Hilton Head

After spending weekend after weekend trying to get the house ready for re-listing we decided to take a short trip away somewhere. I did a quick scan on Hotwire and found a deal at a four star hotel on Hilton Head. Since it was driveable in a weekend and neither of us had been there we decided to book it.

Stopping for dinner

The drive went really smoothly, well at least for Lucille. Being it was Friday afternoon Atlanta traffic was miserable like always and it took us awhile to get out of the city! Lucille slept for most of the ride, but we took a few pit stops to feed her and change her.








We arrived at the Omni hotel after dark. We found out quickly the deal was due to a renovation they were in the midst of which meant no pools on location. Not that it really mattered because the weekend proved to be colder than expected. Our hotel room was nice enough, spacious, if not dated. We put together our blow-up pack-and-play and put Lucille to bed while we chatted over some box wine from Target!

Hilton Head is great for golfers and tennis players, but since we are neither, the next morning we abandoned Hilton Head to go explore the coastline and specifically Beaufort, South Carolina. It is a small town I had heard of in an Anthropology class. The area still has a large population of Gullah people, ancestors of slaves with their own distinct culture and language.

Breakfast

Although we didn't actually see any evidence of this, the town was super cute-- just what we were thinking of a seaside get away. We had breakfast at a local's joint called Blackstone's which a great choice on our part. The staff there was all admiring Lucille's "eating" abilities.

Needs coffee!

After breakfast we checked out the sites admiring historic buildings and strolling the waterfront walk. I was happy to see that the historic downtown was still thriving, with lots of restaurants and shops.

 

We also found a small playground where Lucille got to swing for the first time. She.Loved.It.







We also stopped by St. Helena Church which was celebrating its 300th birthday.

 

 We drove around the rest of the afternoon taking the backroads and enjoying the beautiful day. Along the way we saw an abandoned British Fort/beach, Shrimp Shack, and Light House. We did a lot of slinging- Lucille's moved from laying back hammock style to sitting upright (while still supported)- so we could move more freely and so she could see things better.





Lucille was great the whole day, snoozing when we went from place to place. We got back to Hilton Head just in time for dinner. We ate at Low Country Backyard Restaurant and it was pretty good.

We headed home the next day taking the back roads across Georgia. We stopped in Milledgville for lunch and ran into the whole family from Honey Boo Boo. We had just been talking about her in the car because we knew she lived in the middle of nowhere Georgia. We'll have to find that episode and watch it.

It was a wonderful trip and just the bit of fun Pearce and I needed!

The High

Our friends Theresa and Jay invited us to the High Museum for Bank of America Day. This meant you get in free as a member which we both are.

Art!

Pearce and Lucille Enjoying the Day

It was to see the Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera exhibit which was unfortunately you couldn't take pictures of, but I did manage to take one before I realized I was rule breaking!

The illegal photo

Hanging with Jay and T-dog

To Lucille on Your Six Months Birthday

Happy halfsies to you baby!

Lucille at 6 Months

Upset face

 Six months have come and gone in the blink of an eye. At this point in many ways you are already leaning more towards toddler hood. You sit, you stand, you roll. And the a-t-t-i-t-u-d-e. Woo wee little mama, you officially have an opinion on things and will express it. I have had to institute the distraction methods I learned as a nanny to keep you satisfied. We had glimpses of this earlier on, but it is nothing compared to what you dish out now. I have a feeling I will be saying that again!

Sleepy girl

This was a big month for you for two reasons. The first being SLEEP! We had re-instituted the cry it out method we tried when you turned four months, but were more committed to it this time around. The first night you cried for 15 minutes and then waited another 15 minutes before crying for another 45 minutes. It was painful, but at that point I was sooooooooo over not getting sleep I was willing to stick to it! The next day you slept from 8:00pm to 6:30am and continued to do so for about a week until you were up to your old tricks again. This time we didn't give up and pushed through and so for the most part you have been sleeping through the night. And now with the time change you go to bed around 8:15pm and wake up between 5 and 6am for a feeding and then sleep until 8 or 9am. I really hope you keep this up!!!

Carrot Finger

 
The next big thing this month was you started eating food! We are trying Baby-led Weaning approach which basically means we stick a variety of "real" food in front of you and you pick and choose what you want. In the first few months you really just explore the tastes and textures and then spit most of it out. Some bits do get by as evidenced by your diaper. You have had a few gagging spells when something creeps to far back in your mouth for your liking.









When we put you in your seat you get really excited, partly because you sit between your dad and I at the counter top. Your favorite foods so far are tomatoes, broccoli, and oatmeal cereal, although you don't really seem to dislike anything except for maybe bananas. So far you have tried (but not necessarily eaten) strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, banana, oranges, peach, mango, tomatoes,red/green/ yellow pepper, broccoli, carrots, onions, mushrooms, cucumber, bread, tortilla, linguine pasta, brown rice, oatmeal cereal, rice cereal, chicken, salmon, and egg. I am sure I have missed something.

Oatmeal

Broccoli

Reading Books while Standing

Everything else is going great - you are still a long, lean machine who is smiley for most of the day. You can support yourself pretty easily while standing, have already started "walking" with a proper gait while holding onto my hands, and can almost pull yourself up from seated.

Sitting in the crib

Additionally, you can sit on your own for much longer, although you still tip over and cry when you bump your head. Its only a matter of time before you really get the hang of it!

At the Park

You take advantage of tummy time to move all over your mat and at this point you can do pushups, one armed support to look around, and can even scootch backward across the floor.  You also are able to roll your fingers individually on your hand which your doctor was quite impressed with!Can't wait to see what the next month has in store for you! We are having such a great time watching you as you learn and grow!

Family Nap

Lucille at Six Months:

Six Month Stats

- Weight: 15 lb 10 oz - 38 percentile

- Height:  27.63 inches - 97 percentile

- Head:     17 inches - 75 percentile
- Hair: Light brown and growing straight up & starting to show a kink

Milestones
-Sitting
-Roll from back to belly (you still refuse to roll the other way although you can do it)

-You put your feet in your mouth
-Sleep on your belly (you roll over sometime throughout the night)
-Sitting on my hip with the support of the sling
-Nicknames include little momma, baby



Love to you little mama,

Sister's/Auntie's Weekend

At the beginning of February Holly came to visit Lucille for the first time. Well she came to visit Lucille in August, but Lucille decided not to make her debut. As a bonus she timed the visit over my birthday!

She arrived late on Thursday night so unfortunately she had to wait to officially meet Lucille, but she did get a sneak preview of her while she was sleeping which I must say is always incredibly cute, not to mention downright heart melting! We stayed up late that night- waayy past my normal bedtime, but well worth it. It was great to catch up!

While Pearce headed off to work, Holly, Lucille and I got some hangout time in. We hit up The General Muir, the Jewish deli that opened in our building for lunch. I started my meal with a delectable hot chocolate. We then headed to Anthropolgie so I could pick up some stuff for the new apartment. While at the mall I, of course, had to get a green tea soy latte from Starbucks!

Later that day Pearce came home early to watch Lucille so Holly and I could hit up the Jazmin Spa (also in our building) for mani/pedis. It was wonderful to get some pampering done while hanging with my sis. We were all pretty tired so we kept it low-key the evening. Holly got some good playtime in with Lucille and then we headed for sushi at a place nearby. Great birthday- shopping, green teas, mani/pedis and sushi! Who could ask for more!?







The next day Holly and I (Pearce was on call) headed up Buford Highway to try out a Vietnamese place called Lee's Bakery I had read about. It specialized in Banh Mi, a traditional beef? pate sandwich that I had in Vietnam and loved. While we were there we also ordered the shrimp spring rolls with peanut sauce and beef pho, a type of mild soup with noodles.







I would definitely go back to the place for the sandwich.The baguette was fresh and flaky and it was loaded with lots of fresh herbs and veggies (and of course the mystery meat). The spring rolls and pho were mediocre - I could give or take them. The best part was the whole meal was around $13!

Later that day Hol, Lucille and I took advantage of the nice weather and went for a walk in our nearby park, Lullwater. It is actually where the President of Emory lives and is a great perk to have so close. It has lots of trees, a bubbling creek, a small waterfall, and large lake. We sat for a bit to enjoy it.

It was a great time with Hols. We were very happy she could visit and get some good bonding time in with Little Lu and of course us! It made my birthday that much more special. Lucille can't wait for her to come back again!

We Moved!

At the beginning of February we moved into a new apartment. After trying to sell the house with a bab in the fall, we decided this go around to make it easier on ourselves by getting out. This would make it easier to stage, keep clean, and hopefully to sell!

I actually found the apartment while dad was visiting. It is in one of these new live, work, play complexes that I never ever pictured living. Just for sh*ts and giggles I decided to check one of the apartments out. I was pleasantly surprised when we entered. These were definitely not the apartments I remembered from college... granite counter tops, top of the line appliances, gas insulated windows (whatever that means).

The next day we checked out a few rental homes which were all too large, too quirky, or too similar to our home to even consider. On a whim I took Pearce to the complex to check out the apartment- we must have checked out 8 different layouts and on the final one, found what we were looking for. It is a side by side bedroom room layout with great views of downtown, midtown, and downtown. In addition, there were two large bathrooms, two walk-in closets, carpeted floors for Lucille to learn to crawl on, and it was warm!

 

 Add to it the convenience of the actual site: it is walkable to Pearce's work, there is a lovely park nearby, there are a ton of restaurants, a cleaner, a pharmacy, shops, an exercise room, and a POOL! This place just made the most sense, so the next day we signed the lease.

Moving was probably the smoothest move we have ever had, mostly because we had professional movers. We.will.never.go.back. Seriously, it was amazing and very quick, even with a stop at the storage unit. Now, unpacking is a different story. It has been getting settled into the new place, mostly because all our free time has been spent at the Hosea house getting it ready to sell.

We had it cleaned top to bottom and then, professionally staged, and then got a roof leak. We had our handyman fix it which unfortunately negated the staging and then cleaning. And then it rained and rained and rained and our small leak became a big one. After a series of failed attempts we got a roofer our there to fix the leak once and for all (we hope!) and had to go back to clean it again.

So we are finally getting to the point to actually re-list the house and are hoping with the new realtor, new staging, and new price we will get our house sold ASAP. Until then we will be enjoying our new abode to the fullest!

I'll make a new post with a house tour once we get more settled in.

A.