day at the beach and grass egg cups!

Here are some pictures from this past weekend.  Sunday we went to the beach for a while in the afternoon.  Since Sarabeth is more mobile now, she of course was no longer content to sit on the blanket and play with toys...she had her first introduction to sand, it was fine on her toes, but did not like it in her mouth which of course she tried....oh well, there's a first time for everything!

Jack is growing bigger and taller and becoming more of a big boy each day.  He loves the beach, such a Florida boy! 

We are also preparing for Easter at our house....this Easter we will once again be traveling a few hours south to be with our family friends, the Sherman family in Hollywood Florida but for now, we're growing Easter grass in egg cups!  We did this a few years ago and it was more of a hit now as Jack is really into it.  We are going to give the grass a bit of a "haircut" tonight!

Bare Toes and So Big

It has been another whirlwind crazy busy week within which we welcomed Spring!  My favorite season of the year is upon us, the air is fresh, there are no bugs, no humidity, the sun is hot and strong but not searing like in the summer months here.  We can walk at night after dinner and go for stroller and golf cart rides to take advantage of daylight savings time.  This week I have thought many times "I need to write that down on the blog" when either Jack or Sarabeth does or says something.  Jack's best phrase lately is talking about "bare toes".  Any time we go anywhere he will say to me "mommy, I just want bare toes" or "I'm wearing bare toes" meaning, he prefers to go bare footed or he prefers bare feet...only he calls it "bare toes", ha!!  It is so cute how he says it, I had to write it down to remember how sweet he is at this stage as we approach 4.  He is also quite the BIG boy.  He is growing so much physically, and also he is really growing developmentally.  He now completely dresses himself and GOD HELP YOU if you try to help him, ha!!  He is SO PROUD of this fact and after he is done dressing himself, he comes out with the biggest grin on his face and waits for us to acknowledge that he has once again dressed himself, then he reminds us that he is only 3, not yet 4 (he is one of the youngest in his class, most of them are already 4) so this is a BIG deal to him!!

Sarabeth is also growing and developing.  She LOVES to wave at EVERYONE she sees with the biggest grin on her face, and she also loves to play " so big" and will sit in her high chair and put her arms in the air over and over again and grin at us and wait for us to say "how big is sarabeth" or "how big is sissy" and she just loves it. She loves praise of any kind.   The other morning Jon was playing "so big" with her while getting breakfast ready and Jack was sitting at the table eating and trying to watch his "show" and Jon could tell he was getting annoyed with the game and so he said "how big is Jackson" and Jack looked directly at Jon, stuck his chin out and said in a sarcastic tone "big", haha!!  I wish I could have video taped it. Other times he will play along with sissy and put his hands in the air too but that morning, he was not up for the game and it showed me just how "big" he really is getting!  We took him to a little kindergarden open house a few months ago at the catholic school he is going to attend and the kid has a memory like a steal trap...every time we drive near there he says "there is my kindergarden class", like we are starting this coming August or something! 

In other news, Sarabeth's other new trick this week besides "so big" is sitting up in her crib!  It is like she just discovered she can do this even though she has been sitting since about 6 months!! The problem is, she sits in there ALL the time rather than laying down so we are working through that this week.  The poor thing is tired but rather than layd own, pops up and just sits there and then cries.  Heres to hoping she stays laying down tonight!  TGIF tomorrow:)  I have two client appointments and a 3:45 court hearing, yikes!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day all!  It is a gorgeous weekend here, March is my favorite month in Florida for sure.  We've beached it and swam in the pool most of the day.  Tonight we have a sitter coming and Jon and I are going to a neighbor's house for a neighborhood St. Patrick's Day party.  We're really just stopping in there and then we are going out to dinner at a new sushi place in town and then on to an Irish bar for some live music.  No plans for tomorrow, just more enjoying the great outdoors:)  Happy weekend all!!  Here are some pictures from before school with the kids yesterday morning.  They were dressed in their St. Patty's day finest for sure!!

To all the blog readers, Could you please help me, click on the link below this is the article spotlighting my new lawfirm and it will help me stay at the top of the google searches for my webiste. Thanks!!

Vero Beach Magazine Announces Jennifer Peshke's New Law Firm

Attorney Jennifer Peshke has formed the Law Offices of Jennifer D. Peshke, PA, a general civil practice law firm on North A1A.



The firm’s practice areas include health law, general civil litigation, estate planning and probate, such as wills, trusts, living wills, health-care declarations and durable powers of attorney. The law offices also specialize in guardianship law, condominium and homeowner’s association law, business law and real-estate law.

Jennifer received her Juris Doctorate from the University of Toledo College of Law, where she also received a Master’s Degree in Public Health. She has practiced law in the area for six years and is involved in many local nonprofit organizations, including United Way of Indian River County, Junior League of Indian River, Exchange Club of Vero Beach, Youth Guidance and Humane Society of Vero Beach and Indian River County.

Jennifer D. Peshke is located at 4713 N. Highway A1A. Hours are Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 231-1233. www.peshkelaw.com.

Sunday morning pictures

Here are some Sunday morning pictures of Sarabeth and Jack and Jon wrestling or playing "crazy" as Jack says.  He loves it and giggles and giggles when Jon plays rough with him.  Sarabeth just looks on like what the heck are you crazy boys doing??!! 

The toy you see her with is her favorite toy right now, she walks along and pushes it, and it has music and lights so sometimes when the music is playing, she will stop and stand there and dance and laugh to the music, it is pretty cute to see!!  We dug this toy out of storage just this week as I remembered we had it and thought it would be perfect for her at this stage! 

and we're booked!!

All that talk the other night about spring break and after my post I decided to run some searches for vacations next spring...yes, I realize that is like 14 months from now but really, you can't plan things too carefully these days and with our busy lives, it has to be that way right now!!  So, I ran some searches, had a pretty good idea already of when I wanted to travel, what ship we wanted to take, and I knew which port we wanted to depart from (the one that is only 1.5 hours from our house, I have to take advantage of that) and with some careful reading and a few clicks of a mouse, the Peshke's are set to sail mid May next spring on Disney's newest cruise ship, the Disney Dream!  I wanted to do Western Caribbean but those were only 7 days and I thought 7 days on a boat with two little ones may be a bit much for our first venture towards a family cruise so I settled on a 4 night 5 day Bahamas cruise for our first try at this.  We get two sea days and a day in the Bahamas and a day at Disney's private island which I have heard is amazing.  I've also heard from friends that have been on this ship that it is so awesome you may just choose to stay on the boat!!  We got an oversize deluxe family stateroom with verandah so this should be really nice.  Also, I only had to pay a small amount down and have through February of 2013 to pay off the balance.  The prices seemed reasonable considering we got a really nice room with oversized balcony and also the best deck.  Again, with 4 of us traveling in a room, I was not going for the "bargain" inside no window state room!!  I figure, I've dreamed of this trip long enough, we're going the right way!!  We already can't wait, this will be our first real family vacation that is more than just a weekend trip, or a trip to Ohio which is fun, but not a true "vacation". 

Besides booking a vacation for NEXT spring break, I'm also happy that it is Friday and we're heading into another fun filled weekend.  Today the fair comes to town so after work/school we are meeting another family from Jackson's school at the fair for a night of fun.  Jackson is excited his friend Ryan  and his family are meeting up with us.  Tomorrow night I have a group of girls meeting at my house around 5:30, then we are heading over to watch one of our other friends, Melissa, dance in Vero's Dancing with the Stars which raises money for women and children enrolled in our local Healthy Start coaltion.  This is a BIG event in our town, I can't wait.  I am a sponsor so we got a few tickets to the event and pre-party including drinks and apps, it should b fun.  Jon did not want to go so we turned it into a girls night.  Happy weekend all!!

spring break fever

I get spring break fever each and every year around this time because our little beachside town starts to bulge with spring break visitors...I see all the visitors strolling past my house and office clearly on vacation, walking to and from the beach...and even though I live here, I feel like I should go on a vactaion too!  There is something about the start of spring that I just love (again, even though we don't really have winter here, I still mark the start of this season).  It is my favorite season...I love the soft colors and fabrics of the spring and summer clothes in the store windows and the fresh smell of the air here (in Ohio I think this smell comes around May but here it is March), I love the Easter dresses in the stores (and I'm excited I get to buy one for the first time this year for a special little lady) and I love that daylight savings time returns and we can play outside again and go for family walks after work with the extra daylight.  So...even though I have no grand plans for a spring vacation this year (maybe next year, this is definitely NOT the year for me to leave town with a new business)...I am still excited to welcome spring and daylight savings time this coming weekend...seriously, doesn't it seem like this is early this year??!!

Next spring break we're hoping to take the kids on a Disney cruise vacation...I've already started looking for the best off peak week since it will be the LAST year we won't be tied to a school calendar (that is scary and crazy at the same time)!!  What is everyone else doing for spring break?? 

9 month stats

Sarabeth had her 9 month well check up this morning.  She is growing on track for herself, and is still quite the little peanut checking in consistently once again at only the 10th percentile!!!  She weighed in at 15 pounds, 15 ounces and was 26.5 inches long.  The doctor was not at all concerned as she has gained two pounds since her 6 month check up and she said she is just small boned and will be petite...so, maybe she takes after Grandma, or Mimi, or her aunties on daddy's side who are all very petite.  LUCKY GIRL in my opinion!  She showed off her two pearly white bottom teeth for Dr. Kim and was a happy girl, and even did not cry too much when she got her one hepatitis shot this time.  Nothing more will be needed until the 12 month.  Jack tagged along with us too this morning as he woke in the night with a bad cough so I let him have a "stay home day" too.  We are enjoying a nice Monday together (unconventional Monday for us) and I can't imagine if all of my days where this simple in that I oinly had to take care of them and the house!!  No work stress, calls, emails, etc. and pressure in general from work.  I can only imagine.  Oh well, at least I am getting one day here and there with my new schedule to feel like a SAHM...even if I did have to ransack my phone for voicemails and work emails when I first got them down for their naps, and I had to return a few phone calls too but all in all, things are under control.  I will go to the office for a few hours when Jon gets home later this afternoon as there are some things I have to do before my book keeper works tonight but all in all, not a bad day.  The weather is gorgeous here today, we had a cold front come through so it was chilly last night, so chilly we had to turn the heat on and the high today is near 70 but the sun is out and warm.  We enjoyed some time in the backyard on the swingset before nap and just had fun.  Sarabeth went down our little slide for the first time with the help of Jack and I and really enjoyed it.  These are the kinds of little things I love getting to do that I don't always get to do in the hustle and bustle of the week.  Have a good week everyone!!

32

Well, Today I turned the big 32 and Jon took the plunge about 6 weeks before I did so we're both officially becoming old and distinguished and we've both officially known each other more than half of our lives....that is kind of crazy actually.  I am feeling like this year is a turning point (finally) with me having formed my own firm, created the ability for flexbility of schedule, more work/life balance, and for more household income which will open up other doors for us that we have been working towards, and also with having Sarabeth here safe and sound and growing on track and through the newborn phase, things should go along fairly well in the coming year.  I must say though that I don't feel as old as I thought 32 was back when I was in high school and babysat for families that were then in their 30s!!  They seemed so OLD and so TOGETHER and well GROWN UP, now I have my little neighbor girls who are juniors and seniors in high school babysit for my kids so I can go out to dinner and they probably think I am OLD and TOGETHER, or maybe they just think I'm old, ha!!

I took the liberty of giving myself the day off today and I had a spa day gift certificate at a nice spa in town from a client that I saved to use for today.  So, I took the kids to school this morning, went to my gym and did a hard workout (anticipating a slice of birthday cake) and then I came home, showered and dressed and went for my manicure, pedicure and facial, what a treat!  On top of that, I came home to find Jon had special ordered pink birthday cupcakes from a local bakery with pink frosting, white flowers, baking glitter (just a hint) and what looked like pearls!  He also bought lobster for dinner and Florida stone crabs which are only in season right now for a few weeks.  Yum. Hope everyone has a nice weekend, tomorrow we leave for a day away in Orlando.  One of the ladies from the kid's school is going to stay with them.  I am looking forward to relaxing by the pool for a few hours tomorrow and then a nice adult dinner out and a quiet night of sleep that is uninterrupted:)

Happy weekend all!!