Over the weekend, John and I made the trip to the coast for my sister's wedding! If I could buy John a pony for his behavior in the car, I would. He was SOOO unbelievably easy to travel with. We were in the car for 10-11 hours and he just chilled. Have I mentioned that I love this kid?!
It was therapeutic to go home so soon after our move because it helped me to remember that 1. the distance is not as bad as I thought and 2. the grass isn't always greener on the other side. I love the coast don't get me wrong, but Ormond Beach isn't so bad either. ALSO- a big shout out to my people on the coast! It has been quite an experience to go back over the last 7 years and watch it go from absolute and total destruction to a thriving community with quite lovely reconstruction! I've been anxiously watching Isaac and while I know it hasn't been nearly as bad as Katrina, the thought of people having to deal with more hurricane damage makes my heart heavy. My prayers are with you!
Here are a few pics that just feel like home to me.
We had a lovely time celebrating these two...
And spending time with these folks...
On a side note...mom of the year packed an outfit for John that he had outgrown so Nina improvised with one of Matt's old outfits! Is this not cute?!
I did a terrible job taking pictures! Not even a single one of my sister and I all dolled up! Whoops! I'll share as some as soon as I get some of the professional ones!
Now moving right along to what John was doing on Wednesday. ;)
We have started watching another resident's darling little girl on Monday and Wednesday mornings and so our first half of the day was filled with her! John usually starts his morning a little jealous, but warms up to her after she has a nap and he has some one-on-one time with me again.
Is that not sweet?!
After John's nap, we took to the park because the Isaac rain is finally gone and we desperately needed to get out of the house! This child got his sweating genes from me apparently!
Look at those cheeks and how wet his hair is!
I guess he also gets his cravings from me as well. When we left the park, he asked for ice cream a million times so I gave in. I mean it was the right thing to do.
Still sweaty!
After this, Matt got home in time to hit the beach for a little surfing for him and play time for me and John. John loves going to the beach and late, late afternoon is really a beautiful time to be there. John and I wrote everything we could think of in the sand with sticks as well as prodded a giant jelly fish that we found. It was a pretty good time.
I know that I say all the time that John is the sweetest kid, but here is more proof. Out of no where he asked Matt, "did you have fun surfing?" Like he really wanted to make sure that Matt had a good time.
However, he also told Matt to "stop judging me!" the other day and we both fell out laughing on the floor! Where do they hear this stuff?!?! It was literally the funniest thing ever.
And in terms of Keepin' It Real...my thoughts are all over. Here are the very real things going on with me right now:
1. I'm lazy! I came home to a wonderful husband who had cleaned the house, mowed the grass, and gone grocery shopping (yep...he's too dern good). These are the things that usually fill my days so instead of doing other productive things, I'm just watching television everytime John is asleep. Get a life Jenni, there are things to be done! And worst of all...I've been hooked on a baby story on TLC! I think I'm actually sore from watching all of those women deliver without epidurals! I just don't get it! Ok...I mean I get it, but I'll be taking the epidural.
2. A quote from my husband "if guilt were an olympic sport, you'd be the gold metalist." It's true. I feel guilty about everything, but when I became a mother, I turned up the volume times a million. I currently feel guilty about staying home with John. I felt guilty the ENTIRE time he was in daycare for the obvious reasons that one feels guilty about taking their baby to daycare. Now I'm home with him and what do I feel?! Guilty that he'll be dumb because I'm not teaching him everything he needs to know. Guilty that he's not getting the socialization that he needs. Guilty that he watches too much tv. Guilty that he doesn't eat from all of the food groups on a daily basis. Lord help me!
3. The bugs in Florida are more than I can handle. They are everywhere and huge! I have become so aware of my surroundings that I have started noticing EVERYTHING out of the corner of my eye. I even noticed a piece of tiny piece of fuzz that the fan blew in the living room today. Ok seriously Lord...help me!
I think that about does it.
To my coasties- Be safe! Know that you're being thought of continuously! And there is no need to tell you to keep it real...you're getting enough reality for one day.
To everyone else- Keep it real and pray for the people of the gulf coast!
Much love.