Trip to Savannah

Hadley and I went to Savannah with James when he went down there for a work weekend. I learned several things and I'll list those for you...

1. We are not city people- ESPECIALLY with a child

2. If a key is not turning in the lock, DON'T KEEP TRYING

3. Having one car is inconvenient

4. We change our minds like crazy

So let's elaborate for you but overall, we rated this trip not so good. We did have fun times don't get me wrong but there were definite moments where it wasn't enjoyable. Some highlights we loved were walking down Riverstreet with Hadley and reminiscing on old times. You can get togo cups and just walk around, it's great. They have great children's activities such as the OUTDOOR children's museum (attached to a train museum with actual train cars). My favorite meal came from The Lady's and Sons restaurant (Paula Deen's) buffet! I seriously ate like a pig! It was delicious. I had been wanting to try it for a while now and am so glad we did. It also was great for Hadley because we didn't have to wait for the food to arrive (since it was self serve) plus she was free!

So back to the realizations
1. We got a good deal on a last minute VBRO (vacation rental site) to stay in a 1 bedroom apartment downtown WITH a parking spot. The parking spot is a huge deal because everywhere else is street parking with meters, although there are usually spots. It was nice not having to worry about it. Savannah isn't even a huge city but man any city is LOUD. From street sweepers at 3am, to garbage trucks slamming dumpsters are 7 am, neighbors moving furniture LOUDLY during nap times, NO THANKS :)

2. So yeah remember that nicely placed parking spot... it was located in the back of the property. You had to walk around the block to get to the front door from that spot... We had two keys, one to open the parking gate to get to the backyard/door that also opens the FRONT door to the house (which was upstairs... ps. stairs and toddler that you have to carry down it WITH stuff=hassle) AND 1 to open the back door and INSIDE front door (which is inside the foyer). The gate was super tricky it seemed to finagle the key but I was doing well with it. So the first morning alone, we drop James at work and I go to the grocery store with Hadley. We come back, I leave her in the car while I go unlock the gate.... well my key is really stuck and I kept turning it because I know it works! well it definitely broke off in my hand and in the lock..... that was a first for me. It was really cold that morning but come onnnnnnnnn.
I decided since I had the key to the front door that I would just walk around the front and get in that way then deal with it... I didn't realize which keys opened what until I actually tried them all... I took Hadley plus my two PAPER grocery bags around the block to the front (up the stairs) to go in.... problem 1 my bags were breaking.... problem 2 the one remaining key I had does NOT open the darn front door....... UGH so back down the stairs with my stuff... hadley wouldn't come down so I had to go back up for her then basically drag her with my broken bags back around the block to the car. We ended up calling the owner and just going to play at a chickfila while we waited. He WD40ed it and gave us a new key and it wasn't a problem from that time on but what a HASSLE!

3. We had to drop James at work every day and pick him up. Leaving at 7 am (luckily hadley was up each time) isn't fun. It was about a 12 minute drive one way, just not fun to do.
We also really did have a great time hanging with our friends from MS that just moved down there too to do the same thing James is but they LIVE there (for now).

4. James concluded and I agreed at lunch one day down there that we needed to live down in Savannah so James could be available for any trip that comes up.... Which made sense to me so I agreed. I also know/knew that if he is working that means he's away (since he flies a cargo plane). He has also expressed serious interest in deploying for 2 months (which again means he's gone) so those were just the facts. I would probably end up back up in the northern ATL area visiting my fam when he's gone anyway and so then on the drive back to my sisters..... we decided we would plant our roots.... wait for it..... drum roll please.........



in the northern ATL area with my fam! Since James is still pursuing an airline job (to hopefully be based out of ATL) and since I have family here and living where his family is isn't feasible given it's not where either of his jobs could be..... we figured this would work out nicely. He would just have to commute down there a couple times a month to Savannah to use his days and hopes to plan them in conjunction with any trips! SOOO as of this moment, that's our decision :) by the time this posts.... it could be different.

Many of you have been keeping up with our plans so I thought I'd keep you informed. We will be heading to Little Rock next month until May to get James all re-trained up for his SAV job. James has major issues with renting houses because he thinks "it's a waste of money" blah blah so we've decided  that we are going to pursue buying a house. Although it's really too early to be buying now, it hasn't stopped us me from looking. I figure if a short sale comes up then we would need the extra time or if we maybe decided to build (like we almost just decided that haha). Also since we won't be in the area right when we need to finish buying, I want to see some houses in the areas we like now so that I can get a good feel.

Hadley reuniting with her cousins

Quick trip to Charleston

We were meaning to go visit friends that live just North of Charleston who recently just moved into a newly built house up in Summerville, SC. I couldn't wait to see it in person, Missy showed me plans a while ago. It looks awesome and SO Charleston! We were supposed to go during Thanksgiving break but Hadley got a freak stomach bug for a day. and THEN we were supposed to go two days after Christmas but if you read the last blog post, you learned Hadley was sick AGAIN! James and I didn't start feeling sick until we got there, but it was work throughable. 

their house above

their neighborhood oh and a photobomber

We had tons of fun and love living in the South East again close to all of our favorite places and people!

Hadley at the Citadel! (james' alma mater) She squatted down because that's what I was doing while taking the picture haha

it was drizzling and just plain gross out, but Charleston still looked pretty!

hadley and their oldest son Matt dancing, their baby was too young to get in on the dancing

me and Missy!

us four 

Missy made the kids a fun mocktail and Hadley was so excited to drink from a real cup let alone a fancy one with something besides water in it, too!

the kiddos watched the netflix fake countdown and off to bed they went at 8pm

Happy New Year everyone! (hadley keeps saying Happy New Year, it's funny)

Holidays have come and gone

Hey everyone! Sorry for the blog break but you know how it is with the holiday season. Plus, we've been a VERY sick household AGAIN! It's honestly ridiculous! Hadley got croup AGAIN. That cough is honestly just horrendous! She popped up in bed on Christmas day night (around 1 am) and coughed ONCE and I instantly knew it was croup. What that means is a full week, if not more of Hadley sleeping with us (because she coughs so much she can't sleep by herself), endless humidifiers and diffusers, cough medicines, and awfulness! This time we didn't need to go to the doctor thankfully she seems to be past most of it. We are staying with my sister's family right now and EVERYONE got a form of this cold/sickness. Max got the cold/cough but never turned into croupy thing PLUS pink eye! Mom, Jen, David, James, and myself all got a horrendous headcold/never ending cough. James went to doctor yesterday and had a throat infection plus an ear infection. We thought coco bean had been spared but she got the pink eye PLUS a double ear infection! We really took precautions of cleaning the house thoroughly and door knobs all that jazz.... obviously with no luck. So I guess it was too late! Sharing spaces like this with a lot of people I guess is a recipe for outrageous sickness. One more thing about this stupid sickness season, it's not a quick thing. We're going on almost 2 weeks!

We had a great christmas though! Luckily everyone was healthy, for that part of the day. We did have to cancel family plans for the next day though. My sister had her annual christmas cookie party exchange prior to christmas. It was fabulous! Take a look at her blog for the latest on that. She also did a great christmas blog post if you want pictures from her real camera. We did a lot of holiday things, saw disney characters, rode pink pigs, bears, and horses (all fake), saw a concert, and lots of other fun things.

Jake from the Neverland Pirates!

at the black keys concert (more people did show up fyi)

Hadley with her barbie and max with a sword- typical

Hadley was all dressed up in every outfit she got for dress up all at once haha

even Bella loved her gift, she loves a little nip

cute christmas kiddos who love coco

Hadley got the cutest HUGEST bow from her auntie Jen, plus my mom made a scarf last year that seemed to be perfect for Hadley, She really does look like a totally different kid with her hair pulled back.

James has drill weekend for the guard coming up and we'll be joining him! (hadley and me that is) We rented an apartment downtown for a great rate (the manager lady gave us basically a 2 night stay free for a military/last minute discount). James will be busy most of the days but we have a couple friends there we will visit, plus we'll explore some on our own! I wish we could be super rich and afford a home in Savannah too (we could do a vacation rental ourselves!) something to think about! maybe one day.