Our Weekend | | Downtown Edition

Friday night when Jordan got home from work he asked if the girls and me wanted to go with him on Saturday downtown. 

He had to work but the girls and me can tag along. We don't do that very often but I thought since it was going to be a beautiful weekend we would go. 

The girls were completely intrigued listening to their Daddy for a little while. That was until we were drenched in sweat. 

I found us a table out of the sunshine. Addison sat and watched videos on the iPad for a little while. Makenzi ate some chips and queso while watching Daddy. She sang every word to a few songs. It's so sweet to look over and see her singing along with the songs she knows. She told her Daddy before he started playing he better be practicing "Chicken Fried" because she was going to get up there and sing with him later. 

After we sweated long enough... about an hour and a half... we decided we would go walk around downtown for a little while. 

I don't know if I've ever had so much fun with my girls. We walked outside down the road to the Walk of Fame park and ran around in the grass. 

We sat in the shade and talked and put on make up.

We played some more. 

We walked to the Schemerhorn to see the fountains. 

We walked to the pedestrian bridge.

And then we walked back to the Walk of Fame Park to play some more. The pictures I took when we got back are special to me. The girls decided they needed to take their shoes off to rest their feet before we went back to Rippy's. They were so happy to have their shoes off. They were laughing and so happy. I got up to take their picture and as I was taking their picture the sun hit them just right. It looks as though Baby Emery is shining down on both of them. I smiled real big when I saw the picture. My three girls smiling! Melt me! Sometimes I see Emery in such little things - just like this! 

We took a bathroom break at the Hilton because well, those bathrooms are much nicer than Rippy's. HA!

While we were out Jordan sent me a picture of his view from the stage - not every day you see a baby doll that's "napping" in a chair, a baby bottle on the stage beside your drinks, and a purse and diaper bag. Life with little girls! 

And then we headed back to watch the last hour of Jordan's show. Where Addison decided to take a nap that left us both completely drenched in sweat because we were sitting in the direct sunlight on the rooftop of Rippy's. That's a Mama's love right there. 

I was fanning her with a  diaper when a guy walked over to me with a menu so I could fan her. (I was fanning her with one of Emery's diapers from the hospital -- the teeny tiny ones -- and then found Makenzi's baby doll diapers which are bigger and decided that would work better). Thankfully, this man brought me a menu which worked better fanning both of us to keep her cooler. 

While Addison was taking a little nap, Makenzi got up on the stage with her Daddy to sing Chicken Fried. After she finished Chicken Fried, she decided she was going to stay up there with them. She thought everyone wanted to see her. She was so cute the way she clung to her Daddy... and Tera Lynne... and Brent. She loves the attention.  

 Makenzi sat in Tera's lap to sing a few songs with her.

Addison woke up from her nap and we went to find air conditioning before they finished. Makenzi stayed with Jordan on the stage. HA! 

They found us after in the cool. The girls were able to help count tips. They thought they were such big shots! Tera Lynne gave them each a little bit of the money she made that day. The girls were on top of the world with their "tips!" Tera, you made my girls day!! Thank you for including them!!! 

After tips, we walked up to the car.... We were hungry, tired, and hot! Makenzi walked hand in hand with Brent the whole way up to the garage talking his head off.

Brent invited us to eat at Chuy's and we were able to enjoy Chuy's on the patio before heading home. It was such a beautiful day and night. I'm so glad we enjoyed the whole Saturday enjoying the sunshine. 

We got home and everyone got baths. And went straight to laying down, chilling out! We had a busy, enjoyable day!!! 

Sunday morning was church - Addison was still worn out from the day before and fell asleep curled up with her Baby Emery in church. It was absolutely precious. The way she clings to the bear makes me happy. I pray nothing happens to our Baby Emery bear. She's become a part of our family. She is our Baby Emery since we weren't allowed to keep our Baby Emery here on this Earth with us. 

After church we ate lunch at Cheddar's and came home to spend the day outside. 

The girls asked their Daddy if they could play with water guns in the cooler - redneck water park. He filled it up for them and they played hard in the water. 

I caught them laying in the warm water on the ground talking at the end of the day. It was precious!!! 

We had a fun, busy weekend. It was enjoyable and much needed for us all to just be together the whole weekend! I have a feeling this won't be our last weekend staying this busy and going to work with Daddy.

Thanks for hanging around and listening to all of that - hopefully, I didn't bore you but I didn't want to forget the details of the day. :-) 

Bowling | | April 11th

Most of you know, Emery was born on January 11, 2016. So, without even really going into much detail you can understand why April 11th would be a hard day. 

So, on that day when we got Makenzi from school I told Jordan I wanted to be out of the house (it was a rainy and dreary day) and doing something with my family. 

We threw around a lot of options until we ended up going bowling. 

We went to Hermitage to the bowling alley there. 

We were pretty much like pros. LOL! 

It was quite the sight. Even with the guards up, we struggled. Jordan started doing pretty good once we played for a while. I think he would be really good if he played a lot. 

Now, Addison, she was just plain lucky. I think she knocked down more pins than any of us just by rolling the ball down her ramp and walking away without even paying attention to where her ball was going. 

And as for Makenzi & me, I don't believe there is any hope for us. HA! I rolled a strike one time and Jordan laughed because it hit the guards on the gutters twice before finally hitting the pins and giving me a strike. So, if I wasn't playing like the little kids I would have never made a strike. 

Laughing with my family can cure a bad day normally. I am so thankful for them! 

Field Trips | | My Girls

Addison has never been on one of Makenzi's school field trips. The rules with Wilson County school system says "No siblings allowed." On the letter they sent him for permission this time, the sibling rule wasn't listed. So, instead of trying to find someone to keep Addison I just decided to take her with us. 

Addison LOVES to be included. I've already told you that. She, also, loves her sister more than anything and wants to do everything she does. She thinks she's as big as Makenzi anyway. 

They are the BEST of friends!

They had farm day in Wilson County for the second graders. The girls were so excited about farm day! They were able to see many animals, learn about the animals, and pet some of them. The goats were a favorite and they are still talking about the Mama goat getting mad at them for being near her and her babies. 

Addison insisted we take Baby Emery with us before we left home. So, Baby Emery, our special bear, went with us on the field trip! Our sweet Baby Emery! She's a part of our family everywhere we go (spiritually) and physically, we take our semblance of her.... every single place we go. It helps my Mama heart to have a physical thing we can hold, too.

Baby Emery was even able to climb up in the tank they had out there, too. The girls loved it. Addison was a little too small to force her way in the peep hole area like Makenzi did but she still loved climbing up in there with the big kids. 

My girls love each other more than life. They are the best of friends. They don't know how much it melts my heart to see their love for each other. Makenzi in her big group of classmates and friends, saw Addison and me first thing off the bus and came running... grabbed Addison's hand and stayed by her side all day. 

I enjoyed this field trip day as much as the girls because I was able to spend the whole day with BOTH my girls on a school field trip. It was the first time I was able to do that. Grant it, some of the times I've enjoyed the one on one time I get with Makenzi but this time I needed both of them with me all day long. 

I am counting down to summer more than the kids are I believe. I can't wait until they are both home with me all day long. I am in desperate need of summer. Time spent with my family...at home all day long every single day! 

I got behind last week on my blog - I am playing catch up. There's been a few things we have done as a family that I want to document here. I will get caught up this week I hope. :-) 

As for now, just keep praying for us. It's due date month - I should be a couple weeks away from meeting my sweet Emery and instead I am grieving her loss. I long for the day I can spend eternity with her in Heaven, but for now I cherish these moments on earth with my sweet girls God loaned me longer than He did Emery. Life is short, my friends, enjoy every single moment.

Birthday Parties

With Makenzi being in school, she gets invited to quite a few birthday parties through the year from her friends in school. 

One of Makenzi's friends invited her to a party last Saturday at Sky High. It's a place in Nashville that has trampolines all over. We've never been. The sweet Mama invited Addison, too. 

I think Addison was more excited than Makenzi to be included on a birthday party invitation. She feels so grown up. 

She just wants to be included in her sister's every day happenings. I love watching her excitement and how she wants to just be close to Makenzi. 

They jumped their little hearts out. They were soaked in sweat. The hour they had to jump went by really fast for all the kiddos. My girls were disappointed when it ended. 

We will have to go back to SkyHigh soon so they can jump again. 

But when we got there... we had to sign this waiver that showed all the risks the girls had to jump. I had to sign I wouldn't sue them or try to get them in trouble if my girls got hurt. It showed the dangers they had to jump. 

Since I lost Emery, I guess my overprotectiveness is in way over drive.  I think my hands were shaking as I signed my name to both my girls to jump. 

I realize to some it may seem silly, but I lost my baby. So, when I think about a possibility of losing my girls, even in some freak accident that probably won't happen, I freak out a little bit. I know how I'm taking losing Emery and if I was to lose one of my other girls, too.... I think I would for sure go off the deep end. 

Yes, this is probably just a Mama thing. 

I even told the girls I signed my life away for them to jump and they needed to please be extra careful. :-) Makenzi hugged me and said "We will, Mama!" 

They are so precious and so sweet to their grieving Mama. They know how bad I hurt and they just wrap their arms around me when I need it most. 

You guys, last weekend Friday - Tuesday were rough on me. I miss Emery so much! The weekend of April fell just like the weekend I had her. So, I relived the torment of my last few days of pregnancy.... I checked into the hospital on January 8th (a Friday, just like April 8th)... and by Monday January 11th (just like April 11th) I had Emery. I relived the whole moments of my pregnancy failing. It was awful! 

So, having a few things to do through the weekend helped... being with my girls helped. Saturday was rough and I didn't want to go to the party, but I did. It does me good to get out of the house even when I don't feel like it. Addison told me all through the day on Saturday "Mama, I am having the best day ever all because of you!" Tell me that won't turn any day around... that sweet girl can always put a smile on my face!!! 

A few extra moments I haven't shared yet - 

Addison is a snuggler! 

Jordan snapped a picture of the both of us sleeping the other night & she was snuggled up beside me. 

And Sunday after church, Pa Mark laid down on Makenzi's bed to take a short nap. Addison disappeared and when we went to find her, she was snuggled up next to Pa Mark sleeping. They slept a couple of hours together like this on the bed.