Family Curse!

I am starting to believe that my family has a curse!  In the past two years, we have wrecked more cars than I care to count!  Previous to those two years, I only remember two car accidents my whole life and that was in high school when Lindsay and I got rear-ended and Mom got rear-ended in 2008 in her Crossfire but it wasn't totaled.

The string of accidents started in 2011 when Mom, Dad and Andrew were leaving a band concert and got hit.  Their Corolla was totaled in May 2011.  Unfortunately we don't have any pictures because they were taken on an old phone.

Just a few days later, Dad was driving his truck when a teenage girl rear-ended him in May 2011.  His truck is a clunker so there was barely even a scratch.

A couple weeks after that in June of 2011, Dad was rear-ended again in his truck.  This time it left a dent in the car, but we still don't have any pictures. 

In August 2011, Travis got rear-ended as he was waiting to turn into his office parking lot.  His Honda was totaled.  (It wasn't a sad parting for me.  I did not like that car!)

Just a few months later in December of 2011, Travis and I got hit head-on as we were traveling down to Georgia for Christmas.  Once again, our Camry was totaled.

After almost a year of no accidents, Andrew was coming home from school one day in November 2012, when he was rear-ended in his new Corolla. There was only a little damage and once again, no picture. 

We had another long calm streak before the accidents began again.  Dad and Andrew got hit head on in July 2013 and totaled the truck.  This was the only accident where there were some injuries.  Dad's knee got really swollen and bruised and Andrew had soreness and bruising from the seatbelt.

Late Monday night as Nathan was coming back from Moab, they hit a deer and totaled his Prius.

And today, dad decided he wanted to be like Nathan so he hit a deer in his Prius.  Only dad didn't total his car. 

Luckily no one was badly hurt in ANY of the accidents!  That is pretty amazing!  And with the exception of the last two, NONE of them have been our fault!  We have all gotten hit.  I am sure dad and Nathan would argue that the deer hit them and then we could say none have been our fault.  Pray that this curse is broken and no one else wrecks a car!  It is getting pretty ridiculous!  Lindsay seems to be the only one that has been left out of the equation!  She better be extra cautious these next few weeks!

Broadway

One day on our trip, we spent the afternoon exploring the popular Broadway Street.  It is known for it's bars, dives, and shops.  It was definitely popular with tourists everywhere.  I loved seeing all the signs and flashy stores. 

 

 

Posing with the King!

 

I don't know what it is about candy stores, but I love them.  I think it makes me feel like a little kid again.  I was so proud of us for not buying anything!  Travis is a sucker for candy and I am a sucker for fudge!  It looked and smelled delicious in there!

Rows and rows of hard candy...

 

 and barrels and barrels of chewy candy!

 Lining the streets were all things related to music.  They even had country music playing from every store!  Here I am practicing my singing with a giant microphone. 

 And Travis is brushing up on his guitar skills!

 

And Adelyn just chillin' and enjoying watching everything going on around her!

 When we were out to eat the first day, we asked our waiter for recommendations on things to do in Nashville.  The first thing he said was to NOT go down Broadway because it is just touristy.  Obviously we went anyways.  I enjoyed seeing it, but it wasn't my favorite thing we did.  I would say definitely go just to see it, but don't plan on spending a ton of time there.  The shops were tiny and the streets were crowded.  It is not something the kids would enjoy doing, but it is the perfect place to get a cheap souvenir and a taste of the local cuisine!     

Country Music Hall of Fame

On Monday, we spent most of our day at the Country Music Hall of Fame.  It was quite impressive!  There was a lot about the history and evolution of country music and a few featured artists.

The first exhibit we saw was all about Reba.  They had a video playing that began at the beginning of her career and ran through her life until now.  It was fun to see how she was at the beginning compared to now.  My favorite was probably seeing her in past performances and seeing the dresses that she wore on display.  Something that I found interesting is that once you become famous, everything you own becomes valuable.  She had 4-H ribbons, certificates of completion and programs that were on display.  She was just a normal girl.  It made me wonder what they would put on display if I ever became famous!

Playing with the jukebox.  Adelyn would kick her little feet to the music so it looked like she was dancing.  It made us laugh!

 I don't really know who Webb Pierce is, but he had a pretty awesome car!  It talked about all the custom designs he made.  The car was so extravagant!  Every little feature had a custom detail!  There were guns on the door handles, a horse head on the gas tank, over 1000 silver dollars lining the dashboard, horseshoes on the pedals and so on!  It was amazing!

 They had walls of platinum and gold records!  Adelyn loved how shiny they were! I love when she squinches her nose when she smiles!

 They had an interactive center for kids.  Adelyn got to design her own cowgirl outfit!  She loved it!  After playing here a little while, one of the workers came and entered us in a drawing to win a guitar.  The worker casually mentioned that Taylor Swift donated 4 million dollars to the museum to create a kids area.  I am actually really excited about that and want to take Adelyn back after it opens.  I just think that Taylor Swift is the most generous, down to earth person.  She really impresses me! 

 We didn't get tons of pictures in the museum, but it was pretty spectacular!  I liked the second floor the best because it featured modern artists.  There was an extensive display of Carrie Underwood's wardrobe from one of her music tours.  It is crazy to think that less than a decade ago she was a normal person and now she is so famous that they want to display her belongings.  I think I would have a hard time giving up my clothes and awards to display.  I guess when you are rich enough, you never have to wear the same outfit twice.  Wouldn't that be the life?!

There were other artists that had their cars or first musical instrument or microphones or banners and much, much more.  I loved reading about each person and about who they are and where they began!

I would definitely recommend going if you are ever in the area!  It shows artist old and new, tells the history of music, shows the music across the country and shows the evolution of technology and instruments. 

5 Months

This precious little girl is 5 months!
I took this the morning that she turned 5 months.  She loves her crib and her bear, Cuddles.

I love this sweet girl more than anything in the world (besides Travis I guess!)  I hear moms complain about not being able to get anything done around the house because their babies cry or want attention.  I can't get anything done because I have a hard time not playing with her or kissing her!  It is my favorite thing to do!  I can't kiss her enough and I will never get tired of hearing her laugh or seeing her sweet smile!

The last two months weren't her best because she suddenly started waking up in the middle of the night to eat.  I am happy to report that the last 3 nights she hasn't gotten up!  I am hoping month 5 will be back to her normal sleeping habits!

Adelyn is basically a pro at sitting up now!  She does so great!  I can set her down and she sits up without me needing to help her balance.  I even feel comfortable walking a way without the fear of her tipping over.  I like to think that she is advanced and one of our pediatrician friends confirmed it!  I know every baby is different and picks up different things quicker/slower than others so I try not to brag to anyone besides my mom because she puts me back in my place.

I was reading on BabyCenter the other day and it said that a 5 month old should recognize her name.  I doubt Adelyn does because we hardly call her by her name.  We call her pretty girl, baby girl, cutie pie, stinker, silly baby, goofy girl, etc.  My nephews call her baby Addie and my mom calls her Adelyn.  Poor girl is probably having an identity crisis!

She still smiles all the time and is laughing more each day!  She used to hate being on her tummy, but now she prefers it.  She can roll back to tummy and tummy to back.  She is officially a tummy sleeper at night.  It is so cute!  I love when I go in and her little bum is in the air.  It makes me laugh!

This particular night, I was trying to change her diaper before putting her to bed.  She just wanted to sleep and would roll over anytime I turned away.  I thought it was cute.  

Adelyn loves to chew on everything now!  She used to put everything in her mouth, but now she chews on it.  I keep thinking that she is going to have a tooth come in soon, but I haven't found one yet!

She loves going on walks and being outside.  She is at the stage where she is enjoying toys more.  She has a new favorite toy.  I don't know how to describe it.  It clicks and has different rings she can chew on.  She also loves mirrors and watching videos of herself on my phone.  She loves to stare at the tv and talk to my mom and nephews on Skype.

I also feel like she is happening to the world and not the world happening to her.  Before she was just kind of there letting things around her go on.  Now she likes to get into everything.  I feel like she is actually thinking about things and how they work.  She is very good at concentrating and grabbing things.  She likes to try new things to see what happens.

She still gets into moods where she squeals a lot, but she has been talking sweetly more often.  She can change pitch, but is not making and ma ma, da da, ba, ba, etc. sounds. I am brainwashing her to try and get her to say "mama" first. 

She has been very content lately.  She will lay in her crib an hour after she wakes up just playing and sweetly talking.  She is learning to entertain herself more and has discovered her hands and tongue.

As you can see, her hair is out of control.  I don't really know what to do with it.  If it is straight down, it goes in her eyes so I brush it over to the side.  Then she looks like she is bald on the opposite side.  It is so light that it gets fluffy.  It is too fine to put a clip or elastic in so I just pop on a headband and call it good until she pulls it off! Any tips would be great!

She gets more and more fun each day as she begins to interact with us more.  We love this little girl!

Rice Cereal

Adelyn will be 5 months a week from today.  Recently she has taken an extreme interest in anything that we put in our mouths.  She stares at me as I eat and reaches for my food.  We decided to go ahead and try rice cereal again tonight.  We tried a couple weeks ago when she wouldn't take a bottle but it ended up more on her than in her mouth.  This time she did great!  She kept coming back for more!  She loved it!  It is all I can do to keep from letting her try other baby food.  I just think that she will love all the different flavors.  As you can see from her pictures, she loves to eat!

I love that she looks at the camera every time I pull it out!  Look at those beautiful blue eyes!

 

She was devouring that rice cereal!

 

I love her little rolls!

 

In other news, Adelyn is starting to sit on her own!  She does the best when she is on the couch or bed.  We are working on sitting on hard surfaces!

She loves standing with help!  She is very alert and wants to see what is going on.

I

 I just had to share this picture!  I LOVE that little smile.  It's been almost 5 months and I still get as excited to see it as I did the first time!  We adore this sweet girl!

Columbus Zoo

A couple of weeks ago, we had the chance to go to the Columbus Zoo with some of our friends.  They have a family and friends pass and got us in for free! 

  

We went on a day that was pretty hot and humid.  It had been raining all morning, so we thought it would clear out all the people and cool it down outside.  We were wrong!  It just made it sticky.  All of the animals were pretty lazy that afternoon.  They were either sleeping or hiding away.  

 I have always loved monkeys and it was no different with this gorilla!  I could have watched this big guy all day!  He kept going and gathering all the straw to eat for himself!  Sometimes I wonder what animals are thinking!

These monkeys were crazy! I loved watching the ease at which they swung from branch to branch.  There were some in a cage that I enjoyed watching as well.  There was a mother and a baby that made me smile at their relationship.  The baby seemed to almost be picking on the mother and pushing her buttons.  

There was also a disgusting little guy in there.  We saw him doing his business and then stick his hand behind him to catch it.   I was ready to see him throw it, but to my horror, he ate it.  Blah, Ugh, Gross!!  That is when we decided to move on to a different exhibit!

 I like how they have the zoo set up!  They have sections labeled by continent with the corresponding animals.  We saw lots of cool animals, but it was so hard to get pictures because they were either too far away or the cages were too much of an obstruction. 

 This is my favorite picture of the trip!  This kangaroo is totally chillin'! 

I am excited to go again sometime when the animals are out and more active. 

Shrieking

Forgive me for only doing posts about my home or baby lately.  Those are the two most exciting things going on though.  I just had to share this short video of Adelyn.  This past week she has gone from sweet cooing to shrieking!  She is so LOUD!  I can't talk on the phone or listen to music or watch tv or do anything that requires hearing. I absolutely love it though! I just think she is the most adorable thing ever!