aloha friday!

We are all set to survive one more 3 day trip to SYD, and then Rob has 3 days off. Holla! It was SO FANTASTIC having him with us for a month, but this "getting caught up flying" at the end of the month has been a bear. A 2-day LAX, followed by two back-to-back 3-day Sydney's = Summertime Sadness. But thankfully we're back on track for September with a great schedule!

Next week we'll be starting self-rescue lessons from Infant Swimming Resource for Christian. These are a little different than your traditional swimming lessons. We go everyday, 5 days a week, for 10 minute one-on-one lessons, for 4-6 weeks. It's intense, and very personalized. Here's a vid of a one year old doing their Swim-Float-Swim sequence.

link to video

Pretty cool, huh? I've heard some great things about it from personal friends, and I'm just completely sold on their entire philosophy. And being that we are in the water for most of the year... ok, the whole year, we thought this would be a great thing to do for Christian... and for our peace of mind as well.

Speaking of swimming, today we had a lovely time at a pool party play date. I am completely ready to sell my soul and buy a home in this neighborhood in Hawaii Kai. They had a salt water kiddie pool. Can I just tell you how wonderful it is to not have to hold your child THE ENTIRE TIME you're in a pool. It was 1.5 feet deep, and Christian just loved wading around with his buddies, while all the mommies also sat in the pool.

Monday we'll probably be beaching it, BBQing, and hanging out with friends and family to celebrate Labor Day. AND my best friend Brandi is moving to da islands on Monday as well. Exciting times all around! 

Christian had his 2 year well baby visit on Thursday. Unfortunately Rob wasn't able to come (see work schedule in above paragraph) but I am very grateful that Mimi came along! After we cheered that Christian was most likely free of whatever allergy would break him out around his mouth after eating cake icing/french toast (the doctor always suspected egg white), we stopped a bakery for some French Macarons, where Christian promptly broke out around his mouth after eating a few bites of one. But on the positive and most important side, he is growing and HEALTHY. Praise be to God. 

I had my first doctor's visit in over a month to check on bebe (as Christian calls him/her). My doctor was not pleased that we went to the east coast for a month, and was still giving me some grief over it. BUT ANYWAY, I got to hear our baby's strong "perfect heartbeat." (Doctor's words.) I also got my weekly progesterone shot, and gave blood for the Quad Screen. (A completely routine test.) Healthy baby is the name of the game!

Oh, and LAST SUNDAY we went to a polo match to celebrate our good friend Isabel's 4th birthday!! It was so much fun!! Thankfully the season goes through October, so I promise you we'll be hitting up some more matches in the near future.

Christian and Joey!! Belly buddies!! Brothas from another motha! I'm done.

This was pretty long.

Have a wonderfully long weekend, and Happy Labor Day!!

Aloha! 

road trip: to grandmother's house we go!

Isn't Rob's grandma just the most beautiful woman? Timeless. 

The second leg of our road trip consisted of a short drive up to Pittsburgh to spend time with Rob's grandma. It would also be the first time that Christian met his other great-grandma. This was certainly an exciting time!! We had lots of delicious food courtesy of GiGi, and got to catch up with lots of family while we were there. It's been way too long, and I definitely don't want to wait so long between visits again.

Here's a few photos of our time with Grandma.

I didn't even know Cracker Barrel sold these... entertainment for days. My little redneck.

We sure had a blast! GiGi lives in this perfect little neighborhood. We'd take daily walks to the playground where Christian would swing and swing and swing and swing, and of course would say, "I fyyyy!!" (L's will come one of these days.) Once while Christian was sitting on the floor pushing his cars around, GiGi told us how much it reminded her of when Rich (Papa!) used to do that as a young boy. So sweet. 

One night while we were in town, we had dinner at Rob's cousin's house. It was an absolute blast getting to catch up with (and meet) more family! One of the best parts was Christian meeting his little cousin, Bailee. They hit it off right away and were just too cute together. 

FYI, in most of my pictures, at least one child (usually both) is a complete blur. So... yeah. 

Dinner?! WHO has time to eat dinner?! I'm outta here. 

So.Much.Fun. We rounded out the evening with "Finding Nemo" and realized that Christian totally freaks out over the "scary" parts. Apparently he knows that being chased by a shark is NOT good. Sorry, we would not intentionally show our boy a "scary" movie... but I didn't realize that Nemo would fall into that category. However, yesterday while we were at the pet store, Christian saw a picture of a clown fish and said, "NEEEMOOO!" Well done, Pixar. 

But really, what a great trip so far!! And where to next?? 8 Mile!! (Does that joke ever get old?) But no really, to Detroit-ish area to see Rob's best friend from high school and their lovely lovely awesome family. 

Pittsburgh, we'll be seeing you again soon! 

aloha friday, y'all!

Hello Friday!

We are in Virginia for approximately 2 more weeks with no real plans on the calendar. Ahem, except Christian's 2nd birthday!! WHAT?! We've talked about going to Water Country, probably sometime next week. Dinner with family, dinner with friends have also been tentatively planned. I am most DEFINITELY going yard sailing again tomorrow. Oh, and I am getting my hair did today! I'm still on the ombre train, and I'm back to the bangs/no-bangs dilemma. The girl that I started seeing in Hawaii just isn't doing it for me, like, at all. So I made an appointment with Janis at Karina's in Carytown who has NEVER EVER let me down. If you live in Richmond, and are looking for an amazing stylist/colorist who also has great style, then she is your girl.

Last night we polished off a ridiculous amount of chicken wings at Buffalo Wild Wings, or as I still so fondly refer to it as: BW3s. We also half watched the Detroit/Cleveland game and I felt a little nostalgic.

So yeah... and we're still winding down from such an awesome road trip! (More pictures to come later.)

One thing I am not excited about is this HEAT. Actually, the humidity. Yes, I grew up here. Yes, I know it's humid in the summer on the east coast, but I haven't lived in this climate since 2005, when Rob and I left Florida for California. Ok, I'm done complaining now.

We're looking forward to the weekend and spending more time with my Mom! Christian loves his Nannie and asks for her first thing in the morning... followed by, "Kyle?"

Tomorrow I also get to take a tour of the Amazon facility, where my brother works. How cool is that?! Apparently they make us relinquish our cell phones, so unfortunately no pictures, but I am still excited about the behind-the-scenes tour!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!!

road trip: at the farm!

I really think I could just let these pictures speak for themselves. The beginning of our road trip started at Rob's Aunt Amy's farm in Farmington, West Virginia. This is a real farm, y'all. They have two gardens where they grow everything under the sun (and we picked from daily), and raise their own cattle and pigs for food. They also board horses, with many of their own, all on 60 acres of beautiful land. 

The first evening we were there, we saw deer wander up to graze in the field. It was idyllic. The whole farm is just completely picturesque! One thing I loved the most was spending ALL DAY outside. We'd wake up, quickly eat breakfast, and head straight for the outdoors. Christian ran around like he owned the place. He "drove" the tractors, bulldozer, and Bobcat. Um, Little Boy Heaven anyone? The combination of the fresh air + running around all day = fantastically long naps and a solid night's sleep both nights. 

Thank you Aunt Amy and Uncle Bob for the delicious food, fresh baked rhubarb pie (rhubarb from the garden, of course), horse rides, walks in the woods, and a completely unforgettable time at your farm. 

^^Strawberry, the friendliest horse ever!^^

^^We picked, and ate, and fed the horses, many apples.^^

^^Christian's first ride on a horse!^^

^^Christian & Aunt Amy with their walking sticks.^^

And Christian LOVES Bob. Loves him. "Bob? Bob? Bob? Bob?" is what we'd hear anytime Bob was off doing something, or generally out of Christian's sight.

See you next year!!