Cheers to the Weekend, Post-Vacation Edition

Y'all. Goooooooood gracious. Talk about a vacation hangover. And not of the headache variety. But of the "back to life, back to re-al-i-ty" variety. Do y'all feel me? It is tough to come to the "real world." Especially after such an amazing weekend with family we adore. But alas. No vacation lasts forever. And so, we returned from a wonderful week in Edisto (more on that in a minute). And came home to...a super-duper grumpy baby boy, thanks in part to a combo of both a quick virus and two of his bottom two teeth FINALLY trying to break through. Yes, he is over 2 years old (26 months to be exact). Yes, he is still missing both his top and bottom canines. But those suckers are sloooooooowly working their way up. And they are causing my youngest son a GREAT deal of pain and misery. Which makes it hard to leave the house...or my arms...all week. So, we've been home-bound for the majority of the week and wishing we were still soaking up those sunny beach rays. 

Anywho.

Here's what I'm saying CHEERS to this weekend: 

 ...to a dozen years of marriage. My hub and I celebrated 12 years of marriage (14 years together) the last day of our vacation last weekend. We were able to sneak away for an island dinner and then enjoyed a delicious home meal of crab legs (my favorite) when we returned home! I love this man more than ever today.

...to fun playdates. Four of Harrison's aunts came together and gifted us with a membership pass to Disovery Place/Kids. We went earlier this week with some of our bestest buddies (this was the morning before Harrison got sick :( ), and it was awesome! So much to see and do that we didn't even hit everything. We'll be going back regularly, I can assure you!

...to fun dates. Earlier this week, my hub and I continued our tradition with two of our bestest and had dinner and rollercoaster ridin' at Carowinds! The amusement park, which boasts pretty much the best, new roller coaster in the world, is located about 5 minutes form our neighborhood. And by going in the evening, the lines are virtually nonexistent. It is soooooo fun!!!! We jumped on every roller coaster we could, riding the Fury three times, the last of which was 15 minutes before the park closed, when we got to ride FRONT ROW. It was terrifying, exhilarating, breath-taking, and, well, awesome!!! Can't wait 'til next year!

...our favorite Edisto beach week yet. Two grandparents, three aunts, three uncles, eight cousins, one awesome week. I kept saying that we would never have such amazing weather for the entire week again. The best breeze with sunny skies every day. Just perfection. The kiddos were all so well-behaved and had so much fun together and it was SO nice to have all eight of us adults together again. Family is everything. <3 A few of my favorite pics from our 2016 Edisto trip: 

And on that high note, I am closing out the week and happily welcoming in the (LONG!) weekend! We have super duper fun plans with some of our favorites tonight and little else the rest of the weekend, aside from sneaking in some Pure Barre/F3, volunteering in the church nursery, and hopefully hitting up the neighborhood pool party if the weather cooperates. Just what the doctor ordered after this week. 

If you don't mind, I do have one quick prayer request: Please pray for my patience. We are waiting on ONE document before we can start finalizing our dossier, and it is so hard when it is out of our hands. We have done everything as quickly as we can the last few months, and now we are at a standstill while waiting. I know there will be LOTS of waiting over the next year, which is hard for this Momma. I tell myself daily that the delay is for a purpose, that this is allowing the specific timeline needed to bring OUR daughter, the one God has already designed to join our family, to play out as it should, but man!!! It is tough! And this is only the very, very, VERY beginning of the waiting game. So prayers for my patience and that the document shows up in my inbox soon. <3

Update to the above: It showed up to my inbox this morning. Praise!!!!!!

And Happy 4th of July weekend, indeed!!!