Horses and History

We had a super awesome crazy busy Thanksgiving week so I'm dividing it into two posts!

Jordan had the WHOLE WEEK off, which never happened at BYU so we decided to take full advantage. One of the perks of living on the other side of the country is getting to go all sorts of new places. We have a laundry list of things we want to do and see on this side of the Mississippi in the next four years. We had Thanksgiving dinner with friends all planned out so we were looking for just a little three-day trip to explore the countryside, especially with all the beautiful fall colors out in full force. Since Lexington, Kentucky, is only a seven-hour drive from here and Nashville is right in between, we were able to plan the perfect trip!!

First up was Lexington. Casey is obsessed with horses and we had promised her we would try to do something fun for her while she was here, so Lexington definitely qualified! I had actually already been there with the BYU basketball team for the 2007 NCAA Tournament so I knew it was a great town with beautiful countryside all around. We arrived Monday evening and had a couple horse farm tours set up for Tuesday. Unfortunately, it was pouring rain on Tuesday so we headed to the local visitor's bureau and got some other great ideas. We still ended up touring one of the horse farms, which was actually a sort of retirement home for older race horses. It stopped raining long enough for us to enjoy the horses, although we still battled gale force winds at times! Casey really enjoyed it. She got to feed several of the horses and even met one of the horses that played Sea Biscuit in the movie. Since their racing and stud careers are already over, these horses are free to just roam around and get cozy with visitors so it was fun to see them in that atmosphere. I toured a working horse farm on my earlier trip and really hope to NEVER see a breeding barn ever again!

Then, on the advice of the nice lady at the visitor's bureau, we embarked on a driving tour around Lexington, a route mapped out by the city to take you to all the most picturesque and famous places the area has to offer. We didn't get out and take very many pictures because of the rain, but we all enjoyed it, even Madison (who got to sit front-facing for the first time so she could enjoy the view - shame on us!). We saw a beautiful horse farm owned by a U.S. Ambassador that the Queen of England visited a few years ago, another farm that was the inspiration for Tara in Gone With the Wind, a small cemetery that was the final resting place for several Revolutionary War soldiers, and more beautiful scenery than I can even describe! We loved the area and the town, even though it is John Calipari territory :)

Tuesday evening we drove three hours back to Nashville for the next leg of our adventure and spent all of Wednesday hanging out there. Neither Jordan nor I are very into country music, which is what most people go to Nashville for, so we tailored our visit there to something we're both a little more passionate about - history! We started the day touring a Civil War battle site in Franklin, Tenn., just south of Nashville. It's so cool to live in an area where you can actually visit all the sites we've studied about in history books our whole lives! The battle actually took place in and directly around someone's home so we got to spend time inside the house in addition to walking the grounds. It was so neat to see how people really lived in that era. Unfortunately, Madison took an instant liking to a pair of 150-year-old dolls so she and I spent more time outside than inside. But don't worry - she became equally fascinated by the steps outside the slave cabin and still had fun!

When that tour was over, we headed over to the Hermitage, which is the home of President Andrew Jackson. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, but the place was amazing! Every detail was still in place, preserved almost 200 years. While the modern luxuries of today were obviously missing, the home was still as impressive and comfortable as any mansion built in our time. The grounds also included the tombs of Pres. Jackson and his wife along with various family members. Both Jordan and I agree that Pres. Jackson isn't our favorite president by a long shot, but you can't ignore the historical significance of something like this. Well worth the price of admission :)

While we weren't really interested in paying to see any of the more common Nashville attractions, we made sure we drove by places like the Grand Ole Opry and the Country Music Hall of Fame just so we could say we did! Then we drove the final 3+ hours home to get ready for an equally fantastic Thanksgiving! So stay tuned ...

Being in this cemetery gave me the chills, in a good way. It was a very reverent experience to see the graves of these soldiers

At the horse farm - if you look at Madison, you can get an idea of the wind out there!

This guy slobbered all over us while eating his carrots. Just imagine all that in his mouth being blown directly into our faces. Casey thought it was funny, but I was totally grossed out!

Feeding the star of Sea Biscuit

We've decided we're going to build our house right across the creek from this waterfall outside of Lexington. Sorry families!

Exploring the battle site outside the Carter House (Casey and Jordan were inside enjoying the tour at this point)

She was content with the slave cabin

And the steps outside it

Everyone needs a family photo with a cannon, right?!

The Hermitage

They had an audio tour as you walked the grounds, so of course Maddie had to share with Daddy!

The path to the gardens and cemetery. I have no idea why she insisted on kneeling!

The tombs of Andrew and Rachel Jackson

Pres. Jackson's grave

This one's for you, Mom - she read out loud from this sign for several minutes. Maybe there's hope for ranger talks after all!

The Grand Ole Opry - it exists ... that's about all we know :)

Happy Halloween!

Well, it's been another too-long blog hiatus. I have mixed feelings about the month of November. I, of course, LOVE the start of college basketball, but over the past two years of working from home, I'd sort of forgotten how crazy the volleyball-football-basketball overlap is. Work's been kicking my trash. But none-the-less, a holiday has been had and we need pictures to prove it!!!

I don't have mixed feelings about Halloween. I am most definitely not a fan. No, there wasn't any traumatic childhood incident or super scary haunting memory. I just don't get into the costume thing. I'm not creative enough to come up with cool costumes year after year, and I always feel like it's a competition ... a competition I always lose. I like watching scary movies, going to corn mazes and eating tons of candy, but as far the actual dress-up and trick or treat part, count me out. Thankfully, Jordan feels the same way! However, we understand that being parents means sometimes embracing things we used to find horrifying, like wiping away snot with your bare fingers. So Happy Halloween!!

Thankfully, this year I didn't have to put too much thought into costumes. A friend gave us a Nemo costume for Madison last summer and another friend suggested that Jordan and I go as fishermen since we spend all our time chasing the cute girl! So that's what we did. Our ward had a trunk-or-treat, which is what we have pictures of, but we also took Maddie out trick-or-treating on Halloween night, which she LOVED! She got really into knocking on the doors and grabbing handfuls of candy. Of course everyone let her have as much as she wanted cause she's too cute to resist :) We also took Maddie took to a pumpkin patch to pick out her first pumpkin and then had a couple friends over to carve one night, so these pictures are really of all our Halloween festivities. Just a warning, though. She's still into that too-busy-for-the-camera stage so get ready for lots of blank stares or pictures of the back of her head. She smiles, I swear. Just not when I'm taking her picture!

 Searching for the perfect pumpkin at the pumpkin patch

Doesn't everyone use their pumpkins as chairs?

Found it!!

We're starting her young - made her pay for it herself!

Being the smart parents that we are, we stripped her to her diaper for the pumpkin gutting

She loved getting in there with her spoon and her hands to dig out the guts

She and Dad make a good team! (so turns out I didn't get a picture of the finished product ... silly me)

Our fishy family at the Trunk or Treat

She actually really liked her costume, except for the hat part. I tried it on her a couple weeks before Halloween and from then on she would drag it out whenever she could and insist on wearing it around the house

I think I should let her wear it to her next doctor's appointment ... maybe I can trick him into thinking she's gained a few pounds!

The end. What? Were you expecting some ultimately adorable Gerber baby smiling picture at the end? In my dreams!! Maybe next year :)

PLEASE READ - March for Maddie

As you all know, Madison was born eight weeks premature and spent 43 days in the NICU. Before this happened, I had never thought very much about prematurity, birth defects, etc. No one I'm close to has ever had a problem with anything like this. I have to admit that until Madison ended up there, I didn't even know what NICU stood for! But the people we met there and the things we saw have stuck with me in a powerful way. While Maddie has grown into a happy, healthy baby, many of the families we met in the NICU did not have that outcome to look forward to. We met families whose babies had been there for months, who were already dealing with multiple health problems with many more to come. The reality is that while the NICU may seem like some remote place most people never have to witness, one in eight babies is born premature or with some birth defect. And most of the time, including Maddie's case, doctors have no idea why.

The March of Dimes is trying to change that. The organization's sole purpose is to raise money to contribute toward researching prematurity and birth defects and supporting families who are struggling through this very difficult time.

Maddie and I want to help. So this Saturday, we are participating in the March For Babies, a three-mile walk to help raise money for this very important cause. And we want your help, too. I know times are tough and it's kind of weird that I'm asking for money on my blog, but please contribute if you can. You can sign up to walk with us (the walk is at 11 a.m. in Olive Branch for those of you who are local) or you can donate whatever you can from wherever you are. Every little bit we can raise will hopefully mean that someday, other babies and families won't have to go through what we did.

CLICK HERE to see our team page and sign up to walk or donate.

And if you'd like to read more about Maddie's story, you can read my posts here.

 Our four-pound angel baby!

Now our happy little girl!

Popcorn Popping

It's definitely rewarding when you spend months acting like a complete fool with your child and then one day see that she actually has been paying attention!

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Take 2

I meant to post this yesterday, but I've been too busy pinning. I'm addicted! Now I just have to stop pinning things and actually make something :)

And before I get too far, thanks to everyone who commented with ideas for Maddie's iron deficiency. Unfortunately, she's a very picky eater so things like adding more red meat and eggs to her diet were a no go. I even tried green smoothies, which she liked the first day and wouldn't touch the next three. Sigh. But I'm happy to report that I switched vitamins with good results and am busting out the cast iron pans more so I think her numbers will be up by her appointment next week!

I still can't get over how great the last two months have been for us! A year ago at this time, I was still flabbergasted we were even considering Memphis! Now I know we were meant to be here! We've made a lot of good friends and gotten to do a lot of fun things together as a family, which seems weird since Jordan is supposed to be busy with school, but he's actually home a lot more than he ever was when he was working full-time and going to school as an undergrad!

A couple weeks ago, we decided to try out the Memphis zoo. Maddie loves animals, and the zoo here is rated as one of the top three in the country so we HAD to go! It definitely lived up to the hype. The little girl loved running from animal to animal, screaming oooh and what's that?! We had a great time and even bought a pass so we can go anytime we want for free! Reader beware, though; we took 123 pictures! Yikes. That's what happens when you have two camera-happy females in the mix :) So with much painstaking effort, I pulled out the best 14 to share with you! Enjoy!

Family photo ... and yes, we might as well include the gorilla in the background as part of the family too. What's a little more crazy added to the mix?!

Hmm, I hope he's not contemplating jumping in there with the crocodiles

The grizzly bear was one of my favorites. We saw one on our Alaskan cruise, but this one was huge!

This polar bear was HILARIOUS! It was literally dancing in front of the window. Maddie watched it for at least 10 minutes and loved every second of it!

Story: this picture is taken in the little arena surrounding the sea lion pool. We went there to watch the show but all Maddie cared about was going up and down the stairs. Then suddenly she actually looked out and saw the sea lions! So glad I caught this moment on camera!

She's determined to conquer the stairs

Not gonna lie ... sometimes I wonder why we pay for things like this when I can find a nearby storm grate she can walk on for a lot cheaper that would entertain her just as much. What? There's sea lions behind me?

I love this picture! And we all loved the elephants

The aviary was one of the coolest parts, although we almost didn't go in because we're not really into birds. But I'm glad we did. They had sticks you could hold with bird seed glued to the end so the birds would come to you. Maddie was scared at first when they swooped onto the stick, but she ended up really loving it!

Getting brave!

The Memphis zoo is one of only three in the country that has pandas so this exhibit is really the highlight. They were cute ... and sleepy!

Gotta love this pose - It kind of reminds me of myself in the morning when Jordan starts getting ready and I know I need to get up but I just want the world to go away!

Not the most flattering picture, but I'm sure these hippos won't mind. These guys are massive! I had no idea hippos are so huge. Their stomachs were literally dragging the ground.

It seems like every time we go to a zoo, there's always some animal staring at my daughter like she'd make a nice snack. This time it was a komodo dragon.

Help!

I'm posting this on Facebook and on my blog because I know some people are on one and not the other! I'm desperately in need of some Mom advice. Maddie's iron was low at her last doctor's appt. so he prescribed some iron drops for her. But she throws up every time she even gets a whiff. I've tried hiding it in milk, lemonade, apple juice and chocolate milk. I've even tried some tough love by just shooting it down her throat. Vomit everywhere. Not pretty. It's getting to the point where she won't drink ANYTHING I give her because she thinks I've tried to sneak the iron in. Any ideas?

Madison Marie

Top 10 Signs You Know You Have a Toddler:

- She runs around the house yelling "No" just because she can
- She insists on helping in the kitchen, with her favorite "chores" being sweeping and unloading the dishwasher, which really just means I now find my kitchen utensils all over the house (or don't find some of them, like my Pampered Chef teaspoon measure that I'm pretty sure now resides in the local landfill)
- It takes 10 minutes to go up or down any set of stairs because she has to do it by herself
- I spend all day answering the question "What's that?", sometimes naming the same thing multiple times
- I often find her in her room, sitting on the floor surrounded by books and reading to herself
- She throws tantrums, which for her means yelling once and then standing very still with her hands over her eyes for a minute or so. Which is fine with me. Usually I can get her to snap out of it by turning it into a game of peek-a-boo
- I can actually pay attention in Church again because she's finally in nursery! And I have to worry about a certain little boy in nursery who pushes her down every time he sees her just because he can. Grrrrrr. I think things like that will be my toughest challenge as a parent. Sometimes I want to push him down just because I can ;)
- She is now HYPER aware of me leaving for work in the morning. Like run-to-the-door-throw-her-arms-up-and-scream hyper aware. Let me tell you how great that makes me feel every morning...NOT
- She seems to have a new word every day, with some of her favorites being eyes, trash, uh-oh, cheese and slide. She also loves to sing!
- There are moments when I wonder why anyone would actually choose to have children but WAY more moments in which I can't believe I'm lucky enough to be her Mom!

We love you Madison Marie!

Hands Off Ladies - He's Taken!

I know I've written a lot of mushy posts lately about Jordan, but I can't help it! He's just that awesome :) So here comes another one!

Last Thursday was SCO's convocation, which is also known as the White Coat Ceremony because it's when the first-year students are welcomed into the profession and receive their white doctor coats. The event is part of SCO's yearly Homecoming festivities and is second only to graduation in importance. It was an exciting moment for Jordan and another step in his journey toward becoming an optometrist! Each student was recognized individually, and then the entire class recited the Optometric Oath. It was a lot of pomp and circumstance, which I loved and Jordan basically just rolled his eyes at! But I know he's really happy to be here and has loved his first month of school. He definitely loves learning about optometry and says that so far it's been easier than undergrad, when he was going to school and working full-time. He even got a 100 on his first test, which earned him a Mickey sticker from his professor and a coveted spot on our refrigerator!!

Anyway, back to the ceremony. We were thrilled that Jordan's parents decided to come out for it and spent a few days with us. We went to the ceremony on Thursday and then to the SCO Homecoming BBQ on Friday among other things. I had to work the Memphis football game on Saturday and we decided not to take Madison to the convocation ceremony (which ended up being a VERY good thing since it lasted more than two hours) so we didn't get to spend as much time all together as we would've liked, but overall it was a great weekend! I can't say enough how proud I am of Jordan and how happy I am to be here supporting him! Oh, and did I mention he looks dang good in that white coat?!

Jordan's big moment - on the stage with SCO President Richard Phillips. CLICK HERE to see the real photo, which is just a tiny bit better picture quality!

Love my future optometrist!

Us with Jordan's parents. It was so nice that they could come visit. It helps us feel like we're still close, even though we're far away!

The Class of 2015 ... Jordan is in the back row (of course) next to the pillar on the right

Close up

The Carpool Gang - Jennie, Braden, Jordan and Ryan

A good-looking group of future ODs

You know what they say - behind every great man is a great woman! These guys (and girls) have pretty much become our best friends since we've been here! It's been so fun to hang out with them and share our experience!