterest has got my curiousity all in a tizzy- with laying down black and white checker vinyl floors, putting up peg board on a wall in the kitchen, painting a wall with chalkboard paint in what would be Noelle's playroom/nursery. There's so much to customize and while we wouldn't be able to really get things going (design-wise) until we had it saved up, its so fun to collect ideas.

So tomorrow until Sunday is really exciting for us. It's national babywearing week (yay) so International Babywearers of Middle Tennesse is doing a photoshoot with mamas carrying their babies! The backdrop is the Nashville skyline (fun!). I'm actually going to put on makeup for this. I'm going to wear her in a front carry in my Didy woven. Then on Thursday morning we leave for North Carolina, where my family rents a beach house every year! Its a gigantic house with 7 rooms and all of the comforts of home. I am going to sun myself, hangout on the beach, make some yummy food & drink plenty of wine (hopefully). I cannot wait to see my Dad especially, whom I have not seen since March. So many pictures to come...

So yes, lots is happening. Jeremy is loving his job and it feels to finally decide to stay in Nashville for a while. There was a lot up in the air there for a while and it would take a serious salary offering and relocating package to get us to move again. xo.