Enjoying vacation!

Is there a job out there where we can get paid lots of money to stay in a great house and enjoy relaxing at the beach and pool all day? If so, sign me up! We are having a great time!
Makayla loves going to the beach to play in the sand, but won't go too far into the water.
She loves to go get her own water to bring back and play in the sand.

One happy kid!

Conner enjoyed his first trip to the beach. It was a little windy so he stayed protected in the stroller.

Makayla enjoyed building her pit and making droopy castles.

Monday night we enjoyed the great seafood feast.

It was deeeeelicious!

Last night Makayla got her hair dried by grandpa's drying machine. Before he did it, she asked him to be gentle...

Sean arrived Monday night and has enjoyed getting to know Conner and playing with Makayla.

And I've enjoyed having lots of people to help with Conner and Makayla - I've been able to do a little workout each day!

Vacation Day 1 and 2

We made it to Emerald Isle yesterday afternoon and are very happy to be here. The drive went pretty well and both kids did great. It took us 8 hours and only 2 stops - not bad!

All loaded up and ready to go - there was not much extra room!

"I really hope my dad packed this stuff well so it doesn't fall on me!" (and nothing did!)

Going over the bridge and smelling the salt air! Yeah - we made it!

After getting unpacked and settled at the awesome beach house, we took a little trip to check out the beach. It was really windy but Makayla didn't mind - she was on the search for shells!

We spent most of this morning in the pool at the house. Conner kept an eye on everything.

Makayla had a great time with her daddy...

She loved all the floats we brought...

And she got a whole lot of private swim lesson time! Check her out - floating all by herself! She'll be swimming laps by the end of the week!

After waking up from an almost 4 hour nap, Makayla and Warren played together. The house has lots of open space and great room for them to play.

Grandpa enjoyed some time getting to know Conner.

After dinner we took a little walk to feed the turtles. Makayla has been talking about this for weeks so I was really glad the turtles were still there!

I think Warren was ready to hop in and swim with them!

Conner enjoyed his stroller ride to check out the turtles.

Cute clothes

I always thought baby girls clothes were so much cuter than baby boys and that there really wasn't much that looked good for baby boys. Well, thanks to the good taste and generosity of our family and friends - I have been proven wrong! Conner has some great clothes and looks so cute in all of them (or maybe he's so cute that he makes the clothes look good...) Today I will be packing up all of those cute clothes to get ready for vacation!!!

Ready to run?

I remember using this post title after my follow up appointment from having Makayla. Yesterday was my 6 week follow up appointment and everything looks good - and I have lost 35 pounds since my last appointment there! If only I could lose another 35 that fast... The doctor said I can start working out moderately - good thing since I have been doing that for about the last two weeks... But more importantly, I can start running. After I had Makayla, I think I ran once then after feeling so out of shape, I decided I would wait a few more months... Well that can't happen this time since I will be running a marathon in 101 days!!! I know most people think I am crazy for doing this, but if you know my family, you know I fit right in. My plan is to continue to walk a lot (pushing the double stroller is an added workout!), use the elliptical, and start a little running next week on the beach. I know the marathon will be a challenge but finding time to train will almost be a bigger challenge. I hope to work out a schedule so I will be able to get a few short runs in each week and a longer one on the weekends. Who knows how much of that I will be able to accomplish, but it sounds like a good plan, right?
Yesterday Conner also had a check up. We recently decided to switch him to all formula and I wanted to have his weight checked to make sure he was getting what he needed. Well, he weighed in at 12 pounds, 7 ounces. I would say he's doing just fine! I went through his clothes yesterday and was sad to have to take out a lot of the 3 months clothes that he never had a chance to wear! He's 6 weeks old today and comfortably wearing size 6 months!!! It still cracks me up when people see him and say things like, "oh, look at the brand new or tiny little baby..."

Loving the sticker chart!

Yesterday after nap, Makayla reached her goal and was able to choose her second prize. She has done such a great job going to sleep easily and was so excited for nap yesterday because she knew she would get a prize when she woke up! Yesterday she chose a puzzle which we had a lot of fun working on together. I showed her how to do it and like most things, after watching for a few minutes, she figured out what to do and was able to do a lot of it on her own! By the way, if you are looking for decent but cheap prizes, the Target Dollar Spot is awesome! I can't pass by it without picking up at least 10 things!
I tried to get a nice smile... I think she is saying, "Mom, put the camera away and help me!"

Hanging out at the pool

We actually got pretty close to having a relaxing weekend! We didn't have much on the schedule which was a nice change. Our biggest priority was to get to the pool so we will look tan for vacation next week!
Check out this sneaky little kid...
So relaxed....

I think I should get this picture on a coffee mug with "Dad of the Year" written on it!

This afternoon we loaded everyone and everything to go to the pool, only to find out it was closed! There was thunder in the area so the big pool was closed for at least 30 minutes, and the baby pool was closed because someone pooped in it... Talk about a bummer! We had told Makayla that she could get ice cream at the pool so I ran in to get her favorite treat and we took it home to eat. Just before I took this picture she asked, "are there any drips?" Uh, yeah, just a few....

Post Number 600!!!

Wow, 600 posts! That's a lot of pictures! Good thing I have a lot to take pictures of!
Check out Conner after his night-time bottle. I think he is ready for sleep!

Here's a flashback - Makayla at just a few weeks old...

Check out the resemblance!

Looking cute!

I tried to get a good picture of the two of them together. Here's what I got....

Try not to laugh!

Now this one is frame-worthy (if I ever get around to actually getting it printed...)

Awww. I'll bring this one out someday when they are driving each other crazy!

Tummy time

Conner spent some time chillin on his tummy this afternoon. After struggling a bit and a lot of grunts, he was able to lift his head up and turn it so he was looking the other way!

Two awesome kids

I have a feeling I may use this post title often...
Conner is becoming much more alert and has started smiling a lot - it's so cute!

A few weeks ago, Makayla started a new bedtime routine. We would do all the normal stuff, then give her a kiss good night and leave her room. Then she would scream - not just cry, SCREAM, for about an hour or two. Well, we weren't fans of this new routine so we created a sticker chart in hopes to stop the screaming and crying. She LOVES getting stickers and it worked like a charm. I HIGHLY recommend sticker charts for any toddler problems you want to fix! We may start having charts for everything...

After 10 stickers, she gets to choose a prize from the Grab Jar (that's what it was called at her day care class). Our jar was actually a bag and she was very happy with all of her choices and decided on a bracelet. She is excited to get a necklace next!

This afternoon we had to go to the Ear, Nose, Throat doctor to check on the tubes in Makayla's ears. She is usually very good at the doctor but always sits in my lap. Not today... She sat in the big girl chair all by herself and did great! She's growing up so fast!

Conner's umbilical cord leftover FINALLY fell off Monday so today he had his first real bath. He fussed just a little at first, but then seemed to really like it. I think we may have another future swimmer!

Ahh, to be 2 again...

After some MUCH needed rain, Makayla and Jason headed out to play in the "river."


Makayla hopped right in!

It was really cool to watch her have so much fun!

Too cool for words!

Chillin at the pool

Enjoying her popsicle - she wears it well! In fact, I think there is still some blue on her face even after bath!

So relaxed...