{Sandestin, FL}

We just got home from a four day mini-vacation to the Sandestin, FL beaches. It was beautiful! Instead of renting a duplex we tried staying in a high rise condo. The view was breath taking. Every morning after breakfast we would go on a 3 mile walk down the beach and get back to the condo to change into our bathing suits to go out and enjoy the sunshine. Henry LOVED it! Before I even had my morning coffee he was pointing and asking to "please" go down to the beach. Once or twice he ran over to his bag of shovels and pails hoping this would prompt us to go to the beach a little faster. Digging big holes in the sand was his thing and then once the hole was dug he would slide down the sand to the bottom of the pit. He was so content! The water was pretty cold and that did not appeal to him at all. Even when Jared would go waist deep in the water and leave Henry on shore, Henry would use sign language telling J to please come out of the water. We saw dolphins jumping out of the water on Thursday afternoon- that is always fun to see. It was such a wonderful week and much needed after our tough week. I look forward to the rest of our adventures this summer!

 

see what we've been up to....

The weather is finally cooling off which means play time outside is on! I am so excited about that... this has been such a long summer full of hot sticky humid days. Last night we got out a bunch of fun outside toys and Henry went nuts! Sandbox, tricycle, wagon, bouncy balls, and the dogs made for a fun time outdoors. Last week Henry fingerpainted for the first time. And like any momma I was so proud of his painting! He had such a good time, and wanted more and more paint-- that is a boy after my own heart!

He is learning how to pull the chair out and climb up... oh boy!

He has the best smile - look at all those teeth!

My daily little visitors outside our back window.

the latest...

Wow. I cant believe that a whole month has gone by since my last posting. Yikes! Sorry. But we have been a tad busy. The three of us packed our bags and took off for a few days to sunny California to spend some time with Jared's family. We were busy busy everyday doing all sorts of fun things: going to the local zoo followed by a picnic in the park, Fairytale Town in Sacramento, going out to dinner and walking the local farmers market, playing in the backyard kiddie pool and an open house for all family from near and far to come and say "Hi" and meet our darling Henry. It was action packed and full of fun. Henry did so great on the plane rides to and from. The return flight was a bit more difficult due to the high volume of people on the plane (no seats left empty) which literally cramped our style. Jared was such a good dad and husband taking the middle seat. Thanks babe! We took the red eye home hoping that would work best with Henry's sleep schedule, and he slept some but left Jared and I suffering for the next week trying to catch up on our sleep.

So long story summed up.... we are home and rested and back to the same summer routine.

We celebrated Jared's 30th birthday on Tuesday. I baked a homemade carrot cake and made him his favorite Mexican enchiladas. I sang Happy Birthday and he opened gifts. Meanwhile Henry was off creating his own little party in the bathroom by creating toilet paper confetti! He was so quiet and having such a great time that Jared and I just laughed and took pictures of him.

"Naked as a Jay Bird"

My Aunt Barbara said in the South this is called being "naked as a Jay Bird..."

Last night after watering my plants and veggie garden, I was "misting" Henry and got the great idea of having an impromptu pool time! And well as you can see, instead of rushing into the house to grab all of the pool "essentials"-- I thought, "why not give the little fella some naked time." As you can tell from the following pictures both he and the dogs loved the refreshing pool water! I am sure when he is about 10 he will hate that Mom took these super cute naked pictures. Ha! Life's tough buddy, mommies love to take those cutie pictures. 



it's Monday

So I had a little extra time to spare while Henry was napping today so I thought I would indulge you with another post! Lately it has been so hot outside so we have been staying indoors during the afternoon until things cool off in the evening. So to mix things up, yesterday after lunch Henry dove into an afternoon bath. He loves the water and loves to get Jared and I soaked! He is just so cute all we can do is laugh while dripping water all over the floor.

After bath time and playing in his nursery for a while we moved our play time into the living room where I decided to build my little mister a "fort"... yes, the good old fashioned kind with chairs and a big blanket. He loved it but not just being inside the "cave dwelling" but because he has this obsession with blankets on his face-- so what did he do? He pulled that blanket down on top of him! It was fun to see how excited he got crawling in and out of the fort! But after about 15 minutes he got bored with it and went on to play with his favorite toy ==> a paper towel roll. Silly boy!

Gotta run... guess who is up from his nap...

Here's what's been happening.

So a couple of days ago Jared and I decided to take a quick little trip over to the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts. It gave Henry a change of scenery and a chance to watch other children which he loves to do.



Henry's personality has been blossoming before my eyes... he loves to do things "himself" with little assistance from anyone else. There is a definite stubborn streak in him (probably gets that from me). He loves to give me hugs and blow kisses (I cant get enough of that!). We enjoy reading together quietly while he sits on my lap... its pretty cute how he has learned to sit on my lap- he backs up into me if I am sitting on the floor indian style. Although his vocabulary isnt very big yet, he has a great understanding for much of what we tell him. He loves making messes, splashing water, throwing balls, picking up any little speck he might find on the floor, and screaming in the car (that is the one we are working on because Jared and I are pretty fed up with that "trick"!).

As most of you know I am not a fan of the television... as a matter of fact it took us living here close to a year before we even purchased one at all. So I am definitely not thrilled about sitting Henry in front of the TV to entertain him, however this one particular day when he was extremely fussy and teething it was about the only thing Jared and I could do to have a little peace and quiet while I got dinner cooked. It is a pretty cute picture of him watching Sesame Street.

{zoo zoo}

We spent our Friday afternoon at the zoo... It was hot hot hot and every summer camp in Montgomery was there for a field trip, but we had a good time looking at the animals. Henry got some walking time in at some of the exhibits. His favorite animals to watch were of course the monkeys, and elephants. We had a small snack under a shaded tree on a bench close to the monkeys so Henry enjoyed watching them swing from rope to rope. After our zoo trip we both came home and took an afternoon nap. Good way to spend a Friday afternoon!

Art Museum

Yesterday Henry and I met our friends at the art museum. There is a children's discovery section in the museum- Henry and his buddy Sophie (who is only a month older) checked everything out. He loves to walk everywhere! This is the first "place" he has actually walked around in all by himself so it was super fun to watch him interact with the environment... This toddler stage is pretty fun so far!

I am pretty bummed because right after this picture my camera battery died! So this is the only picture I got while at the museum. (sorry).

{Barber Berry Farm}

Henry and I went blueberry pickin this morning with our friends Lacey and her daughter Sophie. It was great, the clouds kept the sun off of us and there was a slight breeze which made it great to pick berries! We picked all sorts of different types of blueberries (who knew there are so many kinds). At first I could tell there was a difference in taste but by the end of our experience they all seemed to taste the same. Henry loved sticking his hand into the container and piling a load of blueberries into his mouth. He was such a great sport riding around in his wagon (we take that thing everywhere!). I forgot my camera so I had to snap some of these with my phone, the quality isn't too bad surprisingly.

And please don't pay attention to the skull and cross bones on Henry's hat (it wasn't my first choice in hats but we are rather limited with the choices for boys hats/clothing here.)