leap day wordless wednesday

summer in winter

we took our yearly family trip to jamaica last week. and let me just say that for a vacation, it was a lot of work with a 9 month old but still so absolutely worth it. caroline, of course, is a seasoned jamaican traveler, so it was super easy with her.

the weather there was perfect... sunny and low 80's. a bit heavenly i think.

our daily routine went a little like this:

• 7am- wake up
• 7:15- breakfast was waffles or cereal and fruit for both girls
• 8:30- swim
• 10- hadley's first nap while caroline keeps on with the fun
• noon- lunch
• 1pm- walks/park/playtime
• 2:30pm- hadley naps and caroline has down time
• 5pm- cocktail hour and virgin pina coladas for the girls (well, not for hadley!)
• 6pm- dinner, which for caroline always consisted of black olives and hadley's had watermelon and pasta
• 7:30- some form of hotel entertainment...band, movie, magician, etc...
• 7:30- also bedtime for hadley. the husband and i took turns with this one

this is what we did. every day. all 5 days. it really was so much fun. the only hard part being that there really wasn't anywhere for hadley to get down and crawl around. so most afternoons caroline and i would take her in the hotel hallway to crawl, as this was the only area that had carpet. i think she loved that little bit of freedom.

caroline is a fish and really loved the pool, lazy river, and water slides. she and the other big girls loved going to the pier to feed the needle fish. they also went on a glass bottom boat one day and made leather flower hair clips another.

and you know the girl had to come home with her jamaican braids again!

so a lot of pictures now...

hadley on her first plane trip. she sat in my lap for take off and landing. we did not bring her car seat and i think that was a great decision on our part. it would of just been one more thing to lug around the airport!

caroline all fancy for our first dinner. love her sense of fashion.

hads absolutely loving the pool with mafra pushing her around
the girls and i at cocktail time. look at the beautiful view behind us!
smiles
again at cocktail hour enjoying some beautiful jamaican scenery. for what it is worth, in jamaica, it doesn't have to be cocktail hour to have a drink. it is more like cocktail day!
snack time at the pool
dolled up for dinner
relaxing
pool time
feeding the needle fish on the pier
pretty
the cute threesome in their matching dresses- ellis, mafra and caroline
daddy and haddie
fishes
glass bottom boat trip
soaking her feet in the water one night after dinner... you can semi see her braids in this picture
it was a great vacation.

but there is no place like home!

summer soles

today is warm and spring-like.

makes my feet crave the freedom they find in sandals. the best part about spring and summer if you ask me.

here are some shoes i want to get the girls for spring from piperlime.

for caroline- sea swell from kenneth cole
for hads- adele from see kai run

back from vacation...

we are home from a fun-filled 6 day vacation to jamaica.

that would explain the no wordless wed this week.

but first i am off to florida for the weekend with some amazing friends. how lucky am i!

so i'll be back next week to share photos from our vacay.

stay tuned....

wordless wednesday

fairy time

sweet cheeks likes to lose teeth.

she lost three in one week.

tuesday- teeth in tact

wednesday- she lost one top tooth


thursday- lost another top tooth. saturday- lost a bottom tooth


3 teeth out of there in one week. this meant three visits from the tooth fairy in one week. how lucky was she!

and what did her dad make to eat on sunday night? her favorite food in the whole world, ribs. of course it wasn't until we sat down to eat that caroline reminded us that she really can't eat ribs without front teeth. we had to cut the meat off the bone for her.

wordless wednesday

in with the tubes

the month of december was a rough one for hadley. (i know i mentioned that before. that's how rough it was, worth mentioning twice)

it started with fluid in the ear, which within two days turned into a double ear infection. her first infection was a double and it was awful. she could not sleep. we did not sleep. for a month.

amoxicillin, omnicef, and augmentin could not get rid of it. 3 days of shots of rocephin worked but it was brutal.

thankfully we met with an awesome pediatric ent who said he would do tubes in our 8 mos old daughter the next day. we asked for the weekend to process it and had the tubes put in on monday.

the before part of the surgery was great, even with the waking at 5:40 am and not eating for hours.

the recovery was awful. she screamed her lungs off for 25 minutes. we were told she'd be returned to us sleeping. they lied. it was sadder than sad. she was crying because she was disoriented and that broke my heart. the idea of her feeling off, scared, and not knowing what was going on was a horrible one. it was a long 25 minutes but once she came to, it was over. she was back to her smiley, happy self the rest of the day.

in the waiting room


in her hospital gown
tiny foot with i.d.
still a before hand shot.... i don't have any afters. and for good reason

sand in our shoes

we spent new year's down at st simons, ga with the husband's family. it was such a great trip. of course it was a big deal because it was hadley's first trip to the beach. it was also her first long drive in the car... 5.5 hours! which felt even longer on the return trip since caroline didn't ride home with us. hadley missed the entertainment.

our mini holiday to st. simons was a success. both girls had a great time. i think caroline's favorite part was/is riding the scooters around... the scooters that are like mopeds, not the foot pushing kind!

we were so fortunate that the weather was in the high 60's, low 70's the whole time. just beautiful. we got lots of outside time, even if it was just letting the girls ride their bikes around the mini-block in front of the beach house.


park visit down by the pier

mafra hadley ellis and caroline.... the cousins

to the beach







the sun was super bright... hence the closed eyes but she is standing in a sand hole. yup, i said sand hole.

finn + emma

i love how easy it is to stumble upon new websites!

here is one i just came across and thought was pretty sweet for baby girls and boys.

finn + emma

they are a children's company based off of organic cottons. they also say that their clothes and toys are produced in fair trade settings. sounds good to me.

they remind me a little of the brand tea

finn + emma:

baby girl one piece outfits

sweet mouse booties. they look so cozy. i might want some for me!
and scooters for the baby boys

i adore this teether and rattle!
wood play gym


so not only do they have a really cute company name, they also have some really sweet items

wordless wednesday