Grayton Beach Trip

I mentioned in my previous post that we spent a wonderful week with my family at the beach on 30A to celebrate my mom's 60th birthday!  I'm back here to post a few (a ton) pictures from our fantastic time spent together.  A special thanks to my parents for hosting the trip and booking a gorgeous beach house that all 13 of us fit in very comfortably.  All the adults were able to sit at the same table for meals which is something we usually don't have the opportunity to do.  Each family had their own room and attached bathroom.  The older grandkids had a bunk room, and they loved the elevator that took you on all four of the levels.  My nephew, Matthew, worked as a bell hop on the elevator and earned himself some tips.  The views from all the balconies were pretty incredible too.

My mom had these adorable gifts set out when the grandchildren arrived at the house.  My oldest niece, Ashley, loves puzzles.  So the flip flop puzzle and flip flops were in her pail.  Matthew had some snacks and water toys.  Katie also had snacks, a water toy, and a sandcastle maker.  The littles, Caroline and Hannah, each had beach balls, water toys, and the book Where is Baby's Beach Ball that unfortunately didn't arrive in time, but it will be enjoyed being read this summer.  My mom is always so thoughtful and does special little things like this for her grandchildren.

Hannah loved exploring the big space and climbing stairs was a new experience.  Luckily my parents brought a baby gate!

This trip was so great for Hannah to be around extended family and get comfortable around a big group.  She is obviously really comfortable around us and my parents, but she was still unsure with going to her aunts and uncles at first.  She loves bigger children and did great with her older cousins immediately0.  The picture below with Matthew was within minutes of seeing him for the first time.  She made the most stride about being around her little cousin Caroline.  Caroline would get so excited to see Hannah and make loud baby noises that would send Hannah into wails.  I was a little worried it would be like that for the week, but in less than a day, she was acclimated and happy on the floor with Caroline.

We had a ham dinner on Sunday night to celebrate my mother's milestone birthday.  Happy Birthday Mom!  You are such an incredible mother and grandma.  You are always available whenever I need you and love us all unconditionally.  You have been there physically and spiritually in good times and bad.  You bind our family together with such a strength through your love and care.  Thank you!

Both babies enjoyed the beach!  Our house was the one to the left of my head.

We had a fantastic dinner in Seaside on Monday night.  We even had our own private room which was really nice.

The kids, young and old, had fun with the mentos and soda experiment.

 

We had the cutest spectators for the show9------------+ .

 

Fun was had with Grandma's party decorations.

 Hannah practiced her walking.

And this princess visited the Disney outlet.

 

Hannah had her first of many future hairstylings by her older cousin.  Imagine the possibilities when her hair comes.

Some of us had good naps and snuggles on the beach.

 

We had some windy days towards the end of the week that made it great for kite flying.

And everyone seemed to make it to the ice cream shop multiple times during the week, but somehow Weston and I missed these trips.

Don't worry.  Somehow I didn't starve...

 

My brother, Joe, is a talented photographer.  He was kind enough to take some family pictures for us on the beach that I will share when he is finished editing them.  This is just one I took with my camera while we were down there.

 I love these people.

Thank you Mom and Dad for such a fantastic week!  Happy Birthday, Mom!  I love you so much!

10 months

Well I have been meaning to update the blog with the latest happenings, but I only seem to be sharing Hannah's monthly photos.  In the past month, we've put our house on the market and took a family vacation to Grayton Beach on 30A.  I hope to share more on both soon, but in the meantime, here is Hannah for her 10 month photos on St. Patrick's Day.

Hannah has grown so much in the past month.  I look back on the photos from 9 months, and I can't believe the difference!  We went for a weight check up today, and she was 17lbs 1oz which is back up to the 10th percentile!  It also means that she's gained almost 2 pounds in the last month.  I mentioned last month that I was going to try and give her bottles during the day to help monitor how much she's eating.  Well she almost completely lost interest in nursing and wanted to go off and play, so we've gone to all bottles (4 per day).  Right now, I'm able to do half formula/half breastmilk, and I hope I can keep that up for another month.

We don't have any new teeth this month, but her 6 teeth are really coming in.  She's mastered a sippy cup.  While at the beach, she crawled across the blanket and dug into the beach bag to pull out her cup and take a sip of water.  Weston jokingly said she's all grown up and doesn't need us anymore.  Maybe not completely true, but it's so much fun to see her grow and do things on her own.

Hannah isn't walking yet, but I can see her trying to move from one piece of furniture to the next if they are close by.  She's also picked up some major speed crawling, and she will stand on her own for several seconds occasionally if she tries.

 

The much anticipated DaDa has finally arrived.  She really started doing it while at the beach last week.  I guess spending a week with Daddy without work has been wonderful and much needed for both Hannah and me.

 

That pretty much updates my big 10 month old!  Hoping to be back later this week with more updates!  Happy St. Patrick's Day!

9 months

Hannah turned 9 months on Valentine's day, and we've had some major changes this month!  Like 5 more teeth changes!  That's right, Hannah added 5 new teeth in a matter of 4 weeks.  She's also pulling up and standing on her own, and because that's not enough to keep me on my toes, she's trying to climb after she's standing!  Crawling and sitting are now perfected to an art form, and this girl is all over.

We went to the pediatrician yesterday for her check up, and her weight has plateaued.  She is 15lb 5oz which is below the 5th percentile.  Her length is continuing on at the 10th percentile (26.5 inches).  In fact, I took her to the doctor several weeks ago, and she had weighed 8 ounces MORE than she weighed yesterday.  Although she did have clothes and a diaper on for the weigh in a few weeks ago.  It is so deceiving that she weighs so little.  Weston and I think she has a promising future as a UT cheerleader, horse jockey, or Olympic gymnast.  :)

I have been ready to transition her to bottles/sippy cups during the daytime feedings, and this doctor's appointment confirms that is what is best for her.  I can monitor exactly how much she is eating now.  We have to go back in a month for another weigh in to make sure she's back on track.  I'll transition starting with one bottle per day and then go to two bottles and nurse her morning and night.  I luckily have about 300 oz breastmilk stored in my freezer, but I imagine we may have to give her some formula before she hits the one year mark.  300 ounces sounds like a lot to me at first, but at two bottles per day that would last 24 days!  Not to mention the oatmeal cereal that takes milk.  So we'll just have to see how we transition, and I'll continue to pump for the time being.

Hannah is still a picky eater, but if you feed her what she likes or is in the mood for that day, she will eat excellent.  Oatmeal cereal is always her favorite, and she usually likes most fruits.  She'll eat veggies depending upon what side of the crib she wakes up on, and you might as well forget trying to feed her meats.  We also gave her puffs as part of her Valentine's day gift.  At first, she looked as though I gave her a shot of liquor when she swallowed a puff for the first time, but now she's gotten used to the texture and likes them and Cheerios.

Hannah loves to blow rasberries out the side of her mouth.  She'll stick her tongue out always on the left side of her mouth and just blow rasberries.  It is the most hilarious thing to watch.  Weston says it's her "joke" that she has on repeat.  She also loves to know down the tower of soft blocks we build for her.  She squeals with delight and crawls over as fast as she can to knock it back down.

  

We are standing and pulling up on everything now.  So Weston lowered the crib, and I adjusted my DIY cribskirt to the new length.  It took me a matter of 20 minutes total to adjust all four panels, and that was with a very curious baby who kept on wanting to take and chew on my ruler.

That's all for little 9 month old sweetie.  Hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's day.  Weston and I celebrated at home.  He cooked me a delicious dinner of stuffed shrimp, asparagus, and strawberry fields salad.  I love my two Valentines.

8 months

Hannah turned 8 months on Tuesday, and it sure has been a week of changes for the little girl.  We've started really babbling, pulling up on her own, army crawling, and a new tooth.  Suddenly one day this past week, Hannah's "talking" went from a few notes here and there to non-stop babbles filled with "baba" and "dada".  The "mama" comes out in her crying wails.  Hmm...Oh well.  It's really quite cute to listen to her when she is talking.  She can go off on tangents, and I like to imagine the elaborate story she's trying to tell me.

And her second tooth has finally arrived today.  You can see her first lower tooth that came right before Christmas.

I feel like Hannah has been so close to crawling for almost two months, but this week she is finally mobile.  (Finally??  I don't know why I am so anxious to chase after her!)  She started army crawling on her belly today.  There are two things that get her moving at the moment.  My keys and her ball popper.

We decided to take the photo shoot to the carpet.  Hannah doesn't like to just sit for very long, and with that last picture, it was only a matter of time before she would lunge herself off the chair.

She's also started pulling up from a sitting position to a standing position with her toy elephant ball popper.  I need to help stabilize her still when she's standing, but her balance is really improving.  She's just growing and meeting new milestones so quickly this month.

With all the changes, some things are still the same.  We're still on reflux medicine.  Unfortunately, even after starting solids, it still bothers her, and we still wear bibs nearly all day for the spit up.  We still have quite a few fussy days, but she is so incredibly worth it.  Hannah nurses 4 times per day, and she has solids 3 times per day.  She will eat about 2 bowls of cereal and 2 jars of baby food.  Hannah has been trying a lot of new food combinations, but oatmeal banana cereal is still her tried and true favorite.  I thought I would be a mom that makes her own baby food, but I have yet to try it.  I am barely able to cook us dinner on a daily basis.  So for now, I am leaving it up to Gerber, and I'm ok with that.

Baby girl gives these slobbery, open-mouth kisses to us constantly.  She can get really passionate with these, and she grabs our face and smooshes her mouth quite forcefully into our cheeks.  Sometimes if she's really loving us, rasberries are blown.

Can't believe 2014 is here, and I have an 8 month old on my hands.  Here's hoping for lots of laughs and more sleep in 2014. :)