Things I LOVE Thursday!

I love
 

 
 
It's actually one of my favorite cities, and as you know, I've been to A LOT of cities. My girlfriends and I went on a road trip through Tennessee back in 2006. We started in Chattanooga, stopped in Knoxville, Gatlinburg/Sevierville/Pigeon Forge before finally ending up in Glorious Nashville. We arrived just in time to attend the last three concerts of the CMA Festival which had been taking place there all week. As someone who loves country music to the core of her soul, I can honestly say those three days were some of the most fun I have ever had. We got to meet Elvis (who fell in love with Brenna), watch him perform at the famous Sun Records where musical legends like Elvis (the real one obviously! lol), Roy Orbison, Conway and Johnny Cash got their start. We got to see Nashville's famous Broadway street which is home to legendary honkytonks such as The Bluebird Café, The Station Inn and even attended a party for Tim McGraw and Faith Hill at the Wildhorse Saloon; although we never actually saw them! We also attended the final three concerts at LP Field which featured some of my favorite acts: Miranda Lambert, Martina McBride, Blake Shelton, Sara Evans, Brooks & Dunn, Montgomery Gentry, Trisha Yearwood, Carrie Underwood, Sugarland, and so many more...it was amazing to see so many acts all in one place and if you are a country music fan it is definitely something you should add to your bucket list. I am actually hopeful that I will one day make it back to both Nashville and the CMA Festival because there are still some things there that are left on my bucket list; I'd like to see a show at the Opry and the exhibits at the Country Music Hall of Fame. I'd like to actually have a beer at The Bluebird or Tootsie's because unfortunately, we didn't get a chance to do either of those and maybe, fall in love a little more with country music...but I doubt that is even possible!

 

 

I don't have a lot of photos left on Facebook from that trip, and the rest are in a scrapbook at my parents house BUT I did find these two!

I LOVE Nashville, the series!

 Last night I watched Nashville: On the Record which featured some of the music from the show and served as a great reminder as to why I A: love the show, and B: love Nashville in general! These are a few of my favorite songs:

 

Black Roses is such an incredibly haunting song and Clare Bowen kills it.

Again, Clare Bowen, this time joined by Sam Paliadio for When The Right One Comes Along which in all honesty, might be one of my favorite songs EVER.

 

 

A Life That's Good is a beautiful song and was written by Ashley Monroe (Pistol Annie's) and Sarah Siskind who actually went to school with Chad!! I just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this song!! It's got a great message behind it!

 

                                 Basically, I watch Nashville for the music and well, this guy!

Just a little bit of Deja Vu

Lily at 5 months old.

 

                                                                Ava at 5 months old.
 

 

 

There are times that I feel as if I am looking at the same baby. In fact, I've caught myself calling Ava her sisters name more than a few times. It might be those same ocean blue eyes staring back at me, or that sweet bubblegum nose I recognize. It might even be the way that when Ava smiles her entire face lights up just like her sister or those dimples which line both of their cheeks. It's the way they are/were both such happy babies: always laughing, always smiling, always making googly eyes at their Daddy. Maybe it's that they have identical birthmarks: Lily's is on the lower part of her leg, while Ava's is near her butt yet they are the same shape and the same size. It comes in the form of a compliment, the same one for each one, that they look like doll babies or the fact that they really do. It's the sweetness in both of them, the kindness in their eyes.  

 

However, my little Deja Vu babies could not be more different from one another.

 

For starters, while her sister was born with black hair (yes, black) and went bald almost immediately before growing into the beautiful tow headed child you see today, Ava has held onto her red hair (yes, RED) for quite some time now and even though it is slowly turning blonde she remains my little firecracker. :)

 

 Firecracker is also my favorite way to describe this little biscuit since she is the most vocal and feisty baby I have ever met; always talking, always laughing, always making dinosaur sounds! lol I feel pretty grateful that neither of my girls have ever been overly fussy unless it's necessary (feed me, change me, my gums/teeth hurt, etc.) but while Lily was always content, especially when all her needs were met, Ava needs your attention AT.ALL.TIMES and she will yell/babble at you until you give her your undivided; which is totally fine by me, my Indian name is "she who spoils babies" after all. ;) Lily was also my late sleeper (she still is), and she started sleeping through the night very early on. Whereas, Ava is up at the crack of dawn and really enjoys 3am party sessions! Speaking of party sessions, Lily and I found our breastfeeding groove pretty much right from the get go, but Ava and I had to really work at it in order to find what worked best for us...and it wasn't easy, I'll tell you that! Lily always preferred the left boob over the right boob whereas in order to get Ava to take the left boob I literally have to flip her upside down and sideways.  Lily loved being swaddled, Ava acts as if I've placed her in a torture chamber. Ava loves tummy time, Lily couldn't stand it. Lily ran fevers while teething, Ava just drools and boy, does she drool!!  

 

They really are so very different but, so much the same and it really has been such a blessing discovering all the things about each of them that makes them unique while also getting to watch the things that inherently make them sisters....like those ocean blue eyes!