there and back.

life has been full. wonderfully full. the other day as we were leaving the house, rushing out to the car for the 10th time that day I had the thought...I should be grateful for these moments in life when there aren't enough minutes in the day and I forgot a sippy cup and I have to rush to a dinner to celebrate a birthday because these moments are life happening. of life being lived, not wasted. I can shun the busy and crave the quiet, the solitary and although those are moments I cherish, I am so grateful to God for the people (and child) he put in our lives to celebrate, to spend time with, to talk to, to teach, to love, to learn from, to embrace. I want to be grateful for these times, to love them and be content where God has me, whatever he brings my way.

in the past week we have celebrated two birthdays, visited the farm to bring a pig home (dead that is), got a nasty cold, dined with friends on the deck for dinner, packed our bags and unpacked from our beach trip to cape may with friends, and welcomed a plastic duck into our family. its been truly a blessed month and the beach was heaven. with that busyness, the camera has been left at home and the camera phone has taken over.

and in other news, bon iver has their new album streaming on NPR this week for free. score. go check it out. its awesome.

there are few I love more.

(pc: carissa gallo, FYLM)

than those two pictured front and center. looking at this picture, taken many months ago now, always makes me smile. it truly was a magical moment captured and frozen so perfectly.

daddy and baby girl on the dance floor at a wedding, nothing could keep her from her sweet sleep. with a 3 hour time difference to adjust to, and places to go and things to do, she was the rockstar of this trip.

I can't wait to show audrey this picture some day. and to tell her all of the wonderful stories from our time in san diego.

landed.

(how about these for post header photos? seth made me pose in dumbo.)

being home has never felt better.

seth and I had a great time together at disney, but after being away for five days, my heart ached to be with my baby girl. my arms felt so empty, and as much as it was nice to be rested, I missed being a mommy. the night before we went home, I felt like a kid waiting for christmas morning. the anticipation of seeing her face, kissing her cheeks, and holding her in my arms, we both had so much to look forward to as we left.

all that to say disney was a great time. our decision to go there was kind of a last minute, on the fly, out of other options kind of idea. most of our friends reactions to us going was, "that is so not you guys." but we really enjoyed it. more than we thought we would. having the daily distraction of places to go and things to do ended up being a huge blessing so we didnt just spend our days thinking of home and our girl.

I'm a lover of good service and disney delivered so so well. it was like they went to school for food allergies, the parks were spotless, and I have to say the bathrooms we much cleaner than our target.

we ate good food.

we celebrated 4 years of married happiness.

we slept.

we wore t-shirts. (warm weather in a cold winter like ours was a welcome break)

and one of our big highlights was babycakes. a gf, df, egg free, soy free, mostly sugar free bakery. you might think that their treats would taste like cardboard, but they were amazing. so much so we made two trips there and brought a box of treats home. I am hoping they decide that dc is a good place to open a store. for a nyc hater (yes, I said it) it makes going up there just to have some babycakes goodness worthwhile.

and now I'm off to fold a basket of laundry. its the unpacking part of coming home that really isn't my favorite.

remsnyder family staycation.

welcome to the fun. its been a great week so far having seth at home to enjoy lots of family time together. because of his work schedule time together is a rarity and we are loving every minute. some days have been more organized, others more relaxed, and every day has involved sleeping

in (which always makes for a good day in my book).

monday was ikea.

tuesday was painting, errands and new tires.

today was dc w/nana (aka jenne and one of little a's favorite "aunts")

living so close to dc makes you realize how much you can do and how we have no excuse to not enjoy these things more. the day started and ended with wonderful dc food traditions of good stuff eatery and founding farmers, with a snack from hello cupcake in between. yum. not to mention two museum stops at the national gallery and botanical gardens.

the exhibits were amazing. meepies was the angel baby who made the day such a joy, napping in her stroller, and made friends with people wherever we went.

and as a totally random side story...there was a couple sitting next to us at dinner and I have to preface the story with "nothing says I love you like a pedometer" because that is what this guy gave his girl. I didnt even bother listening to his horrendous explanation because I was so appaled this was all unfolding next to us. lets just say I dont recall the word "thanks" being included in her response upon opening the gift. I'm not kidding. its just another true story.

the botanical gardens were featuring a display of monuments and museums from all over dc that were made from materials from the woods. it was incredible. the pictures do not do these things justice. and if you live nearby you have to go see them before they leave.

national gallery goodness.

here is seth breaking the rules and taking his coffee outside of the cafe area. as soon as a security guard spotted him he promptly made his way to a nearby trash can.

gosh. i felt like such a tourist with the arbitrary picture in front of the capital.

and finally. after walking. lots of walking. we had cupcakes. and they were oh so good. and gf.

and the cupcake was a hit. she mostly just wanted to eat the cream cheese frosting but managed to get a few bites of the carrot cake. which resulted in a frosting mess all over the front of her hoodie.

my birthday boy

To commemorate Seth's turning the 3-0 we headed off to Cape May, NJ for a long weekend at Congress Hall. The weather was perfect, minus the rain on Friday for our drive there and we had such a great time being together. It was a great little getaway in our already very full lives, sandwiched between two very packed wedding weekends.

The view from our room was the best part. And Seth's concept of what our room looked like.

As far as an baby belly pictures go, I'll save that post for later. And not to disappoint anyone, but there isn't much to see yet. I'm still hanging out in my clothes and they aren't showing many signs of not fitting anymore at 17 weeks. I'm holding out hope that I will make it more than half way through without maternity clothes.

Had an appointment with my midwife today and baby is growing and healthy. This week there has been a return of the nausea for no apparent reason, but energy wise I have been doing great.

Stay Tuned!