Jon turns 30 and goes flying high!

For Jon's 30th birthday, I wanted to do something big for him.  I mean, you only turn 30 once.  However, we have a brand new kid -- he's great but can be unpredictable and we are "trying" to watch our budget.  So how could I treat Jon to a wonderful 30th birthday weekend AND watch our pockets?  Umm, Chattanooga of course! Maybe not the destination most people think of when planning a 30th party, but they don't know what they are missing!

We developed a secret love affair with Chattanooga a few years back when Jon and friends entered a triathalon there.  The whole town came out to support the racers and we had an awesome time watching the double A baseball team, The Lookouts, get into a collasal brawl with the other team.  It was a place that we enjoyed pre-baby so maybe it would be good again with Calvin.  Rolling the dice here but I thought it would work.

I rented a house on Lookout Mountain and it turned out to have AMAZING views of the valley.  One entire wall of the house was made of windows so you could have the view all day.  At night you can see the little twinkly lights of the small towns in the valley.  It was perfect for us.

For gifts, I went all out.  Jon's big gift was flying up to 4,000 feet in a hang glider at the hang gliding school right next to the cabin.  They have 2 options -- you can jump off the cliff or you can be towed behind an ultralight and then released to glide back down.  Jon's present was the latter -- I wasn't going to pressure him to jump off any cliffs on his birthday! Jon's other big birthday present was a weekend with his guy friends in Chicago.  I figured they could give him the pub-crawling, shenanigan-filled 30th blowout that I couldn't provide.  Fortunately both presents worked out well! Jon discovered a love for hang gliding (once he got over his fear of death) and discovered in Chicago that good friends make for fun times.

We did end up going to the Chattanooga Lookouts Baseball game and we weren't disappointed -- some random couple gave us their extra box seats (awesome!) and it was "Used Car Giveaway" night where they gave away a used car after each inning.  Unfortunately we didn't win a new car but we had so much fun getting into the "small" town community atmosphere that Chattanooga provides.

Calvin relaxing at the cabin

View from our deck

Darby enjoying the sun and cool breeze

Calvin is not impressed with the drop off

And he's off!

Thanks to Koch's Bakery in Chattanooga for making his cake!

Grammy Dwyer comes to visit while I go back to work

So, my dreaded return to work was made easier by a few things:
1. My mother came into town to watch Calvin and help with the transition and
2. I'm working Tues-Thursday for the first month back.

Thank you to my Mom and to my job for being so accommodating.  It has made the transition back not only feasible but much MUCH less painful than if I had to do daycare AND go back full time.  My mom has done an excellent job of LOVING the pants off of Calvin.  His smiles get brighter when she is around and he has so much fun playing with her.  It's awesome to have someone love him as much as we do and know that he is getting that one on one attention he deserves.  She has also been sending me pictures and videos which I LOVE.  It keeps me going throughout the day and I don't feel like I'm missing out too much.  I still miss his squeals and giggles but her videos have helped capture some of them.

The first day back was overwhelming and balancing the pumping to keep my supply up, addressing emails, catch up with co-workers and figure out what my new job is, I haven't had too much time to think about being away from my baby.  I didn't cry at all during my first day back which was a huge success for me.  In fact I didn't wear any eye make up because I feared raccoon eyes would result in some mid-day crying fits.  I got home before 5 and nursed Calvin immediately and he played "shy" with me and would hide under my arm.  Within 5 minutes I felt restored and as if I could completely let my work day go.

One thing that I have learned is that work-life balance is key.  I used to show up to the office early and leave late.  Now I spend at much time at home as possible and hurry back as soon as the clock hits 4:30pm.  Things are still sorting themselves out at work but so far so good.  Everyone has been very welcoming and helpful.  They also coo over the pictures of Calvin on my desk and oblige me when I show them his latest picture on my phone.

Taken on my first day back at work -- so happy!

3 moms in one picture!

Calvin enjoying some people watching on Peachtree

Ultrasound vs. Reality

When we received our ultrasounds we wondered how closely it would resemble our baby.  Especially since we didn't know if we were having a boy or a girl, we spent hours debating either way.  Frankly, I always thought the ultrasounds looked 'masculine' but didn't want to commit and be wrong -- I hate being wrong.

What do you think?

Calvin's First Fire!

Exciting night for us last night! We went to bed at a reasonable time with minimal fuss (10:30ish?), and Calvin slept like a champ, only waking up hungry around 3am. At that point Lisa took care of him, then went downstairs because she couldn’t fall back asleep right away. As she came back upstairs around 3:30am, she asked me if it smelled anything funny. I took a big sniff, agreed with her and promptly fell back asleep….

She woke me up 10 seconds later after investigating a little bit more and looking out our window to find monster flames reflecting off of our neighbor’s windows closer to the end of our complex (20 feet away). We quickly burst into action, me grabbing Calvin, an infant onesie that hasn’t fit him in 6 weeks (I was in a rush!) and a pair of shorts; Lis running outside to check everything out quickly, calling 911, alerting a neighbor and then coming in the house almost relaxed like we were good to go now. She quickly rebounded, realized we were still in an emergency situation and remembered to grab the car seat and the diaper bag that I had overlooked.

As we left the house, both dogs started barking from the smoke and the lights from the fire, and I realized that this was the situation that Bessie had been waiting for her whole life! Bark Bessie! Bark! You bark for 10 minutes when a neighbor brings out their trash can! You almost rip down the door when a package gets delivered by the mail man – THIS IS YOUR TIME TO SHINE! ….

10 seconds of barking and then they were dead quiet…. (to say I was disappointed would be a severe understatement)

So I took it upon myself to run up and knock on some neighbors doors to alert them, and somehow Darby got off the leash. I looked back quickly to her being in complete bewilderment – trying to decide if she should run home, run away or what. Then she saw Lis getting the car ready and ran to her – smart dog.

By now Lisa, Calvin and the dogs were in the car ready to peace out, all the neighbors had been alerted and emergency services were rushing in. We tried to pull out of the driveway, but were not able to go anywhere due to the 3 fire engines blocking our path, so just pulled to a safe spot on the road and let the car running so that Calvin wouldn’t have to directly breathe in what would turn out to be a mixture of plastic/feces smoke.

I don’t want to go on for too long here, so basically what happened next was extended chaos, with all our neighbors just watching and saying hello to each other for the first time. Turns out that the port-o-potty in the back alley (we have had workers in our complex for 2 weeks) was lit on fire, and the end unit nearest to it also had a big whole burned through it.

We ended up with 3-4 fire trucks, 2-3 EMT’s and another handful of cop cars outside of our place, all with sirens flashing. Calvin LOVED it – SO many bright colors.

About an hour in they said we could head back in. It was almost 5am by this time, so Lis and I were up for good. We realized that we had gotten pretty lucky and that we were glad Calvin was hungry when he was and that Lis couldn’t go back to bed. Not sure what I did to help the team, but everyone in the complex was primarily ok, and only some property damage to the end unit.

Exciting night that I hope never happens again!

PS - Another thought I had later on was what if we had not woken up in time. And I don’t mean that as in if any of us had gotten hurt, because that is just depressing. I mean, what would I have done if the flames were leaping up the stairs to our house (only way out) when we realized what was happening. I’ve come to two conclusions – 1, wrap calvin in a wet towel, toss Lisa on my back and I would barrel through the fire with no regard for my own safety, or 2) strap Calvin onto my chest, jump out the guest room window, use the porch ceiling for quick support as I barrel rolled off. I would then land quickly on the 1st floor porch before leaping with a quick roll onto the ground on our basement level – protecting Calvin the whole way obviously. Then talking Lisa through the whole stunt-team-esque maneuver. Pretty awesome all the way around, although I'm not sure why I immeadiately started daydreaming even crazier scenarios...

2 Months Old!

So Calvin is officially 8 week/2 months old! Even though I've spent every waking moment with him, time has still flown by! It's really crazy to look back on the videos we took in the hospital and compare them with what I have currently in my lap.  We have our 2 month check up this Friday and we are all anxiously awaiting to hear about his weight gain.  I definitely can tell that he has been gaining weight steadily by the size of my biceps.  Since learning how to nurse standing up so I can continue to rock him, my arms support him nicely like a frame.  Holding him is a workout!

We had a fabulous Saturday and started the day with a trip to the Green Market at Piedmont.  We got our delicious iced coffee, pastries and relaxed listening to the live music.  We left before it started getting too nuclear hot and received a call from Alice and Adam asking if we wanted to grab lunch.  Sure! We met up with them for a nice lunch and catch up.  Afterwards, we received a call from our friends Whitney and Dan inviting us to an underground food market for dinner.  What's an "underground food market" you say?  That was my question!  Apparently you have to be on this somewhat secretive list and you receive directions the day before the event to the secret location.  A bunch of local vendors show up and you get to dine on their best food for $1-4/plate.  Vendors featured stuffed mushrooms, traditional African dishes, and TONS of delicious desserts.  Since we were on Calvin time, we showed up after most of the dinner dishes had been consumed so our dinner consisted of fried dough and crepes -- yum!

There was a cafe that was open in the back and we ended up headed there.  It turned out to be a very unusual spot -- some might even call it a speakeasy... and that's all I'll say about that.

Calvin went to his first "cafe" and slept the entire time.  It was a very artistic place and somewhere you would see models posing against red brick mill walls.  It was definitely a place where one goes to be inspired.

Afterwards, Jon and I headed home to eat a real dinner and relax.  All day long, Calvin was a good boy and was laid back in many different environments including Barnes and Noble and our local mexican restaurant.

Happy 2 months to my baby boy!