Family Beach Trip

I have been SO excited about our family beach trip this year! Last year, Mason was only 5 months old and hated the beach/sand, so I was very hopeful that with him being older he would enjoy it better. Which, he did! So where do I start?! The first weekend was just Kyle, Mason, myself and my brother... it was relaxing and low key. We even took Mason out to dinner one night and he did AWESOME (this is something we rarely do these days!). With my brother being in school for the summer, he had to leave Sunday afternoon. We definately missed him during the week, but he was able to come back the second weekend to join in the fun. By Monday, the rest of the family joined us and we kicked off the week soaking up rays in the pool.

Hea and Jay with the girls

Daddy and daughter

How stinkin cute are these swimsuits!? They just don't make stuff this cute for boys!

My parents bought all the babies matching floaties in hopes that they could spend more time actually in the water instead of just in their rafts. Unfortunately, these floaties didn't work...but luckily, Mason still loved his raft from last year! He was content to stay in there "chillin" the entire time! I did manage to get some cute pics of the babies in their floaties.

At least they came in handy for entertaining the babies!

It took Mason a while to get adjusted to the ocean and sand, but after about 10 minutes he was perfectly happy building sand castles and letting the waves splash on him. His cousin Maggie played with us in the sand (Emily was not a fan of the sand!).

I mean how cute am I??

I love that my sister and I have babies that are so close in age... they play together so well and keep each other company so that I can have adult time! The babies loved playing on the deck with all their beach toys.



Those of you who know me know that I hate dirty feet and rarely go barefoot, so these nasty feet on my child screamed "CLEAN THE DECK"

Instead of finding a random person on the beach to take our family pictures this year, we hired a professional to take them. So, I don't have family pics available yet, but will post as soon as I do! The photographer didn't allow us to take pictures with our own camera during the session, but while he was away for a couple seconds I managed to steal a quick few of Mason...

The day after this Orange Beach received 12 inches of rainfall... I would say a red flag was fitting

Maybe I see a model in the future? I doubt it, but he couldn't have posed better!

My sister has started to do embroidery and monogramming, which is awesome news for me!! She made matching outfits for the babies and of course I had to take pictures!

Gramps and Go Go with the grandkids. Outfit 1 was navy/green gingham and matching whales.

Outfit 2 blue sear sucker with crabs... my favorite!

Mason with cousin Emily

it's impossible to get a picture where all the kids are actually looking at the camera..this is the closest one I got

We had such an amazing week relaxing with family. Here are a few more pics of the trip...

These fish kept Mason entertained for the 2 hour wait we had

Mason loves Uncle Bobby!

15 months

A LOT has changed since 12 months...

15 month stats:
Wt~ 28.2 lb (97%)
Ht~ 32.75 in (93%)

According to the pediatrician, Mason is starting to "round out" on the growth curve... according to the people standing behind me in the grocery store he is still a "BIG boy". Either way, I am so blessed to have a happy, healthy 15 month old.

Over the past month, Mason has perfected his walking ability and is even starting to run places. People ask me if it is easier or harder now that he is walking, and to that I fully say it is easier. My back could hardly take carrying a 28 lb baby around anymore, so it has been a nice relief being able to let him walk places. However, he thinks that he is a big boy and doesn't have to hold mommy's hand, so we have had many a temper tantrum in the middle of the parking lot. This past week he got his first boo boo from falling on the pavement, which of course hurt me ten times worse than it did him. Along with the increased mobility comes increased curiosity... he wants to play in/on/with everything. When he first started climbing on the couch I thought it was cute and funny and took lots of pictures, until he started running on the couch and fell off. Needless to say, that is a habit that we had to break quickly. He also loves hiding in the cabinets and still loves climbing up the stairs.

"They" (whomever they are) say that toddlers are like sponges... just soak up everything you do and say. I never understood that until recently. I feel like I should be teaching him algebra because he would probably catch on to it pretty quickly. He can say about 10 words...some of his favorites are sister, water, night night, no no (unfortunately he probably hears this more and more now a days), and of course mama! He is learning his animal sounds, but thinks that everything has a "ruff ruff" in front of it. He is also starting to learn how to tell us he is hungry/full which is a HUGE help in feeding him! He goes to his highchair when he is hungry and shakes his head when he is full. In ways, things are getting easier (he is trying to learn ways to communicate with us) but the amount of time chasing him around the house has picked up ten fold!

Mason and I were able to meet my sister and her girls, and my brother, in Huntsville to enjoy some family time. This is something we started back when the kids were babies and have carried it on every couple months. The 3 cousins had a blast playing together, and it is always nice catching up with family!

Looking forward to our 2012 Family beach trip coming up in June..pictures coming soon!

Thanks to my wonderful husband for a great Mother's Day!