Our Time Spent in Negril

One of the great things Jon and I share is our love for travel and interest in experiencing the globe. For the past 2 years we have been consumed with buying our home and growing our family and our life together. But recently we have both been itching to travel... In fact, I think some things are in the works for this summer. In the mean time though, all the destination yack has brought on reminiscing grand central station for me. A few days back my computer with the help of my son (stinker) decided to delete over half of my saved files with no known trail of retrieving them so I have been digging through the saved disc files to reload a few of them. (kellen and I love to set and watch the screen saver slideshow full of random pictures. He will laugh and point and say names of the people on screen and its a fun time we share together and i am NOT about to end this little mommy moment tradition!) SO, in digging up pics I included some travel pics of jon and i as well. 

We'll just call them the pre-Kellen days...  :)

Negril, Jamaica was one of our first trips together, and honestly I think it's been hard to top for both of us.  Couples -Swept Away was the all inclusive resort we decided on after many many hours of research and reading reviews online for all destinations. It did not disappoint. Not only was the carribean beach and crystal blue waters the most gorgeous beach we've been to so far, it was just a magical time for a couple of love birds. There are not enough kind words we can say about the staff at this resort and the locals we met. We literally raised a flag from our chairs out on the sand and the waiters were there within minutes.

If you can see the colorful man in the back of this digital beauty here (before I purchased my dslr), he would walk the beach selling cigars and cigarettes among other things. One night we were out in the ocean on a night swim literally enjoying the light of the moon and out of no where a guy pops up slowly out of the water and offers us 'smokes'.. We politely declined and he went back under the water and swam on.. We got a good laugh out of it, thinking of how long this guy had been swimming up and down the coast line resorts of his land doing this for a living. I mean, he was so smooth and quiet, we never heard him coming and we barely heard him leave. SNEAKY

The Catarman cruise was so cool that we went twice.. Sliding off the boat into the ocean rocked, hands down awesome! and this guy is a gifted raggae musician, truly talented people.

Jumping off the cliffs of Pirates Cave was right up my alley. This is my type of rush, loved it. we had to jump off the Catarman boat and into the ocean and swim under these rocks you see below the bluff here. There is an old rusty ladder that you climb up and walk around to Pirates Cave.. Well Jon dove off the boat first of everyone there and I jumped off 2nd. As I approached the opening of the caves the mental image of an enormous lockness monster was filling my mind so I found myself hauling it to the ladder. Well, it turns out I didnt listen very well to the boat guide explain where to go as I went into the wrong cave and went up the wrong ladder.. and Jon just followed me up the wrong way also.. oops.

We ended up at a very narrow opening with a locked gate and a very old woman standing there frowning at us.. At first it didnt seem like she was going to let us through, but we offered her money and pleaded our case and whether she understood or not she took the money and opened the gate.. ha

We ended up across the street from Pirates Cave and were out of money so we jumped over to the left of Pirates Cave.. This picture is from the 2nd time we jumped (when using the correct ladder).. but in the pic if you look to the far left you can see the ledge of where we jumped from the first time.. FUN. Jon was at the edge of the ledge looking down and contemplating the jump and i knew if i stood up there and thought about it too long that i wouldnt want to go, so i just hauled off and jumped off. I looked first to make sure I wasnt going to land on anyone. such a rush, so fun. I'd go again in a heart beat. If you look close in the pic that is me about to jump off at Pirates Cave.

Walking to Margaritaville, snorkeling, glass bottom boat ride were among our activities for the week...

Leche Martinis were our drink of choice at this amazing restaurant.. The food and drinks were the best I've had so far.. bold statement, but I was so highly impressed with this resort... impressed and maybe just a little bit smitten and falling in love.  --   :)

Everytime we talk about vacationing I go back to this week of our lives for a moment and remember how amazing this place was for us.. Shared adventure, laughs, moments in the hammocks under the moonlight.. I dont think my limited writing ability can do justice for this memory shared...

sigh sigh sigh

'No worries Mon!'

Seriously Spring, SHOW YOUR FACE!

The weather did not cooperate quite as nicely as we had hoped on the day we decided to head South for a picture and play day at Botannical and Wilson park.. but I think we still managed to get some adorable shots for as cold as it was... Seriously Spring, SHOW YOUR FACE!

Jaxson is 5 and Kellen is 13 months... Kellen is impressed with ALL kids, but he of course thinks his big brother Jaxson is big stuff and watches his every move and wants to be a part of everything he does. If Jax is playing the wii Kellen is right there trying to get ahold of a wii remote and play too, if Jax is in his room Kellen couldnt be happier doing anything but setting in the middle of the floor with him. For the most part Jaxson tolerates having the side kick, ha.

'The Brodes!' ... Brody is the baby of this boyful bunch.. He's a happy baby with big bright eyes, and of course his Aunt Jen couldn't be happier about having a smiley baby around to get pictures of...The weather may not have participated but our Brody sure did!

The FIVE........sigh 

A day on the greens...

Or an afternoon in our living room, same thing if you're one! We plan to tag along with Jon one day soon to the golf course and let him experience the REAL greens, but for now the living room carpet will have to do.

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Family and play time, Kellen's 2 favorite things...

Well, his Momma is his favorite, but family and play time run a close 2nd and 3rd...(haha Jon). In between the rain and cold temps we've manged to get some outdoor playing in and he soaks up every second he can. He will be (already is!) an outdoor kid. The love for his red wagon just keeps growing, and more importantly when his family visits and takes him for a stroll around the block he is a happy happy boy!

Mimi and Pops , 2 of his favorite people

Notice the finger up and pointing, I think here he is telling Pops which way to go

And it's always a treat when Grandma Ida visits! Great Grandma's are a hoot, at least ours is ! We love her dearly:)

Went to Mimi and Pops for a play day with Brittany and Lily, two of the silliest most fun girls we know!


Lily and Kellen are buddies now.. they both light up when they see each other, and Lily is an awesome older cousin to her 'baby Kellen'.. We asked her to hold his hand and walk around the drive way so we could get some cute pictures so she grabs up his hand and says 'c'mon baby kellen lets go get married.' and then giggled and laughed. She knows shes a card.

This was his response to what she said.. lol

                                  These two laugh and play and are great friends.. gotta love your family!

A red wagon and some overalls...

A day away from 13 months.. Practically running everywhere. He communicates so well and is very responsive to what were saying. I can say 'kellen you want to go take a bath', and he will walk to the bathroom and stand by the bath tub. Or Kellen, do we need a diaper change. and he'll go to the room where we change his diaper. Speaking of, I am being a little lazy about the potty training thing so far.. Mainly because its hard to admit that my teeny little baby could possibly be old enough for this already.. but one day last week I decided I would try it out.. I took him to set on his mini 'throne' and at some point of me talking about what it was for he went! So I tried to praise him and all that jazz that makes a grown person feel like a total idiot (potty dance included).. Later on, Jon and I were in the kitchen and I saw K tugging on his shirt and I said, do you need to go potty?' and he ran to the bathroom, sat him down and he went again! I dont think its going to take long I just have to train MYSELF to start taking him and working with him on it.. and like i said, part of me is in denial that my little 6 lb baby I brought home from the hospital is even big enough to do this... sigh. -- Like all toddlers he is all about the finger foods and feeding himself. But he will still eat the shakes I make him along with his finger foods. Several months back I started blending him up shakes with spinach,blue berries, bananas and carrots and whatever else I happen to have (strawberries,zuchinni,avacado).. They turn out bright purple but they taste like bananas and he loves them. For him, this is about the only way I will get him to eat this stuff as he is not going to pick up a piece of dry spinach leaf off of his plate and eat it and go back for more. Even on days he only takes 5 bites I still feel better about the fact he is getting those vitamins and nutrients. and he loooves him some green beans. YUM.. or mmmmmm as he says :) --  The Veggie Tales dvd 'God Made You Special' is a HUGE hit around our house.. its part of his morning routine along with his waffle and apple juice. Jon and I walk around singing the songs and humming them in the car. We've concluded we are officially thooooose parents... what can ya do!  I do recommend this dvd though its adorable.. I find myself wishing these blogs were a little more interactive.. I basically blab about my child into the wind with no feedback or thoughts or opinions in return.. It would be cool if I could find a little network of friends/ fellow bloggers (some are just extremely bored at work and look for anything to pass the time.. trust me, i get it. that is why i started a blog in the first place.).. who, just like myself were newer parents just struggling through trying to do the right things for their kiddos while working , paying bills, and enjoying familly life.. blah blah.. anyways.. Kellen LOVES to be outside. Now that the snow is gone he acknowledged the grass and realized he loves it. We take wagon rides around our block about every day that the weather is remotely nice. He will point and laugh and enjoy himself. Usually the neighbors dogs or cats will come up to say hi or at least bark and he yells at them or barks back.. ha
                                     
When we get home he thinks it is his turn to pull the wagon, and he tries so so hard to do so. He gives it such an effort that I usually try to help him out so he thinks hes pulling it a little ways..

He is such a good sport when I have the camera out.. Here he is literally humming and ignoring me though.ha

My parents have lots of pictures of me running around wearing overalls and my hair in pony tails. We brought Kellen home in overalls. something about a baby in overalls is just adorable to me... Osh Kosh really needs to pay Kellen and I for these ads...  :)

Double Trouble...

Cousin Brody came over again...These two had a good ol time on a leisurely wagon ride through the back yard.. After several minutes Kellen realized I was focused on getting some pictures taken of Brody so he started doing funny things to try and get my attention. A barrel of laughs... If these two aren't a wagon full of mess then i don't know what is.

"Cousins are those childhood playmates who grow up to be forever friends."- Anonymous

"A cousin is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost." - Marion C. Garetty

Getting so big at 7 months old.. He was loving the wagon ride with Kellen and hangin with Uncle Jon.