JR,family,life — Valerie on May 20, 2012 at 10:09 am
Before I begin, I’d like us to take a moment of silence to officially mourn the end of our vacation in Hilton Head–a week of sun, naps, and (that most wonderful of wonders) grandparents who are willing to take the morning shift for six days straight.
…
…
…
Thank you.
***
Anyway, hey! It’s been a while. I bet you didn’t even know we WENT on vacation. Well we did. And it was awesome. I’m thoroughly exhausted, freckled, and hating the fact that we’re home. But I will say that I’m much more willing to return to life as it is now than what it looked like when I was working full-time. If that were still the case I probably would’ve spent yesterday’s eight(ish) ride back up to Richmond weeping and curled up in a ball on the floor of the car. Instead I just pouted a bit and clung desperately to the fact that at least the dogs are being boarded until Monday. Once I pick those (adorable!) jokers up, it’s all over.
Until then, I will stare at these pictures over and over. You should too.
He pretended to sleep for the first 15 minutes of the drive. Then he spent the rest of the time kicking the back of the driver’s seat.
Photo by his Mamaw. I was very much asleep when this was taken.
Swimming was his favorite. He’s still pretty nervous in the water, but I think we’ll have a little fishy by the end of the summer.
Freckles. All I get are freckles.
Mini golf was totally my favorite part of the trip. The kid had The Adorable turned up to 11.
First real ice cream on our last night in town.
***
Things look to be calming down a tiny bit for the summer, so I’m hoping to spend more time over here. I’ve missed you guys. What have you been up to?
I know it’s been nothing but videos and photos up in here lately, but, well, I’m just being kind of lazy these days. AND LOVIN’ IT.
I wanted to share this video with all of you because it is fantastic and will make you cry ugly-yet-happy tears. And then you’ll go and hold your babies so very tight because, oh my, how time is cruelly and wonderfully fleeting. Also: why did I never learn to play the guitar and then become a beautiful singer with a wonderful voice and an ethereal quality bystanders cannot help but love?
In related news, I’ve got a piece going up on RVANews tomorrow (Tuesday) about the lullabys (lullabyes?) I sing to JR. I so wish I could go back in time and sing this song to the baby version of him. Anyway, keep an eye out for it…and make sure to leave a comment sharing your favorite baby-lulling tunes.
I mentioned in my last post (that went up like a bagillion years ago) that I’d like to be more intentional about how I spend my time with JR. I don’t have plans on scheduling us to the point of exhaustion, but I’d like to have this conversation a bit less frequently…
Him: What are we doing today, Mama?
Me: Um. Well. Hmmm…hey, here’s some crackers!
So the other day I decided to take advantage of the nice(r) weather we’d been having and sent JR on a scavenger hunt. He was in charge of holding the list, finding the objects, and checking them off as we went. I was in charge of taking pictures so we could show his dad when he got home.
Here’s what we found:
A red car
A soccer ball
A stop sign (the sun was in his eyes)
A squirrel (it’s up in that tree back there, I swear)
A flower (also in the background…and I don’t know what JR is doing)
A bike
And our checklist
The whole thing took us about 30 minutes (JR has a tendency to get distracted and we had a lot of “No, YOU the hold the pay-perrrrrr” at first) and ended up being a lot of fun. Recommended!
JR,parenting — Valerie on December 18, 2011 at 12:15 am
Earlier today JR declared he wanted to do a “prahyect.” (That’s “project” for those of you who don’t speak preschool). So I came up with this, all impromptu like.
Yep. This former elementary school teacher’s still got it.
*dusts off hands, pats on back, various preening behavior, etc.*
JR,snippet — Valerie on December 17, 2011 at 1:13 am
JR knows I’ve been sick lately, and whenever I go into his room to get him up for the day or from his nap he says, “You feelin’ good today?” with his brow all furrowed in concern.
