While uploading some photos from our water camera I stumbled across a few from one of Jay’s first times in the pool. I barely recognize him and can’t believe how much as changed in a year…
flashback
keep the love cookin’
Nicole and Jeremiah are getting married!!! I have been wanting to post congrats for the longest time, but waited a little bit so they could be the first to share the news and then well time got away from me- what else is new these days? Their wedding is in the works for October of this year and I couldn’t be more happy for the two of them. Here’s a photo of the happy couple from our beach trip…
The Saturday before heading down to Anna Maria Island I had the pleasure of hosting a shower Nicole. She (unfortunately) lives in Asheville so we don’t get to see her as often as we would like and had to be creative about when we could celebrate but the stars aligned and it was a good time!
I went for a cooking theme since Nicole’s husband to be is a chef and the love to cook together. Guests brought recipes that were mailed with the invite. I am putting those recipes together, along with a few other family recipes that I wanted to share with them, in a family cookbook. I decorated with a bunch of beautiful cookbooks that I borrowed from family members, floating candles in mason jars, and a few other random kitchen items here and there. For games, I had Jeremiah answer a bunch of questions about Nicole and we played our version or the “Newly Wed Game”, we had a-name-that-spice-game and also a memory game where guests had to remember the kitchen items that were on an apron that Nicole was wearing when everyone first arrived. I gave guests fresh herbs that Jamie and I got the week before at the farmers market (Jamie helped me plant them in cute pots) for winning the games. Along with the invites that I made, I made some wedding advice Mad Libs that made for great conversation over lunch.
I honestly wasn’t able to take as many photos as I would have liked to but here are a few from the ones I got…
Oh yeah- here’s the menu and links to some of the food that we had if you want to try any of the recipes!
Becky’s Yummy Punch- no recipe here just a great recommendation from a good friend
Salted Brown Butter Rice Crispy Treats– so much better than regular rice crispy treats and definitely worth the extra effort in my opinion
Mini Raspberry Fruit Tarts- I don’t have a recipe for these either, sorry they are just one of my made up concoctions :)
udderly fantastic day…
Yesterday Staci and her herd came by the house, yes in the middle of the torrential down pour, to make cow costumes with us. Why you ask? So we could all head to chick-fil-a today for Cow Appreciation Day and get free meals. No, there is not a limit to what stay-at-home Momma’s on a budget will do for entertainment and free food. Free meals were received, moo-ing noises were made and good times were had! Honestly it was udderly fantastic and so worth it :)
Here’s some photos of our group. It took a lot of coordinating to get 7 kids and 3 adults (Mandy, a friend of ours, and her three kiddos joined us too) dressed and fed but it was worth it and I think that the kids had a good time. Heck, who am I kidding I had a good time…
bragging…
Okay, I don’t know if this is exceptional or not BUT he’s my kid so it’s my job to brag. Jay can identify/name (not sure what it’s called at this age) any turtle (totule) and star (stah) that he sees without being prompted. He also knows the sounds that kitties and puppies make and makes them when he sees photos of them without being prompted. We are working on other shapes and animals sounds but it still amazes me at how much he already knows! Love this kiddo!
I mean these aren’t all his tricks, that’s for sure, but identifying shapes and he’s not even a year and a half old! I think that’s pretty impressive!
Here’s a few photos of our genius-in-the-making from our park trip this morning. I let him climb the steps and slide down the medium slide on his own today- he couldn’t have been more thrilled with himself!
things to remember
Dear Jay Bird,
I think that you are changing before my eyes little boy. You turned 17 months just last week, when did that happen? You are growing up and while I want to stop you and keep you just the way you are I can’t wait to see what you have yet to discover and learn.
This is just a random list of little things that I am sure to forget as time passes if I don’t take a minute and write them down right now…
* Lately, you clap every time we pull into the driveway and when I turn to look at you, you smile this unbelievable smile. We don’t leave the house daily or for even long periods of time but whenever we do you are always happy to return home.
* Every time you hear the timer on the oven go off you run around the house yelling “beep, beep Momma- beep, beep”. Then you make sure I follow you to the oven so I will turn the oven light on and you can see what is inside baking. It’s like having a baking alert system and I NEVER miss the timer going off.
* You squeal and yell “Daddy! Daddy!” the moment you see his truck in the driveway, hear him pulling in or when he walks through the door after work. You are so excited to see him and for him to come home that you usually only stop yelling and squealing when he says hello to you. It is so sweet to watch and I fall a little more in love with both of you every time I get to witness it.
* You love chase right now. You delight in running from me (usually when I am frustrated and trying to take something away from you that you shouldn’t have) and you always, always succumb to fits of laughter when you are caught. Oh yeah, and crawling under the dinning room table is loads of fun too; especially since Mommy and Daddy “can’t” catch you there!
*Ice is your new favorite word and activity with Piper. Every morning when we get up you march to the fridge, pull on the freezer and ask for “ice” frantically signing please over and over again until I open it up and let you dig out however many pieces you desire. You always share your ice with Piper, smashing it on the ground or waiting until she bites it in half to share your bounty.
*Speaking of words you are full of them right now. I will admit that some (ok- most) of them are words that only Daddy and I can understand but they are words- oh my, they are words! You can say, Momma or Mommy- whichever you choose at the moment, Dada or Daddy, Kitty, Piper (Pippu), color (as in I want to color), ice, popsicle (pop), pop corn, please, cheese, cracker (crakr), water (waddr), blueberry (blue), bye-bye, waffle (wavle), beep- beep, cookie, juice, Holly (Ha-yee), Me and therefore Mimi, Pepere (Pepar) movie (momie), book, ball, baby (bebe), paci (pa-i), shoes, hat, eyes, car(although everything with wheels- car, van or truck is a car) and so many more. Honestly, you mimic almost everything that comes out of my mouth!
* You love to color these days!! We have set up a little coloring desk in the living room and you will sit there for the longest time (well the longest time in your world) and color ’til your heart’s content.
* When you smile the sides of your face curl up but your cheeks or so round that they get in the way and it makes them look like little balls on your face. I know that this is random but I don’t want the picture of this in my head to fade.
* You want to do most things on your own, all by yourself and without any help, and you really like to get your own way. This includes feeding yourself. You have mastered getting a fork to your mouth all on your own and you can poke your own watermelon and scoop your open yogurt. These are true feats of mastery little boy!
* You have recently discovered your belly button and from time to time will pull up your shirt and check to see if it’s still there. It’s so funny to watch you dig around there to find it when we ask you where it is.
* You can tell us where your hair, ears, eyes, mouth, fingers and toes are. You also can point out your parents’ hair, mouth, eyes and ears are too. Although you do sometimes think that you need to poke us in the eye or pull our mouths open to see what is inside.
* You have been teething for nothing short of 1.5 months. They are really bothering you and honestly if they don’t pop through soon I may take measures into my own hands. You are not a pleasant kiddo when you are teething, sorry but this is a fact!
* You usually stand on the trunk in the living room watching me make super every night. You sometimes play with your cars on the counter, other times you just watch and point to various foods. If you are lucky you get to “taste” what is on the menu and if I am lucky you will rest your head on your hands and give me the best smile there is.
I love watching you grow, I love watching you explore, I love watching you tip over with excitement when you learn something new. But most of all I love you sweet boy…
Love,
Mama
last day, last group of photos
Shortly after dinner on our last night on the island Jay decided to march straight down to the beach. We weren’t sure what exactly he wanted to do down there but both Jamie and I followed (thankfully I grabbed our camera and Jamie was still in his bathing suit). Jay decided to make an evening out of running up and down the beach, splashing in the waves until they were almost over his head (the reason I was thankful for Jamie still being in his bathing suit), digging holes and playing in the sand. We let him stay up way later than we normally would have and I am so glad that we did. We all had so much fun and I since I had the camera I got to capture some of my favorite memories from the trip.
Keep in mind that it was an impromptu beach trip, hence the huge sagging diaper that is in most of the photos. When we knew we were staying for awhile Jamie ran up to the hotel and grabbed a swim diaper so Jay wouldn’t have to drag around an extra 5lbs for the rest of the night.
I will apologize right now for the excessive amount of photos that I am about to post. I told you that they are some of my favorites and I had a really hard time choosing just a few to post…
eh?
Did you think I could let it pass without mention of Canada day?? Seriously folks- I was born and raised there! Here’s hoping that my Canadian family is enjoying the day; I hate that I am missing out on popcorn and fireworks from the brow of the hill…
And since I haven’t taken or uploaded any photos of us in our Canada gear today I will leave you with a few from last year- it’s amazing how much can change in a year isn’t it??
splashin’ in the waves
When we were at the beach we spent a good portion of the time splashing in the relaxing waves, floating on Maggie’s endless supply of floats or playing Frisbee. All of which I caught on camera- again, yahoo for the water camera!!
Jay loved the Frisbee games. He watched the first couple of games and then later on in the week he joined in with a little help from Jamie. I wish you all could have seen his face and heard the squeals; he was having a grand time playing with everyone!
Jay would get so sleepy after being out in the ocean for a while; with the rolling waves can you really blame him? His eyes would start to get heavy and then he would rest his head on the shoulder of whomever was holding him. One morning, mid-Frisbee game, he couldn’t resist actually falling asleep and crashed on Jamie for about 40 minutes.
A few photos from after his nap; he woke up rather refreshed…
Last but not least photos by Jay… the water camera is the only one that we really let Jay “play” with- it’s a whole lot more indestructible and far less expensive. That being said here are a few of his masterpieces- I think we might have a budding photographer on our hands!
pool time at blue waters
Aside from lounging on the beach I am pretty sure that we spent the majority of our time hanging pool side while at Blue Waters. I think that by the end of the summer Jay might actually grow gills- seriously this little guys loves to swim! He hasn’t finished his swim lessons yet (we actually have quite a few more weeks left) but he can kick his little feet with the best of them. Luckily Jamie thought to bring his underwater housing for our point and shoot camera so I was able to have a camera with me at all times- yea! Here are a handful of the photos that I got of people enjoying the pool.
Jay really loved to hang out in the showers at Blue Waters, especially after he figured out how to use the foot sprayer all on his own.
the first of the beach photos
Last Sunday (father’s day) Jamie, Jay and I headed down to Blue Waters Beach Club, a beachfront motel on Anna Maria Island, to spend the week with his family. A week at the beach was a long standing tradition with the Vickers Clan who sat sea side year after year and while they took a break for a few years (10 to be exact) it was such a nice tradition to resume. Everyone had a wonderful time, enjoying lazy mornings on the beach and in the waves, early afternoons in the shade, dips in the pool before supper, plenty of family meals, amazing sunsets and great conversations long into the night.
We have so many photos from our trip (surprise, surprise) I am not really sure where to even start! So in an effort to not overwhelm anyone I think I will probably break it out into a few post- you’re welcome, I know you were thinking it ;)
Here you go with the first batch…
the perreault family 