New Orleans

On Fulton Street in NOLA-lights everywhere

My my my, it has been so long. I have absolutely not made time to sit and blog lately. I have so much to catch up on but I'm mainly just going to talk about our recent trip to New Orleans.

In front of St. Louis cathedral

We have been super busy this winter with traveling, Josh Willingham Foundation stuff, holidays, etc. We hosted Will's mom's family over for Thanksgiving so we were busy preparing for that. Then Will had to go to Detroit at the end of November so I stayed with mom for a few days. Then we celebrated my birthday and worked the coat and toy give-a-way at church. Then he was going to have to go to New Orleans for work so I decided to go with him considering Southwest had a flight for $25 one way. Unbelievable deal!! We thought about it and decided it would probably be best if we left Callan while we were gone. It would be good for all of us but also easier traveling with just one kid, etc. It would have been the first time I had left her for more than 1 night. We got his parents to keep her most of the time but my mom drove up for one night so that Jo Anne could go to work. I cried as soon as we left the driveway. Just thinking about her being sad as the days went on and we still didn't come home broke my heart (I bet she didn't even notice). I finally pulled it together and we had a great flight. We drove 2 hours that night to Lafayette for his appointment the next morning. After it we drove 2 hours back to New Orleans for the rest of the trip. I went with him to some of the appointments and just sat in the car.

Lizzie gave us a pretty hard time while we were gone. She isn't the easiest baby anyway but wow! I know some of you are thinking we are getting payback because Callan has been so good and laidback and we agree. Lizzie came out screaming and hasn't stopped much since. Her and Callan are as opposite as day and night so far, in looks and personalities. Lizzie cries...a lot...loud. Callan not so much. Lizzie has colic and still gets up 2 times a night. Callan was sleeping through the night at 7 weeks. Lizzie smiles a lot. Callan, not so much. I'll be interested to see if they stay so opposite. Anyway, the second night we were there Lizzie screamed off and on for 2 1/2 hours. Our hotel was connected to a mall so finally at 11:00pm we walked all 3 levels of the mall trying to get her to fall asleep. FINALLY! We got up early the next day for appointments and she screamed a good part of the time Will was in the hospital. The next night was better but the last morning we were there she still wasn't acting right. She whined and cried pretty much the whole time we waited for our plane in New Orleans. I scheduled her an appointment for the next morning and we went in bright and early to see Dr. Crenshaw. She checked her out but didn't see anything wrong (I assumed it was her ears but it wasn't). She finally decided to do a cath to make sure she didn't have a urinary tract infection. She also did a CBC (bloodwork) to make sure all her levels were good. Everything came back okay except her numbers showed her that it was probably viral. We were at a loss but Friday and Friday night were a little better. Saturday Will's parents kept the girls while we went to the tacky Christmas party with our class and they said she was okay but had screamed some. That night she screamed again for 3 1/2 hours off and on. I finally called the triage nurse and she told us we had clearance to go to the ER (I guess they would send us straight back) but she finally went to sleep around 2:30am so we decided to just wait and take her on Sunday afternoon. We saw Dr. Hamilton and after looking in her mouth he said, "There it is". He saw several ulcers on her throat. Poor baby! He said that she could have had a sore throat for several days before the ulcers even showed up. There isn't anything we can do except for Tylenol...bummer! But she has been so much better. Monday I got a smile AND a laugh so I think we are on the right track. Will had the same thing. He had gone to the doctor Friday thinking he might have the flu but they didn't find anything but Dr. Hamilton looked in his mouth after Lizzie's and saw some in his too. Lizzie really is a sweet baby when she's not sick!

She was having a good moment

Whoops, I was supposed to be talking about New Orleans!! We ate at a couple of great places like Boutin's in Lafayette, The Gumbo Shop and Cafe du Monde (BEIGNETS!!!) in NOLA. But we also ate at some stinky places like Bubba Gump Shrimp. We got to go to the outlets where I fell in love with Banana Republic (never really shopped there before), we got pulled over going 71 in a 45 (no ticket!!) and we got to walk around the very neat city of New Orleans. Although I wouldn't recommend Bourbon Street with a 3 month old....not a lot to offer!

Beignet heaven and the best hot chocolate ever!!

The Real World New Orleans house

I was so excited to see Callan! I cried harder when I saw her than I did when I left her. She was so sweet and sat in my lap for a while and would hold my face and then lay her head down on me. I didn't want to put her down. Will travels a good bit and has left her before so this was definitely harder for me. But don't get me wrong, he's a sap when it comes to his baby girls!

Ready for Christmas!

Her new Elmo panties-potty training coming soon

We are about to be busy with Christmas plans. We have 8 places to go in just a couple of days. It is sometimes more stressful than enjoyable. I am looking forward to spending time with all of our family though. Amy, Scott and the kids will be here in a few days and I absolutely can't wait!!! We have so much fun when we're together. I can't wait for the girls to play together. This will be the first time they have seen each other since they're walking! I can't wait to see Callan opening presents. I can't wait for the wonderful food! So many fun things going on. I've been making homemade cookies and icing like my mom used to when I was little and using my new Christmas cookie cutters (thank you tacky Christmas party prize)!

Outfits thanks to the Friendship Center

The tacky girls


The tacky boys

A little shout out to our great friends Jack, Kimberly, and Henry who are now expecting baby #2 in June. We are so happy for ya'll!

I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and realizes how blessed we all are!

Christmas family photo