A Trip to the Beach!

Doug and I had a really tough week (probably one of the hardest either of us has had in a long time), and on Friday we got some WONDERFUL news, so we decided that we all deserved a last minute vacation... so what better place to go than Isle of Palms in Charleston, SC!?!? Doug and I have been here before, and we loved it, so we booked a hotel room and headed on down. The weather was awesome when we arrived, the trip only took about 3 hours, and the first thing we did when we got there was head over to Mosaic, one of our favorite restaurants, and sat outside to eat dinner. Trey had a blast, and we knew right away that this was the perfect way to start a weekend.

On Saturday we spent the entire day at the beach. The weather was warm, but overcast- which made it perfect for us! Since it wasn't super sunny, the beach was almost deserted, and we were able to spread out and let Trey play all day long (literally). Trey did a ton of playing- and he ate his fair share of sand! :) In the morning, we had some "classic" beach family pictures taken by Johanna- a local photographer, who did an amazing job. I've always wanted to do this, and I wasn't disappointed. She was a blast to work with, and even Trey was able to relax. For those of you who have actually done a photo shoot with Trey, you know that this is NOT an easy task! I can't wait to get the photographs back!

It was a wonderful, relaxing weekend, and we couldn't have planned it better! In fact, I'm actually really happy that we didn't plan it, and we just did whatever we wanted.

Some of Trey's new accomplishments include mastering the use of a fork and giving kisses (which basically translate into a head butt with his mouth wide open).

Playing Outside is the BEST

As I progress through pregnancy #2, I am SO grateful for the weather being beautiful! Being able to open up the back door and let Trey play outside for hours at a time has been wonderful! Grandma came to visit a week ago and bought Trey a small swimming pool for the backyard. Trey, of course, loves it, but he has a tendency to crawl right into the pool with everything on- clothes, socks, and shoes... What I have learned is that Trey is just as happy to play in a pool NOT filled with water, and I can breathe a little easier knowing that if I turn my back for a second, he won't drown, and I won't have to dry out his shoes for the tenth time in a row!

Trey is also understanding more and more every day. It is such a joy to watch his little mind expand with all the new things he is learning. This morning I asked Trey to bring me his shoes (which were outside), and he not only knew what I asked him, but he remembered where they were and walked right outside to get them! What a mini genius I have! He has also become quite the little monkey- and this is not an exaggeration. He climbs on EVERYTHING! I've started just letting him do it, even though I know he is probably going to fall and "bonk"his head. How else will he learn to NOT climb on everything? I figure, this is a perfect time to learn cause and effect :). I am also applying this strategy to eating dirt. I tell him over and over again not to eat dirt, rocks, mulch (pretty much everything), but then I realized that he won't know how gross all of those things really are unless he eats them and hates them, so here we go!

The other "new" thing Trey has been doing is using utensils. I wasn't sure when to start practicing with this, but we decided to give it a try. He loves being a big boy and he is surprising good at the fork! The spoon is going to take some time, but that's ok- time is one thing we have lots of!

Our first SECOND holiday- Easter!

My baby 1 year ago, at Easter:

And back to present time:

Baby Allie Lynn:

We had a wonderful Easter this year! The weather was beautiful, we spent it with some great friends, and I was reminded of how much I truly have to be thankful for. I couldn't help but take a few minutes and remember that this was Trey's very first "second holiday"! There won't be anymore "first Christmas, Easter, 4th of July, Halloween...". So, in my nostalgic moment, I did go back and look at some of my favorite pics from last year, at this same time. I think that it probably bodes well for me that I am nostalgic for those baby times- especially considering that I am 11 weeks pregnant with Baby #2!

We've had a busy week around here! Trey got a new cousin, little Miss Allie Lynn was born on March 29th! She is a cutie pie! Again- holding her brought out those desires for little baby things again! Unfortunately, Trey is going through a less than accommodating stage and was a stinker in the hospital. These days, the only thing that can make him stop crying are Cheetos (I know, what parent gives there child Cheetos?- that's an easy one- US).

We also went to an Easter playdate at our friend Hillary's house- she is the queen of holidays, and always goes all out for mini photo shoots with the babies! The neighborhood had their annual Easter egg hunt, which we attended. There were a TON of kids there, so we snatched a few of the eggs and let Trey play and hunt after the crowd cleared out! These days, Trey is spending the majority of his time outside- usually helping Daddy with anything he can. Nothing makes Trey happier than getting to push his lawnmower or ride his motorcycle outside while Daddy does outside things (I'm not sure exactly what outside things are- this is their"man time").

Despite all of this, Trey has been unusually cranky and I'm going to blame it on the teeth. He is shoving his fingers way into the back of his mouth and chewing like nobody's business. We are still trying to wean the bottle- I actually don't think this has been all that difficult, except that the only way I can get Trey to drink a significant amount of milk is to give it to him in a bottle (in the morning). I guess that is our next hurdle we will have to tackle, but for today, I'm not going to worry about it too much. He is beautiful, healthy, smart, and funny, and there is nothing more important that that.

As I mentioned before, Trey is becoming quite the little stinker! Doug and I spent 4 days looking for one of my shoes, which we couldn't seem to find anywhere! We knew Trey was behind the disappearance, but we searched and searched and had no idea where the shoe went! One night, Doug went into one of the lower cabinets to pull out the electric stand mixer. Inside the mixer bowl was my missing shoe! What in the world possessed him to put it there, I will never know... We are still missing 2 picture frames and a candle- I will probably find those years from now in some hidden, obscure location :).

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter and spent time being grateful for the sacrifices made for each of our lives!