A Little Break from it All!

Yay! We finally had a vacation! We went to Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge with Terry's parents last weekend. We left early Thursday morning. We stopped in Fort Payne, Alabama at the Alabama Museum & Fan Club. We signed the wall of fans & saw all of the instruments, clothes, baby things...all the things that were special to each member of the band.

It took us about 10 hours but we finally made it! When we got to Pigeon Forge, traffic was awful! They were having a "Rod Run" (car show) and I think everyone & their mamas were there! We got the keys to our cabin & made our way to find it. It was high up the mountain. We thought we weren't gonna make it for a minute. There was this steep curve that was not fun going up when it was raining! The view from our cabin was beautiful! Those 2 lines in the pic are where the tram went across.

We went back into town to get something to eat. After we ate, we did a little exploring through town to see what we might want to do the rest of the weekend. We went back to the cabin and got settled in. Friday morning, first thing we did was Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies. Here are a few pics of the different fish & sharks.

Natalee loved the jellyfish!



Look! It's Nemo!

I thought this was a really cool pic of a shark!

Gotta love the sea turtle!


We did the Ripley's Mirror Maze. A bit of advice...don't waste your money. We only did it because Natalee loves mirrors. Well...she hated it! She started crying! When we finished that, we went to find a place to sign up for a time share tour so we could get free Dixie Stampede tickets. Mrs. Delma & I did that while the guys went to get the truck. It started raining on us, so we decided to ride out to Cade's Cove. It's an 11 mile scenic one way route. If you're lucky, you may end up seeing one of these:


We were really close to it and it was the first time I had ever seen a black bear! The park ranger said he was probably between 2-4 years of age. He eventually jumped down & ran off into the woods. We also saw a buck that was in full velvet bedding down & several flocks of turkeys. On our way back into town, we stopped by to get this picture. It was a beautiful sight!

We decided to do Ripley's Believe It or Not before we headed back to the cabin. It had some really neat stuff in there. And some stuff I don't care to ever see again...although I'm sure I will.
Saturday, we did our 3.5 hours at the timeshare tour & finally got our Dixie Stampede tickets. We decided to ride into Pigeon Forge. It took us 1.5-2 hours to go 3 miles! We ate lunch at Cracker Barrell then went to the go-kart place. Terry & Mr. Roger rode the go-karts. The ladies just watched. We all played about 6 holes of mini golf before we headed back to the cabin to change & get ready for Dixie Stampede. On the way back to the cabin, Natalee started screaming. We couldn't figure out what was wrong. I happened to feel down in her car seat. It was covered with ants! We pulled over, stripped her & stripped her car seat. We still don't know where they came from. Luckily, she only got bit 3 times & it wasn't serious! We finally got ready & went back toward Pigeon Forge. We found an alternate route & luckily the traffic wasn't as crazy. Dixie Stampede was the best! Unfortunately, they didn't have any seats on the South side, so we had to be Yankees. :( It was still fun though! We were served cream of vegetable soup & biscuit. Then we got a whole rotisserie chicken, a slice of pork loin, a half a herbed potato & an ear of corn. For dessert, we had an apple turnover. The best part...no utensils! We had to eat it all with our hands! Sadly, we were not able to take pictures, so I don't have any to show how much fun we had. Sunday morning we got up & got everything packed. We went to Applebarn to eat breakfast. It was really good. We shopped at the country store in Applewood Village. Here are a few pics of the go-karts & one of Natalee.



We finally made our way home. There were a couple of wrecks on the interstate. It took us about 2 hours to move about 3-5 miles. It was awful! All in all, we had a great time! It was nice to take a break from the reality. But I am glad to be home!

Doctor Visits....

Yes, we have had more doctor visits. Last Sunday, Natalee had a high temperature (102.9) so I called & made an appointment that Monday morning. She had her 6th ear infection! We are still taking our amoxicillin. We go Friday to talk to the ENT to determine for sure if she has to have tubes. More than likely we will have to! I dread it but if it has to be done, it has to be done. She weighed in at 16 lbs. 10 oz.

I took her back this morning for her 9 month check up. Her ears have cleared up, thank goodness, but we will still have to have tubes. Everything else looks good though. She is right on track with her height & weight. This morning she weighed 16 lbs. 14 oz. She hasn't gained much but she is gaining! Natalee is now 26.5 inches long. I think she's gonna be a shorty! :) (just my personal opinion) But she may surprise us & hit a growth spurt.

We have been trying to start her on table foods. She doesn't really care for them at the moment, so doc said to give her a big spoonful of something & let her play in it every night to get her used to the texture. She will get some in her mouth & will eventually like it. If she doesn't like it after the 14th try, then she doesn't like it! He also said no fish, eggs or orange juice until one year, but said everyone gives babies eggs before then & as long as they don't have an allergic reaction then they should be fine.

I'm a Big Girl Now

Well this has past week was an interesting one! Tuesday night, Natalee finally started sitting up by herself! She has been able to sit for a while but not pull herself into the sitting position. She is now a pro at it! Thursday night we went to the PeeWee football game at CA to watch Ryan. He is in the 6th grade & this is his 2nd year to play. He never really showed interest in football until last year & he actually loves playing! I am actually very proud of him, because I never thought he would be that into sports! Needless to say, they lost, but they did a great job! When we got home that night, I put Natalee on the floor to play. Terry & I were unloading groceries, we looked up & she was trying to crawl! She has perfected that yet, but she is crawling all over the place! Saturday, she was on the floor playing again. I walked in the kitchen to clean her walker. I wasn't gone but a minute at the most. I walked around the corner & she had pulled herself up on the couch & was walking back & forth! She sure has been progressing alot lately. I'm surprised she did all of that within 4-5 days though. Granny said she never thought Debbie was going to do anything, but she sat up, crawled & walked all within 1 week, so I really shouldn't be that surprised. Oh, she has also started saying "Mamma"!!

Friday night was another home football game for Carroll! We won 32-0!! We went to Jackson Saturday afternoon. We went to Babies 'R Us to get Natalee a new "big girl" carseat. We got the pink & brown Graco My Ride 65. I absolutely love it! So does Natalee. She was starting to look big in her infant carrier, and now she looks little again! She is so cute in it though. When we went to Wal-Mart the other night, we bought Natalee a toothbrush & some "training toothpaste". We have been brushing her 2 teeth and gums with one of those fingertip brushes, but we decided it was time to get her used to a toothbrush and toothpaste. We tried it out Saturday morning & she loved it. She grinned the whole time I was brushing them & didn't mind the toothpaste either! Of course I only used a very small amount.

A Recipe A Day

I started a new blog. I am going to try my best to update it daily. After all it is called "A Recipe A Day"! Check it out & follow!!

Click on the title & it will take you right to it!!

Wordless Wednesday