Last Day in Nashville

Last day in Nashville and what would be a better start than breakfast with Duard and Susan. These are 2 of the dearest people we know. Breakfast with Duard and Susan means Duard's buttermilk pancakes...something we hope Jack will know for himself someday soon. Duard invites us both (and now us three) over, but he really just wants me to come and I can choose to bring Alan with me or not.

Lunch was spent in Hillsboro Village with Elisa and Haley...we're hoping our next lunch with them will be in NYC...let's work on this one ladies:)

While I had hoped there would be a suburban Target run in this trip at some point, we just didn't have the time. One more reason not to pack in so many photo shoots...Target. We spent the rest of the afternoon packing and saying goodbye to Melanie and Scott. I think Jack had a lot to say about it. He even tried to show off once more with the longest and happiest tummy time he's had so far (thanks Melanie for teaching me the trick of doing tummy time on the bed).

Goodbye for now Nashville friends and family! We'll see you again soon...I promise!

Day 5 in Nashville

Last day of photo shoots...probably a good thing, since I'm spent. Lesson learned for me: don't schedule 8 photo shoots when you have a 9 week old you're still breastfeeding every 3 hours. Anyways...we had our last morning at Immanuel while I finished up with their Parents Day Out program. Then, we headed off to lunch with Denise and Luke Pastina. Luke was out sick from school for a few days and decided to take one more when he realized it would mean a lunch with the Sherouse's:)

Last photo shoot of the week was with Ansleigh. If you follow my photography blog (http://jennysherousephotography.blogspot.com/) you'll recognize her instantly. I've been photographing her since she was 3 months old and this was her 18 month photo shoot! It's hard to believe. While I was shooting at Sevier Park, Alan and Jack hung out with Uncle Scott (they just can't get enough of each other), Becky and Katie. I got to hang out for a little while too after I was finished.

Our evening was once again filled with great friends. Melanie and Randy were kind enough to invite people over to their home and allow us the chance to hang out and show Jack off once more. It's been so good to see everyone and have them spend a little time getting to know Jack while we caught up on all the Nashville events from this last year.

Day 4 in Nashville

Day 4...it's getting exciting around here! 2 more photo shoots, a night at Immanuel, and dinner with the Greeks...so many wonderful people to meet and introduce Jack to.

My first photo shoot of the day was with Laurie and Indira. I had a great time catching up with them and we were really happy they had a chance to meet Jack before they left town for the week.

After a restful afternoon and an afternoon photo shoot, we headed to Immanuel. It's Wednesday which means family time at IBC followed by youth group. It was fun walking into the fellowship room and seeing so many faces light up at the sight of Jack (and maybe the sight of us too). We really feel blessed to have a continued relationship with this amazing church family and we're glad Jack is already introduced in it.

After church we left for the Greek's. Finally, Jack gets to meet Donna, James, and Lofton...YEAH! I can't say that Lofton was too impressed with his meeting of baby Jack though (please notice the expression on his face in the photo below), I think he was more excited to play with his long lost playmate Alan. Donna's expecting another little boy in September (John Thomas...he and John Daniel will have a lot in common I think), so we can't wait for our next Sherouse/Greek visit!

Day 3 in Nashville

I'm a little more tired starting today than I was yesterday, but we packed it full once more. Alan is my built in babysitter this week, so wherever I go, he and Jack follow:) It was Day 2 for me at Parents Day Out, so Jack and Alan spent the morning once again at Immanuel visiting with more great friends there. After I was through, we headed to lunch with Richard White. Halfway through Rebecca Dover joined us after driving from Knoxville just to meet us and Jack! Rebecca was the very first person to know about Jack last summer, so this was definitely a meeting we had been waiting for.

Lucky for me (since I was pretty spent after only 2 days of travel), the rain cancelled my afternoon photo shoot which meant I got to take a nap and Jack got to spend the afternoon with the Dover women and Alan. It was a good thing too because Jack had his very first play date this evening with one Lindley M Davidson. And of course we got our own "play date" with Sam and Lynette...only 2 months old and we're already saying things like play dates:) It really was the cutest thing though. Lindley is 6 weeks older than Jack and just as cute as can be. It's really fun to watch a baby that's older than him and imagine how he'll be at that stage. She is a happy girl too with lots of smiles and tons of talking. When we got there she was laying on her play gym (one of the coolest play gyms I've ever seen actually), so we put Jack right next to her.

They laid there for quite some time totally content having no idea there was another baby anywhere near them. They'd randomly smack one another (or at least Lindley smacked Jack...she's stronger than he is, but still totally unaware of where she's flailing her arms at the moment) or grab onto each other, but still they had no idea that what they were touching was anything other than the toys around them. We had a great time with Sam and Lynette too:)

I did walk away a little jealous of the space they had for baby Lindley, space which allowed them to have more cool baby gear throughout the house. It's too bad we don't live close anymore, play dates will just have to be a little more planned out now.

Day 2 in Nashville

I have packed my week full of photo shoots and Alan has packed the rest of the time full of hangouts (you can probably tell where this is going). We started the morning at Immanuel. I was photographing their Parents Day Out program which was the perfect time for Jack to meet the staff of IBC and anyone else who was randomly dropping by.

Jack got to meet the first youth of Immanuel...Chris and Rebecca Dean (who else?). It was no surprise to Chris that we headed to Bread and Co for lunch. We have amazing restaurants in NY, but I seriously miss this place and I have to have my fix whenever I'm back in town.

We then headed to coffee to meet Uncle Scott! He had the touch too...Jack slept peacefully in his arms while we hung at Bongo Java (another place I miss in NYC...really I just miss Nashville coffee houses in general).

The afternoon held another photo shoot for me with some of our good friends the Weedmans. Jack and Alan came along (of course). Micah and Jo Ellen are some of the coolest parents we know, so I was all to0 happy to sit and talk for a little while after. Although if you watch the video below, you'll see that Margaret (the youngest daughter) was not too happy that Jack took up any of Jo Ellen's attention.

The evening was filled with more great friends. Dave and Steph and Scott came over for dinner...a perfect dinner date. We had a few extras drop by too...Lynn and the boys:) The evening wasn't nearly long enough, especially since we won't be able to see Dave and Steph again this week, but we took whatever we could get. (I'm thinking an Arnold/Sherouse week in NYC sometime soon:)

Jack had a lot to say to Dave...as you can see!

It's only the beginning of the week...

We're so excited to be in Nashville this week. It's a fitting first trip with Jack. Nashville has a feeling of "going home" for us, something I believe we will always feel with the friends and family we have there. We're staying with the Dover's while we're here and tonight Jack got to meet Melanie and Randy (or "Grandy" if Jack feels so inclined)...his first Nashville introduction. Their meeting was one we have been waiting for since we announced Jack's coming...it's going to be a great week!

En Route to Nashville

Traveling with a child is a whole new experience. We get to the airport earlier, we have 4 times the amount of stuff (or so it seems), security (with our massive amount of stuff) takes longer, getting on and off the plane takes longer...it's just a new way to travel altogether. Alan has a competitive streak of wanting to be the best at airport security, so we tried to act like we had done this countless times before:) Our best move (my best move) was buying a sack for the car seat to be put in before we checked it at the gate...we looked like complete pros there! Jack did perfectly too! He didn't make a peep on the planes and slept during our layover. He did have a bit of a meltdown once we actually got to Nashville, but it was more than fine after his flawless performance in the air.

A Weekend of Firsts

This weekend was Jack's first trip to Brooklyn and his first time as an "activist" at the Parkinson Unity Walk. He loved both experiences (as you can imagine). We loved being in a new part of Brooklyn together and exploring Prospect Park as I scouted out locations for my first Park Slope photo shoot. And we also loved being a part of Team Nancy along with several other members of Metro at the Parkinson Unity Walk.