Beach Part 2

I was way more relaxed this trip then I thought I would be.  I barely had my camera or phone on me and actually really enjoyed it.  We were able to live in the moment and really enjoy our time together.  This trip was the most time M and I have had consecutively together since my maternity leave, so I cherished every second.

Here is a view of the beach trip through my iphone.

As soon as we arrived to the house, Kristin and I headed off to the store.  Although we planned the menu I think we were still a little shocked at how much food it would take to feed all of us for a week.  And this is just my cart.

The first day or two looked a lot like this.  Except with much larger waves and crazy amounts of rain fall.



One day we took the ferry over to Gulf Shores to explore and eat lunch at one of my favorite places. 

M really enjoyed the ferry.

We all (8 of us) piled into our car to make the journey over so M ended up sitting in the "way back" and had to sit facing forward.  She thought she was such a big kid. 

 LuLu's in Orange Beach is one of my favorite restaurants and I've always wanted to take my family.  It is great for adults but beyond child friendly.  M thought this water buket was just for her.

M loves snack time...

and ice cream time.

M's 1st Trip to the Beach

M had her very first trip to the beach and I would say over all it was a pretty good trip.  The beginning and ending were a little rough but the middle was great.  The beginning was all rain and scary storms but by Monday we were ready to play in the sand and waves.  When we are home, M absolutely loves to be outside and typically will throw a bit of fit when you won't take her, so of course we asumed she would LOVE the beach.  Sadly, not so much.  She warmed up some as the week went on but I don't think she ever loved it.  I'm hoping next year she will have a better appreciation for all it offers.

On the way down we stopped in Baton Rouge for the night and met up with the Breens.  The girls thought the luggage cart was a lot of fun!

M's first time on the beach looked like this:

The Breen kids seemed to love it a lot more, but luckily M warmed up to it by the end of the trip.



 One of my favorite parts was watching the large shrimp boats go by the house several times a day.

I just love this kid so much.

Most days I got to do a lot of reading and enjoyed every minute of it.

While I read, M did a lot of this. 

By far one of the smartest things we did was bring this air up pool. 

 The smaller kids really enjoyed playing in the pool.

And the hubby did a lot of this.

Now if only I could go back once more this summer....

M's Favorite Things

We remain busy in our house, but a few older, fun pictures to remember.



Madison thought it was a lot of fun to run around with her towel on her head after a long bath.




I have some of her clothes that she has out grown sitting on the bottom shelf of her closet, she thinks it is a blast to throw them all on the floor.  I would get upset but it will easily entertain her for 20 minutes.



Her car is a favorite.  She climbs in and out and tends to take her soccer ball along for the ride.

She is a hot mess.  Always climbing into things and pulling things out of their place.  Only half the time does she put them back. :)

This girl melts my heart every day.  We have been very sick around our house and poor M has had the worst of it.

My Toddler

Our sweet little girl is officially a toddler as of three weeks ago.  Although she has been taking steps and walking along the wall and furniture for a couple of months last Saturday she got out her crib and just took off.  I never knew I could be this proud of someone.  The things you learn as a mother amaze me every day.  However, with this new milestone in her life I’m finding myself overly sentimental and I would be a liar if I said I haven’t' shed a few tears over how big she is getting.  I was not this emotional over her first birthday so I guess all of these emotions are just now catching up to me.  I find myself thinking about how small she was just a year ago and how I will never have that time back.  As proud as I am to see her thrive, sometimes I wish I could go back to a year ago just for a day and hold that sweet little newborn one more time.

 Our future soccer star!

Our very first pair of tennis shoes!  She loves her shoes and every  time you go to put them on her she starts jumping with excitement!

We love dinners on the patio.

Our sweet M is growing so fast!  You know what that means...

An April Recap

Finding time to document our life on a blog is becoming more difficult, but I love having a place to go back to for memories.  So to recap the month of April in a couple of posts, here we go:

This easter was very different from last year.  First of all it rained the whole day! We had a lovely lunch and dinner at my parents house with family.  Second of all, M is now mobile and loved all of the Easter bunny goodies including the eggs! We were able to hunt eggs in the house, not as fun, but the kids didn't seem to mind!

From the Easter Bunny

From Mimi and Pawpaw 

We love sitting in our basket

Re-examining the loot

Counting Down the Days

Until we are headed to the beach!  It must be the weather and the fact that I have not had more than a long weekend off since my maternity leave, but I am very anxious for our summer trip!  So anxious in fact, I have already started my packing list!  I can not wait to take M to the beach for the first time and to see her reaction to the sand and waves.   She is an outside girl that loves to play in the water, so I think she will just love this trip.  She is pretty excited too, because just the other day she was begging to try on her new swimsuit. 

The hubby and I have been working hard to loose the baby weight and so far doing well.  Let's just hope another 10 lb loss is in my near future, so I can sport my swimsuit in comfort!  I'm feeling confident I can make it happen!

Our Newest Puppy

My child likes to find dirty socks and crawl around with them in her mouth...... She is an odd bird at times!

 A little blurry but you get the point!

Trying to keep the blog alive- but I have so little time at this point of my life.