Ormond Beach 2011

I know, I know, it has been over a month since my last post! A lot has happened since then and I will provide updates/pictures for each of the latest events (i.e. Kate starting preschool!) very soon.

Tonight, I will start with what is freshest on my mind....vacation! We just returned yesterday from a wonderful week in Ormond Beach. Ronnie and Diane have been so gracious to allow us to spend a week with them in Florida the past several years. With our growing family; however, they may soon retract this offer as our vacations have quickly gone from relaxing to rowdy. With a 4 year old and an eight month old to entertain, Kevin and I are no longer sure what the word "relaxation" means....regardless of our location. Although vacations may no longer be relaxing, they are fun-filled and eventful and we wouldn't have it any other way!  With this being said, I must admit how nice it is to have Ronnie and Diane there to help with the kids – it certainly made our week much easier (I was able to read an entire book – the first one since Monkey has been born!)

We had a great week.  We visited family, went to Sea World, swam, hunted for seashells (i.e. Mommy bought big shells and put them in the sand so Kate could 'find' them :), ate great food and most importantly, just spent time together.  Kate was one lucky girl last week, which would explain her sadness as we packed our bags Saturday morning.  Let’s just be honest, the week revolved around her!  At Sea World, we watched every show on the calendar (Kate LOVES shows…she chose this over Disney!), we went swimming in the pool and the ocean from the moment she awoke until it was time for dinner and we ate A LOT of ice cream!  This, my friends, is a little taste of Heaven for a 4 year old.  Not to mention that she had DeDe and Papaw there to spoil her even more than Mommy and Daddy (if that is possibleJ)!

Hayes didn’t have a bad week himself.  This was his first vacation, and he seemed to enjoy himself as well.  He loved the water.  He splashed and giggled while watching big sister jump in.  He was amazed by the sand and examined it closely.  Mostly, I think enjoyed our morning walks – nothing is more relaxing than an early stroller ride!  The poor little guy has been cutting his two top teeth, but as always, he didn’t let it get him down.  All week, he remained the happy little guy that I love more than words can describe. 

The great part of going to Ormond Beach is that I have lots of family that live either in Ormond or very close. As you know, I lost a very special person in my life only 8 days after Hayes was born - my grandfather (Papa). Because Hayes was only 1 week old at the time, I was unable to travel to FL to attend Papa’s funeral services. Although I was able to see him in December, I felt like I never had the chance to say a final goodbye. This trip gave me that opportunity. One of the first mornings after we arrived, Hayes and I took a walk before sunrise. We went to the park where there is a bench memorializing both my grandfather and my dear uncle, whom we lost 3 years ago. As I sat on their bench that morning, watching the sunrise, I felt like I was finally able to say goodbye to a man that was so important to me and had such a huge impact on my life.  I made this a routine.  Hayes and I took a walk almost every morning to get a Starbucks and sit on Uncle Mike and Papa’s bench to watch the sunrise. 

I was also able to see my dear grandparents, Mamoo and Poppy.  While we didn’t get to stay long, it was still a wonderful visit.  We talked, laughed (as we always do with my grandmother), and had some great food – all the ingredients for a perfect afternoon.  In addition, we were able to have breakfast and spend a little time with my other Grandmother, Mima.  Lastly, we met up with a couple uncles, aunts and cousins…I even got to meet sweet baby Aiden, my second cousin.

As you see, we had a wonderful week.  I could go on forever about everything we did, but instead I will stop now and just let the pictures tell the rest of the story!  I am ever so grateful to have such a wonderful family to spend our vacation with.    

Here we go!

Movie + cookie = good flight

Breakfast time!  A Davis favorite

Waiting patiently for day 1 of swimming

Cheeseball ready for his first swim

Loving the water

Happy boy!

Happy girl

Trying to take it all in

Wow, Dad.  This is a big bath tub

First dip in the ocean

Taking a swim with Mommy

Mommy and the babies

Building 'sand castles' with my baby girl

Going to take a dip

beautiful.

On a sea shell hunt

Look what she found (Mommy bought them and put
 them in the sand so she could 'find' them.  shhhh)

I can hear the water, Daddy!

When did she get so big?

Kate and Daddy running from the waves

Monkey taking a bath in the sink

Blue Horizon's Dolphin Show!

Whales!

Too much for one day

Uncle Mike and Papa's bench

The view from the bench

Kate feeding Hayes her applesauce

Papaw and the little guy

What is this?

chunky feet!!

A flash forward to our future - Hayes trying to get Kate's toys

Kate and DeDe hanging out on the beach

DeDe and the kiddos

Waiting for the water to wash her sand away

Hayes watches her every move

:)

Fun!

  
 

Anniversary

On this day, 7 years ago, Kevin and I vowed to spend the rest of our lives together. How can that be? 7 years, really? It is not possible for me to be old enough to have been married for 7 years and to have 2 kids, truly not possible. However, the calendar says it is so, thus we celebrated!

As cliché as it may sound, I really did marry my best friend. Everyone says that, I know, but I really did. The amazing part is that I am still, to this day, madly in love with him. He still makes me laugh like he did the day we met. He comforts me, supports me and most importantly, loves me. Does he drive me crazy sometimes? Absolutely. Do I drive him crazy sometimes? No question about it. Could I live without him? Absolutely not. Kevin and I balance each other in a tremendous way. His strengths are my weaknesses and vice versa. Our lives today have dramatically changed since the day we got married. 7 years ago, our lives were full of spontaneous adventures and very little responsibility. We had nothing to focus on except each other and our marriage. During this time, I think we formed a great foundation to build on and to hold us up during our ups and downs as we go through this little thing called life together. Today, 7 years later, we have two beautiful children, careers and a future to focus on. As much as we try to balance it all, our marriage typically takes the back seat most frequently. Somehow, we still find the time to connect during the couple of hours between putting kids to bed and going to sleep at night. In addition, we typically take 1 weekend a year to focus on being husband and wife and not Mommy and Daddy. Thanks to both our wonderful Moms, that is exactly what we did this weekend.

Friday afternoon, we headed off to French Lick Springs Resort. We checked in, had a nice little dinner and hit the casino! We didn't lose much, but played for a couple hours and laughed a lot!

Saturday was our day full of activities. We had a tee time for 7:45am, so the alarm was set for 6:15am (our normal wake up time for work/kids), we were determined to take advantage of the yummy breakfast at the hotel. We popped right out of bed on schedule, hit the breakfast bar at 7am and then headed to the course. It was a cloudy day with a chance of rain, but actually turned out to be quite nice. I hadn't hit a golf ball since I got pregnant with Kate, so I was nervous about how I would do. To my surprise, I had a pretty good round...well, for the first 9 holes. I had to sit out the majority of the back 9 since my arms just weren't up for the challenge! After golf, we ate a little lunch on the course and then headed back to the hotel to prepare for event number 2...a trail ride on horseback! We laughed a lot! My horse, Chief, had a mind of his own and I have to admit that I was a bit scared. All in all, it was a nice, peaceful ride through the forest where we saw A LOT of deer!! After all of this exercise, it was time for a couples massage. Ahhh, how nice it was! We both decided that we need to get these at least once per month. We relaxed a little after the massage, showered and headed out for dinner. Ohh, it was delicious! Steak, wine and dessert...need I say more?!? It was refreshing to have time for such good conversation with each other...we even reminisced about the first time we noticed each other and our first "dates" (about 14 years ago..wow!). We had intentions of going on a carriage ride, but to be honest, we were both exhausted and ready to hit the sack by 10:00pm.

This morning we woke up at 7:30am and couldn't get out the door quick enough to get home to our babies (both of us were SO ready!). A weekend away is always nice, but coming home to our life is even better!

Getting ready to hit the course

Beautiful course, not so beautiful swing :)

Teeing off

Kevin giving Speck on of many 'attaboys'

Chief and I

Getting ready to go to dinner

Why we were so excited to get home!  Snuggle time!!

Life has thrown us many curve balls over the last 7 years and there is no question that we will get many more in the years to come; however, each challenge has made us stronger. At the end of the day, we have nothing but blessings to count. Kevin and I are building a family and enjoying every minute of it. I can't imagine going through this life with anyone else, I am 100% confident that he is my soul mate...God made him with me in mind and me with him in mind. Kevin has been my strength and support for the last 7 years and I can't wait to see what God has in store for us in the years to come. Cheers to 7 years!

Mommy Weekends!

My Saturday, Sunday and Monday were kid-filled and wonderful!  I can't explain how much I am enjoying the extra days I am getting with my little ones.  I have quickly learned that time really does speed up when you get older, and especially when you have kids.  For this reason, I am so increadibly grateful to my husband and my boss for giving me this extra time with my babies before it is much too late! 

Saturday morning the entire family headed to the mall to pick up a few items and to let Kate ride the new Mall Train.  Daddy and Hayes went on their way to Macy's while Kate and I rode the train around the mall, singing and dancing like fools all the while!  After our train ride, we rode the carosel and then went on to the play area before it became saturated with parentless munchkins.  After their little shopping trip, Daddy and Hayes joined us in the play area where Monkey loved hitting the blocks and looking in the mirror!  After our little family outing, Kevin had to go to a work event...which left me and the kids unsupervised!  So, what did we do?  We headed out for some donatos pizza!  Kate was thrilled since pizza is always an extra special treat in our house!  We both ordered our very own pizza and salad...and ate EVERY bite!  We ended our day with some great snuggle/book time!  Unfortunately, I was too caught up in the day to take any pictures - even though I had my camera with me the whole time. 

Sunday morning I woke up and tackled the grocery store at 8am with both kiddos so Kevin could catch some extra needed zzzzz's.  I not only took them with me, but cheeseball rode in his kangaroo pouch and Kate pushed her mini grocery cart behind me (which makes for an extra difficult shopping trip, after which, I typically have bleeding ankles from a certain little cart hitting me at the end of every isle!)  I have to admit that I felt a bit like super-mom.  I got my starbucks, Kate got her apple juice and off we went to fill our carts full of meat, fruits, vegetables and snacks!

Kate was such a good girl at the grocery that she earned her very last star to fill up that star chart we have been working so hard on.  Her first full chart meant a new scooter!  I know, I know, a big prize for something so simple as earning stars.  But, don't worry, this was just an extra special reward because it was her first time and she worked SO hard!  This chart has been a huge deal to her and I wanted her to understand that it is a huge deal to us too (at least that is the argument I gave Kevin ;)So, after our shopping trip to Toys-R-Us, we put the scooter together and off she went!  She had a blast and it was worth every penny to see the confidence boost she got when realizing that she "earned" her new toy!

And then there was Monday, my special day with the babies.  Before 8:30 am, we had already been outside for a scooter ride and had a tea party.  We took a special trip to the playground for a real lunch picnic and then played a little tennis followed by some playground time.  Who would have thought that taking our lunch to the playground and eating it on a blanket would be so exciting!  Even Hayes enjoyed himself - he discovered grass while we were there!!  He kept leaning as far as he could to get those little hands in the grass and then he would pull a few pieces up to stare at them in amazement before bolting them into his mouth.  It was one of the cutest things I have seen.  After our picnic and tennis "game", Hayes and I had a lot of pretend hamburgers, fries and ice cream brought to us from a wonderful waitress named Kate.  After naps and rest time, Kate and I painted a bird feeder before cooking dinner for the family.  All in all, it was another fun filled day! 

Monkey was on a mission to steal Kate's sandwich!

"Ohh, this new!"

"I think I will eat it"

"What is this?"

We never end a walk without picking some
beautiful flowers for Mommy along the way!

Monkey still loves his Mamaroo!

Hayes says Mama!!

Since I mentioned during the last post that we were working very hard on saying 'Mama', I had to make a post today to update that Hayes is, in fact, saying Mama!!!  Cutest little sound I have ever heard!

Another recent update about my little man: He has gotten his very first tooth and I think he will have his second any day!  I have tried to get a picture of this tiny little chomper, but haven't had any luck as of yet.  I do have many pictures of Hayes chewing on "Sophie" the giraffe - the best teether ever!  Although, the little guy chews on EVERYTHING right now!!

Babbling Baby

Monkey is babbling like crazy!  Like all other newly found talents, this little guy babbles 'babababa' and 'dadadadadyyy' non stop.  I guess we can say his first word was 'DaDa'.  We are working very hard on 'MaMa'!

Kate Lately

My little, "big" girl has been quite busy lately, so I thought I would make a post about what has been going on in her life. First, she went on her very first field trip a couple weeks ago, to the Cincinnati Zoo. Mommy was just as excited about this exciting 'milestone' as Kate was, so I went with her...and so did Nanny :) Kate felt so special to have both Mommy and Nanny going with her, she even said to me "My friend's won't have their Mommy's at the zoo, but I will, right Mommy?" I realize that there will be a day when it won't be so cool for Mommy to tag along, so I am taking advantage now and enjoying it while it lasts.

She was so excited when she saw the bus...it was a REAL school bus, that is right, a big yellow school bus. This was confirmation for her, she is officially big now. I tried to get a picture of her getting on the bus, but she was just too excited to slow down enough for me to capture it...so I will have to hold that memory in my mind :) The kids had a blast. Ms. Katie let the kids decide what we got to see.  We spent most of our day at the bug house and the nocturnal house. I can't describe how much I love watching her interact with her friends, I could write a book about all the cute things they do and say. One little girl asked the zoo keeper "Where are the dinosaurs?", his response: "There aren't any more dinosaurs.", her response "Well, where are they?"...and the conversation goes on.I love the mind of a 4 year old.  The highlight of the trip for all the kids wasn't the monkeys, the lions or even the baby giraffe. Rather, the best part of the day was watching the big polar bear take a poop. As I have mentioned before, the word 'poop' has become very funny to my little princess, so you can imagine the giggles that came when ten 4 year olds watched the polar bear turn around to take a dump right in front of them!

Here are a few pictures from our fun day!

"Preschool 2" 4 year old's!

Kate and Claire - Best Buds

Ms. Katie showing the kiddo's the bugs

Kate seeing how much she weighs in bugs

My favorite!

I also want to tell you a little bit about the little Mommy that we have in our house. Kate has become such a big helper with Hayes. I have been trying for several days to post one of the cutest video's I have seen. She fed him an entire jar of sweet potatoes. Well, 1/2 the jar was eaten and the other 1/2 was on his face. She kept telling me "Mommy, you go cook dinner, I've got this." The funny part is that Hayes ate better for her than he has ever eaten for me. When she isn't taking care of Hayes, she is taking care of her 6 baby dolls. The baby dolls take naps in Hayes' bed, bounce in Hayes' excersaucer, drink from Hayes' bottles and eats Hayes' baby food….all 6 of them. They have to take turns, of course. One day, many years from now, she certainly will be an excellent Mommy with all of this experience.

She is even a Mommy to the dogs

Lastly, I want to mention a few random cute things she has done/said lately. We go to the library every weekend to get new books for the week and a couple weeks ago, she decided she wanted to dress up for the occasion....jewelry and dress up shoes included. So, I figured why not? She was so proud of her outfit, but was sad when we left the library because no one told her she 'looked beautiful'. No worries, we went to the grocery after the library and several people noticed my little fashionista while she pushed her mini grocery cart behind me.

Getting ready for the library

Returning last weeks books

Checking out new books

 Kate amazes me with her memory.  It probably is perfectly normal for her age, but I am continuously astounded.  I bought her an Amelia Bedilia book because I always thought they were funny as a kid.  I read it one time to her two nights ago.  Tonight she was reading to her 6 babies and read the entire book (pretty long) almost word for word. 

This smart little girl makes me very proud, but it can make disciplining a bit tough.  She likes to get up several times at night before finally drifting off to sleep  and so last night I decided to try something new.  I explained to her that if she got out of her bed for any reason (I listed all of the recent ones - her back "scratches", she needs more water, she needs a bandaide...etc.), that I would take her books away (she gets 3 books to read by herself before she has to go to sleep).  30 minutes goes by and I think I have finally figured this out.  Ha, not so much.  I heard the door open and I think to myself "I really don't want to take her books away, but I am going to have to do it".  So, she walks down the stairs whispering "Mommy, my back scratches".  I say "Ok, Kate, but I am going to have to take your books away", in a happy little voice she says "I know, Mommy, but that's ok because I'm done reading them anyway".  Teenage years are going to be tough!

The moments that I will cherish forever are those like last Sunday when Kate and I were using the water hose to clean her "Big Pink Car" and it turned into a water fight...fully clothed.  She and I were soaked, but I haven't laughed that much in a long time.  I am really looking forward to having more time with the kids so I can enjoy moments like this while they last.  My life wouldn't be the same without this precious girl, she is growing so fast, but she will always be my baby.

My beautiful girl making a pizza after a fun day
playing water wars outside with Mommy!

Happy Half Birthday, Baby Boy!

To my sweet baby boy,
Happy half birthday to you! Wow, I cannot believe how quickly the previous 6 months have gone. I will save most of my sappy recollections of the day you were born for your first full year birthday, but today, I just want to say how incredibly happy I am that God put you in my life. The past 6 months have been a whirlwind. Honestly, having 2 kids is much more difficult than I was prepared for, but I wouldn't change a single thing. We tried for so long to give Kate a sibling and now I know why God made us wait, it was clearly because he was perfecting you. You are truly the happiest and most content baby I have ever seen. The only time you ever cry is when you are tired or hungry, which is a good thing since Mommy and Daddy have taken a little longer to adjust to the change than perhaps we expected.



Mommy's Favorite Times: I can always count on bath time for some good giggles from both of my babies. I love how you know when I am starting the bath water and you kick your little legs as hard as you can out of excitement. You just love your big sister, so bath time with her is definitely one of the highlights of your day...and mine too ;) After bath, bottle and books comes snuggle time! I love to get you all swaddled up, snug as a bug, and then rock you until you either fall asleep or grunt enough to let me know you are ready to get in your bed. I always kiss your little cheek, lay you down, put my hand on your little chest and say 'Good Night Sweet Boy'. I think you know this routine because as soon as I tell you good night, you turn your little head and drift off sleep. I leave your room every night with a big grin on face :)


Milestones: You have been right on target for most of your milestones. I know you are fully aware when you are doing something new because for the first few days after your accomplishment, you will practice it non-stop! First was your little grin. Once you learned how to smile, your personality started to shine. Daddy and I call you 'Cheeseball' because we just look at you with a smile and you practice that toothless grin of yours. Then came your little coo's and giggles. You love to 'talk' to Mommy. You are too big to sit this way now, but you loved when I would bend my knees, lay you on my thighs and talk to you. You would listen so carefully and then 'talk' back to me; too precious for words. I absolutely love your laugh, I can't get enough of it. I'm not sure why, but you love to be startled...apparently it is hilarious! Kate can make you laugh at any given moment - I am amazed at how connected you two are (she loves to say 'gitchi gitchi goo' and tickle you...I honestly have no idea where she got this as I don't think I have ever said it, but you think it is very funny!). Oh and then came the raspberries. You blow raspberries when you are happy, when you are sad, when you are tired and even when you are eating (quite messy!). I wasn't sure if you were ever going to roll over; you hate tummy time and had no interest in partaking in any activity that involved such. However, you finally rolled over on June 27...just a few days ago! You actually started sitting up on your own before you rolled over, amazing! I am very proud of your milestones and look forward to the many more we will watch you achieve in the years to come.


Sleeping Habits: You have been a good sleeper from day 1. The entire first week, I had to wake you for feedings, even at night. Your nights progressively got longer and at 8 weeks you were sleeping 8 hour nights! By week 12 (when Mommy went back to work), you increased your nightly sleep to 10 hours! I admit that I am a bit obsessed (some say too much) with your schedule, but my payoff is a good night sleep for the entire family (well, for me and you..Daddy and Kate always sleep good). You take 3 naps a day, usually 1.5 to 2 hours each and then go to bed between 8 and 8:30, waking up at 6:30 every morning. You have to be swaddled very tightly at nap/bed time (the miracle blanket is your best friend) and you really like to have your paci.


Eating: You nursed exclusively for the first 4.5 months. I supplemented some formula for a month and then you started exclusively on formula around 5.5 months. So far, you have had rice cereal, carrots and peas. You are still trying to figure this whole spoon thing out, but you seem to like the taste of peas the best so far (oddly enough). I usually have to make the spoon do fun things to get you to open your mouth (the airplane trick only worked for a few days, so now we have Peter Cotton Tail hopping down the bunny trail).  Right now, you eat 5 bottles a day, 7 ounces each and have a little ‘solid’ with your 4^th bottle. 


Miscellaneous facts: You love to hold things, preferably a blanket or a finger. You love your big sister; she is a very funny and entertaining girl. You often show the same emotions as Kate; if she is laughing so are you, if she cries, so do you.  You giggle uncontrollably when you are startled. You pucker up and start to cry when someone raises their voice.   Your favorite toy is clearly your vtech ball that lights up and moves. You like to bounce in the frog jumper. You are a bit of a Mommy's boy and sometimes get sad when I walk out of the room. You aren't a big fan of being held and rocked. You love to be tickled on your belly.

My sweet little Monkey, I wouldn't change a single thing about you.  You are such a blessing to our life.  We have enjoyed the last 6 months more than words can describe and look forward to what the future holds for you!

 

Had to add a few tiny pictures

First bottle.  Look how tiny!