Spring Break Beach Trip!

Last week, Will and I ventured off to Myrtle Beach with my Mom and Dad for Spring Break.  My parents go every year in the spring by themselves and I decided that Will and I would invite ourselves for this years vacation!  Kyle is working a ton because it's busy season for him, so I figured that Will and I could get away for a change of scenery and two extra sets of helping hands!  

We had such a fun time and, as I mentioned before, Will was on his best behavior.  How could he not be when you have constant attention for 10 days!?!?  The weather wasn't too warm, but we managed to get out on the beach a couple of times.  Because of the cooler weather, we also managed to get to the shopping malls ALOT!  

Thank you Grammy and Poppy for a fun, relaxing vacation!  We (especially Mommy) appreciate you letting us crash your vacation!  Will misses you already!

P.S...when is your October beach trip planned for again????? :)

 Yay! Finally made it to the beach after a very long time in the car!

 Reading the morning paper!

 Will loves his Grammy baths in the sink!

Grammy and Will

 Ready to go shopping?

 I have a feeling food is coming....!?!?

Reading books with Poppy.

 Ready to go to the pool!

 I love my blue bucket!

Swinging on the playground.

Going down the slide with Poppy!

Will's Six Month Photos

About a month ago, we had the fabulous Jocelyn Smith come over to take Will's six month pictures.  As a proud Mommy, I wanted to share a few of my favorites!  Enjoy! :)

Will at 7 months!

Seven months has quickly come and is too quickly coming to an end before I can blog about it!  In 10 short days, he will be eight months!  I, finally, managed to take his 7 month picture yesterday, but swear that he has hit a growth spurt in the past week or so.  This month has been super busy so far!  I came down with H1N1 at the beginning of the month.  Thank goodness that no one else in my house caught it from me!  I managed to keep nursing despite the swine flu with a lovely surgical mask!  

Will and I then headed out for 11 days to Myrtle Beach with my Mom and Dad.  We had such a fun trip and Will was on his best behavior for Grammy and Poppy.  He made it in the car for 10+ hours and never cried (amazing!) and he also managed to eat out 2 meals every day without any major meltdowns.....okay, just one, but it really was our fault for letting him get overly tired.  

I don't have the typical stats this month because I've decided to forgo the $20 well-visit copay to just get his weight checked every month.  Maybe if someone has a digital scale, I'll come over to your house and weigh him.  Though I did take him to the doctor the weekend that I got the flu, just to make sure that he was doing okay.  They weighed him with his little diaper and clothes on, so it's not completely accurate.  But, he weighed in at 15 lb 13 oz.  

Seven months has been so much fun!  Will laughs, squeals and babbles (ba-ba, da-da) all of the time.  He's beginning to get a little clingy and does not like to be left by himself.  This makes for some long days!  At 7 1/2 months, he finally cut his 1st tooth.....teeth!  Both of the middle bottom teeth came in at the exact same time.  I didn't even realize it because he wasn't fussy or anything!  He's sitting up much better by himself, although, we still have to put some pillows around him when we are on the floor.  At this point in time, he does not like to be on his stomach for an extended period of time.  Usually, he will roll right back over to his backside if you lay him on his tummy.  He may never crawl since he has no interest in being on his stomach.  I think he is much more content with standing all of the time.  I have finally witnessed him roll from his back to his belly a handful of times.  It doesn't happen often, but I've seen it and therefore, I can check that milestone off the list, right?  He's such a good sleeper!  He's still sleeping 12 hours at night and absolutely refuses to be rocked anymore (*sigh*).  I guess that I should not complain since I can just lay him in the crib and walk out of the room.  He usually plays for a few minutes and then falls asleep on his own.  We are slowly transitioning into the 2 naps per day, but there are some days were Mommy needs 3 naps :)!  He's eating all of his fruits and vegetables, rice and oatmeal.  There is nothing that he refuses at this point, but I think he prefers some foods over others.  We still haven't given him any real table food.  While at the beach (where his first 2 teeth came through), I started giving him those mum-mum crackers.  He LOVES them!  I LOVE them!  They occupy him for just enough time that I can eat my meal while it is still warm (most of the time!).  

We've had a lot of firsts this month!

1) first trip to the beach

2) first experience at the K&W--well, his first 9 experiences at the K&W

3) first two teeth

4) first time sitting in the highchair at a restaurant

5) first time in the swimming pool/lazy river

6) first time swinging at the park

7) first cold

8) first time having teething crackers

I love you little buddy!

Will's Baby Dedication

We celebrated a very special baby dedication yesterday at Otter Creek!  It was such a special time for us to commit Will to the Lord and commit to raising him in a Christ-centered home.  It was also a day that our church family commits to walk beside us and to support and encourage us as we parent this precious baby.  I was happy that our family could attend and be a part of the day.  Otter Creek also planned a very nice lunch after church for the families of all 31 babies who were part of the dedication!  Yes, 31!  That means that Will is going to have a TON of friends his age!

 Poppy T led the prayer over the babies!

cute table decorations!

Will and his girlfriend, Everleigh!!  I'm starting to believe in arranged marriages! :)

Will at 6 months!

So. Much. Fun!  Six months is such a fun age!  

If I could only slow down time as it is passing by just too quickly!  I think that my favorite part of the day is first thing in the morning when I go into his nursery and peek over the crib.  His little eyes light up and he gets so excited.  It's as though I've come to rescue him.  Every couple of days, I feel like he is doing something new.  First, it was this squeal that was piercing!  Next, he started saying his "b" sounds.  It was almost as if he was saying "bye bye."  So, I guess I will call that his official first word even though he has no idea what it means.  Then, it was this funny thing where he would blow his paci out of his mouth and laugh!  

Lots of things have changed over the last month.  We've started baby food, we've cut out the 10:30pm feeding (yay!), he is now sitting up all by himself and we've broken him of the swaddle!! Oh, and how could I forget, I believe that he is cutting not one tooth, but THREE teeth!  It's almost incomprehensible how much love you can feel for your child.  I feel as though each new day, I'm in love with him more than I was the day before!  

Happy 6th month birthday little buddy!  You have brought more joy to our life in the past 6 months than we could have possibly ever imagined!

6 month stats:

Weight: 14 lb 15 oz (7.5 percentile)

Height:  25 1/4 inches (9th percentile)

Head Circumference:  17.6 inches or 44.6 cm (71st percentile)

At 6 months:

~still breast feeding 4-5 times per day

~have started baby food--sweet potatoes, green peas, green beans, carrots, butternut squash and, just today, pears!  He loves all of them and never acted like any of it was anything new to him.  Just opened his mouth and swallowed! :)  He loves to eat his food and will cry from the minute you put him in the hair chair until the first bite of food goes into his mouth!

~can sit up all by himself, even though he still falls over sometimes

~we've cut out the 10:30pm feeding and it never phased him!  Sleeping from 7pm-7am!  I even got 10 hours of sleep last night, myself!

~no longer is sleeping with his arms swaddled (it was a rough week, but we are now back to normal!)

~ taking a morning nap, sometimes a lunchtime nap if we are home, and an afternoon nap

~After countless tries, Kyle and I have concluded that it is impossible to go out-to-eat for dinner.  We have every restaurant phone number programmed in our phone for take-out.

~still not rolling from his back to his stomach

~LOVES to standup

~is cutting teeth and from what I can tell, three of them!  This is rough on all of us.

~knows how to put his paci back in his mouth!

~loves going for rides in the stroller