Six Flags over Georgia

Friday we went to Six Flags.

yes. all of us.

For the past few years Chris's parents have taken everyone to six flags. The years past have involved broken rides, 40' weather, lots of throw up, and crying kids. I know, it's hard to imagine why we keep going, but we do. This year, was the absolute best year yet. It was slightly overcast, warm but not too hot. The kids were angles, all four of them ages 7, 5, almost 2 and 7 months. We took turns watching the kids and riding rides, ate $15 chicken fingers and $5 ice cream, and just enjoyed all the company. I'm excited for next year when Durham will be around Ava's age... this was her first time to ride the kiddy rides and she loved it! 

and seriously, watch this video...hysterical!

A few upgrades in the past 6 years...

I love our house...

it's not our dream house, or the perfect size, or layout.

but, it's OUR house.

It's the house that Chris owned when we met, in this house we've hosted get together's, going away bashes and backyard cookouts. In this house we had our engagement party, we came home from our honeymoon to this house, and this is the house where we grew Durham in my belly, then brought him home from the hospital. I know that one day we will fulfill our dreams of building a house out on the pond property, but for right now we choose to love this house. To live in it everyday and be thankful for what we have and cherish all the memories we've made here.

We are always doing "something" around here... little things here and there, trying to make it more "us" then fixing stuff when I mess up (hubs is nodding his head to that one, haha). I had fun sorting through old pictures trying to find a good before, I guess there have been a few upgrades in the past 6 years...

and now...

Durham is 7 months!

seven months

How did we get here? 

How did we go from itty bitty to big boy over night? 

How did I let myself blink?

Today we are celebrating 7 months with our sweet little guy. Our little D-bo, baby d, turtle head, fatty-fatty, baby Durham. We are so lucky that God choose us to be your parents, we thank Him for you every single day. You are such a joy and you make us laugh all the time. 

In some ways 7 months is the same as the last few months before... 

-you are still a great sleeper. you take 3 good naps a day (one for 2.5 hours and two for about 1.5 hours each). you go to bed around 7pm and sleep till the morning.

-you love bath time. and we found out a couple of weeks ago that you love pool time and ocean time too! you are our little water baby.

-you love to watch Jackson play. you never take your eyes off him when we are together.

-you love to dance in the kitchen with mommy. it's been our special thing since you were really small... crank up the tunes and hug dance forever. just me and you.

Some cool new things...

-you learned to sit up! you went from being a non-sitter to a sitter over night and have never looked back. you are starting to pick yourself up from boppy-lay-down position to sitting, but have not gone from laying down to sitting on your own yet.

-you eat food now! chomp. chomp. chomp. you may only have 2 teeth, but that does not stop you from chewing all your bites. you have had organic oatmeal, bananas, pears, carrots, green beans, avocado, watermelon and we are trying squash today!

-you are rolling and scooting everywhere. it makes us laugh at how many positions you move to while in your crib at night. and when you are playing in the living room on the floor, if we turn our head for one second you are rolling over to the wall and playing with the curtains!

-you can ride in the shopping cart now! you love being up high and helping mommy pick out your food at the grocery store.

-watching you talk and play with yourself in the mirror is my favorite thing. you love that sweet baby in the mirror, and I do too.

-we put your swing up on the front porch... it is your FAVORITE place to be. 

the stats:

-you weigh 19.6lbs and are 28 inches tall.

-your hair is starting to grow in more, it's blond like daddy. The patch on the top of your head is curly and fluffy.

-your eyes are still blue like daddys. More blue somedays than others.

-still only two teeth on the bottom, but you are teething hard core right now, so there may be more soon!

This is such a fun age... you are interacting and responding, you know your name, and the sound of mommy & daddy's voices. You have an opinion, and a BIG personality and we just love watching you grow. I look forward to what this month will bring... but, please slow down baby d, mommy wants you to stay little a bit longer.

Happy 7 month birthday my sweet baby... we love you!

Beach Guide

This momma's Beach Vacation Guide

I know at least 3 of my mommy first time mommy friends with small babies are heading to the beach soon... so I wanted to share a few things that may make your trip a little easier, and fuel the economy. 

The very best thing I did... was prepare. I did some online goggling and asked around to my friends. They gave me so ideas and let me borrow their stuff. Like, did you know that baby powder takes the sand off skin? or that babies under the age of 1 can't regulate their body temperature like we can? A little work upfront might make your trip a little easier.

Baby Sun Tent

We borrowed this one from bestie and it worked out awesome. If you google "baby beach tent" there are about a million options.... some are big enough for the entire family, but we liked that this one was small, and it folds into a pouch about the size of a frisby. We would usually position our beach umbrella over our site as well, so when he was playing/awake he was still covered. This one is cute with the little bug screens...  from One Step Ahead. $50.

 

Pool Float

We borrowed this from bestie too! The outside blows up, and the inside is mesh... like the bottom of a jumper seat. Holds him up and lets him float with you! The beast part is the shade canopy... since our pool was in full sun the entire day. Amazon $20.

Camera/Video Camera

We bought this right before D was born and used it in the hospital and to record fun stuff around the house. It was SO FUN to have at the beach to take pool pictures/underwater video and not worry about it getting ruined because it's waterproof! Amazon. $90 I also read that you can get a waterproof case for your iphone. Lifeproof. $79. I'd be interested to know if any of you have one?!

 Battery Operated Fan

We didn't buy this specifically for the beach, but it is a little fan that clips on the stroller. We used it at the beach and on his stroller while we were there... sometimes it is just SO HOT and the air can be kinda stale. I know not a necessity, but it did give me peace of mind. Target. $19.99

Bring a Pillowcase & Sound machine

 If you have a high maintenance napper, like me, you will do ANYTHING to keep your kids routine in place so he'll nap. For us, this meant bringing his sound machine (which usually plugs into the wall, but can also run on batteries) to the beach. I also brought a pillow case to lay over the dry towel in his tent because I got a tip from another mom that said her baby wouldn't sleep on a scratchy beach towel. Worked like a charm for us.

Beach Cart

The beach is less than a 5 minute walk from the condo that we stay at... which is awesome. But toting chairs, umbrella, bags, towels, tent, cooler, AND a baby... not so much. We bought this beach cart and it was perfect! Chris and I said several times "I don't know what we would do without this cart!". We got ours at Costco for $50, but if you don't have a Costco membership you can still find it online at Amazon.

Bring some of their Toys

Don't underestimate the amount of time you will spend inside. The afternoons were super HOT, way too hot for us to feel comfortable having D outside so we would nap in the house in the hottest part of the day then hit the pool in the afternoon. We also brought his stroller, and would take walks around the condo and down to the beach for sunset.

Put teethers in the cooler

Baby D was/is teething hard core... but having some teethers in the cooler made for some quick relief on the beach if they started bothering him.

Grandparents

 This is who we forgot at home... we went to the beach just the three of us. I think that next time we should bring some grandparents or/and friends. There is still things to be done and a baby to take care of... bottles to wash, diapers to change, bags to pack, sand to clean up... 

What people don't tell you is that vacation is different now. For us it used to be about sleeping in past 10am and laying on the beach all day. Going out to dinner every night and doing whatever we wanted. Now it is about watching our sweet baby splash in the pool for the first time, getting so proud of him for sitting on the uneven sand at the beach, worrying about him getting sunburned, washing lots more laundry, sweet snuggles before every nap time, and baby monitor on the back porch while we eat dinner at the condo. It's better than it was before, yes, it's a lot more work, but it is so rewarding.

Have fun at the beach this summer!

Sand is Yucky

You might have noticed that all of the pictures from my previous beach post were from instagram. I mean, it is 2012 up in here, so you know we are using our cell phones most of the time. I did take my big camera to the beach though. I didn't get many pictures with it, but I got a few and I will cherish them forever.

We walked down to the beach for the sunset a couple times. This meant keeping D up past his bedtime, so we didn't do it every night. He was a trooper though, and loved the feel of sand between his toes and fingers. 

In his mouth... not so much.

My ONLY regret about our beach trip, is that I wanted more pictures of him on the beach. I had done tons of research (duh, pinterest) and brought lots of cute outfits, but we only got up early enough to do it once.  Next time I'll be more deliberate. But I am happy with the couple that I got. I 'm thinking of ordering a canvas of this first one. It is my favorite.

I know it probably goes without saying now, but our fatty-fatty is a sitter! He started sitting on his own just a day or two before the beach and now he is a rock-star sitter! He loves to sit and play, and look around. I'm sure the view is so much better than laying and looking at the ceiling.

I brought my tripod and remote, with high hopes of trecking it down to the beach for family beach photos. That never happened, but we snapped these behind the condo about 15 minutes before we headed home. I love that beautiful pink flower bush, and I love even more the way Durham is looking at me. Melts my heart.

The lesson in the story is...

bring your big camera and take more pictures

and 

sand is yucky.