The Crawdad Chronicles

Ryan was working the weekend of my birthday so my mom decided to come visit us and keep James and I company. Mom was so excited to see "her baby". We did all sorts of things over her visit: shopping, eating, going to the gym, playing at home, more shopping and more eating. Mom does such a great job playing with James and getting him to try new things. By the end of her visit James wanted to stay with Granny Deb instead of going to me...and I have to admit my feelings were a little hurt! All those hours I spend with him should count for something. Haha! All kidding aside Ryan, James and I were all glad that she came to see us.

Somebody is happy before 6 am every day

We put Granny Deb right to work

That Friday Mom and I took James to see Dr. Ritch for his 9 month check up. We actually got in and out pretty quickly and didn't have to suffer through any shots this time.

Let me help you with that Dr. Ritch!

I kept suggesting to my mom that we go run some errands while we were out but she kept wanting to go home. It's not like my mom to not want to be out and about, so I figured she must be worn out or something. Imagine my surprise when I walked into the house with James and there was my dad sitting on the couch!!!!! I was completely shocked- I almost dropped the baby! He had decided at the last minute to come in for my birthday weekend. Have I mentioned that I have the greatest dad in the world?

Surprise!

When Ryan got home we went to Windrush Grill around the corner since it was close and quick. The next day (my birthday) Ryan went into work and to do a surgery so I got to have some quality time with my parents and JT. One of the nice things about having visitors here is that there aren't all the distractions and commitments that there are in NC. Just lots of good quality time together. I got lots of sweet calls and texts from people which is always one of my favorite things about having a birthday. Mom gave me the wonderful gift of getting up with JT at his 5:30 am wake up call. I actually slept till 7:00, and it felt great!

Dinner at Windrush

That night we decided to go to 2 Johns. I had been wanting to go, and someone on the plane recommended it to Mom. I said a prayer that Ryan wouldn't get paged in the middle of dinner (and he didn't!), and we had a wonderful family dinner. James attracted a lot of attention- I don't think they have many 9 month olds there. :)

Birthday dessert

On Sunday we went to church and of course JT gave the nursery some trouble. I don't know what I'm going to do with that kid! Hopefully they will let him keep coming. Then we all headed to brunch (yes- we love to eat in my family, lol). Unfortunately Dad had to leave early the next morning. Thanks for coming to visit me Dad. It was one of the best surprises I have ever had!!!

JT seriously tried to pull the fire alarm at church

Church is exhausting

Broken Egg Cafe

Still working on the "no feet on the table" rule

Luckily Mom was staying a little bit longer, so we got to have a few more days together. JT decided to show off for her and finally started crawling right before she left. It's been crazy how quickly he is getting the hang of it, and I can already tell life will never be the same now that he is mobile. Thanks Mom for coming and for helping make my birthday such a special occasion. We love you!

Getting into trouble at Lifeway