Sweet Home Alabama

We have been non-stop busy since we got here, so I'll have lots of fun pictures to share.  We went to Nashville with my sister, her son and my mom.  We got to go watch my other nephew's school play first and then my sister checked her youngest son out and we headed out to Nashville for the day.  Grayson was so excited to walk around with Jacob (my nephew) and hold his hand.  Jacob is so sweet with him, he always looks out for him and plays with him.  They are so cute together.

We got to go to the Tennessee State Museum.  It was a lot of fun to walk around and see all the different things they had.

Grayson was trying out some of the pioneer children's games.  

Making faces at Daddy!

On our way home we had to stop at Trader Joe's and stock up on some stuff there since that is the closest one to us.  My sister had never been before, so it was fun to show her around.  While we were walking around the store, Grayson and Jacob had to be next to each other in the carts the whole time.  Jacob would hold the carts together to keep them from being separated.  If we tried to separate the carts the two of them would reach their hands out to each other across the aisle.  It was so so cute.

On that Saturday, we went to Scottsboro, where my sister Sarah lives with her family.  They were having their annual Catfish Festival and so we went to check it out.  It was a really humid day, but we still had a good time.  There was an antique car show, lots of vendors, some games for kids and of course a catfish fry. 

There were some dogs available for adoption and Grayson went nuts.  He was so excited to see all of the dogs and he had to run around and pet all of them.

Here we are with my parents at the fish fry!  

Grayson tried all of the food at the fish fry: catfish, hushpuppies, coleslaw and of course oatmeal cream pies!  He loved all of it.  There was a really pretty walking trail that we took to walk back to my sister's house.

Yes, it was very beautiful until I stepped in a pile of fire ants.  Have not missed those guys.  Luckily, Grayson wasn't anywhere near me so he didn't get bit.  My parents took him further down the trail while Trevor helped me to beat the ants off of my legs.  Needless to say my feet were on fire and I had a ton of ant bites on my feet and ankles.  Thank goodness for Benadryl!  Other then that, it was a fun day!

Moving Time

Moving was a little stressful, especially since it was in the middle of finals time for Trevor.  It was a very weird move to plan for.  We subleased our apartment so we packed up our personal things and locked them in the den, then I had to decide what to take with us to Alabama and what to leave out for the sublettors to use.  We were able to get everything done, thanks to some help from wonderful friends and family.  I  had two friends in particular that were so kind, they watched Grayson for me for a couple of hours so that I could get some packing done.  I was amazed at how much I was able to get done without a little 'helper' running behind me and unpacking.  Little Grayson helped us push boxes around and once, he even tried to pick up some of the smaller ones when Trevor was moving boxes around.  It was pretty cute.  

Playing with Daddy while he takes a study break.

One of the times my good friend Jane watched Grayson for me at her house for a few hours.  I went to go pick him up and she said, "either I'm the best or the worst babysitter."  I was confused and then I  saw Grayson standing on a chair playing the piano in her T-shirt.  She said, "it was the smallest shirt I could find!"  I just laughed.  Apparently, Grayson had really wanted to play with sidewalk chalk, but it had rained recently and he had immediately started playing in a puddle and got himself soaking wet.  I had forgotten to pack a change of clothes, but he sure looked cute in her t-shirt.  He was perfectly happy and I didn't care in the least that he had gotten wet.  We are so lucky to have such good friends!

Posing in his new 'outfit'

Trevor was so excited to be done with finals and helped me a ton with finishing up the packing and keeping an eye on Grayson.  They built a fort together and were reading stories in there.  Too cute.  It was a fun break for all of us.

On Mother's Day, we went to church in our old ward (congregation) to see a friends baby get blessed (christened).  It was such a fun time to see people before we left for the summer and a wonderful opportunity to share such a special experience with our friends.  Another of my friends is the nursery leader (children's program) and told me to bring Grayson in.   He had such a fun time and didn't even notice I was gone.  They made cute little Mother's Day gifts and it brought a smile to my face.

Trevor and Grayson cooked me a tasty dinner and Trevor and I watched a movie together after Grayson went to bed.  It was a nice relaxing day and good to spend it with family.  The next day, it was our last day to pack and it was a really busy day.

Grayson stood on top of a suitcase and helped Trevor pack, it was too cute.

The next morning, we got up very early and loaded up the car.  We ended up having to leave a few things, our car was full to the brim as you can see below.  

It was nice because Grayson could reach most of his toys that way and even if he dropped something it didn't really fall far because there was nowhere for it to go.  It was the smoothest trip we have had to Alabama yet.   Grayson took two naps, 2.5 hrs in the morning and then 2 hrs in the afternoon, it was amazing.  We made such good time, we were able to stop and see my sister and her family on the way into town.  We stayed at my parents house that night and our new adventure began!

We moved into our apartment the next day.  There were so many kind and generous people in my parents' ward that lent or gave us furniture so that we are very comfortable in our apartment here.  My mom was amazing also, she is so savy and was able to furnish our kitchen with all the things we would need through garage sale and thrift store shopping.  I was pretty impressed.  We are in a large apartment complex, so it has some amenities which is nice.  There is a gym, pool and some playgrounds.  We are very comfortable even though our apartment is a lot smaller then our one in Charlottesville.