Beach Getaway, 2016

There is nothing sweeter than holding a newborn baby and watching them sleep peacefully in your arms. And then there is nothing more exhausting when they are wide awake screaming in the middle of the night.

One year and three months ago, my little Henry was born. Between the lack of sleep, dealing with a cranky toddler big brother and coping with those glorious hormones, I suggested to Jesse that we go on vacation...withOUT children.

Now of course, we realized we would have to wait until Henry was weaned and all, but we got the idea rolling with some friends and everyone was on board quickly. Oh and did I mention, our friends also have young children who don't always like sleep. How could they say no?

So now here we are, over a year later and the vacation was just what the doctor ordered. We traveled to St. Thomas Virgin Islands. And oh it was glorious.

Sit back and enjoy these pictures. I look at them frequently to remind myself how fantastic of a trip it was.

Day 1: Everyone arrives. Touch the ocean in Hull Bay right by the house we were staying in.

Day 2: Spent the afternoon on Water Island. Night snorkel for the guys. 

Watching the boys from our balcony. They saw things like eels, squid and big fish. No thanks!

Day 3: Shopping and then a boat ride over to a "private" island. And by private I mean it's public, but nobody was on it, so private for us. We spent the late afternoon on Hans Lollik island snorkeling, climbing a coconut tree and just relaxing. On the boat ride home we watched the sunset. Perfection.

First priority, buy a floppy hat!

 Hans Lollik Island. The most remote place I've ever been.

 

I never pass up a tree swing : )

They succeeded at getting a coconut and we drank the water out of it. We could totally survive on a deserted island.

Day 4: All day snorkel tour. Out to eat at an amazing restaurant, Thirteen.

Day 5: More shopping, snorkeling/paddle boarding in Hull Bay. Trip to Magens Bay to watch the sunset.

Sunset on Magens Bay

Look out point on our way home.

Final sunset from our balcony.

Day 6: Final day spent watching the waves and surfers from our balcony. We were all sad to leave, but ready to get back to our babies.

A vacation is having nothing to do and all day to do it in. -Robert Orben

Thanks, Robert. That's exactly what we did.

Henry's First Birthday Party

Happy FIRST Birthday, Henry! 

Henry means the world to us and we are so blessed to have him in our lives. And what a year it has been! Being the second child, I knew this first year would fly by and it did so even faster than I could have imagined. 

We had a fun day celebrating our sweet boy with a small party at home with another special family that is close to us, the Hall family. Ms. Traci has been a huge help to me and the kids since day one of Henry's birth and to top it off, they share the same birthday! It was nice to get to celebrate with her and her kids. 

Henry's party theme was construction since that is also his nursery room theme. Here are some party pics:

 

 Smash cake.

Adorable shirt my MIL made.

He loved the cake!

Traci with her family.

Brother of course had to help.

The birthday folks.

After cake picture. I think he liked it.