Rosemary Beach 2011

I can't believe I haven't put these pictures on the blog until now. My whole family went to Rosemary beach the last week in July. I can't remember the last time we went somewhere all together for a week! It was a blast watching Will interact with his cousins. This was my first time to stay in Rosemary Beach and it didn't take long for me to be completely sold on vacationing here every summer. SO kid friendly and family oriented, the house was awesome-very convenient to pool and beach, the little town had great shops and fun places to eat. My brother and his family have been going for the past few years and I now see why!! I didn't take as many pictures as I thought I would. With two kids, we were pretty busy, but it was so nice to have all the extra hands to let me get in a few afternoons at the beach/pool by myself and some one on one time for John and I with Will! We are already looking forward to another trip next summer! {if Pops and Kiki will take us again :)}














Thank you Kiki and Pops for such a great trip!! We loved every second and are looking forward to making more memories next year (hint, hint)!!!

The Boys' New Ride

Back to the Grind

Summer has come to an end. Yesterday was my first day back at work. It really wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I started my morning at 4:15 and crawled into bed last night about 10. LONG DAY!!! The week that school starts is always crazy trying to get my classroom ready, etc so I know that it will settle down in a few weeks. I do have to admit that I do so much better with a little routine and structure in my life....even if I am really tired.
Here are a few pics of my cute boys. We have started calling Alex "Kramer" after he gets out of the bath because his hair is crazy!! Will's hair had mostly fallen out at this point but Alex's hair is holding strong.And here is a picture of Will in this same position at the exact same age as Alex. They look so different to me! Alex looks so much more like me :)

Bro Hugs

Last week while we were at the beach, Will learned all sorts of new things from his cousins. My nephew is 10 and my niece is 6 and I think Will would have been content just following them around the house the entire week, not even caring if we never went to the pool or ocean. He loves them and wants to be just like the big kids when they are around.
Not 20 minutes after we arrived, Dylan taught Will about bro hugs. Basically you just go in for a hug but instead of squeezing your arms around the other person, it is more of a manly pat pat pat on the back as you hug. Will thought it was hysterical and proceeded to give everyone bro hugs all week long.
When I picked him up at school on Tuesday his teachers told him to say bye to all of his friends. He has made a new friend in his class named Oliver. Oliver came over and he and Will shared a bro hug. Then Will looked at me and said "I show Ahver my bro hug." The teachers cracked up and said that indeed Will had taught everyone how to bro hug that day.


So thank you Dylan for teaching Will how to bro hug. It has given us precious memories that make us smile!

Playdate!

Today Hannah Grace and Knox came over for a play date. Their mommy, Shannon, and I go way back. We met each other our freshman year at Alabama. We were next door neighbors in Tutwiler :) After college we kind of lost touch until John and I moved back to Birmingham. She had Hannah Grace in November and then Will was born in January. Knox came this past May 2.5 weeks before Alex did, so we can totally relate to each other on the kid front. It is so nice to have someone to talk to that is literally going through the exact same thing you are. Knox is a big boy! Look at him compared to Alex. Such handsome boys!!!

Proud siblings :)

two

I can't believe our new little guy isn't so new anymore. Alex was 2 months old yesterday. And in typical second child fashion, I didn't find the time yesterday to blog about it. We went to the doctor yesterday for his 2 month check up and we have a healthy little boy! He weighed 13 lbs 6 oz and was 24 inches long. He is in the 75 percentile for height, weight, and head circumference. Poor little buddy got 3 shots which did not make for a happy camper. He ran his first fever as a result of the shots and became quite the fussy child yesterday. Thankfully today he is back to his sweet self.

Alex has just started to smile and it is absolutely adorable. I haven't caught it on camera yet but we're working on it. He smiles the best for his daddy!
He sat in his Bumbo for the first time today! He did great holding his little head up. It is hard for me to believe that he is already in the Bumbo. I feel like he just got here. This summer has flown by!!
He LOVES bath time. It totally calms him down and gets him nice and sleepy and ready for bed. Right now we are putting him to bed about 9 and on most nights he sleeps until 4/4:30. There are some nights where he is up around 2:30 but these are becoming fewer and farther between.

Will is still obsessed with Alex. He calls him "My Baby Ax." He has started bring books to him and says "I read to my Baby Ax." Precious. We have been so lucky, at least so far, that he doesn't seem the least bit jealous. After those first 2 weeks when everyone had to settle in and transition, he has been so great. I love when I first get Alex up...Will runs over and says "Good Moanin' Baby Ax!"

Alex made his first trip to the beach last week (another post on our beach trip coming soon). He did AWESOME. We never traveled with Will so early so I had no idea what to expect. Alex is more laid back than Will and this did not change at the beach. He was super chill, very mellow, did whatever! We would bring him down to the beach in the morning and then back again about 4 and he would just snooze on a blanket or in his little bouncy seat. I guess the ocean sounded like his sound machine and he just thought he was supposed to sleep :)

I have joked to several people that someone should write "Babywise For the Second Child." We were super strict baby-wisers with Will. It worked very well with him. He has always been a great sleeper (at home). He is very much a child that thrives off of routine-we made him that way, I know...he was the only one we had to work around. He took basically every nap in his crib. Alex is lucky to get one good nap a day in his crib. In the morning, we are usually out and about so he just has to nap in his car seat. Thankfully he does great and usually will sleep while we run errands or play with Will at the park. It is not that he won't sleep in his crib (he has slept in there from day 1 when we came home from the hospital)...it is just that he rarely gets the opportunity during the day :) I start back to work on Monday and my mom will be keeping him here so I am figuring he will get into more of a routine then. I'll let my mom figure it out-ha!

I feel like we are finally operating smoothly as a family of 4. It gets easier every day. I know chaos is about to ensue when I start back to work on Monday, but we will figure it out.

A New School Year

Today was Will's first day in his new class at school. I snapped the traditional pictures before we left. Crazy to see how much he has changed from his "first day" pics last year. This morning went pretty much how I expected it to go. I walked him to his new room, introduced him to his new teachers, and it all went down hill from there. His new teachers are super sweet, but they aren't Mek Mek and Tor Tor. He screamed "Hold you Mama....please don't leave me..." over and over again. It made my heart hurt but I knew he would be okay. When I picked him up this afternoon he was all smiles sitting at the table eating his snack. When he saw me he said "Hey Mama! I not crying." It was hysterical. So happy my sweet boy was able to get back into the swing of things. Lets just hope it is that easy for me when I go back to work next Monday :(