Pensacola

The second week in March we got to escape the cold (although it actually turned out nice that week) and spend some time in Florida. Michael had a couple of job interviews set up and we thought we might check out Paul's new preschool and a couple houses while we were there, besides spending time with family!

A couple days before we left Knoxville, our 5-year-old nephew was admitted to the hospital in Pensacola (he actually lives an hour and a half away) due to an internal injury after falling on his bike a few days before. He couldn't eat or drink anything and had to be monitored. We were so sad for him, and as it turned out, it is as even a greater ordeal than we realized at the time, because it is not two months later and he is still recovering. But we were grateful we were able to be there for a little bit, so that we could go visit him in the hospital.

Paul turned out to be an especially good hospital guest, maybe just because he loves his big cousin Stephen so much. It always warms my heart to see them together. They cuddled and watched a movie together and even played Legos. I just wish we had already been living there so we could have seen him more!

Just look how they are holding onto each other! It's so sweet.

After visiting Stephen, we went straight to  my mom's house so I could see my family! We were very excited because Paul had a special message for everyone on his shirt. So of course he fell asleep before everyone got there, woke up very drowsy about 10 minutes into dinner and took a while to warm up enough that we wanted to subject him to being a message-bearer (or take his outer shirt off). 

Eventually though, we did take it off. Only it took quite a while and even some prodding for people to understand that his shirt said "big bro" because he in fact as a little brother on the way. It was actually very funny to see people slowly work it out, only Haley got it pretty quickly once she saw and jumped up excitedly! Which is good because the baby is due on her birthday in September, so she kinda has to be excited.

Acey and Paul 

Haley with Paul 

The next day Michael had a big interview. But before he could go anywhere, he had to have a check up from Dr. Paul, whose work-up questions included: "What's your name?" pause to scribble reply "what old are you?" pause and "are you a boy or a girl?" He would then proceed with the check up, listening for the heart, checking blood pressure, looking at eyes and ears, giving a shot or bandaid as needed (always needed). He was very thorough, probably because he saw one Daniel Tiger episode but also likely because he has been coming to all my prenatal appointments.

Mimi also needed a check up! My mom found my old doctor kit and cleaned it up for Paul, so we got to take that home with us!

Later that afternoon, I was doing my hourly (ok I wasn't checking that often) scan of craigslist/zillow/trulia when I found the perfect house. I was hyped up but didn't want to get my hopes up since a couple houses we liked had fallen through already (one rented before we could view it, another that seemingly looked good but had some awkward parts that made it a no-go). I was ready to give up the idea that we might get to see the place in person, secure it early, etc, when I saw it. It looked perfect and I immediately called the realtor, but had to leave a message. It was end of work hours on a Friday, so I emailed as well. I was beginning to get anxious without any response.

That night we went to a nice, new Italian restaurant downtown at V. Paul's with the doctors and doctors' wives of the practice Michael interviewed at. We had a lot of fun getting to know everyone (and a date night to boot!) and it helped take my mind of the house a bit. 

After still no response later that night, I found the realtor's facebook page and sent a message that way. (My journalism degree taught me the value in persistence and variety when trying to contact someone!) Ten minutes later, I had an email back! Hurrah! We would be allowed to view the house the next day, although it was a Saturday so they couldn't actually show it to us.

Michael had another part of the interview (from the office of the previous day) that morning, but we were able to run by before and we loved it. I know this is a long story, but it took a lot of effort to get this place and I need to document it!

Just look how cute it is! So we told them we wanted it, but they told us there were others interested and if we all turned in applications Monday then they would have to consider us all. (If we were the only ones on Monday, they would run our app first and as long as it went through, it would be ours.) We did all the paperwork and dropped it off before we left for Knoxville on Sunday. On Monday they told us there were two other applicants and we'd have to wait to see. On Wednesday they told us we were approved and chosen! We were so thrilled! The house is in Cordova Park, on the same block as a park, a 10 minute walk to Carolyn's house and a five minute drive to pretty much everyone we're related to in Pensacola, except my family in Gulf Breeze. :) We can't wait to be all moved in!

Later that day, we went to see my mom (I think I have more pictures in a separate post from this day). She offered us some ice cream, and of course we couldn't say no! But later in the day, back at Mimi and Papa's house, it was decided we would all go out for ice cream! So Paul got it twice in one day, lucky kid!

Paul and Lily

Paul and Papa

Felicity

Bella and her gigantic ice cream cone!

It was very hard to leave Pensacola the next day, but we knew it would be soon that it would be home again.

Atlanta -- Georgia Aquarium

On Saturday, Michael had to leave for SECO before Paul and I even woke up. We took it easy and took our time getting up and getting ready. We had just finished breakfast when Michael got back. We checked out of the hotel around 10:30. We took a little walk around the area and picked up lunch -- humongous sandwiches -- from Reuben's Deli. The little deli was located on Broad Street, and we saw a lot of neat buildings, including the Flatiron Building. We played at this cool park before walking back to our car and moving it closer to the aquarium.

The Flatiron Building

We found a parking lot right across from Centennial Park. We walked over to the park and found a bench to sit on while we ate lunch. I had a club and it was so big. It was delicious though, and I quickly ate half of it, saving the remainder for an afternoon snack.

After our little picnic, we split up, with Michael heading back to SECO and Paul and I going off to the Georgia Aquarium. I was so excited to go back to the aquarium, because we had so much fun when we went in January last year. The only catch was that Paul was having one of "those" days and began throwing tantrums before we even got inside. It didn't help much that there were so many people there that day! I had hoped to let Paul run ahead of me a bit and follow him around the aquarium, but there were so many people so that was impossible. Some of the exhibits were difficult to see due to the crowds in front of them, but we still got to see a lot and had a good time. Paul's favorite was the dolphin show, which is awesome! I had planned on us staying until it closed at 5 (we got there at 12) and thought we'd have no problem lasting that long. However, with Paul throwing tantrums and being generally fussy, we ended up finding a quiet spot and spent a decent bit of time there watching Thomas on the Kindle.

Paul did seem to like the jellyfish.

It's kind of hard to see, but I thought this guy was pretty cool!

Waiting for the 4D "Deepo" movie to start.

This shows how hard it was to get close to some of the exhibits.

Finding Nemo.

My favorite part -- the tunnel!

There were even scuba divers in there! I definitely want to jump in there one day.

Whale shark

I love how these pictures turned out for some reason!

Once the aquarium closed at 5, we still had at least an hour to an hour and a half before Michael would be done. Luckily the weather was nice and there was a great playground across the street in Centennial Park. We had so much fun running around and playing here! There were so many other kids here and Paul had a blast. It was a little chaotic but that just added to the excitement.

Paul found a little boy (5yo) playing baseball and asked if he could play too. They ended up throwing the ball back and forth. Paul loves finding friends at the park and is not shy about asking to play too! Finally, it was time to go get dinner at Chick-fil-a in the CNN Center while we waited for Michael to finish up. We had a great weekend, but we were all ready to get home!

I took this picture of the wheel on the way back to our car. This is the same one that was recently on Pensacola Beach.

Paul was hugging his whale shark and dolphin that we got on our last visit to the aquarium. He fell asleep with them.