29 June 2011

To the beach we go....

When you read this post I will be on the road heading to the beach for summer vacation. It's going to be a LONG day for me and the little ones! I'm driving straight to Raleigh, NC with the boys and Jessica. Jon will be staying home until Sunday morning to shut down the restaurant. Every July 4th week we shut down, which is a great way for us to enjoy a family vacation.

I decided to stay in Raleigh for a couple days because one of my dearest friends from college lives there. I am SO excited to hang out with her and her family. Friday morning we'll get back on the road and drive to our lunch reservations in Wrightsville Beach where we'll meet up with my parents, my brother, sister in law and their two boys. After a crab cake sandwich and a Bloody Mary we'll load up at the grocery store and head to our house on Figure Eight Island. I can't even begin to describe this amazing beach. My husband grew up vacationing here because his grandfather owned property on the island. Unfortunately, he never built and sold his land. However, the family continued to vacation at this beautiful island. When Jon and I started dating he brought me along, and now we go every year with my family. My sister will be arriving in Friday night, Jon's mom arrives on Saturday and I pick Jon up from the airport on Sunday.

So, while I do have a couple posts scheduled, I will be mostly absent until July 12th. I decided to leave the laptop at home. No jewelry, no etsy stores, no blogging until late hours, some twitter, some picture updates, some thrifting and lots and lots of family time.


Josh packing
What Joshua packed

Jonas packing
What Jonas packed

Liz packing
A sneak preview of what mama packed.
Several large items are not pictured, including:
the pack & play, stroller, tent for the beach, large cooler,
two cases of wine, a large tote of food.

Off we go.....

Sad faces
I wish we weren't leaving someone behind until sunday :(


Oh! Jessica is in the Parent's Magazine photo contest and would love your vote once a day until July 3rd. Click HERE to vote. She says Thanks!

28 June 2011

A little weekend recap

I just love summer weekends. I always seem to feel a bit more relaxed, and I love our lazy mornings. This weekend was really no different than most. Friday night the boys and I hung around the house, played legos and built a fort.

Saturday we headed to the pool for some swim time, even though it was a little chilly. Saturday night something happened that doesn't happen too often....I got all dressed up for a night out. We attended (and in “we” I mean my best friend and I) an event for a local charity. I love getting together in our community and helping those who need an extra hand. This partciular service helps those in our downtown community. Jon joined us after things slowed down at the restaurant, around 9:30, and we lingered in the gallery where the gala was held sipping wine and chatting with friends.

Sunday was our lazy morning. Breakfast with the kids and then off to grab some lattes at our favorite local coffee shop. Then, we did what old married couples do, we drove around and looked at houses. This used to be a regular activity on Sundays, but the boys get a little bored so we've eased up. In the evening we helped our friends daughter celebrate her third birthday. In my book this was a great weekend. How was yours?

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My best friend Julie
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A beautiful view from our friends backyard.

24 June 2011

Eco Friendly Friday { vacation style }

I must admit, I have a little vacation brain going on right now. We leave in less than a week for the beach and I am counting down the days. Our family vacations at the same beach every year, except last summer we went to Maine. I'm really looking forward to heading back to Figure Eight.

I thought I would share some eco-friendly finds that have caught my eye. I would love to pack all these goodies and take them with me.


Tote
Toms
Shoes


bikini
Picnik collage
lip gloss antioxidant serum
hat


Make sure to check out next week's Eco Friendly Friday post...there will be lots of beach finds for the little ones.

23 June 2011

Small Style No. 9

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Yesterday was an ice cream kinda day. We live close to a great locally owned ice cream parlor and we made a little visit there last night with my best friend. I quickly snapped these photos on our way inside. Unfortunatley, Joshua is now feeling under the weather so we didn't stay long. We headed home for movie night and fort building. I also need to add that I have the best hubbie ever. Somehow, this busy mama forgot to eat dinner last night so Jon went out after work and picked me up an Amy's Pizza. After all the kids were settled in bed we enjoyed pizza and wine on the back porch.

Jonas is wearing:
Polo shirt via Marshalls, Lobster shorts Target, Converse shoes
Jess is wearing:
Romper (no label), Zuzii shoes

Don't forget to swing by my friend Morgan's blog Mama Loves Papa to check more Small Style features!



Did you read my guest post with Morgan? You can check that out here and don't forget to enter the giveaway:)

21 June 2011

A day full of surprises....

Yesterday we celebrated Joshua's 4th birthday, and with everything birthday there's always a surprise. We just didn't realize that it would be Jonas getting sick. He played with his little friend all week, who we just discovered came down with a nasty bug. Jonas woke up with a fever, sore throat and loss of appetite... the beginning signs of the bug. We managed to still celebrate and open Joshua's gift while Jonas lay on the couch. A stuffed yoda, toy grill set, Star Wars spaceship and Spiderman mask seemed to make everyone smile.

Unfortunately, Jon and I made the decision that Jonas couldn't attend the birthday party. It wasn't fair to the other children to expose them to Jonas who could be very contagious. In case you're wondering, he came in contact with someone who had Hand, Foot and Mouth disease. We were afraid this was what he had.

Telling Jonas he couldn't come was SO hard....I honestly had tears in my eyes when he started crying. Joshua is his best friend and I know this party meant the world to him. So I did what any mom would do, I ran out to the toy store and bought him legos :)

The pool party was a blast, even though we were rained out. After we munched on some pizza and cupcakes the rain decided to stop so we could actually enjoy the pool. Overall, we had a wonderful day celebrating Josh...minus the little bumps in the road.

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Oh...and Jonas is MUCH better today, so I think we avoided that nasty virus.

20 June 2011

Happy Birthday Joshua!

I can still remember every detail of this morning four years ago.

June 20th, 2007 was one of the most magical days of my life.

I remember waking up on and off throughout the night, thinking....could this be it...could it be time. But I was able to fall back asleep and I wasn't in pain so naturally I thought it was a false alarm. Around 7:00am I woke up with intense cramps, but somehow I still felt great. I showered, got ready for the day and made coffee. Finally, I woke Jon and told him it may or may not be time.

I was calm. I was excited. I was nervous.

I decided to call the doctor around 7:40am, but they assured me if I wasn't in pain then it probably wasn't labor. I could go to the hospital or I could wait till they opened at 8:30. I decided to wait. At 8:00 I couldn't wait any longer. The contractions were intense and very close together; two to three minutes apart. We literally jumped in the car and RACED to the hospital. Everything was happening so fast it felt surreal. I couldn't even check myself in because the contractions were so intense. I had to walk around the lobby and take deep breaths while Jon filled out paperwork. Finally, we were checked in and up on the maternity floor. At this point I was dilated to 7. I did receive an epidural, but while the anesthesiologist was still in the room I was checked again. I was dilated to 10. Literally, in a matter of minutes everything that I had been waiting for happened, and it happened so fast I didn’t know how to take the emotions. The epidural hadn't taken affect, my parents weren't there and suddenly I heard voices saying "push."
Two pushes.
Two pushes and Joshua entered the world at 9:01 in the morning.
As tears fell from my eyes I smiled. I suddenly realized all these emotions I had been feeling where love. Love for this newborn child.

Joshua, you are the light of my life.
You are my laughter and joy.
I have never met another child who can put a smile on anyone's face at any time. Your personality defines who you are and you are amazing. With all my heart I know that you will grasp life and cherish it. I know that you will follow your dreams. And I know that your dreams are infinite. You will get there, you will get anywhere you want and I will be there with you every step of the way.

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Three weeks old.
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Four weeks old on Jonas' Birthday.
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On the boat.
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Silliest boy ever. Goggles and cookie face.
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A birthday boy in a tub.


I'm also over at Mama Loves Papa today for a guest post. Make sure to stop by and say hello :)

19 June 2011

My Father....

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I know someone who dedicated his life to family.
Who gave his heart and soul to his children.
Who worked to provide to our needs.
I never understood such dedication.
I took advantage of the endless love.

I now have children of my own.
I would do anything for them.
I have never had a greater respect for my parents.
For my father.
Thank you
Dad.

{I love this college graduation photo of my dad}

Happy Father's Day Jon.
Every day you give your heart and soul to our children.
Every day your love and patience shines.
Every day my love for you grows a little larger.
Thank you.

17 June 2011

Eco Friendly Friday

This week we finally put our garden in. A little late, but better than no garden at all. Since we let the boys help out this year we have an interesting mix...tomatoes, tomatillos, zucchini, yellow squash, watermelon and lettuce. The boys REALLY wanted apples, bananas and mangos but were satisfied with our choices.

Keeping a garden is a great way to be eco friendly! What we don't grow in our garden we purchase at our local farmer's market. Keeping it local helps support our farmers and cuts down on the carbon footprints. And I have to admit, after working in the garden for a couple days I have a newfound respect for our farmers. So I want to send a big THANK YOU to them and the hard work they accomplish in order to put food on our plates.

Composting is another great way to be eco friendly around the house. We started ours a couple years ago, and this is the first year I got around to using the compost in my garden. It's amazing to see how much organic waste you have...I just feel too guilty throwing it in the trash. Now that we compost I have an instant fertilizer for my plants and garden. We have a basic bin and every night I toss our scraps. Once in awhile...like once a summer...I get into the bin with a shovel and mix it around. I know I should do this more often, if only I had more time on my hands! This is a great site to learn more about composting: How to Compost.

Here's a little look at our garden and what we grow:

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Plants that we purchased from our friend's nursery.
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This year I planted herbs in planters. In the past I had them in a separate garden since they came back each year, but I noticed that each year they lost a little bit of flavor.
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Blueberries are planted on the west side of the house.
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Hops grow up the west side of the house.
My husband loves to brew his own beer. We both LOVE hoppy beer.


Do you have a garden? What do you grown in your garden? I would love to hear about it!

And the wristlet goes to....

wristelt

Congrats! Keep you eyes open for an email from me.

16 June 2011

Eight Months Old...

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Eight months old and on the move! This little lady loves to crawl all over the house, play with her toys, put everything in her mouth and sing. She just pulled herself to standing the other day and said "mamamama" for the first time yesterday. Now when she wakes up from her nap I can hear "mamamama" or "dadada" blaring through the monitor. It makes my heart melt. She also waves bye-bye and gives super wet kisses, which I'll take any day. I am so in love with this baby!!

Jess is wearing: Gap dress

Don't forget to visit my friend Morgan over at Mama Loves Papa for more Small Style features.

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