two years.

Wow. It's been almost two years since my last post, and I feel our entire world has changed. The baby bump is now a toddler named Kai. He's 19 months old, and a force to be reckoned with. He's charming, silly, stubborn, and the sweetest boy I could've ever hoped for. I really am the luckiest mama.

Paul. My amazing husband is a stay-at-home-dad, a student at Flagler College, and a part-time caterer for the Purple Olive restaurant. He takes care of us. I am so proud of the father he has become, and what an incredible example he is for Kai.

Also! We no longer live in St. Augustine. We moved just south of the oldest city, to one of the newest cities in Florida. Palm Coast is where we now make our home, in a lovely house with quite a bit more square footage than our little bungalow on the island. Additional bedrooms have become very important, since my awesome younger (not little, haha) brother is living with us. It's been so much fun having him here, and it makes me so happy whenever I see my brother & Kai together. It's plain to see that they adore each other.

I got the urge to start the blog back up a few weeks ago. I think listening to podcasts is what really spurred me on, coupled with the fact that Kai has begun sleeping very consistently. Miracles do exist! ;) But in any case, I hope to update here more often, now. There are some fun ideas I've been thinking on, so perhaps this old blog will become a venue for them. We will see.

To follow along in our day-to-day fun, you can always check out my Instagram feed. It's my favorite social network!

baby shower.

BABIES! Just kidding--only one baby, but it certainly feels like there are babies everywhere lately. My very best friend from middle school is having a little boy. How crazy is that?! I kind of can't get over the fact that we're old enough to have babies.








Amanda's family put together the sweetest little co-ed baby shower. I fell in love with the cake as soon as I walked in--Winnie the Pooh AND caramel?? It can't get much better than that. Except it can. Because Amanda's mom was the amazing creator of the cake. BAM. It was delicious. I couldn't get over it. That, coupled with our grilled garden burgers (thanks, Mister Bob!) and Puerto Rican beans with rice... It was food heaven.





Some of the VIPs.

There were some little games that Paul and I were, of course, horrible at. I'd never played the candy bar diaper game! Paul got up close and personal with it, so I had to get some photos of that craziness. Afterward, Amanda opened and passed around gifts. I don't know about you, but baby clothes just make me melt. So much itsy-bitsy adorableness! Paul and I had a great time picking out our gift: Burt's Bees Baby Bee set, some Mama Bee oil, the sweetest little Winnie the Pooh outfit, and a few of these adorable Baby Lit books! They're board book versions of the classics, and I couldn't pass them up.





Amanda lives in Illinois now, and we don't get to see each other very much. However, each time we get together it feels like (to me) no time has passed at all. There's always lots to catch up on, but we're still the same people despite the years. Love you, Amanda, and I can't wait to meet your little guy!

Babies & a Birthday!

My nephew.
My cousin.
I cannot believe that these two little guys are already two months old! I guess it's fitting--I met Benjamin (nephew) when he was two days old, Brett (cousin), when he was two weeks old, and now I'm seeing them again at two months. Brett is actually two weeks ahead of Benjamin, and you can certainly tell! He's a bit bigger, and has the most adorable little rolls and chubby cheeks. Oh my.


It's very difficult being away from our families. They're each three hours away in different directions, and with my work schedules (plus the cost of gas, ouch!) we don't get to see them as often as we'd like. It's especially obvious with these guys. They're growing every single day, and we're missing out on so much!
Then there's our Tallahassee family. We love that they get to come visit us in St. Augustine sometimes, but it's really still not enough. Going from seeing people almost every day to to only every few months takes some serious getting used to.


Anyway, back to those two cuties! Paul and I were lucky enough to go visit our Spring Hill family last week for my dad's birthday! It was an action-packed day, since we drove down early in the morning and had to leave the same night. We fit in so much quality time, though. I loved it. We stopped by to see my sister at her school, picked up my brother from school for some hang-out time, got to relax at my parents' house with Uncle Brett & little Brett, go visit Benjamin and his parents at their house for a mini photoshoot, and then celebrated our dad's birthday with delicious food. Whew!


These two got to meet for the first time that night! I don't think either was really very aware of it, but at least we got photographic evidence! I hope they're buddies as they grow up--how adorable would that be?



Michelle & Mario
The man of the hour! I feel so lucky that my mom found such a great guy to be our dad. He's always been there for us and looked out for our best interests. I can't thank him enough for taking care of our mom and treating Bill and I like his own children, along with Michelle. Happy birthday!

One last photo of me as a proud auntie... I know Benjamin doesn't look especially thrilled here, but it turns out he was just gassy. As a result, I got to change my first poopy diaper, yay! Haha, can't wait to see these guys again.

Babies!

It's baby craziness right now, at least in my little world. I gained my first nephew and a new cousin within two weeks of each other, not to mention the royal baby a bit before that. Ha! Everywhere I look, babies!





Last weekend, Paul and I drove down to Spring Hill to meet our little nephew, Benjamin. He was only two days old at that point, and what a wonder! Besides my brother (fourteen years ago!), I don't remember ever holding a newborn before. It was terrifying and wonderful simultaneously. My sister handed him over to me, and all of a sudden, I was just overcome. My eyes started to tear up as I held this tiny little person--my nephew! I just couldn't believe it. My sister and her husband created this little guy, and he was just perfect.




After tearing ourselves away, we drove to Orlando to meet another new baby--my cousin, Brett Jr.! He is exactly two weeks older than Benjamin, and what a difference! He was already starting to fill out a bit, and what a cutie! He slept for most of our visit, though there was quite a bit of wiggling as I held him. Those cheeks--oh my. They're just perfectly plump and I wanted to kiss them like crazy. Maybe when he's a little older! :)




Though Paul didn't want to hold them (he was afraid of how fragile they are!), he did say how adorable they were. Not generically, mind you. He told me how most newborns are wrinkly and not all that cute, but these two, well, were perfect. They must have good genes. ;)



We gave each of them a book to start their little libraries. Corduroy for Benjamin, and Where the Wild Things Are for Brett. Two of my favorite picture books for two of my favorite guys. You can bet they'll be getting loads of books from me!