N'awlins.

Mike and I celebrated our ninth wedding anniversary yesterday--CRAZY! Nine years! One of the great things about getting married over a holiday weekend is that he's always guaranteed at least a three day weekend. One of our New Year's resolutions was to try to stop complaining about how much we dislike Alabama and try to take advantage of what the south has to offer us. Sooo...we hopped in our car and drove about five ours south west to New Orleans!

Several family members met us there as well, which made the weekend extra fun! I was shocked at how much disrepair there still was after almost 8 years. Very sad. I don't remember watching the news much in 2005 so I read up a lot about Katrina while we were there and my heart was just breaking. I'm so glad so much of the city has been able to recover.

Sidenote: This is NOT a stroller or handicap friendly city. My sister-in-law's mother was in a wheelchair and could not use the side walks the majority of the time due to broken concrete or tree roots. We had the same issue with the stroller but luckily we had taken our BOB with us so it handled the obstacles a lot better than a regular stroller would have. Just keep this in mind while traveling with a stroller or wheelchair.

We stayed downtown and spent the majority of the time in the French Quarter and area. I have never been in a city so alive with music--I LOVED it. We did not get beignets from Café Du Monde (or anywhere else for that matter) and we didn't get to see Marie Laveau's grave--we walked all the way to the cemetery only for it to be closed.

It was HOT (and smelly!) but we had a good time. I used all of my carriers and Hazel did great in the jogging stroller.  We ate a TON of really good food and really enjoyed ourselves. I don't think we'd go back, except maybe to see the city decorated for Christmas. The pictures pretty much tell the story....



On the way to the Big Easy!



Watching the USMC Jazz band perform.

St. Louis Cathedral

Muffeletta Sandwich

Pirate's Alley

My niece, Gabrielle, Hazel and I

The Mighty Mississippi

We walked down one block of Bourbon Street to get to dinner. A stripper (hooker?) thought Hazel was cute.

Good morning, NOLA!

Even Hazel was feeling the music! (This tambourine came home with us. She LOVES it!)

World War II Museum

BBQ Shrimp and Grits

Chicken Jumbalaya



Lafayette Cemetery No. 1

Definitely the most interesting place I've NIP.

Me in front of one of Anne Rice's former houses.

Tootsies

I fell in love with this tradition of having a "Second Line" parade after a wedding.
What a wonderful way to start a new life together!

My First Mother's Day

I used to dread Mother's Day. I hated the stupid commercials that started in April. I hated the displays of flowers and chocolates in stores. At every turn I was reminded that I wasn't a mom, that my body was a failure. But finally, finally....yesterday was different. Yesterday, my first Mother's Day, was a perfect day.

I woke up to kisses from my miracle baby and a message in a bottle--Mike wrote me a poem about motherhood and surviving infertility. It made me cry! I am so lucky.

Our original plan was to spend the entire weekend at the beach but the weather on Saturday was crappy so we just went for the day yesterday. Oh my gosh--so gorgeous! We went to Santa Rosa Beach, near Seaside, FL--where The Truman Show was filmed! The clearest, bluest water I've ever seen. So perfect. It was about 80 degrees, no wind and the water felt awesome!

Hazel wasn't crawling the last time we were at the beach so I thought for sure she'd be all over this time. She was so good! She was happy to stay in our little tent and play with her toys, only crawling away when one of us encouraged her to do so. It was a perfect day.

This stuff feels weird.

This stuff looks weird too.



Does it taste good?

I'm so lucky to have him.

I just love her.

 

 

She was having so much fun!

She loves giving slobbery kisses now!

 I can't even begin to describe how much I love breastfeeding. It is so empowering to know that my body is sustaining Hazel. I love the bonding and love that is shared between us and I love the way she gazes up at me when she nurses. For me, breastfeeding Hazel is the epitome of motherhood. For my first Mother's Day I wanted nothing more than a beautiful picture of me nursing my miracle baby. Mike took several throughout the day but this was my favorite one. When Hazel has kids of her own and I'm old and gray, I will look back on this picture and remember how special our breastfeeding time was, how in love we were.  It was a perfect day.