Back to Reality

We spent last Wednesday through Sunday in Destin, FL (which translates I was a madwoman Monday and Tuesday trying to pack for 4 people). It was a great trip and the BEST part is that it was paid for by Vaughn's work! Vaughn had to work everyday until around noon which wasn't bad too at all!

We had a great time although I spent a lot of time in our suite with a sweet, napping, baby girl. It was definitely challenging trying coordinate Maryclaire's naps with Asher and the other activities we were obligated to participate in. I'm not complaining, just saying!


We met up with my sister and her family the first day we were there. These two cousins are just two peas in a pod.

We had a fabulous dinner with super views of the ocean.

Maryclaire got a taste of her first lemon. Despite the face, I think she liked it! Must take after her mama!



Our resort was awesome, but not on the beach. Boo! Thankfully, the pools made up for it and we spent most of our time there. It was too much to lug all our stuff and the kids over to the beach and never know how much time we had before somebody got cranky for nap.


They had a kiddie pool, splash park and a zero entry pool. Asher loved all of it.


I snapped a few pics of the kids one night before dinner. Can't you just tell how much they love each other?

I didn't take nearly as many pics as I would have liked to. I didn't always have a free hand juggling the kids solo and sometimes I just plain ol' forgot to grab my camera along with all the other "necessities" we had to lug around.

Happy 6 Months, Maryclaire!

Wow, what a week for milestones. Asher turning 4, first swimming lessons, and now Maryclaire is officially 6 months old. I am a happy (exhausted) mama!



At 6 months...
1. You weigh almost 14 lbs and are 26 inches long.

2. You wear size 2 diaper and wear 3 and 6 month clothes. You have short torso and long legs!

3. You are loving bath time these days and splashing in the pool.

4. You can pretty much get to whatever you want in the floor. You will roll (and roll and roll and roll) or will pull your legs under you and push yourself forward. You have no idea what to do with your arms and they just drag underneath you right now.

5. You are nursing every 3-4 hrs during the day. You have tried several solids-sweet potato, peas, squash, banana, and apple sauce. I have currently stopped everything b/c you've had some eczema flare up and I'm trying to see if maybe it's related to the new foods.


6. Usually take 2 naps a day-one a couple of hours after you wake up and then in the afternoon. Timing them with your bedtime has been a challenge. Usually the afternoon nap is too early and it's too late for you to take an early evening one.

7. You are impossible to get down if you are overtired. Lots of crying and nothing consoles you. We are desperately working on this one! Bedtime has been no fun for anyone lately. :(

8. Even when you are tired, you are such a good baby.

9. You laugh so much when we tickle your belly, make silly faces and play peek-a-boo! Your brother is pretty good at making you laugh too.

10. You are trying so hard to sit up on your own. You're not quite there, but you will be soon.



11. You have started sucking your thumb. It's the most adorable thing ever -and such a good self soother!

12. You have discovered you have a furry brother and sister. You love to watch the dogs and try to grab their fur. We have to watch y'all b/c they also like to kiss you in the face. Yuck!

13. Are still squealing and babbling lots.


14. Sleeping? We never can tell what you're going to do. Some nights you wake up every 3 hrs. Sometimes you wake ever 4-5. Sometimes you go right back to sleep...sometimes you don't. You are so unpredictable!


15. You are trying to get up on all fours. You don't quite have to arm strength yet, but you will soon! This had led to lots of sudden belly flops for you, which you don't care for much.

16. You still have stranger anxiety. I feel so bad for people when they come to coo at you and lose it.


17. You are loved beyond measure. I can't wait to see what you do in the next month.

Asher's (late!) Birthday Tribute

I wanted to blog more of a birthday tribute to Asher than I did previously. I need to remember this time with him. He's so funny. I have gotten to watch him several times lately in a group setting with other kids and he's so different than he is at home. He's so shy and timid! But once he warms up he's really quite goofy! He reminds me so much of myself as a kid. I really do hope he isn't as shy as I was though.

A few days old

Asher's vocabulary is really good, but he has a tough time saying a few things. And he really doesn't get that he isn't saying it right....sometimes correcting us! It's so hard to keep a straight face. These are a few things he's mispronounces ALL the time. Our favorite is the first one-shirtle. Vaughn will find all kinds of ways to get him to say it!

1 yr old

shirtle=shoulder

chicken lay-chickfila

plantler=panther

tabaters=conveyors

alabambra=Alabama

do's-does

astricity -electricity

I know there's more, but my brain can't think of any right now!

2 yr old

Right now, Asher is into superheroes, cars and machines. He is obsessed with building "machines" with his megablocks. He must spend half his day doing this! He also loves matchbox cars and we are getting quite the collection. He doesn't like to play outdoors much. I know, I know, I hate it! Honestly, I think I pushed my bug phobia on him and he is so scared of all the bees and wasps flying around.

3 yr old

His favorite movies are Lion King, Ant Bully and Mighty Machines. I'm picky about what he can watch (my hubs is a little more lenient than I am) and I only let him watch PBS during the day...hopefully not more than 2 shows a day, but sometimes we fudge depending on what I'm doing. I also must get asked a dozen times a day,"What can I do now, Mommy? What can I do now. I don't know what do to." I get really tired of that one. He is in such a chatty phase right now and talks my ear off all day. Sometimes, I just have to ask him to be quiet for a few minutes!

4 yr old

He's such a wonderful big brother and is so helpful to me with Maryclaire. I know he's going to be very protective of her as they get older. Every night before Asher goes to bed we go over his bedtime rules. There's only two: 1. Stay in your bed. 2. No Growing!

He's always asks me if I'm joking after that last one and I sigh really big, wrap my arms around him and say, "No!"

Losing my Mind...Among Other Things

I am surely losing my mind. I have goofed up so many times lately it's getting a little ridiculous. I remember many, many times as a girl being told to "Get my head outta the clouds" and boy, do I ever need to heed that advice these days.

Late Friday afternoon while driving home from my parents I seriously thought I was going to fall asleep as the wheel. You know that feeling....when a blink feels like it takes an eternity for your eyes to open back up all the way. I made it home (whew!) and started making the cakes for my brother's cake. I dumped out the mix (yes, I use mixes...no baking from scratch here!), added the eggs and something else...although I couldn't remember what! It only takes three ingredients: eggs, water and oil and I could not remember what I had already put in. I guessed it was the water, so I added that in. WRONG!!! It apparently wasn't the water b/c my cake did not turn out at all! I decided it was in my best interest not to make any more cakes that night and go to bed...at 9:30!





Saturday morning, I ran to Target to get more cake mixes and eggs to rectify my goof from the previous night. I also had to make a return and then grabbed what I needed at lightening speed. Checked out, headed to my car only to not be able to find my car key. I backtracked, checked the service center, tore my purse apart, (repeat 3 times) and finally called my mom who lives 30 minutes away to come rescue me. Target called me a couple of hours later saying someone had found and turned in my key...Praise the Lord!



It doesn't end there.

Asher started swimming lessons today. I must have checked the schedule 10 times double checking the time and location of the lessons. They were from 11-12. WRONG Again! The lessons were ending as we were arriving. They apparently started at 10 and ended at 11. I still don't know how I goofed that up. The sweet instructor told me we could come back later in the afternoon and join one of her other classes. My goof means I had to put Mc back in the car for another hour car ride AND flub on her nap this afternoon. Thankfully, Mc did fabulously in the car today-both trips! Flubbing on the nap however led to a very lengthy process trying to get her to bed tonight b/c she was so overtired. Ironic, I know.




Swimming lessons went great though! The kids were learning to float on their back today. And it was incredibly hot out. Maryclaire was over it about 30 minutes in and was on the verge of a meltdown by the time we left. I am glad his lessons will be in the morning when it's a little cooler. I am excited to see what else Asher will learn this week.

Happy Birthday Asher and Weekend Highlights

I can't believe it's Sunday night and the weekend is almost over. I can't believe my baby boy turned FOUR today. I get a little lump in my throat just thinking about it. Last night when Asher was about to go to bed, he asked who's turn it was to rock him. It was Vaughn's turn (we alternate nights), but I just HAD to rock my sweet boy for the last time as a three year old.

I'm 4! Silly boy has the cheesiest, fakest smile these day!

I spent most of Saturday doing "mommy" stuff (aka changing diapers, feeding kids, etc.) and making my brother's birthday cake. I also lost my keys while solo in Target and my Angel Mom had to come rescue me since Vaughn didn't have car seats for both kids. Mega Fail!

Camera cake for my photographer brother. My gray icing had a green hue as it started crusting. Hmmm...guess I need to work on that one.

My parents threw my brother a 30th birthday bash on Sunday...which was also Asher's actual birthday. This was really confusing for a four year old to warp his mind around. I stayed up way past my bedtime on Saturday working on his cake and I still wasn't happy with the end result, but I ran out of steam and time.

Happy Birthday Jimmy! The boys were anxiously waiting for some cake!

Asher had a great time playing with his cousins and we all ate some good mexican food and yummy cake. I skipped dessert since I probably ate my weight in cake scraps the previous day!

So much to choose from!

After the party, we took Asher to Toy's R Us and let him pick out something for his birthday. Not that he needs another toy, but we felt bad we weren't getting to to really celebrate him on his day.

Maryclaire was having a pretty good time too as long as I played with her!

He picked out some crazy alien creature...and hasn't put it down since we got home. In fact, I'm pretty sure he will be Asher's bedmate tonight!

Bedtime story-how we end every day. Notice what's in Asher's hand?

I'm excited for tomorrow because Asher starts swimming lessons! I can't wait to blog more about that as the week goes by.

Chunky Monkey

This was taken a few days ago. It was most definitely NOT taken today because Maryclaire has barely napped today (and it's not from lack of trying!) However, it is now 6:30 and she is already in bed for the night....hopefully. I kind of see her waking up in a few hours thinking she just took an awesome nap and is ready to play-I hope not! I am wiped out!

Anyway, this sweet, sweet picture shows just how chunky little Miss is getting. Do you see those precious rolls on her legs? That squeezable thigh? I just love a chubby baby!

I still think she's a petite little thing (that's a 0-3 month outfit she's wearing!), but boy can I tell she is filling out. Must be all the solids she's experimenting with these days.

Asher's Superhero Party

We celebrated Asher's 4th birthday with my family over the weekend. He doesn't actually turn 4 until the 12th. We just invited family to the party which was still 25 people! I LOVE that I have a big family and we're all really close.

The playroom was set up as Gotham City for the kids.

Asher wanted Batman, Spiderman and the Hulk on his cake.

Asher had such a great time and my family all out-did themselves showering him with thoughtful gifts! He has loved picking out a new outfit to wear the last few days and I have loved that he has a few new toys to keep him busy.

Opening presents!

Love the look on his face! He loves matchbox cars.

Singing Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday, Asher! I love you, sweet boy!

WrestleMania Sibling Style

Silly kids. I sure hope they still have as much fun with each other in a few years!