A Saturday Well Spent

This morning Autumn & I woke up at our usual 7:00 time.  Our bodies are just so conditioned to wake up at that time, which is too bad since we are on vacation.  Anyways, Andrew & Mimi finally woke up and we got dressed and went down to the hotel lobby for breakfast.  It was a nice spread w/ Texas shaped waffles (the kids didn’t care b/c they get those from Papa all the time), cereal, eggs, sausage, yogurt, pastries, juice, milk, etc.

The kids finished before Mom & I did and played in the lobby for just a minute.  I had them sit in this rocking chair and give each other a kiss.  They’ll be too old for this sort of thing in the blink of an eye, so I try to get them to kiss as often as I can before they outgrow it.

Mom took them back up to the room while I finished my breakfast and I heard them yelling down to me and laughing hysterically.  Cute kids!

We got all of our stuff and headed over to Lexie & Jon’s around 9:00.  The second we walked in the door I said hi to Lexie & Jon and went straight for Baby Jackson.  Even though he is 10 lbs, he’s still so small and sweet.

What could be better than getting to sniff and cuddle with a 4 day old baby?  I was in heaven.

Autumn was interested in seeing him and giving him kisses (I had to keep reminding her to be soft) and playing w/ all of his hair.  I’m the proud Aunt.  So much love in our family!

While I was holding him, I felt something warm and moist on his back.  Sure enough, he had a blow out and it was up his back, down his legs, and had gotten on me too.  I took him in the bathroom and gave him a bath.  I had to keep holding his head b/c he has such weak neck muscles and his head kept wobbling from side to side and I didn’t want him to hit the side of the baby tub.  He liked his bath and didn’t even cry or whimper at all.  It was magical to snuggle and sniff him since he smelled like Baby Magic.

We sat and talked for a while and then Lexie went and got cleaned up and we loaded in the cars and went to see the house that they put an offer on.  It’s so nice, even if the layout is a bit strange (there is a bathroom by the kitchen), and I really hope everything goes well so they can get it.  It’s been well taken care of and the hardwood floors are really nice.  The best, though, is what will be Andrew’s room.  They have these surfboards painted on the walls and a little tiki hut type window seat w/ a palm leaves ceiling fan.  The kids loved being able to run around the big house.

After that, we went back to the apartment and the kids both tried squeezing into Andrew’s little recliner.  I am so glad that they are close enough in age that they can play together and get along (most of the time).

Jackson is such a good baby.  He isn’t fussy, he sleeps a ton, he takes a bottle and nurses well, etc.  I also noticed that he tucks his bottom lip in when he sleeps.  TOO CUTE!

While we were sitting around and talking, Mom’s phone rang and it was Nate.  We were able to video chat w/ him using Oovoo!  It was so cool to see him and hear his voice.  He is loving Japan so far and I’m so glad he’s safe and sound.  The kids had fun talking to him, too.

The kids were getting restless and we thought about taking them to a splash park, but it was 107 degrees (not including the heat index) and none of us adults wanted to go and try to stay cool while they played.  So, Jon busted out this remote control truck that Papa had given Andrew and the kids played w/ that for a while.  I joked about strapping Jackson to the back and driving him around the apartment.

I know there are tons of Jackson pictures, but I just couldn’t get enough of him.  He has lots of hair that I kept trying to style into a faux hawk.  Mom made her super yummy crock pot spaghetti for dinner and we had that w/ garlic bread.  I took the kids and the dog on a little walk just to get out of the house for a little bit b/c we were all getting cabin fever.

We didn’t walk for very long b/c my lower back started hurting really bad.  Jon was kind enough to offer to give me an adjustment, and since I had never seen his clinic before we drove over there.  He adjusted me and then Mom.  It hurt, but also helped a lot.  There was this cute place near his clinic and I asked him if the shakes are any good and he said they’re awesome.  So Mom & the kids & I went through the drive thru and got a raspberry concrete shake.  It’s called a concrete shake b/c it’s so thick.  It was super scrumptious!

We went back to the hotel and were going to take the kids swimming, but it was an outside pool and it was getting late and I didn’t want to mess w/ taking them down there and then keeping them happy and dripping swimsuits.  So, I told them they could jump on the bed for a few minutes.

As you can see, they had a blast and forgot all about swimming.  I told them to jump at the same time and see how high they could get.  They didn’t jump at the same time, but who cares.  They were having the time of their lives.

After a little while, I went and gave Autumn a bath and then Mom gave Andrew a bath.  Autumn loves having her hair fly out behind her when she does “twisty jumps.”  We put on the TV to relax for a while and Andrew fell asleep pretty fast.  Autumn stayed up and watched The Secret Life of Bees w/ Mom & I.  I have forgotten how much I like that movie (even though there are sad parts).  We finally turned off the lights and called it a night at 10:30.

What do you think are the Top Strong Southern Women movies?
Here’s my ranking:

1.  STEEL MAGNOLIAS
2. Fried Green Tomatoes
3. The Help
4. Hope Floats
5. The Secret Life Of Bees
6. Gone With The Wind