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!

I'm on a boat...

Our good friends Kyle and Megan recently invited us to their families lake house in Centre, AL to enjoy a weekend get-away. It was a MUCH needed trip away from Nashville and an awesome way to introduce Mason to the water. It was Mason's first time on a boat, and since he has an extreme fear of elevators, we were skeptical how he would react to the movement of a boat. I suppose he loved it... or at least it was relaxing because he slept the entire time. Meanwhile, Megan and I put Will on the tube (we sat with him, of course)... where he quickly fell asleep as well. It was probably the most peaceful time of the whole trip. Mason and Will played great together...in fact they played pretty independently together which was a relief for the adults!

Now that Mason is walking, there are so many new experiences to explore. One of those being playing outside, which he LOVES! Mason loves swinging and sliding, so their backyard was perfect for him!

Kyle and I are quickly starting to learn that Mason is ALL boy... baseball, dirt, messes, etc. If he could choose between eating grass and eating beans, he would no doubt choose the grass. Besides his monk monk that Mrs. Rachel made him, he doesnt really care for stuffed animals, he hates books, but if you put a ball in front of him he will be all set. Just a random side note.

We decided to put the babies on the Relaxation Station with us one afternoon...





Mason fell asleep again once he got in the sun... I think I've determined that if he ever won't nap, I should just stick him in the sun for a while and he'll go straight to sleep.

We had a great time away with great friends. The babies were surprisingly very good (except Mason at dinner the final night which was TERRIBLE) and even had a couple "first's"... first lake trip, first time on a boat, first time eating scrambled eggs from a grill, first time having a popsicle, and first time saying Will (which he continues to say pretty frequently). Here are more pics from the weekend:

The boys saving the morning for us. The power went off in all of Centre, leaving us and the babies with NO breakfast. What better breakfast then grilled eggs, grilled cinnamin rolls, and grilled toast?!

Babies didn't seem to mind the grilled eggs.

Thank you Tomlinson's for a great lake trip!!

A day in the life...

Some pictures to enjoy:

My long time friend Rachel and her hubby Tyson came for a quick visit this past weekend. Rachel and I grew up together and were best friends all through school, so I was SO excited when she called and said that they would be in town for a wedding. Of course, Mason was super excited to see her as well!

Change is a comin!

Oh yes, change is coming for the Creamer family as Mason has finally learned to WALK!!! Of course, this had to be a day when I was working (just like when he learned to crawl and when he first said dada). Whenever Kyle is on duty to take Mason to MDO, they always go early and "walk" around the church, play basketball, etc... whatever boys do to waste time. This time, instead of Kyle holding his hand, he just took off on his own. His teachers said that he was walking around all day for them as well!! Kyle is so awesome about taking videos of all the milestones, but we havent really learned how to download them on the computer. Maybe we will work on that this week. Since then, he has taken about 7 consecutive steps and ALWAYS claps for himself afterwards. He loves standing up on his own and playing with Cali. People ask me if he walking around everywhere now, and the answer is no, not really. He will walk, but would still rather crawl or hold my hand. This will probably change in the upcoming weeks. Apart from this big news, Mason is starting to develop such curiosity. I often find myself sitting back and just watching him play on his own. He loves shapes and trying to figure out how they fit together, he loves building blocks together, he can get on his Mickey Mouse car and drive it around on his own, and he LOVES playing/watching baseball. His favorite fascination is the light switch... he can point to it, say "light" and turn it on... off and on and off and on and off and on repeatedly until I finally go crazy and develop a headache.

On an exciting, yet kinda bittersweet note, I decided to stop working for a while so that I have more time to stay home with my little man. I absolutely loved my job and the people I work with, but decided it best for my stage of life right now to spend more time with my family. Thus begins the adventures of stay at home mom!