More from Jackson...

All of the pictures in this post are from our second trip to Jackson, which was last weekend. On Derek's day off, we went to the Jackson Zoo. It wasn't the nicest zoo, and we quickly realized that the zoo wasn't the best activity for Shelby at this stage of her development--Shelby loves to be scooting or crawling all the time right now and doesn't particularly enjoy being held or confined to a stroller, grocery cart, etc. I will usually let Shelby scoot and/or crawl on the floor of wherever we are {even if it's Target or a restaurant..yes, I do get looks from other people who are probably thinking we're terrible parents. But we figure it makes her happy, and it gives her immune system something to do..ha!} But not only is the ground at the zoo disgusting enough already, it had just rained so it was also muddy. So Shelby had to be in our arms or the stroller the entire time, and she was less than thrilled. So we kept our visit to the zoo pretty quick, but it was still fun to watch Shelby's first reactions to the various animals and their sounds!

{The giraffe was the first animal we spotted, and he was looking over the fence at Shelby!}

{This was one of the exhibits Shelby actually really enjoyed. I think she liked it b/c the ducks were at her level and right in front of her. It was so cute to watch her observing them!}

{The next picture was taken after we left the zoo as we were on our way to lunch. To say this is a rare sight would be the understatement of the year! We can be in the car for ten hours without Shelby sleeping a wink, and here we were in the car for less than five minutes before we saw this. Apparently a night of sleeping in a hotel and then going to the zoo the next morning is what it takes to get this girl to sleep in the car!}

{After a quick lunch at Zaxby's, here is Daddy reading Shelby a book before naptime.}

{The hotel room that Derek is staying in is a suite with a little kitchenette. Shelby found the drawer with the pots and pans in it and had a blast!}

{The funniest part of this to us was the fact that she has never once attempted to play with our pots and pans at home!}

{Another story with Daddy before bedtime}

We are so thankful to have had two wonderful visits with Derek in Jackson! I can say without a doubt this has been the easiest month of all the months he has been TDY during residency {thanks to a good schedule in the ICU!}. It has been so nice to have little trips up there to see him to break up our time here, and Derek has been so sweet to make a few 24 trips home to see us girls. Now we have just a couple more days until he is home for good! We can't wait!