FLORIDA!

We had a great long weekend at home in Orlando! It was so nice to escape the snow and spend time with my family in 80 degree weather. I am SO thankful I got to see my dad and it meant so much to him to have the whole family together under one loud and crazy roof. It was definitely the boost of happiness he needed after receiving confirmation that the cancer has in fact spread to both kidneys and his back. He began radiation on his back on our last day there and has a difficult road ahead. So extra snuggles with his grandbabies was just what the doctor ordered.

I feel like the road trip always needs it's own recap since it's a two day event in itself! I would grade both segments there and back a C+ since the kids treated me like a stewardess for 9 very long hours. About every 6 minutes I was being instructed to pick up a dropped toy or sippy cup, crawl into the back seat to change the DVD out or provide a new snack. Oh, and then there was that minor snafu on the way down when I finally had an opportunity to do my makeup and got sloppy with my navigation responsibilities. It wasn't until we started seeing signs for Charleston that I realized we missed our turn 40 minutes ago. Buuuuuut we MADE IT!

 

Shortly after we arrived home on Friday my best friend May and her hubby Justin stopped by with dinner for my family so my mom wouldn't have to spend any time cooking or cleaning dishes. Is that not the most thoughtful thing of all time? Bonus points that the meal was extremely delicious.

For dinner Justin made one of his specialties -- a delicious pan of chicken and rice. They also brought fresh bread, salad, beer and wine...and it fed 11 of us!

Since we arrived home later in the afternoon we let the kids stay up a little later than usual to get some snuggles in with Grandpa and Grandma.

The next morning Caroline was up bright and early helping Grandma with breakfast. And by "help" I mean she spread half a stick of butter on each biscuit, dipped every slice of bacon into the jam and ate the inside of all the sausage biscuits before everyone woke up.

For the record, I was informed that the camera was zoomed in from the waist up for this picture and I had just wrangled two sopping wet kiddos out of the pool. I attempted to crop out my legs but the photo became too awkward. Regardless, I love this ONE family photo (minus Ian) we got while in Florida so I had to include it. Pretend I'm wearing pants.

We spent most of Saturday by the pool. Actually, we spent most of the day by the pool in an inflatable pool, which we will absolutely be purchasing for our own backyard this summer. It was so much easier to keep an eye on three kids in 8" of water instead of floating around the deep pool in floaties.

 

I know I'm biased, but he is seriously one handsome little dude.

Thomas' swim trunks + long sleeve swim shirt // Jackson's swim trunks

Also, shout out to Target for having the cutest swim trunks for the boys this season. And they are under $10!

May came over to hang out just as the kiddos were going down for naps, which made for perfecting timing to break out the champagne for mimosas.

A little later Shanny came over too! Caroline wasn't excited at all. Nope. Look at her.

Dad's back is causing him a tremendous amount of pain but he still managed to pull off Sandroni Saturday Steak Night! Caroline made sure to supervise the steak temperature for a perfect medium-rare finish.

The boys stayed up late into the night watching basketball.

 

On Sunday we joined my parents for church. We hadn't planned for church when packing our bags so I wore my best pool cover-up to the service and Thomas wore Caroline's natives. My mom was super excited for us to attend church because she is the Sunday School teacher for the toddler class so Thomas and Caroline spent the morning destroying her room.

 

After church we went to our favorite old diner near our house for brunch. We each devoured unhealthy amounts of food, the kids threw every sugar packet they could find on the floor and Matt accepted a dare to eat a 3 decade old 25 cent gum ball from the dusty machine. No matter the adult to toddler ratio, eating out is always a bit chaotic but also always entertaining!

It was a long morning for dad so Caroline volunteered to watch a Mickey Mouse marathon on the couch with him while he rested.

 Not sure what you're laughing at Thomas, those shoes are your future hand-me-downs!

 The three best friends that anyone could ever have!

In an attempt to get solid naps out of the kids Uncle Ryan blew up the bounce house. We were not successful in the nap department (quite the opposite!) but the kids had a blast.

This is the quality photo you get when you suggest taking a picture mid bounce house fun.

And because I'm a huge dork, I spent the road trip home writing this post AND making this video...

And that's a wrap on our trip to Florida!

Five on Friday!

If things are going as I planned in my head, we are en route to Florida! If I'm being realistic, we are probably still running around collecting toys, stuffing snacks in coolers, packing up sound machines, toothbrushes and chargers, installing DVD players on headrests, writing instructions for the dog sitter, locking up the house, and filling up on gas and coffee...and then we'll be in route to Florida!

However, while procrastinating on all of the aforementioned to-do's, I wrote a Five on Friday post!

one. In a moment of pure delusion (and shortly after watching the Memphis Episode of This Is Us), I tried to persuade my 7 month pregnant sister into helping me plan and convince my parents of a day trip to Disney as a family this weekend. Clearly, I am living in la-la land and the conversation was quickly dismissed. However, dad has been holding on to our Disney tickets for literally DECADES to take his granbabies to Disney one day. I'm still holding on to hope this will be in our near future! In the meantime, homemade Mickey waffles will have to suffice! But seriously, look at these BMB (before magic bands) tickets...

and they never expire!

two. For a recent taco night I used the Avocado Crema recipe from a previous Hello Fresh meal for topping off our tacos and ohhhh myyyy gooooooosh, I will never make tacos without it again! And this topping is incredibly easy to whip together. Oh, and I served my tacos alongside a Mexican street corn that I also highly recommend! 

Avocado Crema: 

1 Avocado, pitted and halved

4 TBSP sour cream

1 lime, zested and halved

Salt & Pepper

 

Mash together half an avocado, sour cream, juice of ½ a lime, and lime zest with a fork in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper.

three. I recently received a few bottles of Dixie Southern Vodka to review so last weekend I experimented with St. Patrick's Day cocktails. I was pretty happy with the final cocktail! I'm calling these Wicked Little Leprechauns because they sneak up on you fast! Oh, and the vodka is far better than anything we keep in stock in our booze cabinet -- highly recommend (and it comes in a variety of flavors)!

Wicked Little Leprechaun Cocktail: In a glass full of ice add 1.5 oz Dixie Southern Vodka (more or less depending on how strong you like it), fill glass up with sprite, add a splash of lemonade and a splash of Green Hawaiian Punch. 

four.   This is going to be a two-part #4 because both topics revolve around bedtime.

So, let's call this 4A: Night Terrors. I received a TON of messages from you all yesterday on insta-stories in response to Caroline waking up every night sobbing and trembling in fear. A few nights a week she's been suddenly waking around 2-3 am with the saddest and most terrifying sob screams. She's disoriented when we find her (she always screams for Matt to come get her) and can't recall the dream that upset her, rather she says "she's scared!" and continues to sob, heart racing and clings to Matt. She is nearly impossible to comfort and begs us to bring her to our bed to sleep the rest of the night because she is too terrified to go back to sleep by herself. So I'm thinking we're just going to let her sleep with us until she goes off to college. Not weird, right?

Anyway, many of you gave me some solid advice and some of you asked to relay whatever advice I received because you're going through the same thing. So let me breakdown the most popular responses:

• There's a difference between Night Terrors and Nightmares: Nightmares occur during the dream phase of sleep known as REM sleep. The circumstances of the nightmare will frighten the sleeper, who usually will wake up with a vivid memory of a long movie-like dream. Night terrors, on the other hand, occur during a phase of deep non-REM sleep usually within an hour after the subject goes to bed. During a night terror, which may last anywhere from five to twenty minutes, the person is still asleep, although the sleepers eyes may be open. When the subject does wake up, they usually have no recollection of the episode other than a sense of fear. This, however, is not always the case.
• Send her to bed earlier. Being overtired can sometimes prompt a night terror. She's been skipping her school nap so this makes sense!
• No sugary snacks before bed (see ya later popsicle bath bribes!)
• Footy pajamas are linked to night terrors (yes, most random thing ever, and that is what she wears!) 
• Essential oils
• Lully Sleep Guardian (has anyone tried this?!?!?) 
• Pray over her (we do this, but maybe need to come back in after she goes to sleep for extra credit).
• And the best news I received -- this is usually a phase that she will outgrow!

On to happier bedtime things: 4B -- classic childhood books! I am working on adding some new books to our collection and would love to know which book was YOUR favorite as a child. I recently picked up one of my old favorite books, Tikki Tikki Tembo and there is absolutely nothing funnier than hearing my toddler try and recite this book. So far Caroline has gotten as far as "Tikki Tikki Tembo No Siry Bootchi!" It gets me. every. single. time. Oh, and for the record, Matt thinks this book is totally weird and doesn't know why I liked it as a child, or adult. Anyway, tell me your favorite books in the comments!!!

five. I thought I'd make your day with that picture. Real life, folks!

Happy weekend friends!

Weekend Rewind!

A packed out weekend for the books!

Caroline's Biggest Fan Shirt by Pearce Reed Designs

Most notably, Caroline started soccer shots! We have been so excited for our very first soccer season. I set my expectations pretty low in terms of Caroline's participation and was pleasantly surprised that she actually cared more about the game than just collecting the cones on the field. Don't get me wrong, she definitely had fun kicking cones over, stacking them on her feet, wearing them on her head, running across the field to the other team's games, and more. But I was shocked that she wasn't there just for the sticker and was really in to following her coaches directions.

 

Meanwhile Thomas refused to hang out on the sidelines and sprinted into the game every opportunity he could find. So we pretty much are getting a buy one get one free out of this year's soccer registration.

 

Cheering for a fun first soccer "game."

Afterwards we went to IHOP at Caroline's request.

Saturday night we had an epic mamas night out! For Valentine's Day, Matt and three other husbands planned a surprise evening out for us. They ironed out the date, reservation and all the details over their weekly trivia night. On V-Day we each got a card announcing our surprise. It was a solid gift.

We had dinner at Dogwood Southern Table, one of my favorite restaurants. We started with four appetizers and several rounds of cocktails before ordering our entrees. The food was incredible, per usual.

The boys instructed us not to rush home and we took those orders very seriously. So after dinner we walked next door to Corkbuzz, a swanky wine bar, for a few bottles of sauvignon blanc.

And closed the place down. It was seriously the most fun night out with my mama friends and we all agreed our husbands won "husbands of the year" awards for being so thoughtful.

On Sunday morning we attended a petting zoo birthday party and then relaxed the rest of the day.