Where I’ve Been

Hey there! Long time, no talk. It feels like it’s been an eternity since I’ve blogged on the ‘ol internets. The past few weeks have been a complete roller coaster of emotions for me, to say the least.

We had planned to go home to Florida over Memorial Day weekend to see both of our families but came pretty close to canceling the trip after our sudden loss.

We were having second thoughts because we had originally planned to have a pet sitter stop by and let them out twice a day while we were gone, but leaving Coco alone after losing her companion just didn’t feel like the right thing to do.

In addition to that, I found a new lump on Coco’s throat which made me worry like a crazy person.

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Luckily, we were able to squeeze in a vet appointment last minute so that Coco could have the lump biopsied (it turned out to be fat…again). She also had a full blood panel and an ultrasound to make sure nothing was “hiding” inside of her. They had to shave her pretty belly to do the ultrasound so she looks a little silly right now…

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Also, an extremely caring coworker and friend of mine was kind enough to take Coco into her home while we were gone so that we didn’t have to worry about her being alone. She was truly our savior.

In the end, it all seemed to work out okay and we boarded the plane to Florida last Friday.  Brandon wore his seatbelt on the plane like a good passenger.

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It’s impossible to get him to wear a seatbelt properly. He either holds it away from his body or wears it extremely loose, as seen above. He’s quite the rebel.

I hadn’t seen my family in a year and a half so, needless to say, it was a much needed trip.

While we were there, I got to meet my twin nieces for the first time and fell madly in love with them.

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Brandon also enjoyed some practice handling babies…

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And I got to see my mom (after way too long!) and observed what an amazing grandmother she has become.

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All of her grandbabies love her as much as I did as a child (I wouldn’t leave her side). I can’t wait to see her with my own babies one day soon!

Although I’m sure you can tell by the pictures that the twins are not identical, they are still equally adorable.

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Stella is the cutie-pie with blonde hair and blue eyes and she loves being the center of attention.

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Ava, on the other hand, has darker hair and big, beautiful brown eyes and is much more independent.

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And no, that isn’t a horse behind her, that’s my brother’s dog Marley.

Even though he weighs close to 130lbs, he is as sweet as can be and behaves perfectly with the girls.

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I also got to see my nephew who is two and half years old but is about as big as a four year old.

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He is ridiculously cute and has an awesome personality. I loved hanging out with him!

On one of the days we were there, we managed to pack all of the kids up for a few hours at the beach and had a great time playing in the sand.

Stella ate quite a bit of sand although it didn’t look like she enjoyed it very much.

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Eventually, my mom distracted her with kisses to give her belly a break from the sand for a while.

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Ava wasn’t as much of a fan of the sand so my brother kept her entertained with some chair dancing…

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I must say, he’s turned out to be a pretty amazing father and their mom (who I failed to get a picture of but those are her pretty legs in the background!) is also incredible and takes great care of both of them, sometimes all on her own. The thought of one baby totally freaks me out so I can’t imagine raising two of them! She’s truly awesome!

Besides getting my fill of little ones, Brandon and I took a trip down memory lane and went back to the restaurant where we first met.

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We both used to be servers at Carrabba’s and met while working there in the fall of 2004. Eight and a half years later!

While we were there, we also took in a baseball game among a gorgeous Florida sunset.

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Which was followed by a series of fireworks in honor of Memorial Day.

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It was so nice to be home and see our families but as always, it seemed too short…sigh.

However, we were very excited to return home to our hairiest family member…

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Well, my routine has been seriously off-set but I’m hoping to get back in the kitchen soon.

As a matter of fact, I completely missed the first episode of The Bachelorette. I don’t think that’s ever happened. Winking smile I caught up over the weekend though. I swear, that show just keeps getting cheesier and more predictable every season. But I keep watching…is there something wrong with me?

What did you do for Memorial Day?

Do you live far away from your family?