i n • p u r s u i t

Thursday, we woke up and had a slow morning. Ate pancakes, drank coffee, watched PBS Kids, and made it to the beach around 10:30am.  The kids and I dug a deep pool and Ruthie plopped right in a called in her bathtub! Haha. Eventually, the tide moved out, and we filled in our bathtub and started making sand castles. Mike and I had subs for lunch but we forgot to get the kids Lunchables as planned (WINNING), luckily, we had plenty of snacks, so they were pretty happy with that! After a couple hours, this little one was ready for a nap. We parked it under our rented beach chairs (best splurge, y'all.) and I snuggled and prayed she would fall asleep. She snuggled in and would occasionally point to people around us, "Mama, he need shirt." She has a thing with shirtless men. She doesn't approve. She eventually fell asleep, slept for maybe a hourish, and woke up in a super happy mood! While she was sleeping, Mike and J went to get ice cream cones from the ...

I've never been a part of a family that spends the whole week at the beach. Doesn't that sound so freaking luxurious? I'd like to eventually do that, but for now, a couple days at the beach is awfully nice. We left Greenville not-quite-as-early-as-anticipated on Wednesday morning and arrived home around dinner time on Friday. So a quick trip, but still so fun! We stopped at a Mexican restaurant for lunch and, once we arrived in Charleston, stopped by our AirBnb to unload and change. Then...off to the beach! Do you know why plastic bags are prohibited on the beach? Because sea turtles might mistake them for jellyfish and eat them! So sad! We bought a wagon for this trip and OH MAN! What a game changer. I had no idea how it would make the beach trip that much more enjoyable. Why? Everything was contained and the kids got a ride. If we didn't have it, we would have had to carry stuff, they would have had to help, and they would have whined because they woul...

Sometimes, I look at childless couples (namely Mary & Evan who seem to have SO MUCH FUN together) and I'm think, your life is like one big date! (Because there are no toddlers to chase and no nap times to make it home for.) My life used to be like that too...but I didn't value the opportunities for quality time. I think I'm might look back on this time with little ones, in a similar light. Look at all the opportunities for quality family time that we missed out on! And now they're grown! We'll all be going different directions. We ran errands together as a family this morning. (I didn't consciously go with this mindset but all these thoughts occurred to me afterwards.) Maybe I just woke up on the right side of the bed, but I just had the BEST time with my family this morning. You can turn something as mundane as running errands into opportunities for quality family time. We stopped by Starbucks and it didn't feel like a desperate-...

I really love getting photos of these two guys together. And I love that I caught Joseph waving his little pincer fingers on one hand and pointing with the other. He does that a lot.  Today, Joseph had another swim class. He's getting better, but he's certainly not 100% comfortable in the water. He only cries at the end of the class now, when he really need to get home for his morning nap because boy is SPENT. I made loaded nachos for dinner last night and Doritos casserole for dinner tonight. Next week, I'm going to try to cook something healthy to make up for all this junk! But, man, the Pioneer Woman loaded nachos? I highly recommend. So so good. Speaking of food, Joseph is eating like a big boy these days. He eats more table food than purees. I've been trying to go this direction, but he just wasn't having it. But these past couple of days, he's eating almost anything I cut into little pieces and put on his tray. His current favorites seem ...

The other day, Joseph and I spent the morning hanging out with my brother Leo. We decided to go downtown for brunch and ended up at Tupelo Honey Cafe.  Nothing like day drinking with your big bro. Mimosa for me and Bloody Mary for Leo. These were delicious, by the way. Joseph fell asleep in the Ergo while we were walking around trying to pick a place. When we were seated at Tupelo, I unclipped him and placed him in the bench. He continued to nap and, once he woke up, he was content to just look around and be cute while we ate. I'm so blessed to have such a happy little boy! Tupelo's delicious biscuits and blueberry preserves. These are SO good! Being silly with Uncle Leo :) Babywearing mama! This is the best way to hang out with your baby. Joseph rarely rides in a stroller!

For Mother's Day, Mike suggested we have a little picnic in the park. I couldn't imagine a better way to spend the day! On a blanket in the shade watching my two favorite guys have fun together. Afterwards, my parents and brother joined us at our house for some vanilla ice cream and homemade caramels. Yummy! :) That evening was Joseph's baby dedication! What a sweet way to end Mother's Day. His dedication was made even more special because Alan was the one doing the baby dedications on Sunday evening. Backstory for those who don't know: Alan and his wife are very dear friends to us. Also, they let us take over their home and get married in the backyard, with Alan officiating our wedding. So, you know, it was only right that he did Joseph's baby dedication. 

This morning, we three hopped on the bus for a Saturday morning downtown. We checked out both the farmers' market and arts festival. Joseph loved riding the bus! He got to sit next to the window and watch the world go by. He was also cosy, snuggled up next to mommy in the Ergo and fell asleep before we even made it downtown. He ended up sleeping for 75 minutes and missing most of our morning! We picked up some veggies, treated ourselves to yummy pastries, saw beautiful art, and split a steamed bagel. Joseph, when he was awake, had fun watching all the goings on. He's such a chill little dude and didn't fuss hardly at all! It makes for an enjoyable family outing. :)