Patriots Day 2013: Battle at Lexington

The best way I can describe Patriots day in Boston is that it feels a lot like the Freedom Festival in Provo. There is tons of stuff going on, the city more or less shuts down for the marathon and everyone takes to the streets to show their patriotism and cheer on the human spirit of those runners. We had friends in town for the marathon and spent fri, sat and sun partying only to continue the party into monday. Those are my favorite kind of weekends.

We were told the Battle at Lexington green was a must see, and at 5 in the morning - it had better be. Beau and I got up at 430 AM, bundled up and drove out to Lexington. I get the jitters just thinking about the hum of anticipation that ebbed through the crowds as we waited for the bell to toll and the reenactment to begin. We brought a bucket to stand on to see and took turns checking to see if anything exciting was going on.

Let's just say that this particular Patriots day activity is going to be a tradition every year! It was so much fun and really made you proud to be an American and thankful for those who have sacrificed their lives for this country.

  

Kind of obsessed with this church in Lexington

Staphylococcus part I

I feel the obligation of documenting Tennysons brush with death nagging at me and have finally decided to just get it over with and write it all down. So here it is.

it all started on february 6th at 1:40 AM. tennyson woke up. this alone was out of the norm as he usually would go 4 hours between feedings and i had fed him at 12 AM. he was fussing so i fed him again and held him on my shoulder. we fell asleep together like that but he woke up again some time later pretty upset. i went out in to the living room so we didn't wake up an already exhausted daddy who is chronically short on sleep. this was the first time i had ever had to "get up with him" during the night other then just to feed. so i knew then that something was different. was it something i ate? the flu? i had been at my pediatricians just a few days earlier for what i suspected was reflux and had been cutting out all dairy to see if it helped. but this was like a switch had been flipped. it was so sudden and he was so hysterical. i couldn't move without him yelling out. 

wednesday morning i was exhausted. i called my mom in tears and had beau give me a blessing before he left to work. what could be going on? my mom gave me permission to do nothing else all day but hold him and take care of him. i tried putting him down to pump my milk out and give him formula in case it was something in my milk but this was a feat all in itself. any time i tried to change his diaper he would cry so hard he would lose his breath and turn blue. talk about heart breaking. i was at a loss so i called my pediatrician. she wanted me to come in so i gathered everything together, including my screaming baby, and headed out the door looking like death after a sleepless night. 

the pediatrician couldn't find anything out of the ordinary. no fever. no hip displaysia. no abdominal tenderness or distension. so i left with a prescription for zantec in case it did happen to be reflux. i headed back home discouraged and defeated but luckily tennyson had worn himself out and was finally asleep in his car seat. beau felt bad for me so he came home to see me and bring me lunch before he left on his business trip later that afternoon. i was so grateful to see him and hesitant to let him go, but really how useful would he be to me at home? up to that point i had been exclusively breast feeding and really only needed emotional support. 

later that afternoon tennyson woke up and was still so so sad. i figured it would be smart to have a thermometer around to monitor his temperature just in case so i called a friend who lives close by and borrowed one of hers. i took tennysons temp as soon as we got home and got consistent 101, 102, 101. as i saw the red flashing screen indicating fever i just couldn't believe it. i repeated it again and again to make sure i wasn't dreaming and then decided to call my doctor. the pediatrician had said that if at any point the baby had a fever at all i would need to take him to the ER. i just began panicking and crying. i caught the pediatrician right before the office was about to close and she told me to once again go the ER. well the joy of living in Boston is you get to say "which one?" there are so many great hospitals in a very close radius of one another. she mentioned Tufts because she was familiar with the staff there but i kept thinking about going to BMC (Boston Medical Center). The reason why is because we are just a few blocks away (as the sirens remind every single day of my life) and there is a member of our ward who is an ER doc there. 

beau being out of town i wanted someone to be with me if it was possible because if i know anything about emergency rooms it's that it is never a short visit. so i called Keli's (the lady in my ward) cell phone. no answer. i called her house. her nanny answered and wasn't sure where she was working that night. so i decided to call the ER at BMC to see if she was working there. the receptionist put her on the phone and i burst into tears. she was calm and told me to come right down and that she would get me into the pediatric ER right away. 

following her directions, i packed everything up again and braved the freezing february temperatures once again. i got to my car put tennyson in his seat, put the key in the ignition and... nothing. my battery was dead. 

The house that built Beau: Hickory Hill 2013

(Siiigghhhhhhh) We have taken our last trip to Hickory Hill Farm and it is so depressing to me. I am definitely more sentimental than Beau which explains why I am more hung up on his parents moving than he is! All he see's is the load of work and maintenance the house requires, that his empty nesting parents don't need.

I will miss that heavenly place so much. We had a blast going on walks, watching conference with family and most importantly blessing baby Tenny. The only downside to Hickory Hill are the horrendous allergies I get every time I visit. But I would go again and again it's that worth it.

my babe and i

 Jason and Claire watching conference

 Gary's beautiful yard

 Mr. Ranger the dog

So many kiddos

 Jason and Claire getting ready to part before priesthood

 The boys

 The girls

We went to a yummy dinner sans kids and had a ball! Girls nights never get old especially when you have in-laws as fun as mine!

 Tenny's blessing day was wonderful! It was intimate and heavenly just how I  had hoped. Beau blessed Tennyson with a love of God, family and his fellow men. As well as good health and a fulfilling life. Sometimes I look into his little face and am in awe of all that lays in store for this tiny human that depends so much on me. 

 my mother in law is hot to trot!! gary is one lucky guy!

(tennyson had a blow out in his blessing outfit (of course) right after we took this pic. oh the fun of getting that stain out.

 That evening we took a walk across the street (which is about a 1/4 mil away) to feed the horses. I was almost in tears. It was one of those moments when life just couldn't get any more perfect and you feel like your heart is going to burst with gratitude. The sun was setting, it was a perfect temperature for a walk, the property looked beautiful and being with family is the greatest blessing of all.

 You can't really tell but this horse had a handle bar mustache right on his snout. it was the weirdest thing I've ever seen!

 This picture just melts my heart! Cute mr. tincey.

and Ms. Charlotte is definitely Claire's baby. She was going a million miles a minute constantly. Including but not limited to walking straight into Poppy's lake without a moments hesitation. I couldn't even get her to stand still for a picture.

 Poppy and Ella

 Only some of the Jewkes of Hickory Hill Farm. How awesome would it be to have the entire Jewkes family take a picture around this sign? 

 Tenny getting his first and last snuggle session on the hammock with Poppy.

Oh the beauty.

On monday we ventured up to Little Five Points in Atlanta. It's a bohemian like nook of Atlanta with lots of charm and pot.

On our way home we were moved out of the way by the Louisville motorcade for the NCAA national championships being held in the ATL that night. It was quite exciting.

 I had to document the last time Beau did yard work at Hickory Hill. Oh the stories he could and does tell of the countless hours of yard work he did in this yard. It is where he learned how to "work"!

 Gary the barber

 Sweet little Anabell Grace

The day we left we went into Peachtree city with the Allreds to ride Golf Carts around town. This place is known for their Golf Carting infrastructure,with an extensive network of paths around the beautiful city and parking spots at restaurants and retail just for the Carts. We cruised around Peachtree lake and then grabbed some pizza. It was a blast!

 Who is that goober in the back anyways?

 Ella and Lincoln cruisin on the back of the cool cart!

What a fun final trip it was. I need to stop now before I start crying again just thinking of this place. I'm trying to find an excuse to get back down there again this summer! Lets hope our finances cooperate :)