Weekend Rewind || Tom's 1st Hair Cut & Eye Update

I am in denial that our summer weekends are dwindling. I am going to miss pool days, shorts & tank tops, Popsicles and glasses of rosé as the cooler temps arrive. We've already seen a preview of fall this past week with a few cool days and as enjoyable as they are I am just not ready! Anyway, a few scenes from our weekend...

Friday morning Thomas had an eye appointment. It was a long one but we were lucky that our doctor was able to dilate his eyes over his contacts so we didn't have the added stress of removing and inserting his contacts during the exam (that usually tacks on an additional hour at least). Dr. D did a thorough exam and gave him an A+ in alignment (hallelujah for continued strabismus surgery success) and shocked us both when he informed us that his contact prescription did not need to be changed. This was his first appointment ever that his vision hadn't changed. It's not necessarily a good or a bad thing because we aren't 100% positive what his current vision even in. Our doctor explained that oftentimes aphakic kids (kids that have had their eye lens surgically removed) learn to navigate their world with terrible vision so it appears they can see well from our perspective when in reality it's all they know! Anywaaaaaay, we also received some big news that Thomas is now eligible for his next surgery -- the Intraocular Lens (IOL) implant. Now that his eyes have reached their full maturity in size (fun fact: eyes reach full adult size at 2 years of age) we need to be thinking about having the permanent lens surgically implanted within a year. After this surgery he will still need contacts but will then have the option for glasses too.

During our visit we also gave our doctor a gift -- a bow tie (his favorite accessory) and a scrapbook featuring Tom's eye journey since he's been under his care. He loved this so much and thought it was the most thoughtful gift ever. But what we didn't expect was his idea to show the book to his patients who show up in his office with a newborn baby scared to learn all about their child's cataract diagnosis. He can flip through the pages with them to ease their fears and show them what an extremely successful outcome looks like and all the steps and procedures along the way (patching, contacts, surgeries, recoveries, etc.). For readers stumbling on this page looking for cataract answers and support, here is a digital version!

On Friday evening we joined our friends, the Edwards (Caroline's best friend Austin), and a few other families, for a super fun pizza & pool play date. The kids splashed around for hours and ate their weight in pizza before crashing hard into bed.

Early Saturday morning we visited Matt's office to grab some files before stopping for cinnamon rolls for breakfast. The kids had a blast running through the halls, climbing the reception desk and nosing around a few of the attorney offices (sorry Jen & Rachel). And this is why they rarely get to visit during business hours.

 I see you, stack of lunch boxes that haven't found their way home!!!!

Sunglasses ($12) | Top ($22) | Shorts ($17)

Side note: I am obsessed with these $12 sunglasses and have received so many compliments on this embroidered top that is 40% off!

Later that morning our longtime handyman, Hector, arrived to make my to-do list dreams come true. He fixed and replaced so many things around the house that we haven't had time to address. Matt is one hell of a lawyer but definitely does not pretend to be a handyman -- especially when it comes to wires! Anyway, Hector repaired our broken garbage disposal, replaced all the weather stripping in the house, removed a super old door chime and a few broken fire detectors then patched & painted the holes in the walls, repaired our broken gate in the backyard, fixed our front door (it's been jammed shut and we couldn't open it) and fixed the kids' bathroom ceiling water damage from a recent roof leak. He is amazing!

The yellowed fire detectors looked like alien spaceships to me. Since we've moved in these things have creeped me out and I couldn't have been happier to say goodbye to them!

 

T-Shirts | Makeup Kit

Meanwhile, Caroline gave Thomas makeup lessons to distract him from interrupting allll the projects around the house.

After naps we joined the Samuelsons at McKinsey's parents' house for another pizza + pool play date! McKinsey's parents just finished a major pool renovation and had us over to enjoy the new pool! We also got to see just how NOT scared of the pool Thomas is. He is so wild and fearless.

On Sunday we took Thomas to get his first hair cut!

We asked Caroline if she wanted to get hers cut too but she felt strongly against it (& daddy wasn't quite ready either). However, Tom did fantastic and was hilarious the entire appointment. He was so excited about sitting in an airplane that he didn't even notice he got a trim. 

He looks so dang cute I can hardly stand it!

Last stop of the weekend was Cowfish at Caroline's request. She is so obsessed. And because both kids ate well and behaved themselves they cashed in (literally) on my penny bribe for the fountain!

Life Lately || The Highlights

If you don't mind, I'd like to change gears from cancer updates to less serious topics! Writing is such an amazing outlet for me and I need it now more than ever. Anyway, I have some highlights to share from the past few weeks... 

McKinsey's Baby Shower: My friend McKinsey is expecting her second little boy, McCoy, in a few weeks so a group of us threw a little sprinkle for her at my house recently.

 Sara of course made the cutest onesie decorations.

You can find McKinsey's first baby shower we hosted for her two years ago here!

+++

Date Nights: Matt has been on top of date night planning recently. In the past few weeks he's worked directly with Ms. Jamie to schedule two dates for me and him to decompress and spend time together. He is the best and I absolutely couldn't get through this season of life without him.

 

 {Workman's Friend Date Night}   {Ink & Ivy Date Night}   +++   

Birthday Parties: We've attended 3 birthday parties for Caroline and Thomas' friends over the past few weekends.

 

{Phelps' Super Hero 3rd Birthday Party}

{Maggie's 2nd Birthday Pool Party}   +++   

Supper Club: This month Abby hosted Supper Club at her house and it was so fun. She has the most gorgeous home and served Yafo for dinner!

+++
 

PGA Championship Golf Tournament: Matt and his dad went to the PGA tournament on Saturday and then Matt and I took the kids on Sunday! I'm glad we went...but the kids were really only well-behaved for like 35 minutes before they got bored, hot and were ready to go! Next time we'll leave them behind.

  +++  

Solar Eclipse: Matt and I met at home yesterday to eat lunch and watch the Eclipse together on the baseball field behind our house. It was awesome and such a fun excuse to hang out in the middle of the workday for a few hours.

 

Mamas Spring Break 2017

While scheduling the 2017 Supper Club calendar our group of 11 ladies decided to swap out our open month for an annual beach weekend. Our club has several pregnant mamas or mamas with newborns but we still ended up with 6 girls for the trip this year!  A few snapshots from our Mamas Spring Break...

Each year the vacation planner will rotate but McKinsey graciously raised her hand to plan our first beach getaway..and she nailed it. She selected the most beautiful 4 bedroom house (with a private pool!!) just three hours away on Isle of Palms for 3 nights. Oh, and she also wins best friend ever for being 22 weeks pregnant (with baby #2) and volunteering to be our DD the entire trip.

Five out of six of us arrived around lunch time on Thursday so we stopped at Pages Okra Grill for cocktails and lunch and then made a quick grocery stop on our way to the house. The rest of the afternoon was spent sipping rose` poolside and relaxing without our little people running around.

For our first dinner out we ate at The Obstinate Daughter where we all agreed The Kings Honey cocktail was one of the best we've ever had. In fact, this was my favorite dinner of the trip. 

Cooler Bag & Beach Tote c/o Scout // Fedora (on sale) // Swim Suit (print sold out but bikini version here & solid one piece version here)

Friday morning we made breakfast, packed up all the bags, booze and snacks and spent the day on the beach.

The weather was unbelievably perfect and all of us got burnt despite our many sunscreen applications.

My romper (on sale for $26) // pink tassel earrings ($12 -- available in 6 colors)

 Friday night we ate at Acme Lowcountry Kitchen.

Saturday was another beautiful beach day!

Getting ready together as a big group each night was one of my favorite parts of the vacation. We piled into the sitting room (dubbed as Laura's Beauty Bar) with curling irons, eye shadow pallets, charcuterie plates and mimosas.. Laura spent hours perfectly curling hair, Lisa gave makeup lessons, I topped off the drinks and we all danced around like complete fools to the best pop play lists. It was so so so nice to take our time getting ready without toddlers chasing us with sippy cups and snack demands.

Soooo much makeup envy.

Most requested outfit deets from InstaStories: My romper // Abby's yellow lace dress (sold out) // Sara's yellow floral dress // Lisa's stripe top

For our last dinner out we headed into Charleston for happy hour at Zero George and a late dinner at FIG.

Zero George was definitely one of the trip highlights. We arrived at the perfect time to steal the best lounge area in the house and shared the most delicious charcuterie board and a few bottles of my new favorite Sauvignon Blanc, Cloudy Bay.

On Sunday we woke up bright and early and rushed home to our babies! It was the perfect mama spring break!