july happenings: week four

Coming back from vacation is always a little tough, so I planned for the kids to stay busy.  Asher and Hadley both had summer camp this week!  That gave Noel and I some extra time at home to get things back in order.  Noel chose to use his time to play with the big kid toys, i.e. - pinball.  

We ran out to Home Goods one morning and I decided to try out the Lillebaby carrier that I got for Christmas.  N is starting to get big for the Solly so we're transitioning over to the soft structured carrier instead.  He loved it!  And I really liked how comfy it is.

I could stare at this little face all day.  

I cracked up when he did this.  Clinging for dear life!  Bless his heart!

Oh my word.  Noel was really on a cuteness roll this week.  Hi cutie pie!!

Hadley got to go on a special afternoon trip to visit her cousin on Friday and Papa Gene sent me this photo.  Happy Hadley at her best.  #stinkeyeprofessional

Friday night Hadley stayed with her grandparents, so after Noel went to bed this guy and I had some special time together.  We ate a late night (8:30pm, ha!) snack and watched some BattleBots.  He wanted to sit really close and I didn't mind.  Love this boy who made me a mommy.  :-)

beach week 2016

I'll be honest - going into this week I wasn't sure how it would go.  Traveling with a baby can be really tough and we didn't want to limit what the older kids could do just because Noel was along.  Add in that Drew had to work a few hours each day and I was pretty nervous about how we'd all hold up.  It turned out to be wonderful!  We had help from our family and Asher and Hadley were really patient and understanding when things had to wait a bit.  Noel isn't a high needs guy by any stretch, but even an "easy" baby is a lot of work, especially away from home.  A lot of times he'd be napping when people were at the beach, so I spent a good amount of time reading at the house, waiting for him to wake up.  I tried feeding him at the beach once but his major distraction kicked in and he couldn't handle it.  After that we ate at home.  :-)  One day the stars aligned and he was ready to beach it with everyone else!

I brought my camera down and got a few shots of Asher and Hadley having the time of their lives.

This guy hated the beach as a toddler and now he owns it!  The sand, the ocean - he likes it all.

There was a lot of major construction.  Several castles with moats, a tunnel, bridges, etc.  There isn't much these kids (and their uncles) won't try to build out of sand.

One afternoon the older kids went to play mini golf, but it was too hot for Mr. Noel so he and I stayed  home and played.  Love this goof!

When they got back Mr. Blue Eyes told me that he "sort of likes mini golf" - apparently he lost his ball at one point.  ha!  I think next year he'll do a little better.

Asher loves his goggles and would wear them all the time, even if he was running inside for a snack.  If he wanted to be a 6 year old boy for a good long while, I'd be ok with that.  This age is magic.

We did a LOT of swimming!

Our bedroom was the master, so we had room for all 3 kids to sleep in there with us.  That worked out better than it sounds like it would!  ha!  Noel's pack and play actually fit into the walk-in closet so we only had the 2 big kids on air mattresses in our room.  The really nice thing about the room is that it had it's own small balcony.  Hadley liked to go out there and spy on the neighbors.  I wish I was kidding.  She's a mess!

On the last day we made another family trek to the beach.  Noel didn't bother with the illusion of wearing a swimsuit.  

He did, however, put his toes in the sand.  :-)

A great time was had by all.

july happenings: week three {beach edition!}

This week my iPhone captured our fun at the shore!  Our room had a small balcony that had ocean views - so beautiful!

This girl is looking much too grown up for my taste.  So pretty.

Noel had a ton of fun hanging around with his cousins this week.  Watching big kids is his favorite pastime so having a whole bunch of them running around made his life amazing!

Noel had a pretty bad night mid-week where he was up every hour or so.  It was rough.  The next morning I tried to be mad at him, but who could be.  I mean, look at this face.  :-)

There was just one bout of rain during our week.  It came after dinner and led to the most beautiful rainbow that ended in the ocean.  My camera didn't come close to capturing it.

On Wednesday afternoon the whole family took a trip 30 minutes north to the Ocean City boardwalk. The kids had never been before and were pretty overwhelmed (in a good way) by the whole experience.  Asher asked all of the important questions:

"Why does that man have so many pictures on his arms?"

"What's that smell?"

"Do they sell pets here?"

"Is that baby drinking soda?"  

Oy vey.  It was a cultural experience!  :-)

Noel rode around with me, had some milk and took a nap.  A full day for him too.

Hadley did a few rides by herself and thought she was pretty big stuff.

Super sweetness snuggled up in a clean towel!!

Coming home we brought back the essentials - extra beer and a bottle of breastmilk.  ha!  It's an interesting season of life that we're in for sure.  :-)

beach pictures 2016

I love to watch my children grow by looking back through our beach pictures from year to year.  There's just something simple and peaceful about photos taken at the shore.  I can't believe we have three amigos now!  We hit the jackpot with these three for sure.

Having one little guy who can't sit up by himself (let alone stand) made it a little challenging.  I started out with the professionals - they've been doing this for years and know the drill.

Then I wanted to let Asher try to hold Noel and he was clearly thrilled at the privilege!  Except that seconds later he was hollering that the baby was too heavy and he was losing him.  Eek - quick rescue for poor "heavy" Noel.  To be fair, Asher thinks everything is heavy.

Noel's bedtime is pretty much set in stone (or pay the consequences) at 7pm, so we couldn't stay out much beyond that, which is a shame since it was still truly too light out at that hour.  We couldn't hang until the "golden hour" hit which was a bummer, but I did my best.  Next year! 

Drew wanted to do some "sky shots" and I'm so glad he did - these are precious!

On the walk back we told Asher to hold Hadley hand and he does but them starts speed walking and practically drags her along - gah, brothers.

I told him to just go ahead already and spent a little time with Hadley.

Love her!  And her amazing beach hair!

She insisted on constantly picking up the hem of her dress, even though I told her that mommy made it the perfect length and she really didn't have to do that.  ;-)

Our sweetheart!

Love these 3 with our whole hearts!