Quench Your Thirst

I know I've been blogging a lot about friendship lately.  I guess you could say it has been a topic that has been heavy on my heart.  I'm focusing on nourishing the friendships in my life that feel good, and spending less time focusing on the friendships that leave me feeling like I'm a stray cat that only gets fed when it's convenient.

With good friends usually comes good drinks, right?  I like to consider that I have a pretty well rounded palette.  While this weather makes me want to curl up on the couch with a blanket, my best friend to the right of me and two cups of coffee on the end table, that's not what this weekend was about.

Saturday Danny and I made a quick stop in RVA to see two of my favorite ladies in the whole world.  It has been at least 2 years since I have seen Crystal and while I see Cierra much more often, it is still not nearly enough.  If you are familiar with Richmond, we hit a cute little spot calls Nacho Mama's in Carytown.  I love the atmosphere and cute little shops and eclectic style that it holds.  We sat on the patio (hello 80 degree weather in September!) sipping drinks and catching up.  It felt so good.  My drink of choice was frozen margaritas.  I think they are my new favorite!

(Me, Cierra and Crystal)

Sunday I left the kids with Danny and headed to town for the local wine festival.  The temperatures changed drastically from the day before, it was overcast, light drizzles and about 50 degrees out.  What better way is there to warm up the soul than to drink wine?  There were 8 wineries at the festival along with various food and craft vendors.  We had a ton of fun catching up and tasting wines from local wineries.  I came home with 3 bottles of wine for my collection!

Erin and I at the wine festival

This weekend I quenched my thirst, not only for fine wine and cold margaritas, but for friendships that remind me just how lucky I am.  

Monday morning it was back to coffee, PJs and spending time with these two!

I am truly lucky to have good friends, beautiful children and a husband that loves me unconditionally!

Rejuvenate

This past weekend was so refreshing, relaxing and much needed!  I got to catch up with old friends and spend time with my family.

Friday night we put the kids to bed and headed to the garage for drinks.  It was just me, Danny, my dad, my mom and my brother.  We stayed up way too late but it was fun just hanging out and relaxing.

Saturday morning we were up bright and early to head out to see two of my old high school teachers.  We had coffee and homemade blueberry muffins on the patio and spent the morning catching up.  I think they loved seeing the kids.  Danny gets along great with Ed; it's nice that Danny is so well rounded.  He is such an easy person to talk to and as much as he hates to admit it, he likes to talk, too.

Marissa insisted on wearing Dylan's bib and Daddy's sunglasses.  Silly girl!

After coffee my parents met us to pick up the kids and take them back to their house for naps (which they didn't end up taking).  Danny and I spent the afternoon together and went on a little shopping spree.  It's not often that we get to go shopping without the kids.  Which meant that I actually got to try on clothes and came home with a few new shirts!

My friend Sara invited us to her husband's 30th birthday party at their house.  It was so good to see Sara and catch up a bit.  We both have kids and living 2 hours apart makes it difficult to get together.  She is such a good friend, though.  She's the type of friend who sends you a birthday card in the mail with a heart felt note inside.  Sara and I worked together at the flower shop and we used to spend 5 to 6 days a week together.  She was always there for me when I needed her.  She was there with me through break ups, giving me the strength to find someone deserving of my love, through meeting Danny and she shared in our wedding day by being a bridesmaid (and I in hers!).  We may not talk every day or even every week, but she is such a good person inside and out.  I wish I had more friends like her.  They are truly rare. 

After coffee and partying we were spent.  We headed back to my parents' house for a relaxing evening on the couch, with bowls of ice cream and warm blankets to cuddle up with.  

This past weekend was good for my soul.  I felt rejuvenated and happy.  It made me miss home.  It made me miss my friends.  My family.  My brother.  Though the weekend was too short, it was just what the doctor ordered!

Army Crawl

I can't believe that Dylan is almost 9 months old.  He has become quite the army crawler and he is quick!  Marissa had a book on the floor yesterday and he scooted right over to it before she could even think to take it away from him.

Did you know that your second child grows faster than your first child?

It's a fact.

I look back on pictures of Marissa at 9 months old and it seems like it was just yesterday.  How is Dylan already cruising to 9 months?  I know that in 15 years I am going to look back on these days and they will feel like a blink of an eye.

Marissa has lost most of her "baby" look.  She's turning into a little girl.  A little girl that adores her daddy, a little girl with spunk and a little fire in her blood.  She can go from sweet to a raging lunatic in .5 seconds flat. She's at an age where words are not always her first choice of communication; kicking and screaming are often a first reaction when something isn't going her way.  But she's beautiful, inside and out.  She's our little girl that stole our hearts and made us into a family.

As Dylan approaches 9 months he is letting more and more of his little personality shine through.  I remember the early weeks with him when he would grunt and moan while falling asleep.  He wouldn't cry a lot, but the grunting soon became a normal noise for our house.  At first it drove me crazy, I couldn't sleep with all the grunting but soon enough it became a normalcy just like the click clack of the dogs pacing the halls.  Dylan is one of the happiest babies I've ever seen.  When he smiles, it goes all the way to his eyes.  I love seeing that gummy, toothless smile.  He is such a joy and I love waking up to see him smiling and clapping to see me.  The grunting still hasn't stopped, now instead of grunting himself to sleep he plays a game with Danny where they grunt at each other.  They are just like two old grumpy men!  He's a momma's boy and if he wants something he will let you know it.

I'm truly blessed to have not one, but two beautiful, healthy children.

 

Catching Up

Did you feel the crisp fall air this morning?  It's that time of year for sweat shirts, football, soup, red wine, bonfires and cuddling up under a warm blanket.  I love this time of year! 

This weekend we will be taking a ride through the mountains to see my parents.  I love the colors of the leaves and the smell of fresh, crisp air. 

I'm so excited to take a trip back home.  I have lots of catching up with old friends to do.  Saturday we will be meeting up with two of my old (and favorite) high school teachers for coffee.  I haven't seen them in about a year so I'm really looking forward to our visit.  It's not often that you build a relationship with a past teacher, I'm so thankful that I get to see them once in awhile, email and stay in touch.  The last time I saw them I was still pregnant with Dylan!  To say I'm excited is an understatement.

After coffee I will be heading to see another old friend.  A friend that I don't get to see nearly enough.  Sara is a friend that has always been there when I need her, supported me and been a wonderful friend throughout the years.  We don't always get to talk on the phone or catch up as often as we'd like, but she is one person that I consider a true friend.  She is such a sweet, caring, fun person to be around.  It will be so nice to see her this weekend!

Though road trips aren't as spontaneous as they once were, I still love jumping in the car and visiting friends and family.  I haven't seen my brother since Marissa's birthday party so we are excited to see "Uncle Fuzz", too!

It will be a fun weekend filled with sweat shirts, football, good friends, family, beer, hot coffee on a crisp morning and hopefully sleeping in!  Grandma's are great for getting up with the babies while you sleep! ;)

Happy Birthday to Me

This past Saturday was my birthday, I've reached the peak of my twenties and I'm officially on the downward slope heading into my thirties!  In plain English, I am no longer 25.

We had a low key day with my family.  My parents came to visit this weekend, we played with the kids and then we went and took some pictures at the lake.  After pictures we had dinner at a local Mexican Restaurant, drank yummy margaritas and came home to sing happy birthday and eat homemade peanut butter pie (made by Danny)!  After we put the kids to bed Danny and I headed out for a few drinks and a movie while my parents stayed with the kids.

It's not my birthday until there's peanut butter pie.  It is my signature birthday "cake" and Danny did a great job with my recipe.

Before our movie, we had drinks at Park Lane next to the fire pit. It was a beautiful night!  We saw Lawless at the adult theater. 

We had originally planned on going to a party but it got cancelled last minute so we didn't have a lot of time to make plans.  I'm actually happy with the way the day turned out, though.  I got to spend time with the people who truly love me.  Over the years I'm learning that the people you think are your friends, often can't even take a minute out of their day to wish you a happy birthday.  At first I was kind of bummed, I felt like some of my friends forgot about me, I was beginning to mope and feel sorry for myself.  I told Danny on the way to town that I didn't understand why my friends couldn't wish me a happy birthday.  I thought I had done something wrong, that I wasn't worthy of a call, a text or a simple Facebook message.  As soon as I said that to him I realized that I got to spend the day with people who love me for me.  Who love me even when I'm mad, or frustrated because things aren't going my way, they love me when I'm happy and they love me when I'm sad.  I don't have to pretend to be someone I'm not, I don't have to go out of my way to help them or do things to make them like me.  They just do...because they are family.  Danny is my rock, my best friend, my companion.  He brings me back to reality and makes me realize what is truly important.  

My parents came to the lake with us and took family pictures, which was my only wish for my birthday.  Even though my mom is not a photographer, she doesn't know how to use my camera that well, Marissa wasn't cooperating, Dylan wanted my scarf, my earrings, my bracelet, Danny's buttons on his shirt and wouldn't stop biting his bottom lip, these are pictures I will cherish for a life time.  These are the people I live for, these are the people that love me...

My little dancing machine. She didn't want to take pictures (at all) but we put her on stage and she rocked it!

My boys

A very rare occurrence. We don't get many pictures together, so I will cherish these for a long time to come. 

My sweet, crazy, uncooperative, baby girl!

Our version of a family picture. Doesn't Marissa look impressed?  And Dylan, he just looks grumpy!

We'll show her...

Fun with daddy

My favorite family picture from the day!

Me and the Mr.

Marissa was refusing to even get near camera shot at this point.

So we took family photos with the cute little guy

I think he is teething

Love her!

She loved swinging, so at least we got a few pictures of her. ;)

Here's to another year.  Here's to more memories with my loved ones, to building new friendships, rekindling old ones and loving deeper.  Nothing in this life is promised, but I promise to be the best wife, mother, daughter and friend I can be!

Nurture

With two small children, you can imagine that nurturing is a daily activity in our household.  Danny and I went to a wedding last weekend.  My mom came to visit and stayed with the kids, we booked a hotel and got our drunk faces on for the big event.  It is not often that we have a kids' free night. 

While I thought of the kids most of the night and probably couldn't stop talking about them to everyone, we had a really nice time out.  It is no secret that I still want one more addition to our family (and no, I do not want another dog).  It is also no big secret that Danny does not...{I'll keep working on him, though}.

So in the meantime, it was suggested to us by many people that we nurture our marriage.  Sometimes it is really hard to get alone time for just the two of us.  We are so busy with schedules, work, fixing dinner, doing laundry and taking care of the kids that we forget to nurture the center of this whole operation. When Marissa was born I was still working full time.  Add in her 7 o'clock bedtime and I was only getting to see her for 1-2 hours each day which usually included bath, dinner, a few minutes of play and then bedtime.  So when the weekends rolled around I had no desire to go out and pawn her off on someone for the night. 

Insert baby number 2 {Dylan}, going to a part time schedule at work and I feel much more relaxed about having a night out with my husband.  I feel like I have quality time with my babies so I don't feel so guilty for taking a night off.  Now I still don't do it that often, but we left Dylan for the first time around 6 months old, so that is quite the improvement from Marissa. 

We do make a point to try and have a lunch date once a week together, but an hour a week to nurture a marriage is definitely not enough!

This weekend we will be having our first ever weekend away since having Marissa.  That's the first weekend in over TWO YEARS!  I'm nervous but it will be good to spend time with Danny (we have a 6 hour car ride ahead of us).  This will be good preparation for leaving the kids for a week in November when we go to St. Maarten for our 4 year wedding anniversary.  Danny has already told me that if I get home sick he will send me home but he is staying the whole week. ;)

Love this guy!



Locks of Love - Take 3

Yesterday I was feeling bold and decided to donate my hair to Locks of Love.  This is my 3rd time donating.  It feels good to give to a good cause. 

Before:

After:

It feels so much lighter but it really isn't all that short, considering I just chopped off 10".