Oh the woes of a working Momma :(

Tonight, we here at theadventuresofteamoakley would like to salute the Mom's who work.

Now we all know that all Mom's "work". Being an mom is a more than full time job in itself. We are not saying otherwise. It's hard...we know. 

Beka works part time out of the house. She works anywhere from 2 - 4 days a week, but they are out of town, so she has to be away the whole time, even nights. This is not very easy for any member of Team Oakley. 

Michael has to pull double duty when Beka is gone. He has to be full time parent during the day, then work during naps and after Emery's bedtime. We are so thankful his job is flexible, but it makes for a pretty long day. Plus he has to keep up the housework, which Beka usually takes care of. 

Beka works full time being Emery's Mommy when she is in town, then pulls very long travel days when she is out of town. She is always working. She LOVES her job (part of the reason she is still working), gets paid well, has fun, and loves the people in her company. She has been with this job FIVE years this month! And the majority of the time she is fine, but sometimes it takes it's toll on her body and her heart. She hates being away from Emery, and is afraid of missing the milestones (luckily that hasn't happened yet!). 

Emery....Emery is awesome. He adapts so well to anyone who is taking care of him. He does miss his momma though. He often calls for her and looks around, trying to figure out where she is. After about two nights he gets all out of whack, and fussy (he is NEVER fussy otherwise!). Then when she is in town, he clings to her like she is going to leave him. She does not mind him hanging on her though, because by the time she gets back, she misses him just as much! But it is hard and confusing for a little guy. 

So traveling for us is usually good, but sometimes it gets hard.

A little while ago we were all face timing, and Emery got really excited to see where his mom was! He even kissed the screen and hung up the call! We called back and all was going well. 

Then Emery wanted his Momma to hold him, and she could not, and that made him sad. 

Then he had had enough! He just wanted his Momma! 

It was a quick, downward spiral of emotion, and it broke Beka and Michael's heart. 

Again, let us reiterate that it is not always bad. Usually we all work as a well functioning machine. probably 95% of the time is great! This time, however,  it was just too much, and we all got sad. 

So we want to say to all you parents who have to make it work at home with a working momma, you rock! It is not easy, and it is not fun being away, but you are making it work for your family! You are kicking butt, and taking care of business! You often get looked down upon for not "choosing" to stay at home (would't that be nice!?!), but the reality it, you are a hero! You are doing what your family needs, and we want to say, YOU ROCK! Keep it up, Mammas! Stay Strong!

We commend you!

Be patient with yourselves, and give yourself a break, you are pulling double duty.

And again, you all are awesome.

From one working Momma household to another, 

We love you.

Love,

Team Oakley

Williamson County Fair - 8-11-12

We went to the Williamson county fair! The birds and the beasts were there! The big baboon, in the light of the moon, was combing his auburn hair!

Well, there was no baboon, but it was fun none-the-less! 

Beka, Michael, and Roxanne all went to the fair together. Michael went off ghouling for Millar's thrillers haunted woods (http://millersthrillers.net/) where he is the acting coach. 

So while the Mr. Oakley is away, the girls will play! 

At the entrance of the fair we were immediately greeted by how country this fair was. Now all we have to compare it to are fairs in San Diego, but still, it's pretty country out here. We like it :)

The fair was held at the Williamson County Agricultural Convention grounds. Inside there was one small stage with a cover band playing "hot hot hot!". They drew a HUGE crowd, as you can see. 

We walked and saw all the fair sights just as the sun was going down. It was great to spend some sister time together and take in all the joy of the fair and people watching. There was some good people watching here. 

Beka thought this was pretty funny...what does a pirate say?

After a while we met up with Michael's parents, who had Emery, and his sister, Rosanna. 

Emery was SO excited at all of the sights and sounds of the fair. It was past his bedtime, but it was a special night, and this does not happen often, so we thought we would let it slide, and see how he did (all the while being fully prepared for a meltdown and leaving if we needed to).

 He was mesmerized! Talk about excitement! This is him riding on Beka's shoulders, seeing his first fair!

And this is him with his auntie! Man this boy is loved.

They had a wonderful kids area where Emery could pretend to be a farmer. He loved it! He got to feed chickens, plant seeds, milk a cow, catch a fish, and sell some fruit at a farmers market (all pretend, of course). He had quite the adventure!

It was a fantastic night. Emery stayed up a whole three hours past his bedtime, and he was a champ about it! No tears, no tantrums, no problem. We are so thankful for our easy going little man. He was so tired when we got home that he could barely stay awake through his diaper change. He slept good that night, as we all did.

This was the last night of the fair, and we were so glad that we didn't miss it! If you can catch it next year, we recommend that you do! 

Thanks for sharing our adventure with us!

Love,

Team Oakley!

Oh no! There is a bear in here!

I know we live in Nashville, and there are not many bear sightings here, but tonight there was one in our house! And man was that bear adorable! 

We just thought that you should take part in all this cute. 

You are welcome

- Team Oakley

Roxy's 90s birthday party! 8-4-12

Who loves to party, loves to dress up, and loves the 90s? We do! 

So what is there to do when Beka's little sister is turing 20, born in 1992? Throw a 90s party of course! 

That is right, friends, Roxanne is no longer a teen after today. That's a big deal, so we are going to celebrate her being a child of the 90s with an everything good of the 90s party!

And here is the Birthday girl!

Beka and Roxanne had so much fun decorating their house, and themselves, for this joyous event. 

Michael and Emery even got in on the dress up fun! 

Let the celebration begin! Roxanne had a house full of people who loved her, dressed in some gloriously gaudy and grundgy threads, celebrating her life and future. She was one happy girl. 

We had food, cake, and squeeze-its! We watched saved by the bell, and power rangers, played 'put the 90s movie in it's place, and 90s jeopardy! The winners of the games won some glorious VHSs from the Mighty Ducks, to Mrs. Doubtfire. 

It was a glorious night of family fun, and we all loved celebrating a girl who is quite special to the lot of us. Happy Birthday Roxanne!!!

Love,

Team Oakley 

Happy-fanily-fun-Zoo day!!! 8-3-12

Michael, Beka, and Emery (mostly Michael and Beka) have been very, VERY busy the past few weeks. We feel like we have not had some family time, just the tree of us, in too long. So even though we did not have a fully free day for a while, we decided to take a half day, and spend some family fun time together.

Michael had a meeting in Franklin in the morning, so Beka and Emery went with him, and they walked around while he met with some volunteers for cyt (www.cytnashville.org Go check it out! Big things are happening!). Beka LOVES the shops in downtown Franklin, and just planned on spending a few hours perusing the shops and fun boutiques. We got there at 9am, when Michael's meeting started, but the shops didn't open until 10am!!! Beka had an hour to kill, so she strapped Emery to her, and they walked...and walked...and walked...they ended up walking about two miles around Franklin. They laughed, they took photos of each other and fun houses, and had a great time getting some exercise. 

Once the shops finally opened, Beka got her fill of window shopping for another hour, then after sore feet and a tired baby (Emery was wiped out too), Michael's meeting ended and we headed up to Nashville to visit our friends at Notable blends coffee shop. We had fun FINALLY being together as a Team Oakley family!

Emery has been to this coffee shop many-a-time. In fact, he came here for the first time when he was less than a week old! So he is very comfortable here, and he used that comfortability to explore his surroundings with vigor! 

It did not take long on his exploring adventure for him to find Sumatra, the Notable blends mascot. They are friends. 

Emery gave him a big kiss before continuing on his adventure. 

All his exploring made him thirsty, so we stopped for a juice break. 

After that break, we took Emery out to an industrial fan to play 'flying baby!'

He liked playing 'super Emery', and we had a great time with him at the coffee shop. 

Our next family fun stop was the Nashville Zoo, one of our favorite places! 

The last time we were here, Michael did not get to come, so we were very happy to all be together this time. Emery was eager to get going with the fun!

The first stop...the play place! Emery hopped on the tot lot and got to playin! 

He made a friend named Violet when he was playing. He was very sweet and gentle with her. We had to keep him from smothering her with his love and hugs, but he did very good. 

He kept applauding her!

He was also fascinated at the sparkling butterfly on her shirt, and wanted to know what it was. She was a good sport and just kept playing with him. 

Yay Emery for making friends! Michael and Beka are always worried about him playing with other kids, but he is getting better with every encounter. 

They had some pretty fun interactions and conversations. We have no idea what about, but they were full of excitement! 

After the tot lot we went deep into the play place, and found Emery in the mouth of a snake! 

Then Michael wanted to take him on the slide for the first time, so up and away they went! 

It was a loooong way down!

To Emery it was just a long snuggle with Dad, cramped in a dark place, until he saw the sun again, so it was not his favorite thing. We will wait until he is a bit older. It was a little hard for Michael too; he is getting to big for those things. 

Then we tried the infant swing. This was his first time on the swing, and he was not about it. 

First off, there was like 20 straps holding him in like he was a criminal, and he was tilted back in an awkward way so that he could not lift his head without straining. Boo swing. 

Look at that face...LOL! He was not in a happy place. 

We even tried it on Beka's lap, but he was not thrilled with that either. 

So off the infant swing we went. We were heading out of the play place to see some animals, and we stopped to say hi to the hippo....then we found out that Emery did NOT like the hippo. He didn't even want to look at it! He kept turning away and buying his head into Michael's shoulder. 

Michael got onto the hippo, but weirdly that did not change Emery's fear of the giant animal. 

"Mom, save me".

After the hippo, we decided to leave the play area. But then, as we were leaving we saw another swing area where a little guy like Emery was swinging. I asked the Dad with him how old he was, and he said 9 months. Emery is 10 months, so we tried it. Oh how happy we are that we did! 

Immediately he was so excited! No straps, no confinement, just sweet, swing freedom! 

We cannot look at these photos without bubbling with joy! He was so free and happy! Pure bliss!

Here was the little man that gave us confidence in putting Emery in the swing. Thanks little man! Look at their little man legs dangling in the swing! So precious! 

Michael was having just a bit of fun pushing him. Dad moments, so sweet. 

These last two photos take the cake. We cannot get enough of this boy! Oh how special he is, and oh how much joy he brings!!!

This one is pretty good too... :D

After the play place, we went and saw the lake and the small waterfall. 

The lake smelled a bit, so Beka said "peeeewww!" and waved her hand in front of her nose. Emery just recently learned to copy her doing that, so they had some fun together "pe-ewing" the lake. 

After all the play and "pee-ewing", Emery was pretty hot and tired. It def was time for juice. 

Then, this photo (below) happened. It was not Emery's fault he got upset. Michael and Beka knew he was hungry, so we made him a bottle. Then we gave it to him, but when we did, we noticed that it was not mixed enough, so we took it right out of his mouth to shake it up more....so yeah, this face was justified. 

And VERY short lived. He just wanted some bottle. 

After he was appeased, we went to see the elephants. They are Michael's favorite, and we try and see them every time we go to the zoo.

After the elephants, we saw the funny Timons. Emery is almost big enough to appreciate these crazy creatures, but not quite yet. 

After that, we decided we had played hard enough, and it was time to go home. We had a great time FINALLY hanging out as a family. Emery showed Beka his appreciation of the day with the best gift he could ever give her; a big kiss!

There is no better way to end the day. How sweet it is to spend time together.

Thanks for sharing in our joy!

Love,

Team Oakley