matthew's first easter (photo dump)

This year Easter was not only special because of it being Matthews first easter (and we all know my obsession with "firsts"), but it was also special because it was our first easter as a family. The first easter I got to start new traditions with my son. And let me tell you, the Easter Bunny, he was good to our family ;)

We started off the day with an absolutely beautiful church service at 8am that was held in the park across the street from our actual church. The park is beautiful, especially that early in the morning. Right on the water. And with such enjoyable weather. We were running a little late (as per usual) but this particular service is a great one to bring kids to because its outside and has so many things for them to be amused by. In our case it was the boats passing by, the birds chirping above, the green grass below, and a stroller tray full of puffs!

 

 

We followed up the service with a nice little drive down by the beach. When i say it was absolutely gorgeous out, I am by no means exaggerating. This view, this ocean, these palm trees, this is why i love living in south florida.

I think what also made this years easter so memorable, was that we didnt really have any plans to be anywhere until about 4pm. Usually we are scrambling to get from hubs familys house to my familys, and rarely have anytime to enjoy the day. But this year we kind of just went with the flow. We decided at the last minute that we would head over to my sisters house to dye easter eggs with them. And of course, since it was so beautiful out, what better place to do the dyeing than outside! Matthew even got to take part too! (even if it was just to observe and chew on a spatula)

 

 

 

 

Somehow, Matthew ended up taking all the credit.....

After my sisters house we came home to let matthew take a nap before the evening filled with family and great friends. I headed over to my moms a little early to help out since she had gotten off work a little late. This year I actually got to help my mom make the riddles for the easter basket hunt. I remember fondly all those years that "EB" (easter bunny) left my sister and I little riddles that we had to figure out to lead us to our baskets. They were funny riddles, and I swear we always ended up finding our baskets in either the dryer or the shower. My mom even made a comment about how the last riddle needed to lead my neice and nephew to the shower. I laughed at her and said this year it was going to be a different place to really fool them. Best part was when my nephew, as he was reading the last riddle that lead them to the shed, said "but this doesnt take us to the shower." I about died with laughter.

 

 

 

The rest of the day was spent just hanging out with family and close friends. It was so relaxing. The kids got to enjoy their easter baskets. The adults got to enjoy a few good beers and delicious food. Matthew enjoyed observing everything and everyone between the pack-n-play, swing, and being carried around.

 

We got a few good family pics squeezed in there too!

love his expression in this one, such a goofball, takes after his father in more ways than one ;)

You know, I knew I would always love having a family of my own, i just never thought about how much I would enjoy all the holidays with my own kids.

Well, I hope you all had as nice and relaxing of an Easter as we did!

here comes peter cottontail

now if these pics dont make your day, i dont know what will.

HaPpY EaStEr!!!

my lil bunny's easter basket

A tisket, a tasket, ideas for your little bunny's Easter basket!
Matthew is still to young to really understand or enjoy Easter this year, and probably next year too, but I just couldnt resist putting together an awesome 1st Easter basket for him. I figured Id share with all of you whats going in it in case any of you are having trouble figure out what to get your baby younger than 1yr old.

Jellycat Bunny // Caterpillar teether // Bunny Bowl // Peach Puffs // Easter book
easter basket // basket liner // pacifiers // Sippy Cup (similar) // mickey easter book
runaway bunny // peter rabbit // what is easter book

Easter Basket itself. I knew I wanted it personalized and Ive always loved the classic Peter Rabbit opposed to the cartoonish bunnies. So I turned to Pottery Barn Kids. I know i show the white basket here, but I actually got the Chesnut version. And I just have to say, PBK has awesome customer service. I ordered both the basket and the liner, and then the following day I got an email saying all the easter stuff was on sale. So i quick called them and they gave me a refund for the difference. Score! Something you may notice, there isnt any candy or sweets. I decided I didnt want to include these for two reasons. One being hes too young to have candy, and two being I want to save his first time ever eating sweets to be his smash cake at his first birthday (t-minus 67days and counting). But i did want to put some kind of treat in there for him. So thats where the Puffs come in handy. Im actually going to use them to fill the easter eggs we will be hiding around the living room too.

You also may notice, i went a little crazy on the books. I just cant help it. I love books and I hope to pass that love on to all my children. I got a couple classics like Peter Rabbit and the Runaway Bunny, but also included a book about what easter really is, as well as his favorite Mickey Mouse themed Easter book. And the little green easter book is really small and plastic. Great for him to hold and chew on in church service on Sunday morning.

I also included an easter bowl and a new sippy cup. The sippy cup is not only easter but also Mickey Mouse so it was a win win in my eyes. The pacifiers arent easter but they are spring colors ;)

And last but not least i had to include a stuffed bunny. I was going to just get one from CVS but then i saw this craze all over Facebook about a Jellycat. So i looked it up on amazon and i found a tannish colored one i thought was cute. They come in a bunch of colors and 3 sizes and i got the large one. Im so happy i did, it could definitely in my eyes become a stuffed animal that matthew will carry around as he grows up.  

 

fridays letters

 

dear hubby, good luck today in the Peep Eating Contest you entered yourself into at work. I hope the impromptu shirt I made for you last night gets some laughs from your coworkers. I know it sure made for a bunch of laughs last night.

dear matthew, please know that the minute i saw that huge spider in your bedroom, i just about flipped my sh*t, but i made sure to get it all taken care of, even if I was freaking out as i put you to sleep that night, worried there might be more. but dont you worry, daddy made sure to kill it, uncle billy made sure to reassure mommy that it wasnt poisonous, and your poppy came over the next day and closed up what we think was the entry point for the critter.

dear city of imperial point, thank you so much for putting on the Easter Extravaganza last sunday. I was so looking forward to gathering some easter eggs for matthews first time, but seriously? you werent kidding when you said 10:00. I showed up at 10:00 and wasnt able to make it to the playground till 10:03 and you were already done! you honestly couldnt have waited 5 minutes just in case parents were running late? i guess i cant be too mad since Matthew wont remember this easter, but i guess i know better for next year

dear infantino, you are a great company, i already knew this, but to top things off I received a huge box from you today for winning the Easter Pinterest contest (you can check out my winning board here). Matthew is going to love all the new Go Ga Ga line toys that it is filled with. thanks again for being such a great company

dear weather, ive enjoyed you greatly over the past couple of days, cool with a slight breeze, please stay this way for tomorrow when we have to go to a Eastons 1st birthday party that is being held outside at a park. thank you.

dear iphone5, i love you. i am so happy i finally bought you back in september, but im really kicking my self in the arse for not buying one of the larger memory options, i swear I feel like I get that darn "not enough storage" message every time i try taking a picture. i guess it would help if i didnt take so many pics, oops, but thats not gonna change anytime soon. lol

dear preggo & new mommy friends, please stop posting all these cute pics of teeny babies, you are making me have some crazy baby fever over here! i know were not ready for another one yet, but those pics sure do make me miss my somewhat small baby who is now an average size 18month old (yes, i know hes only 9 months, but hes my chunky monkey)

dear hubby, i really do appreciate all the effort youve been putting in to helping me around the house, after last weeks situation im glad we were able to agree on responsibilities around the house. i hope you know I do see how much youre trying to and do realize i need to put in just as much effort as you have.

dear self, did you read that last letter? you need to start making your own effort to change/improve the things that your husband would like to see change. marriage isnt just about living together, its more than that, and it takes two to make it a long loving lasting relationship.

dear matthew, im thinking i can maybe squeeze in a mini easter photoshoot of you tomorrow morning before we head out, do you think you can corporate for mommy please? ill make sure to tell the easter bunny to stuff extra puffs in your eggs! (yes i did just bribe my son with puffs, dont act like youve never done it)

And because Ill never leave you without a pic, this is from the Easter Extravaganza (note: we arent leaving with any eggs lol)

bil, niece, me, matthew, sis

Dont forget to link up your Fridays Letters with Ashley.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and a Happy Easter!

so what wednesday

i normally save wednesdays solely for Wednesday weigh-in, but since I usually dont get around to posting it till Thursday late, i figured Id join in on Shannon's So What! Wednesday link up.

This week I'm saying SO WHAT! if...

• the laundry in the dryer has been sitting in there fore 2 days
• ive yelled at hubs for spending money on things we dont need, and yet Ive placed two orders over $75 at oldnavy.com within the past week an a half
• im waaaaaaaaaaaay over due on matthews monthly updates, i think the last one i did was 3 months, yeah hes going to me 10 months in a few days
• i complain about not having time to relax on the weekends, yet i continuously overschedule things to do on sat & sun, like this week we have a lil boys 1st birthday party to go to on sat, i still need to buy the present, were going to easter sunday service, doing an easter egg hunt & dinner at my parents, oh and somewhere in there i need to clean the house and i want to take matthew to see the easter bunny
• the thing im looking forward to most about the tortuga fest in a couple of weeks, is that i get to sleep in on both sat & sun since matthew will be with my sis and we got a hotel on the beach
• im late to work everyday by approx 15mins. i work from home, and technically im supposed to be to work by 9am, but after i drop off matthew at my sisters i usually drop off my nephew at school too. does it help if I norm dont take a lunch break?

what are you saying So What! to this week?

spring is here! what were lovin, lil man style

So, Ill be honest here for a sec, I always get a wee bit jealous when I see people posting about their cute outfits inspirations for their daughters. All the dresses, all the bows, the little shoes, pink, pink, purple, and some more pink. Im envious. So I decided to round up some of my own inspiration for my lil man.

Hubs constantly teases me on how I try to match everything for matthews outfits, but until I one day have my own little girl to play dress-up with, Im going to have to rock all the baby boy outfits. And with all the new spring colors and clothes, im totally gushing over this seasons picks. Here are some of my favs.

1. guayabera one-piece  //  2. braided-canvas flip-flops // 3. baby mustache onesie 

4. happy hoppy easter // 5. hooded one piece // 6. just hatched onesie // 7. plaid romper 

8.  chicks bodysuits // 9.  plaid shirt & jeans // 10. canvas boat shoes

You might see a theme here....we tend to shop at old navy & target. ALOT. but at least they are both cute and inexpensive. win. win. ;)

As for Easter Sunday, I already have Matthews outfit all picked out. As well as his easter basket goodies, but Ill share that in another post. We're going for a very simple, bright, and cute outfit. (i know in the pic below it doesnt look like it, but the shoes do actually match very well)

1. white polo // 2. plaid pants // 3. bunny bib // 4. mustache shoes

And, just so you know, there are actually a few pieces I didnt include here, that I would have totally picked, however they are long sleeve, and that just doesnt cut it here in south florida. But if I was up north, where theyre all getting snow in march (crazy) i would have picked these two adorably cute outfits 1. Peter Rabbit and 2. sweater vest outfit

Well, thats it, short and sweet little post for ya today!