This post continues our trip back east where we stayed with Stacey and Matt in the Nashville area and visited my parents. Porter and I LOVED spending time with Simon (my nephew, his cousin) and of course my beloved twin Stacey and her Mathew, and my Mom and Dad. Uncle Matt does lots of fun things like take the boys for a ride in the cooler.
Whoo-
hoo!
The
Gilday's have two cats who Porter was fascinated with but they didn't appreciate the toddler attention so much. Whenever he saw them he would do the sign for "cat" and say "
Moow" for "meow". Porter got too close to Maddi once and she swatted at him leaving two little marks on his arm. When we asked him where his "
owie" was he would point to it, then Matt would go "Tough!" which Porter would follow by doing "muscles" as you see here. I love Stacey's cats; they are so cute and soft. They just get nervous around little kids like my dogs do.
While out there I was lucky enough to be able to attend the baby blessing of our newest nephew (Aaron's sister Rachael's son) Thadeus Park. It was awesome! I drove to
Clarksville and had a wonderful visit with Luke,
Rach and their cute cute boys. Rachael whipped up an amazing meal that we enjoyed after the blessing and it was divine.
This is cute baby Thad. Love this baby! Looks exactly like his handsome daddy Luke.
Porter having fun on a Sit n' Spin.
Porter had a lot of time in a car seat on this trip. We did a lot of traveling.
Playing at the pool at Grandma and Papa's place. Porter loved going over there; they have so many fun toys that he wouldn't even notice I left the few times I dropped him off. One of those times was a Thursday night so that Stacey and I could attend Institute (and for Porter to have grandparent time). It was such an amazing class! I learned so much.
Cousins taking a bath
Family Home Evening was fun. We had a "good
ol' fashion" one just like when we were kids where we used the vacuum and an upside down laundry basket to form a podium/microphone. We sang primary songs, said a prayer, had a lesson, and had a treat. Great times! My nephew Ethan spent a couple weeks with Grandma and Papa (aka Mom/Dad) so he was around to have fun with us. The
FHE lesson was on David and Goliath and Porter unexpectedly acted it out by "beating" Ethan up with a pillow. Ethan was a really good sport and would throw himself onto the couch all the while Porter laughed hysterically.
There are a few things we HAVE to do every time we visit the Nashville area and one of the things on that list is to eat at The Pancake Pantry. LOVE that place! Was introduced to it in college and have never found a better pancake place since. PP was even featured on the Travel Channel! It's really popular and there is usually a huge line to get in.
Stacey and I always get the best thing on the menu...sweet potato pancakes! They are
award winning pancakes made with real sweet potato's in the batter and sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon. They are served with a special cinnamon cream syrup, and according to the website, are the most popular choice. Yum yum yum. Porter LOVES pancakes (probably because it's always Aaron that makes them) and calls them "
cakies". He of course enjoyed these, even if not made by his Daddy. (Stacey and I dressed alike that day.)
After Pancake Pantry, Stacey visiting a friend and her new baby in the hospital, and a free McDonald's fruit smoothie, we went to Centennial Park in Nashville. It was a hot hot day (poor babies and their red faces)...actually every day out there was hot. There were extreme heat advisories the whole time I was there. Good thing I like it warm! Anyway, Centennial Park is Nashville's premier urban park that houses The Parthenon as its centerpiece. It has a re-creation of the 42-foot statue Athena is located inside the Parthenon just as it was in ancient Greece. The building and the Athena statue are both full-scale replicas of the Athenian originals. Very cool.
This is Porter going "Hooray!"
Porter signing "baby" and then pointing to Simon. What cute, cute boys!
Reading to my boys. LOVE them!!!!!
Out on a stroll with the boys and a little girl Stacey babysits on occasion. Man the heat is intense when you add 100% humidity in there!
When we go to Stacey's we LOVE to go on walks behind her house where there is a nice creek and animals. Feeding the donkey's is fun for the kids.
Simon
Another one of our highlights was visiting
Cannonsburgh Village in
Murfreesboro which is a reconstructed Southern village. The village serves as a living history museum of early Southern life is such a neat place to visit. Papa (Dad), Stacey, me, Grandma (Mom), Simon, Ethan, and Porter battled the heat and did a self-guided outdoor tour of the village. And yes, again Stacey and I dressed alike. Our boys too; the four of us wore brown shirts and light pants/shorts.
We got to take a private tour of the new state-of-the-art hospital but we had to dress for business. It was fun dressing up in Stacey-accountant-business-attire! Didn't take any pictures of the hospital. Couldn't look like tourists.
Porter's job of feeding the animals. He loves it. Our dogs, my friend's dog, Stacey's cats...he loves it! Most of the time he will spill some and automatically go "Uh-oh" and pick up the food one by one.
We had a nice BBQ night and Grandma made Porter a birthday cake (was also Ethan's) with homemade cream cheese frosting. So yummy! Porter loves to blow out candles.
Snack Attack time! This was a cute idea and activity Grandma did for the kids; you made a man using snacks. Stacey and I went shopping for deals several times and loved when her second-hand store had bag sales where you filled a bag (books or clothes) for $5! Man we got some good stuff!
Time to go home. *sniff* Sure missed the Daddy (Aaron) and doggies (Chancho and Chia), but also loved time with family. Darn the distance.
Sunday May 8th was a special day. Not only was it Mother's Day but it was also the day my baby Eliza was blessed. They chose to bless her that day because it was the only Sunday we were going to be in Nashville. I'm so glad I got to be there! Eliza was perfect...her usual...and just a gorgeous little thing. Matt blessed her and it was beautiful. 
The Taylor side: Michelle and her family weren't able to come down to TN so we were not a complete set but pretty close. My parents now have 6.5 grandchildren. (Will be a full 7 once Caleb arrives.)
The Gilday side: almost all present...just missing Matt's brother Mark and family.
After the blessing at church, everyone was invited to my Mom's house for a big luncheon. Ham, augratin potatoes, salad, jello, and cake. Aaron sat at the kid table with Porter. Porter was the one who set up those chairs, which was adorable.
My friend Bonny gave us the blessing dress and it was perfect. White, long, simple, beautiful, and sweet.
The sleeves cracked us up. We called them 80's prom dress sleeves and kept tucking them in a bit.
Matt and Aaron were so sweet; they gave Stacey, my Mom, Matt's mom Jayne, and I each a bouquet of freshly cut roses. We also had a personalized Shutterfly card for my Mom. 
Me and my little princess in her vision of white.
Eliza occasionally tried to eat her hand. *Whisper: that means she was hungry*
We went on an evening walk and I got to take baby E in the Baby Bjorn front carrier. What a cute little snuggly thing!
Aaron did great for himself for my Mother's Day. He gave me a card with a very nice personalized message he wrote (rare), and a nail salon gift card for a manicure and pedicure. That was such a treat and a perfect present because it's being pampered; something I never do for myself. Stacey and I went together on Tuesday and both chose pinks for our nails and toes. What toes you ask? See those short, little stubby things at the end of my jeans? Those are our toes. =P
My feet are on the left with wearing the black Chaco's and Stacey's are on the right wearing blue strap Chaco's.
Stacey on left and me on right. I chose both colors but once our nails were all painted I really liked her pink better. Aaron took Porter out shopping and he let Porter choose a card and a necklace for me. He chose a speaking Mother's Day Elmo card that says "Elmo loves you!" and a necklace with a silver tear drop enclosed with a heart engraved with "Love Forever". I love it! I've been wearing it a lot. They also sang the primary song "Mother Dear" to me that Aaron taught Porter. It was PERFECT! Talk about melt my heart. I loved my Mother's Day! And baby Caleb's contribution to the day??? He kicked me a lot. =)
