Just Another Year..

I say that with a tinge of sarcasm because it has definitely been a year for the books!  And we started off by celebrating with this bottle of champagne we saved from our wedding!  (Couldn't drink it last year and Ryan definitely was not drinking it without me.)

Headed over to a rumored delicious restaurant Oyster Catchers for dinner.  (It was probably the best dinner I've had aside from Berns Steakhouse.  Maybe a little better because I love seafood!)

The amazing table by the window they couldn't 'promise us' but I did tell them it was our anniversary and we arrived to find a table by the window!!

Finally feeling a little relaxed!  Our dinner was so enjoyable and we had time to just sit and catch up!

Umm... the most expensive oysters I have EVER eaten!  How much do you think they cost?!

And us after we had finished dinner.  Do we look relaxed or what?!  Crazy enough we had a baby sitter for the evening but headed home early.

Next year we have bigger plans in mind and although this year's plans were small-scale, the  night was perfect!

Cheers to two wonderful years with my best friend!

Helllloooooo out there!

Yep.  So I have just completely forgotten about blogging for the past few weeks and thought it was time to catch you all up.  I'll get to the part we all care about most, Jona!  She's crawling.  This started around 7 month mark with swaying on her knees and hands and quickly progressed to her taking her first crawling steps... backwards!  Once she was no longer stuck in reverse, it was game on!  She's quite the scooter now and I love, love, love a crawling baby.  There just isn't much cuter to me than that.  It seems that we wont be staying here at this developmental stage too long because she is starting to pull herself up already :(  I know you might think I'm crazy but I just want her to stay a crawling baby as long as possible!

Aside from crawling, we've had a wave of bugs/ flus/ etc. filtering through our house and also some pink eye, ear infections and colds for the baby.  The weather is absolutely gorgeous because of our mild winter the pollen could kill!  So, we've been laying low, getting our baby well and ourselves for that matter.

Jona has her 9 month photos at the beginning of March, which I am so excited to get them done!  I'm still stuck between two photographers as well but one is very well priced for a photographer with her own studio and the other is a friend of a friend, so maybe well will do both and one shoot will be for family photos over at Picnic Island.. yep!  I like the idea :)

Well here are a few random photos of us and our little love.. Much love to you all out there!  

A weekend for Annalise!

One of my oldest and sweetest friends is expecting her first baby in just a few short weeks!!  This past weekend, all our friends traveled to Tampa to help Megan and Saul celebrate the anticipated arrival of their baby girl.  We started off the weekend by celebrating our friend Vicki's 29th birthday and had a Italian themed dinner party in honor of her last year in her 20's.  Last year for Vicki's birthday, I was pregnant with Jona and no one had any babies yet!  It's definitely a different ball game now.  Megan's sister Katie welcomed her baby girl Lyric to her family in May,  Jona entered the world in June, Sherian and Craig adopted their baby boy in October, and now Megan Saul are expecting Annalise Feb. 21st.  A lot has changed from last year.  I think we are all really loving the low key 'get the babies to sleep so we can play' approach.  

            Megan just makes pregnancy look good!    

It's crazy to think we have all known each other for so long.  I've known Megan since third grade... wow, time flies!

On Ryan's day off, he showed Sherian and her hubby Craig around S. Tampa.  Here they are about to take a stroll on Bayshore.  Sherian, Craig and Garrison drove more than 8 hours to be here this weekend.  Such a long drive with a 3 month old.. they are brave!

 Family photo :)

                                                   Sherian!

Vicki with our little ones Jona & Garrison. 

And... we all have babies.  I've been around a lot of kids at one time but never so many babies of the same developmental stage at one time. 

Daddy had to work on Saturday so it was just mommy & Jona at the baby shower. 

Our little crawler was too excited to practice her latest skills to sit for the photos!

My diaper cake for Annalise. 

                                Sherian's thoughtful basket and...

                                   handmade pillow for the birdie themed nursery.

Oh, I love her so much. 

A little bath time after a long and busy day.  I'll be holding on to these and possibly pulling them out in 15 years or so.  Hehe. 

                                     How cute is this little guy?!

  

Wakey, wakey eggs and bakey!  Daddy finally made it back home from in time for a delicious breakfast with all of our friends.  Saturday night we had 7 adults, 2 babies and 3 dogs crashing at our place.  I love having company : )

Hope you all are doing great!  Love & Hugs.

Crawling? Sliding? ... oh, who knows?!

We've got a combination of activities taking place in our home recently.  Backwards crawling, backwards sliding, backwards pushing (in a walker) and a lot of attempts to head in the other direction.   Here are a few shots of Jona trying to crawl in a forward motion and her classic giggle/ laugh face.  She makes this face all the time now when she's having fun.  I can't get enough of it!!!

Ohh, I love her!!!

Infectious Giggles

There is nothing in the world that warms our heart like the sound of laughter from our little one...

Last Saturday morning after playing in the tub, Jona was in an absolutely wonderful mood.  I can't get enough of these mornings we have with her when all we have to do is play and giggle ;)

Day 2 of Day Care

Man-o-man did I ever think daycare would ever be a phrase ever spoken in our home without a tinge of contempt.

Well, welcome to day 2.  Believe it not, it is so much better than what I would have ever imagined.  Where in the world I was I getting these images of children screaming and crying as their ever stoic parents exited the infant room to head out to the daily grind?  Exit over-active imagination and enter reality: a smiling, bouncing almost 7 month old upon deposit and receipt.  We just couldn't be happier with the staff (one of which is an acquaintance of mine), the age of the babies (all around 6-7 months except for one walking and babbling 10 month old) and the convenience of the location (a mere two minute walk from our home).

My knee-jerk reaction is to ask myself what was my hang-up?  But quite honestly, there isn't anything more natural to second-guess the decision to go back to work.  It's hard!  The most important little morsel of yourself and your favorite person in the world sits in daycare from day to day. So, I remind myself, it is okay to not have all the answers, to doubt why in the world I'm still working but to also let go of my insecurities and embrace the empowerment and joy I experience from being the ultimate multi-tasker:  Career-woman and mom.  I've read many magazine covers, blogs and articles and discussed this topic with many women even before Jona was a glimmer in our eye.  Now I finally get it.

So as this week winds down and Ryan and I digest our first week of daycare, I feel a sense of accomplishment of getting through our first week of daycare and another milestone as parents.  Working or not... I think all of you out there will agree..there's just isn't anything more wonderful than taking care of your little one.

Tutu time

It's become somewhat of a tradition for Jona to get some creative and adorable pictures when all the family gets together.  Thanks to the creative genius in our family, Aunt Rebecca takes the pictures, Aunt Danielle lets us borrow her cute bows and Yaya and Pop Pop donated their bedroom for the photo shoot.   I thought Jona looked so cute in so many of her photos that I'm sharing a lot of them from our last little photo shoot. 

Thanks for sharing this photo idea with us Aunt Rebecca!

Happy New Year to you all and may God Bless you all with happiness and joy in 2012.  Can you believe it?!!