A Trip Down Memory Lane

Last Wednesday we headed to Nashville to kick off Thanksgiving. We dropped Jack and Sophie off at Nanna's house and Daniel and I headed to Brentwood for a date. As we drove, I searched for a place to eat and was surprised to discover a Brixx Wood Fired Pizza in the area. I looked it up to see if it was our Brixx, the one that is based out of Charlotte, NC. And sure enough, it was. Evidently they have really expanded and have quite a few locations outside of Charlotte these days.

Once our decision was made, we hurried into the restaurant to escape the rain. As we waited for our food – we always split a Chicken Florentine Pizza – we reminisced about Charlotte...

The very first time we ate at a Brixx restaurant was 10 years ago. We had gone to Charlotte for Daniel's final interview with LandDesign and we were exploring the city. We were young and had no idea what the future held. We had been married for almost 2 years and were trying to determine what would be the best direction for our lives after Daniel graduated. 

We liked Charlotte, it's a beautiful city. We liked the thought of living downtown, within walking distance of Daniel's work. It was a point in our lives where we thought moving away would strengthen and grow our marriage. We didn't know a soul, which was intimidating but also exhilarating. In the end, Daniel accepted the position and we made the move over the mountains.

This meant I had to leave a good position working in the marketing Department of U.S. Stamp and Sign. It meant Daniel went without me to move all of our belongings into storage and pick out an apartment so I could wrap up my job. It meant saying goodbye to so many we loved. But it also meant a fresh start on our own, to figure out our own way in life.

Charlotte had its ups and downs for us. We found a church and small group that we grew to love, but we spent several years feeling lonely. The loneliness helped our marriage to grow as we mostly had each other to rely on, but it was hard.

It's been 10 years since that interview. We have since moved 4 times, purchased 3 houses (Charlotte, Hollywood, Signal Mountain), lived in a camper, lived in hotels, got a dog, had a child, and had many adventures along the way. We lived in Charlotte for 5 years, that's a record for us!

Thank you for the trip down Memory Lane, Brixx!

A Week in a Hotel with a Baby and Dog – What We Learned

Traveling to Charlotte, NC with Daniel so that he could attend the NA-YGN conference was a learning experience for all of us.

This was our first time to take a trip, as a family, that lasted more than 5 days. It was our first time staying in a hotel with a baby. It was our fist time staying in a hotel with our baby and our dog. It was our first time to exclusively use disposable diapers (since starting cloth at around 8 weeks). It was the first time (in a long time) that we had to take Sophie on regular, daily walks (at home, we just open the back door and let her roam our 3-acre property to her heart's content). It was our first time to eat at restaurants for every meal for an entire week.

So how did it go?

Overall, I'm going to say that we learned a lot and would do some things differently in the future. There were some tough days, but overall I am glad we were able to tag along. I don't know that we would go on a work trip with Daniel again, but it was nice to visit our old city.

What we learned:

1. Rule #1: on any road trip, as long as the baby and dog are both asleep, keep driving. 

We would have LOVED to stop at NOC to watch the rafters, grab lunch and let Sophie roam around, but when your babies are asleep, sometimes you have to forgo fun stuff and keep on driving.

2. In the future, we will try to stick to renting houses whenever possible. 

Hotels are tough. Having a baby in our room was tough. We stuck the pack 'n play in the bathroom, but that meant we had to plan showers, teeth brushing and other bathroom activities around a sleeping baby.

Also, trying to get in and out of the hotel, via an elevator, with a dog and a stroller for multiple daily walks was hard. Thankfully most of the people that road the elevators with us were pretty laid back about having to ride with a dog. Maybe they were just distracted by the cute baby.

3. To some degree, nap times and dog walks are going to dictate what you will be able to do.

We have a pretty flexible schedule with Jack, but we still try to make sure that he gets at least one good nap every day. I was really hoping that he would nap in his stroller on at least one of our daily walks with Sophie, but that was rarely the case... I guess there was too much to look at.

I had hoped to visit more museums and shops, and while I did get to go to the Mint Museum and IKEA, I decided for the good of everyone, naps for Jack were more important. I try to find balance when it comes to my baby. It is important that we get out and enjoy activities, but it is also important that he gets rest.

Sophie needed to get out at least twice a day. We tried to walk her in the mornings, then again around dinner time and/or around bed time. Daniel had to walk her in the rain at night on more than one occasion.

4. Diapers. 

Wow. This turned out to be our biggest problem. For four nights straight Jack kept waking up multiple times throughout the night. I would have to change his wet diaper and then he would fuss, so I would give in and nurse him back to sleep for the sanity of Daniel and anybody staying in adjacent rooms. I, on the other hand, was losing my mind. I was also concerned that a week of "training" to wake up and nurse multiple times every night was going to mess us up when we got home.*

FINALLY, we decided to try Pampers Baby Dry overnight (12-hour) diapers. This was a game changer. We had no idea that we would need different kinds of diapers for just a week, but regular disposable diapers were not cutting it. We made the swap (at the end of the week) and we got our good sleeper back. This made everyone happy.

Now that we are home, we are thrilled to be back in cloth diapers. I had to change diapers more often with the disposable and we had some near fiascoes when we were out and about. I already loved our cloth diapers, but now I appreciate them even more.

*Thankfully Jack has resumed his normal sleeping schedule without incident. Whew.

5. Eating at restaurants was surprisingly easy.

We only had one meal that was a near disaster. Thanks to our experience with baby led weaning, we just offered Jack whatever was on our plates and he did great. 

Our one not-so-good night was when we ate with Daniel's colleagues from TVA. We all walked to McCormick and Schmicks. Jack started the evening out happy, but he had missed his afternoon nap completely. About 10 minutes after sitting down at our table, Jack was done. Daniel and I had to take turns eating our meal and sitting with Jack outside. If it had just been us, we would have gone home early. 

To top this off: as soon as our food came, a monsoon started. I'm talking torrential downpours and loud thunder. Thankfully there was an awning outside to sit under. We hoped it would clear up, but after two hours, it was still going strong. 

Daniel took a shuttle with his co-workers back to the hotel while Jack and I waited. It made for some interesting people watching as no one wanted to get out in the rain. When Daniel pulled up, I had to run through the rain to the street where I handed Jack to Daniel and then I had to go back for our stroller (which we could not collapse). Daniel ended up throwing a fully open stroller into the back of our Subaru. Fun times. 

I am looking to taking a real vacation one of these days. We have been incredibly busy this year and could use a break. It was nice to visit Charlotte, but it didn't feel like a vacay.

Charlotte – Parks

The Green

One of the things we miss most about Charlotte is the abundance of parks, greenways and green spaces found throughout the city. It always amazed us that the streets and parks were always pristine and you rarely found trash anywhere.

The Green

On this trip to Charlotte, we went on many walks {mostly out of necessity since our dog was along for the trip}. Most frequently we walked the two blocks from our hotel to The Green, a small park next to St. Peters Catholic Church in uptown Charlotte. It is a small 1.5 acre park, but perfect for getting Sophie out of the hotel without a whole lot of effort.

Fountain in front of St. Peter's at The Green

Daniel took a longer walk with Sophie from our hotel to Marshall Park at least once.

View of uptown from Frazier Park

 

A couple of times, I drove over to Frazier Park in Third Ward, which is a part of the Irwin Creek Greenway and has a dog park. I used to take afternoon walks at this park when I worked uptown since it was right next to where I worked.

 Freedom Park

I also drove over to Freedom Park, which is a part of the Little Sugar Creek Greenway. I have no idea why we didn't spend more time at Freedom Park when we lived in Charlotte. We sometimes used the greenway system to bike home via Myers Park, but didn't spend much time in the park itself. It is a gorgeous park.

 Freedom Park

We also made a special trip out to the McAlpine Creek Greenway which is close to our old neighborhood. Having a greenway {or forest} with access from {or close to} our house is on our must have list for the next house we buy.

McAlpine Creek Greenway

Daniel also went and checked out Romare Bearden Park, which is currently in the early stages of construction. This particular park holds special interest to him since he worked on some of the civil engineering for this park when he worked at LandDesign.

Other parks we love in the Charlotte area, but didn't have time to visit, include: The U.S. National White Water Center – has rafting, mountain biking and climbing walls; Colonel Francis Beatty Park – we loved mountain biking at this park; Fourth Ward Park – close to our apartment when we lived uptown; and finally Crowder's Mountain State Park – a bit of a drive from Charlotte, but on a clear day you can see the Queen City from the pinnacle.

Jack is Nine Months

Jack turning 9-months old seems extra special. It took 9 months in my womb for him to be ready to enter this world and now that we have reached the 9-month mark on earth, it all seems very surreal. Those first weeks when his life was taking form, we were completely unaware that this little guy would enter our lives or that he would change us in such a profound way. It took 9 months to grow him and for the past 9 months we have felt like scientists who have been given front-row seats to observe the awesomeness of an infant growing into a child. It fills us with wonder and amazement every day...

At the beginning of the month, Jack got his first tooth. One of his bottom front teeth. It was a tough couple of days, but thankfully we all survived. Within a week, his second bottom tooth had broken through.

His newest food experiences include: Chicken, Grilled Cheese, Peaches, Ham, Rice, Quinoa, Mashed Potatoes, Black Beans, Green Peppers, Watermelon, Cantaloupe, Grapes, Noodles, Blueberry Puffs, Yogurt Bites, Bagel, Strawberries, Olives, BBQ Pork, Pancakes and Oranges. Our little munchkin loves to eat.

Jack continues to make a variety of sounds. This month he picked up the "fa" and "goo" sounds. He seems to latch onto a sound and will say it repeatedly for days. So far he consistently says, "ma ma ma, da da da, fa fa fa" and "goo goo goo." He also started to make gurgling noises and has really been chatting up a storm, trying his best to talk. There are some other random babbles he makes that combine different sounds, but ma, da, fa and goo are the most common.

Jack is officially a crawler.

Another milestone is that he learned how to sit up from a laying down position. A few days after he started crawling, I went into his nursery when he was supposed to be napping and found him sitting up in his crib. It still takes me by surprise when I see him sit himself up. He is also pulling up like crazy on everything, using whatever he can get ahold of.

Separation anxiety was a new thing at the beginning of the month. I have a feeling it was connected to teething. Thankfully he doesn't have it all of the time -- we can leave him in Bible class at church and he is fine. But occasionally we have experiences where he just wants Daniel or me to hold him. The funniest experience to date was at Target: Daniel was pushing Jack in a stroller and whenever Jack could see me {i.e. if I walked in front of the stroller} he would cry and fuss. But if I stayed out of sight, he would be fine, even though he could still hear my voice.

This month we saw many of our relatives. Grandpa Moore continues to come and visit us every other weekend. 

We made a special trip to middle Tennessee to visit Jack's Great Grandmother and her husband, Mr. Ralph as well as {surrogate} Great Aunt Thula and Uncle Bubba. 

We also saw Jack's Nana, Great Aunt Trine, Aunt Amy and Aunt Emily.

Grammy and Grandpa Voyles came to visit us in Alabama and then we went to visit Uncle Mark, Uncle Robert and Aunt Angela and cousins, Izzy and Levi, in Nashville. 

We continue to feel tremendously blessed that we live close to both of our families.

Jack got to go on his first swim when we visited cousins. Sadly Daniel missed out on this.

The last week of the this month, we went to Charlotte, NC so that Daniel could attend a conference for work. Having a baby {and dog} in a hotel room for a week was quite the challenge, but we all survived. 

Jack has a thing about sticking his little tongue out. He has done this since he was born – early on it indicated hunger, but now it accompanies his grins and smirks. It is a little pointed at the end and so sweet, especially when he appears to be concentrating on something.

Jack is proving to be quite the little flirt. He will smile at anyone and will typically grin and bury his head in my shoulder when girls smile at him. Perfect strangers talk to us all of the time because of this sweet little trait. He will also let just about anyone hold him. On our visit to Charlotte, he went right to many of our old friends. He also likes to play the game where he lets one person hold him for about 10 seconds and then he wants to be passed back and forth between two people.

Jack finally figured out how to wave to people. He loves to wave at everyone. People love to wave back to him. Anywhere, everywhere, Jack now waves. 

One thing we are discovering is that Jack is truly a people person. Daniel and I often discuss whether or not this is a trait inherent to babies or if Jack is truly a social butterfly in the making. Daniel and I have a tendency to go about our lives, generally ignoring the world, in an effort to accomplish the tasks at hand. Jack forces us to slow down and interact with perfect strangers on a daily basis. We are learning that engaging with people, even strangers, is a good thing. We are trying to get better at it.

End of month stats:

Height: Don't have numbers but he is getting really long.

Weight: As of today and he is 22 lbs.

Clothes: He comfortably wears size 12 month clothes {and some 18 month stuff} and has been using size 3 diapers for awhile now {whenever we use disposable}

Foods: We continue to introduce lots of different foods.

Words: He continues to make lots of different sounds.

Movement: He is definitely crawling now. Baby proofing is our top priority.

Teeth: Two bottom ones have broken through.

*I will be writing monthly updates of Jack with pictures of Jack and the Tonka truck on the 11th of each month. One Month Old. Two Months Old. Three Months Old. Four Months Old. Five Months Old. Six Months Old. Seven Months Old. Eight Months Old.

Charlotte – What It's Like to Come Back

So after two years, what's it like to come back? In a lot of ways it's the same but it is also different. Our very first trip to Charlotte was for Daniel's second job interview. We stayed in a hotel uptown and I spent our visit wandering around on foot. 

This time we are here for Daniel to attend a conference for work and once again we are staying in a hotel uptown. Again I find myself left to my own devices, wandering the streets on foot.

In 2004, I discovered that I was essentially alone on the city streets, with few places to go to... just tall buildings filled with banking professionals. I remember visiting the Mint Museum of Craft and Design and getting a coffee at the lone Starbucks located uptown. I barely saw a soul except during the noon-time hour and the occasional group of people taking coffee breaks. 

These days center city is a bustle of activity – apparently all day long. There were less suits and more moms. I have always been drawn to the green spaces and abundance of fountains in uptown Charlotte – this is still one of my favorite things about the Queen city.

Once again I visited the Mint Museum, but at it's new location. Eight years have passed and now I have a 9-month-old in tow. Some mornings I had Starbucks for breakfast, other days I grabbed my favorite coffee at Dean & Deluca. I also indulged in Amelie's French Bakery.

 

On this trip, we were familiar with the city and had no trouble buzzing around the city, visiting our old haunts and seeing old friends.

I took the opportunity to stop by one of the company's I used to work at to visit old colleagues. Many were still there. Many have moved on. The building itself was different: walls have come down, teams have traded areas in the building. Like the city, it was the same, but different.

Charlotte – How We First Came to the Queen City

Charlotte, North Carolina is a special place for Daniel and I. It is the first big city we lived in and really our first time to feel like we were on our own and truly grown up, not just two kids playing house.

We initially came to the Queen City when Daniel received a job offer from a landscape architecture firm as a civil engineer. It was February of 2004 and the economy was doing great. We didn't know a soul and our closest family members were 7 hours away. We were still newlyweds, married just over two years at the time. We didn't really know what to expect. I left a good job in Cookeville, TN and we threw ourselves into the task of becoming adults...

We rented an apartment uptown, two blocks from Daniel's firm. At the time, there was very little happening uptown after the hours of 5pm. The banking community would have a mass exodus from center city as employees fled the downtown area. It was actually kind of bizarre to live where we lived. It was great for Daniel in terms of proximity to work, but at the time, we didn't really feel like we lived in a city. 

After 9 months of listening to the trains rumble by our apartment in 4th Ward, we finally took the plunge and bought our first house... a fixer upper in South Charlotte. It took us 5 years to renovate that house. A lot of blood, sweat and tears went into it. Also a lot of love. 

During the course of our time in Charlotte, I worked as a graphic designer for a real estate company and a product development company; I also freelanced from home and taught at a local community college. Our years were full and we generally felt blessed.

We found friends and community in the form of a small group from our church. We didn't always feel connected at church itself, but the weekly meals and bible study in our friend's homes made us feel like we had a place.

In 2009, with the collapse of the economy and the housing market, Daniel experienced a layoff. It was not unexpected, but a layoff is hard nonetheless, even when you know it is a real possibility. Our last year in Charlotte was a difficult one, but after 12 months of nose-to-the grindstone searching, Daniel found a job in a new industry in a new state and we left the city that helped us become "grown ups." This was also when we got Sophie – our beloved dog that has changed our lives forever.

This week, we have come back for our first visit {together} in more than two years. A lot has changed –for one, we now have a wonderful little guy who has brought us abundant joy– but a lot is still the same.