Nashville at Work

Mr. C has been doing one daily nap more and more lately (down from two), but also waking up at 6am. Are these things related? I don't know. 

What it means for me is that (in addition to starting the day bright and early), I have to fill the morning with amazing and wondrous things in an effort to push back the one nap--my reasoning being that one nap is fine, but not if it comes at 9am. Bedtime would have to be at like 4. So no. 

This is quite a change from our schedule up until now, where the time between wakeup and First Nap was relatively short (read: stay at home, usually in jammies, play, and do the real stuff later in the day). I do not have a lot of tricks up my sleeve, so we're figuring it out together. Let me just say thank the Lord and baby Jesus that it is nice outside now.

Yesterday, he already hated all his toys and breakfast and stupid mom by 7am, so I decided we'd put on clothes really quickly, pop in the stroller, and head out into the neighborhood. I didn't really have a plan (or great supplies), but it was necessary. 

Good morning, machines.

Don't worry, we'll come visit 398 more times today.

Don't I know it.

We had the park all to ourselves. So quiet. 

For a minute.

Hm. What lands shall I take today?

Onward!

My shadow's coming too! He's great!

Then I remembered that GA had moved back to the 'hood, so I texted her that we were at the park. They joined us, and we walked up to check out the new food truck [White's Mercantile almost always has a food truck out front now, but this was my first weekday-morning neighborhood walk AND the bagel truck's first day in the 'hood]. BA and I had just been lamenting the fact that the one thing the neighborhood really lacks is a good breakfast option, so I hope they are here regularly.

We enjoyed our bagels, played some more, and headed home. Along the way we lost a shoe and waved hello to Eddie George, who was out for a jog. He's still enormous, if you're keeping score at home. 

I was sure this was a recipe for a long nap, but C decided about an hour and 20 minutes was sufficient. 

Work continues. 

Happy Accident

I was coming from a meeting to pick up Mr. C from school yesterday, so taking a different route than I usually do. I was not paying attention (par for the course) and missed a turn. I wasn't late (but was overly cautious about pulling a bold U-turn maneuver as I may or may not have gotten a ticket in the same neighborhood last week), so just decided to take a more circuitous route to get there. 

The long way around took me by the Belle Meade Plantation, and out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw a horse or two up by a fence on the side. 

I decided I'd pick up the little man and we'd loop back around to see if I was right, then visit them for a bit.

We pulled in and I didn't see them at first, but as we rounded the bend, we spotted them (further from the fence than before, but oh well).

We spent a lovely moment observing them with some French tourists (one of whom sang C a lovely children's song in French and then I'm pretty sure he wanted to go with her forever).

Pretty ponies on a pretty day. We'll go again on another school day and see if they're regulars. 

Derby Day

When we lived in DC or definitely Boston, we started hosting a Derby party (because why not? Certainly no one else was), and it has been an annual tradition for probably 8 or more years now. Last year was a notable exception, as Mr. C was pretty bitty and we were invited to a must-attend Derby 30th birthday party (eternal thanks to Ashley for letting me off the hook in 2013 and hosting a better party than I ever will!)

This year, though, I felt like I could try to get back in the proverbial saddle again (too much?). So BA and I talked and agreed to give it a go...once invitations went out, we were locked in. In the intervening years, lots of babies and kiddos have joined our friends and neighbors, so we decided to try for a more family-friendly setup. This also helped me downgrade some of the food and prep and make things more casual, which was good. Jury's still out on whether that part was a success, though--we just do not have the yard to safely entertain toddlers, and I think it ended up being an unfair burden on Yaya and the other parents. Back to the drawing board. We're learning. 

Anyway, some pics from a fun and special day. My mom is from Louisville and my dad's family was in racing, so it feels like a natural fit {or like the grown-up version of indulging the little-girl horse obsession}. It's always fun to pull out some of the old family racing items that will rarely get used otherwise. 

Collectively, we went through a lot more chicken and waffles and a lot less booze than I had anticipated. My calculations were way off.

As in years past, Uncle Andy ran the money. Typically we just do a $5 buy-in per horse and it's luck of the draw (as we a) assume most people don't do heavy research and b) don't want to run a complicated (and possibly illegal) betting scheme.

I was especially proud of the WINNER sash I found (except that I ended up winning and am pretty sure everyone was convinced it was rigged...)

I am certain my grandmother definitely envisioned this trophy/punchbowl as a receptacle for kids' fruit pouches and accompanied by sidewalk chalk.

I was very proud of my Derby-themed sensory table. 

Sadly, the kids had basically zero interest.

Mr. C thought it was so nice of us to put out this large tub of ice for him. The best way to play with ice, you know, is to put it in the dirt and then eat it.

Winnings!

My jockey is not impressed.

He was kind of in an overall foul mood (though he DID enjoy watching the horses) and things were pretty hectic, but we did it and we learned and we had fun--I could have used about 46 more cocktails but...parenting--and we'll do it again better next time! It was a beautiful day, the horses ran safely, and we really enjoyed seeing everybody. Also, day parties should be the new cocktail parties. Have some drinks, everything rolls right in to dinner...we were all cleaned up and in bed earlier than usual. I'm sold.

Easter Weekend

All the photos have been shared and Dropbox-ed and what have you, so here you go. Only some weeks late.

Uh, mom? You're so dumb.

Egg "hunt"

One of so many attempts at a group photo...

I DON'T LIKE THE GRASS!

Just paparazzi hounding our children

Party's over?

And then on Sunday...

The Easter Bunny came!

 Babiators.