More about Memphis

So in addition to all the amazing, fatty, fried and delicious food, we did a little bit of sightseeing with Shelly. We took her to the Peabody Hotel, which is a super old, elegant hotel with a very interesting and unique tradition. Every morning at the same time, ducks descend from the roof of the hotel, walk through the front door of the hotel lobby and make their way to the fountain in the middle of the elaborate front room. There, they swim round and round the fountain until evening time (same time every day as well) when they climb out of the fountain, walk back out the front door and make their way back up to the roof. Did I mention the hotel lays out a red carpet and have a large gathering of people come from all over to watch this? Its all very unusual but fun to witness. Look it up on YouTube if ya want!
We all went up to the roof and saw where the ducks live when they arent busy swimming in circles. The hotel made a "bath house" for them and everything!
This is the master of ceremonies for the daily Peabody Ducks ceremony. And below is a pic of Shelly and I in the phone booths on the main floor. I wish I had taken more pictures of the actual hotel because it was SO ornate and old fashioned. Beautiful!
We also took a stroll down historic Beale Street. This "Blues and Jazz" hot spot is lined with restaurants, clubs, souvenir shops and cool stores adorned with all things pertaining to the famous musicians who got their start right there.

Instead of Hollywood Stars, the sidewalks on Beale Street paid homage to the famous musicians who played there.
One of the stores had drum heads lining the ceiling, all signed by bands and musicians who had come through Memphis. This was one of Jon's favorite parts. We had fun walking around with our heads up, trying to find bands we recognized while also trying to not run into anything!
Another Store we went into had so many bizarre things. The most random assortment from crazy hats, samurai swords, jams and jellys, wooden toys, underwear... you name it, they had it.
Poor Pax. He's such a good sport. Jon and I have put countless weird objects on his head and posed him for pictures. He seems to be a good sport about it!
You dont see many signs like this one in your everyday, run of the mill store. I like how it says I.D. may be required.
I tried to get Shelly to buy this hat. I think every Thanksgiving Dinner needs someone dressed as the food they are about to eat!

Shelly, we're so glad you came to visit! It was fun sharing that with you!
Memphis: You were fun in a lot of ways, but dang was it hot there! I decided I never want to live anywhere like that because the humidity was just so yuck! I would say Im glad to be back home in Arizona but..... we moved. AGAIN. More on that to come. The adventures of JLplus are never ending!

Our last little bit in Memphis, and a visit!

Jon and I are long gone from the Southern Heat, but I havent been able to blog for awhile so here's my catch up....
Shelly came for the past few days and we had so much fun showing her around Memphis. Unfortunately, it was SOOOO hot, so we didnt do much more than eat, but who can complain about that :)
First stop was Marlowes for some seriously good ribs.

This place is not only tasty, but smeared in Elvis memorabilia. Its just down the street from Graceland and was Elvis's favorite place to eat. We ate here on the weekend of the anniversary of Elvis's death and fanatics from all over the country had flocked to the area to mourn the death of their "King". The ribs were amazing, the home made salad dressings were to die for, and there was no shortage of fried foods!

Next stop was Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken. Um, I dont really even have words except "KFC who?". This chicken was AMAZING! It was the most humble of places, served on styrofoam plates, sided with slices of Wonder Bread and delivered to our table on nothing else but a cafeteria tray!
We tried fried pickles for the first time. They changed my life. I need to get me some more of this, fast!



(I have the hottest husband, and the cutest little baby)

My Baby Boy is 8 Months Old!

Pax is now 8 months old (as of yesterday) and I still cant believe I am a mommy, much less a mommy to such a big boy! He is growing like crazy these days and developing such an adorable/weird personality. He makes me and Jon laugh ALL the time with the silly little things he does.
We bought him a rock-a-stack the other day! Jon has been wanting to get one since Paxton was in the womb and since Kohls was having a sale, we decided now would be as good a time as ever to introduce him to a toy that both Jon and I played with when we were babies! At first he didnt really get it, but a few minutes in, we realized that he had pulled them all off and stuck one on each foot! So cute :)
Like I said, this baby is developing a weird and silly personality. I found him in the corner the other day like this: a blanket on his head and rocking on his knees. I had to look at what caused him to scream with delight.
Oh, and Pax still is having issues with food. He's at the age when we are supposed to introduce "meats" into his diet but the stuff seriously looked and smelled like dog food! Yuck, he hated it and we didnt push it on him.
One of Paxton's favorite things to do lately is look out the window. He can be hungry, tired, you name it, but the second we open those blinds, he smiling, screaming and awe struck.

Some of Pax's 8 month quirks/happenings:
-he finally broke a 3rd tooth. This one took a LONG time.
-his hair is getting so thick and long and RED now that he's sitting up most of the time
-he's learning how to self-soothe when he wakes up in the middles of the night. (that might be my most favorite accomplishment!)
-his poor little eyelid is still itchy and red. Anyone know how to keep a baby from rubbing his eye?
-he loves real food and isnt too fond of baby food. Im starting to steam and mash veggies rather than buy the store bought baby stuff.
-he loves wrestling around with his daddy. He loves playing games with daddy. He loves looking at daddy. Did I mention his daddy is his favorite person?
-Pax is a spastic baby. He hyperventilates when he gets excited, he clenches up and shakes.
-He twirls his feet pretty much all the time, but crazy fast when he's excited about something.
-If Pax is in our bed in the morning and Jon is sleeping, Pax will lean in towards him and grunt until Jon opens his eyes and plays back
-He loves to click his tongue and twist his tongue while yelling happily!

Mud Island

I post a lot of pictures. I also write some long entries. But I know most of you just look at the pictures. Thats what I do 2/3's of the time with your blog! So feel free to skim over the words and just oogle at my adorable baby and sexy husband :)
Last week Jon and I went to Mud Island. We always seem to find ourselves doing the most unknown and random things. Neither of us knew really what Mud Island was but we were in downtown Memphis, saw the sign, and said "why not?" Because of that way of thinking, we have done some awesome and cool things and also some not-so-interesting things.
Mud Island begins on the edge of the Mississippi River. You buy a ticket, go up am escalator and ride a suspended car across half the river to a small island island in the middle. On Mud Island, there are a couple of gifts shops, a MI River Museum, a scale model of the MI River and a lot of cool artwork and views of the river and Memphis.


Most of the experience is outside and it gets VERY hot here right now. Its safe to say all three of us sweated a pound or two while we were there but honestly, it was just nice to be doing something all together.

Like I said, sweaty. Even Paxton! Behind him is the "Pyramid" which used to be something but now sits vacant. Any bidders? Rumor is that the sporting goods store Cabela's is in talks to buy it and turn it into a crazy store/entertainment venue.
Here I am by one of the murals. The King is everywhere in this city and this city is definitely proud of him!

The scale model of the Mississippi River was really cool. People were free to walk in it which was very nice considering the crazy heat we were all enduring!
Here is a section of it from above. This thing was so HUGE! I wish I could have gotten a pic of the whole thing!

A view from the suspended car. I gotta hand it to Memphis: its a pretty cool city!

My name is Paxton and Im a milk-aholic!

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am pleased to announce that Paxton has officially begun eating "solids"!
We started, oh say, about 3 months ago with rice cereal. He ate some, and wasnt too impressed. So little by little we gave him small amounts to get him used to different tastes. At around 6 months, we let him try actual baby food (I think it was sweet potatoes). He ate a few bites, then pinched his lips together and refused any more of it. Again, with that we kept giving him small amounts, trying all different fruits and vegetables. The main problem we were having was that Pax would like a food and eat a good amount of it, but would absolutely HATE it the next time we tried feeding it to him. But.......
The other day Paxton found true love with bananas. He ate the whole container (a first for him by far) and was literally shaking with excitement every time I lifted the spoon with another bite on it. I tried not to get too excited but then the next day, guess what? He ate an entire container of bananas AGAIN!
We have continues to introduce new foods to him and, for the most part, he is liking it pretty well! Although I will wait quite a while before giving him green beans again- he HATED them!
I cant wait until we are done with this summer so I can be home again with my beautiful food processor and feed him fresh fruits and veggies. He still isnt too excited sometimes about the baby food, but honestly, I dont blame him because that stuff is nasty!

Anyway, here is my adorable little baby, eating on the floor because mommy and daddy were lazy one Sunday afternoon! Can you believe that red hair?! I still think it will turn more blonde as he gets out in the sun more, but for now, Im loving it!

there are no words.

Crystal Shrine Grotto

WARNING! You are about to experience picture overload. Continue at will!!!!!!!

A few Sundays back, Jon and I visited the Memorial Park Cemetery in Memphis. Why are Earth would we visit a cemetery you wonder? We had discovered online the Crystal Shrine Grotto, located in the cemetery, as a place worthy of a visit. Back in the 1930's, Dionicio Rodriguez built this amazing place. He used various materials, both for the actual art as well as the grotto itself, including rock quartz crystal, semiprecious stones, marble, beautiful wood and cement. Inside are various artistic displays illustrating "Christ's Journey on the Earth from Birth to Resurrection".

At the grotto's entrance was a sign in book and a beautiful painting.
As you can see, the craftsmanship is very intricate and beautiful, from the ground up!

Pax is VERY impressed!
Some of the art was made from stone, others fine wood, and some of it was even painted onto the walls with paint mixed in with beautiful crushed stones. It was really cool!




Outside was just as beautiful. This is what the top of the Crystal Shrine Grotto looks like from the outside.
We kept coming across such interesting and amazing things. As you can tell from the guy's expressions, some were more on the, uh, weird, side.

This is what they found when they looked inside the locked gate!


We came across "God's Garden" and it was beautiful! Very green and lush with a few ponds.


Pax is getting sleepy. I love when he yawns and I especially love when I happen to catch one on camera!

Surrounding the Grotto, and all throughout the cemetery, are cool structures like this one: a giant stone bench. Pax was happy to take a little rest :)
The pond had TONS of cool fish that kept Paxton entertained for quite some time.
This is an old tree stump turned on its side and made into a cool bridge piece.


Most of the places to sit in the cemetery were carved from old trees or constructed from stone.
It was such a cool experience and place to visit. We were a bit leery and not sure what to expect going to a cemetery to hang out, but we are very glad we went. The art was amazing and the whole experience was well worth our Sunday afternoon!