Recap of our Florida trip

Since Blogger was not working right earlier this week, it's taken a bit to pull this post together. Watch out for all the pictures!

We tried to cram as much into the week as possible, in between Joseph's naps and waiting for contractors and workers to arrive at my parents' house. Joseph's sleep schedule was all over the place, as he's moving into that phase where he could just as easily take one or two naps a day, and always of unpredictable length. Of course, the fact that we spent most of his awake time outside helped to ensure that he slept well at night and naptime!

There's an amusement/go kart facility in Destin called The Track, that has been there since we started vacationing years ago. I remember (and we have the pictures to prove it!) going on these kiddie rides when my sister Jen was just a few years older than Joseph. It was more than strange returning this year and putting my own kid in the seats!

There were a handful of rides for really little kids, and only two of those that allowed an adult to ride. We opted to let Joseph ride the swings first, not sure of how he'd react. I wish I had a better camera to capture his expression - he LOVED it!

He was quite content to sit back, swing his legs and enjoy the ride. Too cute!

Then Granpa took him on the little carousel, which we knew he'd love. Sure enough, this kid has figured carousel rides out - he knew when to wave at Grammy and me without any prompting!

His final ride of the night was the train. I think he was getting a little sleepy, as he wasn't as into this one as much as we expected. A quick trip over to the mini-golf area to view the enormous fish in a pond (without any fish food stands, either...) and a stop at the frozen custard stand capped off the night. Joseph still doesn't really like ice cream in any of its form or fashion. I don't think my parents are willing to accept that, so we opted to get him a blueberry milkshake, which seemed to be a hit until it got really melty and just dripped everywhere.

The next morning we hung out in a sandy spot near the pool, as it was a little too windy to take Joseph down to the beach. He had a blast playing with Grammy.

Could he get any cuter?

 He figured out exactly what to do with those sand toys in no time at all. I think he could have spent all day playing in the sand, if we would have let him. And unless he was really tired and rubbing his eyes, he didn't seem to mind getting covered in it.

Later in the day, we took a trip to a local outdoor mall that has a kids play area. We discovered that they also have a small train that will give you a ride around the whole mall, which we assumed Joseph would enjoy. (He was a champ all week about wearing a hat, even this one that my parents' bought and was a little big. It kept slipping down so he'd have to tilt his head way back to see out!)

Apparently we assumed wrong. Once the conductor started the train up, Joseph started wailing! Not exactly the reaction we were waiting for. It took some serious coddling for him to man up and tolerate the train for the whole 6 minutes we were on it. Maybe next time he'll like it better?

Maybe he was just having a wimpy baby day, because the usually happy to be around water kid was replaced with one who just wasn't having fun. Check out this face...

Of course, if I were put in front of fountains that spray up taller than me, unpredictably, for the first in my life, I probably would have responded in the same way.

Somehow he managed to walk in and around the fountain area, even stepping on and leaning over the ones that weren't currently spraying water, without getting sprayed in the face ever!

The following day, the winds shifted out of the north. The ocean was incredibly calm, and the winds were really gentle. We spent lots of time down on the beach that day and for the rest of the trip, with Granpa teaching Joseph how to build sand castles. Or destroy sandcastles, as Joseph seemed to prefer.

My parents' home is the yellow one in the background, so it's very convenient to just walk outside, a few steps over the new "dune" before we were down  at the water's edge. At least the beach restoration project seems to be holding up well, as last year the water was under the front of their house!

Without big waves to be scared of, Joseph had fun walking up to the water and cleaning off his sandy hands. Being early May, the water was still warming up, so we never actually went for a swim. Maybe next time!

This is probably my favorite picture from the whole trip. Joseph absolutely adores his Granpa, and wanted to be right next to him (or held by him!) whenever possible.

Lots of seaweed had drifted onto the beach, which Joseph decided would make for a great decoration on the sand castles. Granpa felt otherwise. :)

We also took Joseph and Granpa to the Fort Walton Beach Gulfarium - a first trip for both of them. It's definitely a small marine park, and the main dolphin pool was under construction, so we were able to see most of the birds, fish, dolphins, sea lions, etc. in just a few hours. It's funny how neither my mom or I could actually remember the inside of the Gulfarium, but when I was a kid I was convinced I wanted to work there someday! :)

Unfortunately, the week was over before we knew it, and it was time to head back home to reality. I wish Joe could have been there with us, but it's nice to know we were able to spend quality time with my parents at one of the most beautiful places in the U.S. And we'll chalk this beach trip up to practice for our sailing vacation next month, where I'm sure Joseph and Joe will get plenty of time to play together!

Fishes

Coincidence? This morning when I reached into Joseph's crib to pick him up, he pointed at the south wall of his bedroom, the one with the "one fish, two fish" mural, and made the sign for fish! He started signing fish and bird while in Florida last week, and loves to look at fish swimming. I know Joe is going to be so proud when he sees this new development in action! :)

* Don't worry, I'll update the blog soon with all sorts of cute pictures and updates about our trip last week!

First days at the beach

Joseph and I are currently visiting my parents at their house in Destin,FL. He's having a great time spending the days outside at the neighborhood pool across the street, on the beach and playing on the deck under the house. I'm trying out thee mobile blogging feature on this phone, so bear with me as I get this all figured out.

Last night, after spending most of Joseph's waking hours at the pool, we headed to a favorite restaurant on the beach. After we finished eating, my parents took Joseph out to the playground on the sand. It was his first time playing on the beach, and he had a good time, until he clapped his sandy hands, spraying sand into his face. Oops!

Today we went to church, then headed to a few stores to look for sandals that fit Joseph. I had found a pair at home that seemed to work, but after a few minutes they kept slipping off Joseph's feet. He was a champ, skipping his morning nap and making it through a fun lunch on the beach. Tonight we just hung out on the deck, where Joseph dined on a "gourmet" smorgasboard dinner while the adults polished off a few bottles of wine and a cheese and cracker tray. Hence the goofy pictures of Joseph playing in the owner's closet under the stairs with Grandma!

Hopefully we'll get to spend more time outside tomorrow as it's making Joseph sleep really well at naptime and bedtime!

Easter Candy Regrets

I realized that I had forgotten to post pictures of our actual Easter morning. This year Joseph was a little unsure of what all the morning fuss was, and wasn't really excited to see the haul that the Easter bunny had brought for him, including the Cars movie, Incredibles movie and some candy filled eggs. You would think after the fun of the Easter egg hunt the day before and loving the Tootsie Rolls and Smarties candies he had found in those eggs, he'd be more excited to see more eggs. Not so. I swear this was his expression for the first few minutes that he was up and looking at the basket.

That is, until we helped him pop open an egg and let him take out the peanut butter M&Ms that were inside the egg. Then he happily wore this expression for the next few hours...

And he learned that those big plastic eggs hold LOTS of goodies! So many candies, so little room for real breakfast. I swear the kiddo ate a few dozen M&Ms and luckily Daddy helped with an egg full of Starburst jelly beans, otherwise he would have finished those off too.

Such a happy little man! He thought all of this was great, and being the dumb parents we are, we were happy to watch him gobble up food. I mean, this is the kid who hardly eats all day and now he can't get enough? Wahoo!

Until it was time to get everyone in the car for the 2 minute car ride to church. Joe was running late, so I got Joseph in the car seat, thinking I'd help us get to church on time. Except remember all that candy for breakfast? Yeah, it didn't like being in his belly. So the regurgitated version ended up all over his church shirt. Sigh. I ran inside to grab a new outfit for him while Joe finished up, and luckily we still made it to church on time.

The rest of the day was pretty laid back and like any other recent day... lots of painting for me, and Joe entertaining Joseph so he'd stay off the step ladder and out of the paint cans. Joe made our Easter dinner for the 3 of us, which was delicious, but we ended up with enough food to feed a dozen people. It just seemed weird to have a holiday meal without anyone else to share it with.

And with all of his new-found signing abilities, Joseph has figured out the signs for "eat," "more," and "please." Especially when there's candy in plastic eggs involved. Unfortunately, that's all he wants to eat now. I did figure out that if I put small bits of food, like peas and carrots, into said plastic eggs, it is still kinda fun for a 14 month old and worthy of eating (yup, the little guy still loves his frozen fruits and veggies more than just about anything... except candy!). But for the most part, when he signs "eat" all he really wants is sugar. Oops. We're weaning him off this sugar high, slowly.

Just to document, here's a list of words he can sign well and uses frequently: eat, more, please, thank you, car, all done, milk, juice, sleep, train, hat (which frequently ends up being the sign for dad too).

We're Finished!!

Well, it's official - we're finished with the remodel! Only 5 short (ha!) months later, we've moved all of our furniture upstairs into our new bedroom and are in the final stages of putting the rest of the house together. It's so hard to believe that our 2nd floor staircase has gone from this...

 to this!

Although it is a little strange to walk down the (short) hallway to our new bedroom, the space flows so much better. That's the door to our new bedroom, and the short door on the right is the access to our new heat pump.

And the new entrance to the upstairs is so much nicer. I need to take a better shot from the front door, but have to finish painting in the dining room and get the spaces cleaned up first. So for now, here's how the staircase looks. I love that when I'm sitting on the couch, I can see through to the screened porch and back yard now!

Here's another before shot of the former guest room/new master bedroom, although really it was a "during" since this was after the water and termite damage had been repaired in January.

 And here's the bedroom now! We absolutely love the new ceiling and rope lights, and the ceiling fan is beautiful (I'd turn it on for the photo, but Joe somehow messed up the remote last night and we haven't fixed it so it doesn't turn on right now). Our neighbor Carmen helped us with all of the wall colors, but I love this one the most. It seemed so risky for me, but it really makes the space feel "grown up" and sophisticated. It's a dark blue gray in person.

 

Hard to believe, but this is the same wall as the before picture. We still need to hang our mirror, but for now the space is all set up and complete.

This is a view from in front of the dresser, and you can see the mirrored french doors that cover my closet. As an afterthought I picked these out, when I realized I really wanted a full length mirror somewhere in our bedroom, since we've not had one for years. The door into the bedroom is just to the right of the doors, and the bathroom is down the hallway to the left.

Just next to my closet is Joe's closet. We opted for two small pocket doors, so that he could hang his clothes perpendicular to the doors and to save floor space (there's a bunch of pocket doors upstairs now!)

Just across from Joe's closet is the laundry room, which I've already come to love! We still want to add some more shelves, but need to wait for the final inspection before installing them.

Here's another view of Joe's closet, with his built in drawers and custom shoe cubbies. The worker, Phil, who built these for Joe jokingly asked if 18 spaces would be enough, thinking Joe's like the typical guy with a half dozen pairs of shoes... he was rather surprised when I went to count and realized that Joe could easily fill all of the spaces! I'm a little jealous of how great Joe's closet turned out, but will be customizing mine in the coming weeks which will make it that much nicer (right now it just has one long hanging rod).

And drumroll, please... my absolute favorite part of the upstairs. Somehow we managed to go from this unfinished space, completely full of potential...

to this gorgeous new master bathroom!

 I'm completely in love with it and amazed that it turned out so well and just about as close to my inspiration picture as possible. I smile every time I walk past and see that beautiful tub and the light reflecting off the marble floors.

It's so tempting just to turn on the shower and see how it works, even though we still don't have shower doors. Hopefully by the end of the week they'll be here and installed.

Another favorite aspect of the bathroom?

His and hers vanities with plenty of storage space! We also added a linen closet with shelves and an off season clothes closet on either side of the bathtub, trying to maximize the usable space in the roof eaves.

This is the view standing in front of the window and looking back north. We had the guys install the tub about 8 inches away from the window sill, so that I could get a broom back behind the tub for cleaning. Joseph loves hiding behind there and keeps leaving toys and books for us to find!

And the private toilet closet, which turned out much larger than we had anticipated.

And the last before picture - the north end of the house, with the chimney in the distance.

Here's the same space, taken just a few feet closer!

This is the new north bedroom, future nursery when the time arrives. For now, we're planning on leaving the room empty. I love the large built-in drawers, and the closet actually turned out larger than I was thinking it would be.

 It'll be a perfect space for the next little kiddo... and we have plenty of time to figure out how to make it as special as Joseph's room.

So that's it! We couldn't have done it without help from my parents, Ashley and Mikael for letting us live in their house for months, our neighbor Carmen for design help (and I'm sure more in the future!) and the wonderful guys working for John Corker Remodeling, whom we will actually miss.

Hunting Easter Eggs

Saturday afternoon we took Joseph to a nearby park where a church was hosting a free community Easter celebration, complete with an egg hunt, rides, balloons, etc. The event started at 2pm, but we didn't know what time the egg hunt was going to happen, so I wanted to get to the park a bit early. I'm pretty sure I was the most excited about the afternoon, as Joseph didn't have a clue what was going on, and Joe doesn't have the history of crazy mass easter egg hunts with tons of other kids like I do.

As we were walking up to the park, we heard the organizers announce that the hunt was going to begin in 10 minutes, and to find the age appropriate section for the kiddos. We tried to wait patiently behind the yellow rope in the 1-2 year old age area, but it was a little difficult with all those eggs right in front of us!

While we waited, Joseph kept trying to walk over to start picking up eggs. I'm not going to lie and say I hadn't spent some time letting him "practice" his technique at home in the days before Easter, so I wasn't terribly surprised to see him trying to take off. Of course, he was the only little guy there trying desperately to get at the eggs before the start of the hunt!

Finally we gave in a few times, since he was clever enough to stay behind the ropes.... just walking forward enough to drag them with him while he'd go and get an egg.

When the Easter Bunny arrived to start the hunt, Joseph was ready and off to a great start (with the 3 pre-race eggs he'd already picked). There were a bunch of eggs and a good number of little kids, but each family seemed to take one section so the kids could pick up plenty of eggs. Joseph hunted eggs like a champ, making sure each one ended up in his basket.

 Like a true Parsonage, once he'd completely filled his basket and realized none of his extended family was there, he recruited an innocent grandma onlooker to hold his eggs for him. :) She was quite happy to help the little guy out.

And once the eggs were all gone, Joseph turned to picking dandelions and the little puff weeds.

The only family picture we took all weekend...please excuse the crazy hair and fingers in the mouth!

After the hunt we tried to catch up with the Easter Bunny to take a picture, but missed him. Most of the other games were geared at the older kids, so we headed to a different section of the park with playground equipment to play. Joseph surprised Joe with his incredible sliding skills... I swear Joe looked a little sad when he realized Joseph didn't need his dad's help to climb to the top of the slide and was able to go down all by himself!

1st of a couple of easter posts

Most of the good pictures and video are on the real camera so I will have to post them later. For now, here is a video of 7 and his dancing easter duck. He has liked the dancing stuffed animals before, but he keeps forgetting that he doesn't like this one. All day long, he would pick it up, press the button, and then wail. So sad. So cute. I think this is going on the highlight reel for future girlfriends.