We had the best time and though we have no intention to move to Florida (we absolutely looove Charlotte and our life in North Carolina), more than a few times Ryan and I commented on just how nice it would be to live near family. The boys lit up around their grandparents, aunt and uncle and Chase was 100 percent obsessed with his baby cousin.
We made the most of our visit and soaked up every second with my family. I made a beeline for my sister’s house on Friday morning once I heard Callie was awake and could not get over just how much she’s changed since our last visit. Her personality is all the more apparent and she has the sweetest disposition. She laughs non-stop which motivates my family to do constantly do the silliest things in front of her to hear her breathy baby giggles.
And don’t even get me started on seeing Callie with Ryder and Chase! Oh my heart. Chase was absolutely enamored with “Baby Callie” and incredibly gentle with her. (Considering the fact that he thinks laying on top of Ryder and burrowing his head in his brother’s belly is “cuddling,” we were a bit relieved!)
Ryder and Callie cracked me up because Ryder was obsessed with Callie’s mouth and loved putting his fingers in her mouth and she seemed to love gumming all over them. Apparently 10-month-olds and 7-month-olds just like to grab at each other’s faces!?
On another note, I was surprised by just how much my heart overflowed watching my sister in her new role as a mother.
To say Leslie and Ross are wonderful parents is a huge understatement.
In case you’re wondering what the deal is with all of the hats in the above photos, on Saturday afternoon, my parents hosted a bunch of their friends at their place for a Kentucky Derby party!
We all got dressed up in our derby apparel, complete with matching bow ties for the boys and had a great time chatting with my parents’ friends, drinking mint juleps, watching the race (how about that disqualification!?) and digging into lots of delicious food!
As I went to upload photos of the party and our family from the weekend, I realized I don’t have much to show for it other than a few pics I snapped before the guests arrived! I’d be lying if I said that is a bad thing. I didn’t reach for my phone much at all this weekend and it was wonderful. While I do wish I had more photos of our crew, especially the kids together, I’m glad everyone was focused on each other more than capturing the moments. It was a great weekend and I’m already looking at our calendar and trying to figure out when we can drive back down to Jacksonville for our next visit.
I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and enjoy the week ahead!
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Fabulous pictures! You all look wonderful! Your niece is so cute! I love seeing her with Ryder and your sister! How does Chase look eight years old in the picture with the cheese?! So handsome! Probably his daper hair and bow tie! I think bow ties on little boys are so cute. 🙂
It is SO hard to live away from family! We are also in NC (Raleigh area but we love Charlotte and have cousins there. Discovery Place is my kids fave!!) My parents and brother and baby niece are up in NY which is about a 10 hour drive if you don’t stop and with 3 kids we sure do stop. We have the best life here though!! We were up for Easter and it was hard to leave everyone! Thankfully my parents are headed here this week to celebrate a birthday, a dance recital and a preschool graduation. <3
Hope you enjoy every second with your parents during their visit!! And I give you a TON of credit for making a 10+ hour drive with three kids. Phew!!!
As a long time blog ready, it is so wonderful to see your family grow! It’s hard to believe Callie and Ryder are 3 months apart because their size is so similar! My newest nephew is 6 weeks younger than my daughter (4 months & 6 months), but we haven’t had at chance to have them meet yet. They live outside of Boston and we’re in Western NY. It’s so hard because all of our kids are so close in ages (7, 5, 4, 2, & infants) and they have the best time together. We keep telling the other to move, but we know it won’t happen.
It really is so, so hard to be away from family, especially now that little ones are in the mix. I feel ya!!
It’s nice to see Callie looking strong and healthy after her NICU experience! And with light hair! Didn’t she have a head full of dark hair as a newborn??
Yes!! Isn’t that wild!? And her eyes continue to get lighter and lighter as well. She’s just the sweetest!! <3
Adorable photos. Love the one with your sis and Callie ~ so cute.
thank you!! callie gives her mom the best smiles! <3
That sounds like such a great weekend! Also, I love your jumpsuit- where did you get it?!
Happy Mother’s Day to you, Lesie and your Mom … I was shocked to see Callie with such bug blue eyes — w. Ross having such dark eyes/brown eyes, I expected a Brown Eyed Girl in the Bream-Chafin-Family-Mix.
I just read and reviewed a book names “Eat to Feed: 80 Nourishing Recipes for Breastfeeding Moms” by Eliza Larson, Kristy Kohler” — it is not out until Juy 16th but I cannot recommend any book MORE to your momma readers who are breast feeding!!
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2796686420 is my review — I tired most of the recipes and they helped me feel better and even lowered my perimenopausal symptoms!
(No kick backpayment at ALL for me to recommend it!)
Oh my gosh, the picture of Leslie and Callie looking at each other is the CUTEST! They both look so happy 🙂 I really took growing up around most of my family for granted (on my mom’s side, no one was more than an hour’s drive away). When I moved to Chicago, I was sure it was forever, but now that I’m older, I’m not so sure – I want all of us to move back where we came from so my kids can have the same family experience growing up that I had!