We Went to Florida - And There Was (Almost) an Ice Storm at Home

Last week, my darling husband and I had a 48-hour trip planned to Florida, just the two of us, for one of Jonathan's interviews. Hilariously, as the trip approached, so did warnings about Icemageddon 2013. Nevertheless, we left our children in the very capable hands of their grandparents, and skipped town Wednesday, laughing in the rear view mirror at the weather forecast (not really...we wanted our babies to be safe and warm, obviously).

Somehow (!?!?!), I contracted a terrible ear infection (children unscathed, I mean really--gah, that was so painful) the night before the flight, so I was rushing around to the doctor before we left, getting a few shots, nose sprays, and medicines to make the air travel more bearable. Lemme just say, if you have an ear infection... don't fly if you can help it. Oh my goodness. There were a few dicey minutes there, but I emerged from the flight with both eardrums intact.

Our wonderful direct flight deposited us safely Hello lush Tampa airport! So nice to see you!

We headed straight from the airport to the hotel via our mid-sized rental car (a process which took an astoundingly short 20 minutes, wtg Tampa airport), and arrived in time to prepare for dinner.

Lovely downtown St. Petersburg (which is beautiful and so walkable!).

Breakfast at the hotel the first morning, all by my lonesome. What a treat.

St Pete Beach, all decorated for Christmas: 

This jewelry store in downtown St. Petersburg has been around since 1904! I thought the building's architecture was interesting.

From St. Petersburg, we moved on to a night in Clearwater Beach, for the little "vacation" portion of our whirlwind trip. To say it was lovely is an understatement. Evidence here: 

Throughout our whole trip, a midst the 83-degree-and-sunny weather, we just kept giggling to each other at all the Christmas decorations. They felt so out of place at the summery beach, but they were charming nonetheless. We loved our grouper sandwiches at Frenchy's in Clearwater Beach. I just love painted Christmas window scenes.

View from our room the morning of the impending ice storm. 28 degrees at our house when I took this. It really felt like a joke.

Rain, sleet, and 20 degrees greeted us in Memphis upon our return - the contrast could not have been more stark. But nothing could rival the sweetness of seeing our babies' faces light up when we were reunited!

I liked you, Tampa Bay!

Reminder: 2014 One Page Calendar

I posted this puppy wayyy back in August (since I was strangely on-the-ball this year)... but I thought since it's now late November, and the new year is coming for us, I'd remind you guys that you can find the handy one-page 2014 calendar for download here in color, and here in black and white (if you so desire).

A visual.

Happy Thanksgiving, friends! May your holiday be full of rest and some fun in the kitchen!

Jane, and JT (and other miscellany)

Sometimes when I want to do something "justice" in blog post form, I procrastinate doing it because a) it's my nature and b) requires real mental energy. So here goes. (Lots of photos ahead!)

My darling niece, Jane Frances, was born November 9. My sister has been a total champ through her entire pregnancy, and handled her labor & delivery the exact same way, with her usual grace and easy composure (though her labor & delivery really seemed to be a dream!).

Look at this beautiful love...

I cannot fully express how excited I am for these little stair-step girl cousins! I pray for my girls and all of the cousins they're blessed to have (6 total now!) that they will have lifelong friendships.

All of the "Guinn girls"....

Meeting Uncle Jonny...

And this! I put this on instagram, but I have really dreamed of this moment since Martha told me that Frances was potentially Jane's middle name (they waited until after she was born to tell us).

Here's Molly Frances, Martha Frances, and Jane Frances in one photo, sweetly honoring our Granny. I miss her so much!

Look at sweet Jane wrapped in her "Granny blanket."

Between Jane, my month-old precious nephew Jonah, and the brand-new baby next door, we are surrounded by new life! It has been so fun and incredible.

In other news, one of my best friends Mandi and I enjoyed seeing Justin Timberlake in Memphis this week (his hometown, represent!). Actually, I think "enjoyed" is sort of a lame word to describe how much fun it was. Oh man.

The Mayor declared it "JT Day" in Memphis, and boy did we show him the love.

(Playing "Until the End of Time")

He knows how to put on a show, that's for sure. I wish I could go again (and again). The choreography, lights, everything..."top shelf" as they say. And, for crying out loud, he put on a Grizzlies hat for the encore. I love that.

In other news, my brother is here visiting baby Jane, and we enjoyed taking a trip to the zoo with him. This is typical Juliette right now...

on the move!

A Blur! (Maybe that should be her "superhero" name?)

And this baby? My lands. Look at that face.

Life is good.

Juliette at 2 years, three months

We need to quit being surprised by this one. She's funny. And chatty.

(with her bff Elliot)

Her newest thing is going to "da football game." Daddy and I took her to a Memphis Tigers game about a month ago, and she looooved it. As we were leaving, she was saying, "Daddy, I wanna go back in da football game" over and over. Has not stopped talking about it since. Daddy and Papa took her to another one this past Saturday, and oh my goodness, life is made. This morning, she gave me another full recap of their time at da football game: "I saw da fireworks, and the bubbles, and the band with the trumpets, and the tiger and everyone was there. I wanna go to another football game." 

She still loves to sing. It is one of my favorite things she does. I think she is pretty good. I have noticed that whenever she asks me to sing a song I don't recognize the name of, I'll ask, "how does it go?" and she says without blinking, "in da moufth." Touche, my dear. Touche.

Another new fave is pulling Molly in the wagon. Be still my heart.

Potty training is going pretty well. She has been waking up in the early morning hours asking to go, so that is a good sign I think. She's really trying to stay dry. 

She has been doing a great job being gentler with Molly over the past week or two. When we aren't looking, Jonathan and I have both noticed her being extra sweet to Molly, or reading to her, or bringing her toys. Watching the two of them together ... it just doesn't get any better than that. 

She also started dance class last week and that has been a big hit (for all of us... I mean, the outfit alone!). 

Is it weird to say your 2-year-old reminds you of Jo March already?

Molly Frances // 8 months old

One of these days I will kick myself in gear for months 4-7, but I'm just gonna go ahead and throw this one out there anyway.

Molly is 8 months old!

What an absolute joy. She has the easiest nature. I always say she is just happy to be there, and it's really true. Any smiles or attention she gets are always welcome, as she is very engaging with everybody. She is getting pretty busy in her play endeavors, and is very good at playing by herself. She loves playing near her big sissy, and especially with sister's toys (namely, anything to do with the play kitchen).

Big strides between months 7-8: first teeth came out, the bottom two simultaneously! Not without some heartache though (and Tylenol). Other developmental milestones she just knocked out this month: non-commando-crawling, pulling up, and even cruising while pulled up! She is also really into clapping. Break my heart, why don't ya.

Molly wears 6-12 month clothing, size 3 diaper (about to be size 4), and still nurses/gets 8 oz bottles 4x/day (depending on if it's a workday or not). She also made strides in the eating solids dept. this month...is definitely eating dinner every day, and started eating at school too. She likes the organic puree pouches so that has been nice. I lightly puree the food we eat if I actually cook something for dinner and she has been pretty non-picky once she got over the mechanical hump of actually being able to eat.

Sleeping: definitely sleeps all night, between 11-12 hours/night. YES. Naps at school are atrocious. Too curious about what's going on. But on the weekends, she'll nap between 45 min-hour in the mornings and 2 hours in the afternoon.

We are all smitten over this little one! Love watching her grow.