First Trip to the Beach (Father's Day Weekend)

Yes, our kids are native Floridians and we have never taken them to the beach. Thus, we thought that at 1 and 2, the time is now. We decided to spend the Saturday before Father's Day at the beach. We ventured to a beautiful beach, one of the top 10 Beaches in the US, in Dunedin, FL. This magnificent piece of real estate is called 'Honeymoon Island'. It was quiet, beautiful, and exactly what we wanted. The beach consisted of families, all lined up with their beach umbrellas, floatees, and coolers. What a great way to spend a Saturday in June. (Thanks CD for always gushing about this perfect spot!).

The first trip in the water, Jake was calm and cool as always, and Caitlin kept yelling, NO...SWIM SWIM...she didn't want to walk in the water, our girl wanted to swim! So, I managed to walk and hold her up like she was swimming. She loved it!

We were there for a few hours and really had a lovely time. Then we went back home for naps, and ventured back out to Ybor City for some yummy pizza at this little pizzeria that I had a 'Groupon' for. It was a great Father's Day weekend, with our little family. Roger loved doing is favorite things...going to the beach, eating Pizza on Saturday, Steak on Sunday, and hanging out with his wife and kids. Life is good.

Beautiful Honeymoon Island

Diva in the sand

Caitlin and Daddy in the water

Daddy and his Mini-Me

Mommy and Kiddos

Daddy trying to show Caitlin how to build a sand castle

Mommy and Jakers

Little Miss

Someone has a secret...

Happy Fathers Day!

Father's Day Cake for my Dad and Roger

Okay, so this picture...Caitlin decided to pull her potty out of the bathroom, strip off her diaper and pj bottoms and watch TV on it. Yep...we have started the potty training, but I think she has a mind of her own.

Disney Mania

We took the kids to Disney on Saturday...and let's just say, there is a reason they call it the 'Happiest Place on Earth'. Enjoy!

The AMAZING and TALENTED Carmen Doherty!

I am so blessed to know and work with this amazing woman, Carmen Doherty. Not only is she a genius at her job (we work at the same company), but she is a GENIUS behind the camera. This lady has such an amazing drive for family, work, and her personal hobbies...she can do it all. She has launched her amazing photography business and is just brilliant. (How many positive adjectives can I really use in this post?) Oh yeah, and she is BY FAR the most positive, uplifting, and generous person that I know. Okay, now that this post is dripping with sappiness...please view the video below. I thank God everyday for her mentorship, friendship and kindness. Love you, Carmen!

Captured in this video, is an amazing photo session with my family, where we commemorated Caitlin's 2nd birthday with a tea party and Jake's 1st birthday with a homemade chocolate baseball cake!

Daddy's Little Girl

I'll let you in on a little secret...I am a Daddy's Girl...and I am more than okay with it. I am almost 31 years old, and I am still Daddy's girl. When I found out I was pregnant with baby #1, I prayed for a girl. Why? Because I wanted my girl to have a close relationship with her Dad, as I did and STILL DO, with mine. Well, God granted my prayer, and blessed us with our first daughter. The relationship with Caitlin and her Daddy is more than I could have ever hoped for. When Roger walks into the room, everyone else disappears. No one can ever take the place of her Daddy. I know the feeling, kid.

Four Years Ago...

...I married the most amazing man! He is my love, my live, my best friend. We were married on a beautiful Florida Spring day, which happened to also be on my favorite Holiday!

What a journey we have had together so far...
* Lived in 5 different cities and houses
* Added a Fur Kid to our life...little Savannah
* Welcomed in 2 BEAUTIFUL little shamrocks, Caitlin and Jake
* Purchased 2 different cars and a wonderful home to raise our growing family
* Traveled to Denver, Omaha/Lincoln, Savannah, Key West, Charleston, DC...and other fun stops along the way!

I know we will encounter so many amazing more things on this journey...and I am so thankful God brought the two of us together. In the words of one of my favorite 'uncles', 'Marriage is not a sprint...it is a marathon.' So, we are just going to continue to enjoy the journey.

"May the road rise up to meet you...may the sun be on your face...and the wind always be at your back...and until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of his hand."

Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails...

...this is what little boys are made of...and PURE MISCHIEF!

Jake has kept us on our toes today. It first started out with a nice breakfast, but Jake managed to down an entire waffle for breakfast...he was trying to fuel up for all the havoc he was going to cause today.

I was working and the kids were calmly sleeping in their beds for their standard morning nap. Then, at about 1045, I could hear them stirring and I went downstairs to pack their diaper bag for Grandpa Sivula to pick them up. As I was packing their milk cups, I hear Jake's baby monitor in the family room start to beep, meaning it has lost signal. So, I find that odd, but thought maybe it is temporary and will come back in.  Then, I hear movement upstairs and panic thinking, 'OH NO! What if someone is in his room?!' (I know, not possible, but my mind plays tricks on me at times). So, I RACE upstairs and tear open his door to find him playing in his crib and he has pulled the baby monitor off of the windowsill and unplugged it from the wall and is playing with the chord. OH MY WORD...I run to him to take it away and almost in tears...he just looks at me and smiled and started to laugh. Thank you little boy, for giving your mom 15 new gray hairs in that moment.

Then, this afternoon, I get a call from my dad...'Erin, Jake had a piece of a plant in his mouth. I took it out, and don't think he injested it, as it was only 5 seconds, but you might want to call your doctor, ASAP.' Lovely. I call my doctor who encourages me to call poison control. I calmly dial poison control, and they assure me he is fine, as there were no teeth marks on the plant and this plant was not poisonous. So crisis number 2 averted.

Lord, give me strength with this crazy little boy...who I wouldn't trade for anything in the world.

...Just another manic monday...

Our Little Girl is 2! WOW!

Where did the time go? This little girl entered our lives on March 4, 2009 at 8:57PM...and like a speeding bullet, we are now 2 years later, and she is such a delight and blessing in our lives. WOW, has time flown. She is as brilliant as she is beautiful...she makes us laugh daily. She can smile at you and all your troubles melt away. She is talking so much these days. My new favorite is when she yells across the room at Jake, "BROTHER!" and then laughs hysterically. She can perform summersalts across the room, put her own pajama bottoms on, pick out her clothes (sometimes we get a match), put on her shoes, push her plate away at dinner and say, 'full'. Just last night, identified John Elway and Mario Lemiuex in our sports room, which made Mommy and Daddy the happiest. She can pick out the colors red, orange and green; and tell you which is a tree and which is a bush; she can tell you that she is 2 and Jake is 1; she tells everyone bye bye when they leave a room; she can sing to her sesame street cd, 'wubba wubba wubba'; and insists on everyone wearing a hat around her. Her favorite foods are chips and queso and string cheese...this girl loves her cheese...a girl after my own heart. I could go on and on, but my favorite thing about this girl, is that she is our little girl and God has blessed our lives with her!

For her Birthday, we took her to Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary Resort at Disney World so that she could have breakfast with the characters. Then we had dinner and cake at our house on her actual birthday, Friday, March 4. It was a lovely celebration to give this little girl her best birthday yet! However, my favorite birthday of Caitlin's was the very day she was born...We love you, Caitlin Doran Haney...you are forever our little girl.