Belated Family Update - August 2013

August was a big one.

As a family, we travelled to Baton Rouge for Jeffrey's graduation. 

Here's a rare family picture from graduation day.

Jeffrey really is the brother I never had and I am SO proud of him!  Here he is after walking across the stage:

 

Jennifer came all the way to Baton Rouge from L.A.  All the J's were happy to be reunited!

Berkley also got to spend some time with her Grandmommy.

We got to eat at my FAVORITE Baton Rouge restaurant Parrains.  Here we are waiting for our table.

I think Jonathon was pretty excited to share Baton Rouge with Berkley for the first time:

We also got to spend the day and night in New Orleans with Greg, Sam, and Jasper.  We had a blast in the French Quarter.  The food there is hands down my favorite cuisine in the WORLD.

Berkley slept about half of what she usually sleeps this weekend and still managed to be the fun girl that she is. This was her on the way to the airport to head back home:

She was such a trooper! 

We love spending time with the Hathorns.  And Berkley LOVES her Aunt Jasper

The 27th of August marked Jonathon's 30th birthday!  He has finally joined me in our thirties.  Though somehow I am pretty sure we are still 10 years apart in age.  Some ways in his favor and some ways in mine.  Despite all of that, i had something special cooked up for this occasion.  Months ago, when I found out that Dave Matthews Band was performing at the Gorge in Washington the weekend after Jonathon's 30th birthday, I had to get in touch with his BFF Kevin to help me get this Bucket List item of theirs checked off the list.  I sent Jonathon off to meet Kevin in Washington to camp at the Gorge for Labor Day weekend and enjoy three nights of DMB!

I hope it was everything they have dreamed of.

While Jonathon was gone, I took sweet Berkley to the beach and took this PRECIOUS shot. This one will be framed in my house until the end of time.

Can someone say Coppertone Baby?

July 2013 Family Update - Good News and Bad News

Good news and bad news.  The bad news is that the much anticipated completion of the house addition is STILL not complete. The good news is that the reason for that is Florida State Concrete Cutting has BLOWN up.  Jonathon has a job almost every day (and therefore not much time to finish the house). There is good and bad news for that too.  The good news is that we can pay all our bills and then some, but the bad news is that doing intense physical labor for 50+ hours a week is proving very taxing on poor Jonathon.  The good news with that is that he is slimming down from all of that intense labor!  The bad news is that he's dehydrated and exhausted all the time.  We have high hopes that he will find a way to balance things out.  Once his start up costs are all paid back and he has all of the equipment he needs, then he can start turning down jobs when he needs a break. I could NOT be more proud of that guy!  There is no one like him.

As for me, it's been a great month. I have just been feeling so blessed after my Baptism and grateful for friends and family.  We had a great July 4th pool party at our house.  Here's Berkley helping me clean before the shindig:

We definitely enjoyed some time out on the boat this month. With Jonathon working so much, any family fun time is savored and extra special.

And saving the best for last... a Berkley update ;) 

Again, good news and bad news.  The good news is that  she is still coming up with new words all the time.  The bad news is that she is super whiny when she can't come up with the word for what she wants.  We let this go on a little longer than it probably should have, but are now working on getting her to "use her words".  Whiny little thing:

It's a good thing she's cute.  Hehe.  She is still dancing up a storm and coming up with new moves.  Some new words:  tickle, night (good night), Sassy, pool, Papa (for my dad), cheese, moo (milk), wa (water), she says some of the kids' names at daycare, Bepe (Berkley), Lana (Lion).

Her biting at daycare has subsided quite a bit.  I have to sign an incident report on average once every three weeks (quite the improvement from about once a week).  Here are some fun facts at 18 months:

• She tells us when her diaper is dirty
• She only gives us hugs or kisses about 10% of the times that we ask (maybe we ask too much?)
• She loves to draw
• She loves to repeat things like filling a cup with water.  That could keep her busy for an hour.
• Her newest obsession is shot glasses (sigh)
• After her bedtime story, we put our hands together to pray, but I am pretty sure she just thinks she's clapping for the story because she just giggles during the prayer
• She naps from about 11-1 and sleeps at night from about 7:00 pm-7:30 am
• Meeting new people is not her favorite thing but she LOVES getting out and doing things
• She'll do anything for a chocolate chip or Nilla wafer
• Her first word in the morning is "mo" (milk) or "nana" (banana)
• If Jonathon isn't home, she will point to things that remind her of him and say "Dida" (like a gatorade bottle, beer can, florescent swim trunks, crocks, etc)
• She's obsessed with flat wear.  Won't eat a meal without a fork or spoon to play with
• When she's sad or sick or tired, she wants her mama :)
• She is happy to be dropped off at daycare, but even happier to be picked up (best part of my day).  But she isn't a big fan of being left with the babysitter at our small group.  I'm hoping she gets used to that soon.
• She points to the remote and makes an unidentified noise when she wants me to rewind the theme song to 'Sofia the First' or 'Strawberry Shortcake' or the 'Hot Dog Dance' song on Mickey Mouse Club House.  Those songs haunt us in our sleep around here.  Actually, it's pretty funny to see a grown man, covered in grease and sweat singing the theme song to 'Sofia the First'.

Wouldn't change a THING!

Why I Just Got Baptized

I'm really excited about my recent Baptism and just wanted to share about it.  Also, I've learned that you never know who will be inspired or who might hear from God through your story. I sure have found Him in some unexpected places.

When I was in High School, I had one of those "mountain top" moments and gave my life to Christ. I believed in Him with all my heart. But it seemed that as soon as I realized that MY way of living my life didn't really jive with His way, I ran in the other direction. But He never left me.

 

About two years ago, I went on a search for "more".  Things in my life that used to excite me, weren't exciting any more.  I knew I wasn't depressed or anything, but I just realized I wasn't finding joy in much of anything like I used to.  Very quickly, I realized that the "more" I was missing in my life was Jesus.  I went on a journey to find Him and what a wonderful journey it has been! 

One part of this journey was finding a church home.  I found one at The Crossing Church right after we moved back to Tampa. In attending an "Introduction to The Crossing" luncheon, I learned about Baptism as it is defined in the Bible.  I was Baptized as an infant, but learning about what it means as a Christian to publicly declare your choice to live for Him and be reborn in Christ weighed heavy on my heart at the time, but I felt I still had some work to do.  I wanted to make sure that I wasn't just having another "mountain top" moment.  I didn't want to publicly declare that I am a follower of Jesus, and then run in the other direction again.  I wanted it to really mean something when I got Baptized.

 

I thought that THIS time, it would be much easier.  After all, I wasn't into partying anymore, so how hard could it to be to walk with Him?  Well, this time it wasn't easy, despite my new, "better" lifestyle.  The Lord revealed  sins in my life that I didn't even know were there. He still is. Sometimes it's overwhelming and sometimes it's uncomfortable.  But most of what I have found in Him is exhilarating and beautiful. 

 

Through all of this, Jesus became my friend for the first time.  In that friendship, I found that I didn't want to run, I wanted to grow.  My heart has been forever changed.  The old me has died and the new me has risen and therefore being Baptised means everything.  It means much more to me than I ever dreamed it would.

 

My Life Group leaders (and friends) Erin and Mickey Arruda Baptized me in their pool last night as I was surrounded by family and friends and the Holy Spirit.  I won't ever forget it for the rest of my life.  Thanks again to all who were there in presence, prayer, and spirit!

June 2013 Family Update (slightly late)

I am running a little late on our June post since we had a July 4th party at our house, Jonathon and I were in crazy cleaning and "to-do" list mode.  It is SO nice to have the house all put together. If all goes according to plan, the addition to the house will be complete by the end of July! Praise Baby Jesus!  I am most looking forward to moving into my new office.

Anyway, back to June.

First, as usual, a Berkley update.

She is saying some new words, but our favorite is "shoes" because she says "shooshoosh".  It's insanely adorable.  And she says it a LOT because she has an obsession with shoes.  Other new words: no, ma (milk), ball, book, pee pee, poo poo, and I think there are a lot more, I just can't make them out or think of them right now.  I really need to write these things down more.

She still loves to dance and listen to music.  She loves the Mickey Mouse hot dog dance and goes crazy for the Sofia the First and Strawberry Shortcake theme songs.  I record a few episodes, but she hands me the remote when she wants me to rewind the theme song over and over again.

 

At home, she is much more interested in us chasing her, playing outside, playing with the dog's food/water bowls, and taking diapers out of the package than in her toys.  Speaking of diapers, I am hoping she is easy to potty train as she has started bringing us a diaper and pulling on her clothes when she needs a change.  Cooking dinner has become difficult as she just follows me around with her arms up while she whines.

We are really enjoying the pool with her.  She fell in once when I was standing right there and wasn't scared or upset.  Her favorite baby sitter is about to complete her ISR training, so we are probably going to do some swim survival lessons soon.

 

 

We enjoyed a few "final" play dates with Sofia before the Brongos moved to the other side of Tampa.

 

 

 

Florida State Concrete Cutting is up and running in full swing.  Night jobs, early morning jobs, weekend jobs... Jonathon is super busy and not hurting for work, but he is hurting!  Concrete cutting is a bit more physical than he expected, but I don't think I have ever seen him happier to be working for himself.  He also completed our master bathroom and almost completed our closet.  He also had a wonderful Father's Day at the Tampa Bay Ray's game.  I love when we have the chance to spoil our hard working "Dida"!

 

We got to go on a double date with the Horvaths to see the Brad Paisley concert.  It was fun to go out for a change! I would post a picture, but we don't have any.  Way to go Niki!

 

As for me, I'm really enjoying Berkley as usual. I finished a great book with my girlfriends called The God Empowered Wife which was awesome.  And in bigger news, I received the 2012 Innovyze (company I work for) President Award for excellence in Customer Care. This was a huge honor to me as a working mom.  I consider my time much more valuable now that I have a precious little one, so it is very nice to be recognized for the work I do in the time I spend away from my baby.

Now onto July!

 

Family Update May 2013

The first week of May is covered in my Australia post, so I will start with what has happened since then. 

Berkley. She is 16 months old this month, and Jonathon and I can say without a doubt that this is by FAR our favorite stage so far. Doesn't she look like a little girl?  No more baby :(

When we got back from Australia, she seemed to be a different girl in a good way.  All of the sudden, she seems to really be understanding what we are saying to her.  Getting to witness the wheels spinning in her head as she is figuring out new things, coming out with new words, and hugging, kissing, dancing, and retrieving toys upon command has been an absolute blast.  She amazes us every day as we see her put two and two together in associating words and tasks. She is also extremely happy (minus one weekend where she was sick and Berkley's evil twin came for a visit to treat us with one, long, 3-day tantrum) now that she can walk around and explore and play.

Here she is saying uh-oh:

Her new words this month are "uh-oh", "Dida" (daddy), "bye", "hi", "nana" (banana), "baka" (blanket), "yay!", "dipa" (diaper), and "toas" (toast)

She no longer says "oggy" (doggy).  Instead, she howls like Boudreaux whenever she sees a dog (or other furry animal).  She has also started dancing up a storm (she get it from her mama).

We have also seen her put her finger to her mouth and say "shhhhhhh".  I am guessing that someone tells her to be quiet at daycare.

She will (usually) point to her head, nose, eyes, mouth, ears, and belly button if we ask.  She can point out Berkley, mommy, daddy, Boudreaux, and Sassy.

This is an example, but was taken on the weekend when she was sick and hated the world (definitely not typical), so you will note her obvious sass.

Her interests are being outside and snacking.  When we are home, she pretty much just hangs out by the pantry or the refrigerator or the front door, hoping we will open one of them so she can eat or play outside.  Cookies are a fave.

Other new developments are waving good bye and blowing kisses- sometimes after you have already walked out the door and after 5 minutes of coaxing.

The week we got back from Australia, she would hug or kiss us any time that we asked, but we wore out that trick, so now whenever we ask for a hug or kiss, she shakes her head "no" and walks away.  However, she will still hug Boudreaux upon request.

She has continued to bite her friends at daycare which makes me so sad.  I have come to really love all of those sweet littles, so I feel terrible if Berkley has hurt them.  While we were in Australia, she drew blood twice which was a new thing.  I am praying that she doesn't continue to do so as I don't know what the suspension policy is and I would be devastated if they kicked her out. No one has mentioned that.  I'm just paranoid.

We also enjoyed Will's 2nd birthday party at Monkey Business (an indoor playground).  It was fun to see Berkley run around, climb, and slide down the slides.  It's the first time she's been big enough to really enjoy a birthday party.

But the results of birthday cake are still the same:

Enough about Berkley!  Some of you are probably nodding off at this point.  I am positive that none of the above is as much fun information to anyone as it is to us :)

Anyway, Jonathon hit the ground running on getting work for Florida State Concrete Cutting as soon as we got back in town.  He has also just about finished our master suite addition.  I can't wait to post pics when that is finished!  He has also been enjoying LSU baseball season of course.

I have gotten back into the swing of things with work, but not running like I was before our trip because it is so dang hot outside.  I am contemplating starting Insanity and/or buying a used treadmill so I can run inside. I have been convicted lately about all of the "trash TV" (aka RH New Jersey) that I watch and have decided to eliminate all of the junk from my usual summer DVR schedule to free up my time for more productive and meaningful activities.

Overall, May was awesome!

 

Getting Back In the "Groove"

The jet lag and time change adjustment after returning from our trip has been BRU-TAL! I was physically unable to get up at 6:00 AM to read my Bible ALL last week.  This is something that's usually pretty easy for me.  Berkley didn't help by sleeping until at least 8 every day either (love her!). Sleeping in kept me staying up late and it was a viscous cycle all week.  Jonathon didn't even seem to try to get back on EST time, staying up until 5 or 6 AM every night/morning to tile the master bathroom floor. Hearing the tile saw run periodically through the night across the hall probably didn't help my sleep adjustment ;)

I am finally feeling some energy return today and made myself do a workout video at lunch in hopes of getting my body feeling more awake. It's working. Sort of.

This is a boring post and is not helping with my energy level, so I'll switch gears!

The giant concrete saw that Jonathon ordered for his company arrived this week and his Florida State Concrete Cutting logo is beautifully displayed on the equipment trailer thanks to the very talented Jennifer Hathorn.  He's ready to work!

In between jobs, he is finishing up work on our master bathroom/closet addition so that we can get the rest of our money out of escrow and pay some bills. I just love that hard working man of mine! I couldn't be more proud of his ambition, tenacity, and talent.

I plan to post a Berkley update by the end of the month though words can't express how obsessed we are with her these days. I don't know what my mom did to her while we were gone, but she got about 100 times more fun. I can't get enough of this face!

Our Awesome Aussie Adventure

What an adventure we had! I will start off by saying that Australia exceeded my expectations in terms of beauty and adventure. There is simply NO WAY to do Australia and really experience enough to make it worth that journey in just one week.  I think that 3 weeks would have been awesome if we were rich.  That country is EXPENSIVE.

I could go on and on, but I'll just jump into the recap!

Week 1 Recap - Cairns, Queensland, Australia

We arrived in Cairns on Sunday 4/28. Thanks to Candy Crush Saga on my iPad, the movies available on Virgin Australia (a.k.a. best airline ever), and some pharmaceutical assistance in the sleep department, the trip was not that bad and we felt pretty rested. Most of our group met at the airport (Nic, Brooke, Nic's Dad and his wife, Brooke's 3 friends, and Nic's cousin Ben) and rode to the house on Trinity Beach that we would stay in for our first week. 

After settling in there, we went to dinner, still feeling good, but by the time we finished our meal, I think my head was on the table, so we headed home to bed around 7:30 PM Aussie time (5:30 AM Tampa time) which was fine since everything in Trinity Beach is closed by 8 PM anyway.

The first part of the week included walking around Trinity Beach, breakfast and coffee by the beach, reading books and sunbathing, drinking by the pool, and hiking. 

Nic and Brooke's rehearsal dinner was on Tuesday with some great food including kangaroo which had good flavor but was very tough.

Wednesday was wedding day!  I got a massage in the morning which was heavenly.  The weather, though a bit windy, cooperated for a lovely and touching beach wedding. Brooke looked absolutely STUNNING and it was clearly the best day of their lives. It was followed by some amazing food at the reception, a belly dancing show from the bridesmaids, and ended with a dip in the hot tub.

The weather finally started to get a little better so that we could finally go on our day cruise out to the reef and finally scuba dive!  For those of you who don't know, Jonathon and I got certified (which is a way more expensive and time consuming feat than I imagined it would be) to dive before our trip. The diving was pretty awesome.  I look forward to many dive trips together in our future.

We saw some really cool stuff on our dives including the sea clams as shown in the video above, but for me, the highlight of our dive that day was swimming in the middle of a huge school of these yellow/white fish.  I was just swimming along and they would look over at me like "what are you doing here?" Pretty cool.

We also visited a "night zoo" where we could hold a koala, watch the crocodiles eat, and feed the kangaroos.  They also provided food, beer, and wine.  I think this was the highlight of week 1 for me.  It was a pretty unique experience.

Our final adventure in Cairns was a gondola ride through the rain forest and some exploring in the mountain town of Kuranda.  Jonathon bought this hat made of kangaroo and crocodile.  I wish he would wear it every day.

Funny story... we had lunch in Kuranda and the menu had this whole list of burgers.  One was called the Brunch Burger with egg, bacon, avocado, and tomato.  This is what Jonathon ordered. He was not too happy to find out that it came without the actual hamburger, so apparently in Australia burger = anything on a bun.  So, the ingredients listed are the ONLY ingredients on your bun.  This, of course, led to many jokes every time we ordered food for the rest of the trip.

Week 2 Recap - Road Trip!!

We ended up renting a car rather than a camper van (long, annoying story) which ended up working out pretty well for a 6 day road trip because we had a LOT of ground to cover and got to stay in some really cool places.  We agreed that if we ever did Australia again, we would cover a shorter distance, get a nice camper van (there are camper parks EVERYWHERE), and give ourselves at least 2 weeks. BUT this was still a really awesome week and we had some incredible and unforgettable adventures.

We left Cairns on Sunday May 5th with Nic and Brooke and headed to Airlie Beach.  This place was awesome!  The crowd was much younger, there were some great places to hang out with live music (open past midnight!), and the restaurants catered to backpackers, so food was a little cheaper (Hallelujah!). We stayed at the Club Crocodile Hotel which had a nice hot tub that we enjoyed on our first night with Nic and Brooke before parting ways with them.

From Airlie Beach, we took a cruise around the Whitsunday Islands where we got to visit Whitehaven Beach (the most photographed beach in Australia) and dive on the reef at Luncheon Bay. This was by FAR our best day yet. I wish I could relive that day all the time. I don't think it would ever get old.

Heaven on earth...

We had two scuba dives that day.  The first one was with way too many people (8 I think?).  That's too many.  But the second one was pretty awesome.  There were only 4 of us and we got to see a huge Black Sting Ray. Diving the reef is pretty exhilarating because you never know what you will see when you turn a corner.

After the cruise, we went to a local restaurant where we got fish and chips (I think I ate them every day) and a drink for $10.  This price is unheard of in Australia, so we were pretty excited.  Then, we walked to a "Pokie" (casino) where Jonathon insisted that the $5 slot machine was going to hit the jackpot (of $13,000).  After 4 or 5 spins, I was able to drag him away, reluctantly.

The next day, we drove to Rockhampton and found a creepy hotel to stay at on the river. Luckily, our room had a TV so we could watch old episodes of Perfect Strangers and The Hogan Family.  RANDOM.  Once again, everything in town was closed at 5 PM, so we were only able to find an Outback Jack's (a steakhouse) open for dinner which was kind of nice after so much fast food. But here we found more menu confusion.  Our steaks were great, but the baked potato that I was really looking forward to was really only two little red potatoes. I couldn't even laugh this time.  I just wanted a baked potato.  Now, it's kind of funny. We drank wine and beer in our creepy room and pretty sure we were asleep by 8 PM.

We arrived in Hervey Bay the next day around 12:30, walked right into a tour office and worked with this nice lady to figure out the best adventure we could do in two day's time.  We decided to book two nights at the resort on the island and a big 4 wheel drive Land Cruiser for a day to explore as much of the island as we could for the next day.  At 2:00, we were on the ferry, headed to the island.  The resort was super cool.  Very rustic and an experience in itself, set in the rain forest with nature trails leading to the beach. 

As soon as we got settled in, we grabbed a drink and took a trail out to the beach to see the sunset.

But we were pretty distracted with these guys...

 

The next morning, we hopped into this thing...

And took a ride I'll never forget...

We drove through the rain forest, up and down mountains, and on the beach. We visited Lake McKenzie, Central Station, Lake Wabby, The Pinnacles, the Champagne Pools, Eli Creek, and the Maheno Shipwreck.

At the Champagne Pools, Jonathon kept putting his hands on the rocks until he figured out these things were alive...

 

I'm pretty sure I only shared that video because I'm seriously obsessed with him in that hat. 

 

We saw warning signs about dingos all over the island, so naturally, we were hoping to find one.  We saw a few on the beach. Here's one encounter...

We loved Fraser Island. I think we would have liked to spend another 3-4 days there, but we had to make our way to Brisbane on Friday to fly back home on Saturday morning. Before leaving for Brisbane, we saw a bunch of kangaroos in the wild (in a field) which was pretty cool.  Wish I had a picture.

 

In Brisbane, we stayed in a hotel downtown close to the Treasury Casino and South Bank which is probably the coolest downtown area I've ever seen in ANY city.  We walked along this long bike path

Where we encountered tons of nice restaurants, shops, and bars. Not to mention a beach with huge pool and Ferris wheel.

Then, we spent one last night out and actually stayed out until almost 2 AM.  On our way back to the hotel from the casino, Jonathon made a friend.

Then, we were up 4 hours later to get ready to go to the airport.  It was an amazing trip and I can't say that we were ready to come home, but we were DEFINITELY ready to see our sweet baby girl.  I thought such a long time away from my baby would be painful, but I just went on this trip with the attitude that I would soak up every last minute that I had alone with my husband since those times are rare these days.  Thanks to my mom, we were able to FaceTime with Berkley about every other day which helped me get my "baby fix".



I think Jonathon and I both returned from this vacation very much refreshed and recharged.  It was a blessing to be able to take a trip like this and I know we'll never forget it!

 

I also created a slide show with pics and videos from the whole trip (much more than this post) that I'll be posting soon.