Pigeon Forge to DC

Matt occupied his 8hrs stuck in the passenger seat taking tons of photos!

Sleeping Beauties & Yazoo

Do you remember when we lived in Nashville and "lived" at Hotel Preston for a couple weeks? I do: our A/C died, it was super hot and I was 18wks pregnant. Hotel Preston has very comfortable beds. Do you remember our sweet little dog catching some Zzzz's?Abigail slept all night in her pack-n-play and woke, as usual, super early to get her morning milk. (It was actually an hour earlier than normal because Nashville is Central Time Zone.) Well, on this fabulous morning, Abigail actually went back to sleep. She snuggled with her daddy, it was so sweet. Matt eventually got out of bed and Abigail was not disturbed. When I finally tried to wake her she was not interested! (I snapped on my cell and sent it to a few via text message.) Next, I decided to unbutton her pajamas, thinking it would surely wake her. It did not and she just rolled over and made herself more comfortable.
I love that little pose, it reminded me of her first photo-shoot.In the meantime, I received a reply picture text from my cousin Marisa. Melina was just as sleepy this morning!

It was great spending a night in Nashville. We were able to see some friends and old co-workers; and even made a stop at the new Yazoo brewery location. After looking over Matt's pictures, I'm insanely surprised how few pictures he took!
The new bar, with many more taps!
Brian and Brandi working the bar.

A beer named Sue, the menu and Matt's beers. Even though there are more taps, the line is even longer than at the old location. Matt would get two beers so he was standing in line half the time. He was a little disappointed that they do not sell cases from this new tap room.

I thought there was a picture with Matt in it too, but maybe it was taken with someone else's camera. I cannot believe Matt did not get a picture of Clint & pregnant Fernanda!

Matt's Last Day at Philips

As March came to a close, so did Matt's time at Philips. He put in a lot of long hours those last three days finishing up a big project while I hung out with Abigail as she cut her molars. Poor girl was so sad! Matt and I both had dentist appointments so he took Abigail to work while I got my teeth cleaned.



The three of us went for lunch at Mellow Mushroom. Our poor girl hadn't barely eaten anything in a couple days and was so cranky but cuddly. Motrin helped a bit in the relief department.



Abigail had no interest in our cheese calzone (YUM!) and ended up snoozing a bit on her daddy. This was great because she's not always nice to daddy.



Matt ended up working late on his last day! He has amazing work ethic. Then he met his co-workers for a few beers at Fado in Buckhead. Matt said it was nice since some of the co-workers let go in August even joined in on the fun. Here's some pics, even though the only one who knows these people are Matt.

Not Enough Time? Just Post Photos...

Alright, so life in the Barnes home is a bit hectic right now, especially with my last official work day with Philips Design is this Wednesday. I'm saving up any comments on that until that day comes, and since it's impossible to update everything else at 12:30am on a Monday morning (Sunday night, basically), then I figured I would at least give you guys some photos to enjoy. Of course, more to come once I get time to upload and post. Enjoy!

On March 9th, Abigail and I enjoyed some afternoon time playing around at Marietta Square...

Since Springtime has arrived in Marietta, we've been spending more afternoons outside. These photos are from our last two visits to Laurel Park...

Again, more to come, so stay tuned...

A Video for Grandma

Fun at Little Bears

Abigail and I enjoyed at playdate with friends at Little Bears today. Little Bears is an indoor playground with lots of "new" (different) toys!

Climbing on some 'blocks'...
Playing with puzzles, really just playing with the puzzle pieces...
Taking a break from play for a goldfish snack...
Trying to eat some bubbles...
The kids LOVE when it's time for the bubbles!

Abigail had needed help getting on this structure, I was shocked when I saw she was up there! I thought Sabrina (the cute little blonde) had assisted. Later, after taking video, I saw someone had pushed a little step stool next to the structure to assist in climbing. Ah-ha!

Monday & Tuesday

Monday started out not so great. Matt, before he even left for work, offered to let me go to Zumba in the evening while he got some solo daddy-daughter time. When I returned home Matt had heated some left-over Pastina for Abigail. He ended up mixing the Pastina with some plain yogurt and while it doesn't sound appetizing, Abigail enjoyed it!

Today Abigail and I joined some friends at a playdate in the morning. Abigail fell asleep on the ride home and actually took a FABULOUS nap! So fabulous that I was able to check my email, unload the dishwasher, wash some pots and do a load of laundry!

I also read a few chapters of The Art of Racing in the Rain for my mom's group book club. I have been very behind on my reading! Our meet up has actually been postponed two weeks already and I'm still not finished with this book. It's a good book, maybe not something I would have chosen on my own, but I'm liking it. Abigail's one nap transition hasn't allowed me to accomplish everything I'd like/need to do during that time frame. Thank goodness today was different!

Even after Abigail woke, she was in a great mood - which isn't always the case. I sat Abigail in her high chair (which she's fought for the last few days and didn't!) and she snacked on some strawberries and blueberries. I was able to make Rice Crispy Treats and Banana Split Cookies. When she was done with her snack, she would roam around the kitchen looking out the door and going up to the oven saying "hot". She loved the ovenmits after seeing me use them to pull the cookies out of the oven!

Matt felt another tooth on Sunday night. It's on her top right, this is tooth #9. We think it's one of her molars, and hopefully this is the cause of her recent crankiness and irritability! I guess we'll find out as the week goes on...and on and on!

Weekend Videos

Last week, my cousin Stephen came up for a couple days last week to visit. Abigail had a lot of fun playing with her Godfather! Unfortunately, the weather was super yucky so we were unable to go to Zoo Atlanta like I had originally planned. Instead, we played at home in our pajamas!

I think this video is from Friday night. Daddy & Abigail had some fun together.

Saturday we attended Desmond's First Birthday. Since I think Kristi is the only reader who knows Desmond...he's the son of Matt's college friend Julie, and her hubby Shawn Hoffman. Their last name is the password to these next two videos. Sorry, the quality isn't that great on the videos! I was kneeling and my knees did not want to cooperate...and the blinking red light wasn't from my camera. I'm sure Matt has some photos he'll add at a later date.

Abs and I ventured to Publix for a couple items and picked up Chick-fil-A on the way home. While she doesn't eat a whole lot of meat, she'll usually eat some nuggets from Chick-fil-A. I guess all rules are off when we're home compared to eating at one of their restaurants or at the mall. Instead she snacked on a fry, and decided to also slide. She was holding the fry in her mouth as she climbed then let the fry slide before she did. She's done this with toys or shoes before, so I grabbed my camera and was interrupted...well, you'll see.

In Need of a Photo Update???

Alright, so I admit, I've been slacking in the "posting photos" department lately. Of course, I have been a little pre-occupied lately with the whole jobby-job situation, but I'm still amazed at how many photos I am posting with this blog tonight. So without further adieu, here they are:

Fun Daddy-Daughter time in the sunroom:

Back on February 27th, we visited my grandfather, Paw Paw Crenshaw in LaGrange. At the time he was in rehab, hence the hospital-esque setting. Anyways, this was the first time Abigail had seen her great-grandfather since his surgery back in December. Needless to say, the both of them really seemed to enjoy each others company.

Slowly we've been seeing early signs of Spring, and back on March 1st I came home from work to be greeted by little Miss Abigail outside. Since it was an incredibly beautiful afternoon, I grabbed my camera and the two of us walked around the back and front yard getting some fresh air. Of course, the very next day we got snow. Go figure!

Although things are beginning to wrap up with my job at Philips, it seems as though my work pace has yet to really drop off since I am still working with clients on a consulting project up until the end. And because of those clients and this project, I made a little trip to San Francisco last week, which of course was way too hectic and short for me to truly get a true taste of the bay area. It doesn't mean I didn't take photos, though, and yes I have an itch to get back someday soon with Abs & Jill.

So this is where I'll stop this blog since it's getting late here and the time change (losing an hour) happens tonight for Daylight Savings Time. Stay posted, though, because I have lots more photos to share including our trip to the Smokies for our 4th Anniversary. Goodnight, everyone!

Indoor Playdate

There are plenty of places in and around Marietta to have indoor playdates, without being in someone's home. It's a nice change of pace, to get out and play with someone else's toys! Monday we trek'd a bit north of Marietta to DAC Kids, a pirate themed playground, to play with some friends from MOPS. This place was crazy!

I walked in and was taken aback because there was a huge wooden play structure (think 8302 Palma Vista Lane playground but on major steroids). It was complete with cargo netting and ladders to climb and a fireman's pole to slide down. Oh, before I describe any further, this structure is 'growing' from a giant sandbox! There are stationary air cannons that shoot little foam balls (slightly smaller than a tennis ball but really light). And no indoor playground would be complete without inflatable jump houses.

Abigail had no interest in the sand! She really didn't like it, but she loved the jump house.