I hope that you all enjoyed a lovely Easter weekend. I think the best way to start this post is by sharing what I wrote on Instagram tonight.
View this post on Instagram
“Last year my Easter blog post title was “Ugly Dress Easter Weekend.” It was probably the worst Easter of my life. I was in a place of pain, confusion and worry, and there was absolutely nothing “Easterly” about my day. It was difficult to see all of the traditional Easter photos flooding my social media feeds when I felt so lost on my path.
This year was my favorite Easter ever. It was simple but perfect. I spent the day with my family and my son. I admired the beauty of God’s creation. I felt free.
From darkness to light. Hope, love and resurrection. ❤️”
I know how hard and complicated that holidays can be. If any of you struggled your way through Easter this year, for whatever reason, please know that you are not alone.
A few more photos to share from our Easter weekend in Florida.
Waving is Finn’s new favorite.
This child kills me. You can’t see anyone in the background of this picture but there were a lot of people behind me, including kids running around. Finn was lounging in the sand in his signature pose, watching all the action and waving hi to everyone.
My grandmother wanted to get Finn some sort of ride-on/push toy for Easter. I picked up this 4-in-1 tricycle at Target and spent THREE HOURS assembling it on Sunday night. When I came home with it my mom said, “that looks like a job for your father” but I was a mom on a mission. I admit that assembling anything that comes in a box with lots of pieces (be it furniture or toys) is not in my wheelhouse but the motivation that I felt to do this for Finn was unstoppable.
There was one point in the assembly process where I had to get up and turn the air down because I was sweating so much. Haha. When I finally finished putting it together at 11 p.m. I went online to read some reviews. I was relieved to find that the general consensus was that trike is quite the challenge to assemble and that it wasn’t just me.
WORTH IT.
Finn spent most of the day riding around in his trike and he loved it. It was also a great way to get him down to the beach, over to the pool and a nice way to change up walks for him. The sun canopy is a great touch!
My mom, Finn and I spent a while on the beach today before moving to the pool so that Finn could swim.
And then we came in to get showered and ready for Easter dinner.
Dinner was simple and delicious. We had baked ham, homemade potato salad, homemade buttermilk biscuits and a green salad. Finn went to town on the ham and biscuits.
We ALL went to town on the biscuits and ended our meal with another biscuit topped with butter and jam.
My mom had Easter surprises out on the table for Finn and me. Finn got two books (one is The Wonky Donkey and so so cute) and a stuffed shark (baby shark for life). I got all of my favorite Easter candy! Reese’s eggs, Cadbury eggs, Peeps and Lind salted dark chocolate with caramel. My mom knows me well. 🙂
The day ended with a sunset that was fit for Easter.
We will be heading back to Charlotte tomorrow but I’m so grateful that we could spend Easter with my family this year. I seriously can’t remember the last time we were all together for Easter (it’s been well over 5-7 years) and it was a huge blessing.
What did you eat for Easter brunch/lunch/dinner?
Do you ever struggle with holidays and social media? Any specific holidays more than others?
Ham biscuit or jelly biscuit? 😉
Beautiful pictures and how blessed you are to have such a loving supportive family!
Fur myself, I find going to church services on holidays reminds me of the real reason for the day, plus it’s always such a joy filled service.
I love your dress – source?
Have a great week 🙂
I’m really happy for you Jen. It’s so wonderful to see you in a much better place. What a difference a year makes!
This was such an uplifting post not because it is filled with happy stories and positivity (which is, of course, lovely and I’m so glad you had a great family holiday and gosh Finn is a sweet boy!), but because it is a sequel to a more difficult time. It can be so hard to believe that better days are ahead so messages that acknowledge the dark days as well as the sunny days are so helpful.
That sunset was gorgeous! I’m really glad that this year’s Easter was better for you than last year’s.
So happy to hear that this Easter was more joyful for you! Mine was so amazingly low-key…like, yoga pants and Chinese food kind of low-key…but the sun was shining and it was a lovely, restful day.
You mentioned the Wonky Donkey book. Have you seen the unofficial music video on YouTube? It’s by Craig Smith, and is soooo worth a watch. My colleagues and I got many laughs from it!
Happy Easter!
We’re flying for the first time with our younger kids- tips for flying with a 1 year old? I’m nervous he’s going to want to crawl all over and not sit still!
It’s good to see you so happy, Jen! xoxox
Such cute pictures! I am glad that you found the light and had a great easter. So good to hear. Thanks for sharing, hope you are having a lovely day.
-Kate
Beautiful post! Happy Easter! I’m probably not the first person to notice this, but do you think that Finn’s “signature pose” is mimicking his canine siblings? What a cutie!