Beach Trip Part 2

for the past couple of years uncle david and aunt pam have come up with some great shirts for everyone at the beach, and this year they did not disappoint!  so of course we had to have a photo session to show off our new shirts.

 this was the first family picture that we've been able to take with all of my family that mae is in!

three generations...

four generations...

how lucky is this sweet girl to be able to know her great-grandparents?  i love this picture of mae and bom.

my parents are awesome

mae with gram and gramps

mae did really good through the photo sesh, so she had to let off some steam after... having some fun with the glass door.

Beach Trip Part 1

Coleman has been asking me since like, the first day at the beach when i was going to do a post on the beach trip, so here you go coleman.

i'm going to break this up into a couple of posts, because there are way too many pictures for just one!

the outer banks probably one of my favorite places on earth.  i can't remember a year we didn't go, and some of our favorite memories growing up are from our trips down there.  i was so excited this year to be able to go for 2 whole weeks!  and that cody was able to take a week off work and come with us for the first week. 

mae did great on the drive down.  it took entirely too long to get there.  but we made a few quick stops to let her get out and run around.  toward the end she was just ready to be out of her car seat.

 munchkin was not too sure about the sand at first.  it took her a while to get used to it, and to sit in it.  then she wouldn't put her hands in it.  but by the end of the trip she was a total beach baby.

 my family doesn't mess around when it comes to the beach.  when we go to the beach, we spend almost all day down there. here's how we set up shop...

playing with daddy

first family pic at the beach

first venture into the water

she did great in the water.  we would take her to the water's edge and let her play, and she would keep walking straight in.

i'm sure we walked miles up and down this beach.  while we were there, she started walking on her own.  she had done it a little bit before, but never went too far.  at the beach she took off one day, and pretty much hasn't slowed down or looked back.

many games were played.  i can't remember a year when these guys weren't playing capitalism, risk, or monopoly.  so i had to get a picture of reid, coleman, patrick, and kelsey in action...

 

little lady made quite a few friends down there. there was a group next to us the first week that would say "hi mae" every time we saw them.  and she loved it.  she always made her way over to where they were. they even put in a request for this bathing suit a few times.

 there was never a dull moment for her.  always someone to play with.  and she loved it.  i'm sure she feels like she doesn't get enough attention now that we are home and it's just the two of us all day

in the water with uncle erich

 when we were kids we used to wear colored zinc on our faces.  we loved having all different colors.  so uncle erich and aunt mattie bought some for mae!

these two are going to be great parents one day!

what i've learned...so far

since becoming a mom, there are quite a few things that i've learned.  i decided to write a few of the things that i'm learning on this crazy journey.

1. even when you get back to your pre-baby weight, your body will not be the same.  it's amazing how different the shape of my body is after having a baby.  things that used to fit fine suddenly fit weird, or don't fit at all.  it was kind of frustrating, but i'm getting used to it.

2.  you can read tons and tons of books to prepare for having a baby, but it's really a learn as you go/ trial and error process.  and the babies in all the books...i'm convinced they don't exist.  where are these babies that sleep for 12 hours at night and take 2 good naps during the day?

3.  i wouldn't describe myself as a go-with-the-flow easy going lady.  but since having a baby, i'd like to think that i have mellowed out.  i've learned that you can't control every little thing.  you can plan and plan, but sometimes she'll just want to eat at 11 instead of 11:30, or she wont want to nap until 2 instead of 1.  as a person who likes a schedule, i'm trying to learn how to go with the flow.

4.  i won't always feel that being a mom is rewarding.  bottom line - it's hard dirty work.  but, i'm learning to see those sweet moments with her as my reward.  when she cuddles (which is pretty much never), smiles, giggles, learns something new; i'm learning that those moments are what i need to cherish and remember.

5. i thought we did a good job of baby proofing...check again sister. check again.  that baby will get into the weirdest stuff, and find things that you didn't even know you had.

6.  sometimes babies need a good cry.  haven't you ever had a time when you needed to let it all out?  well, i learned sometimes what they need is to just get it all out.  and, it's okay that they do.

7.  you aren't the only one who hasn't caught their baby as they fell when they we walking up the stairs.  or who wasn't watching them close enough.  and while it's a pretty awful feeling, it's comforting to know that you aren't the worst parent in the world.

8.  the veil between heaven and earth is so thin.  when you have that tiny babe in your arms, it is probably one of the times you will be the closest to heaven.  i have had so many wonderful spiritual experiences as i've held mae in my arms.  write them down.

4th of july and other shenanigans

as usual, i didn't take any pictures during the 4th of July festivities.  but i remembered after we got home, so we did a quick photo shoot.  gram got us all matching shirts.  as i went out to run some quick errands during the day, it was so neat to see pretty much everyone in red, white, and blue.  what an amazing blessing to live in this country and to enjoy the freedoms that we have.  i'm grateful that my daughter will grow up in a land where she has the right to pursue any and all of her dreams.

i talked to a lady at mattie's pool who said there are some really great fountains for kids to play in at One Loudoun.  so, i figured we would head on over there to check them out.  mae had a blast.  she was all over the place trying to chase the water, but she wasn't quite fast enough to get to the fountains in time.  she got blasted in the face a few times.  but she enjoyed every minute of it.  she was trying to get in on the action with the big kids.  she is becoming quite the social butterfly.

little lady has started climbing the stairs.  i was cooking dinner one night and i heard a thud, but i figured she had just slipped on the wood floor (obviously it's happened a number of times, she and i have both become immune to it).  a few minutes later, i couldn't see her, so i went around the corner, and there she was climbing the stairs.  lady is a daredevil.

we've still got crazy hair...

and post milk stare downs at uncle coleman...