Beach + Family Time

I have been one busy mama. From traveling to party planning to keeping up with our two little devils... I'm spent! But this is my life, so far anyway!


Ahhh BEACH! How I've Missed Thee!
During the week of Memorial Day, we packed up everything but the kitchen sink and headed toward the coast! We met my family in Isle of Palms for a long, "relaxing" week of sun, sand and water. If you're not familiar with Ilse of Palm, definitely become acquainted! This little island of the coast of South Carolina is so quaint and empty!!! Our little nook on the beach was cozy, beautifully coated with white sand, + spacious.... It's so nice to walk out on to a beach and not worry if everyone can fit in that teency~tiny sandy spot 400 yards away!














Since I never seem to be in the picture, I decided to book a photographer out of Charleston. Amy, owner of Sweet Tea Imagery came over and took some pictures of me, David + the boys since we have yet to have family photos of ourselves! She was so sweet and very patient with us. Baylor + Hunter were definitely not themselves that week with the change of scenery and all. But for the most part they were really good boys. You can see more of our photos here.

My favorite hands down

Unfortunately I did not take any photos of my entire family while at the beach... I was so distracted with trying to keep my own family under control, I lost focus! :(

T minus 1 Month + Counting...
That's right! We're now 11 months just waiting for that new year to come along. Here's what we're up to these days

Baylor

~I can now stand completely on my own with out pulling up on furniture
~I have said da-da, ma-ma, ball + dog! I don't like to repeat myself, so don't ask
~I will not eat it if I can't see it. {Baylor will not eat something out of your hand if he doesn't get a good look at it first!}
~Tackling Hunter really makes me happy! Playing with Hunter in general makes me happy
~I know what a ball is and love to chase my favorite ball all over the room!
~I know what a book is. My favorite is Brown Bear, Brown Bear. I like to point at the eyes on each page {to me, this is amazing because he is pointing to an object on different pages/animals that are similar and then sometimes he will touch my eye. Smart lil' bugger!}
~I give mommy lots of kisses!
~I can walk really well with our walkers.
~I have taken a step here and there. Just teasing mom + dad is all...***
~I love to climb! Whether it's on my brother or the jumperoo, I'm on it!
~I think it's fun to bang my hands on things. Table, chair, water.... it's fun everywhere!

*** I WALKED FOR THE FIRST TIME TONIGHT!!!!!!!!!
Baylor took about 8 steps with no problem at all! David and I just held our breathes, I couldn't move. I was speechless. And of course, we tried + tried to get him to do it again, but no such luck. But, here's a sneak peak. Pretty funny video as he is growing tired of our harassments...



Hunter

~I love to run behind our walkers! On my feet or knees, as long as I'm going
~I love to dance to every sound that has a beat!
~I still bounce like crazy
~I have started to stand on my own with no hands! This is very exciting!
~I have said da-da, ma-ma, dog + book!
~I know that if you say Brown Bear, you're talking about my favorite book and I will go get it for you to read
~I know who Baylor is!
~I know what ball means and I'll go get that as well!
~I love to climb. If it's knee high, I'm on top of it.
~My helmet is really working well. My last doctor's appointment was pleasantly surprising. The doctor said I may be half way through the process already! I am a growing boy after all...
~I love to play hide+seek! My mommy's the best at this game...
~I think it's funny to slam my hands down on the table. Mommy + daddy will play too! It's especially fun in the water!
~I wave bye-bye!
~I give mommy kisses all the time... :)

"My dad is so silly..."

Some fun moments

Spaghetti!




We took the boys to the Georgia Aquarium yesterday! It was so much fun watching B+H become mesmerized by all of the amazing sea creatures. The nurse sharks, groupers, belugas, + all of the thousands of other fish performed very well for our little buggers!





The Beluga whales were my absolute favorite! They would swim right up to you, face to face, and just dance and play! The boys were so enamored. It was just so sweet to watch.

Nurse Shark

Happy Father's Day!
Today was David's first Father's Day! Baylor + Hunter are two very, very lucky boys to have such an extraordinary father. I know that David will only be an unbelievably positive influence in their lives. He'll be that cool dad who can make weird noises and flies them through the air. And the dad they can always turn to when life throws a curve ball.
He's incredible.

No Title Here... Too Tired To Think!!!

I cannot believe I have been this lazy/busy/spaced out/forgetful/exhausted/etc/etc ~ what ever you want to call it! I have not updated my blog in how long? A month+ maybe?! I have an extensive amount of things to blog about... So here goes!


Who Needs Mom + Dad?
David + I took the boys to the park one day and found out that our babies are becoming pretty independent. Baylor would just take off from us, crawling as fast as his little arms and legs could take him. He just wants to explore the world around him! Hunter was not to interested in leaving us at the time. He likes to sit beside you when you're down on the floor. Here's a video of Baylor crawling towards daddy for once instead of the opposite direction!



He was so proud of himself that day! He would stop for a moment, look back at us to smile and take off again! So sweet yet, so terrifying at the same time.

9 + 10 months
Here's the run down for you:
~In the past month Baylor has started to stand on his own without support. He is almost to the point where he is standing without pulling up on something! I swear they're going to walk before their first birthday.
~We now know how to climb the stairs without hesitation or failure!
~Dancing is what we love to do!!!!!
~Hunter now has his helmet that helps round out his little noggin.
~Both were sick about a week ago.
~Baylor now has 5 teeth with 3 more coming in! Hunter has 4 + his bottom 2 molars are coming in... poor babies

At their 9 month check up (4/12) Hunter was 17.5 pounds + 28.5" long. I took him in on May 4 because he had a 101.5° fever. His weight.... 18.5. Little bugger gained a pound in less than a month! He does eat well. Baylor, at their check up, was 16.22 pounds + just shy of 29" long! They are growing up so fast.

9 month pics

Baylor

Hunter

10 month





Steps? What Steps?
There is just no stopping these two from getting around when ever + where ever they want. Without any hesitation, Hunter and Baylor decided to just climb right up the steps. I am truly happy that they are exploring and wanting to take on new things, but climbing?! This really freaks me out.




Shake Ya Groove Thing!
Hunter + Baylor have mastered the art of dance. The first time I saw Hunter dancing, I honestly didn't know what I was looking at. He was on top of this toy that sings and teaches hands, feet, colors, etc, just moving back and forth so quickly. And then he did it again, + again... I finally realized my little bugger was shaking his groove thang! Of course Baylor didn't come without a dancing gene or two...




This is My Playground!
I think play dates should happen a bit more in our near future! We met up with Heather Hodge and her little fella, Wyatt, for a quick afternoon visit at the park a while back. It was nice getting the boys out and hopefully a little more acquainted with future friends!

Wyatt

Who said anything about wearing them?

Last week we met up with Suzanne Doyle and her little munchkin, Michael. I cannot believe he is going to be 2 this July! Here are some pictures of the boys swinging. Baylor was actually enjoying it this time!



What Are We Going To Do Without This Thing???

Looking good huh?! Hunter has bumped and scratched his head on so many things around the house, his poor little noggin takes some abuse once the helmet comes off! He has to wear it 23 hours every day. So, needless to say he's pretty used to this thing now! But, I will say, his little smile looks so much bigger behind this blue monstrosity, it's unbelievably irresistible!

Easter
Celebrating the holidays is a little harder for us this year because we can't just pack up and go. So, I asked that our fams come to us for Easter this year. My mom, Ken, sis and brother actually packed their butts up and came to us! It was really nice to have them here too. It felt kind of special being the one this time in charge of the food and drinks... like I'm really an adult, with a family of my own.
I delivered poached salmon, herbed spoonbread and a tomato, corn salad to the table. I also made an angel food cake from scratch with homemade whipped cream and strawberries. Mmmm... I'm craving Easter lunch again!

Easter cookies Jackie + I baked ~ John Paul helped us decorate (note the peace sign!)

The setting


The food


The shades

Sweet love surrounding the table...


I do plan on keeping up with my blog. I have just been so busy lately with two parties to plan. I will post my how to's very soon!

XOXO

Family, Food + Fun

It's been a LONG week! First, David was in Miami for a bachelor party ~ now he is in Texas for three days (insert long lonely-hardworking-mommy sigh here), we attended our very first 1yo birthday party, I cooked an awesome meal from my new cookbook, and we had two fabulous visitors yesterday! Let's start from the beginning.

I Praise You, Single Mothers!
It is hard work when you're alone all day with two little ones. But, doing this day in and day out, really alone, is even harder! David was gone from Friday to Sunday soaking up the sun's magical rays while I was here, covered in drool, cooking for the boys, feeding the boys, cleaning up poop and food, putting them down, getting them up...... Where's MY 3 day vaca?! I do hate leaving the boys, even for a feeding. But, I really think I need some R+R. David did, however, meet us at Leighton's 1st birthday party Sunday! It was so sweet watching her shovel cake down her gullet and comb it through her hair! Here are some photos and video...

Proud mom + dad, Heather + Jason

Hunter + Baylor have their very first swing! We haven't been able to find a park with swings for babies/toddlers... FINALLY! I have been dying to put them in a swing. Honestly, I have! And they had sooo much fun! I loved it :)




Mmmmmm.......... Yummy-deliciousness!
Did I mention in my last post that I love my new cookbook?! I made the poached salmon dish that Sam Bealle made last week. I really liked it, but it was a bit too heavy for us. I think I will make this with trout like Sam because it was so much lighter! I also made the herbed spoonbread and blackberry cobbler! Mm, mm, mmmm! David plowed through them all and especially loved the cobbler. Please forgive my partially eaten plate! I, as always, forgot to take a picture of the dish. And I plated it so beautifully!

Blackberry cobbler in the making

And then there was cobbler!

Add a little vanilla bean ice cream and you're set!

I Love It When Family Comes To Visit!
My Aunt Lisa and cousin Sydney came over Wednesday to have a little visit ~ all the way from Anderson, SC! It was Syd's spring break and she said she wanted "to visit Sarah Ann and the boys"! How sweet is that? We had a really great day with them and the boys warmed up nicely! It seemed to fly by...




Update ~~~
There are 7 teeth between the two.
Both crawl like big boys and stand using what ever they can to pull themselves up.
Both took a few steps behind their walking toy this week!
They talk and laugh with one another constantly!
Separation anxiety is becoming a part of the norm.
Still napping 3 times a day (not sure if I'm happy about that or not!).
They love black beans, avocado, yogurt + oatmeal.
Using mom + dad as a junglegym ~ of course!

Here are some cute pics of Baylor + Hunter

hon,hon,hon... je m'apelle huntair.... (black bean soup mustache)

Happy St Patty's Day!

Day at the park

"I think I smell something."

Look at those teeth!

The messy business of teething buscuits

We have a couple of doctor appointments coming up so there will definitely be a few more updates in the near future.

XOXO