From Davis Islands to Dunedin

I had lunch today with a sweet friend who I used to work with. We used to hit up all the cute restaurants on the little island we worked on just outside of downtown Tampa on our lunch break.

Now we have working lunches, with kids in tow. She introduced me to Sweet Pea Cafe, which I absolutely adore, and was even happier that some of my (and James') buddies that we met for a playdate at the park earlier were headed there as well.



It doesn't get much better than a white picket fence surrounded play yard with a sand box, play house, pirate ship, balls and bubble machine. The shade from the towering oaks and mint tea make this momma willing to work through lunch any day.



After a morning spent at a playground on the water and a nice lunch with sweet friends and our sweet peas, I'm so grateful that we get to call Florida home.



James seems pretty happy about it as well!

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The planning is half the fun...

Is it weird to be getting more nervous about our trip to Hawaii than excited? The reality of taking a 15 month old on a 17 hour travel day plus 6 hour time change has me a little anxious!

I've started to plan out bits and pieces of our trip. Am I the only one who makes trip itineraries with list of possible activities each day. Like these are the three things we could stop and do on our way from the airport and resort. Usually we do one to two things on my list of 10 possible activities. I like to plan and have options. Glad I've been able to sneak some moments here and there to get organized for this big trip because this time last week, I hadn't given our trip much thought, but now I have a 6 pages travel game plan. It's slowly coming together.

Most of our friends have gone to Hawaii without their kids. It's kind of a romantic get away. They've had lots of great recommendations, but we can't go horseback riding on the beach or ride bicycles down a volcano with James strapped on back. Could you imagine? We are planning on the bike tour, granted James will be hanging out with his grandparents when we roll out at 3 am.

We really want to do our vacations as a family so that means being resourceful on our activities, sleep schedule and flights. I think we may be sleeping in shifts, ha ha.

When booking our flight, I thought 2 first class tickets would be better than 3 coach. Now I'm really starting to question this. I thought the added legroom would give James some more room to move around/stand and stretch, but now I think he'll want his own space. I wish I didn't second guess every decision I make. That would be so much more efficient.

I'm prepping activity bags, thinking what should go in our cooler full of snacks and even downloaded some shows on ITunes.

James hasn't really ever watched TV (first born TV rule follower here-ha), but I just bought the first season of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse just in case. It doesn't help that he's more into a book throwing vs reading phase. I guess just as long as I can keep him from doing this while in the airplane lavatory, I'll be good.


(This happened in less time than it took me to tie one tennis shoe)

Any Maui or traveling with toddler tips? Toddler App recommendations? We still have a few more days here on the mainland ;) but they will mostly be spend packing a prepping for our next adventure!

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Snack Time

Our afternoons at Gymboree are over now that it closed. So we spend our afternoons at home, playing and swimming.

No more snacks on the run, now 'we' eat them at the table.



Molly is excited to get afternoon snacks now.


Now I know why James dropped to the 26th percentile for weight.




Our last time at Gymboree a few days ago.


I can't get James to sit through any classes - he likes to MOVE! Open play was perfect for us. Story time and music classes are pretty crazy and usually cut short.



And so is snack time! I've got an active boy on my hands!

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Getting There...

Well if there is anything I'm consistent at it's being inconsistent with blogging - ha!
Last week I had a terrible cold, that has turned into a terrible - as in my teeth hurt - sinus infection.  Every time I think, hey this is clearing up, it gets worse immediately, how is this somehow like my child's sleep habits?!?
I shouldn't really say that...
James is sleeping through the night and taking a two to sometimes four hour nap in the afternoon - PRAISE THE LORD!  His wake-up time has been getting 15 minutes earlier day by day which I find strange, but I'll take five uninterrupted hours of sleep over 6/7 up every three hours.  Ahh parenting =)
Speaking of which, I took a mini parenting break this weekend, which was much needed and enjoyed.  I went to a Phi Mu luncheon with my mom in Orlando on Saturday. 


This was the first time I've left James with my husband and I knew that he was going to be better taken care of by him than by me.  Not that I don't think Josh is an amazing parent - because he's pretty darn awesome.  But I try to be pretty darn awesome most of the time, too.  I was just tired, sick and needed a break.  James did get his first hot dog on Saturday - but I guess this is where the nutritional balancing act comes in.
Now, I'm not back to being super mom by any means, but oh I enjoyed those few hours alone in the car.  It took me 15 months, being pretty darn sick and very overwhelmed by our house/move/life responsibilities to feel this way.  But I'm glad to be back in the swing of things, working on the house, getting things checked off my to-do list (heck getting to write a to-do list), and most importantly being a much better momma to my little guy.
We've had lots of playdates, trips to the gym, healthy meals, projects done, heck I've even gotten my hair cut, and FL drivers license this week and it's only Wednesday!



We took a short trip to the beach on Sunday and hoping to have a longer one this Memorial Day Weekend.

Molly found a great place to nap while I went for a swim on Sunday afternoon.


 

Mothers Day

In one years time...



Mother's Day 2012



Mothers Day 2013
It's been a long year since my first Mothers last May, but I still remember it like it was yesterday.  A beautiful brunch at the Sea Pearl and a visit to this magical park in Vienna. 
We didn't have the stroller OR a hat/sun protection for James so our tour of one of the most beautiful places I've ever been was cut short - mom fail.
This year my parents came to visit so we could celebrate mothers day and my mom's birthday - which also fell on Mothers Day.  We had a nice time at church followed by brunch at the country club.  It was pretty amazing, not sure if the raw bar or dessert station were my favorite - but our whole table had a slice of lemon meringue pie - yum!
James is not one to sit still for too long, so I took him out of his highchair to sit on my lap.  Sitting on my lap was not his cup of tea, so he wiggled his way free to crawl around the dining hall at the club.  It was quite an adventure to get him from between the tables, I guess I'll make it a tradition of having mom fails every year.
Needless to say, being a momma is my life's biggest blessing and my friend Melissa really put it best in her post this week.  Motherhood Is

Is it Friday Already?

I certainly feel like its Friday, but this week has flown by. I'm currently sitting in the parking lot at the CC while James snoozes. We had to reschedule my personal training session from earlier in the week to today because James was congested and I didn't want to bring him to spread germs to the other kiddos while I worked out. This time last week I was here getting a massage- hum I prefer that much more than working out with a trainer-ha! Probably why I need to be working out...

James had me up since 4:27. I really didn't want to bring him back down to our room but after about an hour of trying to get him back to sleep we headed downstairs and I pawned him off on Josh, and tried to halfway sleep. We are getting so close to him sleeping through the night again I can taste it. On Wednesday night I thought the monitor was on, however Josh and I awoke refreshed at 6:30 Thursday morning and realized James 'slept' through the night...our first cry it out experience, and we didn't even know it! I may 'forget' to turn the monitor on next week - I think we all need it.



James turned 15 months this week, I want to do an update on him-gosh he's fun and crazy and ALL BOY! He's getting so tall and is so skinny, but he eats like a champ. Last night he picked all the spinach out of his pasta to eat first - proud moma here!



Excited to celebrate Mother's Day and my moms birthday this weekend with my parents and Josh's family. Hope everyone has a great weekend and a very happy Mother's Day!


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We're Home

It's starting to feel that way, even had an impromptu Cinco de Mayo party last night.

Just a few more boxes to unpack...

 

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