Excuse me, have we met?

Along with having fabulous family time this week, Pat and I have so enjoyed getting to reconnect and have a lot of one on one time with each other. My family has been so gracious helping out with the boys so we can do things like have a date night, go out in the water together, and even *gasp* have a conversation with no interruptions.

Monday night we went out on a date at a waterfront restaurant. It was GORGEOUS.

We were a big fan of the food.

What a sweet face he has.

Our view as we ate.

We obviously hated the food.

Banana pudding parfait. Get in my belly.

Fin entertained the folks while we were gone. What will he do next week when 800 people aren't hanging on his every word. He's in for a rude awakening.

Another day during naps, Pat, Sage, Will and I went Jetskiing. It was SO much fun. This is Sarah and I with our jetski ready faces. Game on.

                          We will all be in mourning when this week is over, but what a blessed time we've had.

Vacay Baby

Well we are on vacation at the beach this week with my family. It has been heavenly. It would be completely perfect if Cole wasn't boycotting sleep. It's either because of the teething or he's offended about sleeping in a pack-n-play in a laundry room. Either way, he is letting his opinions be known.

Not all my family could make it. This is the who we're staying with. We have dubbed them "the core".

We've mainly been doing a lot of eating and resting and eating some more. Pat's favorite part of the day is noon when he makes himself a fluffernutter appetizer sandwhich and then makes a huge sandwhich with at least 3 different meats on it. Then he grins, chuckles, and digs in.

The boys have been spoiled by Nanny cuddles, Pops singing theme songs them, and playing with the Aunts and Uncle Will. Isn't my mom beautiful? No one would know she's a grandma!

Fin's been enjoying a pool table downstairs. He plays pool 2 year old style, by gathering the balls and rolling them down the stairs.

Cole spends a lot of his time wishing he knew how to play pool. He's been frittering away his time crawling and looking for electrical cords to chew on.

Don't you worry, despite playing hard all day and staying up late at night doing crabby hunts, we're still up at 6am! Hence my rough morning look.

We've taken lots of long beach walks...

and had lots of post nap cuddles.

Thank goodness we still have half a week left. Now if you'll excuse me I have some homemade chocolate peanut butter fudge to demolish.

The Cows called us

Today was one of our favorite days of the year: Cow Appreciation Day at Chik-fila. I didn't know about it until this morning so we ran home, threw on some white shirts and spots and headed out with my neighbor Merideth and her 5 kids. I was a little resentful that I had to dress like a cow. I feel like since I'm nursing still that should qualify me as a cow already. Too much?

Fin Loved the whole event and looked so darn cute.

Cole with the lady neighbors. He's a dalmation cow who hasn't gotten his spots yet :o) Really I knew that if I put spots on him he would just eat them anyways.

                                                             We can't wait until next year!

Damsel in Distress

Fin saw me trying to stuff my vaccuum into our overcrowded closet and told me to hold on.

Five minutes and one full fireman costume later he came to my rescue and insisted on doing it himself. Thank goodness I'm surrounded by men, I don't have to fret now when I need to change the toilet paper roll or open the fridge (another newly aquired Fin skill).

Cuz you gotta have friends...

As we recover from fireworks and sunscreen and s'mores from the weekend, I've been in a reflective mood lately. If tomorrow was Thanksgiving and my dad was doing his usual "pass the bowl of mints around and take 1 (or 7) and tell people what you're thankful for this year" I would say I am thankful for this being the year of friends. Ever since I've had Fin I've been praying for friends for both my boys and I for this stage of life that we're in. I didn't know any stay at home moms when I became one and felt like there was one big giant club of moms that already knew each other. This year though I've really seen the Lord bring sweet friends into my life, allowingboth Fin and Cole to have playmates and me to have people to talk to who don't throw tantrums or ask me for a snack constantly :o)

Fin's forever friend from the get go has been his cousin Emma. She lives down the street and they are one week apart. Emma is stinkin hilarious with her little (big) personality and comedic flair. Her mom Kerry is pretty funny herself and Fin and I both love playdates with them. Kerry is someone you can be so REAL with about parenting and she never makes you feel bad for venting or being honest. A real life text convo we had recently was I texted her saying "Is it bad that I want to throw myself off the deck after hearing Fin cough every other second?" She replied with "Is it bad that everytime my daughter sniffs I want to blow an airhorn in her face?". Love it. Love her

Annie and her parents live two doors down from us and we've just gotten to know them the past 6 months. We love having sweet Christian friends so close and enjoying hanging out in each others backyards and joking around together. Annie calls Finley her "Fin friend" which makes her sound like a Quaker. So funny.

This is Fin on a lunch date with his friend Zeke. Zeke's mom Jess is someone I went to highschool with. We never had many classes together in school so were never very close but have reconnected recently and I'm so glad we have! They moved back to this area and Fin considers Zeke his little buddy.

What you can't have friends when you're 9 months old? Coley LOVES him some Dash, Emma's dog. He follows him around growling with excitement.

Lastly is the friend to all of us. The friend that is always there for you with free kids cookies and beautiful clothes and decor to drool over. This friend is Target. Don't my boys look thrilled to be looking at sheets with me?

But really, does anyone need a friend when you have this sweet face smiling at you like you hung the moon? Yea I didn't think.so.

Where it all began...

 Great 4th of July. We took the boys to KF pool for the usual festivities. I've gone there since I was 3 and Pat and I met there when we both lifeguarded at the ages of 16 and 17. It's one of my favorite places in the world. It was so neat to go back this year, have people meet Cole, let Fin partake in the kids festivities, and just chill. Below is a montage of photos from the day.  Two things worth noting...1) Fin takes his water balloon catching duties VERY seriously. He held that pose with his hands out for a good 5 minutes before the first toss even happened. Sadly his game ended with the first toss. 2) Please pay special attention to Nicole and my new brother in law's matching suits. Love it. Love them. Hilarious.     

               
  

 

 

 

 

 

Date night

Last night my sweet mother in law came over after the kids were in bed so Pat and I could go out for an hour and grab a quick bite to eat at a local Pub, My Way Tavern. We left (*cough* ran out) as soon as she got there and had so much fun just laughing and talking while we enjoyed food that I didn't have to cook. Score!

Pat's drink of choice: beer

(ps-isn't he handsome?)

My drink of choice: Diet Coke.

We all destress in our own way :o)

It was a quick but much needed break after a week of sick kids, whining, being thrown up on (twice!), and sleepless nights. When it's just us I still feel like we are dating and I love that. How are we old enough or responsible enough to have 2 kids again?