Happy 10 Months!

June 19, 2012

Dear Blake (or “Blakey”, as Connor calls you),

Wow, has it been an eventful month. Not only did you go on your first beach trip last week to Pensacola, but you are crawling on all four’s and trying your best to get up and run. You pull yourself up on anything that is within your chubby little arm’s reach. The sweetest sound is your laughter when you pull up or are holding my hands as you learn to walk. You are so proud of yourself and I can’t help but smile.

Cheerios is a new favorite food of yours. You get so excited to put those in your mouth… it did take quite a few tries to master picking up the small little “o” and getting it all the way into your mouth, though. Let’s just say that Echo is your new biggest fan.

You keep us busy. Your daily antics include crawling, pointing, laughing, smiling, saying “ba-ba” and waving goodbye when we leave the room, bobbing your head back and forth when we say “Blake, it’s your turn” or “boop-boop-boop”, and your interest in everything – and I mean EVERYTHING – your big brother is doing. You are mastering the pouty bottom lip and man is it a sad look when you couple that with your big alligator tears! One thing that you aren’t busy doing is GETTING SOME TEETH! Your BAM jokingly asked when we need to talk to a pediatric dentist about dentures for you.

 

You couldn’t be more loved. It is evident by how your grandparents and AK doted on you and Connor all last week at the beach. You would think that you two were the only two people in the world when they are around….They spoiled both of you and you were incredibly happy until I left the room. Then, well, all hell broke loose. As long as I was within an arm’s reach, you were happy. Once I disappeared from sight…well, let’s just say that I didn’t let that happen more than once.

The quiet mumblings that will soon turn into words are one of my favorite things about you. It’s like you are telling us something nice, a song, maybe. Who knows? Maybe Dumbo told you a funny story as you cuddled with him or the Glow Worm last night. Either way, please don’t stop. It’s a wonderful sound.

This is your last month in the house on Vinery Lane. I know it isn’t sentimental to you but it is to me because it’s the only home you’ve known. It’s the house where your dad and I brought home two very special people. So special, in fact, they seem to run our lives lately.

 

I love you.

Thank you for being you!

Love,

Mama

XOXOXOXO

Vacation Redefined

Dennis and I looked forward to our beach "vacation" last week since it was made official 6 or 7 months ago.  What we didn't anticipate was that we would decide to list, sell, and close on our current house the week after the trip to Pensacola Beach. 

Managing our expectations is a new item in our tool box of life.  Dennis and I mistakenly thought that a trip to the beach with our parents and my sister would be "beach time" as usual...but it wasn't.  The long days sitting on the beach, reading books, drifting in and out of sleep, and sipping adult beverages are long gone.  Something wonderful has replaced them, yes, but those days still have a special place in my heart. 

We replaced those fun days with early wake up calls at 5:30AM (the kids decided not to cooperate with CST and preferred to stay on their EST schedule...5:30AM in Pensacola equates to 6:30AM in Atlanta).  And, the townhome we rented was a nice size but when Blake and Connor wake up, EVERYONE wakes up. 

I did chug a few Smirnoff Ice 24 ouncers but that was the closest that I came to leisurely drinking adult beverages. 

I do remember that it was Dennis' rotation to go to the beach for a little while and my comment to him was this: "the kids are down for a nap.  Hurry up and relax at the beach.  See you when you get back."  HURRY UP AND RELAX. 

Connor loved playing in the white sand on the beach ... until his ears started to bother him.  Yes, he got an ear infection while we were there.  Then it was like the "terrible three's" took a dose of steroids and everything was a battle with him. 

Blake loved letting NO ONE hold her except for her Mama for the majoirty of the trip. 

The bright side is that the kids loved being surrounded by their family.  Nana, Papa, BAM, Papa Martin, and AK showered the kiddos with attention and love the entire trip.  And I loved being able to spend Fathers Day with my most-favorite dad.

Oh, wait, there was one relaxing part for me:  we were going back and forth with the underwriter for the mortgage on our new house and so I had to go to Office Depot on numerous occasions to print, sign, scan, and fax documents back and forth to him.  I think Office Depot may have saved my vacation by giving me a few minutes of relaxation.  That and the fact that the urgent care clinic was right next door to it so we wouldn't have known where to take Connor otherwise. 

Pensacola was beautiful....and luckily we had beautiful weather while we were there.  It was great out on the beach and in the waves...or so I hear. 

TOTAL CHAOS is our new 'normal'.  I'm not complaining, I'm just saying....

Stay Tuned....Will Return Soon

Packing, shopping, buying, selling, loving, birthday partying, laughing, crying, moving, vacationing, working, planning, growing.

Living.

In Case You Missed It

In case you missed it, I'm now famous.  Er, well, not famous, but I'm not NOT famous anymore, right? 

Over promise and under deliver

This is what the box promised. 

And this is what it delivered. 

Connor never passes up an opportunity to have fun, so he played in the mini-sprinkler as if it was the best thing he'd ever seen.  Then, we REALLY amazed him and hooked up the serious sprinkler. 

The afternoon started out with Connor in his shorts, water shoes and underwear.  The afternoon ended with Connor in his water shoes.  We did nothing to encourage this behavior, I promise.  Looks like we might be the parents with "that kid" at the pool...