Finn and I flew home from Florida this afternoon. I sent him off to spend the weekend with his dad and I came home to two pups who were very excited to see me. I was feeling a little anxious about coming home this evening. It’s my first night solo without my parents, Finn or my grandmother since I brought my mom to North Carolina on September 20. I just ordered some Thai delivery (my fridge is empty!), lit some candles, poured a glass of wine and sat down to write this post.

Finn was an absolute rockstar for our travels today. So sweet, patient, calm and cute. He was all about snacks and watching Octonauts on his tablet during the flight.

Thank you very much for all of the kind words and prayers that you have extended my way after I shared about my mom in my last post. They mean the world to me, and my family. I will share an update when we have one. My mom had a very thorough and full week of appointments, tests and procedures at Duke and we should know more next week.

It was surreal to be in Florida this week without my parents there. It was the first time I have been there without them since before Finn was born. Finn seemed to really understand it and I think it helped that he saw them at our house in North Carolina a couple of days before we left.

We enjoyed the week with Mema and here are some photo highlights.

Finn spent a whole lot of time in this spot. The boy loves to snuggle!

Two more things Finn loves: water and big kids. The weather was pretty rainy/stormy this week and the gulf was churned up. That did NOT stop Finn. It was actually a little terrifying how fearless he was in the water. I spent 99.9% of my time on the beach standing at the surf reconnecting to my old lifguarding days with hands on hips yelling, “Finn, that’s too far.” This is when it would be really awesome to have a second set of eyes or another parent to tag in. I came in the first day and told my grandmother that it was a 2 out of 10 in the fun department for me that day but a 10 for Finn. My dad assured me that they spent many years doing the same with me and my brother. Paying my dues, haha.

When it comes to the big kids, he met this kid one day who had to be three times his age and stayed close by his side for the next two days. Finn could care less about the kid’s little sister that was closer to his age.

I think swim team is in his future.

Luckily, after he got 45 minutes or so of water time in, he was down for some sand play. Favorite activity was stomping down all the castles after I built them! 🙂

More peaceful moments. This was actually a pouting moment after I told him he needed to stay closer to me. The faces he gives me are priceless.

I have probably talked about this too much at this point in the post but I have found myself struggling with the balance between cheerleading Finn’s independence and setting boundaries. Obviously, his safety is a huge consideration and always top of mind but I feel like it’s a super fine line to tread.

I was super bummed that we had to leave on the first picture perfect, calm gulf day. I could have let Finn do all the wading and swimming he desired!

Onto lighter moments, donut dates are the best dates.

And Mema cuddles are the best cuddles.

Morning coffee tastes better on the balcony while you’re looking for dolphins.

And breakfast tastes better out there too.

I shared these words on Instagram tonight but I want to share them here too…

I have lost count of how many trips down to Florida that we have made in Finn’s short three years of life but I am here to tell you that I don’t regret a single one of them. I only regret the ones we didn’t get to take because work, life or COVID got in the way.

It is hard to live far away from family, especially when you have a small child. Getting to share so much of Finn’s baby and toddlerhood with my parents and my grandmother has been an incredible blessing for all of us. I will hold these moments close to my heart forever.

Until next time, and next time will be soon. <3

xo,
Jen