Fishies & Firsts!

First Family Vacation!

Daniel and I married in 2013 and every year we take a Labor Day trip. This trip is normally to some sort of mountainy area and includes some level of camping. This year since we have a 2 month old Della, we opted to stay in a hotel, but we still went to a mountain... Lookout Mountain! We stayed right next to the Tennessee Aquarium and it was so convenient with a stroller to just go right across the street! Our favorite exhibit was the Butterfly habitat, Daniel called it "organized chaos!" There were kids, adults and butterflies everywhere! They would come land on you and it was so cool. 

Shark cage!

In the Butterfly habitat, aka "organized chaos!"

Excited to see the fishies!

At the River Journey part of the aquarium.

Alligator!

Daniel, taking Della off-road... there was a ramp, but thats no fun.

I saw this statue and remembered I had been there for work in '07! Had to recreate by friend Bubba's classic pose!

We spent the day at the Aquarium on Friday, then on Saturday we rode the incline up to the top of Lookout Mountain. What I did not realize is that Rock City is not at the top of the incline... you have to come back down and drive to a different location to get there. So we went up and looked over Chattanooga from the observation deck and went to a show about the Battle for Chattanooga. I would recommend that you pass on that one... it would be more interesting to just read about it on the internet, and it wouldn't cost you anything. The show was basically a scale model/projection show that lasted about 30 minutes... not what we expected. But there is a park up there that probably is a lot cooler, we didn't go due to time constraints. 

on the Incline

Top of the incline, overlooking Chattanooga.

Next, we went to see Rock City (see what I did there 😉). That was really neat and It will be great to go back, just not on a Saturday. It was very crowded, but a really neat place to walk around and get a bite to eat at the top. We would have stayed longer, but with the crowds and a certain football game coming on that afternoon, we headed back after a couple hours and will explore more on our next trip!

Rock City

On Sunday my sister Kellie and her husband Henry came up from Birmingham and we hung out at Mama and Daddy's house, getting ready for the Labor Day creek festivities the next day. My family has land on Bluewater creek and it is a wonderful place to gather! We've been having get-togethers there as a family since I was a small child and it is truly a special place! Labor Day is considered the "close of season" for the creek as it's the last warm weather holiday we gather for.We had my dad's famous chicken stew and got to float down the creek on the picnic table my cousin Rodney made. We ended up having to be rescued, as the battery on the trolling motor died...

the floating picnic table!

Della and Melanie

Wednesday we had Della's two month check up with her pediatrician. Everything seems to be on track, except her weight gain is a little slow. I'm breastfeeding, so maybe I just have skim milk LOL! We will go back in a couple weeks for a weight check to see if she is gaining on track and if not we may have to supplement with some formula. If we have to do that, it's fine, as long as she is happy and healthy we'll do what ever we need to. She had her two month shots and didn't like that at all! She turned  into what we call "red baby" (when she gets upset and turns red all over!) She weighed in at 8 lbs, 1 oz., 21 inches long. She's a perfectly healthy little girl! After the doctor we went to UNA to visit Hadley (one of my previous student workers, and awesome friend!) so she could meet her, then we visited with the Rogers Hall bunch and went to see the Lions for the very first time!

Being a good girl at the doctor's office!

meeting Leo and Una

This week Della is starting to mimic the faces we make at her! I stuck my tongue out at her and she did it back! Daniel doesn't believe me because I didn't get a photo... but it happened I promise! She has lots of smiles and grins for you when you talk to her, especially if you say her name. It's the cutest thing ever!

Seesters!

Daniel had drill Friday and Saturday, so we took it easy around the house, and watched the football games with my parents when he got home Saturday. 

Cheering on the Tide!

We had a lazy Sunday, with a good nap on the couch after church. Della is 10 weeks old today!

Family nap time!

Holding a sleeping baby is a special kind of medicine.

It's crazy that she's already two months old! She's is sleeping about 5 hours at night. I'll take it! She's found her hands and likes to suck on her fingers, and is also getting better at holding up her head during tummy time. Oh, and Bernie got her photo made this week too...

That's all for this week, thanks for reading! Our prayers go out to all the people in Florida and other areas that are in the path of Hurricane Irma, I pray you are all safe and don't have too much damage! 

- Amy