What do you do when it’s overcast and raining most of the day?? You play in the rain and have a grand time of course…
singing in the rain
Category: Kristen
sun, surf and sand
While Jamie is out of town fishing with the guys Jay and I took a trip to the beach with Mom. I can’t remember the last time I packed up and headed to the beach, maybe it was college? Either way, the last trip I took consisted of a bunch of reading and beach dozing. It definitely didn’t include the shear amount of sandcastle building that this trip did but I am pretty sure that I prefer it this way. It was Jay’s first trip to see the sand and surf and while he wasn’t too sure of the waves and his sinking feet at first he really warmed up to it and had a grand time. So much so that he didn’t even make it 5 minutes on the car ride home before passing out.
It was fun but man am I ready for bed now too!
perspective
Every now and then a good dose of perspective is so needed. I will be the first to admit that I have been overwhelmed lately; well actually if you ask my husband overwhelmed may not even begin to cover it. My heart has been heavy; partly due to the hormones and stress that comes along with pregnancy, partly because I have had a whole lot of things to do and not nearly enough time to do them all and partly because, most simply put, the dull and the mundane of our everyday has gotten to me a bit.
This past week, I have heard of two different families both struggling with loss. One family is struggling with the loss of a father, a father of six, who was killed in a senseless shooting. The other is grieving the loss of a child, a baby rather, that they didn’t even get the chance to know. It’s funny how perspective changes in the blink of an eye. Those worries, those things that were weighing me down for the last little bit are easily the things I most cherish. I love our silly and mundane, I love that we have a “normal”. I love that my kiddo has tears that I can wipe away and cuddle until things seem better because most simply put that means he’s here and in my life.
So while my heart is still heavy and my prayers are with those families that are hurting I can’t help but count my endless blessings and be thankful for how very full my life is. Hold those that you love just a little closer tonight, tell them that you love them and look around to cherish the simple joys that surround you each and everyday.
reading
Our little guy loves, loves, loves to climb in your lap and read a book. Some days we read the same book over and over again and some days he will pull every book we own off of the shelf and have you read them all. Either way I don’t mind- it’s great cuddle time and honestly the only time he sits still anymore…
I got these photos of him curled up with his blanket and book a few weeks ago, not sure why it’s taken me so long to share them. He’s precious, just precious…
I also managed to take a few of us reading together, this is what my lap looks like so frequently…
The blanket in the above photos is his baby blanket that I finally finished just shortly after Jay’s first birthday (better late than never) and I thought that it might be nice to grab a few photos of him with the blanket. Ha! Who was I kidding? This kiddo is not going to sit still for that any more…
a berry good weekend
I know that it’s already Tuesday but I can’t help but share at least part of our “berry” good weekend with you all! Jamie took Friday off (yippee for a long weekend) so we had a ton of great time together. We went to the zoo (more on that later), picked a ton of fresh strawberries and honestly just relaxed and enjoyed our time together.
Saturday we went in search of the Oviedo farmers market; we have been going to the Winter Park farmers market pretty regularly but wanted to try something different this week. We had directions, we had a location but we still weren’t able to find it. We ended up at what appeared to be a farm but there certainly wasn’t any market there. So a little diappointed but not defeated we chalked the farmers market up to a loss and headed onto plan B- strawberries from Pappy’s Patch!! There is a pick-your-own strawberry (and blueberries, although they aren’t quite in season) patch located in Oviedo that I have been wanting to try and since we were close we decided to go for it. Man am I sure glad that plan A was a bust!! It meant that we got to take home this-
and that our house smelled like fresh, sweet strawberries all day long! It was so much fun we are planning another trip for Friday (Jamie has the day off again- yippee). Honestly, if you are close by pack up your kiddos (if you have them, if you don’t that just means more for you) and run not walk there…
Jay loved helping us “pick” the berries. Although, he wasn’t quite on board with the pick and put in the box concept; he was more of a pick-and-eat kind of guy if you know what I mean. He picked what he could and if he couldn’t get the strawberry off of the bush he just bit it right off- he’s nothing if not resourceful!! We paid for extra when we were leaving since I am sure he consummed close to a pound while we were picking (check out his shirt if you want proof, his white shirt was the only downside to this not being a planned outing).
we’re not taking our chances…
There will be no pinching for us- we are sporting our green today! Happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone!!
p.s. Do you know how difficult it is to get a “self portrait” while holding a toddler and juggling a massive camera? It’s hard I tell ya, really hard!
party mugs
LOVE is what I have for these photo booth pictures! I am so happy we ended up doing the photo booth and after taking a look at these I am sure you can probably see why, they are so much fun :-)
By the way, this would be a great post to use the new “slideshow-ish” feature if you wanted- there is a crazy amount of pictures since I couldn’t narrow them down at all. Just click on the first image below and take a look!
i finished it!
This morning bright and early I participated in my first 5K (as a runner/walker- I have helped to organize runs before but never participated). And while my time was not stellar, I finished it and enjoyed myself too! Now to run one…
one year old in a flash
On the 27th of January Jay turned one year old! It is crazy to think of how much our lives have changed over the past year and to see how much Jay has grown. We didn’t want to let this momentous occasion pass us by so we celebrated in style with a “One Year Old in a Flash” birthday party. I was super excited a few months back when I ran across the theme idea here– with all of the pictures that we had taken of Jay this year, it was a perfect theme! Jamie and I decided quite early on that we were going to have one combined (family and friends) party for Jay; so once I had a theme I just kind of ran with it. I loved every minute of the planning, baking and prep- it’s just so much fun! I know, I am a dork!
Nan (who is wonderful) made the invitations along with a bunch of other digital files that I used to make printables and help decorate the house- thanks Nan! We had a photobooth set up outside (I’ll try to get some of those pictures up within the week) to entertain people at the party, balloons in every corner of the house (one of Jay’s favorite “toys” right now), an area for people to leave contributions to his time capsule, drinks in the kitchen and a dessert buffet for our guests to enjoy. It was so much fun and we are so glad that we had so many people here to celebrate with us. Enjoy a handful of the pictures!
a few party goers- I didn’t have enough time to get anywhere near everyone documented!
I will post some of the details tomorrow- there was no way I could get all of the pictures into one post!
happy birthday sweet boy!
Dear Jay Bird,
This year has been quite the adventure and I can’t even begin to describe what it has been like for me and your Daddy. A year ago I was wondering when you would come, what you would look like and who you would be like. Little did I know that I could have never dreamt up how wonderful you would be…
You turned my life upside down the moment they placed you in my arms at the hospital. You had my nose and your Daddy’s eyes and made the sweetest little pterodactyl sounds around; it was music to my ears. I wanted to hold you and cuddle you and never put you down but we had a revolving door of visitors so I had to share. You are one very loved little boy with a whole mess of admirers and you never fail to put on a good show for them.
You make me smile with everything that you do and as I sit here surrounded by your toys with you napping in the next room I find myself at a loss for words. I am sure that anything I say cannot possibly do you justice. You are amazing. You are kind and gentle, you are loud and boisterous but so shy at the same time, you are a thinker and analyze everything, you are cautious and playful all at once. You love to play on your own, dance to music, have stories read to you. You love playing in the tub at bath time, to go outside and watch for birds and airplanes, you love your animals and light up every time time they enter the room. You love peek-a-boo and hide behind everything you can find; even a string or the lace of a shoe. It is such a delight to see your huge smile and your face light up as you hear Daddy and me wondering aloud where you could be. Your endless curiosity is amazing! You are constantly pointing at things and showing us stuff. I am going to miss your “ooh” face terribly when you are able to talk… I love when your eyes light up when you get excited; your whole face shows your joy. I love the way you rest your head on my shoulder when someone you don’t know talks to you, when you snuggle into me when I feed you or when you are drinking your juice before nap time and the way you softly rub your feet together without even knowing that you are doing it- you get that from me by the way… I love the way you rush to the door every evening when Daddy gets home; somedays your little arms can’t keep up with just how fast you would like to go and you tumble over yourself. It is amazing to watch the two of you play; sometimes I find myself just staring you both wondering how I got to be so lucky. I wish I could bottle up your excitement, curiosity and the sound of your laugh. How wonderful it would be to freeze time and for you to be my little baby forever. And while I will admit that I am sad to see this year go, it is so easy to want you to stay this way forever, I can’t wait to see all the great things that are yet to come.
I can’t wait to see the silly things you’ll do, hear the silly things you’ll say or watch you grow into the sweet little boy that you are going to be. I can’t wait to hear you say Momma intentionally or for you to walk to me and that is just the beginning. There are endless possibilities for the things that you can and will accomplish, the sky’s the limit little boy; I hope you constantly remember to reach high. Know that Daddy and I are so very, very proud of you and feel so blessed that you are taking us on this journey with you.
I love you, sweet boy. Happy Birthday!
Love,
Momma
the perreault family 