Early St. Patrick's Day Festivities & Impromptu Date Night

On Saturday, Downtown Ft. Lauderdale had their St. Patrick's Day celebration. There was the parade at Noon (we missed this due to not wanting to wake Ava from her afternoon slumber), live bands, tons of food & drinks, and families galore. 

It was a very nice day for the 3 of us. We mostly spent time in the park area where the live music and families were at. 

Some of that day... 

Test shot for which camera setting I needed to use... :) 

Enjoying our Irish beer with all of the other parents (strollers and kids galore over here! We felt like we fit right in...)

Ava busy looking at all the people and dogs. 

"Enough kisses, ma!!!"

Corned beef & Cabbage. Hugh's Catering had a booth set up there - So good.

Classic "baby drinking" beer photo (This picture was mostly taken for my mom's Murphy side of the family.
I told you I had Irish in me!  *** Ava did not consume any of this beer nor ever will until she is about 30***)

The skills that motherhood brings.

Later....

Impromptu Date Night 

Luckily for us, we live about .75 miles away from my mom. 

She is always up a quality Ava time and it also gives Mark and I time for just the two of us. 

Drinks at the jacuzzi with Pandora on is an ideal night for us  ...that or time together talking on our rocking chairs out back. 

I know. We are officially old people. 

It's ok. We like it that way. :)  

And that about sums up our Saturday! 

Simple & Memorable family time. 

Zac Brown Band Concert Weekend

This is a post is a bit late... about 2 weeks late. 

Just wanted to recap our fun weekend spending time with our friends Matt & Lauren. 

Mark and I hadn't planned on going to the Zac Brown Band concert but Mark went golfing that morning with his boss/good friend - Mark More- and decided since they were golfing close to the where the concert was going to be, he would swing by and see if he could buy some tickets. Luckily for us, my mom had no problem coming over and hanging with her favorite little girl, Ava :-)

We headed over to Matt & Lauren's to have some food and drinks before heading up to West Palm for the concert. 

Lauren and I 

Matt & Mark

Once we got there, we all went over into the VIP bar area out front and got to see our favorite Blue Moon bartender, Rose, working this event.

Matt & Mark 

Enjoying the concert

That night we had made plans to take a boat ride over to Blue Moon for brunch. So the following morning Ava went to hang out with her nana (Mark's mom) and Matt & Lauren picked us up at Mark's parent's home. It worked out perfectly since they live on the water too so we just hopped on the boat from there and headed to BM. 

Mark tying up to the 91' Summer Wind (another one of Matt & Lauren's boats- aka: Mark's longtime love) 

Blue Moon = the BEST brunch spot in South Florida 

saw this picture online - our buddy and owner of BM , Bryce Statham,  preparing works of art :) 

Headed North to the lighthouse for a boat ride after brunch

After that, we just went for a boat ride and enjoyed the day. It was gorgeous weather that day. 

Another  fun weekend with the Talchiks in the books! :)

Story Time.

When I found out I was pregnant, I told very few people. One of the very good friends I did trust enough to tell so early on gave me my first baby present. It was her favorite children's book. 

She is now a grandmother herself and I was excited that she was sharing her all-time favorite children's book with me for my first baby gift ever. 

For some reason I had always envisioned myself as a mother of a toddler when I would finally be able to read him or her a book. I guess I thought that a little baby would have no interest in sitting still long enough/understand a thing I was reading/ or enjoy it. 

I was wrong. And I am glad I was. 

Today after our early afternoon stroll, Ava's lunch and nap, I decided to pull out one of her books. 

Mark's mom gave Ava this book about a week ago. It's called 

The Oak Inside the Acorn. 

Out of all of Ava's books, this is a rather long book. I decided on this one because Debbie (Mark's mom) told me that she ordered it online because she could not find it in the stores and it was her absolute favorite. She also told me that I would cry at the end - and if I didn't...I was not human.   

I was up for the challenge. 

Let's just say I was crying halfway through the book. I don't know if it was the story, the message behind it, or the overall experience of having Ava sit quietly still and look at the colorful pictures as I read to her. 

I hope she reads this post one day and knows how special today was for me as a new mom. I will cherish today forever, Ava. 

Here is to many, many more days of story time...starting today! :) 

I love you more each day, munchkin face. (that's daddy's new name for you this week...)

Tonight we will read, On The Night You Were Born (Thank you again, friend.) 

Misc. Ava Photos. Feb 2013

Bon Appetit, Ava Loren! 2-23-13 {1st Time Eating Baby Food}

My mom has been counting down the days for this day...to feed Ava something other than her bottle. 

Today my mom brought over some Earth's Best organic baby food. 

We had a blast. Watching Ava try and figure out how to use a spoon for the first time was hilarious. 

Today has been a memorable day :) 

Here are some snapshots from earlier....enjoy.