2nd Anniversary Celebrations

Last Monday, October 18th, was our 2nd anniversary. The past two years have certainly flown by and I'm glad that this year's anniversary was spent a little bit differently than the last. Last year on our first anniversary we had wonderful weekend in Atlanta for Erin and Colt's wedding only to come home to a life changing event. On October 19th, Curt went to the emergency room complaining of headaches that made him feel as if he was going to pass out. The ER doctors found that he had a colloid cyst located between the 3rd and 4th ventricles in his brain and was rushed into an emergency 6 hour surgery. He spent 21 long days in the ICU at Centennial Hospital, followed by another long 5-6 days on the regular hospital floor and then a few nights at Stallworth Rehabilitation Hospital.  The recovery was certainly a long process but looking back we are so lucky that Curt is still here with us today. So, as we celebrated our 2nd anniversary we had so much to celebrate-a year of good health for Curt and two wonderful years of marriage!

We started the celebration off with a nice dinner at Fish and Company, a new restaurant at the bottom of the Adelecia. I had been once before with Neel to try it out and it was so good Curt and I thought we'd go back for our anniversary. We had a delicious bacon and scallion hushpuppy appetizer and both had wonderful fish dishes for our entrees. For desert, we had the yummiest cinnamon beignet with cream cheese ice cream! YUMMY!!! Here is a photo of us after dinner:

Over the past weekend, Curt and I took an anniversary trip to Chateau Elan which is a winery and resort north of Atlanta. It was such a nice weekend away from everything we have going on here at home. We started our trip off on Friday night after work and drove to Dalton, GA and spent the night in a hotel on the road so we could get up on Saturday morning and get to Chateau Elan with enough time to enjoy the day. Once we arrived, we had lunch at Paddy's which was an Irish Pub on property that had all the classic Irish pub food like fish and chips, bangers and mash, etc. Here is a photo of Curt at lunch:

The rest of the day we spent enjoying some of the activities on property. We took a tour of the winery and learned how they make their wine at Chateau Elan. The tour was followed by a wine tasting where we were able to try 5 different types of wines. I haven't had anything to drink my entire pregnancy (even though they say a glass of wine or two won't hurt) but I did try tiny sips of all the wines and gave Curt the rest. I think it was a tease and made me miss wine that much more! Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and did a fantastic job and we really enjoyed this part of the day. Here we are at the wine tasting:

The rest of the afternoon we spent watching the Auburn LSU game in the lounge of the hotel and then Curt took a nap in our nice room while I enjoyed the pregnancy massage that Curt treated me to. The spa at Chateau Elan was fabulous and newly renovated. I wish that I could have spent more time in the spa and it would be a great place for a girl's weekend. For dinner, we ate at Cafe Elan which is a bistro style restaurant in the winery and we enjoyed it very much and ate alot! We started with salads-Caesar for Curt and Caprese for me. For our entrees, I had a brie encrusted filet and Curt had a smoked pork chop. Of course, we had dessert as well which included strawberry shortcake for Curt and butter pecan ice cream for me. We were stuffed but it sure was delicious! The entire weekend was fabulous and such a nice celebration of our marriage!

Here Comes Trouble

I guess I'm a week behind with this post but things have been crazy, busy for us the past week! Last Saturday, October 9th, my dear friends from high school hosted the most wonderful shower for baby Hannah and me. It was at Neel's house and was hosted my friends Jenny Camp, Neel Young, Keats Leach, Minje Mulloy, Lauren Hancock, Tori Tucker and EA Manier. Many of my friends from Harpeth Hall, work, church, and childhood were there for the occasion. The girls hosting came up with some of the cutest ideas to make the morning special. Jenny and Neel had monogrammed onesies, bibs, gowns, and diaper covers with Hannah's name and monogram and they decorated Neel's front door and mantle with all her new personalized items on a clothesline. We had a wonderful lunch on Neel's patio and each table had the prettiest flower arrangements on them. Also, at each person's place, there were wish cards for my friends to fill out for baby Hannah which I know I will love reading throughout the years. Our dessert (white cupcakes with pink icing) also had a special touch-little cards in each cake that said "Here Comes Trouble" and had Hannah's name on them. I got some wonderful gifts that day-a perfect mixture of pretty and practical. Some highlights included our pack and play from Curt's Mom, some precious smocked dresses from friends, several casual outfits for everyday that my Mom purchased and alot of great books! As far as practical goes, I received my Diaper Champ, my bottle drying rack, some diapers (can't get enough of those!!), cute teethers and rattles, soothie pacifiers, and so much more! Baby Hannah, Curt, and I are certainly blessed to have such wonderful friends in our lives!!! Here are some photos from the day although Neel took the best ones so once I get them from her I will share those too...

Here is one of the clotheslines that they decorated the house with and you can see baby photos of Curt and myself on the mantle as well. Below is an up close shot of the green bubble that I cannot wait for Hannah to wear!

All the sweet hostesses-we missed Keats and EA that day! From left to right: Tori, Lauren, Neel, me, Minje, Jenny.

My sweet Mama and me at the shower! So glad that she was there and Marsha too!

September

Well, I guess I've officially joined the world of blogging. I must say I didn't think this is one of those "mommy" things I would ever do but here I am doing it! I do think this will be a really great way for our friends and family, especially those who don't live in Nashville, to keep up with all things Johnson. Also, once Hannah arrives, I will be able to share fun updates about our little one and photos of her growing and changing. So, I guess I will update you all one what has been going on in our lives recently. It certainly has been busy! At the end of September, I had my first baby shower in Atlanta. It was hosted by my dear college friends Erin, Meredith, Susan and Liz and many of our friends from Rhodes made the trip to celebrate the occasion. The party was hosted at Erin's parent's home and was perfect!  Here are some photos from the day.

The yummy spread-we had quiche, fruit salad with poppyseed dressing, green salad, bagels, and a variety of sandwiches!

Monogrammed petitefores for Hannah Grace Johnson!

The entire day was wonderful and such a nice celebration of Hannah Grace. Curt and I were lucky enough to get to spend the entire weekend in Atlanta catching up with my Rhodes friends. After the shower, we had a wonderful cookout at the McRae's. I certainly am blessed to have such wonderful friends especially considering they flew in from all over the country to be there!

We also started work on the nursery in September. Curt and I took on the task of painting Hannah's room over Labor Day weekend. This was my first painting experience and I must admit I was a bit nervous about the whole thing but calm and cool Curt saved the day-it looks great! The bedding recently arrived and the window treatments are hung and I love them! I am waiting on my glider to arrive and to finish painting a bookshelf and once that's complete, I will post photos.