At the end of August, Mike and I were thinking we were crazy. Life in NoVA was so simple. Predictable. We knew all the parks, playgrounds, restaurants, and neighbors. We loved our life–truly. The only thing missing was close family. We said “are we sure we really should do this??” a thousand times. Each time, we’d come back around to yes, yes, and yes. Now is the time, or it will never happen. Time is something you can’t make more…
We started out August back in Virginia, settling back into our life there except now trying to pack up our entire house and put in place lots of other details that arise when you’ve decided to move your entire family 900 miles. Good thing I was still on maternity leave because otherwise, this would have been impossible. While this was a hectic time, it was still really sweet, and in many ways, felt like the final chapter in our ‘Life…
Still committed to making lemonade out of COVID by deciding to uproot and move to Florida, we continued from June into July at the Betancourt Resort. Among all of the adults, we planned out for the month who did Kiddie Dinner Prep, Adult Dinner Prep, Kiddie Bedtime Detail, Dish Duty (always Pa) and Happy Hour/Bar Service, hoping to spread out the responsibilities so everyone got a turn doing something delightful and dreadful. Matt was almost always on Drink Duty but…
Well. This summer was one FOR THE BOOKS. Neither Mike nor I would have ever guessed in one million years the crazy twisty turning road this year has been. I know the entire globe is feeling that way. What I can also say is that the Spead family decided to ‘lean into’ the crazy and do what Mike says best: made COVID lemonade. We saw a window of opportunity and pushed ourselves through it. After losing Mike’s mom this year,…
I took zero pictures over Mother’s Day weekend this year. It was a beautiful weekend and we all really enjoyed it–we were too busy enjoying it to take pictures! Anyway, here’s a quick recap, since I will want to remember this time pre-baby… Friday Night: Mike and I cut out of work around 5 pm and I came downstairs to Mike making homemade meatball subs. Talk about starting the weekend off right! This is one of my favorites. They were…
This is such a bizarre and scary time now for the world. Everywhere you turn, there is bad news and startling information emerging, and more uncertainty than anything else. We are 8 weeks in to this ‘new normal’ of being socially distant/quarantined and it still feels surreal. Add in the rough times we’ve had, losing Mike’s mom, trying to support his dad from afar, and preparing for Baby #3, and it could be just too stressful all around and not…
On April 18, Mike and I celebrated our five year wedding anniversary. Actually, scratch that…on our 5 year wedding anniversary, which happened to fall on a Saturday, Mike taught his online class for Georgetown from about 8:30 to 3:30 and I was on my own, outnumbered, with the wild ones–Caroline, Vivi, and Finnegan. (Finny gets a shout out in this category because he has been just so bad lately.) I am not complaining…it’s just a timing thing! Mike loves teaching…
This Valentine’s Day was truly wonderful. I was so touched by the sweet and thoughtful plans that Suelen and Mike pulled off–I felt very loved! And surprised and honored. Valentine’s Day was on a Friday so it was a “normal” work day…at least until Suelen and Mike showed up at my office mid-afternoon…with my babies! Who were wearing matching outfits that Suelen selected just for them! Be still my heart. Suelen also wrote out sweet notes for my coworkers and…
Late last year, Mike and I planned a trip away for just the two of us. Call it a Five Year Anniversary trip, or a babymoon, or just a getaway. We did one when Caroline was 3 months old and again when she was 14 months old, but we hadn’t gotten away since Vivi arrived on the scene. We did manage to travel to Florida no fewer than NINE times in 2019, but our girls always came, too. Luckily, Kay…
This past weekend was gorgeous and sunny and felt more like June than January. We celebrated by spending lots of time outside, playing at parks and letting Caroline perfect her scootering skills. On Saturday, she scootered all the way to (and from) Troy Park, our neighborhood playground that is actually really close to our house but feels 1000 miles away when you are carrying a toddler. We left Vivi at home napping with Mike and set out and I was…